Life has gone on, I have not since attempted wake boarding again, a second trip to the City, Barcelona, and Katherine.
So Katherine came out to visit again for two weeks and I was actually pretty excited for a change in the daily routine. Especially considering that Katherine and I are more friends now than acquaintances like previously. Her visit was highlighted with a 10 mile hike through the nature preserve on the island and a visit to New York City. The nature preserve was nice, but also a little disappointing. While it was impressive to see the vast natural growth present, the hike was marred by the appearance of large boats in the distance. The other major event was a second visit to the city. I was really excited to see the city again, but i didn't really know what to expect. The mystique of the city had carried a lot of appeal the first time I visited, but some of the allure had worn off. The three of us (Doug, Katherine, and I) trekked all across Manhattan. We met with Katherine's friend Alex for a brief moment, took a cab to Chinatown for lunch, and unfortunately the sky opened up on us. Within a couple of hours we were soaked, well I was soaked. Katherine and Doug bought some umbrellas, while being the naive and optimistic traveler that I am, assumed the rain would let up. It did not. We stopped in a restaurant by the name of Serendipity (whether it has a claim to fame, I do not know). The restaurant was absurdly crowded, whether it was because of the weather I can't be sure. The place was "cute", but it wasn't really appealing. It had knick knacks and flair that had appeal, but wasn't appealing. The employees were kind and inviting, but at the same time off putting. I'm not even going to bother with defending myself, but the employees had certain mannerisms that suggested they preferred an alternative lifestyle. It probably didn't help that our waiter was making eyes at Doug the whole time (watch out Katherine). Anyway, we each got these outrageously huge ice cream sundaes that were really awesome until you realized there is such a thing as too much ice cream. After Serendipity we decided to call the trip since the rain wasn't letting up and I had broken Doug's umbrella while playing with it.
Barcelona. It's hard to believe an event such as Barcelona exists in the world. St. Olaf has it's own version of Barcelona known as Lutefest. However, when you remove Lutefest out of a college setting, it's kind of sad and pathetic. But, if you put Lutefest in water...! you get Barcelona. This year it rained so the turnout was a little smaller than normal, but there were still a good number of boats, and a lot of intoxicated adults. Doug, Katherine, Jack (one of Doug's friends), Gina (Jack's girlfriend), one of Jack's cousins, and I all went together on one of Doug's smaller boats. When we got there we tied up with some of Jack's coworkers, who were really nice guys. A lot of people were drinking and having a good time, adults were swimming/floating from boat to boat. Overall it was very ridiculous. The highlight of the day definitely had to be meeting Justin Riley's (one of Doug's friends) friends from college. They were a group of burly guys who seemed to be pretty old fashioned. Anyway one of them accidentally fell on a girl in the water. She accused him of attempting to drown her and she then proceed to purposely drown him. The whole time Justin's friend is laughing because this girl was hulking out over a complete accident. Anyway, she stopped just short of murder and Justin's friend proceeded to egg her on for the rest of time. Good laughs, but also very poor behavior overall. But as Jack would say, "It's Barce-fucking-lona!"
Fast forward to about now. I recently got back from a family trip with the Binder's to Block Island. Block Island is off the coast of Rhode Island. It's a very small quaint place with outrageous natural scenery, more so than Shelter Island. It's predominately a tourist economy there so all the prices are marked up quite a bit. The trip was fairly typical in terms of a family vacation as there were bonding moments, but also the tension between siblings spiked at times due to the constant close proximity. It's interesting now that I've grown older and my perspective has matured a bit because I've seen from Charlie's perspective where everyone seems to be against you, but I now see from a parent's perspective where people just need to chill out. Block Island wasn't really notable otherwise, I was a little sea sick on the way to, but just fine on the way back. My Father called me to ask me if I felt the Washington D.C. area Earthquake, but from Block Island I only noticed rougher waters and didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary.
My last week on Shelter Island was a final push down the home straight. Originally I had been promised a week off before Doug and I left for school, but I was fine with having to earn my keep at the Binder home. The pools actually weren't bad at all, I was very surprised that people still wanted their pool to be serviced despite the impending hurricane. My last day of work came and went like a lot of things in life: "not with a bang, but a whimper" - T.S. Elliot. It was a relief to be finished, but it also brought a lot of uncertainty. I learned a lot from the experience, but it also makes wonder more about the future. What am I going to do? I know it's not immediately important, but it's on the horizon. Anyway, Doug and I were planning on going to Yale to visit my friend Natalia. Unfortunately, the Hurricane prevented us from leaving on our planned day, and although I would've enjoyed seeing her I decided it was probably best if Doug and I just went to Midwest as soon as possible. Doug and I left Monday morning after a day without power at the Binder home. We left at eight o'clock eastern time. After hours of driving, paying various tolls, we arrived at my friend Kurt's house in Chicago, Illinois at about nine o'clock. We were greeted with moderate fan fare as we drove over to another friend of mine, Donny's, apartment. There we met another friend Abigail (stylized Abi). We all went down to Lake Michigan to share some laughs and enjoy one another's company. Overall a very good first night in Chicago. The last couple days have been filled with catching up and preparing for our road trip back to school. It's a little unnerving as I realize that not only has an entire year passed since I've finished High School, but I am also now ready to begin my second year of College. Although the time slowly, yet steadily passes, it somehow flies by as if it were a rocket ship to the moon.
I am excited to be back at St. Olaf in Minnesota. I am excited to see my mother again. This summer has made me realize that although I don't always see eye to eye with my family they are uncontrollably, a part of me. So while at times I may be indifferent as to what is happening in their lives, I cannot help but miss them. I am excited for Kurt, Donny, Doug and I to road trip to St. Olaf as we stop in Madison, Wisconsin to visit Lauren and her parents as well as Racine, Wisconsin to visit Pastor Bill. I am anxious to see people that I have thought about over the summer, but did not reach out to or attempt to contact. More specifically I am anxious to see my friend Lyla and whether or not she has decided to return to St. Olaf for a second year. While I have received a second letter from her, I have not been able to return a reply as there is no address for my to write to. I am sure there will be much more to share in the coming days and more self reflection is inevitable I am with out a doubt confident that you all will hear from me again soon.
Until next time,
Best wishes,
Vinh
