what i really wanted for christmas...

a perfect gift for your local japanese foreign exchange student!

buy it on amazon.com!

click on the pics to blow them up

family first

the holiday season has arrived. in the nguyen household, this is a big deal. i mean BIG. you see, my dad is one of ten kids. and most of them live in indiana, which means a lot of people (spouses and my countless number of cousins included) cramming into one home.

it's been a tradition for all of my dad's side of the family to gather on christmas eve, eat an obsurd amount and combination of food (i'm talking egg rolls, holiday ham, pho, and sweet potato pie all on one table), and open presents at the stroke of midnight.

now that i'm older and not as consumed over what toys i'll be getting, i realized that i'm a part of a great, stable family situation. while other families need reunions to remember their relatives' names, i'm hearing the latest gossip about one of my cousins getting caught with a homemade bong that wasn't packed with weed, but with dried mint! i'm observing a talent show of all my little cousins playing instruments, doing magic tricks, or just being plain cute. i'm getting love advice from my uncle at the poker table...

...i'm holding hands in a prayer circle being reminded that our family is blessed.

while i wouldn't call myself the most religious of people, i know how fortunate our family is to be able to celebrate christmas the way we do.

about 30 years ago, during the vietnam war, my family escaped the destruction and horror of the war by fleeing on tiny motor boat just hoping to make it to a surrounding country. the chances of survival are slim to say the least. *check out the wikipedia article on "boat people" for a history lesson*

by luck or by the grace of god, my family made it to a refugee camp in thailand and was sponsored by an american surgeon to come and settle in the state of indiana.

through hard work and determination, everyone in my family has become successful in their own way in america, allowing the next generation (including myself) to never have to endure the pain and suffering they went through.

so while my little cousins eagerly ripped through wrapping paper to discover their new, high-tech toys, i now understood that for my family, christmas is not just about celebrating jesus' birthday, it's about seeing the look on their children's faces and thinking, "we made it."

growing up = growing old?

last week i celebrated my 25th birthday. it was quite fitting to celebrate my birthday in various ways. now that i'm right in the middle of my twenties, i feel like i'm straddling the fence of sophistication/maturity vs. running wild. here's a run-down of my "birTday" fun:

• on the night of my birthday, i had a fancy dinner at the kendall college dining room with some close friends. this is a great hidden spot in chicago where student chefs (some of the best chefs in chicago graduate from here) prepare fou-fou meals and student servers take care of all your needs. i admit, it was nice to just wine and dine and spend hours conversing over good food. = getting old.

• the next night, my "amazing" girlfriend (whom i've only known for a couple months) went all out, suprising me with a night out on the town. started with some tasty sushi and saki at kamehachi and ended the night at one of my favorite jazz clubs, the (new) velvet lounge. interestingly, we had the opportunity to meet up w/ some friends for a drunken night downtown, but i chose to keep the night intimate and special. = getting old.

• i knew it was coming...the early twenties side of me came a'calling, making sure to remind me that i wasn't old just yet. yes, i had a drunken night with the fellas last night. post-exam, we tail-gated with tall boy cans of miller high life and greasy chinese food. stumbled into the united center for the chicago bulls vs. (my beloved) indiana pacers. post game? yeah, more drinking with various bouts of rowdiness. = still young.

i guess based on these events, i'm leaning toward getting old, but a little "craziness" never hurts!

here are some more pics of my extended birthday celebrations: