fair frenzy

Ever try to point out landmarks in a place where there are
multiples of everything?

Smells. Sounds. Lights. All in abundance.


Though I have lived in China the majority of my life, the chaos of the State Fair is a completely different animal compared to the throngs of people that I have been a part of in downtown Shanghai. Despite my initial overwhelmed-ness, I enjoyed taking in the games, rides and food stalls.

We cleaned it to the bone.

Half the fun of the fair is the food. Deep fried, flavorful rich goodness. I wouldn't have gotten half the things I ate if I hadn't been with other people, but seeing as I was with my boyfriend (Abraham) and his brother, I didn't feel half so guilty because we could distribute the cholesterol clogging of our veins and commiserate together over our indulgence when it came back to bite us. And eat we did. Here is the summation of our menu: funnel cake (smothered in chocolate and strawberry sauce and powdered sugar. drool.), turkey legs (smoked and tender and scrumptious, eaten after the funnel cake, of course), lemonade (must hydrate, after all), smoked corn (don't worry, its nutritional value was negated when a dip of butter turned into a thorough stirring of the pot), fried pickle chips (ones that were somehow missing the pickle ingredient) and chocolate dipped ice cream (i think they skimped on the ice cream, but it's not like we needed the extra calories).

Now,  you might be slightly appalled at the copious amounts of food we consumed, but don't worry, we didn't sit and engorge ourselves-- it was a process dispersed between endless walking and crowd maneuvering.

Whack-a-Mole Winner!

On to games and rides. After finally meeting up with the friends we planned on meeting up with, we strolled around, looking for a game. We settled on a good game of Whack-a-Mole. I was standing there, taking pictures of them playing, when a man tapped on my shoulder. When I turned around, he said "if you want to win, play on Station 1, it's been winning all night." For proof, his daughter stood behind him holding a stuffed animal that was quite possibly larger than she was. Why not? Since I hadn't played yet, my boyfriend insisted I play. After missing a couple, I won! With the high score of 150! To give you a reference point, when my friends played the first round, the high score among them was about 80. Clearly the man's information was correct. We decided to test it again. My friend steps up to the bat and...drumroll... 150 points! I think our laughter and glee tipped off the guy running the booth because he came over, pulled out an offending mole, and restored the station to its normal scoring abilities. Oh well. At least I got a stuffed giraffe out of it!

To finish the evening we rode a swinging, turning ride that Abraham called "the Claw," and watched the fireworks as they shot off in fast succession.

All in all, a very fun, delicious way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

What do you like at the fair?

Tuition Qualifications

I was listening to NPR this morning as I was completely stopped on a 65mph highway on my way to work, and I learned about a very curious case happening in Florida. Apparently, there are many students who are being charged out-of-state tuition, even at community colleges, despite the fact that they were born and raised in Florida. Why, you might ask? Because their parents are illegal immigrants.
 
I understand that the whole debate on illegal immigrants is touchy and steeped in controversy, however, this was shocking to me. As one who never lived in the US until college, I am astounded that these students were denied in-state status while I was granted in-state status after attending a state institution for a semester. Yes, I am a US citizen and there were many many questions that I had to answer and give proof of, but I was still given the rank of "in-state," and all the privileges afforded that label, not the least of which was lower (much lower) tuition rates.

I agree with what one of the guests on the radio show said. She said (paraphrase) that these students are US citizens, and in America, we do not rank our citizens. Regardless of their parent's immigration status, these students should be regarded on the same level as any other American citizen. These students have worked much harder and longer to get even to where they are (at least harder and longer than I have)--how can we inhibit them further when they are much a citizen as any other person born in Florida. Or Massachusetts. Or Oregon. Or any other state? Similar cases have occurred in California and Colorado.

Now these students are suing the state for a chance at their education. Hopefully this will be a matter quickly made right. To read more about it, here is the article and radio program. A local public media source has some information on the case here.

This article from Tampa Bay Online says surprisingly little about the case.

Interestingly, MSNBC.com. CNN.com and NYTimes.com did not have their own news story about the case.

What do you think?

Because I am loathe to post without a photo, here is one I took last year. Today is Halloween, and while I'm not a big Halloween celebrator, I do enjoy carving pumpkins. This year has gone by without the fun of gutting a pumpkin, though not without some degree of wistfulness. I thought about carving something this weekend, but really, after Halloween, the time has passed for pumpkin carving. Oh well. Now I have 365 days to plan for next year! To those of you celebrating it, Happy Halloween!

friends

With the appearance of the sun's rays, Carolina's Class of 2011 turned their tassels and officially went from being undergraduate students to alumni. Now I've become an alumnus twice over and something about moving the bit of stringy fabric from the left to the right gives me this feeling of officiality. Yes. Now that the tassel is on the right, I'm actually graduated.

Thinking back to that day, I was in a rush. I didn't spend long dwelling on the fact that I was a graduate, because I went straight from the stadium and some picture taking to the emptying of my apartment. Quite the process. It's amazing how many things one accumulates over a year of living in an apartment. 

As I was packing and deciding what was worth keeping and what wasn't, I was extremely thankful for my roommate who was helping me move stuff around and go on trash runs. I was extremely thankful for her presence especially when the RA came through checking things and kept opening up doors and cabinets and finding things that were accidentally left. Though she had already finished moving out, she was willing to give me her time. What a blessing.

Having friends in your immediate vicinity for only a short period of time is common if you are a TCK (you can learn more about TCKs here). If you grew up in a transient environment, learning handle frequent moves and making friends quickly becomes a survival technique. Though my roots are confusing, I have to admit that I love having friends from all different places. The down-side is that they're everywhere, and getting together with them often involves a lengthy plane ride. It also means I have to be on top of my game in keeping touch long distance. Nonetheless, they are near and dear to me.

Being in a new place yet again means making new friends. Though I've done this before, now it involves so much initiative on my part. Before, friends were there for the making. Classes. Activities. Sports. Now, I have to go find them, and it takes so much longer.

Whether by proxy or through my own initative, I know that God will put people in my life. He has not promised a life of solitude but one where He is with me. I know that community will be provided.

As I was thinking about so many of my friends in different places, this photo I took a while back came to mind. In Shanghai, many of the trees lining the sidewalks are wrapped in these twinkle lights. Not just in the winter, but all through the year. It's actually very beautiful and enchanting. Any way, these lights reminded me of my friends. Some are closer than others, shining their light directly, but some are further away. Despite their distance, however, their light is no less bright. Perhaps a little out of focus, but just as strong. I truly value my friendships. No matter the time or distance, they are there. In the darkness, their light is all the more visible.

So, my friends, thank you. For being such an illuminating force in my life. For being God's strength and love shown to me through you. Maybe you don't even realize it, but it's true.

All this slightly sappy reflecting and talking about twinkle lights makes me want to put some up. I think I will. At the very least, it's a good reminder of how blessed I am with so many wonderful friends. Since all the Christmas decorations are already out in stores, I guess it won't be too hard to find some.

How do you go about making friends?

steadfast

Overexposed, but you get the feel of what I'm describing.

Have you ever been adrift at sea/ocean/lake/relatively large body of water? Without an engine? Without a paddle? Without a compass? Sometimes I imagine myself in this little canoe. Sitting and looking at endless stretches of water. Without any comprehension of direction, or which way land is. Sounds like a pretty dire situation, doesn't it?

Once upon a time, when I went through what was for me an extreme and drastic transition, my mental image of myself was one of being swept down a rushing and raging river. The sheer power of which I was helpless against. Not only helpless, but threatened to be pulled under and completely lost. But I wasn't. Repeatedly, in that image, there was an anchor (like one from a massive cruise ship). I wrapped my body around the shank of the anchor, and the arms held me from being overpowered by the current. And the water rushed by.

Now that I think about it, anchors are made to sink under water, holding one's choice of flotation vessel from floating away. Probably not the best choice to hold on to it if one has certain needs, such as a constant and plentiful supply of oxygen. But this anchor in my mind's eye did not sink. Rather it was connected to something. In that river that was strong enough to cause even a heavy anchor to be pulled along, this anchor was connected to something stronger than that river.

Back to the first water image. Again I find myself in new territories, stripped of what had become familiar and comfortable. Instead of a violent river, the slow, subtle rock and ebb of water wears away at me. Sometimes, this is more dangerous because it's easy to become unaware of the degradation.
In the midst of this, two things have been resonating reminders, ones that I am thankfully unable to shut off. Steadfast Love and Joy in Suffering.

Gently bubbling water; gentle and
soothing

As I have been working my way through Psalms, "steadfast love" has appeared countless times. I don't know if it's a different translation or I simply never noticed it before or maybe through my need, those words became stark. Steadfast. Not going anywhere. Here to stay. In my raging, rushing river or lulling, numbing ocean, He is Unchanging. Not just unchanging and constant, but LOVE. Not a cold block of stone, but Love. Love that is brimming, living, abundant, lavish and complete. There for the happy and there for the brokenness. Steadfast. Love.

I heard a sermon a couple weeks back on James 1:2-8. Kicker. JOY in SUFFERING. Totally a counter-world concept. First, the world tells us that we should not suffer. Yet. Suffering exists because sin exists. And sin... well sin definitely exists in this world. Second. JOY in the smack-dab-middle of suffering. Now, suffering can look like all kinds of things. For this speaker, his particular example was an infestation of mold. Not exactly floods, disaster or genocide, however it is still suffering. But, no matter what you are suffering through, suffeJOYring.

I suppose what has been rolling through my mind from this is that the focus should not be on me and my suffering, but on Jesus and how the truth of what He has done (giving his perfect life for our sinful one) trumps everyyyything else. And the joy of this knowledge, this truth--it engulfs and overcomes suffering.

I realize these thoughts are still developing, but it's a start. Hopefully it brings to you encouragement as you face your rushing river or erosive lake.