Recently went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and it's changed considerably since I was last there 6 years ago, most notably the giant space station exhibit they have reopened the Rose Center for Earth and Space, with the Hayden Planetarium as part of the exhibition. It was Saturday, so it was free! But there was a suggested ticket price of $18, which was worth it. The space exhibit is truly a spectacle to witness and looks massive from the bottom with multiple levels to explore, surely releasing the imagination of kids who dream of a future in space.
Astronaut is not just the professional astronauts that go up like John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, etc. as glorified in the moon landing and lunar missions, but also any person who goes up into space, and there have been several private civilians that have gone up into space without going through the NASA space program or its equivalent in Russia or China. In the future, more and more people are expected to go up into space, perhaps even colonizing Mars, living in that environment, etc. MJ and I watched our first movie in theaters together (just the two of us), an airing of The Martian starring Matt Damon (whom MJ doesn't like but doesn't diminish from the quality of the movie), making the dream of inhabiting Mars at least temporarily seem at least possible, and perhaps even inevitable if you subscribe to Elon Musk's theories and ongoing endeavors with SpaceX. It's really pretty exciting, which explains why there have been so many sci-fi movies made about space exploration and extraterrestrial encounters. (I haven't even watched 2001: A Space Odyssey, apparently one of the best movies ever!) This year, 2019, is especially monumental as it marks the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing in 1969. I can only imagine how excited everyone was, how united the human race must have been to witness such a tremendous leap forward in technology and development. New York City this summer has had several notable events and memorials related to celebrating the 1969 space missions.
50 years later, though, space doesn't seem that exciting anymore for some reason. A recent poll conducted in the US showed that when asked what they want to be when they grow up, less kids said "astronaut" than "Youtuber" when given the choice between the 2. It seems that the traditional ambitious jobs like astronaut (which was a very aspiring answer when I was a kid) has been replaced by wishing to be famous and the wish to have oneself be the center of attention, typical of the Millenial generation. In China, though, "astronaut" still was the more preferred profession, some might say due to the censorship imposed upon the Chinese people as well as the brainwashing-like policies of the government and educational systems. Whatever it is, I do think that astronomy is certainly important and astronaut a worthy goal to become, as we've really stalled in space exploration. Since I was a kid, what new steps have been made? We deemed Pluto a star, not a planet, there have been several space stations, the Chinese have been catching up their lunar missions, and the first instance of vegetables grown on another planet was eaten (seems promising for human life on other planets and very similar to what the botanist on The Martian had to do). I personally wouldn't want to be an astronaut because I get motion sickness where some people do get space sickness and have to pull out of going into space, I get pretty claustrophic even when I'm just stuck at home or at the office, and I HATE the feeling of weightlessness like when I drop from a rollercoaster. I think the science is pretty cool, but physics was a very difficult subject for me (I don't think it was taught really well by my high school physics teacher, but still....)
Conclusion: As I worry about trivial matters like fantasy baseball, the stock market, the end of July, the best places to eat in Durham, where MJ and I begin our new adventure soon, there's whole other planets out there waiting to be explored making me feel so insignificant compared to the huge universe that exists out there. Good luck and "Hwaiting!" to those astronauts going out there to explore them.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Korean Wave- 한류 (韓流)
I first noticed the Korean Wave in 2016 when I started dating MJ and learning the Korean language and as a result understanding the Korean culture, but there has definitely been a Korean wave in many parts of the world, and definitely the U.S. I used to think that Japan had more influence on American culture and culture imports like sushi, teriyaki, Hello Kitty, anime, etc., but recently the Korean influence has really come in waves, with singing sensation Psy, boy bands like Super Junior and Exo (friends ask me if I'm into K-Pop nowadays, and it's not an unreasonable question), Korean foods are gaining popularity with bibimaps and kimchi, and video game leagues highlight E-sports and Koreans' dominance in them, especially the first female Overwatch league player, Gaeguri. Great timing too with the 2018 Winter Olympics taking place in Pyeongchang. I'm sure MJ is pleased about this as she has a lot of pride in the culture and often knocks me down a peg for being ethnically Chinese and definitely prefers Korea over Japan (trying to put it as politically correctly as possible). I've learned a lot of Korean culture from watching variety shows like "Abnormal Summit" where foreigners living in Korea talk about Korean culture and their own culture, a very healthy discussion about various cultures, and it goes to show the value that certain countries place on understanding other countries; a very important lesson for myself and almost everyone in the world.
For someone who grew up thinking the last name "Kim" was a Japanese name, it's amazing how much I've learned about Korea from MJ and just from my own research and study, with just one quick trip to Korea being the extent of my exposure to the actual country. (I loved the spas there!) I can see why MJ takes pride in being from Korea, from their superior healthcare system to the U.S. and great Korean Airlines hospitality to emphasis on cleanliness. As opposed to the Chinese reputation of being loud (that's me!) and pushy, I think Korea has the best reputation of all the Asian countries in the U.S. I read that the Korean government recognized the influence of the Korean wave financially and in gaining of positive reputation from other countries and funded creative industries and start-ups, an excellent idea for getting one's country into the spheres of influence internationally. On the other hand, Japan's image seems stagnant and having "peaked" in the 1990's when even a lot of Americans were starting to learn Japanese as the culture of the future with their advancements in the auto industry and key cultural imports like "Karate Kid" movies and manga/anime. There's still manga/anime, but those are mostly reserved for the "otaku" culture (MJ is not a big fan of these guys) and the auto industry has been riled by scandal and litigation (I've made money as an attorney working on these lawsuits), and there's no defining cultural icon for kids and teens to get excited about Japan like Psy or K-pop stars do. If I had to pick between Japan or Korea as "brands" for my country to establish I'd much rather have Korea right now.
And China! The Chinese, to Americans, seem much more a threat than a positive place to draw culture from. The Chinese are associated with communism, censoring, and human rights violations, and you don't see many Chinese influences come out of there other than kung fu movies once in a while or ancient Chinese culture like Disney's Mulan; no Chinese cultural icons coming out of there, everyone seems like a robot bred from birth to be a drone for the Chinese political machine, even sports and movie stars. Every time a celebrity acts "real" or expresses an opinion they go the route of Fan Bingbing (detained by Chinese government for her views), and Crazy Rich Asians in American is not really about China, and they kind of actively avoided it.
Conclusion: Korean Wave riding in at the right time in international culture!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
For someone who grew up thinking the last name "Kim" was a Japanese name, it's amazing how much I've learned about Korea from MJ and just from my own research and study, with just one quick trip to Korea being the extent of my exposure to the actual country. (I loved the spas there!) I can see why MJ takes pride in being from Korea, from their superior healthcare system to the U.S. and great Korean Airlines hospitality to emphasis on cleanliness. As opposed to the Chinese reputation of being loud (that's me!) and pushy, I think Korea has the best reputation of all the Asian countries in the U.S. I read that the Korean government recognized the influence of the Korean wave financially and in gaining of positive reputation from other countries and funded creative industries and start-ups, an excellent idea for getting one's country into the spheres of influence internationally. On the other hand, Japan's image seems stagnant and having "peaked" in the 1990's when even a lot of Americans were starting to learn Japanese as the culture of the future with their advancements in the auto industry and key cultural imports like "Karate Kid" movies and manga/anime. There's still manga/anime, but those are mostly reserved for the "otaku" culture (MJ is not a big fan of these guys) and the auto industry has been riled by scandal and litigation (I've made money as an attorney working on these lawsuits), and there's no defining cultural icon for kids and teens to get excited about Japan like Psy or K-pop stars do. If I had to pick between Japan or Korea as "brands" for my country to establish I'd much rather have Korea right now.
And China! The Chinese, to Americans, seem much more a threat than a positive place to draw culture from. The Chinese are associated with communism, censoring, and human rights violations, and you don't see many Chinese influences come out of there other than kung fu movies once in a while or ancient Chinese culture like Disney's Mulan; no Chinese cultural icons coming out of there, everyone seems like a robot bred from birth to be a drone for the Chinese political machine, even sports and movie stars. Every time a celebrity acts "real" or expresses an opinion they go the route of Fan Bingbing (detained by Chinese government for her views), and Crazy Rich Asians in American is not really about China, and they kind of actively avoided it.
Conclusion: Korean Wave riding in at the right time in international culture!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Friday, July 26, 2019
Recycle (リサイクル, 재활용, 回收)
Some very American phrases or sayings:
1.) "Don't meet your heroes"- I hear this a lot recently nowadays because most of the most famous people in America are not great people! This phrase warns kids or idealistic people who idolize people they see on TV not to shatter that image of their favorite superhero or movie hero by actually meeting them in person; it's usually a disappointment and your positive image of them is lost forever as that celebrity is unlikely to be as charming, as handsome, or as friendly to other people as he or she appears to be on screen. I've led a pretty boring life without many heroes who inspire me (maybe comic heroes) but I did meet one of my favorite Survivor players ever, Yul Kwon, the first Asian winner, at USC during law school, and I was in fact disappointed......I told him I liked him on Survivor, he pretty much disavowed his whole existence on that show as an Asian stereotype, and talked about his political agenda (I think he was aiming to run for political office). MJ, however, did just go to a Jason Mraz concert (in Busan, South Korea of all places) and reported that he seemed like a down-to-earth guy. Let's hope so!
2.) Canary in a coalmine: a phrase I just recently learned because it's often talked about on political talk shows as people warn about danger signs in the White House or in climate change. Named for the practice of taking birds down into coalmines as a gauge of how toxic the air is and whether the miners needed to get out (if the canary died, it was time). Unfortunately in the case of climate change, I think the canary has definitely been dying for a long time now and those in charge are not getting the world out of the cave.
I just saw a news article that Asia, where much of America's recycled items used to go, is no longer accepting American recycled goods, and sending them back to America.......completely blowing my mind in terms of changing my idea of what we do with recycled goods. MJ is big on recycling, which is correct (she would like the world to be a better place) but I had heard before that sometimes recycling can actually be bad......turns out, it can be, if recycled in the wrong way, especially with plastic goods like plastic bottles........a lot of people don't recycle the right way. When we put plastic bottles into the recycling bin, we're supposed to take the cap off, and also to take the little thing at the bottom off........didn't know that! I've been recycling the wrong way this whole time! So now the question is, what does America do with all those recycled goods it's getting back from Asian countries! It probably can't put all of them back in circulation, so I wonder how much recycling actually just gets converted into trash anyway. It's a shame.
1.) "Don't meet your heroes"- I hear this a lot recently nowadays because most of the most famous people in America are not great people! This phrase warns kids or idealistic people who idolize people they see on TV not to shatter that image of their favorite superhero or movie hero by actually meeting them in person; it's usually a disappointment and your positive image of them is lost forever as that celebrity is unlikely to be as charming, as handsome, or as friendly to other people as he or she appears to be on screen. I've led a pretty boring life without many heroes who inspire me (maybe comic heroes) but I did meet one of my favorite Survivor players ever, Yul Kwon, the first Asian winner, at USC during law school, and I was in fact disappointed......I told him I liked him on Survivor, he pretty much disavowed his whole existence on that show as an Asian stereotype, and talked about his political agenda (I think he was aiming to run for political office). MJ, however, did just go to a Jason Mraz concert (in Busan, South Korea of all places) and reported that he seemed like a down-to-earth guy. Let's hope so!
2.) Canary in a coalmine: a phrase I just recently learned because it's often talked about on political talk shows as people warn about danger signs in the White House or in climate change. Named for the practice of taking birds down into coalmines as a gauge of how toxic the air is and whether the miners needed to get out (if the canary died, it was time). Unfortunately in the case of climate change, I think the canary has definitely been dying for a long time now and those in charge are not getting the world out of the cave.
I just saw a news article that Asia, where much of America's recycled items used to go, is no longer accepting American recycled goods, and sending them back to America.......completely blowing my mind in terms of changing my idea of what we do with recycled goods. MJ is big on recycling, which is correct (she would like the world to be a better place) but I had heard before that sometimes recycling can actually be bad......turns out, it can be, if recycled in the wrong way, especially with plastic goods like plastic bottles........a lot of people don't recycle the right way. When we put plastic bottles into the recycling bin, we're supposed to take the cap off, and also to take the little thing at the bottom off........didn't know that! I've been recycling the wrong way this whole time! So now the question is, what does America do with all those recycled goods it's getting back from Asian countries! It probably can't put all of them back in circulation, so I wonder how much recycling actually just gets converted into trash anyway. It's a shame.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Facial Recognition (顔認識, 面部識別, 안면 인식)
I have a lot of thoughts these days but the company I work for has the excellent policy of prohibiting smartphones at the desk and blocking most websites on our computers! It's an excellent policy for increasing productivity of the workers and eliminating distractions, so it's excellent for the company, but it makes the employees like me sacrifice! But in this day and age, I think it's really necessary for some sort of incentive to get people off their text messages and social media, as people are never really "zoned in" and focused on their own work if they're always thinking about something else.
Follow up addendum on my last post: I found the keys that I was looking for! Turns out it was the lack of care from the previous possession of the keys that's the main problem, with my forgetfulness more of a secondary accomplice. I often am so eager to get on to the next activity (especially after work, zooming out of the office, or rushing out of the car to make it to an appointment, for example) that I often misplace things during that transition period and drop things into spots I don't normally put them, like dropping my keys off after running on a sofa that no one ever sits on in my parents' home so I could rush to take a shower. I call it "Overeagerness syndrome." Chinese people call it "有前手没有后手," or having the initial hand (initiative) but no follow-through hand. I'm all for grabbing something and getting started on a task right away, but don't have the presence of mind to follow through and finish the task by putting the item back where it belongs.
Recently the big fad is facial recognition technology through Facebook and Google and many big technology companies which are developing the technology, and China actually already uses it. It reminds me of the movie "Minority Report," a movie starring Tom Cruise which was released 15 years ago but is still relevant today, a fictional sci fi world where people were identified by having their eyes scanned wherever they go. It's a big issue of privacy whether our faces should be used to identify us wherever we go, where I guess if we are walking through public places we have an expectation to give up some privacy if someone takes our picture or looks at us, but to have someone know every detail about you, have your profile just because you're walking by? Seems like a slippery slope. It's kind of like the FaceApp that became popular this summer, where people took pictures of their face, uploaded onto FaceApp, then made the picture look younger, older, the opposite gender, etc. (the most popular one that lasted for a couple weeks was the older app, gained a lot of traction much like the petition to Storm Area 51, they can't stop all of us). People are willingly uploading pictures of themselves onto an app and identifying themselves already, so should the next step be to just use facial recognition technology to identify criminals, etc.?
MJ finally got into investing when we set up a IRA account for her this year and she had to invest the money we put in! It's interesting how people can react to money and monetary incentives, as my Economics 101 professor told us the first day. Probably also why most finance classes at some point have a stock market game, to get students interested in the market. And to start young, when you can make the most profit over time. Next stop is to listen to financial podcasts, which I find that they're wrong a lot of the time (maybe not 50%, but certainly a significant amount of the time), but it's helpful to learn about trends in the market, what's considered an "expensive" stock (relative to their earnings, PE ratio, etc.) and financial news, which is connected to political news and other news such as the trade war with China but can have a totally different spin. (For example, financial markets actually like President Trump as president, much to the dismay of many of my colleagues/friends). Tesla earnings on tap this afternoon! What a company, what a move to the downside, what a whole lot of short sellers of the stock! Should be interesting!)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Follow up addendum on my last post: I found the keys that I was looking for! Turns out it was the lack of care from the previous possession of the keys that's the main problem, with my forgetfulness more of a secondary accomplice. I often am so eager to get on to the next activity (especially after work, zooming out of the office, or rushing out of the car to make it to an appointment, for example) that I often misplace things during that transition period and drop things into spots I don't normally put them, like dropping my keys off after running on a sofa that no one ever sits on in my parents' home so I could rush to take a shower. I call it "Overeagerness syndrome." Chinese people call it "有前手没有后手," or having the initial hand (initiative) but no follow-through hand. I'm all for grabbing something and getting started on a task right away, but don't have the presence of mind to follow through and finish the task by putting the item back where it belongs.
Recently the big fad is facial recognition technology through Facebook and Google and many big technology companies which are developing the technology, and China actually already uses it. It reminds me of the movie "Minority Report," a movie starring Tom Cruise which was released 15 years ago but is still relevant today, a fictional sci fi world where people were identified by having their eyes scanned wherever they go. It's a big issue of privacy whether our faces should be used to identify us wherever we go, where I guess if we are walking through public places we have an expectation to give up some privacy if someone takes our picture or looks at us, but to have someone know every detail about you, have your profile just because you're walking by? Seems like a slippery slope. It's kind of like the FaceApp that became popular this summer, where people took pictures of their face, uploaded onto FaceApp, then made the picture look younger, older, the opposite gender, etc. (the most popular one that lasted for a couple weeks was the older app, gained a lot of traction much like the petition to Storm Area 51, they can't stop all of us). People are willingly uploading pictures of themselves onto an app and identifying themselves already, so should the next step be to just use facial recognition technology to identify criminals, etc.?
MJ finally got into investing when we set up a IRA account for her this year and she had to invest the money we put in! It's interesting how people can react to money and monetary incentives, as my Economics 101 professor told us the first day. Probably also why most finance classes at some point have a stock market game, to get students interested in the market. And to start young, when you can make the most profit over time. Next stop is to listen to financial podcasts, which I find that they're wrong a lot of the time (maybe not 50%, but certainly a significant amount of the time), but it's helpful to learn about trends in the market, what's considered an "expensive" stock (relative to their earnings, PE ratio, etc.) and financial news, which is connected to political news and other news such as the trade war with China but can have a totally different spin. (For example, financial markets actually like President Trump as president, much to the dismay of many of my colleagues/friends). Tesla earnings on tap this afternoon! What a company, what a move to the downside, what a whole lot of short sellers of the stock! Should be interesting!)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, July 21, 2019
おちょ こちょい (Careless, Forgetful)
This week 2 of my character flaws came into focus and provided some harsh lessons. After various near-disasters and narrow escapes, I finally showed up late to a flight and completely missed it. I budgeted too little time to get from Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan to get to JFK Airport, didn't send the boarding pass to my personal email like I normally do so I wasn't ready to go through airport security, costing me minutes, and then a sneaker deodorizer that I had in my bag set off some alarm bells for the TSA agent causing my bag to be checked, losing valuable minutes in which the door shut at the gate I was supposed to get to just minutes before I showed up a little later. This needed to happen. I have been way too lax in arriving for flights and important events, such as meetings, parties, get-togethers, trying to time it just right so I arrive just in time, not wasting even a second. I needed to be punished for such recklessness and have the punishment sting so I could remember not to be so late. Even thinking about it seems silly......I had a flight taking off at 9:45PM frm JFK, and I left my office in Hudson Yards at around 8:00PM. Theoretically it's possible to get on the subway at 34th St. and Penn Station, get on the E line, go all the way across town through Queens, switch to the Airtran, get to Terminal 8 (American Airlines), go through TSA security, sprint to the gate, and make it before the doors close 10 minutes before the flight's departure time (9:35PM in this case) AND have my luggage with me during all of this. It's too much to expect of me and to demand myself NOT to run into any unforeseen events like the train running late, or getting off at the wrong stop, or TSA being even more difficult than they normally are.......I had almost been enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes with just barely making a flight on time and reveling in the fact I hadn't wasted any time, but all those times I barely made it was just good luck; the one time I do miss the whole thing is going to cause some serious consequences, and it's not worth it. There's not an exact way to describe what this problem is......it's more specific than tardiness because tardiness can be caused by being lazy, or forgetting schedules; I KNOW when I need to be there and hurry when I do get on the move, but it's a "fear-of-being-too-early" disease, and I need to get over that psychological hurdle.
Also, I lose a lot of stuff in weird places, especially at hotels, on planes, etc. It's caused by rushing out of a place without being careful to check if I have all my belongings, and then a lot of times just totally forgetting all the things that I've brought with me. My mom says I'd forget my head sometimes if it wasn't attached to my neck. Numerous times I've left dodgeball or heavy exercise without something I brought with me because a.) I don't put everything in a bag, so it's not just one big item I need to remember, and b.) I'm so excited and on cloud nine about dodgeball, all I can think about is dodgeball and ignore everything else going on around me. My mom asked me today if I would leave my child behind if MJ and I had a baby, and I resoundingly said no......I haven't yet forgotten real live people and just forgotten their existence, like forgetting to pick them up or something, but.....yea, gotta fix the carelessness problem. Especially now that I have expensive stuff with me like fancy smartphone and wedding ring (I've already lost it before and by the grace of some almighty power I was able to get it back!) I gotta pat myself down to make sure I have everything, and also before leaving a hotel room or some space where I'm not coming back, check the surroundings one last time in a "Final sweep."
It's important at my age still not to fall into bad habits, like running with bad form (MJ says I run too heavily and not with my core, although what she doesn't compliment is I'm trying to stand straight up while walking and running nowadays to maintain good posture!) and also to not rely too much on cell phones, touch my face too much, use swear words, etc. Older people like my parents often make excuses that it's too late for them to change their habits because they're used to and have been doing it all their lives so they can't fix it anymore; I'm not so sure. Certainly I haven't lived as long as them, and I do have some bad habits that I haven't fixed yet, but I tend to think that it's never too late to make a change.
Also, I lose a lot of stuff in weird places, especially at hotels, on planes, etc. It's caused by rushing out of a place without being careful to check if I have all my belongings, and then a lot of times just totally forgetting all the things that I've brought with me. My mom says I'd forget my head sometimes if it wasn't attached to my neck. Numerous times I've left dodgeball or heavy exercise without something I brought with me because a.) I don't put everything in a bag, so it's not just one big item I need to remember, and b.) I'm so excited and on cloud nine about dodgeball, all I can think about is dodgeball and ignore everything else going on around me. My mom asked me today if I would leave my child behind if MJ and I had a baby, and I resoundingly said no......I haven't yet forgotten real live people and just forgotten their existence, like forgetting to pick them up or something, but.....yea, gotta fix the carelessness problem. Especially now that I have expensive stuff with me like fancy smartphone and wedding ring (I've already lost it before and by the grace of some almighty power I was able to get it back!) I gotta pat myself down to make sure I have everything, and also before leaving a hotel room or some space where I'm not coming back, check the surroundings one last time in a "Final sweep."
It's important at my age still not to fall into bad habits, like running with bad form (MJ says I run too heavily and not with my core, although what she doesn't compliment is I'm trying to stand straight up while walking and running nowadays to maintain good posture!) and also to not rely too much on cell phones, touch my face too much, use swear words, etc. Older people like my parents often make excuses that it's too late for them to change their habits because they're used to and have been doing it all their lives so they can't fix it anymore; I'm not so sure. Certainly I haven't lived as long as them, and I do have some bad habits that I haven't fixed yet, but I tend to think that it's never too late to make a change.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
커피 (Coffee), コーヒー, 咖啡
I don't drink much coffee, which does not give me much occasion to write the word coffee, which is why I spelled it wrong the other day at work when I was tasked with the all-important mission of alerting the office that the coffee machine was broken by attaching a post-it note to the coffee machine. Coffee, one of those weird words that only English can conjure up with double f's followed by double e's ending the word, and pronounced in a distinctly different way here in New York City than it would be in other parts of the world, much less U.S.
One of the most important areas in any office is the coffee machine. Next to the elevator breaking down or bathrooms becoming flooded, it is one of the things that cause mass hysteria. I guess I haven't noticed it in all my time in different offices because I don't drink coffee, but people drink a LOT of coffee; they got their morning fix, their lunch fill, and then on long days (we've recently been working from 8AM to 8PM) the afternoon coffee. Having never made a batch of coffee in my life, I recently learned there are various different ways of making coffee, but the quickest (and probably least fulfilling) way to make coffee is to put the coffee bag in the coffee machine and let it just spit out water. Speaking of water, the coffee goes through a LOT of water per day, and if it's not connected to a water source then that means there has to be plenty of barrels of water available for an office of people. Oh and milk! People get upset if the accompanying milk supply has been exhausted, even the Half & Half. They gotten have something, anything but black coffee!
The coffee machine, thus, is the last refuge, the only place to have conversation nowadays (see previous entry). People actually have to look at what they're doing to grab a cup and put the cup under the dispenser to get coffee, or seliect the coffee they want to drink and put it in the machine to stir. So for once in the whole day, you get people's attention as their mind actively looks for something to keep occupied with, and with my desk near the coffee machine, I'm in prime position to comment on something, ANYTHING, to start a conversation. But it has to be a quick conversation, because once the coffee's done and has been poured out, no more coffee is coming, the coffee drinker will take a few extra sips as a courtesy but then they're gone, they've gotten what they needed and ran out of excuses to stay, so the conversation ends abruptly. Thus is the daily social conversation level of most humans nowadays.
Coffee also helps keep people awake, which is desperately needed for me about a half hour to an hour after lunch. Oh, but I had a dragon fruit today, also known as a pitaya, which looks really really good, really exotic on the outside with intricate design of vines and curved shell and a very promising interior of white and black sesame seeds.......but then the taste leaves one wanting, and makes it unworthy of the "dragon" in its name. I'll stick to grapes, watermelons, and oranges.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
One of the most important areas in any office is the coffee machine. Next to the elevator breaking down or bathrooms becoming flooded, it is one of the things that cause mass hysteria. I guess I haven't noticed it in all my time in different offices because I don't drink coffee, but people drink a LOT of coffee; they got their morning fix, their lunch fill, and then on long days (we've recently been working from 8AM to 8PM) the afternoon coffee. Having never made a batch of coffee in my life, I recently learned there are various different ways of making coffee, but the quickest (and probably least fulfilling) way to make coffee is to put the coffee bag in the coffee machine and let it just spit out water. Speaking of water, the coffee goes through a LOT of water per day, and if it's not connected to a water source then that means there has to be plenty of barrels of water available for an office of people. Oh and milk! People get upset if the accompanying milk supply has been exhausted, even the Half & Half. They gotten have something, anything but black coffee!
The coffee machine, thus, is the last refuge, the only place to have conversation nowadays (see previous entry). People actually have to look at what they're doing to grab a cup and put the cup under the dispenser to get coffee, or seliect the coffee they want to drink and put it in the machine to stir. So for once in the whole day, you get people's attention as their mind actively looks for something to keep occupied with, and with my desk near the coffee machine, I'm in prime position to comment on something, ANYTHING, to start a conversation. But it has to be a quick conversation, because once the coffee's done and has been poured out, no more coffee is coming, the coffee drinker will take a few extra sips as a courtesy but then they're gone, they've gotten what they needed and ran out of excuses to stay, so the conversation ends abruptly. Thus is the daily social conversation level of most humans nowadays.
Coffee also helps keep people awake, which is desperately needed for me about a half hour to an hour after lunch. Oh, but I had a dragon fruit today, also known as a pitaya, which looks really really good, really exotic on the outside with intricate design of vines and curved shell and a very promising interior of white and black sesame seeds.......but then the taste leaves one wanting, and makes it unworthy of the "dragon" in its name. I'll stick to grapes, watermelons, and oranges.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Conversation (会話, 대화)
Among the many things deteriorating in our society due to modernization and shift to the Internet is the loss of ability to communicate to people. I currently live in a city of upwards of 9 million people and it's amazing to me how little I engage people in conversation and vice versa. I've gone days counting how many words and sentences I use and it can be very, very, little, almost as if the need to converse has been replaced by emojis, text messages, hand gestures, and money. It used to be I went to restaurants and could at least have a conversation about my order, but now fast-food restaurants have even replaced that with these new self-order kiosks that allow guests to click the order they need, pay there, and just pick up your food. So even that doesn't require conversations. Get into the same elevator with someone? Just ask "what floor" and the number and that's it. Everybody just goes right back to typing on their phone, listening to their headphones/earphones/Airbuds, or looking out into the sky. At work, even during lunch hour people just sit at the lunch tables looking at their phones, sitting next to each other in physical proximity but might as well be worlds apart in terms of attention span. It's not being rude or silent necessarily, sure there's a lot of interesting things on the phone, but it's also that the social norm now has become "look at our phone where it's safe, don't put yourself out there into a conversation." I think people have really lost the ability to start up a conversation, and that is really not a good trend.
Talking is a skill; being able to start a conversation with a question or joke or just an introduction, and then keeping the conversation going with natural segues and grabbing the other party's attention. It's sometimes the hardest thing to try to start up a conversation, though; so many thoughts of doubt run through one's head like "will it be awkward?" "what if they're busy and don't want to be bothered?" "am I being creepy?" "what if the conversation ends after one sentence and then it's more awkward?" Those are definitely risks, but the upside is a nice, long conversation with a real human being who isn't trying to sell you something (presumably), and we as human beings are social beings who like to talk to people. And it's a good way to break the ice so I don't have to walk by a co-worker or neighbor in the hallway all the time, make eye contact, nod, but not know anything about that person; conversations draw us closer. That's actually one of the unfortunate drawbacks of our intimate but very private apartment: we don't really see any of our neighbors and rarely run into them in the elevator or something. The era of becoming friends with neighbors and co-workers due to the physical proximity has been replaced by groups on the internet and facebook wall comments, unfortunately.
That's why I talk to MJ at least 30 minutes on the phone every day! Just to make sure we both have at least 30 minutes of conversation with someone that day. And since she is usually at home and doesn't go out and is less social than I am, it's more for her than me!
And today is lovely MJ's birthday! We talked for a full 60 minutes! And I made a cool video on the iPhone iMovie app; it's a pretty neat trick as a birthday gift since I travel away to work and MJ and I don't see each other all the time. Also could be useful in editing dodgeball videos; the "trailer" setting is actually more aesthetically pleasing and filled with surprises than the actual movie version. And this year I got a special gift as a husband who was away! I have a very important role to play as emotional support for MJ! It's another big change in being in a long-term relationship, more than even the relationship between my parents or sister or anyone in my family: I know that I'm the most important person in MJ's life and have the important job of making her feel loved; it's an important role that I take very seriously, especially on birthdays like today.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Talking is a skill; being able to start a conversation with a question or joke or just an introduction, and then keeping the conversation going with natural segues and grabbing the other party's attention. It's sometimes the hardest thing to try to start up a conversation, though; so many thoughts of doubt run through one's head like "will it be awkward?" "what if they're busy and don't want to be bothered?" "am I being creepy?" "what if the conversation ends after one sentence and then it's more awkward?" Those are definitely risks, but the upside is a nice, long conversation with a real human being who isn't trying to sell you something (presumably), and we as human beings are social beings who like to talk to people. And it's a good way to break the ice so I don't have to walk by a co-worker or neighbor in the hallway all the time, make eye contact, nod, but not know anything about that person; conversations draw us closer. That's actually one of the unfortunate drawbacks of our intimate but very private apartment: we don't really see any of our neighbors and rarely run into them in the elevator or something. The era of becoming friends with neighbors and co-workers due to the physical proximity has been replaced by groups on the internet and facebook wall comments, unfortunately.
That's why I talk to MJ at least 30 minutes on the phone every day! Just to make sure we both have at least 30 minutes of conversation with someone that day. And since she is usually at home and doesn't go out and is less social than I am, it's more for her than me!
And today is lovely MJ's birthday! We talked for a full 60 minutes! And I made a cool video on the iPhone iMovie app; it's a pretty neat trick as a birthday gift since I travel away to work and MJ and I don't see each other all the time. Also could be useful in editing dodgeball videos; the "trailer" setting is actually more aesthetically pleasing and filled with surprises than the actual movie version. And this year I got a special gift as a husband who was away! I have a very important role to play as emotional support for MJ! It's another big change in being in a long-term relationship, more than even the relationship between my parents or sister or anyone in my family: I know that I'm the most important person in MJ's life and have the important job of making her feel loved; it's an important role that I take very seriously, especially on birthdays like today.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Economy Class (일반석)
One of MJ's dreams is to one glorious day, ride business class to her destination. So far on trips, we've only flown one way, the only way I've ever known how to fly: economy class. It's very obvious what airlines do: they put the first class and business class at the front of the plane, with the large open seats and the ample leg room, and let those passengers get on the plane first and get settled in (THEY never have to fight for overhead bin space and run the risk of their bag having to be checked unexpectedly!) And they get to leave the plane first, which matters for me to get off the plane, out of the airport, and back home (or to work after a red eye) as soon as humanly possible. And they sleep on the plane! (Although I sleep on the plane too, probably less comfortably). It's really one of the ways that society divides the haves and the have-nots, the business class and the economy class, and then makes people want to be part of the haves. And it's a great marketing device...... everyone wants to be part of the in-crowd, no one wants to be left behind. The only thing separating you from business class and economy class is just a bit of money. It works.
I don't know why, but maybe I get a little bit of perverse satisfaction from traveling economy, or living economy, living frugally. There's a little bit of psychological "I came from nothing, I don't need all these fancy things to live a rich life." I think I've also been lucky enough to be exposed to "business class" people in my life.....and I'm not that impressed. Predictably, business class people view economy class people as inferior and only try to talk to people higher than them, in a power grab to get to the top. I'm no Robin Hood or inspirational folk hero, but I tend to sympathize with people lower than me actually, try to get to understand them more and see them as superior for fighting through tough times. Like the late Anthony Bourdain, I tend to admire those guys in the back of the kitchen who show up every day to work to feed their families and don't have fancy chef clothes on and get the "sous chef" or head chef title more than the people dining at the first class restaurant who've made it but look down on those who are working because they have to. I have the financial ability to ride business class a few times (not all the times, heavens) but at the end of the day, I find economy class to be a representation of the every day person who is just trying to get through this thing called life and like to think that I can bare through and wear it like a badge of honor. And at the end of the day, I'm on the same plane that gets to the same place as the business class people.
I think the best flight I've ever taken was with Korean Airlines in Korean.......no wonder they get such good ratings for customer service! I watched a video of the extensive hiring process for Korean flight attendants.....many women in Korean believe that it's one of the best jobs to get into! (It might be an Asian sentiment because my Asian co-worker also told me recently she was interviewing to be a flight attendant after MANY years as an attorney) Apparently the pay is decent, they travel to different places and sometimes around the world if they get booked on international flights.....actually similar to my lifestyle where I may have to travel around for awhile. But then of course there's the stress of being on one's feet in tight spaces all the time and going through different time zones......and dealing with needy customers. Specifically for Korean Airlines, the flight attendant asked me several times whether I needed anything and was smiling enthusiastically, whether that was forced or not it still was helpful, even though I was economy class! I don't need necessarily for customer service to bow at me with their back arched at a certain number of degrees, but courtesy and service are sometimes not expected and not given at the economy levels! Side note: I used to work right next to the building in downtown LA where Korean Airlines took their flight attendant to stay between flights (you could tell from all the white dress-uniformed and well-maintained with fancy makeup and objective beauty walking into the hotel. They stayed at the Weston Bonaventure, one of the high-class hotels at the time, and now I'm guess they stay at the new Korean Airlines building (Intercontinental Hotel) where MJ and I stayed for our wedding night which was special for me but everyday for them! Jealous!
I don't know why, but maybe I get a little bit of perverse satisfaction from traveling economy, or living economy, living frugally. There's a little bit of psychological "I came from nothing, I don't need all these fancy things to live a rich life." I think I've also been lucky enough to be exposed to "business class" people in my life.....and I'm not that impressed. Predictably, business class people view economy class people as inferior and only try to talk to people higher than them, in a power grab to get to the top. I'm no Robin Hood or inspirational folk hero, but I tend to sympathize with people lower than me actually, try to get to understand them more and see them as superior for fighting through tough times. Like the late Anthony Bourdain, I tend to admire those guys in the back of the kitchen who show up every day to work to feed their families and don't have fancy chef clothes on and get the "sous chef" or head chef title more than the people dining at the first class restaurant who've made it but look down on those who are working because they have to. I have the financial ability to ride business class a few times (not all the times, heavens) but at the end of the day, I find economy class to be a representation of the every day person who is just trying to get through this thing called life and like to think that I can bare through and wear it like a badge of honor. And at the end of the day, I'm on the same plane that gets to the same place as the business class people.
I think the best flight I've ever taken was with Korean Airlines in Korean.......no wonder they get such good ratings for customer service! I watched a video of the extensive hiring process for Korean flight attendants.....many women in Korean believe that it's one of the best jobs to get into! (It might be an Asian sentiment because my Asian co-worker also told me recently she was interviewing to be a flight attendant after MANY years as an attorney) Apparently the pay is decent, they travel to different places and sometimes around the world if they get booked on international flights.....actually similar to my lifestyle where I may have to travel around for awhile. But then of course there's the stress of being on one's feet in tight spaces all the time and going through different time zones......and dealing with needy customers. Specifically for Korean Airlines, the flight attendant asked me several times whether I needed anything and was smiling enthusiastically, whether that was forced or not it still was helpful, even though I was economy class! I don't need necessarily for customer service to bow at me with their back arched at a certain number of degrees, but courtesy and service are sometimes not expected and not given at the economy levels! Side note: I used to work right next to the building in downtown LA where Korean Airlines took their flight attendant to stay between flights (you could tell from all the white dress-uniformed and well-maintained with fancy makeup and objective beauty walking into the hotel. They stayed at the Weston Bonaventure, one of the high-class hotels at the time, and now I'm guess they stay at the new Korean Airlines building (Intercontinental Hotel) where MJ and I stayed for our wedding night which was special for me but everyday for them! Jealous!
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