west meets east feast

Having two different cultures (that of my family and that of the society I live in) always makes holiday gatherings full of different kinds of food. I like to think that the two epicurean traditions can coexist well and not lead to some dichotomy in holiday celebration-ism.

This year, I experienced the phenomenon twice: once on Christmas Eve at home with my paternal grandparents (who are in town for a family friend's funeral) and then on Christmas Day in Sacramento with my maternal grandparents. For me, the holidays are not complete without turkey, a honey baked ham, and sparkling apple cider. For both sets of grandparents, any meal is not complete without tons of Chinese dishes. This leads to a dinner that seems like a hodge podge of food (hoards of food), but always ends up with satiated stomachs. Furthermore, there is always a heaping portion of love all around that reminds us why family comprises one of the strongest parts of our identities.

I have to admit, the meeting of two cultures, two minds, two hearts, or whatever it may be, always leads to the possibility of cacophony and discord. Nonetheless, we should be willing to take the chance to meld things together, to find out whether two things can converge and form a fit. Some of the best things in life would not exist if we did not take the chance to experiment and put together two seemingly dissimilar elements. From peanut butter and banana sandwiches to jean jackets and leg warmers, taking risks really allows for the opportunity that something great can emerge, or at least we can get a laugh out of our attempt.

The only issue . . . taking chances.

halfway there . . . meet me halfway.

As of this writing, I am halfway on the flight from BOS to SFO and also halfway done with law school. It naturally made sense to posit a theme dealing with halfness.

It is so so nice to feel a sense of relief that finals madness is over. After my final yesterday, I spent a glorious day with friends at two beer gardens with burgers and all you can eat wings, packed and cleaned up my entire apartment, and just basked in the fact that I could relax and finally have a life again.

This past semester has been such a challenging and fulfilling one for me. From clinic to journal to APALSA to schoolwork to running all the time, I have learned so much about myself, who I want to become, and what I value in life. I knew that this year was going to be a pivotal one for me in determining the course of my life and I have not been proven wrong. People say that 2L year is a lot easier than 1L, but I think that it is much busier, but nice because we have more of a sense of what it is that drives us.

Now I will be spending a little less than three weeks in the Bay Area and then about a week in Florida for some Disney adventures and the marathon. I still cannot believe that we are in the midst of a new year, which is sure to bring new stresses, revelations, and joys. I am excited not to necessarily turn over a new leaf, but to continue to grow.

After all, isn't the cup half full?

Perfect Pair

I have size 5 feet, 6 if I'm wearing knee high boots, which are my newest fashion obsession. Not only are my feet small, but they are also wide. This makes it a huge hassle to find the perfect pair of shoes, the shoes that make you want to go out for the night just so you have an excuse to wear them. And let me tell you, when I find that irresistible pair of shoes, those beautiful black leather heels that fit like a dream . . . I will no doubt buy them. These shoes almost always catch my eye when I am not even on the hunt for a fabulous pair. Regardless of the price (well, frankly, I am not browsing at Manolo Blahnik anyways), I will buy these shoes. Why? It's not everyday that you find something that you absolutely will treasure and have gratification that substantially outweighs any sense of regret over your purchase. In fact, it is a relatively rare occurrence that you will find that ideal match and Lord knows, having buyer's remorse is much less offensive than regretting not fighting for that flawless fit.

We always hear the saying that when you go shopping specifically for something you need, you never find it. When on a mission for that item that fits x, y, and z qualities, you are almost always bound to feel cheated, or worse, disappointed in the available selection. You will make concessions because of the necessity of having that thing, negotiations you would not have made otherwise except given the dire circumstances. Inevitably, you end up returning, exchanging, or hanging the dirty little secret in your closet after one or maybe two uses.

What I'm trying to say is, when you find that perfect (fill in the blank) for you, you do not let it go. You fight for it and know that at the end of the day, you have got yourself something worthwhile instead of letting it slip away in the hopes of finding an adequate alternative when you actually need it. Being blissful by surprise is much better than being blase by default, any day of the week. So, what really is stopping us from taking the plunge for that perfect pair when it comes our way?

thankful, grateful, and blessed

Thanksgiving has traditionally been a day I would spend indulging in turkey, a great food coma nap, and just the warm feeling of being with my family.

This year was the first year I did not spend Thanksgiving with my family (last year, I at least spent it with my cousin, her husband, and my aunt and uncle). I was really sad that I could not be home with my parents, brother, and grandparents. However, this year's Thanksgiving festivities were a great blessing and also one I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

I spent the day with my Highrock Brookline family, members of whom have been very important to me the past few months. We had a huge feast of all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, great conversations, and even got in a good game of football. It was a lot of fun to get out on the field for some fresh air and running. I felt incredibly gratified knowing I have so many people here that I can share my time, love, and faith with.

More importantly, I have found that this past year has been one I am immensely thankful for. From becoming acclimated to Boston to finding my love of the law to regaining my spiritual strength to taking on new challenges I had never expected I would take, I have been so blessed. Everyone around me has had a great impact on me, whether they challenged me to become a better person or shared in my many laughs and cries.

I couldn't have asked for a better year to start defining who I am as an independent woman making her own decisions about who she will become as a daughter, sister, friend, lawyer, and most importantly, friend and stronghold.

Even a year ago, I would not have envisioned myself doing so many of the things I have: become a certified SCUBA diver, trained for a marathon through wind, rain, and snow, advocated for impoverished clients at a clinic, and grown up to be the woman I truly want to be, among a myriad of other wonderful growing experiences.

I cannot wait for all the accomplishments I am going to make, all the people I am going to meet, the love I am going to experience, and all the adventures God has for me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Busy Bee

I have not had the chance to update my blog lately because I have been inundated with work: from clinic to journal to classes to APALSA, things have simply been chaotic. I find that a lot of my free time has become devoted to running. Thankfully, I have some great friends (and my Team from Team in Training!) who I can run with and who keep me going.

Keeping this in mind, I thought I would share some information about bone marrow registry drives.

http://www.helpingjanet.com/

Janet Liang, a recent graduate of UCLA, my alma mater, was recently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She, like all of us, has many dreams and ambitions for her life and needs our help to win the fight against her cancer.

The Asian American and Pacific Islander community is very much under-represented in bone marrow registry. Bone marrow matches often correlates with ethnicity so it is SUPER important that we all, Asian Americans in particular, change this.

Becoming part of the registry only requires a swab of your inner cheek. After this, you will only be contacted if you are a match for someone and then you can decide if you want to donate. Donating bone marrow is similar to giving blood.

Please consider putting yourself in the bone marrow donor registry. You can help save a life.

There will be a bone marrow registry drive at Boston University School of Law on Monday, November 2nd from 12-3 PM.

Please also keep my marathon efforts and fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in your hearts. Any support to this will mean so much to the blood cancer research efforts, to patient care, and to me. http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/wdw10/sliuie

Thanks so much.

Love,
Shannon

Barely breathing...

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday. That means it has officially been a year since law school stuff started for me. I spent the day helping welcome the new generation of 1Ls and being oriented to the law journal I am a staff member of. I met up with some friends at school and then I had a nice dinner with some great girls.

Everything seemed to be going relatively well until I got home. I was really sore from my run earlier in the day so I took some pain relievers. Next, my lip started swelling up and I took some Benadryl and went to bed. I woke up a couple of hours later only to have some trouble breathing. Upon consulting a nurse's hotline, I realized I needed to go to the Emergency Room. A friend of mine was so great and drove me to the hospital while I was freaked out and just plain scared.

To preface everything, this summer I developed some autoimmune issues. I would randomly, for no apparent reason, get hives and inflammation that would linger for hours frequently. Luckily, I do not have any food allergies. My allergist, however, said that I have slightly lower levels of white blood cells and higher levels of thyroid antibodies and chronic urticaria. What this basically means is that I have antibodies that sometimes attack my body instead of foreign pathogens. Unfortunately, the allergist said that there is no way to know how long the problem will exist, what specifically triggers the symptoms, and when the symptoms even would occur. Thankfully, the symptoms were more of a nuisance than a big safety issue and he prescribed allergy medicine and histamine blockers.

Tonight, at the hospital, I was hooked up to an IV containing Benadryl and steroids to calm down my inflammation and my throat constriction. It took a couple of hours and drowsiness that led me to nap until progress started showing and I could breath pretty normally. The doctor said that my autoimmune issues this time caused my throat tissues to swell up and thus caused my air passageway to shrink, making it hard for me to breathe. So it was a good idea for me to go to the hospital after all. She prescribed me steroids to take for the next week to hopefully keep any symptoms at bay.

My terrible scary night really showed me that I am loved by my friends. From the texts to the phone calls to the Facebook messages, I could tell that my friends were genuinely worried and cared about my well being. One of them even brought me an ice cream cake today to help make up for the fact that my night was so awful. My cousin brought me soup too. It also made me realize that life is not always going to be easy and I will have challenges to face, but I am so thankful that the ones I face are really miniscule compared to the ones people with terminal illnesses face. I will have to consult more specialists to see if they can figure out what the underlying problem is and how I can fix things so I do not have any dangerous symptoms like not being able to breathe in the future.

So I guess I started my 23rd year a lot differently than I had planned to. I am an extremely blessed girl and want to use the blessings I have been given to love others and be the best person I can be for others.

Back to Boston

I have been back in Boston for almost a week now, which signifies that the summer is really coming to a close. Unfortunately, Boston weather is anything but "end of summer weather" because it is incredibly hot and humid. I actually played ultimate frisbee in Boston Common (the oldest park in the United States) and it was almost unbearable; at the same time, it was a pretty cool experience to have.

My summer back in California was great; it was an amazing time for me to get some work experience, think about my goals, and also work A LOT on my faith. All these things showed me that this next year will be a very tough one for me, figuring out what I want to do (which is not big law!) and who I am, but it will be so good as well. This next semester will be busy with civil litigation clinic, working on a journal, job searching for government and public service jobs, getting involved with a church, and of course, training for a FULL (I officially decided to make the bump up to a full marathon) marathon. I am so so excited to be working on myself and pursuing my interests.

23 and battling Leukemia...

Here is another shining example of the need for research for those with Leukemia. It comes close to home because I know many of us have dealt with not having health insurance for periods of time and we often put off taking care of the health concerns we face. Also, having someone close to our age be afflicted with the blood cancer is a scary reality too, especially because we usually associate blood cancers with young children.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/24/king.sotu.health.care/index.html

Please take the time to read the stories I post or to look at my fundraising page and support me through my own physical challenge and also invest yourself in the important research that still needs to be done.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/wdw10/sliuie

Just one example...

Here is just one example of someone who will be helped by fundraising efforts to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

http://jordanscause.blogspot.com/

I saw his story on the news this weekend and it reminds us how much research is necessary to eliminate this heartbreaking stress on patients and their families.

Please support my race for LLS in any way you can; the cause and I would appreciate it immensely.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/wdw10/sliuie

Embarking on a new journey

I have made the decision to train for and fundraise for the Walt Disney World half marathon on January 10, 2010.

Given that I have asthma and have never been an intense runner, this is a huge deal for me. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time and the fact that I will be helping a great cause (research for blood cancers through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) amplifies how important this challenge is to me. I have been lucky not to lose any family members to cancer, but know of so many friends of friends, family friends, and the like who have lost the battle to different kinds of cancers. Making progress in research for cancer is so important and with government funding declining in virtually every area, it is vital that we don't let research become stagnant.

I will be updating this blog from time to time regarding my training and my goals. I hope that you will be along for the ride and will help support me with all of this. Here is the link to my fundraising site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/wdw10/sliuie
Please share what you can with the cause and also share this link with those who would be interested in becoming active for the cause.

On a lighter note, a quote from "How I Met Your Mother":
Barney: Here's how you run a marathon. Step 1: You start running. There's no Step 2.

(If you've seen the episode, you know that Barney fails miserably. He finishes the marathon, but then is pretty much incapacitated because he never trained for the event.)

Dip-Dyed Sky

July 4th marks Independence Day and is conveniently just about the halfway marker of my summer break.

This year, I watched the fireworks display in our state's capital, Sacramento. I have always been a huge sucker for fireworks, which bring me awe and delight. For 2009, fireworks displays have been cut or downsized in many cities due to the weak economy. California definitely did not skimp this year and it seemed like it brought a sense of renewed hope and optimism for the future of our state, which is at a pretty dismal point right now.

Usually, I gaze up at the fireworks giddily...today was not an exception, but I also felt oddly more connected to our country than I have before. I shed a few tears when I realized all the legal and literal battles that our countrymen have endured to get America where it is today. Sadly, there are many many more battles to be fought. California, in particular, has to fight for its economy, its schools, and of course, its citizens' right to marry.

I think I see now more than ever that we all have to fight for something...and I am still struggling to find my purpose and my fight.

What's your battle?

Summertime

My summer has started off spectacularly (and with a great tan!) this year with a short stint in Taiwan and Vietnam. The maternal side of my family all met up in Asia to celebrate the 60 year anniversary of my grandparents' marriage.

Being back in Taiwan was incredible because it feels so much like home to me. We got to revisit some of the places I fell in love with last year and also see some things I did not have the chance to see before. Also, who could forget the amazing food and nightlife that Taiwan has to offer? I could not and was happy to experience it all over again. There is something about the island that I cannot get enough of.

We also visited Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta, and Phu Quoc Island. Vietnam definitely showed me its "developing" status and it was hard to see that the disparity of wealth between tourists and locals is so so skewed. We took a full day tour of the Mekong Delta through which tens of people served us in some way and the tour only cost $10 a head. It makes no sense to me that people should have to survive off of roughly $2 a day and live inexplicably indigent lives. Vietnam had some incredibly gorgeous sights and delicious food, but I still cannot get over the poverty and amount of development the country needs to undergo.

People thought it was strange that we visited Vietnam for a family reunion, but I guess that leads to the story that my grandparents actually fled China and first came through Vietnam (Phu Quoc, specifically) for a few years before making it to Taiwan. Hearing their stories of getting away from oppression and all the struggles they had to endure really puts my life into perspective and makes me respect them even more than I already do. They overcame so many obstacles to brighten their lives and subsequently their children and my own; I cannot even begin to explain how appreciative I am for them. Through it all, they have kept strong to their faith, their love, and to their family. I can only wish to be as strong as them someday.

We're done?

1L has come and gone, which is kind of surreal to me.

The year that is dreaded by many has finally ended and I have to say that there was a lot to do, the studying was grueling, and the caliber of classes is definitely a cut above undergraduate studies, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

All my courses have been interesting and the level of teaching has definitely surpassed anything I have had in higher education. I have immersed myself in activities and also met a few great people along the way. On top of that, I have been living in easily one of the most fascinating and lively cities in the nation. It is pretty cool to be living in a city filled with both the old and the new, coexisting (usually) peacefully together.

The thought that I will not see hoards of law students for the next three months is strange and almost sad, but I try to remind myself that this summer will be a good one.

Paradise

It's been a week since I came home from my spring break trip with my brother to St. Martin, Anguilla, and St. Barths. I had the most wonderful and relaxing time on the islands and we had such fortuitous timing, it was amazing.

First, we visited St. Maarten/Martin. This island is governed by the French and the Dutch. The beaches here were fantastic and the cuisine was pretty great too. The highlight in St. Martin was visiting the Butterfly Farm, which houses tens of types of butterflies. We saw the entire life cycle from eggs to caterpillars to pupae to butterflies and I find the process very fascinating.

Next, we went to Anguilla, which is a British island. The beaches in Anguilla were MAGNIFICENT. They had blue blue water that reminded me of Kool-Aid or Jell-O with sand that was reminiscent of flour. I could lay on those beaches endlessly and remain content. We even saw baby sea turtles making their way to the ocean, which was magical. The food on Anguilla was also gastronomically succulent, expensive because of high import taxes, but so good.

St. Barths was our last stop and probably my favorite island. Everything about this island is lush. We did our open water dives here and became scuba certified! During the dives, we encountered myriad tropical fish, sea turtles, sting rays, lobster, a shipwreck, and everything was gorgeous and colorful. We even got to whalewatch, which is a RARE occurence on the island. I am in love with St. Barths, from the people to the sights, it is a dream.

On the plane ride home, we were lucky enough to be taking a flight path through which we could see the take-off of the Discovery space shuttle. That was an unexpected surprise, but definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

My spring break trip was definitely a great time to spend with my brother, who I don't get to see often enough and relax. I just wish it was longer...

Calm before the storm...

It seems that in law school, there is always a break in classes preceding the craziness of finals stress-dom. For spring semester, it is spring break. It's great to have a respite from classes, but pretty bittersweet that soon afterwards, I'll be subject to finals mania once again.

The month of February has come and gone and I must say that it was my busiest month of law school thus far. The biggest part of February was rehearsing for and then performing in Legal Follies. It was so great to have a finished (and hilarious) product by the end of the month that I could share with all my friends and my family. My parents didn't really understand all the legal jokes and maybe it's better that way. In any case, at first I was a little apprehensive about the time commitment with Follies, but it has ended up being one of the most exciting parts of law school for me. Videos will be posted on YouTube within the next few months!

February also was the era of the Moot Court Riot. Moot Court briefs were in full force and everyone worked endlessly to perfect their briefs. It was so great to work with a good friend on the brief and finally finish the damn thing. I must say I am happy that I have been able to hone my legal research and writing skills this year because I know how crucial they will be in the future.

My parents visited this month (and into the beginning of March). The Boston weather decided to give them a full tour starting with 60 degree weather then rain then the first snowstorm to warrant a school cancellation. I loved having them here and just feeling like I was at home. They also brought my dog, Benny, here to move to Boston. Having Benny here makes me incredibly happy and it will be great to explore Boston with him.

Now, spring break is finally here. I leave to the Caribbean tomorrow and I can't wait to bask in the warm sun for a bit. :) Life is pretty good...

it's all coming together

I have to say that this past week has been an amazing one.

First, I moved to my new apartment, which is ALL my own. It is exciting to have my own place to come home to everyday. This definitely was a change that I needed for myself.

I was called on in Maclin's Constitutional Law class and he said I was absolutely right about an answer. He barely gives people that sense of validation so that was pretty exciting.

I finalized my plans for scuba classes so that I can get my open water certification in the Caribbean this spring break. This is probably the most extreme thing I have ever done.

My summer (unpaid) employment plans have been finalized! I will be a judicial intern for Federal Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman in San Francisco. I'm really excited about this opportunity to work in the United States District Court and also to go home for the summer.

This month in general will be busy with Legal Follies coming up and the brief for Moot Court due, but I am enthusiastic.