!~Happy Holidays~!

(in Chinese: 聖誕節和新年快樂)

Dear Friends and Family,




I've finally arrived to Manchester, New Hampshire after 5 months of traveling from Taidong, Taiwan to New England. Thankfully there are no signs of Global Warming here in New Hampshire (NH). It's freezing cold and it has been snowing every few days. My snow shoveling muscles are growing larger by the day! I've taken to the cold better than I had hoped through proper execution of "clothes layering". Most days I wear 5 layers of shirts and sweaters, and 3 pairs of long-johns and pants. When I throw my jacket, hat, and gloves on... I'm ready to take on a blizzard! Last night, I shoveled a fresh 12 inches of snow from my door out to the street and around my auntie's car. It only took me 2 hours of shoveling non-stop at full-speed to clear the way!













Update: Since writing the above paragraph, we've had a two more snow storms and now there is 2 - 3 feet of snow everywhere I look! Up to 6 foot snow banks along the roads that I must sometimes climb over when I walk down to the supermarket or walmart (just a five minute walk away). YES, I miss the tropics and wake up most days wondering what the heck I'm doing here... Oh, yeah... being a good son, helping my dad (or my "Pop" as they say in New England), and spending some great time with family!

From Taiwan to California (the 1st leg of a 9,000 mile Journey) :
July was full of sitting meditation. Yvonne and I attended a 10-day Vipassana Course. We both enjoyed it immensely and reaped great benefits. The course is offered freely around the world and I highly recommend it! We enjoyed it so much, we went to the next course and served as volunteer workers and gained much from that as well.



I then went on to Taipei for a weekend of drumming with one of the world’s greatest drummers, Mamady Keita. I have 12 of his CD’s and have been a fan for years. It was most excellent to join his course and drum with him for a weekend. On the last day I asked him about the spiritual aspect of the drum path and he shared great insight with us about how to use the djembe drum to affect positivity in the world.








I then served as a judge for the following Taiwan African Drumming Competition and had a wonderful weekend with Mountain (A Hui) and Robecca, and David and Lilian at their mountain home outside Taipei. There, we played some fascinating instruments from David’s travels through Burkina Fasso, Africa, drank Taiwan tea, ate tropical fruits and laughed a lot 

Then onward to Taidong to pack up and wrap up my fifth year in Taiwan. Yvonne and I auctioned off most of our things Thanks to Christy, Ivona, Danny, Mark, Sedarika, Rebecca, Dave, and friends for all of your help in the moving auction and move! An awesome Goodbye Party at Rolly and Dave’s, and a last surf with Mark and Emma made me sad to leave Taidong . Moving 8,000 miles around the world sure ain’t easy!!! The stress was immense and broke me a few times. But once complete I was on to Taichung for last goodbyes with Eckart, Joyce, Paul, Sandra, Raiden, Rodney, Grace, Shanice, Yariv, Janet, David, and others at a Happy Birthday bash for Paul (Paul Stock 2007)!

















A 13 hour flight and 5,000 miles brought us in to San Francisco at the end of July. Adarsh and Heleen were eagerly awaiting us with open arms and the warmest welcome back to America! We arrived to their loving temple home to 2 freshly baked corn meal crust pizzas. As we sat comfortably upon the floor cushions amongst the Indian treasures of their travels, we shared wonderful stories of the two years between our last meeting. Early to bed, and jet lagged, I couldn’t get up the next morning at 4 AM with Adarsh to attend his 6:30AM Morning Mysore Astanga class. However, the next day I did, and was treated to an amazing workout!!! Astanga rocks and will make you rock solid physically and spiritually if you practice everyday! I was so happy to see how Astanga practice has transformed Adarsh into such a superiorly rock solid being and teacher!!! I’m looking forward to attending more Astanga Yoga classes soon! Adarsh commanded his Yoga Studio and students with greatness! I was so impressed and honored to attend. Visit their website here.






After practice, Adarsh and Heleen took Yvonne and I out on the town to view their quaint and beautiful town of Mountainview, CA (nearby to San Jose). Home to Google World Headquarters, it’s a bustling town of young, bright, highly motivated, internationals from every corner of the GoogleEarth. This made for a nice array of dining styles and excellent food markets. First, we went to Whole Foods market (a super-sized Natural foods supermarket). Yvonne and I were in heaven! Having grown up on natural whole foods, I was a bit deprived of my childhood favorites while in Taiwan. It was wonderful to enjoy some such delectable delights again. Then we went to Trader Joe’s, another excellent market that’s half the price of Whole Food’s Market. We stocked up on some supplies in preparation for our next adventure… 3 days of camping in Big Sur down California’s Hwy. 1 .

Big Sur was dreamy! Palladial views of the coast with steep cliffs leading down to the turquoise Pacific. Fogs blowing in and blowing out . Walks along desolate beaches. And my favorite activity… throwin’ some rock with Adarsh! The beaches had these perfectly round baseball sized stones that were perfect for throwin’ some rock! As we tossed the rock to and fro, we reminisced back to younger days in Georgia when we were to poor to buy a ball and had to play with rocks instead (thankfully joking  ).






Another treat was staying in Adarsh’s friend’s “off the grid” solar powered home far back in a redwood forest just off of Hwy. 1 outside of Big Sur. It was fairytale-esque! And all of the foods and treats that ensued from the moment we arrived to Adarsh’s and Heleen’s home through the week were so enjoyable… So many old American favorites prepared vegetarian style. Yvonne and I were so orally ecstatic! Lot’s of sweet organic treats too. Yvonne was getting to try so many new foods and loving them all. Our first week with Adarsh and Heleen, eased the tensions and sadness of leaving Taiwan, and made Yvonne and I feel so welcomed back to the States!








Next time I’ll write about the following adventures to Santa Cruz to visit Stephen and Christine at their Santa Cruz Tree Temple Home! And here's a recent picture of Stephen flying to work on his company's private jet... I'm looking forward to flying on Stephen's personal jet soon!






New Phone Number, Communications, and Shopping:

What else have I been doing besides shoveling snow? Well, after arriving to New Hampshire and spending lots of time with family, I began reassembling the material life that I left behind in Taiwan. First thing I did was get this Verizon wireless cell phone. After being without my own computer for 4 months, I decided to get this PDA Phone. It's like a palm sized laptop that can surf the internet, check email, watch movies, listen to mp3's, take pictures, draw pictures, and it’s a phone too!

The number (my only phone number right now) is: email me for it

*Note the number, and *Note: if you're on the Verizon Wireless network too... write back and tell me so, so that I know you're "IN" on the Verizon “IN” network and that we can talk for free anytime. Otherwise, I'll call you during the free nights and weekends, or use "internet telephony" yahoo voice or skype to call you free "computer to computer" online, or cheaply "computer to landline". With a high speed connection, I've found yahoo voice and skype to have better sound quality than traditional landline long distance. Wow! Especially awesome for international calls!!! If you're not ready to use a computer as a phone yet, another cheap way to phone home is by calling card. I've found these rates to be good @ http://www.mobilecaller.com ($0.02 / min U.S. domestic. {} $0.09 / min U.S. to Taiwan). If you know of better communication rates... share your secrets with me!

This week I received the new laptop I'm using to type this and future letters to you. Thanks to Stephen and Keith who have similar HP laptop models and let me use/demo their laptops while I was visiting them. I got an awesome deal on "Black Friday" (truly the most amazing shopping deal Day of the year! The day after Thanksgiving) on This Laptop with this all-in-one printer for $475! When I bought my previous Dell laptop and printer in '2000, (a similarly current setup), I paid $2,500! Amazing how the prices are dropping! But again, I only got that $price because I stayed up all night scouring the internet for this "Black Friday" deal. If you want to buy the same setup today, it now costs $880 :( That was my first "Black Friday" shopping delirium experience. I stayed up all night searching the internet for the deal... But, I'm looking forward to next year's "Black Friday"! Don’t miss it! Yvonne spent Black Friday with April (my sister-in-law) camping outside of Best Buy to get a Wii game system for a nephew!


Searching for Wheels:

The past week and a half I've been diligently car shopping. Being Car - Less, my brother and sister-in-law have been chaufering Yvonne and I to and fro recently. My brother is an AMAZING salesman and told me that if I find a great deal on a car, I can drive it for a year or two and then sell it for a profit. WoW! Contrary to the popular belief that cars lose value over time. But he demonstrated his theory when he sold his $80,000 Mercedes-Benz this week (that he's already been driving for 3 years)... for $72,000 (with only an $8,000 loss)!

He set the bar high for me to find a good used car deal. My father also put a lot of pressure on me to maintain the "family honor" and find a good deal. Dad and my borther are Super Deal Shoppers, and it’s hard to match their skill. So, I've been spending hours a day online (mostly on Craig's List) the past week and a half searching used cars ads.

Unfortunately, not finding any great deals, or arriving to the deals too late and already sold :( My brother felt bad for my fruitless searching and stepped in this week doing a little searching on his own. Super Deal Shopper that he is, yesterday he found a 1997 Honda Accord for me that is in prime condition for half the market value! So, on Wednesday, if all goes well, I'll be picking her up. (P.S. all didn't go well, and it was a lemon... but we found a nice Toyota Corolla a few days later and I'll pick it up this week!) When we're not in Brother Jim's Benz, you might see us speeding around in Sis-in-law April's fine Infiniti.

Life with 4 Wheels and Teaching Tai Chi:

Having wheels will change life a bit... I'll be able to pick up dad or my nephew Travis to go out on adventures. I’ll also begin to visit local healthcare centers, community centers, yoga studios, and gyms to find places I can begin teaching Tai Chi classes. It'll be nice to begin contributing to the community. I haven't decided if I'm going to teach the Tai Chi classes by donation or charge a set rate ($10 / hour is the avg. rate for such classes). Any suggestions or experience on Tuition Setting? Should I teach classes by donation or ???

Returning to some discipline… The Perfect Life, Health, and The Principles that hang upon my Wall:

This morning, unpacking one of my six boxes (everything I own) that I shipped back from Taiwan, I found the list that hung in my office next to my computer in Taidong…

1) Food: Besides the tongue... there are so many other parts of the body more suitable for experiencing stimulation and pleasure. KNOW what you are eating (Read those ingredients!). If it isn't natural, whole, and nutritious, don't eat it. If you don't know what is natural and nutritious, read Healing with Whole Foods. Don't be a guinea pig for the chemical industry! As BKS Iyengar (a great Yogi still vibrant at 90 years old!!!) said, "Food should be taken to promote healt, strength, energy, and life. It should be eaten with the feeling that with each morsel one can gain strength to serve the Lord. Men are the only creatures that eat when not hungry and generally live to eat rather than eat to live. The Yogi believes in harmony, so he eats for the sake of sustenance only. He does not eat too much or too little. He looks upon his body as the rest-house of his spirit and guards himself against over-indulgence."

2) Rest: As Benjamin Franklin said, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise!"

3) Exercise: As Precious James said, "Daily exercise that returns the circulatory rivers and streams of one’s blood from the furthest reaches of the body back to replenish in the revitalizing organs of one's harmonious center. To pump the heart and glisten in sweat is good. To feel every part of the body and know thyself is grand!"

4) Stop, Contemplate, Meditate:
In emptiness and quietude the path may be seen and divine guidance might be heard.

5) Fasting: To break from habits allows one to better appreciate the habits themselves as well as to become more aware of alternative choices.

Honestly, I've strayed from these truths in recent months... being on the road, not a wall to call my own... I had no place to hang these principles upon. But as I find these principles once again, true as ever, I hang them back up next to my computer in hopes of living them. If these principles strike a cord with you too, share in them today and write me about your succession in living them. We may support each other on The Way.

And don't forget to LAUGH often!!! I haven't attended one of these classes yet, but hope to soon...
Have a good laugh about Laughter Yoga on youtube.

And if you want to laugh some more... visit laughter Yoga's youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/laughteryoga

Good News!!! It's snowing again as I finish typing this letter! There's a fresh 6-8 inches of snow on the ground outside... I'd love to write more, but time to shovel the sidewalks, entry ways, and driveway.

!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 !!!
!!! May all your dreams and resolutions manifest !!!

Love, Peace, and Joy,
Precious James
www.myspace.com/preciousjames


Peace on Earth: The single greatest choice you can make today to individually affect Peace on Earth.