First of all, let me express my condolences to the families of the two USC international students killed on Thursday right around USC......it hit particularly home for me because a.) the students were Chinese, b.) I knew many international students when I attended USC, c.) the students were around the same age as I was, d.) I lived very close to the incident area.
* For those who didn't hear or are for some reason reading this blog outside the LA area, on the morning of April 12, 2012 two USC students, a male and a female, both Chinese were sitting in their car around Vermont St. near USC housing when they were killed by whom police suspect to be a carjacker who shot both of them in their car. Truly tragic story. Apparently the male student was going home to China for the summer to do an internship and was very active in the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC.
Written with no agenda in mind and not as a sales pitch for USC, I lived just off campus at USC my first year of law school and perceived the housing to be fine. There were a few isolated incidents and I certainly didn't venture outside too late at night, but all in all it was pretty safe: no gunshots at night, gang activity, mostly just students and drunken undergrads walking around on party nights. However, once you venture into certain areas outside of campus, the neighborhood gets a little rougher. Basically the farther you get away from campus, the worse conditions become, with being within the campus grounds of USC being 100% safe, there is no danger there for you at all as it's gated and patrolled 24/7 by security. USC even has roaming security and Campus Cruisers outside of the campus area and around student housing at all times, but there's only so far it ventures into, as it's still near downtown L.A. and into some of the rougher neighborhoods of South Central L.A. I would have no problem recommending anyone to USC in terms of security, with the caveat of: Be safe, act as you normally would in any situation, don't venture out at night, travel in packs, etc.
New things are happening in the life of "DaMan!" I've basically picked up a new name... I used to be "Yiqing" ( officially my name from birth to age 21, when I officially changed it, was known as Robert for most of my life, and now, thanks to a very nickname-heavy friend of mine, I've been coined with the name "Bobby." Different offices at work know me by that name, my fantasy leagues know me by that name....it's pretty much my moniker now (ooo, vocab word). I accept it, it has a certain ring to it, certainly not a name you'd associte with a 24-year-old Chinese-born American attorney, but I like it. And "Bobby McDreamy" or "Bobby McSteamy" just roll right off the tongue, don't they?
New computer. Typing on it right now, it's that new "out-of-the-package" feeling that gets me going. However, in terms of operation, New computers are like new poker strategies for me: I don't have much luck with them. I also don't cherish them/maintain them as well as I probably should, so I'll try to keep up a healthy upkeep.
New Kendry Morales jersey: gonna wear it to the games this year. This is the year, Angels, c'mon baby!
New language: Yea learning a new language is pretty exciting. A lot of work, but exciting. I don't know why I just struggled with French: a combo of being in high school and not understanding the value of learning a language, not being exposed to it for enough time every day, it being a hard language to pronounce (never ever learned how to roll the R's), not having much practical application (I mean, I grew up in suburban Chicago, IL, there's not many "baguette" stores and delicatessens to go to for practicing le Francais, right? Regardless of the reason, it just never stuck. Japanese is different. I have a whole different motivation for Japanese, I'm a really a step ahead because I know Chinese, and I'm a different stage of my life: I know the value of everything I do, I focus my energy and don't think about Pokemon or sports or ice cream sandwiches or the 2012 election or anything when I'm learning Japanese: I just go about my business. It really delves you into a whole different language, a whole different culture: To the "pachenko" game boards to the traditional kimono dress and all different ways to "wear" it to the very strict emphasis on formality between "san," "kun," and "sama," a country's culture is reflected in its language. Ever so slowly.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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