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| Routine is comforting. Funny how I've run the outer loop more since graduating than as a Rice student. I guess the inconvenience factor was really big. I'm trying to become less of a creature of comfort and convenience, because it's often a euphemism for my being fearful and lazy. I almost didn't go to the KASH bowling social coz I didn't know anyone, but I need to be more independent in pursuing interests. It is definitely nice to have someone for company though. I like how Jean is always up for running. I know I'm pushing him hard with my record-breaking speed of 10+min/mile. He is such a patient and cheery buddy, I really should try harder as a thank you. There's a park my brother pointed out today as we drove to laodifang. Maybe I will run there sometime to change things up a bit. Then maybe even when I stop going to Rice to meet up with Tina for discipleship, I'll still drag myself outside somewhere and run.
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| There are things I've remembered in life that other friends have forgotten. Like Yusen, a friend from four years ago, who IMed me just now coz he plumb forgot who I was. That's ok, being as I was a friend of a friend. I re-introduced myself, and he asked me what I was doing. Deciding whether or not to go to church tomorrow,
I said. Yeah, I managed to catch me some swine flu at the Rice career fair. It turns out Yusen is a fellow church-goer, but he has difficulty rise n'shining come Sunday morning. I did the most encouraging thing I could think of at the time--I told him my situation, and told him he should go to church for me, since I couldn't. And then pray for me to recover from swine flu... hehe. Nice guy, I think he actually might. I didn't tell him, but I am praying for him too.
Tuesday till now..working on my 5th day of being quarantined. I have to say that being an introvert has made this process a lot less torturous than it otherwise could have been. However, even introverts get lonely, so every time my phone rings it's a nice break (wow! Andy sent me a txt msg just as I typed that ^_^), except for the part where I have to pacify my parents worries (convince them I'm not turning purple or infecting my siblings). I think of Henry and Jean every day because of the chicken soup with veggies they brot me that I've literally been eating every day since then. Kurt has called pretty often too. I hope with time our miscommunications will decrease, but uh, man. Language barriers, I forget they can exist in friendships. It's been that long since Taiwan eh.
It's like a splash of water when a friend reminds me of something I myself have plumb forgotten. Sometimes it brings me to my senses, like when I forget just how deeply close friends can hurt each other. And sometimes it leaves me confused, like when Ed says he visited the Cheng house in Baton Rouge and even gave me and Alice a ride to Houston. And that we once went karaoking. I honestly have 0 recollection. Nor can I remember Jon Huang from childhood. Some things just ... don't come back? Not even positive memories.
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| Hi. I still remember you. Speaking of remember, there's this song I've been listening to on repeat in my car.
我努力想起你笑着哭泣 让自己深爱你再学会放弃 我不想忘记你 就算可以 我宁可记得所有伤心 我努力想起你苦也没关系 用祝福和感激勇敢失去你 爱你这个决定 虽然艰辛 我不说对不起
ok had to get that out of my system. Meanwhile, news to report. Besides that my friends are all getting engaged, I think another remarkable event is my new desire to really know the Bible. I want to trust God more, to have more faith. It boils down to a life changed by knowing God's Word. God has really made grand provisions in this regard. I think when he put it on my heart, and I let that be what I expressed interest in to others, grace abounded. I didn't expect myself to befriend a pastor at camp, much less have him be the one who was supposed to teach the workshop on "Loving the Word." But there we were, a few days later, a circle of campers and counselors eagerly soaking up hermeneutics. I was excited and scared at the same time, because I began to feel my spirit crushed by the inability to discover insight by myself. For the first time I longed to be discipled, then felt disgusted that I didn't think I could study the Bible alone. After camp, to my delight, I discovered that the next Sunday school quarter had a class on Bible in 90 days. I knew that that was where I belonged, to discover on my own and then have a group to discuss with me. It was perfect! At boot camp, I asked Miltinnie how she studied the Bible, and she recommended Howard Hendrick's Living by the Book. I did what little sisters do best, and asked my brother to buy it for me. Two Amazon days later, despite the fact that my sister went on vacation with the only copy of our mailbox key, it showed up on our front porch. It's a been a fun reading adventure.
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| wow, I totally did a terrible job of doing my once a month post. Um...note to self. post. soon.
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| How did time fly so fast?? I can't believe I've been back for as long as I spent in Taiwan. Have I become a semester's worth of a better person? I think I tend to feel like I should be committed to and working towards goals just because up until December, that was what my life had looked like for years. I think it's good for me, coz it forces me to do something about it instead of procrastinating and being lazy.
Anyways, what have I been up to? too lazy to paragraph, so, going back to the old style
flag football
tennis with brother, Kai, Joe, etc
rooting for the Rockets
watching Chinese dramas
hanging out with small group for hours at a time
befriending coworkers
reading Celebration of Discipline/ discipleship book
starcraft (way more ppl play than I thot)
Chinese with Laura/Yvonne
listening to Chinese sermons from CHC
trying to locate my spotty English buddy
serving food at Palmer
accidentally talking/thinking like a programmer outside of work >_<
encouraging fellowship
planning my sister's WEDDING!!!!
soon to be:
training for triathlon?
outer loop with Karen
english buddy core team?
discipling Tina
camp counselor
I know, these are all activities, which may or may not represent a significant change in one way or another. Recently I've been challenged to have patience in areas interacting with strangers, like dealing with not so stellar customer service at the post office or car service shop, or in explaining code/changes to a coworker. Work life has been quite a cultural experience. It's pointing out the lack of American-ness in me in several ways.
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