I’m a photo addict. I admit it. Ever since I got my first camera when I was 11 or 12, I’ve enjoyed capturing pictures. When I got my first digital camera, I was thrilled beyond belief – I no longer had to worry about choosing what to take pictures of carefully and I could just snap away, then delete later! In high school and college, you’d be hard-pressed to find me unprepared without a camera on me whenever I went out. With the emergence of Facebook, it became a way for me to connect with my friends even more, since every time I tagged them they’d get notified and it could be a conversation starter. Pictures are such a wonderful way to remind yourself a moment, a memory, a feeling that you may have forgotten about otherwise. It’s also a useful way to be able to share those memories more accurately with your loved ones. Seeing you when you were younger creates a deeper connection than trying to imagine it. I always love both taking pictures and having my picture taken, because of the memories I know I’ll have when I look back. It’s a great way to document all sorts of things!
Posts Tagged ‘childhood’
365great Day 241: pictures
365great Day 237: change
I’m a big fan of change. It probably stems from moving frequently as a child and getting used to constantly adjusting. Things that are new and fresh are always fun, even as I miss the nostalgic stuff. I’ve never lived anywhere for more than 4 years consecutively and that’s the way I like it – as the years draw on, the itch for someplace difference gets stronger until I have the chance to relocate. I like to replace my laptop every 3 years or so and I upgrade my phone every 2 years as my contract allows. I love meeting new people, exploring new activities, and expanding my horizons. I try not to get stuck in the same habits too, whether it’s sleeping on the same side of the bed or arranging my furniture in a set way. I don’t like eating at the same place all the time (though I generally tend to order the same thing… can’t always have change I guess!) and like to try different ways of doing things to keep myself on my toes. It’s pretty easy for me to get bored, which is probably why I keep things fresh by maintaining a certain level of changing in my life. Just look at the beauty that can come of change in this picture – you can already see the butterflies that will be emerging from the cocoons in all their glory. Make room for change (embrace it, even) and you open yourself up to endless worlds of wonder. What great transformations you get to experience!
My beloved teddy
When I arrived in the US as a toddler, someone gave me this one teddy bear. I think it was the lady who flew from China with me, but I don’t remember. Whatever the case, it became my all-time favorite toy. As a kid, I slept with it and hugged it and brought it along to my trips back and forth to China. Over the years, it got quite worn out and I only loved it more for that. As you can see, it ended up quite raggedy and even acquired a couple of holes. I used to stick quarters in a hole in its armpit so it became a bit of a piggy bank for a period too. At some point, I outgrew the bear and just kept it at home. Eventually, I left it at my grandma’s, where it stayed ever since. I’d forgotten about it until I saw this picture again and I wonder if my grandma still kept it in her stuff. I guess I’ll have to check next time I’m back in China!
Do you have a childhood toy that you still adore?
365great Day 235: fireplaces
The crackling of a fireplace is a really soothing sort of sound to snuggle up near. Add in the welcoming warmth and rich wood smell for a wonderfully comforting experience. Throw in a blanket, good book, and hot chocolate and you may never get me to leave. I also have some lovely memories of singing karaoke with my parents as the fireplace heated up our living room in the St. Louis winter. I don’t have a fireplace anymore, but I get a chance to hang out by one I always enjoy that nice slow pace. It’s so easy to kick back and relax next to a fireplace and let the rest of the world slip away. I wish I had one to use for this upcoming winter! The office sure could use some extra heat. 😛 Wouldn’t that be fun? I’d love to work next to a fireplace at work. It’s a great place to clear my mind and get some work done.
Not your ordinary
I often don’t quite fit in. I don’t know if it’s my upbringing or my personality that shaped me to be this way, but I just can’t seem to connect with people when it comes to pop culture. This has come up quite a few times recently, as I’m getting to know my coworkers and our conversations inevitably turn towards movies or music or drinking. I’m not into many of those things that others get really passionate about and it can be alienating. How did it get this way?
I grew up very shy and rather introverted, so I dove into books. I’d read upwards of 30-35 a week – so much that my mom made me a special bag so I could carry them all when I left the library. The first movie I ever saw in a theater was Titanic when I was eleven (and I went with my dad). That was also the time I started to listen to music. Television kind of entered the picture, but there was no single show that I kept up with. I was far more involved with writing in my journal and reading til my eyes went bad. My parents wanted me to focus on school, so they didn’t get me video games or too many distractions. Since they had no cultural background in this country, I didn’t learn very much beyond what little I was exposed to.
In school, it was a lot easier to connect with people because of the activities we got involved in. I had friends who were interested in academics, JROTC, band, swimming, and track & field depending on which group we were in together. We were normally too busy doing what we were doing together to get distracted talking about random things. When I first started working full-time, I figured being the odd one out was normal since I was in Singapore, which had a completely new culture to me. Then I returned to the states and I started to notice that there were people who were cool to work with, but not the kind I’d call up to hang out with. Things were a lot easier when people were perfectly fine with my complete lack of knowledge when it came to a lot of what they talked about.
Lately, I’ve encountered quite a few situations where people go off on tangents related to entertainment or drinking and I have no clue what’s going on. I’m just not that into movies or TV shows and I don’t drink. I’ve never really minded what sets me apart, but I’ve gotten a lot of flak about it more recently and that makes me sad. Just because I don’t share the same interests and passions doesn’t mean that I’m a complete aberration; I’m different, that’s all! And why is being different so wrong that people need to judge me? It gets tiring after awhile, constantly fielding questions to the tone of “You don’t like [insert something you love]? You’ve never [insert your favorite activity here]?! What’s wrong with you??” Nothing is wrong with me. I’m just not you.
It’s hard enough trying to connect when I’m not interested in the topics being brought up. But I don’t go around imposing my opinions on other people and I wish they’d do the same. I know they don’t mean to be so insensitive, but when everyone treats me that way, it makes me feel like an outcast. I thought I’d grown a hard shell after a lifetime of not fitting in… unfortunately it seems it still hurts. While I’m perfectly fine with being a little “out there” now that I’ve outgrown my shyness, I still want to be accepted. Maybe I need to go find more social groups with interests aligned with mine. Yoga and cat shelters, here I come!
365great Day 231: Riesen
In honor of Halloween, I wanted to celebrate my favorite candy as a child. I love candy and I certainly had plenty as a kid. One of the more expensive ones that I didn’t get quite as much was Riesen. Whenever I did get a bag, it was such a treat! I couldn’t get enough of these rich, indulgent morsels. They were dark enough chocolate to feel exotic and cool but not too dark for my youthful sweet tooth. The chocolate exterior was fun to break through as I chewed into the chocolate caramel center. I liked how super chewy the center was – not your average soft caramel, oh no, this one packed a punch! One of these would be quite a mouthful and satisfied my taste buds far better than most other candies. It’s a great candy that I enjoy.
365great Day 185: soup
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I love soup. Hot & sour, chicken noodle, egg drop… if it comes out steaming I probably like it. I like that it’s moist and hot so my mouth doesn’t feel dry and my stomach doesn’t get cold. It’s also such a healing type of food – perfect for when you’re under the weather. I also really enjoy noodle soups of all kinds, like tom yum and pho. Perhaps it’s because soups tend to be quite flavorful and salty, which is exactly how I like my food. Or it might just be that it’s less effort to drink than chew, haha. My favorite thing as a kid was always what I referred to as “the family soup” – a blend of tomatoes, eggs, mushrooms, wood ears, yellow flowers, and sometimes other random vegetables. In Chinese my parents and I called it “tomato soup” and we always knew that the family version was what we were talking about. Most of the time when my mom asked me what I wanted to eat, I’d request the family soup. It was one of those things that I loved to drink even on a hot summer day, as I sweated and practically panted through the meal. For the ease of consumption and soothing properties, soup is great.
365great Day 169: trains
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I’ve always enjoyed traveling on trains. In my childhood, I’d go back to China each summer and ride a 12-hour train to get from Beijing to Shenyang. Oftentimes it’d be the overnight one, where we got fun bunk beds. I loved being on the top one because it was do high up and since I was small I fit easily. There wasn’t enough room to sit up properly since it was just meant for the sleeping portion of your trip. If you wanted to sit you could use the bottom bunk if the person let you, or stand around the aisles and snag a seat. They gave out these fabulous 3D puzzle keychains that I couldn’t get enough of. I trained myself to be able to put it back together with my eyes closed! During the day, I really like how the landscapes pass by and you really get a feel for the countryside. Plus, it’s nice to be able to get up as you please. For the most part the price is also great if you’re willing to spend some more time on the road. The best part? No tedious security checks!
365great Day 162: couponing
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I never learned how to use coupons until Panda showed me a few years ago. I still rarely use them, but I’ve gotten to appreciate their value a whole lot more. I’ve managed to get cool shampoo for less than a dollar and enjoy some fun nail polish because of my couponing efforts. I grew up used to not buying things very often and when I did it was usually from China or some random small thing that I liked. These aren’t the type of things you find coupons for. When it came to household items, my mom got great deals sometimes by attending closeout sales and browsing swap meets. Our family just wasn’t into the couponing thing and I can’t recall using them as a child. In the past year or two I’ve started to pay more attention because Panda showed me how you can sometimes get free things. We had a lot of fun bonding over an outing to get free things and I really enjoy getting such a deal. I’ve also gotten more into the blogging scene and a lot of bloggers are mommy bloggers who write about saving money and will at least bring up coupons if they don’t actually focus on it as a topic. I think coupons are a great way to save money if you plan wisely!
365great Day 146: Facebook
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The social media network that started it all. I remember back in 2004, I was getting ready to start college in the fall and there was this new thing called The Facebook trending. I ignored it at first, figuring it to be some silly fad, but when I got an invitation from a friend of mine who doesn’t do frivolous things, I decided to give it a chance. Before I knew it, I had found (and messaged) a ton of people set to take the same classes as me in fall quarter. Some of them replied and we struck up a friendship in the lonely month before school started when all my other friends had already started at their universities. UCLA is one of the last, if not the last school system to start up. From there, I started finding old friends from many of the other states I’d lived in, including childhood best friends all grown up. I loved Facebook for that, since when I was younger, every move meant losing contact with my entire social network. Back then it was either pay for long distance phone calls or write letters… so of course we did none of that – too expensive and too much effort! Over the years, my use of it has evolved from making sure I didn’t lose track of acquaintances to sharing all kinds of fun pictures. It’s nice that I can check in on friends at my leisure and get an idea of what they’re up to. For keeping us connected without constant effort, I value Facebook and it has always been my favorite social media site. It connected me back to a childhood I’d lost! Isn’t that great?
