A Wannabe Scholar's Paradise

I don't remember much from junior high, but one of the most useful things I learned there was the acronym "S.P.I.E.S." It stands for the different aspects of health we need for overall well-being:

Social
Physical
Intellectual
Emotional
Spiritual

It has become a great tool for self-assessment all these years. I've been pretty good at working on my social, physical, emotional, and spiritual health the last few weeks but I really felt the need to work on my Intellectual health this week. I felt my brain screaming at me (a really strange feeling) "What about me?! Feed me too!" All through school, I was one of those stereotypical studious, teacher's pet Asians who always had my nose in a book. I've come out of my shell since high school and have been catching up on the social skills I want to develop.

But I was reminded this week that I was not brought to the most educated city in America just to play. Only a year ago, I was set on getting my Ph.D. in American Studies or African American Studies to be a professor. I wanted to be a SCHOLAR. But through much agonizing deliberation and prayer, I decided that I would have a very hard time balancing career and family if I went that route because of the demands and temptations of research and teaching. Thus, my current career path of Higher Education Administration, because I still want to work with college students.

But I really missed American Studies this week...learning about the humanities and challenging the observational and analytical parts of my brain. I started by watching this fascinating documentary. It triggered alot of strong feelings and opinions in me. You can read about it in my other blog.

Read more of Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League, a novel (based on a true story) set in the rougher southeast area of DC. I've never been in a book club but I thought this was a good book to start with (apparently, it's been very critically acclaimed). It was chosen by the director of my grad program; we'll start discussing it in a week.

Listened to a couple of podcasts about the War of 1812 and national monuments from the American History Guys. I know. Nerd Alert. But life (especially in DC) is so much more interesting when we learn about the history of places, people, and events.

Then this weekend, I wanted to go exploring with friends as usual, but I felt a really strong prompting to be alone and ponder. It was a very unusual inner conflict. Normally, I feel like I need to put myself out there and be more social, but this weekend was the exact opposite.

So I set out on Saturday with an itinerary...alone. It started with a volunteer orientation for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. I signed up to volunteer for 3 days (the festival is 10 days total). Apparently they had the most volunteers sign up ever this year - 620ish - but I think only half or so showed up :( I'm excited to serve my community and learn. You can read all about it next week :)

Then I wandered around Georgetown til I found this "Thai Village in Georgetown" festival next to the Thai Embassy. It turned out to be another event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Bangkok and DC. Thailand seems to really cherish this relationship.

There were alot of local Thai restaurants that set up little huts to sell food. Super cute.

This was my favorite stand name haha

There was a stage for performances, which were all really good. Who knew jazz was so big in Thailand? This is the 2nd Thai jazz band I've seen in the last month. She sang "Halo" and "Route 66".

Then of course, there was the food. I was really careful to pick things that weren't spicy. I started with these little crab/pork dumplings. It made me miss Chinese dim sum.

I got some baby coconut juice, which flavor went really well with the crab

Finished off with this delicious curry noodle dish. Yummm

These dancers did a routine that mixed traditional Thai with modern dance styles. They were really skilled and entertaining. It's so interesting to see the contrast with other dances like ballet and ballroom - their hands and feet were always flexed and never pointed.

Wandered around a cute little bookstore in Georgetown and saw this. What bothered me was the section this book was placed in. And how do you write a biography of a book of scripture?!

I found some great bargains though ($3 and $3.50!). These seemed like some staples an American Studies major should have in her library :)

I went on to a real library in Foggy Bottom, a beautiful part of the neighborhood

...because there was a free tango class on the top floor. What the random?! It was a beginner lesson taught by an elderly European man. It felt so good to take a dance class again, though it soon got boring with the basic choreography. One day, I will go back for the books.

As I made my way to the American History Museum, I came upon this extremely talented man on the sidewalk. There were dozens of people who stopped and watched him. Man got rhythm! I hope he gets the chance to perform in front of a bigger audience someday and maybe even support himself doing it.

Have I mentioned that I love fountains? And dancing.

I made it there in time for the live 1960 Greensboro sit-in exhibit. I honor and admire all the courageous people (not just blacks) who risked everything to fight in the Civil Rights Movement.

Then I went to the "Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty" exhibit, which topic always bothered me

It was especially poignant after picking up this book again and reading it all day on the Metro (thanks Tim). Ignore my shiny face, it was h-o-t.

Wandered to another exhibit with various items from American history. It was cooler than I thought it would be to stand right in front of a piece of history (as opposed to just seeing a picture of it), like this one. Abolitionists were so creative and witty.

I loved this. As a fledgling democracy, early Americans thought it was crucial to have a literate populace so the people could read the Bible and understand the laws for themselves. Sometimes this was all they had to practice reading. I'm so grateful for my educational opportunities.

First Apple computer from the 1980s. I am grateful for how much it has evolved!

One of the original sunstones from the Nauvoo temple!!

A model of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, invented in 1793. One of the most significant inventions in American history because it made processing cotton exponentially more efficient and spurred the need for an increase in slave labor 15 years before the Constitution outlawed the importation of slaves, so there was plenty of time to bring in more Africans. It's one of those things that makes you wonder how history would be different if it was never invented...

Crazy statue of George Washington. It was powerful seeing this in person after reading about its unpopularity in textbooks. Thank goodness this statue of George Washington never became famous, but definitely infamous!

Another exhibit: history of a reconstructed 200-year-old house - These people were so brave to stand up against slavery. It became a way of life insomuch that they indoctrinated freedom and racial equality in their children. I wonder if I would have been as bold and dedicated.

Illustrating the 9 steps of doing laundry back then. I am SO GRATEFUL I didn't live in these times! Wow, I will never complain about doing my laundry again. They BOILED their clothes! And didn't have rubber gloves to protect their hands from the harsh soap! I hand wash some of my clothes but spend probably only 30 minutes doing it each week...

I think I would faint from fright if I ran into one of these huge things on the plains.

Apparently, managers didn't always exist...until the Industrial Revolution, when small shops and independent merchants gradually gave way to huge industries and factories that sometimes had gates to better control their masses of underpaid and overworked laborers.

I'm grateful to the generations of feminists and labor protestors who make it possible for me to work in a healthy environment with 8-hour (not 14) workdays, a decent salary, and insurance and vacation benefits.

So grateful that I was able to get many of the benefits of being a first generation immigrant (greater educational, career, religious, recreational, and cultural opportunities) without many of its disadvantages (poverty, persecution, alienation, etc.).

I'm extra grateful I was not born a slave. God must have extra rewards for them in heaven.

I only spent 2 hours there before it closed, and only got through 1 floor. Guess I'll have to find another 4 hours to see the rest of it...

Left craving pizza really bad but Costco was already closed :( No $2 pizza for me. So I tried out this place in my neighborhood.

The gelato (pistachio) and sorbeto (watermelon) was delicious but awfully overpriced

Was excited to bring my capreze pizza home and watch a good ol' musical

The musical was better than I remembered. My gal Doris Day in The Pajamas Game (1957) - uproarious and clever songs, creative choreography, snappy dialogue - I highly recommend it. The pizza...sucked. By the time it got home, it was dried out AND waterlogged (?!) and pretty tasteless.

What did I learn this week? That there are plenty of opportunities to educate myself (especially in DC :)) even if I am not able to pursue a Masters degree in the humanities right now.

Also, that I am a people person and I can't wait to work on my social health next week!

My Beauty Recipe

My favorite beauty quote:

True beauty is feeling good without looking in the mirror.

I've found that these things make me feel beautiful:
Music - singing/playing/watching/listening to uplifting songs/compositions
Fitness - doing active things that lengthen and strengthen my body
Nature - enjoying the majesty of God's creations
Dance - moving my body to music
Truth - acquiring spiritual and temporal knowledge
Service - enriching the lives of God's children
Love - feeling the gift of charity for or through someone
Color - wearing/seeing vibrant shades that represent the spice of life

In addition, I know these 2 things to be true:
1) Heavenly Father KNOWS me...so well
2) His ways/plans are always better than mine

I've been thinking about this all week. I have been in awe of the beauty surrounding me here and SO GRATEFUL to God for putting me where I am, where I have so many things that make me feel so alive - especially the greenery and water. I even love the humidity (I lived by the ocean for the first 18 years of my life)! I've been smiling all week as I'm enjoying the beauty all around me...my new favorite place is the balcony of the Kennedy Center, which is blessedly close enough to visit on my lunch break -

And thank you to whoever planned the sidewalks - with canopies of trees for shade

I couldn't help but think of D&C 59:18-19

"All things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul."

Another thing that makes me enormously happy is people! There is such a diversity of people in DC, and they are all beautiful, from the weary middle-aged lady selling newspapers to the sharply dressed clean shaven young male lawyer. I love all the tourists and gaggles of students in matching bright t-shirts - their enthusiasm and wonder at the city are refreshing. I love the cute little kiddies running around. I love the elderly couple on the benches. I love the homeless man hunched in the corner. They are all so beautiful, especially Rosa. She is the most happy and beautiful custodian I have ever met. She is always cheerful, talks to everyone, and does her work with dignity and a spring in her step. She brightens every work day.

I love working for GW. There was a campus-wide employee appreciation party this week called "Proud to be GW" with lots of food, music, prizes, and games.

Ed is my good friend who took over my position at my GW temp job

I am proud to be at GW

Thursday after work - I went shopping (found some knee-length shorts & skirts!! modest clothes are NOT easy to find) and walked across the mall to a free concert. Ran into one of the many fountains in the city and couldn't help expressing my joy in movement

All week, I also kept thinking of D&C 136:28

"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving."

I finally got to the steps of the Capitol where the US Army Band was performing

I didn't realize it was such a special occasion - it happened to be Flag Day and the 237th birthday of the Army!

The band was excellent and I got chills many times. They played a great variety: John Philip Sousa marches, a song from the movie The Terminal, an opera duet,a Glenn Miller swing song, a musical theater piece, and medley of all the Armed Forces fight songs. Grateful for their talents.

Friday - I haven't tried any new restaurants lately but was able to check another restaurant off my list when I came to work and found a bunch of leftovers from Roti Mediterranean Grill! I helped myself to a plate of roasted veggies and lamb in a pita with dill yogurt sauce.

Yummy, but it gave me the worse heartburn which kept me too ill to go salsa dancing even 9 hours later :(

Still, after work, I met up with my coworker, Jessica. We got frozen yogurt for "dinner" at Sweetgreen cuz neither of us were that hungry.

And I told her about the best kept secret at Whole Foods - a huge $2 cinnamon sugar soft pretzel!

Then we rode the free shuttle to the Kennedy Center nearby to see The Image Band, a modern Caribbean band. Did you know June is National Caribbean American Heritage Month? Me neither...til now.

There were lots of Caribbean people in the audience who stood and danced the whole time. Jessica and I grooved along :)

Saturday - a much anticipated day with Britt at the Tidal Basin in southwest DC! I have this funny habit of trying to kick the leaves above my head...

Funny story: when I swung my legs up around the branch, my right flip flop flew away! I was so afraid that it got stuck in the tree and I'd have to go barefoot in the yucky Metro. Thank goodness Britt found it on the grass several yards away.

We rented a paddleboat (which brought back childhood memories from China) and slipped on huge life jackets. "Turtle turtle!"

It was a gorgeous day - the duckies were enjoying it with us

What a perfect way to see the monuments - Jefferson Memorial to one side

Washington Memorial to the other

If you ever want to get anywhere FAST in the water - a paddleboat is not the way to go. It is probably the slowest, most inefficient way to travel - about 10 feet a minute despite manic paddling. Who needs a stairmaster?!

It took some paddling to get to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the far side

He looks stockier than in real life. Sorry MLK.

On the way back, we asked a lovely couple to take pics of us and we were so glad they did.


Came back around to the Jefferson Memorial and chillaxed for a while

Britt pulled out her iPod and we jammed to some hits

Here's our abridged Tidal Basin playlist:

"Brighter than the Sun" - Colbie Caillat
"Party in the USA" - Miley Cyrus
"Baby" - Justin Bieber
"Grace Kelly" - Mika

Shameless singing ensued.

Our 1 hour rental ended and we got off to explore the Jefferson on foot (my 1st time, Britt's _th time)

I want to like Jefferson more but his highly racist Notes on the State of Virginia holds me back. Still, it was a beautiful memorial.

We soon got hungry and Britt was craving crepes from this little shop in Chinatown of all places (DC's Chinatown is so not legit, but has some cool shops)

We ate in the shady steps of the National Portrait Gallery

We both got savory crepes - mine had grilled chicken with tomatoes and pesto. mmMMm

Apparently, I am inept at eating these things because right after this picture I accidentally turned my crepe sideways and spilled the innards all over my lap. Smooth.

Went home to wash out and change my shorts, then rested a bit before going to help set up for the ward dating activity (I'm on the Activities Committee). Our setup of the dating game, "Singled Out" was hilariously successful.

Side-splitting and knee-slapping awkwardness - what else would you expect from a bunch of Mormon YSA's (young single adults)?


Someday, my prince will find me. But until then, I will continue to overwhelm myself with the glorious beauties of DC.

Live with No Regrets

So true to my word (see previous post), I did make extra efforts to get my life in order this week (permanent tourists, i.e. myself, need to recharge for more exploring) ...

- Got 7 hours of sleep almost everyday!
- Had extended meaningful scripture study almost everyday (and shorter ones the other days)
- Exercised almost everyday
- Only ate one meal out (and it was less than $4 at Costco, which is kind of lame but a good break on my wallet)
Bonus: played piano twice this week!

Not as eventful of a week exploration-wise, but I felt so much better about myself.

This is what I ate everyday (cooked a huge batch on Sunday) for dinner - delicious, nutritious, and cheap!


I felt super out of shape at the beginning of the week, which is one of the worse feelings ever (along with regret, but I'll get to that later), so I started with a music video by Beyonce haha. It's called "Move Your Body" and she made it last year to support Michelle Obama's campaign to fight childhood obesity. It's really fun and a super good workout if you really throw yourself into it, which of course, I did :)

Tuesday, I wanted to do my Ballet Conditioning exercise video but I also wanted to watch The Bachelorette. My roommate suggested that I do both, so I did (I have a widescreen laptop). It required advanced level multi-tasking skills...

I learned something really interesting about my body this week, thanks to my roommate, Nina. I was made to wear heels. PROOF:

Since I moved to DC, I've been walking a LOT more, and my foot arches have been hurting really bad in the last 2 weeks. I tried wearing only flats, but it got so painful on Tuesday that I could barely walk. I was freaking out that maybe I had some kind of disease (there's a mild hypochondriac in me) and needed x-rays, but decided to ask Nina first, who's studying to become a Nurse Practitioner. She said my feet might have gotten weaker since moving here because I'm not dancing everyday (much to my mourning) and my feet have gotten weaker. She suggested that I wear heels again, which I did the next day...and voila! I was heeled (pun intended)!

I miss ballroom so bad, and my extremely sore calves after ballet proved how fast I can lose muscle tone/strength. I am on a new mission to get my dancer legs back.

To help with this, I bought a 4-class Zumba pass at the gym in my complex (I love where I live!) and went to my first class on Wednesday. I've done Zumba before but every instructor's style is very different. The class was held on the 12th floor (I live on the 2nd) partyroom, which I hadn't gone to before. The view was breathtaking. Crystal City has alot of other highrises like mine but I thought the coolest thing was being able to see the Pentagon from the balcony.

Excited to go back next week!

Thursday: break

Friday: 4 hours of dancing at The Salsa Room with Michael. It was epic. Yes, I wore my heels. No, weekly salsa will not be enough to get my dancer legs back...

Saturday: Ate pupusas for the 1st time! The Spanish family ward in the stake was having a fundraiser to raise money for youth camps, which I whole-heartedly support because I strongly believe in the development of our youth through recreation. And the food wasn't bad either.

4 dense corn tortillas filled with beans/cheese/pork with some thin tomato sauce and Latino coleslaw. Delicious. Very very filling.

Then I met up with Stephen to rent kayaks on the Potomac!!! This was another 1st time so I was super excited. There are several companies in front of Georgetown that rent kayaks/canoes. I was really bummed we couldn't take more pics because we had to put our stuff in a locker before getting in the kayak, so we were only able to take pics afterwards.

It was a beautiful day.

We rented a 2-person kayak for an hour and it was an adventure trying to coordinate our rows - not super successful but it was a great arm workout :D, not to mention SUPER FUN!

I kept trying to think of all the teamwork/life lesson metaphors that could come from kayaking...I think it should be a required activity for marriage/missionary preparation classes. Think about it.

More water adventures to come!!

Then we walked around Georgetown looking for cool refreshment. I'm always drawn to frozen yogurt places, so I tried a new one - Iceberry. Plain and taro flavors, no toppings. So refreshing!

We walked around Foggy Bottom a bit, my neck of the woods, but ultimately decided to ride the Metro back to Costco (by our apts) to save money on dinner haha. We calculated that frozen yogurt is 10 times cheaper in Costco than at other fro yo places, although the taste and texture is very different. Still, dinner was under $4. Don't remember the last time I ate a hot dog.

Afterwards, we took the Metro back to DC to see one of the free concerts of the DC Jazz Festival. It was at a fancy hotel called Mandarin Oriental along the southwest waterfront of DC. We were way under-dressed in shorts and t-shirts so we sat in the corner haha.

But OH! The music was wonderful. Another one of those euphoric experiences that makes my heart smile and my soul sing.

This is the email I wrote to the band leader, Julian Hipkins, afterwards:

Hello Mr. Hipkins!
I had the grand pleasure of attending your concert at the Mandarin Oriental last night (June 9). I was the Asian girl in the right corner who spoke to you after your first show. I had missed all the other DC Jazz Festival concerts this week but I'm glad yours was the one I saw. You and your band were so remarkably smooth and in the groove, which I know comes from dedicated training and rehearing. I'm a jazz vocalist myself, and I was absolutely inspired by the way you milked and caressed every word and every note in each song you sang. You also had remarkable showmanship and are a great entertainer. My senses were delighted and my soul was elevated. Thank you for so generously sharing the talents God has given you to make people like me happy to be alive.
Keep on keepin' on...
Best wishes to you and your band,
Linda F.

I hope it made his day like his concert made mine.

Like I mentioned in the email, I didn't go to any other of the dozens of jazz concerts this week, and I was practically kicking myself for it after hearing Julian Hipkins' band. I had failed in following one of my most important personal life philosophies!

"I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not." ~Lucille Ball

So I spent a couple hours tonight going through my DC Visitor's Guide, the Washington Post local page, and various other brochures & websites to find cool things I wanna do and put them in my phone calendar.

Live with no regrets.