President’s Speech vs Cub Scout Master’s Promo

Interesting fact #1: Some parents did not allow their kids to go to our school two days ago (Tue, 9/8/09) because Presiden Obama was giving speech to all American school children.

Interesting fact #2: School authority was actually forewarning parents via email if they do not wish to have their children listen to the Presiden’s speech. Below is an example of what was emailed to us parents from school, without disclosing anybody’s name:

We have received a few inquiries from parents about President Obama’s speech to school children scheduled for Tuesday morning, September 8 and how the district is planning to address this event.

The speech, estimated to be approximately 15 minutes in length, will be taped. Then, like other materials teachers may use in a classroom, it will be previewed and a determination will be made to show it as appropriate.  Parents who request that their children not watch this address may do so. The students will have an alternate activity for the time the speech is aired. We are not planning to use any discussion materials provided by outside entities. Those decisions will be made by classroom teachers.

The information we have received has indicated the President’s speech will focus on three main ideas: encourage students to set high goals for themselves, work hard, and accept responsibility for their learning.

If you have specific questions, please contact your building principal.
Thank you.

Sincerely,

xxxx xxxxxx

 

Like hubby said, it’s probably a political thing and the school just want to be ’safe’ not to step on anybody’s toe. He thinks it’s a sad testament to the awful polarity of today’s society.

Which will take us to the interesting fact #3: The day after the speech, just yesterday, my kids told us that there were Cub Scouts Master talking to them during lunch, promoting their organization and to lure the kids into joining them. My son was beaming, “It’s really cool! We will be making cars, roasting marshmallows, go camping, and sleep in a tent! I want to be a Cub Scout!”

How ironic is that -to use hubby’s words- we find ourselves feeling obligated to allow parents to ‘opt out’ of their children’s participation in listening to this country’s highest elected official, but not reciprocating this option for an organization that so openly discriminates against atheist/agnotic children (example here and here).

The school was trying very hard to address certain group’s feeling abouttowards the speech; but failed to address our (atheist/agnostic people) feeling towards this whole Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts thing. Were we just to assume that all the kids are religious (Christian)? Why wouldn’t the school forewarn us like they did to the Presiden’t speech? Maybe I don’t want my atheist/agnostic kids to listen to their promo and want to ‘opt out’ my kids from it.

But before we abruptly say ‘no’ to our innocent kids, hubby did a research about Cub Scouts and the like. And we were right, they are an elite religious/military-like club and definitely will not accept our non-religious children. Luckily, our kids are smart enough to know the difference and were OK not to join.

How ironic…

Oh For the Love of Breasts!

October is ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’. Coincidentally, Rimster tagged me to write a post about boobs. Now, just how do I achieve that without making it sound like porn or sounding like a narcissist? They are just a lump of meat, but men are surely can’t get enough of those mammary glands. For some reason, [although it's considered rude] it’s fine for men to stare at them when they’re talking to the other sex; but when a woman stares at a guy’s crotch when having a conversation, it’s uncalled for. Go figure.

Anywho, I’m happy with my kaboobies. They are not gigantors, nor they’re bare. They are there, and just the right size. Normal size breasts women should be grateful because:

• They don’t give us back pain. I know a nurse who went under breast reduction surgery because they’ve been giving her back pain for a decade. And many more patients with the same health concern.
• Comfortably wearing the right size for tops. The nurse I mentioned above told me, before the reduction, she had to buy one size bigger for tops. Just to get that ‘extra room’ on the chest area but it ended up with other problems like the sleeves are too long or the tummy area is too big. Now she can wear her size M just right and not needing the bigger size just the get ‘everybody’ fit in the chest section. Additionally, I never worried when wearing a shirt/blouse with front buttons, that ’something’ is showing between the buttons.
• We could run, hop scotch, jump up and down without that ‘boink boink’ sound effect like a slow-mo movie clip.
• We’ll always certain that the person we’re talking to is having eye contact instead of boobies contact with us; and is really listening to what we say without the dirty thoughts running through their mind.
• We won’t have trouble doing the breast self-examination to screen for breast lump. We should feel the slightest lump right away. One of the physicians I work for did say that it’s harder to look for the lump for big breasted women, due to the excess fat/tissue of the breast.
• Thus, when it comes to do a mammogram, it’ll be less painful.

Tag… you’re it! to Katadia, Santi, Yoyen, Eva & Lalita.

VIY 2008: A Tough Task?

To improve the country’s tourism industry, Indonesian government launched Visit Indonesia Year (VIY) 2008. The goal of this program is to attract seven million foreign tourists and earn US$ 6.4 billion in foreign exchange. Too optimistic? Maybe. But it sure is needed. Indonesia’s tourism has been in ‘coma’ for too long. One of so many reasons is because most embassies are making a mountain out of an ant hill when it comes to Indonesia’s travel warning. Other than that, there’s bird flu, tsunami, earthquakes, or mudflow,  that scare people away.

Like Albert Einstein said, “Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.” And so did VIY 2008. The first was about its campaign slogan blunder. The original one “Visit Indonesia 2008 – Celebrating 100 Years of Nation’s Awakening” was criticized because it was ’gramatically incorrect’.  After John Aglionby ranted about it in his article ‘Catchy Slogan’ published in the ‘Financial Times’, it quickly changed to “Celebrating 100 Years of National Awakening”. But it was not quick enough. Indonesia was a laughing stock. From news media to bloggers, all were pointing at how awkward it must be to take the slogan off of various promotional items, such as the national aircrafts, posters, etc. It was a huge mess. Personally, I’d be very forgiving to such mishap. Heck, I probably would do the same mistake, being wasn’t born with English as my mother tongue; nor raised and educated with English as the primary language.

Others attacked the ‘National Awakening’ part. A posting at Lonely Planet’s forum asked how would a foreigner know what’s the meaning of it. How would they know anything that happened 100 years ago in Indonesia that caused a national awakening? It was the Budi Utomo movement, you said. Budi who? they continued. It does sound rather patriotic, and Indonesians are. But to catch potential foreign tourists’ attention, I wish they’d use a shorter, simpler, and easy to understand slogan.

Then people bitch about the TV commercial teaser. They were saying that it made Indonesia looks like tribemen country. That it was showing things that tourists wouldn’t [wouldn't be able to] do; like when a dark tribeman (Irian?) was rowing his boat at night. Come on… would you rather see shopping malls? A lame almost naked gorgeous woman was getting a massage just like in any other tourism commercials? Or a couple was having a candle light dinner? I appreciate the idea of showing so many diversity in Indonesia. So colorful (the Toraja men with the famous stone jumping). So pretty (the Balinese dancer). So intriguing (yeah… what was that guy doing with his boat in the middle of the night?).

The timing of VIY this year was sarcastically praised. A blog I read mentioned that Indonesian government was brave enough to compete with bigger events such as Beijing Olympics. With all seriousness, if we were to wait until there’s no other big events going on in the world, when would it be? Oh for heaven’s sake…

But like my favorite Indonesian proverb says, “Anjing menggonggong, kafilah tetap berlalu” or translated in English as ‘the dogs are barking, the caravan moves on’ meaning ‘useless protest, criticism, or sarcasm’. With all attacks coming from left and right, VIY 2008 carries on. Whether the infrastructure is up and about or not, whether the capital city Jakarta’s air is still polluted or not, whether the government is still corrupt or not. It’s my country. For better or worst, I’m right behind you.

So pack your bags, get your passport, bring your open-minded attitude, and buy your tickets to visit Indonesia. Who knows, you might be the first person in your town who ever see an orangutan or komodo dragon in their own habitat, not in a zoo. Or you could go to one of 17,000 islands that might disappear in the near future due to the global warming. You might entitled to boast to Bizarre Foods’ Andrew Zimmerman after you tackle eating durian, cow’s brain, or drink jamu.

VIY 2008 official site.

Believe In Santa (and the Other Fictional Gang)

Warning: Santa’s spoiler.

As we were wrapping the Holiday presents for the kids, I can’t help but feeling guilty lying to the kids. They were told to go to bed an hour early on the 24th, so Mom and Dad could do the wrapping. Of course we didn’t tell them that. Instead it was, “If you want Santa to give you presents, you need to go to bed early tonight.” I asked my husband if he feels the same way, but all I got was a long, “Well…” 
His parents did the same thing to him and his sister when they were little, and he does not think they did anything bad by lying about Santa.

My guilt built up when I prepare the cookies and milk for ‘Santa’. I had to pour the milk only a little bit, so the kids would think that ‘Santa’ did drink it. Before we went to bed, hubby made sure that we throw away some cookies. Davi had made a card for ‘Santa’ and she also left some coins by the cookie container. We made sure all of those got taken away to illustrate that ‘Santa’ was here.

Me: “Geesh, I feel bad.”
Hubby: “Didn’t your parents do the same thing when you were a kid?”
Me: “Duh… we don’t celebrate Christmas.”
Hubby: “I know. I meant like the Tooth Fairy thing. Telling your kids that she’d give you money for an exchange for your tooth. It’s that kind of lie.”
Me: “Nope. We don’t have that kind of hope to hold on to in order to go through our difficult childhood.”
Hubby: “Ooookayyy.”

Felt even worse when the next morning my daughter checked the cookie container and pleased to see that they’re gone. Her face lit up when she says, “Mommy look! Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk. And he did take the card, the candy cane, and the money.” I almost blurted the laugh out loud, but her precious expression (a mix between amazement, excitement, and proud) kept me from it. For all seriousness, what would you do other than a lame, “Wow… honey… really?”

I feel like slapping my own face. Flat out lying to my daughter like that. If it’s considered as a white lie, will it be less harmful? She already figured out that Easter Bunny doesn’t exist. She doesn’t believe in Tooth Fairy neither, but will exchange her tooth with me for a dollar.

Is believing in some fictional characters really giving our children more comfort and happiness? Do you lie to your children about Heaven and Hell too? For some of us who are religious, it’d probably easier. Just refer them to the Holy Book (Bible or Koran), it will usually shut them up right away. But do you, yourself, believe in your lies? We taught our daughter that some people do believe in Heaven (like Mom), some don’t (like Dad). And it’s up to her to believe in it or not, not up to us the parents.  

I have a feeling by next year, she’s not going to believe in Santa anymore. Because when we asked if she had a difficult time falling asleep that night ‘Santa’ was supposed to visit, she said yes. Curious if she was having problem because of excitement, she said, “Well, yes… and I also heard a lot of noise by the family room. Then I heard your cough. Did you see Santa last night?”

Busted!

Socializing at Work: a Must or a Pain?

When I was single living in Jakarta, Indonesia, my social life evolved around my work. I should probably say: thanks to my job, I had a social life. Sad but true. Working as a journalist, I had to go places and invested some time socializing with who we called back home nara sumber or ’sources’. I worked for a weekly automotive tabloid for a year, then moved to a biweekly magazine which cover automotive and its life style for about 4 years. Socializing to car modification shops, automotive clubs, automotive-related events, and such, gave me a good network of ‘friends’. Going to cafes or clubs with my fellow journalists to attend automotive-related events, was probably my main agenda for the weekends (other than going to the circuit). My work socialization also sent me out of town and out of the country. Other than my immediate family and coworkers, my cell phone contacts were work-related. I met my best friend Mila thanks to my work socialization. So, socializing at work in this matter was a must and not a pain at all.

Now, living in the US, I do less work socialization. I actually tend to avoid it. I don’t eat my lunch in the employee break room everyday. I went home to let Max, our dog, out. Sometimes Doug came home to join me for lunch, sometimes we go out. There are some occasion I ate lunch at the break room: I don’t want to freeze my tropical butt out to drive home in the winter (or raining heavily in spring or fall), or if I needed extra hour. When I’m there eating my lunch with some other employees from the other department, we don’t chit-chat so much either. Most of the female employees preferred to eat their lunch and watch the soap opera on TV.

I understand that socializing with people at work is essential to effective and productive teamwork. But I just can’t do it. My coworkers are all female now. Back then, when I was a journalist, my coworkers were 98% male. I got along fine with them. No gossiping, no backstabbing, no diva. I don’t mean to say that the people I work with now are evil. But I just can’t stand butt-kissers and people who think they’re better from the others just because their spouse’s income or job title.

I bailed on our department’s ‘Christmas Party’ twice already (really uncomfortable with the ‘Christmas’ thing, if they’d call it ‘Holiday Party’ I probably would’ve come. Maybe.). My first department’s ‘Christmas Party’ was in 2004 and awestrucked on how awkward it was. Doctors sat with doctors (and their spouses), nurses were grouping with the other nurses (and their spouses), and there we were front desk crew and medical records sat together. That’s why I didn’t show up at one of our docs farewell party the next year because I know it’d be the same scenario. I didn’t participate in Girl’s Night Out held at a country bar *yee haw* because… I really didn’t want to socialize by gossiping.

I got along pretty well with two former receptionists who had moved out of state. We were about the same age, have little kids, and the same sick taste of humor. This girl and I went to lunch together for a number of times, we even went to a Quit Smoking meeting together just to realize that we were the only two participants! *Miss you, Kari!* I went out with her and the other girl once to have dinner and watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I had invited the two to my house for a social occasion. I mean, I’m not really anti-social with people from work. I just can’t stand the idea of spending time outside work when I feel like I’ve spent enough time with them at work. Does that make any sense at all?

Top Banana

They stated, “Self-esteem is a child’s passport to lifetime mental health and social happiness. It’s the foundation of a child’s well-being and the key to success as an adult.”

I fully agree.

Many times we’ve seen examples of troubled teenagers, and looking back, we’d found cases of low self-esteem or unhappiness. I’m aware that we don’t live in a perfect world where everything is dandy, but I think we all ought to find a way somehow to help children boost their self-esteem.

Sports is one way to boost self-esteem, but it also promotes competitivenes *which is not so bad*  But I personally don’t have any recollection to which competitive sports would start at early childhood. Ideally, it should start at home. But with the increased number of working mom nowadays, daycares should take part too.

I was pleased to find out that Dante’s classroom in his new daycare is encouraging self-esteem booster for young children with a program called ‘Top Banana’. Every week, a child is chosen as a Top Banana. He or she is the special one for the whole week, and is allowed to do something special. Bringing in pictures of family and have them posted on the classroom wall, special treats, favorite toys, have mom or dad come in to have lunch with the class, or take the whole class for a field trip to where mom or dad works at.

It worked great for Dante since he was a new kid on the block, feeling alienated, and he got his turn on the following week after his birthday. Other than bringing pictures and favorite toys, he also brought in some of his favorite movies to watch. Hubby and I took turn to come there to have lunch. When I was there, the kids told Dante, “Wow… you’re lucky. Yesterday was your dad, and now is your mom!” Dante’s face was priceless, just beaming with pride (while holding my hands tightly).

My work place isn’t the ideal place to go to for their field trip. Sick patients in the waiting room and hallway, nurse walking around with needles, people with fractured bone waiting for XRay; just too hectic for having the little ones over.  Doug heads at MIS department, we figure it’s much nicer and safer for the kids to go there. I got the report from my son’s teacher that they had a blast watching MIS guys open up a computer and amazed to see what’s inside. “It’s like a tiny world!” a little one shrieked.

My son was having a blast because his friends really enjoyed their time there. They got to eat homemade cookies prepared by the MIS ladies. They got to practice writing their names with a magic pen on a mini portable touch screen [and visible at the big screen on the wall], have it printed on a paper, and take it home to show mom or dad or whoever cares.  

Since being a Top Banana that week, I don’t see Dante playing alone anymore when I pick him up. I heard more stories about his friends and school and more enthusiast when asked about how his day went at school. It used to be hard to get something out of him about his day at school, now it’s hard to make him stop babbling about it. He he he…

Oriental or Asian?

An older lady who works as a float receptionist (she substitutes any receptionists in the Clinic who are sick or out for vacation) recently told me, “Oh you have an interesting accent. Are you Oriental?”

I have never been asked that way before. I understand she meant ‘Asian’ and I guess I wasn’t really bothered by it. At supper, I shared this hilarious story with hubby and he was surprised. “It’s actually considered rude.” Oh really? I didn’t know that.

So then of course I have to Google it. Seems to me that mostly Asian Americans are the ones who’d feel offended by the O word. Not the Asians who were born and raised for a good chunk of their life time in, uh, Asian countries.

‘Oriental’ has a strange connotation to it probably because it’s Eurocentric. This source would explain why and how. It summarized that “…some Asian American activist types decided that “Oriental” was a Bad Word, and that ‘Asian’ was more accurate, less Eurocentric, and less loaded with strange connotations…”

Which is why I thought this debate is really interesting. The subject was: Asian people are annoyed when people call them Oriental, like they are a rug or something. It’s like calling a Brit, Victorian. Twelve people agreed to this statement, while only 3 didn’t. One of the disagreed ones gave a very thoughtful opinion. In an essence, he’s stating that the Asians who are annoyed by it is because they’ve been told they should be.

It makes sense. I have not heard of this so-called Oriental-name-calling before of this very day. I don’t believe my mother, or sister (with an exception of my smarty pants brother), or cousins back home in Indonesia know that they should be annoyed if they were called ‘Oriental’. I just learned from my non-Oriental husband that it’s been considered rude. I personally don’t see why I should be annoyed, but I will take a stand: the next time somebody called me ‘Oriental’, I would politely inform them that it’s geographically incorrect. Hopefully this next person did not skip Geography class when they’re in high school.

“I’m Indonesian. From I-n-d-o-n-e-s-i-a. Hello? Southeast Asia? Have you heard of Bali?”

You Don’t Have to Ride Your Bike to Work to Save the Earth

A lot of people at work are talking about riding their bicycles to work recently. Something about saving the earth if not saving some money due to the spiking price of gas. From so many people who talked about that great idea, I only know two who are actually doing it. Good… I thought I was the only slacker. I’m not trying to talk my way out of it, but at least hear me out:

1. Freakingly hot hot hot (did I mention hot?) and humid summer weather. If I shower at home before I go to work, I might have to shower again when I got to the office.
2. My husband and I take turn in taking the kids to/from daycares. I don’t think I want to ride my bike with the kid’s wagon to work. Plus, my son’s daycare is on the other side of town.

I mean, I’m hip with saving the earth and everything. That’s why I switched from driving a Toyota Sienna XLE to a ‘clown car’ Scion Xa. My Scion only gulps gasoline half of a tank compared to my previous minivan. Heaven knows the humiliation I endured since I got ‘Cherrie’, my clown car. Snotty little comments about the size of it and even dicrimination on the road from those big ass trucks. Ah, who cares… I’d be the last one smiling when paying at the gas station and feeling so thankful that it doesn’t hurt my wallet so much.

So there. I did my part on saving the earth (and tackle the cruelness of pricey gasoline) without having to ride a bike to work. Good for my health? I bet. But I’d probably complain about some knee or back pain afterwards. Nahh… I’ll pass.

Beauty Regiment

Do women in their thirties really need to have ‘beauty regiment’? Or am I too late? Before my recent birthday (a week ago), I’ve never heard of such thing. Then I overheard a radio talk show on my way to work, discussing the importance of beauty regiment for women over thirty. Blah. Hearing the words ‘beauty regiment’,  makes me think of a batallion of skin care products wearing armor suit, jousts on their little hands, marching to go to war. To fight what? Aging? Pfft. I turned 34 this year and I’d say, “Bring it on!” to aging.

What is beauty regiment exactly? It’d differ to every woman, I guess. But in summary, it’s a group of beauty products (for your face, body, or hair) other than make ups/cosmetics you use daily to help enhanced your performance. Geesh, I sound like the owner of an auto body shop.

For a person who is very self conscious about appearance, her beauty regiment would probably contain all this. And we’re talking about 200 dollars worth of regiment. I don’t know how long each product will last, but one of them is a tiny bottle 1.7 fl oz for over-night biological peel for 40 dollars. Hot damn!

Hats off to all women who are religiously doing this routine and never miss a ritual. From applying the face lifting solution every night before bedtime,  to using the wrinkle reducer for around the eyes twice a day; these are the only two examples of many more. Heck, it’s amazing enough for me if I can remember to wash my face off before I go to bed. My husband’s no longer shocked seeing me getting up in the morning with raccoon eyes.

*My beauty regiment for face? Clean & Clear facial wash, Olay moisturizer, Neutrogena foundation, Cover Girl compact powder, Revlon eye products, Maybelline ShinyLicious lip gloss, deodorant, and Body Shop White Musk body spray. 

And that’s only for the face area. I haven’t mention hair grooming. It’s as complicated as the face care. Having a super fine Asian hair, I have never comb my hair after every shower. Just air dry it. Have you ever gone to a fancy hair cut place with shelves and more shelves of hair product? Right after your hair cut, the hairstylist would come up to you and suggested a leave-in conditioner or some anti-frizz styling solution. “Just for additional 80 dollars,” said the perky hairdresser with 3 different hair color. Uhh… no thanks. Still, a lot of people are not confident leaving the house unless they put one pound of hair gel or forming cream and spend half an hour tring to make their hair in a certain way (spiky, christmas tree-like, or whatever) then spray a bottle of hair spray so their hair won’t even moved an inch when the wind blows.

*My beauty regiment for hair is Sunsilk Anti-Flat threesome: shampoo, conditioner, and the weightless volumizing creme. All of them for no more than 26 dollars.

So, back to beauty regiment. I don’t disagree to the fact that we all -with a certain limitation- have our own beauty regiment. From the ridiculously expensive to the savvy one. I’d rather spend my money, time, and energy on some other important stuff than putting chemicals onto my face to ‘peel’ it in order to have a younger look. While others, well… think differently and own an army of beauty regiments.

Riding Your Motorcycle: Lookin’ Cool vs Stayin’ Alive

With the weather being nicer and everything, people are trying to be outside as much as possible. Gardening, grilling, going to the park, and lately I’ve seen: motorists.

Old timers (I meant the cars) were seen on the road, all shiny and gorgeous. Classic sport cars, classic trucks, and the like; ‘parading’ on the street with the drivers all smiley and proud. That doesn’t bother me. They look safe in the car (as long as the seatbelt’s on).

Bikers cruising with their Harleys. Loud noise from their exhaustion pipes? That doesn’t bother me either. They look safe with their black helmets, black leather jackets, and boots.

What bothers me is this. College kids riding their Honda/Yamaha superbikes with no appropriate clothes for safety. Tough dudes wearing a shirt (I’ve seen guys with no shirt, even!), cargo shorts, and sandals while the dudettes riding with him just wears skimpy tank top and shorts with sandals (thongs or wedges). Normally it’s a flock of them. Four to five bikes riding carelessly even on highways. Instead of riding in line, they’d go side by side so they can chat. It’s very unsafe.

According to Iowa Department of Transportation website, in the past five years, Iowa motorcycle fatalities have nearly doubled, while other vehicle fatalities have declined. Here’s more scary facts:

• Motorcyclists are six times more likely to be injured than other motorists involved in crashes – based on miles driven.
• On average, more than 46 motorcyclists die from crashes each year in Iowa, based on data from the last five years. In 2006, there were 56 motorcycle fatalities in the state and five so far this year, which doesn’t bode well considering motorcycle traffic volume is lower this time of the year.
• 90 percent of motorcycle fatality victims were not wearing a safety helmet. 

• Among riders age 45-54, overall crashes have increased 71 percent and injuries increased 182 percent between 2001 and 2005. In 2006, there was a 185.7 percent increase in the number of fatalities compared to 2001.

• Less than 50 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes involve another vehicle…in most crashes motorcyclists are simply going too fast and fail to control the motorcycle.

• In fatal crashes where there were two or more vehicles involved, motorcyclists had contributing factors 64.3 percent of the time, while other motorists had contributing factors 39 percent of the time.

• In crashes where the motorist was found responsible (rather than the motorcyclist), the most common cause of the crash was the motorist not seeing the motorcyclist.

Based on those facts from Iowa DOT, I wondered if our local authorities could come up with ‘Click It Or Ticket’ for fining motorists who are not wearing their seatbelts, why can’t they come up with something for the motorcyclist?