From 'Upwords'

Before you change professions, try this: 


change your attitude toward your profession.


--Max Lucado

Happy Birthday Dad!!

It's been a great 60 years!!

Well, from what I can tell.  ;-)

&>'s

i. hate. my. sinuses.

Everybody has that little something.  That quirk.  That thing you inherited and will never go away.  No matter how many times you have lived with them through über embarrassing moments and think you have learned how to control it, or at least make sure it won't embarrass you in the future.  It always does.

My little something is my sinuses.  Thanks Dad.  :-)  It's not that having sinus issues is the worst thing in the world.  I could have terrible allergies or migraines or brittle bones or webbed fingers.  Sinus issues aren't even very noticeable.  Until you get sick, and the sinuses start draining.  And draining.  And draining.  (Sometimes you don't even have to get sick first.)  For two weeks.  They don't stop.  Which means the cough doesn't stop, because there's constantly something blocking your means of air to breathe.  And that draining feeling you feel....uhck.

Sinus problems are not even that embarrassing in public.  Until they're very embarrassing.  Like today.  When I'm sitting at my favorite Italian cafe, eating an amazing foccacce.  And.  Suddenly I can't breathe.  I'm not choking on the focacce, my sinuses have been running for so long that they decided to pool up right about now.

Fortunately, the super sweet waitress brought me a glass of way too warm water and then pretended to ignore me.  It also helped that there were no other customers besides....what seemed to be the owner and a potential new business partner....  :-D

Well, at least the warm water did the trick.  :-)

the crane wife 3

one of my favorite songs
by one of my favorite bands
instantly puts me in a good mood :-)

"And under the boughs unbowed

All clothed in a snowy shroud

She had no heart so hardened

All under the boughs unbowed

Each feather it fell from skin

Till threadbare while she grew thin

How were my eyes so blinded?

Each feather it fell from skin

And I will hang my head, hang my head low

And I will hang my head, hang my head low

A gray sky, a bitter sting

A rain cloud, a crane on wing

All out beyond horizon

A grey sky, a bitter sting

And I will hang my head, hang my head low

And I will hang my head, hang my head low"

i know--not the most 'lifting' song
but the aesthetics (in all senses of the word) of the song

is pretty much amazing
sung from the soul, 
as cliche as that sounds
also says a bit about humility
(which is always good for my soul to remember every once in a while...)


as soon as i can figure how to posts songs to blogs,
i will post this one

Sick Day

I'm not actually allowed to take 'Sick Days' like we think of in the States.  So what happens if I actually get sick?  I push through it until I realize that I'm just making it worse by moving around and being around other sick students and teachers.  lol  So I took some grand advice from a good friend, called in sick today.
I've had flu-like symptoms of everything except an actual fever and actually throwing up.  Went to work several days last week.  Did my best to relax over the weekend, but ended up not working because of it.

And by Sunday night........still coughing up my lungs, couldn't swallow, lymph nodes swollen, throat hurts, stomach feels a little weird though not quite nauseous and I still sounded like a smoker.  Monday was coming quickly.  I made my decision.

And I am so happy.  And so annoyed.

Apparently I have rested so much over the weekend, that even though I feel super groggy, still coughing, still can't swallow, lymph nodes still swollen, top of throat hurts still--I can't sleep for more than 20-30 min at a time.

My mind is reeling a bit with everything that needs to get done.  It did take a couple hours to get everything straightened out at school so that some other teachers could take over for me.  And, except for my head, my body, aside from feeling a little weak, doesn't feel super tired anymore.

At least the weather is nice and rainy.  Perfect for a day in.  :-)

Matty B Raps! Cute!

Let It Rain

  I love love love love love love love love love love rain.  :-)

 Maybe it's because I'm a Northwestern girl at heart.  Maybe it's because I grew up with Kansas tornado weather.  Maybe it's because I've spent many hurricane seasons in Southeastern Tennessee.  Maybe it's because I am currently living in the rainy season, and loving it. :-)
  This country is not one of the ranked rainiest countries in the world, but it definitely takes on it's share of storms and flooding. Unfortunately, I don't even get to see the brute of the storms, as I live in the South, which more or less serves to be an inlet, guarded by the islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Storms that do make it into our 'cove' bounce off the Chinese island where Haikou is first and splash into Middle Vietnam.  How the Paracel Islands have made it so long, I'm not quite sure.  Fortunately, aside from some ordered soldiers, no human virtually lives there.
  Suffice to say, the rain from the tropical storms most definitely send ample showers south.  Enough of our streets and alleyways become flooded (always at inopportune times, of course lol) to make the tropical living conditions real enough.  Last night, as I was headed back home, the rain had mostly stopped, and as I didn't really want to pay for a taxi, I opted to walk.  Fortunately, about half-way home, a motorbike taxi picked me up, as the rain shifted a bit heavier again.  Many times, I wouldn't care.  However, yesterday, I forgot both my umbrella and my rain jacket, was already halfway sick, and had my laptop in tote.  If he hadn't have stopped, I would have had to stop and wait for some some other motorbike, taxi, or stoppage of rain.

Now, I also knew that the entrance to one side of my street frequently floods, but since that is coming off the main road, I wasn't thinking about that entrance.  We (and where I would have come at if still walking) came in from the back alley entrance, which apparently I don't take enough when it rains.  It was flooded.  Much more so than the front entrance usually is.  Maybe 2 or 3 feet deep.  Maybe 25-30 yards longEnough for my driver to stop, turn the motor off, assess the situation, and fiddle with something before deciding to trudge into the deep water.  I would have understood if he hadn't have wanted to.  A motorbike of girls pulled up beside us and watched to see what we were going to do.  He did it.  It worked. We got through.  And somehow his bike seemed okay.  :-)

  What I love even more that rain: storms.

  Here some pictures of storms that I snagged off the internet a while ago--just looking for pictures of storms for my desktop.

The Grass Is Always Greener...

I have realized one thing since being here.  I always love to dream about being somewhere else.  I usually don't mind this too much--it keeps me going, moving, traveling, experiencing new things.  However, in the case of a real move, I get frustrated with lack of time from work and lack of money to really travel around and experience the area, and frustrated with myself for not pushing myself to get out on my days off.  I moved to a new apartment this year.  A great move!  Still a 10-15 min. bike ride from work, I'm in more of a local area, not so much in a 'bubble'.  My apartment is the last tall building on our side of the district, so there is a clear shot, above all the houses and trees, of the downtown skyline.  During the day, it is not so much of a gorgeous sight, faded by smog, surrounded by construction sites.  However I love to look out at the houses and trees, the local life.  During the night, the skyline is amazing.  :-)

I made a new American friend a few weeks ago, very new to this area.  We went out to dinner recently, and she told me of her experiences so far; how she is excited to see new things, but has never traveled outside America before, and is having a hard time with all the new food and making herself to get out and experience the world around her.  I completely understood her.  I love to travel, have been to many places, have many more places I would like to go.  But, getting there is only half the battle of coming out of your shell.  It's intimidating, walking into a culture that is new to you, having to get around with a language that you can't speak, eating food you have never been introduced to before, and doing it not for just a couple weeks or a couple months, but a couple years (or just one in her case).  And.  As much as I have been progressively coming out of my 'shell' over the years, I can still be terribly intimidated by people, being so different that people stare, treat you differently.  But, is that because of the cultural differences here?  Or just that maybe I am not suited for being in such a situation.  (As much as I love Asian culture as a whole as well as so many other aspects about being here!)

I met an American man last night, at a cafe, who travels around Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam selling jewelry.  (I am hoping to take a look at his jewelry soon!)  He has been traveling around Asia for several years, and seems to have quite a grounded view of what it takes to live in the different cultures here.  He admitted, though, that this country was one of the hardest to live in long-term.  He can only stick around for about 3 months, tops, then he has to leave.  However, he does love to visit.  Now he is considering his next business move to be somewhere in South America.  (He actually thinks my personality is more suited to Japanese culture--funny, as that was my first experience of Asian culture, why I grew to love and direly want to come to this area of the world--and then changed his mind and thought I'd be better suited in South America or somewhere where I look like I fit in with the locals lolol)

So why is it that we can have a hard time being happy right where we are?  Do some people just need constant change?  Is it a search for where one fits in the best?  Is it a yearning to learn more and more about the world?  Except, the next place I want to go is the same state I was born in and have visited (and even lived at times) all my life.  :-)  Well, except every few years there are new faces that appear in our family tree, which make life there more enticing.  :-)  As much as I love Asian culture (and I believe the man is right about me being more suited to Japanese culture) I am most definitely ready for a place where I can blend in a bit more.  I'm thinking.....maybe.....Italy???  So, maybe my answer is a little mixture of all of the above, and maybe with some adventure thrown in.  I love the excitement of waiting to see what will happen next.  :-)  I am also looking forward to the adventure of finding a town and buying my own house....when the time and money are right.  :-)

PDA

It is a rather well-known...idea (I'm not sure if I would call it a fact) that Western culture is more relaxed on the idea of public display of affection, than that of the East.  I would say that, here, I have observed this many times.  I would also say that it is a more prominent idea with the Northern cultures--that the more Southern they are, the more open they are.  We could say that in the West as well.

Many times here, mostly in cafes, where I sit way too many times to do work, I get to observe the interactions of the different cultures that stream into this juncture of international highway.  I have found that local couples actually love to become...cozy.  They love to consider themselves romantics.  This trait I can see more and more every day.  Very often couples will sit beside each other if they can, not across the table from each other.  Even a quick glance will catch the man's arm around the woman, one hand caressing another hand, or even a few public kisses.

This morning I shared an empty cafe floor with a young couple, college-age.  It was fortunate for both parties that there was a wall placed in the center of the room, between us.  A couple times, as I glanced up from my busy screen, I noticed that their heads were moving closer and closer together.  No surprise, the next time I looked up, their lips were interlocked, their bodies as well.  No sooner as I let my glance drop back to my screen, a smirk on my face ('Aww, how cute!' I was thinking), a server walked through the room.  I looked over to the couple, to see if their cover had been blown.  They were sitting back, flushed, like caught teenagers.  I couldn't help but smile again.  Poor kids, I remember those times from long ago.

Wait?  Long ago?  ;-)

Stories are not so much meant for retelling, as they are for ideas to create new ones.

What story would you like to make yours?

:-)

:-)