2012 Review: A Year of Thanksgiving

“Even when I walk in a ravine as dark as death, I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.” (Ps 23:4)

“Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the honor of Yahweh for all time to come.” (Ps 23: 6)

My Study and Ministry
• This is the fourth year of my study. I passed the oral defense of my comprehensive examination at the end of October. I have to thank especially my committee members and my comp study group. Their encouragement, critical comments and companionship are important support for me to survive in this challenging journey.

• I presented papers in two academic conferences: one at the GTU Women and Religion student conference in March, another one at the Chicago American Academy of Religion (AAR) the Confucian Tradition Group in November.

• In the spring semester, I attended a course design seminar which help me to prepare the course that I am going to teach in 2013 spring. I also took a seminar course on Scripture and Ethics with Lucas Chan, a visiting professor at JST and also a Jesuit from Hong Kong.

• I attended a dissertation workshop in the Asian Theological Summer Institute (ATSI) program in the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in early June. The collaborative learning method and comments from various professors help me to revise and improve my proposal.

• I attended a church meeting in Rome on justice and peace in early December. I shared the situation in Hong Kong and China and the church’s response. I met some great people there who are scholars in social teachings, human rights or social sciences and some church leaders who are active in social justice ministry.

• I continue my social ministry as a massage practitioner in the Tenderloin area in San Francisco. Usually I go to the Tenderloin Self-help Centre to give chair massage to the homeless community once every one or two week(s). This ministry makes me more humble and experience God’s presence among the least of our brothers and sisters. It also help me to be more grounded when I study social ethics and justice theories, linking my study with my ministry, and understanding “option for the poor” in a concrete way.

Friendship and Travel

• In summer, after attending the workshop in Philadelphia, I went to Boston and visited my secondary school classmate Sunita whom I haven’t met for years and my good friend Moka whom I knew during my first year PhD study. I had a great time with them in which we had in-depth sharing and enjoyed sight-seeing together.

• After my paper presentation in Chicago in November, I stayed for a week to meet three good friends during the Thanksgiving week. I stayed in the Jesuit community in Loyola Chicago for a few days with my good friend Kaf whom I knew during my MA study at JST in 2003-04. We shared a lot about our study in the past and at present, our faith journey and all the happiness and challenging moments in the past few years. We also visited some museums and do sightseeing together. Moreover, I was invited to a family gathering on Thanksgiving Day by Lida, a friend whom I knew in Hong Kong some years ago when she did her research for her dissertation project. She has Ukrainian heritage. Apart from sharing our academic life and daily life, we also share our experiences in Pysanky egg-painting. Besides, I visited another Jesuit friend Yong in Milwaukee whom I knew in Berkeley last summer when he took a summer course on spiritual direction.

• I knew these friends in different stages of my life but all of them have influenced my life in different ways and let me see the goodness of God’s creation and feel God’s grace.

• I joined the GTU buddy program to share my study experience with the incoming student. I was assigned to be the buddy of Eunjoo,a new IDS study from Korea and we became good friends since then.

• I also feel grateful for having some good friends at GTU so that we can encourage and support each other. Meanwhile, some of my good friends graduated and left Berkeley. I really missed them!


Extraordinary experience
• I went to Rome to attend a church meeting and I experienced the very first time of losing my passport and visa and wallet on a train from the airport to downtown Rome. I was distracted by a few men and my bag was stolen when I bent down and picked up things for them. I learnt a lesson that I must keep an eye on my belongings at whatever time and wherever I am. Luckily, I did not lose my computer and other valuable things. Moreover, the church organization which organized the meeting help me a lot and bought me a ticket to Hong Kong so that I can reapply all my documents. This gave me an extra holiday in Hong Kong. I feel so grateful for their generosity and kindness.

Holiday in Hong Kong
• Because of this unexpected holiday, I had my Christmas and new year celebrations with my family, gatherings with many friends, and visit some mentors and teachers. I really felt happy to see them and had chances to talk and share with them again.

Future plan
I will co-teach a course on “Faith in Human Rights” with Professor Marianne Farina in the fall semester. I will propose my dissertation next year and then start writing. I will also attend a conference on Catholic Social Theory in Taipei in March and present a paper. After the conference, I will stop by Hong Kong and have my Easter there.

I feel gratitude for what I have experienced in the past year, including achievements and difficulties. All were blessings moments to me as I could feel the presence of God.