All the Groom's Men

In one week's time, I will be one day into the married life. I've struggled with capturing the emotions that come along with such a statement, so a post on that will have to wait.

One week ago, however, I got to spend an excellent weekend with my nine groomsmen up in Big Bear Lake, and I thought I'd write a bit about that for now.

The most common response I've received from people is something about the number of groomsmen I have enlisted. "Nine!? Geez! Why so many!" 

It's a question I had to consider when Traci told me that she would only have five bridesmaids. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was no one I could cut!

All nine of these guys have affected some facet of my life in a big way, and it was important to me that all nine of these guys were up there by my side on the wedding day. From my childhood in St. Louis, to my high school days in San Diego, to college life in Irvine, to post-college life in Los Angeles, each stage was represented. These guys are the friends and brother that I leaned on through the hard times, who I could count on for a hearty laugh and a fun time, who I could be open and honest with.

II have been extremely blessed to have each and every one of these guys in my life, and I am so glad that each one of them can be part of my wedding festivities. Without them, my life would have been drastically altered for the worse.

Thanks guys for the awesome weekend. There was epic ping pong tournaments, challenging water sports, vintage MLB Showdown duals, fellowship over home cooked meals and even some good old 5-on-5 basketball. It was everything I could have hoped for from a bachelor's weekend, and I can only hope that there will be many more similar festivities in the future.

UCLA Law Class of 2015, you guys were alright

I graduated from law school this past Friday and it's a surreal feeling. It sounds cliche, but I could not have done it without the consistent support from my friends and family. So grateful for all of the blessings that I have been given over the last three years, and very thankful that I had the opportunity to pursue this additional education in the first place.

In some ways, I feel the same as when I started law school. But then I also look back at everything we've done in a relatively short amount of time, and I kind of marvel at how far we've come. I know that aside from resume accomplishments and more ordinary "law knowledge," I've also gained perspective on the way our country and the world works. I feel like I can now more confidently see all sides of a contentious/political argument, and speak on the matter if need be.

And now, time for some bar studying! Woohoo!

done with law school classes

“Lawyers are alright, I guess — but it doesn't appeal to me", I said. "I mean they're alright if they go around saving innocent guys' lives all the time, and like that, but you don't do that kind of stuff if you're a lawyer. All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot. And besides, even if you did go around saving guys' lives and all, how would you know if you did it because you really wanted to save guys' lives, or because you did it because what you really wanted to do was be a terrific lawyer, with everybody slapping you on the back and congratulating you in court when the goddam trial was over, the reporters and everybody, the way it is in the dirty movies? How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is you wouldn't.” 

― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

To (and from) Africa! Part I

They threatened to charge us a ridiculous amount for taking pictures with this sign.
Here is the free surreptitious shot I got instead.

It’s now been nearly a month since I came back from my spring break trip to the DRC with a pit stop in Amsterdam. I dragged my feet in writing partially because it’s been a heckuva busy time in life, but also partially because I felt like it would be hard to do justice to the experience. I’ve decided to break up the posts through a recap of our trip in itinerary form first, and then follow up with a separate post with overall thoughts.

LAX à Amsterdam

• Worse leg of the flight. End up with a cramped middle seat with no leg space and a chatty older lady who keeps asking me to help her with her in-air TV console controls.
• On the positive side, KLM is generous with the alcohol selection and the warm towelettes.

Amsterdam à Nairobi

• In Nairobi, we get to depart the plane through the ladder and runway walk, and it hits everyone that we are now in Africa. Sometime around this time Ivan starts singing that Shakira Waka Waka song.
• Electricity goes out a couple times, but overall things are not bad in the Nairobi airport. Tusker beer.

Nairobi à Bujumbura

• Kenya Airlines takes the cake for the best airplane food. Who knew!
• By this time, people are delirious from over 30+ hours of travel.
• Bujumbura airport looks like Tatooine.

Bujumbura à DRC à Mboko à Baraka – Day 1 

Our lovely accommodations in Baraka.

• After an extremely abbreviated night at the Hotel Du Lac Tanganyika in Bujumbura, we cross the border by foot and meet the team of translators and drivers who we would be spending the rest of the week with.
•  It was hard to believe that we were actually in the DRC.
• Commence extremely long and bumpy land cruiser ride to the remote village of Mboko.
• The drive through Uvira and Fizi territory is actually breathtakingly beautiful. We’re along the lake on one side and green mountains on the other.
• “Welcome to Uvira, where there are goats on the road.” – Fixer
• There are three general greetings we receive from passersby: “Jambo!!” (hello! – usually the kids with frantic waving); “Muzungu! (white person – usually teens and young adults, said with general amusement); “money! money!” (self-explanatory -- usually also kids)
• This was the first of many long bumpy car rides, but also the dustiest day by far. By the time we arrived at the village, all of our belongings were covered in a coat of dirt, and everyone looked like they had received a bad orange tan.
• The interviews started that same day with surveys regarding villager’s opinions of the judicial system.

Baraka à Abala – Day 2

Fording the river in our Indiana Jones cruisers.

• Our most grueling day. The night before, we experienced our first dose of living in DRC accommodations. Inconsistent running water, general lack of cleanliness, and the weirdly comforting notion of sleeping under mosquito nets. Early the next morning, it was back on the road to the remote mountainside village of Abala. The prior night, it had rained buckets, so the roads were kind of mushy in parts. At one point, we had to get out of the car so the drivers could rip through and not get stuck.
• We encountered a group of Chinese soldiers serving in the UN. They were there fixing the roads, and in good spirits. We both seemed to get a kick out of seeing each other and talking in Mandarin while in the DRC.
• Abala was our control village, which meant that there had been no intervention from outside sources since the mass rapes occurred. A very sad and depressing experience.

Baraka à Bwala – Day 3

A joyous welcome in Bwala.

• By now we started getting the hang of things. We were also becoming more acquainted with the team of translators, as well as the other students, which made the various down times more enjoyable.
• This village was situated in the hills with low-hanging clouds beautifully draping the lush green forests. The land was naturally abundant and spectacular in most every part of the DRC that we traveled.
• Here, we received probably our most celebratory welcome. We walked in to the entire village singing and dancing. The school kids performed some skits for us. They remembered the UCLA team from years past, and seemed genuinely happy to see us again. Although things weren’t perfect here by any means, it was clear that there had been much improvement compared to the control village.
• On the way back, we inexplicably stopped at an artisanal gold mine to check it out. It ended up being probably the most unpleasant/underwhelming/worrying experience of the trip. On the way back, the drivers were blasting it over the potholed roads, because apparently the area we were going through wasn’t the safest.

Ivan trying to stay positive in the gold mine.

Baraka à Uvira – Day 4

• We closed our time in Baraka by conducting a few more judicial surveys in the main town area. People seemed generally more well off (ex. Cell phones) in the town center.
• We then had our only real lunch of the week (every other day we just snacked on packaged goods in the car), and headed back north along the lake up to Uvira.
• Here, we stayed in what seemed like a really nice hotel. It was right on the lake, and it looked like a converted mansion. We had the most down time of any day here, so everyone had a good time drinking Primus (the DRC beer) and playing various games (including some Congolese games involving passing smiles and stacking cards on beer bottles).

Uvira à Kiringye Day 5

• Unfortunately, the hotel (“Eden City” or something like that) was a typical example of a nice façade and a terrible interior. The mosquito netting had gaps which resulted in several bites, and our professor, located right next to the kitchen, suffered through an onslaught of cockroaches.
• We headed out to the remote village of Kiringye, which was run by a Catholic priest. Here, we were slated to interview former combatants and commanders who were part of militias that were perpetrators of the mass rapes.
• It was very difficult to get entirely truthful responses from the subjects, as expected. However, we also had some language barriers that imposed further challenges.
• Most surreal moment: Ivan and I were specifically called out during welcome introductions for “looking of Chinese descent.” We were used as a teaching moment that although we were of a different ethnicity, we were indeed still Americans and ultimately an example of how in America, different ethnicities are able to work together. Everyone couldn’t stop laughing as the translator interpreted.

Uvira – Day 6

The group in Kiringye.

• We finished our time in the Congo by staying at our Eden City hotel and welcoming in a second group of ex-combatants and commanders. It struck me how young some of these subjects were. Some 18-19, with three years’ experience in militias.
• Again, it was tough to get straight stories from many of the subjects. However, it was easy to tell when you had someone who was more genuine, and those surveys were arguably the most interesting surveys of the whole experience.
• We finished the day by crossing the border back to Burundi, saying goodbye to our now-friends on the translator and driver crew.
• We all were able to appreciate the luxuriousness of the Bujumbura hotel a lot more this time around. It was so great to have a real shower and flushing toilets, not to mention air conditioning. Truly things we take for granted in the western world.

Burundi à Kenya à Amsterdam

I Amsterdam (said with a Dutch accent).

• It would have been quite the whirlwind shock to jump right back into real world responsibilities and school work, coming off such a loaded and demanding spring break. Fortunately, most of the group was able to take an extended layover in Amsterdam, where we stayed at the Flying Pig hostel.
• It was another culture shock to experience the liberal ways of the Dutch, especially coming off the Congo. There were a few unfortunate connections between the histories of the two societies as well. Overall, everyone had a blast walking around, eating great cheeses and cookies, and unwinding with the perfect amount of time for a mini-vacation.

one thing at a time

Many things happening in 2015. Congo Clinic trip, graduation, taking the bar, starting work, moving back to San Diego, finding a place to live... hard not to get overwhelmed sometimes.

One thing at a time! Here's to important life events, and the blessings that they represent.

2014: The Year That Was

Life in law school with a job lined up isn't such a bad place to be. Okay, who am I kidding. It probably rivals undergrad for some of the best times in my lifetime.

Going to approach this rendition of my annual wrap-up post with a chronological slant.

January

• My second semester of 2L started off with my very own APILSA event -- Rich Cho, GM of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), spoke to a healthy crowd at a law school lunch event. It was really cool meeting one of my professional world API heroes, and it was satisfying to have my own brainstormed event turn out so positively.
• On a last second impulse, Jonathan and I saw the Eagles at one of their Forum re-opening concerts. 2014 was a year of crossing off numerous iconic bands from my see-live-in-concert bucket list, and the Eagles started things off in grand fashion.
• Returning to Edge Retreat as a counselor was a trip and a half. But ultimately, it was a refreshing return to some of the things that made my college fellowship experience so great, and an effort to pass that on to a younger generation.

February

• Intramural basketball made its return with an APILSA + Tim team. Although we started off slow, things turned around with the addition of a few key recruits, and a good time was had by all. In the end, we were about 30 seconds away from winning the semi-finals and most likely winning the championship as well.
• I got into dress shoes around this time, doing a lot of research in preparation for work and weddings coming up in the new year. I'm pretty happy with the selections I ended up making (Allen, Jack, and Bruno), and Traci got me my own shoe polish and brush to boot.
• I had the lucky opportunity to intern for the UCLA Athletics Department in the spring semester. Previously flirting and ultimately failing to work in collegiate athletics in some capacity, I finally found the right position within the Compliance Department.

March

• A thoroughly eventful month kicked off with Anthony's bachelor party weekend in a Lake Arrowhead cabin. Good times were had by all, and especially those who were fans of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, Orange Wheat, and Monopoly.
• We made the early morning drive out to Glendale, Arizona to experience our first Spring Training, a longtime bucket list item of mine. Unfortunately, it was in Arizona and not Florida, and I found myself watching the Dodgers and not the Cardinals. Still, it was a cool experience and something I may repeat in the future.
• Mark's wedding and bachelor party festivities, which meant my first return to St. Louis since the summer after high school, and Traci's first ever trip to the Gateway City. I don't think I stopped smiling this entire weekend.
• Tim and I attended our first ever March Madness games. Although we were there to see our UCLA Bruins, the best game might have been the SF Austin - VCU tilt, which featured a crazy come back from the Lumberjacks. We also got to witness UCLA dismantle Tulsa in the first round, before dispatching SFA fairly easily in the round of 32. I won't forget the overwhelming camaraderie of Bruin fans doing the U ---- C ---- L ---- A chant around the arena's four sides, contagiously spreading even to non-UCLA fans.

April

• I celebrated my 25th birthday with one of the best gifts in recent memory -- a record player/turntable from Traci. Much research, used vinyl perusing, and pure and unadulterated music listening ensued.
• The 2014 baseball season saw a return of Mwen and I to the ranks of season ticket holders. This designation should come with a strong asterisk as we wound up selling most of the tickets from our 21 game package. Unlike before however, we beat the system by making profits on more desirable games, and then attending a few others with friends at ridiculously low costs. The Padres still sucked, but in kind of a lovable-loser way. If nothing else, we got some nice side thrills from Stubhub "SOLD!" notifications.
• 2014 was a year of many new hobbies. Thanks to the patient tutelage of my friend Thomas, I received the first real golf instruction of my life. I can now drive the ball straight and in the air once every three or so swings. 

May

• Jason and Nancy, Traci's future roommates/parents, had a very lovely wedding in Anaheim. Apparently my hair reached its all-time peak during the festivities. Although my hair has fallen back to its former drab ways, it's excellent to have more cool friends in San Diego!
• Billy Joel at the Hollywood Bowl -- my number one bucket list concert -- as the perfect way to celebrate the end of 2L.
• The return to the Big Apple. The Metropolitan followed by the Mets. Traci losing the ability to speak while meeting Clayton Kershaw. Catching up with old friends, eating delicious things and watching singing puppets on Avenue Q. Thanks for the hospitality, Le Chez Diane!

June

• The summer of 2014 focused entirely on my summer associate position in downtown San Diego. It was somewhat stressful trying to constantly make a good position, but it was rewarding to learn so much while being challenged on a daily basis.
• It's nigh impossible to rank the weddings I've been to, but Anthony and Emma's wedding was a fantastic time. Like all "Edge weddings," there was a lot of great catching up with old friends. There's also something extra special about standing up there with one of your best friends that cannot be duplicated.

July

• My time as a summer associate came to a conclusion with the entire firm coming together for a Padres-Cardinal baseball game with suite seats. It was strange wearing professional attire and not cheering my head off. Something I may have to get used to in future years.

August

• More wedding fun in August, as Will and Trisha celebrated with cute vows and epic introductions. I loved the parts about fulfilling dreams at Disney and tearing up about UCLA. 
• Before school started up again, my family flew up to Anchorage where we adventured on the Great Alaskan Railroad. It's nice to be able to do more adventurous activities while my parents can still manage.

September

• Visits from Vince and meeting Jeremy Lin stand out as some of the best memories of September.
• Traci and I also belatedly celebrated four years by seeing Sir Paul McCartney himself in concert at Petco Park. Quite a surreal experience to see the legendary Beatle live and in the flesh. Plus, the Live and Let Die fireworks. Rock and roll, indeed.

October

• Playoff baseball returned in spectacular fashion, with the Cardinals and Dodgers facing off again. Although it was the NLDS and not the NLCS this year, the Cardinals still took care of business and utterly annihilated the aforementioned Mr. Kershaw not once, but twice. Although Luigi and I again failed to exact revenge at Dodger Stadium, the Cards came through again with some postseason magic, at least until the Giants (again).
• Somewhere in 2014, my childhood love for baseball cards was rekindled randomly. It sounds silly, but it brought me back to some of those little kids moments of joy to look through my old collection and add a few new cards to boot. #2014hobbies

November

• Traci and I made a short trip up to San Jose and the Bay Area thanks to the graciousness of Karen and her 49er connections. Although I braced myself for the worst, my Rams actually found some miraculous way to come through and beat the niners by the skin of their teeth. First ever NFL regular season game, first ever Rams game, and first win! Not too shabby.
• Relient K mmhmm 10th anniversary tour. The return of Dave Douglas. Aw yehh.
• UCLA defeated USC in football for the third straight year. Although the Bruins would ultimately disappoint (again with Stanford), it was a sweet victory and awesome to finish my law school career undefeated against the bad guys across town.
• UCI took down LMU in the fourth-ever Pappy-Gao Superbowl. All-time record: 3-1 UCI.

December

• The ultimate sports gambling weekend in Vegas finally happened, and it was pretty awesome (for the most part). Although money was lost overall, our teams (Chargers and UCI) won the games that mattered in dramatic fashion, and we experienced the best that sports had to offer with crazy comebacks and edge-of-your-seat buzzer beaters. Just be careful any time someone suggests implementing some seemingly logical strategy that they just looked up on their phone 24 hours ago. #Martingale
• Our family returned to the ski slopes for the first time in a while by making the trip up to Yosemite and Badger Pass. This year, we also swung by Sequoia and King's Canyon, to check out the largest trees on the planet. It was cold, but it was pretty. Particularly memorable was a 7-mile snowshoe hike we did in Yosemite, climaxing with a gorgeous and majestic view of El Capitan and Half Dome.