Sacre Coeur - Sacred Heart of Paris

I was fortunate that my mom was in love with Europe and my dad worked for Japan Air Lines. We did a lot of summer travels all over Europe. My dad's job gave us such great deals that we only had to pay 10% of the airfare anywhere around the world.

I have been to Paris, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Copenhagen, Thailand, Holland, Mexico, Spain...you name it.

I think that what stands out in my mind are all the different people that we met. We never went on tour buses, only in Germany. We usually went by ourselves. My mom would buy those guide books and make up an itinerary. She just loved doing it.

Portuguese people love sardines, they are the bigger sardines, and they can debone it so expertly using a fork and butter knife. Paella was an awesome seafood dish in Spain that the guide of ours greedily ordered when my mom said that she would treat him to lunch. He ordered the most expensive thing on the menu!

In Mexico, we had a guide who had two daughters that my sister and I became pen pals with. I suppose that's why I like Mafalda the Spanish cartoon so much because my pen pal, Lizbeth, used to send me those stickers. I think Mafalda is to Spain as Snoopy is to America.

I put a picture of Mafalda on the top right.

Italy was fun but my grandpa got pickpocketed while riding on the gondola. My grandpa was 77 or so when we traveled there. In Europe, everyone gives tips and when my grandpa gave someone a tip, someone else was watching in the shadows.

Paris is absolutely amazing and breathtaking. You can look out of your hotel window and see everyone dressed to the tee. They all look like models or just people out of magazines. It's not that they spend a lot on clothes, they know how to dress it up by wearing stockings with a little fancy pattern, a scarf, a brooch, etc. They can take one outfit and wear it in so many different ways. They know how to accessorize with shoes, belts, and purses.

One day, I want to go back to Europe. I miss it so much. I know that France is cheapest in April. When you have the opportunity to travel to Europe, you should go! Travel, explore, do everything you can when you are young. When you get married or you have children, you aren't as flexible any more. :) I do know that one day when I save up enough money, I want to take my sons there.

My favorite teacher

I had many favorite teachers in my life. I think I always liked school. In elementary school, I liked Mr. K., he was still a bachelor and he used to play with us at recess. He would throw the red, rubber ball really high into the air and one of us would catch it. I ran into him the other day and I couldn't believe how old he looked. In a way though, he still reminded me of his younger self, especially when he smiled. I was too embarrassed, so I didn't say "Hi." Probably when I have a chance to run into him again, I will summon the courage to say "hi" and hope that he remembers me. I was the one that corrected him in spelling "embarrassed."

I had really good teachers in high school too. One that really stood out for me was another Mr. K. He was my business teacher and he asked me to be his TA in my senior year. I was flattered and willingly obliged. He always looked so professional. He wore a well-starched aloha shirt with the collars that stood up neatly and he wore brylcreem in his hair. He was in his 50's, but he seemed so young at heart. He believed in all of us. He ran our classroom like a well-oiled machinery. He made funny jokes which were sort of dry in humor but still quite entertaining.

I miss him. He and I exchanged Christmas cards every year after I graduated from high school. One Christmas he didn't send me a card. About a year and 4 months later, his wife sent me a card telling me that he passed away. I was so shocked and so sad. I always told myself that I would go back to visit him when I became something. I guess I shouldn't have waited so long. I miss him so much. :(

I hope that he is watching me now from heaven and is proud of me because I chose to follow in his footsteps. Maybe one day, my class will run like a well-oiled machine too.

The picture above isn't his picture. It's just an image that I found to represent Mr. K. because he was always young at heart. I like how the young man in the picture looks wistful and is looking out toward the open water...

On relationships

The average marriage in the United States lasts an average of 7 years (it is not "till death do us part"). One in three first marriages ends in divorce as do two in three second marriages. A University of Minnesota study of 15,000 married couples recently concluded that 50% of married people will never be happy, unless they get unusually good therapy. About 30% of marriages are "empty shells"--little love, little talk, little joy. Only about 25% of couples have "really good marriages."

Effective Communication Skills And Common Interests
A good relationship is virtually impossible without good communication. The most important quality of your relationship is how well you and your mate communicate with and relate to each other. Effective communication is the lifeline of every relationship. Communication means talking, listening, reading body language, understanding, learning each other's sexual behavior and caring about what each other is saying.
Feelings
Research indicates that couples are more content than ever before to be in loveless relationships. Couples are choosing to get together [or to stay together] for reasons that have nothing to do with a personal intimate love for each other. The reasons include money, power, prestige, status, familiarity, or what they deem to be best for the children. Although most couples claim to feel some degree of love for their mate, the actual feeling of being “in love” has almost become a thing of the past. When you are in love, the brain triggers a surplus of endorphins which cause the exact same high that drug addicts experience. This level of excitement bubbles up and permeates your heart, mind, soul and every fiber of your being.
Values And Integrity
It is always beneficial for couples to share similar values. Couples split everyday because they cannot agree on cleaning house, having children, raising children, going to church, or many other decisions that eventually take its toll on a relationship. It is important that you and your mate come to terms with each other's values, attitudes, opinions and beliefs about issues.
Financial Potential
It would be great if we could all just live on love or simply the "fat of the land". But unfortunately, we must have money to survive, and surplus money to thrive. The amount of money it takes for you to be comfortable is your own personal choice. But it is essential for you and your mate to understand each other's financial habits, values about money and his or her financial goals. Spending habits are an indication of one’s character.

-A. Adam, PhD

I always wanted to be a marital counselor and at my crossroads of life, I had to choose from being a teacher or being a marital counselor. Well, guess which one I chose?

Are you left handed?

Being Left Handed

One out of every ten people walking down the street is left-handed. Everywhere they go, left-handed people come across tools that were designed for right handed persons.

Medical researchers have searched long and hard for what causes people to be left handed or right handed. The researchers have concluded that left handed people are left handed for the same reason as brown eyed people have brown eyes. It's just one of those things that shows up in one out of every ten people.

A really interesting question is whether there is any connection between left handed people and creative genius. Some of history's most creative minds have been left-handed.

In the category of art, both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were left handed. In the category of music, Ludwig van Beethoven was left handed. In the field of science and invention, you find Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. In the field of motion pictures, Charlie Chaplin.

Bobby Fisher, the modern chess genius, is left handed. So too musical geniuses Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Wynton Marsalis.

Each of the these persons had a mind so exceptional as to be head and shoulders above anyone else in their field. So even though it may be more difficult for a left handed person to live in a right handed world, lefties can know that they are in good company. Beethoven and Einstein had it tough, too.

-P. Shapiro

Are you left handed? My five-year-old son is...and he seems to be slower at learning in writing and reading than my other two sons. He is very good creatively and artistically.

My mom and sister are both ambidexterous. They can use both the right and left hand. My mom, however, says she can only draw with her left hand because she was born a leftie. They forced her in school to be right handed because in Japanese, it is very hard to write in sumi, the Japanese characters, with your left hand.

In high school...

Hmm... since people ask, "What were you like in high school?"

Well, let's just say that my boyfriend said, "I saved you from your geekdom."

I think I followed in my sister's footsteps and I tried to be in all the clubs that she was in. My sis graduated high school in three years. I think she regrets it. I had long straight hair all the way down my back, I had a part in the middle, and usually I wore my hair back behind my ears. One day when I was in 9th or 10th grade, my mom bought me a thin, yellow, metal hairband that I liked to wear. I wore it so often that I started to get a bald spat where it rubbed. A girl in my biology class, Dawn, she liked to yank my hairband down and laugh about it. She was mean. Whenever someone from our table was absent, she would talk about them. She used to tease a girl named Jill, she said that people called her the "Breast within" not the beast within... and she said you know why. She had this annoying habit of trying to embarrass people.

I was in the math club, Spanish club, Leo Club, and NHS. I always felt like I had to be better than my sister. But in my eyes, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't.

I had a lot of fun in high school. I still keep in touch with my friends. In college, unless you dorm, I don't think you will make many close friends. My mom was really strict so she said no shorts, no short skirts. Therefore, I normally wore jeans, a t-shirt, and my New Balance. I had 53 different t-shirts and I prided myself on it. :) (snort, snort). I think ignorance is bliss...

My favorite story that I shared with my first periods about this subject on what I looked like in high school is the following: One day, I was walking home from school alone. There were two girls that were sitting on the wall giggling and watching me. I felt really self-conscious. I was wearing a little Holly Hobby looking dress which was red with long, puffy sleeves and it had a little pinafore, apron thing in the front which had a picture of a doll or something on the front. One of the giggling girls talked to me a few steps after I walked away. She said, "Scuse me... what are you being initiated for?" I was taken off guard. I didn't know what she was talking about, initiation for clubs was already over last week. "I'm not," I replied, "Initiation finished last week." After I walked away, the two girls were howling with laughter.

This is my hero...

I once read about Abraham Lincoln, the greatest president and man ever to walk this earth. He faced many challenges and setbacks, yet he pressed on and never gave up.

He was thought to have a disease called Marfan syndrome which is a connective tissue disorder. It makes the limbs limp and the people with this disorder are taller than normal. (Lincoln was 6 foot 4 when he was 19).

He lost eight elections, failed in business many times, and suffered a nervous breakdown. He could have quit many times, but he didn't. Alas, if he had stopped pursuing his dream to become president... how would that have changed the United States?

(With the steadfast belief that all men are created equal, Lincoln fought for and issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which abolished slavery in the United States.)

Here are some quotes by Abraham Lincoln:

On Democracy:
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy."
"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent."

Who is your hero?

Online Classrooms

You do know that in the future, there will be more and more online classes. I know that in some states, especially for high school, some students choose to do their classes online rather than go to school.

I can tell you that it is a very different environment. There are pros and cons to it though. I went to U.H. when I majored in English and it was a great learning environment. It was wonderful interacting with all ages, some younger, some older than me. Depending on the classes you took, some were 300 to a class with one professor and 4 assistants while others were smaller classes similar to the ones in high school.

I then went on in my later years to take my Masters in Education via online with the University of Phoenix. It was a pretty awesome and mind-boggling experience. I think that I am pretty shy and therefore in face-to-face classroom situations, I had a lot of problems expressing myself. However, in the online situation, I was the most active member in the class. What is difficult with online classes is the amount of work involved. We had individual threads to discussion questions to answer every week and we had to respond to our peers' comments too. Then we had to do individual projects or papers while we did group projects simultaneously. What was sad was that we, as individuals, were penalized when the rest of our group members did not hold up their end of the deal and our project was deducted points due to their shortcomings. :(

(I know this sounds so geeky but... I ended up in one class with an "A-" rather than the "A" that I deserved and... I could not be valedictorian.)

Also in the online environment, because you weren't physically there, the teacher only knew you were there when you checked in and participated in discussion. In a regular classroom, all you had to do was sit there and show your face and the teacher knew you were there.

But I enjoyed both situations. Of course, when you are younger and you want to socialize rather than just trying to get a degree as soon as possible, avoiding traffic, working a job, then you should go to the regular college. However, if in the future you decide that you want to earn a degree while working, or you decide to change jobs altogether, you might consider getting a degree online. :)