West Coast

I landed in SanFran last night. Woke up this morning at a ridiculously early time and it smelled like the mornings when I lived in San Jose and had to go to school. Smelled nice.

Ghosts?

So during my summer session I've started watching a show about how this girl can see dead people and help them fulfill their requests so they can step into the light. From the show I've gathered that living people are scarier than the dead.

This got me thinking back to my many experiences of night paralysis and my feeling of the immobility, pain, and fear. Many cultures say that night paralysis results from being sat on by a demon (if you want to read more here is the wikipedia link) and yeah that freaked me out. Whether or not it's a physical attack from the devil or it's just him messing with my mind I think, well not freak out is the first thing, but have faith that God is protecting me.

Psalm 121:7-8
               The Lord will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

When the paralysis first hit way back when, I felt like I was haunted and I feared sleeping. At times my chest felt heavy and at times I felt something was definitely tugging my covers. But over time I realized that besides fear, nothing else really happened and due to the frequency of the experiences I just became flat out annoyed. Gosh darn it, just let me sleep!  And if I'm not annoyed I just think that it's quite comical.

Anyways, I think I'm glad I've had these experiences because if it ever happens again I can just roll over and continue sleeping. Not a big deal at all. And if the devil has a problem with that he can take it up with God. 

Study Break 2.0

Remember this blog post? Study Break? Well, coincidentally I sat in the same cubicle (for 13 hrs. now) and it was fun to just read the comments written on the wooden sides. Many, many new editions.

And it's 4 am and I'm still not done with my QL paper. Sigh...

15 Day Experience as a Vegan

This experience wasn't really my choice. But, I did decide to listen to the zhong yi (中医）and comply with her suggestions and go through with this acupuncture therapy and be vegan for 15 days. It wasn't so much the worst 15 days of my life, it was just difficult. Well...sort of.

During the first few days all I could think about was meat. MEAT! Beef, pork, chicken---Mmmh (yes, this is from Mulan). I dreaded eating. Having to think about what I was going to eat for each meal was painful. Tossing meat out of my diet was hard enough, but eggs and dairy too? But you know what, I decided to tough it out and ate fruit. Lots and lots and lots of fruit. I also ate lots and lots and lots of carbs.

Now that the 15 days are over, I realized that yes, meat needs to stay in my diet, but it really wasn't as hard as I thought and if needed to, I could probably do it again, though that would never ever happen again. And living on veggies did make me feel better.

Being vegan was hard, but I think these 15 days were worth it. I think the only downside was tofu. I ate way too much tofu. I never really liked tofu and I would have no trouble cutting it out of my diet. Except for stinky tofu (臭豆腐) that is.

You know you're a Beijinger who's been away from Beijing for too long when you...

1. Can't cross the streets. Ever. You just kinda stare across the street hoping that you could fly over the horrendous cars possessed by violent and aggressive drivers.

2. Get tongue-tied when speaking Chinese.

3. Pack clothing that will not keep you warm enough during the brutal winter.

4. Fear going outside and facing the icy, slicing cold wind.

Oh, Little J.Wang

So I dug up this really, really old college essay because my sister was asking me for writing samples. Not the final draft.

"Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence. (250 words minimum)

November 10, 1997

12:30 pm: My mom enters the hospital.

5 pm: My dad and I head off to Burger King. We bring my mom a set of chicken fingers.

7:29 pm: Jessica Wang enters the world

Jessica taught me to be patient.

Jessica taught me to kind.

She taught me not to be jealous of others.

She taught me not to be proud.

She taught me to be responsible.

She taught me that I don’t need to be perfect, and that she will always be proud of me the way I am.

She taught me to cherish.

She taught me to love.

Love: one syllable, multiple meanings. It is love that gets us through life. It is applicable to everyone, not only family and friends. Love your enemy, and you won’t have any. Though easily stated, the implementation is not so. Although my parents have set an example for me and they love me dearly, it was Jessica that widened my range of love.

The first step was patience. At that age patience was the farthest entity from me. My parents attempted to correct this flaw through piano practice, and though piano lessons lasted, my patience still needs training and Jessica started to train me when she was only six months old and she did so with only a pair of socks. Struggling to put her socks on was the most difficult task encountered by me at the age of seven. When they were finally set in place after hours of battle, it only took her a second to shove one in her mouth and thus the process begun again. It was a microcosm of the Circle of Life; it was the Circle of Patience.

The second step was kindness. Jessica was born with hemangioma on her left eye and stomach. Though the tumor is benign, she can not be provoked to cry. Through her medical condition, I’ve learned to be kind, I’ve learned to share and it’s become a habit ever since.

Her training progresses on with jealousy. Through her achievements I’ve never regretted nor have I been jealous of other people and their siblings. She always scores 100% and is number one amongst her peers. My friends deem her as an angel. Her outstanding behavior and achievements have simultaneously taught me to not be proud or boastful, especially when it comes to Chinese. Though I am fluent, I am often shadowed under her Chinese skills.

Responsibility was what she continued with. Though there was not set of duties that I needed to fulfill, I needed to be her example and the constant pressure making sure she goes on the right path, I always warned her and scolded her whenever she made a mistake. I felt I had the obligation to, and it was because I cherished her. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.

She accepts my flaws, and she reminds me to correct them. She does not deny me because of my flaws, but she attempts to correct them. I too accept her flaws, and rather than insulting her, attempt to correct them.

These are the elements of love. She taught me to apply them because I had obligations towards her, and with her instruction, getting through life will be a lot easier."

Christmas music just makes me really, really happy :)