Category: Uncategorized

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Arches National Park

The Delicate Arch! A bird is being cool on the arch!

“WOW! Finally! Cool!” This is what I thought when seeing one of the most famous landscapes in Arches National Park.

This winter vacation, I had the chance to visit Arches National Park. We drove there and stayed near the Arches for three days. We were lucky to have nice weather during our trip, we were able to spend the whole day hiking and see the amazing landscapes. Although it’s winter in southern Utah, there is still a bit of snow, which is very pretty on the brown rocks. Somehow I think they’re like sugar on cakes. In the picture above, in the background, is a mountain range with white and blue, shimmering in the sunshine. The air in the winter is fresh and cool with every breath, but not too chilly. I love walking on the snow with my BF. You can hear the sound of every footstep and also the wind blowing through snowy trees. There are not many people in this season, but you can still meet tourists in the national park. Not crowded but with kind greetings. It makes me think about hiking in the mountains with my family in Taiwan. Just the language for greeting is different, in Taiwan we say “早”, but in USA say “morning.” However, you can always use body language to say hello, like nodding.

The most famous arch may be Delicate Arch. The path to this was very icy and slippery. We always had to watch out and help each other, or you’d slide down short incline, which could be still scary. But it was really cool to see that great view. There is another hiking route I like too. It’s like the door arch, although it’s not in the national park, I like the interesting way to get there, with a cold and clean stream, snow spread on the stones, and some muddy trails.

A Door but also an Arch!

I enjoyed the national park very much, and hope one day I can visit this amazing place again!

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Congratulations!

One of my favorite movies “Good Will Hunting”
“People call these things “imperfections,” but they’re not. That’s the good stuff. And then we get to choose who we let into our weird little worlds.”

I want to say congratulations to two of my friends. One friend can finally graduate! The other one is now a father!

Those two friends will now have a new chapter in their life. Graduating from a master’s program is not easy, although every graduation is not easy. However, after seeing how he suffered and also suffering the same thing myself, I can appreciate how he feels. I am very glad for him, and really hope I am next in line to graduate. It will be a little boring when having our weekly status meeting without him, because we always sat at the same table. It will be a little sad that there will be one less person that can’t relate to our troubles in the program. Even so, I’m still very glad that he can fly away, out of the horrible loop. We have the right to chase what we really want in our life. Life should keep going, and I believe every one should try to get their own happiness. I know our friendship will continue, although we will be in different places in the future.

My other friend is a busy father now. Why this is special? Although other friends of mine are already fathers, I’m glad for him because I know he was worried about being a father before. Now it seems he is finally ready for this new role, or at least he can be brave and prove that he can be a good father. It’s not easy to keep in touch with your friends, especially when in different countries. We have different environments, but he remembers to share his important things in his life with me. I cherish this friendship too, and I believe he will be a good father. No one knows how to be a perfect parent, but we are willing to try and do our best. I wish that he can build his own sweet and warm family. The place we all call home.

Congratulations again, my friends! Although I don’t know if you will read this post, I want to say well done! Keep going in your own life, and when you need a true friend to talk to, you can always call my name.

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Happy New Year!

Delicious Taiwan home-made dinner! Braised pork on rice, green onion eggs, cabbage fried with pork and Chinese Kale fried with pork! My mom and dad are very good at making these dishes!

It’s 2020! Maybe it will be another important year! After finishing this semester, I can look forward to the traditional new year and vacation, and then another busy last semester.

Looking back my 2019, I finally passed many exams, presentations, and reports. I hope I can get good news this year, and graduate smoothly. I don’t want to make my parents be worried, especially my next step. Although there are some problems with my family’s health, I hope they can eventually get their health under control. I hope my parents can take care of their bodies more. I hope my family and friends can have a healthy 2020. About love, my boyfriend got to know my family and friends more. He is willing to learn and understand our culture, and get along with my family. I can relax, and wish we have another anniversary year. On a side note, while my boyfriend was here, we took a trip around Taiwan. There is a railway that travels around the island. We learned to surf, climbed the turtle island, went to Takaro, the daily Lily flower meadow, and the surprising dolphins! We met kind people, had many different tasty foods, and admired beautiful landscapes. We had nice memories with my family and each other in 2019.

There are many challenges in the future waiting for me. I hope I can conquer and pass every challenge. Although it can be scary, I hope I can get through every test safely. Thank you for every one I love and who also loves me. Because of your love, we are here. Thank you for every one I met, maybe we just crossed paths briefly. But because of those moments, I can pass 2019 smoothly. Hope I have great serendipitous moments waiting in 2020. Treasure every day, and have a healthy, safe, joyful 2020.

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Respect

I think that showing respect is a basic trait for being polite, no matter when dealing with family, friends, coworkers, classmates, or anyone else. In eastern culture, people who are older or have a higher status demand respect from. I think it’s more relaxed in western culture. Given that, I think no matter someone’s status or age, they should still treat others with respect.

During elections here, I see many activities where the candidates have publicity events with children on TV. Things like giving hugs or taking photos. Some parents don’t care what their kids want, they just want to feel important and let the politicians use their kids. I always frown when I see that. If the kids smile, adults may have no feelings about that, but if they cry, adults may still smile. I feel very uncomfortable when watching those events. If I was the kid, I may be very disgusted when strangers touch me, and I don’t care if my parents will feel embarrassed. If I was one of the parents, I would feel unhappy if strangers touched my kids too. I’m not easy going when it comes to things like that. I always think that if the children can express what they want, we should ask their permission. If you can’t get their permission, you should ask their parents for permission instead of treating the child like your own child for publicity.

Even your very close family members, partner, or friends still need to respect each other. There’s a saying from the book “Notebooks” by Mark Twain, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Family may be the closest relation without distance, but it doesn’t mean you can disrespect other family members. Parents should treat their children with respect, for example like opinions and ideas and their own space. I think it helps with communication in the family. Children should respect their parents too, because they have very valuable life experiences, and they are willing to share them with their children. Partners may be close too, but at the same time, you still need to give each other the appropriate privacy. Then it won’t feel like the other can’t breathe, and the relationship can last longer. I think the same things applies to friends also, no matter how close the friend is, we should respect their boundaries. We won’t take things for granted if we respect each other. Teachers and students are the same way. Teachers have many experiences and knowledge that are useful for students to learn. Since younger people’s brains are more elastic, it’s a good time to learn these respect concepts. There’s a saying, “Teaching benefits teachers as well as students.” With respect you can accept different ideas.

Most of the time, eastern culture emphasizes obedience. The higher status people usually will not respect the lower status people because of their power. On the other hand, when we interact with people who are close to us, we always assume that they understand us. It’s great if that happens, but if sometimes it doesn’t, don’t be too upset. I think if we can respect anyone, we can have the most appropriate interactions. Maybe it’s better to have the sense to trust each other, and we can decrease the unsafe feelings, misunderstandings and pitiful things.

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Learning Instruments

I have practiced a few musical instruments since I was a kid. I practiced some at school, and some outside of school, the difference is that you need to pay for one. Hahaha!

I think the first instrument I learned is the recorder in elementary. That recorder is still at my home. Although we are not rich, but I remember my father still brought me to buy a recorder. I performed for my family when I came home from school, late into the night, much to my Mom’s protests! After that, we learned the harmonica. After Elementary school, I didn’t practice or pick up a new instrument until after college. During college, I wanted to learn how to play the guitar, and I wanted to join a guitar club. My mom said the guitar was as heavy as my study. Without support of family, I gave that idea up temporarily. There are many kinds of clubs in university, and I joined other clubs while attending university, however I still didn’t join a musical club. After that, my studies picked up and I was too busy to deal with my clubs. After I graduated, I saved some money after working for a period of time, and the idea to practice instruments come me again. This time I wanted to practice the electric guitar, so I found a teacher on the internet who was near my home that would teach me how to play. I had hoped that I could be as cool and impressive as the teacher. However, I was living in a different city, and I couldn’t go back home to my home town every weekend, because I was busy with my master’s program. So I had to stop practicing. After my studies calmed down a little, I joined some university clubs and thought maybe I could practice some instruments when I have some free time. By joining clubs, I could also take my mind off of annoying things from school. I picked up the electric guitar first, and then the keyboard. I even went to the drum lessons! There is a fee to join the club, but after paying, you can use all the instruments, like the keyboard or drums, that way you don’t have to buy the instruments for yourself. But since they have a limited number of instruments, it’s hard to borrow them from them from the club. I noticed that undergraduate students have more time than graduate students. It’s too bad!

Although the undergraduate club teachers are fine, it’s still not as good as a one on one class. However, you get what you’re paying for, you can’t be too picky. They can share they learned how to play, which is nice to hear. They are willing to answer you if you have any problems, but their teaching is fragmentary. If you want to use the space and instruments, you need to fill out the form and contact the person who is responsible for that. Besides, the number of class slots is limited and there is just one set for every kind of instrument, you always need to compete with others. Right now all the bands are practicing, so it’s very difficult to borrow the classroom and those instruments. Besides, without any background of keyboarding and drums, I don’t know how to practice by myself. Who can teach me even I borrow? It’s impossible to ask club mates, so maybe I need to consult with the club teacher. That’s another big problem. Learning instruments takes practice. Without practicing, it’s impossible to be cool, unless I’m a genius.

However, I’m still appreciate their efforts, and I thank for having the chance to learn different instruments. I hope I can have the opportunity to play better for the instruments that I’ve learned. Keep enjoying the joy that the music brings for me!

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Wet and cold

It’s getting cold in south Taiwan… This morning, it was raining off and on, but then turned to continuous rain in the afternoon. The wet and cold weather makes me feel the same as when I’m discussing my original graduation essay. I’m glad I felt warm after my lesson in school today. I’d like to thank my under-classmate for asking what’s up and caring about me. I hope I can graduate quickly.

The weather reminds me of the little surprise that my boyfriend sent recently, it was also cold that day. Since I always complain to him about the weather being cold, and I say I don’t want to go outside. He always checks the forecast for my city and teases me saying “oh! You think that’s COLD? It’s snowing here!” Or when he says the temperature there is negative or in the single digits. Back to the surprise. He excitedly asked me if I had checked the picture that he had sent me. I said “not yet.” Then he was a little disappointed, and pushed me to check. I opened it and I knew he was being romantic. He looked a little shy and said “sorry, I didn’t write very well.” Originally he wrote a different message in the snow with my name, but he was unsatisfied with how the writing turned out. Although it was just a small surprise, I was still very happy.

If it keeps snowing, those words would be buried again. However, he thought about me, the one who is afraid of the cold. He’s happy and loves winter, but I’ll curl up like a ball and bundle up. He also enjoys that part of winter, the part where we can be closer together to stay warm. Because of him, I’m not as afraid of winter anymore.

I know I’m nonconformist sometimes. I don’t have many close friends, but all of them are my life-long friends. For me, it’s easy to tell who my close and not so close friends apart. It’s obvious about what I like or hate. I’m always direct with my emotions, being with me is not always easy. Thank you, my boyfriend, for always accepting and understanding me. You always do your best to help and care for me, like my family has always done for me.

You’re the best, as a friend, as a partner. Thank you.

P.S. I still want to say Tainan was very cold today. I just want to hide in my warm blanket all day. Like a blanket burrito.

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Hey, world!

Somehow want to restart writing. Maybe because it’s winter and raining. Maybe in Mandarin or English in turn. Wish I and you enjoy this space, this home on the website, and maybe dreams will come true.