My scattered thoughts on the last days at St. John's

I've been here for 2 months and I have served 2 burial Masses, one Anglo, one Hispanic. Father asked me to move out quick or there would be another one, who knows it may be for a Vietnamese this time. On my last days here, however, I have to bury 5 baby fish. Poor little things. Probably I'm gonna name them after the guys who helped me clean the pool at the beginning of summer: Tony, Kenny, Michael, Thinh ... who else was there on that day, oh yeah, Ed (my pastor, Fr. Edward). There you go, RIP - Tony, Kenny, Micheal, Thinh and Ed.


I got to drive a school bus this summer, how cool is that. It's a small one though, but I got to turn open the Stop sign, and open the door to look when passing the railroad track. I don't know, I've always wanted to to that.

At White Water Park, in the afternoon, I actually told the kids, "You guys go on and play, I'm taking a nap." I actually took a nap next to some lady chaperons. *sigh* old age!



I've never eaten out this much. There is no cook in the Rectory, so I have to go out technically every meal, unless someone invites me to their homes. I understand now why priests usually have big belly. I think I'm good in that sense, because mine is ... noticeable :(

I've learned from doing fundraising in this parish that each ethnic community has a different approach to doing it: Bake Sale and cash donation work well w/ the Anglo and African-
American community, while raffle off religious articles and selling fruits work like magic for the Hispanic community. And for the Vietnamese ... I don't know. I only saw them at Mass, but they all disappeared before I finished blowing out the candles at the altar.

Speaking of which, I've wondered why the Vietnamese who go to this Church rarely talked to me over the time I was here while the other communities talked and joked around and hugged and kissed me like crazy. Probably because of the false announcement at the beginning of Summer: "Tri Nguyen, Seminarian of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, fluent in English, French and Spanish."

Though I'm on full-time assignment this summer, I think I've spent more time w/ my friends and the people from TNTT group at my parish, even more than before I joined the seminary.

I have once more proved to myself that online class doesn't work for me. I think I read more newspapers, watched more movies and youtube, and spent more time on facebook this summer. Every time I had to sit down to do online study for my Philosophy class, I found myself in those places after a short while. What else did I pick up this summer? Gardening and taking care of the fish. You know why, because the garden and the fish pond are far from my desk where I keep the Philosophy book.

I hope my mind is not this saturated by the time we get back to school at the end of August.