Gratitiude - A Sunday Thing

Ah March! It came in like a lion (all grouchy and mean), hung a round like a lion (with PMS), and is apparently going to go out like a lion (with irritable bowl syndrome). I am not grateful for March. Or at least its weather.

March has also been bad to the people in Japan.

And unsettling (to say the least) for the people of the Middle East and areas of Africa.

So let's think of some good things about March -

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan gave many people the opportunity show how much we care about each other. Ryan Higa  (one of my favorite people on YouTube) made this awesome video to help the people of Japan. It was so awesome that it was even aired on a tv show in Japan to cheer people up. So I'm grateful to people like Ryan Higa who use their talents to help people in need and motivate others to do the same.

Here's his video-



I started taking taekwondo classes. The really great thing about these classes is that everyone is so nice and encouraging. The teachers. The other students. Even The Boy and Giggles (who do not really like to go) manage to scrounge up some cheerfulness whenever we go to class. It's so nice to have people cheer you on even when you make a complete and total fool of yourself.

In March we celebrate our Irish heritage by eating yummy Irish food (I think that's an oxymoron). This year we had that great classic of Ramen and Dumpling Soup. OK, that's really a Korean classic but today we finally had Corned Beef and Cabbage. Hooray for being Irish. And hooray for Korean food on St. Patrick's Day because sometimes that's just how I roll.

And finally, I'm grateful that Giggles and I got to enjoy the General Young Women's Meeting for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here's a video clip of young women sharing what they believe-



And finally, I'm grateful for my home, my family, and my faith -

And don't forget Super Junior!

Traveling to Foreign Lands, Part Two

Leaving India was not as easy as getting to India. We were unfortunate enough to have our return flight on April 15, 2010. You may be wondering why that particular day was not good for flying. That was the day that a volcano in Iceland erupted. Don't you remember Elyjojokufalalalala? OK, it's real name is Eyjafjallajökull. But I'm pretty sure that my way is easier to pronounce.

Anyway, when the volcano erupted it sent a huge plume of ash into the stratosphere which is where planes like to fly -

And so all the airports in Europe were closed. For a week.

I don't like volcanos.

On April 22 we were finally able to leave. Everything went pretty smoothly except that mom and I would not be sitting together. I thought that would be OK since we had been together like Siamese twins for 4 weeks.

After a few minor delays we were allowed to board our plane. Everything was great until my seat companion arrived. A large, burly Russian man with bristly gray hair and bushy eyebrow hairs that were at least two inches long. (I am not making this up.) He scared me.

When you leave India, you always do it at deepest part of night. Naturally, I wanted to sleep. So  I took a sleeping pill. Airplane seats are as comfortable as bus seats. Especially in coach.

As the sleeping pill started to do its thing, I started to feel the urge to flail. But this time I was afraid of my seat companion. I decided to find somewhere out of they way so I could stand until the urge to wave my arms and kick went away.

There really aren't a lot of places on a plane where you can be out of the way but I found one. Behind the bathroom there was a passageway to get from one side of the plane to the other. That is where I found refuge. So quiet, so peaceful, so dark. It did not take long for me to relax and become drowsy. I was so drowsy that I fell asleep. And started sleepwalking.

Of course I didn't realize that I was sleepwalking. Until I woke up in the middle of the next cabin patting people on the head as I made my way down the aisle.

Yeah, I don't much care for flying. But if I ever get to fly overseas again then I'm doing it the way Super Junior does. All nice and comfy -

OMG!!! I'm in a Video with Super Junior!!!

Let me just say that again - I AM IN A VIDEO WITH SUPER JUNIOR!!!!!!

I am so spazzing right now, you'd think I was 16.

So first a bit of background. In September, Super Junior came to LA as part of the SMTown Live 2010  concert. I got great seats for me and The Crafty One. Front row seats to be exact. The concert was so amazing. There are really no words to convey the pure joy I felt that night.

I was so happy and excited and elated and and and..... You get the picture.

Every night I spend time watching Super Junior videos. Tonight I found one that was from that concert. I chose to watch it because Henry and Siwon are speaking English. At the time of the concert I was so delirious because of their proximity that I could not listen coherently and so I have no recollection of what they said. So I started watching and listening until I realized that the camera was pointed in our general direction! And then I stopped listening and started screaming just like I was back at the concert.

We are in the upper right-hand corner when the video starts, next to the two posters that are being held by fans. I'm wearing a gray shirt with purple flowers and The Crafty One is wearing blue. Check us out -



My family has gathered around to watch me scream like a silly teenager. I may never know what they said, but I sure am happy.

Traveling to Foreign Lands, Part One

Last year, I traveled to India to visit my family who I had not seen in many, many years. I was excited for the trip but also nervous. It had been over 15 years since I had flown anywhere.

I had to get some shots to go to India. While talking with my doctor about anti-malaria meds, the topic of not being able to sleep came up. I explained my nervousness about flying and my concern about jet lag (there is a 12 and a half hour time difference). She happily gave me a prescription for some sleeping pills (as well as anti-malaria pills) and sent me on my way.

The trip to India was fairly uneventful. I was pretty comfortable and was able to sleep well. Nice.

Since I had enough sleeping pills to last the three weeks I was planning on being there, I decided to take a pill every night so that I wouldn't sleep my trip away. This was a good plan for the most part...

After being in India for over a week it was decided that my mom and I , along with my aunt, would travel to Mahabaleshwar. By bus. A bus like this one -

This bus is actually a lot nicer than the bus we rode in. This bus has air-conditioning. And soft, reclining chairs. And foot rests (which are really important when you're short like me).

When we left Mumbai for Mahabaleshwar it was at night. I thought I would be smart and take my sleeping pill before we left for the bus. I took it too soon and when we got to the bus I was pretty groggy.

We found our seats but we were not all together. My mom and my aunt were together and I was all by my lonesome. That was alright by me because I was almost out for the night.

Let me describe this bus (what I can remember from my drug-induced haze). Instead of air-conditioning there were small fans scattered throughout it. The seats were made out of plywood with thin padding and vinyl coverings. The seats were high, too high for me to put my feet on the floor. The arm rests were metal with no cushioning at all. You could move them out of the way but not completely. And I remember that it was yellow. Like, "Good morning! It's a bright and sunny day today!", yellow. The lights stayed on until we had picked up all the passengers.

So I settled into my seat as best as I could and I was asleep before you could say, "Bob's your uncle". I was so content until we started to drive through the streets of Mumbai.

Now Driving Mumbai is crazy no matter the time of day or what kind of vehicle you are in. That's just a fact. There is a lot of stopping and going. When you go, you go FAST. When you stop, you stop FAST. And when you are asleep and your feet don't reach the floor and you are as limp as a rag doll and the bus goes FAST you become joined as one with your seat. However, when you are asleep and your feet don't touch the floor and you are as limp as a rag doll and the bus stops FAST you become a projectile that hits the seat in front of you. But then the bus starts FAST again and then you become a backward propelled projectile and you slam back into your seat.

At one point, I turned around in my chair and had it recline back as far as it would go ( not very far) and hung  on for dear life. This worked until I truly fell asleep again, and then I melted off the chair. I put the arm rests up between the chairs so I could stretch out and this worked well for a time. When the bus would jerk to a stop I would fling my arms out to keep from falling onto the floor

It took TWO hours to leave Mumbai.

I hate traveling by bus.

Do you know who else hates traveling by bus? My traveling companion, that's who. I never knew anyone was sitting with me. If I had, I'm sure I would have tried to be nice.

I am told that my aunt tried to convince him to sit else where but to no avail. He made me sit in my proper seat. He wouldn't let me lean on him. He was very mean.

I, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to him. There was flailing. And kicking. And whimpering. Tossing and turning. Slamming back and forth with each start and stop.

Yeah, I really hate traveling by bus.

Lost in Translation

My father's side of the family lives in India. I have been to India several times and I love it there. But I do not know the language. In India it's kind of hard to know the language because there are so many of them. The national language is Hindi, but not everyone speaks it. There are 18 official languages in India and many dialects, over 300. My family mainly speaks Gujarati, and most of them know some English. So I get by. But not really. My family is sweet but they prefer to converse in their native tongue. I really can't blame them. When I am in India my ears and brain get tired from trying to comprehend the conversation flowing quickly around me. Amazingly, I can usually get the gist of what's going on.
 
However, I'm not always attentive. Then my mind wanders and I get fidgety. My eyes glaze over. When others laugh, I laugh to fit in. I smile and nod as if I understand what's going on. I stare into the distance until I am no longer aware of my surroundings. I find odd things to play with. I might even start to rock back and forth rhythmically (which is easy to do because many people have swings in their homes). And in the worse case I will fall asleep.

When the Perfection music video came out in February, the Super Junior M guys were promoting the album in China. And while they can all sing in Mandarin, not all of them are fluent in it. Zhoumi is Chinese so he has no problems and answers many of the questions. Henry is Chinese-Canadian so his Mandarin is really good too (and his English is perfect).  Siwon went to China to study Mandarin for three months. I think that his understanding is very good and his speaking is pretty good. He answered a lot of questions too, but you can tell he'd really like to get out of there. Khuyhun seems to be coming along and has probably made the most progress. Ryeowook is so quiet, I can't tell what he knows.  Donghae is the same, but he's so fidgety in these videos that I think he's about to loose his mind. Sungmin and Eunhyuk are new to the group. Sungmin speaks limited Mandarin properly. And Eunhyuk can say thank you and has a couple of phrases memorized (this is how well I can speak Gujarati).

Back row, left to right: Henry, Sungmin, Khyuhun, Zhoumi
Front row, left to right: Donghae, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Ryeowook






I know these are kind of long and tedious videos but, for me, it's kind of like watching myself x8. The tiredness, glazed eyes, playing with toys, rocking back and forth, not understanding fully what is going on, laughing on demand, trying to end the visit and not being allowed to, etc. Ah, the trials and tribulations of language barriers.

Wear a Mask Already!

Today I went to the doctor's office because I have a killer sore throat. And a headache. And my tonsils are so swollen and painful that they hurt if you look in their general direction. I also have a fever. And chills. It makes me want to cry to swallow anything. Poor me.

But this post isn't really about me. It's about a woman at the doctor's office. The one who was coughing and hacking.

My doctor's office provides masks to wear if you are coughing. This woman's companion asked her if she would like a mask. (She had just coughed her lung onto the floor.) She had the audacity to say NO! Wait!!! WHAT!? And she said it like her companion had lost his mind.

Lady, you don't wear a mask to prevent yourself from getting sick. You wear a mask so that you don't make other people sick. Sheesh!

In South Korea they have the cutest masks to wear. Just like in this country where people go to work and school even if they're sick, people in South Korea do the same. But they have the decency to take preventive measures so they don't get others sick.

The Super Junior boys are always working when they're sick. I really don't understand how they can do concert after concert while being sick, but they do it all the time. And they are always wearing masks. Here are some pictures of them in their cute masks -

Note to self - buy some masks for the family before I turn into a total hypocrite.

Heel, Barbie Toe

 A few months ago I bought a pair of ridiculously impractical shoes. And here they are -

My family lovingly mocked me and I turned a deaf ear to those nay-sayers.  But I had a serious problem. I didn't really know how to walk in them. My center of balance was out of control and I didn't want to break my ankle or some such thing. So I turned to the internet. First I just had to watch Eunhyuk make a fool of himself when his team lost a challenge and he had to dress up as a sexy grandma and dance. Watch it, it's funny (and awkward) -



I certainly didn't want my walking to even remotely resemble that debacle! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Eunhyuk could never pass as a female with his less than elegant gait.

Then I really had the internet help me and I found this video that was extremely helpful -



Lots of good information in a short snippet of time. But this one was by far the one that made a lasting impression on me -



Heel, Barbie toe. Heel, Barbie toe. Heel, Barbie toe. Words to live by.

So now as I strut my stuff in high heels I try to remember to stand straight, pull in my stomach, keep my hips and knees loose (whatever that means), no wobbly ankles (as if), and heal-Barbie toe. Also, no clomping around  and don't have your toes pointed out, or in. It's just not pretty.