As the petals wilt away...
Life in California is really slow...sometimes I feel like I am riding in the fast lane and everyone else is like standing still. I want to get MORE OUT OF MY TIME IN CALIFORNIA! But it seems like a lot of ppl would rather just stay at home and watch television. I have all this energy, but no where to displace it...I feel trapped...and it only makes me long for home even more. At home, I could be doing sooo much. I could be shooting pool with friends, dining on some African food, or going to Teariffic in Chinatown for a pot of jasmine and chrysantheum tea..Mmmmm...
It's not to say I don't enjoy and appreciate the time I spend with my friends here, but it just seems like I want to do more here than they do. I want to explore this state, but it seems like when I ask ppl if they would like to..i am often given excuses and whatnot. WHat happened to my friends who were down for road trips and adventure? It seems I am stuck in a very lax group of friends...cept for like one of them.
So I've realized that I need to take an initiative to find things to do in Cali and not rely too much on my friends here to show me places and bring me around. I really need to start meeting new ppl and it's going to start with finding a new job now. So, I recently applied for a job at this site called "JobsThatMatter" (some sorta non-profit environmental and human rights organization or something) and they want to interview me for a position. Sooo hopefully I can get this job.
In addition, I am volunteering now. I am now part of "Hands On Bay Area" (http://www.handsonbayarea.org/) It has been fun so far. I went to my first project this past Tuesday where all I did was have conversations with advanced ESL students to help them practice their English. That lasted a good 2 hrs, but I got to meet a bunch of cool ppl. I met this one girl from Khakistan and we had a really interesting conversation about her life. This other person was a middle-aged Japanese man who was actually half Taiwanese, but was born and raised in Japan...so he had some cool stories to tell. I asked him about the white-washing of history books in Japan and how the younger generations are not really taught about the atrocities committed by their gov't during World War II. But he wasn't eager to delve much into the subject. He kinda brushed it off and told me history in Japan just isn't a required subject.
But the highlight of the evening I must say went to this Indian lady because she actually got me a bit annoyed. We began talking about how ppl from Northern and Southern parts of India differed in terms of spoken-dialect and cuisine and I actually managed to wow her with my limited knowledge of India. Naturally, I commented how China was similar too and she soaked in the knowledge and was actually amazed at how similar our nations were. Now this is the part where I got a bit annoyed. After I was done giving her a brief 1 min history lesson and overview about Chinese dialects and cuisine, she said to me, "You know something, all you Chinese ppl look the same...I think it's because of the small eyes". Random right?
At first, I was a bit taken aback...like did she seriously just ask me that? For a brief moment, I didn't know what to say to her. All I could think was *DID SHE REALLY JUST ASK ME THAT QUESTION?* but I kinda laughed it off and assumed she was just joking. Except she wasn' because she said it to me a 2nd time. She was actually intent on me giving a response. In my mind I was just insulting her. So, I asked her, "In all seriousness, Indian ppl smell. You, madame, smell pretty rancid too...like a mix of one week old curry and sweat. What I want to know is, is there a way of differentiating between the Northern and Southern ppl based on smell alone? Like the more south you are, the worse you smell?"
But no, I copped out. I didn't want to hurt her feelings even though it would have been so worth it just to see her facial expression. So to respond to her, I just laughed and said "Do my eyes look bigger now?" while trying to make my eyes look bigger. If only she knew how much I wanted to wipe that smile off her face. what a dumb bitch.
Well, now im searching for more places to volunteer. I think I want to help kids instead.
ON A SIDE NOTE: SEEING WALL-E TONIGHT!!!
P.S.
sry bout the phone conversation, i didnt know what to say at the time.
but I miss you.
It's not to say I don't enjoy and appreciate the time I spend with my friends here, but it just seems like I want to do more here than they do. I want to explore this state, but it seems like when I ask ppl if they would like to..i am often given excuses and whatnot. WHat happened to my friends who were down for road trips and adventure? It seems I am stuck in a very lax group of friends...cept for like one of them.
So I've realized that I need to take an initiative to find things to do in Cali and not rely too much on my friends here to show me places and bring me around. I really need to start meeting new ppl and it's going to start with finding a new job now. So, I recently applied for a job at this site called "JobsThatMatter" (some sorta non-profit environmental and human rights organization or something) and they want to interview me for a position. Sooo hopefully I can get this job.
In addition, I am volunteering now. I am now part of "Hands On Bay Area" (http://www.handsonbayarea.org/) It has been fun so far. I went to my first project this past Tuesday where all I did was have conversations with advanced ESL students to help them practice their English. That lasted a good 2 hrs, but I got to meet a bunch of cool ppl. I met this one girl from Khakistan and we had a really interesting conversation about her life. This other person was a middle-aged Japanese man who was actually half Taiwanese, but was born and raised in Japan...so he had some cool stories to tell. I asked him about the white-washing of history books in Japan and how the younger generations are not really taught about the atrocities committed by their gov't during World War II. But he wasn't eager to delve much into the subject. He kinda brushed it off and told me history in Japan just isn't a required subject.
But the highlight of the evening I must say went to this Indian lady because she actually got me a bit annoyed. We began talking about how ppl from Northern and Southern parts of India differed in terms of spoken-dialect and cuisine and I actually managed to wow her with my limited knowledge of India. Naturally, I commented how China was similar too and she soaked in the knowledge and was actually amazed at how similar our nations were. Now this is the part where I got a bit annoyed. After I was done giving her a brief 1 min history lesson and overview about Chinese dialects and cuisine, she said to me, "You know something, all you Chinese ppl look the same...I think it's because of the small eyes". Random right?
At first, I was a bit taken aback...like did she seriously just ask me that? For a brief moment, I didn't know what to say to her. All I could think was *DID SHE REALLY JUST ASK ME THAT QUESTION?* but I kinda laughed it off and assumed she was just joking. Except she wasn' because she said it to me a 2nd time. She was actually intent on me giving a response. In my mind I was just insulting her. So, I asked her, "In all seriousness, Indian ppl smell. You, madame, smell pretty rancid too...like a mix of one week old curry and sweat. What I want to know is, is there a way of differentiating between the Northern and Southern ppl based on smell alone? Like the more south you are, the worse you smell?"
But no, I copped out. I didn't want to hurt her feelings even though it would have been so worth it just to see her facial expression. So to respond to her, I just laughed and said "Do my eyes look bigger now?" while trying to make my eyes look bigger. If only she knew how much I wanted to wipe that smile off her face. what a dumb bitch.
Well, now im searching for more places to volunteer. I think I want to help kids instead.
ON A SIDE NOTE: SEEING WALL-E TONIGHT!!!
P.S.
sry bout the phone conversation, i didnt know what to say at the time.
but I miss you.