8.8.08 @ 8:08 PM!

The opening ceremonies have commenced in China already and I eagerly await the US viewing at 7:30PM on NBC. If you didn't know, the Chinese government has established an official Olympics cheer that we should all learn and perform enthusiastically regardless of who or what we are cheering for. The above video not only gives a demonstration, but teaches you some Chinese as well. Enjoy and know that somewhere out there, the pegpie is cheering. Jia you!

I heart China

...and if you didn't know that, then you really don't know me at all.

I was in China during the summer of 2001 when they first announced the win for the Olympic bid. I was astonished by the emotional reaction from our Chinese friends. They cheered, they shouted, they cried, they celebrated. I had never felt that way for an Olympics held in the US.

I get to have a Chinese American understanding of the Olympics, an understanding backed by compassion for China and its people along with some shame over our country's current reputation. Here are some articles others wrote that I really resonate with:

Forbidden Clichés: A guide for visiting journalists
A lot of injokes. Having gone to China multiple times, I commiserate with the author. Most of these things cause my eyes to roll too.

My Friends, What Do You Want From Us?
I think this aptly describes the sentiment of the Chinese on its relationship with the Western world. It references some history stuff, and it paints a bigger picture of the ongoing tensions over the last 200 years.

Where does China fit in the West's understanding of the world?
Somewhat heady but dialogue over this would be eye-opening.

I heart chicken

When I was a kid, I had a thing for chicken... eating chicken. I loved chicken so much that I thought all meat was called chicken. At meals, I would tell my mom, "I want that piece of chicken, and that piece of chicken," pointing to beef and pork dishes.

Yesterday I had my hair done at a Chinese salon in Milpitas. There are many things one would expect at a Chinese establishment in the bay area (or anywhere, for that matter)... a flat screen hanging on the wall would be one of them. And of course, it was playing music videos. It was going to be either that or Korean soaps.

I saw the video below. The words are in Mandarin.



It was one of the most cute and bizarre things I've ever seen. Some of the lyrics say things like:

I don't want to say I'm safe
I can't ignore the misunderstanding of people
Eat my meat, I don't mind
Take my eggs, I am willing
We've become the transmitters of the bird flu
You can't live in a world without chickens

Hm. I have a craving for some chicken now. Let's go see what's in the fridge.

I've noticed that...

All people like to make generalizations, but nobody likes to agree with them. I don't want to get into the debate of generalization vs. stereotype here, so I'll leave that to my sociology friends. I find that when I say something along the lines of (any category of people) + (action or characteristic), the recipient will inevitably let me know that their cousin's sister-in-law's manicurist was not like that.

Thank you very much, because your one example just showed me how wrong I was. Let me take it back.

*1 minute later*

Recipient will say, "have you noticed that (people) + (action or characteristic)?"

I'm not sure why we like to find the anecdotal discrepancy. Is it to show that we are open-minded? Is it to demonstrate cleverness? Perhaps it gets at our own fears of being put in a box?

The other option for such generalizations is to tell me how persons outside said group also exhibit the same behaviors. College students love bubble tea? Little kids love it too!

I think generalizations are incredibly helpful as long as they aren't rules and standards. One might argue that having generalizations predisposes you to making incorrect assumptions, but I think everybody's going to make them anyway. Better to have guidelines and hold them loosely than meet everyone with a clean slate. The latter is impossible anyway.

Recently someone pointed me to stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. It's rather funny although you could probably more accurately describe it as stuffwhiteyuppyliberalpeoplelike.com. I checked to see if there was a stuffyellowpeoplelike.com. It exists although there are only two posts, and the most recent one is from March. In future posts, I'd like to try my hand at this topic. Here are some ideas:

#1 Feeding other people
#2 Great Bargains

I'm a pusher

... a button pusher, that is. With some people, I get a small thrill out of making scandalous comments to get a rise out of them. A bit sadistic? Perhaps. This "hobby" of mine sometimes extends to my relationship with my parents. Since going to college, my values and worldview has vastly diverged from their Chinese American Immigrant Silicon Valley Christian Republican Conservative Right Wing views.

Unless you've been living in a hole somewhere, you know that California has been granting marriage licenses to gay couples this week. I informed my mom that a childhood friend was among those wed in San Francisco. After answering questions along the lines of how did she get like that she noted that it was important that we vote against this law come November.

I replied that I hadn't decided which way I would vote yet. This was the truth - I wasn't saying this just to get my mom all P.I.A.B. (panties in a bunch to those who didn't read my old blog). I guess I have been living away from home too long because I wasn't prepared for her response. She was incredulous that a Christian would even have to consider such things. She declared that God was against this so it was a no brainer. She wanted to know what InterVarsity would think knowing I had such opinions (let me remind you that my opinion was that I had no opinion yet).

I honestly have a really hard time when it comes to the law. I don't believe there is always a Christian response to any topic, and it's rare that I meet people who don't vote with double standards. When it comes to this gay marriage stuff, I struggle with people being up in arms about protecting the sanctity of marriage because of how divorce is treated in America. If we understand what God says about marriage and divorce in Scripture, why don't we have laws that make it harder for people to get married and divorced? Why can't we make people take a test to get their marriage license? We have tests for driver's licenses, don't we? It makes me think something else is behind the Christian response to gay marriage other than it being the right thing to do.

I find laws surrounding hot topics complicated and I don't think being a Christian always points to a "right" answer. Abortion, poverty, the environment, taxation, the economy, education, violence... these are all issues we have to deal with because of how messed up people are. I want to think thoroughly about these things, mull over it, and understand the implications before making any final decisions. I guess in some ways, I think that is the Christian response.

I have a feeling this post outs me as a flaming liberal or something of the sort.

Much Ado About Nothing

I wish I could be like one of those people who had a theme blog. At one point, I thought I could devote my blog to cool places like the tea tasting bar or the hot chocolate cafe I tried recently and loved. I could talk about how I bought some lichee iced tea and have been brewing the deliciousness at home. But then I realized I don't do stuff like that often enough to warrant a blog devoted to it. Actually, I don't do hardly anything with any amount of consistency that would constitute a theme.

There's a blog devoted to a photograph of a woman's breakfast every morning. The pictures are tasteful if not inspiring me to eat more healthy. Alas, I don't eat breakfast every day.

I could blog about my hobbies like my design friends or the gardening and sewing blogs I read. My hobbies however, are often short-lived. Tiff Tao is moving away and I have no one to sew with. My tomatoes are puny and unimpressive. I've managed to eat two zucchinis off of what is supposed to be an easy and prolific plant. I did consider blogging about mating my zucchinis. This is after all, Sex and the Country.

I wish I could blog reviews about books, movies, music. It's not often that I find such things inspiring enough to warrant a post, and when I do I can't seem to settle myself enough to write a piece that I'd actually be proud of. I'm just not dedicated to the "arts" like some friends I admire... I'm really just a poser.

So here I am... blogging about what I can't blog about. I will press on since I realize this writing exercise is good for stimulating my brain. With the summer heat my brain is melting, especially having watched "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" on Hulu.com. Guilty pleasure. Getting rid of MTV was so bittersweet.

Can anybody tell me...

What exactly is Chop Suey?

I recently finished "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles" and absolutely loved it. Jennifer 8 Lee delves into the world of Chinese food in America after hearing about a statistical anomaly where numerous people (somewhere around 100) had major lottery winnings in a single contest. The link? The majority of the winners picked their numbers from a fortune cookie. She follows the history of Chinese food in America and examines its impact on American culture.

Growing up, my family always distinguished between Chinese food and "American Chinese food." When I first moved to Davis 10 years ago, I refused to eat at any Chinese restaurant because it wasn't authentic. Lee however, legitimizes American Chinese food as an integral part of American culture. She writes, "Our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie. But ask yourself: How often do you eat apple pie? How often do you eat Chinese food?"

It has helped me appreciate places like Panda Express for what it is. Now when my friends gush about "Orange Chicken," I understand that they are talking about their own homey comfort foods, and they fall in a different category than scrumptious chicken feet and pig's ears.