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.