Brad Nguyen Photography

Sevilla

Cordoba

Granada

Theme #139: Sea Side

During the winter of ‘05 my brother and I heard reports of hundreds of giant Humboldt squid washing upon the shores of California. We decided to investigate the tidepools of Laguna Beach. We never found the squids.

Weekly Theme Contest

I participate in a Flickr group called Weekly Theme Contest. Each week, there is a theme and the members compete for votes. I’ve never gotten more than one or two votes, but it’s fun to participate anyways. Here are all of my entries along with the theme category listed below.

Dance

Children

Time

Artificial Lights

Purple

Cemetery

Silhouette

Parc de la Tête d’Or

Last week Nicole and I went on a date to Parc de la Tête d’Or (Golden Head Park). The lake held a beautiful azure glow that was difficult to catch on film. This park is one of my favorite things about Lyon.

Nicole Capturing the Pond

Roots and Branches

Snowing Near Lyon

This year has been disappointing in the sense that it hasn’t snowed very much in Lyon. It has been a very mild winter with a lot of rain. I don’t think there has been a single day where I have seen snow stick to the ground in the city center. However, there was one week where it snowed in two different suburbs where I work: Mions and La Tour de Savagny.

Mions at 1:59PM

Mions at 3:17PM

La Tour de Savagny from Afar

La Tour de Savagny from Up Close

25 Facts

1. I’m allergic to the cold. It’s called Cold Urticaria. Sometimes when my skin comes into contact with something cold like a can of soda or the ocean water, I have an allergic reaction. Initially, my skin will start to itch. Eventually, it will turn pink and hives will form. I first noticed this when I was in Vietnam at the age of 16. I would get really itchy after riding in the rain or swimming in the sea. Now I always keep a Claritin with me in case I start to itch.

2. I hate chocolate. Usually. I enjoy certain forms, such as: Ferrer Rocher, Almond Roca, Reese’s Pieces, and Whoppers. I just think things that can be flavored with something different, such as cakes, ice cream, muffins, cookies, and cereal, become drastically worse with the addition of chocolate and not worth my time. I can generally eat a chocolate bar if the ratio of nuts to chocolate is high enough.

3. I have lived in 16 different homes. I count a home as somewhere where I have lived for three or more months with everything I need for day-to-day living. I have lived in: Hong Kong, the Philippines, Memphis, Modesto, Modesto #2, Garden Grove, Westminster, Westminster #2, Orange, Garden Grove #2, Irvine (Cuesta), Irvine (Sierra), Lyon, Irvine (VDC), Chile, and Lyon #2. This makes it complicated to say where my “hometown” is. I usually just say Orange County, even though it’s not actually a city.

4. I immigrated to the United States at the age of 18 months. My parents and brothers had taken a boat to Hong Kong, where I was born. We then lived in the Philippines awaiting entrance into the United States. We first arrived in Memphis, Tennessee. I think we were sponsored by a church because I have a vague memory of going to a church once in Memphis. We eventually took a Greyhound across the country to Modesto, in the San Joaquin Valley. That’s how I ended up in California.

5. I speak four languages with varying levels of comfort. English is obviously my best language. I can probably speak, read, and write in English better than most native-born Americans. French comes in second since I have been living in France for the past four months. I have no problem communicating my needs, but I still have difficulty understanding radio, TV, movies, and French people speaking among themselves. Spanish comes in third. I used to be very comfortable with it when I lived in Chile. However, I have not spoken Spanish regularly for over a year, and I am forgetting it fast. Vietnamese comes in last place, mostly because I cannot read or write in it. It is mostly used with my parents and at Vietnamese restaurants. I actually spoke Vietnamese on two separate occasions while visiting Prague.

6. I am moving to Hawaii in July. I will be teaching secondary English with Teach for America on the island of Oahu (where Honolulu is located). “Secondary” can mean anything from 6th grade to 12th grade. I will probably be in Hawaii from 2009 until 2011, plenty of time for everyone reading this note to visit.

7. I participate in a website called Couch Surfing. Basically, you use the website to find people whom you can stay with for free while traveling. I have stayed with 12 different hosts in four different countries. Some people are uncomfortable with the idea, but there is a system of references in place to help ensure safety.

8. I met my fiancée on OK Cupid. Both of her sisters met their husbands online as well. Nicole and I initially spoke exclusively in French for the first few weeks. We have been dating for three years and plan to marry in the summer of 2010.

9. I really enjoy gardening. I spent countless hours landscaping, designing, and planting the garden at my mom’s house in Garden Grove. I love seeing the fruits (or flowers) of my labor. I especially enjoy it when butterflies and bees come to visit. I planted to columns of pink jasmine outside of my bedroom so I could smell their scent whenever I opened my window.

10. I love receiving letters and postcards in the mail. I am often too lazy to initiate any letters, but I try to respond if I ever receive a one. My three longest correspondences have been with Stephanie Pounder in 8th through 11th grade, Dan Phan in 10th through 12th grade, and Nicole Berger while we lived in separate countries.

11. I am really into aquarium-keeping. I spend hours doing research and try to make my tank look as aesthetically-pleasing as possible. I used to invite people into my dorm room to look at my fish tank. I asked my friends to take care of my tank while I studied abroad in France for four months in 2005. Every single fish in the tank died by the time I got home.

12. One of the best decisions I ever made was choosing to go to UC Irvine instead of UCLA. It has opened so many doors and opportunities. I did so many fun things and participated in so many great organizations. I really miss UCI and keep fondly the memories I have of it. One day I will write a list on why UCI is such a great place to study.

13. The highlight of my performing arts career was at the age of 11. I played the traveling salesman and the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. I also sang in the school choir. We were called the Sycamore Singers. Finally, I was one of five kids who led the class in the school talent show as we performed a song in American Sign Language.

14. I wrote a lot of poetry from 8th to 11th grade. I used to go to these teen poetry coffeehouse events held by the Westminster Public Library. I mostly participated for the cookies, coffee, and prizes, not out of any love for poetry. I eventually performed a compilation of poems at the high school talent show, winning the title of “Westminster Idol” my senior year of high school.

15. I changed my major from Psychology and Social Behavior to Literary Journalism because of National Geographic. The summer after my 1st year of college, I read an article in the magazine. Within three sentences, I said to myself, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” I wanted to write for National Geographic. After four years of forced journalism assignments and stressful deadlines, I have decided that I would rather be a photographer than a writer. I honed in my digital SLR skills shooting for the New University. Now I’d be content just shooting for weddings every summer.

16. I am really organized. I am constantly making lists, rosters, spreadsheets, and charts. One reason for this is that I am easily frustrated when I cannot find something or cannot organize a piece of information efficiently. Another reason for my anal organization is my almost inexistent short-term memory. I am always losing my keys, wallet, jackets, and umbrellas. I have gotten locked out of my apartment at least three times in four months. I always have to keep lists and write things down on my desktop calendar or else I will never remember them.

17. I wore school uniforms from 6th to 8th grade. I wore them for one year in elementary school and two year in middle school. I am probably in favor of uniforms for elementary and middle schools. However, we should provide financial assistance for the families that cannot afford them.

18. I love soups and stews. All kinds of soups and stews. Ramen soup, pho soup, chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, beef stew, clam chowder. I prefer chunky soups where you can bite into pieces of vegetables, meat, or potatoes rather than blended soups, which are more common in France.

19. I used to play the drums. I was in band in 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th grades. In high school I played the bass drum in marching band and drumline. Our drumline regularly came in first place during marching band season and last place during drumline season.

20. I took some awesome classes at UCI. My favorites were: rock-climbing, surfing, horticultural science, nutritional biology, AIDS fundamentals, desert ecosystems, OC bird habitats, and OC natural history.

21. Everyone in my family is left-handed except for me. I am the soul righty in a family of five lefties. My sister’s left-hander’s calendar had a page that said “Even if both parents are left-handed, their child is still twice as likely to be right-handed.”

22. I have been to 19 countries. I have been to: the US, France, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Monaco, the Vatican, Hungary, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.

23. I have had many lucid dreams. Lucid dreams are when you are aware that you are dreaming. Sometimes you are then able to interact within the dream and maybe even control it. My first lucid dream occurred in high school. After waking up from a dream, I closed my eyes and imagined myself walking. Eventually I started falling asleep while retaining consciousness. When I go from an awaken state into a dream state while retaining consciousness, there is a warm, uncomfortable tingle in my brain, similar to the way a hot shower feels on the scalp on a cold day, but a lot worse. Recently, I did some research into lucid dreaming and managed to achieve at least four lucid dreams within a month. Unfortunately, I always woke up before being able to fly.

24. It’s really hard for me to finish books. I lack the patience and motivation to regularly finish books. I manage to read only read a novel a year because of this impairment. Recently, I’ve begun listening to audiobooks on my ipod. In the past two years, I’ve listened to: The Audacity of Hope; two-thirds of Lolita; Frankenstein; The Invisible Man; The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century; The Freedom Writers; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; and On the Road. I am currently listening to Dreams from my Father.

25. I’ve been cooking almost everyday since I moved into this apartment. I’ve never cooked so much before in my life. Now, I am able to cook most of the foods that I like to eat. I want to figure out how to host a barbeque in Lyon because I really miss barbecued food. Barbecuing is my favorite type of cooking. Deep-frying probably comes in second. I really miss cheap Californian ethnic food. In Lyon I’ve eaten at a few good Vietnamese restaurants, but they’re always double the price of a typical Vietnamese restaurant in Orange County.

Top 11 Reasons to Live in Lyon

Nicole and I decided to make a list of ten things we liked about living in Lyon. You can see the original list here. Later, I decided to expand on the list and elaborate further on my own personal thoughts. I have tried to make the list a little more specific to Lyon itself and my thoughts on it.

1. I can walk everywhere. Especially important are supermarkets, bakeries, post offices, banks, the train station, the mall, libraries, and even downtown. It’s really nice to not need to drive on a daily basis. I get my fresh air, daily exercise, and convenience all from walking.

2. Excellent public transportation. For those destinations a little farther away or on days when I’m too tired, lazy, or cold to walk, there are busses, subways, and trams. There is an excellent electric bus line outside my apartment that stops by every five to ten minutes during rush hour.

3. Public spaces. It makes being outside without a car a lot nicer. There are a lot more parks and plazas than I’m used to in Orange County. They’re usually very well-maintained and relaxing. My favorite park is called Parc de la Tête d’Or (Park of the Golden Head).

4. Two rivers. There is something nice about living next to water. To me, rivers are peaceful and beautiful. They’re very relaxing and calming. I enjoy the big, beautiful Rhône with its glistening evening lights while Nicole prefers the old-timey Saône.

5. Public events. There is always something going on in Lyon. Every day there are farmer’s markets in spread out across the city. There are also excellent annual festivals such as the Festival of Lights or the Opening of the New Beaujolais. I am often pleasantly surprised to walk through the Bellcour Square and finding another random festival.

6. Rich history and culture. Lyon was founded around 50 AD as Lugdunum. It was the Gaul capital of the Roman empire. For a time, it was one of Europe’s largest producers of silk. It later was an important base for the French Resistance during Nazi Occupation of World War II.

7. Bountiful restaurants, cafés, nightclubs, and bars. It is easy to find a reasonable place to eat or grab a drink just about anywhere in the city. It’s always fun to try out new restaurants and cafés. My favorite café/bar is a club with hundreds of board games. You pay an annual subscription of about eight bucks and get to play unlimited games all year long.

8. Ease of speaking French. I feel like Lyon is one of the best cities to learn French in. Like Paris, it is large and cosmopolitan. Unlike Paris, however, there are a lot less English-speakers here. This makes it a little more frustrating for the average tourist, but for someone who wants to improve his language skills, Lyon is a great place. You will rarely have someone respond to you in English if you speak to them first in French. The Lyonnais also lack a heavy regional accent.

9. Great hub for travel. Paris is two hours by train. Strasbourg and Germany are less than four hours. Geneva is about two. Italy is not far. Southern France is also about two hours. Lyon now has cheap flights to England, Italy, Germany, Spain, Morocco, and many other places.

10. The cost of living. Even though everyday purchases such as groceries and restaurants are more expensive, I generally feel like I spend a lot less money while living in Lyon. Our beautiful 430 square feet apartment costs only about $760 a month. A similar apartment would cost well-over $1,200 in Orange County. I get great high-speed internet, cable, and telephone service all for less than $40 total a month. I am spending $40 on unlimited public transportation instead of $200 a month on car insurance, registration, and gasoline. Health insurance is universal. The increased price of consumer goods forces me to spend less on things I don’t need.

11. The availability and affordability of fair-trade and organic produce. In the United States I almost never bought anything organic or fair-trade because of the ridiculous mark-ups. To me, it was never worth the extra health or ethical benefits. In Lyon, it is incredibly easy to find organic and fair-trade produce for very little more than regular price.

This list is neither ranked nor exhaustive. I initially wanted to make a list of my top ten favorite things about living in Lyon, but I couldn’t leave out the affordable organic and fair-trade stuff, something I absolutely cannot get in Orange County.

What do you particularly like about your hometown or region?

Lower Normandy