My First Week in New Orleans

Holy Bovine!

For my best folks on the West Coast....  I love y'all the most.

I'll start off by saying this: One of the best things about moving to a new place is a forced change of routine. Reset!

Cleared this space to do an L-Back, the day I moved in

I. This Place Feels Like Vietnam, Kinda
Life in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) is quite different from my life in Cali. In a way, it feels like college over here. I'm living in a house with 3 other folks around my age. They're all teachers too and we get along.

The weather feels like Vietnam. The heat and humidity is strong. And the rain can come at anytime.

The similarities to Vietnam don't stop at the weather though... the bikes and motorbikes... the mosquitoes... lots of people in the streets... even the smell... all reminiscent of when I was in Vietnam.

It's no wonder there's a sizable Vietnamese population here.
But then again, the population here is a wonder in itself.

That's one of the reasons I came here: it's a city of Saints.

The community here is not as big as in OC, but there's more poverty here in NOLA.
And Vietnam might have more poverty than both places, but who's counting? Every place has its problems.


- From Santa Ana, to Louisiana,
I rep Saint City, pardon any bad grammar.


II. If Week 1 is Any Indicator of My Upcoming Year.... Holy...!
I wouldn't want to bore you with all the details of my past week, but some highlights are that I:
• Met a Music professor from Tulane
• Sessioned with the local bboy/breaking scene from across the Mississippi River
• Got hired at a High School (Go Patriots!)
• Began training at a phenomenal teacher-training program, with these AMAZING teachers
• Started meeting some rather ingenious people, artists, published scientists, passionate souls, etc... building my network.

After talking to fellow teachers, I'm now really looking forward to making my "unique contribution" to the school and community, as I did at Mendez Fundamental Intermediate\Santa Ana from 2010-2012. Waddup Mustangs! Mr. Nguyen's in full effect. Hungrier than you might expect. Respect the intellect as I keep kids in check. Living life correct, a little freestyle for wreck...


The professor and I have become good contacts. He showed me the most authentic Vietnamese food in the area... and I can support that claim. Kim's Restaurant—Delicious, authentic, and affordable. He's also letting me have his bike because he's too old and injured for it. He is also introducing me to the good people in Tulane's dance department (their equivalent of World Arts and Cultures @UCLA. w00t)

The bboys helped me out with a few rides too, since my car is still in Cali. The people here are SO nice. I seriously owe those guys.

The high school I'll be teaching at, John Ehret, is one of the biggest in the area, and being a high-need school, I figure I'd be able to maximize my impact crater by accepting the job there. It's also got one of the larger Asian populations for schools in the region. After a little research, I found out that Frank Ocean graduated there. Another source for that here.

So far, it's been a positive set-up for my upcoming year.


III. California Though...
After teaching my neighbor about the population centers in California yesterday (LA, LB, OC, SD, IE, SF, SJ), I started to think back there. My heart is still in California. My family, dancing friends, my rapping friends, my activist friends, most of my school friends, my non-dancing friends, my girlfriend... damn yo! CALI!

But it's good over here too, not too worried, not complaining, just gotta keep working and focusing on adding value. I'll tell ya, sales/business/personal development did crazy help for my life. I wish I didn't have so many assignments and stuff, cuz I want to blog and write more. I wrote 16 bars for my students though, it's gonna be dope when they hear it.

At least I'm not waking up super late like back in Cali. My days start earlier over here.
I used to have trouble waking up early consistently back at home. Habitual late-night gym sessions, hanging out with friends, etc.. wasn't as productive. But as I said, it's a forced change of routine over here, and it's helping me big time.

It's the change of scene in New Orleans...
Looking good for 2013.
Hardest part is missing my Queen.

Now (when I wrote most of this back on Wednesday night) I'm kicking back with my roommates, eating pizza, bumping 90s throwback music, and sipping a Mexican brew with a lime in it. It feels like a vacation. This is all after 10 hours of training today. That's life in NOLA!