Topic: (Mini) Update.
I finally put the dress I bought in New York with Emile to good use this last weekend at the Winter Gala. The dress does personify me to some extent - it’s certainly girly with its black lace and fuchsia ribbon. But appearances are just appearances.
Anyways, as part of the Winter Gala festivities, various activities went on in addition to the usual dance party - arts, crafts, belly dancers, and…a psychic. I’m not sure what prompted me to sit down and have my “fortune” told, but it wasn’t a bad experience. That’s mainly because I didn’t have the “future” revealed - “fortune-telling” was more like “I’m going to tell you various aspects of your personality.” I don’t believe in tarot cards or palm-reading, but she did tell me odd things about my life: how this was a period of health rejuvenation, how it was a new “beginning” for me, and how she detected strong ancestral spirits guarding me.
I did accidentally tell her that I had cancer in the beginning, so the former two “revelations” are somewhat moot points. But as for ancestral spirits? I’m not going to argue about religion nor am I going to expound on my religious views here, but there is a story for why the last part was eerie.
My grandmother from my paternal side lived in Taiwan, so I couldn’t visit her until there was a school break. But during her last four years, when she was bedridden and on dialysis, I visited her every break - summer, winter, spring. I couldn’t communicate well with her because she only spoke Japanese and Taiwanese, while I only knew English and Mandarin. However, I always stayed next to her bedside, trying to comfort and entertain her best as I could. She passed away in late August 2009, right when I was preparing to leave for Williams and just a month before my diagnosis. But the strange part is that a few days after she passed away, my aunt had a dream about my grandmother. In that dream, my aunt saw her standing next to the hospital bed of an unidentified occupant. My aunt asked her why she was there, and my grandmother replied: “I still have someone to look after.”
I don’t really have an explanation for it. It’s a really freaky coincidence.
Otherwise, life at Williams is going well. I just joined Dance Dhamaka, the Indian dance troupe on campus, as well as the planning committee for Relay for Life. I’m also in the process of sending out summer internship applications to various organizations in Washington DC and Denver. But the best part so far is that I’ve started meeting more people - I’m glad that there are still plenty of opportunities to get to know all the amazing people who go here even though I don’t have the typical freshman entry experience to rely on for meeting others.
There’s much to be grateful for, and I haven’t forgotten.
