what's in a name?

i've been thinking about bit about names recently as i'm trying to get a T name for myself. it's harder than  you would think! More about this later...

the exact meaning and origins of the name 'Melinda' are hard to pinpoint (from the extensive research i've done...ok, just a few websites). some sites say greek origin, others say english, some say latin. quite a few sites say that it has no real meaning but is just a mixture of 'mel' and 'linda' or maybe a variation on 'melanie' or 'melissa'. although i did find one site that said in greek it means 'one who is gentle'. 

i like that last definition cause it sort of fits in with my chinese name： 梅淑缘(mei2 shu1 yuan2). in order to let people know what characters each chinese word is, you have to put it in context so i've gotten used to rattling off  “梅花的梅， 淑女的淑， 缘分的缘” ('mei2' as in the plum flower, 'shu1' as in beautiful and refined lady, 'yuan2' as in destiny/fate which brings people together). and whenever i write my name, locals marvel and say 'wow you write chinese characters really well'. i laugh and say 'they are about the only three characters i CAN write!' 

this was the name given to me at birth and i've always loved the sound and meaning of it. and since i started studying chinese, i have been amused by the closeness of the (supposed) meanings of 'melinda' and 淑 (shu1 = refined/feminine). if you've seen me down a bowl of noodles, you'll know that these definitions don't quite describe me fully!

getting a T name is another story though. i've had 2 names suggested to me: 'mei toc mtso' (meaning flower and sea) and 'gar ma tso' (star and sea) but later discovered that with both names i have other (foreign) friends who have already taken these names. so the search continues...

any thoughts on names and their meanings? how do you feel about your name? any T speakers out there who would like to suggest a new name for me?

numbers

either i misread the news reports last night or the death toll from the earthquake has risen significantly over night. today's news reports 10,000 deaths, and rising. that's devastating. let's continue to ask for mercy, healing and peace for those who have been affected.

tulips and earthquakes

while i was strolling around a park with a couple of good friends this afternoon admiring the tulip festival, an earthquake rocked a neighbouring province. apparently some people in our city did feel the tremors but i was completely oblivious. 

500 people have reportedly been killed and 10,000 injured. it truly is an interesting time to be living in this part of the world. please do remember the victims and their families at this time. 

click on this link to view some photos from our outing today:

2008 may tulips

by the way, my back is much better now - thanks to ibuprofen, lots of rest and intercession by some good friends. from now on i promise to be good to my back!

my favourite things

we had couple of days off last week for the Labour Day holiday. actually, officially you only get one day (thursday, may 1) off but the authorities arrange it so you have a few days off in a row so we had thursday and friday off but had to make up for the friday class on sunday. since it's against my principles to work on sundays i didn't do the make up class.

anyway, i had a lovely time visiting some friends in the countryside from thursday till saturday. it was heavenly: getting up (relatively) late, having a slow coffee and breakfast (homemade cinnamon bun on friday morning and maple syrup-y scone on saturday morning (not scones as in devonshire tea scones, i think they are what americans call scones, or rather 'scones' rhyming with cones, which is more like a big flat thing)). i spent time doing some of my favourite things: reading, playing with children and watching a movie. i did also do one of my not-so-favourite things ie. playing a game - and surprisingly i actually enjoyed it! it's a game called 'ticket to ride' where you have to build train routes across north america. 

THANKS so much to christa, todd, owen, beth, anna, sarah, nevin, matthew and kara for a wonderfully relaxing time.

here are some photos from the weekend:

2008 may holiday

today i'm at home with bad lower back pain. it's feeling better now than it did when i first woke up. either the panadol is kicking in or the tiger balm patch is working. if it's the latter, then it's worth it smelling like an old chinese lady.