Gratitude this week

Dear Intramural Soccer,

I have learned a lot about myself from our short stint together.  (1) Putting me in the goalbox turns me from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde.  Don't try it unless you want to listen to me chastising myself (i.e. screaming at the universe)  in Chinese.  (2) Injuries are a matter of course.  (3) I'm so bad at this game that I can't even pretend to have illusions that soccer is in my future or that I will one day impress some already professional soccer player with my mad skills <cough, cough>.  

Thank you for being a voice of reason.

Love,

Me

Dear World of Kpop,

Nothing helps me realize how normal I am as much as you.  I don't understand why you are impressed with Nichkhun's English skills when he was born and raised in America.  I don't get that you think it newsworthy to take pictures when Yesung rides the subway.  Or that you think it's worth mentioning when an idol smiles at, shakes hands with or hugs a person of the opposite gender.  I don't understand your fashion sense or why the most random of lists that some 13 year old girl makes up about, "Top Twenty Idols that I would Build an Igloo With (or insert other random activity here)" get passed around the interwebs as a scientifically based study.  

Thank you for letting me be a voice of reason.

Love,

Me

Dear "Albert",

I thought I had met you before when you walked into the activity late.  And I wracked my brain, willing it to remember why you were so familiar to me.  And then it hit me: You looked like Bae Soo Bin.  

Thanks for the reminder that I like Kpop more than I care to admit.

Love,

Me

Dear Mr. Children,

Your music is fantastic and inspiring.  It's easy to listen to while I'm working away the hours in the lab.  And it even impressed my friend who speaks Japanese.  

Thanks for helping me get through this week. 

Love, 

Me

Dear Fei's Mother,

It was wonderful to meet you and talk with you.   I really glad to have a chance to talk with you, even for just a minute.  And your compliment was extremely nice even if it left me slightly wondering, "Your Chinese is good.  I can understand what you say ergo your Chinese is good.  I mean, I can understand you much better than I can Cantonese or Shanghaiese."  

Thank you for setting the bar of good Chinese: It gives me the illusion of improving.  

Love,

Me

Dear Mom and Dad,

I once had a friend tell me that one of the greatest things a parent could give their child was the gift of literacy.  I realize that I take it for granted on a daily basis but it has proved time and time again to be one of the best and most important influences in my life.  

Thank you for making my world.

Love,

Me