London & Budapest

I got some slack for checking emails from vacation. What can I say? At least I will be semi caught up when I get back to work on Monday.

I think E and I were up for almost 24 hours traveling back home on Friday. Ugh. Connecting flights from London is absolutely horrible. Don't ever do it. It's just not worth the hassle. Also, if you've GOT to fly out of London, don't fly out of Gatwick. That airport is HORRIBLE - small, crazy crowds, noisy, and it was under construction while we were trying to navigate through - the lines were the worst! All in all, Heathrow is bad...but Gatwick is worse. :(

Some photos from the trip:

Back of Buckingham Palace

Erin across the Thames from Big Ben/Parliament

Trafalgar Square

Protest photos from Budapest. Very calm as you can see...

Sunset view from my hotel balcony of the Danube and Palace

Parliament (in Pest)

Fisherman's Bastion (in Buda)

budapesht

wine: tokaji - 13% alcohol. phew. feeling a bit on the tipsy side.

food: paprika everything...but it's yummy so i'm not complaining.

thai massage: $50 - what a bargain...i should gone for two.

turkish Bath - $15

Everything is so cheap here, I'm feeling great about our decision to visit!

London, Bratislava & Budapest

London was cool but expensive. *SIGH*. i also wasn't able to put into action my new resolve in trying to be more social. Then again, e & i did so much walking that we were just WIPED out at the end of each day.

We saw Buckingham Palace but was shut out TWICE due to weather for the changing of the guard. As you can see, I was really concerned about matching my shoes with my outfit. After donning a TRASH bag to try to stay dry, i figured anything would really go.

We also saw Avenue Q. If you have a chance to see it in Vegas or New York, I highly recommend it. It was pretty darn funny. Hopefully we'll be able to see another show on our way home.

There's been a lot of walking up and down stairs through the train stations. I regret bringing the 25" suitcase. Next time I go to Europe, I'm definitely bringing the 22" and paring down the amount of clothes. Recycle, Reuse. :(

E had wanted to visit Bratislava since 2004 when we were last in Vienna. I was intrigued so we went. WORST DECISION EVER. The people were so mean and rude there. I've never been to a country where I felt like the scum of the earth. They *HATE* americans...or anyone who speaks ENGLISH. When the immigration officer harshly asked me why we wanted to go to Bratislava, i whined, "i have no idea." We had to walk through an area that looked like the worst projects in Los Angeles. Luckily, a young american by the name of Joey came up to us to ask us if we knew where we were going.

He was traveling on his own for a week visiting with various friends in Europe before he headed off to Korea to teach english. He was a little lost himself but he spoke German so was able to get us to where we needed to go. PHEW. If it wasn't for that kid, I'm sure we'd be dead by now. Seriously, folks...it looks like it was under soviet control. EEEEW. NEVER need to go back there again.

On the flip side, I thought that the political uprising in Budapest would make it really difficult to have a safe and fun time here. So, me being me, i had to check out the scene.

It turns out that what is televised on the news is far worse than what I've experienced. I saw children as young as four and adults as old as eighty. I had no fear for my well-being. Considering the band that they had playing (think Iron Maiden concert...) I would have thought there would have been a lot of anger, pushing, and shoving at this protest. Nope. it was easy to walk around...lots of open space despite the attendance of over 20000 people. Oddly enough, I got a lot of stares. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I was only one of two asian persons there.

I've already met a woman from Brentwood whose husband is a cardiac surgeon at Cedars Sinai...she asked me what I did...where I worked. Wouldn't you just know it. Turns out she knows the Resnicks. Then she unleashed her fury upon me as to why we didn't accept FTD coupons. Next time someone asks me where I work...i'm just going to lie like a rug.

Anyhow, all in all, it's been a good 3 hours that I've spent in the city so far...

human trafficking...

I won't be able to post until next week, but I was reminded of my friends who have been working in Thailand to try to stop human trafficking by providing safe homes for children to go. I know that i post a lot of causes on here but this one is so heart wrenching! That could be your kid out on the streets.

http://www.zoechildrenshomes.org/

Child prostitution is now a worldwide crisis.

Worldwide, it is estimated that up to 1,200,000 children per year are brought into the child prostitution and human slavery industries.1

In the United States alone, it is estimated that 17,500 women and children per year are imported for this heinous work. 2

Human trafficking is an industry so lucrative, that the U.S. intelligence community estimates it will surpass the business generated by the illicit trade in guns and narcotics within the decade.3 Child trafficking is an epidemic that is growing exponentially. Unfortunately, response to this pandemic and awareness of this issue has not kept pace.

It has been said that “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.” Will you help fight for those who cannot fight for themselves?

ZOE Children’s Homes is a division of ZOE, an international Christian organization. The Children’s Homes were launched to proactively rescue children who are at risk of being sold into human slavery and/or child prostitution. Our first goal is to provide a loving and safe atmosphere. We then educate, motivate and model servant leader principles. With your help, a new generation of leaders can be raised up to help stop these crimes against humanity.

1 UNICEF www.unicef.org/protection/index_exploitation.html

2 US Department of State www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2005

3 Pathbreaking Strategies in the Global Fight Against Sex Trafficking, February 23-26, 2003, Washington DC, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/rpt/20834.htm

photos from the Bahamas...Atlantis, Paradise Island

Leap of Faith (goes through the shark tank)

Sunset view (close up view)

The view from my room

Our final night party

the coral towers

I will be the first to admit that I'm one of the few people I know who doesn't care for the Bahamas. More over, I'm not a big fan of places that remind me of Disneyland. For my vacations, I need a heck of a lot more charm involved. Luckily, this was a work trip so it wasn't an issue.

Family: Great place for kids to hang out and play. There were a ton of slides, activities, buffets, and exhibits all geared for the kids! I'm glad we opted at least once in our rotation a kid friendly resort. They all had a blast and dared me to ride on the slides. I could not disappoint so I gamed through a couple of the slides, although I didn't have quite enough time [or nerve] to do the leap of faith. Not so shockingly, I got mocked by kids of the 12 and under sect.

Adults: Casinos and nightclub galore. I caught some people checking out the young single gals at the bars. I didn't judge but had a huge grin on my face so they [very intelligently] put all my drinks on their tabs. AWESOME. Nothing I like more than free drinks and no strings attached. We almost lost of our colleagues as we left him behind - all was well when we found him in the exact spot we left him - gawking at the dancers on the catwalk.

Things to do: There are a lot of things to do on the resort but it's like i said before. disneyland. there's a lot of charm lost when you're dealing with a mega-resort like the Atlantis but at least you've got everything contained to one location.

Celebration of Beth's Life...

I met Beth almost 4 years ago at work. She was this spunky, crazy Texan...with a great Southern accent that we all used to tease her about...right down to the "y'all". She was new to Los Angeles, but I had made this decision that I was going to keep work and personal life completely separate. I wasn't going to make new friends at this job, I just wanted to keep things professional.

That worked really great for my first 4 or 5 days...and then Beth came to work for TF. She wouldn't let me put any sort of walls around myself. Beth was a person of extreme honesty and she initially hated her job because it was so boring. When I asked her how she liked her job, she said slowly..."well.....actually....i really hate it." I was pretty surprised by her candidness, especially in light of the fact that we had met just days before and she always seemed like such a positive, upbeat person.

She instituted a new thing for us, attendance mandatory, called "margarita mondays". We would grab margaritas on mondays [duh] and just complain about all the things that were bothering us about work, men...life....whatever came to our minds. Those days were filled with such great and funny memories. It was a gift. I had met my equal at work - someone who believed in working hard and passionate about all that you did. She was a dynamo! I had never met anyone who worked harder than she did. When I asked her where she got her drive from she said, "my dad always told me that if there was something i really wanted bad enough, all I had to do was work really, really hard at it." It sounded so simplistic...yet true.


We were in Cabo for a work thing, just months before she was supposed to take her AIFD exam. She was asking AIFD members (and past presidents) about what to expect from the test, what they were looking for, etc. She walks out of the room and a past president of AIFD turned to me and asked, "does she have ANY idea how difficult it is to pass this test? most people do not pass it on their first run..." I said, "she probably knows about it in the back of her mind, but she doesn't care...this is just another challenge that needs to be tackled." Sure enough, she past her exams. She moved away before her tests came in so I called her to read off her scores to her. The first question wasn't where she got her HIGHEST score, but where she got her LOWEST score - that was just her constant need to improve upon herself.


The person who took beth's position came into the job and said, "I don't know if I can come close to all that Beth managed to do in this position..." Six months into the position, the statement was, "I don't know how Beth managed to DO all these things!! She is AMAZING." Amazing she definitely was. not only was she artistically talented, but she was also business minded too. It was a pleasure to work with her because I never had to explain things to her. She was far more anal than I was so I knew it would LOOK good, but she also was able to see things in the bigger picture and intuitively KNOW what was needed for any given situation.


The other thing that I really appreciated about Beth was when she was mad or stressed out about something. I knew when this happened because Beth became this CLEANING machine. I definitely benefited from her fits of anxiety or worry...and sadly, my desk had never been the same since.


Things Beth taught me:


1.) Cultural norms of Texas - as we were driving by a lot I commented on the fact that I'd never seen a car lot that only sold TRUCKS. Beth turns slowly to look out the window...and starts laughing..."uhhhh...jenny....that's a parking lot."


2.) that it's 5 o'clock SOMEWHERE in the world - some days you need to start happy hour a little earlier than normal...and in unusual places. Beth and I once [or maybe a few times] snuck into our supply closet at our office and drank the beer that was "stored" there from some meeting. Both my bosses claim, to this day, that they had no idea we did that. Helloooo, everyone who knows me knows that I get the "asian tan" when I drink so much as a drop of alcohol.

3.) sometimes you gotta break or bend the rules - beth & I were playing horse on the roof our parking lot. as we were shooting around beth & i started to discuss our individual business trips. it was a first for the both of us and we were pretty reluctant to share our experience with each other. We were both concerned about how we'd be perceived professionally if word got out, especially since we were supposed to lead by example. I asked her sarcastically, "well, what did you do? go to a strip club?" [because that's where i took a bunch of co-workers and our clients] she turned and looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, "WHO TOLD YOU??!!" That when I realized we were both big geeks and deserved to be friends with each other.

4.) workin' hard - i think i'm a pretty hard worker. I think that I used to kick ass at almost every place i worked at. It's a personal pride thing for me to work the hardest. Then i met Beth...she was not only FAST, but she was accurate and good too!!


5.) never fear, try hard - beth was amazingly talented at everything she did. she was also a talented gymnast. she hadn't done anything in about 15 years...then she decides while we were hanging out at the park that she just HAD to do a round off, back hand spring. I tried to talk her out of it by saying, "beth...you will get hurt!! i can't possibly spot you!! when was the last time you did this??" She looks at me and says, "i'm going to go for it...i may end up with a broken bone, but then I'll know I shouldn't have tried it..." and takes off running...and lands the perfect round off back hand spring.


all this...and beth managed to die fighting as well...her own will to live was so strong that she lived far past the time that her doctors had given her a year and a half ago. I'm glad that i had the opportunity to know this amazing person. She's not a famous person...she didn't have time to re-invent the wheel (not that I doubt she would have)....and she didn't leave gobs of money to a charity. What she did do was touch the lives and hearts of all who had the good fortune to meet her.


as much as I knew this day would come, it still doesn't make it any easier. i still feel like the bottom just dropped out from under me.


Beth's going to have 4 people give eulogies at her funeral - her 2 sisters, her best friend from college, and me. Her mom, gwen, would like us to keep it a celebration of her life...and to keep it upbeat. I don't know how I'm going to do it...and i hope that i do Beth's life (career) justice...

life and living...

it's amazing what happens to a person when faced with their own mortality. for some it's an opportunity to jump into life and kick it in the butt; for others it's an excuse to sit there and cry out at all of life's injustices; while others quietly reflect upon their life and the lives around them.

it's so painful to have to stand on the sidelines watching my friends struggle with their own illnesses or the illnesses of their children. my friends from college, greg and susie, lost one of their twins, colin, earlier last week. they have exhibited a strength that leaves me absolutely amazed. colin, born a preemie, fought harder than most adults would be able to do just to stay alive. that is the memory that he has left on all who had read about his life. greg and susie, my prayers go out to you, allen, caroline, and of course, colin.

my other friend, beth, who is struggling on her second run with cancer. she has shown a strength of will that would leave me exhausted. she has a positive attitude, a positive outlook, and is taking her stand against the cancer that has invaded her body. i went to dallas this weekend to spend some time with her. she was pushing herself so hard because my time in dallas was so limited. i feel bad about going for such a short period of time but the time that we had was great. in the face of her struggles, she was concerned about how *I* was doing. it made all my little complaints and grievances petty and small in comparison.

then i have my friend, sao...so concerned about what she can do...she did the best thing that she could in BOTH situations - she loved and she cared. she attended little colin's funeral on Friday and grieved with greg and susie; and she made matching bracelets for beth and myself (which i LOVE - it's beautiful...) and she's never even met beth. beth had tears in her eyes just knowing that someone who hasn't even met her did something so thoughtful and touching.

it's so amazing how the human spirit reacts to pain, suffering, grieving...i know that my small spirit just cries against the wrongness and injustice of it all. then my small spirit with the little faith that it has reminds me that there is a reason for everything. it's not always enough and it doesn't keep me warm at night but i just have to believe that there are reasons for it.