Adventures in Our Own Backyard
Posted on December 4, 2007 by Ching under Sponsored Post, Travel.
It’s amazing to me that when we think of traveling, we seem to always think of traveling abroad. Some people want to visit Europe, some want to go to the Bahamas. It seems like people always think of traveling outside the US. But why? Why go outside the country when there is so much to do here? Besides that, why go through the hassle of getting a passport? Why go through the headache of customs?
Here are some ideas:
- Dinner cruise aboard the Spirit of Chicago and Segway tours of the city
- Parasailing and island adventures in the Key West
- Memphis ghost tour and haunted pub crawl
- Bayou and swamp adventures in New Orleans
- Niagara Falls
- Old Town trolley tour in Savannah
The list can literally go on and on. You can go to Trusted Tours and Attractions for even more ideas. Plus, if you sign up for their newsletter you get registered to win free tours or an iPod Nano.
There is just so much to do here. I think the next time Brian and I take a trip, we will stay in the US. I’m most interested in visiting Savannah, Georgia. I’ve never been and they have some really inexpensive tours there that are on special right now.
The Savannah Civil War Walk, Savannah Ghosts Tour, A Walk Through Midnight Tour of Savannah, and Savannah Guests and Gardens walk are all great bargains at only $13.50. They are great cheap date ideas or fillers for vacancies in your vacation itinerary.
There are also several Savannah Riverboat cruises and I’ve always wanted to do those. So next time you need a vacation, try not to look too far. There are many options right in your own backyard.
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What We’ve Been Up To
Posted on December 4, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr.
Brian and I had dinner with Brian’s parents the other day, Sunday. We had chicken fajitas. Yum!
Afterwards, Brian helped his dad put together a couple of bikes. They were intially going to have a bike-building contest but there wasn’t enough room for both of them to build at the same time. The bikes had to get built one at at time. I took the opportunity to play with my Gorillapod (one of the things I purchased with the $40 Best Buy gift card that David and Donna gave me for my birthday). The Gorillapod is awesome! It attaches to anything!
But I digress.. David and Donna purchased the bikes for a church Christmas charity, kind of like the Angel Tree or Star of Hope that we have at my work — which reminds me, I still need to buy a gift for my “angel” (I picked up a little seven-month-old boy). I usually pick up a couple but I can only do one this year because I am contributing to several fundraising events at work.
David and Donna got the girls (one is ten and the other is nine) winter jackets from Old Navy (one in pink and the other in cream/white color), educational board games, and the bikes (one in hot pink and one in sky blue). We decided that the hot pink one would belong to the younger girl because its handle bars had tassels. The ten-year-old would probably prefer the one without tassels, we guessed.
After that, I set up forwarding emails for lastpatrol.org while Brian and his dad played Halo. Then we went to my work to deliver my Christmas presents for the CSRs in my group. I had to give them their gifts early because I got them Christmas door-hanger ornaments. This way they can enjoy the ornaments this holiday season.
Brian attached the cards and premade bows to the wrapped presents (I had wrapped them a couple of weekends ago) and helped me put them on each CSRs desk. None of them work the late Sunday evening shift. I wanted them to have the presents first thing when they arrived at work on Monday.
Last night, we (Brian, his parents, and I) attended the OMA Academic Achievement Recognition Celebration. It was kind of a disappointment, actually. I will save that for another blog. I want this to be a nice positive entry.
Except for a couple more gifts that we are waiting to arrive and the gift that I need to buy for my “angel,” we are pretty much set for Christmas. We are just waiting for the day to arrive.
P.S. A note to Cannady Girl: I have a door-hanger ornament for you also! I will bring it by mom and dad’s this weekend. Maybe on Sunday?
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Astronomical Zoo at LAPO
Posted on December 3, 2007 by Ching under School.
I received this information via the Wichita State University news digest. I thought it might be relevant to some of our readers. If anything, it is at least a good cheap date idea.
Lake Afton Public Observatory will feature the program “Astronomical Zoo” from 7:30-10:00 PM on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8. Explore the strange and wonderful as we view clouds of gas, star clusters, galaxies and other amazing objects that make up our universe. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children ages 6-12 and free for children under the age of 6. LAPO is located 20 miles southwest of downtown Wichita at MacArthur Road (39th Street South) and 247th Street West in Lake Afton County Park. It is immediately North of the lake, just off MacArthur Road.
For more information, call (316) 978-3191 or email observatory@wichita.edu.
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Losing Your Accent
Posted on December 2, 2007 by Ching under Sponsored Post.
I recently had the opportunity to interview for a new position in the company that currently employs me. I was relieved to finally get through the screening process. I was very grateful for the opportunity. I was both excited and apprehensive at the same time. I hadn’t interviewed for anything in more than three years and my interview skills are not exactly magnificent.
Then I wondered if my accent is still very pronounced. Sometimes accents pose a communication barrier. I know I have had to rely on Angie sometimes to translate me to other people because the words I’ve said form totally different words and phrases to my listener. Angie is used to me so she can understand me no matter how fast I speak. She also says it is a talent that she has developed. Even when she worked at K-Mart, cashiers would ask her to assist when they received questions from foreign individuals who could and were speaking English but were difficult to understand.
I prefer to convey my message without the aid of a translator or third party so I really wanted to work on losing my accent. There wasn’t enough time before the interview, though. Besides that there were a lot of other things I needed to work on. Trust me. My accent was the least of my worries.
Regardless, accent training is something that I would like to pursue down the road. After all, I’m now an American. I should sound like one. 🙂
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Congratulations, Mom!
Posted on December 2, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Life.
Mom took her oath and became a naturalized US citizen on November 30, Friday. Congrats, mom!
She is the last one. Mine took place about three years ago. I went ahead and did it because my green card (aka permanent resident or “alien” registration card — I’m not sure why they call it that, it sounds so negative) was about to expire. I didn’t want to expire on me so I couldn’t wait on mom and dad any longer. Dad and Jen were both naturalized last year. Their green cards actually expired on them.
Mom’s green card had a later expiration date because she lost her purse several years ago and had to renew everything. Therefore, her green card ended up with a later expiration date than mine and Jen’s. Our entire family is now naturalized. Woot! Woot!
I haven’t found a huge advantage to being naturalized other than we now have the right to vote and we won’t have to pay for a green card renewal every few years. In the long run, being a US citizen is more cost effective.
Some people wouldn’t dare consider pledging to another country. They would maintain their original citizenship or at the very least maintain dual citizenship. Even though we are all naturalized Americans now, we haven’t forsaken the Philippines. I love my home country and will forever call it my home (although in most of my online profiles — e.g. Facebook, MySpace, etc. — I refer to Wichita as my hometown). We are not unpatriotic to our country of origin. We are merely pragmatic.
I suppose we have assimilated more than we realize. Pragmatism is very American. I’m proud to be one, and I’m happy that my mom is now one too. Congrats!
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