Deep in my memories, I still remember the first day I got off the plane and walk on American soil, January 16th, 2007. The first day that I officially away from my family, 15000 miles, too far to ask my parents for help, too far to ask someone for help in my own language.
Time flies, it is now five years since the first day I came to the US - five years, not too long but not too short, but enough to change a person. Change in a better way, change to be a better man.
Having our New Year Holiday in the US is just too different, although this is not the first time but it is just so hard for us to feel like it is our holiday. No matter what we do; we bought flowers, rice cakes, prepare everything for the most important holiday of the year in our culture, so many things that we need to have in order to make it feels like it is our holiday. It would never feels like when we were home, with our family, the whole family. However, there is one thing that change the way I perceive this year’s Tet is because now I have a small family to take care of. A small family that I have always dreamed of.
…… disorganized thoughts
I made a video for this Tet holiday, hope that we have something fun to do, but I think it is kind of a counter-effect, I missed home.
My iPod Classic died a few months ago after our trip to Kauai, I did send it in for repair but Apple refused to repair it due to water damage (I swear to God that I’ve never dropped it, pour water onto it, but that was what they said). Until yesterday, I made up my mind that I need to repair this iPod (it was a gift from my wife with special engravings), so I went to Apple website, reserved a spot with the Genius Bar at Apple Store in downtown San Francisco. I came in the store 10 minutes earlier than the appointment time, I was greeted with a friendly Apple employee and he asked me to wait for a few minutes and someone will help me. Ten minutes later, I got help from an Apple Genius, he told me that the iPod was water damaged and the chip inside the headphone jack showing red (the chip was designed to become red if the iPod being submerged in water).
My beloved-water-damaged iPod Classic.
I had 2 options, first I can swap for a new iPod Classic with a fee of $120 with no engravings. Secondly, I will have to do a mail-in for swapping and engraving my new iPod for $120. After asking my wife on which option I should choose, she said the first is fine if I want the iPod now, and of course I want it now. So we decided to go with the first option with no engraving, but I told her “you could use a permanent marker and write on the iPod, and it would be much better and much more personal to me”– she likes the idea.
I was asked to sign the terms of service on his iPad that I agree with the fee of $120 for swapping my iPod. After signing everything, I pull out my credit card and waited for saying goodbye to my $120. System halted. Maintenance. Something went wrong with Apple system. He came to me and said “Now I am being really transparent to you” and pull out a piece of paper, I thought “Okay! So now we had to do the paper route and write my credit card numbers on it” – I was wrong. He said:
“Our system is down and I cannot charge you and I wouldn’t ask you to stay here and wait until the system back online. So, I will offer you this iPod for free!” – I was shocked and thought that he was just joking around with us. But no, he was serious, very serious. I fill in my information on the paper he gave me and my hand was shaking, I still couldn’t believe that this was real.
Leaving Apple Store, we felt so great, it was like receiving the best gift ever from someone you barely know. I’ve heard about Apple Genius offer stuff for free before and I had doubt about it but this time it happened to me. Yes, Apple Genius Bar is the Best!
In 2009, I started a project called Give Me Your Eyes – a book that shows how we interact and communicate with other people. The title, Give Me Your Eyes, is the voice of the strangers we pass everyday. It speaks to the basic human need to be seen and heard. This book shows the importance of small actions, like a smile or nod. Many people dont realize how something so simple can be so powerful.
Behind every stranger is a story. And behind every story is a lesson. This book asks you to take the time to learn those lessons. All it takes is a mindful heart and a smile. You never know how far that smile will go. So when you walk past a stranger, dont look away. All they are saying is, Give Me Your Eyes.
Below are the photos I took for/related to the book (2009 to 2010). A digital version of the book can be viewed on issuu.com
At the beginning of 2011, me and Rachel need to do so many things to prepare for our wedding in June. Luckily, everything went in order and it was one of our happiest moments in our five-year relationship.
June 13th, 2011 – the long waited wedding of me and Rachel in Ho Chi Minh, VIetnam. With more than 800 guests, 70 tables, 5 photographers, everyone was really happy, it was a very successful wedding.
August 12th to August 17th, 2011 – Our Honeymoon in Kauai – Hawaii. A beautiful island, with so many things to see, so many thing to do. We drive all around the island, we went on a cruise to the Napali Coast, we saw many falls and we stayed in one of the biggest hotel/resort in Kauai. Just love our trip here, and we promised to come back to Kauai in our 5th anniversary.
Dec 16th, 2011 – the day that I could never forget, the day that me and Rachel had waited for more than 4 years to come. It was our graduation day – the day that we are officially done with school. One more thing that made it a much more special day is because it was also my father’s 52nd birthday.
Dec 23rd to Dec 27th, 2011 – our first road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Not a super long drive but it was something that will stay in our memories forever, like a milestone.
Dec 31st to January 1st, 2012 – New Year’s Eve, marked my 5th year in the United States | San Francisco. Watched fireworks with my wife and some other friends at the Ferry Building. Always great to have family and good friends around while you are 15,000 miles away from home.
Jan 3rd to Jan 10th, 2012 – A trip to the East Coast with my wife. Our first destination was Washington, DC. It was a really cold day with icy streets and strong winds in Georgetown. We enjoyed our stay in DC, went to lots of museums, and walked a lot, in overall DC is beautiful minus the cold weather. Then we took Amtrak for 3 hrs to get to New York. Great ride. This was my second time in New York but first time for Rachel. I came to New York 4 years ago in a 2 days visit with my parents, we were in a rush so we didn’t really enjoy the city. But this time was different, we had more time so we can come to many parts of the city and we understand it more as a diverse city not just a busy city with thousands of people rushing to work. I also had a chance to meet with my friends in school, thanks to Phoebe.
Right after we got back to San Francisco, we dive into the progress of job searching, Rachel was not very lucky in it but we hope for the best.
Jan 12th, 2012 – Marked our five-year relationship. I bought a glass terrarium for Rachel and we put it together – She loves it, everyone loves it. We had dinner at Sanuki in Japantown than we went for movie, Mission Impossible 4.
Jan 16th, 2012 – Rachel felt like she wants to start writing again, this is a great news for me as I always wanted Rachel to continue her writing. A way for her to relax but also her writing is wonderful. She reviews her WordPress account and she will post on it from now on. This also made me want to write my blog although my writing is not that good, or you can say it sucks but I think it’s a good way for me to reduce my stress.
So, that’s it for today. Hopefully, I have something to share in the next few days.
