Randy the Globe Trotter

Twenty years ago at the ripe old age of five I started kindergarten. In my class was an Asian boy, he was very quiet. Over the next 12 years or so this Asian kid and I attended school together, though we did not become friends until high school. In high school we spent many hours hanging out in the school library before classes started, my group and I had claimed this area for the unpopular kids to hang out in. Being as it is a small school it is hard to break out of whatever reputation you have, the Asian kid stayed quiet for the most part until prom night when he just let it all out and danced his heart out, the boy has got some major skillz and I wish I had been there to see them that night. He was starting to break out of this shell that he had formed early in his schooling.

You see when this little Asian boy walked into kindergarten he knew very little English. The language barrier was one reason he was quiet, the main reason at first really. He learned English but it was so well established that he was a quiet person he just stayed that way. In June of 2001 we graduated together. While he had started to break the mold before we graduated high school in college he was no longer bound by what people expected from him and he was able to reinvent himself. Gone was the quiet Asian boy and in his place was an Asian man who shared his ideas and showed his passions. It was wonderful to see my friend come out of his shell and become the person he is today. And remember how I said he didn't really know English going into school, he now has a bachelor's degree in the subject!

On Tuesday he is going to complete the circle, he is getting on an airplane. That airplane will take him out of the country. At the end of his trip he will arrive in South Korea where he is going to teach English. He has never been over there, he was born here to a Vietnamese and a Cambodian, neither of those countries were good places for him to go to since I think they have some bad blood between them and also they prefer white people to teach them English, guess they feel it is more Englishy or something, lol. I bet you he would be a way better English teacher than I would be and I am about as pasty as it gets, haha! Either way he is going to be worlds away form home and I think that takes some major courage. Oh and I pestered him incessantly and he caved and started a blog, a real one and not a facespace blog/note! I am looking forward to reading about his adventures on the other side of the globe, if you are too give him a click, maybe give him some comment love in case he is lonely over there.

I know I have said it before many times but I am so proud of you Randy, you have overcome so many obstacles along the way and become a person that I am honored to call my friend. Stay safe, have fun, and remember to stay in touch with your hermit friend back in the states! And you're welcome for not stealing a pole dancing pic from one of your facebook albums to share with the blogosphere ;).