Chinese New Year 2012

I felt like it was my birthday and no one even cared. I don't mean to be dramatic but I just REALLY wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year...and no one was really into it. I knew I wouldn't be able to celebrate it proper since:

1. I don't have a Chinese family to celebrate with;
2. I can't cook all the good new year's foods; and
3. I don't even know all the traditions associated with CNY.

But still! Although, I think I had enough excitement in me for everyone!

Last night, I made a nian gao dish - it didnt turn out really well but I'm still experimenting. I also ate some tangyuan...black sesame! Today, I woke up excited and eager to greet my Chinese friends and wish them all a "xin nian kuai le" (新年快乐）.
I even wore my ridiculous bright red sweater that I got in China that has a picture of a giant bunny that says "HAPPY" on it.

After a full day at school, I sat in the bubble tea shop waiting for my taro and tapioca drink to arrive and I couldn't help but think of the book 'The Joy Luck Club'. Mostly how the American (Chinese) daughters just never understood their Chinese mothers' culture and the great cultural divide between generations. I thought "do these Chinese people even care?" I can understand that for the most part, their parents/grandparents gave up a lot to  immigrate to Canada - to become Canadian. I guess we've swapped places...except I'm still in Canada. I hope one day, I will be in China learning more about the Chinese culture, eating like a Chinese person (minus the spitting), speaking Chinese, and enjoying Chinese holidays and traditions. And I'm sure they will look at me and wonder "this waiguo (foreigner) must not even care about her motherland...look at how Chinese she is!" (Actually - this would be a huge compliment! When my Chinese classmate told me that I was more Chinese than he was - it made my day!) I doubt this would happen...but let me dream!

I don't think I've gone crazy. Maybe the jury is still out on this one. I know I'm Canadian, white, small-town girl. I don't deny it. I always will be. And I love it. I also love China and look forward to knowing more of the  language, the culture, and knowing how to cook better Chinese dishes! But beyond all of that, I look forward to being part of a community in China and serving Christ with my Chinese brothers and sisters.

Who knows where I'll be next year for CNY, but maybe a Chinese family will adopt me into their family to celebrate...maybe even for the entire 15 days!

As I continue eating tangyuan, I wish you all a happy new year! 新年快乐！

Epic Failure!

In early December of last year, I sent a package to Singapore with a few gifts for some friends. I was so excited about our kimchi making that I decided to send a container of it so my friends could try it! Epic fail. I was so excited too. My friend's mom sends him kimchi from Korea so I thought I could also do it. Clearly, I'm not a very smart "Korean mom" because it was a total bust. I sent the package to Nick who so kindly went through the package and tried to salvage what he could from it.

Here is Nick's account:

'ello,
just want to let you know that mailing kimchi in a tupperware container in a bag is a terrible idea especially overseas via military logistics chain
bc when the recipient opens it he will see furry white and black mold covering EVERYTHING inside as the kimchi juice has saturated everything not hermetically sealed and he will have to breathe shallowly through his mouth to bear the stench of the package not to mention the gross out factor of trying to clean the mold off of things to determine exactly what they are

i had to throw everything away except the can of coffee and the native peoples thing you sent prudence 

i couldnt tell who any of the letters were to since they were completey eaten through by mold and the books were equally destroyed 

good effort though 

I felt very loved even as I cleaned up rotten kimchi juice off my kitchen table and floor where it spilled when I opened the package 

you cant see me but I am smiling while I write all of this, i thought it was hysterical to be honest
   
the label on the coffee was completely disintegrated

question: whose camera was in there, even THAT was covered in fur
 i wouldnt be surprised if it didnt work any more  

after i cleaned up everything i def thought to myself "kathleen is not like this..."

I didn't think I would make such a stupid mistake either... but then I remembered my epic laundry fail where I dyed all my whites and they became 'tie-dyed'. And then Nick reminded me of the time Karen and I had a dishwasher episode at his place in Singapore...where we unintentionally 'washed' his floor with a lot of soap suds and water. Oops.

You learn something new everyday. Today: don't send kimchi to Singapore. Sorry friends, I'll try to send another gift from Canada without the kimchi!

Growth Mindset

Another sleepless night just waiting for the brain to power off. Sleeping has been difficult this week. It seems that as soon as I lie down, even though I'm tired, I can't stop thinking.

Tonight, I'm thinking about the growth mindset vs the fixed mindset and which mindset do naturally talented and smart (ie. geniuses) fit into?

I've never been one of those kids who could sail through school without any effort. For a while, I always envied those people. I'd find myself wishing I was "naturally smart" so that life would be easier. But by wishing I was naturally smart, it meant I was believing that I wasn't smart at all. And having smart friends - one who's borderline genius, it is pretty common to feel like I don't know much at all!


A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence (or any ability) is a fixed trait, that you’re born with and can’t do much to change. A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence can be developed (Warren Davies).


I would not have made it to my final year of university if I had a fixed mindset. Yet all these years, I sort of believed this was true...that my brain has a max capacity and once its maxed I wouldn't be able to continue learning. Yet every year of university, I've been surprising myself and thinking to myself "wow, my brain can still handle this? when will it max out?"

I've always said that grades are just a number but they are a good quantitative measure of how well you're learning and understanding the material. I tend to set high yet realistic expectations for myself so that I can continually challenge myself. It's not how I measure up to other people but more how I measure up to the bar I've set. I have to believe that someone can develop intelligence and that someone can learn how to learn quickly. In first year, I just barely passed with an average in the 50s. But I couldn't accept that I would only be able to learn and retain 50% of the material taught. How could I be a good engineer if I only ever learned 50, 60, 70, or even 80 percent of the material? The bar had to be higher. I needed to figure out how to learn more effectively. And I'm thankful I did. That average that started in the 50s has gone up every single semester and it is just starting to plateau in the mid-eighties.  I think the key was to have realistic goals and not settle for something that is less than your best. And at the same time, knowing that your best now can indeed develop into an even better best in the future!

I love learning. I'm finally thankful now that I wasn't born a genius and that I did have to go thru this struggle of figuring out how to learn, how to study, and how to retain information. These challenges have made me push harder. I don't think anyone should settle but instead continue to develop more intelligence. Some people have called me crazy for not being fully satisfied with my school average (I'm pleased with it, but not satisfied). Why? Because even if I had a 100%, I'd obviously be really happy, but then whatever, on to the next challenge.

I don't ever want to reach a point where I'm satisfied with the knowledge I have so that I stop learning.

Feels like yesterday

One year ago today my life changed forever. How's that for a dramatic blog-post opening line? Well, my life didn't quite change all in one day. But last year, on this day, January 3rd, I got on an airplane not knowing what 2011 would  bring. And now looking back on 2011, I can't help but wonder, much like I did last year... What will this year bring? What will happen? Where will I go? What will I see? Who will I become friends with? Which friendships will fade? Where will I work? What job will I have? What will I learn? How will God change me?

I learned a lot and changed quite a bit this past year. I'm very thankful for all of this. I hope that when I look back on 2012, I will be able to say the same.

2011

We made Kimchi... and we're not Korean!

Let's face it, it's not always easy re-adjusting to life back in your home culture. I'll admit these past few months have been wonky for me. I slowly became a student again, I've cried on numerous occasions wanting to go back to Asia, I've wrestled with where I should be, I picked up a few different sports to keep busy, I've been part of this radical and whacky design project, I've come to love my classmates so much more, I've learned how to cook Chinese dishes, I've come to LOVE reading, I've started growing pineapples (trying - with 3 on the go), and I've learned about grief, forgiveness, and God's abundant grace.

I'm a bit all over the map. I've learned a ton these past few months, for which I am very thankful. I've also felt like this time has been one of preparation. For what? I'm not sure yet. But like most girls, I do hope to be a wife and mother one day. Therefore, I've been using this time to learn how to cook so I can provide in that way for my future family. And because I'm not sure where my future husband will come from, I might as well start learning how to cook from different cultures...right?! I started with Chinese. That went well - I enjoyed it. Got sick of it. Moved on... from the cooking that is.

Next: Korean.

My classmate and I decided we wanted to try to make kimchi, Korean's infamous fermented cabbage. Every Korean we talked to told us we were crazy and that it was a lot of work. So, crazy as we were, we gave it a shot anyway. We had to visit a few supermarkets in Waterloo and took every Napa cabbage they had. No one else in Waterloo was making kimchi that weekend - because we had all the cabbage!

The ingredients (5 heads of cabbage)

After watching many videos, reading many recipes, we got to the chopping board. There was a LOT of chopping. My chopping finger is still numb - and it's been 4 days. We soaked and salted the cabbage, chopped all the rest of the vegetables...like those massive radishes, then rinsed the cabbage 3 times, then wrung out the cabbage, then massaged the paste we made onto the cabbage. Korean people are right - it is a lot of work to make kimchi. Thankfully we did 5 heads, which should last us a while.

The chopped stuff.

Once we realized how much cabbage we had and when we were running out of bowls, bins, and pails to soak the cabbage, we wondered if we had crossed the 'stupid line'. Were we crazy-stupid for trying this? Or were we crazy-ambitious for trying this? Thankfully - 7 hours later, we were putting the kimchi into containers. Finally done! It was a good challenge and we felt accomplished afterwards.

Final step: mixing the paste and cabbage

We let the kimchi ferment for a couple of days and then had some Korean people taste-test it for us. And their reactions? Positive! They liked it, some even loved it. Of course, we can't compete with a Korean mom, but regardless, Koreans liked our kimchi!

Next time? Yes, there will definitely be a next time. Once we eat up this batch, we'll be ready to make some more kimchi. Next time, we'll definitely be using the pink gloves that all the Korean moms wear. We might even try the kimchi-squat. Oh, and we'll also learn a couple Korean phrases to say while making it.

An obsession? The verdict is still out on that one! I do love Korean food...a LOT. As much as I love China, Korean food is still my #1.

Looking forward to sharing more adventures soon!

2 Weeks in Canada

It's been 2 weeks since being back in Canada. The biggest worry I had about coming home turns out to be the most frequently asked question these days "how are you adjusting to life back in Canada?".  So I thought I'd write about it.

Here are some of the things that caught my attention and surprised me being back in Canada:

-people speaking English and being able to overhear and understand other people's conversations. When I landed in Toronto - an airport worker said something to me, after looking up confused and wondering 'was he speaking English to me? could I REALLY understand him?'  ...he then stopped, walked towards me, and said "I'm sorry, do you not speak English?". Talk about feeling like a foreigner in your own country. I assured him I was Canadian, waved my passport, and told him I was fluent in English even if it didnt seem like it!

-cars not honking and having the tendency and urge to honk while driving. honk to pass, honk to get someone's attention, honk to tell someone to move, honk if you're happy, honk because someone's driving too slowly, just honking. now that I'm cycling again - I wish I had a honker on my bike to translate for me "move over, get out of the way, I'm coming through".

-When I landed in Toronto and started driving - I felt like I was in the countryside while in the largest city in Canada. I was wondering where all the people were. I wasnt sure what would happen when I arrived in my hometown of 5000 people! Clearly - I survived.

-Having to remember that friends in Asia are now 12 hours ahead and that all my friends and family here are in the same time zone.

-Still responding and agreeing to people in Chinese when people are talking to me. The other day in class, we were having a class meeting about changing our timetable and when times were proposed, I spoke up and kept saying "keyi, keyi (可以)", which means can, can.

-It's COLD! I arrived in Canada just as it got cold. Fall has arrived and I'll be lucky to get another few weeks on my bike before it gets too cold to ride.

From One Kingdom to the Next

I left China with tears. Sad to leave and also tears of overwhelming joy from all the blessings experienced while in the Middle Kingdom. With a quick stop in Singapore - had a good reunion with KT, Pru, and made new friends! Then I was able to join KT as we headed back to her newest home - the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Pru, me, KT at Vivo in Singapore

Cambodia was interesting. It was strange to have come from China, stepped into super clean and sterile Singapore for one day, and then back to the developing world of Cambodia - 3 very different countries in 3 days. The best part of Cambodia was KT and getting to spend more time with her, whether it was riding the tuktuks, eating, searching the market for bedsheets, staying up late talking and laughing, or scrubbing her room and killing ants...it was great to be together again! I also spent a couple days in Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat

Cambodian people are beautiful. They also seem really happy. It was a nice trip, but way too short.

Next stop: back to Singapore for my final days in Asia for this year. Greeted by Pru and a surprise attack by SC at the airport - so began a very intense, chaotic, emotional, meaningful, and fun last few days in Singapore. Ate a lot of good food, went to the bird park (terrifying..birds are flying EVERYWHERE at you!), met new people, got to know other people better, and heard some good sermons.

SC and I shoving Korean BBQ

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving good friends is never easy, but I'm super thankful I was able to even meet and become friends with good and fun-loving people. As soon as the immigration officer stamped my passport to leave Singapore and when I turned and saw Pru, SC, and Yao Na leaving and waving - I cried. 8 months have passed... quicker than I could ever imagine. Thinking that it has already been 8 months since KT and I first arrived at that airport and first met these people - who knew we'd become such good friends.

Yao Na, Pru, and me at the airport before I left

My time in Asia was amazing - not because it was easy and fun all the time - it definitely wasn't always fun and awesome. There were moments of big arguments, frustrating school stuff, tears (and sobbing), hard lessons to learn, selfishness to deal with, uncertainties and lack of faith, sickness, visa issues, and the list can go on. But the most amazing thing are the lessons learned and being able to see God show up, speak to me, provide everything I ever needed, and change my heart and attitude when it was rotten. I experienced God like I never had before and I'm in awe of who He is and how He is transforming my life.

Asian Pride from Asia. Peace yo!

Special thanks to the people who have been a part of these past 8 months in some way - it's been such a great time!