jury duty and other thoughts

hey hey...got excused from jury duty earlier. i told the clerk it was my last week at work and showed them my assignment for peace corps. they require dates, so the lady photocopied the front page of my assignment and my invitation letter. but, since i will be keeping my ca driver's license, i'll continue to receive jury duty summons. bummer--i'll let my parents handle it.

there will be a language assessment when we arrive in cambodia. so, i am trying to keep up with my language study. we will only have 8 weeks of language training before we go to our permanent site. i can barely say "how are you"...

peace corps cambodia wants us to read at least one book on the country before we arrive. so, i am currently reading Stay Alive, My Son by Pin Yathay. i'm only on the second chapter, but the book is a personal account of a man who was forced into a labor camp by the khmer rouge and was separated from his only surviving son, Nawath.

being on a fixed income, i don't have much financial wiggle room. with that being said, i purchased a netbook from costco. it should be arriving this week. acer 10 inch...i hope its worth it or doesn't break down the day i arrive in cambodia.

other musings you ask...THURSDAY is my last day at work! after that, i have 18 days to prepare and "do stuff". i'll be up in sf for one weekend. hopefully, i'll get to go rafting with lisa and tom while i am up there. ryan is taking me to chez panisse one last time! yum!

hold the phone!!!! ryan just said that its no longer chez panisse---and that it was a surprise...huh? what could it be?

time to go eat some hummus....

32 more days!

I made strawberry stuffed diafuku mochi the other night. fun. fun. fun. anyhow---

I will be flying up to San Francisco, July 21st. We are having one day of staging-- its orientation and pre-training info. I'm anticipating a lot of paperwork and a lot of talk and reflection. Stuff like that. But, I'm excited.

We have a long haul trip to Cambodia though. Our flight schedule looks like this:

July 22nd, leave from SFO for Tokyo on an 11 hour 15 min flight.

July 23, leave Tokyo for Bangkok on a 6 hour and 40 min flight

and finally on,

July 24, leave Bangkok and arrive in Phnom Penh on a 1 hour 15 min flight...phwwww...

I'm still thinking about what I should pack. I think the roller duffel I purchased from Costco may be too big. The dimensions are within Peace Corps limits, but I don't think I'll be packing for 2 years.

Using my handy desk calendar at work, I am realizing that I am only bound to 10 more days of work! wowo! However, I mentally signed out like 2-3 weeks ago (blogging from work...). pretty ridiculous. And, you know what else?!?! I have jury service duty my last week of work. ughhhh..so annoying.

I'm trying to meet up with family and friends before I leave. All this meeting up and eating is really cutting into my running routine (I ran one day this week):

• This past Sunday, I had dinner with my Grandma and my aunts and uncles;
  
• Monday, I had dinner with Naveen;
  
• Wednesday, I had dinner with my uncle Charlie;
  
• tonight, i'll be joining my cousin Ben and his wife Cherie for dinner;
  
• Friday night, i'll be making mochi with Jennifer;
  
• Sunday is Father's day, which probably means Baccali
  
• And, for the next 3 consecutive sundays, I will be attending Hollywood Bowl shows--which means, I will need to cook food. I love Bowl shows!
  

Okay, gotta go.

Here's a video of me feeding geese in Cerritos Park---

Bye. Have a good summer and Good luck.

I knew I would feel the excitement and blues of leaving once I began the process of quitting and transitioning into the planning and packing mode. Well, I gave notice last week at work and my last day with USC will be July 2nd. I felt very at peace when I handed in my resignation. And, today was my last day tutoring with Jonathan. After nearly 2 years of privately tutoring him, I felt very protective and attached. I'm not sure what he felt or if our last tutoring session even affected him, but it was a bittersweet moment for me. Not that he needed any tutoring, but I asked if he felt that our meetings together helped improve his performance at school and his reply, with a big head nod, was "I think I'm a better reader now." I guess that's all the emotion I'll get from a soon to be 6th grade boy. Having to tell Mr. Lee was harder than I expected. I felt the gratitude and disappointment in his voice. Or, maybe I just imagined it. We shook hands and he said "Good Luck with Peace Corps". Really, my being so super emotional annoys me.

On my drive home, I began to wonder how I will feel when my 2 years in Cambodia finishes. Being ultra sensitive all my life and knowing I'll never change, I really can't imagine thinking or feeling like, Finally!! I hated this place. I'm never coming back." And, once I start thinking about PC, I have to ask myself the reason(s) for joining. It always yields the same reason: the experience--the experience as a whole and the individual pieces of it. The experience of change. The experience of not living with my parents at the ripe age of 27. The experience of quitting the library after so many years of looking for a gig thats more professionally and intellectually stimulating. But, these reasons are too obvious. I guess I want to know if I'm looking for something more...deeper...yea, a deeper meaning. Is there?

Later Taters....di

East Coast Trip 2009

Hi! I got back from vacation a few days ago and it was quite enjoyable! What originally started as tagging along with Ryan to the Tribeca Film Festival, manifested itself into a full blown east coast trip. The weather was all over the place...cold, rainy, humid and hot! Unfortuanely, I didn't get to pack for global warming and looked like a big dork the whole time. Anyway...

Together, Ryan and I visited New York, Boston and Cape Cod. While in New York, I stayed at the L Hostel in Harlem for the first night before Ryan arrived. I liked it. I liked seeing all the north and west african restaurants and shops.

After almost a decade, I got to reconnect with my former roommate, Jennifer from Pace University. It was nice to see her and catch up over dinner. It was a full 4 hours or so, but it felt brief.

After New York, we boarded a bus to Massachusetts. We split our time between Boston and Cape Cod. While in Boston,we got to spend time with Naveen. She actually lives in Cambridge and is attending MIT at the moment. It was the most untimely visit, however, since it was during finals and she was 'quite' busy. Cape Cod was wonderful. No tourists! I recommend going during the off season. Lighthouses, windmills, clambakes, potato chips and beaches. BUT! BEWARE OF TICKS! Yeeeachhh! I chose to visit the Bird Santuary in Eastham or somewhere and after paying the entrance fee, I learned that the ticks had come out early this year! YIKES. I don't even want to talk about it. You can see Ryan with his socks stretched over his pants on Picassa. Boston was cool. So many colleges around. Our stay with NJ was NICE. We ate out, ate leftovers and went dancing. And, she didn't get upset with me when I ate all her clementines. Thanks, Naveen!

I was also able to visit Joanna in Philadelphia. She finishes UPenn this fall. I was a little unimpressed by Philadelphia. I did the liberty bell and cheesesteak deal. It was okay. Can't say that I will crave a cheesesteak anytime soon. On the other hand, Joanna's cooking blew my mind--in particular the salsa! Tostadas! YUM! Thanks, Joanna!

The final leg of my trip led me to DC and Virginia with Marbella. I stayed with Mar in Cleveland Park. One stop down from the park. I loved the grilled cheese sandwiches she made with her cast iron skillet! WOWO! I finally met her roommate, Ed. Nice man. I hope to see his band play one day. Mar rented a car and we took a day trip and visited the Luray Caverns in Virginia. In addition to the caverns, a giant garden maze was on the grounds. The rainy weather made the maze very much so enjoyable. Thanks, Marbella!

I don't feel like writing anymore. Too much info already! My next trip will be to San Francisco this Memorial weekend. I'm gonna fly up Saturday night after work and visit Lisa at her new place. Then, Monday afternoon, drive down with Tom. It should be fun. I hope Armand has some time to eat at Gregoire's.

I never did watch any movies at the film festival.

I really should study Khmer more diligently.

bye.

Jum-riab-sua! (Hello in Khmer)

i began studying khmer a few days ago. it's a language I am not familiar with and so far it's tough. also, it's not the most beautiful language. so imagine the combination of speaking khmer with my squeaky, high pitched voice. it'll be awesome. i'll keep going...we'll see how far i get in a couple of weeks.

anyway, it's been a while since i last wrote. i have to admit, i'm not a blogger. and i'm pretty sure that while i am in cambodia, i'll be writing even less.

initially, i thought blogging would be easy--but really i have difficulty posting, not only because i have nothing to say, but i feel very self -consciousness. i feel pressure to entertain and update and to say something profound. i'm not good at any of those things.

ugh, there's something to do around the house. i am gonna do something productive. bye.

about 137 more days

its sounds like a long ways from now...it is i suppose. i don't really have much to update. my khmer language book arrived from amazon the other day. i have yet to even open the box. it hasn't really hit me yet. i'm still in my routine, the routine i've been in for about 3-4 years? wow, what a waste of time. anyway, talk more later. goodnight.

what i'll miss while i'm gone

the rain is letting up and the forecast for the week will be sunny....blah...i'm waiting for my rain boots to arrive in the mail.i hope to put a few miles on them before the sky dries up.

i'm still waiting for my khmer language books...ugh...i wanna start studying already

oh. as i promised, here's the list of things/people/places i will miss.

1. my family
2. my friends
3. annoy ryan by hoarding the food and blankets
4. baking
5. my golden girl dvds
6. my indiana jones dvds
7. my star wars dvds
8. the apple of my eye--the corolla
9. rizza pizza
10. trader joe's
11. my mom's fried rice
    
12. going to the movies
13. visiting target on a whim
14. in&out cheeseburger without onions
15. sur la table
16. ice in my root beer and ginger ale
17. playing board games that take incredibly long
18. getting my hair cut
19. Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations"
    

what the heck, since i'm logged on, here are the list of things that i plan to do before i leave:

1. spend time with my family and friends
   
2. watch harry potter
3. visit san francisco and eat at chez panisse
   
4. visit a couple of friends in the east coast
5. finish painting my room in one solid color
6. go camping
7. sell the corolla
   

list to be continued....

language study

i began looking into studying khmer the other day. you'd think that working in a library, i'd have an abundance of resources, but seeing that not very many universities own khmer language books, i may have to purchase from amazon. but, even amazon has a small selection. well, i'll wait a week to see if my library requests for the books come. crossing my fingers.

i'm trying to remember what khmer sounded like when i was over there just a month ago. i guess i'd say my most vivid memory of hearing khmer came from all the music videos that our bus driver would put on during long haul trips. there was this one male performer who came out in almost every single music video...actually, it was pretty funny.

mom and dad... i have some news

i just told my parents...hmp...

they were A LOT calmer than i expected. i was surprised that my dad knew what the peace corps were. i can tell they are a little nervous. my dad just asked, "so, every 6 months, you'll come home to visit?" my mom is concerned with the money. my dad offered to give me his brand new laptop. i told him it's not necessary and that it'll just get lost. two years is a lot for them...i told them to just come and visit me, if not in cambodia, then in china.

i'm worried that they are worried. my parents are acting pretty cool and collected about the whole going away thing, but i feel the concern lingering in the air. it hurts to see my parents that way. crystal said it'll pass.

well, telling my parents was half the battle of my peace corps experience...

the next time i write, it'll be about all the things i'll miss while i'm gone.

the invitation arrives

back in sept. 2008, i created this blog as a means to keep in contact with my family and friends at home, while i would serve as a volunteer with the peace corps. it wasn't until last night that i finally had a reason to write my first post.

btw, it is raining in los angeles tonight and i love it. anyway, my reflections...

i got home from watching My Bloody Valentine in 3-D with Jessi last night and there it was, on the coffee table--my Peace Corps Invitation Kit! even before i got a chance to open up the package, i called ryan to tell him. drowsily he asked, "so, where you goin'?" CAMBODIA.

i leave in late july 2009 for orientation and training. after nearly a year of waiting for an invitation, i admit my emotions were mixed. while i was happy to finally receive my assignment, i was a bit speechless and apathetic. i dunno--maybe deep inside, i was disappointed that i wasn't assigned to china. or, maybe cambodia lost its novelty when we visited south asia over winter break. nevertheless, i stayed up reading the handbooks in the kit until my eyelids hurt.

anyway, i'm totally over that weird awe-struck feeling now and am in the process of going through the kit. there are still a few items i need to finish reading, but i'm am DEFINITELY going. i'm going to cambodia! i am not going to let inflexibilty or certain expectations get to me. i've been waiting for this opportunity and got it.

i just need to fill out the visa/passport, write an aspiration statement and update my resume (due in 10 days!). i'll call my placement officer on my day off next week to tell him i am accepting the invitation. yay!