My New Life Started 38 Years Ago

July 21, 1973. That was the date that my brothers and I stepped on the American soil for the very first time.

We were little kids then – younger than Brandon and Carli today. We arrived to a foreign land to start a new life. Looking back, we certainly didn’t know what life would bring us. Just like now, we don’t know where future will take us.

From a kid's perspective, we observed and had to adjust quickly as soon as we stepped out the airport. There were a lot to take in:

Woo! Look at Dad’s big Chevrolet Nova sedan! We were used to seeing smaller cars back in Taiwan. It was so cool that we could all squeeze in the back seat with room to spare. And look at all those yellow taxis!! How come they were not red like in Taiwan??

Wow! Look at that big stretch of highway. Is it called “high-way” because it’s high above the ground?  In Taiwan, cars traveled on narrow surface streets because there was no highway/freeway back then. It was amazing to feel Dad’s car traveled fast on big empty roads.

Wow! Look at that, hills in the city!! We thought it was strange that the streets of San Francisco went up and down. And look at our apartment! It was right on a slanted street!

“We’re home!” said Mom. Our first apartment was on Balboa St. and 16th Ave. It was a fourplex and we had one of the top units. The kids found the house odd. It was all wood! Narrow wood stairs with carpet. Wood floors, wood panels, wood everything... In Taiwan, our house was concrete. Hmmm… there was no ceiling light. Instead, there were floor lamps emitting a warm yellow color light. In Taiwan, we were used to bright white fluorescent ceiling light. We didn’t have floor or table lamps. I remembered that we had fun pulling the light switch repeatedly. Somehow that little dangling metal pull was fascinating.

We also thought the windows in our unit were funny. How come they stuck out and not straight? Now we know that it’s called a “Bay Window”. My brothers and I decided that we each could hog a panel and call it our own “window”.

I recalled that we were able to look out to the ocean from some of the bay windows. That was exciting too. In Taiwan, we had to drive outside the city to see the ocean because Taipei sat in a valley. We were poor city kids trapped by buildings and only got to see the ocean when our parents took us on field trips. It was refreshing even for little kids like us to see the sky meeting a flat sea at the end right from our home!!  Wow!!

The shower was a new experience for us too. In Taiwan, people took bath not shower. Bathtubs were made of concrete and usually built along with the house. You would fill the tub with water, soap and rinse outside the tub then jump in for a soak. We did not use showers. We used a bucket to splash ourselves with. For our first bath in the US, mom had to teach us to turn on the shower and stand in the tub. DON’T GET THE FLOOR WET!! I have to tell you, it was very hard for little kids to do. Taking a shower was equivalent to playing in the rain.

The biggest thing for the kids to get used to was “no running in the house”. We had to be light with our footsteps because we did not want to disturb the downstairs neighbors. We were used to live in a one-story house with concrete floors and where everything was solid and sturdy. The American house seemed so fragile!

First night in the U.S. Our first home in the US was a one-bed room apartment. So Mom and Dad converted the formal dining room to our bedroom. They got us three single beds. Wow! Our own beds!! In Taiwan, we three kids had shared one huge custom-built bed that took half of the bedroom. Yes, we were able to roll, jump and play on that bed, but we did not have our own space. This was such a treat. Our own beds!! Since I was the oldest, I got the bed next to the bay window. And following the pecking order, Jason, the youngest one, got the bed next to the kitchen door.

First morning in the U.S. I remembered I woke up and I made my bed. First time ever in my life too! No one taught me how. I just did it and I told myself, this is my new life.

Vacation: Luxury in Your Hand

Everyone looks forward to taking a vacation.  Some hide at a land/beach far away, some visit families and friends, some go do the outdoor stuff, some play tourists, etc... Heck, whatever suits your fancy.

People get excited about vacations because it means you can do whatever you want with the time at hand.  You can sleep late, pretend you don't have to work for a living, eat, play, be a couch potato... it's so nice that you can dictate how you want to spend your days.  Time is at your disposal.  You can even waste it away (ouch though).

My vacations used to be trips here and there taking my parents to places big and small.  Unfortunately, not anymore after mom's stroke.  Nowadays, vacation means I have more time to catch up on things that I don't usually have time to do.  Little things such as doing recycling, ironing, washing windows.. Oh yeah, talk about those windows.... I washed them this past Sunday and all the neighbors went woo-and-ahh. They said they didn't have time to do windows.  Yes, you need time to do them. It was very time consuming especially when my windows were double layers- not just double panel - that meant double cleaning!!  But what a great feeling when you see your windows so shiny and spotless.  Time well spent!!

Vacation means I can sleep as late as I want and wake up as late as I want (how about waking up at 8am instead of 6am?)   It's so wonderful when you don't have to be on guard with the alarm clock.

Vacation also means catching up with friends.  Catching up over a meal is one of the best use of time.  Quality time with buddies is not something that we always have time to do.  You just have to make it happen.

I would love to take my parents to far away places again.  Although mom can't travel long distance anymore, she is able to take longer (and longer) short trips now.  We went to Monterey last year.  We were not able to schedule another short excursion this year, but the family did spend a day in Calistoga.  Short but sweet and a memory for us to keep.

How you use your vacation time is the beauty of being off from work.  It doesn't matter whether you're away or home.  Having that free time on your hand is a luxury in itself.  So, make it count.