I think it’s been a while since I have updated on my pottery activities. So here are my latest creations –
Jun 072012
Jun 062012
I’ve been following this blog for a while now. It’s one of the few blogs by adoptees that is more positive or should I say objective about both sides of the adoption issue.
One topic that has come up lately has been about citizenship for international adoptees. Mostly I haven’t participated or even read much of the dialog as I can barely keep up on my own life let alone get involved in politics – no matter what area it falls under. However, this challenge came up on Land of a Gazillion Adoptees and I figured if I am going to post on my blog anyway, I might as well take on the challenge. π
The whole issue of deportation and citizenship, especially in the US, is quite touchy as it also delves into the ongoing battle of migrants from Mexico or further south. Although I was lucky enough to get naturalized and have the privilege of owning a United States passport, I can’t imagine first how any adoptive parent(s) would not have their newly adopted international child naturalized and made a citizen of the country. What sort of argument is there against it other than sheer laziness? Perhaps that is unfair, as I readily admit, I am not up to speed on this issue at all.
With that said, it is strangely ignorant of any government to simply deport a person who has proof of having never lived anywhere else in the world to simply deport someone to their birth country without compassion, empathy or plain old common sense. How is it in the best interest of a country to send someone away to a place that is completely foreign to them? In what way are we saving or protecting a country’s interest or security?
Anyway…if I had more time, I would do some proper research and write with more authoritative indignation. For now, this will have to do. However, to ensure my feelings are clearly understood, I’ll sum up.
1. If you’ve gone through the process to internationally adopt a child, step up and get that child citizenship for the love of God. It’s not only part of your responsibility as the new guardian of the child, but your duty as a new parent to protect your new child from every possible danger, both in the present and the future.
2. Any government official considering deporting a person who has never lived or known another country than the one s/he is in, should have some freakin’ common sense for the love of God and for Pete’s sake have some compassion and empathy. What would you do if you were told you were to be sent to some foreign land just because your ancestors are from there? Use some reasonable discretion and your God given gift of a brain!
So, that’s my post.
-T
Jun 052012
Every semester/term, we are encouraged to have some sort of outside co-curricular activity for the students.
At the beginning of the semester, I organized a course-wide excursion to Ikea since we were doing a project around interior design. However, for the second trip, I decided it would be good for my students to have their own excursion.
Usually I prefer not to deal with going to Dubai due to the time it takes to get there and all the planning required. However, I made an exception this time. Although the planning was a bit of a headache that I’ll not go into detail on that for now, the trip itself was a fun one. R also came along with his class, though they had a different purpose. It was fun and a good day away from campus!
Jun 042012
This is a sweet story….
Back when I first came to Abu Dhabi, I was a big Couchsurfing participant since I had all kinds of space just for lil’ ol’ me. I was getting a lot of visitors, but enjoyed the company and experience.
One of the early requests came from an Emirati woman, Mimi, who was looking for a place for her French boyfriend to stay on his visit to see her. She put in a request to a few people including a couple of my CS friends. They both said No to her thinking that it was a little dangerous to get involved with a local since it is illegal to co-habitate amongst the genders.
Well, trusting me, said ‘Sure!’. So, J-C came to visit for a few weeks and he shared his struggle on what to do since Mimi had been in France, but requested to move back home by her father. They were in love, but there seemed to some hurdles to overcome.
Fast forward about a year. J-C emails me and says he has decided to move to Abu Dhabi in hopes of getting a job and being closer to Mimi. By this time, I was looking for a new roommate since my old one was moving out and the timing was perfect! J-C moved to Abu Dhabi and began renting a room. He moved with me to the new building and continued to look for work.
Finally, love has been victorious! J-C found a job and last night he and Marwa (Mimi) got married. It was a mixed wedding, but with the local flare. It was a lovely evening and I’m very happy for both of them. They will be renting my entire apartment now and starting their happy lives upstairs. π Who knew?!
Jun 032012
It’s been a while since I last updated on my container gardening adventure. The tomatoes seem to be the best survivors in this weather and my gardening style. There are some carrots, but nothing really worth talking about. I attempted to revive some zucchini plants, but they seem to be stubborn about wanting to bear anything useful.
So, with my watering twice a day now and attempts at keeping up with pruning away dead branches, the tomatoes are growing. There are some strange white bugs that have come to love my plants, but I don’t know how to get rid of them without chemicals…. Also, the herbs are doing well.
Here are some of the latest plant pictures:
The pics I took of the last great harvest were lost somehow… π
Not sure what I’ll do with the plants this summer, but it’s been a fun project in any case. I might just start over in the fall…
-T
Jun 022012
Alright, for those of you who don’t know, I’m not much of a make-up wearing, hair-doing, acrylic nail wearing, shop ’til you drop kind of woman. However, over the years I have come to appreciate the art of being pampered, which often includes frequent trips to the spa for manicures, pedicures, massages and so on.
Most especially, I’ve never been much good at or interested in make-up especially eye make-up because my eyes have never been modeled by the magazines I read or videos I watch. There has always been basically nothing available to learn how to apply eye shadows and liners to the Asian eye.
Then, I found Jinah Chae.
She has found a great niche and is so helpful in providing help to those of us who can’t find it in popular/mainstream make-up artist tutorials. In fact, when I have gone to make-up counters to get help, they just try to apply the make-up as either a white person or a crazy Asian artsy-type, which I am not.
Also through Ms Chae’s video:
I came to realize that there are different monolids amongst us Asians. I happen to have one of the more difficult eyelids for applying eye make-up! At last validated for my feelings of dissatisfaction with typical eye make-up application methods. π
So…with this knowledge under my belt and my life-long desire to have eyelashes I could bat at a cute guy, I decided to go for eyelash extensions and test out the eye shadowing techniques I had learned.
The eyelashes are going to take a little getting used to as they sort of block my vision a little bit, but I like them so far.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of my first eyeshadow wearing venture, but maybe you can see it in this photo:
Not sure how I feel about this level up in girliness, but I suppose it could be worse. π
-T
