I think so many times I'd like to think that when I first meet someone, I know right off the bat what kind of person they will turn out to be. I stick them into a category being acquaintances, friends, best friends, or even family..
While being here, I've realized that first impressions are not everything. If we all stuck to our first impressions, we'd never dig hard enough to find the gold underneath. In so many ways, I see this in the new friendships I've been blessed to make here. And the same goes for the first impressions made of me..or as I've been told, I may look like a "sorority girl" but looks can be deceiving and I definitely proved them wrong once I opened my mouth. ;)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
God Answers prayers
I may have spoke too soon about Shanghai.
All I can say is..God is good. No, scratch that HE is Great.
Everywhere I turn, I've found good company and help everywhere I go. I'm so thankful for all the support and encouragement that I've been getting from my family and friends. Seriously..I don't think I would have survived these past few days without them.
Thanks for all the prayers and the emails.
All I can say is..God is good. No, scratch that HE is Great.
Everywhere I turn, I've found good company and help everywhere I go. I'm so thankful for all the support and encouragement that I've been getting from my family and friends. Seriously..I don't think I would have survived these past few days without them.
Thanks for all the prayers and the emails.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Welcome to Shanghai
Let's see...where to begin?
My new home for the next 6 months or so and already I feel like I'm being tested with patience. My biggest pet peeve is coming to life. I hate rude, impatient and dirty people. Yet, here I am surrounded by it.
Lessons learned/ still in the process of learning from Shanghai:
1. There is no such thing as personal space.
People just walk up inches to your face. It gets even better on the subways....
2. Covering your mouth when you cough/sneeze does not exist
Oh how I love walking into your snot/spit.
3. Patience is SERIOUSLY a virtue.
People hate waiting here, so much in fact that they totally dismiss the fact that I'm waiting..right in front of them.
4. They LOVE to stare.
Yes, I DO see you.
5. Be Aggressive, be be aggressive
Otherwise...no one will listen/acknowledge/see you.
6. I don't understand chinese with weird accents
(that isn't a lesson I can really learn i suppose, I'll just have to get used to it)
7. The sleeping bag jacket is IN.
the cocoon jacket/ down jacket I bought in NY is everywhere in Shanghai, I guess I fit right in.
8. Don't drink the water.
9. Always carry around napkins
10. Thank goodness for hand sanitizer.
11. Bikers seem to always have the right of way.
12. UCI VPN FTW
facebook,youtube, and my blog are blocked.
(thanks to Timmy, uci vpn saved my life!...my blog works now!)
Don't get me wrong, there have been upsides, the food is amazing and its just as cheap as everyone raves. I'm loving the no tip, no tax. The taxis are pretty cheap, and so are the bootleg dvds...
I love the city, the shopping, the metro, and my mom. My mom is the best travel buddy I could have asked for. She really is charming, we've managed to get free dinner from the many connections she has..and When people are rude, I get mad, she just let's them go ahead of us. I'm torn between throwing something at them and yelling at them in the broken Chinese that I have but she decides to just let them go, they're in a bigger rush anyway" I can't imagine what it'll be like when she leaves..which is in a couple days.
I hope things look up..I need them to.
My new home for the next 6 months or so and already I feel like I'm being tested with patience. My biggest pet peeve is coming to life. I hate rude, impatient and dirty people. Yet, here I am surrounded by it.
Lessons learned/ still in the process of learning from Shanghai:
1. There is no such thing as personal space.
People just walk up inches to your face. It gets even better on the subways....
2. Covering your mouth when you cough/sneeze does not exist
Oh how I love walking into your snot/spit.
3. Patience is SERIOUSLY a virtue.
People hate waiting here, so much in fact that they totally dismiss the fact that I'm waiting..right in front of them.
4. They LOVE to stare.
Yes, I DO see you.
5. Be Aggressive, be be aggressive
Otherwise...no one will listen/acknowledge/see you.
6. I don't understand chinese with weird accents
(that isn't a lesson I can really learn i suppose, I'll just have to get used to it)
7. The sleeping bag jacket is IN.
the cocoon jacket/ down jacket I bought in NY is everywhere in Shanghai, I guess I fit right in.
8. Don't drink the water.
9. Always carry around napkins
10. Thank goodness for hand sanitizer.
11. Bikers seem to always have the right of way.
12. UCI VPN FTW
facebook,youtube, and my blog are blocked.
(thanks to Timmy, uci vpn saved my life!...my blog works now!)
Don't get me wrong, there have been upsides, the food is amazing and its just as cheap as everyone raves. I'm loving the no tip, no tax. The taxis are pretty cheap, and so are the bootleg dvds...
I love the city, the shopping, the metro, and my mom. My mom is the best travel buddy I could have asked for. She really is charming, we've managed to get free dinner from the many connections she has..and When people are rude, I get mad, she just let's them go ahead of us. I'm torn between throwing something at them and yelling at them in the broken Chinese that I have but she decides to just let them go, they're in a bigger rush anyway" I can't imagine what it'll be like when she leaves..which is in a couple days.
I hope things look up..I need them to.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Rule #1 You can't always be prepared.
As time is winding down...I'm beginning to realize certain things. I've grown up being a girl scout, a little secret I don't tell most people. It's kind of embarrassing, but hey I did make one hell of a cookie salesman... but that's not the point. In girl scouts, they teach you rule#1: Always be prepared.
As a girl scout you're supposed to prepare yourself for the worst...accidents like scrapes,cuts, bruises..all that jazz. But what they never actually prepare you for is what happens when the actual WORST comes?
something like depression? suicide? heartbreak?... No one can really be prepared for that..
I got an email from a dear friend of mine mentioning his recent break up. He had definitely open his heart to this girl, and was in fact in love with her, but she didn't reciprocate the feelings, and felt God was not calling her to be in the relationship anymore. It seems like this has been an apparent trend in a lot of relationships these days..couples that I thought were going to soon "tie the knot" end up separating ways.
I'm very cynical about relationships, this is probably due to the fact that my parents are divorced. But a lot of families have divorced parents.."mine were different" but every family has their own issues and dysfunctional-ness. But that's also probably why people think I have commitment issues, or think I'll never be in a relationship again..but honestly, I think I'm just like everyone else...afraid to be the one that gets left behind at the end of the day..but like everyone else in another sense, I'm also rooting for some relationships out there.. I want these couples to prove me wrong. Please don't mistaken me for a complete debbie downer/negative nancy.
But, I'm also not afraid to be alone, I think that's what most people fear the most. I'm content with the family and friends I have, without finding the need to jump into a relationship and pour my heart and time into someone who may or may not reciprocate those feelings. And in so many ways, seeing how relationships are, I feel like I have so much going on in my life without having to add another person in my life to worry about, that and the fact that I wouldn't be mentally prepared for it. I'm also not afraid of being alone because, I don't think I'm ever really alone- because in all honesty I have God. If I have to remember a time when I was ever really an completely utterly alone, I can tell you I was probably not looking for God, and it was probably the worst feelings I've ever had to endure.
While I'll be halfway around the globe, I started to think about all this-what started off as an entry about thinking about what to pack to consoling a friend on heartache to my own issues with relationships and such. But it all comes down to this.. "Did I pack everything I need?" "Did I leave behind what needs to be left? and "did I take with me everything that I need?" Take it as you will.
But I guess you can never REALLY be prepared for anything. I wish they had taught me that in girl scouts instead.
As a girl scout you're supposed to prepare yourself for the worst...accidents like scrapes,cuts, bruises..all that jazz. But what they never actually prepare you for is what happens when the actual WORST comes?
something like depression? suicide? heartbreak?... No one can really be prepared for that..
I got an email from a dear friend of mine mentioning his recent break up. He had definitely open his heart to this girl, and was in fact in love with her, but she didn't reciprocate the feelings, and felt God was not calling her to be in the relationship anymore. It seems like this has been an apparent trend in a lot of relationships these days..couples that I thought were going to soon "tie the knot" end up separating ways.
I'm very cynical about relationships, this is probably due to the fact that my parents are divorced. But a lot of families have divorced parents.."mine were different" but every family has their own issues and dysfunctional-ness. But that's also probably why people think I have commitment issues, or think I'll never be in a relationship again..but honestly, I think I'm just like everyone else...afraid to be the one that gets left behind at the end of the day..but like everyone else in another sense, I'm also rooting for some relationships out there.. I want these couples to prove me wrong. Please don't mistaken me for a complete debbie downer/negative nancy.
But, I'm also not afraid to be alone, I think that's what most people fear the most. I'm content with the family and friends I have, without finding the need to jump into a relationship and pour my heart and time into someone who may or may not reciprocate those feelings. And in so many ways, seeing how relationships are, I feel like I have so much going on in my life without having to add another person in my life to worry about, that and the fact that I wouldn't be mentally prepared for it. I'm also not afraid of being alone because, I don't think I'm ever really alone- because in all honesty I have God. If I have to remember a time when I was ever really an completely utterly alone, I can tell you I was probably not looking for God, and it was probably the worst feelings I've ever had to endure.
While I'll be halfway around the globe, I started to think about all this-what started off as an entry about thinking about what to pack to consoling a friend on heartache to my own issues with relationships and such. But it all comes down to this.. "Did I pack everything I need?" "Did I leave behind what needs to be left? and "did I take with me everything that I need?" Take it as you will.
But I guess you can never REALLY be prepared for anything. I wish they had taught me that in girl scouts instead.
Monday, February 8, 2010
I LIKE THIS SONG.
DAYLIGHT
we cut the legs off of our pants
threw our shoes into the ocean
sit back and wave through the daylight
sit back and wave through the daylight
slip and slide on subway grates
these shoes are poor mans ice skates
fall through like change in the daylight
fall through like change in the daylight
i miss yellow lines in my roads
some color on monochrome
maybe i’ll paint them in myself
maybe i’ll paint them in myself
these sidewalks liquid then stone
building walls and an old pay phone
it rings like all through the daylight
it rings like all through the daylight
chorus
and in the daylight we can hitchhike to maine
i hope that someday i’ll see without these frames
and in the daylight i don’t pick up my phone
cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home
I have five clocks in my life
and only one has the time right
i’ll just unplug it for today
ill just unplug it for today
open hydrant rolled down windows
this car might make a good old boat
and float down grand street in daylight
and float down grand street in daylight
and with just half of a sunburn
new yellow lines that i earned
step back and here comes the night time
step back and here comes the night time
chorus
and in the daylight we can hitchhike to maine
i hope that someday i’ll see without these frames
and in the daylight i don’t pick up my phone
cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home
we cut the legs off of our pants
threw our shoes into the ocean
sit back and wave through the daylight
sit back and wave through the daylight
slip and slide on subway grates
these shoes are poor mans ice skates
fall through like change in the daylight
fall through like change in the daylight
i miss yellow lines in my roads
some color on monochrome
maybe i’ll paint them in myself
maybe i’ll paint them in myself
these sidewalks liquid then stone
building walls and an old pay phone
it rings like all through the daylight
it rings like all through the daylight
chorus
and in the daylight we can hitchhike to maine
i hope that someday i’ll see without these frames
and in the daylight i don’t pick up my phone
cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home
I have five clocks in my life
and only one has the time right
i’ll just unplug it for today
ill just unplug it for today
open hydrant rolled down windows
this car might make a good old boat
and float down grand street in daylight
and float down grand street in daylight
and with just half of a sunburn
new yellow lines that i earned
step back and here comes the night time
step back and here comes the night time
chorus
and in the daylight we can hitchhike to maine
i hope that someday i’ll see without these frames
and in the daylight i don’t pick up my phone
cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home
Dedicated to Don
This entry has been way past overdue.
Finding Who We Are- Kutless
In You we're living
In You we're moving
In You we're finding who we are
And I worship You
Father of lights, spirit of truth
And I worship You
Jesus, we call on You
Yes we call on You
We come to worship with our voices
And know the love within Your skies
We lift our hands and seek Your presence
And find ourselves in who You are
Long ago, when I was a quirky high schooler, I loved listening to this song. I think Don reminded me it was time I brought a part of that quirky high schooler back. Possibly when I'm in Shanghai, this song will help me find some comfort and bring that nutty girl back.
Finding Who We Are- Kutless
In You we're living
In You we're moving
In You we're finding who we are
And I worship You
Father of lights, spirit of truth
And I worship You
Jesus, we call on You
Yes we call on You
We come to worship with our voices
And know the love within Your skies
We lift our hands and seek Your presence
And find ourselves in who You are
Long ago, when I was a quirky high schooler, I loved listening to this song. I think Don reminded me it was time I brought a part of that quirky high schooler back. Possibly when I'm in Shanghai, this song will help me find some comfort and bring that nutty girl back.
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