More thoughts.

Yesterday, I felt a little like Tsukushi Makino from Hana Yori Dango (also known as Boys Over Flowers). Not particularly because I was surrounded by four incredibly rich and popular boys, but because I was surrounded by wealthier people in general. In other words, I felt like what the Japanese would call びんぼう (poor).

I have always thought the mall was boring, but it is always a different experience depending on who you go with!

I realize that the school I applied to was expensive, but I did not realize just how much richer than me everyone was! They live in big mansion-like houses up in the mountains, their parents are owners/managers of successful businesses, they have multiple houses and apartments (around the world?!), they have their own boat (?!), give themselves $$$ haircuts, and the list just goes on... It is very, very impressive. Oh, and my school has its own forest.

...And me? My parents cannot speak, read, or write English. They have low-paying jobs. And we have five people living in a tiny two-bedroom apartment. My brother does not have the first floor of the house (what house?) to himself, he sleeps in our parents' room. The friends I made in Hawaii are similar to me in terms of background and economic status. We all have immigrant parents, we all live in tiny apartments in town, and many of them are first generation Americans like me. For some of them, their children will be first generation Americans since they were not born in America. Although some of my friends are into designer brands...well, it's still not the same, haha.

Their world seems so...alien to me.