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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2014)
OPINION Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER March 3, 2014 Volume 24 Number 5 March 3, 2014 ISSN: 1094-9453 The Asian Reporter is published on the first and third Monday each month. Please send all correspondence to: The Asian Reporter 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 1A, Portland, OR 97217 Phone: (503) 283-4440, Fax: (503) 283-4445 News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com Advertising Department e-mail: ads@asianreporter.com General e-mail: info@asianreporter.com Website: www.asianreporter.com Please send reader feedback, Asian-related press releases, and community interest ideas/stories to the addresses listed above. Please include a contact phone number. Advertising information available upon request. Publisher Jaime Lim Contributing Editors Ronault L.S. Catalani (Polo), Jeff Wenger Correspondents Ian Blazina, Josephine Bridges, Pamela Ellgen, Maileen Hamto, Edward J. Han, A.P. Kryza, Marie Lo, Simeon Mamaril, Julie Stegeman, Toni Tabora-Roberts, Allison Voigts Illustrator Jonathan Hill News Service Associated Press/Newsfinder Copyright 2014. Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication. Member Associated Press/Newsfinder Asian American Journalists Association Better Business Bureau Pacific Northwest Minority Publishers (PNMP) Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon MY TURN n Wayne Chan The not-a-surprise, surprise party Correspondence: The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and participation. Please send all correspondence to: Mail: 922 N Killingsworth, Suite 1A, Portland, OR 97217-2220 Phone: (503) 283-4440 ** Fax: (503) 283-4445 News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com General e-mail: info@asianreporter.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES (U.S. rates only) Individual subscription (sent bulk rate): Half year: $14 Full year: $24 Two years: $40 Individual subscription (sent first class mail): Half year: $24 Full year: $40 Two years: $72 Office subscription (5 copies to one address): Half year: $40 Full year: $75 Two years: $145 Institutional subscription (25 copies to one address): Half year: $100 Full year: $180 Two years: $280 NEW SUBSCRIBER / ADDRESS CORRECTION INFORMATION FORM: Subscriber’s name: Company name: Address: City, State, ZIP: Phone: Fax: E-mail: Mail with payment or Fax with credit card information to: The Asian Reporter, Attn: Subscription Dept., 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 1A, Portland, OR 97217-2220 Phone: (503) 283-4440 * Fax: (503) 283-4445 For VISA, Mastercard, or American Express payment only: Name (as it appears on the card): Type of card (circle): VISA Mastercard Card number: American Express Security code: Expiration date: Address of card: The last four issues of The Asian Reporter are available for pick up free at our office 24 hours a day at 922 N Killingsworth, Suite 1A, Portland, Oregon. ast month I celebrated my surprise 50th birthday party. Sorry, let me correct that. The party wasn’t actually on my birthday, but a few days earlier. Also, it wasn’t exactly a complete surprise, since my wife Maya asked me if I wanted to have a surprise birthday party. You heard that right. Maya, the love of my life, one of the most impressive people I’ve ever met, also doesn’t have a clue how to put on a surprise party. If I remember correctly, the exact words she used were, “I know this is kind of awkward, but do you want to have a surprise birthday party next month?” I believe my response to her question was, “Wait a second. Where’s my notebook with my list of the lamest questions I’ve ever heard? I’ve got a doozie.” So, to be technically correct, last month we cele- brated my “not-really-a-surprise, surprise birthday party (that wasn’t actually celebrated on my birth- day).” I know, not the catchiest name for a celebra- tion. Having said that, I had a blast. Most of my friends and family were there, and since my 50th birthday coincided with the Beatles historic show on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” and with the Beatles being my absolute favorite band, everyone dressed in their best colorful hippy attire. Everything was perfect, from the catered food to the tie-dye t-shirts to the endless run of Beatles music blaring in the background. Everything was perfect until … well, until the cake was rolled out with a big lit “5-0” candle on it and someone asked, “So how does it feel to be a half-century old?” I was speechless — not because I had nothing to say, but because of all the things going through my mind. The idea of turning 50, the concept of turning 50, was just that — a concept. It’s always seemed so far away, some distant milestone so far out on the horizon that it was something that I wouldn’t have to consider for a long, long time. Turning 50 was something that happened to other people, not me. L It’s not that I haven’t put any thought into it. Of course I’ve thought about it. The problem is, what I’ve thought about my 50th year of existence has never been anything good. By the age of 50, I figured I would have already broken a hip. I figured I’d be playing a lot of golf and all of a sudden decide that wearing purple-and- brown plaid golf pants was really fashionable. I envisioned myself chasing kids off my front lawn with a cane in one hand and a water hose in the other, and using words and phrases such as “highfalutin,” “back in the day,” and “dagnabbit!” a lot. I thought I’d have season tickets to see the opera every Sunday afternoon by now. I imagined I would have forgotten how to set the clock on my VCR, and worse yet: that I still owned a VCR. The funny thing is, none of those things have happened. In fact, in the last year I decided to get back in shape and I’ve lost more than 30 pounds. I feel better and seem to have more energy than I’ve had since I was in my 30s. Of course, I’ve noticed some changes. When I was in my teens, I could eat five pork chops and inhale a big bowl of fried rice and not gain an ounce. Now, if I open the fridge and happen to see a pork chop, I immediately gain three pounds. As a teenager, I could play a three-hour tennis match without doing any warm-ups or stretching and then immediately go off to play basketball. Now, just to keep myself from pulling a hamstring, I stretch so much before tennis that I look like I’m performing the Nutcracker ballet wearing white shorts and a headband. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff. The saying “older but wiser” rings true to me. Maya and I are talking about places we’d like to visit in the next year. Our kids are growing up and big changes are on the horizon — college, marriage, and some day hopefully, kids. It’s an exciting time for them, and for me as well. I may be at the midpoint of my life, but in many ways, it feels like it’s just beginning. Back issues of The Asian Reporter may be ordered by mail at the following rates: First copy: $1.50 Additional copies ordered at the same time: $1.00 each Send orders to: Asian Reporter Back Issues, 922 N. Killingsworth St., Suite 1A, Portland, OR 97217-2220 The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and participation. If you have a comment on a story we have printed, or have an Asian-related personal or community focus idea, please contact us. Please include a contact name, address, and phone number on all correspondence. Thank you. Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication. Celebrate the Year of the Horse! January 31, 2014 to February 18, 2015 Read our special Lunar New Year edition online at <www.asianreporter.com>.