Democratic Convention

I’ve been reading through Obama’s Audacity of Hope and coincidently came across this timely passage tonight as the Democratic Convention was getting started. Only eight year’s ago this is where Barack found himself:

“I hadn’t planned to attend the (2000) convention; I was just coming off my defeat in the Democratic primary for the Illinois First Congressional District seat, and was determined to spend most of the summer catching up on work at the law practice that I’d left unattended during the campaign (a neglect that had left me more or less broke).”

“At the last minute, though, several friends and supporters who were planning to go insisted that I join them… Eventually I relented and booked a flight to L.A…. Not being a delegate, I couldn’t secure a floor pass; according to the Illinois Party chairman, he was already inundated with requests, and the best he could do was give me a pass that allowed entry only onto the convention site. I ended up watching most of the speeches on various television screens scattered around the Staples Center, occasionally following friends or acquaintances into skyboxes where it was clear I didn’t belong. By Tuesday night, I realized that my presence was serving neither me nor the Democratic party any apparent purpose, and by Wednesday morning I was on the first flight back to Chicago.”

It’s amazing that only eight years ago, Barack was dejected after a state loss, barely could get entry into the convention, and was broke. Now he’s the star of the convention (a show which he describes as a weeklong infomercial for the party and its nominee - as well as a means of rewarding the party faithful and major contributors with four days of food, drink, entertainment, and shoptalk.)

Parents visiting

My parents came to visit me this past week. My Mom flew from Dallas, and my Dad from Florida, just to make sure I was eating brown rice, that my apartment was clean, and that I was still alive. Christina had been slightly dreading the visit, but it came and went quickly. Through their time share program, my parents stayed in a place in Park City, a popular resort town that’s beautiful this time of the year. Their appreciation and love for Utah was a bit unexpected - they loved the scenery and my Mom loved the “large trees.”

For me it was a good to see both of my parents who seem to get crazier by the year. Christina’s says jokingly that she knows why I turned out the way that I did after meeting my parents. We took them to the large Kennecott mine which strangely qualifies as a tourist attraction - the largest open pit mine in the world and then took my parents on a walk over to the Univ. of Utah.

It was a bit of nostalgia for my Dad who had attended the U for grad school, and remembered staying in the international graduate student family housing. When our family came from Taiwan 24 or so years ago, this was our first home away from home. I was just three or four at the time. We took him there (or rather he led us there) and tried to find the exact apartment that we had lived in.

The tiny cinderblock apartments, with small window unit air conditioning, and the smells of ethnic food were still there. By all accounts it had not changed, even the pre-school that my brother had attended was still operating. Back then they gave a small plot of land to each of the grad student families to grow their own crops, and those small gardens were still being tended to. Later in the week, we took my parents to one of the local dim sum restaurants and coincidentally my Dad had eaten there twenty years ago with his professor and still remembered it. Hopefully, I’ll go back to Ann Arbor or Houston with that same nostalgia at some point.

Hawaii

For our secret wedding and honeymoon (just kidding folks) we ended up going to Hawaii. This was more of just a short summer vacation over the Utah only holiday of Pioneer Day. We are spending slightly less than a week and splitting it between Kauai and Oahu.

Kauai-random wild chickens and roosters are running amok, on the beaches, roosters crowing at the hotel. No natural predators.

Food- lots of great culinary adventures. We’ve (really I) have been trying to hit all of the hawaiian food: poi, taro manapais at 7 eleven, plenty of Hawaiian shaved ice with spicy sour powder on top and macadamia ice cream, coconut pies at mcdonalds, poke (marinated raw tuna from a local grocery), and special Japanese ramen. Strangely no upset stomach thus far. Also been trying to get our fill of the local fresh fruit: guava, pineapples, and papayas. All taste slightly different but not necessarily better here.

Happy July 4th!

Over the weekend, we decided to take a little mini vacation to a place that had been recommended by my boss, the Homestead Hotel. It’s a little alpine village in the middle of the mountains, where the sole attraction is a hot spring volcano that you can swim in. Each of us had to put on one of their bright yellow inflatable life jackets to swim in the 90 degree water. For Christina who is still learning how to swim, it was bold to dive in this cave that is about 60 feet deep. Also went horseback riding; there’s another picture that Christina is banning me from sharing - let’s just say it was mating season. Oh and also we bought fireworks for the first time - fun with sparklers and little spiny fireworks - all fairly harmless.

About Vancouver

In Vancouver! for the first time… of all the places they could have an immigration conference, they have it in Canada. Enjoying the beautiful scenery - like Utah with more alpine trees, also lots of Japanese and Korean folks speaking their native languages. I am here in a Canadian coffee shop - called Blenz, and this little kid kept looking at my laptop, so I decided to take his picture. He’s four and his name is Ryan (Japanese).

ChristinaBlogger: Home Run

A few weeks ago Roger and I went to a baseball game courtesy of my company. They had their own box at the local (minor league) baseball stadium, and my department thought it would be a fun team-bonding activity. We were 2 minutes into the game when my co-worker realized in the box next to us sat Nick Lachey. We spent the next 2 hours taking pictures not of the baseball game that was occuring, but of Nick, who was in town filming a reality show for High School Musical II (also being shot in Salt Lake City). Roger went to the same junior high and high school as Jessica Simpson, but we thought it better if we didn’t bring that up…

Summer Pictures

Quick pictures now that summer is here. The farmer’s market just started up, and there have been several picnics with friends, hence the barbecue and corn picture. This past week we had a game of kickball - which is somehow satisfying in a elementary school recess sort of way. Christina got a bit of heat exhaustion - don’t worry Mrs. Chau I took care of her. And last picture, me getting some hang time in a scenic drive called the alpine loop.

Professor Vail

This past week, I found out from a former classmate that one of my law professors, Joe Vail, had passed away. He was one of a few that took the time to get to know students. He set me down the path of immigration law, supervised my first immigration court hearing, and even helped me find my first real job out of law school. He battled cancer for the last few months, and there were times this past year that I called him at his office in Houston just to let him know that I was thinking about him. His family created a small site where folks have left messages - it’s amazing to read them and see what sort of an impact he had on others. Here was my message:

What a tremendous loss. I, and many others, were fortunate enough to have learned under Professor Vail. Joe had been an immigration judge who couldn’t take the bureacracy of the judgeship and instead turned his attention to inspiring the next generation of advocates. Professor Vail not only became a professor but developed and funded an immigration clinic so that we as law students could learn first hand through experience. Today the UH Immigration Clinic has grown into one of the largest in the country.

He was always available when we had questions, even after graduating. Yesterday, I contacted and was contacted by several former classmates who are now asylum officers, immigration attorneys, and even a couple of ICE attorneys who are where they today are because of Professor Vail. He was a professor, friend and always a class act; we will miss him.

Buy or Rent

When I was offered my job, my boss immediately suggested a real estate agent. Strangely, I am still in the student frame of mind, and we don’t really have an urge to buy where home prices are barely going up. Came across this handy dandy buy versus rent calculator from the NYTimes.

The general consensus was that for buying to be better than renting, I would have to own the house for 3-4 years depending largely on home appreciation (6% is what I used).

Interracial marriage

Still not sure how I feel about interracial marriage (or my Asian women being taken by other groups). Some stats that I’ve come across from the NYTimes:

According to a study using the latest Census Bureau figures, the percentage of Asian women born in the United States who marry Asian men has declined to 37 percent from 59 percent since 1994. The proportion of American-born Asian men who marry Asian women has also dropped, to 52 percent from 65 percent.

Christina and I must be the last of a dying breed.