| | This is a question that comes up (always) whenever I go on vacation from school: What am I going to do with all my free time??
If I'm in LA there's the onslaught of friends, eating, church, errands, reading, attempting to clean, attempting to work, etc, etc. I've always felt ambivalent about having time off in LA, as somehow it feels like it's not really time off at all. In a way, I'm just replacing work with a bunch of other activities. Granted I usually enjoy these activities much more than I enjoy going to work, but nevertheless...BUSY.
However, in the past year and a half, since my parents have moved to Indiana, vacations have been a bit different. Basically, I am spending weeks in a place where 1) it's cold, 2) I don't have access to a car or public transportation, 3) I don't have friends to hang out with. Last winter, I took it upon myself to write like, a zillion detailed Christmas cards (a feat never ever ever to be repeated again...well, not this year at least!) There was also Urbana 2006, which was followed by a period of (somewhat melodramatic) soul-searching and intense journaling. Result of Winter Break 2006: A tired hand and some paper cuts.
Summer 07: Well, my sister had Jacob then so I think we were all very busy with Jacob and Josie and navigating through a house with 5 adults and 2 kiddies. And we all rarely left the house (since no one is officially employed over the summer)...so you can imagine what that was like. =)
This winter break has actually been quite relaxing, to the point where in any 24 hour time period, I'm sleeping 12 and in my pajamas 24 (I confess I've been wearing the same pajama bottoms for the past three days, but as Rose says, so long as you're changing what's underneath...). During my awake times, I've been reading like it's going out of style. I actually planned for this to happen, as before I even arrived in Indiana, I had already started putting books on hold at the local library here. =) Somehow, I also ended up bring 5 books with me from LA, due to the fact that I am deathly phobic of getting bored on the plane (happens all the time: crossword's too hard, I can't sleep, someone's on my armrest and I'm too complacent to tell them to move please). Anyhow, I've finally crossed over to reading non-fic!! This is a big step for me as before, I would pick up a non-fic book and promptly drop into a coma...or something similar. Noteworthy, in particular: Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver; There Are No Shortcuts by Rafe Esquith; The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne; Better by Atul Gawande. Due credit is given to amazon.com since most of these books come from amazon's top 100 of 2007 list. (Honestly, it was so much easier to have someone else do the screening process for me...I love browsing in libraries, but I do get lazy.) But of course, I can't forget the fiction!! I've always been a fan of (well-written) fiction, regardless of genre. This winter, it was a bit touch-and-go--some were good, some were ok, one was absolutely blah (I had to go back to amazon and read the reviews, just to confirm others though it was as bad as I did). Let's dwell on the good: I highly recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. In addition to the literary madness, I've also been helping my mom in the kitchen with all things doughy (wontons, bao zi, tan yuen, assorted breads). Mmmm, I really love playing with dough.
Well, now that vacation's nearly over, I'm starting to think about my return to LA (aka. my coming out of hibernation). Again, ambivalent feelings. I really get use to this kind of hermit-y lifestyle very quickly, which I guess is both good and bad. For the rest of the year, I don't have the luxury of sleeping half my day away, reading good books, thinking, pondering over the questions of life, having random conversations with my parents (incidentally, I think I act like I'm about 12 years old when I'm with my parents), wandering around the house looking for food. BUT...I don't regret for a bit the rest of the 48 weeks of the year, the insanity and fun and "never a dull moment" quality of it all. I look forward to being back and joining the meelee and the masses.
But before that, I'm going to enjoy a few more good books. =)
Take care, everyone.
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| | Posted 12/28/2007 9:08 PM - 27 Views - 4 eProps - 4 comments
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