Living to the fullest

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]Tech. Sgt. Kitsana Dounglomchan enjoys driving all around the area with his wife, Cassandra.[]Tech. Sgt. Kitsana Dounglomchan enjoys driving all around the area with his wife, Cassandra.

Kitsana Dounglomchan, a technical sergeant at Cannon Air Force Base, is a traveler and a self-described serial hobbyist. He has traveled the world and experienced many things from skydiving with his wife to sneaking their Yorkie into a Lubbock theater.

Dounglomchan is moving to India this year to work at the American embassy. He may not have the secret to living a fulfilling life, but he certainly knows how to live life to the fullest.

What do you do with the Air Force?

Right now, I'm teaching First-Term Airman Classes (FTAC), which is basically for all the newly airman that come to Cannon. We have this seven day class they have to go through, and it's my responsibility to run that right now.

It's not my normal job; I normally run with communications. I knew the master sergeant, and I was a teacher in Turkey, so she thought I'd do really good with it, so she hired me on.

Where have you lived, and where was your favorite place to go?

Before I moved here, I was stationed in Turkey, which was great. Before that, I lived in Las Vegas, and before that I was in Washington, D.C. I can't say that one of them was my favorite — they all have their positive aspects. Las Vegas had the nightlife, and Clovis has a small-town feel. I enjoyed all of them for the unique experience each one had.

Are you and your wife excited to move to India? Did you find out if you can take your dogs?

Yes, we can take our dogs with us. My wife is warming up to it. She's not like super excited to go there, but uh, she's definitely warming up. There's not a base in India, there's just an embassy, and you're living in the city amongst the local natives there. In Turkey there's this gigantic base with lots of Americans there, so you're getting the watered-down Turkey experience, compared to India where you're completely immersed in the culture.

Your Twitter description mentions that you're a “food tester.” What foods do you like to test? What's the worst versus the best you've tried?

Honestly, the biggest thing I've tasted is probably the stuff my wife makes. She's definitely raised my standard about what I'm eating. She makes this amazing wonton soup. When she finds something we like, she has to know how to make it herself. That's the best thing I've tasted, is the soup. The worst or most unique thing… hmm… we went to Jamaica once on vacation, like six months ago, and we had this great curry there. We tried to make it when we came back and put way too much cinnamon in it, and it was the worst by far. Cassandra, my wife, is always making stuff. We tried to make gnocchi once, too, in Turkey and it was absolutely terrible. We were so excited to make it and we ordered it special, and it took two weeks to get here and it was terrible.

How did you meet your wife?

We met on MySpace in 2005. We used to be embarrassed about that, but back then people met online. My mom met my step-dad online, so maybe it's a family thing.

I just got back from a deployment in Iraq, and I had gotten a MySpace because I had met a girl that had one — not my wife — so we could stay in touch. That girl broke up with me as I was about to deploy back to Iraq, but before that, I had got this mystery MySpace request from my wife, thought she was cute and I added her.

We talked a lot, and talked more and more after I broke up with that other girl. When I came back from my second deployment to Iraq, I asked her to give me a ride from the airport, and here we are nine years later.

So yeah, I think that's one of those things where you can find love in the strangest places. When you stop looking for it, it comes and finds you sometimes.

When she added me on MySpace, her and her gay friend were looking at guys online one night, and he was like, “Oh, you should add him,” and she thought I was too young. So, we really have him to thank because otherwise she wouldn't have added me.

One of the reasons we work so well together is because, you know like in relationships opposites attract? Cassandra is the organizer, planner, the unemotional analytical that looks at all the facts. I'm very pathos and emotional, so we balance each other out. You almost have to have someone that's your total opposite.

When you date people that are really similar to you, and you date for a month or two, it doesn't seem to work. It's like you're fighting over the same piece of real estate. You've got to have that yin and yang thing to balance each other.

How many and what kind of dogs do you have?

We've got three dogs. We've got Jackson, who is the white American Eskimo, Cooper is the tiny Yorkie, and Riley is a black and brown Australian Sheltie.

Jack … how do I put this … he's very lazy. He's very fluffy and lovable but slightly obese. Riley is like the athletic sport dog, she's ready to go at 3 a.m. for a run. Cooper is the baby with a bad attitude.

You snuck your dog into the theater… and got away with it?

We were just talking about it, actually. I know it sounds bad, but we wanted to see Birdman, and it's not playing in Clovis. It's two hours to Lubbock, so that's four hours total driving time, and then the movie is two hours long, and then we'd want to eat, so that's just eight hours leaving Cooper alone. I think it was my idea, but my wife definitely helped me along with it.

How enthusiastic are you about the Civil War? Do you enjoy watching or participating in re-enactment?

Here's the best way to describe me: I'm a serial hobbyist.

For instance, when I lived in Washington, I was really into doing triathlons and snowboarding. When I moved to Vegas, it was about skydiving. When we got to Turkey, we became really focused on traveling and doing stuff overseas, and now here, it's writing. Yeah, I'm a serial hobbyist.

When I was in Turkey, I would watch the documentary series by Ken Burns and it really interested me. I found it interesting because you have two conflicting ideologies, and it had to come to a physical altercation about what they thought the United States should be. Imagine how much different our country would be if we were two entities as opposed to what we are now.

Sometimes you see the divide between Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals. You can almost trace a lot of those things back to the Civil War.

It's only when we work together we can do great things, but that divide needs to be there to do great things. It's like that “opposites attract” relationship with your significant other because you get the best solution.

What do you enjoy about substitute teaching?

I feel like I'm not very good at mechanical things. My wife and I joke if something breaks, like the plumbing, she fixes it because I don't understand that stuff. Teaching is one of the few things where I'm like, “Hey, I'm good at this.” I enjoy it because you go into a room with all these personalities, and you have to get them to work.

I subbed today in first grade, and you have to figure out what each child needs to see how they learn as a whole. I have to figure out when this style works, and think, “OK this kid is rambunctious, and I need to make sure I'm giving her something to do. This guy is quiet and I need to get him to open up.”

I enjoy that about teaching, because it's like a chemical equation, and obviously you're influencing the future generation because you're interacting with them at such an impressionable age.

I wasn't really doing well in high school, and this teacher wrote me a hand-written letter. She took the time to write it, two or three pages too, and she was like, “Hey, I'm noticing you have these bad grades, and I think you're better than that.” And now I love reading, and writing, and I think it comes from that boost. It's nice to be that person for someone else, too.

Even like today in class, when I walked in there, there was another teacher in there, and she was like, “Oh you'll have a problem with this boy.” While the child was difficult, he turned out to be one of the better students in class because he's really smart.

Where are you originally from?

Manteca, California. I've kinda lived all over. My parents got divorced when I was 10 or 11, and my mom met my step-dad on the Internet. We lived in Indiana and then moved to St. Louis, and I enlisted out of there. That was kind of a cool thing; before I came to the military I was very obese. My junior and senior year in high school, like I said before, my grades weren't going that well. I had this uncle who told me I should do something and said the military would give me discipline. So, I lost 60 pounds and enlisted.

Why did you join the Air Force, and what has it done for you?

My uncle served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he recommended I join either the Air Force or the Navy. I think they've treated me very well, and I hope I've treated them very well. That's why I joined; it was a more technical branch with more of an emphasis on your intellect I suppose. That was always the thing.

They wanted you to be smart and treated you better than the other branches. There's a term, “Chair Force,” and I don't think it's true. When I joined, I was a guy on the fast track to really nowhere. I just kinda worked “Joe jobs” all my life, and now I will graduate with a bachelor degree this year.

I've got so many options, I have great friends and a fantastic wife. I've been able to travel all over the world. I was so socially awkward and scared in high school that I would eat lunch alone in the library in a cubby desk because I was afraid.

My Air Force friends brought me out of my shell. You're always kind of that person you are in high school, but the military has changed me so much for the better. I'm doing things I never thought I would do, even writing for the paper, and all of that ties back to my military service, to be honest with you.

Anything good in my life has come form the Air Force, but it also demands a lot out of you in some respects. The first thing I wrote for the paper is that it is what you make it. A lot of people come here with a bad attitude, and I understand that because I wasted time in my career, too, at some places. You get out of it what you put into it.

What's your secret to a healthy, fulfilling life?

I guess I'm still looking for that secret to be honest. Sometimes you have a good day and sometimes you have a bad day. You just keep going.

— compiled by Brittney Cannon