Posts Tagged "Daily Life"

i’m dreaming my life away

Posted by vienna on Aug 31, 2010 in This and That | 1 comment

I’m not really dreaming my life away. The title is just from a song that played inside my head as I thought of writing this post.

This post is inspired by my friend, Sterndal. Lately, she’s been writing about some of her dreams and this prompted me to think about my own dreams.

Many people think that when they reach a certain level, they’ll be contented but I don’t think that that’s the case. I believe that man is never contented, i.e.; when he reaches the point he wants nothing more. I believe that the moment you stop dreaming or stop wanting is the time you stop living.

Many people think I have a wonderful life here in Europe and I honestly think that too. I have a loving husband, a job, a house, a car, and some small things that other people don’t have. I should be contented, right?

Of course, I am.

BUT that doesn’t mean, I don’t want anything anymore.  I am happy with all the things I have and all the things my husband and I can afford to have or do and I am really thankful for each of these things.

I won’t say that everything I have, I have worked hard for because that is simply not true. Actually, I can only name two things I worked hard for and those are my first guitar and my bachelor’s degree (which is, by the way, not accepted here in Austria—depressing!). The others just happened or are given to me.

Of course, like many, I have dreamt of seeing different countries but never really thought that that’ll happen. I’ve seen China but not without help from my mom and dad. I found the teaching job in China by myself but if it wasn’t for my parent’s money, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to go there. So it’s like they sent me there. I’m now in Europe and I have my own car but being in Europe just happened and the car was just given to me by my husband.  I can speak German and I have a teaching job here but I wouldn’t have achieved those without support from my husband.  All the fancy stuff like clothes, jewelries, shoes, bags, gadgets, etc are mostly bought by me but I won’t say I’ve worked hard for all of them because I won’t be able to afford them  if I would have to worry about things like bills, food, and other necessities. My husband takes care of all our necessities. My Husband is super and having him is also something I DIDN’T work hard for. LOL. He just happened to me.

So before this post becomes a post about the things I have, I will go back to my dreams. I am a very lucky girl and I believe that I have more than what I dreamt about as a young girl but sometimes achieving a dream only makes you dream more. I had dreamed of having a job and I got it but now, I am dreaming of having a better job. I had dreamed of owning a computer and I already had a series of computers but I still want a better one each time.  Stuff like that happen to me a lot.

But if you ask me right now about my ultimate dream, I’d say I have two of them.

First is, I dream of becoming an asset to my husband. He’s done a lot for me. I also want to help him in any way I can, especially, financially. I want to get a better paying job so I can help him with the bills, with the things we need, with our holidays, etc.

Second is, I dream of being able to give something special to my parents. I know, they will not ask me but I want to do something for them. Like a European tour or something equal to that.

Of course there are other small stuff I want but I won’t include them here because these small stuff just lead to my bigger dreams.

656 words! LOL! Dreaming is good.

The power of suggestion

Posted by vienna on Sep 22, 2009 in People and Places, This and That | 3 comments

I don’t believe in horoscopes, palm reading, and all sorts of ways to predict the future but once in a while I would read my horoscope just for amusement. Sometimes, specially when my horoscope says something good, I would like to believe it. For example, when it says something about acquiring money (hahaha), I’d try to think about how and when will I get the money, where or whom will I get the money from, etc.  My brain will immediately evoke things then put two and two together to fulfill the prediction.  That is what they call the power of suggestion.

Last Friday, we dined in a Chinese restaurant with our good friend, Eugene. He is also a colleague of my husband. We meet at least once a week to dine or have a drink somewhere. Last Friday, we decided to eat in a Chinese restaurant to break the monotony of our “pizza nights”. Right after the meal, we were given fortune cookies. It was my first time! Imagine after living three years in China and after having eaten several times in countless REAL Chinese restaurants, I just receive my first fortune cookie in Austria! I think the “fortune cookie thing” is a Western thing disguised as an Asian thing.

So anyway, let me amuse myself and let’s go back to our fortune cookies. After I’ve eaten mine, I was reminded of Eggnog (not the alcoholic drink but the Philippine cookie). The fortune cookie I got tasted exactly like that (I like that cookie very much).  Then there was a small piece of paper where the fortune is and the one I got says “Someone is speaking well of you.” Hmmm… my brain suggested that this “someone” could be my boss who is definitely selling me good to parents of prospective pupils. My husband got “Your success will be improved each year.” He just got a promotion last July (also one last year) so it could mean that the fortune is late or it could also mean that he’ll be promoted again next year (whew!). Then Eugene got “A firm friendship will prove the foundation on your success in life.” He is good friends with my husband and if my husband gets promoted each year, it could also be good for him (hahaha).  I was not only able to see what will happen but I was also able to fit their fortunes together (*wink).

Back home some people believe that when a person gets a fortune and tells it to another person, the fortune will not happen. It’s like a counter-fortune if you let another soul know about it and that’s exactly what I just did.

Quick Fix

Posted by vienna on Mar 3, 2009 in Home and Family | 2 comments

***Entry written sometime in December:

Both of us have been busy all throughout the week so nobody went to buy groceries. Normally, that is my job but because my class is coming to an end and there are some important papers to prepare and exams to think about, Marcus didn’t complain when he couldn’t find anything in the fridge worth eating.

For two days, food came in from home delivery services of various restaurants but on Sunday, we realized that we have spent so much on home deliveries and tips therefore we decided to just cook our own food. Marcus volunteered to go buy some stuff but decided against it later that day. He was feeling lazy. I didn’t insist on him going out because I myself was also feeling lazy that day but before we even thought of succumbing to ordering another pizza, I decided to look in the kitchen for anything and there I found pasta. We were out of tomato sauce but I was lucky to find that quick carbonara fix I didn’t know we still have.

And that saved us from our lazy selves.

I am done for the day

Posted by vienna on Feb 27, 2009 in Home and Family | 7 comments

So I am now taking a break… that means I have this short time to publish a short entry.

*piles of boxes in our guestroom, dining room, and living room

The picture shows how far I am with the packing and I am pleased because I think I was able to catch up with my packing schedule today. That means, I can have a relaxing weekend.

I was also able to book and have our flights confirmed (finally!).

I will be leaving on the 6th of March and that means no blogging until I am back. After our trip, we’ll go back to Shanghai and fly from here to Austria.

Five boxes down, twenty-five more to go

Posted by vienna on Feb 26, 2009 in Home and Family | 1 comment

I planned to pack at least three boxes a day so today I should have nine boxes done already because I started two days ago but obviously I am four boxes behind.

Aside from packing, there are other things I have to do like book our flights (for our last tropical holiday for this year) and hotels, buy some more cheap stuff here so we don’t have to buy the same stuff in Europe for 10 times the (China) price. I also have to worry about the receipts and invoices showing that we spend all the “8K Euro moving money”. I don’t exactly know how they call that but that’s what I call it. This money is given to expats for their house/moving expenses but at the end of the year/contract, expats should be able to show evidence that they spend this money on their house expenses otherwise they will have to pay taxes for this money.

So anyway…. I am swamped!

That upcoming tropical holiday better be good.