quote

''Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.''

-quotation from the Talmud - Itzhak Stern from Schindler's List

thank u mr. postman!

After taking two sick days last week, my first day back at work on Monday morning wasn't the greatest experience. Needless to say, work was a bit on the dreadful side, and I still didn't get most of the work done. And the fb msg my co-worker left on my wall describing my desk (''It looks like a tornado went through your cubicle!'' - emily) doesn't do it justice. More like Tornado and Tsunami combined.

BUT... something came in the mail to brighten up my day!

A letter from Tanzania from my sponsor child in Arusha... :)

And I've decided to postpone my trip to Tanzania to June 2010 - since rain season is usually from mid-March to the end of May. Exciting and nerve-racking at the same time... but definitely more excited :)

And while we're on the Africa page, and while the coming drought in Ethiopia is getting global attention again after the on in 1984 - here is some food for thought:

''According to Oxfam, just 0.14 per cent of overseas assistance is allocated to disaster risk management, an area of aid that identifies threats together with communities and works to mitigate them. This includes investment in infrastructure that would move food relief around a country rather than importing it and water conservation projects that would help sustain crops. Unfortunately, the tendency is to give after a crisis rather than taking steps to prevent it from happening.''

--Vancouver Sun, November 2, 2009 Monday, Article ''More aid must be devote to drought prevention'' by Craig and Marc Kielburger

Little Perks that make my day.... priceless. (For everything else, there's Mastercard.)

I wholeheartedly support poor English menus in Asian restaurants... they make such good conversation starters!

(''uh... excuse me, can I get a crispy creep, extra creepy - uh, I mean, crispy, please?'')

And here is the result of finding that little perk in our menu. 2 thumbs up on the creepiness, Tani!

Thanksgiving dinner @ Karen's. ALL THE LOVELY LADIES....!

FLUX retreat @ Whistler Lodge - Sept '09

Grouse Grindthlete! Best time so far: 50:56

Just thought I'd pop in a quick update for FALL 2009! whoo! :)

More to come...

better, bigger things..

The whole day, being sick at home - and I couldn't find the energy to do anything but....

--watch online streaming video.

Definitely an unproductive, bad, bad, bad way to spend my time at home. (my first excuse being I'm too tired to focus, and second, this may be the infamous H1N1 virus, and when one is plagued by a fatal virus as such as this, one deserves a break from daily routine/self-discipline. Lesson learned today: my excuses are lame.)

So what did I learn by facebooking, watching gossip girls, checking emails?

Nothing much - except that all of us are consumed by materialistic pursuits, attention (--facebook, but I'm shooting myself in the foot in this one), and U2 concert.

Then I decided to do better things while surfing on the net, and entered 'world poverty' in google search engine and here's what bounced back to me:

Global Priority	$U.S. Billions
Cosmetics in the United States	8
Ice cream in Europe	11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States	12
Pet foods in Europe and the United States	17
Business entertainment in Japan	35
Cigarettes in Europe	50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe	105
Narcotics drugs in the world	400
Military spending in the world	780

And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:

Global Priority	$U.S. Billions
Basic education for all	6
Water and sanitation for all	9
Reproductive health for all women	12
Basic health and nutrition	13

''cowardly, not courageous.''

“These attacks on innocent people are cowardly; they are not courageous, they are cowardly,” Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference with the Pakistani foreign minister, her voice raw with anger.

nytimes on Clinton's Arrival in Pakistan Met by Attacks

今週の悩みは

最近、focusできない！！

I need my ピキーチケンと小鳥の『アドバイース』。

悩みがあります。

ERM.

So today was my first volunteer training at St- Paul's Hospital in Downtown Vancouver.

What I'll be doing is CARDIAC PATIENT VISITING, where I'll be assisting patients before and after their heart surgeries. What I thought I'd be doing today is actually going into the cardiac wing of the hospital and doing patient visiting tasks already - but it turned out to be more of an information session, with 'to-dos' and 'not-to-dos'. I'll be starting my volunteering with another volunteer trainer, doing buddy shifts before I start my regular shifts on Fri nights.

But I'm so looking forward to it....!

＊＊＊＊＊

そして、今日はとてもエベントフールだった日だった。

Tomorrow is another day!