Posts Tagged ‘military’

Patriotic parade

laelene Posted in video blog,Tags: , , , ,
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For the Fourth of July, the streets of D.C. were filled with cop and military vehicles.

military parade from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Commissioning

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , , ,
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Today I attended a friend’s commissioning ceremony and it brought back memories of times long gone.  In a way, I still yearn for the military, but my life has taken me so far from that path that I don’t actually want to serve anymore.  It was cool to see all the people’s family and friends who came to participate in the ceremony, going on stage to swear them in, pin on their new bars, or give them their traditional “first salute” as an officer of the United States Air Force.  One girl even had her brother swear her in via webcam, from somewhere in the Middle East.  Others had their fathers, grandfathers, brothers, or friends swear them in or give them their first salute.

After the new lieutenants all received their bars, one went up to give a speech about the class, highlighting each person and what they had to overcome to get to today.  It was kind of cool to hear a snippet of each person and their background.  There was a girl who transferred a few years into the program, one who had to commute from Santa Barbara, another who also had to work while attending school and doing the ROTC program.  Then were was my friend, who had to get though a major change and make it through six years of the program!  One of the guys did the program as a grad student, another struggled with English not being his first language (though that one seemed to be more of a joke, since he obviously grew up here), and there were many more.  I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t also speak of himself, but it was nice to hear a little of how each person got to this point.

And with that, a new batch of 14 Air Force officers will be entering the work force in the coming weeks and months, courtesy of UCLA’s AFROTC.  Oh, and a happy Father’s Day to all those dads in attendance today.  Not a bad way to spend the afternoon, watching your child or grandchild get commissioned into the USAF.

Surreal

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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So many years in uniform.

So many years in uniform.


Have you ever looked back on your life and wondered, Did I really do that? Well, I have.  It’s the strangest thing, to have this sort of disconnect with my old life.  Perhaps it’s because things have changed so drastically with each stage and each move that it seems odd that I lived through that.  Whatever the case, sometimes I’ll be recounting things in my life and then I catch myself and marvel that that was really me, that was really my experience.  There are times when I am talking about my life, but it almost feels like I am telling the story of someone else’s life.  I think it also has to do with a feeling of being so fortunate – was I so lucky to actually be able to have done that?  In fact I was, but it’s hard to believe at times.

ATVing in Hawaii after the Australia trip!

ATVing in Hawaii after the Australia trip!


One of the main things I feel detached from these days is my childhood homes.  I’ll talk about how I was born in China and then lived in Pennsylvania, Kansas, Missouri, New York, and finally, California.  Then I’ll stop and think, how strange it was that I used to have half an acre of backyard to play with in Kansas.  Or that I went back to China for a year just for some cultural immersion.  With so many experiences that are so far-ranging, I guess it’s no wonder I feel like it was surreal at times.  Not many people get to go to Australia for two weeks or attend six boot camps or claim links to so many different places.  At times I marvel at the places I’ve had the chance to go to – it’s truly a blessing, though I’ll probably never have enough.  Travel is one of those things that doesn’t lose its charm as easily.  After all, there are just too many countries, too many cities, too many villages to go to!

My first prom dress was for this pageant.

My first prom dress was for this pageant.

Boot camps can be fun too!

Boot camps can be fun too!


Another aspect are the things I’ve been able to do.  They range from how I’ve kept a daily journal for thirteen years to working on a movie to visiting China annually in the summer.  Sometimes these things just seem too good to be true – did I really have that dedication?  Did I really rub elbows with Tom Waits?  Did my parents really spend that much money on me each year?  Even a basic part of my identity leaves me grateful – was I really fortunate enough that my parents were able to leave China?  It’s hard to live up to parents who are cream of the crop in intellect, but it’s a blessing what I’ve gotten because of that.  I can hardly imagine the disaster I’d be if I had grown up in China, being too masculine for my own good and not wanting to get stuck in a boring desk job.  Everything I’ve gotten to experience because of my American nationality is something that I may take for granted normally, but definitely not something I’ll ever forget was a gift to me from my hardworking parents.

At the same time, some of my own accomplishments amaze me too.  How did I balance 10 classes and two sports on three teams?  I was running around from 4 AM to 10 PM during my peak in high school, and then I had to do homework too.  Just thinking about that tires me out now, but I felt so good doing it then.  Similarly, the strenuous activities I did at the various boot camps I opted to attend make me wonder where all that energy came from (perhaps the MREs).  How were we able to march for so many miles and sleep so little?  How were we able to stay awake during classroom lectures (well, with the help of standing)?  When I stop to think of that it really takes to do that, it’s quite cool.

Smile, I'm on camera!

I’m on camera!


I’m sure everyone has something in their lives that if they stopped to really evaluate, they’d be proud of saying they did.  From my peers at UCLA who are attending a world class university to fellow ex-cadets who underwent the same boot camps, everyone makes themself worth something, somehow.  I think it doesn’t hurt to stop and consider how astonishing some of the things we’ve done are.  Maybe I’m just looking at everything through rosy glasses now, but I love thinking about all the cool things I’ve done.  Even the negative things I’ve experienced leave me in awe, wondering if I was really able to overcome that.  So to everyone who has done something extraordinary, whether it’s pay your way through college or excel at an art or sport, here’s to you!  May we all celebrate our accomplishments and learn to appreciate ourselves better.

Transformers thoughts

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , , , , ,
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*If you haven’t seen Transformers, there may be some spoilers.

TRANSFORMERS

photo credit: howstuffworks.com

We had a fun little outing with most of the company to eat dinner and watch Transformers tonight.  I’m not a big fan of robots and aliens and that type of action film, but I thought I’d come along to just hang out and see what all this hype about Megan Fox is all about.  All in all, it was kind of as I expected – a whole lot of metal with some hot girls thrown in, but nothing that really grabbed me.  Still, I tried to immerse myself in the story as best I could and felt a bit sad here and there when a character died.  However, I couldn’t help but think of all the things that didn’t make sense to me (like how these robots don’t just stomp out all the people when they’re fighting and how Optimus’s body was unharmed during that huge long battle).  It also didn’t help that I heard giggling at entirely inappropriate times, which makes a weak plot even less impactful.

I spent a good portion of the movie trying to understand the point of most of the characters – it seemed that they weren’t really needed.  Eventually I came to the conclusion that they were thrown in pretty much for just one purpose each: for the girl, to be the one trying so hard to bring him back; for his roommate, to lead him to the deli; for the deli guy, to lead them to the old plane guy; for the old plane guy, to sacrifice himself for the final battle… you get the point.  Really it was just about the special effects and I’m sure most people went for that (as well as some peeks of those two chicks’ bodies).  I did enjoy all the military gadgets that it showed though – I’ve always had a soft spot for a fighter jet flying overhead or anything else that rumbles so loud I feel it in my heart.  Plus I just adore the military in general, so it was nice to be reminded of some details from my military experiences.

The one thing that it did get me to think about was the whole “I love you” issue.  I’m still waiting for Panda to say that to me one day.  Though the word love has been thrown around here and there, I don’t think he’s ever said that phrase and I wonder when he’d be ready to.  Well, at least there’s no rush – it’s only been a year and there are still many years to go!  It’s interesting how reluctant people are to say that and it was a random theme that stretched throughout the course of the movie.  I don’t understand how Sam knew that the girlfriend said it first when he was unconscious and apparently talking to some old robot machines during that time.  But hey, it’s the movies for a reason, right?

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