About Me

I don't really have time to sit down and write a well thought out post these days, so I guess a short one will have to do. I apologize that this is also a departure from the more academic theme I've tried to make, but hopefully this may help others better understand me when I do make my more academic arguments. Here's a list of things I have learned about myself so far in 2012:

1. Through taking a picture of something I've experienced each day this year, I have learned that it is much easier to document and remember what happens in my life through one or two short sentences each day (which are the captions for my photos) rather than the detailed journal entries I love to write but never have time for. It's also better than the short lists of random words I use to define my day which I write on sticky notes hoping they will jog my memory when I finally have time to write.

2. By taking pictures everyday, I have also realized that the highlight of my life these days really consists of food (seriously, almost half of my pictures are of things I've eaten or places I've eaten at!), school work, hanging out with Nate, and admiring the scenery. I never knew food was such a big part of my life before!

3. I always knew I get anxious when I have to call somebody on the phone, but I really don't like sending out emails either! Especially because I've always had bad luck with technology.

4. I came to the sad realization that the older I get, the more I realize that I don't like everyone I meet.

5. I have a very unique life background based on a very unlikely combination of my race and ethnicity, my religion,  my experiences growing up in Hawaii, my experiences traveling the United States and parts of the world, the random jobs I've had in dozens of different industries, the eclectic mix of friends, acquaintances and colleagues I have, and I could go on and on. I think a lot of people don't understand me because of it, but I like to think it helps me relate to others better as well.

6. I also realized that I love to exchange stories about life perhaps a little more than most people would be comfortable with. In short: I talk too much :P

7. I do enjoy a good TV show, but no matter how many shows and movies I have on my list of things to watch, I really do think it's the biggest waste of time.

8. I feel guilty for having so many Facebook friends, but I really do love them all! I'm not just a "friend collector" but I am genuinely interested in their lives. And I do go through delete people I don't feel like I would ever talk to again and stuff like that, but I still have so many people I care about that I want to keep in touch with. Because I have lived, worked, and traveled around in so many places I do know a lot of people. I love being able to see where people are at and meet up with them whenever I travel. That's been the most valuable thing about Facebook for me. And after all, it's supposed to be a social network.

9. I am starting to realize that I am a gift giver. That's one of the things that brings me so much joy in my life.  I am pretty good at saving my money, but when it comes to Christmas and other celebrations, I love having an excuse to spend money on the people I care about. If I see something that reminds me of a close friend or family member, it takes a lot for me to not make that purchase.

10. My ideal career choice would be something in the travel and tourism industry. I have always had a plan for what education or job I wanted to get somewhere in life, but I never felt very strongly about any particular career path in the past; I would be happy with whatever job I ended up with and I would be able to learn to do my job the best I could. My past career goals were always to achieve more broad, general end. I wanted to be a diplomat to influence education policy somehow. I wanted to work for UNESCO to  work with historical places somewhere. I wanted to work for an NGO to help people in need across the world. I could never think of any one particular job that would make me happy in the past. These jobs were all a means to an end. I wanted to be a positive influence in the world and I needed to have a career path, but I didn't think any of these would be so much fun or make me particularly happy in my personal life or anything. I mean, a job is a job. However, the more I study tourism in sociology and the more I want to travel and see the world, the more I am beginning to realize that I would have so much fun with a job that allowed me to do research relating to maps and travel schedules and cultural reports, not to mention the most amazing benefits that come with it all. If I can find a way to fit urban planning and sociology into such a career, that would probably be my dream job.

The Year of the Dragon

2012 is off to a great start. This year will be the year to make things happen. This year will be the year that dreams will come true. I don't know what it is about the new year, but something is definitely in the air, and it seems that I'm not the only one who feels it.

While 2011 was a very productive year for me, I'm not sure that it was the best it could have been. The last 4 or 5 months of the year passed so quickly - moreso than I've ever felt time fly before. It was as if the minutes, hours, days, and weeks slipped by unnoticed until they were absolutely gone. However, at the same time I simply couldn't wait for 2011 to be over and done with. I had many wonderful opportunities and met many amazing new people, but something just seemed to be lacking in the quality of time I was using. Yes, it was exciting for me to publish a book in March and to successfully present my research at several wonderful conferences in amazing cities. I started running which is a miracle since I never ever thought I would ever become a runner in my entire life. I can't believe I ran four half marathons, including one at Disney World in Florida! And that gave me the opportunity to visit the Harry Potter theme park in Universal Studios. What a dream! And I was able to visit more than 4 new cities, which was my goal for 2011. I went to Seattle, Portland, Boise, Calgary, Edmonton, and Orlando, and I'm so glad I finally had the chance to use my new passport I've had for a while.

On another note, I was not able to keep up this blog as regularly as I had hoped to. I do actually have dozens upon dozens of half written blog entries, but in the last part of the year, I found it difficult to finish them thoroughly. If I hope to continue this blog as an effort to keep up my writing skills, I think I need to start writing shorter posts.

After reviewing my resolutions for 2011, I have several things I hope to accomplish in 2012. As a continuation from last year, I do hope to stay more active. I want to continue running as much as I can, and I want to travel to at least 4 new cities, which definitely includes Chicago (where the 2012 Rural Sociological Society conference will be held in July), as well as 1 or more new countries. I really need to get out and see the world, especially Europe, like I always dreamed I would. In the past, every time I planned a trip my travel buddy would bail on me. This time I am determined to get there no matter what. Airline fees are only going to rise in the future, and I have enough friends in different places that I should be able to get around even if it's by myself. I am utterly determined to get to Europe! I have also already purchased a handful of tickets to attend several events at the summer Olympics in London this year, so wish me luck in finding a way there!

The most important thing I must accomplish in 2012 is to graduate from BYU with my MS degree in Sociology. I need to focus my writing efforts on my thesis project daily (rather than on a blog haha) and hone my statistics skills in order to finish. This will be the greatest challenge of the year.

With the exciting nature of events to come this year, especially regarding my travel plans for the year, I hope to have many new adventures as well. This is my last year living in Utah as far as I'm concerned, and I really want to take advantage of all the magnificent things I can do here. So my ultimate goal is to try 10 new, fun things here in the West/Rockies. I hope these things will include learning to ski, white water rafting, hiking the Grand Canyon, and attending at least one showing at the Sundance Film Festival.

I realize that accomplishing all these things will probably take both a lot of time and money, so this year I'll have to work harder than ever and take more risks in my life. And I'm willing and ready to do that. I have a certain clarity this year about what I want, and I'll do whatever I need to do reach  my goals. This year I am decisive (for once)! I'm so excited to see where this year will take me. Hello, 2012!

Building Strong Communities on Cultural Foundations

TO:  Kathy Kolnick, Professor

FROM: Beatrice “Tippe” Morlan, PPD 417 Student

DATE: February 23, 2010

SUBJECT: Building Strong Communities on Cultural Foundations

Thais are a historically marginalized ethnic group here in America. One could call them a “minor” minority whose members do not conform to the typical Asian American stereotype.  They are the most heavily trafficked ethnic group within the United States according to the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report, and Thais do not have enough political clout to raise very much awareness of these and other struggles they face. The United Way estimates that 50,000 or more Thais living on the West Coast are undocumented, and this has fostered a sense of transiency and lack of community among most of them living in America.

Institution building through understanding the history of Thai Americans is greatly helping the community to build a stronger sense of solidarity and pride (Abbott and Adler 1989), something that has been needed for a long time. Ever since the official designation of Thai Town in 1998 by the Los Angeles City Council, community members have had a concrete place to call their own, a place to rally around in Los Angeles and a place to teach and learn about the history of their community. The Thai American “group identity” grows stronger each day with increasing education and awareness being exchanged between the Thai and American cultures (Abbott and Adler 1989). The historical analysis of 

Thai Town improves understanding of the transnational Thai American culture allowing community members, politicians, and many others to more easily recognize and respond to their needs.

The federal designation of Thai Town as a cultural tourist attraction in 2008 through the Preserve America white house initiative was a “critical decision moment” for Thais as it enabled the community to better serve its members through increased funding and services. This project is paving the way for future policy options through increased awareness on a national scale and access to funds to support community-based initiatives (Johnson and Schaffer 1985). It is so essential for ethnic groups to learn of and identify with their history, especially within the context of the places they reside. This allows them to function more successfully as a part of a larger community. Without such awareness, it can be difficult for others to understand the role such ethnic groups have in society as well. This is why cultural tourism within our own country is a critical tool for using history to expand people’s knowledge of and interactions with one another.

As a Thai American, I am grateful to be so involved in my culture now that I have found my place in Thai Town, Los Angeles amongst others like myself. I have been fortunate to have a role in Thai American history through my involvement with the Thai Community Development Center working on many of these initiatives. My understanding of my own culture and its place in the context of American cities is just beginning to grow as I work to improve the conditions of the Thai American community in any way I can.

Look what I found

I was going through several of my old journals today, just the ones from the past few years, reflecting on how I've grown and who I've become since starting college and my adult life. And after finding this poem I wrote while bored at work one day, I realize that I need to brush up on my vocabulary! (Although I think I was studying for the GRE at this time, to be fair). And really, I need more art, adventure, and creativity in my life. I mean, after all who doesn't!

Friday, June 12, 2009

The city stands a mile high above
and Man has made his Babylon today.
To reach the heav'ns, to prove perfection's lie
- an ephemeral state of seeking out
the higher faster stronger ways for all.

Pedantic airs, occluding love and worse:
ignoring nature's diatribe to Us,
the World - Our human taciturnity,
a non-response to the dear mother earth.
Oh, fate and destiny will have revenge.

Man lives, a microcosm of all life.
Eternity all emotion consumes.
To love with no reciprocating force,
One man stands high above adversity.
What pain, what anguish shows us now, the Way.

But one Man makes all hearts to suffer more,
that one Man, he can't Love to save a life.
How One man loves, one Man cannot, He loves,
but not one Girl. Attenuated here
she falls away, for ignorance is bliss.

one Girl stands high above the city miles
and miles into the sky. She now looks down
to see one Man, but Oh, she sees the World.
Come down to meet One man who teaches Love.
one Man and Babylon have been destroyed.

Personal Space

Okay, one of my favorite professors posted this Freakonomics article on facebook, and I could not resist the urge to comment on it. A good portion of the American population has at one time or another flown in an airplane. And as times have gotten rough for the major airline corporations in recent years, it seems that someone brilliantly thought that decreasing the space between rows in order to add a few extra seats to sell for revenue was a great idea. I have flown a fair amount in my lifetime thanks to the fact that I grew up on an island smack dab in the middle of the largest body of water in the world with all my relatives residing tens of thousands of miles away, and I like to think that I know a thing or two about how airplanes have changed over the last twenty one years. And one of the biggest changes I have noticed is in the decreased amount of personal space alloted to each customer that rides an airplane (outside of first class, of course). I used to be able to comfortably rest my arms on my tray table and lay my head on them to nap on longer flights. But in the past several years I have not been able to do this (nor have I grown). And as this personal space has gradually been taken away from me and from any other normal patron of the airline industry, I have increasingly noticed and been offended by other patrons, particularly those sitting in front of me, who decide to recline their chairs, taking away even more of my personal space on those flights. And as luck would have it, it seems like the only person who decides to recline their chair in the area I choose to sit always happens to be in front of me.

Personal bubbles are real, people! And when you invade someone else's bubble on an airplane by reclining your chair, in order to retain a comfortable sense of personal space, that person then has to recline their chair, starting a chain reaction. This is where the Freakonomics article brought in the question of altruism.

I think the choice to recline one’s airplane seat is a great example of natural altruistic tendencies. Reclining one’s own seat increases his comfort, but only at the expense of the person directly behind him. Then, in order for that person behind to increase his own comfort level back to what it was before the person in front reclined back into his space, he must now recline back into the space of the person behind him at the expense of that person’s comfort, and so on. An experiment observing this behavior may be a better measuring stick of natural human altruism tendencies than the Dictator game or similar games since the behavior could be observed in real time and without the behaviors associated with knowing one is being observed in a laboratory.

Altruism is a natural human tendency. But selfishness is as well (i.e. survival of the fittest). And when individual capital is at stake, when a person has paid for their seat on a plane, does that make them feel entitled to that certain amount of personal space so as to get mad or irritated when someone tries to take it away from them? Is altruism sometimes lost in instances like this because we are fighting for something we paid for, a specific product we expected to receive? I think this definitely has a lot to do with it. Although sometimes seat recliners are just irritating on the basis of decreased personal space alone.


So then why is it that people are so particular about the atmosphere that they travel in? Sure, some plane rides are longer than others and it is definitely nice to be able to retain a comfortable amount of personal space when you have to sit in the same spot for 9 or 10 hours. However, I have seen these same selfish instincts kick in on all sorts of public transit having been a regular patron of the Honolulu and the Los Angeles Metro transportation systems for years and years and years. On the bus, people want to keep to themselves. Of course, if you strike up conversation people are more than willing to share a conversation or two with you in general; I learned this from an interactive transportation planning homework assignment I had to do for Mike Woo's class (former City Councilman in LA). But for the most part, people are happy to be left alone when they are in transit. They choose the seat or the spot that they view to be the best that they can get at the time they board the vehicle, and they plug in their headphones, read their books and magazines, or nod off in their own little worlds not expecting to be bothered by anyone else. And when they are bothered beyond the occasional casual conversation, it is irritation. Almost a violation of a social norm. But on buses, you can't recline your seats and invade someone else's space in that sense. It really takes a crazy person talking to an imaginary being (which has happened several times in my personal experience) to cause the kind of discomfort that the reclining of a seat causes on a plane. 


But knowing this, am I (or even are you) going to stop reclining your seat when the person in front of you pushes their seat down into your lap? Alas, I don't think I will. I won't be the first to do it, but because I was raised in this fine country full of individual rights and personal property, that tiny bit of space is mine by right when I purchased the plane ticket, so I think I will continue to reclaim my space by reclining also when (not if, but surely when) this happens to me again. I feel guilty, but what can you do? Where does the cycle stop? In such an individualistic nation, we are accustomed to having a certain amount of personal space, and without it life is uncomfortable. And boy does comfort mean a lot to us all.

I Love Maps!

I've been spending a lot of time this week cleaning my room and putting up posters and pictures I've been meaning to decorate with all year. And it's almost crazy how half the things in my apartment have to do with maps and travel! I have recently come to the realization that I am obsessed with seeing the world. Geography is my one true, undying love. Travel is my passion. There is nothing that would make me happier to see these places for myself and to imagine the history that has taken place there. Travel combines four of my absolute favorite things: geography, history, cities, and adventure.

To give you a sense of exactly how obsessed I am, here's a brief overview of some of the things I have in my room as proof.  I have a huge national geographic map I've had for a long time which shows where I've been throughout the world. There's a couple hand drawn maps of the human features of the Greater Los Angeles Area (which even shows the LA Temple! - see image to the right) and of the World. There's a framed copy of a historical map of Oahu painted in watercolor just above those next to my bookshelf, and there's a wall sticker of the London skyline spanning the entire wall above that. I have little trinkets from trips I have taken on my bookshelf including a Mardi Gras mask from NOLA, a small statue of liberty toy from NYC, an Aztec wall hanging from Mexico, and a mini hand painted fan from Chiang Mai, Thailand. There is a wall sticker of the Golden Gate Bridge on the other side of the room along with my collection of smashed pennies from places I've been on a small wall shelf near my small, wooden poster of the Eiffel Tower. I just put up a beautiful copy of this historic map of important places in Paris (see below), and each year I buy a travel themed calendar of a place I have been longing to go. This year, it's "1000 Places to See Before You Die." I won't spend any more time boring you with more details of what I have up right now, but you get the picture, right?

I never realized how passionate I was about these things until I was dying because I might have to reschedule my first ever trip to Europe - again! Both because of high airfares and a lack of travel buddies. It seems like such a silly thing to be upset over, but seriously my entire life has led up to this obsession. My family has never been wealthy enough to truly take a vacation so all my life I have fantasized about what it would be like to visit the canals of Venice or to walk the original square mile of the city of London. As a kid I loved reading random articles in the Encyclopedia and I always stopped to read about different countries and the people who made them famous. Czechoslovakia is one of the most memorable articles I have ever read. I was very young, but it was cool to recognize how the world is constantly changing around me at that age as I knew the country had split in two since that Encyclopedia was published thanks to my first snazzy map of the world given to me for being a member of National Geographic Kids' young explorer team (I was chosen to do cool activities they sent me each month, probably for research and advertising purposes). Geography and history came alive to me through imagining what it would be like to travel to those places and to relive those times.

Visiting Jackson Square in NOLA

I suppose it also did not help that my dad works at the airport and used to bring home tourist magazines for us kids to play with all the time. I loved looking at the pictures of hotels imagining what it would be like to stay there and do all the things tourists did in Hawaii. I never knew what it was like to be a tourist at home for a long, long time (mostly because it's expensive!). Even though I have been to Thailand and Ohio several times growing up, we never really stayed in hotels or acted as tourists ever. So I kept dreaming of places like New York City, London, and Versailles. And the more I could not travel, the more I wanted it and the bigger my dreams became. In the tenth grade, I even joined a state student government program called the Secondary Student Conference because I wanted to stay in a hotel for three days in Honolulu during the event. Sure, I loved the work I did in student council. It paved the way for new (but smaller) passions and causes in my life such as education policy and urban planning. But what I loved the most about my new "passions" was that I kept finding ways to travel for free to new and exciting places. I fundraised most of the money for an alternative spring break trip to Mexico. I received academic funding from USC to attend a planning conference in New Orleans. BYU recently paid my way to Seattle for a sociology conference. And in high school, the state paid for me to go to Philadelphia for a national student council conference. I am proud at how savvy I have been at finding ways to see new places and experience new cultures. But I still can't wait for the day that I can experience leisure travel. Hopefully that day will come soon.

I have only recently come to realize this obsession that I have had for most of my life, and it really makes me wonder how it is that people develop passions for things like travel or animals or art or anything at all? Isn't it such an odd thing, contingent on life experiences and the circumstances we are born into? But most people do have something that they are passionate about. Is it something we need in order to make life meaningful as humans? Are these passions modern society's way of replacing the fanatic, obsessive sense of religion people once had until a few hundred years ago? Durkheim might have something fascinating to say on the subject of such passions replacing the old kind of religiosity that was central to life in the past. Sure, people can be and are religious these days. But really I think he was talking about the presence of something big that governs one's life. For instance, someone whose passion is dancing might have a life that revolves around their rehearsal schedules and competitions. It almost dictates their life schedule, and they need it to be happy. For me, I am constantly planning a new trip, whether or not it is realistic, trying to see if I can make Europe or any other sort of travel happen. And now that I live in the mainland, it has been awesome to take road trips! Eisenhower's highway system has given us so much power to travel and access to the rest of the 48 states. The biggest issue with travel, however, is that I don't like to travel alone. What's the good of travel if you don't have someone to share those unique experiences with? In the end, we are all social beings after all, and our passions have to play into that.

Inspiration

Humans have the ability to accomplish such amazing things. It never ceases to amaze me to see or hear of someone accomplish an astounding feat. For example, Alex Honnold, a twenty-something year old kid from Sacramento, is pretty much the world's best free solo rock climber. At 23, he was the first person to ever free solo climb the North face of Half Dome in Yosemite - and he did it in the time it took me to run a half marathon (2 hours and 50 minutes). I'm in an awesome rock climbing class this semester and we had to watch a video of Alex's adventure on the first day of class. Below is a short clip from the video (the whole thing can be seen here, if you are willing to ignore the Chinese advertisements).

Watching him climb gives me butterflies just thinking about what it takes to do what he does. While I could never hope to solo climb any sort of rock, it is so inspiring to know that someone out there is doing this. Something that no one ever thought could be done before. As time progresses, more and more people accomplish new things and set new records. For one thing, we have newer technologies which allow people to learn and to dream of doing novel things. For another, being exposed to so much more of the world through technologies such as the internet and social networking, people are more inclined to take risks in all aspects of life. I'm sure there was someone who might have had the ability and stamina to do what Alex does, but no one dared to try in the past. It wasn't quite socially acceptable to climb a wall without safety precautions in the past, but in this day and age, anyone can generally do what they want no matter how stupid it may seem. After all, climbing a 2000+ foot rock face without any safety gear does seem like a pretty dumb idea. But our society rewards boldness when it is met with opportunity and success. And Alex was lucky enough to successfully show the world his talents in his own bold endeavors.

People will always find new ways to go and do whatever they want in this world. It's admirable. It's impressive. As long as the world loves to hear stories about people who can create and accomplish astounding feats, there will always be people to do them.