Hey!

I hope everyone's doing well.

My finals have ended, meaning that I'm finally on my summer vacation. Woohoo! I can't wait to go back to Hong Kong and see you all once again (well, most of you, anyway; some of you won't be around).

Ah, the food of Hong Kong, as well: I'm looking forward to that immensely.

Anticipation. Yes, that's the word.

Until I'm back in Hong Kong, I'm pretty much just chilling out here, de-stressing, if you can call it that. The past six or so months have been heavy on the brainwork so doing nothing is certainly a welcome change from the pressures of college life.

Not to say that I'm not going to miss anything about UCLA, though. Like my friends and I say, "the college life would be the best life... if school weren't involved".

The food, for one, was pretty good. Fish fridays? Lovely. Theme dinners? Even better. The dining halls, save for a few occasions, were simply sublime. Times were also aplenty when empty stomachs were filled with 1/3 pound burgers late at night. Ah, Crossroads, what will we do without you?

Kendo. For those who don't know yet, I took up the martial art of Kendo during my stay at UCLA. Why do it? For one, it's incredibly interesting (I'll tell you all about the details later on; I'm afraid it'll take up too much space here). It's also great in that it just cleanses you. It helped me relieve a lot of stress and helped me find some much needed tranquility every now and then. It's not just a sport, they say; it's really more of a philosophy.

Finally, the company was unrivalled. People from all over, in a single place, just interacting and being, well, human. The most interesting thing I've realized is that diversity CAN indeed coexist. Funny, how one can see people of such diverse beliefs just... getting along. Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, devout Christians and profound atheists, athletes and scholars; these are just a few examples of the diversity around campus. More than amusing, these contradictions living side by side are comforting. I take comfort in the fact that people are, indeed, unique and that I am as well. It's reassuring, definitely, to have the realization that you don't have to belong, to belong: you just have to be who you are and that's enough to be part of the greater human connection.

I digress. I do that a lot, don't I? Ha.

Anyway, I am headed to Hong Kong in a couple of days. When I do go back, rest assured, if you would let me, I'll gladly indulge you in some more of my verbal diarrhea.

Until then, take care, and, I quote from my kind history professor, "don't postpone joy; live life as intensely as you can!".

See you all very soon!

Reno