Getting Ready to Leave

Despite the ridiculously high income taxes, there are many great things about living in the Bay Area - my family and friends, the sun, clean air, relatively mild weather, relatively good roads, relatively sensible drivers, etc. I could go on for quite some time, but I think the point is clear. It's great to be home, and I'm going to miss it when I'm in Beijing. Goodbye to all the goodness in Bay Area, and hello to smoggy days AND night, freezing temperature, crazy cab drivers that smell from waiting in the car too long, and dirty bathrooms. BUT, I'll finally be in the same city with him.

Little Superhero Girl

by Corinne May



I feel like a little girl
Trying to conquer the whole wide world
Everybody wants a piece of me
And I just don't know where to turn
I've got work piled up to my head
All I want to do is jump into bed
And wash away my troubles
with lemonade
Play hide and seek
with the boy next door
Take a trip to Singapore and
Imagine how I'll make the world
a better place

All I need is a good disguise
One where nobody can recognise
That I'm feeling so small
All I need is a secret weapon
I've gotta have faith
Zapping monsters into outer space
I'm gonna be a Superhero

Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na-
Yeah

If I were a little girl
Trying to clean up the whole wide world
I'd kick the bad boys back to school
Teach them fighting's just not cool
I'd give every kid a teddy bear
Turn starving people into millionaires
Break glass ceilings with dynamite
sprinkle a little sugar and spice
Turn the bullies that terrorize
Into pink poodles that bark,
but don't bite

All I need is a good disguise
One where nobody can recognise
That I'm feeling so small
All I need is a secret weapon
I've gotta have faith
Zapping monsters into outer space
I'm gonna be a Superhero

Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na-
Yeah

Little Superhero Girl
Little Superhero Girl
Save me
Little Superhero Girl
Little Superhero Girl
Save me from myself

I feel like a little girl
Trying to conquer the whole wide world

I'm Feeling Lucky

今日本來心情好差。 四點幾肚痛痛醒， check in 時又話 luggage 不可以帶上飛機， 又嬲老細。 不過， 食飯時羅發票時又中獎！ ：） 雖然只是 RMB 10， 不過心情好返好多。 ：）

依家老细好無聊, 好乞人憎!

好掛著以前個 client... :( 最衰他們無大陸 operation ...

Christianity in China

After going to local churches in Beijing and Xiamen, I don't get why people need to be so hush-hush about the missionary trips or why I still hear stories about underground churches.

To the left is a picture of the church I went to in Xiamen. The building is enormous, and the congregation is at least double that of LGCC. As far as I can tell, their teachings are pretty normal:

• Holy Trinity
• We're all sinners
  
• Jesus Christ is God's only the begotten Son, was born of Virgin Mary, died on the cross for our sins, and resurrected in 3 days
  
• Baptism
• Salvation through faith

The Bamboo Church (ZhuShu Tang) is the other big community. Their website (click here), which can be found easily on all search engines, has lots of resources and is pretty well developed. And, here is a big BBS site in Xiamen.

Is this openness towards Christianity only true in the cities? I just don't get it... Can anyone explain this to me?

What's the Point?

It seems to take me longer and longer to update my blog. There are many times when I would write up a post in my head, but somehow never got around to actually typing it up. All of my managers have told me to work on my work-life balance, but they're the ones who keep dumping impossible amount of work on me. Yes, I should learn to say no and prioritize my work. And, yes, I should learn to work smarter, not harder. All sound good in writing, but it's of course much harder in action - as with everything else in life... I've learned the hard way that I can only run as fast as I can for so long. My body has given me warnings for a long time, but I can feel it giving up on me now. So, damn it, I'm saying no to weekend work and the ridiculous hours. Fire me for all I care.

I'm starting to question if what I'm doing now is really worth all the sacrifices I've made. All in exchange for meager monetary gain and professional accomplishments. There should be a bigger meaning behind all this, right? Reaching the big three-o is a bit scary. I still have some time left, but looking back at my life in the 20's so far, everything is a blur. All I can remember are school, work, wedding, work, work, and some more work.

Getting married was a highlight, but I'm not really sure what married life means. I live on my own for the most part, and I don't see this changing anytime soon in the future. I honestly feel like it's not any different from dating life - minus the little romantic gestures... Is getting married just a way to secure someone to grow old with or a prerequisite for having kids? Or, is it just something everyone else is doing? Don't get me wrong, I love him, and I'm glad to be his wife. I'm just wondering if getting married changed anything. Only seeing each other over the weekend can't be the long-term solution, but I don't know what else can be done. It may work for now, but we're bound to grow apart eventually. I'm not being pessimistic, just realistic.

Where to Go...?

Time really does fly when you're kept busy. The past 2 months have been somewhat like a blur to me, but at least I enjoy what I'm doing at work - yes, finally. It's true that I'm not as good at what I'm doing now, but there's always room for improvement. I rather build skills in an area that seems interesting to me than to become an expert in something that bores me to death.

We have planned to go to Tibet in May for a long time now. But, while we are going back and forth on whether I want to take 3 whole weeks off just for Tibet, the riots broke out. The Chinese government has, of course, tried to stifle foreign media coverage, but that's not so easy to do when Tibet is swarming with tourists.

Below is a link to a video captured by an Australian tourist:



According to the video, the Tibetan protesters aren't exactly peaceful, so it's little wonder the Chinese government brought in the tanks. I know that this is just one video, but it certainly looks like the Tibetans are the ones who are instigating the violence. The activists say that the influx of Han Chinese is threatening their ancient culture. But, killing the innocent and looting stores owned by the Hans do not help the situation. Whether they like it or not, Tibet is part of China right now, and Chinese citizens are free to go about the country, even if Tibet were autonomous. Tibet could have the Chinese government step in to help preserve their culture, but causing Beijing to lose face on the eve of the Olympics isn't going to help make their case. Luckily, China has to worry about its image before the showcase Olympics. But, who knows what they will do after August 24.

As for my vacation, I guess I don't really have to worry about taking 3 weeks off anymore, since Tibet is probably not the safest place right now. Yunnan is enticing, but part of me really wants to explore somewhere else. I guess I'm feeling a bit Chinaed out at the moment.