American Thanksgiving Day

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the 4th Thursday in November. Grandma (my landlady's mother-in-law) told me to join them for Thanksgiving dinner about a month before that. And Marianne, my landlady, she invited 4 of my friends along.

I got some work done during the day time, and helped Marianne with some dishes in the afternoon. After grandma came with her pumpkin pies, we started chatting - about the history of Thanksgiving day, and what we were thankful for. Marianne told me about the Macy's Parade in New York City, which we got to watch on the TV. And on this day, the guys will be watching football. The day after Thanksgiving, it's called the Black Friday. It's the day where all the stores will be on crazy sales and people would line up in front of the outlets from midnight just to make sure that they got all the best deals they could ever get. That's my Becoming American #118. No, I lost count of my lessons now ;p

We had some pretty good conversations in the afternoon. Marianne shared how this year has been a good beginning to her, and she teared. It has been 10 years since her daughter passed away, because of a kind of rare cancer. If she had lived, she would be in her late 20s today. I am the 4th NUS student she has hosted, and my seniors who lived with her previously were all guys. Grandma told me that I'm the first girl Marianne takes, and it has worked out perfectly for her. She couldn't even get near girls before, because that would remind her of her late daughter. I thank God that things have got better for Marianne, and that she's able to move on really.

I give thanks for Marianne and grandma have been like my family away from home. Before I fly out for vacation or for work, she would say, "Have fun alright?", or she would remind me to bring all the stuff I need . It's simple things like this that makes me feel like it's a home. Though I would try to spend as much time with her, work has been keeping me incredibly busy. I've been getting back from work past midnight, and I havent seen much of Marianne. It hit me when grandma told me how Marianne would talk to her about me a lot, and that she hasnt seen me a lot lately. I felt so bad, the fact that she talks to grandma about me a lot, it means a lot to me. So I promised to stay in more often and we would decorate for Christmas together.

That was a lovely afternoon of sharing. Marianne's friend came after, and the turkey was almost ready by 6pm. We wouldn't start the dinner until 7pm after my friends arrived. Apart from the yummy food, we had lots of laughters at the dinner table. My first American Thanksgiving experience, great indeed.

So Thanksgiving is about the turkey

a lot of food

pumpkin pies

and the loved ones :)

This is the grandma everybody loves!

Jacquie grandma, and Marianne, my landlady

And obviously we didn't quite miss out on the Black Friday Sale? We went to the Gilroy Premium Outlets at 1am, and we didnt get back until 7am. It's my first experience of shopping, seriously ;p

This is the long line that would lead to Coach, apparently there's a 60% or 70% off for the whole store. No wonder people would stand in the line for so long even though it's so cold out there!

It was a great Thanksgiving. More importantly, I give thanks to Abba Father everyday, not only on Thanksgiving day :)

ears breathing Never Let Go by David Crowder Band, Remedy

New York, and an unexpected detour to Connecticut

Having to fly across the states to New York after an awesome week, I felt like it was the most reluctant flight I've ever taken. I looked forward towards the meetings and also seeing another city, but I missed my friends who were still back in California a lot. I watched My Sister's Keeper on the flight, and that's a great movie, and my tears were shed. I guess I cried partly because I was thinking about my friends a lot :p

Apart from meetings during day time, I'd a lot of work to catch up with at night - proposals, and also a final project for school. Those kept me occupied so I wouldn't have much time to think about California that much :p

New York is a fun place to be in - I love it that I get to take so many cool pictures there. If you would just stop and look at the people rushing by you, you'll be able to observe a lot of interesting things. It's fun to people watch and make up stories of their lives. Then you start to see how different people have different values in their lives, and everyone is going after different things. In a city so full of wealth, it upset me to see people who are without shelter. And some of the street artists played music in the subway station to keep warm, they would enter the station in the morning and wouldnt leave until evening.

Walking down Broadway is my dream come true :p I was so excited about each of the play, and I wished I could watch all of them! I'm glad to get to watch Phantom of The Opera and The Lion King though, my all time favorites. I was just telling Devika the week before that it was one of my regrets for not watching Phantom of The Opera when it was being played in Singapore. It's a complete privilege to be able to watch it at Majestic Theatre. Any attempt to describe the experience would not do justice to the musical. The Lion King too was breathtaking! It's been one of my favorites from Disney's, and I can't tell how much I have loved the soundtrack. That musical, it's like all of them have come alive - amazing props and music :)

Phantom of The Opera at Majestic Theatre, Broadway, NY

Time Square, NY

The Lion King at Minskoff Theatre, Broadway, NY

Because 2 of the meetings were cancelled, I got to do a detour to Connecticut. It's totally unexpected and I loved it that I got to see Devivi again. We were making plans to meet up in the city before I flew out, but plans changed, as always. I took a train into New Haven, Connecticut. I loved the train ride, every bit of it. As the train left the city into the suburbs, it's just a totally different from what I've been seeing in the west coast. The colors changed from green, to red, to yellow, and I saw a lot of bare trees too. That's the amazing thing about having 4 seasons, Devivi has always told me how the scenery is very different, and that it changes every month.

We pretty much stayed local during my 3-day stay there. Totally loved how she's shown me her town, where she grew up in, and places where she usually hangs out, and her temple. It means a lot to me, and I'm glad that we had much late night conversations. And I had a few more lessons on Becoming American too - smores, foot stone, Christmas decorations, making brownie, etc.

That's a beautiful town - we visited some places and I've got some great photos taken, especially at Choate and Yale. As she talked about Choate, an excellent high school, I was in continual amazement. I honestly didn't think much about college, the future, or what do I wanna do, until after high school. I've grown up in a very different environment. All we had was purely fun, really ;p

Choate Campus, CT

Yale Campus, CT

I've been eating a lot since I got to the US ;p

I'm glad that many people have crossed my path, and they have been precious and inspiring. Cant be more thankful for people who have shaped what I become of today. And I've always loved and believed in Romans 8:28.

ears breathing God of Ages by Hillsong, Saviour King

Amazing friends, amazing fall

Fall's been amazing and I'm absolutely looking forward to entering winter. A lot has happened over the past month - both great and bizarre things. In each of the incidents and encounters, I still see reasons for me to give thanks though. Life's been great, and it'll only get greater :)

The reunion was more than amazing - great seeing the folks again after so long. Devika flew in from Connecticut, Ed flew in from London and Dom flew in from Toronto. Over the weekend, Jess flew in from Los Angeles to meet up with us. On top of that, Justin, Matt, Kathy and Rubi are in northern California. So it's essentially a reunion of 9 people - the largest reunion ever since Singapore. I'm sure people have changed over the years as they experienced more in life, I'm so glad that we are still great friends.

It's just amazing to see how we were walking down the streets in California, it didn't feel like we've left Singapore for that long after all. Slumber party at Matt's, random hike around San Mateo, San Mateo downtown, Palo Alto downtown, Stanford, Mountain View downtown, oh and Kathy's at Fremont.

4 of us did a trip to Yosemite - an absolutely gorgeous place. Clearly, Dom and Dev are hikers. While both of them went on their journey to reach the top of the world, Ed and I were taking our own sweet time and we were well entertained by our Nikon princes - D40 and D90. Thank God for the great company, it made the hikes more managable. We definitely bonded a lot because of the many random conversations - from songs, to books, to career, to life. That's where I started my Becoming American lessons too! Granola bar, trail mix, wiseman stick, back padel brake, etc. Because we went in the low season, we literally had the park to ourselves. Each step I took in Yosemite, I couldn't help but to be amazed by the wonderful creations of our almighty God. I especially love the fall colors, such beautiful combination. And the stars we saw at night, I havent seen stars in such density since my last trip to Redang, where I volunteered in SEATRU. It's all wonderful.

We unofficially wrapped up our CA reunion with a trip to Napa Valley. Dom got us a very nice treat up at Mumm Napa. It was a great way to spend an afternoon with your loved ones, with the perfect weather ;)

Each of us got 3+ 7 glasses of wine. Unfortunately I wasted all of them - no I dont like the taste :p

While we had such great time through the week, it was hard to say bye. I had to leave for east coast for work after that week. When Devivi was booking the flights, I hoped that we could spend more time together if she stayed for 2 weeks, and she did come here for 2 weeks. I felt awful to have to fly out to east coast after 1 week. It was emotional when they sent me off to the airport, I fought hard to hold my tears, until after they left. They probably have no idea how much this reunion means to me, how timely it is, and how lovely it has been. I needed to breakaway for a bit, and God's granted that. To have friends who accept you as you are, who can help you see beyond what's in front of you, it's a blessing.

We are even more excited about the mega-reunion we've been talking about - the Singaporeunion in summer 2010! It will be amazing :)

ears breathing None But Jesus by Hillsong United, With Hearts As One

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California love // a prelude

It's gonna be exciting - we are actually having a prelude to our Singapore reunion in 2 days time. I can't wait, really :)

As I fly into SFO on Thursday night, 2 of my good friends are gonna touch down at the same airport too. Having friends flying in from the east coast, London, Toronto, it's gonna be an amazing fall. It's been 3 years since I saw some of my closest friends - I am very excited that we get to see each other again. I think we will be spending a lot of time reminiscing our times back in PGP.

My first real Halloween this year - it's gonna be a great one. Maybe I should set up some video conference to link up with the other guys who can't make it to CA :p

A prelude, to our Singapore reunion. A get-together I'm looking forward to :)

On a side note, I figured I need to learn a little bit more about my car. As I drove home last night, I was surprised to find out that the temperature indicator hit the max. Yes, look at the indicator on the right.

I have no idea how did this happen and how long has it been like this ;p Hopefully my mechanic will fix it and I can have my car back after I get home :) We need the car to get around right :p

Time to learn to understand my car more lol.

ears breathing With Everything by Hillsong, This Is Our God

Sent from my iPhone

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3 months since I wrote

3 months ago, I said I would try writing more often. But work's keeping me way too busy. I'm thankful 'cause life is as great as it can be - work, school, friends, new people, amazing and inspiring people.

Work is great - I'm learning a great deal at work. I can't possibly ask for more, the opportunities given, the assignments tasked, each and every one of them teaches me something new. I am so used to being in the pampered environment back in Singapore and Malaysia. It took me a little while to adapt to the work culture here. Many people are vocal about what they think. I am privileged to get to experience this first hand. There were moments where I took some comments personally, when I should not. But I managed to turn around very quickly, and look at things from another perspective. Having lovely coworkers certainly helps :) Also, I was in awe when some people actually believe in my work more than I do. It's the lack of confidence they say. I knew that I do not have the option to let them down. I need to grow much quicker, so that I can fulfill something bigger. Ultimately it's His grace and favor that I rely on.

The friends I made here are wonderful. It is important to be in a socially healthy environment. Having friends who would look out for one another, not forget to say many of whom are inspiring, these people become one of the reasons I cherish the days here. While I love for friends to have one another's back, I'm again and again reminded that friendship is a 2-way thing. I guess you will only try to reach out to someone for that long, if (s)he's not opening up, you'll probably give up at some point. I am glad that I get to talk to some friends whom I hold dear to my heart fairly frequently. Little things like saying goodnight to Devika would make my day too! :p

Oh and just recently my mom mastered the skills to make a video call on MSN. I like it that I get to talk to her quite frequently, but problem is - she would call me every morning. Yea, her every morning. She is just as funny and she still doesnt know what to do with my little brother. Ha.

The one thing I miss a lot is to worship back in New Creation Church. I have visited 4 churches so far, but I havent really decided which to settle down in yet. God's gonna show me His divine guidance in this :p When I first went to Singapore, I spent half a year visiting the churches around before I finally felt really comfortable in New Creation Church. I hope it wont be long until I feel really comfortable in a church here - so I can start joining their student ministry/cellgroup. It's the fellowship that I miss :)

But yea, things have been amazing so far. When pastor preached about the dektos year 2009, I believe it, I just believe. God's blessings have been overflowing and I know there are more to come. I just know that it will only get greater, and greater. So I am looking forward to experiencing even more - yes, be the captive of Hope.

ears breathing You Are Here by Hillsong London, Hail To the King Live Album

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Blessed child of God

Penny, la Musicienne