Greetings!! I'm not sure if anyone still checks this blog as I have greatly neglected it since arriving home.
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Year of the Rabbit! Annnd almost Happy Valentine's Day!! <3
Contrary to what you may think, I did not, in fact, fall off the face of the earth. :D I've just not been disciplined enough to sit down and update. But here I go ~
Upon arriving home, Christmas was in the air and assisted, along with my friend Mr. Jet Lag, in keeping me distracted from the transition from Taiwan to California. I had a wonderful Christmas and was so blessed to be home in time for the holidays.
Next came New Years, which arrived with little fanfare. Although I have to admit that I'm still not accustomed to hearing and writing 2011 as our current year! January brought some birthdays with it, my mom and Tiffany. I hope you both have a blessed year. :) My dad was scheduled for surgery on the last day of January but it was postponed because of a recent respiratory infection.
So, that brings us to February! Which we have just barely started but are already about half-way through ... unbelievable! Presently, I'm sitting in the living room with my family around me, ease-dropping on an hilarious conversation my dad is having on speaker phone. I have library books in my room that are now overdue by about three days. And speaking of my room, it is calling my name because believe it or not, I have not completed unpacking my things yet. ^_^ haha ... ummm no further comment.
With February this year also came New Years for those who celebrate the lunar calendar. :) (In my dictionary, this translates as all my Asian friends and me ^_^) I was feeling in the mully-grubs about Chinese New Year because this is the first year since I've been "in" Chinese culture that I haven't been able to do something to celebrate. Little did I know, my mom was planning for us to go out to Chinese food as a family. :) It was so sweet and the food was great! During dinner, my dad used chopsticks for probably the first time in his life. It was pretty adorable. He was really doing his best and I appreciated his efforts more than I could explain. :)
There are two more points that I must share for your reading pleasure. Number one: This one is sort of a longer story but bear with me. Several weeks ago, my mom and I were going to grab some Chinese food for the first time since I've been home. Mom picked up the phone to call the restaurant that we usually order from to find out what time they closed. When she dialed I reached for the phone and told her I would try asking in Chinese and see what would happen. When the lady picked up the phone I said in Mandarin, "Hi, what time do you close tonight?" She replied in English, (with a Chinese accent, mind you), "Hello?" To which I repeated my above inquiry. Upon which she HUNG UP THE PHONE!! lol I was half amused by the situation and half insulted that she wouldn't engage me in my desperate quest to practice! As it turns out, she definitely speaks Cantonese, but I'm not sure about Mandarin. Anyhow, that is the back-up story to tell you what happened on Chinese New Year. So, my whole family thought this little escapade was quite hilarious and upon choosing the restaurant we would visit that night, my dad thought up a little "game". I had to call a place and ask them in Chinese what time they closed. If they hung up, there were immediately off of our possible list. If they answered me back in Mandarin, then we would put them on the "consider" list. :) We ended up only calling two places, both of which answered me in Chinese. We went downtown to a place we had never been but it was so good! I think it's the best Chinese food I've found in town!
Second story: My lovely sisters were in Starbucks a while back and saw a CD for sale that was a compilation in celebration of Chinese New Years. Hence, the assumption was that the music was either in the Chinese style and/or songs sung in Chinese. When they gave it to me, I was so surprised and quite pleased that they had "planned ahead" for Chinese New Year!! When I popped the CD into to stereo and began to listen, I was in for quite a surprise!! The first words I heard were English!! lol But the best part of the entire CD is track number 3. The song is completely in English and sung by someone with a possible Australian accent. The lyrics consist of, and I kid you not,(Verse 1)"Would you like to watch me dance? Would you like to watch me dance? I don't mind if all you want is just to watch me dance!" (Verse 2)"Would you like to watch me move? Would you like to watch me move? I don't mind if all you want is just to watch me move!"
My mom, brother and I were all in the room listening at the same time. We were dying!!! Mom and I were on the couch and laughing so hard that we were crying! It was so unexpected and completely random! I'm talking CREEPER SONG of the century!!! I'm determined to make the sound file into a ringtone and secretly set it as my mom's ringtone. Then all I have to do is lie in wait for the first phone call ... hahaha.
Another development in my life: overseeing the education of my brother. With my dad waiting for surgery and my mom working full-time, it leaves a gap at home that seems to be "kate-sized" at the moment. :) Its another example to me of how life and premeditated expectations can change. Flexibility is definitely a characteristic that I'm learning to incorporate in my life. My brother is a wonderful, smart and talented kid. But, as with any new experience in life, it has a learning curve and requires patience and humility on my part.
I just enjoyed a visit from one of my professors from Taiwan, Dominique. She came to give two guest lectures in a Chinese drama class at Davis so I went up to spend time with her. Dominique is so vivacious and thoroughly interesting. What a great few days hanging out with her.
In other exciting news, my older sister just passed her state boards and became a registered nurse! We are so proud of her! She is still in a nursing program for the B.S.N. and will complete that program this coming December, Lord willing.
Please keep my grandmother in your prayers as she is battling with cancer again, this time in her lungs. She is almost at the end of her first set of 13-day radiation treatments. As you can imagine, radiation would make anyone tired, especially a lady who is turning 90 years old next week. :)
Tomorrow, my JAM team is up for teaching the munchkins in Sunday School. The lesson that was prepared in the curriculum set wasn't doctrinally sound so I'm switching it up and doing a lesson about the thing that preoccupies so many minds on February 14th - love. I'm planning to take the angle that Jesus is the best Valentine we could ever have. He gave His all for us to show just how much He loves us. No one on this earth could ever surpass that perfect love. Afterwards, I'm sure there will be much merriment as we usually have amazing snack and fun stuff to do, especially on Valentine's Day Sunday. Last year we had a pizza party ... I'm not sure that we will fill them full of pizza this year, but I'm sure we will enjoy ourselves just as much.
I have decided to overcome the disappointment of not having a Valentine to call my own. Why not treat V-day as we did back in Elementary school? Valentine's Day was something we shared with all our friends to tell them that we appreciated their being apart of our little worlds. This year, don't allow Valentine's Day to be only for those in committed relationships. Remember that Valentine's Day is a celebration of love: God's ultimate love and sacrifice, our Christian love that is shared with the world and the love we share with our family and friends. <3
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