I’m leaving on a jet plane.. don’t know when I’ll be back again.

The past two weeks at home in Palos Verdes have been liberating, yet suffocating at the same time.  My time has been split pretty much evenly between

1) trying (and failing) to keep up with all the PV moms in yoga at Equinox;

2) pretending to clean out all of the stuff that has accumulated in my room in the past 11 years and replacing it with things I amassed in college… but actually just sitting my ass on the floor, reflecting on my youth as I reminisce through pages of my old photo albums, yearbooks, essays, and projects;

3) reading random ish on my iPad and and porning out on graphics and pretty apps. :)

After graduation and a 12 day stint traipsing around Germany and Austria with my family, I was happy to have some time to myself and enjoy the comfort of Palos Verdes without the mental weight of living an adult life with adult responsibilities.  Let me just say that I have no idea how anybody over the age of 20 is able to survive here unless you have a penchant for driving unreasonably long distances in order to reach any area with other young people or more importantly, THINGS TO DO. 

But as my time left here decreases by the minute, the only thing I can do is look back and appreciate the diversity I’ve enjoyed in my life - from Palos Verdes, a privileged suburb characteristic for its perfectly manicured lawns and crown molding - to Berkeley, in all its hippiedom and free speech glory - and now, finally to Hangzhou, China. 

On that note, ever since I made the decision to take this job in China, a lot of people have been asking me recurring questions and making similar comments. 

First

a) Why China?

followed by

b) Why are you graduating early?

and finally,

c) I always thought you were going to end up in San Francisco.  Why are you leaving the Bay Area?

To be honest, I had to do a lot of thinking before I even knew the answer to these questions myself.  By now I’ve crafted out my textbook responses that follow the lines of always being fascinated by China and wanting to live there, wanting to improve my Mandarin, being done with my major, and trying to capture the essence of my youth by venturing our into unconquered territory before having to face the responsibility that inevitable arrives in our lives.   Something like that.  

So I guess this is a goodbye for now… to family, friends, clean air, the beach, Mexican/Indian/Italian/In-n-Out, fast internet, familiarity.   Hello to The Unknown.  Off to (hopefully) help change some lives! :)

p.s. stay tuned for my Education in China blog…

hear, hear

The spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this: the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. People can dream of such a thing but that hope should not be fulfilled without a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love. 

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race. 

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely the power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform so long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom.

Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,
Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive. We need mutual forgiveness in order to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads on to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can receive and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace. 

-words taken from the Royal Wedding Address

18 days…

• fire trail run
• cheeseboard @ indian rock
• skates on the bay happy hour
• TAC
• campanile
• bakesale betty
• vik’s chaat corner
• cal gear shopping
• strawberry canyon

• lawrence hall of science

• twin peaks

• moma
• legion of honor
• bay to breakers
• nick’s crispy tacos
• gary dankoooo
• graduation

going to make this all happen. count on it.

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten 
the plums 
that were in 
the icebox 

and which 
you were probably 
saving 
for breakfast 

Forgive me 
they were delicious 
so sweet 
and so cold 

-wcw 

this is my 25 year old grown sister. hahahahaha
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 11:41 PM, Dee Dee Xia <deedee.xia@gmail.com> wrote:

NOOOOOOO :( I wish we were staying one extra day.  I WANT TO SEE JABBAWOCKEEZ!!! 

http://www.montecarlo.com/entertainment/jabbawockeez.aspx

On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 11:35 PM, Cecilia Xia <cecilia.xia@gmail.com> wrote:

26

On Dec 12, 2010, at 8:34 PM, Dee Dee Xia wrote:

hey do you know how long we’re in vegas for?  When are we leaving?  26 or 27?