Ryu2.mind

Definitelythe highlight of my all-too-brief time in the US... Dalan and Abs areof the very few couples that I would honestly use the adverb madly -- as in madly in love, it was quite a fulfilling time kicking back and sharing with the old GrX gang.

Pics from the wedding:

And the reception:

Anyhow, my new and hopefully permanent photo home is now on Smugmug: ryu2.smugmug.com. In other words, I won't be updating Flickr anymore, and will probably move all my pics to here sometime.

Iliked Flickr a lot initially -- even paid $50 for a pro account whichis now money down the drain... but it's just not scalable past severalhundred pictures what with all the bandwidth sucking non-optionalFlash interface and all. Now, as I've said, the UI is very cool... but not when it's the onlygame in town, and you have to wait for 400+ thumbnails to load when youjust want to remove a pic or two. 

Sure, it's got a lot of social/community-building features which arenice, but definitely not part of a photo site's core mission.  IfI wanted that, I'd just go to Friendster.

Heck, even my friendwho works at Yahoo, Flickr's new owner, suggested I go with smugmug(identity withheld to protect his/her job, although I'm sure some ofyou can guess... ;) )

Anyhow, make yourselves comfy... lots more pics to come in the days ahead... =)

Havinga fairly common first and last name for a Chinese-American guy meansthat I get my share of misdirected emails at times. Ordinarily,I'll reply back with a note to tell them such, and that's the end of it.

Recentlythough, courtesy of my email address someone making it to someone'smailing list and spreading from there, I've been involuntarily suckedinto the lives of a certain couple Hoby and Tonna in Philly as theyprepare to get married soon.

I'veemailed three times over the last 3 months to let them know that they havethe wrong email address. And yet the emails keep coming, because whileone person might update their local mailing list, another one invariblycuts and pastes from an older one.About invitations, bridal showers, rings. Spam, you could say, but it'smore entertaining than discount Viagra ads, that's for sure. Indeed,it's fascinating in a way -- like watching a reality show:Asian-American Xtian Wedding Preparation Idol XXVIII: Philadephia!

Courtesyof their emails landing in my inbox, and some basic tools likeFriendster and Google after curiosity finally got the better of me,I've got a wealth of info on them and their upcoming day. Now I'm notevil, so I won't post most of it here. But it's pretty darnentertaining. =)  Interestingly, both went to Penn -- any of you Penn alumni know them?

Let this be a reminder to all... try todouble-check your email addresses, and if someone tells you that you'vemisaddressed your mail, it might be a good idea to take it to heart.

Anyhow,Tonna and Hoby -- I just wanted to say: thanks for adding some spice to my inbox these pastfew months, congratulations on the big day coming up soon, and may Hebless your life ahead. Shanghai sends blessings! =)

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. -- Morpheus, The Matrix

Words that have proven powerful in speaking to me before, and now come once again to me and my life:

...There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is oneof the most harmful habits in the life. Because it is so natural it israrely recognized for the evil that it is; but its outworkings are tragic.We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the L outof fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasuresare loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears.Our L came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe whichwe commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not socommitted.

Let us never forget that such a truth as this cannot be learned byrote as one would learn the facts of physical science. They must beexperienced before we can really know them. We must in ourhearts live through Abraham's harsh and bitter experiences if wewould know the blessedness which follows them. The ancient cursewill not go out painlessly; the tough old miser within us will not liedown and die obedient to our command. He must be torn out of ourheart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony andblood like a tooth from the jaw. He must be expelled from our soulby violence as C expelled the money changers from the temple.And we shall need to steel ourselves against his piteous begging,and to recognize it as springing out of self-pity, one of the mostreprehensible sins of the human heart.

If we would indeed know G in growing intimacy we must go thisway of renunciation. And if we are set upon the pursuit of G Hewill sooner or later bring us to this test. Abraham's testing was, at thetime, not known to him as such, yet if he had taken some courseother than the one he did, the whole history of the Old Testamentwould have been different. G would have found His man, nodoubt, but the loss to Abraham would have been tragic beyond thetelling. So we will be brought one by one to the testing place, and wemay never know when we are there. At that testing place there willbe no dozen possible choices for us; just one and an alternative, butour whole future will be conditioned by the choice we make.

-- A. W. Tozer

In many ways, my journey that ultimately brought me back to thisland long-term was an Abraham experience.  And likewise, I am nowalso reminded that it won't be the only one.

Thank You for burdens lifted... and for uncertainty turning into joyat newly regained freedom for our hearts to once again pursuewholeheartedly what is most important. =)

My dad calls me on my cell phone a couple of weeks ago -- from HongKong.  He's in the airport right now, buying a ticket toShanghai.  What?!  Apparently, he was in Taiwan to tend tosome family matters, and his friend in Hangzhou called him as he wantedto buy a house and have my dad co-sign some papers, so he dropped byShanghai for one night to pay me a rather surprise visit.

What madethis visit unique from his many previous ones to the mainland was thefact that he entered using his Taiwanese documents rather than his USpassport.  Like most post-1965 Chinese/Taiwanese immigrants, my parents are dual US/Taiwancitizens.  (And yes, my dad was one of the thousands that flewback and participated in the soap opera that was the 2004elections.)  It's perfectly legal too: Taiwan allows dual citizenship.  The US itself is delibrately ambiguouson the issue. We got talking, and then he mentioned how it might be agood idea for me to apply as well, since I'd qualify through lineage.

So,if all goes well, I'll have dual citizenship soon, American by birth aswell as Chinese... well, technically speaking, a fellow "Taiwancompatriot" in the eyes of the PRC. ;)  I'll get a ID card, andcan apply for a Taiwan passport (with a special "Overseas Chinese"status) and a "台胞证" (travel document used by Taiwanese in lieu of apassport for entering the mainland, HK, and Macau).

There's just one catch: as a male, I'll have to make sure I don't stay in Taiwan for more than 4 months at a timeuntil I'm over 40 years old, lest I get drafted into the army. =P  Oh well, all the Taiwanese are moving to Shanghai anyways... ;)

Theadvantages are undeniable -- especially in this day and age where theUSA is no longer viewed favorably in much of the world, and where said"much of the world" happens to be where I hold the most interest in visiting. Had I had a second passport, it'd have been much easier for me to, forexample, enter the DPRK.  Going forward, I'll probably continuethe use of my US passport for the "Judeo-Xtian" world as well as the PRC,and start to use a Chinese/Taiwanese passport for... well, just about everythingelse.

Forthe longest time, I was blissfully ignorant myselfabout these little loopholes in immigration law, or of the fact thatmany of my friends have been enjoying these perks themselves. That blue book with the eagle on the cover was enough to get meanywhere I wanted to gowithout applying for a visa, and that was good enough for me.  Butas it turns out, I'll be joining an ever increasing club: indeed the majorityof my friends from Hong Kong or whom have Hong Kong parents have twopassports, for example (apparently there was a big rush to acquire foreign passports amidst the pre-1997 uncertainty).  In elementary and junior high, I had abunch of Jewish classmates and most of them had dual US-Israelicitizenship.  Apparently, as long as you have a single grandparentfrom Ireland, you can claim Irish citizenship.  And so on...

Indeed,something I've been pondering more and more through living as a parttwo cultures and countries is the very nature and meaning ofnationality.  What does being a citizen of a country represent to each person?

Isit just a extra bit of data, like your age, gender, weight, orheight?  Is it something of convenience to shop for, like buying ahouse and seeing whether or not it will be a good "investment"? Is it a covenant of implied loyalty and allegience to a set of sharedvalues and beliefs?  What if others perceive your country to beupholding a different set of values than what you thoughtof it as?  How about when someone is born with citizenship like Iwas, as opposed to choosing to immigrate and become naturalized --would the latter make it more significant because a concious decisionwas involved?  Gray areas galore, depending on the situation onechooses to apply these questions to...

One thing's for sure, inour increasingly global and mobile society, it's fascinating just howmuch more fluid, inclusive and less defined this whole concept isbecoming.  Already, regional bodies like the EU and APEC havestarted to break down these traditional notions by allowing seamlesstravel across borders within their regions, and it's fascinating to seehow this trend continues as time goes on.

In the midst of all this complexity, I'm ultimately thankful that I umambiguously possess a third citizenship as well -- a Kingdom not of this world... ;)

From work to play...
From the mundane to the unprecedented...
From Hongqiao to Zhangjiang...
From partying to protesting...
From Palo Alto to Pyongyang...

My first Thanksgiving away from home... It's been a wonderful 9 months filled with countlessmoments of discovery and realization, topped tonight by a otherworldydinner with Shanghai friends old and new.

Here's to many more moments here in Asia...

Thank you to my friends here in all walks of life...
To my community back home supporting me in so many different ways...
And thank You for showing me abundant, undeserved grace in all of this...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Congratulations to the both of you... looking forward to a long time in Shanghai together!

Mostly candid shots here... enjoy!