Wish me luck

In the last three months much has happened in terms of friends, little of which was talked about in this blog.  So let’s start filling you all in.

Abroad, my friend situation is simply amazing.  Thanks to Whatsapp, a messaging app on my iPhone, I have managed to keep up with a lot of my friends that I made while in Shanghai, nearly all of whom reside across Asia.  Through text messages and pictures, I have rebuilt my relationship with Jeanni who provides with me words of confidence at just the right times.  Yanjia, who I barely talked to in Shanghai now periodically blows up my phone.  It is amazing how things have grown since I came back to California.  However, everything pales in comparison to how I managed to convince my Singaporean friend Wan Ching to come to the states for her grad trip.  She is arriving in San Diego in less than two weeks, driving from Washington DC and to say that I am excited about her visit would be an understatement.

On the home front, things have not fared as well.  I managed to lose two old friends in the same week due to petty arguments, the result of which has made me the question my significance to them.  The situation sucks, but I have never been averse to putting myself out there to get hurt and that is not going to stop now.  Kathy, the only new friend I made last quarter has graduated and gone back to Long Beach, meaning no more screaming mock fights or alcohol fueled study nights for the foreseeable future.  Furthermore, reconnecting with Ashley L. has stalled due to her continuously diminishing amount of free time. 

A silver lining to all of this bad news at home, is that I have gotten a lot of closer to Robocop.  His family moved to Korea last year, leaving him with no home for the holidays.  I offered him the floor in my room and he gladly accepted for the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.  The result has been the most fun that I have ever had on the holidays.  Jokes and loud laughter abound whenever we are together, in addition, he gets along with my family meaning that I do not have to.  Over the last month, we have become frighteningly comfortable with each other and though living with Robocop has revealed a great many annoying quirks that I never knew about, I can honestly say now that I am confident we will be friends for life.       

Tomorrow, I am returning to a lonelier San Diego with fewer friends than I started with.  Not a new phenomenon, but a definite sign that I am going to need to be more social this quarter and make more friends.  

  

Wish me luck.

-muffinman 

Pride in my friend

I have been writing a lot of negative entries lately, due to melancholy streak I have been experiencing lately.  This entry seeks to change this up.  Positive and praising posts are just too rare on this blog.

While talking to Ashley H. about people who are proud of me, or rather a lack thereof, she asked me if I was proud of any of my friends.  The question caught me off guard, as I had never thought of having pride in my friends before.  I mulled the question over in my mind before coming up with an unlikely answer. 

There is pride to be had in this friend because of the way he changed.  He reaffirms my belief in the plasticity humanity and gives me hope that I can continue to change as well.  Thinking about how he has grown gives me pause.

Eric

Back in high school, I used to make fun of Eric for having no personality.  He was always the nice guy who was content on just going with the flow. Even though I had no vested interest in his ambitions, it inexplicably bothered me that he had none.  I just could not understand how someone could be so passive and yet be so content. 

Sometime in college, that all changed when Eric joined some business fraternity.  He started wanting to change things because he was unsatisfied with how they were.  In the beginning, the ambition was weak, he used to tell me a laundry list of problems about his fraternity, but when it came to solutions he was never willing to put in the effort.  As time went by, that gradually changed.  Eric took up increasingly more important leadership roles within his fraternity leading to bigger commitments and achievements. Whenever I saw Eric back at home, he seemed a little more confident, standing a just that little bit taller each time.

Most impressive of all is how Eric managed to do it all his own way.  He did not turn into a dick or fake as so many do when they take up leadership positions.  Eric is still that nice and chill guy that I remember from high school.  I seriously think he bullies people into doing things with his niceness and that is something to be respected. 

UCSD Characters

Ashley

I wish I had a better picture!

Different Ashley this time around, since my usual rock is currently studying abroad in England.  Cheery, Christian, sweet, exceedingly considerate, humble and possessing one of the most heartwarming smiles I have ever seen, this Ashley is my new foil. 

Fortunately, Ashley and I do have similarities, namely a penchant for spontaneous acts.  Ashley has become my go to girl for this quarter, joining me on numerous spontaneous acts.  Whether it would be something mischievous like sneaking out to the cliffs to see the bioluminescence or monotonous as grabbing lunch, she is always available and game.

Funny thing about me spending almost every other day with Ashley these days is that upon first seeing her at UCSD, I was intent on avoiding her.  I considered someone from my past that was best left there.  Only through her persistence in trying to say hello to me, did we manage to reconnect as friends.  And for that I am incredibly grateful because this quarter would be lacking a lot of life without her.

Kevin

We sleep in the same room

Roommate chronicles are back!  I have lived with Kevin every year that I have been at UCSD and one thing I have learned is that the hilarity never stops with him.  Already this quarter, Kevin has missed his midterm after not knowing it got rescheduled and gone to the ER for an ear infection (five days before he told me that he was losing hearing in his left ear and I responded by telling him to get that checked out) then grazed a runner’s leg with his car due to excruciating pain.   

Living with Kevin has made me remember how awesome having a roommate is as it definitely keeps the loneliness at bay and provides great stories.  Kevin and I picked up where we left off sophomore year and our friendship has continued to grow.   These days, we even cook together regularly, though by cooking, I mean that he cuts and washes the vegetables.  Sometimes it seems a little gay sometimes when we are in the kitchen together, but I tell everybody anyway because it makes me feel impressive.  An added bonus is that telling annoys Kevin because apparently, he has a straight image to keep up.      

Sarah

A missed connection in high school, Sarah and I became good friends in college to the surprise of many.  There seemingly always needs to be a devout Christian in my group of friends and Sarah has been that friend for a very long time.  Exceptionally awkward and clueless, Sarah is a goldmine burst out loud laughing moments.  Paired with all of Sarah’s peculiarities is a big heart and sweet personality that leads her to try to help all those in need.     

Sarah and I seem to have gotten closer after my period in Shanghai.  She used to tell me how terrible it was that she lost her closest friend at UCSD.  Unfortunately, upon my return to UCSD, Sarah has become impossibly hard to hang out with due to her devotion to her studies and terrible communication skills. Every year, it seems I am able to spend less and less time with her.

Kathy

We have too much fun together so we have to work apart

Loud, obnoxious and crass, Kathy is the most violent friend I have ever had and this includes guys too.  Almost every time we meet up there is punching, pinching and a lot of smack talk.  The night before the midterm, we ended up wrestling around the apartment and at one point Kathy tried to choke me with both of her hands on my neck.  Needless to say, hanging out with Kathy is a blast and always full of loud laughter. 

Kathy is the only completely new character this quarter and I met her in my language and culture class.  Sadly, she is graduating this quarter so this friendship has all the signs of being short lived. 

Diane

I left for Shanghai with Diane furious at me after having ditched meeting her because she was with her boyfriend.  Thankfully, old friends die hard and we have reconnected since I got back.  Diane is kind of a contradictory character in my eyes.  She complains and stresses quite often but yet still manages to maintain the image of being relaxed, as if nothing fazes her.        

Meeting up with her tends to bring a calming effect to my day.  We spend most of our time conversing about every aspect of our lives over copious amounts of coffee (as evidenced by the 6 cups I drank today and the reason I am writing this post at 5 in the morning).  However, there never seems to be enough time to finish our conversation.    

New Semester, New Characters

With just a month left in Shanghai, it is time for another character’s post. This time around, there are no angels or saviors that my life in Shanghai revolves around. Hell, there are not even any UC students on the list this this semester and I am hanging out with people my own age. It is a completely different semester in almost every aspect.

Emanuele

Always the alcohol with this guy

I think everybody needs a sleazy Italian in their life who repeatedly tells you to cut the bullshit and just fuck whenever you are with a girl. Always the jokester, hanging out with Emanuele is always a fun and alcoholic albeit expensive affair. Despite harboring some illogical resentment against Californians, Emanuel and I see each other almost every week. I should have hung out with him last semester when I first met him, but back then he was just this MBA friend’s sleazy roommate.

Singaporeans
Once again, I find myself on the outside of the UC group for various personal reasons. This time I have thrown my lot in with the Singaporeans, who with their genuine personalities and exceptional kindness have won me over.

Felicia

If only Felicia was as good of a classmate as she is a friend

Felicia and I quickly became partners for our class project because we sat close to each other, which turned out to be a huge mistake because both of us do not care about the class. Initially I had wanted to drop the class but because I had already committed to being Felicia’s partner so I stayed. Now every week I exchange two and a half hours of my life for a friend that is always ready to help me out when I need it. A great listener and conversationist, I am lucky to have met Felicia as soon as I did because I certainly needed a friend that was close to home.

Wan Ching

Too energetic to hold still for a proper picture

Not quite sure, how I became friends with Wan Ching but one thing is certain, I spend a lot of time with her. The first time I met Wan Ching, I was struck by the amount of energy that radiated from her. Seemingly always running at a hundred and ten percent, Wan Ching is fun to have around and even now, her extremely energetic responses catch me off guard. Our time here in Shanghai maybe running out, but Wan Ching has strong aspirations to work in the US and I have a feeling that she is not going to let anything stop her. The question is not if but when am I going to see her after leaving Shanghai.

Dawn

So much silliness went into getting this shot

The one word that I use to describe Dawn to everybody I meet is “crazy” and this is usually followed by me grabbing at the air around my head four or five times in an attempt to illustrate her scatter brained personality. Hilariously, people who have met her usually understand what I am getting at. However, as much as I make fun of Dawn for being Buzz Lightyear (spaced out) all the time, I would not have her any other way. Dawn always manages to lighten the mood with her corny jokes, which she half mumbles with great enthusiasm. If I am ever down in Shanghai, Dawn is the first one I call because she makes me laugh just by being herself.

-muffinman

Major and Minor Characters

With less than a month left for this semester, this entry about the characters in my Shanghai life cannot wait any longer. Now you can put a face to a name when you read it!

Major Characters


Jeanni

The angel during my first 48 hours in Shanghai and now my big sister, hopefully for life, Jeanni is the closest thing I have to family here in China. Our shared interest in all things out of the ordinary, along with her daring and heart always makes her a welcome addition to anything I do, but you already knew that if you have been reading my blog posts because she sure shows up in a lot of them. Even though she never seems to have time for me anymore (or as much time as I want) Jeanni still manages to take care of me, which I am thankful for. Looking forward to starting a chapter of a nonprofit with her in the coming months and, of course, going to try hard to keep in touch with this amazing girl once she leaves Shanghai.



Crystal

My go to girl for whenever I need company for an adventure, Crystal always seems to have free time and the willingness to do something,. There were a couple of weeks when I spent nearly every day with her because she was always available to explore. As a person, Crystal manages to be a walking contradiction. She is openly opinionated yet frustratingly secretive, often quite bold but other times very shy, and most intriguingly, shamelessly brash while having a huge heart. As a friend, Crystal is one that can always be counted on, as evidenced by her willingness let me pass out drunk in her bed with a broken heart. With this in mind, it looks like I have another good friend in New York, watch out Emoinacloset you have some competition now.



Linda

Hands down my favorite person out of the whole UC program, Linda is the down to earth architect from Berkeley who I always feel comfortable talking to. It is actually a shame that I did not start getting close to her till so late in the semester. She has some great insight and I wish I had more time to dig out more of it. At times Linda has been known to be very direct, but whenever I seem upset by something she said, she quickly takes it back and passes it off as a joke, a sign of her soft heartedness. If fortune allows, I hope to run into her again once I get back to the states.


Minor Characters


Varun

The big brother in the apartment, Varun cooks, cleans and keeps me on the level. In many ways Varun is Jeanni’s foil and has kept me firmly grounded during my stay in Shanghai. It was him who knocked some sense into me when I hit rock bottom in Shanghai. Despite being a fairly safe guy, Varun does have some mischief in him, which makes him a willing participant to some of the dumb things that I do. With the addition of Varun, it looks like I am fast building an international family.



Elena

Innocent, shy and sweet are the words that come to mind when I think of Elena, coincidentally those are also the words that least describe me. So it is no small wonder that I am able to have hours long conversations with this foil of mine. Elena’s youth (just a sophomore!) hides much wisdom and in many ways she reminds me of Ellie, just younger and less experienced. Look for Elena to start showing up in blog posts when I get back to San Diego.



Nick

I am not quite sure how to describe Nick other than constantly shifting. Nick acts very differently depending on who he is around so my experience with him ranges from annoyance to appreciation. A self proclaimed follower, Nick is wherever the action is, which surprisingly means that I am around him a lot.

-muffinman

Moon Festival with new Friends

Winter invited me out to lunch for the moon festival, little did I know that I was going to be spending the whole day with him and his friends.

Nick, a UC Irvine student, and I met up with Winter at nearby restaurant. Winter arrived with a group of his high school friends and interestingly, two of the girls that came with him were dressed in military uniforms. Nick commented that meeting girls in military uniforms in the middle of Shanghai could only happen when he hung out with me.


Uniforms?!

The uniforms intrigued me as well because I had seen students at Fudan wear military uniforms and I had heard from a Fudan MBA student that students were required to undergo military training at some point during their college years. The two girls in uniform attended Jiatong University, which is also in Shanghai, and they told me that freshman have to go through mandatory military training for two weeks. “Military training” was explained to me as a lot of running and marching, which all the students apparently hated. This was far from the strict military training I had imagined, though after a second thought, I cannot imagine Fudan students doing any sort of hard military training.

The girls Winter brought with him were fascinated with me and Nick, which led to some pretty interesting moments. At first everybody was a bit shy, but as I began to ask questions, the conversation started flowing. I learned their strange English names of which Beryl and Shining were the two names that stood out. It seems that some family member chose their English names and I believe they had no idea what they were doing. Lunch conversation veered onto the topic of dating and relationships as they always seem to. Winter and his friend spoke of having multiple ex-girlfriends, which was extremely surprising and made me out to be the inexperienced one at the table.


Group picture

After lunch, there was talk about going to karaoke (KTV). I had never gone KTVing before and was actually quite nervous about it. I have an irrational fear of singing and dancing, which has carried over from god knows when. To make matters worse, Nick left me as soon as we arrived at the KTV place because he had only slept a measly three hours and suddenly felt sick. The whole KTV was embarrassing, as expected, with me singing terribly off key, and not knowing the words to many of the English songs I selected. It was still good fun and the other people were very encouraging and kind, easing the blow to my pride a little. I am not sure why, but it seems that Chinese students are all quite decent at KTV. Maybe they practice a lot? Especially the girls, they were extremely impressive in all the songs that they sang. After my first KTV experience, I swear I am never going go through such an ordeal again sober.


She was the best out everybody, if only I remembered her name


Not quite sure how this happened because I can barely understand mandarin

After KTV, we went back to their dorms, and I got see firsthand the normal student dormitories. Their dorms were about the size of my room, except that they crammed four people into them. Suddenly my dorm room in San Diego seemed luxurious. After KTV, I also began to notice that Beryl was a little bit too interested in me. I could never escape from her for too long and at times it got awkward. Nick later agreed that she did seem far too interested.

We ended the night with dinner at Ajisen, a Japanese ramen chain, after meeting up with Nick again, and some other UC students. What I thought was going to be a lonely moon festival, turned out to be one of the most interesting and hospitable days I have had in Shanghai.
I think I can check off meeting and befriending local students off my Shanghai to do list after today. Who knew I would accomplish that goal so quickly?

Moon Festival Album

-muffinman

Night out alone

There might be some explaining to do after tonight. Friends might be wondering how I ended up at a Celine Dion playing bar by myself sipping an overly expensive whiskey sour while writing this. Especially, since I had come to the French Concession with these friends with the intention of going clubbing and sticking together.

I had never planned to go clubbing tonight. I had originally turned down the invitation, like I always do, and intended on spending the night celebrating Diwali with the Indians. However, Diwali celebrations were cut short when Varun no longer wanted to go to Helen’s, a bar. My UC friends, offered a plan B, which was to go clubbing, without really having to go clubbing. Nick told me that the venue that they were going to had a lounge element to it, which sounded like a great idea. However, while waiting for everyone to get ready, cracks in the plan B started to show. It began with the talk of going to a different venue that was entirely a club. Then, Nick started to get very fuzzy over his description of the original venue, not being entirely sure how much of a lounge it really was.

No surprise then that throughout the time that I was waiting for everyone to gather, I was expressing doubts about going. Each time, however, I was talked into going by either Linda or Nick and for awhile I thought I would actually be able to go. The venue was changed at the last minute to Soho and when I arrived and heard the bass of the club, familiar feelings of dread began to arise. I felt myself begin to shut down again like I had at senior ball, so I asked Linda to walk with me and help me find some liquid courage. Unfortunately, there was no bar in sight and when Linda suggested we walk back, I took a few steps back towards the club and realized that there really was no way I could go back. Linda tried her best to convince me to walk back, but I told her that everybody has something that they just cannot do, and clubbing was that thing for me. I followed up by telling her that I did not want to ruin her night and that she should not worry about me and with that Linda gave up and walked back towards the club.

After Linda left, I ended up walking around the area and exploring a little. At one point, I noticed a bar and restaurant playing soft music, which was a sharp contrast to the loud bass heavy music coming from all the other venues. It also helped that it was on a quiet street away from everything else. I took note of it the first time I passed it and continued my exploring. When I got tired of being accosted by black taxi drivers and men pushing what I thought were prostitutes, I made my way back to the Van Gogh bar. I must have been a curious sight to the wait staff, sitting at a table alone drinking a whiskey sour while scribbling in my notebook. The atmosphere at the bar was extremely relaxing and I would have stayed longer and ordered a glass of wine had the waiter not told me that they closed at 1am and when I asked it was 2am.
I left the bar and once again wondered what now? Deciding it was still way too early to go back and determined not to waste my taxi fare coming here, I began walking to Xintiandi, another night life area. The only problem was that I did not have a map but I managed to find a subway station and by using my subway map, I determined that I needed to walk North-East to get to Xintiandi. In my mind, I half doubted that I would succeed in getting there and I figured that I would just hail a cab home once I got tired of being lost.

The hour long walk to Xintiandi was an experience in of itself. The French concession is an extremely old neighborhood with rows of trees lining the streets, which meant that often times I found myself walking in very dimly lit streets. Thankfully, I had my Emerson on me at the time to give me confidence and I was able to make it all the way to Xintiandi with no trouble at all. Many times, I wished I had brought my camera because I just wanted to capture the creepy feeling of being alone on a dark and deserted street surrounded by old and sometimes crumbling buildings.

Xintiandi was closed by the time I got there and my hopes of grabbing another drink were dashed at 3am. Finally deciding that I had done enough exploring, I grabbed a cab and headed home.
With that story, there are some apologies and one thank you to be said. Sorry to everyone for walking away without any warning, though I know at the end of the night you all had fun and I was the last thing on your mind. Sorry to Linda for putting you on the spot and making you walk back to the club by yourself. Sorry to Lu for not wishing you a happy birthday and leaving your event without saying goodbye.

Thank you Crystal for caring enough to call and text to see if I was doing alright and then checking up on me at the end of the night, even if it was out of annoyance that I had left without telling you. Sorry for not telling you that I was leaving, I know you expected me to at least say something to you if I was to tell anybody at all. Also sorry for not being able to promise that I will not do this again, you must understand, I am just difficult like that.

-muffinman

First 48 hours in Shanghai

The only way that I have been able to survive these past two days in Shanghai is through the kindness of strangers.

On my flight to Shanghai, I sat next to an older Asian woman who spoke English extremely well. I helped her with her bags and proceeded to ask her where she was from. Diana, name of the woman sitting next to me, answered she was from Los Angeles and we began connecting over the city once I told her I had been interning there for the past two months. The rest of the flight was spent learning about her career as a furniture sales woman, the life of her kids and of course China. I genuinely found her life’s story fascinating and after exchanging contact information, I left the plane feeling extremely confident that my Shanghai adventure was off to a great start.

Upon passing through customs, a driver was waiting for me with sign in hand. The driver was sent by a family friend who lived in Shanghai and had heard that I was coming to Fudan from one of my aunts. The driver handed me an envelope with a letter from the family friend’s secretary and a phone card. I was instructed to call the family friend so that he could tell the driver where to take me because the driver only spoke mandarin. This is where I ran into my first language problem. I called the family friend’s number only to have it say that the number I had dialed had been disconnected. The driver tried calling the friend with his own phone but to no avail. Attempting to communicate with me, the driver asked in mandarin if I could understand him. I nodded yes because from my Cantonese I was able to make out what he had said, however, his following sentence made absolutely zero sense to me. Any belief that my Cantonese could get me by in Shanghai evaporated in that moment. Undaunted, I handed the driver a card with the address of the dorm. He nodded and we were off!

I must give thanks for the driver, because he went out of his way to find Tohee, the private dorm I am staying at. He stopped multiple times and got out of the car asking for directions. When we arrived at Tohee, he made every effort to make sure I was able to check in before leaving. His help was extremely appreciated.

At the front desk was where I met Jeanni, a Korea University MBA student who was studying at Fudan for the semester. I was having trouble communicating with the man at the check in because he spoke no English and I had in my typical fashion neglected to read the instructions given to me by my program. So here I was trying to get the man at the front desk to understand that my name was on some list for a room and up walks Jeanni with a question about the cost of the dryer. She notices the communication problem I was having and told me that the man was asking if I had paid my deposit. At that point in time, I had no idea that Jeanni actually spoke no mandarin and that she had simply guessed about what the man had said, in hindsight her attempt in helping me actually made things worse, but at the time I was extremely appreciative of her help. Eventually, I pull out my netbook and point to the room number I was assigned and my name was found on that list I knew existed and I was shown my room.

As I unpacked, I realized that not knowing the language was going to be a much bigger problem than I had initially thought and more importantly I had no idea how and where to get dinner. My thoughts quickly turned to Jeanni and I was wishing I would run into her again so that I could get something to eat. Thankfully, I did manage to run into her again as she was still having problems with the dryer an hour later. After I told her rather meekly that I had no idea where to eat, she offered to take me to dinner. At the end of the night, I just felt incredibly lucky to have met another person who was willing to help me.

The next day, the same desperation for food occurred again and as hard as I wished, there was just no running into Jeanni this time to bail me out. Instead, I just wandered the nearby streets in search of food. There were a lot of food stalls around but time and time again I simply did not have the nerve to approach the vendors and try to gesture out what I wanted. Dejected, I walked into a bookstore hoping to find a map of Shanghai and China, so as to get my mind off food. That is when I ran into Hugo, a Frenchman who had just completed his two semesters at Fudan, doing the same two UC EAP programs as me. Hugo was buying maps and he was doing it in mandarin. I was extremely impressed and I approached him for help in buying a map, which was later followed by “can you help me find a place to eat?” He offered to eat with me and I was relieved that I did not have to figure out how to order. At lunch, Hugo told me all about his experiences in China, answered all my questions and gave me a lot of advice about how to survive. He told sympathized with my plight because he was in the same position when he landed in Shanghai, though he had the company of three other Frenchman. Out of thankfulness, I paid for Hugo’s meal and for the second time in two days, I was saved by the graces of a stranger. In fact, later that day I locked myself out of my apartment and had to call Hugo to ask how to get the front desk to open the door for me. Hugo went so far as to come down from his apartment and accompany me to the front desk to help me. I was very grateful.

If I continue to meet such kind strangers, I believe that I will be able to get by in Shanghai just fine.

-muffinman

Woke up in the USA and went to sleep in Hong Kong

Continuing the trend of my aunt ruining my week, she drove me to the airport. It was a fairly miserable ride because her car was covered in dog hair and my allergies decided to kick up. I have no idea how my grandma deals with being in that car for 10 hours at a time.

I had forgotten how beautiful the San Francisco airport was and it definitely felt good to be back, there was even an exhibit set up celebrating the city Shanghai. I took it as a sign that Shanghai is where I should be. On the flight I sat next to someone who was wearing an EAP (UC Study abroad program) shirt. I had seen him earlier in line while waiting to board and what a great surprise that I ended up sitting next to him. I introduced myself as an EAP student as well and learned that he was going to study at Hong Kong University for a semester. For the rest of the flight, I told him of the few places I knew in Hong Kong and he taught me some very basic mandarin of which I only remember bits and pieces of. Meeting a fellow EAP student had me feeling quite lucky because I always seem to meet the right people at the right time.



My aunt is on the right

At the airport I was picked up by my aunt, who I had not seen for five years and who just barely recognized me. My aunt was going to be my keeper for the next three days, she never let me out of her sight. I only managed to get away with her once for about two hours but that was only because I was meeting Dr. Fung. I swear my aunt must have thought I was five years old because she never let me carry or hold anything while we were walking around Hong Kong. Every bag I had to fight to keep it out of her grasp. I simply felt bad letting my aunt take everything, but many times she did when I was not paying attention. My aunt was a great host, she took me everywhere I needed to go, bought me everything I wanted to eat and planned everything perfectly. The only downside was that she would constantly nag me about the same things over and over again. Who needs a mom if you have an aunt like that? On the last day I was in Hong Kong, my aunt called up her friend who had just moved to Shanghai and introduced me to her. My aunt told me that if I ever needed any help that I could call her friend Rainbow.


With my Godmother

On Wednesday I had dinner with my godmother, who is probably my favorite person in Hong Kong and for good reason too. My godmother is young at heart, which makes being around her a blast. As a general rule, when I visit Hong Kong I pretty much get anything I want, but my godmother takes it to the next level and tonight it was with the alcohol. One of the family friends that was invited half complained and half joked that he had wanted to bring some bottles of wine to dinner but that my godfather had told him to set a good example and not bring them. Well after I told my godmother that I drink in college, she immediately ordered a bottle of wine worth over a thousand Hong Kong dollars, this was in addition to the beer that I already had. The rest of the night was spent taking pictures, discussing how strict and uptight my mom was and how terrible they all thought her gingerbread cookies were when she used to mail them for Christmas. A lot of time was spent on how I should be wary of Shanghai girls because they were very good at seducing men and they would be eyeing my passport. My godmother even told me a horror story of how her friend’s son went to Shanghai fell in love with a woman that was eleven years older than him, which caused his mother a lot of grief. The night ended with goodbyes and more advice on staying safe in Shanghai.



Hopefully not the last picture I take with my grandparents

I visited my grandparents on two separate occasions because the first time that I went, my grandfather was sleeping so I was unable to see him. I had heard from my parents about how much my grandmother’s memory had deteriorated but I was still shocked when I experienced it for myself. In a span of five minutes I must have answered the same question about going to Shanghai, seven to eight times. She could also barely remember who I was, having to ask my aunt repeatedly if I was my mom’s son. Yet despite all of this, she seemed genuinely happy to see me, so much so that I decided to come back the next day. Meeting my grandfather the next day had its share of surprises as well. One of the first things that my grandfather notices about me when I sit down is how thick my arm is. He even squeezed my bicep a little as if to make sure it is muscle, and he was even more impressed when I told him I had started to do martial arts. I was once again warned, this time by my grandparents to be wary of Shanghai girls. Before I left, I took a picture with them, which could quite possibly be the last picture I have of them together.



Dr. John Fung

The last thing on my schedule was a meeting with Dr. Fung, an elementary school friend of my dad. Dr. Fung is the director of the Hong Kong Council of Social Services, an umbrella group of non-profits in Hong Kong. He told me of the various social media projects that he was working on and it all sounded extremely exciting. In my head, I wish he had offered me an opportunity to intern at his office, but that never happened. Before I left, Dr. Fung gave me a letter of introduction and a book to give to a professor of journalism in Fudan. In addition, he gave me an article written by the professor about internet use in China which I found interesting. The only problem was that Dr. Fung was not sure how good the professor’s English was but judging from the article that the professor wrote, which was in English, I think I should be able to communicate.

With a new phone, sunglasses and a handful of new contacts I left Hong Kong on a Friday afternoon for Shanghai.

Additional Pictures of Hong Kong

- muffinman

Interning in Los Angeles (Part 4)

The most enjoyable part of the internship are not the events I attend, nor the rich, famous and powerful figures that I meet at them, but rather the chance to work with and befriend such an amazing group of people.  This is by far the best team that I have ever worked with and it is my pleasure to introduce some of the people that I work with on this blog.

Christian

Simply stated, Christian is the heart of the team. His bouncing off the wall personality combined with his off the cuff remarks can cheer anyone up in a split second. Always the one to cut the tension in the room, frequently puts himself out there with no fear of embarrassment. Throughout the internship, he repeatedly assured me that he had my back and stayed true to his word. While others faltered and shirked their responsibilities, Christian could be counted on to pick up the ball. I would often joke to the other interns that all Christian had was heart, because some of the things he did were just plain ridiculous. However, I would always follow that joke up by saying that heart is sometimes all you need and that you cannot teach it.

With Christian’s big heart come big dreams of one day becoming a congressman and being able to serve the community. Usually I am highly skeptical of people who claim to want to serve the community because often times it is nothing but lies. When I talked to Christian about his dreams, I saw in his eyes and heard in his voice a very real and strong conviction to help the community. Witnessing Christian’s compassion for the homeless convinced me of his willingness to help his fellow man. At the first event I went to, I found myself with Christian and his girlfriend talking to homeless people. Christian and his girlfriend actively reached out to these two homeless persons, going as far as offering to buy them food. I really admired him for that because in all honesty I would not have given those a passing glance much less talk to them.

I believe in Christian so much that if he were to ever run for public office, I would be the first one to join his campaign because I know he will always have the interests of the community at heart.


Monica

Christian extraordinaire, excessively frail, incredibly lame, ridiculously cutesy and a great friend are just some of the things that come to mind about the intern that I became closest to at the end of the program. Monica’s picture is deceivingly reserved, but under the layers of calm lies a strong willed personality. By far the most overworked and abused intern in terms of her office assignment, Monica handled it all with grace, only complaining about her situation after I repeatedly pointed out how terrible it was. Working on the project, she was one of the interns that I counted on the most due to her journalism experience and work ethic. Even now, I am not quite sure how she managed to accomplish all the things I assigned her.

More than being a great worker, Monica was an even better friend. I always felt comfortable talking to her and more importantly, she seemed to genuinely care about my well being. She was constantly concerned about how obsessed I was getting with the project and work; and gave me a hard time about being a workaholic. A mother at heart, Monica would roll her eyes and sigh every time I swore or did something immature. Often times, she was the voice of reason and compassion to my irrational and harsh outbursts.

Monica’s large capacity to care and great understanding of me (oddly enough) leads me to believe that she will be a close friend for the foreseeable future.


Kristina

I spent by far the most time with Kristina during my eight weeks in Los Angeles. She was the only intern with whom I would spend late nights at the office with. Kristina has the uncanny ability to work with absolutely no sleep and not look tired the next day. There was no question of her dedication and skill, in fact, most of the handbook design was done by her. Kristina’s handbook design surpassed my expectations and I cannot fathom how terrible the handbook would have looked without her.

Even though she dressed the most professional out of all the interns, Kristina has quite the wild side. Her stories of almost getting into fights and being extremely possessive of her boyfriend were extremely surprising given the fact that she does not drink and for the most part walks the line. In addition to being wild, Kristina is one of the most generous people I know. Her constant need to pay and unwillingness to let me repay her, however, admirable, bordered on the annoying. Talking to Kristina always made me feel appreciated. She gave me confidence throughout the internship without even realizing it.

Despite all of this, the most memorable thing about Kristina was the fact that she gave me the best goodbye hug I have ever received!