its summer time...

my original plans for the summer were to go to New Orleans and work with NAVASA (National Alliance of Vietnamese Americans Service Agencies). They would of hopefully placed me with VAYLA (Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association) or CDC -MQVN (Community Development Corporation) which would of been amazing cause I saw some of their work for a week during my winter break and it was nothing less than amazing. I wanted to go back so bad but because their contract required me to be there for so long, I didn't want to be away from my family for so long and then proceed to go to Vietnam for 5 months right after.

so, I home with my family in Sacramento and it was all that I had asked for and more...the more part being the constant demands, the endless yelling and fighting, the stubborn sister, the conservative brother and me just caught in the middle of it all. Its been a long time since I've been at home for longer than 2-3 weeks. I've always had vacations and summer school in Berkeley to keep me away from home but this summer is different.

1. The first thing I notice being home, it how slow pace life is here. I'm so use to the intense atmosphere at Berkeley, I find it hard sometimes just to chill with friends and family without thinking about errands and responsibilities. Is this good or bad, I'm still trying to figure it out.

2. Second thing about being home is that I'm not the same person that I was but what exactly do I do with that. Berkeley obviously has had effects on me but when it comes to bringing it back to my friends, family and community; how do I approach it all.

3. This has been a time of reflection and thought. Being in the Berkeley bubble makes you constantly think about the community, school, and only things in between. I forgot how it feels like to stop and think over your life in a grander scheme of things. I forgot how to develop myself slowly in quality and not quanitaty.

My summers are usually short lived, crazy and just as hectic as a my school years and as this Sacramento life comes back at me, I realize a couple of things...