Mike and Wind

Mike and I were in the middle of a war zone and the time period we were in was centuries ago from now. Mike was outside, watching for the enemies to cross the boarder that divided us and them. While there was an extreme tension outside, I was cooking in the old, small kitchen. All of sudden, Mike ran inside in a hurry. He told me that the enemies have crossed the boarder. Just when we were about to leave the kitchen, a few of the men from the enemies caught us. They examined us, especially me. We kept silent, holding each other really tight. A man who looked senior to the others said to me that they could use me. I looked at Mike for some kind of comfort, but he just nodded. Mike decided that it was better for me to live than to die with him here. As my hand was being pulled by the man, Mike whispered in my ear that he would come and find me. I was taken hostage by the enemies without Mike. As soon as the man and I stepped outside, a strong wind started blowing across the battle field. Almost at the same time the wind blew, Mike dashed out of the house and disappear with the wind towards the boarder. In that instant, I knew that the wind was with him to save us.

Raw Meat in Argentina

My coworkers, JB, JM and I were to go on a work trip to Argentina. Of course, our work does not have money to pay our airfares, and we were told to drive there. We were a little frustrated but seemed to accept the reality fairly well.

We arrived in Argentina. I did not remember anything about the whole car ride. When we got there, we realized that we had to find a place to stay. We found one hotel and talked to a guy at the front desk. He told us that it would cost over $850 a night there. Even though it was a ridiculously expensive, we decided to stay there.

Now it was dinner time. I was starving. I didn't remember anything I ate for the past however many days we spent on the road. We got to a restaurant and JB and JM ordered food quickly. I could not decide what to eat. While I was thinking about what to eat, their food came to our table and surprised me. It was a big chunk of raw chicken and beef piled on a plate. It didn't look like there was any spice on it. Just raw meat. JB cut up the meat with his fork and knife and carried it into his mouth like it was a normal thing to do. I could not believe it. I was disgusted. I felt sick to my stomach. He noticed that I was reacting funny and simply told me that it tasted perfectly fine and it was the Argentine way. I could not order my food after then and kept staring at the raw meat on the table.

Birthday Cake

Part 1.

I was in Japan with my family. It had been so long since last time I was there. Now the most of the trains were replaced by monorails, and they were intertwined with the main highways. It was fascinating to see the monorails weaving through the highways filled with cars. The monorails looked like a roller coaster because the rails went over and under the roads. As I observed this new system, I waited for my train to come. When the train came, I realized that my family had left me and was alone. Did I neither have a cell phone nor know their phone number. I got on a southbound train, not knowing where to go. Knowing the language was the only thing I felt grateful for at the moment. Maybe after an hour or two of the monorail ride, I stepped out of the train. I was in Nagoya. There were so many people on the platform and I did not recognize anyone. Then, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. It was my dad. He asked me what I was doing there. I simply said that I was left alone and did not know where we were going. He laughed and said to follow him.

Part 2.

I was trying to make a birthday cake. It was going to be chocolate and to have three layers. I put the batter in the preheated oven and waited. I opened the oven to check on the cake. Smoke came out and I saw the cake sitting in the water in the cake pan. Somehow a ton of water came out of the cake, and it almost looked like the cake was floating in the boiling water. I threw away the cake in the garbage can, very angry. I tried it again, double checking all the ingredients. Everything was right. Again, I put the cake in the oven and waited. I was hoping that the cake would come out right this time. It was time to check on the cake again. The cake was sitting in the water just like before. I couldn't understand it. How could water come out of the cake so much? Frustrated, I made the batter for the third time. This time, I used a round cake pan, instead of a square one. I put it in the oven and waited. This time I came to check on the oven a little bit earlier than before to see what was happening with my cake. Now the cake was not only sitting in the water, but also was cut in half. I looked around in the kitchen and saw my dad sitting at the dining table. I asked him if he knew anything about the cake cut in half. He said that the cake didn't look so good and decided that I would not mind if he tasted it. He told me that cake taste just fine and kept on with his business.

An Acrobat

4/22/09

There were a lot of people in a huge arena. The congregation consisted of both young and old, male and female. Everyone belonged to a certain group and all surrounding a stage in the middle of the arena. There was a voice that announced that each group had to elect a volunteer who was an acrobat. After the announcement echoed through the arena, I raised my hand and walked up to the stage. Everyone gave me applause. There were a few other competitors from the crowd and all looked very confident. The host explained the rules and all the competitors were to jump off a cliff that was located on the corner of the center stage and to show their skills to the judges. Spinning and twisting in the air was highly recommended to show their ability to navigate their bodies in the air. After the explanation was over, it was time for us to jump. One by one performed their jumps and marked high scores. My turn came and I jumped. I enjoyed spinning in the air but did not score high. As a matter of fact I was the worst of all the competitors. The second round came. It was the same result. I scored the lowest of all. In the end, I ranked the 5th place out of all the five competitors. However, I felt so good inside and did not feel discouraged.

4/21/09

My sister told my husband and me that she needed to shop for a new bed. We went to a store together and she picked one that looked very ugly to me. The bed frame was made of blond wood and had an an ugly flower bed cover. As she was picking out that bed, she asked my husband if he wanted to try her new bed out. I wonder why she asked him and immediately knew that she had a bad intention. I was praying that he would say "No." On the contrary, he said "sure". He followed her to her place and I followed them there.

Dentist's Sputum

I was in a library with my little sister. We were sitting down on the floor and looking at some books. There was a little baby boy behind us, and he was also looking at some books. Our grandma approached us with a clear bottle in her hand. The label of the bottle said "DENTIST'S SPUTUM." It looked like it. She was very happy to see us and told us about the dentist's sputum. Pointing at her healthy black hair and the bottle of the dentist's sputum, she said that it was the sputum that made her hair so healthy. She was happy that she looked a lot younger than how old she was. She told us to use it to any body part where we want some help with. Hair, nails, chest, eyelashes..... After explaining to us about the miracle of the dentist sputum, she gave us the bottle and left us in the library.

A cigarette lighter radio

Mike and I were in a small village in Russia. We were surrounded by a huge endless field. The land was so flat and we could see miles and miles away. There we met a girl about 14 years old and a boy about 7 years old. They were both poor and didn't have any toy to play with. However, the girl had something that we'd never seen before. She had a white cigarette lighter and a set of earphones was plugged in it. When she clicked the lighter, instead of seeing a flame, she heard music. But the only music she could listen to was rock'n roll Christmas songs. She thought the music was wonderful and clicked the lighter over and over. We asked her if she had ever played any instrument. She didn't know what an instrument was. We explained her that she could play music with it. As soon as she heard us, she was very excited. Mike and I contacted neighboring villages to find someone who had any instrument and would teach her how to play it. Finally, we found one in a distant land, rented a minivan and send her off to the distant land.

Confusion

Dream 1.

Mike and I started a new job at the same company, but not in the same department. We had an orientation for new employees, and everyone was introducing themselves to each other. I had come into the orientation room a little bit before Mike did and had already finished my introduction by the time he appeared. When Mike came in, I told everyone that he was my husband. As I listened Mike introduce himself I noticed that he was using my Japanese friend's last name as his. I didn't understand why he was using that last name and asked him why. He simply said, "do you remember? we are married." But, it still did not make sense to me. If it was my maiden name, it would have made a little better sense. I told him that the name he was using was not my maiden name. In response, he said that my parents had gotten divorced right before we got married and my last name was changed. That did not convince me because my mother's maiden name was not the same as the one that Mike was using. Despite of my confusion, he kept introducing himself as Mike with my friend's last name.

Dream 2.

At my new job, my supervisor pointed out to me that I could not say the word "co-worker". She told me that my pronunciation was wrong and it made her upset every time I said it. The sound of "wo" I pronounced made her feel insulted. She made me practice to say the word over and over. Despite of the practice sessions, I did not improve. Finally, she could not take it any more and told her boss that I could not say the word "co-worker" right. I said that word in front of him and he confirmed my problem. Now they were a little disappointed and were wishing that they had not hired me.

Dream 3.

I got invited to go to dinner at my old co-worker Erin's house. She was a vegetarian and I brought some vegetarian dish to the dinner appointment. However, it was a strange dinner appointment. She was not happy when I got there and sent me back home with orange juice. Next day, she came to my place and saw the orange juice in the refrigerator. She asked me why I had her orange juice. I told her that she gave it to me the night before. She did not believe me and got angry at me. She left my place, and I was sad and confused.