Ryu2.mind

I just spent the better part of this weekend renovating my pictures page to give it a nice new interface, courtesy of JAlbum, which is the first gallery program which supports the level of customization that makes me actually willing to use it. Of course, I posted a bunch of pictures as well, mostly from the GrX missions sendoffs, and other church events, not to mention digging up some old images dating all the way back to high school -- 10 years ago! =P.

Anyhow, it's recently come to my attention that my picture page is far and away the most popular section on my website. People, random strangers even, spend hours surfing it -- whether they have voyeuristic tendencies or just like what I shoot, is anyone's guess.

Why, I have no idea. Time-wise, I spend more time blogging than posting pics, and I do it rather infrequently. In my mind, it's not a gallery to advertise my photo skills, because I'm no professional. It's really just a visual extension of my text blog that you now are reading.

Still, interestingly, my picture page has also helped out various people several times. It is often referred to by people planning their weddings or receptions. Instead of describing their preferred wedding dress/venue location/atmosphere, they just refer to one of the wedding shots in my gallery. It's also helped reunite old friends, when people Google on their friends' names, and my pictures come up, then emailing me asking me to forward such and such a message. My travel pictures have been featured in the brouchure of a UK travel agency, which was surprising, since again, I don't consider my photo equipment and skills anywhere near professional quality.

Indeed, some people deem it an honor to make my "famous" picture page, and will greet their inclusion with much over-deserved rejoicing...

But in any case, as has been the case for the last 10 years, I hope someone enjoys them, and I hope something I write or shoot makes a difference in some way to someone.

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Just got off work -- by choice, not by necessity. It's refreshing being the only one at the office, thinking and coding away.

With production starting in full swing, I realize more and more that I work by far the best at night, free of any distractions by others.

Even though I do get slightly tired, in moderation this weariness, quite counterintuitively actually drives me to work harder -- to finish that last line of code, to fix that last bug, to implement that last feature before I call it a night.

The limit for me is when I struggle to keep my eyes open -- when drowsiness progresses to the point where it becomes a concious act to overcome. Coding while sleepy, just like driving, has the potential to lead to terrible accidents: eg, a "quit without saving", a "rm * something" instead of "rm *something" for you fellow UNIX geeks -- I know this from experience. :)

Still, with experience, just like drinking, I've learned to recognize my limits, and within them, I enjoy my nocturnal life.

I've been averaging working about 16 hours a day for the last week or so (get in around 10 AM, leave around 2 AM), as we prepare to give a demo of our project to our headquarters in Japan, which explains the dearth of thoughtful entries. Not that there was much to begin with, of course. I've been actually pulling more hours during the day than the other teammates, for I want to keep my weekends free -- not for relaxation, but for more work of a different kind: ministry GrX or on the WCC planning commitee.

Which is not to say I hate it -- I'm thankful to be where I am now, and keep reminding myself it's preparation for the next stage of my life overseas.

On another note, I found this story to be one of the more hilarious editorial errors out there.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/va/20040613/108716179500.html or, if they take it down, a saved copy here.

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Currently Reading The Cost of Discipleship By Dietrich Bonhoeffer see related

...We think we understand when we hear that obediance is possible onlywhere there is faith. Does not obedience follow faith as good fruitgrows on a good tree? First, faith, then obedience. If by that we meanthat it is faith which justifies, and not the act of obedience, allwell and good, for that is the essential and unexceptionablepresupposition of all that follows. If, however, we make achronological disctinction between faith and obedience, and makeobedience subsequent to faith, we are divorcing the one from the other-- and then we get the practical question, when must obedience begin?Obedience remains separated from faith. From the point of view ofjustification, it is necessary thus to separate them, but we must neverlose sight of their essential unity. For faith is only real when thereis obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the actof obedience.

-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Despite my outward predilection towards independence and self-reliance, I am certainly not immune to getting suckered into jumping on the bandwagon at times. Today was one of those times.

On one hand, I am confident in the company, as well as the good number of my friends who work there -- my (meager) investment is, in a way, a token sign of support. On the other, I can't say that it's not motivated by a desire to just "try things" and "go with the flow".

A fool and his money are soon parted? We'll see... Well, you can all publically mock me here if it happens. =P

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I've got 3 invites to give out -- and pretty much all my friends and family that I know of have Gmail accounts already at this point.

So... I'm just giving them away in an act of altruism, throwing them out to anyone that wants one, even random strangers that might stumble across this page.

Just email me at mark dot wang at gmail dot com... first come, first serve!

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I'm sitting in the United lounge at SFO now waiting to board my flight to Beijing leaving in a few hours.

Like returning to see an old friend, I greet the dust, the pollution, the crowds with a feeling of familiar anticipation.

I am not a Chinese American -- I am a Chinese born and raised in America longing to be in one of his two elements. Not that I don't identify with the USA, but I choose to straddle both countries fully, and now the hiertherto neglected attachment of mine to China is calling all the more for me to cultivate it.

See you all from the motherland!

Greetings from Beijing! It's my sixth trip here, and it's definitely starting to feel like my second home -- and it's been great and spiritually refreshing being in my element again. My Mandarin is being put to good use, needless to say. But sometimes speaking it can be a disadvantage.

I was in Tiananmen Square, just snapping some candid shots -- having done the tourist thing long ago, when someone comes up to me, speaking in rapid fire Mandarin, and offering me a rickshaw tour of "old Beijing", the hutong, etc.

I understood him perfectly, but of course, I had no interest in his offer. I first tried telling him, "wo bu yao", and "wo dou qu guo le", but he had an response prepared for both. I quickly realized I should try to suspend my general modus operandi of not standing out as a foreigner in China, and instead, try to do just that.

Now, if I were Caucasian, I would just speak English to try to get him off my back. But that tactic wouldn't work for me, so I decided to try something else. My Korean, or lack thereof, to the rescue!

Despite having attended a Korean church and fellowship for most of my college career, and now currently attending a church with about 40% Korean still, I haven't really taken the initiative to seriously study the language of many of my friends.

The only Korean phrases I know are: "ahyoung hasaeyo", "nae", "anio", "chonun chunguk saram imnida", "hangukmal malhaeyo", and "tangshinrul saranhaeyo" (Contrary to any rumors that may be out there, I've not had need yet to use the last one... ;) )

I would like to, though, at some point... of course, my Mandarin and Japanese also beckon -- so many languages of interest, so little time. Still, even a little Korean proved useful.

"chonun HANGUK SARAM imnida. chungukmalul malhaeyo."

He speaks more slowly, but in Mandarin still. Good, apparently he can't speak Korean either, but he thinks I'm Korean, with a smattering of Mandarin ability. He emphasizes "ren li che" (rickshaw), and "jiu bei jing" (old Beijing)

"CHUNGUKMAL MOTHAEYO." I shake my head.

He is gesturing me to come. My useful Korean knowledge comes to an end at this point.

ANIO... ahnyoung ha sim ni ka! Tangshinrul saranhaeyo!

I start walking away, but he is persistent.

Then I turn to him, and start spouting gibberish. "chonun blah blah DAEHAN MINGUK blah blah sumida nonun KIMCHEE HYUNDAI DAEWOO SAMSUNG blah blah"

"BULBOGI BIBIMMAP blah blah INCHEON pilsung jusaeyo blah blah HA NAH NIM blah blah TAE KWON DO blah blah ROH MU HYUN blah blah KIM JONG IL blah blah!"

He gave up and left soon thereafter.

Sorry to my Korean friends for this egregious misappropriation of your elegant language ... =)

I'm writing from the lounge in Beijing Airport, reflecting on my last day in Beijing. I was actually supposed to return yesterday, but my flight from Beijing to SFO was heavily oversold, so I "volunteered" to take a bump.

As frequent fliers like dreyersice or Markus undoubtedly know, while people usually view getting bumped as an annoyance, if one's schedule permits it, strategically booking oversold flights and attempting to get bumped can lead to reaping rewards in the future -- especially when international flights are concerned.

In my case, I got a $400 travel voucher on United, a free night at a airport hotel with meals paid for, and a business class seat on the flight leaving a few hours from now.

The biggest payoff was intangible, though. I had the chance to attend worship yesterday, at BICF, and connect and reconnect with other like-minded folks during lunch and afterwards.

For me, getting bumped enabled me to see and talk with faces in Beijing both old and new to me: David, Jackie, their 3 ueber-cute kids, Ellen, Stu, Peter, Esther, Marshall, (newly engaged) Gloria, and more, to a degree which I hadn't planned on to any such extent -- this trip originally just being a primarily family vacation and a chance to escape from work for me.

Indeed, there's a relatively small but very close-knit community of young adults from the States working/studying in Beijing in various capacities, but united by a shared faith and vision, and I'm excited to hopefully join it soon.

Also, stayed up all night watching the Olympic closing ceremonies live. The little Beijing kid singing made me tear up out of sheer sentimentality and pure cuteness. =)

I realize that in pretty much all my trips abroad thus far, I've been able to get something unanticipated out of it, and this was no exception. It was a chance to be encourager and encouraged, to hear about the highs and yes -- lest I get too optimistic, lows of life and min. here -- and to expand my network, business and otherwise, the most important thing in this country where everything revolves around guanxi. connections. Fortuitious indeed were the chance encounters on my last unplanned day but I think it's more than just good luck I was able to have them -- it was, to me, a subtle reminder that He was present in some way.

I have more thoughts that developed from this most recent trip, but I'll save them for when I'm back in the states. See you all soon!