Disclaimer: I'm never brief.

Quezon City, Philippines was my hometown for the first 16 years of my life. In high school, I remember considering a career in either journalism or politics - I was going to expose all the corrupt officials in the government, OR run for president when I grew up. But my parents decided to start a new life in Seattle, WA (perhaps for fear that my vocational aspirations would lead to an early death) so my dreams of changing the world had to be altered a bit.

Somewhere between our move and college graduation, I got fixated on China and Jesus. I signed up for a 2 year internship as a campus worker in China, learned the very complex and rich language and culture, experienced true community, made friends with college students, street vendors, migrants, peasants, taxi-drivers and school officials, ate lots of dumplings and msg-laden dishes, and learned how Jesus is revolutionizing the cities in this country, particularly where I lived, and just absolutely loved it!! The only thing I wasn't very excited about was having to depend on others for my finances. It was hard for me. I looked for a way to continue living in China without having to do that - and the most obvious thing that came to me was to be a Teacher! And so I was. Teaching English to 2nd graders in China was not as easy as it sounded!
Athough the job was tiring (especially being a strong introvert), I loved the creativity that is required to keep those little people attentive. I think the best part of being a teacher I have stored in my little box tucked away somewhere in my semi-organized closet: dozens and dozens of hand-made cards with drawings of birds, butterflies, flowers, etc with "i love you ms. vina" scrawled everywhere. The childlike innocence gets to you.

For now I'm back in Seattle, happily married to Steve, a former engineer now public servant (Policy Analyst in the Mayor's Office), trying to find a way back to China and see the rest of the world.

My recent adventures were getting drunk (reluctantly) with wine in a remote village in Guizhou, China, eating tons of gelato and pasta in Venice, Florence and Rome, and eating fish and chips with my old friend Halee in London.

I'm content most of the time, until my sense of contentment gives way to a sense of complacency and I'm back to searching for the elusive ideal life.