Recently I have started to realize that my clothes have come to dictate my state of mind.
Everyday, I wake up in the morning and dress up for work. No more just t-shirt, jeans and sneakers that you are all so used to seeing me in. Now it is all about wearing a nice a button down shirt, jeans and dress shoes sometimes even with dress socks. I have even started to comb my hair! Such a drastic change has occurred that some of my friends need to do a double take when passing by me in order to recognize me.
Besides changing my look, the change of clothes has started to change my state of mind. When I put on my work clothes now, I find myself acting and thinking much more maturely and professionally. Also, my stress level spikes when I am in my work clothes. After work, I change and get back into my "normal" clothes and once again find myself relaxed and laid back.
This splitting of my mind would not be a problem if I did not find myself in my work clothes all day. Since the quarter has started, I have been extremely busy, leaving for work early in the morning and returning back to the apartment late at night due to extracurricular activities. Consequently I am now always stressed out. There always seems to be more to do and I constantly find myself getting further and further behind. This work state of mind is starting to numb me to the world. I feel like I am just going through the motions every day and it is definitely impacting my sense happiness.
I am not sure if it is all because of my clothes, after all, this might just be how growing up feels like.
- muffinman
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Beatles Night!
3/30; Day 6; Florence, Italy
'Wow'
That must have been the first thing that crossed my mind as I went through Florence. Not because it was pretty, or because it was historic or anything; it was because of the sheer number of tourists, and those damn tiny streets and sidewalks!
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much when I came to Florence. The only reason why I wanted to go there was because two of my friends, Mark and Nick, were studying abroad there as part of the NYU program. I was excited to see them, not least because I was going to bum sleeping accommodations off them, but also because I hadn't seen them for months and was eager to catch up. However, maybe it was a combination of low expectations, meeting my old friends, or having the freedom to roam around Florence by myself that allowed Florence to grow on me. I would have to say that Florence was one of my favourite destinations; at least in the top three along with Istanbul and another city which I will talk about later.
Tik and I got to Mark and Nick's apartment soaking wet -- there had been a sudden shower on our way there -- but there was lots of reuniting happiness. As soon as we settled down however, they suggested to us, "You guys should go to Beatles Night. I'll go with you."
They only have Beatles Night on Tuesdays, but it was a Tuesday night! People had school the next day! Insanity! In London, my friends and I would have never thought to go out on a weekday, yet here they were encouraging us to go. If anything, this just highlights the difference in the amount of work between the London and Florence study abroad programs. I am sure they would have gone even if we had said no, but it was go big or go home. I certainly wasn't going to buy a plane ticket to go all the way back to London.
Unfortunately, Mark didn't go because he had a lot of work to do that night (somehow they had misread my Facebook message and thought we were coming the next day) but Nick along with some more of Tik's friends came out after taking a couple shots of course.
The club the Beatles cover band performed was filled with American students -- a lot of them from the NYU program -- but it was packed. The Beatles cover band was extremely good. When they sang, their English did not show a hint of an accent, yet while they weren't playing they were just speaking normal Italian. I managed to record some videos but I only uploaded "With A Little Help From My Friends".
Overall, it was a good night.
-Emoinacloset
'Wow'
That must have been the first thing that crossed my mind as I went through Florence. Not because it was pretty, or because it was historic or anything; it was because of the sheer number of tourists, and those damn tiny streets and sidewalks!
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much when I came to Florence. The only reason why I wanted to go there was because two of my friends, Mark and Nick, were studying abroad there as part of the NYU program. I was excited to see them, not least because I was going to bum sleeping accommodations off them, but also because I hadn't seen them for months and was eager to catch up. However, maybe it was a combination of low expectations, meeting my old friends, or having the freedom to roam around Florence by myself that allowed Florence to grow on me. I would have to say that Florence was one of my favourite destinations; at least in the top three along with Istanbul and another city which I will talk about later.
Tik and I got to Mark and Nick's apartment soaking wet -- there had been a sudden shower on our way there -- but there was lots of reuniting happiness. As soon as we settled down however, they suggested to us, "You guys should go to Beatles Night. I'll go with you."
They only have Beatles Night on Tuesdays, but it was a Tuesday night! People had school the next day! Insanity! In London, my friends and I would have never thought to go out on a weekday, yet here they were encouraging us to go. If anything, this just highlights the difference in the amount of work between the London and Florence study abroad programs. I am sure they would have gone even if we had said no, but it was go big or go home. I certainly wasn't going to buy a plane ticket to go all the way back to London.
Unfortunately, Mark didn't go because he had a lot of work to do that night (somehow they had misread my Facebook message and thought we were coming the next day) but Nick along with some more of Tik's friends came out after taking a couple shots of course.
The club the Beatles cover band performed was filled with American students -- a lot of them from the NYU program -- but it was packed. The Beatles cover band was extremely good. When they sang, their English did not show a hint of an accent, yet while they weren't playing they were just speaking normal Italian. I managed to record some videos but I only uploaded "With A Little Help From My Friends".
Overall, it was a good night.
-Emoinacloset
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Venice
3/29; Day 5; Venice, Italy
Italy from the sky
Ever since I was in eighth grade, I had always dreamed of going to Venice. Watching the Italian Job remake (one of my favourite movies) at the time with the intro robbery and boat chase scene had made Venice one of my top destinations to visit. It was a city built on top of the water -- who wouldn't want to see that? Besides, with global warming causing oceans to rise, I was worried Venice would sink into the Mediterranean before I could even get a chance to see it.
More importantly I was finally in Italy where I would get a chance to intimately get to know its famous cities for the next ten days. I need to mention the delicious food as well. For example, while we were here my friends and I had eaten the equivalent of at least two gelatos (Italian ice cream) a day. That first day in Venice, we ate four. I also never got sick of pizza, pasta and ordering real Italian cappuccinos and espressos at every café we stopped by.
There isn't much to say about Venice except that it is beautiful, so I will let the pictures do the talking. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it?
Italy from the sky
Ever since I was in eighth grade, I had always dreamed of going to Venice. Watching the Italian Job remake (one of my favourite movies) at the time with the intro robbery and boat chase scene had made Venice one of my top destinations to visit. It was a city built on top of the water -- who wouldn't want to see that? Besides, with global warming causing oceans to rise, I was worried Venice would sink into the Mediterranean before I could even get a chance to see it.
More importantly I was finally in Italy where I would get a chance to intimately get to know its famous cities for the next ten days. I need to mention the delicious food as well. For example, while we were here my friends and I had eaten the equivalent of at least two gelatos (Italian ice cream) a day. That first day in Venice, we ate four. I also never got sick of pizza, pasta and ordering real Italian cappuccinos and espressos at every café we stopped by.
There isn't much to say about Venice except that it is beautiful, so I will let the pictures do the talking. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it?
Murano Island
I pray that love and peace come back to the world,
that people say hello.
Burano Island
St. Mark's Square
No, No, My Friend, Like This~
3/27; Night 3; Istanbul, Turkey
My friends and I had seen a lot of Istanbul in the past few days -- the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the Bosphorus Cruise -- but we still hadn't done what we had really set out to do there; smoke some Turkish hookah.
It was just me and two other guy friends -- as for everyone else they were either too tired or did not want to smoke. So, after drinking the handle of Smirnoff I had bought in the duty-free section of the airport, we set out from our hotel to find a place to smoke hookah all the while having no idea where we were going to go. Earlier in the evening, a man working at a café had recommended an area called Taksim where all the nightlife was located, so we went in that direction.
On the walk there however, while appreciating the beautiful night and being freaking happy, we were approached by a promoter. We had clearly explained to him with English and hand gestures that we wanted to smoke, do hookah, use a water pipe, whatever. He seemed to understand saying, "Yes, water pipe!" and led us to what we thought was going to be a hookah place.
It turns out it wasn't. He ended up taking us to a club, where we were promptly sat down at a table with the promoter. There was a group of about 10 people, all unattractive, dancing in the corner, and between them and us there was no one else at the club. A waiter came to us asking if we wanted any drinks.
I told him, "I'll have a beer -- but wait, how much is it going to be?"
"Twenty Lira"
"WHAT?!"
That was a ridiculous amount. Twenty Lira is about $14, so there was no way I was going to sit there. I had drank a little, but I hadn't drank enough to lose my wits. Feeling tricked, the three of us promptly left the club. Looking back, I had a gut feeling that this guy was sketch, but being buzzed at the time I put my suspicions aside and put my trust in him. At least the guy had taken us to the Taksim area, so once we got out of that sketchy club we immediately discovered a hookah lounge open a couple of buildings down. Happy we had found what we desired, we went in and proceeded to smoke.
This was the guy who changed our hookah coals and tobacco and was really nice. He didn't speak much English, but we were able to exchange a couple of words with him. I have to say that he was a pro at blowing smoke rings, which we should have known since he did work at a hookah lounge. In an attempt to try and blow smoke rings ourselves, we would call him over from time to time asking him to show us how exactly he did them. "No, no, my friend, like this~", he would say as he blew a perfect smoke ring -- nice, thick, and doughnut shaped. In response, we would exclaim, "Whoa-ho! Oh my god, that's so good!" and clap and cheer. We tried to blow our own -- ours ended up more like failed streams of smoke.
By the end of the night, our attempts to blow those elusive smoke rings led the three of us to share two hookahs together. Even Ricky who started out the night saying he was "not going to smoke that much" was, by the end of the night, smoking just as much as the rest of us, all because he wanted to get that smoke ring.
However, smoking two hookahs between the three of us did not come without consequences -- the next morning we felt a little queasy in our stomachs because of all the smoke we had inhaled. On a normal night, a hookah would be shared between three to six people if that gives you an idea of how much we smoked. If you ever do go to Istanbul and want to try hookah, go to Taksim and try to find the place in the picture -- it's very nice (the house special is excellent!).
-Emoinacloset
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Robocop's Email
After some consideration, Emoinacloset and I (Muffinman) decided it is best to publish Robocop's email explaining his whereabouts. We have been sitting on this for awhile and we feel that his friends who care and worry about him deserve to know that he is still alive.
I owe both of you a long overdue explanation for everything that has been going on with me that you guys have not been privy to. First and foremost, the house that you both love driving to in order to draw me out of social isolation has been sold. Yes, my family and I are moving to Saratoga. It was my dad's decision to move to Saratoga.
I can't come up with a better excuse for not telling you guys in advance during our chatroom or video chat sessions other than the fact that I forgot to tell you guys. It is not that I forgot to tell just you guys, but I forgot to tell everyone. Jessica Kim, Jennie, Derek, Jennet, and Jessica Liu do not have any idea. The reason I believe that news of this magnitude has slipped my mind is that I have something even bigger on my minds: I have taken another leave from MIT. I have made this decision with the intention of finding out who I am (once again). I'll explain more once I figure out more, but in the meantime, try to be patient.
I am currently in Mississippi with my cousin and her husband. I needed somewhere else to think, and I didn't want to sit at home in California where I know I will get lazy and comfortable. As for communication between now and when I get back, there won't be any. I don't have my phone with me, because I want to be isolated as much as possible during this time. I'll see you guys when I get back. I'll explain more when I get back.
Peace,
Robocop
I owe both of you a long overdue explanation for everything that has been going on with me that you guys have not been privy to. First and foremost, the house that you both love driving to in order to draw me out of social isolation has been sold. Yes, my family and I are moving to Saratoga. It was my dad's decision to move to Saratoga.
I can't come up with a better excuse for not telling you guys in advance during our chatroom or video chat sessions other than the fact that I forgot to tell you guys. It is not that I forgot to tell just you guys, but I forgot to tell everyone. Jessica Kim, Jennie, Derek, Jennet, and Jessica Liu do not have any idea. The reason I believe that news of this magnitude has slipped my mind is that I have something even bigger on my minds: I have taken another leave from MIT. I have made this decision with the intention of finding out who I am (once again). I'll explain more once I figure out more, but in the meantime, try to be patient.
I am currently in Mississippi with my cousin and her husband. I needed somewhere else to think, and I didn't want to sit at home in California where I know I will get lazy and comfortable. As for communication between now and when I get back, there won't be any. I don't have my phone with me, because I want to be isolated as much as possible during this time. I'll see you guys when I get back. I'll explain more when I get back.
Peace,
Robocop
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Turkish People Love Koreans
3/27; Day 3; Istanbul Turkey
Because Muffinman constantly complains to me that I don't talk enough about my feelings in my travel posts, I will try to put a little more emphasis on them in this one.
After finishing Spring Break and reflecting back on all the cities I visited, I would have to say Istanbul was one of my favourite ones. There was just something about the city -- the mosques dotting the city line, the calm water flowing through the two parts of the city, or the sheer history and beauty of the city -- that attracted me to it. Maybe it was just the hookah we smoked that night (I think that deserves a small post of its own), but Turkey was fun.
Because Muffinman constantly complains to me that I don't talk enough about my feelings in my travel posts, I will try to put a little more emphasis on them in this one.
As soon as we had gotten to the Sultan's Palace that morning, the fellow Turkish tourist above motioned to us that she would like a picture. We didn't know what she wanted a picture of -- we thought she wanted one of herself -- but it turned out she wanted a picture with Sam, a fellow Korean. In retrospect, I should have known. She kept asking us what our "origin" was (Europeans seem to place heavy emphasis on this) and when she found out Sam was Korean, she looked like she had hit the jackpot.
I also remember my own picture experience, although it was a bit more sketch than Sam's experience. I was in the Basilica Cistern, where it is almost pitch black, when these four Turkish men start talking with me. Of course, they didn't know English and I didn't know Turkish, but I ended up taking a picture with one of them and giving him a high-five. It also surprised me that there were a number of shops with Korean written on the windows, and that a lot of Turkish people would ask if we were Chinese or Korean over Japanese. Is it common for Turks to love Koreans so much that they take pictures with them randomly?
After finishing Spring Break and reflecting back on all the cities I visited, I would have to say Istanbul was one of my favourite ones. There was just something about the city -- the mosques dotting the city line, the calm water flowing through the two parts of the city, or the sheer history and beauty of the city -- that attracted me to it. Maybe it was just the hookah we smoked that night (I think that deserves a small post of its own), but Turkey was fun.
Compared to most of the cities we have been to in Europe, Istanbul definitely felt more religious. Not only were the towering minarets an indication of that but the Salah daily ritual prayers, five times a day, were a constant reminder that this is an Islamic nation. Although I do not think I cannot eat doner kebab everyday, or for a while now for that matter, learning about the history of the country from the inside-out rather than the outside-in made Istanbul a great experience.
You really do have to go to Istanbul to truly appreciate it -- the prayers they blasted through the mosques sent chills down my spine.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Summer opportunities
This summer will really be something to remember if I am able to pull off the things I am going to list.
First up is the CASIC internship run by the CAUSE organization, an Asian American special interest group that does lobbying in Sacramento. With them I will have the chance to meet state legislators and get some serious networking in. It is an 8 week program that offers a $1000 stipend, which seemed pretty awesome, except when I realized that I would be living around Pasadena and that the money would barely cover rent and food. I am not sure how this will help my marketing interests, but I simply cannot pass up such a great opportunity to meet people. Not to mention the fact that one of the UIS alums is helping me with my application.
I have actually begun talking with Philanthro Productions and it looks likely that I will have some relationship with them. However, everyone there is a volunteer meaning no one gets paid, which means I have to spend the summer in San Diego and pay for my living expenses out of my own pocket. The up side though is that I am able to work with a professional in the marketing industry, meaning a possible connection to a marketing firm. The value of this networking opportunity cannot be understated, though I am not sure if it is worth the living expenses.
Hopefully, I am able to get the internship with CAUSE and commute down to San Diego once or twice a week to work with Philanthro Productions. This way I can kill two birds with one stone and make it a very productive summer.
One of the long shots for this summer is an internship in Hong Kong. My mom suggested that I send my resume to a family friend who heads some sort of civil service department in Hong Kong and is extremely connected. I have yet to hear a response back and as the wait grows longer and my opportunities in San Diego become more concrete, an internship in Hong Kong seems very unlikely.
Catch me around Pasadena! Maybe!
- muffinman
First up is the CASIC internship run by the CAUSE organization, an Asian American special interest group that does lobbying in Sacramento. With them I will have the chance to meet state legislators and get some serious networking in. It is an 8 week program that offers a $1000 stipend, which seemed pretty awesome, except when I realized that I would be living around Pasadena and that the money would barely cover rent and food. I am not sure how this will help my marketing interests, but I simply cannot pass up such a great opportunity to meet people. Not to mention the fact that one of the UIS alums is helping me with my application.
I have actually begun talking with Philanthro Productions and it looks likely that I will have some relationship with them. However, everyone there is a volunteer meaning no one gets paid, which means I have to spend the summer in San Diego and pay for my living expenses out of my own pocket. The up side though is that I am able to work with a professional in the marketing industry, meaning a possible connection to a marketing firm. The value of this networking opportunity cannot be understated, though I am not sure if it is worth the living expenses.
Hopefully, I am able to get the internship with CAUSE and commute down to San Diego once or twice a week to work with Philanthro Productions. This way I can kill two birds with one stone and make it a very productive summer.
One of the long shots for this summer is an internship in Hong Kong. My mom suggested that I send my resume to a family friend who heads some sort of civil service department in Hong Kong and is extremely connected. I have yet to hear a response back and as the wait grows longer and my opportunities in San Diego become more concrete, an internship in Hong Kong seems very unlikely.
Catch me around Pasadena! Maybe!
- muffinman
Thursday, April 15, 2010
UIS 2010 Retreat
Last weekend, I went on the UIS retreat.
Where I discovered that UIS alumns are some of the most dedicated people I have ever met. A few of them came all the way from the bay area to help with the retreat. They cooked, cleaned and took care of us all during the retreat, all the while giving us excellent career and life advice. I wonder if I will be that dedicated to UIS after I graduate. One of the alumns is even helping me get an internship. I will be sending in my application to her directly, which hopefully will improve my chances.
Also, one of the main things that we did at the retreat was plan out the quarter's. It was during this time that I announced an idea that I had a week prior to the retreat. The plan is to start a UIS blog that gives our club much more transparency. Since our weekly meetings usually consist of a workshop or presentation from a professional in the industry, I decided it would be a great idea to start summarizing these presentations and put them in a blog so that they would be easily accessible to anyone who is interested in UIS. In addition, the posts will be supplemented by a 2 to 3 minute soundbite of the presentation. The UIS blog is now my new baby and I think it will really just round out the club's social media experience.
During the first and only hard night of drinking, I ended passing out on the couch and got drawn on for the first time. The guy seriously owned the shit out of me. I had a huge swastika on my forehead, inspired by Inglorious Basterds, penises on both my cheeks, a Hitler mustache and my whole nose blacked out. Thankfully, I woke up before it all dried and was able to get it all off without much hassle.
The team building activities were utterly ridiculous. One of the activities we had to do was the traditional video scavenger hunt. Members were split up into teams and given a list of tasks that they had to do and record on video. On it were some ridiculous things like run around the parking lot in your boxers, or walking up to a fast food cashier with a partner and exclaiming that you are so hungry you could just eat your partner up, then proceeding to lick his face. As a member of my team pointed out to me, we basically got hazed.
After the retreat, I really understand why all the Christian groups do it. It is most definitely a bonding experience, because there is something about being stuck in the middle of nowhere really brings people together. Suddenly, I know all the new officers by name and have really become friends, not just acquaintances, with the old ones.
-muffinman
Where I discovered that UIS alumns are some of the most dedicated people I have ever met. A few of them came all the way from the bay area to help with the retreat. They cooked, cleaned and took care of us all during the retreat, all the while giving us excellent career and life advice. I wonder if I will be that dedicated to UIS after I graduate. One of the alumns is even helping me get an internship. I will be sending in my application to her directly, which hopefully will improve my chances.
Also, one of the main things that we did at the retreat was plan out the quarter's. It was during this time that I announced an idea that I had a week prior to the retreat. The plan is to start a UIS blog that gives our club much more transparency. Since our weekly meetings usually consist of a workshop or presentation from a professional in the industry, I decided it would be a great idea to start summarizing these presentations and put them in a blog so that they would be easily accessible to anyone who is interested in UIS. In addition, the posts will be supplemented by a 2 to 3 minute soundbite of the presentation. The UIS blog is now my new baby and I think it will really just round out the club's social media experience.
During the first and only hard night of drinking, I ended passing out on the couch and got drawn on for the first time. The guy seriously owned the shit out of me. I had a huge swastika on my forehead, inspired by Inglorious Basterds, penises on both my cheeks, a Hitler mustache and my whole nose blacked out. Thankfully, I woke up before it all dried and was able to get it all off without much hassle.
The team building activities were utterly ridiculous. One of the activities we had to do was the traditional video scavenger hunt. Members were split up into teams and given a list of tasks that they had to do and record on video. On it were some ridiculous things like run around the parking lot in your boxers, or walking up to a fast food cashier with a partner and exclaiming that you are so hungry you could just eat your partner up, then proceeding to lick his face. As a member of my team pointed out to me, we basically got hazed.
After the retreat, I really understand why all the Christian groups do it. It is most definitely a bonding experience, because there is something about being stuck in the middle of nowhere really brings people together. Suddenly, I know all the new officers by name and have really become friends, not just acquaintances, with the old ones.
-muffinman
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
BAP Eyed Boys
So while I get on those spring break posts (it's been rough the past couple of days), in the meantime I felt it was prudent to turn to another matter -- one that relates to New York.
I've mentioned previously that I am part of a business frat (or honor society?) known as Beta Alpha Psi. Commitee elections are going on and I am running for a pledgemaster position and alumni relations position. I really do love BAP and what it's done for me. The people I've met through the frat and the friends I've made really made my own pledging experience memorable; I want to be in a position to give back and be just as awesome to the new pledges coming in as the upperclassmen were to me when I was a pledge.
Since I am studying abroad, I can't make a speech in New York to get others to vote for me, so instead I had to make a video. With two of my friends here in New York, we conspired to create something that would show our commitment to BAP. Inspired by Kpop, we decided to turn to Brown Eyed Girls's Abracadabra. Willing to throw away our pride and dignity, we created a video that we hoped would be memorable in the eyes of all those back in New York.
I posted the original music video for the song, so that people who don't know it can have some sort of a reference for what we were trying to go for.
Key points to takeaway are the gyrating hips, sexiness, and the sultriness of our intense gaze. What you don't see in the video is how difficult it was to get Jim to do everything Kevin and I forced him to do for the video. It must be an indication of how much he loves BAP. Perhaps our video will go down in BAP history as an example to look up to for all future videos made by study abroad students.
I now present the video we made for the committee elections. Enjoy.
-Emoinacloset
I've mentioned previously that I am part of a business frat (or honor society?) known as Beta Alpha Psi. Commitee elections are going on and I am running for a pledgemaster position and alumni relations position. I really do love BAP and what it's done for me. The people I've met through the frat and the friends I've made really made my own pledging experience memorable; I want to be in a position to give back and be just as awesome to the new pledges coming in as the upperclassmen were to me when I was a pledge.
Since I am studying abroad, I can't make a speech in New York to get others to vote for me, so instead I had to make a video. With two of my friends here in New York, we conspired to create something that would show our commitment to BAP. Inspired by Kpop, we decided to turn to Brown Eyed Girls's Abracadabra. Willing to throw away our pride and dignity, we created a video that we hoped would be memorable in the eyes of all those back in New York.
I posted the original music video for the song, so that people who don't know it can have some sort of a reference for what we were trying to go for.
Key points to takeaway are the gyrating hips, sexiness, and the sultriness of our intense gaze. What you don't see in the video is how difficult it was to get Jim to do everything Kevin and I forced him to do for the video. It must be an indication of how much he loves BAP. Perhaps our video will go down in BAP history as an example to look up to for all future videos made by study abroad students.
I now present the video we made for the committee elections. Enjoy.
-Emoinacloset
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Am I taking this too seriously?
Last night, Milan decided to be an ass again. Usually this is just another night at the apartment and I do not take it personally, but this time it involved my mom.
I was on the phone with my mom and Milan comes up and starts pretending to speak Chinese right next to me and loud enough so that my mom could hear it. I have told him not to do that in the past, yet here he is doing it again. After the phone call, I was very annoyed, so I talk to him about it yet again and more clearly this time tell him not to do that bullshit to my parents. He asked why and if it was because it was offensive, at which point I just got pissed and kneed him in the leg and walked away. Now I have a whiny apartment mate complaining about a dead leg.
Usually Milan mocking Chinese is not a big deal and though annoying, I do not make a big deal about it. We are all pretty offensive to each other around the apartment and cultural insensitivity is not an offensive topic to any of us. However, I do have a problem with it when it involves my parents. I believe that my parents deserve respect and should not be exposed to anything that would be offensive to them, especially about something as important to them as their culture. I most definitely show the same respect to all other parents and elders. Not sure why Milan cannot understand that though, maybe he needs me to spell it out like what I am doing in this post.
Surprisingly, he is not the only one with that opinion. When I talked to our mutual friend, Ashley L. about it, I was shocked that she thought I was over reacting and that it was not a big deal. She simply does not understand why it bothers me so much, and thinks Milan meant no harm (true) and I should just take it in stride. Apparently, she does not think her parents would be bothered by it if they heard one of her friends mocking Korean, which I highly doubt, but she knows her own parents better than I do. I found it ironic that she could not understand how this incident was just as offensive to me as the time Milan mocked Christianity to her face. Ashley believes that it is just a cultural difference that leads Milan to not be able understand the gravity of the situation. Though I always thought Western culture emphasized respect for elders as well?
In the morning, I talked to Kevin about it and he also agreed that it crosses the line which leads me to my question to all of you.
Do you think this is not a big deal and that I am just over reacting? Is this really not a big deal?
- muffinman
I was on the phone with my mom and Milan comes up and starts pretending to speak Chinese right next to me and loud enough so that my mom could hear it. I have told him not to do that in the past, yet here he is doing it again. After the phone call, I was very annoyed, so I talk to him about it yet again and more clearly this time tell him not to do that bullshit to my parents. He asked why and if it was because it was offensive, at which point I just got pissed and kneed him in the leg and walked away. Now I have a whiny apartment mate complaining about a dead leg.
Usually Milan mocking Chinese is not a big deal and though annoying, I do not make a big deal about it. We are all pretty offensive to each other around the apartment and cultural insensitivity is not an offensive topic to any of us. However, I do have a problem with it when it involves my parents. I believe that my parents deserve respect and should not be exposed to anything that would be offensive to them, especially about something as important to them as their culture. I most definitely show the same respect to all other parents and elders. Not sure why Milan cannot understand that though, maybe he needs me to spell it out like what I am doing in this post.
Surprisingly, he is not the only one with that opinion. When I talked to our mutual friend, Ashley L. about it, I was shocked that she thought I was over reacting and that it was not a big deal. She simply does not understand why it bothers me so much, and thinks Milan meant no harm (true) and I should just take it in stride. Apparently, she does not think her parents would be bothered by it if they heard one of her friends mocking Korean, which I highly doubt, but she knows her own parents better than I do. I found it ironic that she could not understand how this incident was just as offensive to me as the time Milan mocked Christianity to her face. Ashley believes that it is just a cultural difference that leads Milan to not be able understand the gravity of the situation. Though I always thought Western culture emphasized respect for elders as well?
In the morning, I talked to Kevin about it and he also agreed that it crosses the line which leads me to my question to all of you.
Do you think this is not a big deal and that I am just over reacting? Is this really not a big deal?
- muffinman
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Today, I Got S*** On By A Bird
3/26; Day 2; Istanbul, Turkey
Terrorizing foul beasts!
What a terrible way to start off Spring Break. It happened in the Grand Bazaar where there are thousands of shop owners trying to sell their goods: everything from traditional tapestries, clothes, and normal touristy souvenirs. Meanwhile, a bird pooped on my face. My friends say it’s lucky to get shit on by a bird, but how lucky can you be if you get shit on by a bird? The bomb hit me in my right eye and over my glasses. Thankfully, the laughing shop owner next to me gave me a couple of wet wipes and some tissues to wipe it off, but damn that was unfortunate. Good thing it was towards the end of the day, or else my entire day would have been ruined.
Crime scene
But back to the beginning, before I knew this was going to happen. We started our day early to go see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia which were conveniently located right across from each other.
Glimpse of Istanbul
-Emoinacloset
Terrorizing foul beasts!
What a terrible way to start off Spring Break. It happened in the Grand Bazaar where there are thousands of shop owners trying to sell their goods: everything from traditional tapestries, clothes, and normal touristy souvenirs. Meanwhile, a bird pooped on my face. My friends say it’s lucky to get shit on by a bird, but how lucky can you be if you get shit on by a bird? The bomb hit me in my right eye and over my glasses. Thankfully, the laughing shop owner next to me gave me a couple of wet wipes and some tissues to wipe it off, but damn that was unfortunate. Good thing it was towards the end of the day, or else my entire day would have been ruined.
Crime sceneBut back to the beginning, before I knew this was going to happen. We started our day early to go see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia which were conveniently located right across from each other.
Glimpse of Istanbul
We first went to the Hagia Sophia, originally an orthodox church during the Byzantine Empire, converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire, and now remade into a tourist haven. After trying out the precursor to chicken and rice for lunch, we headed to the Blue Mosque to check it out.
-Emoinacloset
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