Spent the weekend a few hours south with my parents and aunts, one of whom was visiting from Hong Kong. Because of the visitor, most conversation was in Cantonese. That was my first language, but I stopped speaking it once I was 7 or 8. However, if I listen carefully, I can still understand a fair amount.

It was somewhat exhausting, actually. I didn't participate in conversation as much as I normally do, and if I did speak up, it was in English (my aunt understands it pretty well, but is not comfortable speaking English). But eventually I had a really interesting revelation.

I don't translate Cantonese into English in my head. It stays in Cantonese, but I understand it.

My ability to speak Cantonese must be laying dormant, then, and all I need is practice. This is very exciting to me. I very much want to be able to communicate with my relatives, the majority of whom do not speak English. And I have always wanted to have bilingual children.

A week or two ago, Robin told me he wants to learn Cantonese. He does know a few words here and there (mostly names for Chinese food that he likes!) so I think it's possible we'll be able to do this. It will take years of work (especially for Robin) but we're gonna start now.

The rain stopped, the skies cleared, and we had the most wonderful day of our lives... so far.

Everything happened on time.
The flowers worked out wonderfully (we arranged all centerpieces and bouquets ourselves).
The ringbearer and flowergirl were instant best friends and stole the show, as we had expected them to.
(The ringbearer actually fell asleep on his ring pillow during the ceremony).

But best of all, our families got along spectacularly.

oh man, it has gotten hot and sticky here in Boston. I really hope that it won't be hotter than 85 degrees on the day of the wedding... yesterday I was sweating like a pig while in tiny shorts and a tank top, I can't imagine moving around in a huge poofy skirt in that sort of weather.

I had a blast in Pasadena for a week; hung out, shopped, and went clubbing with Laura, and attended my little brother's graduation. I also ate a lot of good food. I really miss In&Out, Jack in the Box, and Shau May. The following week was all wedding stuff; not my wedding, but Tim and Molly's. The other two bridesmaids, Katharina and Katie, and Molly's adopted parents, the Borcherts, and I threw Molly a fun Hawaiian themed bridal shower. The wedding ceremony was outside, in a beautiful outside chapel. The reception was a laid back picnic reception (definetly above average picnic food though!) It was wonderful to see so many old friends from around the country, and of course, it was wonderful to see Tim and Molly so happy.

I hope that our wedding goes that well. It's getting really damned close now.

I'm so exhausted. I wonder if I'm getting sick or something.

This weekend I attended my first tae kwon do tournament. It was an incredible experience. We (MIT's Sport Tae Kwon Do Club) won the tournament, and are now first in the league. We didn't win it without a fight though. By the end of the day, lots of people were nursing major injuries. I was also beaten up; in my first sparring match ever, I had to fight a girl who was two belt levels higher than me, and way more experienced. My right arm was rendered useless for lifting/pushing things cause her kicks really bruised my bicep.

On the other hand, I thought it would be a much scarier and more tiring than it really was. If I practice a little, I won't be too nervous about sparring at this weekend's tournament at Columbia. Wheee! At least my legs are ok, which means I'm all set to go (tae kwon do is all about kicking).

Blogger seems to be acting funny, but I'm going to try to post this anyways.

Life has been crazy busy, but I'm getting a surprising amount done (although on a daily basis it doesn't feel like it). I presented a poster at this year's Orthopaedics Research Society Annual Conference. (my first conference presentation every, go me!) In putting together all the data for the poster, I've effectively written a chapter of my thesis. Robin and I have also done a fair amount of wedding work; we've got both ceremony and reception site (and therefore caterer) reserved, a rabbi who will co-officiate, a few leads on priests who are willing co-officiate, a guest list, my wedding dress (which I brought to a seamstress today to have altered), and my tiara. My mother will probably be getting us cool favors from Hong Kong. My bridesmaids and I have agreed on a dress, which my mom will have made in Hong Kong as well. (I'll probably ask my mom to have them make me one as well, as they're really sweet dresses!) Robin is looking for DJ's, I'm looking into photographers, and after Valentine's day I'll talk to florists (but we'll probably do the flowers ourselves). Robin's got a good deal on tuxes already. Really, the only major thing we haven't looked into is invitations, which we'll make ourselves so we don't have to worry about ordering them soon.

The semester just started, so now I've got all sorts of things on my plate. I've spoken with the Career Center here at MIT, and now have all kinds of fun resources with which to probe the biotech industry around here for job openings. I also have a contact through Topher (a Mole Techer who graduated in 97, just before I got there) which I will probably seek out. I've decided not to take classes this last semester (there's really not much left that I'm interested in), but will probably be doing grading for a bioengineering class for some extra cash. And there've been a whole ton of social stuff (friends coming to visit from NYC, friends winning pool parties at Jillians....) All in all, I've been a busy bee.

We have:
- 1 CA wedding site and reception site
- 1 really cool custom designer that might make the bodice for my dress for cheap (such that I can get my dream dress for less than 1K instead of for 4K!)
- several Boston area wedding and reception sites that we are checking out to see if they are possibilities. Stuff in this area is so damned expensive
- 1 really cool photographer in the Boston area that we'd like to use
- no date or location set. If sites here in MA prove to be too costly, we will fall back on the CA option, and probably go ahead and do it this August. No idea on how likely that is.

Since the semester doesn't start for a month (and since I probably won't take classes anyway) I will be spending this month wedding planning and thesis writing (that is, if the company I collaborate finally sends me some useful biochemical data)