Monday, January 30, 2017

What is Chinese/Lunar New Year Means to Me

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Since I am Chinese-American, I am happy to say I get celebrate New Year TWICE!! Chinese new year comes later than American new year because America follows roman calendar (365 days a year) and China follows lunar calendar (30-day-month, 360 days a year). 


(Taken at Last Chinese New Year. The Chinese International/Exchange Students from my school and I made dumplings together. Dumpling is one of the traditional must-have for Chinese New Year.

I left China when I was seven years old, so last time I spend Chinese New Year in China was 1996. Unfortunately, I don't remember much of it. After I have been spending Chinese New Year in Japan and the US.  I have been told that Chinese New Year is fun and festive. People gather together and cook and eat. It is a lot like Thanksgiving in America. There are fireworks, parade, entertainments, etc. People usually get a long break from work and school. Even though I don't get a break from school or work, I still have a fantastic time celebrating it with my family and Chinese people live in other countries. I am glad that China is a popular country and a lot of foreigners acknowledge the Chinese New Year, so Chinese people who live in other countries could get enough celebration even they are not in China. There are many places with Chinatown and Chinese restaurant, where the Chinese new year is heavily celebrated.

Although I feel I still have fun and get enough of Chinese New Year celebration,  I hope someday, I will get to spend Chinese New Year in China to experience the real celebration. 

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Beat Bullies

Statistic Facts from Bullies from https://nobullying.com/bullying-suicide-statistics/
"Bullied victims are 7 to 9 percent more likely to consider suicide according to a study by YaleUniversity."
"Studies in Britain have found half of the suicides among youth related to bullying."
"According to a study by ABC News over 30,000 children stay home every day due to the fear of being bullied."



I have been experiencing being bullied since pre-school, and I can still feel the pain after 20 years. I know I need to move on from my dark past, but if you have experience being bullied as a child, you will understand it is very hard to forget about it. Being bullied continued through elementary school to high school (even graduate school). Sometimes I cried myself to death, there were even days that I did not want to go to school because of the bullies. My behavior was strange sometimes and I developed low self-esteem.

I thought it will get better after high school as we grow older and become more mature. However, after experiencing bully again in graduate school and one of my previous workplace, I learned bullies would never going to disappear no matter how old we get. 

Bully exists everywhere. No matter which country and what kind of community it is, there will be bullies. I grew up in three different countries, there were bullies in school from all of them. Moreover, It is not just in the schools, the bully can exist in a workplace, neighborhood, community, etc. 

Furthermore, NOTHING can stop those bullies despite the fact that there are advocates who would like to have the word out to stop them. They might be able to reduce bullies but cannot eliminate them because most of the bullies are not aware of they are wrong. The only thing we can do is to avoid being involved with bullies and protect ourselves from them

Remember that, NO ONE can save you from bullies besides YOU, not your parents, teachers, friends, nor boyfriend/girlfriend. The best revenge is to ignore them and be strong with improving yourself. The purpose of the bullies is that they want to see you cry and being sad. Do NOT let them get their way. After being bullied for long, I decided instead of being depressed, I worked hard to raise my grades and landing my dream job and exercise a lot to be strong. Now, I have more friends, happier, smarter, and stronger; I would not let anyone bully me, anymore.  

Lastly, bullies it is not your problem, so do not blame yourself. They are the one with problems. 
"You are awesome. Bullies are NOT."

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Dealing with Anxiety

Confession: I have anxiety. 
Definition of Anxiety: mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one's daily activities.
(Me at Age 4)
There are a lot of worries and fears in my life, which has interfered my daily life. I worry about the future would not go the way like I planned, and I can fear that I cannot handle the failure and unfortunate from the unplanned incidents. Those anxieties lead me to less sleep, binge eating/lost appetite, being anti-social, etc.   

Feeling of anxiety started when I was a junior in high school. I was confused what I wanted to do and struggled with academics. I worried about I can never find the career I love, and scared that I would not be successful. I thought anxiety could get better once I go to college; however, I anxiety IS STILL with me TODAY. (after graduating college and graduate school and start working)

Later, I realized anxiety will continue to exist throughout the lifetime no matter how old I get because there are always something to worry and fear. Life is filled with cycles of challenges. One is solved and another one comes, and sometimes additional difficulties appear before resolving the first one. 

Then, I learned to overcome my anxiety by talking to my future self. When I was in school, I worry about whether I will pass the classes and able to graduate. Now in my professional life, I feel doing school is the easiest thing ever. Work is harder than study. I do not know why I was scared back then

Currently, I am having anxiety about my career path, finance, life partner, etc; however, I am confident that my future self will say "do not know why I was scared. These are the easiest things ever!!"


Here are some of my favorite quotes when I treat my anxiety. 

"Problems are only temporary."
"Life is filled with surprises."
"Live in the present. You can not change the past, and you never know the future. There is no need to not letting go of the past and worrying about the future."

Let's Beat Anxiety and Hope for the Happiness. 

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Reflecting 2016 and 2017 Goals

Wow!! I can't believe 2016 is over fast like any years. A year will go faster as we age, which was mathematically proven. 
Reflecting 2016
I finished graduated school and my student life is officially over.  I moved back to Southern Oregon to start my career. The change was significant. Working for clients (who paid me for the work) is more challenging than working for professors (who I pay). The demand and expectation were a lot. I don't have time to hang out with friends or make friends like I used to be, but I also became party harder (because I work harder.)

There were many ups and downs, this year. Due to my privacy, I would state those in the  I am extremely blessed with all the happiness and proud of myself for being able to go through the sadness. 


Goals for 2017
I would not make any specific new years resolution. I am like most people, I can not keep my new year's resolution. I l realized looking back, even though I did not make all the resolutions and goals come true in the end, I still made progress and improvement. I am proud of myself. So, this year I only tell myself to become better than 2016

grew up the most this from these life shifts and incidents. I learned "every step we take is an achievement" and "what does not kill you will make you stronger." 

Happy New Year. Be Happy!! Let's hope 2017 will bring us more joy. 

P.S. I will keep my blog post consistent for 2017