Stories.

Modern Day Miracles

Some people ask God, “If you’re real, then show us some miracles.” There are miracles. Modern-day miracles.

It seemed as if God just planned everything out perfectly: This summer her surgery was scheduled precisely two weeks before I left for Taiwan—just the amount of time it takes for her recovery. (She needed someone at home to help out.) After Taiwan, I went down to sort out some things with the school district. While they were sorting things out, mom asked me if I wanted to come home. I came back in time to spend some time with my little brother before he went off to college, and mom was just needing someone the next four days or so to take care of grandma and grandpa. So I had a chance to spend time with them—a wonderful gift.

The next week, I had the time to ponder and research different programs and options for the future, and to go to visit some friends and discuss with them. The day I went to visit some friends, I received a call from Compton to come in on Monday to sign a paper. What timing!

I packed my items: I looked for a pair of footwear I wasn’t able to find in ages. I went to the shed, lifted my head and there it was. I looked for supplies at department store and each item was easily found. Praise God.

I shouldn’t drive alone to LA. Mom couldn’t drive down with me; my little sister loathes the place. My roommate called me the night before I’d drive down and asked for a ride down.

There are miracles. There are. You just have to take a look.

Reflections: Summer

By no means is this meant to entertain you. Some days were normal, some might be crazy. But this I’d like to share these with you in case you have asked, “How are you doing?” or “How’s it going?” and would like a more complete reply. Feel free to pick the time frames or sections at your leisure.

Summer Reflection and Recollection

            At Home

            It is definitely a blessing to be home this summer. After a wild rush of end-of-the-school-year events with three of my brothers and sisters graduating, finishing up the teaching term with my kids, end-of-the-year fellowship banquet and a few surprise occurrences with a few of my students, I had a good country drive up to San Jose with my brother—even with the small car with no AC. J I love country drives, if I can brush away the thought of the fuel used.

            Five weeks at home. The first week was essentially cleaning out the whole house, rearranging and giving up unnecessary items. Busy busy busy, but very satisfying. My little sister was very happy to clean and simplify the house.

            The second week was reading up on Technical Writing. I honestly enjoyed learning about the subject and reading up on it. I looked up the past materials that were used at NTHU in the previous years, and tried to see which material I might be able to use this year. The subject wasn’t completely foreign—much of it is what we stumble across in classes throughout our academic years, but nobody told me that when you put it all together, it is called “technical writing.” It was great.

            Third week was resting. A good time for that too, on this timeline of mine.

            Fourth week, oh crazy. Mom had been putting off a surgery for her carpal tunnel syndrome, and my siblings finally got her to tend to it this summer; I would be available to help at home if needed (in the first half of summer). Carpal tunnel syndrome is when the tendon in the wrist is swollen from a repeated action, and it hurts the nerves inside. So to relieve the tension and pain, the tendon is cut. The doctor said it would take approximately two weeks after surgery to heal before she can carry on with daily activities. So as things scheduled out, the earliest date possible to have the surgery was July 7—exactly two weeks before I leave for Taiwan. Imagine that. Praise God.

            So mom had surgery on her wrist, and I took over her job as house mom. Man, it was insane! All I can say is that God definitely blessed her a lot with grace and the strength to make it through each day for the past –teen-to twenty-some years. This week was particularly busy because aside from everyone waking up to eat at 6:30am or so and leaving for classes or work at 7, helping grandparents afterwards till half past, and cleaning up for another few moments or so, dad needed someone to drive him to the doctor’s office pretty regularly this week* and grandma to the senior center. Grandma usually takes the bus, but it’s blaring hot this week so we’d like her to take it easy. Did much driving till lunch prep time, or if not, harvesting the rest of the plums in the backyard to make jam. Some batches of jam turned out slushy, others turned out nicer. J Mary and I were stunned at the incredible amount of sugar that went with the plums. But I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles if you don’t want plum jam to be sour.

            Alright. So afternoon hits and I have some down time…if I’m done with the plums and other odds and ends. Down time in the latter half of the afternoon and I crash and take a nap. By this time my sisters have come home around lunch and have settled down to study. I’m so lucky and blessed to have them around. They, along with grandma, help make dinner, giving me a chance to rest up. I don’t know how mom does this Every. Single. Day. She’s amazing. God is amazing. Anyhow, after dinner, clean up and then I take Grace and Mary out for a run or stroll. It’s a good refreshing break. Come back, and Mary helps out mat. grandma. By now it’s about 9:30 or a bit later and the kids continue to study; I take the time to prep for NTHU and the skits, etc. So half my sleep is at night, the other half is during late afternoon. Praise God J It felt wonderful to be a house mom, even if I failed.

            I forgot to mention—one evening mom single-handedly cooked two dishes while I was asleep. Even though she cannot use one hand—she nevertheless still tries very much not to trouble us and to let us go on with our daily lives. So we have to watch out and jump ahead and make sure she gets rest!

            Week five. Finalize lesson plans before heading out to Taiwan. Mom is slowly taking over her daily activities again. I am at ease knowing that she will be alright after I take off to Taiwan.

* Dad was diagnosed with cancer in March. He’s been going through chemo treatments: chemo treatment and one week of rest, two weeks of work, and repeat cycle. It’s actually been a great blessing and encouragement to see how he is still joyful and at peace, regardless of the situation. J He was on his next-to-last treatment when I was at home. He is now done with treatment and is well. J

            Taiwan Part I: Visit

            When I came back, some friends asked if I had any stories to share. I’ll just go over the highlights. Flew in at 6am and spent the day with cousin Evonne before she headed back to the states. I haven’t seen her in years! Anyway, we hit up Yangmingshan National Park, and hiked up to a waterfall around Beihai Sea. At Sanzhixiaozhu (Three Little Pigs café), we sat at the counter with the glass wall that looked out into the sea with the sun slowly setting. We went out and played in the ocean water until the sun set. It was the reddest sunset I’ve ever seen. Unreal.

            I met up with two old buddies from way back when. One was a friend from NJ; born within two days of each other in the same hospital. Grew up together; even though she moved to Taiwan we ran into each other occasionally in CA. It was real nice to catch up with her again. (As we strolled around Ximending, I felt “old,” haha. Nearly all items were sparkly and blaring bright colors of pink and flocks of young’ins on the streets and stores.)

            The other friend was from middle school-high school years. It was nice to catch up with him, visit his shop and shadow him and the people there. :P He took time out of his busy schedule to introduce me to some new fruits and even to come for a bike ride along Bali with cousin Levi and me. I didn’t want to interrupt his schedule too much, but I think the Bali trip was good J I think he needed a break and praise God it was a nature-countryside scenery along the river with just the right amount of commercialized area in a short section along the way. (Bali is across the river from Danshuei.)

            Other tidbits. I never was a big fan of pasta or udon in restaurants, but on this trip I had some with my cousins and I actually thought they tasted really good, surprisingly. Oh dear, cousin Levi took me to Nanyang street. Immediately I felt the anxiety and stress. Essentially Nanyang street is the bushiban district (cram schools everywhere you look!) Even so, haha, it was nice to stop by. J

            I ran into Candy!! I haven’t seen her in years! It was good to catch up with her and just to spend the day at Riyuetan Lake. Praise God, it wasn’t hot that day, the sun wasn’t blazing out as it was overcast, and it started raining just as we were done and heading back to the car. What was that Chinese proverb…about seeing a friend you haven’t seen in a long time and the wonderful feeling it evokes…

            It was also wonderful to visit distant relatives, like grandma’s sister and her line and grandpa’s siblings and their lines. And Evonne’s mom’s family. I realized it’s not until I visit by myself do I really know the family line and have a closer relationship with them. Good convo of catchup with two aunts, found my uncles with good humor, and felt close(r) to the siblings of the grandparents I was/am close to. Ate the largest cream puff I’ve ever had (cool filling of non-buttery creamy red bean), and one aunt and uncle named their dogs Google and Skype.

            Taiwan Part II: NTHU (I)

            This was one of the major highlights of my trip. NTHU is National Tsing Hua University located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. In short, a team from America comes to hold an English camp through the university for (mostly) incoming students to teach undergrads Leadership and Western Culture, and graduate students Technical Writing and Presentation.

There were so many blessings. God blessed all the staff with unity. There were no fights or quarrels. If there was a quick change in plans, we went with it. It was amazing that we were all together, and worked together like family even though we’ve just met. So many people from all different walks of life with a wide wide range of personalities and characteristics.

            Halfway through the trip, half the team was sick and most of us were tired. We needed rest. We also didn’t have enough time to prepare/practice for an upcoming talent show for Father’s Day on Saturday or for the events for Fellowship Night that Sunday. Well, we had prayed for time and recovery, and guess what happens. The typhoon came up and that Friday and Saturday classes were canceled. We had time, and we had rest. Praise the Lord. The events still went on—the rain was only heavy. I love rain. Oh yes, and the weather cooled down to wonderful temperatures—I think we mentioned something about the weather to God earlier too.

            I’m particularly touched by the testimonies, given on one fellowship night.

Testimonies [excerpts from journal]

            The first shared about how her life philosophy was to plan things out and to strive for the highest possible. So she studied a lot, and didn’t think she was a bad person. When her cousin announced he became a Christian, she was surprised: You’re so intelligent; why would you become Christian?! So she decided to take a class on Christianity at a church when she went to college, and wanted to argue with them and prove them wrong. Apparently, as you know that she is Christian now, that didn’t work out as she intended. The testimony ends with how she came to see her darkness and came to Christ. Remember, at this time, she still thought of herself as not a sinful person. But one day, as her grandfather was dying; relatives came to see him. When he saw that people came to see him—even those he hadn’t seen in ages, he knew that he was dying. When it was her turn to see him, she stepped in, he cried. But she didn’t care. She saw him cry, and walked away. She didn’t feel anything for him. Then she realized, that she too, had darkness inside.

            The second shared how he used to strive to be number one. He was successful in terms of the world: to be number one, to be rich, and to have a girlfriend. If you have these three, you should be happy. But he wasn’t. He still felt emptiness as he lived a double life in cheating and using people to be first, and stealing at night to pass the time. If you take a look at him now, you’d never thought of him as being a bad person. God completely changed him and filled him with a higher purpose.

            The third person shared about suffering. When he was in late elementary or early middle school, his father was robbed and beaten to a coma. His father passed away a few days later. Now, as the man of the house, this person shared that he had to work at his uncle’s restaurant, and his mother had to work. He grew bitter towards God; why would these things happen to him? In middle school, when grades came around, out of his 6 classes, he had 4 F’s, 1 D, and 1 B—in P.E. It was like this, more or less, during middle school. Sometime, he went on a retreat. One, because it was free. Secondly, he wanted to get away from the desert (where he lived), for a while. It was around this time that he started to reconcile with God. His story ends with him, with a three point some gpa (not too bad) and a 1400/2400 equivalent for SATs, applies to college—with college only being a dream, since he had no money to pay for it. He sends in four applications, and receives four letters of admission. He decides to remain faithful to God and applies for Bill Gate’s scholarship. It pays for tuition, room, board, food, books… everything. He was awarded as a recipient. He ends fellowship night to say that we, as Christians, are not here to tell everyone of the bad news of people going to hell, but rather of the good news, of the hope we have in Christ. Looking at this person’s testimony, some students thought that it was amazing how the person did not stay angry and bitter towards God. Rather, he is reconciled with the Lord.

            The last testimony is of a girl who shared of her happy, perfect life until one day her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She wondered why God would let such things happen to people who didn’t deserve it. Her mother looked for all sorts of ways of help, and was shunned by the church because she wasn’t completely devoted to God, as she did look to other ways for help. Her mother is now well, but through this testimony, some students may be able to relate in how they too may have been hurt by the church in the past.

Taiwan Part II: NTHU (II)

I also learned something about worship through the fellowship nights there. Here is an excerpt from one of my journal/reflections:

We had four fellowship nights: a three episode mime skits that embodied the darkness of man, Christ’s sacrifice, and reconciliation; TA testimonies; special music; worship; and special presentation. In the past, some times it seemed like some worship was for show. But here, I’ve never saw such type of worship that was so genuinely for God. Secondly, I’ve never imagined people could truly worship through art and dance when people mention “painting worship” or “body worship.” But again, here I saw people being able to direct all glory to God—that when people danced, sang, painted, performed in skits, or played the fiddle, it wasn’t for show. They genuinely worshiped God and all glory was directed to Him and Him alone. We were only vessels…

            The other major blessing was my students. Wonderful how it just so happened that pretty much all my students in the morning were in Karen’s afternoon class. We hung out during lunches and after class to play ping pong and basketball, and many other goofy games like “Honey I love you” and “Boom chicka boom boom.” I love my students. By the end of the two weeks we were pretty much family. Haha, you can see some of our videos on facebook.

::Pictures are available on facebook::

            Upon Arriving Home…Oh to trust amidst the confusion!

            Hahaha, I get such a kick out of this. Basically, in our two year program at UCLA for the Teacher Education Program, our first year is spent on getting our credentials (so now I can teach middle school/ high school math in California), and the second year originally is spent teaching full time while writing our thesis related to the place we teach. (This year they made an exception, thanks to the economy, so that if we don’t have a job, we can just find a place to write our thesis and take extra seminars.)

            So during the summer, I assumed that school districts would have it figured out who their staff would be by August, since school starts the last week of August (31^st), staff development starts the week before (24^th) [let’s call this Week 2], and new teachers might train the week before (17^th) [let’s call this Week 1]. With an early contract, I thought I would know where things are headed before I left for Taiwan. Haha, well, I was wrong. It was August and I still didn’t know where I would be going that school year. I called HR (human resources) and they said to call back when I return to the States, as I couldn’t do any in-person interviews. Well, with this in mind, I didn’t know if there would be any jobs left after I come back on the 17^th! So I started looking at other teaching opportunities, and so I had to make a few phone calls while I was in Taiwan.

            Week 1

So basically when I came back from Taiwan, I didn’t know if I had to leave for LA immediately (possible interview that Th-Fr, but didn’t hear back till afterward that the position had been filled already). I notified Compton when I came back, but heard nothing from them. Towards the end of the week I scrambled for another position with a possible interview, and still couldn’t get through to Compton. Well, Week 1 was a definitely needed break right after Taiwan. I was exhausted. I didn’t know how I would go on if I jumped right into the boat with staff development or a class full of kids. I’m glad I didn’t end up being called to LA immediately.

Week 2

Here’s a crazy week. Sunday, I drove down to LA with my sister Mary. Plan boiled down to this: Ask the Compton how things are on Monday, if all goes well, yay. If not, backup plan to interview on Tuesday at the other place. If all works well, I start teaching. If not, it is still well (I’ll tell you later) and I start UCLA normally at the end of the month.

Well, I scratched out Tuesday’s option. Why? Found out the school’s API score is too high and so I can’t do my thesis there. I’d have to work full time, take UCLA class twice a week and do my thesis work elsewhere. I was considering also doing some applications for something else so that seemed to be a little too much for me.

Monday: go to HR. Told me to come back at 2. At 2, they said they’ll contact me later that day or the next day (the man had 90-some phone calls to return and 100-some emails to reply. I don’t blame him; he’s busy.) Well, didn’t hear back that day.

Tuesday. Hahaha, I love this. So I woke up and was debating whether or not to drop off a document at HR. I prayed. Then I prayed with Mary. I decided to drop it off anyway and see what happens. Well, I drove around the block, and at the corner Mary said, “Watch out!” but I was too late and bumped (gentle bump) into a girl on her bike. She was fine; she wasn’t hurt. Her bike was okay—save for a dented wheel. I told Mary I’ll pay for her bike. I pulled my car to the curb and whaddaya know. I had parked in front of a bike shop. The girl was sooo nice about everything. Praise God.

I got back into my car and my key wouldn’t turn. Dad had warned Mary and I that if this happened, we should do this and that. But this and that didn’t work, and we tried every possible way of getting the key to turn, but nothing worked. It was nearly an hour since we headed out from home. I found it funny. Maybe God didn’t want us to go to HR that day. “Okay, I won’t drop off the document! I won’t go to Compton today!” I told God. Funny. In front of us was an auto parts shop, with “advice” written on the shop sign. Someone was able to come help us and in no time the car started. I drove the car back around the block to the apartment; it was 12pm. We wouldn’t go to the district office that day.

Well, it turned out that I didn’t have to. That afternoon I got a call from one of their schools to come in for an interview the next day. Well, that worked out. Interviewed the next day and I really loved the principal and school. But even if I don’t get the job, I think I’ll still be okay with it (see explanation below).

Thursday, I heard nothing. Friday morning, got a call for me to come in to do some processing things (like physical exam, etc.). I asked if we this happens before or after the principal makes his or her decision. The lady said it could be either. Hahah. Well, end of Week 2, and school starts today, August 31, Monday. I called this morning and they said that they’ll call us when things happen. Lucky me, now I have time to write this update and catch up on reading.

Haha, okay, so now you know when you may have asked, “How’s it going?” or, “When are you going back to LA?” or, “What are you doing in LA?” –I had absolutely no clue how to answer at the time without a long explanation. But these few weeks had reminded me to trust in God that all would work out. I had absolutely no clue what would happen next, but somehow I was at peace with it. It’s a peace that the world cannot give.

So the other option?

            So why am I okay with the option of only doing the thesis/inquiry project? When I was decided between UCLA and Berkeley, my main reason for choosing LA was because LA focus is to serve the underserved. I wanted to learn more about how to serve the underserved, what it means for the community to do so, and hopefully learn more about the policies and organizations regarding this. And in the long run, I think the experience offered with this focus would help me in the future with regards to my goal in the field of education. The Berkeley program that I got into was focused on math and science.

            So if I were to teach full time, I would be limited in my thesis topic: it would have to be related to the students and classrooms I would be teaching. Plus side, salary. If I weren’t teaching, there would be time to visit different organizations and possibly do my thesis on them, in which I am much more interested. This experience and research would probably help with my overall goal in the future. But I don’t want money to be the determining factor. So both choices seem good. Yet as I told Nicole, the second option seems like the “easy way out.” If I did teaching, I was dreadfully afraid of the weight of responsibility that comes with teaching so many students; but then it would teach me to be more dependent on God, because I know that I definitely cannot go through the school year without coming to Him each day.

Summer Update