"from our morning jog/walk/exploration."

 took this from ashley's insta.

 my plant sprouted a proboscis and

it won't stop growing.

its growth averages 2 inches per day.

i stumbled upon a forest in the city

during my jog today. initially, the plan
was to run to whole foods to see if they have
loose leaf tea, then i took a wrong turn and
ended up in the wilderness.

jesus bugs.

mini & massive bridges.
creeks.

moon flowers.

i'm going to run here everyday

(or at least 4x a week).
it's the PERFECT trail.

i made frosting from scratch for the first time.

i slathered it on my cake and then

fed it to my roommate, who liked it.

then we spent 30 minutes trying to

open a bottle of wine

without a corkscrew,

failed and now we're going to bed.

this package was sitting outside the door.

since i couldn't wait until christmas or my birthday,

i ripped it open.

theresa & maryna sent me an eggplant cutting board!!!

:)  :)  :) 
i know you (maryna) look at my
blog sometimes, so THANK YOU! <3

 this picture began as a pear.

"where you are at right now

is exactly where you need to be."

thanks for the reminder, ellen.

it's exactly what i needed to hear

from someone~~

i tried an oreo mcflurry for the

first time and it was like

spooning sweet frozen clouds into my mouth.

it was SO good.

got 3 hours of sleep last night
(stayed up designing a
structured academic controversy lesson plan,
read readings & wrote response,
prepared for a seminar i gave today)

so i took a nap after the long day
& woke up to this beautiful sky!

 today was one of the best days of
school i have ever experienced.

also, we've been playing 4-square with the

kids during recess and it is SO much fun.

jenny sent me this cartoon,

i think it's pretty accurate.

* * * 生日快乐! * * *

1. celebrating my 3rd birthday

-just arrived in the US after living in china

for a year; spoke no english;

watched lion king and cried

even though i couldn't understand the words.

fruits, stuffed animals, cake.

2. celebrating my 22nd birthday

-took this one day off during winter break

(spent the rest studying for grad school exams);

ate tempura eggplant & lotus root.

fruits, fairy lights, cake.

**made a smoothie**

(but forgot to put in bananas)

**ironed for the first time**

sally's been everywhere with me:

santa cruz, beijing, wellington,
kuala lumpur, singapore, seattle

(but she didn't get to go to nuku'alofa
because i thought she might get
lost in the luggage, so she stayed
in new zealand with all the sheep & pukekos)

have you ever wondered what

the inside of a golf ball looks like?

well, it looks like this!
 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
i highly recommend an app called
FLIPBOARD.
you can subscribe to your
favorite news sites/blogs/magazines
and view interesting articles in a neatly
organized and aesthetically pleasing
virtual little board.

you can also "make" your own personalized magazine
by [+] articles you especially like.

as i was  eating chocolate ice cream on a hot summer day,

i suddenly witnessed these
freakishly tall creatures walking around:

Today, a panel of parents/educational leaders from the community came in to share with us the dreams, hopes and fears they have for their children. Asian fathers, Black mothers, Latino mothers. There was alot of laughter and joking, but also tears and pleas for what they know teachers can do and how we have to "fight the current system" that is killing our children

(creatively, spiritually and physically).

Parents spoke realistically about the Asian model minority myth, slavery, racism, privilege, "multiculturalism", and Trayvon Martin.

Here are some things that they said
that stuck out to me:
"What I want most for my daughter is
someone who can see her, hear her. love her."
"Ask yourself: What kind of future is
this child going to have and what can my role in it be?"
"If you don't make that connection,
we all know what's waiting around the corner
for that one child: prison, death."
"Children want to be seen by you,
they want to be there with you."
"Think of how you can bring yourself
and your experiences into the classroom
for your students."
"Foster that spark."
"Value and respect Black people."
"See the greatness in children.
See them as leaders, not problems."
"Look at people as equals,
then you will be successful."
"Make yourself irresistible."
"Support dual-language programs."
"Have high expectations, say:
I know you can do better than that,
I can see it in you."
"But regardless of everything,
at the end of the day, it's in the heart."

This isn't "just" a teacher training program, it's a social justice through urban education vision and i feel
so happy/optimistic again to be here,
trying to figure out how i can be a part of it all.

Children don't need "saving," they just need someone to
see, honor and nurture that spark.

Strawberry lemon mint water!

i want to design an interdisciplinary unit

on Literacy & Gardening.
(inspired by Leo the Late Bloomer)