Thanks for all the support

I would like to take the time to thank all the support in various forms (care packages, e-mails, photos, phone-calls, skype dates, reading my blog and many more) from all my family and friends. Thank you for taking the time to keep up with my experiences at KG. It has already been 11 months since I left my home country and started leaving my footprints in a foreign country. I miss each and everyone of you. I look back at all the pictures that we've taken and think about all those good times that we've had. Some were as recent as the week before I left back in May... and some were back as far as to when I was in high school. : )

To those that have had e-mail/skype communication with me may have noticed that my English is a bit rusty. I hope that it doesn't make me become weird thou. Sometimes, I simply just forgot the English word that I want to say. But the funny part is that I may know a Russian replacement of that word.

The road conditions are rough here and I feel like I am walking on snow/ice 85% of the time. When it first started to snow, I questioned why people didn't sprinkle salt on the ground like we do in the states... now I know why. I think the problem was that the temperature was too cold and it snows too often. The salt won't really do much and plus it is expensive. Trying not to slip and fall is kinda tricky. Thankfully Peace Corps provided Yak-tracks to use so that we won't go slipping as often. But still got to walk slow and steady.

A brief mentioning of dogs. Did I mention to some of you that I wanted to have a dog in the states? I think it might be a part of the American dream to eventually own a dog for many individuals. So the situation here is that you don't need to go to the SPCA, the pound, nor the breeders to adopt/purchase one. They are quite available here...sadly on the streets thou. It hurts me to see the stray dogs in the cold in the winter. But this is apparently a part of the culture and how things are done here. Dogs on the street are normal. Dogs inside the house are not normal. Man’s best friend gets kept outside rather than next to you in the house.

My internet connection is not the best here so I apologize if I don't get to your e-mails in a timely manner. The other reason is because work has been busy lately and I am tired by the end of the day. I will try to respond sooner : ) G

 Pictures:

-a huge dog that I encountered on my journey to Talas. HUGE.

- A little dog that I met in the village

- Summer festival photo from my friends organization

Happy New Years!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM KG!!!!

Winter days in Karakol, KG.... are so cold. I've slept in places where there were heating.. but not warm enough. I've also slept in places without heating... I don't think I slept at all that night. I was spending my night shivering in order to keep myself warm. Volunteers that have previously lived through a winter said that, "winter days are short but they are hard to get by. You will notice that you are cold all the time. You will crave for comfort food. You will miss your family and friends from home". A part of me is experiencing that. However, I embrace that because I know that it is part of the journey and adventure of working in another country.

Christmas was around the corner. Has everyone got to their Christmas shopping, somewhat perhaps? Even though Christmas shopping was stressful at times, I, nonetheless miss those times. I miss listening to the jolly Christmas songs as we browse from store to store to search for the perfect gift. I enjoy the atmosphere of having the crowd, and sometimes even the long line to checkout. Christmas is my favorite holiday. Sadly, we don't celebrate that here in KG. We do celebrate New Years and it will be the equivalent of Christmas...in terms of giving and receiving presents from each other.

Before I know it, another month has past. I go through the amount of personal possessions that I have in the country and realize that they have grown exponentially. Asides from the clothing  & bare essentials that I bought with me on the plane... that are other things that I have accumulated. For example, books/training material, water filter and space heater. All from Peace Corps. In country, I have made a few long term investment as well. Say for instance, purchasing a rice cooker because if you know me well enough... I don't really know how to cook. It would be safe to have that around and to try to experience a few dishes. I bought a small bag 2 months ago that I bring to work along with all my work related material. Cheap quality and it has already teared a bit. But that's ok as long as would last me for more than a year??? (Having doubts about the fact that it would last a year). And a huge thank you to those that sent me care packages. There are days when I am day and unhappy, but the items in the packages Cheers me on.

Oh, so the reason I bought that up (luggage and everything) is because I have officially move out of my host family and currently live alone in KG. Living with a host family was definitely a wonderful experience. I got to practice my Russian language, I got to taste traditional dishes and most importantly, we have numerous amount of stories to tell each other. However due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to move out. I will try to go visit. Two different host families and two completely different experiences. It bought me closer to understanding how the culture was and will therefore help me with my work. It also bought a lot of new faces and relationships into my life. To this day, I have many host dad & mom (that I think I will call host uncles & aunts), and host brothers and sisters that I intend to have for my rest of my life. : )

I know that I mentioned previously on how KG is surrounded by 90% mountains. It is absolutely breathtaking everyday to be able to see snowcap mountains around me. They are within a very close distance and are crisp and clear during the day time. Perhaps this has to do with the fact growing up in a big city. I rarely had the oppportunity to be closer to mother nature (moutains, ocean, stars, trees). Looking at them makes my day better when I am in a bad moon.

I recently spent New Years with my training host family and they had a very special tradition. The action and party does not start till late night. During New Years eve, the families would take their time to clean their home, prepare the food, and (still having to tend the livestocks). After all is prepared, we would first enjoy dinner with the family and then head out for guesting. It was an all night long event lasting from 6pm to 6am the next day. Very interesting... and exhausting I shall say.

Sorry.. no pictures yet but I wanted to post this blog up a I know that this is already late. I'll make it up in my next blog.

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!