Ahhh...Life Has Started ...AGAIN...2010

As I was rereading this post that was written last June I realized that I did not reflect on how God brought me through this year of teaching full-time and that it was a true blessing through the mist of very hard work. I can understand now when someone shares about having true peace and joy when they are going through tough times. It is God who gives us the peace. No one nor no thing can give us that in our hearts. 

I do believe that it had to have been me to teach this class last year because of the challenges that I was faced with: I had to create, foster and maintain stability with parents in regards to the many changes that had happened to their children at the beginning of the year and this was the first year that all of the 3rd grade students were together in one large class, the largest class in the school that year. My familiarity with the students and their parents definitely helped me become accepted so quickly. I received a tremendous amount of support and help from not only the staff but from the parents also. I could not have done my job effectively without their support and generosity. I  have grown to love these kids as if they were my own and since they were also Emily's friends that was very easy to do. The parents have also become treasured friends. To have a parent-friend teach your child can be a difficult transition to make but they were all very gracious and kind. 

Teaching my own daughter was not as hard as I thought it would be. I made sure that she did not receive any additional 'help' from me since it would not be fair to her classmates. My husband took on the responsibility of helping Emily with her homework and studying for her tests. Not only did he help Emily, but he also helped Hannah since I was so overwhelmed with work. How much work? Well, I had 28 students x an average 6 assignments per day per student.. so you do the math on how much I had to correct and prepare for. Plus I had some very involved parents in which communication between parent and teacher was key to them helping their child be as successful as possible. 

Lastly, I was able to build some precious friendships with the staff. If you don't get along with your co-workers, going to work can be very very hard. They really came along side me and helped me 'keep my head above the water' when I felt like drowning. 

In other aspects of my life, my co-bible study leader took the reins and lead the study even when I came without doing my homework and was utterly exhausted from the workday; and my women's retreat committee ran like clock-work with everyone doing their respected duties without any help nor reminder from me. My dear husband cooked most of the meals, cleaned the house and took care of the kids when I was 'working'. I even had four worker-Yees that came to my classroom every Sunday after church to prep the class for Monday morning. Yes, God was good and took care of everything. 

I had the great opportunity to continue to teach this year part-time as a substitute at CCS thus giving me the chance to continue teaching my former students. I was kept very busy subbing for grades Kinder through Fourth. And since I know how the school runs, it became very natural for me to step right back in and do what I love doing.. teaching.. but part-time.. for now.

Written on June 22, 2010

It is Tuesday, June 22.. the 2nd day of summer and I am starting LIFE again... LIFE meaning.. getting to all the 'stuff' that has been backlogged in the house since I started to work full-time in November. It was an exhausting non-stop work for 9 months but it was extremely rewarding and God definitely wanted me there.

This past weekend I put away all my teaching materials back into the garage; returned everything that I had borrowed (BIG thank you to my sister-in-law); ironed all of mine and my husband's clothes that had been piling up since who had time to iron?!?; wrote all my thank you letters to my students for their gifts; filed a huge stack of mail/papers in the "To Be Filed" box; read 5 magazines cover to cover; vacuumed the whole house; sorted through the 1000+ pictures to print to scrapbook for our 2009 family album and even cooked dinner last night!  What a difference NO job makes! We even squeezed in a 'fun' outing on Saturday night to the Chabot Space and Science Center (with one of Emily's classmates/my former student's family) to look through their telescopes.. we saw the moon and Venus but that's about it.. too foggy and very cold!

Summer has started with swimming for the girls (Hannah in Level 1- see her on her back float and Emily in Level 4- see her jumping off the diving board) and gardening for me!!

Well not me.. "I" did not physically do it ..but my very efficient gardener, Michelle, who by the way drove herself to my house now since she has her driver's license. She even brought her little sister to come play with Emily. I did go buy the plants and soil and told her what needed to be done. 

After 5 hours of her hard working labor... she transformed my over grown weedy-yucky backyard into a neat and organic garden. After weeding for 2 hrs on Saturday, she planted bush green beans (the plant on the ground and beans in the circle planters);

... pumpkin and rosemary in the rectangular planter; and annuals in the front yard today.

The only thing left from last year that is still growing are my green onions and broccoli! I can't believe my broccoli started sprouting just now! It's been a whole year!! Did not know it takes that long for broccoli to grow!!

Hope your summer is starting out grand!!

Ni Hao From China - Part 3 - 2009

I was so looking forward to going back to Hong Kong. This was my fourth time back to HK, the second time for the girls and probably the zillionth time for my husband. I really enjoy visiting HK: the sights, shopping and food are endless but I could do without the smoking, crowds and definitely the hot and humid weather. (I am such a wimpy Northern Cal gal!)

Written on November 7, 2009

We took the ferry from Zhongshan to HK. We stayed at the Langham Hotel in Mongkok.. probably one of the nicest hotels and best service we received from hotel staff that we ever stayed at. It's attached to a huge shopping mall. So convenient and fun!

We were in HK for 5 days.. rounding out the trip. It was just the 4 of us. My parents stayed in Zhongshan for 12 more days.

If you ever go to Asia.. you cannot NOT make a stop in Hong Kong!

McDonalds had spicy chicken wings... so yummy..
We ate it twice! They also had chocolate and pineapple pies. No apple.

We immediately went shopping.. I found a cosmetic line with my name on it and no I didn't buy it.

Shopping at Ladies Market.. I got a couple of watches as prizes for my class.. $16 HK each..
which was little bit over $2 each.. what a deal!

One of the more popular items are ladies undergarments.. such intimate items so publicly displayed.. I found it strange

Of course lots of food..on the street to buy

On Goldfish Street..they sell fish.. cost is written on the bag.. in HK dollars.. 1US dollar = 7 HK dollar

Selling birds on Bird Street

... along with bird 'feed'.. live bugs..

We went to Ocean Park.. it's like a Marine World/Discovery Kingdom

.. Only with pandas.. they were very lazy and slept all day but we could see them up close..gorgeous creatures

And I finally got to go in with the dolphins.. always wanted to do it in the States but it was too expensive.. it was like 1/3 of the price in HK versus Marine World.. It was an awesome experience!

Lastly we visited a new park that opened this year: Noah's Ark.. a life sized ark was built and many exhibits supporting the fact that the Ark and God really did exist.! PTL!

Ni Hao From China - Part 2 - 2009

Originally I was not looking forward to going back to my parent's village not because of seeing the village itself but I was hesitant to stay at my parent's 'modern' house. Minimal AC, minimal hot water and possible mosquitoes.. hum.. not my kind of vacation accommodations. (If you know me well.. camping ... is staying at a 3-star hotel.) But I did not want to be rude to my parents who were very proud of the home they built and furnished. So we stayed for two nights and it was acceptable. More importantly, I was able to see what my parents have been describing to me for years.

Written on November 7, 2009

Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou were wonderful but this place, Zhongshan (a part of Canton, China), was the most memorable and rewarding of all.. at least for me personally. This was the place where I got to see, touch and imagine how life was for my parents. We went to the actual houses where they were born! WOW.. I was blown away from all the sights, sounds and memories my parents were sharing with me. I was very humbled and so thankful that they came to America to raise their family.

So here we go.. walk with me through time .. Long Mai, Zhongshan

This is my parents current house that they go to and stay about one month out of the year. It's luxurious in China standards yet  to me.. it was 'livable' and 'functional' if you know what I mean. Nothing like their home in the States but very nice over there. It has 6 bedrooms and 2-1/2 baths... hot water only available in the shower in two bathrooms.

One of the bedrooms.. the one Matthew and I stayed in.. note the mosquito net..
yes Matthew got 14 bites. I got 2.. the girls got 0.

Family room upstairs.. the tall rectangular machine in the corner was the blessed AC unit which I made my dad
keep on at full power 24/7 at least while I was staying there

We visited the the house my dad grew up in: House #1. My Aunt D. was born in there along with the other older siblings.

House #1 - inside- there was a front part of the house and then a tiny back room.. that's it..
of course.. no plumbing and electricity..

My dad used to come in this house everyday to make rice flour with this contraption.. here he is showing how you use it.. Funny thing.. when we visited the HK History Museum we saw a replica of this very contraption there..

House #2 (just a few yards away from House #1) was bigger and this was the house my dad was born in..
and where the family lived. House #1 became the kitchen and raising of livestock.

It has two levels and I can't believe that it's still standing and sturdy. The stairs were so narrow...I found some pictures (in a small box on top of that black stand near the door) of my auntie that died (from childbirth) when she had her 2nd son . She was in her 20's. Her two sons (now in their 60's) are the ones that take care of my parent's current house and these old homes. I never knew that they existed until I got to China. Their mom (my auntie) was my grandmother's first child and first daughter. My dad told me that he and my grandma were with my auntie when she delivered her son and soon afterwards died. My grandmother was hysterical and was overwhelmed with grief seeing her oldest child die. My dad was only a few years old but he vividly remembers this event.

Here we are looking through letters from my grandpa, my dad's math and writing homework books etc..
What a find!! And yes I took some of it all home with me! :)

Here I am visiting for the first time, my 2-grandma, my grandfather's second wife.. she is in a nursing home.
Isn't she cute?

We are in Long Mei now.. the home of where my mom was born in..
The house was tightly locked with a rope and a bamboo bar..

Same set up.. front room (now filled with moss and mold) and a tiny back room.

This house was part of a larger complex.. the Chan families (my grandfather and his brothers/cousins) all owned this whole building. The taller building is owned by my cousin H's parents. My mom told me she would run and play in front of this building all the time. Imagining my mom running is funny!

This building (above) is where my grandmother (mom's mom) was raised.. it too like the others are abandoned and empty. This is just a couple of blocks away from my mom's original house.

In Zhongshan, we visited a Preschool (which includes Kindergarten). This is a Kindergarten class (ages 5-6).
One class.. 2 teachers. They sang some songs for us since they knew we were coming.

Above is the biggest class: ages 2-3. Yes it's one big class. They don't have a max teacher to child ratio like it is at CCS.

The 'Farmer's Market' in Zhongshan which was right in front of the preschool.

Very fresh.. and alive!

You can't get any more organic than this!

Ni Hao From China - Part 1 - 2009

This trip back to my parent's homeland and home(s) was very memorable and eye-opening for me. Throughout my childhood years my parents were always telling my siblings and I stories of how hard their lives were when they were growing up: That they walked miles by foot to school; that they never had a closet full of clothes to choose from nor toys to play with. Of course, I figured all parents say that to their children just to let us know that we have it 'real good' here in the U.S. of A. It wasn't until I saw with my own eyes and touched with my own hands the house and area that they not only lived in but they were also born in too. They were villagers who could not afford hospital costs. Midwives would come and deliver a child when the time comes. There was no doctor nor sterile environment for the mother and unborn child. In fact, I learned that my oldest auntie died after giving birth to her second son. I met my two eldest cousins for the first time in China. Before this trip I never knew that they existed. But I'll reflect more on that in Part 2 of my blog post. Below is a summary of the 'old' vs 'new' - ness of China. Yes, China is one of the fastest (if not the fastest) growing country economically; Yet there is still many who are poor and live very simple rural lives and the importance of maintaining the traditional culture my parents know as old 'China'.

Written October 17, 2009

Just a quick update: we are in Hong Kong now and are on the last 5 days of our trip just exploring the city, shopping and eating. It's been a very memorable trip for us and we are thankful for your prayers of good health and safety. Please continue to pray for us as we return home on Weds. Everywhere we go there are posters about the N1H1 virus and prevention so we still need to be careful. Elevator buttons and handrails are usually sanitized every 2 hrs.

On to the fun part: I've included pics of the old and new in the cities we visited minus Zhongshan (where my parents are from .. we took a ton of pictures there because we actually had the privilege of visiting each of my parent's village to see and enter the home where they were born in (yep.. they were born there.. no hospitals in 1940's for the poor Chinese). It was a very humbling experience and I got to see my parents in a different light when they each shared their childhood experiences. My dad even found some of his childhood homework books and pictures of his oldest sister (one of whom I did not know existed until I arrived in China) who passed away when she gave birth to her second son when she was in her 20's. I met her two sons: both are my cousins who are in their 60's (as old as my dad) who I also did not know existed until this trip.) So sorry.. no pictures (for now) of Long Mei, Zhongshan (where my mom is from) and Dai Lang, Zhongshan and our last city HK because Matthew's laptop is full and he had to put all of those pics on the external drive. Next time..

The history of all the places we visited was fascinating and it helped us understand how China became what it is today. We visited the HK Museum of History today and continued to appreciate what the Chinese went through.

We also visited Noah's Ark in HK. Earlier this year, they finished building an actual life-sized replica of the ark and explained through factual evidence the existence of it and God's existence in the world. It was very well done I thought.

But what I can show you is the old and new from each city we visited at the beginning of the trip:

NEW BEIJING: the water cube where Michael Phelps won his 8 gold medals..the inside is smaller than it looked on TV but just sitting in the seats and imagining what happened last year is incredible

OLD BEIJING: Great Wall -- we hiked up and down hundreds of stairs which were all different depths and lengths to get to the part where we could toboggan down the mountain. My knees were shaking from all the down hill stairs..A great workout though and the weather was perfect.. not hot, not cold, not windy... the Wall was incredible!

NEW SHANGHAI: Did you know that all of the east part of Shanghai (Pudong) was developed starting in the 1990's? In just 20 years, the city is full of amazing architecture and is the financial mecca of China. The building above (that looks like a bottle opener) is the Shanghai World Financial Center and is the 2nd tallest building in the world (I think it has 101 floors). And the city continues to change and build. They are preparing for the World Expo in 2010 so the city is under 'remodel'.

OLD SHANGHAI: Silk Worm Factory. Silk is renowned in Shanghai and we got to see how they make it.. from silk worm cocoons. They dethread the cocoon on a machine. We even got to keep some of the cocoons samples. Great science lesson... :) yes I'm thinking about work still..

SUZHOU: This little city is an hour from Shanghai and is called the Oriental Venice because it has manmade canals and a leaning tower.. well in China it's not a tower but a pagoda.. it leaned before Pisa's.. it's a lot older. But first we visited the largest private garden in Suzhou called the Humble Administrator's Garden. An administrator of the emperor built an incredibly beautiful garden. It took 14 years. And after he died, he gave it to his son.. who lost it in one night of gambling.
Suzhou has 300 private gardens. And they are all HUGE!! Many buildings are in the 'garden'.

 Okay.. that's our first week..

Back To Work I Go - Sept 2009

As I reflect on what went on in 2009,  it was really about me submitting to God's Will for my life and trusting Him that he had the best possible path for me. Innately, I am a planner. I always had a To-Do list as long as I can remember and to go back to work full-time and teach was definitely NOT on my list. It was an inner spiritual battle for me. A battle with me and God. Do I be like Jonah and run away from Nineveh, and do my own thing? (Well, for those of you are not familiar with the story of Jonah in the Bible, he doesn't do what God tells him to do which is to go to the city of Nineveh; runs in the opposite direction and jumps on a ship; gets thrown off the ship during a storm; gets swallowed by a fish; ponders about what he did in the fish; and eventually gets spit out by the fish so he can obey God's command for him.) I did not want to meet my 'fish'. So I obeyed. It is all a matter of trust and having faith in my God. The One who loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me so that I may have eternal life. Many times life does not go the way we planned. Many times we have a choice in what direction we take our lives. Our challenge is do we follow our own path or God's?

Written on September 25, 2009

I just wanted to update you on what's going on with me.. I am going back to work... yep.. and it's full time.

Now you may ask, "How did that happen?" Well, Emily's third grade teacher took a two-week medical leave after one week of school being in session. A long term sub took over temporarily. As a contingency, in case the original teacher was not returning, I was asked to consider the position. I turned it down. I was not ready to go back to work full time and enjoyed the fact that finally after 9 years of waiting, I have the days to spend it for 'me'. I also was looking forward in volunteering in Hannah's Kindergarten class throughout the year. Plus I was involved in ministries at church: co-leading a bible study and coordinating our annual Women's Retreat. In a nut shell, I had very busy plans this year.

Fast forward a few days.. I was told the original teacher will not be returning. And the school had no acceptable teachers they would want to hire. So it was back to me .. again. Again, I said no.. but I also struggled with a huge feeling of guilt and burden that it will have to be me if no one else is available. Now mind you, I have a personal stake in this situation. Whoever was going to teach this class will be teaching my daughter. And they did not have anyone that the school felt would be qualified enough to take on this 28-student-third-grade-class.. the only third grade class in the school. 

The dilemma.. what to do.. what to do.. I hate being forced to do something I don't want to do.(I know I sound like a child). I knew that I would go back to work full time.. it was just that this was not the right time for me. I wanted to enjoy the 'me' time that I've been waiting for nine years. Matthew was very supportive in whatever decision I made. All he said was that I needed to have peace with the decision I made. I said No.. and I had no peace.

I was constantly bombarded with signs of what God wanted me to do.. and after many days of prayer and struggle internally in my head and heart.. I figured out that God wanted me to take a step of faith in obedience to Him.. I kept saying No.. but this time I was saying No to God. Thus I had no peace. So .... with the experiences of Moses, Abraham and Jonah to remind me that God wants us to obey Him because he wants to bless us..  I went into the school with nervousness and great hesitancy of what I was getting myself into.. I said yes I would take the position. And I have peace.

So today.. after numerous last minute interviews with the school's leadership, I accepted the position of being the new third grade teacher at CCS... and the privilege of teaching my own daughter for one year.

Am I happy? Honestly, no.. not yet.. if you know me well.. and all of you do.. it was very difficult for me to accept a change in 'my' plans for my life. But I do have peace and as you probably know, am planning out what I want to do for the rest of the school year.

Matthew and I are extremely thankful that Hannah has an incredible teacher who will take care of her as if she was her own daughter... or granddaughter?.. Oops.. no...she's not that old. :)

I am thankful that this was the grade that I loved to teach and taught for three years before the girls were born. I am thankful that I know almost all of the students and their parents well. And I am thankful that I have a ton of support from the school and church staff offering their time and talents to help me through this year.

I am extremely thankful for a loving husband who will support me in whatever decision I made and his openness to accept the increase participation in the 'household/family' responsibilities.

My start date will not be until November 2. My family and my parents will be heading to China for two weeks in October. In the meantime, there is a lot of preparation I need to do before and after I come back from China. (Please pray for good health and safe travels!)

Thank you to Marj who spent so much time listening to this whole situation of mine and for Elaine for giving me the freedom to let go of my baby girl for her to take care of as I go and teach her Jeh Jeh.

This was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make in my life. And I ask for your prayers for me at this time. Thanks so much!

First Day of School - 2009

When I emailed this back in Sept 2009, little did I know that my life would change drastically in just a few weeks. I was so psyched to be child-free most of the day for the very first time in 9 years! Both girls were in school from 8am-3pm. So much to do and now I have more time for myself! But God had different plans and willed me to go work full-time as Emily's teacher to replace her original teacher who went on long-term medical leave. Sigh.. my me-time disappeared. I have never worked so hard nor so long (15+ hr days; 7 days a week) in my many years of teaching. More about that experience to come...

Written on Sept 10, 2009

Hannah started Kindergarten with Mrs. Choy (20 students in her class).. and if Mrs. Choy looked familiar to you.. well she was Emily's 1st grade teacher. Hannah is doing better than expected. She doesn't actually cry but sometimes it looks like she will. Mrs. Choy gives her daily pep talks in helping her stay focused on school and not miss her mommy. I would say she gets 'special' treatment just because her teacher is a good friend of her mommy's. It's also hard because she has to go to school really early and stay late because I'm working. But with her sister there, she does fine. Mrs. Choy also said she is doing MA quality work so she is very pleased.  :)

Emily started third grade with Mrs. McDaniel (28 students in her class) and it's the only third grade in the school. I even subbed there this Tuesday. Her teacher is currently on medical leave (please pray for her healing) and they have a long term sub for the next 2 weeks. I'm not available because I'm working in Newark part-time for two weeks in Sept. :(

One last accomplishment: Hannah took off her training wheels and is riding a 2 wheel bike very confidently! She was very excited! Big sis wasn't as excited because she wanted Hannah to wait until she was 7 years old.. like her when she took her training wheels off. Oh well.. everyone has a different time schedule. Mommy learned to ride a 2-wheeler when she was 10.. Uncle Greg learned when he was 30... yep.. everyone is different!

Hannah with Mrs. Choy

Emily with Mrs. McDaniel

Hannah riding 2-wheels