Skip to main content

October 07

Dear Friends and Family,

After spending three years spent toiling away in L.A., it's amazing how my adolescent angst towards my hometown has become nostalgic admiration. Maybe it was just high school that was a drag, and not so much the locale; it seems like every day is a rediscovery of how beautiful nature can be, how kind people can be, and how therapeutic it is to be surrounded by majestic trees, the serene shimmer of the bay, warm smiles, and the much appreciated absence of textbooks, alarm clocks, smog, gang-related shootings, non-gang-related shootings, etc.

Regardless, I miss my dear friends at USC, especially the activities related to the Spoon Drawer, Trojan Men, Theta Xi, and Dayplayer. From what I've heard, you're all carrying on in accordance to your high standards of excellence. Either that means that I've left a self-sustaining legacy of brilliance and greatness, or I'm expendable and obsolete. Legacy, it is.

Anyway, I'm appreciating life, and I'm just trying to enjoy every day here in Maryland, because who knows when I'll get to live here again?

Love,
Tien

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tien Beat - Summer '10

TIEN BEAT - SUMMER '10 Dear Friends, Today I encountered a group of children on the metro and they referred to me as "mister". Clearly I have entered the next stage of my life. Yes, I have turned 23 years old, and the first month or so of my 24th year has been quite pleasant, thank you very much! I had a very nice trip to Maryland, during which I attended my sister's graduation from medical school, played 2 shows in Easton, ate a lot of crabs, helped my sister move to Cleveland (her surgical residency starts soon at the Cleveland Clinic), hung out in Chicago, and returned to Los Angeles, without taking a single shower (almost true). I've moved out of yet another apartment in Los Angeles. I loved Echo Park, the culture, the music, the authentic Mexican tastes of the taco trucks, and so much more, but I did not love the smell of whatever died under the room I was renting, nor was I enamored of the fleas. On May 14th, I graduated from the University of Southern ...

Semester at Sea: Days 11-15

Day 11 (Friday Sept 5, 2008) Woke up to sounds of crew banging on doors and yelling. It’s Neptune Day. Which means: King Neptune has decided we must be initiated in order to cease our land loving ways and become true shellbacks. Which means: We go up to the pool deck, where the crew, dressed up in togas and aluminum foil helmets, spills mysterious rancid-smelling fish juice over our heads, one by one. For the willing, a head-shaving ritual, in which I participated. Brazil in two days. Day 12 (Saturday Sept 6, 2008) We will be arriving in Salvador tomorrow morning. I think I will be exploring with my roommate and his friends. I fear I have been a little antisocial the past few days, evidenced by lack of any established “crew”, but I guess I’ve been trying to avoid societal overload. Classes are going well. Really excited about the churrascurias (brazilian all you can eat barbecue)! Always a hit in the states, can’t wait to have the real thing. Had our pre-port meetings, lots of warnings...

After the first couple weeks of school

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!