Bathroom Girl, WHO ARE YOU?

I don’t know about everyone else, but I have a very specific routine that fits in even the most mundane of tasks, such as filling up my water bottle at work or going to the kitchen to get my yogurt/fruit bowl snack. And this is even more exacerbated by the repetitiveness of an 8am-5pm job schedule.

I never REALLY notice how much we are all stuck in a routine until I start running into the same people whenever I do anything. I have a few examples of such encounters:

1.       I’ve started to notice that approx. 80% of the time I use the bathroom at work, there is someone in the far right stall. And I have YET to identify the person because all I ever see are her shoes! Same shoes, same stall, every single day. She’s usually in there when I get to the bathroom, and she’s always still there after I leave. Bathroom girl, WHO ARE YOU?

2.       I go to the kitchen at work pretty much at the same time every single day to cut up some fruit to put in the yogurt that I bring every morning. I do this every single day. While I’m in the kitchen, I usually see the same 4-5 people who are in there at the same time refilling their water bottles or their coffee mugs. They have the same routine as me, apparently.

3.       Whenever I leave my apartment for symphony rehearsal once a week, I always drive past a lady sitting on the second step of a flight of stairs across the street. She is always on the phone and having a cigarette. Same time, same sitting position, every week.

4.       When I go to conditioning class at the TaeKwonDo school, I park in the same place beside the same car every week. As I’m pulling up, the parent is always sitting in the car playing games on her IPad and her kid almost always has just finished class and is walking toward the car. So I have to wait before I can get all the way into the parking spot. Same parking spot, same parent, every week.

Those are just a few of the things I’ve been noticing as I go through the days. Obviously, no days are exactly the same, but little encounters like the ones above show that mostly all of us have some sort of routine ingrained in us that spans from big responsibilities such as waking up and going to work, to little tasks such as refilling our water bottles at the same time every day.

Whaddaya think?

Tooooodlez!

RY

MY Seven Little Happy Things

Fine, RY, I'll do it.

1. I got a 92 on my Psych test! It's decent, I'll take it.

2. Today for breakfast, I had leftover CHINESE FOOD. HECK YES.

3. I'm in lab right now, and our second stopwatch started working again :) I like this one better than the other one because it's red, not silver. Red is more poppy.

4. It was only misting when I walked to class, but apparently as soon as I got to class, it poured. Made it just in time :)

5. My roommate's bed hair this morning was really amusing.

6. My Psych professor imitated road rage and road sarcasm during class today, and it was the best thing I've seen today.

7. I get free food tonight at a meeting for the Office of Multicultural Affairs Exec board. 

I just really like food. 

RL

Seven Little Things That Happened Today So Far

1. Today at work, a colleague commented on how awesome the colors in my excel spreadsheet are (I made it tropical-island themed and you could see it from a mile away).

2. A parking spot right in front of my apartment was vacant this morning when it was rainy outside so I didn’t get rained on.

3. There was a pile of Asian candy in the kitchen in my office. So, naturally, I hung out there for a little bit.

4. Someone cleaned the dust off my computer screen and I can see cleaaaaaarly now, the RAIN HAS GONE…I can see all obstaaaacles in my way..

5. I ate pumpkin pie for breakfast.

6. I got a free pen from an insurance rep. And it has blue ink, not black!! How rambunctious!

7. One of my bosses told me about Pod City in Taiwan and now I can’t stop looking at pictures of it. It's so creepy and cool.

 

What are seven little happy things that happened to you today?

Toodle doo!!!

 

RY

Embarrassment or NAH

There was a time when I was afraid of attracting sideways glances and bemused looks from strangers in public. I would get embarrassed if I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk or if my parents said something really loudly in Chinese at the grocery store. Whether or not people do it on purpose, they tend to spin their heads around to see anything that happens out of their “ordinary.” I do it too, so I can’t judge!

It takes a certain level of comfort to NOT get embarrassed about things – or at least, it takes a level of acceptance that life is awkward, clumsy, and loud. I think I’ve finally gotten to that point. People can look all they want…I’m still going to run around and scream with the kids I babysit, do the chicken dance at a bluegrass concert by myself, or take super ridiculous pictures with my sister like a mega-tourist. It is still a work in progress, but I’ve basically resigned to the idea that people are going to look no matter what…so might as well give them something more entertaining to look at!

Plus, if you think about it, when people crane their necks to see what the commotion is about, they most likely are not judging you. More than likely, they already made some sort of snap judgment about you before you even did anything. Instead, they may be genuinely entertained by you, or just want to put a face to the sounds they are hearing.

They probably wish they were as comfortable with being themselves in public…but maybe that’s just what I would like to think.

Life is too short to let potentially hilarious and memorable moments get weighed down by focusing on what other people may think of you!

Toodle dee,

RY

Them Flying Machines Tho

This weekend I went to the Winston Salem Air Show with my dad! Ever since RL and I were little, our dad always liked showing us all different kinds of airplanes, which fueled (get it?? FUELED?) our interest in jets and fighters and bombers and the like.

I have nothing much else to say about it except it was cool to see all the historical planes and modern jets in the air and on the ground. Dad has a surprisingly broad knowledge of airplanes and jets that spans their specific names to their individual functions. But yes, the weather was very nice, albeit quite warm. I am now sporting a distinct flip-flop tan on my feet.

 

Fighters from WWII oooh la la

 

 

 

3 stunt planes flipping around all over the place

 

 

 

Czechoslovakian jet coming in for parking...wish I could get a video of this from the point of view of the guy in red

 

 

 

Cheeky little selfie with dad on Snapchat!! ( Speaking of which...follow me: @raeyao) teehee

After standing on the tarmac in the sun for over 3 hours, we finally got to see the Harrier do its short takeoff and VERTICAL LANDING. Which was awesome. I don't have pictures of it doing all that because I was occupied with taking videos. I have no idea how to get them from my phone to this blog. SORRY!!!!

Tooooooodle loo!

RY

Dance

SO for those of you who have known me for a long time, I never ever EVER danced (in public) before college. Dancing was embarrassing and I wasn't good at it so it would just make things awkward. 

But times are a-changing! I joined a dance crew in freshman year. We dance to Korean Pop music, so basically dance to a wide variety of styles--hip hop, masculine, feminine, sexy, whatever. And we perform several times a year. This year I was made president of the crew and whoaaaa never thought I would have led a dance crew in my entire life! We had our first performance of the year with our new members yesterday at a culture festival and it was really fun, because we have so many new people :) and since we have no audition process, we all really just dance to have fun and not be competitive :) 

Step out of your comfort zone and try new things. 

RL

Wednesday Word Wringer

What do you all think of the word “foodie”?

I really like food. I go out of my way to try awesome food and I try everything at least once. Does that make me a foodie? I like to cook and create cool meals but I don’t consider culinary arts a passion by any means. Does that make me NOT a foodie?

Foodie….what a strange word. Since when did adding “ie” at the end of a noun make it a human being with some sort of obsession/passion for said noun? I really love Netflix, so I suppose that makes me a Netflixie. Or maybe “foodie” is just one of those 21^st century phenomenons coined on social media platforms like Instagram where foodie culture explodes with pictures of breakfast platters that probably aren’t the same color tone in real life. From what I see, usually it seems to be a self-proclaimed term with limited professional ring to it. Gordon Ramsay probably has never used the word in his entire life.

I am not saying anything against it – I’m trying to understand what the heck a foodie is! Any thoughts?
 

Toodles NOODLES,

RY

 

 

 

Keeping Up...

…with old friends. Did you think I would talk about the Kardashians again? Sadly, I probably keep up more with them than my old friends. And that’s the saddest thing I think I have ever said.

Keeping up with old friends is a skill, I’d say. As a kid, I had some amazing best friends who I played with every single day. Then, middle school came and I met new people and new best friends while keeping my old ones. High school – same thing. But once college happened, people who were once never more than a 5-minute drive away suddenly moved to places where spontaneous trips to the muddy creek were not as feasible anymore.

There is something about childhood BEST friends that make them best friends for life. They’ve hung out with you through ALL the awkward stages of growing up and still managed to love you anyway (And no, I will not be providing pics of those times). They know all the good hiding spots in your house and have seen how embarrassing your parents can be, and that will never go away. As a “real adult” though, it can be so easy to get so caught up in the hullaballoo of life that keeping up with those people gets stuck on the backburner forever.

Yesterday I got to hang out with a girl who was one of my main sidekicks since way before the turn of the millennium. We grew up together and went to all the same schools together until she moved a little over an hour away for college. Since then, I can count the number of times I’ve seen her on one hand.  But when we finally got to spend time together again, it was so fun to continue that parallel timeline we have together and make sure they don’t diverge too far again. It made me realize how awesome it is to keep in touch with old friends whose presence was vital to who I am today.  

My goal is to keep up with my dearest friends more than I do with the Kardashians…….can I get a cheers to that?!?!?

Toodle doodle,

RY

Lee Immune System

So, recently the first virus of the year has been going around campus and pretty much everyone's getting it in some form. As in, there's a circle of people who sits around me in my Psychology class that all have sore throats and bring in cough drops, medicine, Airborne, etc. to class. But as usual, I haven't gotten the bug (yet). Actually, RY and I rarely get sick, and if we do, it's just a minor stomachache or throat ache that heals really quickly. 

I think it's because we eat healthy (most of the time) and exercise. But it's totally genetics too, or because we traveled when we were little so we were exposed to more germs, or something. But anyway, we're lucky :P

RL

Airplane Speed Dating?

Update on the post about flying on airplanes – I did NOT get to rest and relax on either of my two connecting flights because as the luck of the draw would have it, I sat beside two of the chattiest people who both thought their life stories were worthy of taking up my naptime. Indeed, I enjoy learning about people’s adventures and misadventures (which is why I’m so guiltily sucked into reality TV), so it wasn’t the worst thing to engage in conversation with these people. But on my second flight, I even put in my earbuds and the Costa Rican guy still thought it was a great idea to ask me about my opinion on thunderstorms. I mean, really? Thunderstorms?

Then he proceeded to tell me about his entire family. Like, ENTIRE family. Which family members are currently in Virginia, who is currently in Costa Rica, which ones are in the army, which nephew just spoke his first word, etc.

What is it about airplanes that makes people wants to divulge such personal information? That lady on my first flight told me every single detail about every guy she’s seen. The guy on my second flight revealed all the struggles and accomplishments of all of his family members. It’s definitely got something to do with the fleeting nature of air travel – it’s kind of like a one-time therapy session, maybe? It kind of reinforces the fact that everyone around us is dealing with stuff and has some sort of baggage they are carrying around (pun INTENDED). No matter who we sit beside on the plane, they have something they want to get off their chest – it’s just a matter of whether or not they are comfortable doing so. And clearly, these people on my flights this past weekend were VERY comfortable doing so.

TOODLES!!!

RY

The Kardashians: A RAEview

They can seem like real airheads, I know. Kim bawls her eyes out when her nail polish chips and it seems like the hardest thing she has to do every day is choose what Givenchy shoes match her Balenciaga handbag. Still, I have to admit, I am fascinated by them and I get sucked into the K-frenzy sometimes.....

We’ve gotta give them some credit – they may not seem to have any standout talent, but they still have managed to build an empire for themselves. No matter how much we make fun of their lackluster personalities or materialistic obsessions, they are the ones out there in Calabasas adding 15 garages to their mansions while we are all here sitting on our Ikea couches watching their reality show and eating hot Cheetos.

It’s easy to assume that all they do is live their rich life simply by existing with a camera crew following them around, but it HAS to be more than that. They have so many things going on that it has to be exhausting to get up early every morning and have to face the fact that a zillion people will be watching their every move no matter where they go. They have clothing and makeup lines, sponsorship opportunities left and right, and have families of their own to take care of. Because of the lifestyle they’ve created, they are businesswomen and have to balance schedules that require them to be in 100 places at one time. Yes, they have private jets and they stay in 10-star hotel penthouse suites, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t hard-working.

In the end, the Kardashian clan are people too. They see all the shade that is thrown at them and they still power through their lives. I can't believe I'm even writing about them. But what the heck. They are celebrities for the sake of being celebrities and you know what? More power to them.

Toodle doodle,

RY

I'm a Researcher!

New exciting thing in my life--I'm starting work at a research lab in the Psychology department this year under one of the Psych professors I had last semester (for Stress and Coping--my favorite class) and again this semester (for Research Methods...not as fun). He primarily studies emotion, and has a few studies going on in his lab right now, headed by grad students.

At first I thought I was just going to work as a Research Assistant and be a confederate (the person in the lab who pretends to be a subject to influence the real subject in studies of social interaction) or the person who enters data. But nope! In one of the studies about stress and distraction in aiding recovery from stress, I stress out subjects by making them do a task as fast as possible. I'm not allowed to smile and I feel really mean, but it's kind of fun to watch them get scared when I walk in the room >:D I feel powerful haha.

The second study is about reflection. I am one of only 2 Research Assistants being trained to conduct the study. So it is a little more stressful...because after training, shadowing, and being shadowed next week, I will be able to schedule and lead subjects on my own. WHOA. I feel cool. 

Okay, so maybe that doesn't make me a researcher, really. I'm still just the Research Assistant and not the Principal Investigator or anything, but it's still way more than I thought I would be doing! 

The downside is that I have to work/train in lab at 8:00 AM four days next week. So stay tuned on how I feel after exhaustion hits ;)

RL

Frequent FlyRaes

Okay, flying is not everyone’s cup of tea. It does come with a certain level of anxiety – it just depends on how comfortable you are with giving complete control of your life to 2 strangers sitting in the cockpit of your airplane. But is that MUCH different from sitting in the back of a taxi cab with some random driver who has WAY less training and skill sets to shuttle you around? Idk but that’s not the point of this post.

I am leavin’ on a jet plane today (just for the 3-day weekend) and I could not be more excited. RL and I used to dread sitting on planes for hours (and hours…and hours…), but I’ve started to look forward to those hours on a plane when I have nothing to do. I think RL agrees. I wear my baggiest sweatpants and RL wears her weird toe socks with flip flops. I get to sit back, pop in my earbuds, and zone out without my phone buzzing incessantly or the guilt of knowing there is something more productive to do.

Yes, when we go halfway around the world, the plane rides can get overwhelmingly boring, but eh, it gives me time to write in my journal or read the book that’s been sitting on my nightstand for months. And so far, there is always something really awesome waiting for me at my destination that makes it all so worth it! Most of the time…it’s food.

Hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend!

Toodle-oo

RY

Ding Dong Ditching

^It’s something that pretty much every kid does at some point while growing up in a suburban neighborhood. Strolling around with some friends, feeling like the next big thing in the world…oh hey, there’s a house that looks like someone’s home! Let’s ring the doorbell and, 1: Run away as fast as possible, or 2: Hide in the bushes beside the front door! And yes, it can be funny when someone comes to door and peers out of the door with a confused, yet apprehensive look on his or her face.

These days, though, people in general have a more heightened sense of security. The meaning of home security is evolving with daily reports of break-ins, robberies, vandalisms, and the whole shebang of suburban, middle-class issues. Most of the time, when someone who is up to no good is driving around a neighborhood, he or she will target a house where it seems there will be no push-back from anyone. So, in order to see if anyone is home, he or she will ring the doorbell. This is what happened when a stranger rang my doorbell, and no one was home. So they went ahead and broke through the garage window.

So what if you’re a kid wandering around and trying to be funny by ringing the doorbell of someone who is already wary of ANYONE who rings their doorbell? Technically, it’s trespassing. So they got you there. But also, what if they have some sort of system that catches you in the act and/or if they reflexively act against you? What if you’re hiding in the bushes and they come out with a weapon of some sort and start whacking behind the bushes to defend their home? These days, you just never know who you could be messing with. Plus, if you think about being on the other end of a ding-dong-ditch, you’ve had to get your butt off the couch and walk all the way to the door to find no one there? There is nothing funny about that, I think! Plus, it really could mess with your mind – especially when most people’s minds naturally go to the worst case scenario. I know mine tends to do that these days……

Toodlez!

RY