- Lizzy asked me what hobby is. I told her things that you like to do in your free time in a regular basis. For me, running, cooking, reading are my hobbies. I emphasized that hobbies are things that you do for fun, with no ultimate goal in mind, you do it for the sake of doing it, not because it will help you with job, career, studies. That is my interpretation of hobbies. Others might differ. One thing that I want to preserve for my girls is doing at least one thing for the pure joy of doing it. I see kids in China doing “hobbies” because they look good in their CVs. I learned that there are level exams for painting!!! I was shocked!!!
- Last Sunday when I was running in the sport stadium near my place, I saw a little girl, maybe 5-6 years old, dressed by baseball with bag pack and water bottle in hand, getting off a grab motorcycle. These are alternative to taxis in Asia, cheaper and faster when there is traffic. She was by herself. I shared the story with the girls, noting that I was surprised she took grab motorcycle by herself to go to sport practice. Lizzy’s reaction was maybe the driver is her dad. (how clever!) I had mix feelings between “how irresponsible her parents must be!” and “how independent this girl is, and brave are her parents”. I couldn’t settle for one conclusion.
- Lizzy’s best friend in class was traveling last week so I could tell Lizzy was a bit sad as she didn’t have anyone close to play. I casually said: maybe you can develop new friendships while she’s away. You know how to do that right? She said yes, firmly. That got me curious and I asked: what’s your trick? Please tell me. She said: well, I say hi first. Then I ask her what’s her favorite color, food, game, toy, etc.! Isn’t that brilliant? She figured out how to befriend anyone… basically ask questions and listen. hahahah
I am enjoying NoBlPoMo2023 and getting to “meet” your bloggers. San just did Ask San Anything, loved learning about her. Please leave a comment (anonymous is fine too!) if you want to ask me anything. I’ll do a vol 1. 😆
Our New Journey 
I love how you explained “hobbies” to Lizzy. I think it’s important that you emphasize that it’s something you truly do for jor… without any goals in mind. We forget that sometimes these days.
Yay, so happy you’re enjoying NaBloPoMo so far… it’s a fun way to stay engaged and meet new people 🙂 and the AMA questions are always so fun. So here’s a few for you:
Do you have any siblings? Where do they live? Are you close to them?
How do you stay in touch?
How often have you moved around and where have you lived?
What does a work day look like for you?
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Cute stories! Good idea to ask Lizzy those questions to get her thinking and talking about friendship.
Hmm, questions…I am sure I have a million but can’t think right now… Maybe:
How did you meet your husband? What is your biggest insecurity? What is something you regret?
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I like your daughter’s style. When I was a kid, I used to attend 1/2 day school at 2 schools (weird, I know). This was Kindergarten, and they were all only 1/2 day, so I would do morning at one school and take a cab to the second school. I took the cab alone, but it was fine because the cab driver was one of our roommates. Different times, I thought, but your story has me wondering. 🙂
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I hope the driver was the girl’s father but kids in some parts of the world grow up incredibly fast!
I like your description of hobbies. It is sad to hear that for some, hobbies are just for the sake of the CV. Like how important if your career/future accomplishments if you give up joy for them?
I am fairly new to your blog so I’d like to know what all locations you guys have been in for your job, your favorite location, if there are any locations you’ve said no to, and what your ideal location would be.
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