School+Work

     It's been many years since I've posted a blog... which was for one of my classes during my freshman year in high school. I am now a sophomore in college, and things are not as "easy" as one described it to be. It's been three months since I started working. My workplace requires us to work at  least 35 hours a week to be a part-time employee, which makes it 4 days a week. In my case, money is not a need, but it is wanted. I'm at a the point of where I have to choose between school or work. Yes! I know that I've talked about immigrating from Cambodia just to obtain higher education- I always reiterate that phrase in my writings. I'm also in a program that helps fund me my college tuition up to 85%, but there are rules I need to follow. Starting with 24 tutoring sessions, meeting with my advisor 2 times a seamster, and meeting with the program itself once a week. For one of my business classes, I have to complete a program online that only computers at school can access, it takes more than10 hours outside of class time. Currently, my grades aren't doing well and I don't know if it's because of me not knowing how to manage time well. I am sitting in a library and thought of writing this because I have no one to talk to, even if I do, who would understand the struggle that I am having? To those who are reading this, if you are having the same situation as me, please let us know so we could discuss, thus, provide me tips on what my next moves should be.

My Story

     My name is Pichkeorasmei Thong! The meaning of my first name is the brightest light from the sun and an original diamond. My last name means the power of the dragon. I am Cambodian, Chinese, and Vietnamese. But my family don't follow Vietnamese's tradition, we only follow Cambodian's and Chinese's traditions. When I have free time in my country, I like to play with my dolls and I like to eat junk foods. While I'm reading, I like to use my own imagination to imagine things that's going on in the story. I started to know how to read English better from reading the books everyday. Now since I'm not in my country anymore, I life changed! I especially spend my free time on reading and eating ice-creams. I never choose to come to Philadelphia, but my parents choose to come here because all of my dad family are here. Sometimes I feel like I didn't take the right decision to come here, but on the other hand, I think I did took the right decision.
     My parents' opinion on living in Philadelphia is just to be near my dad's family and let my sister and I get educated. I always wish to become a rich person one day after I finished educating. And if it happen for real, I would like to visit north pole and if I have enough money, I would to go to the moon to check out the gravity out there. The most wonderful memory that I can't forget from my native country is when my sister and my aunt tried to scared me whenever the power went out. I can't never ever going to forget about this because I miss that fun memory so much, even though they scared but I still want it to happen again somehow!
     The most perfect of my life whenever I hang out with my Cambodians' friends at china town, because we all like to eat all the times. I learn a lot of things when I moved to America. I learn how to speak English better than I learn English in me country. I always wished to go back to the past, and the most recently thing that I wished I can do it over is to learn my native language better and get good grades in school. I life means happiness and full of hopes to me.

     What surprised me when I moved to America the most is, my parents always stayed with me at home when I'm in my country, but when we moved to America, they both go to work and I don't often see them at home. This is kind of a hard situation for me and my sister, because we never stay at home alone like this. When they got home every evening, we were so happy together and we eat dinner together. Pichchanboramei Thong, my sister, she sometimes cook for me if my parents go to work on the weekend. I do not like the foods that my sister cook, because she's not a good cooker, but even though I don't like it, but I don't know how to cook. So the choice is to not complain anything to her or else she will not cook for me again. My parents actually let me lived in Seattle with my aunt and grandma for the last two years. They never leave from us like this before, and when they did that, we were shocked, but then we forget about the sadness and everything. But this is a helpful this for us too to live in Seattle for two years, because we actually learned how to speak English better.

     When there're any celebrations from the Cambodia's traditions and/or Chinese's tradition, we didn't celebrate it the way we used to do in Cambodia. I always see my friends posted the pictures of them when there're some celebrations going on, I was kind of jealous too, but I don't know what to do. In America, we only buy some fruits and our native desserts that our native people made for sells. The dessert doesn't taste the same like the one that made in our country, and it's because of the ingredients are different.
     The thing that I do not like about America is that I can't play with the rains when it's raining, because of the smokes from the factories that made the rain turn into the dirty rains. And this can make us sick if we play with them. In our country, we always play with the rains, because the rain is fresh and the weather is hot which make us feel better afterward. During the last two years, I used to play with the rain once, and my body turned hot. So after that, I never ever play with the rain that's in America again.
     I always wish to visit my country, I want to play with what I always play with, I want to feel what I always feel back then. I always hope these will happen at least one in my life. I am happy to come to America, but still, I do not like it that much as much as my own country. When I walked to America's school for the first time, I don't know what to do, I just do want everyone is doing, but after a week, I started to make more friends. My mom always says that if we do something a little bit wrong, we should say "sorry", instead of just walk away from them.
     These are some obstacles that happens to me and my family. I'm glad to go throw all of these things...

Special sidewalk for the Cell Phone users

     I think we should have the special lane of the sidewalk for the people using the cell phones. On the other hand, we shouldn't have any of the sidewalk for the people using the cell phones. I understand why people made up this idea and I also kind of know why people didn't make any of that special lane of the sidewalk for the cell phone's users in some other countries that are not China. I agree with 'no' and 'yes'! And here some reasons why I said so.

     I said 'yes', because some people during their way to go somewhere, they might get lost and it's depend on if they visit other country or they forget about their own country's streets; so they like to check their cell phones and see where they're at! The same way, people text and talk on their cell phones and there are a bunch of reason why they do these things. And if some people get tired of walking behind someone that was using his/her phone, they walk to the other side that's for the regular people without using any cell phones along their walking time.

     I also said 'no', because some people didn't even noticing anything or what's around them when they are using their cell phones. These people can always distracts other people by walking as slow as possible to be able to look on their phones. Using your cell phones during your walk is a very dangerous idea because you can always accidentally bump into something either sharp or something that is easy to break. The most dangerous reason why people shouldn't use their cell phones during their walk is they can make a hug street accident by walking without looking to their either left or right about what direction they are facing to go toward to.

Three things I am the most grate for

     I am so grateful for the love, support, kindness and all the fun that they offer and I get to offer them. I'm glad that I get to meet them all. And I'm also glad that I have a chance to have fun with and get love from them. My life will be worse if I never meet them. I want to say thanks a lot especially to my parents and part all of my family. I enjoy everything that they give me and supports me!

     The most second thing that I am so grateful for is I don't have to be so hungry on the street and have nowhere to live. And this also make me glad that I have good parents that supports me with every single thing I needed. I got the warm house and the most warm family. Without them, I will be so hungry on the street and live on the street with no educations. 

     I also so grateful for the internet and the phone! The internet helps me to keep in touch with my friends that are in Seattle. And the phone helps me connect to my other part of my family that lives in Cambodia and others in Seattle. And also, they internet helps me send my homework to my teachers and do research and all that stuff! And again, it's because my parents that helps me to have the internet access. Without my parents, I will not have the things that I want to have my life, and my life will be so hard on the street.

     

Three biggest surprises in America

     There are always things that can surprises people when they arrive in another countries or other places. When I moved to United States, I was 11 years old. I always thought of what it's going to look like in America when I was still in my country, Cambodia. But when I arrived, my opinion that I used to have suddenly changed! The most number one thing that surprise me is, people around my house actually Cambodians, so they speaks Khmer. I thought when I came to America, I will never ever use Khmer to be my language again except when I'm at home only.

     The second thing that surprise me when I came to America is that the malls are similar to the one that's in Cambodia. First I thought that the malls are probably different from where I came from, but oppositely, they are similar. And most thing that they sell in the malls are the same thing as the one in Cambodia. But what's different about the two malls between in Cambodia and in America, the sellers are different. At each places in the malls of America, they let us return stuff in if we don't like it, but most places in Cambodia, we can't even take it or return it back if something wrong to the thing that we bought.
   
     The last thing that surprised me the most is that the houses in South Philadelphia is similar to Cambodia. But when I went to live in Seattle for two years, the houses in Seattle are not the same thing as Cambodia and South Philly. Also between the people and the neighborhood, they all different from each places that I went to. I never know about this when I was still in Cambodia. The view of the houses are different, but what they made of are different from Cambodia because in America, they used woods to make houses. And in Cambodia we used rocks,etc. Overall, these are the three big surprises that are different from what I thought about when I was still in Cambodia.

History is Important

   
   
      It important to learn about history, even if the moments happened far away and to people I don't know, because it's allows us a chance to learn about who we came from. The people of the past are those who came before us, and it is interesting to see how some of the thoughts, attitudes, and practices of today can differ so drastically from those throughout history.

     Another reason why it's important to learn about history is because so one may learn about past human behavior that is relevant of the past give us an understanding of how the world came to be, not only in your world but around the world including all cultures of people as well as nature. By learning about the causes and effects of events in history, people can learn better ways to deal with conflict among nations and individuals.

     For the last reason why I think it's important to learn about the history, because so that you find out all of the facts for yourself. If you don't study history, you won't know when someone is misleading you. People always have their own version of the facts. It's important that you know for yourself. And history helps us understand why we live the way we are living and why we are where are a a species and country.