Day 13: Meal Point Management and CORE

This one's late too because I was too busy trying to convert Fujie into a K-Pop fan. (She's a hard one to crack.)

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For some reason I keep randomly running into Alyssa's friend, Willa, whom I'd met for a few minutes at the airport once. Though I haven't actively pursued a friendship because I'm not sure of her likes and dislikes, I'm pretty sure the world wants us to be friends. 

Today, it was at The Den, which is a conjoined Peet's and Tea store right beside Crossroads. Apparently the Standard Meal Plan is 10 meals/week (not 2 meals/day as I'd initially thought) so I've decided to take a break from Crossroads ($8) and try eating sandwiches and other things at Peet's (roughly $3-$6). I sat at a table outside, and Willa and her roommate (Chloe) just happened to sit at the table two feet away.  It was nice spending more than a few seconds with her this time, cuz she's a cool girl. 

Went to the Intramural Tennis meeting with Mansha at 7. It was cool, and I look forward to getting back into tennis and meeting new people. 

I also submitted an application to CORE, VSA's Culture Show production team. Last year, they won the Outstanding Cultural Program/Event  Award out of all the collegiate Vietnamese Student Asosciations/Unions/student groups in North America, which is SO impressive and intimidating that I almost didn't apply. This year's theme is "Operation Babylift":

"Operation Babylift is an event that is important to both Vietnamese history and adoption history. In 1975 over 3000 infants and children were airlifted from Vietnam and adopted by families around the world over a course of a few short weeks. These children were the bụi đời, or the dust of life, of war-torn Vietnam and had been cast aside into impoverished orphanages. They were offered new lives, and so their stories continue today."

- CalVSA Culture Show Blog

How awesome a theme is that? I'm excited just thinking about the possibilities. 

I applied for several positions, but the one I'm really gunning for is Scriptwriter. Dunno if I'll get it, but if I do, it'll definitely help me figure out if I have the chops to be a writer. Fingers crossed!

XOXO 

Gabby 

Day 12: Yay VSA!

I started writing this last night, but then I forgot to post. Whoopsie!

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VSA (Vietnamese Student Association) was definitely the highlight of my day (and currently the only thing I can remember right now since I just came back). I ate dinner with a few of the floormates, which was great. There was some time to spare, so the plan was to go back to Unit 1 so Anh could take a quick shower, and then the three of us (Anh, Lina, and I) would go to the VSA meeting at 7:15. Yeah. That didn't happen.

We ended up coming about forty-five minutes late to the meeting and barely making the last portion of the meeting: the name game. Then the members invited everyone out to karaoke, which we originally weren't going to go to because of homework. But that didn't happen, either, and I'm glad it didn't.

I thought it would be difficult to talk to people as it is whenever I do something for the first time, but everyone was incredibly friendly. (Also, it helped that Anh and Lina are more socially-capable than I am.) This was also the first time I rode the bus here, and the first time I've been to a real karaoke place. It must have looked like I wasn't having a good time because Jamesuel (the president of VSA) later apologized if I didn't have fun. Honestly, I was thoroughly enjoying myself just watching everyone goof around and sing so loud that you couldn't tell who had the mic. Next time, though, I'll be sure to memorize some Korean songs because I wanted to karaoke to K-Pop so badly XD 

tl;dr I met a lot of cool people at VSA whose names I will hopefully remember the next time I see them :)   

P.S. For the third time since I came here, I've been told that I don't look Vietnamese, twice by Vietnamese people /: I've never had much to compare to other than family, but still. WHY IS THAT? WHAT AM I?

XOXO

Gabby

Day 11: I Need To Pay Attention To Absolutely Everything

Seriously, sometimes I don't know how I get back to the right building every day. Today, I almost lost my key (somehow it ended up on the floor near the fridge. I don't know.) Also left my binder in Anthro class, and there is little to no hope of getting it back. Luckily, there wasn't anything really important in it yet. 

As I was going to English, I got a little lost and had to refer to a map even though I'd gotten there fine the first time. Midway up the stairs, I realized I had also forgotten the room number. Lucky for me, I ran into a guy I recognized who had come out of the same room last week and I was able to make it to the right classroom barely on-time.

After English, I got a bunch of texts about free Top Dog hotdogs in the courtyard, so I speed-walked to the Unit, nearly running over a couple on the sidewalk, only to find my efforts WASTED because everybody was just cleaning up. That didn't have anything to do with paying attention, really, but after my dreams were crushed, I accidentally walked into the wrong residence hall. Following that embarrassment, I headed to Crossroads to eat by myself like a loner -- or so I thought. Turns out I was sitting right next to my friend, Cozy, for fifteen minutes. 

I dunno what was wrong with my today, but everything was sort of off. 

On a slightly-related note, I noticed my vocabulary isn't particularly impressive, especially if I'm writing something on-the-spot. (If you think it is, that's because I cheat with thesaurus.com). Unfortunately for me, that's what we're going to be expected to do at one point, and it will count for a grade. I hope all this reading I'm doing will automatically expand my vocabulary. If not, there's always Word of the Day (today's is "bathetic," by the way, which means "displaying or characterized by insincere emotion." Fascinating.)

XOXO

Gabby

Day 10: Second Thoughts

Not sure what I did today--it's all kind of a blur. I went to Psychology and English 31AC (Literature of American Cultures). The Psych professor is definitely interesting, and since the class + discussion is only 2 hours total, I think I'll be able to stay awake pretty easily. 31AC reminded me that I am indeed taking two English classes. 

"R1B is writing intensive with a bit of reading and 31AC is reading intensive with a bit of writing."

Aww yeah.

So far, my homework is reading, reading, and more reading. I almost wish I had a math class to break the monotony, but I think it'll be all right. Learning to manage my time and read everything I need to for once will build character (or something like that...)

Also, while eating dinner at Crossroads with Mansha, I was left alone for a period of time and feel sorry for not engaging the boy across from me in conversation. He was kind of cute.

Aside from questioning my life choices, I'm also having second thoughts about staying at Cal over Labor Day weekend. I might...want to come home. Possibly. We'll see.

XOXO

Gabby

Day 9: Slow Sunday

Didn't do much today other than walking because Helen needed to run errands that just happened to be on opposite sides of each other. Berkeley really is a pretty place, and I'm glad I'll be living here for the next 4+ years. We visited Bowles, the all-male dorm, and it's got sort of an aged, sophisticated feel to it (and their piano, like every other place, is better than Cheney's). But the walk up was uphill in the middle of the day, so that wasn't fun.

I took a nap, ate dinner with my floormates for once, and came back to my room to buy stuff from Yesasia (BECAUSE I'M WEAK.) I got 4 albums--one for Alyssa because I missed her birthday--and a sheet music collection from Winter Sonata. So, when I come home, I'll be able to play music from one of your dramas, Mommy :) 

XOXO

Gabby

P.S. I hope you stay a fat cat, Daddy

Day 8: Job Searching is Hard

Did a lot of thinking about work today. Since no day requires me to spend time in class for more than four hours and Friday/Saturday/Sunday are completely free, I figure I can handle a job or two fairly easily if the hours are flexible enough. Back in Chico, I always heard complaints about people not hiring, and how hard it is to find a job. I never had to go through that. There ARE some perks to having a family-owned restaurant, but those perks also extended my job market virginity.

In theory, I'd get one job under work-study and another on the side so I could exceed the work-study cap if I wanted to. However, I wanted to look into work-study, first thing, because students like me would get first priority.

Of course, when I actually go to look at job listings, the work-study website decides to play hard-to-get. 

I also looked into Tutor.com, where anyone can become an online tutor on any subject, for any age (after passing a test.) In theory, this is the perfect job because I could set my own hours and work from my room while helping struggling youth!

Of course, when I go to sign up, there's a blurb that says I need Windows to operate the Online Classroom. (No MMORPGs and now this?! Why, Mac...?)

So yes, job searching was hard today, but not in the way I expected. I did manage to finish my resume, so that's something. And I finally watched "Kick-Ass" (with Fujie) and it was pretty awesome. I could've watched it myself...if Netflix would work on my computer. *rage*

Love and miss you, family! (But not enough to come home right now :P)

XOXO
Gabby

Day 7: Yay, I'm Making Friends

Didn't do much today. Woke up later than usual, did some shopping and bought the last of my books (sorry mom and dad; expect a rather large credit card bill). The Talent/No Talent Show started before I woke up from a nap, but from what I managed to catch, it seems Unit 1 is rich with talent :) I also met two floormates I hadn't seen before, Lina and Anh, by chance (when Anh accidentally leaned back on my shoe while watching the Talent/No Talent Show.) I should go out to events more so random things can happen to me more often.

Jane is gone for the weekend, and I had a late dinner/dessert with Fujie. Then we headed back to Unit 1 to hang out in Lina and Anh's room with a few other girls for so long that I almost forgot about this. I hope to see Lina's foxy architecture professor someday.

Hope things are going well at home! I'm a little sad I can't be there to help out at the restaurant, but I'll try my best here to find work and study hard!

XOXO

Gabby

Day 6: HongSong + Calapalooza

Today was the first day of classes. On Thursdays I have Intro to Biological Anthropology at 9:30 AM and English R1B at 5:00 PM. Classes were nothing special. The more interesting part of the day was spent at Calapalooza.

Calapalooza is sort of like Caltopia, but those trying to get your attention are strictly from student clubs, organizations, fellowships, etc. I couldn't believe how many people were out. I signed up for quite a few things, and this time, I was actually INTERESTED in them (and not free stuff). I'm especially excited to try Archery, Intramural Tennis, VSA (Vietnamese Student Association), and possibly become a Writing Coach or Reading Mentor (which also counts towards Work Study!)

At the most random times of the day, I got to see two people I wanted to see. The first was my Fanime buddy Patrick Hong, whom I regrettably was unable to see dance due to English class. The second was Cass Song, a rather talented and goofy dancer I like on Youtube who goes to Berkeley and just happened to be walking through Sather Gate as I was coming back from. I don't know why but I get totally starstruck in these kinds of situations; it's sad and embarrassing and someday I'll fix it, but it really was a nice surprise after an average time in class. 

I had free breakfast and dinner today. This week has put me under the impression that Berkeley gives away free everything all the time, and I feel like I will be severely disappointed in myself for not exploiting the opportunities once Welcome Week ends.

XOXO

Gabby

Day 5: Laziness

I heard that Unit 1's Putnam had a rough time last night. Apparently around midnight, a drunk driver swerved into Putnam Hall which caused a gas leak, forcing the 400+ residents outside for hours in the cold. On another note, there have also been at least 4 incidents where people have been rushed to the hospital for over-drinking/passing out.

But all that excitement has nothing to do with me. In fact, my day was the opposite of exciting. Don't get me wrong though; that was my goal. Classes start tomorrow, so my plan was to do as much nothing as I possibly could. I did have to disappoint my friend Helen, though. Even though she gets way less sleep than I do, she always wants to go out and do something. I was kind of a bad friend today and stayed in for a nap instead of going out with her. (The nap was good, though.) 

I did go out with Mansha and some of her floormates for her birthday. We went to what people call the "Asian Ghetto" and had some quality pad thai (I still have some leftovers). I really need to spend time with my own floormates.

XOXO

Gabby

Days 1-4: Sparknotes Version

This blog is supposed to be something of an open diary to my family as I make my way through college. I missed the first few days due to internet issues/laziness, here are some highlights:

Day 1: Question Marks

Are we at Berkeley yet? Are we done unpacking yet? Are we friends yet?

...Is it too late to go back home?

Day 2: Free Stuff

Berkeley has an event called Caltopia where businesses, clubs, teams, and other groups talk at you. They do this whilst giving you free stuff, so it's kind of hard to ignore them. Honestly, I think it's great how so many people can passionately promote their work/what they believe in, but the whole thing gets tiring rather quickly. That being said, I spent 3-4 hours there because FREE STUFF. Jane (my roommate) and I ended up eating dinner with 2nd-floor Freeborn residents afterwards.

Day 3: Mansha Day 

In the morning, I went to an FPF get-together where I met most of my professors and a few more FPF students. Then, from lunch to the end of the day, I spent time with my lovely friend, Mansha. Though I was slowly beginning to make friends, it was a relief to be with someone I know (and who knows the campus way better than I do). Now I can half-confidently say I can get to my classes without trouble and navigate downtown. 

Also, I listened to speakers at the Convocation and got sunburned. Awriiiight.

Day 4: Freeborn

It's sort of sad to say that I've been meeting more people outside my residence hall (Cheney Hall) than in. This was probably set off when I missed the floor dinner on the first day, but ah well. Lately I've been wanting to play piano, partly because I really want to play and partly because it lures potential friends without me having to awkwardly introduce myself first. The best area for that would be the ground floor lounge, but the piano in Cheney is old, clunky, and loud. The piano in Freeborn, however, is a million times better. And that's how I became closer to the students of Freeborn. 

At night, Jane got some of us to go to salsa lessons, which went by way too quickly. We came back to a room full of floormates watching Armageddon, so we hung out in our floormate Fujie's room for a while. But being the near-narcoleptic fuddy-duddy I am, I decided to maneuver through the people to my bed and clock-out around 11-something. Because of that, I think everyone left early, but to be honest, I was completely knocked out after a few seconds in bed.

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I think I'm really beginning to feel at home at Berkeley. It's still a little difficult to approach people on my own, but it's getting easier every day. And luckily, I have some great friends that aren't shy at all. That's all I really need for now.

XOXO

Gabby