be more humble than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree
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last day of winter break!
So, I have a few confessions to make. I have been neglecting my tumblr because I keep having this idea to just sit down and write everything that happened this winter break but I haven’t had the “time” yet. But now, my classes start tomorrow! Nonetheless, I have decided to add in all my adventures from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia as soon as possible, so bear with me (:
As for what has been happening recently…I finally watched The Hobbit on Friday night with a group of friends, a girl from Korea, Saeram and another girl from France, Camille, that I had just met the other day along with Yuki, Valentina, two guys from Ohio and their friend from San Francisco, Tina. It was super fun, we went and had dinner at this Si Chuan Chinese restaurant and ordered wayyyyy too much food. But still, delicious (: After the movie, we went to the Wu Club so it was quite a fun night. Last night when I got back from riding my bike around Wudaokou, I heard a knock on my door. I wondered, who could this be? To my surprise, it was Michael from Australia! He invited me to his room for a vegetarian dinner that he himself cooked which was beyond sweet! We talked about our winter breaks and then got into this conversation about being grateful and how to express appreciation. It’s actually an interesting topic because I was always taught by my family to always be very thankful for what I have and especially if someone does something for me, I should reciprocate and do something nice for them. So, now I usually don’t think twice about giving. I just do it. When Michael had mentioned his traveling experiences, he said he doesn’t find himself showing appreciation as much as he should be. Also because he feels that he has become numb to that fact that things just come to him and people give him things without expecting anything in return from him. Which I understand, but I think it’s nice to be considerate of others. Even though people may sometimes act a certain way on the surface level, I think everyone likes to be appreciated (:
freedom isn’t the meaning of life, but freedom is an important value of life.
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my brother, Abhaya i love his spontaneous calls, makes me want to go to india even more! i hope my dad is doing well there <3 |
its interesting to see people who work so hard for something and yet they arent even sure why, they dont necessarily love what they do, they just do it.
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| — | good chat with my girl, moriah <3 miss and love you - its always a pleasure talking with someone who’s genuine and wise! |
be adventurous.
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today we had a farewell lunch for Taiki and Chihiro, because they both are going back to Japan tomorrow. unfortunately, Taiki won’t be coming back to Beijing next semester *sniff. he was the first friend I made here, even though he’s a pretty shy guy he’s got quite a funny personality (: i’ll miss him a lot! also a few days ago, we had a lunch for Audi (i’ll be seeing her when I go to Hong Kong but she won’t be coming back to Beijing also). took a lot of pictures with her polaroid camera, so cool! im going to miss her a lot next semester too. its funny how close you can get to people in a short amount of time. fall semester was only 5 months, yet i know those 5 months will be some of the most memorable times of my college years (: |
Im really craving for some healthy, clean, fresh air in a warmer climate…right about now :P
Also hoping beijing’s pollution doesn’t get worse than it already has.
Update: Bert went back to the Philippines yesterday afternoon, wishing him well!
This picture was taken yesterday: first & last picture with my hanyu class…i wish i got to know them more, but at least our last class was fun (two girls missing from the photo, Nina & TingTing the Holland ladiiieeees, love em) !
Thursday night we went to a Jamaican restaurant in Andingmen, called Jamaican Me Crazy (great name righttt? :D ) thanks to our Jamaican friend, tesha who ordered and made it happen. even though the restaurant was about the size of a closet, we managed to fit all 13 of us around a small children’s table, i even managed to share my stool with my Aussie friend, Michael.
Today was my last exam and last time with my whole kouyu class…i felt relieved knowing that winter break had finally started but sad to think that this was probably one of the last times i would be seeing some of my classmates - at least until i visit everyone around the world hahah :P after class ended audi, yuki, bert, ariha, clara, chihiro and i headed to Tube Station for the best pizza in Beijing to celebrate the end of exams, it was epic (:
I can’t believe time has flown by this fast already, 5 months down…and 6 more to go!
I know its corny but “whenever, wherever we’re meant to be together. i’ll be there and you’ll be near and that’s the deal my dear…” <3 to my international kouyu class, you all made this semester warm & special - regardless of it being Beijing’s most freezing winters since the past 28 years!
dreams.
dreams can be so interesting. i had a dream that i was pregnant and i was freaking out thinking about how my life was going to change so abruptly. and how i wasn’t ready. the dream felt so real, i remember i was in a Victorian house looking outside one of the tall glass windows, just looking at the tree branches outside slowly swaying back and forth. it calmed me down. then the doorbell rang, i walked over to open the door, and there was my best friend, daniella smiling at me. she seemed like she already knew what i was going to tell her. when i told her she looked at me with excitement and said, “you’ll be just fine! i know you’ll be a great mother!”
hearing her say that gave me this tremendous ocean of warmth and confidence. in my dream, my life somehow fastforwarded to when i was about 8 months pregnant. i was sitting outside on the porch and i heard someone calling my name inside the house. when i looked to see who it was, there was only a shadow of a man.
then my mom came out of the kitchen with a bowl of her famous curd soup, and she told me to sit down on the couch. i started to tell her how scared i was and i felt like everything was happening so fast. she didn’t say a word yet, but her blue-green eyes melted my heart and all my worries floated away. i finally felt like i accepted the fact that i was going to have a child. she gently ran her fingers through my hair and told me to close my eyes…and thats when i woke up.
when i told my roommate about my dream, she said maybe my dream meant that i had finally accepted the fact that im studying here in china for this year. im not really sure what dreams symbolize or mean all the time, but i think i have accepted being here and i’ve actually grown quite accustomed to living in beijing (: as for my dream, i hope i don’t get pregnant anytime soon :P
oh how i miss cooking and having my spices so readily available!
update: got a mysterious sore throat the morning of the new year, but had a wonderful night out with friends on NYE (: im soooo looking forward to winter break though. although i wish everyone could stay another semester but alas, we’re all on a different journey in life - im just grateful i got to meet all the sweet groups of friends i made this fall <3
what more can i say than… happy new years 2013!
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this past year has brought me so many things to be grateful for, i wonder what the next will bring? (: thanks to everyone who made this year so incredibly special & memorable <3 most of all - to my spiritual master, thank you for giving me the strength i never knew i had.
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Tsuneaki Hiramatsu - Firefly Road (2012) - Slow-shutter photographs capturing fireflies in flight in a forest in Japan
wow, this is extraordinary, i just had to reblog!
