Leaving on a jet-plane

I've read that moving house is one of the top ten most stressful things a person can do. Multiply that stress by ten-fold when it involves moving country! Tomorrow I leave for Holland, to reunite with hubby. I feel a mixture of excitement tinged with sadness; I know I will miss my beloved hometown of Melbourne and most of my friends and family. But I am also ready for this new phase in my life and I will seize this opportunity and make the most of it!

I hope this move and the experiences that come with it will enrich my writing and provide me with even more inspiration. A Chinese-Australian migrant in the Netherlands ... hmm ... the ideas are already forming ...

If the shoe fits ...

A funny thing happened to me today at David Jones. There I was, just browsing through the women's clothing department when a sales assistant approached me waving a shoe. She looked me right in the eye and said "I'll check if we have your size". What was strange was that I had not asked this woman for a size at all. As it turned out, there was another Asian woman (who incidentally looked nothing like me) who asked for assistance. I thought, fair enough - these things happen. So I continued my browsing. Then the same sales assistant came up to me again not five minutes later and shoved a shoebox at me. "There you go!" she said merrily, oblivious to her mistake. So I smiled sweetly, thanked her and took the shoes ... they were quite nice - and my size too. Is this what's known as serendipity? (By the way, I didn't stick around to see the consequences of the salesgirl's faux pas ... perhaps I should've!)

Going bananas

"Yellow on the outside and white on the inside". I was first labeled a "banana" by my uncle at the age of ten or so. "You look Chinese but you think like a gwai loh" (colloquial Cantonese for "white person") I remember going through a lot of turmoil at the time - dealing with bullying from classmates for being "different" (there weren't a lot of Chinese in my primary school back then), trying to fit in, torn between pride and shame for my heritage. I have so many stories to share about this time in my life. I wonder if anyone would be interested in reading about them? Is there a market for a book of semi-biographical short stories about the struggles of a "little banana"?

I would entitle it "Going Bananas: stories of cross-cultural confusion" ...

A little more about me

A voracious, varied and insatiable reader, I will (mentally) devour any book that happens to take my fancy - no topic is taboo ... although I do have a preference for philosophy and cultural anthropology. Having said (written) that, however, my Mills and Boon, Marian Keyes and Stephen King collections have their special place on the bookshelf as well. Nothing like a bit of escapism!

I'm interested in sharing stories with fellow aspiring writers; the triumphs and struggles that come with the craft. Please feel free to critique my work - I will aim to post at least one new item of my "scribblings" per week.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes by George Bernard Shaw:

"Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

My First Foray ...

After much prompting from my well-meaning younger sister, I have finally made the first step in "reaching out" to other book lovers and would-be writers out there. A self-professed "technology dinosaur", I have been blissfully ignorant of the wonders of this medium - until just recently. Now I'm hoping to find others who share my passion for the written word!

I'll keep this entry brief. I still feel a little trepidatious about posting my creative pieces so until I overcome this anxiety, I will just make do by treating this blog like a virtual diary for now ... :)

On an end note - if anyone has read/is reading "Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief" by Lewis Wolpert - I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.