Are you new?

I realize I tend to proactively start a fitness regime once Winter term ends. I guess this perfectly makes sense seeing that I have the time to do so, the weather takes a turn from old man winter, and its a opportune time to get out and work out from a brutal term of inactivity.

So my latest gig to kick myself in the butt is Zumba at a fairly new fitness studio close to my home. I bought a Groupon for it last week (what perfect timing!) and have been enjoying it since. Tonight was only my third class, but not only do I foresee myself doing this as a regular means of exercise, I've also been drawn to the sense of community and welcoming faces I come to Zumba with. Majority of the ladies who practice there are noticeably older than me from the ages of mothers to seniors, though I caught sight of someone around my age today.

Well, that's besides the point, what I want to share is what stood out to me before I even stepped foot into the studio on day one. The instructor was running late and as I was waiting for the studio to open, this middle age lady broke the ice and asked if I was 'new,' and then went on to tell me how friendly everyone is and how people openly converse with one other. I didn't think too much of it other then the fact that she was just being friendly, as there was nothing else to be done but to wait for the doors to open. When class started though, I questioned if I had clashed in on a private party because everyone seemed to know each other, and the only difference from an exclusive engagement was that I was being engaged to as well.

During my second class, a younger lady reassured me that my hands would be 'okay' before we began the Zumba toning class and informed me of what to do if the dumbell-like weights we had to hold on to cramped my hands. I felt like because everyone came so regularly, I obviously was the sore thumb that stuck out and needed to be updated on these things (in a kind manner of course).

In tonight's class, I caught two ladies talking closely and one abruptly looking at me, we briefly caught eye contact (and you know how things can get awkward when you know you've been looking at each other, but you don't say anything to each other?), well she came up to me right after the 'look' to ask me if it was my first time there because she had never seen me before. She was an older lady and encouraged me to keep coming even if I disliked my first few classes (because she did), and at the end of class, introduced and invited me to another class she attended too. I also found out that the lady I saw her talking to earlier wasn't even her friend, in fact, they didn't even know each others' name-what?!

So you may be asking and thinking, what's my point? Somehow I related this sense of community, warm gestures, and engaging attitudes to a church. I don't know how I got this revelation, but I was thinking as I drove home, if I felt so reached out to in a secular place, imagine the impact of a stranger feeling this way when they first enter a church. What if every person who walks into church felt this same sense of community even before they stepped into the church? We always say the church this, the church that, but it really is the people who are the body of Christ that displays His love with open arms. I may have been taken by surprise at the approach these ladies taken towards me, but regardless of the initial thought, it makes me want to return and continue to go.

Every new activity I do on my own can make me feel shy at first because I don't know anyone, I'm worried about doing something wrong or looking stupid. However, because of the attitudes of these fellow Zumba-ers, I felt so comfortable and even a part of this studio already (in comparison to hot yoga... which is anti-social haha).

Well, just some thoughts to put out there. It's absurd for me to feel so bonded to a secular setting, yet I know of those who feel so isolated, alone, and even not welcomed in a church setting. How does this make sense? Shouldn't the people in the church extend a loving attitude beyond what the world can?

Let's ponder on this.

Poopy.

I hate to be yelled at. In fact, I don't know who likes to be yelled at...even if they are the one at fault.

Today I got yelled at by a random neighbor and it made me mad, not going to lie. However, I knew I deserved it and it was also a 'lesson' learned. I was walking my dog at an atypical time than the usual walking schedule since  I wanted to 1. get out of the house and 2. enjoy some of the warm sunshine Edmonton has been getting before it was gone. 

Long story short, I didn't think my dog would actually need to do his #2 so I didn't take a plastic bag with me. Walking around the lake path I always take adjacent to my back yard, Comet (my dog) actually did #2 (seriously? wth...why do dogs poo so much). I was standing and staring clueless momentarily as I was about to walk away and made a mental note to pick it up another time (since I frequently take this route), when a low, angry voice yelled out from higher ground,

"PICK IT UP!"

I looked up and to my right where the voice came from and didn't catch the sight of any face through the windows, decks, or yards, but it repeated,

"PICK IT UP!"

 I had no bag, so I inched closer, and I was thinking, great the day I don't bring a bag, the day I get watched by some random neighbor. I responded with the following...

"I forgot to bring a bag,but.. (forget it, why bother explaining, this man wasn't going to listen to what ever I had to say, would he even believe me if I said I was going to come back with a bag? probably not).. Sorry."

He goes on to keep yelling from his hidden place about watching me before and not picking up after my dog and how he doesn't leave stuff in my backyard (sounding so sure that he knew where I lived) and stated if I knew how much I could get fine.

I apologized again and yes, I admit there have been times when I didn't pick up after my dog, but I haven't done that anytime recent and I know better, so I don't doubt he could've mixed me up with someone else since there are so many dog owners in my area (that are Asian in fact), and one too many dog owners who don't pick up after their pets. Okay, there are probably no excuses to justify that, but this time was different, and as much as I wanted to yell back, I sucked up my anger and ended up picking up my dog's poop with dried leaves just to please this man. If that man was nicer, I wouldn't be ranting about this, but it just reminded me about the following:

WHAT YOU SAY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS HOW YOU SAY IT.


Lesson learned alright.

Whirlwind of Plans

I've been meaning to blog for so long and I finally have time to sit down and write away! This is probably going to sound like a diary, so beware the long post.

Leading up to this past weekend has been one full of happiness, celebrations, and smiles- starting with the finishing of my last final ever (hopefully)  on Thursday morning. Honestly, I'm usually pretty good at disciplining myself to make a study schedule and memorize and cram everything into my short term memory, however, this time around, there was just too much I was looking forward to for me to not think about anything but my exam. Plus, it just had to be textile science, a subject I never plan to pursue a career in, but was a last minute resort to get my last 400-level course credits. Anyhow, that's all done with, and thanks to God's almighty grace, I can say I passed this and my two other courses this term happily!

After a short, but joyous celebration with myself shopping and lunching, I spent the afternoon prepping and budgeting with a fellow sic for the EMC lunch the following Sunday. It was such perfect timing, and I use 'perfect' lightly as both of our schedule's were maxed out and as organize as we were, it was still a struggle to buy enough food, find people to help cook, and make sure everything was okay. In the end, God definitely pulled us through, and speaking on behalf of myself and the lack of experience in cooking for a large group, I'm so thankful for all those brothers and sisters that spent their Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning in the kitchen with us, so thank YOU!

And Thursday wasn't even over yet, that night I had a dinner with my small group ladies to celebrate the school term away. It was also two of the ladies' birthdays that week, so a surprise cake was called for in light of adding more excuses to celebrate!

Friday now, a day I've been looking forward to since last term (and probably since day 1 of Uni), because today was my grad dinner at LUX! I spent the day with two fellow friends in my program I met since first year. We window shopped WEM, ate lunch at Cactus Club (my first time there and I would definitely recommend ordering from the starters section if you aren't too hungry, because they are adequately priced and portioned for lunch). After our satisfactory meal, we went to the Princess Diana exhibition. If you haven't heard about it or been to it yet, you still have time to check it out! It's definitely worth the visit and even if you aren't a princess at heart (just kidding), her iconic style, humanitarian persona, and royal history is enriching, touching, and makes you feel you've actually known her on a personal level. I've never been one to be obsess with the royal family, but she is one that I would give a toast to for her elegance and approach on social justice, culture, fashion, and life. Praise God for bringing such a beautiful and well rounded lady onto this Earth.

Okay, so its FRIDAY NIGHT! LUX was a surprise in itself as its exquisite atmosphere, delicious food, and impeccable service wasn't one that was expected for such a huge group, but props to them for achieving their standard of excellence as we celebrated over our academic successes! It was a wonderful night of precious moments, hilarious speeches, reflective sharings from our favorite prof, and nostalgic thoughts on repeat as we sat there listening with high hopes and asking ourselves what is next?. At one point, I felt like I was part of a sorority standing there amongst all the other graduating ladies (there was only one graduating guy) and it made me feel so blessed to be able to share my graduation night with such an small, yet intimate group of amazing people! That's a definite bonus to being part of a small program!

Alright, so as if I wasn't burnt out tired already from the past 48 hours, the next 48 hours had plenty of events planned as well.

Saturday morning I had a I-guess-you-can-call-it-a-reunion sort of thing over Google Hangout with my small group ladies aka SWAG team we had formed in Korea. I can't believed we managed 6 cities and 4 time zone differences to make this happen! From Canada to the States to Brazil, the memories and giggles flooded as if there was no separation at all. I'm glad that one year later we are still strong and going, and planning a birthday surprise video for our small group leader later this month. It's going to be epic!

That afternoon, I attended my first ever bridal shower. It was delightful and engaging the whole time and I had so much fun in celebration of another coming celebration! From the games, food, jokes, to presents, it was such a blessing to be able to bless this bride-to-be and have glimpse of what the party will be like on the day of their wedding!  In between all my busyness, I'm glad I was able to sneak in time to prepare her gift, which I hope will be useful some day (haha, if you're reading this, you know what I mean *winkwink* ).

Afterwards, the remaining time was spent finishing up preparations for lunch the next day and as for that night, preparing for a birthday surprise for my friend's 20th the next evening. I'm not joking when I say this weekend was full of surprises!

Hello Sunday (finally). Thanks to God's providence and multiplication, we had more then enough food which we were so worried about at first (PTL!). It was a great morning of bonding over cooking, serving, cleaning, and praying together during the prayer walk in the neighborhood after.

Okay, so skipping the short period of rest I had in the late afternoon, that night's birthday surprise was a success as well and I couldn't be more bless for all these sic-ships and activities I've been given the opportunity to plan and partake in.

If you read this post all the way to here, give yourself a pat on the back!


I can finally breathe again. Woot!

Burning Injustice

These past few days, or more like weeks (since I've been pondering on these issues so often lately it feels as if everything occurred yesterday), I've been exposed to many injustices. I always felt human and rights came together like peanut butter and jelly, but maybe perhaps only in a utopian world, or I'm just too oblivious to care about the lack of human rights in the rest of the world living in a privileged country like Canada. Realistically, this is not the case, and though I acknowledge the unethical (and sinful) practices of the world, I never felt that injustices could hit so close to home.

Recently, I found out that my friend's dad is falsely placed in jail for advocating for democracy in China. He's been in jail for 10 years now and despite the appeal of the Canadian, US and European governments, the United Nations, and Amnesty International, China will not permit his release. To fast forward this complex, yet compelling story (you can learn more here), I was in awe of my friend's courage, strength, and pro activeness towards her dad's situation over this past decade. Her actions have led to travels to increase awareness, a book inspired about her courageous acts (read an article about it here), and this petition she started for her dad (which can be found here) are just a glimpse of everything she has contributed towards the release of her dad.

All this was revealed to me within one day and I was sitting on the edge of my couch wanting to know more, learn more, and do more. I never thought I would have a friend going through this so close to me. To think that her father is one of many falsely placed in jail is absurd to me. It makes me furious on how the law and judgement of this secular world is lacking immensely compared to God's judgement. I pray and hope that good will come through for my friend, her family, and most of all her father. I feel as if this is a personal matter to me and I really encourage you to sign the petition. Every step counts.

Another burning issue that happen occurred just yesterday. My friend had invited me to go to Beulah Alliance Church to watch a documentary screening about poverty and prostitution. Once I heard it, I just felt a huge surge of interest to go and I didn't ponder on alternatives that I could've been doing or going to on a Friday night. Arriving and seeing the screening poster at Beulah left me jaw dropped.  I like to call these events divine set ups because there's honestly no better term to describe it then that. Reason being is, when I was in Korea, I recall hearing about Nefarious and how amazing and "must watch" it was. Walking up to the door to see the poster clearer, it took me a moment before my memory wired in and pulled up the familiar name, and then I was in absolute disbelief that I was going to be watching this. I had totally forgotten to look into it during and upon my return from Korea, but God had never forgotten.

Watching Nefarious:Merchants of Souls was a whole other story. When I first heard about, I recall it relating to injustice, faith, God, and poverty, but the detail and extent of the story is uncapturable  just by my sharing, it truly is a must watch. It tugged on my heart strings, infuriated my senses,  and had me sharing in the emotional outpour of the victims on the screen. Stemming from one guy's passion in human trafficking led him to take on a project to four continents directing and unveiling the hidden stories behind prostitutes, to put it bluntly, a derogatory term surrounding the gender of women, females, teenagers, and young girls who some have been forced into selling their bodies, where others, the choice was already made for them.

I started watching the movie in rage and I couldn't imagine what it was like to be in her shoes. Maybe I had taken a feminist's extreme, but I found myself piling a mound of anger toward those "johns" aka men that buy sex and view the females as a commodity. In almost an instant of those thoughts, I was reminded about a sharing from a pastor in Korea, she had said something along the lines of,  

"It's easy to feel for the victims, its easy to side with them, its easy to love on them, but can you love the men who do these things to them just the same? Can you love unconditionally like Jesus did to those who don't deserve it?"

The rage turned to care, then to sadness, and to a question I posed to myself, why am I complaining about my life? Honestly, there's so much more to the world then my life. I'm one in seven billion and God listens and loves me, but at the same time, He listens and loves all of them out there too. I found my heart burning against these social injustices and I want to do more then just sit and read the newspaper daily and become desensitize to these issues that God has put on our hearts. I really encourage you to watch this documentary, but I want to warn you that the content isn't family friendly as it isn't rated yet, but I know it will change your perspective and educate you beyond the surface level understanding of prostitution and sex trafficking.

I never forgot the screening of Jaeson Ma's 1040, and I know I won't ever forget Nefarious.

Don't take your rights for granted.

The rights of one should be the rights of another, but the rights of none, shouldn't be the rights of one.

I'll leave you with this.




What does your heart BURN for?

The Last

Last week of classes.

 I don't even know what to think of it. It's been a journey of highs and lows, smiles and break downs. A part of me just wants this week to be fast forward along with my two final finals later this month, either throwing in an early towel and calling it what it is, or doing my best in my last few assignments due by the end of this week.

Four years of books, lectures, projects, papers, and more.

I will be needing a lengthy blog post to reflect on all this once this is actually over.  My lack of blogging signifies how much there is to be updated on these days. I can't wait.

The final countdown begins now. 

Public Losses

Every year I seem to never learn my lesson. I remind myself time and time again, but it so happens to be an unfortunate occurrence that I must face…annually. In the months of winter (which seems to be half of the year here) when toques, mitts, scarves and related accessories Edmonton’s deep freeze calls for, something will go missing from me.

& this is how this lost and never found story goes…

When I plop myself down on my usual bus routes to school, I tend to take my mitts off and place them on my lap so I can religiously go about reading my copy of the Metro each morning. I kill my commute reading, and at the same time, I'm informed on up-to-date local and across the world headlines. I must comment that whoever started this free newspaper is just fabulous. However, I get so caught up in the stories, news, gossip, recipes, entertainment that when I arrive at the stop where I need to get off, I fold my Metro up, put my arms through my backpack and prepare myself to get off the bus. In the midst of this morning routine though, I FORGET about my mittens or gloves I had placed on my lap! As a result, I get up, they fall to the dirty (and sometimes muddy) ETS floors, and I don’t realize this until I’m off the bus. 

AHHHHHHHHH! UGGGGGGGH! If you don’t sense my frustration, you do NOOOOOOOWWW as I watch the bus drive away and visualize myself chasing after it =(

Earlier this year I had left my beloved black beanie on the ETS, and after multiple phone calls and messages left on an annoying answering machine, I had to assume someone probably took it as there was no reply from my missing beanie. Neither did I get a reply from anything else I’ve lost before.

Just last week, my knitted grey gloves faced the same fate as I abruptly got off the bus. This tipped off my anger cap as prior to this year, I had lost a pair of gloves (which were only a week new!), and the year before, another pair of finger mittens with coverings over them. I thought I learned my lesson from the previous incidents and I always make a conscious effort to put what I take off into my backpack, but why oh why did this have to happen infamously AGAIN?!?! 

I’m not even going to bother with searching anymore. I might as well do what elementary school kids do and sew a string that attaches my gloves/mittens to my jacket… and maybe even a string for my beanie to my hood.

How ridiculous of me.

Any brainy suggestions?

Marching into you

Greetings March,

You've definitely were sneaky about your arrival. How in the world did you kick February out of the way so soon?

Springing forward (let's hope I get it right this time), puddles, potholes, and warmer temperatures, I'm taken by surprise, but full of sunny anticipation that you are here.

It's the final countdown to my term, and in the midst of all the crazy-ness that is to come, I hope I set aside time to appreciate you. February came and left so soon not because of your selfishness to be at the forefront, but because of the blinding truth of my schedule as I spoke of earlier on.

I can't guarantee anything, but may I be able to cherish those precious life moments you will be delivering this month.

Now let's kick it off and embrace each other!