PUPPIES

I call this piece "unrequited love".  One of the law students brought her adorable puppy Beaux to play today.  Definitely helps relieve the stress, although also hinders productivity.

Misleading

This "try a sample" button is such a tease, unless they will actually wirelessly send me hummus to taste test.

Example win

Example sentences are always useful when you're trying to figure out either how to use a new word, or use a word in a new way.  Sometimes they are also amusingly bizarre, like this one:

Officially ethical

Passed the MPRE, thank goodness.  Now, what to do with my MPRE books?  1) Burn them, 2) Recycle them, or 3) Feed them to Mr. Wiggles.

Lies

People has a list of stocking stuffers for $25 or less, including the following.  I don't know about anyone else, but MY favourite party people do not ever have leftover bubbly from New Year's Eve.

QVC EXPANDABLE WINE & CHAMPAGNE SEALERS

Your favorite party people will appreciate having these fail-proof bottle toppers so they can save the leftover bubbly they pop on New Year's Eve for morning-after mimosas.

http://www.people.com/people/package/gallery/0,,20547853_20649527,00.html#21243857

Holiday season

It's only been December for a day, but already feels different.  People seem grumpier!  Isn't it supposed to be the "most wonderful time of the year"?  Maybe it's exam period lurking around the corner.

Real life is more dramatic than TV

Or, at least the Philly public transportation is.

There was a showdown on the bus today, preceded by the woman first ranting about how everyone is out to get her at the bus stop, and saying how she doesn't understand why she's such a target because she minds her own business (while ranting non-stop to strangers, naturally).

Bus arrives, she gets on and puts her 10 bags next to another passenger, who tells her the bags smell and are gross and she doesn't want them touching her.  Woman 1 says that she's disrespectful and should give up her seat since Woman 1 is a senior citizen and disabled, evidenced by her cane.  Woman  2 said she was also disabled and shouldn't have to give up her seat, to which Woman 1 said she didn't look disabled.  Woman 2's response: "Just because I'm not as decrepit as you, doesn't mean I'm not disabled and need this chair myself."

Which somehow led Woman 1 to bring up Obama, declaring that "Barack Obama may be president but this still America", and she feels sorry for Woman 2 (although unclear what for).  Some statements about she was American-educated and was supposed to marry a Wharton graduate decades ago, but someone was out to get them and made sure they ended up with nothing.  Then repeating the statement about Obama several times, statements about how the bus rules require the bus driver to be nice and helpful (HAH!) and people are supposed to give up their seats to the elderly and disabled (while she is sitting), then them screaming at each other about her bags (again), and finally Woman 1 telling Woman 2 she is glad there is a witness for her police report.

The most frightening part: Woman 1 said she is a teacher, and the Philly school district is begging her to come back and teach (cue laughter from everyone on the bus).  She seemed too delusional for it to be true, but if it is I worry for her students.

Missed my bus to NYC because my shoulder follow-up post-surgery ran an hour and a half late, but the bus incident was probably enough excitement for one day anyway.

Bed bound

I recently got surgery on my shoulder as a result of having a torn labrum, a bone spur, excess fluid, and possible a pinched nerve, which has resulted in chronic pain in my shoulder blade.  While the recovery period isn't supposed to be too long, it's given be the chance to watch lots of old TV shows that all my friends watched growing up but which I didn't have in Hong Kong.  Dawson's Creek, for example.  I don't know whether I'm too old, but most of these characters are so unlikeable!  Or maybe I'm just cranky from being stuck inside.  However, I am grateful that my life is more interesting than this show.

Have also gotten all my Christmas shopping done, also online from my bed, which has to be a record.  Just starting to feel cabin feverish, want to get out and exercising again!

Quote of the day

"Hope you start to feel better post surgery! I'd send flowers but I know how you feel about those..."

Also love my post-op rule sheet. What legal documents should I sign today?

Vermont

As much as I love the city, it's beautiful getting away. And weddings are delightful.

Someday Simba this will all be yours

Amazing email from one of my friends:

Greetings friends,

I was recently lounging around, television surfing and whatnot, when to my surprise (and pleasure) I noted that Disney's The Lion King was playing on tv. Naturally, I became enthralled. Upon the movie's conclusion, I said to myself, "Damn, Disney, well done. That is one. good. movie." And I must say, Jeremy Irons as Scar - pretty amazing execution of that role. 

Now as some of you may know, I am strangely fond of the works of William Shakespeare, and in particular, Hamlet. I recently learned from classmates, and let me tell you this absolutely rocked my world, that The Lion King IS Hamlet revisited. Before you resist, consider:

Simba as our angsty prince, Timon and Pumbaa as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Tom Stoppard would be proud), Zazu and Rafiki as dual-role Polonius, and Scar as Claudius (how much cooler is it that Jeremy Irons was Scar now?). 

Friends, forgive me if I am repeating what is common knowledge, but I have to say, this little kernel rocked my world. Pretty awesome.

hakuna matata,

Lax

Online dating

Amazing story my friend sent me:

I saw your face on my OKC homepage and decided to investigate your profile to figure out what moisturizer you use (I'm guessing it is a mixture of silk sheets and babies bottoms judging by the apparent softness of your skin) After perusing through your profile pictures and reading your profile I didn't find your moisturizer brand but I have decided that we are clearly the two coolest and best looking people on this website and we should take advantage of it. I say we just get married and make a happy family of perfectly aesthetic children that are so awe striking and awesome they make world rulers drop to their knees and beg to pay us huge sums of money for the genetic code. Then we can live happily ever after, throwing money in the trash and partying like Charlie Sheen. Maybe even adopt an African child for shits and giggles. As you can see I have this whole thing planned out, so all you have to do after you pop out some kids... actually screw that, you can't afford to mess up your figure, we'll get a surrogate mother. So all you have to do is sit by the pool, drink margaritas, get oiled up by hot pool boys and look good all day while I crunch numbers and conduct business. So are you down or what?

My new favourite song

Call Me Maybe v. Gangnam Style = Call Me Gangnam

Call Me Maybe, truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Letter

Dear Shake Shack,

You are effing delicious.  I'm sorry I ever had doubts.  Thank you for being my neighbour.

Nom nom nom,
Klong

Quote of the Day

Rob: "I did what your dad told me and wrote my business school application essay about babysitting Mongolian babies in Beijing."

Ouch

You know you must be in bad shape when your massage therapist first makes you cry, then says she wishes she had another 3 hours to torture you work on your shoulder.

Quote of the Day

"When you graduate, will you be the youngest lawyer ever?"

No, despite thoughts to the contrary, I am not in fact a teenager.

Endless Opportunities

Apparently I speak Chinese in my sleep. I suppose even non-waking moments are excellent opportunities to practice. Wish I knew whether my subconscious speaks better than I do.

Really?

I will vote for anyone who makes travelling to the US from abroad less obnoxious.

a) I don't believe the US government has "randomly selected" me for screening when it happens every time.  And confiscating my wonton soup that I bought at the airport is absurd.

b) I am not half Korean, my blonde hair and blue eyes should give that away.  The alternate question - "why were you born in Korea" - is no less annoying to answer.

c) If you are going to make me collect my bag and recheck it myself between flights, get it off the plane in some time period that is within an hour.

d) My laptop is, in fact, a laptop and not an iPad.  Seriously?

e) It's absurd to not have a single Mandarin-speaking flight attendant on flights from Hong Kong.  You're lucky I translated for you, Cathay Pacific.

Hmmmppffffffff.  I'm sure I will be happy to be back once I have slept, but right now I kind of just want to go back to Asia.

My views on politics

Wish everything was this direct

Quote of the Day

White person in Beijing:
"I'm a huge geek TRAPPED in a jock's body."

False, you may be bigger than most people here, but you look nothing like a jock.

Globalisation

I just met a Spanish guy, who works for a French company, in a Starbucks in Beijing.

Only in China

Do you need a massage to recover from yesterday's massage! Whenever I go back to the states, I always miss being able to get a massage at any time of the day or night, which is not only 3 times as long and twice as good, but also half the price of a massage in the US.

Beijing

Arrived in Beijing Tuesday afternoon.  People are always curious how long the flight is from the U.S. to China and on my flight I discovered a good way to describe it: one can watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in addition to another movie.  Yes, the flight had all three movies on demand, which is a pretty brilliant idea.  It also had other movies and their sequels, e.g. the Mission Impossible movies and the Men in Black movies.  Such a good idea!

Started work yesterday, and will get a lot of opportunities to work on my Mandarin, which is great.  While people do speak English, since they discovered that I can speak Chinese they have been slipping into speaking Mandarin with me instead of relying on English to communicate.  Makes me feel so good about my hard work!  Still feel like I have a long way to go, but definitely encouraging that I am better than I think.

Laduree

Overpriced, but totally delicious.

Got a box of 8 filled with: 2 vanilla, 1 raspberry, 1 strawberry candy marshmallow, 1 coconut, 1 apple, 1 blackcurrent and violet and 1 caramel with salted butter.  So delicious, although the apple was probably my least favourite.  The strawberry candy marshmallow really was "incroyable".  NOM!
Macarons + lying out in Central Park + good friends = perfect afternoon

NYC

Second week in NYC, 4th of July.  Not sure how I feel about this city yet.  It's always been a fun place to visit, but I still find it hard to imagine myself actually living here.

Awesome

I'm such a nerd, but so excited to have found one of my favourite books translated into Chinese.  Find it to be such a good way to learn vocab and generally keep up with languages.

Jet Set

Got a similar assignment to the one I had on Tuesday and was nervous I'd be at work late, but was able to leave at 6:30 - just in time to catch my flight to Bangkok for the weekend! Looking forward to spending a few days in Thailand, haven't been there in ages!

Phew!

Now I know what it's like to have to stay at the office working until 4 am. Amazing how the day flies by. I also understand what people mean when they say that on days when you're working late, when you finally get home you can't just go to sleep.  You want to seize a tiny part of your day for yourself!  At least they don't expect me to be in the office by 9 am tomorrow.

Dragons

Will have left before the actual Dragon Boat Festival, but was able to see the practice races this weekend. So much fun!

View from Stanley beach:

Race lineup:

Sweet boat:

Gnome Country

Went on what was probably a 17-km hike along the Hong Kong Trail, where we encountered some gnomes in their natural habitat - tree houses decorated with disco balls. So delightful!

Gnome garage:

 Trail map:

View from the top of the Peak, although was a fairly cloudy day today.  Not too great for taking pictures, but nice when you're going on a 5-hour hike!

Non Sequitors

Or are they... Hilarious combo gift from my father.

Awesome

My IP professor just sent me an email saying I should submit my paper on China's trademark system for publication. Feeling pretty great right now!

So busy

And I love it! Maybe it's just that this is all still new, but I'm loving working as a summer associate in a firm. Who said the law isn't interesting? Am currently feeling pretty good about my chosen career path.

Korean Invasion

Watch out, HK.

Irony

My busiest law school semester has turned out to be my best. Just adds to my belief that I work best under stress, sigh, wish that weren't the case!

Name Change

Apparently I am now going by "Kathermine" - logical mistake because Katherine is so uncommon it couldn't possibly be a real name...

72 Hours

Since Friday, I have:
1) successfully made my flight to London, despite the combined efforts of a Phillies baseball game, 76ers basketball game and Villanova graduation;
2) went on a Harry Potter walking tour, where I learned lots about constellations (e.g. stars being the origin of Sirius and Bellatrix), subway names (e.g. Charring Cross comes from the warped pronunciation of "Chere Reigne" Eleanor of Aquitaine's funerary procession crosses), and film location inspirations (e.g. where JK Rowling may have been inspired to think up Diagon Alley);
3) arrived in Hong Kong, unpacked, dealt with my phone, bought groceries, and went out to dinner with friends and family;
AND
4) had my first day of work for my summer internship!

Requisite London picture of Big Ben:

When in London, at Trafalgar Square, I also learned that although Admiral Nelson (at the top of the monument) died far from England, he was too important to bury at sea and they had to transport him back.  Since the trip would have taken 3-6 weeks, they preserved him in a barrel of rum...WHICH THE SEAMEN DRANK ON THE TRIP BACK!!!  Gross, but awesome.

Brillz

Love.  This.

Survival Skills

Mango smoothie from Philly's Almaz Cafe on 20th and Walnut. So clutch.

Frattastic

Storing a friend's foozball table makes me feel like my apartment is turning into a frat house.

Six-Pack Summer

Going to the barn today and seeing how green everything was FINALLY made me feel like summer is (almost) here.  Then heard this song on the radio: I'm so ready!

Favourite Purchase

While I wish I had been genius enough to come up with a wine bottle sock monkey, I'm consoled by the fact that at least someone else thought to produce and sell it for me to buy.

Television

People are always surprised when they find out I don't have cable, and haven't for several years.  I like watching movies, but could never understand how people liked TV so much they would plan schedules so they could watch their favourite shows.

Today, I was reminded why I don't need cable - my life is so ridiculous that I don't think anything on TV could even begin to compare.  I was supposed to fly to Hong Kong, leaving at 6:30.  I've been flying since before I could walk, and in almost 25 years I have never missed a flight.  Until today.  The Phillies were playing a baseball game and traffic was horrendous; instead of the usual 10 minutes it takes to get to the airport, it took an hour to get halfway there.  To make things better, my summer employer had booked the flight, so I had to call them and inform them that I wouldn't be making it and would have to reschedule for another day.  They were gracious about it, called it an act of God, and advised me to make myself a stiff drink.

But, that couldn't have been the end, because apparently that wasn't enough absurdity for one day.  After going to see Dark Shadows with some friends, I'm standing in the street as it is thunderstorming waiting for a cab.  I see one and flag it down, and mercifully it is free and pulls over before it starts raining.  Except, there was a police car behind it, which decided that it had nothing better to do but turn on its sirens and scold the cab driver for "unsafely" pulling over and cutting off the police car that wasn't moving.  RIDICULOUS!  Dear life, thank you for giving me laughs for days.

Thought

Exams are over, I don't start work for another week and now that I've had a moment to think about the past year, I'm suddenly extremely aware of how happy and content with my life I am. It's so easy to get swept up with the stress of exams and law school generally, and law students sometimes seem like we've made a pact to complain as much as possible, but in reality I have very few complaints! I have amazing, supportive friends and family, and it's a beautiful day, can't believe I ever pretend to need anything more.

Reality Check

One more month of class and I'm done life as a 2L. Where does the time go?