vietnam trip

i'm flying out of SFO at midnight tonight to visit vietnam, my country of origin! it'll be my first time to vietnam (as well as to asia). i'm going on vacation with my family. we'll be returning on the 1st, so it's a rather short trip, but i'm sure it'll be great. we're flying via china air to taipei, then to ha noi via vietnam air. it'll take about 18 hours in all (not so much looking forward to that... need to pick out a book to bring, as well as make sure the ipod is charged).

my mom and dad haven't been back in 26 and 34 years, respectively. that's a lifetime (more than my lifetime, even)! i'm sure vietnam has changed a lot over the years. it'll be interesting to see my parents' reactions. it'll be interesting to see *my* reaction :P a coworker bluntly informed me that i would "freak out". i don't know if it'll be that bad, since i already have the advantage of actually being vietnamese and being familiar with the culture, but it will probably be quite a change. all the better!

i think mostly we intend to be tourists, but we're also going to see my grandfather (who just a couple of years ago moved back), as well as some of my parents' cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. i've never met any of them, and i don't speak vietnamese too well, so it may be a little awkward. i'm sure they'll remark on how tall i am! i think a quarter of our luggage consists of gifts for relatives. among these items are chocolates, soap, and lotion. somehow i find it odd that i'm lugging a big box of soap to vietnam. my mom tells me that they only have plain soap, and the american kind is expensive (though still cheaper than here, i'm guessing?). i'm not sure why we can't just buy american soap once we're in vietnam (and i don't think my mom has an answer either), but mom knows best! :) this is one of the things i need to figure out on this trip :P

i'm hoping to be able to upload pics onto my flickr account regularly, but i'm not sure if internet cafes will allow me to plug my memory card reader into their machines. we'll see! i'll definitely try to write in this blog though.

i'm off to finish packing :)

google holiday party 2005

i went to the google holiday party (pics) in san francisco friday evening. here's the flyer for the event:

Grab your passport, pack light and join us for Jetaway!

Visit Bombay where vibrant colors, energetic dancers and intoxicating music saturate your senses.

Google McDougal's Irish pub awaits you in Dublin with rousing Irish music, silly pub trivia, televised chess championships and perhaps a glimpse of a Leprechaun!

Don't forget your singing voice in Tokyo where karaoke pods, live martial arts and a glimpse of Harajuku awaits you and your friends in our Ginza district.

After the cool, modern edge of Tokyo come visit Brazil and relax in our sunny park, listen to Brazilian music and play a little soccer with some of Brazil's best!

London's ultra-hip, invitation-only Underground club rounds out your fantastic trip. Venture in the deserted subway station, where the DJ's will be battling, street dancers performing and the bass is thumping as you dance the night away.

it was a good time, though we arrived at 10pm (party ended at 12am), and missed out on a bit of the food (the sushi was supposedly good). the after-party at club q was a bit lacking, but an adventure nonetheless. thanks for the invite, dave!

goodbye, joerg!

today was joerg's last day at almaden. he was the first person i worked with when i started with webfountain. he's a great guy in more ways than i could say, and it's kind of surprising how sad i am to see him go. there have been many people leaving IBM for yahoo! and google the past year, but none that i really personally knew. i never expected to feel emotional about seeing a coworker leave. i guess i always subconciously thought of work as a necessity, something one does to put food on the table (or something like that ;)). however, i recognize how much more of a role it actually does play in my life, and especially how the people i work with influence me. in the past i've told interviewers that my ideal job is one where i can do interesting and challenging work. i now realize that the work is not nearly as important as intelligent, inspiring, passionate and generally wonderful coworkers. thanks for everything, joerg! =*)

this is how i'll remember joerg:
Joerg Meyer: any questions?
Joerg Meyer: ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????????????????????????
Joerg Meyer: had too much coffee

too many asians?

the wall street journal (online) published an article titled "The New White Flight". it describes two silicon valley high schools (one of them, lynbrook, being my alma mater) with suberb academic reputations, but states that they are "losing white students as Asian students move in".

the article attributes the observed phenomenon to "white flight". in other words, white parents are purposefully avoiding the districts these high schools are in, and sending their children to schools that are less asian. young white families say they are "avoiding cupertino altogether" (not because of housing prices, of course). white parents are leaving because "the schools are too academically driven and too narrowly invested in subjects such as math and science at the expense of liberal arts and extracurriculars like sports and other personal interests" (even though almost all my classmates busted their asses participating in band, drama, speech and debate, sports, volunteer clubs, student government, etc.). one woman's son took the high school exit exam, and left the school to avoid academic pressure (not surprising, since he's now working at a pet-supply store). a monta vista graduate stated he wouldn't send his kids to his alma mater: "It was a sheltered little world that didn't bear a whole lot of resemblance to what the rest of the country is like." he recently graduated from yale. sorry to say, yale probably does not bear a whole lot of resemblance to rest of the country (the rest being full of pretty dumb people).

actually, i guess i'm being a little unfair (quoting only bits and pieces of the article and all :)). but really, what is the reason for so many darn asians at these high schools? i think it may just be that they have crazy reputations among the asian community, and so houses on the market are instantaneously snatched up by asian families at any cost. considering that there are more or less a constant number of homes available, the asian population will only rise over time.

i definitely noticed that there were a lot of asians when i was at lynbrook, but i also never thought white classmates as out of place (maybe the black students, but only because there were a grand total of maybe two). i have to admit though that going to college, i probably felt somewhat more at ease interacting with asian classmates. at the beginning, it definitely also felt a little odd that there were so few asians (~20%, compared to 50%+). however, it didn't really take long to get over that.

in conclusion:
1. i didn't know the wall street journal published such crap (maybe just the online version?).
2. i wish everything would stop being perceived as racially motivated.
3. it would admittedly be nice if lynbrook was more racially diverse (and not just because i prefer the white guys!).

my imaginary boyfriend

i don't recall ever having any imaginary friends as a child, but yesterday i created an imaginary boyfriend! how pathetic can i be, you ask? very! but that's not the point.

sometimes i feel like i'm a magnet for attracting sketchy guys i couldn't possibly be interested in. take for example a certain individual from the rock climbing gym i frequent. maybe he was just being friendly, but i was kind of freaked out when he did this weird thing with his fingers on my shoulder. he insisted on giving me his number, saying that we should hang out and go climbing together, and i was obligated to at least give him my e-mail. the e-mail he sends me reads like it was written by a high schooler, and contained smileys, cliche pick-up lines, and lots of what i could only perceive as giggling. i tried to reply in a very aloof manner, but received another e-mail of the same embarrassing nature. that was when i decided it was time to snap the fingers and pull a boyfriend out of thin air. my mention of a boyfriend kept the next reply i received short and impersonal. w00t!

i've never really felt the need to do that before. is it commonplace? i'm vaguely wondering if i took the easy way out. i certainly wouldn't want someone to lie to me about having a girlfriend, so as to get me off his back. but then again, i would never shamelessly hit on a guy...! i would love to hear other people's experiences (as well as suggestions for my bf's name)! :)

coworkers

i work at the IBM almaden research center, and i gotta say that some of my coworkers are exceptionally bright and hardworking. i honestly look up to them, and they are great role-models for me. it's one of the top reasons i enjoy my job.

sometimes i join them for lunch, and upon such momentous occasions, they really dish out the pearls of wisdom. just yesterday, i learned three very interesting things. apparently japan occupied egypt (not sure when), and was greatly influenced by egyptian art--to such an extent that american japanese restaurants display busts of the great pharaohs and various other sculptures of sphinxes and the like. wow.

i also received a small german lesson. it's kind of embarrassing, really, since i'm actually german (seriously though, just born there), though i suppose i can be proud of having "unlearned" the german language so thoroughly. apparently "Wachtmeister" refers not only to "table 39", but also has the quality of referring to the direction of that table. amazing.

lastly, joerg demonstrated one of his secrets for moving up through the IBM ranks. i have a lot to learn from him.

blogging

i've been thinking on and off for some time now that i would like to write in a blog. seems like everyone has one these days. i'll have you know though that as a real asian, i've had a xanga blog since april 2002 ;) does it still count even if i've written a grand total of maybe 10 entries?

i've even been told that i should start writing in one. how flattering to think that at least someone is interested in the few thoughts i might have. on the other hand, i've been given the impression that only self-centered individuals would think that anyone could possibly be interested in their day-to-day activities. another complaint is that blogs are usually replete with emotional teenage drama. as my day-to-day activities can be neatly summed up in one sentence (go to work, optionally go rock climbing, play computer games/read, then sleep), and as i am no longer a teenager (though sometimes emotional), i will try to avoid such blog faux pas.

i must admit though that i personally enjoy reading about friends' daily musings, both commonplace and profound. i'm especially interested in stalking my little cousins' blogs (it's really fascinating how quickly they're growing up).

so there you have it. all entries should be read in a sarcastic tone of voice, and if you don't like what i write, too bad, i don't care. unless you're really mean about it :(