Happy Birthday to ... Me! (And You Too.)

This semester I am having a fabulous time teaching an intermediate reading course at the University of Illinois's Intensive English Institute. While I have students from Peru, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Japan, the majority of my students are Korean. Yesterday, in celebration of the lunar New Year, my Korean students fixed dinner for their teachers and classmates.

I watched in fascination as my students worked together to prepare duk guk, a traditional Korean rice cake soup. While I certainly enjoyed it, Talia LOVED it and spooned up every last drop. She finally got impatient and picked up the bowl to lap up the rest! I read online that Koreans prepare duk guk because it is so easy to eat and can be enjoyed by young and old. Talia's certainly proven that to be true.

It wasn't until after I finished my meal that my students explained duk guk's role in the New Year's celebration. Apparently everyone turns a year older after eating this traditional soup. So without realizing it, I became thirty in a moment!

In many ways, this was a pretty painless way to reach the black milestone of three decades. Instead of fretting for the next six months about my impending loss of youth in September, I got it over with early. No procrastination for me!

So here's the question...if I had eaten two bowls of soup, would I be thirty-one? And since Talia devoured three bowls, is she already four? I know kids grow up fast, but wowzers....time flies. :)

Laughable Love at Home

Over the past few weeks, our church choir has been practicing “Love at Home.” During rehearsal today, the lyrics struck me as rather ironic.

There is beauty all around, when there’s love at home.

As I thought back on our day, I wondered what could be considered more beautiful—Brooklyn’s bright orange drawing on the carpet, or Talia’s chocolate-colored poop smeared on the white canvas of her Daddy’s Sunday shirt.

There is joy in every sound, when there’s love at home.

I wonder which sounds those refer to—the percussive rhythm of Cheerios crunching on the floor (Talia dumped out the entire bag over breakfast this morning), or the lyrical moans of Brooklyn whining terribly about how much it hurts before the brush even makes contact with her scalp.

Peace and plenty here abide,

Peace… peace… Well, we have plenty of peas scattered among the Cheerios, along with a random puzzle piece, but peace seems elusive, particularly at mealtime... and playtime… and bathtime… and diaper-changing time…

Smiling sweet on every side

Let’s just say that with half of the family on antibiotics, we do more sniffling than smiling lately.

Obviously, whoever composed these lyrics must not have had small children at home. I don’t know about your family, but roses definitely don’t bloom beneath our feet! Still, one thing is very true--the time really does glide, even if it isn’t as softly and sweetly as the song suggests. I suppose the best we can do for the moment is still love each other, despite the raw imperfections of reality, and allow for the rose-colored glasses of memory to take care of the rest.

Second Life, Get a Life!

These last couple of weeks I've been introduced to the "virtual world" of Second Life as part of a course that I'm taking on Computer-Mediated Communication for Language Learning.

For neophytes like me who were clueless as to the existence of this 3-D virtual continent, Second Life allows you to create and design an avatar that looks, sounds, and acts any darn way you like. Even more, you can purchase property and design businesses, parks, buildings, amusement parks--anything your heart desires. What's really mind boggling is that Second Life actually has its own economy where you can buy and sell these creations for "lindens," which can subsequently be cashed in for U.S. Dollars. Enterprising computer geeks have made a virtual fortune, becoming millionaires in the process.

Sounds pretty nifty, huh.

Not.

Despite the adrenaline rush of entering this high-tech world where I can fly and flirt with ripped men in muscle shirts (who are almost as good-looking as my husband), I hated the experience.

I stand ethically opposed to all of the time and resources that are being spent on the expansion of this virtual world when there is so much need for improvement in our real one. While I was plummetting hundreds of feet in my virtual world and bouncing up without a scratch, my daughter fell two feet from her chair and ended up in a sea of tears with a bloody mouth to boot.

Our world cannot prosper off of a virtual economy where the only creations are found on a flat screen. What's happened to the pride that we used to have in getting our hands dirty making things that you can touch, smell, taste, experience?

For Jason, architecture school has been a bit of a disappointment because so much of the design work has been replaced by computer modelling. There seems to be a great disconnect in the way that many of today's architecture students can't even draw--taking the art out of architecture. Designs are influenced, if not controlled, by what the computer is able to render, making you wonder whether the technology or the profession is really in charge.

I wonder what my Zimbabwean friends and family would think if they knew that people were investing all of these funds into Second Life when they don't have enough to eat in their first one? Can they make sadza out of virtual corn? As Americans, don't we feel a twinge of guilt investing in Lindens when the U.S. dollar is tottering dangerously?

Let's face it, at it's core, virtual is rather fake. I find it ironic that I have to spend ten times as much time choosing my outfit and altering my appearance online than I do in reality. When I asked a Second Life expert why I should even care, I was basically told that if you look like a Newbie in this virtual world, nobody will talk to you. That seems pretty backward for a world where you're supposedly free to express your true inner self and have people accept you.

Personally, I think it's time that people stopped trying to create a better second life for themselves, and focus on the real one they're actually living instead. If you want to meet new people, try knocking on the door of the stranger who lives next door. In this virtual world of global connectedness, we've neglected the closest relationships that could nourish our minds and souls in a very real way. So Second Life, you can get a life. I've already got one.

This holiday season we had the wonderful experience of making gingerbread houses together as a family. It was really quite fascinating to see how the same raw materials of graham crackers, icing, and candy transformed to reflect our unique personalities.


My sister-in-law, the culinary goddess, naturally created a picture perfect winter wonderland that hinted towards her love of European culture.


Jason, our resident architect, whipped out this incredible, Frank Lloyd Wright-esque model that has since served as inspiration for the design of our future dream house. He aspires to run the home off of solar power. I'll be happy as long as we have a dishwasher.


As for me, well, I'd like to say that my model reflects my love of the outdoors and camping. The truth is that I couldn't construct anything more structurally complex than a tent.


As for the secret within the outhouse, however, it definitely reflected my current obsession with potty training... Fortunately, we've finally had success.


Merry Christmas!

Dorky Love

Even though our dear daughters may cause us many sleepless nights and harried days, they have also taught us so much about love and forgiveness. Lately Brooklyn has become the "peacemaker" in our home. If Jason and I ever get short in our conversations with each other, Brooklyn immediately jumps in with, "Mommy, Daddy, I'm sorry." She has learned the incredible power of a sincere apology.

The other day Jason and I got into a rather immature tiff in which I tactlessly employed the ultimate of all insults by telling him "You're a dork" (sounds like an elementary school playground, huh.) Pride damaged, Jason responded in kind by saying, "No, you're a dork." All of a sudden Brooklyn stands up in her chair and announces, "I'm the dork!" We couldn't help but stop and laugh at ourselves. With our two-year old being the only one acting like a responsible grown-up, it's been a good reminder to always use the language of love.

Talia's Howdy

This is our first attempt at blogging a video, so hopefully it works. This is a short clip of Talia saying her first word, "hi." (She speaks better dressed as a pumpkin.)

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of our Halloween adventures out here in Illinois. As you can see, we like to grow our pumpkins as big as our kids are blond...