Sometimes one smile means more than a dozen roses.

                                                  — from a chocolate wrap

After planning with a counsellor, I am now confirmed that I am graduating this June.  I cannot believe I am graduating already. It seems like I have just started college yesterday.

Knowing that I will be graduated within half a year,  I need to start planning what I want to do after college.  I went to the Undergraduates Business Society job fair unexpectedly and without any preparation today.  I have spoken with a couple recruiters from banks, private financial institutions, and business/financial related State departments.  I was amazed by how everyone is interested in me.  And the fact that I was not dressed up and not having my resume with me does not disappointed them at all.  Instead, they love me because of my rich experience and knowledge of the field.  I was asked repeatedly by each recruiters to send them my resume.  Looks like there are plenty of opportunities for me after college.

My orginal purpose of going to Santa Monica today is to buy a nice pair of Jeans that fits me perfectly.  But the trip ends up with a lot more than just a perfect pair of Jeans.

After the Christmas sales, After Christmas Sales, End-of-Year Sales, it is now Final Clearance.   hummm…. Final Clearance… love it… can’t resist… hehe ^_^.  Every single store on the street has a huge Sales sign out.  Stores that go on sale all the time are doing a ”entire store” sales event with the deepest price mark down ever.  Stores that don’t go on sales as frequent are taking up a pretty large portion of the store for sales items too.  The percentage of the mark down from every stores is above 50%!  Only if you have looked at the price tag… I seriously cannot put an equal sign between the price and the quality of the item.

So this is the result of my trip for a pair of jeans:

• A pair of the best material made and perfectly fit jeans from Banana Republic for under $20. (was $70)
• A pair of extremely expensively made black pants from Express Design Studio for less that $30. (was $100)
• A pair of nicely slim cut black jeans from Express for less than $20. (was $60)
• A pair of beautifully designed jeans from FCUK for 50% off.
• A pair of burgundy pointy-toe flats from Aldo for less that $30.

I don’t want to think about how much I spent today…. But, I am very happy with my day of shopping!!!

p.s. If you don’t already know, I am a shopaholic.

This pop up on my computer out of nowhere (but I love it):

“If you feel that something is pulling you back, that something might be you.”

That’s right. I am pulling myself back, and I knew it.  Am I gonna stop? Probably not for a while.

Just a few hours after posting my last entry “Traditions”, I saw this online:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070115/wl_asia_afp/afpentertainmentindia_070115125731

Former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan are engaged.  If you noticed, Rai is 33 and Bachchan is 31.  This is a very late engagement in their traditions.  I can surely tell you that both of them have been under a lot of pressure about their marriage from their families.  This is because the fact that most of the preferred candidates chosen by the families are taken at this age.  One evidence you can find in the article is that the families have already scheduled the wedding in February or March, which is just a month or two from the engagement.

This is a very typical and traditional engagement in their culture.  Families from both side have influence on every single part of this marriage.  I sincerely give them blessings. And I hope that they are engaged because they love each other, not because they have to.

p.s. Aishwarya Rai is one of the most beautiful woman I have seen. 

Some families from certain countries have really strict traditions on marriage.  I totally respect their traditions, but I really doubt the neccessity of enforcing them nowadays.  The following are some of the restrictions they have on choosing a partner.

• Must be same nationality.
• One family must know or be friends with the other family before the two persons start going out.
• Must be opposite sex.
• Must be married by or around 25 years old.
• Must be chosen and approved by the parents of both sides.
• Must have kids soon after married.

The list can be endless, but those above are the main ideas.  Some of them are reasonable to me.  However, most aren’t.  Once again, I completely respect those who choose to follow their traditions.  Yet, are they suitable in the present world?  Why would some families still forcing their children to follow these out-of-dated rules, when their children can find someone they truely love but just not within the traditions?  Are these traditions the best for those who followed? Decide it yourself.

In the end, I am simply glad that I am not born in one of those families with no freedom to love. 

First post… um… I should introduce myself… I guess…

Name: Cherrie

Sex: Too Busy

Age: Secret (I am legal to drink though)

Nationality: Cutie China Doll from HK

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Proudly attending UCLA Math/Econ

Want to know more about me???   Ask me then.