Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas is...

~white (but not the bumpy icy tricky road condition between Eugene & Portland)!!!~time for friends and family.
~presents.~time off doing nothing but eat, sleep, watching or reading whatever I want.
~Time to reflect and plan for the new year ahead.Have a happy holiday and wonderful new year!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Appreciation

First of all I can't be happier about the gas price these days! It's less than half of what it was only a few months ago (just compare that to a couple blog entries back). Great news for my upcoming trips for the holiday. Also I stupidly locked my keys in the car again and luckily found someone with AAA membership to call for help. I'm still one month short of being able to switch my insurance agent and I will switch to AAA for sure when the time comes.

Since last year I realized the so called Black Friday is getting pointless since one can get lots of deals online as well so I don't see why one would brave the coldness, darkness, and sleep deprivation just to save a few bucks. It's shocklingly sad that something like the Walmart trampling would happen here in the USA. I'm a humanist that any similar incidents in the past like the deaths caused by pilgrimage in Islamic Mecca, partying in Lan Kwai Fong a few years back in Hong Kong, and now the "doorbusters" in NYC are simply beyond my understanding. Nothing should take priority over a human life. People really are paying a heavy price for lessons on becoming truly civilized. Ironically I did check out a few items yesterday way after the "early bird doorbuster" whatchamacallit hours. As I was waiting in line to pay I was glad what I saw was the huge turnout of customers were doing their holiday shopping in an orderly manner. The lady behind me in line needed a lift for her bulky merchandize that I was more than happy to give her a hand. And she explained it was for upgrading her mom's bathroom and she was happy about it. So I'm not against the holiday shopping season at all as long as people are making each other happy. But I do think they need to do away the "doorbuster" concept as it will probably bring back bad memories from now on.

Anyway once in a while I like to do a video post with clips I enjoy. These two songs are my favorite lately and Ne-yo and Thicke's albums are the ones I love the most this year.




And the Muppet Show is my favorite show of all time. I still vividly remember how crazily I would LROF as I watched the show as a kid. If you wonder why I use the Swedish chef as my profile pic check these out. They are silly funny but I never get tired watching them and have a great laugh. LOL!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Gratified...


After a sumptuous meal, I feel the need to post this supposedly corny list of things I am thankful for. Here they are...

~My family and their well being, including our little shitzu BB at home, as there have been miracles in this past year and I feel truly blessed in this regard the most.

~My relatively stable job and my amazing class of students. I am really lucked out having such a great class now and I have overcome quite a lot and turned things around when some of my colleagues were openly working against me. Now we are like a dream team. Patience and thick skin do pay off!

~My slightly complicated upbringing and background have proven to be an advantage in many ways. It is kind of funny when many native mandarin speakers including my colleagues find out I am from Hong Kong they would compliment my decent Putonghua (which also is a backhanded compliment stating HKers' mandarin sucks!) I would find myself truly grateful for my parents' having lived in Beijing/Tianjin for a long time and forced us to use mandarin at home when we were little (whether we obeyed or not is another story). I can also relate to people from Indonesia (parents' birthplace and I have lived there for a summer), the Philippines (mission experience), Macau (mission), Japan (minor in Japanese Studies in college), Spanish speaking countries (Spanish in college and lots of spanish speaking students when I taught English), and now Germany and France (trying to learn the languages and be fluent someday). Also when my colleagues are whining about our next topic in the curriculum being medicine and health these days, I am the only one all excited because of my college degree in biology with medical experience. This also comes in handy when I am asked to do translation/interpretation on specialized and advanced subjects.

~All the relationships I have had with people, be it personal or professional, enjoyable or hurting, I truly have gained and learned a ton how to be a better person. Once in a while I would convince myself that I really am not a likable person because of past experiences, but during these past couple years I have learned to let go of a lot of the unnecessary baggage and things that I am now able to enjoy people and things a lot more. I do have true appreciation for genuinely nice and friendly people nevertheless.

~Being able to live and work in this country has been challenging but inspiring. There is no better place in my opinion that presents more opportunities and room for my growth and satisfaction for achieving my potentials.

~My desire for learning and knowledge fortunately haven't subsided since I left school. I am still finding ways to learn new things and ideas.

~My new apartment, car, and all my material possessions. I love the space now I am enjoying along with the ability to travel whenever and wherever I want. I also constantly find myself occupied with the gadgets I play with, i.e. my HDTV, computer/internet, iPods/Zune, etc. Technology rocks!

~My health and even my life is one of the most precious gifts that I could ask for. Learning from the experiences of others around me all I can say is never take a day for granted.

As we are approaching the last month of the year, I am already setting my eyes on next year for new goals: places I plan to visit, major purchases I will be making, projects intended to be finished, and new skills ready to be acquired. I am excited. Once again I can't wait for the family trip before the new year ensues though.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Finally... end of hiatus...

I don't even know why it has been almost 4 months since I last blogged, be it being busy or lazy, I'm just summing it up here the happenings all at once...

Went back to HK twice(!!!) for my own/mom's birthdays as well as Doris' wedding, both were fun and it was surprisingly nice to meet the new family as well as relatives/friends/acquaintances not seen for so long. Things went smooth and memorable... paid off my car!!! Now already setting my eyes on a new one... saw Alicia Keys in concert for my first HK trip... have been reading "The Year of Living Biblically" which is an amazing read... China did host an impressive Olympics, can the "success" last and be extended to other areas? Stay tuned... moved to my new place and it's 3-4 times as big and loving it, not so much the commute in the morning though, and I miss the old place somehow esp. the pool... halloween party at my new place planned for a handful but a dozen people showed up with one whole pizza left over which became my lunch/dinner for the entire week... Nathan visited in July, Emily and then Scott in September, Cindy in October, anyone next? I'm taking reservations now and I've got room (and board)... students are doing great, as long as my lunatic supervisor doesn't meddle with us/them (is she reading this?)... presented on psycholinguistics for the school. I don't know about the audience but at least I learned a lot myself during preparation and I did get good feedback... Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Enchanted, Pochahontas, Godspell, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pippin...) came to perform within five minute drive from my apartment! I was mesmerized by his talent and the singers he brought with... excited about the new President but not so thrilled about the bickering between the LDS and the Prop 8 opponents... really looking forward to the break and the trips in Christmas/New Year...

Those were included in the red pockets/laisees I gave them...

After the banquet.

It's an illusion... the big birds couldn't touch my lunch (with Cassandra and Cindy) because of the glass window.

And we saw something like this... a wild otter enjoying crab in the ocean! Lunch time for all of us...

That's about it. A happy birthday shoutout to Anthony and dad! And I think this is too cute not to put up.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Happy birth... month!

July is the month of birthdays, or birthmonth to me. It seems all the coolest and the greatest minds were born this month! At her birthday lunch today at Maggiano's Paige made a comment that people in October must be very happy... go figure... LOL!!!

Anyways, shoutouts to the following: Nate (you are actually a couple days off July but I still include you, you know why), Paige, Amy, Jordan, Caroline, Sophia, Justin, Moon, Mom, the US of A, and last but not least myself... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Dad, happy days!

I could hardly believe my eyes when I finished fueling up my car with gas today... almost $70 (average around $40 in the past)!!! With gas price reaching $5/gallon now it is almost impossible to imagine how much it cost back then just less than 7 years ago when I came to the States... less than a dollar (pre-911)! So with inflation almost out of control these days I was just talking with a friend that one's financial strategy now is not just how much one can save but how much more one can earn to offset the increasing living costs.

Nevertheless I am glad to say I am at peace and I feel loved this past week. I am thankful and indebted to the couple people who helped me through the challenging days especially from work. You know who you are. :)

Finally my shout to dad for a happy Father's Day! I'll make up for the meal I missed when I'm back soon...

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Dies ist noch nicht vorbei... this is not over yet...

About 4 months ago I planned to take the German class as for my personal interest and possibly ideas for my own language teaching. Now I am so glad I did and finished by taking the final with NO studying because I skipped the last couple of classes while Doris was in town and I was way too exhausted after a day's work for the past couple of weeks. I think I did quite good regardless of some of the words I already forgot. Tonight we celebrated afterwards with a dinner at a German restaurant. The food was just ok but the ambience and comradarie was wonderful. Basically every single student loved the class and is coming back for second semester if one can. I think it is quite an achievement the teacher has accomplished with such diverse students. Everyone was reminiscing the creative and fun sketches we did. They kept commenting how good an actor I was but my response was I hated acting to begin with but now I have grown to be quite fond of it! And the teacher has totally inspired me to be a better teacher and I even told her that. The funny thing I learned tonight is that she is dating a young guy who is a DLI graduate of Chinese and we chatted quite a bit.

On a totally different note, what would happened if you were to put some of the funniest things on TV together, such as SNL, the Office, Steve Carell, Deal or No Deal, and even the Japanese? Check these out... and I think Kristen Wiig is absolutely brilliant who makes me laugh and cry at the same time... What makes it even funnier is that they really are speaking Japanese! And don't forget I minored Japanese Studies in college!

Laughing matter aside, let's not forget what happened 19 years ago today... And as a german classmate who is an army veteran told me, he is optimistic about the change the Olympics will bring to Communist China. Everyone's fingers crossed...

Sunday, June 01, 2008

B-R-E-A-K

I've been longing to update and post on the blog but it seems my mind always races way ahead of my body and fingers to put thoughts into words and actions. So I'm gonna "photo-blog" some of the things that happened in the past couple weeks.

I had my much deserved break after I almost had a mental breakdown myself because of stress from work, or to be more specific from certain people at work. My sister was in town so we got to travel to LA and visited Hearst Castle on the way. We literally bought the last pair of available tickets to the tour!
The next day we took a tour of the NBC Studio in Burbank, which is right behind the Hollywood sign. As a TV buff myself it was way fun to visit a running TV studio again. I have taken a similar tour of NBC in NYC before but this one is more fun and intimate with a smaller group but way cheaper at the same time. The most impressive thing when we were visiting Jay Leno's set was while we were looking at Jay's nice car the guide/page said most people wear different clothes but drive the same car to work, Jay does the opposite! And when we were visiting the Access Hollywood set we noticed there were a group of reporters quite a distance away seemed like interviewing a celebrity. It was David Cook! He just won the little show called American Idol the night before. The funniest thing was the people in our group were in their middle ages and quite clueless about the show and they asked what the buzz was all about. Then a staff came through and told us to watch behind his back, and as people were expecting some sort of equipment was making its way through then here came Cook! We totally could have asked him for pictures or autographs (and sell them on ebay) as there was no one around him but an assistant, however our group seemed indifferent about it and so we kept our cool and moved on... In the afternoon we were super lucky that we were able to get into the Tonight Show and got great seats in the house! So we saw Leno, the First Lady Laura and her daughter Jenna Bush, and once again Cook. The poor David looked exhausted but genuinely nice.Waiting in line to get in to the Tonight Show. With Doris on the bottom left...

The following day we were back and were able to see lots of whales on our whale watching excursion!After Doris left I saw both Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as well as Iron Man over the memorial weekend. I like both movies but the former has a wacky ending while the latter a predicatable plot. I prefer the Indy film just because of the nostalgia and the comradarie it brings back. Watching it is just like taking the disney ride again.
Final thought of the day:
Do I want to be feared or loved? Um... easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.
-Michael Scott from the Office

Ok back to work!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Prank

One of the best pranks on the phone...

Angry Chinese?

I almost became one myself because of totally different reasons (read on for explanations below). With the approaching of the olympics in less than 100 days as well as the chain of events lately such as the torch relays, deporting Danish sculptor Galschiot of the "Pillar of Shame" from Hong Kong (how fit the title it is for such action by the HK, and possibly PRC governments), and protests for different causes in all corners of the world, China is under unprecedented scrutiny as a host of such a worldwide event. I've read a few insightful and interesting articles including the Economist and the National Geographic. I just want to say both China and its people (counting myself in) really need to learn to be good hosts to the world despite all the "oppositions". This is the price of presenting oneself a prominent role on the world stage. It seems the nation as a whole has already partially failed the test by overreacting to the "negative press" from the West and the zealous Chinese citizens trying to silence any voices not supportive of the Chinese Olympics or the PRC's Tibetan policies. Bear in mind almost every single Olympic host countries have taken their shares of criticism and the success pretty much lies in how poised and mature the countries acted politics-wise. Imagine how "excited" many of the Westerners, especially the French, would be to come visit China now for the Olympics without worrying being "attacked".

Back to more personal issues. These past couple days I have been very bothered and troubled by certain behaviors of one particular mainland Chinese colleague but after much thought, I realized I have gained insights from those Chinese articles that instead of being an angry Chinese myself, I just need to keep on carrying out my duties 100% to stay blameless on my part and not to lose my cool. And there sure is a price to pay for being in a leadership position that one is proned to criticism, whether constructive or not. And I am a true believer of Karma that you reap what you sow, as can be seen in the fact that a few "troublemakers" in our department are gone now...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Potpourri...

It is almost like a potpourri of very interesting events today that I have to write something about it.

Things have been going very well for the new class (at least I think) today until some communication problems popped up among the colleagues. Without naming names and specifications (I have learned my hard lesson from my blog here) some people's Chinese old school cultural revolutionary mentality totally drives me nuts. Being Chinese myself, I really can't stand many of our "mainland comrades" of their self-centered "biggest gains with the least effort" type of attitude at work. I was treated like their best friend if their benefits/rewards are at stake but I would be shown a "bad face" when I am asking someone to carry out their responsibilities. I feel like a work environment of "everyone eating from the same pot" is encouraging and nurturing this kind of work ethics that I despise the most. The biggest home to this school of thought once again is the PRC government that its people are being fed with propaganda of such kind subconsciously. It goes along with my puzzlement that why the independence of Tibet is such a taboo and evil thing. Why is Dalai Lama treated like a demon? The tactics of vilifying the person that voices a different opinion of yours is so typical of the communist word games that it takes simple logic and education to counter the arguments. I wonder how many people have really studied the history of Tibet. I admit I haven't until these past few weeks to realize what a beautiful culture and religion is being jeopardized in the name of economic prosperity. If displaying my love/heart for China on my MSN messenger means I am a supporter of such irrational ideology of many Chinese, sorry, I DON'T LOVE CHINA (no offense to many of my friends with the display on their MSN). I know I probably would be labelled as a traitor but I don't feel like I am not patriotic at all. I think many people do get the concepts mixed up.

While I was still upset about this, I am glad I got to attend my German class right after work. What a huge contrast it was to see my lovely teacher and classmates all contribute to the party today. Many of us did not just bring the minimum amount of food but it turned out to be a huuuuuge feast in class! And I was thrilled that my German sketch performance with my cute partner worked out great that I got compliments on my acting. I never thought I would be a good actor but I start to develop a fondness to it. Anyways it's a great class because everyone was very into what they are doing and bring out more than a 100%. I keep thinking if every single person of the billion strong population in China can do something like this without being selfish, how much nicer the world would become. And here is the evidence of the pretty dessert my classmates made. And I could not help to take the cupcake with the word "lehrer" which means "teacher" in German...
And the last thing is a very good college friend of mine whom I reconnected with through facebook and talked on the phone for 1.5 hours (which is extremely rare in my case) agreed with me that the "magic of facebook" has worked wonders on strengthening our friendships and relationships, even crossing the boundaries of places and times.

Gute Nacht!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Stumbled on a show by John Bytheway on BYUTV. He actually is my favorite LDS speaker even though he is not a GA of the church and most of his talks are targeted for the teenagers. I actually met him in person and got to have a quick word with him at the LDSBA convention a couple years back. He's very insightful, inspirational, and funny at the same time. His most recent quote that I like from the show is

"it's better to be respected than it is to be popular, because popularity ends on yearbook day, but respect lasts forever."

Speaking of being popular/respected, the thought hit me hard yesterday. I never was the "popular" guy in school, at work, or even among my circle of friends. I used to be very paranoid at this which worsened my shyness in front of other people. I realized I have come to be rather comfortable at being myself in the past couple of years and rather be a more respectable person than being popular. Yesterday at the chinese speech contest with all the colleagues around that I am not familiar with I did not really care I hardly knew most of them and did not bother to force myself to mingle with them either. Through life experience I know it is rather an uncomfortable feeling not being part of a clique or the "in" group. Now I have learned to just walk away or ignore those who are not interested in or respect me. I really need to please myself before I can please others. Surprisingly yesterday what I enjoyed most was during the return trip of 2+ hour bus ride, I got to talk to a former student of mine and we shared many amazing, but sometimes saddening, or even shocking stories (in Chinese!). It's so comforting to see the growth of the students and we have mutual respect of each other. And I actually have the utmost repect to all of my students for the intense study they have to undertake on top of their hardships in life that they are going through. I'd really prefer spending time on sharing with and even learning things from the students than the mindless social games and the office politics.

As for my current students, week 1 has gone by rather smoothly. I am relieved that for the first quiz all but 2 met the high bar we set at 95 points while the other 2 still scored 85+. They also performed well with the week-end performance I designed which was inspired by my own German class that I am taking. I am learning a great deal on leadership skill as well. Not that I am a power control freak but I find communication skills with colleagues, students, and even myself are crucial and useful. I am striving to be a much more effective and organized person after all.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Go with the flux...

I'm well known as a (late)night person which explains why I often look sleepy and tired. It comes from our family habits and traditions back home since the city never sleeps and I often enjoy the "freedom" that we can still do whatever we want without sun rays. As one grows older I realize the drawbacks of sleep deprivation and the risk of fighting against the nature of our "bio-clock". I read from different sources lately on the correlation of sleep/light and diabetes along with cancers. The picture above shows the "light pollution" which pretty much coincides with distribution of the world energy consumption. Studies show that the "brighter"/more developed the area is the more incidents of cancers can be found. One suggestion is people should use more natural light rather than man-made light at night. This really is a wake up call to many of us. When the world begins to focus on environmental issues people should also think more about making our own bodies to be in tuned with the nature as well.

And quotes/thoughts for the day:

"Most of us do not accept, or even believe in, the continual flux of life. However strange this may seem, once we truly accept this at a physical level, we will not need to search for certainty... As you tackle the tribulations of life, insight helps you refrain from taking yourself, your challenges, and life itself too seriously, because you will know that no matter what situation you are in, good or bad, it will change. This insight into the changing nature of the world will give you equanimity and joy" (p 60).
-Kamal Sarma in Mental Resilience: The Power of Clarity (New World Library)

"Every obstacle is just an invitation to relax."

A new day... and say...

Friday was quite a big day for me mostly due to the incoming new students and my new responsibilities. I felt like I had learned a lot more on this particular day than any other since I came to work. Despite a few kinks with the Smartboard (I guess it is not so smart after all) the day went down quite well and fast. I seemed to have gotten the good draw of a group of experienced and bright students while having a nice team of colleagues that the meeting I had to hold ran smoothly as well. As long as we keep the high hopes with the current motivation to work well together this team looks very promising. And the biggest reward for myself toward the end of the day is that I got my new HDTV! Yeehaw!!!

And of course I have been following the Olympic controversy. I am not going to deliberate my opinions too much again here (I'm scared of death threats and such...) but I just want to say there are too many people maybe unintentionally upholding double standards. On one hand they say such an event should not "involve politics" but on the other hand they would protest against other countries' attitude and opinions towards the occasion. Haven't their protests become part of the politics per se? I actually find the current Olympic theme of "One World, One Dream" a chilling idea as it resembles the ideology of tyrants past and present. The intolerance of different voices and opinions would only make the current sitation worse which is something the Chinese, especially the CCP needs to learn if the nation is to present itself as a real power on the world stage. My conclusion for everyone is this song which has been a favorite of mine in the last few days...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

This week...

I love sumptuous brunch on a weekend...
I love Mariah Carey's and BYU Vocal Point's new CDs...
I love watching news lately (world economy, olympic controversy, US presidential campaign, etc.)...
I love the freedom that I enjoy these days in choosing when, where, what, and how I watch movie and TV shows (DVDs, Comcast on demand, Netflix, Azureus, internet)...
I love being reconnected with so many long time acquaintances in the virtual world...
I love attending school and learning a new language with virtually no pressure...
I love seeing the funny and adorable wild sea otters float and sunbathe in the ocean while the mommy seal teaches the suckling baby seal how to swim and survive... (click and enlarge the image to see those cutey creatures in the sea)
I love the lovely spring/summer weather in Cali...
I love the opportunity to travel with my fam all over again this summer...
I love my new smaller but comfy office...
I love my old students and the fact that I failed to take pictures with them two days in a row due to a colleague's "magic touch" on my camera that it kept dying on me...
I love having more say in my work and teaching now and the anticipation of the new students coming in tomorrow... stay tuned...

Sunday, April 06, 2008

On being a polyglot...

New disclaimer:
blog readability test

I actually am happy this blog is categorized as high school reading level. Considering English not being my 1st language I do think it is quite an achievement! Hehe...

More than once people asked me how many languages I speak and usually the answer they get is either a "blah" meaning nothing at all or I completely avoid answering it. The reasons are:
1. it is hard to define what it means to "know" or to be able to "speak" a language;
2. I really don't know because I have exposure to many but nowhere close to being fluent enough to fully communicate with others;
3. and of course I don't want to sound cocky as I really am a humble and a nice person! ;)

My goal in life is to learn as many languages as I can because I think that is the best way to learn about a culture. Of course it is not possible to be fluent in more than a handful but I enjoy the stimulation a language offers in reshaping my thinking about cultures and the world. Here it is all my encounters and experience with different languages if you really want to know:
Cantonese: Of course it is my native and I feel the urge to defend it whenever people think it is not a real language but a dialect. Personally I think it is way more fun and colorful than the dry and dull Mandarin. My goal is to teach Cantonese at the college level again someday.
English: I was fascinated by it since I was little as I thought it was cool to be able to speak a language so different from my own and communicative to the entire world. I was fortunate to attend a semi-international elementary school but had a tough time handling all subjects in English. I hated the teachers so much that eventually switched to a regular Chinese governement/public school which was then way too easy for me. My English skills soared and was perfected during the year as an exchange student at the University of Utah. Defintely the best year of my college life.
Mandarin: Had no problem understanding since both parents speak it with my older bro. I refused to speak it at home when I was young however as I thought it was "uncool" that none of my peers spoke it at the time. Who would have thunk (I think this word is "cool" as well btw) I would be a teacher of this "uncool" language now?
Indonesian: I was left living in Indonesia for 3 months alone with my Indonesian relatives at the age of 8 in the name of curing my health problems. Had ton of fun to begin with that most of my relatives there spoke limited Chinese which forced me to pick up Indonesian at light speed. After 3 months I'd had enough of living away from my family and I had no desire of receiving Indonesian education (I don't think I would enjoy being converted into Islam) that I demanded to be sent back home. But now I'm amazed at times how much I still remember after all these years with that brief exposure to the language and the culture.
Sign Language: Thanks to Berinda, Brother Yuen, and Sister Fung that I picked up CSL (technically HKSL) at church as there was a need for interpreters for the deaf members. It was really an eye opener to learn the signs and interacted with the deaf communities in Hong Kong and later Macau on my mission. They are the nicest and the most humble people I have ever met. Even the visit to the deaf school in Quanzhou China with the YAs made me want to give back and do something for them again in the near future.
Italian: Took a year course during freshman year. It was my last choice of foreign language class but I felt I had to learn a new language to keep me sane from the boring biology classes. The Italian Diction class I took at the U of U was super fun but I keep wondering why I had the guts to take that class with everyone else being senior vocal majors. I did somehow mysteriously get an "A" in the end!
Japanese: I was one class shy of being a Japanese minor in college but just wanted to know more so that I know what I was eating or watching while enjoying my favorite Japanese snacks or the crazy Japanese TV shows.
Spanish: One year at the U and one year at CUHK. The two teachers at the U were wonderful while the one at CU was a total slacker. The good thing is I don't have to worry about not having exposure to it now being in a state where Spanish is pretty much the 2nd language. Many of my students are of Latino descent as well.
Tagalog: Did not really learn it formally but the fellow Filippino missionaries taught me quite a bit. Learned the lines for ice-breaking so the Filippinas would really open up when I approached them. It was amazing to get to know these people who have always been a part of Hong Kong culture but often neglected by the locals.
French: Took a summer intensive course at the Y. The American teacher was actually a classmate of mine but I learned more about language teaching than the language per se. He has very creative and organized teaching skills that I later integrated into my own teaching. I love how things are pronounced... tres beau...
Hebrew: I wanted to take the intensive summer course at the Y as well but felt it was way too intensive than I expected that I dropped out after a week. The teacher was very experienced but the methodology was too traditional for me. I am glad he still recognized me and said hi to me afterwards without sounding mad...
Korean: In preparation for the Asian tour with the YAs, I studied a bit of Korean on my own that I wanted to fully experience the culture. I memorized a few lines in Korean that I fooled most of the group that I spoke Korean! But I am so proud with the help of a Korean classmate that I ran the entire Korean supertitles of the show on my own not really knowing how to read Korean!
German: It has been a little over 2 months since class started but my intension is more on language teaching observation rathan than really learning the language per se. The experience so far has been very enjoyable and I even want to visit Germany now because of the things I have learned. I'd better go back to study for the test tomorrow now! Tschus!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Warum? Porque? どうして? Why? 为什么?點解?

I am not discontent with life. I am not in a bad mood. But I just feel like I can't help asking these questions today...Why does putting together a show for the world still matter when there are lots of crap going on in the country? Why do Chinese leaders since Mao till today still like to scream into the microphone like there is no sound system at all? Why are the Tibetans angry? Why do the Taiwanese seem to be happy for their election yesterday? Why is there no real election in China? Why does Hong Kong have to wait for universal suffrage? Why am I buying 90% of stuff made in China no matter where I go in the world?Why is this company still making tons of green while being sued by many? Why am I not rich? Why do I/we feel so helpless sometimes? Well, enough questions for the day and I am going back to watch Jeopardy now to answer the questions I can handle... :)

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Tetris!!!

A little bit of story about this legendary game of our time. An assignment for one of my computer classes back in college was to program a well-known game using Visual Basics. A guy in our team who was a total overacheiver decided to work on Tetris and I almost fainted when I heard the idea because it sounded overwhelming for us to do so. If we were that good we could probably make lots of money just doing that! But anyways he took up like 80% of the project while my other Pakistani classmate and I did the rest. The end product did not work perfectly and I guess the other teams in class might have thought we were some freaking geeks. Not me! Anyways I saw this amazing project by the Swiss'.And I totally admire the Japanese wacky but creative sense of humor as usual...

Monday, March 17, 2008

My organizational behavior (MOB)

Ended up not going to bed as early as I wanted to so this morning I was off to a weird start. First I felt bloated probably because of the worsened metabolism of the sugar intake from last night as reported by 60 minutes of the effect of sleep deprivation. I literally gained a few pounds over one night just because of the fries, a Carl's Junior Teriyaki burger (which was yummy!), and my fav peanut butter cookie! Yeah so much for my indulgence on gluttony. Then since I didn't have early morning class until 10 I moved a lot slower on my way to my car for work. As I was trying to grab a bottle of water from the trunk my car key slipped off of its key chain and without thinking I pulled out the key from the key hole, dropped it in the trunk, grabbed the bottle, and closed the trunk... Oh wait a minute! That means my key is now in the trunk and I have no way to get into the car. What was I thinking (or the lack of it)? Once again I can blame it on my sleep deprived dysfunctional brain. I was thinking if I should call my insurance company for the auto service to help me out. Then I decided to give it a try to locate my spare key. It has actually mysteriously disappeared for a good few months and I have no clue where it was. I flipped my drawers, desks, and closet over to look for it and at the same time I gave my supervisor a head's up that I might end up missing work for the morning. My neighbors could see me running back and forth a couple times between the apartment and the car for using the wrong keys attempting to pop the car doors open. I then regret my total lack of organizational skills that my drawers and closets are plain messy war zones that it was difficult to reach in, let alone finding the spare key comparable to finding a needle in a haystack. Miraculously I had a great feeling when I saw a tupperware box that I put some of my bookmarks and memorable show ticket stubs (I know how random and dorky it sounds) that the key was gonna be there. Tuh-duh! When I saw it it felt like I had struck gold! In no time I was back in the office and my supervisor was quite amazed (and relieved) that I was back this soon.

Now my next goal is to "establish a house of order"!!!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Go with the flow...

Wanted to write but have been either preoccupied with things or distracted by stuff at home and at work. So these are some of the happenings and random thoughts since my last post...

~I have been quite frustrated lately at work for things I have little or no control of. My boss noticed that and gave me a "heart-to-heart" talk which kind of helped. There are even things I do not agree with her but I really appreciate her taking the initiative for such a move. At least she has been honest with me and very vocal about what is on her mind. I should not have let the negativity creep into my work and should have found a better way to channel my frustrations. Now as I look back why should we even sweat these seemingly small things, it is not like these are do-or-die situations. Sometimes we just need to step back and chill a bit. And I still remember a great Sister Wooley said on my mission that "the absence of stress is death" that we actually need to learn how to deal with it. And I think there is no "perfect" job in this world and that is why we are hired to solve problems and theoretically make the world better. If you want to have everything goes your way, be your own boss. But even that is not quite true just by looking at how tough it is my dad has been working...

~I love being a student. Back in school I even wondered what the point of going to join the work force after graduation is. Now I absolutely enjoy the stress-free hours after work without worrying homework, papers, or tests. Now I often dread to go to my German class after work because I am exhausted by late afternoon. But once class has started I would be totally into everything and thoroughly enjoy learning in the classroom. One great thing about going to college in America is that students are from all over and with very diverse background. We have a couple grandpas, a girl who was born in Germany, an MLI from the Russian school sitting next to me, and classmates from Turkey, Peru, Mexico, and Austria. And let alone our outstanding teacher that I feel like learning more about teaching skills from her as opposed to the subject matter per se. And I have done lots of reflection on being a good (language) learner/student as well. Ausgezeichnet!

~On the news: the protests and turmoil in Tibet is another letdown for me about China. It is not the violence or whatever issue the people are fighting that gets on my nerves but the way the government and the "official media" handle the case which once again to me is pathetic. I don't think labeling the protesters as "terrorists" with such and such conspiracy is news that is reliable. The mainland Chinese official media's tone of "all is well" and the mentality of sweeping everything under the rug have never changed. That is the problem of a country run by one single political party which holds all power and is so afraid of any force that would seize any part of it from them. All they care is "face" and put on a "good show" to the world, e.g. the Olympics. Such mentality also exists among many of my colleagues who are mostly from the mainland as it is evident from some of the ridiculous "professional presentations" I was presented with in the past few weeks. I regret being forced to join in the applause afterwards as everybody did so. Going back to the Olympics, as there have been talks on boycotting the Games, I probably would be an advocate myself if things do not improve or get worse. Having been involved in certain Beijing Olympics related projects myself, now I am not thrilled at all about it as there are more importants things we should be dealing with in the country first. The other day I was presenting the "Fuwa" - the mascots for the Beijing Games to the students, my students burst out laughing... at me because of my sarcasm and cynicism showed in my tones and "fake laughs". I know, I have changed quite a bit as a person.

~Just saw a report on sleep deprivation on 60 minutes. On top of the well-known facts of increased chance of accidents on the road and decrease of productivity and memory, it has been linked with obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Sleeping has been an issue for me for a looooong time and I guess I'd better hit the sack right away now!

Monday, March 10, 2008

On Idol...

I confess that I do watch Idol but over the years none of the contestants has really impressed me... until this guy showed up.If David doesn't win it all I think the show is rigged! :)

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Nostalgia

Went to a "dim sum" restaurant in Gilroy a week ago as I craved for food from home. Then I was reminded of how much I missed the days when we were thrilled at and anticipating for the approaching of those "dim sum" carts toward our tables at the restaurants when we were kids. It is now replaced with the diners checking from a list at the table which is a lot less fun. It is sad more and more of the unique "Hong Kong culture" is lost or abandoned, whether intentionally or not.

On the same note, a legend of the Hong Kong show business has passed on. Lydia Shum is quite a symbolic figure of the pride and spirit of Hong Kong. Watching lots of TV as a kid, I grew up watching her and admired her uplifting spirit and energy. A true entertainer and inspiring person that is larger than life indeed.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Lost...


After this skit, I like Huckabee now. Quite smart and funny. If I were to vote he could have been the one just based on this.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Happy times...

I'm an uncle! These out-of-the-world super adorable twins are actually my cousin's. And happy 40th anniversary, mom and dad!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

When everything turns red...

First of all don't get me wrong, this is not meant to be China-bashing being Chinese myself but I think we do need to be honest with ourselves when it comes to certain important issues.

Back in high school my least favorite subject was Chinese history and I totally sucked at it. It is not that I hated the subject but it was the way it was presented was totally uninspiring and dull. These days I have been studying quite a bit and have taken a good look and thinking about what have happened especially in the past 50 or so years in the "motherland". I am fascinated at the turn of the events but at the same time many of the things are plain depressing.
Maoist cult, the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, June-Fourth, corruption, pollution, human rights, SARS, Darfur, AIDS, economic disparity, religious freedom, news censorship, industrial hazards, peasant uprising... the list goes on and on that all the problems past and present cannot be covered under the disguise of "economic prosperity and social stability". I just hope everyone can take the courage to face the naked truth of what really is going on and what matters most to both individuals and the nation as a whole. I applaud Spielberg for his courage to use his power and influence to step up and tell the truth. Even my favorite grocery store Trader Joe's is doing something about it. It just gives me chills to see the big red Communist China become the next superpower while it preserves many of its irrational mentality, ideology, and behavior from the past. All we can do is to keep our fingers crossed things can improve when people are enlightened, especially with the free flow of information on the internet and the advancement of technology...

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Monday, February 04, 2008

You drive me crazy...

I'm in a relatively good mood now (see below for explanation) and so I got something quite funny here...

I stumbled on this Pizza Hut commercial from Hong Kong...
And then I see a connection with this one...

So hilarious!!! Ok I started my German class today. On top of learning a new European language in preparation for my dream vacation to Europe, I am more interested in learning how to be a better language teacher from a student's perspective. I highly recommend every language teacher to do so especially when they are teaching. Now I have more sympathy on my poor students in class. I didn't expect to be this nervous going back into the classroom and start learning a foreign language from scratch. It's a huge class with 40 students but quite fun nevertheless. I might start writing something in German in the near future...

Speaking of language learning I found this amazing and I am going to introduce it to my students tomorrow. Serious!
Take anything you want! Take anything you want! It's stuck in my head now! Gosh!

I have a bad case of DIARHHEA!!! :D

Alright, the reason I'm happy today is a "bad case" on my work issue has been resolved. What happened is the USCIS totally messed up with my work document that I almost lost my job last week. Very scary. I am glad my employer stepped up and get some "big dog" involved and get it fixed in a short time. The lesson learned is that I used to think paper work especially in the bureacracy context is a bad bad thing but now I realize proper record keeping and documentation is crucial and sometimes can save one's life. So now whenever I fill out a seemingly important form or any significant document I receive I immediately make a (some times several) copy/ies of it. It is exactly the copies of a certain document and letter that saved me. Whew, what a close call it was. Anyways I am happy now and I can go to bed and have a good sleep...


Hasta la vista, baby! Or auf Wiedersehen! :)

Monday, January 28, 2008

Praise to the Man

Having been dealing with quite a few life and death matters lately, namely suicidal friend, family member with serious illness, and even the death of Heath Ledger, this is the one that I am finally comfortable with. Thanks to Tiffany who informed me within an hour of the news (from Hong Kong!) President Hinckley finally rested in peace and reunited with his wife. What a remarkable man of God he is. He became prophet right before I came to the US (Salt Lake City, Utah to be exact) and since then I had the privilege to sing in front of him (and right behind him) on a few occasions. I met a few of his grandchildren and one of them even told me a bit about his life and his love of all the people that he served. I was so amazed with his achievements that I finished reading his biography in less than a month (a record for me at the time) and voluntarily wrote a paper on him for an institute class that I sat in. His biggest influence on me was this conference talk that I still clearly remember I read on the first day of December 1999 which gave me the much needed conviction to do well on the most memorable month of my mission in Hong Kong. His extraordinary ability in summing up the history of mankind in beautiful words and his eloquence totally left me in awe.

This is another nice news article on his achievements.

May God bless us with a sense of our place in history and . . . our need to stand tall and walk with resolution in a manner becoming the Saints of the Most High. ~Gordon B. Hinckley

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

What home means...

It's over a month into the new year already and the year of the "rat" is even approaching and I have wanted to update the blog but when it comes to writing I never did as often as I wanted. Now I have to "backblog" about my home vacation...

At home I have not been "productive" at all. Well, that's exactly the point of "home country leave". Being home without really having to work has given me plenty of opportunity, space, and time to think and reflect on a lot of things.

~Being home means real good food for me, with the following being some of my favs:Real sweet and sour pork... it's supposed to be crispy outside with tender meat inside...

I've loved this eggplant dish since I was little and never get tired of it...

Love this waffle... it's just peanut butter and sugar in it but addicting... one of the culprits for my few extra pounds gained...

And of course nothing beats mom's cooking!

~China to many people is very "prosperous" now but at the same time things get quite out of hand that people are losing their mind thinking they are mighty powerful with their rising RMB and all the money in the world. They seriously need to enrich their thinking, culture, and especially morals. Just the other day I was stupidly waiting in line shopping when all these people jumping in front of me without even blinking of an eye. The propaganda of being "civilized" can still be seen everywhere but when will they actually learn? I used to be quite excited and enthusiastic about the coming of the Chinese Olympics, but now I don't care that much any more. You will not believe what they sell in the Chinese version of Costco there until you enlarge the picture... don't if you have a weak heart...

~I bought "Baby" (ironically she's 11 years old now) a bed and the first thing she did was to pee on it!!! I'm glad she loved the bed and she's so funny that she seems to recognize me after all these years and begged me to hold her and let her sleep on my lap once in a while... awwwwww...
~Celebrated Doris' birthday in Macau and I wish I knew the place as good as when I did back in the ol' mission days. It was great traveling with the fam esp. mom and dad who deserve a much needed break.
~Didn't plan to visit with people other than my fam but somehow I managed to meet with quite a few looooong time friends.Thanks Covi, Samily, Sangel, Wallace, Ah Dak, Ben, Gigi, Kenny, Lauren, Tiffany, Venus, Circle, "Horse King", Boris, Andrew, Jeremy, Michael, Julie, Ming, and Jacky, it was fun to catch up with all of you again.

~I've read A LOT during this trip, from Harry Potter to finance to health to music and even politics. I'd better speed up my reading because there are so much out there to read and learn but so little time I have...

Speaking of reading and learning, I am going back to school tomorrow!!! No, I'm not ready for PhD yet as I even dread writing on my blog, let alone writing up a dissertation. I'm just taking a German class at the community college right across where I live. How convenient (and cheap as I am CA resident now). I'm excited.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Starting anew...

Here comes another new year and I'm not even quite sure what exactly I have accomplished this past year. Without going into the specifics 2008 will be a significant one: with my academic, career, financial, health, relationship, and travel goals set.

And I am definitely glad that I've made it home in time for the new year. Flying Cathay is definitely the best choice as I ended up taking both seats by the window all by myself during the long 14+ hour flight. I for sure hate flying long distance getting stuck in between other passengers. The coolest thing on the flight is the interactive entertainment. I'm always an advocate and a fan of iTV and here it is that I pretty much sacrificed my sleep hours for the movies and shows I watched.
I played a few rounds of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"...
and even learned a few phrases in my ancestral language -- Indonesian. You gotta love and embrace technology these days!

And I also have to mention an awesome movie I saw before I left -- Lars and the Real Girl. The idea is crazy (both figuratively and literally) but the plot is just warm and touching and shows what true humanity means.

And for some reason this song has been stuck in my head lately.