Category: Life Events

My Current Status

It has definitely been a while since I last posted and for that, to anyone, I’m sorry. In the past few months I’ve gone through quite a lot emotionally and mentally. From trying to cope with my family issues, to getting a second part-time job and going on my first date since the start of Covid(to name a few). I consider this one crazy roller coaster of a life just recently. This isn’t going to be anything like my other random posts. And for that, you have been informed.

Family

Look, don’t get me wrong, I love my family to death. Even if I don’t show it. But then again, my entire family doesn’t really show love either. At least not in a way most families do. Like what you see in the movies or TV shows. Maybe it’s just how we were raised, but the best way to put it like my Aunt’s boyfriend once said to us many years back, “I’ve never met a family so ununited.” He’s not wrong. We hardly speak to each other about our issues or how we are emotionally. Most of how I deal with life was through television, and how everyone in it got through their problems. Never worked out so well for me considering my situations were mostly different and I always felt like I had nobody to talk to. I know there’s plenty more I’d like to say on this subject but let’s just move on. So long story short, I’m on my own and hardly see my family anymore. Mostly only see them during the holidays. I show my love for them from a distance.

My New Job

So I started my second job just over a month now as a Host in the restaurant business. Something new I’m trying since I consider myself to be a “people person.” If I’m being honest, I thought at this point in my life I may have gotten a lot more blog posts up on the internet and would get noticed enough to not have to work any jobs and do what I enjoy doing. And one of those would include writing. Which brings me here, the work is easy and for the most part my coworkers are pretty cool. I have found a liking to a few of my coworkers which makes the work day, or night, much easier. Although, there is one individual I am not too fond of. After only working with him just a handful of times, I’m already picking up on his behavior towards me that gives off a negative vibe. I won’t go into details of what that is. Just needed to get that off my chest.

First Date Post-Covid

One of the good things about working at the restaurant was that get to meet people or guests as we call them. After just briefly noticing this individual, we went out on a date. And I have to admit that I was a little nervous, which I did tell her so she wouldn’t get any awkward vibes. It went really well. We went to a distillery because the original plan was this Fall Fest that was going on downtown was canceled due to the rain. I didn’t expect us to talk for as long as we did, so long in fact, that the distillery closed and we ended up continuing our conversation afterwards. But before that, something magical happened. As my date went to use the restroom, and there were only a handful of people left inside, Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” came on and I couldn’t help myself and started singing with it. A few other people sang with me and we all knew… this was going to be a moment. My date did catch the second half of my performance.

My Current Status

Family will be family and I’ll love them all unconditionally. No matter what happens. And as for my new job, people will be people. As in haters are going to hate and lovers… will love. That’s what makes us all unique as individuals. The people make the job experience. Whether you want to stay because of them or quit because of them. And for my first date in a long while, it went a lot better than I expected. Just some of the beauties of taking a chance on someone. So much so, your coworkers will ask about it!

As for me, life can be pretty difficult to deal with. Some things are hard not to think about, especially the negatives. But I’m very fortunate to have people that care about me and my well being so it does make it easier to talk about. The progress is slow but I am healing nonetheless. Until next time…

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First Plane Ride & Airbnb Experience

Introduction/Wedding

Planes, Airbnb and a wedding. None of this would have been possible if not for my friends Vincent and Eddie. If I went at this alone I’m certain I would have been lost at the airport and my flight would have left without me. With that, I would have missed out on a friend’s wedding and a hidden nightclub to say the least. So, to tell this story we’ll have to go back to 2015…

A friend of mine, Wae, recently moved to Texas and was soon to be married. Our history, he is the brother of my sister’s baby daddy. We knew each other already but when I got a temp job, not only did I work at the same location as him, but we ended up working in the same department. So that brought us closer together. Wae was a big influence during my early fitness days. He got me to workout with him at the gym he went to. And as we like to call it, we were getting “swole!”

So it was a traditional Lao wedding. An event that I believe goes on an entire week. But probably ended up being 2 days maybe. From preparations to having monks come and blessed those who are soon to be, and of course, the reception. Now, you know it’s an Asian wedding if there’s Remy Martin, Hennessey, Heineken and Corona involved. So, this wasn’t one of my most proudest moments, but when I was at the venue of the wedding sitting at a table, I noticed that the servers bringing out the food was wearing the exact same thing I was. A simple white button-down shirt with a black vest and tie. One of the guest at the wedding mistaken me for a server too. I’m sure they weren’t the only one. How embarrassing for me. Eventually, after a few drinks I was able to look past that and still managed to have a great time, even though I knew almost no one.

Posing before heading off to the wedding. (Photo by Eddie)
Sangria bar?
Art inside the Dallas museum
Candy shop with a bouncer?
Hidden nightclub. (All other photos complimentary by Vincent)

My Experience

Going back to the flight, I probably wouldn’t have even gone if I was by myself. Fortunately some of my friends wanted to tag along and experiencing the city of Dallas. The worst part about the flight for me was descending. Every time I flew my ears would pop, even when I would chew gum or tried plugging my ears. So the flight was taken care of for me as I set-up the Airbnb, which was a nice cozy apartment. Only like a 5 minute walk from downtown. Thank you Natalie for the listing! I would definitely stay there again if I find myself back in Dallas.

A lot of what we did was checking out dive bars, eating a really large pizza because, well, Texas. Found a nice Mexican restaurant with cheap margaritas, checked out the museum and a couple nightclubs. And I can’t say exactly how it happened but we somehow found ourselves inside a pretty cool nightclub, which was hidden behind or underneath a candy shop. Overall, it was a great experience for me with plenty more stories like this to come. Stay tuned!

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First Blog/Lao New Year

Introduction

Where does my story begin? That’s hard to say, considering there were many events in my life that were memorable. Having to pick just one is difficult to start with. But the least I could do is tell you a little bit about myself. I’m 33 years old and just recently celebrated Lao New Year with my family. For Thanksgiving I was in charge of making the turkey of which I burnt… just once. And there was another time I undercooked it… I’m getting better. Practice makes progress.

There was one time I had a shoe thrown at my head, going to a wedding dressed exactly like the waiters. Now I am one as of today. Sort of. Had an amazing trip to Florida with one of my previous employers to be a part of a thing they called Team Rally. I was a stripper for a night, escaped from a party we started and I farted in front of a girl I had just met. These are to name a few of many stories I’ll be sharing in detail, in the near future.

Lao New Year

Let’s start with one of my most recent memory. I went to my mom’s to celebrate the Pi Mai. We had the Sou Khaan(a blessing in having a happy and healthy life) which is where someone is saying good prayers for you while tying a white string around your wrist(s). The Lao Buddhist tradition has it where you typically have both hands together sitting flat, then you bow down to honor the one that prays for you. Or so I believe. I haven’t been paying as much attention to my ancestors religion the older I got. You do however have to sit in almost any other position than crossed legged or Indian style, which can get very uncomfortable after a long period of time. Normally during a Thuk Baht ceremony(people offering food for the monks for blessing them).

We then had ourselves some pho. Afterwards, I helped my brother-in-law move a mattress and dresser to his and my sister’s place. I spent some time with one of my nieces and one of my other sisters was later going to grill some chicken and fajitas, which told me only one thing… that I was staying longer. While waiting for the food, I got to spend some quality time with my sister’s boyfriend before heading home for the night. The conversations we had felt real. I had a great time talking to Derrick. We shared stories, had some laughs. I even told him and my sister about my fart story… Overall, it was exactly how Ice Cube explained it, “Today was a good day.” I got to spend some time with my family, bonded with my sister’s boyfriend and eat some really good food. As simple as it was, it was memorable.

The Takeaway

That night I learned a part of what it’s like to be a parent. Derrick has a kid with my sister. And that made me think of my friends with their kids, and understanding from their perspective what it’s like not having as much free time as they used to. Not seeing it from their point of view. I never understood until this night why it was so difficult hanging out. So the very few times we are able to get together for events and whatnot, I just want to make the most of it. Just cherish the moments with the people you surround yourself with. I hope you enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it. Until the next one.

Kawb Jai

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