Ethnography

Students of the University of California, Riverside took part in a peaceful protest against unfair fee hikes and budget cuts. Look hard enough and you'll find me (or not, avoided the cameras.) We marched from the main campus to the downtown districts. (Good thing public transportation was there, I was soooo not in the mood to walk back.)

Shoppers in Hillcrest San Diego.

Lao American girls attend at a Wat.

Indonesian youths participate in a rock band.

San Diego LGBT Pride - Observations

San Diego is a beautiful city. Hillcrest is a beautifual. Balboa is a beautiful park. All of it has horrendous parking. On the other hand, it's a sign of how many people were there to support Pride. I parked nearly thirty minutes from the destination and I could see the wide range of people who chose to attend. I myself came from Riverside, which was a good idea since I didn't want spend anymore time in the Inland Empire's desert heat. People from Long Beach, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino were there too. Of course you have people from even further there: I over heard to Serbians, and a Russian.

The local business showed their support with rainbow flags displayed infront of their shops. They were all opened, especially the cafés, the resturants, the bars, and the clubs. I was very astonish to see all the ethnic shops there, from Phở to Thai food, there was niche for almost anyone.

Wide ranges of the people was also a positive sight. I want to especailly note the numbers of families that chosed to attend. Patriarchal zealot organizations like the American Family Association and the Focus on the Family are always saying how "anti-family" LGBT events are. So why was there so many families there? Both straight and gay families were there enjoying themselves and having fun. Children were everywhere. For something supposedly "anti-family" a lot of family were having a good time. Ethnicity and minorities were also well represented. It seems to me that minorities better understand eachothers because of our similar expriences with the dominate society.

San Diego LGBT Pride - Personal

Personally, Pride in San Diego was a series of up and down due to issues with my shyness and my friends. I really hate being shy. I also hate coming out in a community lacking LGBT representation. I knew almost no one there. I spent my time being awkward. I've tried going to my University's LGBT resource center but I'm way too shy and too afraid to make much use of the community there. Essentially, I've caused myself to miss out on so many opportunity to integrate in the community.

So there I was spending 4 hours waiting for my friend who was one of the few other gay people I knew. Yeah, I was piss and was about to throw a fit. Eventually, he came and I calm down and began to enjoy the remainder of the day. It was my first going to a club. I manage to trance myself in the dance and totally forgot that I promised to be home by midnight. It was also the first time I got hit on by a guy: after I left the club, a really cute guy said hi and ask me if I enjoyed the night. All I did was give a surprised smiled and one of those dazed out Psyduck looks. He smiled back and said I must really be a shy guy. OMG, I'm still giggling like a high school student over it.

Then things got scary. I drove home from San Diego at around 2-3 am. I just passed Temecula going 80 miles per hour when one of my wheels burs ted. I pulled over to check but since it was dark I didn't see anything wrong. I spent the rest of way back to Riverside with a horrible grinding noise and fearing that I might die. I got home, went to bed, and woke up later in the after noon to check my car. There was no wheel on the back right side. Dad tells me I was lucky that the car didn't blow up on the way. It's the second time I've had this problem, but the first was not nearly as scary because it was bright out and I was in a parking lot.