True Champion

I just watched a piece of tennis history unfold not in the way I had hoped to see, but I witnessed once again the character and class of a true champion.

Rafael Nadal lost his 4th-round match at the French Open, where he had been undefeated (!) and was the four-time defending champion. Until today. Coming into the French Open, the ultimate clay court tournament in tennis, Nadal was the overwhelming favorite to be the first player ever to win it 5 times in a row. He played great tennis in his last match. But he lost a tough four-set match to an opponent who showcased absolutely stunning tennis.

Nadal has been my favorite player in the past two years. At 22, he has rewritten tennis history in many ways in the past year, including winning the greatest match of all time over 5-time defending champion, Roger Federer, at the Wimbledon final. He has already been regarded as the greatest clay-court tennis player ever, and is undeniably one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

I like to watch him play not only because of his tennis, but more so his character and humility. He is a class act in victory and in defeat, and how he dealt with his shocking loss today once again spoke loudly and clearly about him.

Nadal had always said that there would be a day when he would lose at the French Open for the first time. Of course, nobody in the tennis world predicted it would come today, but true to his words, he accepted the defeat, and he did so with such a level of grace that is no less stunning than his defeat.

He said in his post-match press conference -

"I have to accept (the defeat) with the same calm when I win than (sic) when I lose. After four years I lose here, and the season continue(s)."

"Well, all of us athletes, we know that when we walk on the court we can either win or lose. I know it for a fact anything can happen, and I have to accept them both in the same way."

He had nothing bitter to say about the match, gave credit to his opponent and congratulated him, did not make any excuse, and simply admitted that he did not play well and thus lost the match. He even commented that he hoped Federer, whom he defeated at the French Open in the past four years, would win the French Open (which would level Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slams and undoubtedly make him the greatest player of all time).

After the French Open comes Wimbledon later this Summer. At the All England Club, where Wimbledon takes place, is a quote from Rudyard Kipling's poem If -

If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same

Nadal did it today. Even though he lost the match, he is a true champion.

Family and Friends

I am very thankful to have many opportunities to spend time with family and friends recently.

My mom was here just a month ago. Her "mission" was to bring my two young cousins to the States to reunite with my aunt. So we all got to spend time together.

My youngest sister-in-law came down almost two weeks ago from college to stay with us for the Summer. Hanes has been happy.

We had family and friends over for an "indoor cookout" on Memorial weekend. We had 9 adults (including my middle sister-in-law) and 7 children, ranging from 4 months to 8 years old (three of them were our nephews). It was fun. Sadly, we did not take any pictures.

Hubby and I are going on vacation next week. We will see many friends and family along the way, including our friend who just had the baby less than 48 hours ago, and my other sister-in-law and family who are expecting baby #3!

Tennis (Ball) Fan

As the French Open is well underway, I thought I would post something about tennis. :)

After a league match a few Saturday mornings ago, I gave Hanes a tennis ball to see if she would like it, since she liked the ping pong balls.

Here is what she did with the tennis ball -






She held the tennis ball tight, ignored her mouse and played with the tennis ball for at least 15 minutes!

She is quite a fan!

Burgers, Fries and Shake

A year ago, I became an American. At my suggestion, Hubby and I went to celebrate with burgers, fries and shake!


I do not eat beef hardly at all, so I could not tell whether the hamburger was good or not. But according to Hubby, the hamburgers were really good! To me, however, the chocolate shake was the best part!

A really fun feature at the restaurant was a "jacuzzi" for the hands. You put your hands in the holes, then water and the right amount of pressure came out to clean your hands. It was really fun. No wonder the kids there loved washing their hands! I even shamlessly took a sticker (which I am sure was more for kids than adults) -


We also took this meal in honor of our pregnant friend who could not eat any of these things because of gestational diabetes. She had asked her friends to eat these for her when she was first diagnosed, and we finally ate them for her!

She had the baby last night, so congratulations!

Proud Mama

My work centers around administering the graduate program in my department, so I am heavily involved in everything that pertains to the graduate students, from their academic work (coursework, exams etc.) to their employment (teaching assistantships etc.), to their fellowship opportunities... All the graduate students are my kids, so to speak.

It has been almost seven months since I began my position at the University. I cannot honestly say that I know each one of them well, but I have come to know many of them quite well, especially since we are rather close in age. As I have gotten to know them, I have had quite a few "proud mama" moments.

A student brought me chocolate from Europe where she was for Christmas. :) I had only been with the department for a little over two months then.

In the middle of this semester, we had oral exams for two students, who approached the exams very differently. One of them was fairly calm and confident while the other had been nervous and worry-sick all week. Before her oral, the second student was waiting outside of my office and was clearly anxious. So I talked to her briefly.

After the exam, she was literally hopping and bouncing into my office with a huge smile on her face. She passed! I was the first person she saw and with whom to share the good news after she walked out of the exam room. She also thanked me for calming her down (which I did not know I did). :)

A student also invited me to her birthday party recently. The gesture was very nice and I went for a while. My students are a very tight-knit group, so most of them were at the party. I talked to quite a few of them. When one of them saw me, he told me right away that his big presentation went well just that afternoon. The only congratulatory words I did not say was "I am proud of you, son." (he is older than me)

Another student passed an exam last week. He came to me to give me a fist pump!

A few senior students who are beginning to get into the job market have also talked to me about how the economy has been affecting their job prospects. They even let me read their rejection letters. Of course, whenever it happens, it is also time for me to encourage them to hang in there.

Throughout the last few months, I have also had long chats with some of them, sometimes about things casual and sometimes confidential. I am thankful that they trust me enough to tell me many things.

To my surprise, many of them have also expressed to me their appreciation. It is so nice of them to say the things they are never obligated to say.

I am a proud mama.

Happy Mother's Day!

To my mom, my mother-in-law and all the moms I know. :) Have a wonderful celebration!

To Walk with Thee

My mom took this photo of Hubby and me without us knowing it until afterwards. I like this picture a lot, and I am thankful to God for allowing me to go through life's journey with Hubby.

Visit

My mom came for a short visit a couple of weeks ago. We had not seen each other since Christmas 2007 so it was nice that she was able to make the trip from Hong Kong.

We did not do too many things but we created many good memories -

We played lots of Dominoes.


We went on a quick day trip to see a historic site.

We ate a lot, including local BBQ. Mom quite enjoyed the slow-cooked smoked chicken.

We also had some Hong Kong-style pot luck. Yummy!

She made me a skirt and a scarf (within hours)!

A few months ago, Hubby and I got some pastel green fabric for about $4 and I was going to make a scarf from it (because I could not make anything more complicated than that :). However, Mom, who is excellent with the sewing machine, had more brilliant ideas! She designed and made the skirt! I wore it to church last Sunday.

We also did some shopping. We found the perfume for her and my sister at a good price! We also found each of us nice and reasonably-priced sunglasses.

The trip was short, but sweet. :)