10 Meaningful Objects

Slush: TY Plushie
I remember seeing a similar TY husky plushie named Nanook in the store when I was about 7 years old, and I loved it so much I asked my mom if I could get it. She made a deal with me back then: I had to do a whole month's worth of Kumon math homework on my own to earn it. Having agreed to, I managed to do so, and on the day she was going to buy it for me, we realized we were about five dollars short. Instead of taking me home, my mom asked me to sit in front of Hallmark with her, and she used the opportunity to teach me how to count dimes and quarters. In the end, after working up five dollars worth of spare change in her purse, we actually had enough. We went in and purchased it.

The thing with the purchased plushie is that on a trip to New York about a year or two later, it was misplaced. I had a huuuuge fit as a child over this, (hehe) but we eventually bought another one. That would be Slush, the one you see here.





Scorpio Origami Pouch
A student I taught English to in Taiwan this summer sent this to me as a thank-you gift at our farewell party. He was about 14 years old, was very gifted in art, and because we were all very emotional over leaving, he made and drew these individual pouches for each and every one of us. He customized them according to our astrological signs. Every time I look at it, I'm reminded of those really genuine times I had this summer in Taiwan, and how they impacted my outlook on life this year.







Sand Sphere
This particular souvenir was something I purchased on the same trip to Taiwan. I bought it on my team's first night to a Taiwanese night market. It was the first time I had ever experienced Asian nightlife, and this particular souvenir always reminds me of what I had seen and how I had been brought to the store where I made this purchase. I also always think of the teammates (and friends) that I went with: Amy, Eleen, Stephen, Chris, Rudy, and Dennis.







Ying Yang Pouch
I designed and sewed this pouch back in my Grade 12 Design course. It actually doesn't look all that great; the craftsmanship is kind of frightening, and I didn't exactly know how to sew. But the pouch makes me laugh when I see it, so I've always kept it in my drawer since then. I use it to contain small accessories like bracelets and guitar picks.








Novy's Letter
One of my best friends wrote me this letter that was really really touching for my birthday. She was hospitalized a couple months before she wrote the letter, and because of that I really really feel blessed that she's still around and there for me.









Handmade Deck of Cards
Over the Christmas holidays this year, I went on a trip to Buffalo with my family and my family friends. Buffalo is actually a really dead city, so there really wasn't anything to do during the time after shopping. Nobody brought cards or any other means of entertainment either, so out of desperation, I used some provided hotel paper and began to make a deck of cards out of them. Everyone found this hilariously amusing, but it was a lifesaver! I keep this deck of cards with me in my bag all the time now. I'm also thinking of laminating them... ahaha






Folk CW Guitar
The first and only guitar I've ever owned. Took me quite a while to save up for one, and it also took me quite some bit of practice to get the guitaring down! Choosing this guitar also took a while, about 2-3 hours, so it also meant a lot to me to have finally chosen it for its particular sound. Guitaring is really one of my favourite activities and this makes my guitar very special to me.







"I've sinned" T-Shirt
In Chinese, "Wo Zui" means "I'm drunk." At a nightmarket, my friends pressured me into buying this particular t-shirt that had the word "Zui" on it to play on my potential goofiness. The thing is, none of my friends knew how to read Chinese all that well, and neither did I. When I got back to the school I was teaching at, a couple head teachers, staff members, and students started to laugh really hard, because it turns out the phrasing didn't say "I'm drunk", it said "Wo YOU Zui" which means "Father I have sinned" instead. The words following it were actually saying things like "My girlfriend left me! My father beats me! My teachers don't listen to me! HELP ME!" and stuff like that.

Yes, so it turns out it was a guy's shirt that meant something totally different from what I thought. But it was really funny so I love this t-shirt all the more.



Jisuk Cho's Note
Jisuk Cho is one of the most inspiring illustrators in my life. He held a contest online once on DeviantART, and much to my surprise I actually placed third. The note he sent me along with a signed print of his work is now hanging on my room wall because it gives me good encouragement when I look at it.









iPod Mini
I take this thing EVERYWHERE with me, and it's been with me throughout the good and bad times too. It's just something I've always appreciated having by me, especially on a boring trip or bus ride home.