6th Month mark.. a bit over actually. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

6 months away from home, away from America, away from New York-- and so much has happened. Hurricane Sandy invaded New York and it made me really concerned and worried being on the other side of the world. I wish I was there to go through everything with my family and friends. I am glad to hear that for the most part everything was ok for most individuals. I hope that everything will return to normal soon for those that were affected badly

The winter here is cold and it had already snowed in early October. I don't know if my winter clothing (the ones I wear for the winter in NYC) can stand the cold, but if not...it gives me the more reason to shop.. if such items are available. One main problem here is not how cold it is but how warm it is indoors. Many buildings, apartments, and homes don't have heat inside making the cold much worse. Don't worry folks, I will take care of myself. This also gives me a good chance to test out the HEAT-tecs from Uniqlo as well as the Underarmour heatgears.

It was my birthday a month ago and a few friends celebrated with me at a local restaurant. I had the honor to have brownies and American cake because we have some  skilled chefs here (my friends and American colleagues). ; ) My host family, the one I live with from May-July, also celebrate with me when I visited them. So apparently when it is YOUR owns birthday, you have to buy the cake, invite the people and arrange everything. Complete opposite from the American way.

Frustrating that my Russian language is not at the level I would like it to be. I have been practicing but sometimes I realize that I can't even correctly pronounce the word. And because of my Asian roots, I am frequently mistaken as Kyrgyz in this country. People in the stores, bazaar, at the bus stop and many other places all try to speak to me in Kyrygz. Over and over again. Little did they know is that I don't speak Kyrgyz... I speak Russian. I don't blame them because I think I would do what they are doing. What are the chances that a Chinese girl knows Russian.. Quite Slim.

Going off topic--- global warming. A month ago I attended a training session for promoting Environmental awareness in Kyrgyzstan. Even though I was never environmental friendly, I think otherwise now living in KG. Being the fact that I can't recycle a coke bottle or properly dispose of aluminum cans is starting to bug me. I search for the blue bins (for cans and aluminums recycle) and then the brown can (for paper recycle).... none of the those exist. Many litter bugs in the country : ( . Most people in this country are still wrapping trash in plastic bag and then burning them. The toxic fumes enters the atmosphere-- eventually becoming the air we breathe. Burning trash also increases the overall temperature of the environment. Being that KG is surrounded by mountains ~90%, the ice on the glaciers serve as water reseviors during the winter time. If temperature continues to increase.. the ice will melt and KG will lose this valuable resource. I hope that there will be an improvement to this situation.

Thanksgiving spent in Kyrgyzstan. No turkey but I did have many many delicious dishes made by the fellow volunteers whom know how to utilize the local ingredients. I know that many of us traveled to visit our family and friends and had spent some quality time with them. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast and had a warm gathering with your loved ones.

On Nov 12th. It was officially my 6th month mark in KG. Not to count but that would mean I am 21 months away from my Peace Corps Service from ending. Originally I thought that 2 years would be a long time... but I guess my thoughts are wrong.

This blog is a bit late but there will be one coming shortly afters.

Hope you all enjoy reading! Thanks for keeping up with me and providing me the continuing support.  : )

Write soon.

Pictures to come soon too!

ACCESS & my work at the hospital..

About four weeks ago, I returned from an ACCESS camp. It was absolutely an amazing experience that I look forward to participating again next year. At the site, I worked with students ages 15-18 in order to strengthen their English proficiency. We had sessions that taught American television, music, diversity. Asides from the American culture sessions we also provided them with interview, resume and life skills that we hope will aid them in their future education/career. My team, MIAMI!! Yes I know that I am from NYC but that city was already taken. I was happy that I got MIAMI as some of you may know that I like to watch basketball... MIAMI HEATS. The camp was also the graduation ceremony for the 120+ students that were a part of the ACCESS program. We had a bon fire on the beach, lit lanterns, had team building activities and many more.

Remarks- Working with students is always a treat for me as my career has always been developed more on the health care side. Spending a week working with young leaders of KG really gave me a satisfaction that differs from working with patients. Thus saying, I really really enjoyed it very much.

And for these past few weeks, I have gone back to work at my hospitals. Almost every minute has been a challenge for me being that fact that my Russian language is not up to par yet. There are still much that I don't understand as I wished I did. It is frustrating at times--- but people constantly remind me that I have only learned the language for 3 months and that I am doing well.

In addition to the language challenge, I am also facing the challenge of not understanding the KG health care system. I spent maybe almost 10 years learning about the US health care system, medical education, patient care etc... but I realized that now it's time to learn about another system. Asking people questions, reading articles, observations etc.

Along with that, I am trying to get in touch with international non profit health organizations to provide assistance to the hospital. With that said, if anyone knows of any, please e-mail me. I would appreciate any help I can get.

I also want to help my friends here, one whom is a doctor who wants to travel to other countries to gain hands on experience in the field of OGBYN. Another friend is studying software engineering and would like to study in the US or a chance to have an internship with American companies. Please contact me if you know any programs or companies that have such opportunities. They are both talent individuals and I hope that they can learn from other parts of the world and return to contribute to their native country.

Write soon!

pictures...

And.. I’ll be heading out to another camp this week with IREX, wish me luck and safety-- all. 

Russian exam AND ISSAKUL Karakol KG

No worries, I have not abandon my blog. Things have been busy and it has been hard to post a new blog along with pictures. So where to start.....

MY Russian, my language proficiency exam. I'm so happy to say that I passed! They ranked me intermediate low level-- which is a level above standard. However, I still feel that I am lacking in many ways. With that said, there is so much work to be done. Russian is super hard. The conversations that I have been having with my family and friends in Russian are small but meaningful. And the important thing is that they kind of understand me now. Despite the fact that my communication skills are like baby talk, I somehow get my thoughts passed to them. They adjust to me and speak slowly so that I can comprehend. And I really have to admit that when speaking English and Chinese..... it doesn't come out exactly how I want it to anymore. Perhaps I need to retake some English and Chinese courses when I return back to the states. Free tutor lessons appreciated. Hehe. No need to be concern now thou..

On another note, I have been showing lots of pictures to my host family and extended family here. They absolutely love seeing them and I enjoy seeing theirs as well of course. I have been taking a ton of pictures here (with the camera that my bro got me before leaving the states! thanks bro). I will probably pick a few here and there and attach it to this blog. But otherwise, I will post more elsewhere. I don't know where exactly yet. Does anyone have any suggestions?.... And Unfortunately, I realized that one of my e-mail accounts seemed like it was hacked or something, therefore, I apologize if you are receiving weird e-mails from me. I have everything fixed and have migrated over to gmail. So please email me there. I have mail forwarding so no worries if you don't.

The weather here is super hot (in Bishkek)... and I can't believe that I'm getting through the days without even a fan (forget about AC). BUT the good news is that NOW I am in Issakul, Karakol City. Training have officially ended on July 18. Congrats and now I have the title Peace Corp Volunteer instead of Peace Corp Trainee.

A little bit about Issakul. A beautiful lake where I would be living/working at. Super excited! Weather will be nice, scenary will be beautiful, other volunteers to help me out And guess where I would be working..... within a hospital! Half way around the globe and look where I eventually end up as well. I think the hospital is a great place to work in every parts of the world. I'm looking forward to this experience--meeting new people, working with different departments, and most importantly improving the healthcare here. (eh... as well as America when I return). I am already given lots concerns and problems about the hospital by the director and I really really hope that I will get to them all. After observation, I will have some ideas/suggestions/projects to make and hope that it will be accepted.

Thanks you all for reading and for commenting as well as those that have been sending me private emails. It's keeping me going!

Yes I have a permanenet mailing address now and would gladly sent it to those that are interested. Email me please.

Write soon.

Cheers ! Happy! and I miss you all too!

pictures.....
- spectacular view of the mountains
- my russian group-- along with host mother and current russian language teacher to the left
- my new host dog

almost one month away from the states.

It has been roughly four weeks and more since I have left the states and things have been going better than I have expected. Lots of happen during this time. I went from primarily learning Kyrgyz to now primarily learning Russian. Even though I worked at a Russian speaking nursing home for 2 years, I was never able to pick up much. And now I understand why.... it is indeed a very difficult language to learn. Pronunciation and enunciation along with grammar rules and a new set of alphabet is completely foreign to me. Thus, my overall progress is going slower than I would like but I hope that will soon change as I interact more with the locals and my host family. I already know one set of challenging language (Chinese) and hope to pick up Russian soon. Wish me luck...

My day starts early nowdays with either language, cultural, or health lessons. If you know me well enough, you should know that I don't function that well in the early mornings. But I am toughing it up am doing quite well. But waking up early does not mean sleeping early. That's me! Each day is filled with back to back activities and I haven't had much time to write to individuals. I apologize on that. I am quite exhausted by the end of the day due to training and lessons and then having Russian conversation with the locals. Believe it or not, it is quite draining to constantly speak a language that you are not familar with. I throw in phrases here and there and then the rest are sign language. I hate to admit it but it seems that my linguistic ability is weak....sigh. My english is also simultaneously getting weird. The other day I was asking my friend "What's this read.....?" rather than What's this say?". Thus please tell me if I am unclear at times.

On another note thou, I wake up to roosters crowing, cows mooing and a beautiful scenary of Tian Shan (the mountains). Traveling in buses that are jammed packed. Personal Space? well, those don't quite exist here. However, the price to ride is about 40cent. Can't find those in the states. Beverages such as coke and sprite are 50cents a bottle (which is about the sale price in the states). The cuisine here is surprisingly to my liking. They DO serve meat if anyone was wondering. And my daily meals depends on what my host family prepare since I don't know how to cook. I have no complaints about the food. I kind of get my daily nutrients... protein, carbs, fruits, veggiess some way or another multi-vitamins. AND let's not forget tea. It's a tradition here to drink tea. When people come to your home, you serve tea along with many other goodies. And I mean other goodies in that there are both sweet and salty dishes on the table. There could be basic things like bread and then sometime there would be rice dishes or salads or candy and many more. On the flip side, when you go to other people's home (we call that guesting), they serve you tea along with other goodies as well. I absolutely love this tradition and would love to see more of it back at home. (except that fact that tea dehydrates the body).

I promise that I will get come pictures up as soon as I get the chance. Email me if you want to know more.

Thanks for the continuing support everyone! And those that want my address...please email me privately. 

Cheers!

I arrived safely!

to all my friends and family:

From JFK to  Frankfrut Germany (7.5 hours) to Istanbul Turkey (2.5hours)  and then to my final destination Bishkek Kyrgyzstan (5.5 hours) . The plane rides were long and tiresome, layover at unfamiliar locations and then passing through security points ample times. Heavy carry on bags and Sleep deprived and losing track of what time or day it is.  (never thought I would be to type to carry such a huge backpack as well as falling asleep at the airport) Whew~ Nonetheless I HAVE MADE IT (and so have my all my luggages as this is very important)! to the destination where I will be for the next 2.5 years. All my fellows companions along with myself were greeted warmly by the current volunteers. The few stories that they told me so far were compelling and I too look forward to experiencing what they spoke of--Perhaps not the throwing rocks at the dogs so much. But definitely to learning a new language. Primarily, I am learning Kyrgyz, the local language spoken here. On the side, I will learn Russian and I can't wait till I become fluent in both. And most importantly, I look forward to working and sharing my knowledge with the locals on the many health projects that are available--ranging from health promotion and conducing health awareness seminars to implementing new health facilities and health models at the clinics and hospitals.

The mountain views here are spectacular and I am so amazed by the fact that I am waking up to a fresh a wonderful sight every morning. Other Peace Corps voluteers coming from all parts of the US each has a story of their own that I am anxious to hear as well. We are all getting along  very well and are very excited to explore further into the country. Our host families are going to be determined lately today and I am a bit nervous and hope that we will bond well. With my current limit Kyrgyz ability I hope that I can convey my messages to them.

On the other hand thou, I was very glad that I got a chance to see many of you before my departure. I hoped that I had more time in the states as I know there are still many of which I didn't get to see and speak to in person. But once again, I want thank you for the farewell messages and for the encouragements you all have provided. All of your wishes and thoughts will keep me strong throughout my journey in this foreign land. I know that there are times when I am going to struggle. But by knowing that I have the support from my friends and family and many others, I feel that I can overcome the awaiting challenges.

I will update soon again and if you sent me private message, I promise that I will get to you all soon. Best to all!

Serving for Peace Corps

To all my friends, colleagues & relatives:

Thank you for being there to support and share my happy and sad moments in life. And thank you for those that have made an impact (big or small, in school or at work) and led me to become the person I am today. I have officially accepted the offer to serve for Peace Corps and will soon be departing to Kyrgyz Republic (a region right above Tian Shan, right above China). For those that know me well enough, you probably figured out that I would be the type to explore the world and do something like this. It was a hard decision to make but I am very excited for this experience and I look forward to this journey.

I will be gone for about 2 ½ years. During this time, I know that many of you will be undergoing many changes. Some may start or still be in med/law/grad/podiatry/dental and some will have graduated. Others whom have started working already may receive a promotion, be relocated, or even start a business. I may be missing out on some weddings and baby showers too! Some of you may take on new roles in life… spouse, parents, grandparents, uncle or auntie. And for all these changes, although I may possibly not find out and say “congratulations” till I return, I want to let you all know that I’ll be thinking about all this. I will be wishing you all health and happiness in the meantime.

For those that are reading this now, I will be keeping this blog active throughout my service in Kyrgyz. If you are ever wondering what Jee is doing at Kyrgyz, feel free to read up a bit on this page. And if you want full coverage details, then I believe e-mail (or snail mail) is the way to go.

Only about a month left before I depart and although I would like to meet up with each and everyone… I don’t think that would be possible with the busy schedules we all have. However, I am glad that I had the chance to meet with many individuals and look forward to continue to catching up with as many as possible before I leave.

Thanks to those that will be praying for me and have provided me words of encouragement. I will miss you all dearly.

G