11 questions meme

If you've been tagged say 11 random things about yourself, answer my 11 questions, then make up 11 more questions that 11 tagged people will answer.

I was tagged by echomyst

11 random things about me:
1. I was born in a country that no longer exists.
2. I didn't have a first word. I opened my mouth and when I spoke for the first time, I said: "ball over there."
3. I learned my alphabet and numbers not from a book, but from car license plates. I was barely two years old. 
4. None of my baby teeth fell out. Every single one was extracted.
5. Though I am ethnically Chinese, it is the fifth language I was formally exposed to in school. In order, I had to learn English, German, French, Malay, and then only Chinese in my K-12 schooling. 
6. I've done intracardial perfusions (stabbing someone through the heart with a needle to inject them full of preserving fluids), ovariectomies (removal of ovaries while under anesthesia), and brain slices on mice.
7.I've tattooed a wild black bear.
8. I'm allergic to tree pollen, grass, mold, dust mites, cats, dogs, and roaches. It's shocking I'm alive considering that I work outdoors a lot.
9. I was hired as a teacher with zero formal teaching experience.
10.I don't eat any mushrooms or shrimp, but I cook with both ingredients on an almost weekly basis.
11. I ended up stabbed with an Epipen on two separate occasions in the past 2 weeks. This has really sucked.

11 questions from echomyst:
1. If you could choose anyone (living or not, real or fictional), who would you pick as your mentor?
Benjamin Franklin. A satirist, politican, scientist, and so many more things! His life is fascinating.
2. What’s the best/worst gift you’ve ever received?
The best gift I ever received was my daughter. The worst gift I ever received was earrings from an aunt before I even had pierced ears.
3. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
Becoming an American citizen because it meant giving up my national allegiance with my parents and extended family.
4. What did you do during your childhood summers?
Many weeks and months living at cousins' house, playing and laughing and traveling. Playing make-believe with my sister. Running in the warm tropical rain. Riding our bikes around the neighborhood. Playing Monopoly and board games. Reading. So much reading.
5. Your home’s on fire. What are you going to save aside from loved ones, pets, and important documents?
Several pieces of jewelry: my wedding and engagement rings, a gold ring from my father for my 17th birthday, a silver Tiffany's ring from my sister for my college graduation, a gold chain with a shell from my father from Bali when I was 10 years old. If I have more time, my photo albums.
6. An apocalyptic event strikes your area and you’re unsure how widespread the disaster is. Where will you go and why?
My sister's house. To be with family in case we never meet again or don't live to see another day.
7. You are about to make a sizable donation of time and/or money to a cause near and dear to your heart. What is this cause?
Animal rescue.
8. If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
Put yourself first; before boyfriends, before friends, before schoolwork, before everything else. Just take care of yourself first, before you take care of others.
9. What irks you?
Insincerity and those who wallow in self-pity without motivation to change their situation!
10. What is a book and/or artist and/or movie that you think I should check out?
Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. Not sure you'd totally love it, but I did enjoy it!
11. What’s the strangest/most awesome food you’ve ever eaten?
I've eaten a lot of things, but I am a sucker for a fat sandwich from the Grease Trucks at Rutgers. My fave is the sandwich with chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, french fries, bacon, and cheese! Oh yee-eeah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_Trucks


I am tagging:
alchemi
beautymask
breakableheart
boxcarwilly
countessof_roth
devilgrrl
falls2climb
filmstar
iamasahm
lindsalicious
tediousandbrief

Here are my questions:
1. What is the earliest memory of your life?
2. What does your daily outfit consist of? (What type of clothes do you wear?)
3. Do you have pets? If so, what are their names?
4. What is the best part about the town/area you live in?
5. What is the worst part of your job?
6. Recommend a vacation spot that I'd enjoy and why.
7. If you knew you only had one year left to live, what would you do with your time?
8. What do you regret most in life?
9.  What is your proudest moment in life?
10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?