Up

Just another quick update.
Things have been looking up in the last week. My project for work is almost complete (website to be live this tuesday). I’m kinda nervous but have to say that its better than whats up there now haha. Also got my work contract extended for another 3 months! Luckily working from school and only working 5 hours a week, I should be able to manage my senior year with work. Though I barely had much time to relax last quarter.

Also Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) is having a design conference in Chicago. Our profs picked three people from the class and I happened to be one of them. haha. Its a conference for anyone interested but I guess they’re paying for the expenses. Sounds good to me! Though it seems unfair since theres a lot of talented people in the class. Registration ends on Sept 5 and the conference goes from Sept. 23-24th. Check out the website and go!! If you’re a girl, you can room with me otherwise they list hostels close to the conference on the website.

And two more weeks left before i go back to the states!!! wah wah.

oh and tropic thunder…is hilarious. it felt like a series of SNL skits but in a very good way. haha.

 

HOT Yoga

Caren, Simon my brother and I just joined Parivartan Yoga in Mississauga. We got a 1 week trial pass for 30$ so we’re making our moneys worth and trying to go everrryday. Parivartan Yoga is special, it’s bikram yoga…aka. HOT YOGA! You’re basically in a room with infrared heat- kinda sauna like, kinda not. And you do yoga. It supposively builds endurance, clears out the pores and bacteria in your system, prevents injuries, gets the blood flowing and my favourite…burns a crap ton of calories. Each session (60 minutes) burns about a 800-1000 calories.

My coworker forewarned me of things to prepare me so my first experience was pretty good thanks to her .

Wear as little as possible – you’ll be sweating a lot.

bring a body sized towel and face towel, and your own mat. If you don’t you’ll be using a mat from the studio which has previous person’s sweat all absorbed in the mat. yum.

Keep hydrated. Drink before hand and during- get a large bottle if you have to.

Eat at least an hour before going. Get some strength- maybe a granola bar, an apple, something small

That’s all i can think of at the moment, but let me just say, (and i speak for the people that I just went with) that it feels soooo good after.

But man do you sweat! i never sweat so much in my entire life… and we brought my brother Keith today and he sweats a lot- i saw him dripping and making the studio mat sopping wet haha.

So i highly recommend. I also checked if there was hot yoga in cincinnati and there is! For students, the closest one is on ludlow, right upstairs of ludlow garage. Actually its called Yoga Garage haha. Student rates area cheap too for hot yoga- they usually cost about 15$ per lesson but with student rate you can go 3 months for $90.

anyhoot, yoga is awesome! :]

 

Capstone…and future plans.

It looks like its time to think about the senior capstone. I’ve been thinking of ideas while on the train to and from work, tho i tend to get distracted and end up thinking only about the tracks. (i’m actually writing this on the train haha). But i realized that I tend to do ‘emotional’ work, and I’m not sure if i want to exhibit myself as an emotional person who only likes doing stuff that relates to ‘feelings’. I admit that doing it motivates me more, but I’ve realized through co-op, that you can’t always get what you want.

Ideally, I wanted to do work for missionaries- do documentaries that allowed me to educate people on the situations going on outside of America, that good stuff. And I actually got a missions report project from my church- though I realized that you don’t get paid. haha. You can’t make a living off if it, because people assume that its on a volunteer basis. So I think i’ll scratch that idea for now.

Anyway for the capstone, I was gonna do something about love- its a big subject, and I can argue that its not all emotion- haha but originally my goal was to MAKE YOU CRY. hahaaaha. so for me it was about emotion- but now, after realizing my dilemma, I think i’ll do something interactive and educational, with a story to it. hahaha. I really have no idea yet.

And future plans.

I’m going to Taiwan after I graduate to learn mandarin, and meet other people similar to me (chinese born but not from the native country). Its a four week program informally called the Love Boat Tour- run by Taiwanese government. You get to pick up a few things like kung fu, calligraphy, music instruments, dancing, etc. And then you travel around taiwan for a week. All for about $700 Canadian I believe (housing and food included). Dirt cheap. haha. Anyway, after Taiwan I’m going to Hong Kong. My parents grew up there so it’d be nice to see it (even though its changed so much).

hmm…designing doesn’t seem to be in my future haha. If I get a job before graduating, I’ll come back, but if not, I’d like to try teaching ESL in an Asian country, maybe South Korea or Japan.

That’s the plan anyway…stay away from the Americas. haha i’m kidding of course

 

Back to the States!

I just started using the calendar app in my google account- and noticed that i’m busy just about every day…and i usually don’t plan my days too far ahead. Tomorrow is sushi buffet + new batman movie. Most of my friends saw it, only to say good things about it, but my siblings haven’t so we’re all pretty hyped for it. I hope my expectations aren’t too high haha.

Also, the day after I will be getting ready for UBF’s international summer bible conference at Purdue University in Indiana (that was a mouthful). I’m excited to attend but honestly, more excited to see my roommates and ppl from church. They haven’t really kept in touch with me despite my attempts to contact them…i’m a bit PO. haha (why am i laughing?). anyway.

Oh yeah, I had some smirnoff the other day (about half a bottle) and became pretty sick- conclusion—-i’m allergic to alcohol! It’s gotten worse in the past year (i started drinking a little more since i’m ‘of age’…About 50% of asians don’t have the enzymes to break down alcohol- so they will immediately flush, get feverish, feel nautious etc. We can’t even adjust to it- When i was in wisconsin, i drank a little each day to increase my tolerance (no i’m not an alcoholic…)but i’m still as bad and its actually recommended to not do it if you’re allergic haha duh. sucks! oh well, alcohol is expensive and it makes you get a big belly.

anyway, days are busy…i’m pretty tired, but still happy to be in Toronto and excited to go to purdue!

 

Church

After coming back to Toronto, I’ve been attending my home church Mississauga Chinese Baptist Church on sundays, and have just come back from a post grad bible study fellowship at Mississauga Chinese Alliance Church. These two churches seem a bit alike tho I know the people there say there are differences so I won’t argue. But I guess after attending these two churches, it made me really miss UBF. University Bible Fellowship. It’s an organization that focuses heavily on bible reading and study. They don’t initiate fun nights, concert of prayers, sandwich runs, or all the other things you could explore as different aspects of Christianity but solely the bible. I’m glad that i miss it tho because its made me see more clearly what the point of being a Christian is.

I noticed after attending the bible study group at MCAC, that it felt more social than God seeking- I’m not really judging but also from my own experiences at MCBC, church became a social life and I focused more on how others saw me than my own relationship with God.

So why don’t I study the bible on my own? i dunno…its definitely easier to do it when others are doing it with you. But I won’t grumble but take this time to train and be disciplined to read the bible. I do really miss UBF’s support but I have a feeling that where ever I’ll be in the future, a UBF might not be there so its best pray for God’s guidance and strength and find the support wherever you are.

I’m thankful to have been a part of UBF and glad God had opened my eyes a little more to his Word.

 

Urban Jungo

I had my first day of work downtown. Its in the financial district- pretty upscale, nice buildings, trendy restaurants, businessy people, …ugh sooo many people. The train was stuffed with people on my way to work- sitting on a seat was imposssssible… and walking to my building was just ridiculous. Good thing tho, on my way back, i kinda forgot how to walk back to union station but i just followed the swarm of people because they were most likely heading home.

it’s stressful tho, coming from Cincinnati and before that, Dodgeville WI… I think i enjoy country more- but i love all the diversity a city has. It’s tough, you can’t really get both at the same time. Maybe it’ll just take some getting use to, just a little more adjusting.

Speaking of adjusting…boy are my pants tight! i wore my pants from winter quarter and i could barely button it… i guess its time to seriously start working out (again…SIGH).

 

back in Perrysburg

I left Cinci on Monday and arrived in Perrysburg (Toledo area) at my dad’s place. To be honest, this house feels more like my home than the one in Canada, maybe its because i have my own bedroom haha. I’ll be dawning the basement when i get to Canada but its ok, theres a tv…and some dumb bells.

Anyway, I brought Meimei with me!! she’s adjusting pretty well but i have to say that shes gotten a bit defensive lately- she hissed at me and my dad and she’s never done that to anyone really (other than the vet). I dunno. But yeah, she’s my babbbby and i’m so glad i brought her with me. hehe. I’m putting her on a diet now tho since she can’t eat out of Luci’s bowl. Here’s a pic of her on my bed.

So what am I doing now…watching a korean drama called Full House. lol. And getting work clothes and wedding stuff for my cousin Peggy. It looks like all of my cousins are getting married now! It’s exciting seeing a new chapter of their lives unfold. Remembering when we all use to play at each other’s houses makes me feel a bit old… time seems to fly by when i think how much i changed in the past four years…

ahhhh ~reminiscing~

haha.
anyway, I’m coming back to toronto on Saturday! My dad has a marathon fund raiser that day so we’ll be heading home right after. He’s doing 35 miles! bleh, i’m proud of him tho!!! I just hope its not too humid or rainy…

blahhhh i should get to bed. end monologue.

 

Wind Power Project

In my motion design class we had to do some kind of video educating people on climate change. I was kinda torn because my roommate liz flatly denies that its human caused while other people think it’s exactly that. We can get in a huge debate over that but I decided to do my project on alternative energy sources- seeing that our society relies so much on the oil that’s depleting, i wanted to focus on renewable energies that i believe can mitigate climate change.

Soooo, just wanted to say thanks to my cousin Renee for doing the voice over- haha everyone likes it and thinks it feels more credible with an aussie accent. lol.

I modeled some of it, but the architecture was grabbed from online sources. Music is by Kilowatts – “Close the Door”. I might have been biased when picking this song because the band name matched my motion piece. haha but oh well.
And all was compiled and animated in after effects…

Comments appreciated, thanks

Climate Change project

 

Going home!

It’s decided, I’m going to be in Toronto for the summer

I’m excited about working downtown, and I know a few people living/working there so I could visit them during my lunch breaks- plus theres a lot of festivals going on and lots of places to eat.

I was contemplating taking some martial arts classes downtown (don’t laugh!), i dunno haha- my brother went to this place called Team Ryouko . SO yeah, that or YMCA haha (i’ll probably go with YMCA).

My sister already planned all this stuff we’re gonna do when I get back…sushi buffet, pacific mall (largest asian mall in North America! ), biking along lakeshore, bubble tea, mmm! it’s been a while. Plus my brother will be coming home in July from his work in Alabama. We’ll all be together, except papa who works in Ohio haha- but he’ll visit

Also really excited to hang out with the girls from MCBC and high school! a few of them graduated or are back for the summer so i’ll be able to see them again

so i’m lookin forward to a lot of things!

 

One Week Left

That’s right, one week until school is officially over for the quarter. I’ve only got one exam and most of my projects are done, except I’ve uncompleted one thing- finding a job. I’m not TOO worried, but seeing that its the last week I’m starting to wonder if I will get a job this quarter.
It’s funny, my church and I had been praying that I could get a job in cinci, but even though I had a few interviews, none really offered me a position. It makes me wonder if God is listening. Though, surprisingly, there’s a chance I’ll be going to Toronto instead. More details later but I’d be really excited if I got the position because I’ll be able to go back home and see what the job market is like there.

I guess God answers in ways we don’t expect him to. But i’m learning to have faith, be patient, and trust that God will provide me with (as my church members say) the best co-op.

On a less spiritual note, two of my professors have decided to leave DAAP. We took a picture with one of the profs. So this is my class! It was a fun quarter, I’m gonna miss everyone