Status Update

My most recent Facebook status update? "Enjoy what's left of 12/12/12, it's the last repetitive day in our lifetime"With that said, I've decided to write a blog post summarizing some things I have been absolutely grateful for the past 12 months.


January 2012:

Started off the year right with awesome friends at the Long Beach New Year Celebration

February 2012:

Got my new baby, my car

March 2012:

Good times celebrating St. Pati's Day

April 2012:
One of my biggest dreams for the past couple of years came true, I went to Italy to visit amazing people and sites

Unfortunately, upon my return, I lost my grandfather Fernando

However, in trying to make as much of a mark as I can, I did my first walk for Autism Speaks

May 2012:
Got to see my buddy Phoebe (http://phoebejanesblog.blogspot.com) graduate, Go Toros!

June 2012:

Got to celebrate a year away from Korea by having a mini reunion with friends

I also got to see my first class of eighth graders graduate from my current job, having marked a year at NDA then

July 2012:

End of July, got to have good times in Hawaii (celebrating a year since I had been there, hehehe)

August 2012:

More Hawaiian good times with friends

And got to visit Hawaii with family

And it was upon my return that I lost my grandmother exactly three months after having loss my grandfather, it was not a good time for my mother.  Glad to know she is better.

Got to try zip-lining, FUN!

September 2012:

It is my birthday when I feel truly blessed for the people who have come into my life.

October 2012:

Though I wasn't initially excited about the idea of Watsonville, it was nice to see a childhood friend in the area and enjoying my trip. (Lizzy from http://secretariesinaphonebooth.blogspot.com)

I also got to see the amazing Alanis Morissette live once again. Concert number four of hers that I have attended.  Icing on the cake...I won the tickets in a contest

November 2012:

Korea super reunion in Fresno.  Love these guys, we have been through a lot together.

December 2012:

Another Korean reunion, how awesome is that? It's not that easy to accomplish, but we find a way when the will is there.

Things still to come: Christmas, Christmas parties, and New Year's Day of course!

Among these 12 months my amazing friends have accomplished great things from moves in career, location and family size.  Happy for all of them.

My family continues strong, and I am in great hopes that continues.

Unreal

It always blows my mind when I go to trips with people in which we know each other from one place and end up somewhere completely different.  A not-so-distant occurrence was the Hawaii trip I took this summer.  However, a much more current event even made this idea more real yet unreal.

This happened in the city of Pyeongtaek in South Korea in the summer of 2011:

Then this happened at Clovis in Fresno, California in November 2012:

Yes, same people, and even MORE!
We had a blast catching up, eating, sharing stories, eating, going down memory lane and eating.  The fun stuff consisted of the Korean slip-ups (I called Korea "back home" at one point), using our Hangul skills in the Korean restaurant (where we had our fortunes told), board games, and wine tastings.  Good times, surreal it happened, glad it happened, and looking forward to the next one.

Heights

It's November 6th, 9pm, and Obama has won a second term as president of the US.


I'm watching the propositions' results come in....it's getting interesting.  As an educator, minority, son of immigrants, I care deeply about politics, but I don't discuss them much.  Mainly because I feel everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but also that I really don't want to fuel a conversation that leads to disrespect and will never lead to someone changing his or her mind.  It's like convincing someone to change religion....actually, more like getting someone to quit vegetarianism.  Good luck, but there are no winners.

People just need to get out there and vote, because there are some many people that live in countries they contribute to every single day, but cannot.  Don't let your vote go to waste ever, because then it's a waste that you got the right to vote.






On another topic, I was thinking about heights.  Not the same type of heights as posted here when I ziplinned just this past August, but close.

But in the same fashion, it's difficult to be up high.  I see people work extremely hard for the places they are in, and for the things they want to achieve, but at the same time I see them stop themselves for fear of those successes.  I know it's a difficult topic to articulate, but I hope I've given it a good try just now.  This idea crossed my mind yesterday as I noticed someone who continuously stops themselves from achieving amazing things.  Not to say I'm not guilty of the same thing, as I have been and probably will in the future, but this was clearly evident.  I hope nothing but that everyone I know is happy, and finds themselves over and on top of their high points.

California Calling

Two trips outside of So-Cal, one past, one future.

Let's start with the past one before I forget what happened there. I had a conference I went to on behalf of work to the great, wondrous, metropolitan city of......Watsonville :-/

To quote some previous tweets of mine:

No great place to visit ends with the syllable "ville."

I am so exited to go to Watsonville!!!!!! SAID NO ONE EVER.

The trip was actually quite productive, but there are some quarky stories I'd like to share.  The first, my arrival to the San Jose Airport.  Landed at about 11pm, and by the time I got my rental car and was well into the road it was around 1am.  Well, the drive up to this town (about 45 mins away from SJ) was extremely interesting/death-defying.  The road was pretty much going up a mountain, with zig-zags a la Dr. Seuss's designs.  Turn here, turn there, turn everywhere! Uphill in the middle of the night.  The following thought actually ran through my head while driving up there:

"So this is how I'm going to die...driving...a rental car...at 1am....going through a mountain....in Watsonville!!!!"

Got to the hotel, which I was less than satisfied with, and turned in for the night as much as I could as my first meeting was only a few moments away.  The school I was sent to wasn't a school, IT WAS A TOWN WHERE CLASSES JUST SO HAPPENED TO BE TAUGHT.  This school was just acres beyond acres of campusy goodness.  Not to mention that they have an equestrian club that houses 20 or so horses.  AH!

The conference was good, and I got a lot of great information I could bring back to LA with me.  Best thing about this trip was seeing a good friend of mine, Lizzy (http://secretariesinaphonebooth.blogspot.com)!  She lives in San Jose right now, so it was great making it into town (especially because at that point I knew what to expect from the roads going to and fro), seeing some shops, getting some food, and just talking.  It's just like we're fourteen, but now with master's degrees.

(Outside of Sushi Confidential in Campbell near San Jose)

Now let's dive into the future!  A note, as I was typing this blog I had a Skype conversation with Audrey affecting the dates of this trip.

So there's a group of us in Cali that once upon a time taught in Korea. We currently have two from our circle of friends in Pyeongtaek that are visiting Cali and found in a perfect time to organize a reunion.  So far, the following individuals are scheduled to appear in Fresno in two weeks:

Mel (http://italymel.blogspot.com)
Audrey
Josh (http://singinginkorean.blogspot.com)
Brooke
Pam
Lindsey
Jaime

Some tentative, but I hope it works out because the more the gears are going in these plan, the more exciting it feels.  I feel like it doesn't matter what we do, it'll be fun just like in SK.  It's like riding a bicycle, or in this case a 2,300 won taxi :-)  Whoop whoop!