'06 Club

Dood! It's been a while since I've logged on to this site. But Jordan re-directed my attention to it with that fantastic video of Johnny pwning Ivan in NBA Live. How are things going in TO, K-town? NYC has been crazy fun, but also a TON of work. I've never studied this consistently in my life! Its madness, but on the other hand, I'm still enjoying the program a lot (actually a lot more than i thought!). The ppl here are super fun but still super nerdy. Kinda feels like the Queen's Life Sci crew to be honest :P But OBVIOUSLY, it can't compare to you Canadians back home (Americans are sooooo full of themselves! - i keed i keed, i love Americans).

So what else is new? Ummm, as Grace mentioned, I am part of a china club here at NYU. But its the NYU Chinese Dental Association. It's not our alternative to QSEAC. In fact, other than our first social event that Grace attended, we've had a formal dinner with the Chinese American Dental Ass. and a tutorial for some of the stuff we have to do in lab. So trust me, it ain't QSEAC! :P

Anyway, I don't know what else to mention. To be honest, we study all week, and then kick it back on the weekends to re-energize ourselves. Nothing special. D-wong's probably got more entertaining stories for sure! I haven't even heard from that kid in a while.

Hope all is well. I shall make my "glorious" return for American Thanksgiving/my bday. Hope I can see y'all when i get back.

Cheers

Ericson

Guess who's back?

So its been a super long time since i've blogged, but boy does it feel good to return.

So yeh, I guess I'm goin to blog about NYC. Its been crazy fun since ive gotten here (although I miss home like mad)!

This whole week of orientation was just mostly chilling (It only took a day to register really). So right off the bat, ppl were super nice. A bunch of us hooked up at a dental "social" at the student lounge, which was completely lame. But thats where everything all began. A bunch of us decided to head out to check out the NYC nightlife. We had an awesome time drinking $1 beers (can't even get that in TO)

The next night was complete madness. We went to Korea town for dinner, drinks, and karaoke! Oh man, best nite in NYC so far! Two of the white guys joined us there...twas hilarious seeing them soak in the asian culture.

OH SIDE NOTE: so i've really tried hard to find a non-asian crew...but this freaking school is like 60% asian! oh man

Anyway, the rest of the week just has been chilling, sight seeing, and just getting used to the city. I think im pretty good with a lot of the places already.

Ill throw in a few pics, but before that, I got me a new cell...so hit me up with some text messages! :)

Miss y'all at home. Come visit!

So, last nite was CCF's grad nite. Prior to, it really didn't hit me that this was it for me and ccf, so going in, I really had few expectations. Really, I expected to play some games, get some gooey-ness on my face (which was almost 100% certain considering how big of a jerk I am), impart a few words of wisdom, take some pictures with friends, shake some hands, hug others, and then hit up 90s nite at elixir! But last nite was more than just grad nite, it was a night of reflection and simply appreciating the friendships and relationships developed throughout the four years here. I'm not one to freely express my emotions to others, and I felt I did a great job staying composed last nite, but waking up this morning was very different. It hit me very hard that it's pretty much over here at Queen's and that many of us are randomly dispersing to different locations, near and far, for further schooling or to pursue their career aspirations. It is because of this reason, that i've awoken with this strange feeling, a relatively new emotion that i've rarely experienced, an emotion called... "sadness". So for the next little bit, I just want to send out some love to all of you, so please bare with me. And if you can't, blame this on Darren Wong, the man who infected us with this emotion.

So yeh, just a message to all you Queen's folk, whether I've known you for 4 years or for only 4 months, I just want to thank you all for the wonderful memories. It's been incredible sharing both good and bad times with each one of you. Y'all are truly irreplaceable and I am super thankful that I've crossed paths with each of you.

So why all the emotions? Well, my future is still uncertain, but many signs point to a distant place yet to be determined. Perhaps the states, perhaps BC? And I think I've begun to realize that with the end of this chapter of my life and the transition to the next, it'll become increasingly difficult to stay in touch.

I guess at this point, I should appologize to all of you. I am a very poor "friendship-developing" friend, simply because I have a difficult time of letting go. I assume its easier to have acquintances and move on when necessary. I do regret having this attitude and approach throughout my four years because although I've made incredible friends here, I had many opportunities that I didn't take advantage of. So yeh, it's not that I am too cool or uninterested, I simply want to make goodbyes easier.

I think last nite was somethin else though. I discovered true friends, who unlike me, are insistent on remaining close until we are old and gray. To be honest, I haven't even collected my thoughts completely, but you know what, I am down with that. My hope is not to simply maintain our status of "friends", but to pursue life-long relationships that progressively become stronger with time.

So with that said, I just want to thank you all again for being a part of and contributing so much to my life.

Here's the queen's shoutouts in no particular order...cause y'all are equally incredible:

1406 housies, 06/07 boys (some 05's as well...), RH crew, Life Sci Crew (congrats on not biting each others heads off), JJ's place (Janice and Jeanz house...sorry i don't know a cool name for y'all), Dogg House (you guys are hilarious), dem Elementz, 375 ladies, my res buddies (frosh included), MBD and of course, the rest of y'all who aren't a part of cool groups with cool names (get on that!!!!!), you know who's you are!

Much love and congrats to the grads for a 4 years well done!

Waddup Friends,

It's been a while has it not?

Well anyway, I have some interesting news for y'all. So over two weeks ago, while i was back home chillin wit da fam, my sis mentions that she was considering movin her fam (including my two adorable nephews) to Calgary or Vancouver. Oh, those are my nephews on the right...cute! Anyway, back to the story...so after my sis mentioned Calgary or Van city my reaction was kinda like: "Hrmmm, that's cool," I thought, not really thinking much of it. To be honest, I was more concerned bout what we were having for dinner :P I think i was feelin some pittsburgh style steak that nite. I believe we ended up eating take-out...*blah*.

Anyhoo, let's fast forward to a couple days ago. So my sis msgs me on msn late at nite...and tells me she needs to call me. "Hrmmm, that's cool," I thought, thinking my sister was bored as hell taking care of the kid that never sleeps (the one on the left). Without beating around the bush, my sis straight up tells me she's movin to Van city. My reaction..."Hrmm, that's cool, when you taking off?", expecting it to be at least a couple months. Umm..in a couple days. WHAT THE FREAK??? Soooooo...tomorrow, my sister is hoppin on a plane to van city. I don't even get to say goodbye!!!!

Here comes the good part folks. Let me introduce the next character...mama V aka my mom. So my mom is absolutely devastated when she found out that my sister was leaving for Van city with her two GRANDSONS!! Yo, you can't do that to my mom without getting away with it. So after crying for several days straight...my mom decides to give me a holla on my cell.

Here's the convo as I recall it:

Ric: Hey mom! How's it going?

Mom: Not too bad!

Ric: Good good, so I heard about Lean moving. That's so quick!

Mom: Yeh I know, I'm kinda sad.

Ric: Yeh i kinda am too. *Sigh*
y l
Mom: So ummm...dad and I want to move to Vancouver

Ric: LOL!!!! Oh mom, you're hilarious! That was a good one!

Mom: Umm, we're kinda serious.

So, my parents want to move to vancouver now?! What the?! I have no clue what to think. I know van city is beautiful, but my life is in TO. I know I'm prolly not gonna be around anyway, but holidays in Van city instead of TO... :S I dont know ppl in vancouver!! man...

Comments? I dunno what to do?!

And apparently I just broke Angie's heart...cause I'm the "love of her life"...

Oh my...

this is soooo sudden! :S

I have a huge annoucement to make for you all...

MY BLOG IS NOW...READY?...VISITOR FRIENDLY!!!

That means, for all you ppl who don't have blogs and are super eager to comment on my wonderful blogs, you now have the ability to do so!!!!

Next step: learn how to post pics. But really, who needs pics when the blogs are sooooo interesting! In that case, the pictures take away from the blog. Maybe i'll reconsider this one.

Take it easy kids...

peace

My Adventure to the Big Apple:


So yeh, I just went to NYC for an interview feelin a bit indifferent with regards to the university itself. I really wanted to go to Tufts, but I'm stuck on the waiting list. When I arrived in NYC, I really didn't want to be there. It's a nice city to vacation, as long as you're midtown or downtown, but to be considering living there for a couple years...UPTOWN...in HARLEM...DAMN GINA!! Definitely not my cup of tea. The school was...well...how do I describe this...UGLY! The area was ugly, the building was ugly, the facilities were ugly...it was just damn ugly! A little bit disappointed, I felt I needed somethin to cheer me up...so I decided to hop on the A Train to Times Square! Oh baby! Anyone been to the Toys R' Us in Times Square? That place can cheer up ANYONE in a matter of seconds! I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I spent a good 45 mins in the store! My next stop was quite cool as well, I went to Famous Famiglia Pizza, where people like Adam Sandler and a bunch of other famous ppl that I forgot ate the same pizza. You wonder how a run down, dirty place attracts so many famous clientele...until u take that first bite. OH MAN! Datsagood pizza!!! So, after my little excursion around Times Square, I decided to head back to my hotel to catch some March Madness and some Z's.

6:55am, the next mornin, I'm up and getting ready for my interview. I wasn't too pleased to return to the ugliness I had witnessed the previous day. But I got myself onto the train and arrived a bit early. As the people began to pour in, we began to chat it up with each other. I thought to myself..."hey these Americans ain't soo bad afterall" (How do you like dem apples Janice!!!). Anyway, we were brought up to the faculty dining hall (The only place that wasn't Ugly...go figure!?), and began the day with some presentations.

Interview time came up shortly, and I was the last one to be matched up with an interviewer. So I had some time to joke around with the dean and some faculty members. Man, those guys say some things that are sooooo wrong...................BUT SO FUNNY!!! Anyway, some army dood approached me and introduced himself as my interviewer. I was kinda intimidated and unsure as to whether or not I should salute the guy. But what I expected to be an interview from hell turned out to be an awesome conversation. He was really encouraging and told me if only I had applied earlier, I wouldve been guaranteed a spot. *Sigh* But since I applied so late, my status is completely up in the air (cause theres a few open spots left). But you know what, whether or not I get in, I'll be content with myself.

So the interview day was comin to an end, and one my fellow interviewees, wanted to see if any of us wanted to go around celebratin St. Patties day in NYC. So me and two other ppl agreed cause we had time to kill before our flights. This is where the REAL adventure begins. So let me introduce u to the main characters aka "the gang": Justin (from LA), Rahul (from Houston), Linda (from Waterloo), and yours truly. We all decided to head back to midtown to just chill and hang out. After a bit of aimless wandering, we ended up at a schnazzy bar right on 47th and Broadway. We ordered a couple drinks and just chatted the afternoon away. I hadn't realized how cool some potential dentists are until yesterday afternoon.

While we were walkin around NYC, guess who we saw?! Y'all know the asian Jeopardy lady that does some of the video clues?? Yeh, we saw here in times square! Man, I'm gonna marry that woman one day! And we also went to Hello Deli, home of the famous Rupert!!!! The asian dood on Letterman!! We got pics with dat man. What a day!!!




We later proceeded to Rocafeller Center to just hang out and take some pics. Sad enough, the day had to come to an end. But the adventure wasn't technically over yet. In fact, a new mini adventure just began...flaggin down a Taxi on St. Patties Day! It took a while, but then Linda aggressively ran after a taxi and got us one. This was when Linda and I had to split from our American brothers. So off we went to Laguardia Airport (btw, its the Ugliest airport I've seen...its like Cuba's airport). We had a couple hours to kill, so Linda and I just grabbed some nasty-ass sandwiches...and kicked back for a while.



7:15pm...was time for Linda to fly back to MTL. *Sigh*...back to my lonesome self.

7:55pm...back to TO for me.

Overall, minus the ugliness of certain areas of the city, the trip was GOOD TIMES. I met a couple cool cats along the way...and hopefully we all can keep in touch. Who knows, maybe "the gang" will hook up again in the future and start up a crazy dental practice! :P

Anyway, that was a long blog...hope u enjoyed readin it!

Imma peace out!

Current Status: Homeless.

So next year, I have no clue where I will be, and it definitely is stressful and even discouraging not knowing what is ahead. But in light of all this uncertainty, I still have my mom! Yes, I said it, my mom. She has been by far, the most encouraging person throughout the grad school application process. Her support has given me a sense of peace about the uncertainties of my future and she has helped me come to the realization that a career will not be the source of my happiness. There are so many other things more important that I should focus my time and energy towards (like a girlfriend, but that's a long-ass blog in itself - maybe some other time boys and girls) and if along the way I achieve the career I want, great...but if not, s'all good too.

So yeh, in light of all the stress and worries, I am super thankful for my mama.