My hobby

Thi Thach

Gaylene Croker

English 101

September 17, 2013

Many people have different hobbies to define who they are, what they like to do, and how it makes them happy.  My hobby is arts and craft because I enjoy creating things and I am surprised that I created it.  I typically do my crafts at home when I have free time by making scrap books or photo albums.  I use lots of colorful paper, photos, cool stickers, and many more!  I also have scissors that have different edges, and paper lining.  This activity is great to do on my free time since the finished product looks greats and makes me happy.

Anyone can do their hobby anywhere but most of my crafts are done at home because that is where my supplies are. I do this activity by myself because sometimes a little alone time is good.  It is a fun activity to do and it is peaceful.  Through a long, loud, stressful day, it is nice to have some free time at home to do something nice for myself. Plus most of the supplies are organized in boxes that I put away in the closet.  It is good because I know where everything is and it is easier to clean up when I am finished.  It is neatly put away and stored for another time that I have time to do it. It is also a good idea to do this activity with others too, if I had children I would defiantly want them to create things.  I do not want always to be alone when doing this project, some company and other opinions are always great to have.  Although it is a peaceful project to work on alone, I sometimes enjoy doing it with others.

            Some people have free time and some do not and when there is free time for me, which is rare, from school or any kind of chore. I like to bring out my albums and boxes of crafts to take a moment to myself.  I open up the album, grab a pair of scissors and paper and the fun begins!  Starts with cutting fun shapes, pasting it under some photos, or even coming up with some funny quotes.  After that I use color paper to brighten up the book and make the pages more interesting.  It usually becomes a mess after I dig through my scrap, paper, and cut off stuff are just everywhere.  I do not do this activity often due to limit of time, but when I do start I do not want to stop.  Sometimes when I finish the day early or when I finish my school work on time, I am excited to spend some time on my desired hobby.

When I create the album, it always comes up different from other ones that I made.  I usually purchase the album that already has most of the supplies in it.  Then I use different colored paper, stickers, quotes, shapes, and other thing to put it together.  I will cut paper into different shapes, so as the pictures and just tape them on the album.  Nothing has to match, or make any sense, because the creation itself is just random.  When that is finished I can get more creative by adding stickers and quotes beside it.  When the final product is finished I enjoying flipping through the pages that I created and smile because inside are such sweet memories.  These photo albums I created can easily be stored on the coffee table, when guest come over they can view it and give their opinions.  It can even be a part of my home decor, it blends in so well and add a little color to the room.

            In summary, arts and crafts are my hobby and it is what I enjoy to do.  When I have free time or when I am at home, it is just a fun activity.  If I am alone or have some company to enjoy it with, it is just a great activity.  It defines who I am and gives an idea of what I am interested in.  It also is like a stress reliever because it is something that makes me happy. Overall it is just a great hobby and I would not enjoy as much as anything else.  

Marriage Today

                In today’s society, people have different expressions when it comes to marriage.  It is confidently different from the 1970’s that is because the world changes and so does the people in it.  I guess I would say that marriage is still alive but not strong in America as it used to be.  The people today are so caught up with their social life’s, and it appears like people who are in their thirty’s do not want to settle down.  It is as they say “thirty is the new twenty” and people want to take advantage of living their life to the fullest before any commitment.  When the time comes, would it already be too late?  Would they already be caught up in their ways and wouldn’t it be harder to change from a party man to a family man?  I believe marriage is a beautiful decision to make in anyone’s life.  Because there is always one person who is going to love you for who you are and love you at your worst.  Marriage is a true commitment but it does not mean life is going to be over, it can be fun.  It just means looking at life from a new perspective, going through challenges together, and not being alone.  Myself, for instance, I have fell in love with another since I was seventeen, married him when I was nineteen, twenty four now and it is the best decision I have made.  Of course they are life’s obstacles, but working out problems together is a meaning of marriage.  It does not mean give up on each other and end up in a divorce.

            For Rivera’s essay on “temporary marriages” I would have to say that I also agree with her that it is a bad idea.  It is taking away the true concept of marriage.  If you do not see you and your partner together for life, then why get married at all?  Marriage has so much meanings and emotional feelings.  I think that people would not take marriage seriously, and it will become some kind of game stability.  It is like giving a couple false hope for their future, like saying “you guys do not belong together, but you should get married for two years anyway and see how that ends up”.  What is the purpose for all of that, isn’t it just a waste of time and money?  For some people who have children and already live together look at marriage as it is unnecessary, but it is more than that.  There are benefits like life/health insurance, making life or death decisions for your partner.  It is crazy but I would compare marriage with credit, do we really need credit?  It is like part of an image that we show for ourselves, something to be proud of.  This is just my opinion. 

Name As It Appears On My ID

                Some people that look and pronounce my name can assume that I am Vietnamese but, the story behind it is much more difficult to explain.  I was born and raised Cambodian, I can speak and understand the language.  I never really understood why there was Vietnamese in my family until I grew up.  During the Vietnam War, some of Cambodia's land was taken by the Vietnamese.  My father's side of the family adapted to their new home learning the language and their new home traditions. My name is Thi Lee Thach.  Funny as it is I go by both my first and middle name, some people call me Thi and some call me Lee.  My last name was not always Thach, in fact it is my name after marriage.

            When I was born there was a mistake on my social security card and birth certificate.  It read as Lee Thi Danh and Thi Lee Danh, Lee was supposed to be my first name, but due to the mix up Thi was now my first name.  It was on my every school record, and other important documents.  On my dad's side of the family all the female’s middle name were Thi.  I do not understand the meaning, but I suppose it was a tradition they kept in the family.  Although my family never called me Thi, I knew that I was only going to be called Lee by my family and closest friends.  My name does give me a clue to my heritage since there is so much meaning to my first, middle, and last name. If I had the chance to change my name, I would have to say that I would not even consider it.  Growing up I got picked on because my name was harder for the other students to pronounce, it was different, and they could not accept it.  I am glad my name is what the way it is, I enjoy being different and I do accept myself for who I am.

            My last name was not always Thach, it was Danh, my birth name.  When I got married, I was not going to change my name but the military suggested that I had too.  So all my Id's had three different names on it.  When I needed to open a new bank account about two years later, they would not let me unless I fixed my name, for identity security reasons.  It did not make sense to me to change it because I liked that it was all mixed up, it was interesting for me.  When I finally changed my last name, and changed Thi to my first name, I felt like I lifted off a lot off my shoulders.  I felt like I do not have to explain to people why my name was the way it was.  Life was just simple and all my Id’s had the same name on it.  As I have said Thi Lee Thach is now who I am and will be for the rest of my life.