Taken at: La Jolla Shores, CA

Taken at: La Jolla Shores, CA

I had an awesome time on my 'vacation' down south. Scenes like the ones above make me miss San Diego mucho!

Taken at: Downtown San Diego

Taken at: Downtown San Diego

On friday I went to see the opera "Julius Caesar in Egypt". One of the best parts of the night was the 'wheel of fortune'. Man, we tried so hard to get a stuffed bear but the best we could get was a CD holder...

BTW, My family is one step closer to becoming US citizens. We passed our interviews! We were able to answer questions like... "What are the colors of the American flag" and "How many terms can a senator be elected". I guess thats important if you want to be part of this country.

Taken at: Florence, Italy

A story that goes this photo...

We were in Florence waiting to get into the Uffizi museum. The line for the museum was RIDICULOUSLY long. I think we waited a total of 4 hours to get inside, and once in, I think my buddy Asa was only in there for 15-30 minutes. Lindsey and I ofcourse didn't leave until we got our money's worth.

To pass time we did a whole variety of things: card games, hand games, gelato runs, told TONS of stories, napped, random picture taking, reading about our next destination: France and Switzerland, and the best one... singing harmony parts of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" using my iPod shuffle as a guide. Good times guys... good times...

I was driving to CENT practice yesterday (CENT itself is a whole entire Blog full of stories) and I passed by the Cesar Chavez library at San Jose City College. After thinking for a bit, I wondered... are there any predominant Asian American civil rights leaders?

We can name a number of leaders from the Black and Hispanic civil rights movements. What happened to the Asians?

If I remember correctly from my ethnic studies class, Asians did not have a civil rights movement of their own but tagged on to the other movements. I think there were some Asians who died during the Black civil rights movement. Instead of having a movement of our own we have been our typical conformist selves and lead by example rather than being vocal about our demands. This is NOT a bad thing. I think what IS cool about it is that Asians are compassionate and have taken other people's problems and embracing it. From all that we have become the 'model minority'. The myth states:

"Model Minority" Myth

The reference to Asian Americans as "model minorities" has to do with the work ethic, respect for elders, and high valuation of family and elders present in their culture. Despite the fact that this concept seems to valorize Asian Americans, it comes with an underlying notion of their apoliticality. Moreover, such a label one-dimensionalizes Asian Americans as having those traits and no other human qualities, such as vocal leadership, negative emotions, or intolerance towards oppression. Asian Americans are labeled as model minorities because they have not been as much of a "threat" to the U.S. political establishment as blacks, due to a smaller population and less political advocacy. This label seeks to suppress potential political activism through euphemistic complements. (Reference: Asian Americans and Politics: Perspective, Experiences, Prospects by Gordon H. Chang.)

In the environment of public education, Asians, especially people of Chinese or Korean descent, are often stereotyped as over-achieving students. Surprisingly, many Asians tend not to be classified in the "nerd" category because much of their achievement in academics stem from parental pressures. The "smart" stereotype is attached with the concept that Asians play the violin, flute, and/or piano. The trend is a stereotype, and many Asians are not over-achievers.

Great... Thank you DOC 1! ;)

Taken at: Rome, Italy

I thought I should post up a 'people' picture. Since SOMEONE claims I don't take them! This is a cute one, no?

Taken at: Notre Dame, Paris

Last night I caught a show on A&E called God or the Girl. The show follows 4 young men who wants gets a calling to be Catholic priests and in turn give up their dating relationships. To discern their call, the young men took on pilgrimages, missions trips and physical torture. These acts were to help confirm a decision to go into the priesthood. There's something wrong here... I mean, I know you want to be sure, but what ever happened to discerning through prayer and fasting? Where did these guys get the idea that works will help them to decide on something Holy and sanctified? I am hoping that the show just cut out the prayer part of the decision making process, maybe because its not as exciting?

Oh, and not to mention the show makes a big deal whether or not the guy will pick God or the girl... please...

I had a really hard time swallowing the show and eventually changed the channel.

PS: I am trying to put up a photo from my extensive photo library with each post. I hope you enjoy them :)

So, after an unsuccessful try at wordpress.com. the journey inward... is back, thanks to blogger.com

I've been at the job for over a month and so far so good. The area is starting to get familiar. I definitely have to thank all those who have come up to visit, its definitely been great seeing you all. For those who haven't come up, when are you going to?!

With all this rain in the bay area, I might as well move to seattle though. Seriously, we broke the record for a month's rainfall in March where it rained 26 out of the 31 days here. Suck.

This dreary weather reminds me of one place...

Taken at: Trafalgar Square, London

I'm coming big ben... soon...