What I’m up to
We’re in an airport lounge, about to return to Taiwan after an epic five weeks in the Philippines. We spend most of our summers in the US and take shorter trips to the Philippines since it’s closer, so it was a REAL treat to spend a whole summer here.
Highlights:
Waking up to insanely gorgeous views at my uncle’s house.
Seeing our old friends the Ds. We went to Boracay with them (where we enjoyed the crazy clear water and fine, white sands for hours and hours on end) and then finally got to see their magical homestead.
If I’m going to be honest — shopping! The exchange rate is favorable to us at the moment, and we refreshed our wardrobes and stocked up on books. I also love buying beauty products in the Philippines, where products are actually formulated for my skin tone.
Eating! It was clear this summer that each day in the Philippines revolves around meals. We had the most delicious meals, both at home and out. Special shoutout to Daisy, my parents’ amazing helper who is a fantastic cook, and my grandma, who plied us with seafood every day for a week.
Enjoyed the local cafe/restaurant scene, thanks to my brother and sister-in-law. So many beautiful (and delicious) places to go, even late at night.
Of course, most of all, we loved time with our family.
One lowlight was keeping up with grad school this summer. I dropped a class (had planned on taking two, as I had the past three semesters), and it was still challenging to keep up. I used to think I’d want to get a PhD eventually, but working at a school for nearly a decade has me less patient with theory and more interested in practice. Maybe this will change down the road?
What I’m reading
Just downloaded The Fury (by Alex Michaelides) and One Last Summer (by Kate Spencer). I figure a thriller + a romance would make for good plane reading, but let’s be honest, I’ll prob just watch the last episode of Our Lady Jane on the plane.
Read this summer: The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (gorgeous). James: A Novel by Percival Everett, required reading for anyone who has read Huck Finn. The Feast by Margaret Kennedy - an older novel that reads like something written today. It’s GOOD. Absolution by Alice McDermott - I liked this a lot when I read it, but now I can’t recall what it’s about! Smh. Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors, which made me feel a little old.
Mostly I watched movies, catching up on old “classics” that were released when I wasn’t watching movies and working through Denis Villenueve’s back list (<3). Movies I watched this summer, in order:
Oldboy
Anatomy of a Fall
Hit Man
Mad Max: Fury Road
Rushmore
Bullet Train (again)
Whiplash
Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner
Inglorious Basterds
Sicario
Prisoners
Incendies
Nocturnal Animals
What I’m thinking about
A’s thoughtful post about… well, being thoughtful and lifelong learning.
The upcoming US election. I’ve been missing teaching Government lately, while simultaneously feeling great relief that I can work through my thoughts about the current goings-on without having to think about how to present things to students.
I recently received an email from a student, whom I hadn’t heard from since she graduated. She said, “I know it's probably surprising for you to see this email but with the state of America right now I had a lot of time to reflect, and recently I've just been feeling so grateful for the education I've received from amazing teachers like you, Miss B, Mr. W, and Mr. N… Because of you teaching us government in high school, I'm able to participate in the current state of politics and recognize what my rights are.”
That makes me miss teaching Government.
What I’m learning
When to let go of differences. I used to argue with my mom about our differing opinions all the time. We’re still very different, but age and a dawning understanding of mortality has helped both of us, I think, learn how to just let things go. Lots of credit goes to my mom, who puts up with my heavy sighs haha.
What I’m doing
Mourning the end of our last summer in the Philippines for the foreseeable future (next two summers, we’ll be back in the US). Looking forward to being home in our apartment and catching up with friends.
Embracing the two piece swimsuit (despite gaining a LOT of weight this summer). I always think about what my mother-in-law told me decades ago: she jokingly said, “If I could go back to my twenties, I’d wear a bikini every day! I didn’t know to appreciate the body that I had.” I know that twenty years from now, I’ll wish I had been more comfortable in my current body.
What I’m digging
The cheese board at the airport lounge right now.
Going to my parents’ church. It was our home church for my entire childhood and even where we lived some summers. It always feels like home to go back.
The Philippines! It is beautiful.
A pair of glasses that makes me look like a serial killer (it’s so ugly, I love it) and a kimono one kid says looks like a bathrobe but I think goes with everything.
Playing with watercolors again.
Time with both sets of parents.
Until next time,
Kate
Thank you so much for everything you did to make sure our vacation was wonderful, from anticipating what we want to eat to stocking our bathrooms with our fav products. ❤️ So thankful we had this summer with you! We miss you guys already!
Wow, you can really write! Imagine, writing all these down while waiting for your flight and eating cheese! 😄
It was so, so wonderful having you and your beautiful family these past few weeks. I am so glad that we invested a lot in our memory bank to cherish until we are too old to remember. It takes emotional maturity to agree to disagree. At least, we got to talk a little about American politics. 😄 But kidding aside, I am praying for the U.S. upcoming election as I continue to pray for the Philippines government as well.