The Imagined Life

Hey, I love flying, but SEVEN FLIGHTS is a little ridiculous. Ah, well, It was worth it! Last weekend, I returned from a beautiful 3 week vacation after 6 months of constantly working in the winter darkness and depression. It was amazing. I flew home to visit with family and friends, then fly off to St. Louis to see my sister and her little ones, and then I ended up on the beach in the Philippines with James. \ I'm so glad I got to see everyone and spend a lot of time with people! I hate being away from home so much, so that was just what I needed. I got to eat gluten free pizza from a restaurant, fill up on Target clothing, and speak English with people that understand me. It was wonderful! Since I got to see most of my blog readers while I was home, I'll head straight to my description of my Philippines trip! I arrived on a lovely warm morning in Puerta Princessa, a busy city with lots of people and lots of tourist spots. But, our focus for the trip was just to lay around...

This was one of the things I feared most as a child: as well as my dollhouse being stolen, being "called by God" to be a missionary, and being murdered by someone who hides behind the shower curtain (that fear still remains). But yes, I am 27 now, and this is my first Christmas away from my family. It was a really really hard thing to swallow, and I wouldn't have been able to have gotten over it quickly without James' help. Lucky for me, I must have used some wily power to change a Grinch to a Mr. Christmas. He knew I was quite disappointed about not being able to go home, so he's done his best to try to make it really nice. We went and got a fake Christmas tree for his house, decorated it with loads of baubles and lights, and even hung other decorations in his house. We gave ourselves a Christmas budget and our Christmas lists, and off we went. We've planned a Christmas day meal with precision. (I will be doing the fun and easy things: gluten free sugar coo...

Yes, it is true! I, this weekend, will be a hostess to an actual big event. I've shied away from being a real hostess my entire life, afraid of being represented as those women from the 1960's advertisements with pearls and a vacuum. I try to avoid all versions domesticity if possible, but I find that inside, I get the slightest bit of pleasure out of having people over and showing them a good time! So, I offered my lackluster hostessing services for a Thanksgiving dinner at my house. It was perfect because my roommate is away, and our house is pretty big compared to the rest of Taiwan. I mean, we have a living room and a balcony, and a separate room for a kitchen! Just imagine the possibilities. So, I will be scrounging together whatever I've got in the way of furniture: folding chairs, crusty tables and shelves, and dusting off the cat hair and will create an elongated Thanksgiving table of dreams. Now, for us traveling folk, that just means the table will be long enough ...

At last, with a whole lot of hoping, dreaming, and willing for it to happen, we have gotten a day off of work. For a typhoon! We are currently in the midst of it. It is like the snow days of yore--but without hot chocolate and the desire to go play outside. From inside, the park by the river has turned into a sea of white, sideways rain, and a turbulent flow of brown water slowly rising minute by minute. It has now overflowed to the point where it has covered the grassy park that lies beside it along with the bike trail and is close to lapping up to the edge of the highway bridge. On a certain weather app, you can watch the swirling mass of wind and rain head towards the island. So, it was a preemptive call off (of school), which comes as a welcome relief, but there is also the fear of those who get it the worst in the middle of the island. There are a lot of small towns there, and I don't know how they normally protect themselves against typhoons. In Akron, PA, things like this do...

Chopsticks have now become my friend. No wonder there aren’t really any obese people here-you cannot eat food that quickly with chopsticks, so your body actually has the time to realize its full! What an amazing invention, and so effective. You also look so elegant and graceful, and around other Westerners, you feel pretty good. But, they have also provided many other issues. I feel as though I’ve turned into a slob and that my mother would not be proud of me. Because I’m a chopstick newbie, I must pick and pull, and lots of times food ends up on the table next to my plate! Some foods you just CAN’T eat with chopsticks. Tell me, how does one eat a drumstick with chopsticks? Try it. You almost feel like you could start a band, you’ve got so many tools. Also, think about eating a tough piece of pork. It hangs from my mouth because the chopsticks have no power to rip the meat from my teeth. So, my next question is, “Do I use my hands?” I don’t know! I do, but I feel really bad about it. ...

Lancaster County is such a wonderful place. It was a great place to grow up, and it is always a pleasure to come home to. Lucky for me, I have had long summer breaks ever since I graduated from college, so I get the chance to spend a delicious month or two in my home town. There's just something about the summer time in Lancaster; it conjures up all of the old memories: bonfires, fast motorcycles, camping trips, hiking, swimming in lakes, drinking Mike's hard on friends' back porches. I'm used to living in dusty, loud cities for the past few years, and so when I get to visit home, I like to go for a nice long walk to reintroduce myself back into life. When I first got back to Lancaster, I found a wonderful walking spot over a covered bridge and in between cornfields, and I couldn't help smiling as I watched the green hills and the sun setting behind the silos. I could breathe in as deeply as I wanted to, and this time it was tinged only with grass and cow manure and...

I am a sentimental person. I think it comes from watching too many dramatic films, but it is also just me. And, I couldn't help but feel a warm fluttering as I drove away from our nation's capital with the Washington Monument in the background. I have been waiting for this day for a long time, and I remember the first day I drove all of my stuff down and saw it and kept saying to myself, "I did it! I did it!" I have this annoying habit of forgetting that I accomplish things I set my mind to. I don't set my mind intensely to too many things because disappointment is too shattering for me, but there are a few things that I have been able to achieve because of my drive and focus. I wanted to move to DC. So, therefore, I did it. It was a difficult year. Probably my hardest transition experience yet. And, after a long long LONG bout of self-pity and a daily tear-stained face, I was able to "buck up" and accept my situation. I think I'll change 'able t...