helping hands

LA wedding sweatshop worker comes to seattle and joins two more sweatshop unions. last night we spent time helping che cut, fold, and label her table placecards. this morning, i've been helping pam move all her packed up boxes from the lower level to the main level, getting ready to jam-pack it in the u-haul in about 30 minutes.

yesterday morning, chris was driving me back to her house to rest and as we were going up the 5, i could see downtown so clearly against the blue sky. dang...i miss the beauty of the northwest. i spent yesterday having lunch and shopping with melissa, later it was shopping with chris and david at my special place, the northgate target. we then had dinner at this italian restaurant in the u-district. it was SOOO good. 6 years i lived in the area and i never ate there! so lame. that evening, it was wedding work and hanging out with friends. good times.

pilates and pedicures

on tuesday, i finally went to the 24 hour fitness near my apartment. i think it's been well over a year since i've stepped foot in a gym. i joined the group pilates class, led by this japanese woman. she was insanely flexible and kept telling us we could contort ourselves just like her. so not true. later that day, my core felt so sore. actually, it still feels sore today - everytime i cough.

later that evening, i joined with many other laborers in a wedding sweatshop. in exchange for our labor, we received a lovely korean meat bbq dinner. we were able to finish putting together all the invitations and crank out some wedding favors too. sometime that night, i started getting sick. later, i woke up in the middle of the night with chills and a fever. totally lame. i felt slightly better on wednesday and spent the day running errands on the eastside/pasadena. plus, i got my first pedicure ever! and it was awesome! thanks JT for introducting me to pedicures! the pedicurist even slipped a cuticle cutter into my purse. she was SOOO nice.

early this morning, i woke up and caught my 6:30am flight to seattle. on the flight, i was seated next to this elderly woman, who turned out to be a teacher. we chatted for awhile about her experiences and how things have changed. she was so kind and a UCLA grad too! i'm now sitting in my cousin's house trying to feel better, listening to NPR. i was hoping to get some rest this weekend, but i think the reality is that it's going to be crazy. 2 weddings on saturday - the morning in seattle and the afternoon in portland. oi. but i think we might watch nacho libre later today, so that will be low-key.

sunburn

on sunday, when we were playing volleyball, i made the mistake of thinking i had put sunblock everywhere. i later found out that i had missed a spot. the back scoop of my tanktop was slightly lower than i could reach - so now i have this weird crescent-shaped sunburn on my back - and it doesn't feel too great. in fact, it's affecting my sleep. lame.

summer vacation

so last week i finished my UCLA classes and student teaching. i went home to portland and saw my brother mike graduate from UO down in eugene. while i was there, i suffered the worst of allergy attacks. stupid eugene. i got back sunday, one week ago, and it's been pretty much summer vacation ever since.

early in the week, i got an e-mail from my principal and found out that i don't start teaching until mid-august! i was originally scheduled to start teaching july 5th, which is right around the corner, but stuff got shifted around. i'm also no longer teaching 5th grade, but have been bumped down one grade to 4th. i will be a 4th grade teacher for the next two years. so, from now until mid-august, all i have to do is just get ready to teach. other than that, it's vacation. already, i've gone running three times this last week. for most people, that doesn't sound like a big deal. but if you know me, you know that i've never really liked running. in fact, in the past, i've pretty much loathed it. i always try, because i know it's good and healthy. i'll even get as far as to get dressed and ready to go running, shoes and all. i'll even open the door and take a step outside. then i'll decide i'm too tired and then go back to bed or something. it's being an asymptote - you get so close but never quite make it there. wendy will be proud of me - i'm no longer an asymptote! :D and i played beach volleyball today. and we're playing tomorrow too. oh, and i got to see cars - totally funny and cleverly done.

this summer will also include:
exercise and outdoor activities
magic mountain
sweatshop labor for a wedding
going to weddings
shopping and prepping for teaching
a trip to vegas
teacher training
hanging out with people
relaxation and rest

this last week was also the last week of school for my 2nd graders. they wrote me letters and drew pictures for me. in a couple of the pictures, i'm blond. i guess the kids weren't going for accuracy. it was so much fun to just hang out with the kids since it was the end of the year and no real work was taking place, just lots of clean-up and play time. i'm really going to miss them and also the teachers i got to know while i was there. it was a great environment to student teach/intern at - i couldn't have asked for a bettet placement. i think that i'll have a hard time at the end of the year when i have my own classroom...then again, maybe i'll be glad to see them go... i suppose it'll depend.

four more days and i fly out to seattle again. seattle people - let's play :)

LAX --> PDX

i feel like i was on the longest flight in the history of the world to portland. we were delayed because of some weird malfunction with the boarding doors. all passengers had to walk downstairs from the terminal, outside, and then up some stairs onto the plane. it took a really, really, really long time to get everyone on that plane. and the flight attendants kept announcing that passengers who might have trouble negotiaing the stairs should wait for assistance and not attempt to board the plane like everyone else because it would cause delay. she said it a lot, and specifically timed it whenever the elderly tried to board. and then, we were sitting on the runway for another 30 minutes. you could tell that people were getting cranky...i was cranky too. to solve the problem, i went to sleep. i think it helped.

coming home is always a mixed bag of feelings. on the one hand, i'm home with my family. on the other, i'm home with my family + all their craziness.

my youngest brother just moved home for the summer. my dad drove down to eugene yesterday to help him pack up and move his stuff out of his apartment since he'll be working up here this summer. andy told me that while they were moving a couch, my dad missed seeing the curb and tripped over it, dropping the couch (but not on himself). from what i gathered, he went down and smacked the concrete with his knee and upper right chest. my poor father. the muscles in his chest hurt and he has scrapes all over his right knee...i think he might be limping a little too. he says it could've been worse. and of course, he didn't go to the doctor. and andy also told me our mom's been going deaf. like, for the last 3 weeks, her ears have been having that plugged up/on an airplane feeling. and she is refusing to have that checked out. so, all day, i've been yelling so she'll hear me. it's a little weird having extra loud conversation in public so she'll hear me. now we can really claim our asian-ness...finally!

so i'm in town for mike's graduation. now that he's got a job and stuff, his attitude/jerk commentary that was previously limited to AIM has now spilled over into real life. punk. if he didn't outweigh me by 100+ lbs, i'd kick his butt in response.

the longer i live on my own (not with my family), the more i am inclined to think that i would never be able to move back home. not because i don't love and miss them (i do - most of the time), but because i've gotten too used to having my own space apart from them. does that make me ungrateful? darn it...

all traveled out + a photo update

i got back from new orleans on thursday night. on friday, i flew out to seattle for a wedding. i just got back a couple of hours ago, and this thursday, i fly out to portland to see my brother graduate from college. so much traveling in such a short time period - it's fun, but really tiring. someone, invent teleportation...quick please.

and i finally updated my photos:

pictures from new orleans can be found here. there are also a slew of photos from the few days i just spent in seattle.

pictures from spring quarter are here.

pictures from the winter break, etc can be seen here.


in seattle, i got to see tons of people. at the wedding, i was the gift girl, which meant that i got to see everybody that walked in and say hi. yay! a job that makes it easy for me to catch up with friends. at the reception, i was seated with a couple of my old roommates and friends from college - double yay!

i visited my old church on sunday and i was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a joint service with the other taiwanese church. this means that i got to see all the friends from my old church and friends from the other church that i didn't expect to get to see. triple yay! and, to add to that, my former pastor happened to be the guest speaker, so i got to see their whole family. their girls, whom i used to babysit for the married couples fellowship, have gotten so much older - they looked so different.

seriously...9 months go by and everything is different. it's a little sad to think about all that i've missed, like all the babies are no longer babies. they're talking up a storm and running around. and there are people about to have babies. and there are some newly engaged peoples. friend are buying houses. when did everybody decide to grow up and settle down? :) ack...it's such a good craziness. now they are completely into the "young professionals" category. i think i'm supposed to be too, but i still feel like, and sort of live like, a college student. hmm...i may have to reassess my situation...


this morning, i got to have breakfast with kristie, jerm, chris, and david. then, i stopped over to see the nakanos and play with the kids. then, it was off to lunch with melissa (newly graduated physical therapist - yay!!!), parker, wing onn, joyce, and chris.

and now i can rest and sleep in my own bed for two days before i fly out again. oi.

new orleans, louisiana

we've been here two full days now. we're up early in the morning and do two work sessions, before and after lunch. our team has been at a site that used to be a church. the building is gone and we've been scraping up the leftover tile under the hot louisiana sun. today, we changed it up with some yard work for one of the neighbors in the area. the former church ground is going to be an area of food distribution. previously, celebration church had been distributing food from their own church site, but now, they want to move their ministry into the communities - going directly to the people, rather than having the people come to them. we've been working with another group from texas. we are weak sauce in comparison - soft city folk, if you will.

it has been a different experience to actually be here and first-hand witness the devastation left in the aftermath of katrina. many parts of the city have a "ghost-town" feel to it - abandoned and empty. for a few pictures, check out the exodus xanga. being in new orleans has been really interesting. there are parts of the city that remind me of portland/beaverton. we toured the old neighborhood of one of the guys on our team and it totally looked like the suburbs of beaverton, around the bethany/saltzman area. the area around the mississippi reminded me of the waterfront, along the willamette. even driving, with all the water and bridges - portland appeared everywhere. trippy. i just expected it all to look so dramatically different, the way LA does in comparison to the northwest. ah well.

tomorrow, we may have the chance to gut a house and wear crazy masks to protect against mold and other particles so that another family can start the rebuilding process. speaking of which, this morning, we had a very short time of devotions, and we shared isaiah 40:1-5:

1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]

4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.

5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

it is a passage of hope after the destruction of jerusalem. at the time, the people had hope to rebuild the city and some recognized the hope to come (of Jesus), while others missed it entirely. here in new orleans, we've seen that some have already started the process of rebuilding and are hopeful in putting their lives back together, but we are praying and hoping for so much more - for their hope to be found in Jesus.

let all things point to Jesus.

it's official

so, almost exactly a week ago, i didn't now where or what i'd be doing. as of yesterday, right after my interview with the school that i had originally really wanted (CW), i officially accepted a job with the new elementary school (the one with the type A principal). tentatively, i'll be teaching 5th grade, which sounds a little scary. and i start teaching on july 5th. my first break comes in mid-november, just before thanksgiving and goes through until january 1st - a nice long winter break. coolness. i'm pretty darn excited.

so, yesterday, i had my interview at CW - where i had originally wanted to work. the interview was supposed to be for 30 minutes, but i was in there with the interview panel (7 people in all - 5 teachers and 2 administrators) for about 45 minutes. and can i just say, they asked a few bizarre/weird questions. normally, you get questions like:

tell me about what makes you unique

what are your strengths and weaknesses?

what is your classroom management style/plan?

what are some instructional strategies you will use to gain your students' attention?

those are expected run of the mill and valid questions, which i did get. but i was also asked by one of the teacher interviewers:
"so, i see you've worked with writing before...and we all know how difficult writing is for our students. how would you teach students suspenseful writing?"

umm...seriously? what kind of question is that? it's so randomly specific. a bunch of the other experienced teachers at my school were wondering if he just wanted ideas for his grade level curriculum. anyway, i told my advisor that i had some bizarre questions, and he thought they were weird too, and he's taught for several years and is pretty familiar with the interview process.

here's another one:
"so when you first start out teaching, you're all excited and passionate, but as you teach, you lose some of that. it's not that you get jaded, but you do get worn down. what are some things that you plan to do to take care of yourself so that you'll be teaching many years from now?" i only think this is a weird question because the answer seems kind of obvious. have a life outside of teaching. people to talk to, friends, colleagues...whoever. have hobbies - cardmaking, knitting, sports, etc. have a life = mental health. i was seriously confused - still am - i didn't really get what they were looking for in terms of an answer. if they wanted something revolutionary, they didn't get it.

and, i was asked to respond to a question in spanish. two of my other friends also had interviews the same afternoon. one is latina, the other is 3/4 cantonese and 1/4 peruvian and she speaks spanish fluently. ok, so all three of us are candidates for the spanish bilingual credential. the latina girl does NOT get asked to answer anything in spanish, but the two of us asian kids do. umm...racial inequality, anyone?

inspite of the odd line of questioning, i had a pretty good time during the interview and i felt good leaving it and the administrator/coordinator had mentioned that we would be notified in about two weeks. i knew that they were planning to take their sweet time with the process prior to the interview, so that they could have their pick of the litter of teachers. before the interview, i had basically already decided that i wasn't going to wait around for their decision-making process because it was too drawn out and because i wasn't able to get a sense of where i stood with the school from my prelimintary interview a week and a half ago - which had left me feeling uncertain all last week - it was stressing me out and i don't normally get super anxious about things. by memorial day, i had already decided to take the job at the new school. so, i was pretty sure about the new school, but i went to this interview just to check/confirm my decision. anyway, i wasn't expecting to hear from this school, CW, until june 13th. i had planned on calling them this morning to withdraw as a candidate, but i didn't end up getting around to it.

and so, i got home today and checked the voice message - CW unofficially offered me a position at the school. the coordinator said that the panel really enjoyed the interview, that they really liked me, and that the principal would be calling me next week to make it official. i'm glad it went well, and it feels great knowing that they thought enough of me to think that i would be a good addition to their school. sadly, i now have to call back and turn them down - stink. but i still think i made the right decision to go to the new school. i know i'm going to have a lot of support and structure and organization at the new school because my principal is all over it - she's type A and she has plans...lots of them.

i'm so glad to be done with the job/interview process. and i'm glad i got the experience - this round of interviews redeems the negative interview experiences of my past.

who wants to volunteer to help me set up my classroom at the end of june? :)