The Constant Wanderer

"After all others had been silenced, his lonely act of defiance against the Chinese regime amazed the world. What became of him? And 17 years later, has China succeeded in erasing this event from its history?"

June 4th, 1989 changed my life.

As a young boy I watched the coverage on TV, thinking that it was cool that there were so many tanks and soldiers. I'm not sure why the chaos and the blood didn't bother me, perhaps I was just too young to really grasp the significance of the Tiananmen Massacre.

When I lived in East Asia a couple of years ago, I remember talking to some college students about Chinese history and the Communist government. I was shocked when I found out that they had no idea what actually happened. They told me that they were taught by the teachers that only a handful of people were injured, that the People's Republic Army went to stop the violence, that it was no big deal.

It would be an even greater tragedy if the Communist government succeeds in erasing this event from their history. The people has a right to know what really happened ... do you know? If not, go watch this.

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I used to think that if I tried hard enough, I can understand how someone's mind works.

I was wrong.

There are too many people out there who I simply don't get. Most of the time I can make sense out of it why someone would do this or say that ... even if I wouldn't react the same way, I can at least understand the logic behind their actions.

But then there are these people who make ridiculous statements or do really nonsensical things. I guess people are just irrational in general ... I just need to admit that and live on.

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You can learn a lot about a person by just looking at the receipts in his/her wallet. Take mine for example - gas station, gas station, supermarket, quiznos, train ticket to NYC, movie stub, chinese food, bank withdraw, gas station, hallmark store, quiznos, supermarket. If you haven't figured out how to interpret this, here are some pointer:

1) Definitely a commuter, who else needs to pump gas that frequently?
2) Probably don't bring lunch to work - and happens to eat a lot of quiznos
3) Supermarket for cough drops?
4) Watched Spiderman at 430pm on a Friday? Wait ... isn't Friday a work day?
5) Has $27.013434 left in his checking account balance - he's poor!

I could go on and on but you get my drift. At least there wasn't a receipt for lingerie, now that would be embarrassing.

Just like how receipts can paint a picture (however incomplete) of a person's life, the actions that we take can speak volumes about what we believe in. I've actually been quite bothered by this for the past few weeks ... I can't understand how we can spend so much time talking about things like ice-cream, dating, sports, or even poop but we never talk about things that matter. As leaders of the ministry, should we not spend more time praying and caring for people? Should we not concern ourselves with serving the community and witnessing to those around us? If so, why do most of us (myself included) just sit on our butts and just go with the flow?!?

Faith without works is dead. Convictions without action is useless. It's time to act!
James 2:18

Labels: receipts

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Every year it grows bigger and bigger. When you're young, you happily embrace these annual additions, but after 20 some years, the appeal is really losing steam. 18 is important (vote), 21 is special (alcohol), 25 is a milestone (quarter century) ... but anything after that? What are we striving toward anymore? The fact that it has reached 26 scares me more than I let on externally.

Comparison is a dangerous game. Perhaps spending the weekend with my married-and-having-kids friends wasn't such a good idea. How can you but feel just a little ... behind?

Perspective is key though. There are tons of people out there who thinks 26 is small number - that the world of opportunities is just starting to open up. And that's EXACTLY what I believe too of course!

Exciting things are going to happen this year ...

Labels: the birthday

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Exciting things are brewing in my little world: choosing between business schools, planning summer adventures, going to friends' weddings and my sister's graduation ... so many things to look forward to, but yet I feel a bit sad that this chapter of my life is coming to a close.

The center piece of my summer plans is to travel a portion of the silk road. Two and a half weeks of craziness, I can't wait! Since my friend is doing most of the planning, I really have no idea what to expect at all. I guess this is where faith in your friends comes in handy. As long as I don't get jumped and killed by desert bandit, I think I'll be happy. Can you imagine me using my crappy Chinese to communicate with the locals? Yeah, it'll definitely be an adventure.

Alright I'm going to get myself in the habit of blogging regularly ... no promises, but we'll see what happens.

Labels: "silk road", trip

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