Five weeks left.

Typing this as I listen to Brian’s “Waiting in Vain” – one of my favorites; I especially love the introduction. I’m already imagining myself flying half around the world, ready to begin the biggest, boldest adventure of my life.

 

I’m finally no longer waiting in vain. Everything is happening.

 

It’s been a very busy, but amazing week. It feels like it’s been a while since I found out about the scholarship, but in reality, it was just a week ago when I got that call at 4:30 pm while working in the Malibu conference room. Thank goodness the door was shut because I was freaking out when I finally got the confirmation. Like Grant said, perhaps the world is conspiring for me so I can pursue my Personal Legend. I’ve never wanted anything so much in my life. It’d be hard to describe how elated I am these days!

With my remaining few weeks at home, I’m amending my relationships with my parents so I can leave the family on a good note. Been teaching Mom and Dad how to use the computer. So far, they’ve both been able to navigate the internet. It’s a bit repetitive giving them separate lessons … but I guess I don’t have much choice given they’re never home and awake at the same time. Anyway, Dad is more proficient than Mom. I just taught him how to use Word and save documents to the computer. Mom is a quick learner as well, but I haven’t gotten around to teaching her how to use different programs. I really hope they continue to practice while I’m gone … or else I don’t know how things will get paid or done. 

 

And, of course, being the organizer and planner that I am, I’m trying to schedule lunch/dinner/happy hour dates with my friends before I leave.

 

My friends from the ‘bra. I owe you guys many cups of tea and boba for listening to me talk on and on about following one’s dreams and destiny. Last Wednesday, Amy, Judy, Ken, Allen and I had dinner at Vietnam House and hung out at Ken’s after, playing w/ his pug Sparky. Thursday (my last day at my main client!), I met up with Allen and his friend Vi at Pink Taco. Vi’s applying to the Riordan Programs so I got to tell her my take on the program. Tomorrow, I’m hoping the big A will grab breakfast w/ me before I leave for the East Coast.

 

Coworkers. Well, after many futile attempts, I was finally able to get my main engagement team together for happy hour last Friday at Casa in downtown. It was fun to see everyone relax and talk about life outside of work. Thank you guys for coming! Nicole and Brian – I expect you two to make happy hour a required event for the team. Bad evals for those who don’t contribute to team morale! 

 

Reunions. I spent Saturday with Jooree and Jane. Jooree – I haven’t seen this girl in two years. I miss your bitter sarcasm … and I’m sure you miss my sweet, loving personality. Haha. You really should write about your love life. It’s rather … interesting. Jane I haven’t talked to in 10 YEARS! Since junior high school days. It was incredible catching up … I can’t believe we are 24. Reuniting with her over boba made me realize how much I still love her after all these years. She always took care of me. Thank you dear.

 

And of course, tomorrow I’m off to the East Coast! Elaine and I are taking red eye flights and meeting each other in DC to begin our EAST COAST 2009 TOUR!

Some other old friends I hope to see soon:

Jamie (in NY), Martin (in DC), Lexii (in NY),  my older brother (in Boston), Jon Hua (in Boston), Henry Marr (when he comes home to visit in LA), Gena (in LA).

 

What else?

I’m currently starving. I’m getting another physical at 2 pm and I need some blood work done, so I haven’t eaten since 7 pm last night. In preparation for my trip, I also got vaccinated this morning at the Healthy Traveler Clinic in Pasadena (great service; highly recommended!). Got my Tetanus, Hepatitis A, and Typhoid Fever shots, as well as prescriptions for antibiotics. I’m getting ready!!

I’ll Tell You in Person

4:04 AM and the worry finally kicks me out of sleep.

Stretching across the bed with the comforter weaving in between my legs,

I laugh at myself, realizing:

No wonder I am so exhausted lately.

Losing sleep over curiosity -

Over friendship, actually.

Can you blame me for being concerned?

You’re laughing because you think,

I’m just overanalyzing.

 

But in that one sentence,

I know something is different, something has changed -

You know I’ve caught on

Which causes a bigger delay in the news delivery.

In all these years,

We always danced around the truth,

Maneuvering carefully as to not interrupt each other’s lives,

When really,

Openness

Has always strengthened this friendship.

 

It’s not that you don’t trust me;

You’re afraid of how I’ll react -

Or how I’ll process the information,

Especially as a new chapter of my life is about to unfold.

But in all of these years,

Have I ever judged you?

Bad or good news,

I’ll be there to talk it through -

Because I’m so good at it -

Over boba, perhaps!

Or I’ll be there

To give you a big hug,

Or a high five,

Or maybe even a smart, sassy comment.

 

So save me some sleep tonight,

And let me know what’s up.

After all,

Isn’t that what best friends do?

 

(7.23.09)

I GOT THE SCHOLARSHIP!!!

YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH BABY!

 

 

JUST RECEIVED NEWS THAT I GOT THE FULL CHINESE GOVT SCHOLARSHIP TO STUDY AT JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY IN SHANGHAI.

 

 

I can’t remember the last time I was this happy! This definitely calls for a celebration!!

 

 

SHANGHAI: SEPT 2009 – JULY 2010! HOLLA!

Weekend Roundup: LGTA and College Summit

The weekend really started on Wednesday.

With Shang’s recommendation, Allen, Judy, Ken, Kevin and I had dinner at Cafe Fusion in Arcadia. The restaurant is known for its authentic Taiwanese dishes, which were scrumptious … ahh. I can’t wait to go to Taiwan this winter. Hopefully, by that time, my mandarin will have improved enough that I can actually order some decent food. Anyway, we ordered at least 6 or 7 dishes yet only had to pay $20/person. NICE. But what was really great about dinner was that I was bubbling from excitement; only hours earlier, I received my admissions letter from East China Normal University (ECNU) in the mail.I I’m still waiting for the scholarship *crosses fingers* and hopefully I’ll hear some good news soon. Finally, EVERYTHING is falling into place. No more waiting for my LGTA dreams to happen. It’s finally coming true in six weeks! The countdown begins.

(Btw, we celebrated by eating the Crumbs cupcakes that Ken bought for us. Thank you bud!)

Thursday morning was spent breaking the news to my team. That’s really the hardest part of this process. In many ways, I feel like I’ve let down a lot of people for being selfish – for secretly pursuing my passion without letting them know. I love working with my team and know that I couldn’t have endured this much without their help. I’m very thankful for all the encouragement and support that I’ve received!

And then, I was off to College Summit to volunteer for four days as a writing coach for inner city high school kids.

I stopped by La Puente to pick up Kim on my way and then, we were headed 50 miles east to the University of Redlands. Having volunteered last summer, I thought I had an idea of what to expect the second time around. Haha. Oh, yes. Like I could’ve predicted this one. Everything at College Summit surprises me. The peer leaders (high school students), the writing coaches, the writing coordinators, the dorms, the food. Every aspect of the program just makes it amazing and so memorable. I had the wonderful pleasure of getting to coach my five girls – Catalina, Portia, Nubia, Stefanya, and Ashley. Thanks for testing my limits, for sharing your stories with me, and for allowing me to help guide you. Remember what I said, JIA YOU!

Team Linda!

Ashley – thank you so much for revealing your story to me. You are a rock and despite all that you are going through, please know that there are people who care about you and want to help you. You’ve humbled me in so many ways. Keep your focus and you’ll make it. Hopefully, I’ll get to try your awesome cooking sometime soon.

The amazing Writing Coach Staff at College Summit – University of Redlands 7.18.09. I look forward to keeping in touch with you!

 

College Summit definitely ended with a few interesting surprises. The experience is always something new.

 

***

It’s midway through summer and I just have to take a moment to soak in how wonderful it’s been so far. Being able to try new adventures, hang out with new and old friends, and volunteer for a cause I believe in (not to mention, something as simple as wearing my shorts and cute skirts in the wonderful weather) have truly lifted my spirits. I’ve always known that 2009 would be MY YEAR and so far, this summer has been a testament to that. I feel like I’m taking control of life again and owning what is mine. Life is good to me.

 

Coming up …

EAST COAST TOUR ON JULY 28!

daughter to father.

a second ago,

my heart jumped at every beat

as i imagined rebirth

in a foreign land,

a new life

beginning with

a clean slate

to draw my memories upon.

 

and when i thought you could share this moment with me

you so easily took it away.

you forget how fragile i am.

so many men may try to steal my heart,

but only you can break it.

it baffles me -

though i am half of you,

we bare little resemblance.

i thought you understood

my drive, my desire

to be more than this.

i thought you knew

my reasons for change,

my willingness to take a risk.

 

with a word, you crush all the joy

that just emerged after so many months of waiting.

with a gesture, you dismiss

my passion and inspiration for living.

 

you warn me of danger,

not to protect me

but to forbid me.

i wonder why i still repeat the same mistakes

of telling you the truth

when i know your reaction will only

puncture

my heart.

 

somehow,

despite all the pain,

i still have faith that you would listen.

that you would trust.

!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!

It’s really happening. It really, really is.

 

All this waiting, all this dreaming …

 

In 6 weeks, it’ll all come true. 

 

What a wonderful, beautiful day. 

 

Thanks Judy, Ken, Allen, Kev for dinner and the talks!

short term goals

-exterminating all cuss words from my vocabulary. please keep me in check. i will owe 25 cents for every cuss phrase that leaves my mouth.

• currently owe 50 cents to Bak and 25 cents to Gerick. : (

-avoiding processed foods.

-running 10 miles a week.

-teaching parents how to be more computer proficient (in progress).

 

side note:

ran 4.2 miles tonight and legs are once again in pain. why? because i’ve been dumb enough to have been running on my toes all this time. no wonder i have such intense pain in my lower legs. ah, so this is what shin splints are. *smacks head*  really? sometimes i wonder if i’m just losing it.

PAL weekend

I am full.

Of happiness and delicious food. For lunch I had Cambodian soup, chicken strips, and Jamba Juice (the BOGO offer ends today!). I guess I should run tonight … I feel gross for not running in the past 3 days. Terrible. The legs feel better so I don’t really have an excuse anymore.

The weekend began Friday night with Deanna’s birthday celebration at Opera. I got Judy to come with me – yeehaw! The scene was okay; it was more fun to just see the DT crew again. I woke up Sat morning to get my wisdom tooth taken out … which actually only took 5 minutes! I’m pretty much painfree now, which is great because that means I can eat. : ) Also finally finished watching Season 5 of HOUSE yesterday. The season finale was disturbing! What happens now? : / Anyway, yesterday was great because I finally got to see Paula! We ended up watching The Hangover which is now Paula’s favorite movie of all time. She especially enjoyed the last scenes of the movie. Hahaha. After, we had dinner at Hop Woo for the first time. Funny how the restaurant is literally two blocks from our high school, yet we’ve never eaten there. Interesting thing happened at the restaurant: we got a free lobster dish for looking “pretty.” Apparently the waiter decided that we were two pretty girls who deserved something free for dinner. Haha. Oh, I think Paula and I make a great team. We need to eat out together more often.

Took Paula back to my house where we proceeded to revisit our high school yearbook and look up (aka stalk) people on Facebook to see where they are now. Then we decided to kidnap Allen by taking him to Yogurtland with us. Mmm… yogurtland. I think the original flavor is my favorite still. Can’t go wrong with the OG.

My adorable best friends.

My twin.

Then, THEN, Paula forced Allen to take fobby pictures with us at Cue. It turned out to be hysterical … I didn’t know we could have so much fun in a photobooth. I love you guys!

Peeking.

Look at all the options!

Final product! Don’t you love how Allen’s head is cutoff in all these pictures. I don’t think these photobooths were made for 6′3 men. We also had too much fun with the different options …

 

Just another fun filled day to add to my book of memories. : )

 

Now, onto HIMYM and more chicken strips …

Feeling happy.

-Reconciled with mom. We are on speaking terms again after 6 weeks of not talking.

-Continuous reunions with friends throughout summer.

-College Summit next weekend.

-LGTA soon.

-Scottsdale soon.

-Vegas soon.

-East Coast tour sooner.

-Made a great friend in the past two months.

-Still getting emails from friends from afar – Henry, Brendan, David. : )

-Getting fit for the first time in a long time.

-Seeing Paula Tran this weekend!!! PAK Reunion!

Anxious

Countdown begins … 

 

I AM SO NERVOUS!

 

LGTA LGTA LGTA LGTA LGTA LGTA …

 

You will be the only thing I think about for the next three weeks. 

加油！