Welcome Tina! Expansion of language!

We got a new volunteer! Tina is a great friend of mine who just discovered my work last week and has decided to lend her hand to help out. Despite the fact that I translate for free, I don't really get a lot of requests all the time but it is always great to share the joy of helping the adopting parents. I am grateful to have Tina to help.

Also, I would also like to let you know that we will now accept French (European or Canadian French) and Spanish documents if you need help translating to Chinese as well! Please spread the word.

Hello Autumn

Part of me is sad that Summer is gone and part of me is rather glad to welcome to cooling fall weather. This is probably the most gruesome summer I had ever been through in Austin. In August, it reached as high as 110F (44C), it was unbelievably hot and I am glad I survived. Anyway, coming home from vacation with 10 bags of dried leaves aren't exactly exciting either. But hey! It is still better than being in 111F degrees.

Hope you parents are enjoying the summer too. Did you make a trip to China? Did you go hiking in Italy? Would love to see some photos from y'all.

Take care!

Xinran 薛欣然

Dear parents,
I received a gift from an adopting mother from Netherlands not long ago. It was a book called "Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother" by Xinran. It is an eye opening story about adoption in China. Having been translating letters for many of you made me intrigued about the adoption process in China. As someone who are not deeply involved in the process, I noticed that many official reports from the local authority are close to 95% identical. From the abandoned infant report to orphan development report. The book shows  a dark side of what happened behind the closed door of China one-child policy, the price to pay for cultural revolution and rapid economy development. It has once again confirmed a shameful side of Chinese culture where females were suppressed for thousands of years.

Check out this book if you are interested about the adoption history and process in China. 

Another hectic May

Hello parents,
work has not slowed down and I will be moving to another location in Austin next week. Apologize if I cannot deliver any work to you as early as you expect but I will try my best.

Excuse my slow response

It is that time of the year again but this time around, 24 hours seem not enough for me to do my work. My job is exciting and I really like it, the challenges come with fulfilment and a sense of accomplishment (if I get it done).

With that says, I just want to let you know that I don't get a lot of time to check my email lately to do translation. Please pardon my slow response. I will get to it during weekend. Happy spring to you!

A Much Anticipated Summer

Matthias and I are finally going to Malaysia to visit the place where I once called home.

We plan to be there for a little over 2 weeks but that's not a lot of time especially the fact that we have to spend 3-4 days of time loss in traveling and dealing with timezone difference. Regardless, I am still excited to be there with him. We are planning to visit part of Borneo, particularly Sabah while we are there. As I started to read on the things to do in Sabah, I begin to worry that we will not have enough time to do everything that we want to do there so I guess we will probably need to use some tough love to select just a few places that we can visit while we are there.

In essense, I really would like to hit these spots of Sabah:
1. Mount Kota Kinabalu trekking and catching the magnificent sunrise
2. Have a wild adventure at the Danum Valley Conservation to see Proboscis monkeys. I know, what a weird looking creature.

3. As the newbies in scuba diving, we got hooked from the Blue Hole experience in Belize. Naturally, we would love to hit Sipadan -- the much acclaimed best diving spot in the world.

 

 

 

Gone

Gone, just like my oldest brother during the holidays season. Sam left this earth due to motorcycle accident and the whole family is still shaken from the reality. I was spending my holidays in Paris when I heard the news and was able to get a last-minute ticket to fly back to Malaysia to attend his funeral.

I came back to US last week but my mind is still in Malaysia. Hoping and wishing that everyone in the family continues to stay strong and heal, especially my mom who is in vulnerable health condition. Please pray for them. Thank you.