that

Christianity - it's one of those topics I don't like discussing with people, especially people who are Christian. We always tend to have different views on things and the conversations always conclude with the fact that we both just have different opinions. I was never really a religious person, so when my friend asked me to attend her bastism today, I didn't really want to go at first, but decided that as a friend, I had no reason not to attend, so I went to support her because it was an important event in her life. It's not that I've never been exposed to church or anything; I've attended church, particpated in the stations of the cross, and sang church songs for eight years of my life at a Catholic school, but Catholicism and Christianity are two different religions, both which I respectfully chose not to join.

I have my share of Christian friends and they're really nice people, but it just bugged me a little that some of them always did the whole "Hey, you want to come hang out with me and my friends?" thing, and it turns out to be a church event or gathering. I'm not big on the conversion factor or when people try to push their views on me. I'm one of those people who have my own views and stick with them because I'm always sure in what I believe in. It's hard to bring me into a religion where I don't agree with every aspect of it. It's not to say that I don't repect it; just don't push it on me when I don't ask for it.

But at the baptism today, it was nice. They all sang songs in harmony, their voices in unison. People shared very personal stories about themselves and I even teared up when my friend made her testimonial. They were all heartfelt speeches, each giving a piece of themsleves to everyone there today and each having experienced at least one life changing event in their lives. After hearing everyone speak, I realized that some people just need that in their lives, that faith, that something to believe in, that religion that keeps them going. And I totally respect that, but I came to the conclusion that I'm one of those people where all I need is to know that I do have faith and I do believe in God, and as long as God knows that, that's all that should matter no matter what anyone else thinks or believes.

don't make other people feel stupid, stupid!

I took my mom to a Chinese grocery store the other day and while checking out, my mom asked the bag boy if he could use paper bags. Grant it, my mom's English isn't so great, so "paper bag" ended up sounding like "papper beg." But still, if I were the bag boy who spoke perfect English, I could've made it out considering all he was doing was bagging groceries. My mom repeated it twice, so the cashier finally repeated it to him, but it sounded almost exactly like what my mom had said, but he got it this time. So the bag boy decides to say in Cantonese to the cashier, "I couldn't understand what she was saying," and laughed. I guess he didn't know that my mom understands Cantonese, along with Mandarin, Toi San, Burmese, and English. So my mom repeated it to me, saying in Toi San, "Oh did you hear what he said? He said...(and she repeated what he had said in Cantonese)" loud enough so that he could hear. I just kinda smirked and I kinda hoped he felt stupid after he made my mom feel stupid. I'm just proud that my mom said something and I'm proud that she knows how to understand and speak five languages fluently, even though her English isn't perfect, but I give her a lot of credit.

tv makes me angry...so why do i keep watching...

So I was watching this dumb show called "Survival of the Richest," (I couldn't help but watch...) for the first time the other day and it just made me angry. The premise of the show is there are a group of "rich kids" (all born into money) and a group of "poor kids" (all in debt) and they are paired up (one rich and one poor person) to compete in tasks to win a pot of money at the end of the show. There was this one scene where one of the "poor kids" decided to have a cleaning day to clean up the house and I was shocked to see that some of the "rich kids" didn't know the difference between a broom and a mop, didn't know how to use a vaccuum cleaner, and never cleaned a bathroom in their lives. I guess they always had someone to clean up after them. I kept watching, and there was another scene where two of the rich guys decided to treat everyone to a sushi dinner. It was the first time trying sushi for some of the poor kids, and the rich kids were surprised that some of the poor kids didn't like it. The two rich guys flaunted their cash when they had to pay, showing how expensive the meal was, and one of the guys commented along the lines of how sushi was what people with money ate and was a sign of status. I was already a little irritated at this point but I kept watching for some reason. They had a task where they had to volunteer and serve food at a homeless shelter. One of the rich guys said, "I'm sorry I was born lucky...mission accomplished." Another rich guy said something along the lines of "I don't think I've learned anything from coming here except that I shouldn't be the one helping them serve food." The rich kids were all shocked to see all those homeless people, commenting that they've seen it in third world countries but didn't know it existed in the United States. What??? Where the hell have they been?! Apparently they've all been living under a rock...or I guess in their own little bubble in their huge mansions...

On a more serious note, I saw this documentary on PBS about the Tiananmen Square event that occurred in June of 1989. It's called The Tank Man and it's a really good documentary that I reccommend to everyone. It's an hour and a half long, but it's worth watching. I wanted to buy it to maybe show to my future kids one day, but it's $30! I've never paid $30 for a single DVD! Here's the link where you can actually watch it online if you haven't already seen it:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/

The documentary covers the entire event from start to finish and includes interviews with people who experienced it first hand. It talks about the aftermath and the choice China made between moving towards a political or economical progression for the country. It's pretty obvious which direction they chose and it's sad to see the extreme censorship that stills exists in the country today. A lot of the university students currently studying in China don't even know about the Tiananmen Square tragedy and a few big well-known companies in America that do business with China don't help the censorship issue at all. It made me kind of angry that companies in America (the country that symbolizes freedom) are helping to support the censorship in China. But I guess business is business right?

karma is a funny thing...

as Earl would put it. I truly believe that people get what they deserve in the end, whether it be good or bad. I feel like recently, it's been happening. A couple people who weren't very nice, got what they deserved finally, and a little voice inside of me, said "haha." Karma is gonna bite me in the ass for that...but on the other side of things, a couple of my friends who recently started their own business, seem to be starting out very well, and I think it's because they worked their asses off and to add to it, they're just good people.

The other day, my mom took me to go see a monk. The last time we went to go see her, she predicted the future (no really, she did) and helped me with the situation I was in at the time. So this time around, I knew why my mom was taking me there...to have her help me find a good job. So I went with my aunt and my mom. We got to her house and rang the doorbell a few times, but no one answered. We waited outside for a little bit and examined her beautiful garden in her front yard and her little shrine in the backyard. Flowers were blooming and trees were green. The door finally opened and she came out and directed us in. She's kind of young, maybe in her mid to late 20's and was wearing the normal peach orange monk robe. Turns out she was taking a shower. So monks take showers too? haha...she just seemed so divine, with her green trees, blooming flowers, and shrine in the backyard. But turns out, monks are normal people too...well, sort of. It amazed me that she was remodeling her home/temple all by herself - knocking down walls, putting in pipes, painting, etc. She did hire an illegal immigrant and paid him $10/hr one day to help her, but still, that's pretty impressive. She's remodelling so she can have more room for her temple/shrine area. She remembered me from the last time and said I got prettier (that was nice! haha). We brought her a pot of flowers, some oranges, and some Tide detergent. Apparently, the detergent is so she can wash away all my bad luck. She started praying to herself while my aunt whispered stories to my mom and I about her, about how she was invited to this furniture store to pray there one day to give them good business (which worked, so they invited her to come back once a month) and about this group of teenagers who came from New York to see her and ask her questions about their future. Apparently, she's pretty well-known. Well, she told me a few things about when I would find a job and when I would meet a great guy. Hopefully, it's true because I totally believe in her after what happened the first time I went to see her. It's hard not to beleive when what she said would happen, actually happened. It was weird...I never really believed in things like that...I was a skeptic like my dad, but hey, she made me a believer. But after leaving, I couldn't help but wonder whether or not I've been a good person, whether I ended up where I am because of fate or because of things I did, and whether the people I know today are people I met because I was meant to meet them or because I made myself meet them...hmmm...maybe I'm still a little skeptical...

But still, after going to see her, I felt like she was somewhat invincible, like nothing could hurt her. She seemed like a superwoman - remodelling her own house and picking up a stranger off the street to help her and being able to foresee the future. But then I wondered if the person she picked up off the street didn't do anything bad, like steal anything, because he was afraid karma would bite him in the ass, especially if he stole from a monk, haha. But do people really believe in karma? Or is it just something people just kinda say when something bad or good happens because they had previously done something bad or good? Well, if it worked for Earl, I'm hoping it'll work for me. I don't have a list, but I don't think I'm a bad person, and I feel like I haven't done anything that bad, so karma, please work your magic!