学汉语另一面的乐趣

提线木偶 - 学汉语另一面的乐趣

今年印尼三语学校协会邀请了五华县提线木偶传习所到印尼巴厘与日惹巡演，交流 与 授课提线木偶艺术。在 巴厘岛由文桥三语学校接待 了五华县提线木偶剧团的四位演员。

五华县提线木偶是中国国家级非物质文化遗产之一，也是汉族传统的一种戏剧。至今已有六百多年的历史了。这样的艺术表演带来了很多利益。

汉语本来是一种美丽的语言，可是想要学会，学者需要努力的去寻找，去体会这个语言的用处。有了这样新鲜，有趣的艺术活动，对于学生们，它不但带来了乐趣，也是能提高了小朋友们对学汉语的兴趣。让他们学懂了学汉语不仅仅是读书，写字，而从艺术表演上学者也能帮他们了解中国文化以及看懂了汉语的美丽之处。

为了欢迎和亲眼欣赏这个表演，我们的文桥三语学校的创办人和董事长，江连福先生和江睿董事长，也到场来了。这样的表演不但让小朋友们感到兴奋，当天的表演对于一小部分在场的老师和来宾们也是他们最初的提线木偶表演经验。在文桥三语学校礼堂等着我们的演员进场的时候，大家都包着期待的一种心情。

这次演员们展演了四段精彩的演出。第一个开演的是木偶书法。在此，其中一个演员，李新贤所长，让一个男木偶活起来，书写了四个美丽的汉字“马到功成”。这样的开场引起了小朋友们的注意力。接着展演的是木偶舞蹈。这次，来的四位演员，李新贤，李红霞，李伟平，和李景娴老师，都上台表演。他们戴着黑帽子，帽子连着细细的线和双手灵活的动作给了四个小小的美丽木偶舞者生命，让他们手舞足蹈。

 

最后两个剧目是《水漫金山》与《化子进城》。配着这两段民间传说，观众能听到两首动听的古代音乐和对话。从那四段表演，演员们表现了他们高级的表演技术。

      一转眼，节目已经结束了。小同学，来宾们解散后，文桥三语学校的老师们和五华县提线木偶的演员们就开始把礼堂装备些最简单，最基本的木偶。不久，三十多个想了解这个提线木偶艺术的小朋友们就慢慢的次第进入礼堂，次第入座。

授课的时间虽然不长，而在那短短的十五分钟里，小朋友们多多少少应该体会到了提线木偶的基本技术也亲自扮演了小小提线木偶演员的角色。这次的提线木偶表演让观众们看到了学汉语另一面的乐趣。

Hello Students, Hello Fellow Teachers, Hello School and Hello Education!

 

It is another new chapter of my working life. I will never know if I will make it as a ‘career’, as career is defined as “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.” The word “significant period of a person’s life” and “opportunities for progress” are big words for me currently. As of now, I applied for this job because I want to spend my time with a more useful activities, and of course to shed some pounds. I am glad that I did, as for the past few days, I went out for work (not much work to do yet though) and still got my house chores done at home, making sure that someone still comes back to a HOME. Although those left me with not much energy by the end of the day, I have to admit that I am proud of myself for that. Little things count, don’t they?

From this, I am also very appreciative for what my partner has to scarifie to get me to school, every single morning, EARLY. Before I start working, we woke up at 7.30 (earliest), now, We have to be out from the house by 7AM. And I couldn’t make it possible, if it is not for him. This gives me the energy to do more at work and home. Thank you, Baby. The best thing is that we manage to squeeze in our little routine of having breakfast together still. Hooray!

But getting myself here, at school, as a teacher for real, I am looking at those kids and I am very eager to show them that learning Mandarin can be super interesting and fun. Most importantly, it is a beautiful language. Forget about career advancement, I am just hoping that I will make a difference in the students’ learning.

For the past few days, I didn’t have much things to do yet. I will only be starting having my own class when the new term starts. I replaced a few classes for other teachers for the last 2 days and found myself back in my “nature.” It doesn’t feel like new job, it feels like me. And I am happy that way.

However, system and politics in workplace just failed me again this time round. I am not very keen in politics at workplace, but people are just too consumed with work that they forgot the reason that they are here, to educate (or could it be, they were just sticking with their purpose all this while?), I will never know their intention, but I guess I just need to adjust my place here.

Being here for so short period of time, I have already learning. I just witnessed a few things that are jaw dropping for me. I am no expert in education nor have more experience than the teachers who are surrounding me for the past few days, but I am new and distant enough to see that there are certain things that If I can I might want to do differently.

1.       Disciplining kids

As I was writing this, a kid is being disciplined for profane languages in school.That is a good thing, isn’t it? I will definitely do it too. However, it is done in the teacher office with most of the teacher around. Today experience has taught me not to discipline kids in front of public. (NOTE TO SELF) I did that at times, the reason is because of lack of emotional control, things that I am not very good at. Thus, I am living and learning.

 

However, it’s worse if we do it because we are in charge, because we have the power, because we want to show to our peers that we are doing something good, because we are looking for fun stuff to laugh at. I am in no agreement to that, at all. School should have a room for this purpose, if needed, take less new students so that you make room for what needed, to provide quality!

It is not very nice to scold people in front of public, not to adults nor to kids. It is even worse when the kids started to cry, then you took out your phone and started to take a picture of them and threaten to spread it, while you laughed along with your peers. Even I know that you are not going to do that for real, but it is something I don’t appreciate. I have good-ex employer before, who discipline and explain things to their employees about things that could have been done better behind closed doors, one on one. That is a good example that I hope I will be able to follow.

2.       Crown yourself with good title/position at work, but don't forget to be Human!

I also learnt no matter what your position in a company, in life, be Humble. There is a saying in Indonesian “Diatas Langit masih Ada Langit.” As of this, I have good example in our family. My second uncle and his wife are really good in staying humble. With whatever they have in life, they have been great in keeping their feet on the ground. I am very proud to have that uncle. I have the opposite type as well in my family, I am not proud of him but I hope good things happen to him though.

Politics in the office, teacher’s office to be exact, is so obvious between the Mandarin and English Divisions, and I don’t see the need for it to happen at all. But it is there. The school I am with now is well-known for their Mandarin in this island, thus, the division is the biggest, it is happened that I am a newbie in this group and someone on another division isn’t happy about the division that has gotten bigger and decided to declare war from the first day I am in. That person even thought greeting in the morning is too much for the members of the 2 divisions. Bad Example! She must have been so unhappy at work. Poor her! I have no intention to be in the war, so she can have her own war! Amen! J

I am totally self-aware, I am a type who might not make it big in a career, but I will make whatever I have in hand good, well and better. Excuse my vanity! :p

All in all, here I am starting my third full time job as a teacher in a big school. It is not a fancy job, (it even has not-so-good-looking uniform) but I am happy doing it. To be Frank and Hopeful, I can see myself having school of my own and grow it in my own way, as I jotted down almost 4 years ago. As a housewife, I don’t see myself has a dead end in realizing my dreams, I am just taking another route, it might be longer, but I feel it is something visible. Above all, I am just praying for good health, time, physical strength and the continuous support that I have already gotten and I hope to always have from my partner and other family members! 加油！

Nyepi in Bali

Nyepi (Day of Silence) is a day celebrated mainly by the Balinese. This year is the first time of my 29 years of life which I have spent really experiencing a Nyepi day for real! As I mentioned, most of us know the meaning of the word Nyepi, but we have never thought that Balinese takes this day very literally and seriously and that’s so much respect for that!

The night before the Nyepi, there is a kind of parade going on around the street of Bali. You will experience a little interesting performance and a lot of traffic jam. During the parade, they were pushing carriage with ogoh-ogoh (symbolize the monster / evil spirits) on top, in which, from time to time, would be carried on the shoulder and sort of made the ogoh-ogoh came to life in the movement that they created.  

What amazed me was the durability of the ogoh-ogoh. I heard that they are made out of bamboo and processed paper and when you see how uniquely they are shaped and how strong the waving movement made by the carrier, you too will go “wow… they are still intact?” That moment, for me, I know how much time they must have spent in preparing that. Or another sign that we can look for is the proud expression of the people who push and carry them that show you this once a year event is important.

We didn’t spend too much time on the road, the heat (even it was already night time) and the traffic jam just made it impossible to stay on the street too long. I am a happy girl, witnessing that for short 30 minutes are good enough for me. J

Move on to the D Day. My dearest partner had kept on emphasizing on how we should stock up some food for the day. I was a planner, so I did so, not knowing how serious it is. But I believe there will be people who might still take it lightly and I can't imagine how they will spend their day with 3 meals on instant noodle, IF they have them in stock. The day before, I prepared 2 days amount of food, so that on the day itself, I could just heat them up and didn’t have to do the real cooking that sometimes can be noisy. I even bought super giant candle, the only type that I could found in the nearby groceries store (we didn’t use it at the end, because when we tested it out the night before, the light from the candle was visible from outside, and that might invite the visit from the Pecalang who were the only group of people who were allowed to roam around the street on that day to make sure everyone follows the rule!)

So food was good. We had enough to get by. It was quite a boring day though, because you know that you are not allowed to go out. You didn’t stay in by choice that created even more temptation to actually want to do something outside, as restricted. But we were good residents, so we stayed in and suppressed that boredom. That night, the sky was beautiful. The only ray of light that you can see came from the sky, the moon and the star. One day when I have a house with a good rooftop, maybe I would like to lay down and count stars during Nyepi. They were just so clear. No interference from our manmade light that lights up the city for the rest of 365 days this year. However, I must admit that when I peeked out of the window to check out on the opposite unit who didn’t exactly follow the rule and had been visited twice or thrice by the Pecalang, the darkness outside scared me. To my ear the quiet moment were soothing and at the same time foreign. We would not have that til next year.

So, that was my first Nyepi in Bali.

My Version of Living in Bali

One sixth of 2016 has passed, here we are in March. I haven’t set a goal or anything this year, as I am quite busy (I know… no one believes that a full time housewife, with no kids can be busy). Never ask us to explain, because there are no words to better express our work in making a house home, even the small space we are currently living. It takes effort so that when the sudden hunger hits in the middle of the night, there is always things that you can process to satisfy your hunger.

So here are my 40 days in Bali, my 40 days without doing anything that requires me to answer and report to anyone.

Here we are in Bali, Beach is something that a must and given the 40 days which equal to almost 6 weekends, we have visited a few different spots in Bali. Don’t ask me if it is nice, it is always nice to be out and have some fresh air (fresh air here includes the pouring rain). It is just nice to look at the vast horizon and no building blocks your view. It is always breathtaking for me. You know me, I am impressed by all the little thing and I take that at as a blessing. Isn’t it tiring to always live with no satisfaction towards anything that you encounter?

And I am setting a goal that we are going for 24 sunsets within a year time at 24 different locations in Bali. Someone has to do the thinking where to go J I, on another hand, will work on the compilation of photos. Teamwork!

 

Food is another good thing here. I am easily satisfied with food, someone isn’t. However, he manages to be impressed by a few restaurant in town. If he is impressed, I am in heaven! It is whole different level of satisfaction. One of the restaurants that made me fly is La Finca. Gosh… the Spanish food there is superb! I also enjoy sitting at Envy, one of the restaurants in Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali. When the weather is friendly, you can finish your lunch and just sit there sipping your afternoon tea and listening to the sound of the wave breaking and practically just do nothing! I super love that! The price at La Finca is quite expensive, so that’s once in a while treat. However at Envy, I think it worth every penny you spent! Medan won’t have this kind of quality food, while Singapore will never have the serene ambience. Bali is Good!

 

The good thing of being together is that we are together. Many things that we did a lot alone last few years, we are able to do it together now, that includes simple thing like breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, morning breakfast and coffee is a must, while dinner at home has become a test and reward moment for us. It is a test for me whether I am cooking well, and it is very rewarding when someone else finish it and ‘clean’ their plate. Those time and heat in the kitchen is made worthwhile. It is also rewarding for the consumer who come back from work and able to enjoy good homecooked food. Isn't it home definition in the most conservative way? Surprisingly I have done quite well in Chinese food, I think. But I wonder if I will ever be able to master the spices used in Indonesian food. I am really clueless.

 

Even in this beautiful Bali, there are days that we just spent lazing around, watching movie, sleeping at home, and do nothing. It is the ordinary day when both of us get to recharge our body and be ready for the upcoming week. Someone was even very kind to buy me the spa session for my birthday while he was working hard a few weeks ago. Thank you, Baby… That was a very good experience!

 

I am also introduced to many different sides of the city, especially the habits of the locals. I gather that Balinese is more polite than people from other cities in Indonesia. I also awed by one of the 'profession' here. It is the seller and buyer of gold jewelry by the road side. They will just have a chair along the street, about 10m -15m distances from one another, and they will just sit there the whole day waiting for people to come to sell their gold jewelry (and maybe something they sell too). That’s pretty boring kind of work, and I wonder if it can give them stable income, but looking at the number of people who do that (sit and wait), I guess it does generate money!

 

Another big thing that I am waiting for is: Nyepi, known as “Day of Silence”. I didn’t know much and not bother to find out more before, because Nyepi is just another public holiday when I resided in another city in Indonesia. This year will be different. It is just two days away, we have already received a notice from the apartment management to inform us not to turn the light on and keep it very quite on 9^th March, from 4pm to the following day. We are also asked not to go out of our house. My partner told me that it will be very quiet that day and everybody who lives in this island, whether or not we are a Hindu, we got to respect that. Even the airport is closed! The night before the Nyepi, the New year, it is said that there will be ritual on the streets while they carry a huge statue (ogoh-ogoh), before actually burning them, this symbolizes the burning of the evil spirits. I have seen quite a bit of them in some of the temples that we passed by, and I am really excited about it. I wonder how it will turn out that day, will it be boring or serene kinda day? But it is always nice getting to know other cultures. It might be similar to the Konghuchu, or it might be totally different, the most important thing here is to respect.

So… here is a glimpse of my version of Living in Bali.

One more thing, I initially planned to take a few months break here, but not doing anything (cooking and house chores excluded) are a bit boring. So I am starting my teaching again by end of this month. The challenge is not in the work itself, I am pretty sure I will do perfectly fine or even good. The challenge is getting up early. Instead of teaching private class, I am teaching at school for real now. The bad news is school start at 7.15. Wish me luck! Next month, I am wearing a few hats at the same time, I am a teacher, I am a wife, and I am a daughter! A few responsibilities on shoulder, but I would like to do all well. J All the best~

时间都去哪儿了

 

这首歌应该表达了世上父母们的心声吧。。。


《时间都去哪儿了》

作词：陈曦 作曲：董冬冬
编曲：董冬冬
演唱：王铮亮

门前老树长新芽
院里枯木又开花
半生存了好多话
藏进了满头白发

记忆中的小脚丫
肉嘟嘟的小嘴巴
一生把爱交给他
只为那一声爸妈

时间都去哪儿了
还没好好感受年轻就老了
生儿养女一辈子
满脑子都是孩子哭了笑了

时间都去哪儿了
还没好好看看你眼睛就花了
柴米油盐半辈子
转眼就只剩下满脸的皱纹了

记忆中的小脚丫
肉嘟嘟的小嘴巴
一生把爱交给他
只为那一声爸妈

时间都去哪儿了
还没好好感受年轻就老了
生儿养女一辈子
满脑子都是孩子哭了笑了

时间都去哪儿了
还没好好看看你眼睛就花了
柴米油盐半辈子
转眼就只剩下满脸的皱纹了

Two movies that fail not to upset me!

Our movie night last night went so emotional. We were watching 2 movies that you might or might not heard of. One is based on true story: Stanford Prison Experiment, another is a portrayal of what’s going on in some parts of the once-known dark continent, Africa, titled: Beasts of No Nation.

Stanford Prison Experiment

 

You can read more about this experiment here

I was getting really upset after the movie was playing about an hour, half way through. Gosh… There are so many unethical actions that happened in it. I was surprised to see how 'cooperative' some of the “prisoners” were.

I was extremely mad towards the superintendent, Prof. Zimbardo who led the team in that experiment. He himself was too absorbed in his role, consumed by the authority he held, and too ambitious about the possible result that he wanted to see that he forgot he was being immoral and inhumane. It was madness because I actually wished him ill throughout the whole movie because he was just so callous at the time.

It is stated the people who were involved in the experiment were adapting to the roles they played. I won’t say it is adapting, they were losing themselves, consumed by power and fear. Again, I hated that the person who could actually stopped all the things that should not happen, didn’t do anything. It is sickening. Good people turn bad during that experiment just because authority weren’t well exercised. The only thing that made me glad was 416 rebels in the way that he could! That’s the spirit.  

Moral of the story: Power blinds people and I am surprised on how cruel we can be when given the power. Ahhh.. I believe human being can do much better than that.

 

Beasts of No Nation

 

You can read more about the plot here

This is another movie that shattered my heart. I always like to read and watch books and movies that describe the life of ordinary people in territories which are in conflict. From that I can see the beauty in human being; even in that chaotic places, some people just want something so ordinary like peace, proper education and sometimes basic meals, nothing luxury.

In this movie, although the country is not named, but maybe parts of the story are just an exact portrayal of what the life have been for people in the war zone.

I am heartbroken to see how the life of a smart, creative, cheerful kid is ruined overnight just because of the interest of people up there. Again, it is the thirst for power that ruins the life of many. I detest that! I am against doctrine all the way. With the right mind which we fortunate enough to have right now, you can see how sickening the so-called-commandant in the movie brainwashed the ‘soldiers’, how irrational some of the doctrine can be, and you will think how absurd that people just follow.

Moral of the story: Be grateful of the life we have now. We might not have everything we want, but we have a life, a pretty fair one! We might not have the best government, but as of now, we should be thankful we live in peace. And… no matter who tells you what, I believe it is important to seek for the truth ourselves. As cliché as it can be, see it for yourself before you decide to believe in things, all things! Don’t let learnt knowledge gets in between the truth.

I am upset,  I am angry and I recommend the two movies above.

 

The Wedding

Hello from Bali…

The last few months have been super busy months for us Henki & I. Since the discussion about the marriage and we got the date for the wedding, we were then busy preparing for the wedding (in Medan). On the wedding day, we are grateful that every single thing went smoothly. The reception was a bit of a beautiful chaos because there are so many surprises from friends, family and MC which are all unplanned. We apologize if there was anything that was unsatisfactory, especially my performance on the stage! I am not prepared, galsss… But I love that song so much, 我只在乎你 (wo zhi zai hu ni) from the legendary Teresa Deng. You can call me old, but it is more meanigful than Taylor Swift’s song (no offense to Taylor’s fans. :p)

Anyway, I would really like to keep a reminder for myself how things had been before during and after the wedding for us.

During the preparation, we both have been doing so good. Thanks to a good friend that gave me a heads-up, saying that many couples got into disagreement, quarrels, or even breaking up when they were preparing for the wedding. I can understand that, since it is no longer involve only the two of us, but the family. For this, I would really give thanks  to those super understanding family members that have made our life easier during the planning. I love you all for that.

Then, I would really give thanks to my family, aunties, uncles, who had lent helping hands during the preparation and on the D-day itself. And after the event, during the farewell with my relatives, there are so much tear shed and thank you for showing me that I am much loved in this family. I feel bad because Henki  received so much threats from my relatives. He had no choice but to take a good care of me, since there will be big riot from my big big family if he doesn’t do so. I love you, baby =D

Apart from family members, I would say that I am the luckiest girl on Earth to have such a wonderful small group of friends. Some friends have helped me a lot during the preparation of the wedding. It is not only a saying, but I really do not know how to do it without them. Thank you for being such wonderful friends. I believe in Karma, and they are one of the best Karma that I had/have ever had! Thank you… And a year, two years, ten years, twenty, thirty years from now, I will never be able to thank you gals enough. I love you!!!!

I would like to thank friends who had taken time off their busy schedule and made the trip to attend our wedding. We apologize that we are unable to give you full company during your stay in Medan. But sincerely, your presence there is so much appreciated. Thank you!!!

And hey… a beautiful wedding is dreams of all girls, but I got to know that the gentlemen may have their own version of dreamed wedding too, and often it is something simple. For this, I would like to thank my partner in life for being so patience during the preparation of all things, for dealing with the Medanese wedding culture with an opened heart.

It wasn’t a grand wedding, but it was a meaningful one. It taught us a lot during the whole process, about patience, gratefulness, simplicity, value in life, and above all, love.

My mom's best advice to me is “The most important thing is not the wedding, but how both of us walk our life together in the future as a family. It is important not to always take, but to give too. Patience, communication, honesty, respect are all that matter.”

I hope with her good prayers for both of us, we can live this life together as husband and wife, just like how mom and dad have been in their togetherness for almost 40 years. It will not be always bed full of roses but it can be a beautiful life if we both give our best to it.

We may not have the same faith, religiously, but we believe that it is important to be Kind.

Thank you, All and Thank you, Life… For giving us each other!

 Love,

Henki & Linda

2015 to 2016

2016 has been running for a week, I have been busy, super busy, lately that I can’t find the time to actually recap 2015 on time. So here are both:

Welcoming 2016 as I say thank to 2015.

2-0-1-5

Last year Jan 1, 2015, I had spent it in Turkey with mom and dad, uncles and aunties and a cousin. Turkey’s sky will always have a place in my heart. It was a beautiful country. However what makes it worth the while is that I am super happy to see how my mom and dad enjoyed the trip, their first snow, awed by their culture, and it has been a while since I travelled far with them. I don’t know when will be the next time I will be able to do it with them again. L Thus, for that moment in the past, I am happy for them, sincerely.

Nothing much going on last year, I had reached my personal goal in my short teaching career that has to be postponed to unknown time at the end of the year (2015). So I am really grateful that I have met those good students of mine, understanding parents and the overall experience. It is always great to know what you do actually matter to others. That’s life isn’t it? Something that was still related to this is that have passed the highest level of Chinese Proficiency Test. (YAY!) It has been postponed since 2013, but as always, I am proud that I actually can cross it off my list now. However, I realize that the learning hasn’t finished, it’s ongoing! J

A few trips I made this year are to Bali in June and not forgetting to stop by in Singapore for a lightning quick visit. Bali was super good, loved one took his time off to accompany me around and fulfilled all the promises that he had made (even those that I have forgotten). It was a super good time. During that visit, we too settled a few things out. We love, we lost, we trust, we disappoint, we laugh, but most importantly we hold on and we are better! Something unforgettable during the trip is our road trip to Lombok. It is a long bike ride to the ferry terminal, long sailing to another island, times them twice before we got back home in Bali. No plan or whatsoever before we did the trip. It was spontaneous. And I am super glad that we made it well. I learned to trust in him more from that trip. I think he too appreciated that I am not actually a spoilt brat! It's a good trip! Singapore was good too! Super even! In that short trip, I visited the clinic (was my second home before) and saw those nice people in it. I managed to visit other friends from other chapter of my life too. Thank you, people! J

October trip was to Kuala Lumpur! There are 2 sole purposes: MotoGP and Shopping! With partner and Mom! Ahh… the result of MotoGP disappointed someone, but overall, it is good to get the taste of it. During this trip with mom, I am grateful of what mom did for me. Hahhh… that feeling of being loved so unconditionally is priceless, I will trade it with NOTHING. I am happy too because I can accompany her for an eye-check and came home with a peace of mind that she is well. We didn’t travel first class, nor stayed in 5 stars hotel, but somehow the trip was an enjoyable one! Thank you Life!

In July, received a phone call from a guy who asked if we should get married. That wasn’t a proposal, that was a discussion. Yup! So I am marrying that guy. Only then in December 26, 2015, he proposed when we quarreled.  Now I got a ring on my finger and I will always remember that day! Where else can I find a guy like that! Both of us are not perfect, no one is, so both of us have decided to walk this life together. So for Him and I, and our families, this is a big highlight of the year. So people, shower us with your prayers! J  

At the very end of the year, we are still figuring out our way, it will be continuous, it’s life. It goes up and it goes down and we hope that we are granted the strength to make things work, the good news is TOGETHER!

So, Thank you 2015. Thank you for granted us with kindness, with patience, with forgiveness, with big heart, with laughter and most of all with love. With all those things we have managed our anger, disappointment, bitterness and tears well. Thank you!!!

2016 be kind to us. I have no plan for now. But I will manage. Although I am anxious with the new title that I am going to have in Jan 24, 2016, I know deep down I am going to find my way. I always have. Happy New Year, All~

Love,
Lin ^ ^

 

My Best Teachers of Life!

 

I am counting down to the day that I am gonna move town (Again). Every moves I made since I left my little hometown, Air Joman, it has always been for a good reason. To Medan for college, to Kuala Lumpur for University, to Singapore for good work experience, to Medan to recover and be close to family, to Bali (next) to have little family of my own with my other half.

So it is a month to that big Day. Mom and Dad are two people that are the happiest for me, I believe. I can see in their excitement in preparing things. I can see how proud they are when they announce it to family and friends that their little daughter is going to have family of her own to take care of soon. Mom especially is anxious for me. She knows how stubborn I am, she too understands that no one will be able to tolerate me as well as them, so she, whenever she can, will give me many advices. None of them are beautiful quotes but all of them are kind.

However among all, during the preparation to the big day, I am so proud of them because I get to know how big their hearts have been as parents.  They respect what I want and do not force me on what they wish to have. As they have always been, they trust me enough to take care of things on my own. Giving input, never to force! I have seen them give in, whenever possible, the beliefs that they have had for as long as they live, because they want to ease the whole process for me. For this, I can’t thank them enough!  

In this happy moment, I too can’t help to feel that sad feeling that I am not gonna be able to serve them as I want to in the future! Some said those little things are what matters at the end, and there are many little things that I will not be able to do for them anymore, once I move. I am heart-broken!

I know no one is going to take away my status as their daughter, not even my future husband. However, things will just change for them.

Dad just said to me and my sis yesterday that every time mom is coming to Medan, she will go around the ‘kampung’ to find us chicken (literally). It may sound silly for some people, however, we know that chickens from the village which are not ‘mass-produced’ has the best quality. My sis and I appreciate that a lot from my mom.  No matter how tired she is, how busy she is, our priority has always come first! It is like caring for her family is the greatest joy for her in this life.

So, It hit me a few days ago when she was tidying the kitchen and mentioned about not having to prepare a feast for the upcoming Chinese new year, because my sis and me will not be around to have that so called family reunion dinner next year.  Our conversation stopped there because her words were blocked for holding back tears and I have nothing comforting to say to her. I am the worst! After more than 30 years of tradition for having reunion dinner, next year they will have to start doing the sa cap me (除夕) dinner only by themselves. I can feel how lonely it must be.

Dad is simple. He said his thought. As we gathered around, mom, dad and I, sis and her 2 kids, dad said “I feel very happy that we can do things like this.” (Which means do nothing and just be together). No one responded, because, there is no best response that we can give to that simple statement.

I will never have a better family than what I have already had now. I hardly mentioned about my sister, but she is the best sis that I will ever have. She has many flaws, tonnes of them! But all those flaws are gone once I think about how kind she is as a sister. She is a total opposite from me. I am the kind who get things done, she is a perfect procrastinator. I am the kind who say my mind, she is super kind with words! She, as a daughter and sister, is a total giver! What she wants to do for me, dad and mom is give, give, give, give and give! She hardly takes! When she takes, she doesn’t take more than she has given. In this world, not many people can do this, not even siblings! So I know how fortunate I am to have her.

I can feel how each and every one of us trying to make full use of our time to do things for each other. We are trapped in the total opposite feelings of happiness and unwillingness to let go now.

I super love this family. Thank you for showing me what sacrifice looks like, what forgiveness is, how soft human’s heart should be, how hard can one be when needed and among all, what love feels like!

24th is our day!

It has been a while since my last post. Here I am now!

24th of July 2015 marked my 3 years with my partner (and hopefully partner for life!)

Things have not always been easy for us, we tried hard, love hard, be super kind to make things work! I once believe that Love should be easy, however, looking at some people who make it to the so called "grow old" together, most of them work hard. The working hard includes being there, be understanding, be kind in words and action, be respecful, be forgiving, be many many positive things!

I also learnt ego (I have much of this), Burj Khalifa Pride (super high pride), lies (even those beautiful lies) will drive the relationship between two persons to the very dark part of Black Sea.

I made a video so that I will always remember that we have been super ordinary and super extraordinary at some point of our life and weeks after that 24 July, I wrote to him too, and here they are:

Your best moment at work:

You got promoted is good moment, however in my eyes, your best moment is when you thrived and conquered those bad times at work! You rock!

Your best moment as a son:

Your good act as son is even in hard times, supporting your mom still comes as priority. That man will provide for his own family just fine! However, your best is when you actually see good things in her even at times of difficulty, we are all human after all. This makes you a courageous man.

Your best as a partner:

Sometimes for you being romantic feels good to me. However, your best as a partner is when you keep all the promises, the minor to the major ones. I will trade it with nothing!

Your best as a friend:

Poor thing I can't say much. But I know you value them. That makes you best as a friend.

Your best attire:

As always, that white!

Your best is in the eyes:

That clear brown eyes are good. However, when they are filled with excitement, passion and happiness, they are the best!

Your best in annoying me:

Silence

Your best in pleasing me:

Laughter and passionate talks

Your best in accepting:

You see imperfection in me, and you welcome them with hands wide open, never complain. And because of that, I want nothing but just be better for us!

Your best choice of partner in life:

Me! I'll make sure it's something that you will be grateful of for the rest of your life!

I see those bests in a man which at the same time also full of flaws. I actually see 'through' those flaws. Only love makes that possible. So I think I am in love!

That makes my best choice of partner in life:

You! Just stay as who you are. You are good enough. Remember don't try to impress me, because al this while, the sincerity has done all the job, made me adore you.

2 - 3 years ago, in the beginning of our relationship, there are some rejection from the family due to our difference in belief! At that time, he said: "If we go through this the right way, they will apparently see it." So far, we have done as many rights as we could, and we will still do many many more right things in the future, if granted the time. Only time can tell and we can prove!

For many more years to come! I love you, Baby...

Love,

Lin ^ ^