in the car

so i have been spending a lot of time car lately and have experienced a few driving firsts. the first, my left arm (also known as my "perched on the window arm") got completely burned on my way to northern indiana last weekend. i even tried keeping my right arm in the sun through my sunroof, but to no avail. i now have two arms of two different shades of white-ish-tan. my favorite quote regarding the burn was from my pal billy, "what are you, a trucker?"

secondly, i'm not sure if you all are familiar w/the harley handsign, but it is a special little signal harley riders give to other harley riders. this may be a motorcycle-in-general thing, but i find it fascinating. well, apparently motorcycles aren't the only vehicles that can participate. on my way home today i passed a fellow ford taurus sho driver who happened to give me a little 2-fingered-wave. i did it back and felt like i was part of an exclusive club the remaining 2 minutes before i arrived at my home. ya jealous?

in the works: the ultimate driving song. stay tuned.

the long awaited...reasons i love being in america

so even though i miss my dear friends and life in east asia, i am completely excited about living in america. here is my list of reasons i love living in the states:

1. the obvious-being close to my friends and family. after being gone for 2 years, i love living at home and getting to be part of my family again. i may be the only 25 yr. old  who just loves still living with their parents. but when you have parents as great as mine, you wouldn't mind, either. i think they're great. and there is something really fun about being able to hop in a car and see my friends whenever i want. i love being around for kids birthdays, college reunions, roadtrips, etc. it has been super fun being social this year.

2. having my own car. as much as my health, my pocketbook, and the environment have benefited from walking and taking public transportation, and as often as my car has had issues this year, i love fernando, my 95 ford taurus sho. i love being able to go to multiple destinations to get various items within an hour. getting cheese and dvds used to take, oh, 2-3 hours, and now i can get dvds sent to my house and cheese, well, it is in my parent's fridge.

3. fast internet. after that earthquake in taiwan i could barely log on and check my e-mail, let alone watch any sort of video. now, though, i can watch the whole nbc line-up without a glitch. oh, you've got to love fast internet.

4. being in the same timezone as my friends. now, it is not always easy to visit people, but i can talk to lots of people on the phone. and being in the same timezone as people makes it much easier.

5. drinks! we have so many fountain drinks to choose from, a variety of diet drinks, and cold drinks everywhere you go. i really do not miss hot water and muslim tea, that's for sure.

6. being able to buy clothes that don't come from a little closet of a store in the middle of a busy, crowded, dirty market.

7. not having to worry about the water and/or electricity going out. fantastic.

8. being able to communicate with everyone i see.

9. not having to go to class everyday.

10. not seeing grown men relieve themselves outside on the way to church.

11. Goodwill.

12. flushing toilet paper, taking hot showers, and heat that actually makes the house warm.

13. having an oven, stove and microwave of normal proportions.

14. drive-thrus. you know, so i can eat dinner on my way to visiting people.

15. being able to read my bible and pray in public without looking over my shoulder.

16. western toilets! no more holding it until i get home or going to that one hotel in the middle of the city. yes!

17. being able to tell everyone what i do and who i work for.

18. a trip to the post office doesn't make me nervous, anxious, mad, or make me cry.

19. sporting events. i can go to colts and reds games. sweet.

20. tv! there is so much good stuff on tv that isn't an asian soap opera, beijing opera, or desperate housewives in chinese. i can understand everything i see on tv and that makes me happy.

so i'm at work and i should quit writing for today, but there are a few reasons i love being in america.

ride your bicycle to work day

so tomorrow the radio station gang is meeting at the courthouse with some members of the community and are riding our bicycles to the radio station. i'm leaving my house at 6am and riding a bike, which i haven't done in for-ev-er. we are also looking to get a police escort for this little jaunt of a mile or two. i'm pretty pumped for it, and in a few minutes will be digging through the garage to check out which bike i'm going to use, and most likely air up some tires. what i find hilarious about this situation is this: in america we have a day for riding your bike to work, and we get a police escort and make it a big event. in china, millions of people ride their bikes over ridiculously long distances to work everyday.

yet another reason why i'm gaining weight in america.

just because you're good at something...

have you ever noticed that when you're good at something people expect you to make a career of it? now, this isn't meant to be a blog about how talented i am because i'm really good at humility. (although you can feel free to tell me how awesome i am). this is more of an observation i've made.

at a retreat in april i wrote a song and performed it. i was overwhelmed by how encouraging people were about  it and have a lady or two who are pretty convinced i need to pursue a music career. now, i'm in touch with reality and know i can't go into the music business, but even if i was good enough, does being a really great musician mean you have to be a full-time musician? can't you just play for your self, friends and family?

if i had to make a career out of everything i'm decent at, i'd be a plumber-turns out i have a knack for fixing toilets. i attribute that to 2 summers of bathroom duty at camp and 2 years in east asia with toilets that broke a lot. or maybe i could be a full-time buffet attendant. yeah, i'm really great at cooking, cleaning, and keeping the buffet at pondo looking real  nice, clark. or, i could report meetings for wtre all the time. yeah, i can sit through a painfully long and boring 2 hour meeting and condense it into a 2-minute story with substance. do i want to do that for a living? no.

so just because you are good at something doesn't mean you have to do it. you may be good at it and hate it a lot. or on the other hand, you can be good at something and really like doing it, but it doesn't mean you have to make a career out of it.

so that's been on my mind and i thought i'd share it with y'all. let me know what you think.

still to come: life in america and why it's great.

things i miss about east asia

it is pretty normal for me to think about my day in comparison to what i'd have done in east asia. for instance, i'll be driving, running errands...you know, going to the bank, getting groceries, going to work, etc, and right in the middle of it all i will stop and remember how i would have done these things in east asia. and it is that thinking that has prompted this xanga.

things i miss about east asia:

-walking, riding the bus, public transportation, and climbing the 4 flights of stairs every time i went home. why do i miss these things? they kept me in shape. i could eat all the junk i wanted and not gain weight. and i just felt better as a person and i felt like a more responsible, environmentally-friendly citizen.

-the challenge of life. i know this sounds weird, but i miss stretching my mind in having to remember how to say things in east asia, in figuring out how to get what i need done, such as paying bills or getting friends to meet with me. and i'll admit it. i kind of miss class.

-DVD lady and buying dvds for $1-ish. she gave me best friend price, ok?

-how much of a treat KFC was. i honestly miss going to KFC once a week for my shang xiao ji kuai, shu tiao, and da bei ke le...and a little cha ke li bing qi ling. for those who don't speak the language, that's chicken nuggets, french fries, coke and a chocolate sundae. it was always such a treat, an escape, and a reward to eat at KFC for $3. KFC was special there. now it's just another fast food joint that i don't eat at.

-have i mentioned how much i miss riding the bus? i would turn on my i-pod, ride, think and people watch. i had many quiet times with the Lord riding the bus through its entire route.

-hour-long full body massages for less than $4. after a stressful week when my shoulders felt tense i knew where to go. i'd hop on the 10 and head to the blind massage place. it was heavenly.

-being able to get my hair straightened for $20. you really can't beat that.

-FOOD!!! hot pot, the poor man's hot pot-ma la tang, chicken and peanuts, beijing duck, blue zhi dao, and the noodle place snickers and i would go to and eat gan la mian. my stomach is growling just thinking of it.

-shopping. i loved being able to shop for bags, jewlery, cds, etc. i could not only get out and explore the city in the outdoor markets, but i could also buy stuff guilt-free because it was ridiculously cheap.

-tibetan dancing. if you know me, you know my love of tibetan dancing.

-giving performs. i mean, i was on TV lip syncing to my own recording of "my heart will go on".

-being a super athlete. being 6 inches taller than everyone made me a basketball star, my jr. high volleyball skills made me a collegiate-level server, and high school track throwing experience enabled me to break the school record in discus. i miss the sports meetings, wearing those stupid-looking, large-billed hats, the parade of foreigners, and standing on the podium, wearing my large-billed hat, receiving my award and having no clue what was going on.

-prayer meetings. we'd meet twice a week to pray for things going on in the campus, the country, our lives, and in the world. i really miss gathering with other people with the sole purpose of praying.

-holidays. every holiday was a reason to glorify Christ. i miss the intentionality of it all....christmas, easter, halloween, whatever holiday it was, we would take each holiday as an opportunity to make Christ known on our campus. and each holiday was a really big deal, and i liked that.

-travelling. i miss going home with friends, going on vision trips, thailand, and all the other travelling that you can do cheaply and productively in east asia.

-the students. i love love love east asians and i miss my friends so much. i really enjoyed getting to know them, learning about their culture, and seeing God work in their lives.

-going out dancing at new york subway.

-the import store.

-on the house.

-getting packages and letters.

-old people doing their morning exercises.

-the gazelle outside of the apartment.

-getting to do whatever i want because i'm a foreigner.

-saying whatever i felt like because no one understood my language.

-rollerskating in people's park.

-muslim grandpas, muslim friends and muslim foods.

-having RIDICULOUS stories all the time. we always had some crazy story to laugh about over there. 

-my gang.

so yeah....there you go. i could go on and on, but i won't. needless to say, i still love east asia.

coming up next...things i love about america