Tour

What was supposed to occur during winter break finally happened today. I toured my neighborhood with my baby Ting. I showed her the historical sightings of the neighborhood, cutting through Central Park and out.

"I don't like Central Park," she said. "Nothing to do there."

But we went anyway as I showed her the places I used to go in my childhood. An air of nostalgia seeped into me at certain times.

Regarding that the area was pretty much residential, there was not that many landmarks to show, but there were a couple, and, if I had not missed any, I led her to all of them.

As we were touring I always wished the weather was warmer. Yesterday was a one-day wonder, where the temperature reached a whopping 55 degrees.

We nibbled on some hot dogs and walked all the way down to Times Square without realizing. We aimlessly strolled around the neighborhood with our hands together in my coat pocket. It was a nice little date as we were in our own little world together.

Spring Break Begins Here

About three and a half hours later, I am home. Three and a half hours later I went from a quiet, suburban university to the bustling streets of New York City. The bus came an hour late, which I was kind of fed up about since it was freezing outside, but it was okay because I was with my baby Ting. I rode the bus for the first time with her as we held hands the entire ride without letting go. I slept most of the time while she watched a Pixar animated film.

Today we celebrate our 5 months together.

While listening to Adele's 'Make you Feel My Love', I walk in the hustle and bustle, taking in the metropolitan scenery that I have not landed foot on since the late days of January.



There's this proverb in Japanese 郷に入れば郷に従え, which merely means "When in a village, follow what they do." One of the first things that my mom and I had a discussion about was this very idea. One of the simplest examples is when you are a guest at someone's house. You would show them their respect and manners at their home. The same idea is for immigrants who live in countries not in their hometown. When one first starts to live in a new country, contrary to their own, admittedly they stumble upon some culture shocks. They might accidentally break rules, laws, even, in some cases. But it's important to abide by, and adapt to the country they are currently living in and their basic standards. They can maintain their cultural norms, as they are most comfortable in that fashion, but it's also important to take into account the customs and rules for the country they are in. For example, if one lives in America one should have some effort to watch American movies, television shows, and the like.

A Note on Talking "White"

What does it mean when an asian-american says that you talk like a "white" person?

I don't get it.

If you're asian are you supposed to not talk like one?

What's the big deal here?

Excuse me, but I don't speak like a "white" person-- I talk like an American, just like everybody else.

Just because I'm asian doesn't mean I have to have an accent.

This is America. What do you expect?


To all of those who think I talk "white" please reconsider what you freaking say, and abolish these nonsense terms such as "whitewashed" and "twinkie". It's an insult to both caucasians and me.

Japan Earthquake Tsunami

3 years ago on this very day Japan had been punctured. It was an unprecedented disaster that swept away resident houses and cars and took away the lives of thousands of civilians just like that. The massive 9.0 earthquake and tsunami was no easy occurrence to bear-- it destroyed and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Powerplant, leaking a large mass of radiation across the nation. It lead to aftershocks. Roads and towns up north were swept away. A boat washed up on land while the massive waves swept the bodies of those who had no time for mitigation. It haunted residents, instilled anxiety about the consequences, holding dearly to them the hope and recovery of their home land.

Japan is in fact the place where just about every type of natural disaster can occur. From volcanoes to typhoons, they can expect anything. 

3 months after the incident I wrote a novella based on it "Punctured Japan", (時間の向こうがわ」where the protagonist who had lost his family and his home, shelters himself in the deserted streets of Tokyo and faces the inevitable, psychological trauma of loss and love. It was the first all-out story I have ever written. 

Today is a day of rememberance. Mourn for those who have lost their lives, to those who have lost their loved ones, to those who have been injured, to those who have lost their homes, to those who sacrificed themselves in sheer bravery, to all of those who have aided the recovery of the earthquake tsunami.

The Post-Tournament Hangover

I miss my first class and arrive 10 minutes late to my second, both that take down attendance. Ironically I arrive promptly to a lecture that doesn't even care the least about it.

On a 4 a.m. the day before, I packed my sparring bag to get ready to go to the taekwondo tournament at Princeton. I kissed my girlfriend who seemed half asleep at the time see you tonight, and went off. I missed her so much when I left the room.

My performance at the tournament was short, but I am proud of my b-team teammates, who were just a hair shy of winning gold. I said my hellos to my all-star teammates I traveled and trained with during winter break to the bay area and it's nice to see them again. One of them got 1st place in the poomsae division.

We got back around 10 p.m. Exhausting is not the right word. It was such a long day. Fighting, standing, waiting, and sitting in the long car ride sandwiched between my teammates. I slept over at my girlfriend's dorm after the four hour car ride back and I was so excited to see her. It soothed me. She gave me a massage and it was so pleasant and nice. Had a rough, long day and she cured it for me.



Today has not really been my day.

I've spent the entire Sunday at the tournament that I just so happened to shove away my academic priorities for that day. This morning/afternoon, I spent my time writing a report in Japanese and investigating criminal records for journalism. In addition, I realized that there was another Japanese homework assignment that I had completely ignored until now and it was due at 3pm today, and I had class at 2:45. The subpar work took more time than I expected that I had to skip my first class. I arrived on campus and went to print out all the assignments just in the nick of time, only to see that the printer had printed an error page, leaving me to have to re-print the page, resulting me to be late for my second class.

I call this the post-tournament hangover, where the load of exhaustion both physically and mentally leads to the postponing of academic priorities.


Anyway, there is a bus driver that operates the university shuttle's evening shift, it seems, and he is nothing but rude. There aren't any cords or signals to pull to signal for stop, so it's normal for students to tell the driver they want to get off at their stop. But he makes it worse by complaining and hollering all the time.

"If you don't tell me to stop, I am not gonna stop. If I don't hear anything I'm not gonna stop."

The struggle..

You are excited to see your girlfriend. You text her that you are here and then she opens the door and in the small little piano room is her with another one of her best guy friends, alone.

Of course you trust her with all your heart, since she is your girlfriend, but at the same time it is frustrating to see it. It makes you feel so uncomfortable. It doesn't seem appropriate, for your girlfriend being next to her best guy friend. All they were doing was sharing their love of music together, but the feeling you get when you see your girlfriend with another guy. It just feels frustrating.


They share laughs together, and even have breakfast every day. And I didn't even know that. Not that I need to know but it's just surprising... After all friends are friends. But there are certain feelings you get when they are friends of the opposite gender.

I can't do anything about it and that's what's so frustrating.

"Stop seeing that kid forever." No.. I can't say such a thing. They're friends.

"You're all mine and I don't like seeing you with anyone else." That's even worse.

You can't tell your girlfriend what to do because that's just controlling her. You trust her. But at the same time that human instinct called jealousy seeps in your mind and it just won't come off. What can you do? Really is there even anything you can really do?

Fever has gone down, but the virus has not left my body yet. Less dizzy. Throat slightly hurts. One more day in the dorm and a visit to the doctors tomorrow should be enough for me to recover from the fever completely.


I realized my previous roommate eating at the dining hall alone so I sat by him.
"How are you liking it here?" I asked.
"I might transfer to Binghamton," he immediately says. "There's something about this place."
I waited for him to continue while twirling spaghetti on my fork.
"I don't know I can't really explain it."
"Probably because you live here. As known as the worst quad to live in."
"I don't know it might be. Or maybe kind of like how you thought about your previous college."
I thought about my previous college. Artsy, hipster, small, lifeless, very few asians.
I took a swig of my lemonade and cleared my throat. "So you might become a double transfer," I laughed.
"Yeah," he said.

If there's ever a class that I would want to drop right this instant it would be the so-called comparative politics class. The worse part is that it meets three times a week. Two lectures, one discussion section. The professor knows too much. He's one of those professors who is extremely smart but cannot teach at all. He goes on and on talking about random, arcane political theory that nobody frankly cares about except that one political nerd who follows up with questions and argues with the professor. The discussion section is even worse. In the class the TA speaks really quietly and you'd really have to lean in to know what she's saying. There are two to three political nerds who keep blabbing and going off topic, and a kid who laughs like a frog. I'm here in my seat waiting to fall asleep any minute.

I don't even have the textbook, haven't done anything, don't even know what the topic we are focusing on currently.

Why did I take it in the first place? I thought it would complement journalism. And I can't say I didn't find American Politics interesting last semester. So I thought I'd give this a shot. My first instinct was no, but I figured why not.

First instincts are usually always the best choice. Go with your gut.