Belize

I spent a week in Belize during Thanksgiving week and really enjoyed our very first Caribbean vacation with  friends, it was a fantastic getaway. When we landed Belize, I was surprised to see how the Chinese community is thriving in this small country. Apparently the Chinese and Taiwanese governments have special agricultural trade relationship with Belize and I was told that one third of Belize population is Chinese. More specifically, the Cantonese. Why? I have no idea but most of them seems to be operating either restaurants, or grocery store for living. The store business looks very similar to the kind that my father (who is a first generation immigrant in Malaysia) is operating now and it brings back a lot of memories of growing up in a small rural town and in the shop.

For examples, I learned to calculate changes quickly when customer passed me the monies. I learned to say "what do you want?", "how many", "how much do you want?" in Malay before I started elementary school. After school, I spent my afternoon doing homework in front of the shop while keeping an eye on shoplifter. During our nap time, mom would lay down a few pieces of newspaper on the concrete floor at a corner where customers don't usually come during the nap hours. I don't recall if we had pillow to sleep on but I remember staring at the boxes of fabrics and tailor's accessories while trying to go to sleep...and many more fond and not so fond childhood memories.

At Caye Caulker, I looked at the young Chinese girl who was guarding the cashier and doing homework at the sametime and thought perhaps someday she would grow up just as lucky as me. To have a career, decent paid job, a safe shelter and a comfortable life. I was humbled by what I saw and filled with a great sense of pride of my root. Throughout the trip, I kept telling Matt how my childhood was like in a rural town and how I learned to play games with anything we could find in the nature.

All through my teenage, I felt like I was always trying to be somebody else to fit in at a private school where upper middle class kids attend. Luckily, my school friends accepted me as I was and we continue to stay friends for almost 20 years now (boy, do I feel old!). Accomplishments in life helped to bring more confidence in me, but when I was young and accomplished little -- I was lost and wished someone could have told me that I should be proud of who I am, no matter what. I think all parents should reinforce the confidence in their children so that they are not lost in the big world of egoism and stereotypes.

An Honorary Help

Recently, Nathan from fwcc.org approached me to translate some Chinese children growth charts. It was nice of him to mention my service for credit, I am truly proud of helping for sure. I hope this will also spread the word of my service to other parents who need translation help.

Marion from Netherlands has mailed me a thank you gift and it is a book named "Message from an unknown Chinese mother", this is will my vacation read in Belize this week. Thank you, Marion.

Visitors from Paris

My boyfriend's parents were in town visiting and we were blessed with gorgeous weather. Austin, Texas is a beautiful and diverse city. With the amazing weather, what not to love this city?!

I am a big visit planner and with them in town, I can't help but put pressure for myself to create list after list of things to do in Austin. During their 3 weeks visit, we have done a variety of things together and I hope they enjoyed their stay as much as we enjoyed their company. Apart from that, my French class has definitely paid off! I am a lot more comfortable to converse with them in French and it feels great to slowly conquering the challenge of communication with them.

Virus Scare

oh no! My poor computer has been infected with Virus. I am going to be out of pocket for a while until I get a new OS to reinstall and reformat my computer. Sorry to cause any delay.

Another Update

2 weeks ago I was in Monterrey for a wedding and last weekend I was in San Francisco to cheer my boyfriend for running the half marathon. They are all great, short trip but I wish I could live the vacation feeling slightly longer!

Anyway, I have a week of freedom before another friend from Paris is coming to visit us. I will try to be productive and complete as many requests for you all as possible! 

Apologize in Advance

Work has been keeping me very busy, so is this summer.  Besides all the weddings and travelings that we are doing, we have been having guests visiting us in Austin every month since June till October. So I must apologize in advance if you feel that it is taking me too long to get back to you.

Summer Madness

2 weddings down, one more to go.
I have been invited to 7 weddings in this year alone. I guess I am in the perfect age where everybody is starting to settle down, get marry and build a family. I love celebrating the big day but sometimes this could be costly and too much. This is especially true when I have to travel or be part of the wedding party.

Please pardon me if you are sensing slow response on my part for it has been quite a busy summer for me.