tien beat

A couple of weeks into the semester, here's what's going on. We officially have a new president.  I will be following his actions closely, with optimism.  Classes are really great, I have a monkey class, a class taught by the current state treasurer of California, a class about what happens when we do things, and a class where we're currently learning about what people think about the meaning of words.  In other words, I have an anthropology class, a political science class, and two philosophy classes.   I went to the beach today and swung on the rings.  This will be a regular occurrence this semester:  taking advantage of the proximity of beaches.  Why not do homework on the sand? I'm at my dad's house right now...I haven't seen him in about 6 months, and it's the Vietnamese new year!  Hooray!

Hello all! I’m back at school…I haven’t been here in a while. Time to plug back into my alter-ego, the west-coast version of Tien. I’m not sure how that is different from the other me’s, but I definitely feel like I’m operating differently already. I had a wonderful holiday season in Maryland…it’s always so hard to leave. Semester at Sea seems like a lapsed dream. It was a saga so far removed from the familiarity of my usual routines. Even when I look at the pictures, I don’t remember what it felt like to be constantly in transit. I don’t know if it ever really sank in. I’ve been asked by several people what I learned on my voyage. I don’t think I can provide a satisfactory answer to this question. I couldn’t possibly distill my experience into any single realization, or even a handful of them. Every person I met along the way changed my perspective on the world, perhaps not fundamentally, but in a profound personal way. My most optimistic beliefs about humanity were continua...

Friday December 4th,2008 Day 103 Just finished reading Catfish and Mandala, a great book about a Vietnamese-American immigrant who returns to tour Vietnam by bicycle, on a meager budget. I think Vietnam has changed a lot, because I didn’t experience a fraction of the hassling he received for basically being seen as a traitor. He took this trip about 10 years ago, I think. Then again, I wasn’t out on the open road by myself and vulnerable in the same way he was. It was written by Andrew Pham. We are nearing the end. The last day of finals is tomorrow, and then it’s Costa Rica the next day. Like always, I don’t have any plans. We only have three days. My only goals are to make it home with some cash, eat a lot of Costa Rican food, and go zip-lining through the rainforest. Maybe some rafting. I recorded an entire song and spent probably 20 hours mixing it, but I think I have to re-record the entire thing. The guitar is just a little out of tune, and it affects everything. The ...

Hot Springs, Nara Golden Pavillion, Kyoto Washio Kids: Gaku and Aoi Homestay Families: Danika, Estes, Lacey, and Me w/ the Washios Day 90: Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 We are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean right now. Yesterday, we celebrated our crossing of the international dateline with our second November 22nd. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to relive an entire day ever again. It was nice, we had a barbecue, no classes, and I played music. There was a live auction for charity and I sold myself. I was pleased to have been purchased for a significant amount. A lucky lady, and her friends if milady wishes, will have the unique opportunity for a “private serenade” at a time and place of her choosing. It was quite an experience being at this shipboard charity auction…let’s just say a lot of kids have unrestricted, unsupervised access to their parents’ credit cards. I’ve finished a couple songs now, so it’s been an average semester of creative musical productivity for me. That seems...

At sea: Enroute to Hong Kong This moment is beyond comprehension. Poetry has returned to power. Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America. President Barack Obama. After following this election process for a tenth of my life, I am immensely proud of our country for choosing an incredibly capable, intellectually curious, eloquent, and pragmatic leader to our highest office. We, a country built on the backs of slaves, have elected a man who is, at once, a historic part of the African American tradition as well as a descendant of slave owners. I am optimistic that this is a signal for the return of rationality in our public discourse. A return for the respect for our civil rights, our constitutional rights. It’s a good day to be alive. It’s a good day to be a young person in America, being brought into the political process in a way that promotes optimism, involvement, and hope. This day was possible because we believed it could happen. We were told over and ...

Gui Lin Yang Shuo w/ "Little House" Yang Shuo Moon Hill in Yang Shuo Gui Lin Quick update on my adventures in China: Hong Kong: roamed around on the train, made my way to SoHo, went to a jazz show and hopped across the street to play at an open mic. Met some people (a girl from hong kong, a couple guys from the states, a girl from new zealand), headed to a pub in Wan Chai and hung out there until about 5 in the morning. Hong Kong stays up late! The next day I found my friends with whom I had planned to travel to Gui Lin, Yang Shuo, and ultimately Shanghai. We found a hotel and went out to the Mainland at night, stayed out too long and woke up late the next morning. Not too late though、thankfully. We made it to the airport with a little time to spare. Flew to Gui Lin, which was very beautiful. We met the coolest tour guide, Effie, and befriended her. She took us around to a bunch of wonderful sight seeing spots and temples. The mountains are the most noticeable feature. They a...

My uncle from VA, hanging out in Saigon Big ol' buddha Central Highlands, White Elephant Waterfall EZ Riders and friends Biggest waterfall in Vietnam Getting closer to the falls... Elephant Ride in Dak Lak Top of the World No parachutes Passionfruit Rollin Rose Gardener Terraced Fields Vietnamese Myth: Dragons create rain First day of cruising My Aunt's house in Da Lat Phuc and An, my cousin Saigon Saigon Post Office Wednesday October 29th Day 64 Enroute to Saigon/HCM City, Vietnam We get to Vietnam tomorrow. I have a few relatives that I might meet up with, and I’ve also made friends with our interport Vietnamese student, Phuc. She said her friends would get a kick out of meeting me, not sure why, just that a Vietnamese (albeit American) kid is going around the world. Played a little concert for one of the lifelong learner’s birthday yesterday, it was appreciated, I think. Last night was the crew talent show, that was fun, I was helping out with as stage crew, moving mics a...