Mixed Religion: Perspective of Growing up Agnostic (Part 1)

Wandering through my 30's as a single adult, I tend to take have time to think and reflect back on certain aspects of my life that shaped me into the way I am today. As most of you know, I am still single. Not married. Nowhere near it, I think. So, I find myself sometimes with a lot of time to just think...

In my latest thinking, I always wonder, "If my mom is from a Christian background and my dad is from a Buddhist background, how did I end up to be where I am?" There are many points in my life that could have steered me in other directions. I could have been completely atheist. Or just agnostic like my parents. As you see, both my parents were never religious people. My mom came from a Christian background and my dad came from a Buddhist background. I think at some point in their 20's, they stopped practicing their respective faith. Well, I remember my dad will do something on Chinese holidays but nothing like I would say "religious".

I remember as a 7 or 8 year old, "Where did I come from? How did I get here?" I had many metaphysical moments growing up, questioning about existence, if what I'm seeing is real, if any of the religious stuff was what they say. I used to be very melancholy about my life, always wondering what my purpose is, always thinking I was meant for so much more than just studying in school, making the grade, getting into a good college and getting a good job. I've always been fascinated by religion though, and I always knew then that there is a God...

When I was in college, I became a Christian. One of the lessons I've learned early on in a conservative church was from this verse from the Bible: "Don't be yoked by unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14). In the case of a young student in college, specifically, don't date or marry someone who doesn't believe in God and Christ. In a very post-modern explanation of Corinth, which the letter was directed to, Corinth was messed up. The Ancient City of Corinth was a metropolis and a meeting point of trade routes between the East and West. Paul had his ministry in Corinth for about two years and saw many converts. But because it's a big melting pot of different backgrounds, it was full of misuse, misinterpretation, and church divisions. Paul, the author of both 1st and 2nd Corinthians, laid it on them in many ways, including the verse in the above paragraph. (There are many other letters from Paul that were much more softer in tone but it depends on what that city was going through... Paul purposely wrote to each of these regions and cities based on what the city was going through; each letter from Paul was not the same in content and tone.) Judging from the letter to the Corinthians, these folks were probably involved with the wrong crowd that were pulling the young Christians away from their initial zealous faith. This verse really speaks to the Christians as in Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

I think I get the point. Don't hang around bad company. Don't be influenced by the world's

standards. Yet, you have to acknowledge that there are many couples, married, dating, or in a union, who have come from vast backgrounds and just made it work, just like my parents. There are a number of so-called Christian couples who have had their marriages fell apart and they eventually divorce. 

(To be continued...)

The Art and Heart of Traveling

Most of the time, I love traveling.

I think I inherited this love from my parents.  My mom went to Australia when she was in her early 20's and then later immigrated to the U.S.  My father lived in South America for a time before coming to the U.S.  I have been up and down the East Coast, and a few spots in the West Coast.  I have been to and through places like China, S. Korea, Israel, and Canada (yes, of all places).  I was born in another country, Hong Kong!

It is sometimes a challenge to travel.  Jet-lag, early mornings, delayed flights, figuring out transportation, and getting sick can really stress a person.

But one thing God has taught me on my endeavors is to find a center.  What is my purpose here, besides working or having a vacation?

I realize over the past several years that no matter where I go, I always find kind-hearted people.  God made us relational people.  We seek ways to connect with people, even when we're in a strange land with strange people.  But you realize, these people are not so strange or weird as they seem.

For instance, my travels this time took me to Portland, OR.  This is probably been said as the capital of "weird".  There is even a dedicated saying or group "Keep Portland Weird."

I wandered downtown of Portland with my colleague/friend over the past weekend.  I saw some interesting culture here.  But the first thing I felt when I first stepped out of a train into Pioneer Square is, "Wow, this place really have some kind-hearted people" without having met anyone yet.  Sometimes I can feel the energy of the people.  There are some places I have been where I can discern, "This is a pretty depressing place."

My discernment has proved me correct over the past few days of being here.  People here are truly nice and friendly.  In some ways, it puts the South into shame.

God made us in the image of Him (Genesis 1:27).  When you put that in perspective, and take to heart that God loves us and He wants us to love people, you begin to see the heart of people the way God sees them.  I often tell my friends, "God loves you no matter what/if you..." then I insert whatever they are going through.  It's the truth I learned and to show that Christianity is not about rules, it's about connecting and having relationships and finding true beauty in the friendships that you build.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." ~Colossians 3:12~

Why I don't want a wedding and other untraditional things...

The Non-Wedding

Just like most girls, I once had this dream of my wedding.

What dress I will wear.

What colors I will have.

What flowers will I used to decorate.

What kind of cake I want to eat.

But attending many weddings in the past many years, I suddenly realize something: No matter how big or small, how much money was poured in, how much drinking and dancing were to be had, I only had fond memories of only probably three weddings.  And I have attended a lot of weddings.  Sure, most of them were fun.  Some of them were terrifyingly boring or too emotional for me.  One was just downright awkward.

I have thought it through over the past year or so.  I realize, why spend $10K to $30K on a wedding

I'm eloping...

But I am throwing a small wedding party after the elopement.  ;-)

Bottom line: It's about the marriage.  I realize I shouldn't care about the dress.  It will disappear one day.  Nor the cake.  That will get eaten.  The flowers will wilt.  The table clothes will get soiled and used for another event.

But one thing I do want to last is the marriage.  It's a strange relationship between man and woman, husband and wife.  It's an interesting relationship.  As Paul wrote, "This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." ~Ephesians 5:32-33~ Paul knew the struggles between husband and wife.  Women easily love.  Men easily respect.  Why would Paul write that a husband should love his wife and that a wife should respect?  It's hard.  Men don't easily love.  Women don't easily respect (except for Aretha Franklin - R.E.S.P.E.C.T.!).

Engagement Ring

I never liked diamonds.  Yes, they are nice and shiny,but clear and white (and kind of boring to me).  But once a upon a time, they were not valued as they are now.  I also have this fear that I will receive a blood diamond.

You know what kind of rock I want?

An amethyst!  It's purple.  I always like it.  If it's lined with Swarovski crystals, I'll be happy.  :)

Hint to men: It doesn't cost as much as a diamond ring, I swear!

The After Party

Forget the schmancy stuff.  Since there is no wedding, there is no real reception.  But there will be a party, none-the-less.  With wings and beer and bar food.  Beers all around.  And wine.  And maybe a cake, I don't know.  :)

Okay, maybe one traditional thing: The Honeymoon

Yes, I want to go to Hawaii.  And this is not a SNL skit.

Let's spend that $10K on the honeymoon.  Get a nice expensive hotel.  Drink all the wine we want.  You know, honeymoon stuff.

Okay, now that I got this out of my chest... :)

My Thoughts on Diseases

Before the Fall of Man, Adam and Eve literally lived in paradise.  God gave them everything: food, shelter, the whole world.  But one tree they could not and should not have eaten from, they ate the fruit from that tree.  Planet earth started to spiral from that point to what we have today.

Ebola and Other Diseases

Ebola has devastated West Africa for much of 2014.  So far, about 3000 people have died since the beginning of this year.  And many more will die from this.  But this is not the only disease that has threatened and killed people.  There has been polio, small pox, the bubonic plague, and even the flu virus.  Why are there so many diseases?

Let's start from the beginning.  Adam and Eve were just two people.  I bet the plants were not grown in crops and animals were running freely in fields.  No diseases exist yet.  Then they ate from the tree and all things fell apart.  They are to eventually die and return to the earth.  

Women are to give birth in pain, men are to toil the soil to grow their crops.

Then civilization happened.  People started to live in close quarters, in towns and cities, forming counties, states, countries, kingdoms.

People ate the crops they grew, and the animals they raised in farms.

Then diseases began to pop up.  You see this throughout the Old Testament.

It is a far cry from the paradise that God had initially given us.  People were spread out.  I am sure they were vegetarians too.  Here is an excerpt from Genesis 1:

God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:28-31 NASB)

Notice God didn't say, "I have given you animals as food."  Just plants.  And the animals are to eat the plants too.

I have this thought for sometime that while diseases originated from the fall of man, it is people living closely together that has accelerated the spread of disease.  People have to farm the land and raise animals as food, depending on each other.  As it is evident in West Africa, diseases can spread very quickly if people live close together.  Raising livestock can also pose an issue as animals can carry diseases that can leap to people.

If people live in the forest again and just live off the natural land, I wonder if this will slow down diseases?  You can see also in history that Native American had little diseases as they often live more spread apart before the Europeans came.  Europe was termed more advanced in civilization but also carry a lot of diseases.  

Conclusion: I am going to find an island far far away...

The American Church: Part 2

[Paraphrased]: To become leaders, we must become followers (of Jesus).

I have heard this many times in many different churches over the past many years.  I think I first heard it when I was a newly graduate from NC State, at the church I was attending in Raleigh, NC.  It sunk in and meant a lot, in many perspectives and many ways, and in the many different steps I have taken as a Christian.

Tonight was a wonderful night.  Pastor Erwin McManus came to speak to a group of leaders and volunteers tonight at my church Mosaic Church Charlotte.  It was great to learn about his past and how Mosaic Church L.A. became what it is today.

One thing that caught my attention tonight was "culture".  Although, it wasn't quite audible from Pastor Erwin's conversation with us, it was a word the Holy Spirit laid in my heard as I was listening to his story about Mosaic L.A.

In my own understanding, Pastor Erwin was tired of the church norm.  Society has put us in a box, a standard that we have to adhere by.  Even the church has gotten its own traditions and rituals.  But as creative beings that God has made us to be, we are to create the future, fighting the social norm, be unique and create our own culture for the world to follow.  In the first blog, I wrote that the church is not here just to survive, the church is here to serve humanity.

Let's talk about culture for a minute.  Each country has their own culture: language, food, traditions, rituals.   There are many times I have heard well-meaningful Christians go to other countries to establish and plant a church the "American" way.  Or they have their own theology of how it should be done.  And many times, these churches fail.  Why?  These church planters go expecting for the local culture to conform.  They have their ideology that the church should have a steeple, a pastor, board members, committees.  Failure happens then there is a misunderstanding and disconnect between the two cultures.  This ideal "church culture" clashes with the local culture.

The church should be a universal force.

One thing that Pastor Erwin spoke about tonight is seeing people the way God sees people.  God sees people as human beings.  People who are fragmented and broken.  This is the premises of Mosaic Church: to bring broken people (pieces) together to create a beautiful mosaic.  When followers of Christ start to realize this, Christians will treat people as people and not as a church project to bring them into a legalistic church.

Then we realize that our cultural battle is not between Americans vs. other countries.  It is against God and Satan.  In each country, there are broken people, torn by their own country's ideal of what a country should be.  Christians in America are no different.  American culture is fueled with the idea to be successful (monetarily), to look sexy, to be cool.  But the real church of Christ, those who see people as broken beauty and who serves humanity, creates the culture and the future that we are an unstoppable force of loving, serving people.  This carries over and reaches far more than the typically American church ideology.

I recently read an NPR article about morality in China.  In summary: it's bad.  Throughout the culture of China, there is an air of mistrust amongst them.  They just simple don't trust each other or even their own government.  If someone is in need (if they had fallen down the stairs, or get hit by a car), it could take 20 people passing by before anybody helps.  There have been cases where people pretend to be hurt, to only rob innocent people who try to help.  The other problem is that people expect the others to help.  And with the 1.3B people in China, sometimes I feel they do not have the same thoughts and feelings about human life as some people have in Western society.

But what brings me hope in this situation are missionaries in these type of countries.  A friend's mother was a missionary kid in Taiwan in the 60's and 70's.  Taiwan's culture is somewhat similar to China.  In one instance, a child on a bike was hit by a car.  The father of this missionary family immediately ran to the middle of the road to help the child, carried the child to the sidewalk and yelled someone to call for help.  One person asked him, "Why do you do this?  You don't even know this child."  "Because I am a follower of Christ."  People surrounding this event saw the compassion of this man.  They may not understand his thoughts but they saw his actions.  In countries like these, Christian missionaries work best by working on compassion and setting an example.

"Because I am a follower of Christ..." leads us to all understand the heart of God, and the compassion that God has for His people.

The American Church : Part 1

I started re-reading a book called An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus.  (Honestly, I would start a book and read like 1/3 of a book, and never finish.  So, I am re-reading the first 3rd and reading the last part... Hopefully.)  Reading and re-reading the book made me realize a few things about the state of the church.  Are we propelling or are we failing?

The book, in summary, is about the current state of American churches.  McManus talks about how most traditional churches are just surviving.  Wrapped in politics and legalism, the current church cares mostly about maintaining what's within and not focused on serving humanity.

I really like this sentence from the first chapter of McManus's book:

"The purpose of the church cannot be to survive or even thrive but to serve... the church is not called to survive history but to serve humanity."

I'll be frank: the word "unchurched" gets on my nerves.  They want to distinguish those who never been to church with those who are constantly and religiously going.  But the heart of the matter is, there are those who were very well "churched": growing up they go to Sunday School, they participate in all things Youth Ministry, wear their WWJD bracelet faithfully, are in the in-crowd of their youth.  Come to college, they realize, "The church my parents went to is their church."  Many people fall away for whatever reason, blaming the very politics and legalism of their home church, vowing never to go back to that church again.  We are faced with a generation who are just sick of traditional church.

Likewise, those who go to church religiously is just that: religious.  Some of these could care less about the hearts of the sheep... All they care about is their popularity status at church.  Are they in the committee with the church pastors, are they tithing the most, are they wearing the most modest clothing, are they friends with all the "right" people?

Most of the traditional churches have lost their focus... Actually they lost their focus when doctrines were created.  And what worked 50-75 years ago is not working anymore.  Some of these had lead to more books on how to worship and how to perform a service and created check-list on how to be a Christian.  These books then lead to rituals, which lead to legalism and judgment.  A lot of seminaries that are connected to a denomination teaches mainly on how to run a church like a business.

Church is not a business.  It is a body of believers, creating a community of hope for humanity.

Okay, but just to be clear, I do respect some of these traditional church.  I think a few of them have realized that change is needed in order to reach and serve the community.  There are many wonderful traditional churches I will or may go to from time to time.  I do love hymns.  And for all churches, a statement of faith is important or a creed.

But the traditional churches I'm talking about, you know who you are.  You're the very church that many people do not like, and to say it quite plainly, they hate. A church structure that was relevant 50-75 years ago is falling apart.  Culture is changing most rapidly and some of the churches are not keeping up.

Thoughts on Paleo and Other Health(y) Things

On June 23, I took on the 30 Day Paleo Challenge that my crossfit gym is having.  [And I started crossfit earlier in June.]  The first week was brutal.  I had a massive headache on day 3, but after day 5, my head kind of went back to normal, but thinking is still a bit of a challenge.

But whatever brain power I have left (after using it at work), it got me thinking about food.  Well, being hungry all the time, I always think about food.  But no, seriously, it made me think about how the average Americans "gather" food today and how the foods we eat affects us.

First, to explain a Paleo challenge or a Paleo diet.  In a nutshell, it's a method of eating as if we were almost back in the "paleolithic" era, where humans were just starting to use tools to hunt for food and gather food. Most people also call it the "caveman diet".   Agriculture hasn't been invented yet, so within this diet, there are no grains or even white potatoes.  (Somehow, sweet potatoes are okay, I guess because the sweet potatoes can be found in the wild.)  There are also no legumes (aka beans), as beans can upset your stomach.  There are no dairy products either, as man haven't quite figured out what cows or goats are for.  You're practically eating just meat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts all day long.  Oh, and no sugars, no sodas of any kind (regular or diet), and no artificial sweeteners (not even xylitol or stevia).  But since we're in the modern age, we do use modern things to cook our foods, like pots and pans and ovens.  And the occasional microwave to reheat the food we have just cooked for that week.

The Paleo challenge has been going well so far, apart from the thinking problem I'm having but this final week, I feel better.  I have probably shed 5 pounds by now and an inch or so off my waist as well as other areas of my body.  I feel tired sometimes, but if I get enough sleep, I feel fine usually.  And overall, without the gluten and grains, my joints don't feel as achy or swollen, and my back feels pretty good for the most part (I have back problems - another story to tell)...

So, the little thinking I have been doing during this Paleo challenge:

1. How did we get here?  As a growing nation, I feel the food industry found ways to make food at less cost.  I mean, that is the free market.  Try to make profit.  So many of our food production practices have been grandfathered in from previous regulations.  It's not really anybody faults though... I think back then, especially the early 1900's, America faced an influx of immigrants.  Without really thinking through or maybe just out of plain ignorance, people and scientist tinker with substances to see how we can make a lot of food with the least amount of money.  That's why some of the off-the-shelf food products have chemicals and things we can't pronounced on labels.  Europe, on the other hand, is more conscience of what goes into foods.  A lot of substances in American foods are banned in Europe (maybe except for Great Britain, which shares a lot of the food struggles we have here).

A good amount of foods in America are processed.  Some marketing genius out there has made it so that food not only looks good, but also taste good, and cost less than if you were to buy healthier groceries.  I mean, we're talking McDonald's, Hardee's/Carl Jr, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, etc.  Something comes from a box or a can or a fast food place.  Where a few things from boxes and cans are okay, most of it is processed in a factory somewhere and trucked thousands of miles away, or even across the ocean.

Sounds digusting?  I think most of us know about the pink slime nuggets and plastic soy burgers from fast food places.  A lot of us may know about the yoga mat flame retardant substance in most sub/deli breads and even in dough of some pizza chains.

Since even before paleo and even this year, I have slowly steered away from processed foods.  I still crave things like fried chicken, or even Spam (yes, I like Spam, but it's no where near good for you).  Knowing what goes into foods and things in cans and boxes, I try to stay away from these things, and cook most of my foods or eat fruits and nuts for snacks.

2. GMO.  Some vegetables are genetically modified to resist germs and molds, which yields more crops.  That may sound like a good thing.  A lot of plants are spoiled by these bacteria and molds.  But if they can resist germs and molds, can it resist us?  Or a better question, do we resist it as a foreign object?  Do we get enough nutrients from it?  A few articles I have seen so far is that these GMO foods are no different from non-GMO foods when it comes to nutrients.  But from the micro-level, does it change our body chemistry?  There hasn't really been a conclusive study; some of these studies can take 25 years or more, because it takes time, a whole generation, to study people once a food product has entered the food chain.  But many people have linked GMO foods and chemicals to causing cancer.

GMO definitely has taken off since the 90's, thanks to patenting the DNA sequences into the seeds and making these GMO vegetables grow and essentially mass produced crops.  Most notably, wheat, corn, soy, and most vegetables we eat in America are GMO.  That's partly why paleo doesn't allow grains: it's all GMO-ed but also agriculture hasn't been invented yet in the paleolithic period.

From an early age, I stayed away from wheat.  I think because I knew if I ate too much cake and breads, it turns into stored sugar = fat.  Also, cancer feeds off sugar.  Wheat/gluten is also known to make auto-immune disease worst, such as arthritis.

3. Non-organic vs organic foods.  Non-organic foods are foods grown with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.  Organic foods uses fertilizers from actual animals.  Organic foods may not necessarily be non-GMO.

Being in the treatment of wastewater, I actually know where the fertilizers come from.  Can you guess?  Yep, the wastewater treatment plant.  Well, one of a few places, at least.  The fertilizers actually have to go through a regulated process to ensure that the fertilizer is okay for use of growing crops.  In summary, the wastewater going into the treatment plant is all mixed up, it goes through mechanical straining, before a finer product goes through even more clarification, settling, etc.  After that, some of the "filtrates" than go through a chemical process (yes, a chemical process using polymers) to coagulate into sludge, and then the sludge goes through a strained press to "squish the poo".  Then the sludge goes through a drying process, where the final material is the fertilizer.  The polymer chemical has to be food grade and "organic friendly", and the drying process has to be to a science (temp and exposure time in the oven or solar dryer). If it were regular sludge, anything coming out of the strain press is fine.  But the treatment to reuse the fertilizer is regulated.

Although organic foods is not bad, knowing how the plants are fertilized makes me rethink about my decisions on buying organic foods.  Vegetables with pesticides or vegetables fertilized with human poo that has gone through a chemical process?  Yummy...

Conclusion

In these last 3 points, do you ever wonder if America (whether it's a doctor, a nutritionist, a science, the average American), really looked at the regulations and the science behind the food?  What if we didn't use chemicals, GMO and conventional foods?  Would our food cost be the same or would it be as high as organic food prices?

Some marketing genius out there also figured out that organic/natural foods is a premium item.  Why not make money off of it?  Look at Whole Foods.  It's no joke it's nicknamed "Whole Paycheck"; it's quite expensive.  But some organic foods and natural personal care products actually last longer.  The "natural" deodorant (no aluminum, parabens, bad chemicals, etc.) I bought in February, I haven't used it up yet!  It's July folks!  Almost 6 months of using the same stick of deo.

The real conclusion is that Paleo really does work for me but it also made me think about food and health a lot more and how processed foods affect me.  It's the ultimate goal to change your eating habits and eating lifestyle because as Americans, we are overweight and eat too much processed foods.  I felt a lot better and more energetic, after the initial headaches.  Paired up with crossfit, I have been feeling stronger everyday.

The Charlotte of My Youth

Eastland Mall, circa 1980's.  Yes, that's a skating rink inside the mall.

I started writing about being depressed but I think this might be a better topic to blog.  :)

I'm probably one of the few people (of like 2 dozen) who can safely say that I'm from Charlotte and have mostly stayed in the area.  I came to Charlotte as a baby, grew up around here, then Kings Mountain for another 9 years (still relatively close to Charlotte), then went off to college, and back again to the Charlotte area.

Circa 1980 and 90's

Much has change over the 34 years of me being in North Carolina.  I once remember Charlotte being a quaint little southern city.  It was and still is the largest city in the Carolinas but back then, there was no Ballantyne, there wasn't a shopping area near UNC Charlotte (the location of Dick's, Sam's Club, and the old Walmart), there was no Northlake Mall, no I-485, not even Carolina Place Mall in Pineville.  Southpark Mall used to have a Sears and used to be just a regular mall until it went upscale in early 2000.  And speaking of malls, the place to go in the 80's was Eastland Mall.  If you knew how to skate, you can go to Eastland Mall to skate.  But it was also fun to watch the people skate.  

The current Bojangle's Coliseum was the Charlotte Coliseum.  There was no Time Warner Arena, and not even the Bank of America Stadium.  There was no BOA building either or Duke Energy building.  The current Wells Fargo building in downtown Charlotte was the First Union tower (yes, First Union, remember that?).

I moved away from Charlotte in 1989, so much of the 90's, I wasn't in Charlotte.  However, I do remember almost a weekly ride to Charlotte with my parents to shop for Chinese groceries and things.  During this decade, I saw Charlotte grew tremendously.  By the end of the 80's, I-485 was under construction on the south side of Charlotte, between Johnston Road to S. Tryon St.  Carolina Place was newly built and the late 80's Charlotte Hornets already made a home as the first professional sport teams in Charlotte.  (No Carolina Panthers yet...)  During this time, there seem to be a big boom in the financial sector.  Towards the end of the 90's, First Union bought Wachovia but kept the Wachovia name as it had better customer service than First Union.  I think around the same time, Bank of America (from Nations Bank) made its home also in Charlotte.  Then finally, the Carolina Panthers came on board as an expansion team of the NFL.  Charlotte grew in the 90's and became a top financial center in the U.S. next to Manhattan, NY.

This is just a glimpse of Charlotte from the eyes of a child who grew up in and around this city.  I hope to write some more about specific stories, because Charlotte now is not the same as back then.

The Emerging Environmentalist

I find myself with nothing to do this evening, so I packed up my computer and things, and headed to Amelie's... A French Bakery.

I have a lot of great ideas in my head but lately find myself either chicken-out to blog or just too lazy or busy or whatever.

Lately, I have been very interested in environmental causes.  At first glance, you may not think I am of that type.  I don't drive a Prius, or wear hippie clothes, or live in a solar house.  But I am concern about how humans impact the environment, as well as ourselves in how we commute, build and construct, and grow/raise our foods.  Actually, maybe I have always been conscience about the environment since college when I took a class in Alternative Energy and was an admin assistant at the North Carolina Solar Center.

I've Got the Power

I am not quite sure where to start but let's start with this article: Obama touts energy plans.  The drive in the article about Obama is really to encourage people to start NOW; install them now.  Although, I applaud Obama for encouraging others to use solar panels, it's not all that easy.  In the mid-2000's, I learned that photovoltaic cells (aka solar panels) are only 30% efficient.  That means, if the sun light hits at 100% on the cells, only 30% becomes useful electricity.  Now, in just doing a quick search, the cells are now 45% efficient.  Which is a great thing.  But science and engineering still have a long way to go.

I think though Obama does have a point.  The more people are interested, buying solar panels, and paying money, that money can be used to come up with more efficient panels... if the money is handled correctly.  (Yes, that's the kicker.)

So, why are some people driven to look for alternative energy?  Many of our power plants are fueled by coal and fossil fuel.  This fuel, when burn, emits carbon dioxide and other gasses into the atmosphere.  Although carbon dioxide is great for plants, the plants are not as plentiful as before (due to deforestation and farming) and cannot keep up with the load going into the air.  The other gasses becomes trapped under the ozone layer creating a green house effect, while other gasses are slowly eating away the ozone layer.  The other point is that the fuel is steadily running out.  As there are more and more humans everyday, there are also more and more cars and other transportation that uses fuel.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

The circle, of course, keeps circling.  Because of fuel slowly being used through transportation, I applaud the automobile industry in coming up with electric cars and making them affordable in recent years.  However, I sort of have a pain in my heart when I have to tell this story.  Since the early to mid 1800's (yes!), scientists and hobbyists alike tinker with electric cars, trying to make batteries last longer and be more efficient.  Even Thomas Edison knew electric cars will go far!  However, in the turn of the 1900's, gas powered cars made an entrance into the market, where Henry Ford made it even more affordable with making the car on the assembly line.  Today, cars are plentiful every where in the world.  We love the roar of the engine, and the sleek design of the car.  But sadly, cars, especially older cars, emit the bad gasses creating the greenhouse that the world is experiencing today.

This is the Air I Breathe

I have touched a little bit on greenhouse gasses.  Although, I have my own skepticism on how much is really released into the air, it does seem that there has been a lot of climate activities over the past 50 years.  some parts of the world are experiencing severe drought, while other parts are constantly hammered by rain and monsoon.  In my little neck of the world (Southeast U.S.), it actually has been very mild to very cold in the winter.  Where it is hot and dry in one area, must be wet and cold in other areas of the world (the balance of thermodynamics).

I ask myself, "Is this really normal?"  The answer is that, we really don't know.  I am not a meteorologist or a climatologist but in our little bit of existence in this earth's history, it does seem to be an extreme compared to 200 years or 1000 years ago.  Compare to the other major eras of earth's history, there has been major changes only when something drastic happens, like a great tectonic shift, or a meteor hits hurts.

The difference today in our human history is that we are contributing to the green house effect, not earth's molten hot lava spewing ashes into the atmosphere or a meteor that just hit earth.

Food for Thought... Take 2

This is somewhat of a continuation of my last blog on The Human Experience. It's already scary to think that our foods are altered by science.  It's even scarier that even though there are a lot of carbon dioxide in the air from burning fuel, the plants that feed off of it will grow but will not have enough nutrients (see article).  they will grow fast and tall but it will not have time to absorb nutrients from the ground and convert it to helpful nutrient (through photosynthesis).  In fact, what is in our ground?

Credit to Buzz Feed Jen Lewis.  This is not Jim Davis's original words to this comic.  Her article is not even about the environment but I thought this was appropriate and to make a point.

So think about this: genetically altered wheat, being treated with pesticides and herbicides (chemicals), and not having enough water or time to absorb nutrients from the ground (whatever is in the ground) to produce the nutrients we need.

Water Water Everywhere...

Water is very plentiful on earth.  But fresh water is a challenge to find.  Somewhere I heard that by 2050, we will run out of fresh water from our fresh water resources.  Yet, the ocean is plentiful... But with salt water.  What a pity, us humans cannot process the salt in the water, or we would drink from the ocean.

But even ocean water is not all that safe.  Since the time of people, we have been finding and using metals for weapons, aqueducts, tools, machines, behicles, paint, jewelry... and the list goes on.  Metals is found everywhere and it has made impacts in our water resources, especially lead and mercury.

Being in the water industry, this is a challenge to treat water at any level.  Engineers and environmentalists will usually survey water resources before making recommendations on what type of equipment is needed to treat either surface water or ground water for human consumption.  What is in the water?  Soil?  Metals?  Grit?  It gets pretty nasty.

And sadly, the drinking water plant doesn't get rid of it all.  What goes through the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), the end results goes into the lakes, rivers, and streams.  Miles down the river and streams, it then get sucked back into a drinking water treatment plant.  A lot more people are using drugs, all kinds of drugs.  Legal drugs and illegal drugs.  The WWTP cannot handle it all.  It's almost impossible for the WWTP to get rid of all the chemicals through daily sewage.

That's why there are "frankenfish", fishes altered by birth control in the water that didn't get targeted in the WWTP.  The fishes cannot reproduce becasue they are no one or the other... Or they end up to be two genders.  Other microbiological life are dying because of chlorination disinfection (in NC, you have to dechlorinate the effluent water!)

*****
Seriously, folks.  I think I am going to a remote part of the earth, that hasn't been tampered with, and just live there.

The Human Experiment

Since the beginning of February, I started going to a chiropractor.  What I didn't realize is that I will step into a whole new thinking about health, fitness and food (sort of).  In the past few months, I have learned a lot about what my own body could do, and just a vast knowledge of human anatomy, functions, and how food effects the body.

I Got a Backbone

For a while, I wanted to find and go to a chiropractor because of my lower back problems.  Every time I exercise or go for a jog, my body will bounce and cause pain and strain to my lower joints, muscles, everything.  I have this dream to run a marathon but in order to do that, I need to get my lower back checked out.  Regular physical therapy and back stretches were not doing its justice.

I had this routine: jog/exercise.  Stretch my back.  Then go home, ice my lower back.  Ibuprofen somewhere along the way.  Then a nice hot shower for a long time.  Then a heat pad.  Stretch my back.  Then maybe a Icy Hot sticky thing or Icy Hot balm (Ben-gay is the other thing I may use).  Sleep.

Sounds painful, right?  It got so annoying, I finally went to see the chiropractor.

At first, I thought, "He will just take some x-rays and tell me what's wrong... Probably will discover I have scoliosis."  Well, what I learned over the next few weeks was an eye opener.  Our spine, with the right curvatures, can heal and regulate the human body.  My neck was bent the wrong way, my back, although initially I thought it was scoliosis, my Dr. confirmed it wasn't.... To fuel the spinal cord, you have to eat the right kind of foods.  The explanation of how it all works made some sense and fueled my scientific curiosity.  So I began my "human experiment" and started the 40 visit process of getting my back adjusted.  

At first, I felt nothing.  I went to get my back adjusted, hear cracks and pops along my back as he pushes my spine and twist my neck.  Along with the adjustments, I also changed my diet (on that later).  But after almost halfway, I did realize that overall that I felt better.  I can't explain it... Maybe it's energy level, or just being more alert.  My body just feels like it's just running better.  About my 20-24th visit, I had x-rays again and it showed my neck curvature has started to move back to the correct angles.  I thought that was cool.

Food for Thought 

Food is another major component to repairing and fueling the spinal cord.  As taught by my chiropractor and other experts from his office, the right kind of food can help in the aid of re-aligning and putting my spine back into the correct curvatures but also overall help your body operate correctly and possibly lose weight.

It's basically holistic living, consuming organic foods, grass fed beef and free range chickens.  Also as part of this holistic eating, no grains (wheat, rye, barley, rice, corn - all no no's).  You can almost look at this like a paleo diet. Oh, and no pork (article linked on one explanation).  This host of changed to your diet aids in the fueling of the spine and eventually, one can come off of medication (if you are on any).

Taking a more basic, baby-step approach (and not to go completely all out), I thought it would be easiest to eliminate wheat products and corn, sugar, all sodas/carbonated drinks, and some dairy as well.

The wheat was easy.  I always knew I had some reactions to gluten, a wheat protein that is kind of like glue.  So, I never ate a whole lot of wheat to begin with.  The sugar was also easy.  My dad had diabetes since he was in his 30's, so growing up, I never had too much sugar.  Eliminating diet drinks was probably the hardest.  I tend to drink all day long because ... I don't know.  Maybe something active to do besides my desk work.  So, figuring that out was a challenge.  What do I drink?  Ha, water!  And coffee.  And tea.

In substituting the sugar/sweetener I once consumed, I thought I tried organic maple syrup to my hot British tea.  That was surprisingly good.  I still added half & half because that is just how the Brits & Hong Kongers drink it.  I haven't ventured using honey in anything yet.

The other hard thing was using dairy.  I am actually lactose intolerant and for the longest time, I have used lactose free milk in my coffee.  But in one food workshop, they only offered unsweetened almond milk.  It taste amazing in coffee!  So, I end up buying almond milk for at least 2 months.

I think altering the rest of my diet was easiest.  What else did/do I eat?  Well, I am not really an "American food" eater.  I stay away from McDonald's if I can and most other fast food restaurants.  Although I do crave Bojangle's or eat fried chicken tenders.  My taste is very Asian, so I still ate rice and rice noodles.  And potatoes (um, potatoes are Irish, but I ate them).  I eat mostly Asian vegetables and less meat.  I also eat an avocado every morning with an egg sometimes, and nuts in between.

I do not like protein shakes and I do not like to drink my food.  So, I never was on board with that.

At the end of nearly a 2 month experiment on foods, I had a donut.  Yes, a nice, big, sugary donut.  Oh boy... My stomach didn't like it... My back started hurting again.  My "plumbing" was just operating more... I never thought my body would react so adversely to these processed products.  I admit, I still occasionally eat wheat but only small amounts.  I've pretty much stayed away from sugar except for an occasional chocolate.  It was very simple, basic steps I took, but it helped in making myself feel better.

Going the Distance

Exercising is actually also a big part of spinal health, as the thought is that weight lost would take off pressure around the spine, organs and joints.

I actually do love exercising and just being active.  I try to do different things so I won't get bored with just one thing.  Like, recently, I took a gym class called "Insanity" which is a combination of cross fit and aerobics.  The other weekend, I climbed a wall, which fueled my interest to climb.  (I did it once 8 years ago.)  As far as intensity level, I don't tend to go all out but I do keep moving and keep my heart rate up.  And I do regularly try to job at least once a week.  As most of my friends say, "You run faster than the guy on the couch."  I also tried to swim at the local gym as I used to be a competitive swimmer in High School.

As part of the spine correction/adjustment, I bought the homecare kit, which includes a lot of different components to stretch the spinal and neck, and exercise certain muscles to strengthen those areas.  I think for a good 6 weeks, I followed exactly everything but kind of slacked off the past several weeks.  I still feel fine.  Part of the kit, comes with an exercise video called T3.  Now, if you have the activity level as I have above, you might think T3 will be too easy.  It was too easy for me.  I sat and watched the first few sessions.  It was stuff I did when I had a trainer, but my trainer kicked my booty.

My personal thoughts: I have tried to exercise for years to lose weight.  The only thing that I found that actually helped was jogging.  When I played soccer back in high school, I lost 5-7 pounds during the season.  When I jogged last year before my back was hurting really bad, I lost 5 pounds over the course of 6 months.  I have tried functional training, and going back into swimming, and weight lifting, and taking random classes at the gym.

Yep, jogging.  Of all things.  Now, you know why I want my back all better?

Smell the Roses

Like some people who live in the South, I have allergies to flowers in the spring.  Specifically azaleas and dog wood pollen.  I also have allergies to watermelon and most other melons as well.

When I noticed the flowers blooming starting earlier this month, I had no initial reaction.  My eyes were swollen for a few days but afterwards, it disappeared.  If I stay outside long enough, though, I do sneeze a lot.  But I'm not miserable like I used to be.  It was great!  I think I will accredited to the amazing body that have reacted to the spinal adjustments.

Another thing that struck me was colds.  I had at least 1 cold over the last few months, more in February, I think.  I got over the cold in 2 days and with no cold medicines.  I usually suffer for at least a week with cold medicine.  I was very amazed by this.

And a spectacle of things... I felt my eye sight has gotten a wee better too.  I have new glasses but I had to switch back to my old glasses... I really can't see through my new glasses.  And I could barely see out of my contacts!

Some last thoughts...

Some folks going into this program are overweight or obese and are on a cocktail of medications.  Me, I came in only overweight and taking no medications.  Having an Asian diet already going into the program, with only lower back pain, I think I am one of the few who went in with not a lot of problems.  Trying the program for the first 30 days (spinal correction, diet, exercise), I didn't see a big difference in my weight.  Even my Dr. said, the advance plan diet only works on 80% of the people who tried it.  I think in some ways, I was already on it.

I have my own thoughts on weight or body image.  My mom and grandmother were both large women, and given that I am already active and eating alright and not on medications, I haven't let my weight or shape bother me now.  Yes, like all women, I could lose 20 pound but if it's meant to be, I'll lose it somehow.  My body shape hasn't stopped me from enjoying life.  I am where I am not because of my body shape but because of my attitude in life.

Anyways, this human experiment has taught me that I have an amazing body that God has created.  It is a temple and although we may not mean to cause it harm, our body goes through a lot during the course of a lifetime.  As long as we are on earth, God asked us to take care of our bodies but it is a temple and a tool to carry out God's work in the community.

Recently in Science...

Some of you may have been following the series "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson (and interestingly, produced by Seth MacFarlane - yes the guy who created "Family Guy").  It's a very well put-together series of science topics, mixed with theories and imagination.

As a person of science, I really like this kind of stuff.  Since I have watched the first 4 shows (with 9 more to go, I think), it made me rethink a lot of things about science, especially evolution and how the universe was created.

The topic of evolution hasn't really been debated much recently, except for the recent web debate between Ken Ham (Christian who believes in Creationism) and Bill Nye (The Science Guy).  I guess if you have a country invading another country, an airplane disappearing into the ocean, earthquakes and mudslides, there's not much room to talk about much anything else.  

Let's start off with the solar system.  Why does this have anything to do with evolution?  Let me explain... Many years ago, people have thought the earth was flat.  Many scientists proved that this was wrong.  The earth was indeed round.  Then people thought everything revolved around the earth.  The earth is the center of the universe.  And if one was to say otherwise, you were considered a heretic.  You could get kicked out of church. Church people took it seriously.  But there were a few brave scientists that proved that the universe did not revolve around the earth.  And it took many many years and many theorems to be proven true.  Now we know the earth is round and the earth and planets revolved around the sun, and the solar system revolves around a central point in the Milky Way Galaxy.

The key to the last paragraph is that many folks in the church of that time (1600's) didn't not believe God would make the Earth go around the Sun.  Just like today, many people of the church do not believe in evolution.  

But what if I say, "God created Evolution."  What?

In the first two shows of "Cosmos," Dr. Tyson mentioned that being a part of the evolutionary history is somewhat of a spiritual experience.  (I'm not quoting his exact words but this is about the gist of it.)  He explained in many ways that all of life on earth shared a very similar genetic code in DNA and showed even how we can be related to a mushroom.  He even mentioned that even the start of life itself on earth is still a big mystery.  How do atoms and molecules come together and work together to form the lifeforms we have on Earth today?

While I am not an expert in biology and genetics, I am an engineer as well as a Christian.  Sometimes it takes imagination to realize and form a theorem of science that hasn't been thought of before.  And I believe there are many Christian scientists who probably think this way about evolution.

A few Bible verses come to mind, Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8.  "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day..." The content of these verses points out that our lives are very short and we must make use of it to the fullest.  God's days are not like our days.  If you expand that thought for a second, and put it in the content of the beginning of earth, you start to think, "If the 'day' in the Bible's creation story really mean thousands of days, maybe the earth is really 4.5 millions of years old, and not 6,000 years old."  Of course, call me a heretic and throw me out of church!  A "day" is 24 hours, right?

Theory of Relativity.  Now we're going into physics.  Albert Eistein is the grand master of explaining this.  Although my explanation will not do its justice, I will try to say it quite plainly that it's a theory of how space and time are mashed together into a web in the universe; planetary and star objects puts a dimple in this space-time continuum.  What appears to be light-years away, might be just several thousands, and vice versa.  So, how we perceive time may be different in space?  What if space-time was different back in the beginning of the start of the earth?  Was the many gravitational changes throughout the course of the solar system affect space and time and perception of time?

There are a lot of gaps in Evolution but there are also a lot of gaps in the Bible when it comes to Creation.  I think in the United States, people want to sway one way or the other.  Why can't it be both?  Why can't God create the Universe many billions of years ago and have it evolve to what we have now? 

I know the next argument: Where does Jesus fit in?  What about salvation?  Doesn't the story of God creating Evolution make humanity not so unique?  God could have easily made other universes or galaxies; planets and other beings with a similar salvation story.  And why not?  There were mentions in the Bible of odd being coming from the sky (Ezekiel 1 - check it out!  Aliens from space!).

So, I'm not saying anything is true here.  Just my random thought of things lately...

The Struggle with Loki (Thor the Movie) and a Christian Perspective

I may just have to revamp this series about movies...

Several months ago, I started what I thought would be a regular mini-series of my thoughts on movies (originally titled The Magic and Miracles in the Movies - yeah, way too long) and what Christianity have to do with them.  Although my first and last post was about Harry Potter, I intended to continue with movies like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and The Matrix.  Well, all of this hasn't happened yet.  But eventually.

An interesting connection I have found though is that these movies are mostly in the genre of sci-fi and fantasy.  I think it might be rooted in our many stories within many cultures, these stories that talks about courage, salvation, bravery, and valor.

Instead of writing about all that I intended to write about, I thought I would write about Thor or specifically his brother Loki, since I just saw it not too long ago and there was an interesting "something" that I caught...

The Struggle with Loki

Loki in Thor, the Movies

In traditional myths, Thor was the god of thunder.  His name is the namesake of the day "Thursday".  Honestly, I haven't studies any Norse/Scadanavian mythology, so beyond his name and what it means and what he did, I have no clue of any details of the actual stories.

The movie Thor (based on Marvel Comics) is about the sons of the king of Asgard, which the sons are Thor and Loki.  Thor is the heir to the throne and at the first few scenes of the movie, he was about to be crowned King of Asgard and guardian of the Nine Realms (one of the Realms is Earth).  During the ceremony, the Frost Giants came and tried to steal a blue box, which interrupted the ceremony.  And because of his immaturity, Thor, Loki and his friends went to the planet of the Frost Giants to stop or kill them.  (Of course, Odin, King of Asgard, came to rescue them.)

During the fight with the Frost Giants, Loki discovered he wasn't like his brother Thor and the rest of his friends.  He was punctured by a Frost Giant but quickly recovered, where most people would just freeze.  I think he always knew, though, that he can perform illusions.

The movie was quite entertaining.  Now, you might think because it has Chris Hemsworth (Thor) that this appealed to me because of his physique.  However, I am not easily attracted to a long hair blond guy with ripping muscles.  My mind is of the intelligent side of things.

Which brings me to study Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston (he's actually not so scary looking in real life).  Now, also in Norse mythology, Loki is a shift-changer, one who can change their appearance.  He is also named as a "she" as well but for the sake of the movie, he was a he.  Male.  Good.

Loki, in the movie, I can tell, is a sound, reasonable, and intellectual person.  But once he realized he was adopted (and actually, he was the son of Laufey, a Frost Giant), he flippin' freaked out.  Well, okay, I'm exaggerating.  But he was not happy that Odin, his adoptive father, never told him the truth.  His quest to search for his identity begins where he wrestles with the life he knew growing up and his real self of being something different.  Throughout the first movie, he does things to have the approval of his father Odin but defeats himself everytime when he believes he hasn't done what Odin will approve of.

In many instances of the movie, Odin, Odin's wife Frigga, and Thor reassure to Loki that they all love him, that he was accepted into their family, and that, even though adopted, Loki is son and brother to the royalty of Asgard.  Loki fought this, and in this first movie, choose not to accept what was given to him.

This sounds all too familiar to me, as I myself struggle with my identity at times.  And for some reason, this story of Loki actually points to the story of Moses in the Bible.  Moses was adopted by Pharoah.  Moses knew he was different.  He ran away.  But God called him out and set him on a journey and a mission to bring the Hebrews back to Israel.  

Well, having seen the second Thor movie before the first, I knew what happened to Loki, a different outcome of Moses.

Sometimes we don't always know that we are adopted to God's family.  Once we do realize that, we can go into an identity crisis mode.  However, God already forgave us and loves us for who we are.  We only need to accept that we are adopted into His family and in doing so, we start to learn the identity of Christ, of God and of ourselves.  I think we all struggle for approval from God, but we don't need to do so.  He already loves us for who we are; He made us in the image of Him.

I'm sure it would be an interesting twist and outcome if Loki truly accepted the family that adopted him.  Would he be free of his thoughts, accept his identity and use his unique powers for good?

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."  ~Romans 8:14-17~

Day 40: Weekend Update!

I praise God for a relaxing weekend!  I haven't been this relaxed since I don't know when.

In my baby steps of growing in faith, I realize a lot of things in my life that I haven't thought of in a long time.  One of them is taking the time to just do nothing.  I go in two extremes: Extremely extrovert or Extremely introvert.  Yeah, if there is such a thing is a spectrum, I totally blew it out of the water!  Time to self, for my personality, is such a great thing: to reboot, recharge, and re-energize!

Saturday

I went to a health seminar which was very informative.  I knew a lot about GMO's (genetically modified foods) where especially vegetables's genes are genetically altered to fight of pesticides and germicideds and all the -cides you can think of.  "Round-up vegetables" is another name for them.  I knew for a while that these things may cause harm but to understand it to a very microlevel is very fascinating.  Also, toxins caused by basic household items (soaps, shampoos, etc), I knew contains a lot of "stuff" that can cause harm.  That too was fascinating.  So, to cure most of this, eat clean (almost organic and grass fed, free range meats), take detox, filter your water, and exercise (which all means, spend a lot of money on organic foods).  Or you can eat GMO's, get really hungry without having a clue why, take medications later in life because of obesity, diabetes, and such, and run a health bill (which all means, spend a lot of money from the government or healthcare which comes out of your pocket in the first place).  Why not just run away into the forest and live off the land?

In general, the American food system is really messed up.  If you go to Europe, their nations banned a lot of products and chemicals to be used in foods.  I once heard a British lady say, "When I came to the United States and went to the supermarket, I could not believe how much better looking the vegetables are."  But years later, I thought, "Well, that is a little strange... Shouldn't our vegetables rot sooner?"  So much of the bad vegetables are also thrown out because of the image the American grocery stores tries to portray - nice perfect vegetables.  But maybe a little bit too perfect.  And they taste like crap anyway.  Going to Asia, I get sick all the time.  And I just realize why because my body is exposed to GOOD food.  With good food, my body started to get rid of the toxin build up I had from eating American foods, not because of bad bugs.  I never realized how toxic my body is until traveling to another country, eating their foods.  (Okay, end of story.  Sorry, this became a longer discussion than i thought.)

Afterwards, I went home, ate lunch, and watched a James Bond movie with my dad.  After that, I went for a jog at a local business park, went to buy groceries (at Earthfare), and went home to shower, fix and eat dinner.  Watched some of the Olympics (another political blah - another day for that eventually), got bored and watched Graham Norton.  Got bored with that, watched a TED talk presentation.  Then bed.

Sunday

#Epic2014 #MosaicChurchCLT #Birthday #8yearsold #HashTag crazy.  (Yes, my church is hashtag crazy.)  It was a fun service and of course, I think Mosaic Church out-did itself by having a camel (yes, a real live, baby camel) on stage.  There was food, fruit, cake, balloons, and of course, said camel.  Name Wednesday.  The message of today was "Are you in?"  Are you into what God is doing at Mosaic Church?  And I answered in my head, yes.  :)

So, after church, had lunch, watched some Olympics (cross-country skiing looks boring but I'm sure it's very breathtaking for them with all the pretty scenery), prepared food for the week, then went on a jog at the greenway (almost made it to my original time last year on a 5K, yay!), then a trip to Trader Joe's to buy gluten free items, then home to shower and cook some dinner.

Then, then, then... I watched The Beatles: The Night that Changed Everything (a tribute to The Beatles on CBS).  I know most people were watching either the Olympics or Downton Abbey or Sherlock, but hey, The Beatles are probably one of my most favorite bands and I love music over most things.  I think it all started in high school, when I recorded a tape of The Beatles from my dad's LP records.  (Yes, that actually does work. Old school technology there.)  I had a Beatles poster in my dorm room most of my college years.  I've since bought my own Red Album Beatles CD and also through iTunes, the Blue Album.  And one or two songs from the White Album, and still listen to these songs quite often.  I love The Beatles.  Call me crazy.  :)

And now... time for bed.  And a week of work.  And awaiting the coming snow!

Day 35: America the Beautiful (The American Identity)

Many of us in the United States have watched the Super Bowl last Sunday, February 2nd.  Some of us tuned in for the game; others tuned in for the commercials.

Although the commercials did not have that "wow" factor for me, there were a lot of cute commercials as well as controversial ones.  On the controversy category, the commercial that got the most talked about was a Coca-Cola commercial title "America is Beautiful".  The commercial started off singing the song "America the Beautiful" in English, but then throughout the song, it was sung in 6 more languages.  During the video, it showcase the many faces of America of different backgrounds and nationalities, representing the many immigrants as well as many generations of folks who have been here in the United States.

The reaction to this commercial were a mixed of "oh, I don't like this, I hate this, sing in English" to "It's a beautiful video of many languages and backgrounds".

As a Chinese, with parents who were immigrants, being naturalized into being a citizen of the United States, I clearly understand both sides of the fence.  (It's the beauty of freedom of speech.  Voice your opinions one way or another, it's your opinion.)  On the one hand, this song was written in English and originally meant to be sung in English about America.  I wholeheartedly believe this song should be sung in English.  On the other hand, this song was sung by many people of different cultures and languages, representing the demographic of the United States, which I applaud Coca-Cola for that.

What's confusing for me is the main message of the commercial.  What is it selling or saying?  As the customer, what are we supposed to buy or do or act upon?  This not only goes for products that we buy, but also non-profits and services.

(In case you're wondering:  My real life job is within engineering and sales.  I am an engineer by education.  But I am not only a technical support in my company.  I am part of the sales department, concerning about how I market the product, as well as sell the product within the market price but have the responsibility to obtain accurate cost to build the pricing.  Messaging is key to selling.  What is the video/picture/motto saying or representing?)

There is so many angles to talk about with this commercial.  We all clearly know, this is a Coke commercial, as people were all drinking Coke.  So, we got that clear.

The second underlying message is that this video is meant to show the diversity of America.  That part is clear too which is something I don't mind.  I am a Chinese, raised in the South.  Although there is not much diversity in the South as there are in New York or California, there is diversity, nonetheless.  I'm in the Asian community as much as I am in the Caucasian and African-American community.  And I think with my background and education and international experience, I tend to draw others (such as Germans, French, British, etc).  So, whether you see it or not, there is diversity in North Carolina.

I think probably the one thing most people are upset about is the multilingual aspect of the commercial and I think for me, it's one of identity and the message of "What does it mean to be American".

Here's my story of being a child of a immigrant and my opinions about speaking English here in the United States.  I'm not sure if my parents wanted us to find our way in America, to identify with a country where we are the minorities.  But my parents made sure we knew English even if for them it's a language they are not comfortable with.  They understood that it's not only a common language of the United States, it's a language spoken in most parts of the world.  And their reasoning might have been that to be a good speaker, go to a country that speaks it.

One way I learned English is through singing.  Songs not only are good to listen to, it affects our moods and emotions and shapes our psychology.  I learned a lot of American songs such as America the Beautiful, Star-Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle, the songs of the Armed Forces, and probably tons more that I can't named right now.  I think the more I sang these songs, the more I felt I was American.  America is truly beautiful and I wholeheartedly believe that.

To take it a step further, I often truly believe all immigrants who chooses to stay here and become a U.S. citizen should learn English, enough to have conversations, read road signs to drive a car, and enough to take the citizenship test.  My parents had to do it.  My relatives had to do it.  Many immigrants had to do it.

Most importantly for me, English is a form of identity and unity in the American culture.  However, the United States is probably one of a few countries with no declared national language.  In my honest opinion, that is very unfortunate.  Not just from the identity/unity standpoint, but the practical point of communication in media, road signs, and others.  It's virtually impossible (and expensive) to have 20 different languages represented in the United States.  (They do it at some major airports in the United States... That's enough for me...)  I believe language is just as important to bind people together in a nation, just as much as experiencing the freedom of this nation.

Many countries have a declared national language.  Parisian French are very proud of what they see as the purest form of French.  Most French folks are also proud of their national language.  It's what makes them French.  Spaniards are the same way.  So are the Germans.  And in knowing quite a few Germans now, they really expect  those who choose to work and live in Germany to speak some German.  Or you're just lost in the countryside.  China is the same way.  They believe Beijing has the purest form of Mandarin.  You are truly lost in China if you can't speak their language.  You are perfectly okay in Shanghai and Hong Kong and some parts of Beijing.  You will be totally lost in Jiamen (where my aunt lives).  But what I find also interesting in these countries is their sense of patriotism within their own countries.  I don't know if it is attributed to their language but that is probably a huge part of it.

America is a big melting pot, mosaic, or however you choose to call it.  I do embrace diversity here, don't get me wrong.  I have Caucasian friends, African-American friends, Indian friends, Latino friends, and of course, Asian friends.  But if you truly love the United States, and call yourself American, and either born here or naturalized here, at least know English.

I am not saying to forsake your mother tongue or your culture if you live in the U.S.  Trust me, I speak at least 2 languages (maybe 3 or 4, if you count that I took French and Spanish).  I eat real authentic Chinese foods and understand enough about the Chinese culture to know when to celebrate certain Chinese holidays and to know some of the customs if I go to Hong Kong or China.  I have been to New York City and seen 3rd and 4th generation Chinese.  Most have learned to speak English but haven't forgotten their Chinese roots.  I've fully embraced my heritage.

So going back to "America the Beautiful", it's already a beautiful song sung in English.  I would not have a problem if all these people were to sing it in English.  There are some songs I don't mind being sung in another language, which Coca-Cola could have done.  But those that show patriotism for America, with the intended purpose of being sung in English, the song should not be touched.

I asked that you please respect my opinions here.  It comes from my own experience growing up in the United States, in the South, but also have traveled the world.

Day 31: 2014 Year of the Horse (Chinese New Year!)... & Let's Take a Break

Happy Chinese New Year!  It is the Year of the Horse!

I really don't have much to say today except that it is a new beginning of the Lunar Calendar.  There are many websites that provides information about Chinese New Years, so to rewrite it all would be a daunting task for me.

Being in the United States and not close to a city with a Chinatown, my parents have modified how to celebrate the New Year.  We have mainly the meal before New Years Day to close the year and a New Years dinner to open the year.  I have learned to clean the house before New Years day to get rid of the bad luck of the previous year and not clean on New Years day so we do not sweep the good luck away.  I think that's about it.  

And let's take a break!

When I first propose writing a blog every day, I didn't know what I was getting into.  I wrote a lot of great topics but I also wrote very short blogs saying, "I'm tired!"  And indeed, I have been struggling every night recently to find something to write about.  So, if this is allowed, I would like to take a break, maybe a week, and regroup my head.  Thank you all for being my audience!  I will be back. ;-)

Day 30: Hong Kong Humour vs. British Humour... Go!

Once in a while, I often wonder what the differences are between Hong Kong humour vs. British humour.

Hong Kong and Great Britain share about over 100 years together.  Britain established a trade harbour in Hong Kong, war happened, and the UK took over officially in 1898.  Not only goods were exchanged, culture were exchanged as well.  But not all things translate and are the same, like for example humour.

I think I had the privilege to watch a variety of different TV shows and movies growing up.  I watched a lot of American shows (since I grew up here) but my parents exposed me to Hong Kong shows as well as some British shows.  It was much later when I was in high school and college that I started watching British comedy as they were made available first on PBS and later BBC America.

Humour, to me, is a bit hard to separate in my head on the various types.  I think being exposed to mainly 3 cultures of comedy, my mind and head tends to laugh at anything, literally.  But humour can differ between each culture and plays on the current events, news, and trends in that country.

Much of British humour is sarcastic, dry and witty.  Deadpan is another word for it.  For example, someone could make a joke or say something but have no facial expression or tone changes in their speech.  The joke could be sarcastic or it could be a pun which has a "punch" to it if you get it.  Through that, you find the dry witty humour run across most genres of British comedy (situational, slapstick, absurd).

Hong Kong humour, however, is not always sarcastic, dry, nor witty. However, they have their own "witty" through their language and a humour called "mo lei tau".  Literally, it means, "have no heads or tails" and figuratively "nonsense talking" or "silly talking."  The comedy plays on their language and culture and trends.  I think maybe the best American sitcom to compare is Seinfeld.  Seinfeld is pretty much a "show about nothing".  A lot of Hong Kong's shows in some cases is a show about them talking about whatever and nothing at all.  Often times, my dad is left saying, "This show doesn't make any sense."

While they may share the same taste for tea and spices, it seems humour is very localized to their language and local cultures and trends.  However, Britain certainly has a greater influence around the world just because Great Britain has conquered a lot of countries around the world and spread English along the way.  Although Hong Kong may have borrowed a little bit of British "non-sense", I think in a lot of ways, there are no real similarities between the two.

Day 29: Snowmaggedon Part 2!

As typical of the South, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools closed today and a few businesses and companies went on a 2 hour delay over not even an inch of snow. Part of it is that there were not enough trucks and salt to go around all the roads, so it was quite patchy with ice this morning in some areas.

I had the pleasure of sleeping in but it threw my schedule off a little bit, leaving me sleepy most of today at work.  Coupled by the fact that half the office was empty/full with very little phone calls and email technical difficulties, I was about to take solace under my desk and just sleep.  That wouldn't be productive.

What I find interesting today in the news is the situation that happened in Atlanta.  It seems as though in less than 3 hours, the whole city of Atlanta went into gridlock on Tuesday during the "snowmaggedon".  One thing that really amazes me is that the city of Atlanta had had this problem before several years ago.  The mayor said that they have employed a lot more trucks and vehicles to plow and salt the roads.  Yet, still, Atlanta went into a state of chaos.  This is what happened:

1. Almost 12pm on Tuesday, it started snowing in Atlanta.  Previously, weather forecasted that the system will move south, then east of the city, missing the main arteries.  However, by very early Tuesday morning, the forecast changed showing that the weather pattern has shifted and moved the snow NORTH of the city.  In any case, Atlanta is going to see snow IN THE CITY.
2. About, oh, 3pm, when school was about to let out, businesses and government decided to leave work early.  So, everybody in all 5 or 6 counties surrounding Atlanta left work, school, and everywhere else.  This caused the gridlock.
3. On top of that, because the city was working on a very earlier forecast of the weather, they didn't expect to see this much snow, thus didn't respond in time or appropriately (salting roads, etc) before everybody was leaving work and school.  
4. Thus, all of hell broke lose and froze over, vehicles were stuck and stranded on the roads, kids had to spend the nights in schools, people had to find shelter elsewhere at retails and strangers' homes, and the National Guard had to go out and rescue the kids still on school buses out in the middle of these icy roads.

What amazes me is that CNN and The Weather Channel are both located in Atlanta.  Two very professional news teams.  I mean, I depend on The Weather Channel for my daily forecast and temperature and most of of the time, the Weather Channel is pretty accurate.  Why it failed Atlanta is beyond me.

GA-DOT.  If Georgia is anything like North Carolina, it must be very limited on the budget for proper snow handling.  Seriously.  We see snow once every 6-12 years.  It's not like we see 6 feet of snow every year.  it does help (a little) that GA did send people up to the north to study how people handle the snow.  But how it really works in the South might be different.  The snow part is not really innate in our brains.  So, it's not like we say, "Hey, even though the weather is a little wonky, let's go ahead and salt everything just in case."  Inexperience has played a factor in the downfall of this event.

I remember in the winter 2005 (January), something similar happened in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill.  I was working at a bakery at the time, so my morning commute was quite early.  I remember the weather being really cold and remembered that it started snowing that morning.  I didn't think anything of it, as sometimes these snow flurries will just come and go.  As the day progresses, the snow turned into freezing rain/ice/hail/sleet, and just about anything that is ice.  2 pm came around, which is the end of my shift anyways, and I left work.  About this time, I had heard that all of Wake County, Durham County and Orange County schools was let out early.  With that, parents who work in the Research Triangle Park, Downtown Raleigh (pretty much, the government of North Carolina), NC State, UNC, and Duke, the hospitals, etc, went out to pick up their kids.  All 3 counties gridlock.  At least with the Triangle area, it is not nearly as many people as Atlanta, so kids were stranded only 8 hours in buses.

The #1 lesson learned about snow in the South.  Please be forgiving.  Due to our inexperience, we will never get it right as this is not a yearly occurrence for us.  Just live with it.  And if the DOT or anybody is out there doing their best to keep us safe (attempted salting of the roads, plowing, etc), please keep the hell out of the way and please pray for those who are out there trying to do their best.  (Don't be like this lady.)  It's freezing.  It's dangerous.  They have thoughts and feelings and families too.

The #2 lesson learned.  If snow is brewing and starts from the South, just shut everything down and not go to school and work.  Forget it.  Stay home.

The #3 lesson: If you can, and if there are incidents where there are major issues with roads and travelers are stuck, lend a helping hand.