It's very weird to be able to say that I have known people for more than 10 years. Well, beside my parents and my sister. I'm talking about friends. I've been friends with people for more than 10 years. I guess Dave Wang is one of my oldest friend; I've known him since i was 6 or 7. Why am I talking about Dave? I'm not sure.

I spent the 4th of July with old friends from high school. These are people that I used to be pretty close to. But, somehow, when we all went off to school, we kind of lost touch. Well, I guess some of them hadn't. I hadn't seen most of the people at this bbq since New Years Eve two years ago. And there were others whom I hadn't seen since high school graduation. It was strange because most of the time was spent updating. Did you graduate? What are you doing now? What grad school do you want to go to? Where are you living? Any guy/girl in your life? We talked (and ate) for hours. Then we got stuck in traffic trying to get back from seeing fireworks. That's another story.

It's so interesting to hear what different people are doing. I think the cool thing about hanging out with people you don't normally get to interact with is that you get to hear some amazing stories. I love going to gatherings where people are just talking about these interesting things they've seen and done in their lives. I have friends who want to be cheerleaders for pro football teams. I have friends who are getting their masters. I have friends who have taken bartending classes. I have friends who were interviewed for jobs by my other friends. It's all very fascinating.

Above all, it was nice to hang out with people who aren't cut from the same mold that I am. I feel like, lately, my world has become Asian Christians. And that irks me. Oh, yes, I like Asian Christians..I like them a lot...in fact, i hope that my future husband will be one, but I digress. It was nice to hang out with friends who aren't necessarily like me. I get a greater understanding of God's heart for the world as I spend more time with the people that He has created. Yes, there were things that I heard that broke my heart. But now, I'm feeling amazingly encouraged, and I'm not sure why. I think part of what I saw tonight was a sense of community. Commitment. Loyalty among friends. History. There's something about history, shared experiences, shared memory that creates a sense of community and belonging.

I went out with an old friend on Sunday night. A friend that I hadn't seen in months. He used to go to Berkeley; then he graduated and left. I had such a good time. Again, it was really refreshing to hang out with people who aren't like me. Actually, Sunday night was spectacular. I hadn't had such a nice time in quite a while. And it was nice not only to joke about things that had happened in the past, but it was nice to talk about things that were going on in our lives now. It was like I could see how our paths had come together while we were in school, then diverged for a while, and now reconverging. Honestly, I have to say that I had lost a lot of commitment to this friendship. But, spending some time with him again really kicked me in the butt. Loyalty. Commitment.

History isn't enough to sustain a friendship. If we tried to make it sufficient, we'd spend all our time looking backward. But I guess, friendships must be built upon, moving in a forward direction. Duh, this sounds really basic and simple. But, I guess the reappearance of all these old friends has made me think about this. Things to keep in mind as my friends from Cal move forward and in different directions...