lost

I didn't think it would actually happen that she would go. I thought the specialists at Stanford would find some miracle to save her life. And although they kept telling me the chances were slim, I kept thinking God would bring a miracle and bring her back to us. The day before she passed away my dad said the docs said she might not make it through the night. I hurried to the hospital and sat by her and with my family and friends and we left that night seeing her oxygen levels at low 90s. That's great I thought, she's fighting, she still has a chance! God can still give us that miracle!

Then the next morning my dad wakes me up and says O2 levels dropped to 40%.. she might go soon. I sat in the car stunned as my father had a burst of emotion and then calmed to continue driving to the hospital. Sixty percent is when brain damage occurs.. she had been at 40 for at least and hour and when we got there she was at 55 for a good two hours which later went up to 60 something. But it was too late.. I knew she wasn't going to make it, and even if she did.. she wouldn't be the same woman. She had made it clear to us repeatedly and to our family members that should she ever need to go on machines to let her go. She couldn't bear "living" like that.

Our family made the hardest decision of our lives.. the choices from the doctor 1) keep her on the machines for the next two days and let her die on the machines or 2) slowly take her off the meds (other than sedation to keep her comfortable) and let her pass peacefully. She wasn't coming back he said. We didn't let her suffer.. but up until the point of her last breath I kept hoping.. until I looked up and saw the machines registering no oxygen, no heart beat, and no brain function. The doctors had given her paralysis drugs so the machine cld help her breath better.. they let the drug wear off.. but she had regressed so much that she never started breathing on her own.. as soon as the machine slowed down she went on peacefully.

This is the hard part now.. the reality of what's gone from my life. My best friend and the only person in this world who knew me better than myself. It hurts to know she will never physically be with me in the next steps of my life, although I will forever hear her voice and feel her love. It hurts more to see the people who she touched, from those who've pratically known her all her life to those she had brief encounters with. It hurts the most to see my father lose his soul mate and for the first time look lost. But I thank the Lord for all the love he has surrounded us with, for the family and friends who share our burden and most of her for the time we had with my mother. It is her love that will keep us safe and heal our wounds in time and make us better and strong enough to continue our lives without her physical presence.

Mom, I know you can hear me and know that I love you more than anything in the world and that I will never stop loving you and that my world has forever changed from your presence and your absence. I will miss you always and love you always.

i need your help

It's October and you can definitely feel it up here in Nor Cal. And my life in the last two weeks have been flipped upside down tremendously.. it went from having to give up a job to giving up my place in So Cal and moving back up here to my mom going to the hospital and then suddenly in the last three days - to her being in the hospital under heavy sedation and on machines helping her breath. I'm so scared we're going to lose her soon and the doctors aren't sure how long she's got left and she's not even conscious because she'll fight the tubes in her throat helping her breath if she's awake. They transfered her through helicopter to Stanford hospital yesterday and I pray the specialists there will be able to help her.

If any blog readers of mine know my mom, she's a really wonderful and caring person who's given so much to her family and more if that's possible. She is our reason for living and so selflessly gave everything to us and took less for herself. If you believe in a higher being send up prayers for her please, chants if your buddhist, and positive thoughts if nothing else.

Thanks.

ps. don't send flowers coz she can't be anywhere near them. cards are okay and if you wanna reach me, leave a message on the 'spill it' link.

stupid, smart people

So i've been applying to AmeriCorps Vista jobs lately and been getting numerous interview offers quickly. But of course, if you know what AmeriCorps is you'd kno they don't pay much and that it's basically like the national/state version of PeaceCorps. Which is cool with me, coz that's ultimately what I want to do. But my dad says it's perfect for people like me.. the smart, dumb people who will do a lot of work for basically no money. But it's okay, coz it's helping me realise what my focus is turning towards:

Community outreach, public service, national service, helping the people, doing programs, outreach, development, etc.

It's nice to have a direction in my life and feel that familiar feeling of confidence course through my veins in knowing that I'm going towards a goal that will fulfill my psychological and emotional needs.. however money as usual is always an issue. But I think after doing this AmeriCorps job (if I get one of them) it will definately open up doors to new places.

And hopefully give me ideas about what I want a masters in.. hehe.

Can't wait, sooo excited.. hope I get the one I want. *sigh*
Hope my mommy starts to get better too. :( ... ouch..
I hate it when my heart hurts like this.

sorrow halved

they say happiness shared is happiness doubled and that sorrow shared is sorrow halved.. well i need to be majorly halving my sorrow. because my mom is sick, and i'm scared.. the worst case scenario is that we lose her. how do you deal with preparing for the worst? my dad wants us to talk this out, i don't want to talk it out, at least not with him or my brother for some reason. this has definitely put things in perspective for me. it's funny how we can go along with our lives and when something this drastic happens this quickly.. you find out what really matters to you will over power even the things your heart once desired.

i want to scream and kick and fight and cry and lose myself into something like stress or work or anything where i don't have to face this ache and uncertainty. i want someone to pick a physical fight with me because i want to blame someone and hit them and beat them into a pulp until all this frustration is gone.. and yet if i do i'd still feel guilty because i know they are not the reason for my anger and frustration. i want to cry, but i have to be strong for her and my family. i know they're there for me.. but i just don't want to talk to them about it.

it was a sudden onset and my mother's lungs seem to not be functioning well and her body is basically attacking itself. and there's nothing i can do, but be there to support her.
i look at her and i love her more than anything and if she was gone.. my very heart would break forever and there is nothing that could heal that heart ache. i'm trying to stay positive and hope that she recovers quickly.. but recovery seems slow.. if not uncertain as well. she seemed to be doing so well and she was scheduled to come home today.. on her birthday but i walked into the hospital room this morning and i knew that was not going to happen today.

so we wait and be there for her and hope that the chemo will start working and that she'll recover and be herself again. it's just hard knowing that this strong woman now hardly has the strength to even walk around her room without losing her breath. yet admist all this.. i selfishly want my life back, i want to be back in southern california doing my thing.. but i can't be. i'm angry, not at her or my family, but at the situation and as life likes to prove itself over and over again.. it's not fair.

all i have is hope.. and hope is so little in the face of such great hardship and it's hard to keep my mind on that goal. but i will carry that in my heart and pray that she gets better soon. i have to be strong for her..

yet..

je suis fatigué d'être fort


.. if i could ask that if you're spiritual in any way to send out a message and a thought for her. thank you..

soon to be...

over: the internship, thank goodness! It's been a great experience I've learned a lot and it's the first internship I've walked away from really thinking it's helped me look forward to the future and possibly a career path of some sort. Not to mention I've met some really great peopl in my fellow interns and the intern coord/ admin asst.

23: it's august, I'm turning 23 in 14 days!! Scary... I still look like I'm 16. *sigh* I wish people would treat me as if I were older, I'd think I'd start acting older.

fall: it's been soo hot lately, haven't gotten to see the OC beaches yet :(

home: yay get to see mommy, daddy, and jon. i miss them. i love them.

ha ha
I was cleaning out e-mails and came across this link my friend sent me.

http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2003/03/26/1048354635257.html

Click the Ladder Theory

the right guys

So my friend was telling me this story about how she was eating lunch with some co-workers and one of them a white male told her he has never dated any non-Asian girls (Asian fetish perhaps?). Anyway, he's married now to a vietnamese wife and has kids and all that. And he says to my friend: man this language barrier thing's really getting annoying! i mean it was cute at first but we have so many miscommunications. Now what the heck is that?! I don't get it. I tell my friend this and she throws this back at me, well you like white guys who like asian girls. Okay.. so maybe at one time I was highly attracted to white men.. can you blame me? Look at what society teaches us, prince charming is never asian and that knight in shining armour - white. Sure there's the tall, dark and handsome.. but are they ever black or hispanic or asian? No.. they're white.

Anyways, I thought about my past experiences with men. I have only once in my life dated a white guy (okay this isn't saying much, coz I haven't exactly dated man men at all).. but basically I'm saying I've only dated one guy who's had an 'asian fetish'. Don't think he's got one anymore, but I'm not about to really check in on him with that one. Anyways, I then started thinking about the guys I'm attracted to nowadays. There have been the Asian ones, the Caucasian ones, the Hispanic ones and I've seen some beautiful African American or actually African Brits.. (haven't exactly been attracted to them, coz I've only seen these guys from afar, never really made friends with them). So you might be wondering how I get attracted to these guys? It's not just looks, although that plays a small part at first, but then the one thing that makes or breaks something like this - the personality. If it sucks.. forget it, they just getting fuglier and fuglier. But.. if they are really genuinely cool people then damn.. and when they're sincere and do things out of their way, or notice something you need and goes and does it for you.. damn imma about to give you my heart right now! haha.. but the one killer.. is when they do it for everybody and I just melt into a puddle, coz how many people (girls and guys) do you know are just really good people like that? I've met a lot of those people in my life and I think I got lucky.. too bad all those men that I did eventually 'fall' for just didn't feel the same. But at least I know I'm not picking them wrong, how I be? :) One of these days I'm going to find one that's like that and likes me back! As for right now, I'm glad to say I'm still really good friends w/ all those guys, even if some of them don't know that I've ever liked them.

Still looking..

http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

yay!.. boo!

So since I have such a busy life, I'm gonna start a new yay and boo section, so you can see brief flashes of my life in a quick cliff notes version. Clay always did say I 'yammered' on too long and my blogs get all emotional and long.. :D What can I say? That's me.. sometimes...

yay! - got my multiregion DVD player unlocked thanks to a bit of internet searching and I can not play 'the Office' DVD and share English humour with the world (Pete will definitely be happy)
had lunch w/ Kris today! CPK yuuuuummmy and it's good to see her after so long.
watched 9 hours of sex and the city yesterday.. not sure if that's a good thing.. but since I'm missing man, love and sex in my life.. hey what better place to find it

boo! - want my Ms. Dynamite CD.. not sure where it is.. very very upset and sad.. think it may be in my car, but if it is, then it's loose running around.. sniff..
my car is in the shop for a week.. transmission needs fixing.. very sad.. didn't realise how much i appreciated her until she's unavailable. hope she's better soon

July 4th - good times, lots and lots of food.. basically continuous eating and drinking from 1-9pm then i went 'clubbing' at a house club (first time for everything) not bad. interesting. good friends came over and we kicked it.. that was really nice :) gonna miss those who leave to go far and far far far away. *sigh* things are changing, but I don't think I'd have it any other way.. it's life and it goes on.

The Office: part 1

So I finally have something to do in at work. They had me researching hate crimes and now I'm writing a report on it. Whoo hoo. Well not excited about the hate crimes part, because it's horrible and depressing to see crimes committed because of ignorance. The information I continually find is heart breaking. And sometimes I just can't understand why people are like this. Although deep down inside, I know that I have my own prejudices and as much as I'd like to be rid of them, they're there. At least I know they're there and I can try to adjust my thinking. But the reason stereotypes persist is because they are partial truths to what is happening in society. It isn't just randomness that minorities are often at the bottom of the ladder, that we are perceived in both good and bad stereotypes. Our society is a never ending cycle of oppression. And though we may know diverse types of people, we will still stick to what we know. There's the trick, 'we stick to what we know'. Therefore we need to change what we know and expand it. It's a scary place to go, but one that I'm going to try and actively be a part of. In England with my housemates I felt like I wasn't seen just as a race, granted there were numerous incidents within England where I was faced with prejudices. But with my housemates, I wasn't the Chinese girl, I was the American girl (not that it made it any better.. in fact...haha). Anyway, it got me thinking about why my eyes saw not race but race. All the situations I measured in a strangely racial context. Not say that I judged people by their race (although in my head and subconscious I may have), but the situations I encountered I'd ask myself so many questions based upon my own race and that of others. I was asked quite a few times why race was a big issue in the states while I was studying abroad. Upon returning to the US and starting my internship it became a bit clearer to me as to why race is such a big issue. My current internship is with the Center for Asian-Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE) and the (CASIC) internships purpose is to promote political involvement in the Asian American community. It is to teach us Asian Americans how the legislative office works and how we can be leaders. Being part of it has opened up my eyes to some of the issues that face API people in the US. The US is not like any other countries by a long shot. Our short history is filled with a lot of tension and pain. The only Americans who are native to this country are the Native Americans and they are now considered a minority. Race has always been an issue ever since the first colonies established themselves on this land. Race was there between colonists and Native Americans, it was there when the first White Europeans settled in the US and with other white Europeans that came after. (English, Irish, French, Italians, Polish.. the list goes on) Even when skin color was nearly the same there was an animosity. Then comes those who actually look drastically different, the blacks, the Asians, and the Hispanics and Latinos. For 200 years! This country has been "plauged" by the 'issue of race.' But it's far from solvable at this point. How do you teach love? There are anti-hate programs and diversity promoting organisations out there and that's great. I totally believe in all these steps and they are vital to changing the way people think. Yet.. after looking at www.tolerance.org and seeing at least 708 HATE organisations being monitored in the states, it makes me sad and a bit scared. But I know that I will forever fight this battle if only to hopefully make the future a little bit better for my children and the inheritors of the earth.

yeah yeah.. a bit of cheese at the end.. but if you know me, you know i mean what i say w/ passion.

stupid head

My loving brother thinks I'm a "stupid head" by putting my personal thoughts up online. But despite all that I'm still gonna keep doing it. It's not like I put up anything I wouldn't tell people normally and those who know me, know that I go through a mood w/ optimism still. Things always do get better. :) Which they are right now, I've got my internship and it's slowly helping me form ideas about what I want to do. But things are still weird...

lost

i feel like i don't quite belong here anymore and i'm not sure where i belong.

relief!

Seems that I've been more prone to stress and breaking down (meaning crying and a whole lot of frustration and anxiety overwhelming me psychologically and physically) lately and I couldn't really figure out why. Which is usually because I'll block what I can out so I don't have to feel bad feelings and therefore get on with my work. However there is a limit to everything and with the pressure of exams, trying to pass and graduate, dealing with leaving here and people here, things changing at home, finding a place to live, getting information and money moved around in the states while I'm in England, finding a job, did I mention revising for exams.. oh and exams.. and my future. So it has been realtively crazy up in my head over the last few weeks. But two days ago I got some of the best news I've ever heard! We got a house! A real house, not just a flat, a house in Huntington. I'm not sure what it looks like, but from the specs and my friends judgements it seems alright. Although my room apparently is really really tiny.. oh well I can deal with that, means less rent. And I don't have to worry about if I can get down there this summer or not. If I can, I will, if not then there will be someone living there already. So Phew.. it's nice to have a home to go back too. And now I just have to get past this last exam and I'll be okay. Then all that stands in the way really is my future.. hahaha.. finding a job or internship or just figuring out what I want to do with my life and then saying good bye.

I hate good byes
I'm lousy at them
I will hold back if i can and deny feelings so I don't have to feel anything
But I may cry
The words will escape me as to what to say
I'll cry
Hug them and walk away
and when I do I'll start bottling it all up again
Until I'm alone
Then I'll cry again
Good byes suck..
It's not even a see you later, I'll try to make a trip out once every few months..
It's more like a e-mail me coz I don't know when I'm going to see you again
Although if I have my way, it'll be next spring. :)

revision sucks

I honestly can't bring myself to really sit down and study and work on this stuff. I know that I have too.. because I have to be able to write three coherent well analysed essays on Wednesday morning at 9:30 for three hours... I'm screwed. This stuff is interesting, but to know that I'm under pressure I can't deal with this right now. I can't deal with exams and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and just all this crap that keeps filling up my head. It's gotten so irritating. I can't sleep at night because as soon as I hit the pillow I'm awake and thinking, it sucks. I know a great deal of it has to do with my own warped and twisted mind making me feel this way but oh well... tried changing, can't do it. I hate myself sometimes. oh boy.. here we go again. I'm sure by June 7th when all this is done I'll be happy as a clam and I know I can do this just coz.. well I can. I've never let myself down before, no I take that back, when it comes to school I just generally can hack it.. but I don't want to anymore.. I try to continually remind myself that I'm almost done.. almost done... two more exams and I'm done with school.. I'll have my degree soon enough.

funny what a bit of stress can do to your head and your confidence

bedtime

I really don't like going to bed lately, I don't like that bit before you fall asleep and it drives me crazy. Because I know exactly how much my mind is holding back and how much I just don't want to deal with it right now. Especially with exams coming up and trying to figure out my 'future' where I want to be and the people in my life seeming to scatter all over the place. I know that when I go home things will be the same and yet completely different at the same time. It scares me. I had this conversation with Theo today and he thinks I'm scared of everything and I realised I do get scared about a lot of things. It's not necessarily a big fear, but when I'm uncomfortable it's almost always associated with fear. I think I've built this thing up inside of me where if I'm not comfortable I get all weirded out and I don't like it. I remember too easily how little confidence I had before and what that felt like, that dark period of my life where everything would make me worry and just generally made me feel like shit. I don't want to remember it. But this uncertainty that lies before me is bringing that shit back up. But at the same time I know I'm different now I'm stronger and wiser.. but sometimes you just get tired.

sometimes the loneliest time is that bit where you're all tucked into bed and right before you fall asleep...

Resent

I've never really thought about what the word meant and how it made me feel until just now. I was sitting here doing my second dissertation on how capitalism and patriarchy are linked as oppressors of women. And the more I think about it, the more I'm feeling this hidden (or sometimes not so hidden) side of me that dislikes (hate being a really really strong word) men as much as I love them... and boy do I love men. Guys always say women are beautiful creatures and I believe we are. But men are as well. The way they move and carry themselves, the way they can smell so good that it wraps you up and makes you feel warm and safe.. the way you can disappear into their hugs and how they can be so silly sometimes and so logical it will drive you crazy. How when they do something really nice for you it just gets you right there in the heart no matter how hard you try to protect yourself from them and how they'll surprise you.. especially when you've been trying to block them out for years because the first real hurt you ever feel you'll never forget. That's when the resentment sometimes builds, whenever a guy does me wrong my opinion of them drops a bit. I start to expect men to let me down. Perhaps it's my fault and my expectations are too high, but I don't believe that to be completely it, because a few men have still managed to find their way into my heart, usually hurting it a bit in the end.. I'd like to say I have never regretted it for a moment, but that would be a lie, with hurt always comes a bit of regret.. then it's replaced by this kind of niceness to know that I still have a heart and it's still reachable.. the wall hasn't been built up too thick yet..

ooo!

OOO I just found out I can change the time on my blog so it accurately reflects the English hour.. too bad I've only got a month left here.

OOO I just found out my friend Kris was a spelling bee champ in 3rd grade!!

oh dissertations.. how i do i love thee.. let me count the ways

Monday 5pm is the deadline to finish these suckers... I'm so tired of writing them and I'm tired of planning them and I should have gone to see my tutor today and gotten some advice on how to set this second one up.. but no I didn't. Instead I spent form 12pm to 5 pm, trying to cut 2,200 words out of my first dissertation! You think going over the word limit would be a good thing, but noooo it's a lot harder to cut out words than it is to add words I think. Luckily Mr. Barden saved me by not only reading through my 25 page paper, but showing me 'AutoSummarize' in MS word.. this little miracle tool goes through your essay and can highlight what it think it important and what you can cut out.. depending on how much of the original text you want to keep. It can do a few other nifty things as well..

anyway better get cracking faster on my second one.. capitalism and patriarchy: cycle of oppression woo hoo! at least I got the title down.

BTW: Guess who's seeing Matrix on May 21st at 8:30.. first showing in Brighton, England!!! Me!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Kristine and Matt and Peter and Hailin..

where do i go?

just when i think i've found myself and i knew what i wanted to do with my life i've gotten lost again. it always feels like i know who i am at one point, but then the next thing you know.. poof you find yourself in a place where everything is uncertain and it's like you're walking in this thick fog where you can hear familiar voices but you're just not sure which direction to head in...

going home is going to be strange, things definitely aren't going to be the same because i've changed. just becoming more politically aware has created this thirst in me to want to read hoards and hoards of books about what's going on in the middle east and the history that led up to it, what's going on in africa because no one seems to care and especially about the US. i took AP US History in high school but honestly i can't remember very much from it, except for the major events, but my dates are all screwy if i know any of the dates at all

and with all that is going on in the world it seems like sitting at home in a 9 to 5 job where i'm doing nothing to try and help seems like such a waste. it's not the 9 to 5 part that bothers me, it's the feeling like i'm doing this job for selfish reason and only money that bothers me. i have all these big plans where i would love to work for an NGO or some international organisation where i can be helping people become more self-subsistent. the peace corps is starting to sound like a good idea as a starting point, but i'm still not even sure about that

i know i have to start from the bottom no matter what and to become a major part of an international organisation you'd need a PhD.. or at least a masters.. looks like more schooling might be in my future. as for right now, i'm not sure what to do.. i can go into human resources, but i feel that taking that path won't take me to where i want to be in life. perhaps public relations or maybe a masters in public health... well we will see i better start doing some research on this stuff as well...

that's the other problem, can't really do all the reading about stuff i'm interested in coz of my papers and exams.. not that it's not interesting.. it is.. it would just be more interesting if i didn't have to do it for a dissertation or exam.. haha... funny how if it's work no matter how interested i am in a topic i still want to procrastinate doing it.. damn psyche.

Celebrating.. quietly...

OH MY GAWD! GUESS WHO JUST FINISHED HER DISSERTATION!! FINISHED IN THE SENSE THAT THE CONCLUSION'S A BIT SHIT AND I HAVE TO CUT OUT 1500 WORDS... BUT WHO THE FUCK CARES!!! IT'S WRITTEN! IT'S THERE!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH JOY OF JOYS!! I'M IN THE LIBRARY SO I HAFTA BE QUIET.. BUT I'VE BEEN TEXTING ALL MY FRIENDS HERE.. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY.. IN A STATE OF RELIEF AND EXTACSY!! AWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAH...

now i have to start on the next one...

Going nowhere

Day after day it's the same thing.. dissertation work dissertation work.. and actually paid work coz I just got a job!! Yay about that one. But damn.. I feel like no matter what I do I'm never really going to understand all this ideology and Marx and everything and I really want to! But damn.. trying to define a Marxist theory of imperialism for today's modern society is not freaking easy.. not to mention I haven't even started the second dissertation on capitalism and patriarchy! I have no idea where I'm going with that one. Sometimes this stress is too much and instead of being productive I just want to run away and not face it.

There's this time.. right before I got to bed every night where I start to get anxious. Although I may be completely exhausted I don't want to go to bed.. because I'm afraid of something. Not sure what. Maybe I'm scared to face the growing pile of responsibility that I'll have to face when I wake up, maybe I'm afraid of that period of time because when I lay down I'm going to start thinking I can't jsut fall asleep immediately and then I know I'll dream those things.

I feel like I'm being pulled backwards and forwards and my life is just one big confusing ball of emotion.. coz that's me.. a big fat lame emotion ball sometimes.. all the time haha.. give me some denial privleges please! I want to say what's on my mind completely truthfully to everyone.. but that's never going to happen. It's like a blog.. you'll let some things out but you've still got your skeletons or just those little things you're afraid someone's going to hurt you with tucked away in a little chest because you're afraid of yourself.

Hmm... I think that was a few too many thoughts in one paragraph.. oh well.. Marxy poo here I come again!

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGH

Yeah.. term's started, classes begin tomorrow.. 2 6,000 word dissertations due May 19th and then two unseen exams on classes that I took in freaking Autumn/Fall term/quarter!! I forgot what it's like to take tests and exams and do loooong papers. I had 5 weeks for Easter break and I was supposed to do work on my dissertations towards the end of it. I even came home early to get started.. but did I? Hahah! No way, I spent the time watching movies, eating, sitting on Brighton beach b/c it was 23 degrees Celsius.. so what.. about 75 F, went to town and wandered around, went shopping.. read about 10 pages total in two weeks. Finally I sat myself down and did 500 words in a few hours and then today came to the library, where I currently am and did 2,000 words! Whoo hoo. Feeling like more weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I've realized that he more stressed out I get, the more little itty bitty things, the bad things, and the sad things get to me in life. I should go work out or something.. too bad the gym's so freaking far and costs money to go to. Hmm maybe I'll look into a pilates class. Or just go for more walks. hehe. Okay back to my paper.

D-Day: June 18th

bittersweet

Lazy Ass

That's me.. one giant lazy ass. I seriously have been doing nothing but laying around all day watching movies I get from the library or off my friend's computer. Sad. I should go out there and do something with myself.. actually I should start reading more for my dissertations. It always seems easier to read for my dissertations when I'm not home and on a train traveling somewhere or in a hostel with a 12am curfew.. haha. Maybe I should plan a trip somewhere in England that's far away by train, so I can study and get some work done and then see a bit more of England. Hehe.. well we'll see. Although I should do this soon. Maybe Dustin wouldn't mind having me around for a bit. I think I'll give him a call.. someone's gotta save me from this boredom and myself.

Adventure!

It started out with dry eyes and a slight irritation w/ having my contacts in, so I started taking them out. In went the plunger cuz I was lazy and out came the left contact, safely packed it away in solution in the case. Then the right eye... suddenly because the contact was so dry it slips off the plunger and falls, bouncing into the drain.. SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looking with my specs on and can't spot it. Grab my flashlight in the hope that maybe it's still there somewhere.. gotcha! Hanging on a cliff ledge of metal underneath the strainer of the sink. Ungh, can't get the strainer off.. well.. what now? Bubble gum? Tape? Nope.. blue tack and a chopstick.. after some difficult manuevering and scraping the side of the pipe which I've realized is disgusting! Brown gunk all over.. Anyway I finally manage to get it to stick and only problem is my hand shakes.. so I clamp the chopstick in my mouth to help keep it steady, holding the flashlight w/ my left hand and manuevering the chopstick w/ my right I pull it out to freedom. Covered in a bit of gunk, washed off and checked, it's fine and now safely away in its case. Yay!!

I'm pathetic and lazy!

How sad.. I'm sooo bored and lazy, I've read a total of 6 pages today and took notes on it and watched movies through the blurry and fuzziness of static on the TV from lack of reception. And that is seriously all I can really remember doing, besides going to the store and purchasing food and a newspaper. So I read a bit of that and cooked food today. Sometimes i wonder what the heck I'm doing and how sad and pathetic I am.. especially when I start analyzing the thoughts that will run through my head sometimes.

Maybe i'm just crazy... and not actually pathetic and lazy..

OMG.. i'm in such a strange mood right now.. must be the lemon and ginger tea.. it made me light headed earlier and now this.. I could ramble some more, but I'll probably just scare people. haha. ok..

Motivation where are you?!

Two dissertations due May 19th, 6,000 words each (21 pages each) and two exams, which isn't nearly as bad as what some of my friends got. But damn.. I'm so over school!! I totally don't want to write these stupid papers. I just want to read for fun, this stuff is interesting to read on it's own, but I keep thinking about my papers and how I'm going to shove this information in. Although I suppose that's good, because it's making me think about this reading critically. Haha.. I'm turning into a nerd! Yay! Anyway, doesn't help that I've got my housemates TV and VCR in my room.. and that the library has a large selection of films to check out for free.. Last night it was A Hard Day's Night and The Picture of Dorian Gray (going to kill Theo for telling me to read the book.. since I couldn't get the book I got the movie and it's creeepy! and I'm all alone in the house!). So I got Eat Drink Man Woman, The Wedding Banquet, and Roman Holiday.. happy movies for tonite. whoo hoo. Suppose I should get a bit more work done before I leave the library.

As for the rest of my life, I've realized I've gotten more sensitive and emotional or something over the past few months.. and I don't like it. It's as if I feel more vulnerable for some reason and not really safe. It's a yucky feeling. Anyway, gonna read a bit more and then head home for some lunch.

Songs for the moment: India Arie- I Am Ready For Love and Avril Lavaigne - I'm With You

Being me is just fine

We all get into those times when life seems so uncertain and scary and it feels like things are falling apart because there's nothing to hold onto. Well that's how I've been feeling for awhile now.. and going to Italy with my family wasn't helping. If you know me and my dad and our relationship... oi. Anyway, so my head's been one big mess lately about everything in my life. Nothing felt normal and although everyone said that when I came home it would all be the same I know it's not. Two of my closest friends are heading off to New York together to grad school (they're together) and another is going to Columbia for grad school to be closer to his girl friend. Another good friend migth be moving back down to San Diego and all my high school friends are pretty much up North. I've still got a few close by in the So Cal area if I move back down there which is what I want to do. But still.. nothing's the same you know?

But I got letters recently from a few of them and it's amazing what a letter can do... and a 'sunshine CD' that one of them made. It totally reminded me of who I have in my life and how incredible they are and how I am capable and worthy and wonderful and gosh darn it people like me!!! So yeah, defiantely got a bit of confidence back inside of me and it feels great. Life may be uncertain, but I'll find my way eventually.

Thank God for amazing, incredible, indescribable friends. *muah* Thank god for love.

Mallorca and War! (although War could use a whole section on its own.)

Got back yesterday from Mallorca and it was absolutely beautiful. I left the country and it was cold and spent the week in the sunny Baleric Islands (part of Spain.. where Ibiza is). It wasn't that warm, but the last two days were nice enough to lay out and relax at the beach. We went shopping, walked around Palma, the capital and took a train ride to Soller and visited the small town of Valldemosa. Absolutely beautiful. I want to go back again some day and maybe party it up. All that were around were old German people and a lot of German speaking cyclers training for some bike marathon or something. Some 20 year old Austrian bloke just came up to us and started chatting with us. Me and Joy got hit on at the beach by some 15 year old Spanish blokes asking if we were going to 'fiesta' that night. But being the old fogies that we are we watched a bunch of German TV and tried to decipher the news in French, Spanish and German ( I swear it seems like the island isn't even Spanish!) and went to bed early.

It's crazy to imagine that I was laying at the beach and there was a war going on about 2,000 miles to my East.. scary. Felt a bit guilty about the fact that I was safe and sound and at the beach while people were being blitzed and hurt and killed. I could go on and on about how I feel about this war, but after having talked about it with my dad (mr. devil's advocate himself.. frustrating man that he is) and having a discussion with a pro-war ex-spopper of mine this morning, I don't really want to. I don't believe in it and everything I read in the newspaper makes me sadder and sadder at the state of our world and the American government. There seems to hardly be any humanity left in this world..

Just as I expected

I could have gone along just fine, not thought about it and would have gone home forgotten about it and have a great friendship with mr. man. But after the planting of hope by my housemates.. I actually got up enough guts to do something. Despite the fact that deep down in my gut I knew he didn't feel the same I JUST KNEW!! But when you've got three people in the house.. telling you you're wrong.. and giving you hope..making things uncertain, what are you going to do? So I wrote a letter (don't laugh.. please..) and Noelle delivered it (yeah I know childish in a way). And an hour later I got the resonse I knew was coming in the form of letter. Didn't feel the same way although I'm (list of good and flattering things.. wow.. am I really? awww how sweet). But we're gonna be friends still.. so as soon as I get over a bit of heart ache and this extreme embarrassment that I feel when I see him sometimes.. things will be all good. Although this does prove that I'm not completely off base.. not like I was about the last boy situation i was in way back when.. and that the masses may not necessarily be right. But it does make my life a bit more uneasy.. because then I haven no pattern to base the next situation on! Geez.. you think life could give me a break and not be so damn complicated and difficult and random! But then life would be boring..I suppose.

yay and boo all at the same time. life is definately bittersweet... maybe a bit more bitter.

Regrets..

Okay, so it's gotten to the point where the internal dialogue inside my head is about to kill me. Well not kill me but it's straight up bugging me like crazy. I haven't had someone occupy my thoughts in quite awhile. I'm usually just chillin' doing my own thing, no real drama in my life. Except for the occasional minor stuff that's been going on I've been relatively happy. Enjoying my singleness and just enjoying being myself.. so what the heck! I get this wrench thrown into the works and I'm sure this boy is totally chill about the whole situation and doesn't even realize what's going on anyway. Which means he probably doesn't like me. But I can't help but wonder and this uncertainty is one of the most annoying things in my life right now.

I've always told others to take the chance when they could because you could pass on something great and it's better to know than not to know.. but now that I'm in this situation I don't know if I can swallow my own pill and take my own advice. The fear of losing a friend is so great inside me and I hate weirdness. But then again.. when have I ever really taken a chance in my life? Situations have happened in my life where I have reacted or where I've spoken without thinking. And so many times these days I want to just blurt something out and it's sitting there in my throat and sometimes in my mouth but never past my lips. I just don't know what to do. Am I mistaken to take fate into my own hands and see what becomes of things?

Being the me that I am.. I have this tendency to overnanalyze every little bit of information that passes through my senses. It feels like the signals aren't there and then they are and all of it is so mixed up! How annoying! I thought I could understand men.. I can't. Because everytime I think I've got them.. someone will come along and change everything all up! Will you guys just quit it! Thank you. Anyways.. thinking of saying something next Friday.. because then there's 5 weeks of Easter break, so if all goes to hell maybe 5 weeks will fix it.. yeah? I don't want to regret something in my life.. and I'm afraid I may actually be faced with one possible regret if I stay silent...

How scary.. to know that perhaps you have control over one possible regret in your life, which may not be a regret later in life.. but whatevers. We'll see.. next Friday.. if I've sorted out my head a bit more by then..or maybe not.

I hate how pathetic I can get sometimes.. damn it.. I am me and that's all I'll ever be.

For Grace..

Okay so I got all excited cuz I saw that I had a message and it was Grace telling me I don't update enough. So here's the update and it's all for her.. well dedicated to her anyway. haha. But let's see.. life is good. The weather is getting a bit warmer.. although this probably means tomorrow it'll snow now that I've said that. Scary that I consider 50 degrees F warm. As for the house, all is well if not great, been getting into more 'philosophical' conversations about love. Probably because I've been 'fancying' someone and so my housemates have been trying to get me to say something.. but being the scared ass I am.. I'll ALMOST get the nerve to do or say something and then back down and think.. WTF am I doing. But oh well.. maybe I will maybe I won't.. probably maybe I won't. Not sure if the feelings are reciprocal, my housemates say yes.. I'm not so sure.

Been getting back into the dark room and I love it.. well sometimes.. I've fucked up the last three rolls of negatives I've done and no idea why or what's going on. I think the developer is wack. So we'll see.. it's making me really sad that the negatives come out so shiet. Cuz it means I have to spend more time trying to fix the damn photo w/ filters and light and etc. My first roll came out great.. I'll scan ASAP and put up photos on the England -> my art page. Been painting too just for fun. And getting more invovled with anti-war stuff. So sad. Just trying to learn all I can about what's going on. Ignorance is unfortunately a disease that plagues a lot of Americans.

Guess that's all for now. Getting late should sleep soon.
Oh yeah and I'm online finally in my room!! Slow modem, but cheaper than phone calls.. Although I'm not a big fan of the computer anymore. I kinda like hearing poeple's voices more and there's more to life than internet. haha. Ciao!

Ewww.. I never learn

Okay so I went to watch a British film last night called 28 days later. It's a bit like Resident Evil, if you don't want to hear about the movie, skip the next bit.

So it's about this plague of Rage that is transmitted through blood, usually if an infected one bites you (they constantly have blood in the mouth) then you're infected in 10-20 seconds and you go around like a zombie eating people and killing things. Of course the plague was injected into some chimps by a lab and some animal rights activists let them out.. hahaha..

It was my first 'real' british film, not counting harry potter and lord of the rings, because those are really hollywood. the filming was really different and the way the script was written was really different. you'd get nothing out of Resident Evil but pure gore and zombies and scare scenes. You get all that, minus some of the gore, lots of blood and a lesson about the military, activists, human nature and etc.. weird. :)

anyways, yeah that's all. had a weird dream last night as i had to continually tell myself that it was okay, just a movie, everything is fine... and all the shadows in my room moved and i had to call Beat so he could make me feel better b/c last time we watched Resident Evil together i was messed up for days.. i never learn..

I feel old.. sometimes

So of all the random things I did yesterday I went to a Sum 41 concert. They're a punk band from Canada. My friend Kristine had gotten tickets and she didn't have anyone to go with so I said I'd go. So we took off for London and had some yummy Tapa's at this place called La Tasca.. YUMMMMMMMMM I want some more paella right now. Anyway, after that we wandered around for a bit and got on the tube to get out to Wembley Arena. We follow the crowd of predominantly 13 year olds or even younger kids with their parents! And a few 16-18 year olds to this huge arena that's pretty much packed with people. So Kristine's a huge fan of Sum 41 and I've heard two of their songs before, but I managed to get into it and it was good times anyway. But Gawd.. if I didn't feel soooooooo old.. here we are (21 and 22), dressed in tank tops, a jumper, and a coat with our purses and 'regular' jeans.. in a crowd of 0-18 year olds with parents, who are wearing baggy, WIDE leg jeans with chains and straps all over the place and black hoodies and crazy tank tops.. haha.. I forgot what punk was like. It was cool.. interesting to see the punk world over in England since I've only been experiencing the hip hop stuff. Boy do I love hip hop. Punk is good.. but don't know if I'm digging the punk concert scene.

Two night before Sum 41, we went out for Hailin's 21st birthday! Happy Birthday Hailin. Had some chinese food, not as good as home, but good enough.. and some BOBA!! For the first time in god knows how long! It was sooooooooooooooooo good. Then we hopped over to the Event II and saw Cash Money, Rhazel and the Beatnuts.. awesome night. Unfortunately I had yoga earlier that day so I was utterly exhausted.. by the end of the night my mind was completely gone and my body pretty much dead tired. The next day was even stranger as I walked around not quite sure of what I was doing. It was the strangest feeling. Almost as if I was outside of my body, watching all the stuff go on.. or just deep inside my head looking out through my eyes. Everything seemed so far away... weird out of body experience.. or into body experience.

Other than that, life is really good right now. I'm totally enjoying England, weather is still a bit funky, but I love my housemates and we're having good times. As evident by the lack of postings I suppose. I just can't be asked to write much lately, or spend much time in the computer lab. Mostly because reading and studying and essays have me swamped with work.. ugh. It's my fifth year! You'd think I could relax.. but noooooo. Anyways, I better get some reading done for Monday or I'll feel lame in class not having anything to say.. there's only 6 people in my class! 6!! So i can't exactly sit there and not say anything.. well I could.. but I'd feel lame.. yeah I know I'm a nerd.

in limbo

You'd think that coming out to a whole different country and knowing that once I get home I have to enter the 'real' world would help clear up my mind as to what I want to do with me life. INSTEAD it only confuses me even more! Good grief! I knew I was going to meet new people and experience new things, but in my mind I knew that in 9 months I would be going home. I didn't think part of me would want to stay. Part of me wants to stay.. another year or something, I like it here. I have amazing people in my life that I would love to get to know better and there's this whole new opening up of ideas and thoughts and so much information to soak up. It's amazing how much thinking and change a person can go through by being 1/3 of the way around the world (did you know Japan, California, and England are the same distance apart from each other? more or less).

Getting actively involved in LIFE is wonderful. It's not to say I don't miss California and the sun and the beaches and my friends and family who know me inside and out. Because I do, I miss them like crazy and it didn't help that I was going to have to choose between Northern California and Southern California as a place to live. But chalk up one more choice.. Brighton. The other day Tilly and Noelle were telling me how they keep thinking of housing next year and who they want to live with and the one person they keep thinking of won't even be here anymore (it's me by the way.. haha). :( It makes me sooo sad, England's so far away from California. It seems no matter what happens at the end of this year, I'll be leaving someone and returning back to someone.. my whole life seems to be like that! A series of leaving and crying and loving and returning, but my heart has been split into so many pieces that are carried by people I love all over the world or even into the next (Grandpa I love you and think of you constantly).

Audrey Hepburn once said, "I was born with a terrible need for affection and a terrible need to give it."

Oh how funny life can be.

out of place

I suppose it's just one of those days, or maybe I say that to justify it to myself. But I'm sad today. I feel out of place in this country and in this school and with these people. There are so many cool people around me, in my house, and for some reason I feel like I can't get close to them. There is this wall, I don't know if it's mine or theirs or what. But something seems different. There is one guy in my house who I feel totally like myself around and completely comfortable with, although he's a little excitable at times and outta control, I don't have to try with him. Kristine, Peter (who's the guy I mentioned before) and I were kicking it in the house and talking last night when they mentioned that in my photos with Dustin I seemed to be all smiles and happy. But in pictures of me and my housemates, the ones caught off guard, sometimes I'm not smiling and look sad and lonely. I think its because with Peter and my American friends we have shared our lives with each other. I know about them and they know about me, but I don't really know that much about the other people in my house. Except for Theo maybe, he and I have had some really good converstions. But there are others whom I would LOVE to know better, but I'm not sure how to break through. I know how to make friends and how to trust and who to trust and how to read people back in the states. It's a place I understand and a place I grew up in, but England.. England is completely different.


any ideas? i'd love to hear them.. damn i'm missing my friends back home like crazy right now.

Bonne Annee *muah*

It's a new year. I made the resolution that upon my return to Sussex that I would try to act like myself more often. Too many times during the last term I would start to get uncomfortable and scared and the confidence in who I dropped. Although being sick right now it's helping a damn thing, so we'll see what happens. It's strange, I felt like coming back would change something in me, like a fresh start in some way. But it feels like things are ever just the same.. but not. We came back and in a sense picked up the university routine we had left behind, but something was slightly different. We now had a past with each other, a short one, but still we have shared experiences now. weird.. maybe it's just my aching sinuses making me feel funny.. hmm.. anyway back I suppose this is enough procrastinating. I was supposed to be reading the Communist Manifesto an hour ago.. haha..

Thank you my Angel

I know there is an angel that watches over me and has been watching over me my whole life. Because there is no way, I could have made it this far on luck. I have so much to be thankful for and to celebrate this Christmas and New Year. I am living and experiencing a whole new culture and enjoying it. I was blessed to be put with such amazing housemates and wonderful American friends as well. And to still have people who love me and miss me back at home and who think about me and send me e-mails and cards and all that stuff. It's amazing. Over the past few days I have been numb and eerily alright, but the other day my mom and dad called and I broke down. Spent that day nearly sobbing all day long and not being able to stop. The the next day I was on the phone with Dustin walking around campus and nearly crying the other day, saying how people are being really supportive, but I for some reason wasn't opening up. I feel so vulnerable and just wanted someone who knew me well to be here with me and hold me. I think this vulnerability thing was making me keep to myself, but when I came home after class there was a card in front of my door. 'Ooo, Christmas card' I though. I opened it and it was a sympathy card Matt had bought and had all my housemates sign! It was so beautiful and of course I burst into tears again, but they weren't sad tears. They were grateful, happy tears. I could feel my grandfather there with me when I opened the card and hear his voice saying, 'See, it will be alright, I may be gone, but you'll be okay. Don't shut out what's around you.' I had a nice talk with some of my housemates and they keep making sure I'm alright. And part of me, the ME that usually trusts people so easily came back along with a bit more of my confidence.

I honestly don't know what I'd do if I wasn't in the house I lived in now and was somewhere else in England where my housemates weren't as amazing or wonderful. So a huge thanks to my angel or whoever is out there caring for me, you are truly appreciated with every breath I take.

Although.. right now that breath may be a bit herby, Tilly just cooked an amazing roast dinner! We had roast chicken, stir fried courgettes, steamed cabbage, roasted potatoes and parsnip, boiled carrots and home made gravy! Absolutely wonderful. Yum. So that's all for now. Gonna roll my fatty butt home soon.

Dear Grandpa

My grandfather passed away two days ago, December 8, 2002 around noon in Taiwan. I found out the afternoon of December 8th and my whole world felt like it came crashing down around me and I was going to suffocate. I knew he was getting older, his kidneys had failed a year ago and he needed dialysis every week. But people have lived years and years with their kidneys not working. But then the got sick when I came to England and my parents said he was in the hospital. Okay.. so people get sick, but they get better too. He didn't, and when my mom told me she and ALL her brothers and sisters were going back, I got this sick feeling in my stomach that something was wrong. So I wrote this letter and I painted this painting of me and my grandfather, to tell him how much I loved him and how I hoped that he was going to get better. I mailed it December 5, 2002 and I don't think it got there in time for my mother to read it to him or show him the painting. I'm sure he knew that I loved him, but it would have been nice for him to really know how I felt, because I could never tell him. My Chinese was never strong enought to say what I wanted to say and the words 'I Love You' in Chinese coming out of my mouth did not seem like enough. But since he did not get to read the letter, I will put it here to share with everyone else. My grandfather was a strong, highly respected man who touched everyone around him. Most of all he LOVED so greatly and was able to show people how to love and that was something that I will never forget...

Dear Grandpa,
I wish I had learned my Chinese better a long time ago, so that I could write this to you in Chinese or call you and tell you with my own voice how much you mean to me. No words can express how much I love, admire and respect you. You have been such a significant impact on my life every since I was little. I can still remember very vividly living in your house for two months when I was younger. I remember how much fun I had even though I missed home sometimes. I would always feel your love no matter what.
I always think of the times when the Hu family used to gather together during Christmas and summers or for special occasions. There was always this magic within our family that was born from such great love. I feel so incredibly blessed to have known such love from family and to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who care so much for each other. All the memories I have of our family are always happy. Even though us cousins have gotten older, there are still those strong bonds we developed as children that will keep us forever together. My mom always says that blood is thicker than water and since she is often right, this has proven true. Especially since I am so far away from home now.
I loved the stories she would tell me about growing up. Especially how even with such a big family there was never a feeling of being left out or unloved by any of the siblings. I hear so many stories from aunts and uncles about how you raised them and loved them so well and how much they love and respect you. Mom would tell me about how you were proud of us, grandchildren, for all the accomplishments we have done in our lives. To know that I have made you proud gives me such a feeling of accomplishment and sense of self-confidence. It makes me so incredibly happy to know that I have turned out a good person because of you and because of my family – mostly because of love. Without love there is nothing and I have known great love in my life thanks to you.
There is so much I respect about you and just knowing about the things you have accomplished in your life so far is amazing. When you speak people listen and respect you so much for your opinion. I have often been asked whom do I respect and admire most in my life and often it is you I think of besides my own parents as well. I may not have understood everything when I was younger, but as I grew older and watched more, I realized just what a strong family I come from.
I hope you get well soon and know how much I love you.

Chapter 3: Silly Vicki.. Nice Guys are for other girls

Of course I have to put in a thing on men! It's me for crying out loud.. bitter single hopless romantic that I am. haha. But anyway.. can I tell you how sexy nice guys are?! They always say nice guys finish last, but that's not true! I was talking to Jane the other day and just going on and on about how great nice guys are. There's something incredibly sexy about a guy who is just genuinely nice. The way they'll notice something about you and help you out without being asked and you know it's not selfish. There are too many selfish pepole in the world, not to say that you shouldn't be at least a little bit selfish. But when someone does something nice, it shows that they're thinking about you and caring about you. It's the little things, remember you asked to borrow something or telling you about something that they remember you're interested in. Or just the fact that they're nice to everyone and notice things, it makes a person feel special. :) And it defiantely shows a lot about the character of the guy. *sigh* However I don't think it's my time to have one yet, but I'll find one... someday.

Chapter 2: 'Tis the Season to Stop Bombing

Since I've been out here I've started to get more politically active. I love it. I wish I had started sooner. Too many Americans are apathetic and take for granted the power that we have as 'free' individuals. I don't think enough people realize the impact that the US has upon the outside world and the damages being done by our country upon others. It's amazing how much one person can do and help start and motivate others to do. It's our job to educate each other on what's going on and to bring out the truth. I'm glad to be actively involved in something I truly believe in. I really had no idea what was going on outside of my little world and although my world still exists, it's growing a little bigger. I have found this thirst for knowledge about what's going on in the world. There's so much out there that does involve me and you and I'm mad at myself for not having realized it sooner. Don't throw away the power and freedoms you have, use them to help others. It's hard sometimes, to go to these talks and lectures and anti-war demonstrations and hear people not really bashing America (more so Bush), but at the same time, the US has done some pretty nasty things. We have our faults, but it's still my home, so that pretty much means I should be trying to change the things at home so the US stops being so stupid sometimes. There are the good things too about the US and I haven't forgotten them. :)

Anyways, some things you might want to look at if you have a chance: The newspaper :) (not just American ones), Stupid White Men (book by Michael Moore), Bowling for Columbine (movie by Michael Moore on American gun culture.. really really amazing film).

Okay that's it for now on politics. :)

Chapter 1: Happy Thanksgiving!

So I've been up to quite a bit lately and haven't really had time to update this page, but here goes. Thanksgiving was uneventful as it didn't really seem like Thanksgiving without the paper turkeys and horns of plenty and posters of smiling pilgrims and indians that look like little kids in everyone's windows. But I was thankful for: my life and health, my family and friends, my new friends in England, my amazing housemates, being able to study abroad and not have to worry about money, everything i have that makes my life so much more comfortable, food and drink and basic living substances, being able to live without fear of being bombed, basic human rights, freedom, and most of all LOVE.

Being away from home can change a persons perspective. :)

Belgium

Wow.. where do I start? I went to see Grandmaster Flash last Thursday, for those of you who don't know, he's the 'daddy' of all hip hop DJ's. Sooo old school, which is exactly what he played. It was freaking awesome, songs from the 60s and 70s, I totally had a good time. Then this Russian DJ - DJ Vadim and Mister Thing came on and they were amazing! I wish I understood spinning and all that better because then I'd probably appreciate more what they were doing. Matt told me that they had won the world's DJ competition or something like that. There was this other group that joined them later called the Russian Percussion and they were great too. Totally different vibe and tune from Rhazel and Blackalicious. The singer was singing poetry, like spoken word and it was really cool.

Saturday I left for Belgium with my friend Grace. So here are the highlights: 45 min bus ride into town, 4 hours coach (bus) ride to the airport, 50 min flight to Charleroi airport near Brussels, 1 hour coach ride into center of Brussels, 1 hour train ride to Brugge, 20 min bus ride to hostel.. where we sleep for 9 hours. Played in Brugge, saw a Salvador Dali exhibit, got gyped out of food prices from following stupid 'Lonely Planet' Guide Book, but the food was worth the price.. so we ate very very well. Toured the old buildings of Brugge and the medieval areas around the city. It used to be a port city, until the port suddenly disappeared as the water receded and they turned to lace-making instead. Belgium is known for 5 things: lace, chocolate, waffels, fries, and beer. So then.. we get back on a bus to the train station, 1 hour train ride back to Brussels, metro ride to hostel, went the wrong direction, found the hostel, went back out on the metro to the grand place, ran into a group of Americans from Colgate University and managed to get two free waffels from them because they had too many.. whoo hoo! Here's some money coming back to us. haha. Went back to the hostel (during this day I'm progressively getting more and more ill.. my nose is running and I'm not feeling too well), I get a fever that night and sleep 9 hours, waking up every so often, we get up eat breakfast at 8am, I can't handle it, my body is aching, so I go back to sleep and Grace gets some fever reducers, I pop those and sleep for another 45 minutes and finally feel better. We check out and head back to Brussels, run into a Cathedral and a statue of a man with a dog, eat some more food, get back on the Metro and get to the train station, take the 1 hour coach back to the airport, the 40 min flight back to London, the four hour coach ride back to Brighton, the 30 min bus ride to Sussex university and I'm home!!!

Never been soooooooooo happy to see it. It was good to see my housemates again too, I missed them. :) I end up sleeping 28 hours in the last three days and two nights, so I stay up until 4 am, because there's supposed to be a huge meteor shower! It was absolutely clear.. up until the point we went out to look at it. So that sucked. We climbed up the huge hills behind our school and my socks got all wet, but I was still warm and we sat on plastic bags trying to peak through the gaps in the clouds. We caught a few, so that was cool. I finally managed to get out of all my wet stuff and crawl into a nice warm bed and fall asleep.

The End. :)

Chinese Food.. mmm

Last night was soooo delicious! I was totally missing home and chinese food, so over the week I planned this big chinese feast for Saturday night. My friend came over and we made egg rolls, wontons and her gyoza's as well. It took us three freaking hours just to prepare that all so it would be ready to cook later. Then more of my American friends came over and we started chopping and preparing stuff at 6:45. OMG.. sooo funny. We had bought all this stuff for fried aubergines (eggplants), stir fried spinach, stir fried courgettes (zuchinnis), chinese scrambled egg, chicken drumsticks (w/ my family's "secret" recipe), egg rolls, wontons, and gyzoa. We had both of our kitchens going in the house w/ me deep frying egg rolls and eggplants and all the other veggies and people downstairs doing chicken, rice and gyoza. Soooo delicious. It felt like being back home again. There's something about having a bunch of friends sitting together eating food together that just feels sooo good to the soul. I love friends and food, that combination always makes people soo happy. Haha. Yeah.. good times. I've got pictures if you want to see up in the England photo album!

just like home..

I come home from dinner last night and my housemate tells me he met the person stealing food from our kitchen. I was thinking.. what?!! He said he came into the kitchen and some guy was in there with a stocking over his head and they had a sqirmish and the guy punched Theo (who had a black bruise over his right eye) and then jumped out the window and took off. So at first.. I don't believe him but he says ask Tilly and then I go downstairs later and Peter asks me if Theo told me how he got in a fight. If you've seen a picture of Theo, he DOES NOT look like he'd ever physically fight anyone, much less win or anything like that haha.. I still love him though.. but yeah. SO gullible me.. I believe him all the way until today when I aske Noelle if he's lying or not. And she gets that look like I do when someone asks me the same question. Damn that boy! and darn me for being so stupid sometimes. haha.. it's just like being back at home and getting picked on! Apparently some things are universal.

Hip-Hop, You the Love of my Life

OMG! So my Halloween had to be the most incredible and funniest Halloweed I have every had!! (...besides that time when I was eight and dressed up like a bunny walking through the mall with my parents and getting loads of candy!..) So this is how it went. I wasn't sure what I was going to do Halloween, probably just kick it with some UC kids and sit around and do nothing. Well it turned out there was a Rhazel concert at this club in Brighton. My housemate, Matt, had an extra ticket and his friend couldn't go, so he asked if I wanted it. I said ~ cool, yeah sure, why not, Rhazel would be tight to go watch. I'm still afraid something is going to go wrong and the plans will be messed up and I'll end up sitting on my ass again. But it didn't and I get dressed up, it was a beautiful, "warm", night in Brighton and we get to the club. I look on the ticket when we get in and it says Blackalicious too!! All for £11!!! And this British rapper B'Twang was on as well, he was really good. So I spent the night dancing away to some awesome music and just having a freaking amazing time with my housemates!! So yeah.. that was my Halloween! Haha.. yeah I know.. I'm bragging. But hey, I'm finally having fun in England and being happy, so it's a good thing. :D

It's a snowglobe day

...only it's not snow, it's rain. Well traditional English weather is settling in. Gloomy, gray skies that make me feel like I'm in a snowglobe and the occasional spurts of rain, with a tease from the sun once in awhile. But all in all, I'm in a relatively good mood. :) Not sure why, I think visiting family rejuvinated me and I'm starting to feel more like myself. My confidence is slowly returning and I'm feeling more comfortable around my housemates and feeling much more like myself lately. I think it's because things are in a sense going somewhere. I find it easier to talk to my housemates without feeling so stupidly nervous and more is going on in my life... in a sense. I have essays and presentations to work on, which although stresses me out at least gives me something to do. I still go to the African, Caribbean, and Asian Society meetings, I've missed one though. It's not so scary if I have someone to go with. One of my housemate's, Matt, goes occasionally so I think I'll tag along with him. He knows people in the society, so maybe I can meet people through him. I went with him to a kickboxing class today, thinking it's a good idea to get some exercise... oh lord.. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I'm sore and my arms and calves ache and I'm tired. But it was good for me, I was sweating, breathing hard and getting that heart pumping.. haha. It almost felt like I was getting beat up though, we had to partner up and hold punching and kicking pads for our partner.. mine was my housemate and he's a good 6 feet I think and weighs quite a bit because he's got muscle.. and here I am this 5'5" girl w/ hardly any muscles and he's kicking and punching the pads that I have to hold up.. oi!! So not only was I kicking and punching, but taking it too. Haha.. don't know if I'm going to go back, but it was good for laughs and exercise. Still no job.. yuck. Oh well, I'm still looking. Let's see what else.. oh my French/English housemate. Theo, cooked this declicious meal last night! Cream over baked potatoe slices and mustard chicken.. delicious!! It's french food according to him. I loved it, 9 of us, allsitting in our little hallway/landing area (because we have no dining room) and had candle light and ate sitting on the floor together, then we had cheesecake that I made afterwards for dessert.. YUMMY! hehehe. it's things like that, that make me feel more at home and happier. Food and Friends, always a good combination. I hope this good feeling lasts for awhile. I can do without feeling homesick, although I do miss my friends back home. I love you all!

you never realize what you have until it's gone.. or until you're far away.

blood is thicker than water

It's funny how that saying makes sense sometimes. When you really need people, no doubt you've got those few friends who would be there, but you've also got forever Family. It's great! My cousin was in London for a business trip and she couldn't have come at a better time. My homesickness was really getting to me and I got so frustrated with my landline and with trying to call my grand aunt and uncle I had a small breakdown. But it's okay now, they got through to me eventually, after I called my mom and had her call them to call me. I spend most of the weekend with them. I got to play in London with my cousin, which was totally fun, we had an awesome dinner of paella's and tapas at a Spanish place in Covent Garden and then we went to Leicester Square and had ice cream and coffee and stuff. It felt sooo good to see my cousin and we had such a good time. Her co-worker Emily was there and two of their co-workers in the UK office, Jon and Kalpesh, took us out. They were so nice and carried my bags as well... haha such gentleman. :) ahhh but yeah after that I met up w/ my uncle and aunt and my aunt took me shopping and showed me around a bit. I ate sooo much good chinese food, even freshly made dim sum! That's rare even for the US! It was so wonderful of them to take care of me for a bit, and of course I came home with loads of food. It's great. :) I love my family!

my first time...

Yesterday was a pretty cool day! I went shopping w/ some of my friends in brighton and got some incense and an incense holder because it smells like stale smoke in my room. Not that I've started smoking, but my housemates do and when we go out to the bars on campus there's smoke everywhere. I also picked up groceries and some flower for my housemate Noelle's birthday. the house went out last night to celebrate with her, which was cool cuz I got to hang out w/ some of my housemates and get to know them better. Finally my first time in a brighton club. We went to this place called 'enigma' and some event called phonic:hoop was there. It was like break beats, a little bit of funk, hip hop, and almost salsa-ish. I can't explain it, but it was pretty good and the beat was fun to dance too. It was kind of pricy for a brighton club though, £7 which is about $14-15 US dollars. Which to us is around normal for some clubs up in LA. Usually it's around £3-4 which is about $5-7 US. I really like the music scene in Brighton, it's supposed to be the second main place for music and the arts in the UK. De La Soul was here a few nights ago and Rhazel is supposed to come I think end of October. And it's the home of Fat Boy Slim who does a show here every July. I want to check out some more clubs sometime during the year and if anyone comes visit we can go out and have some fun. :D You can find anything from Salsa to Hip Hop to Drum and Bass to House to Jazz.. anything! It's great and there are so many shows, ballets, musicals, plays, puppetry of penis' and as students we usually get discounts. I love it! Can't spend too much money though, have to save for traveling.. I should find a job soon or something as well. Ah well.. I've got some time.

Well I better get back to school work.. getting into this whole school mode isn't easy. 5 years... is almost a year too long.

It's raining, it's pouring, and I'm planning away..

It started to rain on Sunday.. and rain it did. Loud, pouring rain, that will disappear two minutes later and then you might have sun for a few minutes, then a torrential downpour once again! It's crazy, it's insane! And not to mention the wind! When I was in town it was blowing like crazy sometimes and it would push you a certain direction then disappear completely. Sussex is in a valley with the "downs", don't know what they're called that since they're big hills, surrounding the school. So on my way to the computer lab I was being pushed around as well. But that is okay, because I'm warm and dry in my new jacket that's a big puffy, but it's great. Don't know what I'm going to do when it's WET AND COLD! We'll see.

I got a tourbook today, Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoe String and I've been looking at the map of Europe on my wall! Exciting!! I'm trying to figure out where I want to go during winter break. There's so many places and so many people to visit. Too many some of my friends are leaving after December so I might not get a chance to go visit them. But yeah, so far I'm looking at the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, France.. okay so the list goes on and on. I still have to study too!

So if anyone wants to come play in Europe! I'm here and I'm totally down, not to mention you can get a free nights stay and some free food if you come visit me! haha.

Puppetry of the Penis

No joke, there's two "well-endowed" Australia men who perform puppetry with their penis. They're supposed to be really famous and will be appearing on Jay Leno I think Wednesday night! Three of my friends and I decided 'why the hell not' and went to see their show last night. HAHAHAHAHAHA... I swear I'm not a pervert! Honestly I did not find anything erotic about it. It was rather hilarious though, watching two grown men, naked on stage, warming up their goods, wearing only some coverses and socks, folding their penis' into different shapes. Some of these include the lock ness monster, a sea urchin, a snail, a roller skate, the eiffel tower, a hamburger, and much more. It was an interesting experience and needless to say, I won't be hungry for hamburger any time soon. hehehe.

When I got back is was more fun at the house. Bebe gun, newspaper bat fights, deoderant spraying everywhere, and a fire alarm going off. At least my life's not boring. :)

Anyway, I just put up some new photos I've taken so check them out http://jadeheart.tripod.com/england/!

yay for cheese sponge sugar cake

It's been a good day today. :) I'm glad. I spend the day goofing around my room and taking pictures, which I would have posted right now if I hadn't left the disk in my room. Stupid me. Anyway, I went to Brighton today with some friends and we found the Marina. I thought there was a shopping center there because I remember seeing a drawing of it in a magazine. Again.. stupid me.. the reason it was a drawing was because it wasn't actually finished yet.. not til November. Oh well, we did find ASDA which is like the Walmart here! It's great.. YAY for ASDA! And then after I filled up my backpack full of food and stuff we headed over to another supermarket called Iceland.. devoted to frozen and chilled foods mainly. I got some icecream and then we went to Sainsbury and I picked up more stuff for cheesecake making. Aww yeah cheesecake. It just gave me a good feeling of accomplishment knowing that I can get around this place with relatively little problems. Carrying my trusty map of Brighton and the bus map I can get anywhere.. well almost, at least if I'm sorta lost I can still manage to find my way back to the University. hehe.

Then I go home to make cheesecake. Only I mess it up, sort of. I read 1/3 cup of sugar as 2/3 for some strange dumb reason. Don't know why, I obviously know what 1/3 is. Guess I wasn't paying too much attention. Anyway, so I figure no biggie, probably won't make too much of a difference, it'll just be really sweet.. Then this country does not have sour cream, well not like what we have in the states, and if they do, I don't know where it is and neither do my housemates. So the inside of the cheescake is really liquidy. Not to mention the butter and cream cheese they have hear aren't wrapped the same way it is in the US, with cup measurements on the outside.. so I'm guessing with that too. I figure what the hell, I'm this far into making this cheesecake, might as well continue. So I shove the thing into the oven and wait.. and wait.. I forgot how long it takes to make cheesecake, so I'm just waiting... and waiting.. and waiting for an hour and a half and finally it's done. I take it out and pop it out of this cake thing and before I can even let it cool, my housemates have all come downstairs. Which I don't mind because I made the cake for them anyway for always feeding me. So they all try it and I hold my breath, because it DOES NOT look like my normal cheesecake.. nor does it taste like it normally would. But it's a hit, they love it. :) I like it too. It's pretty yummy, just different. It's more of a sugar spongy cheesecake. Anyways, no worries as of right now. Things are great, I'm getting along with my housemates and getting more comfortable around them. They're wonderful and compared to my friends flatmates, I've got some really really cool ones! I think we're actually going to play a game like assassins too!! hehehe. Yay for cool roommates. Well I guess that's it for me so far. I do miss the people at home, but things are getting better here so it's not as lonely. Send me a word once in awhile, I'd love to hear a voice or read a voice.

Much love for family and friends. *muah*

i need a hug

Aww, I'm sort of homesick. I haven't had a hug in awhile, except from a drunk fellow UC student at a club one night. :) Haha. I miss hugs and I miss physical affection, I know that sound stupid. But I do. My flatmates get really friendly when they're drunk, they're a lot more fun to be around. Hehe. I'm going to try to party with them more because apparently when they go out to drink and party is how they get to know each other a lot better. They're also different on E than the people in the states I noticed. At parties in the US you'll see people lying on the group or massaging each other, but my flatmates took some and were just sitting there bobbing their head to music. Then again we were just sitting around in the house so maybe that's why. Anyways, so yeah.. that's about it. I'm working on getting to know them better, but something makes me nervous and scared. I feel like I'm always going to say and do something stupid. I think I need to get over that fear and just take it as it comes. I feel like they're all way smarter than me and they've seen a lot more of life and the world than Americans in general have. It's amazing! I guess I'm just intimidated. Anyways, I suppose it's still early. I better get to bed soon, although I still haven't had class yet..

only four hours of class a week.. on thursday.. all i do is eat and sleep so far.. i'm turning into a panda bear. hehehe.

i smell like garlic..

I swear I can't believe I'm here! It's absolutely incredible.. I'm LIVING in another country for a whole freaking year!! Scary to think about, but there is it. I'm here.. for the year. The weather has been nutty lately. I flew into London and was there for a three days and it was kind of cold. Needed a jacket. I had some great Indian food while I was there, compliments of the EAP office (which us students probably paid for anyway through out tuition and fees). Saw a play call the "daughter in law", it was weird and hard to understand considering they were speaking old english in english accents. I almost fell asleep. I also visited the Tate Modern, a museum of modern art, that was a lot of fun, really interesting. Let's see, I also wandered around London a lot, going to visit the stores and numerous "squares" of shops and stuff. I also went to Greenwich, where time begins and ends. You know that longitude line that starts off how time changes as you move around the globe! I was a big dork and took a picture of me standing over the line so one side of me is in one time zone and the other side is in another. haha. I'll upload it sometime maybe. I wonder if people there celebrate two new years.. when it starts and then when it ends.

After London I dragged my giant suitcase, duffel bag, travel backpack and laptop onto a taxi, off the taxi, into the train station, onto the train, off the train, onto a bus, off the bus, onto another bus and off the bus and then up some stairs and into my room. It was "great" fun. Brighton, the town I'm close too is 20 min away by bus, which isn't bad at all. I got lost the first time with my friend, so now I remember to bring the bus map. But over the last few days I've figured out how to get about. Their "beach" is not like California beaches for sure. Imagine our beaches.. covered in smooth rocks. Then you have Brighton Beach. It's like our sand blew up to the size of a large skipping stone. But it's still beautiful and sitting on the pier reminds me of home. The weather was beautiful when I go here, sunny and warm! And then two days later it rained and this morning everything was gray and wet and since I've been sitting at this computer the sun has come out again, so it's bright, but windy and cool outside. Yeah... no wonder weather's a topic of conversation here. The only topic I can really talk about sometimes with these people.

It's amazing to me how much knowledge the English and Europeans have!! They know so much and many of them have seen so much of the world by the time they're 18. Compared to us Americans they are so much more wordly. I know so many people who have never left the states and some of my flatmates have worked in other countries to make money as they traveled or taught English in third world countries. Absolutely incredible! And the information they know about other people's history and just general information is amazing. I need to start reading the newspaper more and more books so I can catch up with them.

I got my schedule finalized and I'm taking two classes, four hours a week total. I'm supposed to be receiving reading lists and then I have to pick books to go read on my own and do a lot of self-study. haha.. we'll see how that goes. I do need to pass though and graduate. These freshers.. all they have to do is pass the class.. so they're all about partying. I'm moderating myself, not to mention I'm tired and have gone through these "welcome week" acitivies three times before already. You know the whole been there done that type of thing. Maybe I'm getting old and lazy.. or just lazy. :) partying takes a lot out of you! Anyways, my flat mates are really cool and sweet. There are six girls and six guys, one of them is from France and another girl is part German, the rest are from around the UK. They're hilarious and very thoughtful people and we joke around a lot like I do with my friends back home. We all cooked dinner together last night and ate it together. We don't have a common room which sucks ass and our kitchens are tiny little things, but we managed. We fit 8 people into a kitchen where between the two counters on either side is only room enough for two of me to stand side by side. We cooked spaghetti bolonagease.. which is why I smell like garlic right now. It's still in my system. :) Well I guess that's all for now, I'm hungry and it's almost 1:30 here so I'm gonna head back to my tiny kitchen and make some food.

Bye for now!

counting down

T-minus.. uh.. several hundred minutes. Yeah I have about 8 hours before I have to leave the house and head to the airport, which means I can probably get in about a good 5 hours worth of sleep. I'm nervous and a bit scared and excited too. It's a strange feeling. Anyway, I keep feeling like I'm going to miss people and they're going to forget all about me. But I know that's not true, I am leaving gaps in people's lives just as they are leaving gaps in mine because of my absence. But distance makes the heart grow fonder. :) I will leave tomorrow knowing that I'm so incredibly loved by my family and friends. That I have people here who will always be there for me no matter what. It's an wonderfully warm feeling. I had a conversation with my friend Priya on the phone and she got me all psyched up to go. I love talking to her, she's already been abroad and her words infuse me with such energy because her passion for Europe and traveling shows in the way she speaks. I know I'm going to be okay, we humans have an incredible strength inside of us to deal with things. We often don't realize it though, but think about all the hard times you've gone through and made it to where you are now and although there will be more, you will get through those too. Look for the light. I've found mine, inside of me and in my family and friends and in the new friends I'm going to meet in England. People are such wonderful beings, you just have to find the wonderful. :)

what's the key to finding it? love

melodramatic

That's me, melodramatic, according to my friend Clay anyway. Although he didn't use those exact words, it's what he meant about the way I write. But I suppose he's right, when I write, things flow out of my more in emotions than in anything else, because that's usually what I think in. The way I feel. I supose most things anyone writes are colored by emotion. Anyway, it's my blog, so I'll write however I feel like, you can skim past all the boring stuff. :) I write to let go of things and let things out as well as let you all know what's going on in the my life. As boring as that is. At least next year, I can tell you all the places I've visited or "crazy" things I'm doing in England. haha.. yeah, if you know me and my "crazy" it probably won't be that exciting, but come by anyway. I'll try to think of something interesting to do just for you.

Besides, in everyone's somewhat self-centered lives it's always a drama.

I see in your future..

I just finished watching "life or something like it" and it got me thinking, about whether I really want to know what's going to happen in my future or not. My friend read my palm once and told me something about my future that didn't seem all that pretty and from the look on her face she was making it sound a lot nicer than it probably was. Then while I was in China my family had dinner with this monk who was now married and somewhat of a fortune teller. I won't say exactly what he said, but it followed along similar lines with what my friend had told me. Not exactly the same, but similar in a way. It was kind of scary, because if what they say is true, my future doesn't seem all that happy. Not that anyone is ever 100% happy ALL the time. Life always has it's ups and downs. But still.. if this is my future do I want it? Can I change it? Now that I know will something different happen or is it because I know that it will happen? I don't want to take too much of this to heart, because it'll scare me into not being able to live. Still.. when someone predicts and they are right most of the time it's a bit hard to ignore, not to mention the vagueness of his answers to my mother's questions about my love life don't help either.

But I worry that maybe I look for something that will never be, something too perfect in my mind and because of that I might pass by something that could have been so wonderful. But a small fear still holds me to my path. People have such power to hurt others and to be hurt by others, I don't want to be hurt or to hurt someone else. Maybe that's why I look for something too wonderful, at the same time I've seen things in front of me that are great, but something usually happens where it's just not the right time and it makes me wonder, am I making excuses? Or is it really just not the right time, or maybe not even the right person?

I'm waiting for it all to fit..hoping it will one day fit, worried that it won't.

peace of heart

it's almost 5 am and i'm suffering from jet lag. took a 5 hour nap today by accident and now i can't sleep. mostly because i keep thinking things. well trying to think of things anyway, so i can sort them out. but i've always been a person who felt my thoughts more than actually thought my thoughts. if that makes any sense at all. so many things are going through my mind right now that i can't even sort them out. i just feel it and it's driving me nuts. part of it is homesickness. odd considering i'm "home" in saratoga, i think it's because i'm missing souther california. it has been my home for the past four years, not just a place where i lived, but where i've "grown up" and it's where i feel most comfortable. i guess you could say my heart is there, most of it anyway.

on top of that, i'm leaving for England soon, 7 days to be exact. it's scary, i got my orientation packet today talking about welcome week at the university of sussex. i have to go through being a "freshman" all over again, normally this wouldn't scare me at all.. but having to do it in a completely new culture is a big frightening. it's exciting too though, but the excitment and fear has kind of scrambled itself all up inside me so that all i'm feeling is incredible nervousness and a pit kind of feeling in my stomach.

not all is bad though, this leaving has shown me who really does care about me and how much my friends are going to miss me and definately how much i'm going to miss them. i'm missing people already, but knowing that the love is still there keeps me strong and reminds me that i'm going to be okay. love is a wonderful thing and isn't just for couples, but between friends can produce amazing relationships. i thank the higher being for blessing me in my life with such wonderful people around me, who's little comments on AIM or a simple e-mail or phone call or text message, whatever it may be that sends their words to me warms my heart and calms my mind. :) thank goodness for loved ones.

So lately I've had all these thoughts running through my head, constantly. I don't always know what I'm thinking, so don't ask. I just know that they're there and bugging the heck out of me. I can't stand it anymore. It's worry, stress, happiness, fear, excitement, sadness, jealousy, joy... it's all so bittersweet leaving me feeling like i'm walking in a waking dream. All I do is eat and sleep all day, probably because my body can't handle all the noise in my head either, so it's either one of two options.. sleep so they are quiet or eat so I can think of something else. I spend a great deal of time watching the stupidest TV shows as well. Damn.. I better start clearing the mind or else I'm in BIG trouble. Tonight's random drive into the mountains helped a lot though. There's something to be said about alone time and just chilling with yourself. Funny, because I went to clear my head and sort things out and and instead nothing came to me, just peaceful calmness.. what a relief!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. And a lot has happened during this time and a lot has gone through my head, is still going through my head.. and there will definately be more going through my head. I feel like my life is taking this huge turn, I'm almost out of school and even this coming year will not be in the same school or even the same country. It started out as an exciting adventure, applying for the study abroad program. There were a lot of papers to complete and write and people to see and I had envelopes floating all over and copies of things everywhere. As fate (I don't believe this was luck) would have it, I got accepted into the program and to my first choice school in England. So for the following year the University of Sussex will be my home. This was definately exciting news and did not get scary until the end of summer because my departure for England is fast approaching. This leaving the country for a year "thing" has definately been a catalyst for a lot of things in my life. Part of the catalyst has also been the fact that I have suddenly become aware of the fact that I am almost done with school and will shortly be leaving the safety of a well planned path for the "real world." Anyway, back to this catalyst thing. All my life, I have known how much a person with one word could impact my life. It's easy to know the impact someone has upon yourself, because you are the one feeling that impact. I have been blessed to know such great love from friends and it has turned my life around. To love is one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned and I still hang on to. I didn't realize that I was in turn impacting people, until I was getting ready to leave. Because I knew and felt that I was the one leaving and that I was the one who was going to be all alone without anything familiar in a country so far from home I took for granted many of my friendships. It didn't occur to me that my absence was going to make an emptiness in someone elses heart.

I spent this summer working SPOP and enjoying my last few moments of southern california sun before heading off to a cold, rainy, UK. It was absolutely amazing. I grew to love so many people and develop so many connections. I don't know how strong those connections are, but either way, the people who I have met this summer touched me in such an amazing way and so quickly. I told myself to leave for England "no strings attached" but it's too late. To love and give your heart to people creates a string and bond with that person. My heart is out there in hundreds of pieces to old and new friends alike. I have spent this last month saying "good bye" and it has to be one of the hardest things to do. It aches to know that I won't be seeing people I love for a whole year or feeling their hugs or hearing their voices. When I was telling this to a close friend of mine, he asked me "What if it didn't hurt? Wouldn't that mean people didn't care?" He's right, because this hurts so much I can leave known that I have something not many people have. I have lots of people to love and who love me and will miss me and who I will also miss. But I know in my heart, in the end I will be back in a year and they will be here and the love will be the same.

Thank God for Love.