Happy St. Patrick's Day citizen !!

After many years of paperwork, Julie was finally able to attend the citizenship ceremony. It was neat for Eric and Julie because the citizenship ceremony landed on St. Patrick's day ( and Eric's family is part Irish) ^_^.

In the morning, the dorky couple dressed in matching St. Patty's outfits before leaving the house.

From 2009.3.17 citizenship and st. patrick's

The ceremony took place in Oakland. It was very emotional and exciting for the both of us. We were surprised at how many people were there for the swear-in that day... it felt almost like a graduation. There were 997 people in Julie's "class," which filled up the first floor of the theater and another thousand plus family members cheering the graduates on from the balcony. There were even people selling flowers and "diploma" covers.

The ceremony was in a beautiful theater. Julie, unfortunately, got a seat right under the balcony (our usual seats at the theater) which made it very difficult for Eric to take a picture. Eric had to go to the most far-left corner of the balcony and lean as far out as possible without falling over to get a picture of Julie sitting in the section that was in the most far right corner of the first floor of the theater. After risking his life, Eric was able to get one good shot of Julie.

From 2009.3.17 citizenship and st. patrick's

See me?? ( upper left, under the light, with a flag)

pictures from Julie's camera phone.

From 2009.3.17 citizenship and st. patrick's

From 2009.3.17 citizenship and st. patrick's

After the ceremony, Julie had her very first American meal as an US citizen: HOT DOG!!

From 2009.3.17 citizenship and st. patrick's

Eric was so excited about Julie becoming a citizen he even threw a big party for her on the street ^_^...just kidding... it's a St. Patrick's day celebration near Eric's work.

From 2009.3.17 citizenship and st. patrick's

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Cartoon Bananza

Eric and Julie decided to go watch Coraline 3D. Although the movie was very imaginative and has great artistic value... it is not a movie that we would recommend for kids. Some of the images were so dark in the movie that Julie had to hold on the Eric's hand for the majority of the movie...

It is interesting that animations lately often has a lot of adult humor. What happen to the good old Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast...

Eric and Julie started looking up some of the animations they saw when they were young. Even though we grew up in different continents, we saw quite a few of the same cartoons.

For example: Smurfs ( US Vs. Taiwan)



Thunder cats (US Vs. Taiwan)



Then we started looking up cartoons we saw in middle school:

Duck Tale


Finally, the cartoon the brought us together:
Animaniacs



(Eric tried to ask Julie to Prom with an Animaniacs soundtrack tape) ^_^

牛牵到北京也是牛 (an ox brought to Bejing is still an Ox)

It has been a while since I needed to do homework or turn in homework. After enrolling in this photography class I realized that old habits are hard to kick. Even though the class is for fun, I often find myself not doing my homework ( reading or picture taking until the night before) ^_^ {classic}

There is just something to be said about the pressure and the excitement that comes with being a procrastinator. I really enjoy taking these pictures. I figure they will be a good record of our stay in San Francisco. The topic this week ( final week of the class) is on composition. So here is my attempt:



And here is an interesting song to go with the pictures:

Julie says the darnedest things

Julie often says the darnedest things that make Eric laugh non-stop ^_^

Example:
We should go dog-slaying [sleighing].
You work so hard, do you mind that I'm such a smoocher [moocher]?
Do you see the blimpies [blimps]?
Are we having phlegm [flan] for dessert?

Julie took this practice to a new height when she was studying for the US Citizenship test:
E: What is the supreme law of the land?
J: (um...) the...ten commandments?! [the Constitution]
E: List the bill of right?
J: the right to... life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...?! [freedom of speech, religion...]
E: Who is Susan B. Anthony?
J: the lady... who sewed the flag?! [women's rights]
E: what was the US's main concern during the cold war?
J: Nuclear weapons?! [Communism]

(J: much apologies to our US history teacher... I did score 4/5 on US history AP test though ^_^)

Eric and Julie are both glad that Julie reviewed the questions before the exam.

Want to try out your US history IQ?
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-623_red.pdf

A day out in SF

Eric took the President's day off to take Julie out to take some pictures around SF.

We started out at the Legend of Honor so Julie can practice some shutter speed shots:

From 2009.02.16 San Francisco

From 2009.02.16 San Francisco

Then some motion panning shots

From 2009.02.16 San Francisco

Poor Eric drove round and round the traffic circle so Julie can get a shot of the car in motion.

From 2009.02.16 San Francisco

We found this cutie on Baker Beach

From 2009.02.16 San Francisco

I guess we are not the only ones taking her picture

From 2009.02.16 San Francisco

Almost fell trying to take this one

From 2009.02.16 San Francisco

The beautiful Golden Gate Bridge!

Lovely Valentine's day

Instead of going to the USS Hornet for swing dancing, we decided to enjoy some free entertainment in the city for Valentine's day.


First stop: Embarcadero Center Pillow FightFor those of you that have never heard of it, it is pretty much just hundreds of people gathered around Embarcadero Center hitting each other with pillows.

It is most exciting when one of the goose feather pillows breaks open because now you get a sky full of feathers that looks like snow.

Next stop: Open mic at Farley's Cafe, Poterero Hill
Eric thought it would be really fitting to watch a comedy called "dating, marriage, dating" for Valentine's day ... and it was. The main act's name is Liz Grant. She talked about her dating experience and her 2 divorces. Her most interesting materials were about internet dating ^_^ Very interesting stuff. We would definitely go back again.

Honest conversation...

The day before Valentine's day:

J: Did you noticed that I curled my hair for you today?
E: Is that why!... I noticed your hair was extra messy ... but thought I shouldn't say anything ^_^
J: -_-...
E: Happy Valentine's Day!! ^^