JeNxGrL02's Xanga

Long Time No Update

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:13:41 GMT

Wow, it's been way too long. So much has happened since I last wrote. So most of you already know, but that "friend" I mentioned watching playing God of War in the last entry is now my new boytoy. It's been pretty good so far.

In other news, I have finally gotten through my first winter! It was tough, but I made it. I definitely miss my sunny Socal, but I realized this year that the best part about having a winter is SPRING! Now, I finally understand why people love spring. The weather is warm, flowers are blooming, the grass is turning green, girls are wearing less clothing, etc. haha! To top it off, DC's cherry blossoms are beautiful. Too bad there aren't as many pink blossoms as most of them here are white.

The academic year is finally coming to a close. It's been a struggle balancing between school and work. Classes are definitely better than last semester. I'm beginning to develop an interest in economics and business, and I think that's probably the field I'm going to be looking into for jobs when I graduate next year. Security just wasn't a good fit for me. The field is narrow and the people are narrow. Not fun.

I definitely miss Berkeley a lot. I miss my friends. I miss the Asian Ghetto. I miss Bechtal Hall's comfy couches. I miss the Super DC. Though I don't regret coming to DC. This place is full of opportunities for someone like me looking for a career, but the place really lacks culture and diversity. When Indian food is considered exotic, you know the city is probably lacking some flavor. There are definitely some things I love about this place. I love the Metro system. I love the proximity of my school to downtown and Georgetown, but the fact that the Chinatown here is more like a China "Block" is just depressing.

I'm hoping once summer comes, I'll have more time to explore the city. It's just been too cold to go out (not to mention the pile of school work I've had). I'm going to try and keep this site updated more often. Til then, happy 4-20 everyone!

Exploring My New Home

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 04:34:07 GMT

Taking a break from reading about post-war Japanese bureaucracy to do some updating.
Friday: Went out to Dupont Circle. Found a random bar and sorta chilled with 5th floor peeps.
Saturday: Spent the day part of my Saturday "watching the bears open a can of whoopass on the gophers" (quote courtesy of Joe). Went Salsa Dancing at the Kennedy Center outdoor terrace next to the Potomac River at night. This was my first time salsing so it was pretty interesting. They had some lessons at the beginning and a live band afterwards for the free dance. We tried our best to remember our steps as the band for Puerto Rico performed - all the Susie Qs, double times, right turns and left turns left me pretty dizzy. Went out to TGIF afterwards for a midnight snack - chicken fingers. yum! Then, for no apparent reason, I stayed up until 3:30am watching my friend play God of War (very addictive game even if you're just watching). I am definitely back to my old sleeping schedule of going to bed way to late and waking up in the middle of the afternoon.
Sunday: Watched my favorite athlete in the world, Roger Federer, win his third consecutive US Open by beating Roddick in four sets. That makes it his 9th grand slam, and he's only 25. Shiet. The guy is just amazing. His strokes are so explosive, his game is so deep and varied, it's just unbelievable.

DC

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 23:24:18 GMT

I guess it's about time I updated this blog. I am in DC now. I moved into my new dorm, an old Howard Johnson hotel used to spy on Watergate, last Sunday, over a week ago. It's a decent place, sorta old, but very spacious and full of grad students. So far, I haven't been able to explore the city too much. I've been busy attending orientation and wondering the halls meeting people. Tropical Storm Ernesto's visit also forced me stay inside most of the weekend so it's been a relaxing couple of days. I suspect it's the calm before the storm (the seven page syllabus I received from my professor today confirmed that).
Saw the Cal game on Saturday and was very disappointed, but no worries, I have faith that we'll do well during our regular season and finish with a bowl game. GO BEARS! Since my new school doesn't have a football team, it's easy to still keep cheering for my Golden Bears. That'll be a little tougher during the basketball season since George Washington has a decent team. Oh well, I'll worry about that when the time comes.
As fun and vibrant as DC is, I do miss California and Berkeley. First, the food can't compare. There is a lack of good, cheap restaurants around campus. Most take-out is pretty expensive. To top it off, there aren't even any cafeteria's in GWU. The main dining halls are mini-food courts that you find in shopping malls filled with tons of fast food. Talk about unhealthy. I've resorted to sneaking a burner and toaster oven into my dorm room and slapping some simple meals together. I'm also sad to say that there seems to be a lack of Asian Americans here. There are Asians, but they're mostly international students and very fobby, which puts me in an awkward position because everytime someone meets me, they automatically assume I'm a foreigner. At my Chinese Oral Exam, the teacher assumed that I would be fluent in Mandarin since I wasn't caucasian. Needless to say, she was disappointed. However, the plethora of internships and job opportunities relating to my field here can't compete with anywhere else in the US. So, this is where I am going to be for the next few years. Hopefully I will "network" my way into a good job.

Go BEARS!

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 20:37:24 GMT

Cal is starting the season ranked #12! Whoo hoo! GO BEARS! Too bad I won't be able to see any of their games this year. I'm not worried though. I'll just wait til their Bowl game at the end of the year.

In other news, this is my last week at work. YAY! I'm so ready to get out of this office and back to school. It's been an interesting experience, and through it, I'm starting to feel out what I want to do with my future and my career (and it's not this).

Last weekend, I hung out with my high school friends for the first time in 2 years. It was fun catching up and gossiping about all our old classmates. We met up at The Grove in LA to have dinner and catch the movie, Step Up. Even though it was the usual cliched teen dance movie, the music and dancing was good so it turned out to be an entertaining couple of hours. Thanks Mike and Danny!

Alrighty, my lunch break is over. Time to go back to work. . .

Work, Cont'd

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 05:09:27 GMT

Sadly nothing much has happened since I last wrote. Socal got unbearably hot during July, but so did the rest of the US. I realized that since I started working, my life has gotten super monotonous and very uneventful. I didn't do anything on my bday this year since both my mom and sister were out of town. My coworkers helped me celebrate by buying me some bagels. whoo hoo. . .
So the last time I blogged, it was the day after my coworker got fired. So guess what happened today? My other coworker got fired! I am now the most senior worker in the office besides the manager, and I am only a temporary summer worker. wtf mate?! My manager is a bitch. She separated all three of us from each other in different rooms and didn't let us say goodbye. By the time the other girl and I realized what was going on, she was heading out the door. The lady they "let go" bumped heads with the manager a few times but on reasonable matters so this came as a real shock to us. Since none of my friends live in the OC (and Bev left), and I spend more hours at work then at home, I really started becoming friends with my coworkers, espcially the one that got fired, so it really hurt to see her leave in tears. I felt so bad for her. Afterwards, my manager started fake crying when she was telling us what happened. Five minutes later she was joking around again with us. Ugh. Disgusting. I am sooo glad I am going back to school.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 04:15:52 GMT

Work: I got a raise today! Whoo hoo!
Tennis: Federer/Nadal Wimbledon Final - drool
OC Fair: Ate deep fried: zucchini, potatoes, snickers bar, olives, oreos and twinkie

Today was a good day.

Work, Etc.

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 05:37:05 GMT

Today was a long day. I've come to realize that the head manager at my office is a bitch with a temper. She constantly scolds and yells at our temp workers. Today she made a mistake on an order and blamed her assistant when the higher ups called in. Ugh. I hate it when people can't admit their mistakes. The poor assistant, whose last day was next Friday (she's getting married. yay.), was told to pack her bags after the incident and leave. Today became her last day. The whole thing makes me not want to go to work tomorrow.
But, there is one thing to look forward to after work. . .the OC FAIR! Gonna drive on over after work and meet up with Bev to pig out on fair food - funnel cake, fried candy bars, corn dogs...I can't wait!
Since my dad and sis left for Europe and a cruise on the Mediterranean last week, it's been pretty quiet at home. With them gone, it also means that my mom and I have the TV to ourselves, which means Taiwanese soap opera time. We're currently watching "The Outsiders" aka "Dou Yu" in Mandarin. Basically, it's a corny soap about young love, gang violence, and undying friendship. It's "Meteor Garden" but with a lot more fighting. So far, it's been entertaining. The only downside is the really really cliched storyline (like most Taiwanese dramas). heh.

Full-time

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:28:01 GMT

Got a full-time position at my temp agency last week. That means 40 hours a week and getting up way earlier that I do even for class, but at least I get paid. So I guess that means going to Taiwan for a month to teach English is out of the picture. My mom found me this job in Taipei teaching English to middle schoolers for a month, but the pay can't match up to what I make right now, so I gotta pass. Oh well. Sucks being a poor grad student.
I took my first tennis lesson since junior year of high school yesterday in 90+ degree and super humid weather. I lasted 25 mins and then let my sis take over. Drank about a gallon of water afterwards and still felt like my body was on fire.
Been watching a lot of Telemundo lately for the World Cup (or Copa Mundial) since ESPN doesn't do reruns at night, and I work all day. Beckham's goal yesterday was awesome. Too bad the US sucks at soccer.

Temp Work

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 07:02:20 GMT

So I finally started my job as a temp worker. Today I was at the Ayn Rand Institute organizing binders for their upcoming conference and stuffing donation envelopes. It was brainless work, but at least I get paid. I go there again tomorrow. This temp thing is kinda interesting because you work at different corporations or non-profits throughout the summer for different durations of time. I guess it's kinda exciting since I'll never know what's next.
On Monday, I went out with my TASA buddy, Chris and Bev to an all-you-can-eat brazilian BBQ. It was so good. I stuffed myself with fillet mignon, chicken, flank steak, tri-tip, sirloin steak and pork. To top it off, their salad bar was amazing with smoked salmon, heart of artichoke, heart of palm, asparagus, and different types of olive oil and vinegar as dressing. I ate so much that I still wasn't hungry at dinner time.
Started looking for housing in DC for this fall. I found a roommate off of craigslist. She's from Ohio and seems pretty nice. She's also going to GWU Elliot School so we'll probably have some classes together, which should be fun. Finding housing has been a pain. Since we live so far and don't know anyone out there, we can't even look at the places we're considering. On top of that, rental prices are super expensive. Average price for a 1 bedroom is about $1700. Yeesh. I'm scouring craigslist everyday hoping to find a good deal.

Fukada

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 05:19:36 GMT

Hung out with Bev yesterday. We went out to eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant, Fukada, that specializes in soba and udon noodles. I ordered some cold soba noodles with spicy tuna don. So good! I love Japanese food.
Today was my errand day. Went out to get a replacement social security card that my mom lost, bought some supplies at Staples, mailed a ton of crap at the post office, gave my dog a bath, and went to look at refrigerators. My parents are thinking of buying a new fridge that has a ice and water dispenser. Whoo hoo! That turned out to be the highlight of my day. What a boring life I lead.