"When people think of Mexico they think of Aztec pyramids, the choking smog of Mexico City, or perhaps the savage heat of its copper-hued deserts.  I can't see any of that from where I live, but I can see the slums of Tijuana--shacks built of plywood and cardboard that cling to the face of a hill. 'That's Mexico,' I told my friend...." (383).

I'm currently in Dr. Lai and Dr. Mohrig's TC 301 class about the representation of landscapes in art, literature, and geology. Thus far, we've come to discover how landscapes are a very personal affair, in terms of how specific people view and think about specific vistas.  I thought that this quote subconsciously illustrates this idea, in that Ramírez characterizes Mexico as meaning different things ("Aztec pyramids, the choking smog of Mexico City, or perhaps the savage heat of its copper-hued deserts") to certain people, but that to him, Mexico is the slums of Tijuana.  Just something interesting I immediately picked up from reading this.

I'm not sure why, but when I think of Mexico I picture crowded scenes of people trying to get out of the country and almost nobody trying to come in.

"My parents and I were both excited and confused: We were so happy that he was home, but we hadn't expected him to speak to us in Spanish, or to hug us like he had never hugged us before. He didn't speak much about his college experience; all I could tell was that he was going through drastic changes....These changes bothered me tremendously because I couldn't comprehend where he was coming from" (390).

Being the oldest of my three siblings, I often wonder how they think of me now that I'm gone. Indeed, my relationships with them are much different than they were when I lived under the same roof with them, but I like to think that I get along better with them now. That being said, I do sense a little bit of unfamiliarity between us now, as if they think aliens have abducted me and replaced me with somebody not exactly the same. The same goes for my parents. I could be totally wrong, but I do sort of get this sense and it makes me a little uncomfortable.

I hope that my family doesn't treat every one of my visits as if it were "The Return of the Prodigal Son," but I can't help feeling a little strange whenever I come home.

"At nineteen, he tackled the English language, his first year of college, a job, and the army" (398).

I lived a very stressful life. Grades, money, and a plethora of other things bother me, but I fail to think about how hard so many other people have it than me. I should really try to be more aware of things like this.

I feel like it's an overused meme and I don't like to think I am, but I unfortunately am privileged and take it for granted way more than I should.

"If I had a log for every time I've been asked whose side I would have taken in the Riots, the earth would be a ball of flame and we'd wander lost in our lust to label everything we see...." (407).

I thought that this was a beautiful line of poetry, and an eye-opening one at that. During the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles, a number of confrontations occurred between African-American looters and Korean store owners. This rarely talked about conflict has actually left some pretty deep scars between both communities, but I've never thought about what it would've been like to go through such a racially polarizing experience as a person of mixed descent.

Two Korean men defending their grocery store from looters during the Rodney King Riots.

"Homosexuals were despicable in my mother's eyes. I knew this because she had often cracked bigoted jokes about the gay men who worked with her at her clothing company" (416).

I've talked to my parents before about how they would react if one of my siblings or I came out to them. They've told me that they would be tremendously supportive and would love us all the same. I consider myself extremely lucky to have such accepting parents, and though I don't get many opportunities to see this in action, I'm very thankful for them. I can't imagine having to hide my sexuality from the people who gave birth to me, and it makes me very sad that many of those who aren't straight have to deal with this issue. Love, in my opinion, is the strongest emotion, and to have to mask it makes me feel immense sympathy and compassion for those who have to.

Knowing that this scene occurs more often than not when people come out to their parents leaves me feeling immensely sad and feeling undeservedly fortunate of my own parents...

"I also found that the struggles Derek faced in his life, particularly in the relationship with his parents (most particularly with his father), resonated with my own struggles to develop a positive identity as a Chinese male confronting, wrestling with, and coming to terms with many of the traditional values and limited definitions of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and masculinity that my father had modeled" (426).

We are all lucky to live in a country that, even with a man like Donald Trump running for president, is largely liberal and very accepting of the LGBTQ community. The same cannot be said for an incredibly conservative country like China, where issues such as sexism (see Chinese infanticide and the "one baby law"), racism (John Boyega, the black protagonist of the new Star Wars movie was omitted from theatrical posters in China), and other issues pervade society. A culture as old as China's certainly must be respected, but there needs to be some form of revision to some of the traditions its culture values.

Graph detailing "how much" people come out in the Chinese workplace