greetings from Guam!

Greetings from Guam! It took us a while to get settled, but we're finally feeling like locals and ready to reach out to our favorite people to give you a quick update. :-)

(Quick backstory: we were supposed to move to Taiwan for my partner's sabbatical this school year (so the girls could learn Chinese), but they had their first COVID outbreak in May (after zero cases April-December 2020), closed the border, and kept extending the travel ban every two weeks, so after renting out our house, then packing and preparing to move three times in July and road tripping around California for a month (thank you to the friends and family who took us in while we were homeless!), we decided to move to Guam while waiting for Taiwan to reopen because it had an 80% vaccination rate, no quarantine requirement for vaccinated people, was American and thus easy travel, and had a Taiwanese consulate.)

So, the good news: life in Guam has been great! We're renting a beachfront condo with a pool and small playground in the backyard, and we've enjoyed snorkeling and kayaking in the shallow, peaceful lagoons in front of our condo and around the island. 

And for those wondering about life in Guam:

The island (population: ~170,000 people) is about 30 miles long and 4-8 miles wide, so we rented a car for a week to explore and discovered we could drive to the northern or southern tip of the island from where we are (in the middle) in just about half an hour of driving-- but there was still quite a bit of interesting history here. Magellan sailing on behalf of Spain landed here with three ships in 1521. We also visited a World War II site that was really powerful. Japan attacked Guam right after Pearl Harbor, and the entire island was a war zone for years. Now, Guam is officially American, but the locals can't vote in our presidential elections.

Guam feels American in that there are chains like Domino's and Winchell's Donuts around, but there are zero Starbucks, tropical island life is definitely slower paced, and most people are Chamorro/Pacific Islander/Asian. Almost everything is imported, so a half-gallon of non-organic milk is $6 instead of the $3 we paid for organic at Trader Joe's, and gas is a bit more than Bay Area prices (around $4.70/gallon), but the quality is also generally lower. The Quaker Oats are marked "export" and have stray husks that you don't find when you buy them in bulk at Costco on the mainland, and you see many of the generic brands from the mainland at double the prices (Kirkland frozen strawberries were $18 compared to the $9 we usually paid for three pounds). We're not quite sure how it all scales because other things like eating out are comparable to California prices, so labor is somehow cheaper even though everything is more expensive.

There is a naval military base in the south and an Air Force base in the north, and both are closed to civilians, which is a bummer because there are supposed to be some really beautiful places to visit on both, plus they have their own schools, gas stations (a dollar cheaper per gallon), grocery stores, etc. They are like small self-contained worlds that are closed to the locals.

When I googled the schools, the population was described as 2/3 Hawaiian (probably the closest option to Chamorro) and 1/4 Asian, so that gives you a sense of the people here. So, unlike at our girls' school in California where Aria was literally one of two dark-haired children in her entire class, Téa says there is one blonde in her whole school/Aria says there are five in her whole school. (They may not be the MOST accurate reporters, but you get the idea.) :-) 

Despite the island's small size (relative to California), we are pretty much the only weirdos actually walking around. Everyone drives, and there is no public transportation unless you're disabled, which blows our minds. While exploring the island both by car and on foot, we've seen maybe five other pedestrians, and 2-3 of them were probably homeless. (But unlike California, they were the only homeless we've seen-- and maybe they're not even actually homeless.)

We had two full weeks of the girls going to school here: they wore their cute little uniforms, learned Chamorro language/history/folklore (a nice surprise), took the bus to and from school, and were fed breakfast and lunch. 

And then, the not-so-good news: even with an 80% vaccination rate for 12+ year olds on the island, Guam had a surge in COVID cases and closed all schools starting yesterday and are reverting back to online learning starting next week. So, the girls have an extra week of vacation, and my partner and I return to not exercising or getting our own work done. :-D

How are you doing? It's been such a strange year and a half! We hope this message finds you and your loved ones well, and we'd love to hear from you soon! :-)

trying to get to Taiwan

 

What a saga it's been trying to get to Taiwan! It took us six months to get a visa for my husband, and after zero cases from April to December 2020, the island had its first outbreak about a month before we were scheduled to move there. We booked our flight for July 5th so we could celebrate our daughter's birthday and the 4th of July with friends and family before leaving, and everything seemed great.

Then, three China Airlines pilots brought COVID to Taipei without quarantining properly, so Taiwan shut schools and businesses down for the first time. The travel ban was scheduled to end June 28th, so we figured we'd be okay for July 5th. Nope! 

The travel ban was extended to July 12th, so we changed our flight and notified our very kind landlord who has a furnished apartment waiting for us. We got a new flight for July 15th and were relieved to see cases drop quickly. Our plan was to quarantine for two weeks in our flat because it had two bathrooms (one per adult) (Taiwan's rules, not mine), BUT then the "Peruvian grandma" (a Taiwanese woman's nickname because she returned from Peru with a grandchild and brought the Delta variant to Taiwan while breaking her home quarantine) caused the Taiwanese government to cancel home quarantines/require hotel or facility quarantines and ruined it for all future travelers.

So, we were prepared to fly on Wednesday night around 1am, go to two separate hotel rooms because we're two adults (each with one child), and then do our 14-day quarantine where we would be delivered three meals a day-- and not be allowed to leave our rooms. But THEN, they extended the travel ban again, so now we've rented our house out, have a flat waiting for us halfway around the world, and can't go live there. 

So, we spent hours calling the airlines and hotels again today, changing everything to fly July 28th, and now, to top it all off, we'll be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary separately in two hotel rooms while quarantining. 

I know these are all first-world problems, and maybe when we finally get to celebrate in person, it'll be sweeter because we'll miss each other more. :-)

So! Here's to looking on the bright side of things...

free bystander intervention training

Hollaback's now Right To Be, but either way, their Bystander Intervention Training is empowering and informative not just for people who want to support our fellow Asians who have been harassed— this is a training that will enable you to help anyone being bullied in any way while staying safe yourself.

It's free and really well done.

chinese exclusion act of 1882 - free on pbs now

PBS is currently streaming (for free) this powerful film on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and like most of us, I had no idea this was a part of American history. It's heartbreaking that the Chinese were singled out as the only group in American history to be excluded from immigration while millions were streaming in from the rest of the world and how the Chinese were treated when they did try to settle here, and it's a part of our history that should not be forgotten.

Amanda Gorman made an incredible day even better

Just when we thought today couldn't possibly have been any better, Amanda Gorman took the stage, blew us all away, and inspired us all. 

“The Hill We Climb”

Amanda Gorman

When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast, we’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it, somehow we do it, somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken but simply unfinished.

We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one. And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect, we are striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

So we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another, we seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true: that even as we grieved, we grew, even as we hurt, we hoped, that even as we tired, we tried, that we’ll forever be tied together victorious, not because we will never again know defeat but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one should make them afraid. If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in in all of the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare it because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it. We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it. That would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy, and this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can periodically be delayed, but it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith, we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us, this is the era of just redemption we feared in its inception we did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour but within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves, so while once we asked how can we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us.

We will not march back to what was but move to what shall be, a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free, we will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, our blunders become their burden. But one thing is certain: if we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left, with every breath from my bronze, pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one, we will rise from the golden hills of the West, we will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution, we will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states, we will rise from the sunbaked South, we will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful, when the day comes we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.

you are a part of history

a little humor for cinco de mayo

lazy din tai fung cucumber salad recipe

So, one of my favorite things to order at one of my favorite restaurants in the world is the cucumber salad at Din Tai Fung, but many of the recipes I've seen online require brining the cucumber and then waiting and rinsing it, and who's got time for that?

So, here's an easier recipe that tastes just as good (to me) without all of the waiting or extra steps.

lazy din tai fung cucumber salad recipe

a super easy yet flavorful starter or side dish

prep time: 2-5 minutes (depends on how long it takes you to chop up your cucumber) :-)
serves 4

  ingredients

• about 2 c cucumber, sliced (~1 English cucumber or ~8 Persian cucumbers) 
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar (or equivalent)
• 3 tsp/1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 fresh cloves or 2 tsp minced garlic 
• 1 tsp sesame oil and/or chili oil (optional)
• sesame seeds (optional)

  directions

1. slice cucumber into thin pieces (we like lots of small pieces for more dressing in each bite)
2. sprinkle salt over cucumber and stir to combine
3. add in sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, and oil(s) and stir well
4. sprinkle sesame on top to make it look pretty :-)
5. enjoy!

We had teriyaki salmon and tofu, and this cucumber salad was the perfect side. (Ooh! And we had the leftover salmon and tofu in tacos the next day, and they were great with a new batch of cucumber salad as Asian tacos, too!)

Even our 4-year-old gobbled it up (after declaring she would not eat any cucumbers). I'll call that a win! :-)

Happy eating!

coronavirus as blessing?

My friend, Vernie, used to always say what our overpopulated world really needs is a new plague that can indiscriminately take out a big chunk of the world's population, and while the coronavirus isn't that, I do think there is a silver lining to this cloud.

Obviously, I don't want innocent people dying or even feeling sick. I don't want to see people I love freaking out and buying hazmat suits because they're so scared of what could happen. My heart goes out to the people who are really stressed about schools closing and wondering how their kids who depend on the free lunches are going to eat— not to mention how they're going to work and make sure their family is both safe and also that all of the bills will be paid.

And yes, it's stressful to go shopping and find that Costco is out of toilet paper and Trader Joe's is out of eggs, and you end up buying a case of bottled water even though your fridge has water because everyone else has carts filled with them. The stress is palpable and heavy, spiking and charging the very air we share, everywhere we go now.

It's hard to wrap our heads around all of the schools being closed and basically everything "normal" being canceled. My daughters' school will be closed for at least a month. My husband's work has given everyone two weeks off for spring break, and everything will happen remotely the two weeks after that. So, that's a month for him to be home, too.

This weekend, my daughter didn't attend Girl Scouts or a birthday pool party. My husband and I skipped a wine tasting party, and I was going to miss my acting class— until it was canceled.

We're canceling our spring break trip to Mexico to explore ruins with cousins and siblings. We're canceling our summer plans to go to Taiwan so my daughters can learn Chinese. I love travel and am sad to let those adventures go, but I also recognize how lucky I am to be "stuck" somewhere pretty nice and continue to strive to find the bright side of all this.

So, as we grapple to find our new normal, here is something to consider.

What if the world's problem is not coronavirus? What if our collective ailment is our competitive go-go-go mentality that has left everyone feeling increasingly isolated and stressed? What if the coronavirus and our now enforced quarantine is the solution?

I know this will not be a popular opinion, but I think maybe staying home and slowing down is just what we all need.

Maybe we were so pigheaded about going forward forward forward (or what we perceived to be forward), unable to even consider slowing down, that it took something as crazy as COVID-19 to literally knock the wind out of us, grabbing both of our arms and stapling us to the floor, to force us to snap out of our whirlwind lives and STOP for a second to look around and consider our lives.

I can imagine someone rising from the dust of being thrown to the ground, shaking their head in a daze as they look around, like Dorothy waking up in Oz. Except this is our real life that we maybe allowed to go on autopilot for too long.

How did I get here? Is this the life I want? Am I giving the world all that I can? Am I on the path that best serves me and my family? Am I pushing myself in the best ways-- growing, contributing, leaving a lasting positive impact on our collective world?

Maybe the coronavirus is actually a wake-up call to live our lives more fully.

If you're an adult, is this the grown-up life you'd dreamed of living when you were a kid?

If you're a parent, I can imagine the dazed head shaking and saying, "Wow, my daughter/son is how old now?" It can almost bring me to tears when I think of my young children— weren't they just babies a second ago? Where has the time gone? Have I done enough and loved them enough as a mama? What if the rest of their childhood passes in a blur, and I miss it? I can't let that happen!

If you're an even more mature adult, have you used your decades on this planet to serve humanity, gather wisdom, and share love and kindness to all? (Because you know, all people are supposed to have done that by the time they're old, right?)

We have more control than we think, and we can all live lives that we want. It's not just a luxury for the ultra rich (who I have not perceived to be happier or more free).

Within our mundane everyday lives, we can find sparkling moments of joy and love and connection and meaning, but we have to create the space and time for them— and many of us don't seem to have even a nanosecond to stop and breathe. (Hi, parents of young children! Hi, entrepreneurs giving our sweat and blood to nothing more than an idea! Hi, caretakers devoting yourselves to someone else's every day quality of life! And everyone who is giving their all to the struggle that is everyday life! I see you!)

Enter: CORONAVIRUS.

Now, even the world's #1 workaholic has an excuse to just sit down for a second and look around. And that's a form of grace and forgiveness. We all get a break.

So, while not glamorous or exciting, my family is doing a deeper cleaning/organizing of our house today-- something we never have time for. All those random doodads (my girls' "art supplies") that have been stashed here and there are now going to be given proper homes or discarded.

We've been looking at recipes we've been meaning to try but haven't had time for.

My 4-year-old says we should snuggle and read stories all day, and for the first time, it's an idea that we could actually consider.

Of course, we haven't even gotten to day 1 of a month of no school, so ask me how I'm feeling again in a couple days, and I might be ready to drop kick my fighting, complaining kids to outer space, but in the meantime, I'm going to try to find my place of peace and love. And remember to be grateful that for whatever unfathomable reason it might be, I'm given a little extra space to breathe right now.

There's something beautiful in stopping and looking around every once in a while, and I'll try to make the most of it.

who can beat trump? what makes you human?