since you've been gone

first, a story..

so i bought a groupon for this tea shop way up on the way to my parents' house. since i was up there this morning, i decided to stop by on my way to work to redeem it. it was worth $10, so i ordered 3, $3 teas: two pearl milk teas and a jasmine green tea, no ice. 

the guy says its $6. i was confused, but not going to argue, so i ordered a jasmine rose tea and another jasmine tea. $12 (somehow). 

i hand over my phone with the groupon barcode info, and the guy says it's for the other location. oops. but they had already made half of my teas, so i said whatever, i'll pay the $12 and redeem the other one another time since it expires in june. 

so thenn he tells me that it's "tea happy hour" and since i bought 3 teas, i get another one free. so at this point i just start giggling out of control and order a hot rose milk tea. 

so now i have 5 teas waiting in my fridge. not a bad problem to have, i guess. 

(turns out it's almost impossible to take a picture of the inside of a fridge).

second, i'm just going to be honest. writing this blog makes me so happy and i love to share random observations with my family who are far away and people like lori and ruth who i haven't ever met, but who i feel some connection with anyway.

but i just don't have time, and there isn't a lot to say that doesn't have to do with work or my dating life. and since this is an open blog that everyone in the world can read, including people who i don't really want to know those details, i'm going to stick to posting silly random stories like ordering way too much tea and cats appearing in my bed. just know that everything is lovely, and we'll catch up in december.

until then, you might check out my friend marisa's blog, or this blog from a woman who's about to have a new baby soon, or my favorite design blog, or, if you need a baby fix, these videos of sweet baby ruby from joy cho. 

monday class

every once in a while i go back and read some posts from blonde in taiwan. the ones at the top are the roundups of people i got to know and goodbyes to my classes.

tonight my heart aches thinking about my students and how much fun we had together. the girls in jasmine's class (above) were some of my very favorites. beryl, [purple] maggie, betty, kitty, grace and jennier. sooo much fun. i used to get there really early and we would sit at the top of the stairs and talk about all kinds of things. they would quiz me on words in chinese and ask about my life at home and tell me about their lives at school.

miss them and taiwan today. and danbing.

on falling in love

have nothing to say of my own today, but i did love this post from a cup of jo (one of my favorite blogs). sometimes we all need a reminder.

She writes:

Back in 1958, John Steinbeck, author of East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men, got a letter from his teenage son Thom, in which Thom confessed that he had fallen desperately in love with a girl named Susan at his boarding school.

Steinbeck wrote this wise and wonderful letter back to him the same day...

New York
November 10, 1958
Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First -- if you are in love -- that's a good thing -- that's about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don't let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second -- There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you -- of kindness and consideration and respect -- not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn't know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply -- of course it isn't puppy love.

But I don't think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it -- and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone -- there is no possible harm in saying so -- only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another -- but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I'm glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

date a girl who travels

this blog post has been flying around facebook today, largely thanks to my miriam, and i think you would like it.

some of my favorite excerpts:
She'll walk along with you, not behind you, pointing out the interesting bits of things you'll see on the way. Before long, you'll realize that yes, the journey has been more memorable than the destination that you've planned to take her to. 


She knows she's been to a lot of places, but she's humbled by the fact that the world is still a big place and she's only seen a small part of it. 

see the world

i feel bad for ignoring the blog, but lately there has been no time, or i've just had nothing to say that's broadcastable.

sundays are one of my favorite days because i've been visiting home and majjy and i watch top chef and glee, and lately faj has been home too. he used to fly out on sundays, but now it's been mondays. tonight we had 'tuna gack' which is a can of cream of mushroom soup + milk + a can of tuna over top of minute rice. it sounds gross, it looks gross, but it's honestly one of my favorite dinners.

speaking of favorites, andy is in town from london for a few weeks. it's nice to be around someone who you're so comfortable with and who knows you/you know so well. i guess aside from the fact that andy himself is so wonderful is that being around him reminds me of some of the most fun i've ever had throughout the last 12 years.

london 2006.