October 29, 2005, 12:25am

Hey, just to say, I'll have to disappear for days... exam again. And one paper due next week.

Headache...

October 28, 2005, 3:40pm

I've just had a flu shot. I didn't plan to have it at the beginning. Anyways, I swayed when more people begin to persuade me that's a good thing to do.

I had one when I was in HKIEd, five years ago already. It didn't help anything and I continued to have cold all the time in the winter. So, I decided that it's not effective.

Anyways, I'm here in a totally new place, with different germs and viruses, perhaps it's a wise decision to immunize myself, at least to some flu viruses if not all.

You see, I'm just trying to convince myself that I've made a correct decision when I've done with the flu shot already. Haven't had any needles for three months already. The shot reminds me about all the needles with acupuncture.

I just need to pray I have the strength to produce antibodies. Or I'll get ill because of the shot. That's the last thing I want but it's very possible.

October 27, 2005 11:36pm

Hey, was in the developmental seminar class and we talked about sociocultural theories today. Some studies said, people using different languages would think differently. I don't know, really.

Then, my instructor said, there's a culture that they don't have the term "future" and maybe they don't have the concept of "future."

Then I said, I don't have tenses in Chinese but still, I have the idea of past, present and future. Just that Chinese expresses the meanings of time in sentence structures and terms such as before and after to denote past, present and future.

Well, after the class, I was thinking why would we say 之前 (of front) to mean before and 之後 (of back) to mean after? And why 前日 (the day in front) to mean the day before yesterday and 後日 (the day in the back) to mean the day after tomorrow?

I mean, hey, this front and back thing depends on where you're looking at. And if the front is in the past and the back is in the future, we're looking back! Not that we turn our heads to look back but we're actually facing the past when we say "the day before" is "the day in front!"

This is really awkward. Why do we look backward instead of to look ahead when we think of time? All we can do is to walk in the direction of time. We simply can't go back. So why do we walk facing the past and not the future?

October 25, 2005, 1:08pm

It's very cold... but many people said it's very nice and it will get colder.

Good enough I got a thermo blanket in Walmart last week. You know, that kind of thing to make the blanket warm with electricity. I simply love it.

When I was in Scotland, well, it's only early autumn in September, Ann would pre-heat the blanket for me every evening. It's warm in the heart. :)

And in the last three years in Hong Kong, my parents had the paranoid of a heater getting fire... no matter what I said. They only read the newspaper about the occasional fire and they would turn off my heater. And they would talk about the news non-stop, non-stop, non-stop. (My dear journalists and media teachers, please, write carefully. You really don't know what people can come up in their heads.)

That way, they used the negative punishment approach. So, I began not to use the heater and they stopped squibbling about that.

Come on, take note about the old type of heater and how people misused them! The sad thing is, critical thinking and persuasion techniques would not work. Their brains don't work. And they don't care if I feel cold. They wouldn't think about an alternative. I'm the problem and the source of problem. I shouldn't feel cold because I'm young. Sucks. F. F. F.

Lydia, I really appreciate that you gave me your heater when I couldn't find one in those stupid shops. When it's sold out and they didn't even know when they'd get more heaters. I'm sorry but I could only have dust on the heater and was in bed frozen all the time. You made me feel warm in the heart... but only in the heart.

Anyways, I have M today!!! I know I'm mad to think about this all the time. But it cost me so much money, time and effort to boil the bitter herbal tea every evening in the last year trying to restore my Yin Yang imbalance. And now, I didn't do much, and it's there! Only 16 days late!!!

No black bitter stuff, no needles. :DDDDD

Self-care is only effective or even possible when I have a non-crazy immediate environment.

October 24, 2005, 7:50pm

Bad luck. I was expecting to see the saxophone recital in the University Auditorium at 7:30pm. Well, only saw the sign at the entrance saying that it's re-scheduled to tomorrow evening.

Anyways, because of this little bit of walking to the Auditorium, I took out my thick coat that's only received last Friday in a big box from Hong Kong, shipped 1.5 months ago.

It's so cold...

October 24, 2005, 6:52pm

It's so cold today... all a sudden... very very cold.

The first thing I came back was to check the weather... 68F, oh, that is what? So, I need to do the conversion... 20C. But it doesn't seem like to be that warm...

Then, tomorrow will be 45F. My goodness, it's 7C... I will die. My knees are so bad already today...

October 22, 2005, 9:12pm

Went to McIntosh with Shara, Xiaochen and Lisa to see their festival. McIntosh is sort of an old Florida town and they have some antique shops down there.

I really have to say, when I have been to Egypt, Greece, Silk Road, well, just London would be sufficient, things back in 1890s simply wouldn't be "old." Anyways, I had a great time just going out of Gainesville. And the guy in the whistle performance is really great! He can whistle so many songs.

Hm... I still want to go to Tibet, India and Cambodia... My knees... When I think about my knees, I always think, am I limiting myself or it's really the knees that are limiting me? I don't know. Had a bit of walking in McIntosh and it's OK. It's a little bit sore but not swollen. So, it's still not too bad.

Was in the Athletic Training and Sports Medicine Center regularly, well, only three times so far. I was taught to do different exercises, all very tiring, which is supposed to be good because I simply don't use the muscles often and that's why I have this knee problem.

So, I also do the exercises every day. I'm not giving up. But I don't see any hope it's going to go away. It's getting cooler these days and I simply can't walk properly right after I wake up. It takes like 10 minutes for the joints to get ready for the day.

Anyways, tomorrow evening I'll try the indoor pool. I think I won't get drown. I suppose it's not deep. I actually made an appointment to see the Aquatic Risk Manager and she showed me all the facilities for people with disabilites. Like, the lift to help people to get into the water.

It's a chair attached to a pole. So, people in wheelchairs can sit on the chair and the staff would lower them into the water. I'm still OK. It's hard but I think I can manage the steps to get into the water. They also have the kick boards and waist belts... Hope I'll still be alive and able to report to you after my first try.

I remember several times before I left Hong Kong, I was in the pool trying to learn swimming, I saw an old lady in a wheelchair. Two young people, I suppose it's her son and daughter, would help her into the water.

It's not something easy to do to put somebody into the water, compared to using the lift. I don't know. So many times I would think, I want so much to do aging. And I still believe, aging is not just biological, it's also social (Wilson, 2000). Just like sex and gender, there's no two terms to distinguish between biological aging and social aging, though the two are inter-related.

How would I be able to just do a little change in Hong Kong, like, to introduce a lift for people with disabilities? Disabilities are just so common in old age. Well, I'm permanently disabled myself. Every time when I cross the street, I would think, if Hong Kong has these lowered curbs around, it would be nice. (I'm sure "curb" is a British term. Hey, anyone can remind me the American equivalent?)

Well, was in the Asian grocery store and the owner asked if I'm from Hong Kong. I said yes and asked how she could tell. My accent. She said it's sort of British.

Oh deary me! :DDDDD

I don't know. You see, this accent thing just comes by itself. And I don't find anyway to change it voluntarily. I'm sure I don't speak Oxford English right now though I could (mostly, Ann and Bert said I didn't have any accent on the phone and it's just a little bit face to face) when I was in London.

Well, to me, Oxford English still remains the "pure English." Just that since I learnt English, it's always this accent in the tapes. So, when I was in LSE and people actually spoke this way, it is "fantastic!" :D

It's not just the accent. It's also about the rhythm and the use of words. I still think Oxford English sounds like a song. I know I'm biased and I'm losing that already. And the use of words is simply obvious. Nobody here would say, "Lovely!" Well, it's just "cute," "great," "awesome..."

So, I don't know. I simply don't have any way to keep my Cantonese or my "British" accent. Well, there're just so many British accents...

October 21, 2005, 9:58am

Watched a jazz performance at the Phillips Center last evening and it's great! As usual, I don't know much about dance, music, musical, opera or movie. I just go to whatever kind of performance when I have time and money. (Well, I do have to make time and money.) Just sit there, enjoy and appreciate the performers' dedication and sophistication.

It's a trio formed by Stanley Clarke, the bassist; Bela Fleck, who plays the banjo; and Jean-Luc Ponty, violin. Well, people here are kind of wierd to me. It's like they're watching football games when they're watching the jazz show. Cheers, whistles... I don't know. Last time when I was in the University Auditorium for the clarinet recital, the audience was "normal." Let me have more observations before I make a conclusion.

It's only $10 for a student ticket and I have the chance to enjoy such great music. I simply have no clue why L likes to show off his hifi in the office and his home so much. Well, it's a lot of money for even a cable for sure. But the machines and technology are supposed to preserve the music that's played live. So, why not just go out for live performances if we want good music, which is often cheaper than the huge amplifier? And going out for music saves the trouble to look for the hifi box when the machine's down and we need to bring it for maintenance and repair.

Well, I still remember that morning when he's looking for his hifi box everywhere in the office, he simply slipped himself into the RA office and into the bathroom. I only heard the door opened and didn't see him. So I asked, "Who's that and what can I help?" when I was actually thinking, who is that, just come in without even knocking or a greeting?

"It's me," he said.

My goodness. This narcissistic dummy has no name. He doesn't even mention his own name. Yet he wants his name around so much, doesn't even care if it's famous or notorious. Maybe he actually doesn't know who he is if he cannot see his own name in the newspaper.

Many times I heard it's the radio from his hifi. I would think, what a dummy. Play the radio with such an expensive hifi? With the transmission etc, the sound quality is largely reduce for sure. Simply doesn't make any sense to me.

October 19, 2005, 7:28pm

I saw a squirrel "speaking" in a small tree when I was heading back home after studying in the library then the outdoor picnic table.

Well, I don't understand the squirrel language but I was curious why it's there making that regular "squirreling," one after another. Sometimes it was three short sounds then many long ones.

I remember when I was in Greece, I discovered that the sea gulls are called gulls possibly because of the sound they make. And I think my theory may also hold for squirrels for their "squirreling." I suppose "gull" and "squirrel" are how human beings (at least the English-speaking people) try to mimic the animals' language.

So, I decided to sit down and watch the squirrel. After three or four minutes, I began to hear another squirrel replying it! OK, language is for communication afterall. When the squirrel I was watching made a "squirreling," the other one would respond with a "squirreling." I was there fascinated to listen to their exchanges.

Well, I simply had no clue where the other squirrel was. From the sound, it was like far away across the street. Cool, after a day of work looking for food, they probably had to "call a friend" to see how each other was doing.

I could see the squirrel was not comfortable when I was sitting there observing it. Somehow, it went to the bin and found a small slice of pizza! My goodness. Then it went back to the tree and enjoyed its supper when I was there hungry figuring out how this show of nature would end.

It's astonishing when I actually saw it finishing the pizza in about three minutes. The pizza was like the size of my palm and I was thinking, squirrels eat nuts, is it not? And their stomach is actually big enough for a pizza!

Soon after it was done with the pizza and some occasional "squirreling" with its friend, it disappeared in the bushes.

###

I was done with the shark fillet. I panfried it with the Lee K-m Kee black bean sauce. It tastes a lot better than yesterday but it's very tough.

In case you're really curious and want to try, please cook it another way. I don't think I'd buy another shark fillet in my life.

Natalie, thanks a lot for your suggestion. I simply didn't want to think about how to cook the shark fillet with chicken soup and I was so hungry back home. We should try when you come visit me. :)

October 18, 2005, 6:15pm

I steamed a shark fillet and it tastes so bad. When I decided to buy it and try, I was thinking, how come when the environmental groups (well, I only read about them in websites and chain emails) protest against Chinese people eating shark fins, yet they can have the shark fillets in the grocery stores? I don't like the fin soup very much but the fillet is simply awful.

Well, perhaps it's because they only have fillets and it tastes so bad, that they can't think of how the Chinese dish can taste a lot better. The sharks simply have no reason to be killed if all I can think of it's to kill them for fillets. The last thing to do is to take the trouble to transport the fillets and get them a price tag in the grocery stores.

I still have another piece in the fridge. Next time when I decide to try something new, I should only buy one and only one. Well, if any of you knows how to make shark fillets to taste good, please help.

###

Yesterday morning when I was waiting for the GatorLift after my 8:30am class in the New Engineering Buliding entrance, two men were painting the disabled signs and lines on the ground to make more parking places for people with disabilities.

I felt so much appreciation to them. They swept the leaves away and very carefully painted the blue lines and the blue signs. As far as I have observed, the parking places for people with disabilities are always the nearest to the entrances. Makes sense.

This reminds me how ridiculous the Hong Kong universities are. I saw wheelchair slopes that don't seem to be wide enough for a wheelchair to get through. I remember one in particular, that the slope is in an L-shape. I really doubt if they have tried to measure the width of any wheelchair at all and if a wheelchair can actually turn the corner of 90 degrees. Perhaps it's only a bike in their minds.

###

I was in a meeting with my advisor and other colleagues. Somehow he mentioned about rocket science and I said, China just successfully launched a rocket and the astronauts were back safetly after four days.

He said, it's 40 years behind.

True.

But I always have a strong faith in the story about how the tortoise wins the rabbit.

October 15, 2005, 8:36pm

Hey, I made eggplant with meat, garlic and black bean this evening! I think it's a success!!!

It's only the Lee K-m Kee sauce but I just think it's a triumph! I may not be a good cook but at least I can cook good enough to make me happy.

It's a good day. Hope you're also enjoying your time in the other end. :)

October 15, 2005, 11:10am

Before I put my head down to my statistics assignments, just to tell that, I watched My Sassy Girl last night with my Korean friend.

Well, Korean movies, TV series etc were so popular in Hong Kong in the last two years. Yet I didn't watch even one. I wouldn't be so early back home for the TV series and I simply didn't have the time to look at the movie ads.

Except for the International Films Festival, so many times I went to movies just because friends wanted to go. So I simply combine social gatherings and movie going together.

Well, I thought I'd never watch any Korean movie and yet, I watched my first and actually found it interesting. Not completely my taste but it was really fun.

October 15, 2005, 12:21am

Just want to say, I've had a great evening with my fellow student from Korea. Was in her house and had kimchi and the Korean style dry fish. I simply love the dry fish so much and it's really wonderful to have real Korean food, not in Korea but in Florida! Or can this be real at all?

I have had weekly counseling session here and next Monday, I'll begin group counseling with three other international students. Well, I don't know. I only briefly read about counseling before and have never been into one. I just want to try and know what that is. My counselor said it's the Yalom approach.

Well, he said he'll give us readings about that, only several pages. Sounds good.

Sometimes I still feel like it's unreal that I'm here. Not exactly like a dream but at times, I would doubt, if this is all hallucination. I'm having such a good time here and I just can't believe it at times. It was just so bad in the last three years.

October 14, 2005, 9:58am

Now, the bank has finally processed my bank draft correctly and the amount finally shows up in my PC banking. I can't remember for how long I have lived penniless. 1.5 months?

In case I haven't told you yet, the bank sent my bank draft to Texas. I waited for four weeks but it's not yet in my account. So I went to the bank again and they told me that they processed it the wrong way. And actually, the bank draft was sent back to me two days before I went to the bank.

My goodness. So, I waited for more than one week before I finally saw my bank draft in my mailbox. What's amazing is that, they sent the bank draft by ordinary mail, and not certified mail.

Then, I had to go to the bank again. Gave them my bank draft again. And waited for two days until midnight today for them to take care of my money. And I have the obsession that they may get things wrong again.

So, finally, I'm relieved.

Enjoy your weekend!

October 10, 2005, 9:34pm

I went to see the guest artist recital in the University Auditorium this evening. Just found that marvelous!

Have been here for more than two months and have been dying for live performances, concerts, movies... And just found out that there're so many performances in the campus and some are free for students.

The recital this evening was different from the usual performances I attended. The professor who played clarinet actually explained about the music he was going to play.

And Cats and Lang Lang will be here next year. Can't wait for them!

October 8, 2005, 8:57pm

Gators!

And the cheerleaders!!!

Went to the UF Homecoming parade yesterday. It's just in the University Avenue, one-minute walk away from my apartment.

It's such a huge event here. The street was blocked for the parade to proceed. People brought their chairs to sit down on the sidewalk waiting to see the floats -- decorated vehicles.

Homecoming is that, alumni are coming back. The senators, military, Korean War veterans, police, fire rescue, Red Cross, high schools, businesses... were all in the parade.

This really makes me to think about the civic society. A university event is not simply a university event here.

He's from the local horse-riding farm, a local business.

I don't know what this is. Perhaps another local business.

Well, Carmen, you know, I was thinking, when we have already seen the processions for the Queen's Golden Jubilee and for Queen Mother's funeral, it's like, the parade here is simply not comparable.

But in London, there wouldn't be Mr. McDonald in the Queen's procession, I suppose.

They do have queens here: Miss Florida and Miss UF.

Lillian, when you come visit me, for sure we'll have to find out what you'll have to do with downtown!

Rarely would there be any large crowds of people here, except when it's the football game Saturdays. So, it's a big time for businesses selling candies, whatever. And the photoshop is advertizing here by taking photos for free.

In the evening it's the Gator Growl. I don't know what that is. Just learnt that it's the nation's largest pep rally. I would love to go next year. I was simply working on my statistics assignment and only had a glimpse of the firework from the window of my apartment for two seconds.

October 4, 2005, 6:55pm

I've learnt a lesson from my advisor today. Research is supported by people. Research funding comes from taxpayers' money and as part of the academia, we're responsible for the public good.

This is my strong belief since when I was at LSE, seeing how everyone is trying to maximize and utilize what they have. In the last three years when I was in Hong Kong, I was involved in so many wasteful practices. And I find this sinful.

My advisor has reinforced my belief again. No matter what others do, perhaps there're many others who waste taxpayers' hard-earn money, I need not be one of them.

October 3, 2005, 7:54am

I suppose you still recognize me? Huh? Christy is from Guangzhou and speaks Cantonese, rare animals here.

I promised to put my BBQ photos in the Mid-Autumn Festival here. So, here you go!


BTW, I forgot who took the pictures. I'm sorry, no photo credit here.

October 1, 2005, 10:37pm

Twiggy, it's your kid's grand grand grand grand dad and mom here!

This morning, I finally rode my bike to Lake Alice, hoping to see the alligators. Well, I didn't see any but three dear turtles came to greet me.

My knees are very sore the whole day after the riding...

How many times do I have to risk my knees and go to the lake before I can see an alligator?

I was seeing this nice little building in the webcam so many times before I came to UF. Yet, it's in the opposite side of the lake... Perhaps I should learn to drive first. I don't know if I can really ride my bike there. I may need to risk to break my knees.

I'm sorry I'm having an out-of-focus photo here. I want to tell you how disappointing my digital camera can be. It's the blinding bright sun this morning and I couldn't see anything in the LCD screen. Yet I was trying to capture the moving turtles in the muddy water... And the camera just did no good with auto-focusing but there's no manual option.

Please let me know if there's any new digital camera that's designed to take photos. (Well, a camera is to be used for photo-taking. But please, be critical. They don't function.) I simply have no clue what they're for.