This entry is dedicated to Miss Smith, da bomb diggity poetry slammin', old school lovin', justice fightin' 6th grade teacher in response to why I don't write anymore and why I'll write again I suppose .

Christmas break in recap: home in Cali! =), saw my family, saw some old high school buds (& college buds) and was great catching up with them, learned some awesome cookie decorating tips from my friend, went snowboarding and can finally carve now even tho suckily (heel-toe-heel-toe-flop), and ate lotsa fruits and veggies that were fresh..yes, fresh!

Now it's back to da Bronx. How anticlimatic is that? The 1st week back was a struggle but I know this is where the Lord wants me to be. At times it's overwhelming trying to balance studying with serving while trying to find rest but finally in the past few days, I'm learning how to rest in Him and be renewed by Him. He has reminded me once again why I am here. He continues to be so good to me despite my fickleness, my lack of faithfulness at times, and my complaints. It's amazing isn't it?

On another note, I'm back into the cooking groove! The current craze? This Korean pancake called "pa jong"...I probably spelled it wrong..hehe . Apologies, me Chinese. It's sooo good. It's like the Chinese equivalent of green onion pancake but with more stuff in it.  It came in a powder form so I just added water. I also added green onions and shrimp to it (w/ some jalapenos). I'm still trying to perfect the thickness of it but my friend still ate it up so I guess it was edible. I went to both the Korean and Chinese supermarket the past weekend. It was great! Now I have seafood and veggies. All I need is people to help me finish it so I can buy more.

Okay, that's all for now. I hope you're satisfied, Emily =). I'm still waiting for that letter. You've really given "snail" mail it's real meaning...hehe...j/k! Miss you!

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Being back in school has not been easy, but I know it's where God wants me to be. It's a joy to see how He's working in different people's lives and the work He has yet to do. Today, I was just overwhelmed by how good He has been to me and has given me everything when I have done nothing to merit His goodness to me. I feel convicted for the many times I've forgotten about Him and put other things over Him but I pray that He transforms me day by day.

One of the greatest joys at school here for me is going on the swing set in the playground at night when no one is around. I feel like I'm in elementary school again but swings are soo much fun! My friend and I went on the swing set tonight and everything was just right. The temperature was perfect and there was a light breeze blowing too. We swung up and down, higher and higher as the wind whooshed in our ears. The best part was when we swung so high that we felt we were about to fly off the swing set into the night sky. After our flight through the air, we just sat there and prayed for the retreat our fellowship is having in October. I felt such indescribable peace and joy from the Lord just sitting there and praying with her that all my worries for school, fellowship, etc went away. What an awesome God we serve!

Sorry for the discontinuity in my updates but I am officially in the 2nd week of the 2nd year of med school and have been too caught up trying to take care of club stuff, logistics, etc... I will answer the nutrition questions people have been asking. Yes, they do eat healthier in Asia for sure, especially more vegetables. However, people don't seem to consume as much fruit in the countryside. Fruit seems more like a luxury. I was fine with the food for the most part. (Did get the runs off and on the entired time but nothing serious, praise God.) I ate mostly a bunch of veggies and seafood. I also ate a lot of lizi..it's a small round somewhat prickly red fruit that you peel. It's really good! As for MSG and soy sauce, I don't think they really use that much MSG in Fuzhou cuisine. Fuzhou cuisine for the most part is more on the lighter side. If you have to ask me what my favorite Chinese cuisine is, it'd have to be Taiwanese or Sichuan style!

The Part 2 of my adventures will be posted up soon, hopefully this weekend seeing how it's a 3 day weekend. As for now, I'd love to chat with you guys via phone or email about my experience, especially about the church and government there.

Since pictures always tell a story, here's a partial presentation of my adventures in China (6/23-7/30), Part I:

Asian mosquitos really love me for some reason and the scary thing is that this is only one side of my leg. On top of that, I got attacked again when I arrived in Taiwan. So total number of bug bites for the summer would be what you see here * 4 * 2 = way too many! I pretty much gave up counting them after the first week.

This is Fujian Provincial Hospital, the biggest hospital in Fujian Province and located in the capital city of Fuzhou. Behind me are the doctors and interning medical students that belong to the cardiac surgery department. I mainly worked with the foreign doctor you see in this picture (the only non-Asian). He's originally a cardiac surgeon from Texas and lends his expertise at this hospital.

This is one of the villages in Fujian Province. It's actually not as rural as I thought it'd be. There's a pretty new highway that runs by it so they maintain contact with the outside world. As part of my project this summer, I surveyed people about their nutritional habits. My conclusion: they eat healthier in China than we do in the US!

more to come later...