Pursuing Happyness

Yesterday, after watching UCLA's nerve wracking 65-64 win over USC, my friend Christy and I went to go see the Pursuit of Happyness.

The movie is about a homeless man trying to make it as a stock broker and his absoultely adorable son. If you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know the slightest hint of what happens, you can stop reading here... but I think its safe to say that most people who go see a movie that came out during Christmas know that the movie will have a happy ending.

As inspiring as this movie was, I had to remind myself that the story of the main character- based on a real life person, is an anamoly. And as hard working and determined as people can be in that situation, its hard to break the cycle. To be honest I hadn't been exposed to much homelessness growing up since I lived in a suburb. But when I went to college, I was shocked to see how many homeless people roam Westwood. It was hard to see. I even felt bad for the homeless man who I tried to get a restraining order because I knew he was not ok mentally, but there did not seem to be anywhere for him to go to get help.

So my little government/law brain couldn't help but thinking during the whole movie and afterwards about what others can do to help the situation. And how do you balance helping people without making them dependent on your help? Not an easy question.

Breaking Bread

One of my favorite parts of my trip to Vietnam was the many meals that my family, Alex, and I shared together everyday. While having every breakfast, lunch, and dinner together could lead to squabbles as to where we would eat, sitting down together was a good way to talk about the day and other parts of our life. Good food, family style eating, and cheap prices were of course, icing on the cake.

Family dinners is probably one of the things that I miss the most from California. Even when I went to UCLA, I would have dinner with my parents at least once a month, if not weekly. And of course I miss the meals Alex and I shared, whether it be at a exciting new restaurant we wanted to try, a dinner that we cooked together, or even a dorm meal courtesy of his RA swipes. No matter how busy we were, we could always find time to share a meal together because everyone has to eat.

Lucky for me that even without family or the boyfriend anywhere nearby, I have wonderful new friends to share a good meal with. To kickoff the new semester (and perhaps to console our already overwhelmed selves), we went to 701. Although this swanky restaurant is normally out of the price range for we law students who have a negative income, DC Restaurant week made the delicous food slightly more affordable. It was a lot of fun, especially as we pretended to be "Top Chef" judges.

Finally tonight, I was invited to dinner but stayed in because I have felt slightly under the weather all day. Wanting to do something productive today, I decided to cook myself homemade spaghetti and turkey meatballs for dinner. Alex's first reaction was that no one should eat spaghetti and meatballs alone, I responded with the fact that people should take time to cook good food for themselves more often. I'm glad I cooked myself for myself because it made me feel better.

I think we have this societal notion that when you should just throw stuff together or order food when you're "just" eating by yourself. But I think having a meal is good nourishment for relationships, and that includes your relationship with yourself.

Another Law School Revelation

So in between readjusting my body back to EST and reminiscing about my trip by looking at my pictures, I go to class. Although the week felt excruciatingly long because of the jet lag, I really enjoy the subject matter of all my classes. There's only one problem...

There is a direct relationship between the appeal of a subject matter and the number of absurd comments made by law students. I don't know what number law school revelation this is, but add this to the list.

Now I am all for class participation and people sharing diverse opinions, but I wish people just thought before they spoke. With subjects like criminal and constitutional law, everyone has an opinion because like torts, they're "sexy" subjects. Who doesn't have something to say on whether drugs should be criminalized or flag burning? My plea to my classmates is not to immediately feel the need to spout of your gut reaction to a subject, especially when it turns into a 5 minute diatribe that makes no sense.

Really, other than that and the fact that I have so much work already, I am enjoying my second semester. I just thought I would give my friends going to law school next year (and others who might be entertained by the quirkiness that I live in) a heads up because I have the feeling all schools are like this.

Things I Learned About Vietnam

Since my trip to Vietnam was so amazing and unique, I could probably list hundreds of interesting tidbits that I learned from my trip. However, I'll just list a few things that stood out in my mind.

1. Their crowded and chaotic traffic system somehow works. There are about 80 million people in Vietnam, and 40 million motorbikes. For a country that is the area of New Mexico, that's a lot of motorbikes clustered in the main cities. Factoring in the absence of traffic regulation and lack of training that people need to drive, it is utter chaos. There are no lanes, there are practically no traffic lights, there is no regulation enforcement, and crossing the street as a pedestrian is a nerve wracking process every single time. They say driving in Italy is crazy, but having been there, it really pales in comparison. Just imagine that you're the frog in frogger everytime you cross the street. Being the spazz that I am, I am surprised that I made it back unscathed.

2. Ho Chi Minh is everywhere. From North to South, I saw Ho Chi Minh everywhere. A large percentage of shops had the Vietnamese flag and a picture of "Uncle Ho" hanging up. There's a huge statute of Ho in the aptly renamed city, Ho Chi Minh City. In the Capitol city of Hanoi, you can go see his embalmed body Lennin-style (they actually send the body to body to Russia every year for touch-ups...freaky, no?). Some may see this as a sign of Communist brain washing, and that may be true for some people. But I think our tour guide was very fair in saying that a lot of people may not agree with Ho's tactics, but Vietnamese people on the whole have a lot of respect for a guy who devoted 30 years of his life fighting for Vietnamese independence.

3. Vietnam is hardly Communist. Long gone are the days when the government used to give out stamps as the way people got their foods. Besides the fact that the government owns all the farmland and hammer and sickles sprinkle the country, the actual practice of communism seems fairly obsolete. Everywhere you go you see people engaging in private business practices; in fact it almost seems like more people own their own businesses there than in the States. There are churches, temples, and even mosques in full swing around the country ever since they lifted the religion ban in the '80s. And I think one of the most funny signs that communism is gone (or at least on its way out) is that there was actually a store selling propaganda posters. Profitting off of communist messages, what would Ho say?

4. Everything is inexpensive, especially the food. I had always heard that things are inexpensive for Americans travelling to Vietnam but I really did not grasp this concept until I actually went there. Among my extravagent spending: 1 hour massage = $18. Silk robe = $8. Lunch from a local place (pictured left) = $1. Average meal at nice dinner restaurants = $4-5. Needless to say I wanted to cry when I got back to the United States and saw the exorbitant price of food at the grocery store.

5. Vietnam is like 20 travel destinations in 1. If you want to get bang for your travel buck, go to Vietnam. Not only is everything there inexpensive, it has a lot of the best features of other countries all rolled into one place. Vietnam has European style architecture and French inspired food and desserts everywhere. It has tropical beach side resorts and white sandy beaches like Hawaii. It has Chinese style ancient temples in the middle of jungle. It has the hustle and bustle of New York City. It has the canals and artsy open front stores like in Venice. It has the glowing lights of Vegas. It even has a Chinatown, because really, what country doesn't have one. And of course there are things that are very special to Vietnam like Ha Long Bay (pictured right). I could definitely see myself going back there, maybe when I have my own income. You should go too.

Goodbye Vietnam, Good Morning New Year

I'm back from Vietnam. I actually landed precisely 24 hours ago but did not have enough energy to write in here after traveling for 36 hours and having my body be 12 hours ahead of EST. Oh, and I had my first day of class.

When I arrived back in DC, everything appeared to culminate into what should have been a somber tone. I returned to an empty apartment after being on an amazing 2 week vacation with my family and boyfriend. I had left a tropical paradise to come back to literally dark, cold, and rainy weather. I had 4 hours before my first class, for which I did not even have the casebook. And I was exhausted beyond belief but could not sleep on the plane or take a nap before class because my body was so confused.

I don't like ever justifying being in a bad mood, but if there were ever a time, this would be it. However, I was surprisingly happy and even awake during class. Maybe I was just excited to see all my school friends again. Maybe I was actually refreshed after a jam-packed 2 week vacation. And maybe I learned something from Vietnam.

I'll try to write on this more later but I think one of the best things I got out of my trip is to make the most out of everyday. This revived appreciation for my life does not come from the pity I have for a country that is, on the whole, very poor. It's admiration for people who appeared to have a zest for life. Though this is merely a generalization, the people in Vietnam just looked happier than many European countries that I've been to, and even Americans.

I was blown away with was how far the country has come since the war. Although the country is very poor, you wouldn't really know that just a few short decades ago, the country was embroiled in a massive war. And you especially wouldn't know that before the war that all Americans know, that the country had basically had fighting and occupation by foreign country for as long as everyone can remember.

Our tour guide said that perhaps it is the strong Buddhist presence in Vietnam that allows Vietanmese people from North and South to forgive each other, and Americans, for what happened. And someone else I was talking to in our group pointed out that the Vietnamese had always been very practical people, overcoming many hardships by quickly adapting to circumstances.

In short, the people that I met, from my dad's Buddhist monk great uncle to our tour guide who makes more giving tours than he does from being a University professor to the shopkeepers I talked to, all were very positive people who emanated an appreciation for their lives, despite or maybe because of all that they have been through.

So while I might be a United States born Catholic who never knew the hardship of the Vietnam War, perhaps I picked up some of the noble values of the Vietnamese people. Or maybe I always had a little of it in me the whole time. Either way, I just knew that I couldn't be anything but happy when I came back from my trip. Because jet-lag and class are hardly a price to pay for one of the most amazing and eye-opening trips I've ever taken.

More stories and many pictures to come...