The summer wrap.
For the past couple years I have been very fortunate to have fulfilling and exciting summers. This summer was not at all anything short of that. In the last couple of years I’ve been able to see thousands of wondrous things. In 2008, there was San Diego’s Fathers day weekend, watching Tiger Woods win the U.S Open live. There was Chicago and New York City for the first time in my life, which both did not disappoint any of the hype. There were repeated annual trips like Ocean City, Lake Tahoe, Washington D.C, and hometown Sacramento. And of course there was the 2008 cruise to the Bahamas.
When the summer started this year in 2010, there was nothing to be excited for. I would be attending summer school session one in person and then taking online classes for the second session. Along with both summer school sessions, I would be taking an internship by U.C Davis that was highly recommended and also taught by my father. There was no planned annual family vacation like the previous years, although there was this Peace Camp in Korea. Basically, the only thing I had to look forward to was driving from Sacramento to Denver to move my sister.
Was that enough for my summer? Compared to previous summers, no. Was it enough for others? Somewhat. Was it enough for me? Yes. This summer was work hard now, play later. This summer’s goal was to be objective in capturing 14 credits to become 18 credits away from graduating. Anything else would be a plus. Like the entire 2009 and 2010 year, school was the one and only priority. Not having a break since 2009, I have been using all of my abilities to accomplish the graduation milestone. I have taken Winter School 2010, Spring semester 2010, summer session I, Summer session II, and now Fall semester 2010. Beside the weekends, I have had a total of three weeks as a break. One week for Spring break, one week between Spring semester and Summer school, and one week in between summer school and Fall semester. Lovely yeah? Looking back over the entire summer of 2010, I am proud to say, graduation is within my grasp.
The summer started with me taking two classes on main campus for five weeks. The commute of 42 miles a day for four days a week was long, tough, and harsh. Although the classes, both taught by the same professor, were enjoyable and easy to follow, her tests were the hardest I have ever taken. Even though the tests were multiple choice, they were the ones with answers like, “A and B only, B and C only, or All the above.” Not having these kinds of answers since high school, I found the exams very challenging and difficult to pass. Honestly speaking, I got better grades not studying for the final, than the two previous tests. Funny ain’t it? My prediction of these results remain questionable, although I think it was simply because I kept second guessing myself.
After successfully passing the two classes, the second part of summer started. The second part of summer was a little more difficult with summer school due to the fact I had vacations to attend, and people to see. Also, our annual family vacation was planned and set for Florida in August. After summer school I, I flew home for a couple days to see the family and a few friends. Summer school part II started, and I was on my way to Korea (See Korea trip blog for details). In a recap, Korea was nothing short of spectacular, and it was more than I had ever expected or wished for. If I could do it again, I would. In fact, I would do it if I had to pay for it (instead of the Korean Government). I’ve made some extraordinary friends who have made summer more enjoyable. Along the way in Korea, I also had to do summer school quizzes, readings, and writings. For one week in Korea was like living in fantasyland. There was no reality, with everything being free and enjoyable. It was very hard to come back to reality with summer school still going on while dealing with hometown problems. It also sucked not being able to see the new friends I made.
Lets talk about some bull drama. Drama to me, is childish, stupid, and immature. When you think about drama at my age, you would think it’d be with people younger, not older. Also when you think about drama, you think of it being recent or current, not a year ago. Since I don’t want to name names or go in depth, the gist of the story is… I was admired by a then- family friend’s mother for settling down and focusing on school. She wished her daughter would do the same and go away for school. She claimed she saved a lot of money for her daughter to pursue her dreams, but believed she was being held back by her boyfriend. As the conversation went from school to the boyfriend, the girl’s mother vented to me about the boyfriend. I, at the time, was friends with both of these people and was shocked to hear what was being said by the mother. In their defense, I tried to defend both of them, saying, “I’ll try to talk to them, but I can’t make any promises. It’s their choice.” With my father there as a witness and conversator, I never said anything bad about any three of them.
A couple days later, I received a phone call from the guy asking if I talked to the mom. I answered yes, and claimed that she was disappointed in her daughter’s choices. He then told me that her mother was saying I said “XXX is a player and a cheater.” Basically, anything bad you can say about a person when it comes to a relationship. Did I say those things? Hell no. He claimed he’d figure it out and call me back. Until this day, he never did. In my defense, I wrote a letter to the girl trying to clear the mix up, but to no avail.
Since this dumb stuff happened a year ago, and I was living in Maryland, I never thought too much of it. It was stupid and dumb because a somewhat close friend and friend’s mother, were making up lies about me saying stuff. For one, I never said it. Two, why on earth would I say it, and three, I could care less what happens with any three of them. As this summer came around, the drama resurfaced and the words I never said, came back. Funny huh? Not really, more stupid than anything.
What do I have to say about the entire thing? Retarded. I can’t believe a mother would create lies to break friendships between three people, just because she disagreed with her daughter’s choices. I understand that when your mom says things to you, you tend to believe them with 100 percent. But I also understand that drama always has two sides of the story. And since they weren’t willing to find out the truth from the other side, I tried writing it down to them. Did they listen? Nope. Did they want to listen,? Nope. Do I care? Not anymore. Why would I care? Well, first, they were close friends through middle school and high school. Her mother was a mother-figure to me in middle school and high school. But as I have learned, my close friends are always farther then I think. So maybe I was close to her but she wasn’t close to me. I am shocked that a mature mother would create lies. If people want to hold some drama so be it. I never disrespected any three of them, nor have I said anything until now. Funny thing is, people have now told me the mother is a liar…Wish I knew that before I talked to her. Just know that I have no reason to lie, and behind all the lies, the only thing that remains is the truth. Take care.
Back to the summer in Sacramento. I got to see the best friend, caught up with some close friends like Coach, White girl, Bear, Yum Yum, and the Leong’s. It’s seems like the friends I had are disappearing. It’s probably my fault, but I guess behind everything is what’s left. The people you want in your life are the people that want you in their life. Does it suck? No, but it gets lonely. But it’s better to know then to be living a lie.
During my stay in Sacramento, My father, Kimmie, and I drove to Denver. Kimmie started Graduate school in August, so it was up to us to get her there. We had to also move her in to the new house with a couch, bed, and television. I also got to see the old boss from Mikuni. See Home Sweet Home post for more information!
After spending Sacramento days riding and driving around, it was off to Florida. Disney World to be exact. Disney World this year was more humid than Korea and Maryland combined. I really honestly did not want to go. I really wish I could have saved my family money and just stayed in Sacramento or Maryland. But I understand that they always want to spend quality time with the relatives. I tried to make the most of it, and instead of going to the parks, I focused on the pool area and water parks. I got to see my favorite show, Fantasmic. I also passed my two online finals during the trip (which did not make the trip fun).
Walt Disney is simply put, the Man. I would recommend anyone who hasn’t been to Disney World to go. The most amazing thing is Disney started all by an idea…Ineption? No, the mouse. Mickey Mouse that is. Disney is the size of San Francisco, with its own parks, transportation, television shows, resorts, fire departments, police departments, and recreation. Disney is ran by over 70,000 people a day, which makes it so amazing. I never realized how big Disney is until this trip. I know the company is a big blue chip company, but to have its own city and be the main attraction of Florida to everyone in the world is unbelievable.
As the final semester is about to start, I can say this summer was just as good, if not better then the last couple. I got to meet new friends, visited different new places of the world, spent time with the family, relatives, and friends, and accomplished a semester work of school. I hope I have touched the lives of those I spent time with, for everyone has touched mine. Even the people I do not talk to have, especially the photographers. I know turbizzle, hoMoe, and theGoodStayAlone have all inspired me. I know it is just a hobbyfor me and I need a lot of work, but it’s been fun to capture everything I’ve experienced. Photography is art and a hobby, and I hope to only get better.
I know this blog post is very confusing and hard to follow. The main focus of this post was summer. I hope it was somewhat easy to follow, for those who read this. I highly doubt no one does, but hey, who cares…I will in the future! For the next couple days, I’ll be busy with school stuff…So I thought I share a recap of summer before I become to busy. Six classes will be a handful, and I have yet to have a car to get there =[. Hopefully, I’ll figure something out. Until then, I hope to talk to you in the future..
Oh and things to look forward to this coming fall. Stephen Curry, Dwyane Wade, Demarcus Cousins, Evan Turner, John Wall, Chris Calcetta, Utah Peace Maker reunion, My Birthday, Shaun’s Birthday, Kari’s Birthday, Graduation, Christmas, and No MORE school!. Hopefully the Red Socks make the playoffs, same with the S.F Giants. My boy Patrick Willis and the 49ers are aiming to return to the playoffs. I hope to see D.R. Leong in New Jersey, where he’ll be working. I hope to see Jazzay in Boston, and D.C in Philly. I also hope to get a visitor for once..doubt it, but we’ll see!
