and

in the amidst of enjoying other cultures
how I still enjoy and admire the following
oh how they've accompanied me in this
adventure of mine:

thao nguyen

leslie feist

emily haines

karen o

jenny lewis

I've realized in all my confusion and excessive thinking that i've done while lounging around these ladies (and some more) have continued to keep me happy. after reading the blogs of other volunteers and admiring their blogging skills, i was thinking why i constantly push for the unconventional and vagueness, i don't feel like updating you, my reader in a simple mundane manner but for blogamusementsake here is a recap of my last few months with things that I don't find mundane and the music that went with it.

July

Location(s): Yamanashi & Tokyo, Japan & Chiang Mai, Thailand
Music: Stan, SF, ostooandell, Gregory & the Hawk

snippet of the show:

Recap: a wonderful time in japan even though money goes fast when all you do is go to shows, use their public transportation, and eat really really tasty noodles. i got to visit a berry good friend of mine from berkeley, sally kikuchi, and all her nutty buddies which i enjoyed as well. i got used to japanese culture really fast, with the head nodding and ignoring your surroundings, like drunk people passing out on subways. there was taiko class, bicycling alone for the first time and running into a bush, buying drinks from the superfluous amounts of vending machines, finding a dj shop with another via vol, Tony (of which he was ecstatic about), & tokyo police retrieving my laptop from an english bandit. overall good justice, good music, good food, fantastic people, many smiles.

thailand was where I got to meet the volunteers for the first time, too many people at once overwhelm me, but i do admire their different talents and dedication to volunteering. if only i got to know them better. i flourish the most in one on one situations but in a situation where hoards of people come together it doesn't work out. i also got to be interviewed on a radio station thanks to my friend Aileen and her magical networking skills. the listeners were cute and made me miss the radio, dj was also really nice and played whatever we wanted. oh and also learned how to teach english (ha). had alot of food adventures with aileen and jude, even if it meant we had to go to the same place three times. trial and error my friends and this would just be the beginning.

August

Location(s): Hanoi, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), & Long Xuyen, Vietnam
Music: whatever that was on my ipod; probably some broken social scene, I got into a music rut because I was extremely distracted with my surroundings

Recap: i don't really remember this month, so many movements it was sorta these fast images that go buy. All I really remember is that I kept thinking "Holy crap, I'm in the homeland." Then there was: vietnamese language lessons, eating banh cuon excessively, dehydration, ha long bay with the Vietnam VIA crew, learning how to get on a motorbike, seeing Berkeley friends, drinking milo, eating vinamilk yogurt, a crazy taxi cab driver to end my time in Hanoi, scary monkeys, meeting family friends and some Saigon southern accent goodness. Then I arrived at my post.

September

Location(s): Long Xuyen, Saigon, Hanoi, Lao Cai, Sa Pa, Dong Thap province, other parts of An Giang Province, Vietnam

Music: my ipod and remixes from The Twelves

Recap: settling into a new city, meeting my mom's friends, cleaning things, making things mine, eating a lot of good food, picking up vietnamese, going on staff retreats, being humbled by people and their ways of life, questioning my own, a whole lotta absorbing things in (the people, the culture, the way of things, markets, finding food, getting used to time, etc.), and finding that the prevention of human trafficking is a really really tough complicated battle.

October

Location(s): Long Xuyen & Saigon (HCMC), Vietnam

Music: a revisit to The Strokes, Julian Casablancas, & various songs from The XX

Recap: a tad settled, after hanging out with many family friends, I met an aunt who generously brings me around to eat, invites me to her house for lunch, meet people, and kick start ping pong lessons with an instructor who once went to competitions with my grandfather. This in turn has caused my grandpa to call more than usual asking me about my ping pong skills. "When you return you better beat me at a game of ping pong" "Yes, grandpa I will" My aunt has an INCREDIBLE (I don't use this lightly) karaoke setup on the 3rd floor of her home, equipped with spotlights, moving color lights, GREEN LASERS (@ 2:21) AND SMOKE MACHINE. Work wise, some reports here and there and trying to figure out my fellowship project with a few visits to different orphanages.

Current Month: November

Location(s): good ol' Hong Kong & Long Xuyen, Vietnam
Music: Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton; Metric; & some random remixes

Recap: I leave for Hong Kong at the end of October to celebrate one of my favorite holidays. A tad getaway/return to a place that I've missed for a long time. Accompanied by Lilo (& Stitch) and Mrs. Incredible, our costumes were pretty bad ass in my mind. Surprisingly, going back made me realize how my study abroad friends was what really made the city special for me. It was weird being back. A lot of things happen during that time just a mere two years ago. Seeing the study abroad kids currently was quiet amusing as I reminisced the memories of Hong Kong and made new ones with Sally, Tam, Milk Cow (Yvonne), Helen, & Lois. Now back to Vietnam, I'm trying to get more focused on my work, it's hard especially with language barriers, I need to make more efforts, my mind is still fried from the absorbing but can't stop! Much to learn, and still much to experience. I have these random freak outs as to "What am I doing with my life?" but I guess it's normal as I'm talking to my friends back in the states. "What we DOING?" my friend and I ask ourselves. Then our minds revert back to the current thing that is on our mind, "What are we going to eat today?"