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... :)

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...

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"!!!

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!

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! :)

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.