Penny for my thoughts?
Leo J. Chen
Permalink
Shanghai
Officially in Shanghai for the summer! Quick summary of the past few days:
- Flew to Seoul from Dallas and then Shanghai from Seoul. I was exhausted because I forced myself not to sleep since I got into Shanghai at night and didn’t want jet lag to be really bad.
- Still woke up at 5AM hahaha. Oh well! I’m living at a dorm the company provides which is about a 20 minute car ride from the financial district. I take the company shuttle to work in the morning to get there by 8:30.
- Work the past couple days has been pretty…stagnant. They don’t have any other interns, so my official orientation starts next week. This week is just about learning more about the company and familiarizing myself with the work environment. But yeah no actual work so far so I’ve been twiddling my thumbs haha.
- Ugh, I have to work every Saturday for half a day. That kind of puts a dent in my plans to travel on Fridays and Saturdays, but I still have half a day and Sundays! Apparently the company I’m working for is one of the few that require employees to work on Saturdays yipeee.
- Yeah jet lag is still hitting me. I got home from work at 6PM, fell asleep until 7:30PM to call my dad, then fell asleep immediately after I got off the phone until 8:30PM hahah.
It’s kind of sad to say this, but I’m struggling a little bit without Facebook and internet (I don’t have wifi yet at my apartment) in general. I’m typing this at work after-hours. Also still working on getting a proxy for Facebook..might have to pay a small fee for one. Not sure yet.
Things are a bit lonely since everyone is older than me at work, but I’ve really gotten the chance/time to turn wholeheartedly to prayer and scripture. And this has been sooo good. PTL. One thing I was afraid of this summer was that I’d grow apart from God like last year, but I don’t think that’s going to happen this time around :)
Please let me know if you guys have prayer requests! I’d love to pray for you :D
Permalink
tired. anxious.
So, I just spent 12 hours with my roommates packing, loading, and transferring almost all of our furniture and belongings to a storage unit in Austin. We completely filled a 10x10x10 unit. WOW. that was tiring. just utterly exhausting. then Ryo and I drove back to Dallas with Sara and got back at 2:30AM. All because of David Rosenbaum (our landlord whose daughter is moving into the unit in the fall so we couldn’t renew our lease)
But yep, God has a lesson for us in everything. The entire day really helped me appreciate my parents more than ever. They did most of the work when I moved into college, when I moved into the apartment in the fall, etc. So thank you Mom and Dad! <3
And now it’s 4:40AM. I leave Tuesday for Shanghai. Haven’t started packing yet or anything. I’m still kind of preparing myself mentally for the trip. I have so many questions, like how will I do at my job when everyone speaks 100% Chinese? Will I find a church and community over there? Where do I find a gym so I don’t become even more out of shape? Can I survive without Facebook!?!? (saaarcasm) Lots of questions, among other things, that I’ve turned to in prayer this past week. Hmm, everything that has happened in just these past couple weeks has really humbled me and taught me, again, the importance and necessity of prayer.
But on another note, congratulations to the class of 2013! I’ve gotten to know a lot of you better, and I can truly say y’all are amazing role models to me, not only as individuals but also as a community/family. I look forward to the awesome things you guys are going to accomplish!
Permalink
summer!
Yay I’m back to blogging for the summer! Guess I’ll start with recapping the year.
2012-2013 has been humbling and filled with lessons I’ll remember for a long time. During the fall, I really struggled with my faith and “community-based” religion. I questioned whether I believed in God because most of the people I hung out with also did, or because I truly did believe Jesus was my savior. But through meaningful conversations with friends and lots of prayer, God provided answers :) Since then, I’ve really learned what it is to be a true Christian (especially through discipleship with Roy) when He calls us to make disciples of all nations. It shocked me when I realized how far from the Bible I have been living; I was humbled but also rejuvenated that I could grow in so many more areas.
And so spring semester rolled around. I was really busy with school work, mainly my Chinese class, and so I felt I didn’t invest as much time with friends as I should have. That’s definitely changing next semester. Still, my friends’ kindness and devotion to God really amazes me and encourages me every day. And the highlight of the semester was definitely going to England for spring break!
For summer ‘13, I’ll be interning in Shanghai with one of my dad’s friend’s companies. I’m super excited but also a bit anxious. I struggled in Taiwan last summer without a community, and so one of my top priorities is to (hopefully) find a community to immerse myself in in China. I’m a little sad I won’t be able to see friends for a second straight summer, but I know this will be an incredible experience I won’t forget.
Please keep in touch over the summer and let me know of any prayer requests you have :)
Swolleo out
Permalink
investments
I’ve been wanting to blog about this since I finished watching the tv show “Chuck” last week but haven’t had much time.
I wouldn’t call Chuck the best TV show ever, but I was hooked since I started watching in the summer. And when I watched the last scene between Chuck and Sarah with “Rivers and Roads” by The Head and The Heart playing in the background, I realized how much I’d miss the show haha.
And that got me thinking. I was really feeling for Chuck and Sarah and didn’t want to see the end of a pretty cool journey. I think it’s easy to forget sometimes how much we invest in TV shows. Not only time, but a little piece of ourselves, too. For example, I can easily say I will be extremely sad when How I Met Your Mother ends next season because that’s a show I grew up with; it’s a show that I felt like I lived life with the characters (vicariously). Is that too exaggerated of a statement? Hmm.
Anyway, all in all, thanks Zachary Levi for 5 great seasons. If any of the cast ever sees this…hahah well know that here’s one Chuck fan for life.
Permalink
Blessed
Today I had the awesome opportunity to spend my 20th birthday with my family in Plano. A part of me was a little sad that I wouldn’t be able to see my friends, but my family is the MOST most most important part of my life so I was so happy to see everyone. My sister Joann came back from San Francisco just to spend New Years and my birthday with me :)
So my day kinda went like this:
IHOP with my dad-had some very meaningful conversation with my pops (mainly about missions after college) :)
Went to see the house my sister Joy and brother-in-law Albert were looking at possibly moving into
Bowling at Plano Super Bowl :D
Red envelopes at my grandparent’s house (hehe double envelopes because of my birthday)
Dinner with everybody, and chilled afterwards
So I didn’t do anything crazy for my birthday, but really I felt so loved all day around my family that it was worth it.
It was one of those times when I felt not much could go wrong, a day I’d like to save in the ol’ memory bank forever.
And overall, I’ve been learning and growing and changing in just these past few weeks buuuuut that’ll be a post for a later time.
Happy Chinese New Years everyone, may your time with family and friends be as blessed as mine is :)
Permalink
Random random thoughts
Currently on the car ride home from Memphis on the last part of a road trip-good as time as any for a reflections post!
I haven’t really blogged since summer, so here it goes. Every time I look back to the beginning of college, I’m amazed at how quickly life changes. And I’ve realized how many material things I deem or deemed as “important”, ranging from sports, grades, relationships, personal accomplishments, etc etc.
And now, whenever I try to look forward into the future, all these things seem a bit trivial. So I’ve turned to a lot of praying and God for guidance. I can’t say that I rely on God for everything and that I do everything for him-I’d be lying if I did. I’m still developing my faith, and it’s frustrating at times when I question what’s happening and seemingly get no answer. But I am without a doubt, beyond grateful and humbled that he brought me back with his love. I’m not sure what state I’d be in if he hadn’t done that last year.
As for other issues, I thought extensively about transferring schools last year and this semester. As of right now, I think my reasons would be wrong from some peoples’ perspectives. And on the other hand, I also feel that I wouldn’t be completely unjustified if I did. I think I’ve held the “grass is always greener…” mentality about transferring. Still a proud Longhorn for at least another semester though! \m/
Academically/professionally, still debating about what to major in (torn between MPA or finance, supply chain to an extent). I just have no clue what I want to do with my career after college. My main interest is renewable energy but I’m not sure if I want to do that right out of school.
Finished! Good to get my unorganized thoughts out there
