Why, China, WHY?

Okay. If even suburban 6th graders across the Pacific at Los Coyotes Middle School have to learn about the city of Kashgar in WESTERN China, clearly it deserves some credit for being historically significant; maybe enough to not get demolished and built over with apartment buildings and fake replications of its unique culture. All in the name of earthquake protection? Yeah right.

Pretty

Looking pretty for Baby Lucas' baptism reception, May 2009. May our faces, and calves in particular, always look this good.

Brightness

In preparing for Micronesia, I've decided to take a break from the regular black and blue drab one can call my daily attire. I mean, how often is one going to get to spend a year on an island, thousands of miles clear of sight and sound from any high horsed fashion police? But then again, if I had cared about the fashion police at all during my time at home, I would have been behind bars a long time already. In the future, here's to hoping that my personal shopper will keep me jail free; you know, along with the personal chef who will make low cholesterol tasty meals and the chauffeur waiting outside. In the meantime(or reality), here's a preview of the tropical rainbow that will be me, or what is on me. Someday, bittersweetly, there will come a day for Chanel suits and Manolo heels. As for now, hypothetically owned nice suit and heels would mold after a week in Kosrae, so no. No, only flips flops and 100% thin cotton is allowed in this suitcase. After reviewing these, it is evident that I am destined to be in a Skittles commercial.

P.S- These were so ridiculous and silly, I knew they were "the ones" from like, 30 feet away. Goodbye, boring brown scratched and cracked old pair. Hello brightness!

and so it begins, again

Micronesia 2009 just became a little more real today, as the names and emails of the group going were just released. I think WorldTeach wants us to start communicating via email now to discuss the living situations (i.e who is bringing what), travel and lesson plans, etc.

So far it looks like there's going to be at least 7 people including myself. As I look at our new GoogleGroups/email list serve, I can't help but think: and so it begins, again. A new group for a new place, a new community and support network. Right now, it's 7 email addresses unfamiliar to each other; 7 people from all over the place, brought together by all electing to travel to the same remote island; 7 different life stories soon to be intertwined together for a brief while. Right now each person is equally unfamiliar; but I wonder by this time next year when we go our separate ways, how will we remember each other? It's pretty exciting.

Thinking about this (especially thinking about this at 5am) makes me think about the brevity and perceivable randomness of life's circumstances. We get thrown into situations- be it college, a new job, relocation post-college, re-relocation to a remote island- and while we can hypothesize outcomes of the situation, how it ends up playing out can be totally different. The people we get to meet along the way, who makes a lasting impression, and those who retreat back into the vast sea of memories- so much is not yet revealed.

tacos and sriracha sauce

America, and California to be specific, is a smorgasbord of ethnic enclaves, religions, lifestyles, historically significant crossroads, etc. While it's around us all the time, its commanding presence can at times fade, becoming the background music to the tune of our American lives. We wake up, get dressed, drive, go to work, eat, play, sleep. Set that on repeat. For this reason, it is an absolute delight when the background music makes a momentous comeback and however briefly, reminds us all of its powerful existence. Today, I was reminded of that through the channel of food.

It started with noticing an innocent article on sriracha sauce in the Times this morning. Fast forward to dinner this evening, where I decided to give this little rooster labeled red bottle (which has sat untouched at SO many impromptu pho noodle meals in the past) a try.

At first bite, I totally got the ratio of sauce per bite wrong. Read: I basically lit on fire and melted. But, after a short learning curve, it got better. A LOT better. My confidence (and liking) in this sauce grew to the point where it can be placed for serious consideration to be a part of my all-star sauce lineup: Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, honey mustard.

According to NYTimes, the maker/genius of this concoction pulled ingredients from all over to make this; not adhering strictly to one ethnic cuisine or another. And while primarily marketed for Asian communities, the bottle also says that it's tasty with hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, and pasta.

Its stated versatility that was praised by the Times was pretty cool, and I guess a decent example of food representing the melting pot of cultures. But what sealed the deal in this sauce's like-ability is that apparently, the famous (and still presently mysterious to me) Los Angeles Kogi taco truck uses Sriracha sauce as the ONLY complementing condiment to their Korean taco menu.

This popular traveling taco truck parks itself in various busy street corners around Los Angeles. For me, eating their Korean short-rib taco is a non-negotiable must do before a year of Spam and yams in the South Pacific.

I've decided that paying homage to the taco truck is vital to my education of Los Angeles. Yes, for the tasty tacos. But beneath its crunchy shell and a quick scroll down, these tacos were also able to elicit some heated comments, some which fiercely defended our fusion lifestyle that at times goes unnoticed, or is taken for granted. From a $2 taco, we can be reminded of who we are, who we live with in the greater community, our identities as Americans with ancestors from elsewhere, how far we've come, and however corny, the amazing stuff we've been able to accomplish through inspiring each other.- like a highly acclaimed taco truck that makes short rib tacos.

I love California, and I can't wait to try this place out!

Lists

In the spirit of making lists, here's an attempt to get over the procrastination hill for preparing next year:

List #1: Things that absolutely have to get done, and get done soon, or else I will be booted from the group
- Retrieve my physical form from Dr. Wang + send two copies to WT
- Get immunizations in line
- Ask for a letter from teaching supervisor + send that in

List #2: Things I probably should do so I won't be screwed when I get to the island
- Visit the dentist
- Visit the optometrist and get a fresh supply of contacts + glasses
- Read over health/travel/life insurance policies
- Get prescriptions filled + purchase some over the counter drugs & vitamins
- Purchase a mosquito net/repellent/tiger balm/whatever works
- Load up on supplies (ie sunscreen, chap stick, contact water, etc) that may be hard to come by on the island.
- Make a separate packing list to make sure nothing that is needed is forgotten
- Research phone/internet options on the island
- Get finances in order

List #3: Things I also should probably do to avoid being a cultural no-no
- Purchase clothing that covers my legs and shoulders
- Being that this island is one of the top surfing destinations, I should at least garner some idea on how to surf
- Learn some basic Kosrean phrases
- Read up on the history, society, and customs of the Micronesia region, specifically Kosrae island

List #4: Things I think I could do to reduce the stress of teaching in unforeseeable circumstances.
- Review subjects I may be assigned to teaching (most likely elementary English)
- Prepare general ideas on lesson plans
- Read over the WT volunteer teaching resources provided
- Sign up for online ESL resources and collect teaching resources that could help
- Prepare boxes of materials to be shipped over just in case
- Talk to returned volunteers for advice

List #5: Things I want to do because they are the most fun and easy of the bunch.
- Purchase a new camera (because if you've seen mine, you would know that it is over due time)
- Purchase a hard drive
- Set up Picasa or renew Flickr account to prepare for the expected increase in photo storage
- Plan my vacation to New Zealand/wherever after
- Seeing as I will soon be sans car, I should not be lazy now and exercise
- Write an email to alert friends/family that I will not be in the States for the year
- Think of goals I want to accomplish for next year and possible side projects to do aside from teaching

List #6: Things in the far future, but in near future I should start thinking about to avoid being in a quarter life crisis upon return from the island
- Job or school?
- If grad school: when, how, what, and where?
- Return destination: ties in closely with grad school and job, but nevertheless deserves its own bullet. Socal, norcal or neither? Home or own apartment?


After reading my own lists, I now proclaim to be in panic mode. ah!

Updated countdown

Counting today, there are:

31 more days until work is over

22 more work days

4 more Mondays(+1 starting Tuesday)

5 more extended hour Wednesdays

If I were still in China, I would celebrate with one of these, arguably my favorite discovery in Beijing, aside from popsicles:

Like a true tourist description: Peculiarly sweet yogurt-like drink in ceramic cup. Covered by a square piece of wax paper held together by a rubber band. You pay the equivalent of roughly 25 cents to drink it. Then you return the ceramic cup and get the equivalent of 10 cents back. 25 minus 10 cents equals 15 cents for awesome.

Fried goodness

Once in college, I met a girl who professed a zealous devotion to eating only vegetables and fruits. Serious. While she probably was fudging the truth a bit, there is something to be said about some girls thinking they need to constantly project an image of eating super healthy and well, always eat super healthily (although a vegetable-only diet really is questionable on healthiness). Well, like what my 4th graders say, vegetable girl can suck it. Here are some new and old foods I've recently had the enormous pleasure of devouring.

Foods #1 and #2: Haagen Daz Baileys and Coffee
Food group: Ice Cream
Calorie count: who cares
Comments: While vanilla bean ice cream remains in a resolute position for first place, the combination of Haagen Daz Baileys and Coffee ice cream put up a remarkable fight. The caffeine is at a tolerable level, and the taste is supreme.

Food #3: Smokehouse burger
Food group: Big Burgers
Calorie count: ate it too fast to count
Comments: This one was really good. It had chicken, ham, bacon, onion rings, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce with BBQ sauce. It was a really good night.

Food #4: Funnel Cakes
Food Group: Carnival food
Calorie count: probably the same number as the temperature of the oil it was deep fried in. but then again, that is probably erring on the conservative side
Comments: Due to its rarity and only seasonal appearance, I think the funnel cake can trump foods 1 to 3. In eat-ability, it should also receive the highest stars in being a "sometime food." I'm a little biased toward funnel cakes because eating one stirs up memories of carnivals (hence its food group categorization), theme parks, city fairs, etc. Today, on a beach in Oceanside, I was lucky enough to come across this:

5 minutes later, lo and behold (well, not really, you all knew it was coming), the fried mess of artery clogging goodness:

Sprinkled lightly (or heavily) with powdered sugar and maybe some strawberries, funnel cakes are without question one of the best foods created.

#26 and #21

Spotted on my morning cup of coffee from Starbucks. And by coffee, I really mean hot chocolate. But I can at least pretend to be grown up right?

Spotted on my friend's cup, which had real coffee in it:

Are "C"s the new "A"s?

As I sit here snacking on some good old fashioned instant oatmeal, I can't help but do what I do: contemplate over the recent events of life and try to make sense of the mess of it all. Not unlike traditional schooling and, well, in the spirit of final exam season, maybe it is time for an evaluation of post-grad life. How are we doing?

Unlike traditional schooling, I think it's time to throw out the As, Bs, Ds, and Fs. It seems like what a fair amount of twenty-somethings want (and some have attained) are "C"s. Big, fat, red "C"s written on the exam paper of life using the permanent marker of success so the whole world can see.

Come with me, let's sail the seven "C"s! (har har)

1. C for COLLEGE: College (or education in the way that best applies to your life) is like the freebie of the bunch. It's like the GO--> square on the Monopoly board. You've worked hard in school for 2 decades. You've paid your dues in pencil lead and all nighters. Hopefully, you got something in return. Despite the possible brain cell decline from excessive alcohol consumption in recent years, you know you're smart and you've made it to a level where you can contribute meaningfully back to the world. Good job. Go you!

2. C for CAR: Pragmatically speaking, as a working "adult" (because we totally are), it just makes sense to have our own vehicles; especially in our area since freeways basically strangle us from head to toe. Un-pragmatically speaking, do you honestly want your hot date to sit on top of a seat stain caused by you puking as a child on the way back from apple-picking? Or worse, fear that when he/she opens the car door, the handle will fly off? Then again, that's probably just my car.

3. C for CASH: It is inevitable that a twenty-something living in a metropolitan area is going to be introduced to some pretty cool young "adult" (again, the quotations) things to do. You're going to want to take your new, sexy car out to some places besides your office. Weekend trips to Vegas or San Francisco; clubbing in LA or SD; baseball, basketball, hockey games; wine tasting in Napa; a vast sea of untasted restaurants; concerts; traveling during vacation time; music and film festivals; the list can go on. But, what CANNOT go on, unfortunately, is one's attendance to such festivities if one does not have the cash.

4. C for CAREER: Okay, money and fun isn't everything. Hopefully, you would have built your work around a passion, a dream/ambition/cause you can devote your life working to achieve. It would be nice if the cash flow came from you doing what you actually loved; adding value to society, reshaping the landscape of your chosen industry, leaving the world a little better than how it was previously.

5. C for CONDO: Do I really need to touch on this one? Who WOULDN'T want to live in a place where IKEA threw up in a way that was conducive to your liking, martini glasses lined the windowsill, and 10 types of cereal sat on top the fridge? More important than aesthetics and autonomy over cereal control, having your own place (be it a condo, house, houseboat, shack, whatever) is often seen as a symbolic marker of true independence. You've officially moved out of the nest and are "on your own." Not in a college kid "I'm on my own but I have meal points and I still go home to do laundry" sort of way, but legit on your own.

6. C for CREW: Even if you have the hookups to the best hot spots in town, the sexiest bachelor(ette) pad ever, and an equally sexy car, it would be no fun if you didn't have some people to share it all with. As with pretty much everything on here, the definition of what constitutes as one's "crew" is subjective to the individual. For me, I think a good crew would be similar to the layers of the Earth: a small but awesome inner core core, a larger outer core of people to feel comfortable around at social gatherings, the quasi new people/friends of friends which make up the mantle, and the occasional contact with the crust: strangers, random cool people. Like a crust, they can flake all they want, but it doesn't really matter because they really aren't that important.

7. C for CUPCAKE: ... or Cutiepie, whatever you call your significant other. Twenty somethings can get by, and actually go a long way with just their crew. However, while friends are fun and all, it's unlikely you'll get your friends to hold your hand during a scary movie, take a bubble bath with you, or make you a candlelit dinner (you must be some amazing friend if you contest). But for the masses, I think that those activities are reserved for you and your Cupcake: your boyfriend, girlfriend, special friend with possible benefits, wife, husband, life partner, whatever.

So here are the 7 "C"s. It's eval time. Make like Monopoly and GO!!! How are we twenty somethings doing? Wait a second. Even after listing it down, it still isn't clear on HOW a proper evaluation should take place. Should grading be curved and just relative to how our peers are doing? Or should we take the aggregate score? Should the rigor of grading be directly proportional to the age of the twenty something? Can, and should we control bias?

So many questions, it is admittedly overwhelming. I think I'll have a cupcake.