Welcome to my blah-guh. I can’t promise it will always be interesting, but I can promise that it will always be true. I will try and share my thoughts, experiences, feeling and verbal diarrhea as much as possible. Though, I don’t think most of the things that happen to me are interesting… Hopefully I can make you relate, think or just laugh, whether it is at me or with me. Enjoy…
You can never underestimate the power of true friendship. It can fill you heart in ways that nothing else can. I just spent the last week with some of my very best friends to see our love, Joey, get married. For the few days that we were all together, it seemed like everything was right in the world. It was the best week filled with love, laughter, food and tons of fun! We don’t get to see Joey or Marc too often since they live on the East Coast, but when we do see them, it’s like they were never gone. That’s the mark of true friendship: no matter how long you are apart, or how long you don’t talk, once you see each other, you fall right back into step.
I feel blessed to have not one, but MANY people I share this with. It warms my heart and makes life worth living.
When I was growing up, I lived in a suburb of Seattle: Bellevue. Our neighborhood wasn’t very diverse at all, but when I was really young, I didn’t really notice. All of my friends were white, and until I started school, I think I thought I was too. I knew I looked different, but I didn’t really understand that that meant I was different. I was never treated differently, so it never crossed my mind that it would or could be a problem.
When I started kindergarten at Somerset Elementary School I distinctly remember someone asking me if I knew karate. I had no idea what he meant and someone had to explain it to me. And I was pissed. I told him I did know karate and kicked him. But, suddenly I was aware of the fact that I was Asian and all of the other ethnicities. I could literally count on two hands the number of people that weren’t white at our school.
What’s crazy is that now the exact opposite is true. Somerset is over 50% Asian. Check it out!
I can’t imagine what it would be like growing up in that environment. I was always so uncomfortable growing up Asian. There was only one other person that could identify with me, but were never talked about it. Instead, we would make-believe we were twins named Stacy and Tracy who’s boyfriends were Brad and Chad. So sad…
It wasn’t until college that I finally embraced who I was and became comfortable with being different, or at UW, the same as everyone else. LOL
Go Asians!
Uh, this is a conversation that happened today:
Me: Hi, I’m Kim from THA. Could you tell me who the moderator is for our Q&A today?
A-hole: Linton
Me: Linton? Oh, is that a man or a woman?
A-hole: *Rolls eyes * Are you kidding? It’s a dude.
Me: Oh, sorry, I’ve never heard that name before. It could be a girl’s name.
Other lady: Me either. I didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl.
A-hole: *Rolls eyes again* Are you kidding? What girl is named Clinton?
Me: OHHHHH! I heard “Linton”. Sorry. Yes, Clinton is obviously a guy’s name.
Other lady: I heard “Linton” too. You said “Linton.”
Me: Well, I guess you can take your indignant attitude back then.
And, this is why I hate people.
I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t tired. I need a vacation… or a week long nap.
Sometimes I look back on my life and trip at how if just one tiny detail was changed, if one small event didn’t happen, how dramatically different my life would be. It’s crazy to think that so many things in our life had to align for us to be where we are today. It’s easy to think that coincidences happen, but if you see how those coincidences effect everything that happens after them, it’s hard to not believe that God does have a plan for us…
I know, I know… I’m not one to preach, but I thank God everyday for the people I have in my life, my family, my friends and my friends that I think of as my family. And without Him, I don’t think I would be as blessed as I am.
My freshman year in college I lived in the dorms. My parents made me, even though we only lived about 15 miles away from UW. They said it would help me be independent and grow as a person. Before that, the longest I had ever been away from home was a week at camp or a trip to Disneyland with drill team. But I was always with friends. When I moved into the dorms, I was living with someone I didn’t know and all of my friends were living at home. It was hard… I was lonely.
But, soon after, two girls from down the hall ran into my room and introduced themselves as Anna and Phyllis. They explained that we had mutual friends and that they heard about me. With them followed a barrage of Filipinos that I had never met before. Let me take this time to mention that I grew up in Bellevue, in a predominately (at the time) white neighborhood, and knew nothing about Filipinos, The Phillippines or what it meant to be Filipino. I was overwhelmed and resistant at first. I think it took me almost two quarters to fully accept these new people into my life, but once I opened myself up to their friendship, my life changed forever.
Fast forward to Spring Quarter and the birth of Canoy… This group of friends had decided that they wanted to dance – perform for FASA’s Filipino Night. The idea was to create a fusion of Hip Hop and traditional Filipino Folk dancing. I had very little dancing experience so I would just hang out with them while they practiced. But as the big show grew closer, they booked another performance at Blanchet High School and one of the guys couldn’t make it. Suddenly I was learning the whole routine so I could stand it for him. It was exhilarating and so much fun to be part of something so special, something that hadn’t been done before. The performances at Blanchet and at Filipino Night were amazing and the audience loved this new concept of dance. For the next several years, we went on to perform all around the Puget Sound area and even in Canada. We performed at everything from birthday parties and debutant balls to Daniel Cruz’s Battle of Seattle. We created a reputation and a name for ourselves in the dance community.
Shortly after the first Filipino Night we decided to change our name. We bounced around a few ideas, but we decided that kaSAma best embodied who we were and what we stood for. kaSAma roughly meant “together” or “togetherness” and that was kaSAma.
We are people that came together, to dance together, live together, be together. It’s not just a name, it’s an idea, it’s a lifestyle, it’s a language, it’s a way of life, it’s everything we stand for. It’s the fusion of two worlds, modern and traditional coming together to become one. It’s a fusion of people from all over: Virginia, Seattle, Hawaii, Bellevue, Shoreline, New York, Los Angeles, sharing one love despite distance. It’s a fusion of our cultures, American, Filipino, Spanish, Hawaiian melting into one. It’s a concept that I feel strongly about, so much so that I tattooed it on my body. It’s not something to be taken lightly.
kaSAma exists to this day. kaSAma will always exists as long as we are alive. And hopefully we will pass this concept on to our kids and they can become the next generation of kaSAma. To call yourself kaSAma you must truly understand what it means and what it stands for. I don’t know where I would be today if those crazy girls didn’t come into my room that day. I don’t know what I would do without kaSAma and though we are spread out across the country, we will always be kaSAma. Members have come and gone, but they will always be part of us. We will always be together in our hearts.
Much love to my kaSAma peeps… you know who you are.
kaSAma fo life!!!
Sometimes it’s hard to let go of something you have held dear for so long…
1. Eat a Voodoo doughnut: www.voodoodoughnut.com – specifically the Bacon Maple Bar
2. Buy a new TV
3. Watch the Huskies win the Holiday Bowl
4. Get a new phone that works
5. Sleep!
So today when I pulled up to my apartment, I noticed this neighborhood cat run away from the front of my door. I usually see this cat down the street when I drive by, but I’ve never seen it by our apartment. I thought to myself, “That’s weird, but I’m glad the cats are around, because I’ve never seen any mice.”
And then I get out of my car… and there’s A DEAD MOUSE ON MY DOORSTEP!!!
I FREAKED OUT!
And when I say, “freaked out”, I mean I got hysterical. I jumped back into my car and started crying uncontrollably. I couldn’t stop. I’ve never had that feeling before. I knew that mice gave me the willies, but I never knew that I was THAT afraid of them.
I had to ask my neighbor to remove the mouse and I ran inside. It was embarrassing…
Everyday I have to remind myself that I cannot control how other people act, but I can control how I react to them.
Also, this has got to be the most boring blog EVER! I gotta do something to spice it up!
