Homesick

I think I've come across with a case of premature homesickness. Funny, because in the past 3 months in DC, I haven't really felt it at all. But on the eve of my flight back across the country, ironically when I am at home, I can feel it. I already miss spending time with my family, Alex, Megan, and other friends. I already miss the sunny skies. I already miss the simple luxury of being able to lounge around the house. Don't make me go.

It is not that I regret going to law school or going to law school across the country at all. I love it the vast majority of the time. But I know I'm doing the whole little kid "No, don't make me go to school!" whine because I don't want to face finals. And when I compare finals with the past few days of leisure, it makes the school option even less appealing.

I know that when I get back to DC, time will fly, for better or worse. And thank goodness for that light at the end of the tunnel. Home, holidays, no work, and of course I'll be taking off for Vietnam in exactly one month from today.

Less than one month. Breathe.

Turkeytime Traditions

Although my brother and I are coming home from further distances every year, it is funny to think about how somethings never change. It is as though everytime we get together, no matter how long we have been apart, my parents, brother, and I break into a routine. We have our usual places we sit in the car, the usual order we stand in family pictures, the even usual foods that we cook for Thanksgiving. My dad does his pecan pie, my mom handles the multitude of side dishes including her Vietnamese salad, I am on stuffing and cranberry sauce duty, my brother always has to have his green bean casserole, and the turkey is a collaborative effort.

And perhaps one of the most memorable Thanksgiving traditions in our family is one that stirs up the most trouble: taking the annual Christmas card picture. You wouldn't think a picture would take so much work, but it does. We have to decide what we are going to wear: to coordinate or not coordinate? And then we have to decide where to take the picture. And then once we start taking pictures, the chaos ensues. "Andrew, stop making silly faces." "Kristina, stand up straight." "Mom, you're smiling funny." "Dad, NO MORE PICTURES!" After taking about 20+ pictures, the debate begins about which picture to pick. No easy task when it seems like in every picture, someone is concerned that they look funny.

Everytime we get together, my brother calls me a conservative (I'll add this onto the list of traditions). And while I am far from it politically, one could say that's how I am perosnality wise since I love routine, order, and traditions. Even the ones that cause us temporary strife, like taking family Christmas picture. Because even better than the comfort food of Thanksgiving, is the comfort zone I get from being around my quirky family.

Much to be Thankful For

Distance, and the law school lifestyle, definitely make the heart grow fonder and more thankful for everyone in my life. And yes, the last person I am thankful on my turkey is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

PS: If this law school thing doesn't work out, maybe I should consider being a kindergarten teacher. Because I love busting out my Crayola markers and making turkey hands.

From Coast to Coast

I arrived at LAX 1AM PST. Needless to say that I was tired because my body told me it was actually 4am. Although one of the first things I saw as I groggily navigated my way towards the luggage pickup was a familiar face, a five foot picture of Mayor Villaraigosa, I still felt like I was in a different world.

Whereas everyone else was in brightly colored tshirts, sandals, and miniskirts, I was wearing a gray wool cable knit sweater, a scarf, and boots. To complete the stereotype of the intellectually snobby East Coast persona, I was even listening to a podcast of "Meet the Press."

Yet, as I was moving to the right side of the escalator, I realized that I could stand on whatever side of the escalator I darn well pleased. There wasn't a standing side or a walking side. And when I got to the sliding doors to the outside, there wasn't a cold blast of air like I've grown accustomed to. It was warm. 60 degrees at 1am I found out. Even if I somewhat felt like a foreigner, I realized I was home.

As I was sitting out on a bench waiting for my parents, I actually wondered if I've really changed that much in a few months. My late night/early morning epiphany was that I hadn't. Lifestyle-wise, I've always been a little out of place of the traditional So Cal person. My style was a little more preppy with loafers, argyle, and oxford shirts. My personality was more uptight, I guess you would say, than relaxed. And what made me feel a little out of place yesterday wasn't new either. My gray sweater wasn't new, nor was my addiction to political news. But the great part of Southern California is that people are so laid back they don't care who you are or who you pretend to be. They'll accept this wanna-be-turned-semi-East-Coaster.

Home for the Holidays...

Thanksgiving was already my favorite holiday. Now it's become even better since it's the first time I've gotten to go home since I moved to DC. I'm very excited. Not just because I'll get a 30-40 degree temperature increase. Not just because I love Thanksgiving food. But I get a little escape from my law school world to see my family, Alex, and friends (if I only didn't have to deal with finals afterwards!).

Off to brave the holiday travelling season at the airport!

Just Because You Can...
doesn't mean you should

When I was a little kid, I would always get irked when other kids would do stupid things and defend themselves by saying "well, it's a free country." Simply because an action is not prohibited does not make it right. I know I take a lot of freedoms for granted but I hate when people use our liberties as excuses for stupidity, greed, or selfishness.

I like to of the law is a base line, and we should use our consciences to raise that level. As much as my bossy side would love to make laws outlawing stupid actions, it would not be practical. I would hope that people would use their common sense to govern their actions instead of just doing what the law doesn't prohibit but it doesn't seem to work that way. You don't have to read through thousands of cases to know that a lot of people seem to lack this impulse of knowing right from wrong. You can just tell by looking around you everyday.

-Just because OJ can write books and give interviews about hypothetically killing his wife doesn't mean he should, for the numerous reasons I've written about before. Same goes with the Judith Regan woman who thought this all up. Best news I read today is that all the fox channels are pulling this. Just goes to show that laws aren't the only things that govern corporations, people rising up and actually demanding things actually works too.

-Just because Michael Richards, aka Cosmo Kramer, can legally say racial slurs, doesn't mean he should. At least he apologized but boy was that an awkward video to watch.

-Just because you like to "tell it like it is," doesn't mean that you should. Don't you feel like a lot of people don't have that "off button"? Maybe law school attracts this kind of personality but I'm so sick of people who have to give their opinion of everything and everyone, especially at inappropriate times. I really do like most of the people I go to school with but sometimes people just need to listen instead of talk, inside and outside of class.

-Just because they gave you a traditional Vietnamese outfit...


You get the point. jk. This is one of my favorite pictures of the economic summit.

I think that this comes down to the fact that just because something outlawed is wrong doesn't mean that the converse is true. There's some LSAT term about that kind of argument but thank goodness that part of my life is over.

Little Lawyers

I've met a lot of impressive people at law school: reknowned professors, amazing guest speakers, and even a lot of my classmates are intimidatingly accomplished. But probably the most remarkable people that I've seen since I started law school were the high school kids I saw argue today.

One of the things that actually attracted me to American University was this program called the Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Program (website here) where law students go to different public high schools around the district and teach kids about constitutional law issues. I really couldn't think of anything cooler and as soon as I found out that they needed volunteers for their competition, I signed up right away.

So even though I was feeling a little stressed out with school, I headed down to the DC courtrooms to see the months of these kids and (their law student coaches) put their months of preparation to the test. I was so impressed, not just by the all-star lawyers (I swear, some of these kids could give bar-licensed lawyers a run for their money, they were spot on) but by all the kids who partipated. All of the students stood up in those real courtrooms infront of law students acting as judges, answering really tough questions judges would throw at them as they were giving their arguments.

I remember that I had the opportunity to debate constitutional issues when I was in high school and that's when I got hooked. I actually came to DC by a program called NYLF in 12th grade and we had 2 mini moot courts. The big one was about prayer in public schools and the smaller one (held at my now law school) was about freedom of speech.

Days like these remind me why I went to law school. And that was exactly what I needed to push me through the end of the semester and get through finals.