waiheke island~

aotearoa is the maori name for new zealand.

it means "the land of the long white cloud."

on this day, i joined the others for a walk

but then decided to sit on a hill

by myself while they went ahead.

(luckily, i didn't go because

they took a wrong track,

got lost after the sun went down

and the police had to search for them).

they came back hours later and

the first thing morgan said to them was:

"where are the car keys? i'm hungry."

take a walk..on a glacier!

kiwis pronounce it as
"glay-see-er"

fox glacier was our first stop

on our road trip through the south island.

interestingly, there was a rainforest

rather close by. keas fluttered about.

the time richard nixon visited china

and my mom & her elementary class

danced and gave him flowers..

"a cosmic dawn,

not the end of the world."

there were eels in the water.

fiordlands, nz

"we need more people like you"

my anth senior seminar prof said to me

before she headed to rajasthan.

^____^

whoo!! :)

"Dear ed115ers,
Yes, we do walk our talk...
We computed the Cronbach's alpha for

the final exam and found it to be a respectable .87
The mean difficulty index for the items was .74
The mean discrimination index was also good at  .34
We did notice a few items that we can improve upon, but we were pleased overall, not just with the final exam but with all the work you all put into the course and the learning you made happen. Impressive achievements all around!"
~k & k

all i want is zucchini potato soup.

my living spaces

(in chronological order).

12.12.12!!

a burmese map of the world (1906)

"work for a cause, not for applause.

live life to express, not to impress.

don't strive to make your presence noticed,

just make your absence felt."

 abel tasman national park.
the time morgan and i did not
see another human being for 4 days.

geothermal rotorua, urban auckland;

new zealand.

crossing volcanoes.

maryna: my housemate/gardening instructor :)

i have had 5 different living situations
in the last 4 years.

1. dorms with nadya!
2. apartment with nadya, mary, brianna & others.
3. pica community & agro-ecology program
4. ed house in wellington, nz with
international students & kiwis!
5. apartment with maryna & theresa!

i've been really lucky and have
met so many amazing people
through my living situations~

yesterday, i got to teach the kindergarten
class for 5 minutes. the kids put 7 mystery items
in a cloth bag and i improvised a
make-believe story.

by kala n.

~

my friend maryanne is studying abroad

in costa rica right now.

she saw this bird in the rainforest:

"If your work ethic has no limit,

neither do your dreams."

^i like this.

this paper on Hawai'i

is dedicated to all the

amazing people, classmates & professors

i had the opportunity to meet in the south pacific.

thank you for all the

conversations,

insights,

and perspectives

on the Pacific Heritage.

from tonga, to
samoa, niue,
tokelau,
kiribati,
fiji,
cook islands
& the rest.

o oe se a.

holiday socks in the backyard.

someone baked maryna an epic birthday cake.

when she blew out the candles,

the sprinkles scattered everywhere~*

"But Talal Jafari, a 47-year-old shopkeeper

in the West Bank city of Hebron, said for

Palestinians, every victory counts.

"The entire world supports us, and that

by itself is great for us," he said."

regarding Palestine:

Countries Voted for the resolution:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirghistan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Qatar, Russia, Russia, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Sweden, Switzerland, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, UAE, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Voted against the resolution:
Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia(FS), Nauru, Palau, Panama
and the United States.

"be accessible, be easily reachable, be welcoming.

keep the door to your life open

so new breezes bringing new ideas

and new people can enter and enrich it."

-molly ford.

the best piece of writing advice i have ever received:

"stop worrying, just write."

-m. moodie

(my anthropology senior seminar professor)

sometimes, in class,

my mind wanders and i will

create a list of people & professors

that i think have the potential to

collaborate and truly contribute to a

better, nicer, more compassionate

and peaceful world.

she is on the list
^___^

how we quit the city(北京)

"i really want to buy you a klean kanteen

so you can put bumper stickers on it."

"no, i don't want to turn into a santa cruz senior"

was my sister's reply.

♡(*^﹏^*)♡

"BUT THANK YOU for bringing these things up.

You always inspire me and challenge me to grow."

~n r t

^she's gonna make me cry :) 


i am thankful for
many things this year.
mostly thankful for being surrounded
with supportive family & friends (and mops)
within an [almost] hopeless world, but
my sister and I figured out last night that, essentially:

EVERYONE just wants the same thing:
1. a nice house & someone to cuddle with
2. for their kids to grow up and be happy
3. to leave some kind of legacy. 

doesn't matter if you are
Chinese, Israeli, Palestinian,
Tongan, Maori, Malaysian,
Papua New Guinean
or American.

once someone went to

syria, jordan and egypt
(just days before the madness began)

and got me

sheets of papyrus paper

& a necklace with my name

carved in arabic

~*~*~*~*

“If we have no peace, it is because we

have forgotten that we belong to each other." 
----
also, did you know that the world
only has enough top-soil
to last us for just 84 more years?

"industrial farming destroys approximately six pounds of topsoil for each pound of food it produces. China’s soils for example remained productive for more than 4,000 years, until the adoption of mechanized chemical agricultural techniques led to the destruction of 15-33% of their agricultural soil."

people should really make a bigger
effort to find out what the hell
is going on in our world.
apathy is destroying us!!!

you don't need to feel
overwhelmed by the world.
just pick 2-3 issues you
are pretty interested in
and want to learn more about.
and just explore it!
can be local or global;
(it's all connected anyways).
*talk to your friends.
*ask professors.
*watch videos.
*read
*attend talks & events
*write about it
*build a network
of people who
also
care.

“You can’t really understand Barack until

you understand Hawaii.”

~ Michelle Obama

today, i planted new zealand
clover & fava beans as a cover crop.
then i picked 5 figs off a tree
(and ate them).

then i got my seminar research paper draft back.
the prof wrote me tons of helpful comments
and seemed to really like what i have so far.
My paper is titled:
"Imagining Hawai'i:
A Postcolonial Analysis of
American Tourism in Hawai'i"

i am excited for next quarter.

i am taking:

1. mexican barrio pop culture

2. teaching art and aesthetics

(theory) in k-12 education

3. cyborg anthropology
4. pilates!

and i will have satisfied all

my requirements for a

BA in Anthropology

+ Minor in Education!

woo! then continuing my job as a

writing tutor and makin' good

m~o~o~ne~e~y.

"It's not about sides, that's what the conflict

wants us to think. It's about humanity, recognition,

peace, above all else."

-a Jewish girl's post on

my Palestinian roommate/friend's facebook wall.

"Like many people in the performing arts, dancers are under a lot of stress. Not only do dancers have a difficult lifestyle with rehearsals, auditions, and side jobs, they also face themselves in the mirror every day in the constant effort to improve their technique. This grueling schedule and unrelenting self-critique can leave even the most energetic person worn out and exhausted. According to the Wellness Tip on stress, stress has three stages. The first stage “often begins with feeling overwhelmed by too many demands on your time and energy”. For dancers, who are often perfectionists, this can be seen as a sign that they just need to work harder. By ignoring this important warning sign, they are setting themselves up for burnout later on. Dancers are often taught to ignore pain and fatigue, but pushing through the fatigue can cause dancers to progress into the second stage where “the constant onslaught of stress hormones begins to take its toll”. Ignoring these early warning signs can have serious consequences like changes in eating, mood, and sleep. A prolonged state of stress leads to the last stage, which is total exhaustion. In this state, the body’s immune system is compromised, which can cause constant sickness and depression. Luckily, stress can be managed by maintaining a manageable schedule with specific times to relax and recharge. Short breaks, yoga, and massage can help to reduce stress. Ultimately, the dancer needs to put just as much effort into relaxing as she puts into dancing."

-written by Ellen & taken from her new blog about

health, stress mgmt, and dance!

(she is currently dancing at the
Alvin Ailey School in New York City;
also my bbf since 4th grade)

places i want to see in the world:

1. xinjiang province, china

2. jordan

3. japan

4. south & north korea
5. jellyfish lake in palau; micronesia

6. real mexico

7. madagascar

8. turkey

9. borneo

10. australia (so close last time)

11. papua new guinea

12. morocco
13. "stans" such as kazakhstan & kyrgyzstan
14. iran

my favorite places i've seen so far:
1. yunnan province, china
2. tongatapu; tonga
3.  punakaiki; new zealand
4. tongariro; new zealnd
5. kuala lumpur; malaysia
6. china-mongolia border

"This is the real political map of the United States of America after the presidential election. A fascinating view, much different from the maps you saw that night, which showed an artificial, binary divide. But these maps demonstrate that there is not such a huge gap between rural and urban America."

after being pretty productive at the library

on a friday night, i hung out with

my friend/co-worker natalie.

she lives in a converted garage which

felt like a small barn. we stuffed ourselves

with burritos, sipped herbal potions, and i bought some

loose chamomile flowers.

we went to her friend lois' house;

turns out, lois lives with sarah

who also studied abroad in wellington!

then i met some other great people

and we drew pictures together.

i love ellie goulding's acoustic covers of:

1.only girl

2.heartbeats

3.sweet disposition

she should somehow combine them to
make a song that goes:
"i want you to make me feel heartbeats
while our blood's still young"

i also like how her eyes roll to the

top of her head when she sings.

white, red, light blue,

florals.

"in small actions, be kind;

in big actions, be brave."

 a
tap tap

strum strum

twinkle lights

leaky a little

weavey a little.

slipping toes

back into the koi.
a pond
with

warm sporadic
lopsided dreams.

my dad visited over the weekend.

we went on a walk through the woods,

worked on my applications,

ate breakfast on the pier,

watched sea lions bark,

and bought some furniture

(such as a tv tray i'm using as a

bedside table and a little shelf).

got my first paycheck for tutoring today!

~*~*~*~
i made more in 14.75 hours
than 3 months teaching english in china.
^___^
(not that the latter wasn't an awesome
and great experience)

things

are

getting

cray

cray.

@___@


but
i can
do this!
i will!

having my 2 favorite professors whom i respect
and admire so much write my letters of recommendation
for grad school is one of the most amazing feelings ever.

after june and i chatted a while,

she said "now, enough about grad school,

i want to hear about new zealand & your travels!

how are your parents?"

then we talked about how she

wants to teach a muslim education class here.
i think this would be a really good idea.
there is just too much misunderstanding
and misdirected hate.
in addition to our education system reform
(2014-2015!!!!!)
i think muslim culture and education
should be added as a mandatory course in public ed.
i don't believe in wars;
we need Peace Education for Liberation.

she went to iran recently and

said it was one of the most

pleasant places she has been.

(and she has been EVERYWHERE).

"people were having picnics and

drinking tea everywhere and

inviting me to join"

she also meets with china and japan's

ambassadors often to talk about

international relations.

"You are a citizen of the world.

No human being is illegal."

-Angela Davis at Practical Activism

event on campus a few weeks ago.

thank you
for all the support,
encouragement
and cheering on~*~*~

[if you feel this applies to you,

it probably does].

when all else fails,

buy feijoas, pomegranate, spinach, and zucchini.

then go for a run to the beach,

sit on a cliff by the sea,

and contemplate things.

"Education is the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society. Compassion and peace of mind bring a sense of confidence that reduce stress and anxiety, whereas anger and hatred come from frustration and undermine our sense of trust. Because of ignorance, many of our problems are our own creation. Education, however, is the instrument that increases our ability to employ our own intelligence."

-Dalai Lama.

go forth.