DVG – Day 1

Today was THE day!

Yesterday we went to the East Bay Nursery to pick up some baby lettuce (生菜), Swiss chard (莙薘菜), green beans (四季豆), arugula, beets (甜菜), kale (羽衣甘藍), and a bag of radish (櫻桃蘿蔔) seeds for the garden. Needless to say, David had been thinking what to plant and even drew a map with all measurements and plants labeled. Yup, that’s my David!

See the above finished garden? Aren’t they adorable?

Dalai Lama in Town (達賴喇嘛到柏克萊)

Dalai Lama (達賴喇嘛) came to Berkeley yesterday to give 2 speeches: “Peace Through Compassion” at the Greek Theatre at 2pm and another one at the Berkeley Community Theater at 3:45pm. I had learned the news a few months ago, but because I anticipated something (what was that?) and didn’t think that I would be able to go, I simply forgot about it.

Yesterday morning David was reading The Chronicle and told me that Dalai Lama was going to give 2 speeches in Berkeley. I was surprised! I just finished The Chronicle’s front page, but how did I manage to miss this big news? It turned out, and this was the bizarre part, that the news was part of a small local piece titled “Cars not advised on event-packed Berkeley day“. That was all. Considering Dalai Lama as an international figure, the fact that it did not make it to the front page just seemed peculiar.

Last night Dan, Sam, and Leon came over to celebrate Sam’s 50th birthday. (David was the Indian chef, busily cooking and feeding everyone. ) I told Sam that Dalai Lama was in town, and Sam was surprised as well. He told me that he followed news closely and watched local news everyday, but none of them mentioned it. We wondered if the local news media bowed down to the pressure from the Chinese government?

Anyway, today The Chronicle finally has a piece on Dalai Lama, which is categorized under the (weird) “PHOTOS & MULTIMEDIA” section instead of the top section. With the current state of the newspaper industry, it’s a big deal that they actually sent 2 reporters and 1 photographer to cover the news at all. I especially like Dalai Lama’s practical advice to the Cal students:

The Dalai Lama’s biggest cheer Saturday came at the end of the talk when he donned a cap with the Cal insignia on it. As for what Cal students should do upon graduation?

“You should prepare in your mind that life is not easy,” he said. “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.“