To the Holidays and New Adventures

NEW ACTIVITIES

Christmas Eve Party- reflecting

One of my friends, Anne, hosted a Christmas Eve party, and before we ate, she asked us to reflect on the good things and bad/sad things of this past year and something we're looking forward to in the New Year. This question reminded me about the spirit of Christmas...I know that sounds super duper cheesy, but since I have graduated, the holidays are just different now. Before, it was finals, holidays, appreciating visiting family and seeing old friends. Now, I still work...get 2 days off, buy presents for some people, receive some presents, no Christmas tree this year, no Christmas lights, no real reflection of anything. Anne's question kept me grounded. Life is a luxury, an opportunity and chance that only happens once, so the symbolic beauty of the New Year is getting to "start over," start fresh and reflect so you can change aspects of your life, make you happier and healthier and break bad habits. Well we can do this any time of the year, but New Years is always a great reminder.

Good thing of the year: I'm blessed to be working with my family (and still getting along) as well as a passionate, caring staff who really invest themselves in the printing company. It's an exciting experience to see Select expand, and it's a pleasure working with everyone...and I've learned a ton.

Bad/Sad thing of the year: Losing relationships.

New Years Eve- Masquerade

Fun fun fun. First time I've been to a masquerade...it was a house party where people dressed semi-formal and wore masks. Got to know people and gave out my number, danced with friends, happened to stumble upon old church friends and it was so refreshing to catch up with them, drank water...haha. I had a good time.

Biking from LA to Long Beach- ai yai yai (28 miles?)

I biked with a group called the "Ethnic Nerds"...I was invited by Daniel. It was one thing I was looking forward to in the New Year, so even though I only had 4 hours of sleep (New Years Eve and the masquerade was a late night), I still went. We were supposed to meet up at 10am in LA Little Tokyo...we started biking around 10:30pm and I think we got to Long Beach around 3pm after an eventful ride (people falling, flat tires, me biking slow on a Beach Cruiser). The morale of the story is to not take a heavy-ass Beach Cruiser bike on long-distances.

I really want to do this again to see how much I can bike on a road bike. I think I may buy a bike.

NEW FRIENDS

Linda and Andrew

My first instinct was to not go, but then I kinda thought...what the hell...I wouldn't be doing anything at home. Had coffee with them, and everyone was really open about their careers and their relationships. Everyone seemed extremely passionate about what they did, especially Linda (she was trying to convince me to go into optometry), and it's really motivating to see that kind of energy and passion for something one is doing. We also had a "most-single award" and people were going the history of their love lives...or lack thereof.

Johnny "Lang Tu" Phi Nguyen (wanderer)

I had dinner for Christmas with my dad, and he told me he'd be late because he wanted to invite a friend who didn't have a family to have Christmas with and he was going to pick him up. Well this friend that he brought was an old family friend that I can't remember. He said he came over a lot when we were kids. It's interesting to have someone know your family so well. He could list all of my mom's siblings and he knew how old my aunt was. He said he held me when I was little and I was his favorite baby to hold. He's also a Poker Champion of World Series Poker 2004. Crazy! It's nice to hear from someone who...I dunno...it feels like he's practically family.

Biking crew

There's a biking culture out there...this is kinda like the strange realization I had when I went to VN and found out about the backpacking culture trying to stay in cheap places and taking Lonely Planet books with them everywhere. There are bike rules on the road, bike safety, different types of bikes, different reasons to bike (saving the environment, exercising, commuting), etc.

NEW FOOD

X :-(