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September: transition

by ccue

Early September, I was in Vancouver for a weekend visiting my brother’s family. The sky was laden with overcast as the plane touched down. The city feels very clean, looks modern and the traffic is not bad. It is a likeable city. Over the weekend, we visited the Stanley Park, Granville island and the Capilano Suspension Bridge park. I enjoyed the gatherings and played our role as tourists. I like the city, but also feels that it is missing its energy, its prosperity and its own character. I wonder if living in Vancouver through the rainy season could be a depressing experience .

This September will be remembered as my transition to become an empty nester.

After helping our son to move in to his dorm in LA, my spouse and I had a great time visiting in the Getty Museum, then the two of us went home. The term “empty nesting” did not quite reflect the sentiment I experienced in the first week after, I felt more like being granted “renewed freedom and extra time to spare” even though we always miss our children. Living with teenagers is sometimes an energy sapping experience. When taking care of infants or young kids, it is physically exhausting but mentally uplifting as the babies make you feel so much needed. Teenagers give parents sprouts of helplessness when they choose to follow their ideas, and simply ignore the parental advice about healthy living, good work habits and important moral values. It would have been not that bad if not for his injury that requires extensive physical therapy to maximize his recovery. I had some nights waking up exploring (mostly in vain) how to squeeze in more life lessons and healthy habits to my son. Now it is time for him to flap his wings to find his own path, and we become his supporting cast from this point onwards.

*****************
第十年的情人節 (Traditional Chinese)
by 東野圭吾 (Keigo Higashino)

I enjoyed the clever plot of his long detective novel “The Devotion of Suspect X: A Detective Galileo Novel” by the author.

I had expected more clever murder cases from his new book. To my surprise, this latest addition comprises of nine short stories. Only two of the stories are related to murder cases. Each story is engaging, about human beings that we can relate to, about likeable characters and often about relationships that we care about such as paternal love, parenthood, friendship.

After all the years writing about detective stories, Keigo Higashino brings us back to the fundamentals when we look deep enough, many real life stories consist of clever plots and interesting twists too.

I fully enjoy reading each of the nine stories.

Enlightenment Now : The case for reason, science, humanism and progress
By Steven Pinker

With enthuse praise of Bill Gates, this book has taken me quite a while to finish.

It has three parts – I. Enlightenment and what it is ; II. Progress and III. Reason, Science and Humanism.

Part I and II contain humongous volumes of information, which prove beyond doubt that life has never been better than now in terms of progress towards life expectancy, maternal mortality, child mortality, poverty, diseases and maybe even happiness.

Human survival instinct tends to focus on the negative sides of many things, and modern journalists like to create drama out of bad news. The author debunks those biases, and provides us convincing evidence our progress towards living longer, healthier, safer, richer and happier.

Part III reads like an extremely long persuasive article to convince reason, science and humanism over things like authoritarianism, magical thinking, irrationalist, fascism and theistic morality. I find it taxing to follow along.

I enjoy Part I and II, but part III seems too academic and too full of different terminologies.

If you think the world is not getting better, this book is a must read to change your mind.

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My Reading List in August

by ccue

August has been a month of travelling for the family, I was in New York for a couple of days. With flight cancellation and delay, I ended up spending more time in the airport than in the office. Later in the month, my family took a trip to Los Angeles and it was very enjoyable to stroll in Little Tokyo, Universal Studio and UCLA.

A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played
By Marshall Jon Fisher

Whether you are a tennis fan, I highly recommend this book.

‘A Terrible Splendor’ serves as a history literature as much as a book on the greatest tennis match played in 1937 Davis Cup, on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon. It was not only a match between world no. 1 Don Budge and no. 2 von Cramm. It was a match of America against Germany, democracy against fascism, on the brink of the World War II. The humble hard-working Don Budge played for the pride of America while the aristocratic Gottfried von Cramm played for his life that a loss could descend him behind barbed wire back home. And there was another tennis all-time great Bill Tilden in that era, an American surprisingly support the German team instead of the American team.

‘A Terrible Splendor’ feels like a prequel of “Strokes of Genius” on the Wimbledon 2008 final between Nadal and Federer as the greatest match ever played. Just that it is hard to compare two great matches, it is hard to compare two books both on the “Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played”.

‘A Terrible Splendor’ has more depth as the 1937 match had the historical significance that went way beyond sports; and the characters had the social struggle of the aristocracy, the working class, the gay community, and the economic crisis in that era of Berlin.

The book absorbs the social and historical happenings in the athletic spectacle as the tennis matches played to its full five setters, and keeps us in suspense until the very end. It is ultimately a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
By Marina Lewycka

It is about tractors, and it is not. The novel is about a first generation from Ukraine to England, and the family dynamics through their journey from Ukraine to England. When the recently widowed father announced his plan to remarry a Ukraine gold digger fifty years his junior, his two daughters need to set aside a lifetime of bitter rivalry to save him. It turns out to be no easy feat as this Ukraine beauty leaves behind her husband and son in Ukraine, and will stop at nothing to pursue the luxurious western lifestyle that she dreams of. As the new marriage unfold, it unveils the never-talked-about family taboos, and the two sisters start to reconcile their differences.

I read not only about a novel, but how life has been in Ukraine for the last few decades.

Political Tribes – Group Instinct and the fate of nations
By Amy Chua

An insightful analysis how blindness of American foreign policy to tribal dynamics has caused us many mis-steps in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela. Alone among the powers, America is what the author will call a super-group, a group open to individuals from all different backgrounds while not needing its members to shed or suppress their subgroup identities. As the 2016 presidential election result shows, there is a chasm between the tribal identities, the left and the right, and inequality between the country’s haves and have-nots. Could America be immune from the same tribal politics that have torn other regions apart? Are we doing enough to approach each other to heal the deep rifts that divide the country?

An eminently readable book on the topic of tribalism and its influence not only on the international fronts, but everywhere of the world.

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My Reading List in July

by ccue

This month, I got through a couple of books with the theme of “overcome difficult times and grow”. They offer inspirations that we may not find in our daily routines.

When things fall apart (Heart advice for difficult times)
By Pema Chodron

A book of advice how we deal with the off-center, vulnerable in between states. In difficult times, wenaturally want to revert back to what we have lived as before. After illness or injuries, we strive to get back our lost faculties. Just like people with acrophobia desperate to revert to ground level. This book offers abundant wisdom that things are always in transition and the transition can be an ideal state to open our hearts and minds beyond what you think is possible.

The book is jam-packed with advices and Buddhist philosophies. The content is not very organized, whichmakes it hard to digest and effort to ponder what to take or not to take from the read.

This has been my bedtime read for a while and there is a lot to like about.

A stitch of time: the year a brain injury changed my language and life
By Lauren Marks

A sudden rupture in aneurysm (a stroke) changes the life of Lauren. Lauren was a reader, actress, director pursuing her PhD. After her brain injury, she has aphasia and lost her language ability. This is her story of resilience, her documentary of how she lives her new self, and how she reconnects in a changed way with her family, her brother, her boyfriend, her friends.

More than a year after her injury, she asked the doctor “when should I consider myself recover enough?” And her doctor said “Recovery looks different for different people. For someone who wasn’t interested in language in the first place, they sometimes feel like their language is as good as it will ever be in the first months after their stroke. But someone who made their careers in words? Who is to say when they are recovered enough?”

Lauren shows exceptional courage in her remarkable journey since the rupture. Her talent in storytelling is remarkable with or without aphasia. Her rupture would have shattered her life; instead, she shows us hope and possibilities even in the worst moments.

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My Reading List in June

by ccue

I read almost all kinds of books (well, still trying to finish a book by Nora Roberts who wrote over 200 romantic novels). Reading a good book before bed-time is something that I look forward to.

Istanbul – City of Majesty at the crossroads of the world
By Thomas F. Madden

A compelling narrative of the colorful history of the City, as a historical center over a thousand years, as a capital to multiple empires, as a focal point of Christianity and Islam. The author skillfully unpack the sophisticated history into an absorbing read. It is a perfect read for anyone who plans to visit Istanbul; it is as much a book about history as a delightful read.

The Four – Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google
By Scotty Galloway

This book starts with a summary how these four companies become not only dominant, but also omnipresent. The author scrutinizes these companies, and asks deeper questions on how their successes affect the society, affect the economy, affect the job market and affect each one of us; some of the effects can be disturbing – would there be much less jobs? would the middle class be squeezed out, leaving only the very rich and the poor? It explores potential companies that may compete with these four; and lists the personal success factors that would get you to the cream of the digital age. This book gives a provocative look at these companies whether you agree with the author’s point of view.

Even if you are not interested in these four companies, it would be worth to check out the “Personal Success Factors” to assess how to make a decent living in the digital age.

Everything happens for a reason
By Kate Bowler

Life is going on well for the author, then at thirty five, she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, facing imminent death. This is her account of important people and events in her life, her religion, her family and her illness. In her darkest hours, the author keeps her humor, her bravery and her love of life; and continues to live courageously and to the maximum.

In the appendix, there is a short list of “Absolutely never say this to people experiencing terrible times”

“Well, at least …”, “In my long life, I’ve learned that …”,”It’s going to get better, I promise.”, “God needed angel”, “Everything happens for a reason”, “I’ve done some research and … “, “When my aunt had cancer …”, “So how are the treatments going? How are you really?”;

then a short list to try

“Can I give you a hug”, “Silence”, “I’d love to bring you a meal this week”,”I am so grateful to hear about how you’re doing and just know that I’m on your team”, “Oh, my friend, that sounds so hard.”

This book will lift you up if you or your close ones are going through terrible times.

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Istanbul I went

by ccue

Istanbul is called Constantinople in World History textbooks. The City has one of the most storied history over the past two thousand years. After reading the book on Istanbul: Memories and the City, I have hoped to visit the City one day. Yet, if someone said a few months ago that I would visit the City this year, I knew it would not happen. In May, I read Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World. Then I had one of my best times with my daughter in Istanbul.

My daughter just finished the third year in college, in a college town four and a half hours of direct flight from home. She decided to spend 2 weeks in Istanbul before her internship and I piggybacked her for a week.

There are quite a few things that reflect our different stages in life. I stayed in a 5-star hotel at over $100 per night, and she had an airbnb at less than $20 a night. I had little vacation days as an employee and with a husband and a son at home, I travelled for a week; she had more time in her summer months, and could stay double the time. I had my T-shirts and comfortable walking shoes, she had her blouse, skirts and high heel shoes. We made an interesting pair of Asians travelling in the City. Whenever we went, we attracted long stares and sometimes I “stared back the stare”.

Our Istanbul footprints saved on Google Map

Arriving at the City, I had my first of three experiences of crook taxi drivers. After I got home, I filed a formal complaint to one of the three taxi drivers. I am not keen to extend those bad memories but keen to share the lesson “DO NOT take taxi in Istanbul, take the public transportation”. Fortunately, that has been the only bad experience with the City.

Istanbul is one of the largest cities with over 14 millions people. We had jet lag and we went out on our first evening, and the city was so alive with so many people and traffic till midnight hours. In spite of the population and lots of dogs/cats, the City is very clean and relatively quiet. People do not talk to each other much in metro, in buses or on the street. People also do not look down on their cell phones as much as in Hong Kong. There are Ezan a few times a day, and their calling for worship, sung in a foreign language, has a surprising calming effect, and I respect that the locals are being reminded on important things.

The Mosque, the Palace and the waterfronts make Istanbul one of the most beautiful cities. The Blue Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque and the Fatih Mosque are among the famous ones and we visited all of them. I remember Blue Mosque with the six Minarets, the Suleymaniye Mosque with the achievement and the romance of the Sultan, the Fatih Mosque with its being in the middle of busy markets. We visited the world famous Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace; and the Park was so full of tourists. Palaces and Museums are not always my things, they are filled with so many things on so many acres, it is hard to not remember them without also feeling a bit tired. Physical and mental fitness are prerequisites to thoroughly enjoy those places. The City is full of lovely waterfronts – the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. We took ferry up the Bosphorus on a rainy day, we took ferry to go between Asia and Europe on a cloudy day, and we took ferry to experience the sea of Marmara on a sunny day. As the ferries left the piers, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Palaces impressed us again and again. It was just beautiful and I could enjoy them every single day. We did not get the perfect timing nor weather to catch a sunset over the beautiful coastline on a ferry from Asia to Europe, that could be a wonder by itself but I can live with that small imperfection.

The Turkish Bath, aka Hamam, has been an amazing experience. There was that bit of vulnerability to be bathed and scrubbed in a foreign country speaking a foreign language. I felt so clean, so relaxed, so rejuvenated and so refreshed after. It is no exaggeration that the body is never the same again.

We both like to experience a city beyond the tourist areas. We walked on alleys, we wandered in some local neighborhood for hours, and sat in cafes for hours. We had the joy of drinking Turkish coffee and tea together; and made impulsive decisions on what to do or where to eat. I remember these hours of wander, and sitting around with time on our side, very fondly.

I paid literally seven times more a day for the hotel stay than the airbnb my daughter stayed. We got the most out of the money. First, I got upgraded to an executive suite which gave me a nice sea view, a spacious living room in addition to the comfortable bedroom and the beautiful bathroom. We had free breakfast every morning together and we enjoyed free refreshment in the evening as our dinner. The health spa is so full of beautiful and new amenities, among them, is one of the most beautiful hotel indoor pool. It is among the best hotel experiences and we had such a delightful stay [ more in my tripadvisor review ]

Few things in life can exceed the joy of a mother-daughter travel, especially after the kids grow up and have their own life. If there is one thing to remember, I treasure our time together as travel companions in a new City of its own language, history and culture. I hope more women can experience that joy of reconnection and the luxury of quality time with each other.

Itinerary that does not tell the whole story:

5/3	Arrived
5/4	Fatih, Balat, Fener
5/5	Sultanahmet
5/6	Beyoglu
5/7	Bosphorus Boat Cruise
5/8	Kadikoy – Asia
5/9	Prince Islands
5/10	Depart

Dear Diary Misc.

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Chinese School Board Anecdotes

by ccue

Chinese school has been among the very short list of things that my children did not have a choice. Both children had spent over a decade of Friday evenings in Chinese classes. My older child is in her third year in college, and my younger child will start college this fall. I am no longer part of their Chinese learning, and I wish they will continue in their own ways.

I attended the School’s Annual General Meeting every year in the past decade. When my daughter was in the elementary grades, I stayed in the classroom often. Naturally, I volunteered as room parent. By the time I joined the Board, my children were already in mid grades and I no longer “attend” classes with my child.

For the subsequent five years, I have been the Curriculum director, the PTA director and the Registrar. These roles link me to the many perennial events on the school calendar.

The Annual General Meeting marks the beginning of the year. The attendance is a barometer of parent engagement in their children’s education, and it has been improving. It is still an aspiration to get close to 100% parents’ attendance.

Chinese New Year (CNY) is always my favorite. Together with Student Council, we always try to make the CNY festive, make it traditional and make it memorable. We are a Chinese School and Chinese New Year is our way to welcome a New Year. If there is only one event to keep, CNY will be it.

To those who participate in the inter-school ANCCS contests, I deeply admire the hard work of the students and, even more so, their parents and our school teachers in the two months before the April event and on the event day.

The promotion ceremony marks the end of the year, I get goosebumps to listen to our graduating students making speeches. To graduate, it requires more than a decade of Friday’s evenings in a classroom learning Chinese. I believe many students will look back to see such persistence has shaped their life in some ways.

Board members are in position to create lasting changes that affect current and future students too. I remember a few of these changes.

Few know our school used to have a school library with hundreds of books. We closed our library in 2013. That year, we took out all the books from the school library, and for a few weeks, we displayed the books and let the teachers/parents claim them for free. Those books deserved to be in better hands than being left alone in our cabinets. I remember the happy faces of the teachers/parents when they picked up their favorite books or books that can help them teach.

2014 was our school’s 50th anniversary. We all got pretty busy in the celebration planning. Our board members, our ex-board members, our ex-principals, and our alumni joined forces to prepare the yearbook and the anniversary events. It was concluded with a very memorable 50th anniversary dinner. My daughter, now an art-and-design college student, created 3 short videos to chronicle the school history. Looking at the photos over the years, listening to the interviews of the founder and the many principals, l feel we all owe to those who have built the school platform and have contributed selflessly to Chinese education. I wish that the 55th anniversary would be equally memorable.

In 2015, we established a new AP class offering to meet the demand of students who want to focus on Mandarinand College Level Chinese. A few of us on the board spent many extra hours to discuss and debate about it. It was a fun and rewarding time. I would like to thank our AP teacher and our ex-principal for being passionate and selfless to push forward the idea. In the past two years, a few students graduated from the AP classes with visible improvement in their Mandarin ability, not to mention, they earned good scores in the AP Chinese exam. I wish for more success for the AP class.

We thought hard to strengthen the board members with parents of younger children. We were fortunate that there were some strong additions to the board in the past few years including our current secretary, our current PTA director, and our current Marketing director.

In 2016, we had fun in learning how to improve the page ranking of our school website. It was eye-opening in figuring out how to make that happen, and it was lots of learning to use AdWords. As we strengthen our online presence, more parents find us online, more parents contact us, and more families join our school. It has been very rewarding

In 2017, we revamped our school website to bring it up to the era. I am so impressed with the work done on our new school website. At the same time, we took an ambitious effort to transition to online registration and online payment.

Many think of volunteering as activities that take away their time and underestimate the rewards of it. As Chinese parents, we want to place the children in the best school. Chinese school is among the most reachable way to do something to make their education better.

Most board members, that I started with, have retired; I am thankful for the foundations that they have built and have lots of fun with the current board members along the journey. Time has come for my retirement from the board. It has been good fun and I wish more people can experience what I have been through.

Career Management Chinese

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ADRIFT by Steven Callahan

by ccue

Adrift : Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea

This book was mentioned in a book on recovery from illness, where one of the patients read this book every single day. As I finished reading “Adrift”, I understood why the patient read this book as she was bound in her hospital bed.

The book is a first hand account of how the author fought for his life in an inflatable raft after his small sloop capsized only six days from port. He was lost in the sea for 76 days as his raft floated 1800 miles before finally being rescued by a few fishermen near Guadeloupe. Alone by himself, he had to collect drinkable water, search for food, fix equipment breakdown, overcome sharks attacks, endure storms, live through physical pain and at times, depression. Eight ships passed him by. In those 76 days, he constantly fought for his life. He resorted to find comfort and strength in his dreams about family, food, and water.

The “lost at sea” journey delivers the author (and the book readers) a revelation. Sometimes, we are adrift in life. Sometimes, when our ideal does not match reality, we flee the reality. Sometimes, we cannot accept our own limitations as well as those of the people around us. Through the ordeal, he learns that he is stronger than what he think he is, and he can accept his limitations while learning to compensate for them.

In his 76-day chronicle, there was detailed account how he lived his day, fixed the still, fixed his spear to be used as the only weapon to catch fish, and fixed the leaking of the raft tubes.

What truly amazed was how he was occupied with fighting for his survival and how little he left time for despair. Through the ordeal, he learns to live in harmony with the magic and the mystery of the sea. It is his positive mindset that resonates and inspires the book readers. It is one of the classics that lifts our spirit.

Steven-Callahan-Journey-890x395_c

IMG_20180224_203829 One day, I would come back to read it again and maybe again.

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2017 – An Emotional Year

by ccue

2017 has been a year with unusual highs and lows. Deep loss is difficult to describe, freak accidents test my mental fortitude and worry for loved ones is far more stressful.

In the world of tennis, 2017 is filled with surprise. It is probably the closest thing to miracle when Roger Federer (GOAT) won the Australian Open and the two tennis masters. My husband and I were in Cloud number nine in Indian Wells, and we witnessed Federer winning the Indian Well Mater on a beautiful day in a full stadium.

I believe most people need something to engage their time, and engage their mind. I work in a company which cares about the employees, their well being as well as their family. And I am lucky to have a reasonable job to engage our mind.

Exercise is among the best medicine, and I exceed the requirement of 150 minutes of moderate exercise for most weeks. I earn a “healthy” mind and body amidst difficult life moments.

I reminisce the dinner with high school friends, the lunch with college friends and the lunch with the coworkers of my first employer in this year. These are the friendships that has lasted more than two decades, with long periods of minimal contacts when we have been busy with raising families or chasing career successes. It is heartwarming that our relationship remains strong.

My daughter were in Japan for a summer project; my son went on his first solo international trip to Toronto for a summer study. 2017 may be the last year prior to the empty nesting experience, and there are still so much I want to pass on to them in the remaining short timeframe. At the same time, I look forward to spending time with my lifelong hobbies – tennis, exercise, hiking, reading and writing, helping others or just learning about new things.

I was in Hong Kong in June and had some really good family gatherings. There was the hike with my brother at the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark on a hot and beautiful summer day. And I spent a fair amount of time on the bedside of my mother.

September 2017 has been my saddest month with the passing of my mother. Whether it is better to obsess with loss or escape through routines, I do not know. Modern life makes haste of life events as if our brain can switch on and off our emotion, like the advance of computer processing. I return to work, return to school, return to daily routine within a week or two, while the loss is still so fresh and painful.

The multiple heel bone fractures of my son created such a trauma that forced us to set IMG_20171024_185920 aside the loss of my mother. I had to deal with the heart wrenching moments of helplessness. My husband and I faced the busy reality of doctor visits, surgery, extra day care routines, extra nutrition and his rehabilitation. My son had to deal with school, the injury and the college application. It has tested our stress tolerance level to the max. Our health is being tested, and it is a relief that we stay healthy to deal with the hardship.

white-carnation 2017 has been filled with unusual events. I experience in first person how losses stick in our mind so much more than gains. 2017 will be remembered as a difficult year of loss and injury after some personal loss and trauma in 2016. When life is at a low, it can actually go lower and then lower; even in very low moments, there are a long list of valuable things that cannot be taken away. It is such a reminder for us to treasure all the things around. The near-miracles witnessed in the world of tennis unexpectedly give us hope that anything is possible.

Dear Diary Misc. Tennis

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A nice family dinner at San Jose

by ccue

We often celebrate get together with fine dining. On the day after Boxing Day, our family of four had dinner at Adega, a Portuguese restaurant in San Jose. This restaurant earns a Michelin star in 2017, and table has been hard to find, we settle for a reservation at 8pm, a bit late for dinner for us. The restaurant is not in a rich neighborhood but it offers convenient valet parking, that charges only $5 for the evening.
The Michelin 2017 plaque is quite visible as a reminder at the entrance. The dining area is plainly decorated with very spacious seating. There are black ceramic swallows hanging on the wall. It reminds me about the very famous Chinese poem in my elementary school, a very touching poem about parental love. I learn later that these migratory birds are symbol of family and home; and stand for love, loyalty and faithfulness for the Portuguese.

The restaurant serves a variety of menu including two different food-tasting menu, a dinner menu and a dessert menu. The food tasting course carries a price tag of around $120 for a 7-course (without wine pairing) per head and it is quite a bargain if compared to a French food tasting course. In as memorable as any food tasting menu, I often fail to memorize the taste, appearance and ingredients of the delicacy thoughtfully designed by the chef, not to mention younger children do not appreciate the delicacy as much as their parents.

We were warmly served by a few sweet servers. Some have a slight accent, which just adds to the foreign accent of the restaurant. I am particularly impressed how these non-native servers describe each dish in even more clear terms. Instead of the food tasting menu, we selected a few starters and entrees from the a la carte menu. The restaurant treated us with additional small plates (Are these Portuguese small plates called Petiscos?)

The starters were all good, the entrees were good in portion and overall delicious. . The extra small plates gave us nice pleasant surprise on top of what we have selected.

How I remember the dinner:

3 choices of bread : sweet bun, white bread, and one other yummy I-do-not-know-its-name bakery , served with house-made butter, olives and hummus. I love the house-made butter. The hummus is good too but not as memorable.
A small serving of carrot soup with a speck of olive oil on the top. It is quite refreshing.
Baked ravioli with a sardine paste. The baked ravioli is such a pleasant surprise. The sardine is what sardine tastes like, very fishy.
Starters of our choices
- Pig’s Ear Salad, light and delicious
- Deep Fried Codfish cake, wrapped with dried tomatoes, tasty just a bit heavy as a starter.
- Lobster Bisque, tiny portion yet tasty
- Iberico Ham and Duck slices on a board, looks nice
Main Courses of our choices
- Ribeye Steak on a hot stone, cook to your need, with iberico ham, fried eggs and fried potatoes. Good portion and the steak is soft and juicy.
- Oven Baked Octopus with spinach and potatoes. The Octopus is very nice – tender inside and crispy outside.
- Seafood rice cooked with a variety of seafood, with onions, peppers and cilantro. The rice is yummy with very rich flavor.
- Pan-seared codfish fillets over creamy potatoes. The portion is good.

Dessert of our choices
- Cinnamon soufflé baked inside a roasted apple with apple sauce and St. Jorge cheese ice cream. The soufflé is sweeter than an apple pie, and the cheese ice cream is unique and special, a bit heavy.
Sparkling wine for adults, and some juicy drinks for the youth.
A birthday cake special and a candle, as early celebration of a birthday.
Variety of sweets – meringue , chocolate and some other super-sweet item. I like the chocolate, too sweet to finish them all.

Potatoes, seafood, ham, generosity and hospitality become my memory of Portuguese dish.

We arrived home late in the night. It was a clear night with bright stars.

Dear Diary Misc.

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Back to School

by ccue

Summer months often start well, when my kids takes a break from school. There is just that air of relaxation and even laziness when school, homework, grades and due dates are no longer topics of family dinners. By early August, “back to school” starts to sound good to get the kids back to the groove.

This summer, I signed up for volunteering activities in a local non-profit community center which provides needy families with “back to school” supplies. My role was to meet the family and take them to the storage room to choose a backpack and pick up some school supplies. The whole process took less than 10 minutes for each family, and it served as such a reminder of these needy families around us. In my childhood, my parents were equally anxious about the expenses incurred in school. Education has been one of the most important mean to get out of the financial hardship. Decades after, I could not manufacture the same hardship for my children – for their elementary school years, their back to school preparation was no more eventful than a trip to a retail store to get everything on the back-to-school supplies list.

back-to-school

This school year, I serve, as Registrar, on the Board of a non-profit Chinese School. This is a new experience, and there is such an amount of work to start a school year. I have a deeper respect for the many school staff who does it year after year. Such as

Order textbook, find a place to store the textbook.
Keep track of the student list.
Prepare 1st letter to families.
Mail the letter to the families
Mail email reminder to families.
Print map and student rosters on the first day of school

It is a few days of work just to prepare the letters and address labels, print them, put the letter to the envelope with the right label, then adhere the stamps on envelopes, plus some hours to double check that the letter goes to the right envelope.

Technology sometimes disillusions us most things can be done by a push of button, and inadvertently instills a small disdain of tedious work. It helps to be reminded that it is that someone doing some tedious work that make the world run smoothly.

One day we may miss the number of hours that we spend in these back-to-school activities – these hours reflect our willingness to exchange our time to make the back-to-school experience better for the parents and the students.

About Learning Dear Diary

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oliviatamccue

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September: transition

My Reading List in August

My Reading List in July

My Reading List in June

Istanbul I went

Chinese School Board Anecdotes

ADRIFT by Steven Callahan

2017 – An Emotional Year

A nice family dinner at San Jose

Back to School

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