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2008年10月30日星期四
秋日.杂想冬天还没来,现在是秋天。是我搞糊涂了... 可能是太久没有过秋天了,才忘了季节变幻的顺序。 秋天，是个让人感到凄美的季节。这里到处都是挂满金色叶子的枫树，路上也铺满了金黄色的叶子。。。凉风一吹，就会从天飘落好多‘金币’。我对这一切美丽的变换很惊奇。 秋天，也是然人反省的时候。这里的感恩节不就在秋天吗？那时过了一年之后，对自己的所作所为有所感想的日子。Lauren刚过了她的‘节日’。 她是美国犹太人，她们有个犹太人的节日，就是要在当天打电话，对在这一年里帮助过自己的人说感谢，对自己做过坏事的人说对不起。虽然我不是犹太人，但我却觉得这节日很有意思。我发现，当季节有变换时，人也会适应着时间的轮回，有开始，也有结束。当这一年要到尾声时，大家也收拾起心情，向落叶归根一样，从内心深处检讨着。 我想,我也该自我检讨一下。 很久以前，看过这么一篇文章，说的是人生中得到快乐的三大理念。 只要遵守这三大理念，我们就能开心地走完这一生。大家猜猜，是那三个要点呢？ 我也想了很久，才记起来。可能是太久没有遵守了- ‘知足，珍惜，感恩’。 在来美国之后，我才发现，我终于知足了。可能是一直以来想出国的梦想实现了。也可能是，我长大了，认识到，自己所有走的路都是自己的选择。没什么好抱怨的。就算旅途中走累了，也要继续走下去。因为这条路是自己选的，不能怪谁，而谁也帮不了我走完它。自己要对自己的选择负责。可能，永远也看不到其它路途的风景，但只有珍惜着现在路上的一切，才能发觉，我可以把风景变得更美丽，变得像自己当初想象着的一样美丽。 所以，我感谢所有让我踏上这条路的人。帮过我的，安慰过我的，静静关心过我的。 没有你们，我可能也没办法欣赏这里一切的美。 西雅图的秋天越美，就越让人孤单。 可能是我是个群体动物吧，总需要从分享中得到快乐...  
2008年10月22日星期三
Aloha!How is everyone doing in school and at work? As for me...i'm super hardworking during weekdays (like studying in the library every day) but super slack during weekends. So it's a balance of play and work :) Let me introduce u all to my unnie, Her name is Lee Ji Won (Chelsea). Now she's in my room studying while I slack on my bed. Today she's sleeping over with me!! Haha it's so random cuz we just decided that she'll stay over on the spot when she came over to eat...but I'm glad that I'll have company at least for tonight.   She looks real young doesnt she? Haha! So what have I been up to lately? Havent blogged for a week...but I've so many things to tell you all..Hmm..lets see..what should I start with? I've been attending quite alot of events lately, i shall just blog abt two... Americans' view towards Asia Last friday i went with some friends to a Brazilian girl's house for some 'tea ceremony' that her boyfriend is holding. Her boyfriend is American, but has lived and studied in China and speaks amazing Chinese. What really strikes me is he knows alot about chinese tea and the process of brewing tea! He's got this tea set with cute kung fu tea cups lotsa tea to choose from. He actually worked in a tea shop in china to learn tea making. When he was cleaning the tea cups & pots with hot water, pouring tea for everyone of us in a circle around the tea set, I really felt some sense of guilt. Cuz an American probably respects and know more about the Chinese culture than me, or other Chinese in Singapore. He was also surprised when i told him that the chinese in Sg doesnt really perform such tea rituals when drinking tea, cuz he thought singporeans keep their heritage very well. Well, my point being, there are so many Americans who are interested in Chinese culture here. There are at least ten of them who can speak fluent chinese in law school alone, and probably many more in the rest of UW [can u find ten pple who can speak fluent Chi in NUS law? :P]. They even have this 'language table' thing where everyone gets together on wednesdays during lunch time in law school and speak chinese at the table...and there's a jap guy who can speak chinese too at the table! Some Americans have started to realise that their country is not that great, and are very receptive to global perspectives and criticisms. Lauren thinks the presidential elections and everything that's going on is 'embarrassing' because a group of idiots are going to lead her country, and what's up on the TV everyday just shows the failure of democracy. What really strikes me is that Lauren at thinks the Chinese government is politically better in terms of seriousness - at least the government are not clowns in front of the people. Andrea (another classmate) told me that Americans have to wake up soon, to realise that their actions affects many other parts of the world and they are also very dependent on them in return. So she's planning to go global too. I had lunch with Peter on Sunday and he's wish is to go and work in Asia too - like totally get immersed in a totally Chinese speaking environment to learn Chinese legal terms. That's why Singapore is not on his list of places to consider :( . Oh he promised to help me with my CV application to law firms for pupillage, in American style, cuz he says he's super experienced in writing resumes..haha i'm so grateful! Distributing socks on Saturday I did something out of the blue on Saturday - I went to contact the Buddhist association in my school and volunteered to help out with their charity work. This is something which I definitely won't do when I'm in Singapore - firstly, i wont have the time; secondly i hate to socialise with strangers; and lastly i could have spent the precious time sleeping at home. But yeah, I donno what drove me to do it, but I actually went down to Chinatown and helped them distribute socks to the homeless there. The association is actually Taiwanese, so everyone was taiwanese except me. But they're all very nice and open to having a new member. We had to line up in twos and wear uniforms and walk neatly down from their office in Chinatown to the distribution spot, which was a green grass patch where all the homeless people just lay on the grass (as their beds). When we give them socks we had to bow and say 'thank you' and 'have a nice day' - to thank them for giving us the chance to help them. Haha this is really a strict and weird gesture to me since I'm not faithful to any religion. But I do understand and appreciate their practice. In any case, it's still heartwarming to see the homeless people just taking off their shoes and wearing the socks on the spot. Here're very touching words from them- "We really need these socks, it's cold. Thank you so much, God bless!" " Your smile is warmth, thank you" Before I came to America i thought it's such a first grade country with very good welfare. But it's not true! Like what Andrea said, the government 'steals' money from the people to bomb Iraq and there're so many poor people whose welfare are not taken care of. There're tons of homeless people, especially in big cities, who sleep on the grass or under the bridges everyday. So that's something for me to ponder.. I believe you cant see the society unless you're in the society, and to be in that society you gotta do some social work. I hope there're much more to see in future. The buddhist association has trips to old folks home and orphanages etc coming up. :D Oh yea, I tried out the swimming pool in my school and it's brilliant!! Sorry cuz i wasnt wearing my specs when i swim so I cant see any cute guys in swim suit..LOL. But the welfare of the students is just so well taken care of here. They'll give you clean towels and lockers to put ur stuff, and there's soap in the bathing area too. I've never swam in NUS but I'll definitely swim as often as I can here..the pool just looks so welcoming. But strangely every here is swimming freestyle..only me and my friends - two girls - are swimming frog style in the entire pool. So embarrassing! -_-''' Haha I'm watching this Korean variety show now and laughing by myself and unnie complains that I'm disturbing her. =.= I need to study hard. I will. Jia you guys! P.S - I really appreciate ur tags..those are the only way for me to connect with people back home. ^.^ Love, 2008年10月17日星期五
Another busy but slack week..when i say 'busy' i mean i'm busy playing and not studying. I'm really thankful that I have a bunch of good friends in law school who make my everyday life so interesting...this week I got to know more friends and is starting to feel more sociable than when i was in NUS. Chanced upon this song on youtube today..and I feel so nostalgic. Nicholas Tse has been my idol since secondary one..and those memories in sec sch just flashed back at me instantly. 8 years has passed by now..and I'm still touched like when I first heard it...probably some parts of me deep inside have not changed at all. I'm starting to recall the old me. It's a simple, but strangely touching tune...and I wanna share with u all.. Nicholas Tse- "Without Me" 2008年10月10日星期五
冬天来了。。。今天，天气降到4度。。。 刚和两个朋友到唐人街吃晚餐。。。是个中餐馆，还蛮正宗的。。在这么冷的天气里能和她们一起吃热腾腾的饭菜，喝着热茶，真的觉得很幸福。 在一个小店里买了一大堆东西。。。因为都是卖亚洲食品的，我们看到什么都想买。（我甚至看到Kong Guan Biscuit 和 Milo (can)!)... 大包小包的扛回家，准备过冬。 
2008年10月8日星期三
The Art of Striking Random ConversationsI'm not an expert of striking random conversations w people, but I'm gradually learning how to do it. I guess to be really feeling 'i'm in America', i gotta talk to real Americans. So I decided to talk to more ang moh pple in my class instead of just Asians. Surprisingly, some of them are not that nice. Seriously, not everyone in America is nice. However the majority of the ang mohs are nice and they can just joke around with you even if they're at least 5 years older. I've made quite a couple of friends in school so far - Japanese, Korean , Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, American... this is why school is getting more and more enjoyable for me even though workload is still heavy. When i think of going to school to meet all these fascinating people every morning, I'll have more energy to get out of bed and walk into the chilly morning streets. The trend in America, or maybe anywhere in a Caucasian world, is that Asians would group themselves together and ang mohs are just 'hi-bye' friends with Asians. Well, certainly there're some exceptions, when the Asian is actually not that Asian, or if the ang moh would like to learn Asian culture etc. But the majority of population still group themselves together according to their ethnicity. For example, in our law cafe, there's a Chinese table, a Korean table, a Jap Table, ang moh tables, and a 'mixed' table consisting of people who are tired of mixing with their kind. Guess which table I am in. =_='' Korean table! [ well i felt so sorry each time the Chinese table pple stared at me from afar!] Cuz I'm always hanging out with my onni, so I gotta mix around with the korean lawyers. No wonder some Chinese thought i'm Korean T-T. But the good side is I got to learn more about the korean legal system and korean culture. My onni uses a super embarrassing way of introducing me to the korean lawyers. She would say 'this is Jingdi, she is very interested in Korean culture, especially dong bang shin ki (a korean boyband) and bak-go-li (korean rice wine) and she would like to do an internship in a korean law firm.' LOL what has fantasizing boybands and drinking alcohol gotta do with my ability for internship! Haha so the lawyers' expressions were like -_-''. But yeah, I'm still thankful that she introduces me to all these lawyers. They're all top lawyers from korea, and got sponsored by their law firms to come here and study for a year of masters as a kind of 'compsensation ' for their hard work or 'relaxation trip'. So is the same with the other Japanese lawyers and prosecutors. I'm also very inspired by one of my friends, Michiko, who is over 60 years old i think, judging from her white hair haha. She's a very kind japanese old lady who is still studying! She's not in Phd or masters, but in the general J.D. programme, which is like 3 years and gotta complete together with the local students. I was so amazed by her determination and enthusiasm in learning. I think one good thing about mixing with people who're older than me is I gotta constantly think in a more mature way, and be humble. I am learning so much from every person in law school each day, cuz all of them have superb 'backgrounds'. Most of them who're from Asia practiced for several years as lawyers/prosecutors. The locals from America all have worked in some governmental organisations, volunteered with some department or project overseas. This exposure to different work experiences and legal systems is just amazing. Oh i met this nice ang moh guy ('Peter') who's living in the same apartment as me. He's also studying in law school. I pumped into him a few days ago at the lift, and we actually stood for more than half an hour outside the lift chatting about law school and everything. (Girls don't scream he's not my type. My type of ang moh guys are those 6 years and below LOL, or if he looks like Tobey Maguire). And he promised to cook for me some day! Haha. He knows how to speak a lil bit of chinese, and is interested in practising law in Asia. But you know what, he actually prefers to go to Taiwan for exchange instead of coming to NUS. He said Singapore is just too strict in its education system, and he prefers the flexibility of taiwan even though the courses in Sg may be better. [ and this is wad the rest of the ang mohs said too - like 'Hong Kong is much better than Singapore in terms of practising law'].Well I said nothing to defend Sg cuz i know it's kinda true. I really think Singapore should change its system, legal and educational, before all these talented people turn themselves away from Sg! Surprisingly, there're just so many ang mohs who can speak fluent chinese here! We just have this 'language table' event today..it's for people who wants to speak different languages to come together and talk. I was at the Chinese table and there're so many ang mohs who have either worked in China or HK for some years! Their level of Chinese is surely better than many of the pple in NUS law. Lauren is on of my ang moh friend who stayed 3 years in China, both studying and working. And 3 years- she can speak super fluent chinese and is able to fluently translate legal documents. WoW. Haha this is an encouragement for me to buck up my Chinese and learn 'American English' (like what Peter has said) at the same time. I gotta go now..my thai friend's birthday td..and i got only 1 hr to shop for her present before going to the dinner..T-T Love, 2008年10月3日星期五
Thanks to a person in law school, she seriously cheers up my every day.Let me introduce u all to my 'onnie' (sister in Korean). Haha I met her in one of my classes, and since then we started to have meals together even though we don't have other similar classes. She would always text me to ask me out for meals..and I'm so glad that I have company in school, even though she is almost ten years older than me. But I think her heart is still young and I'm quite mature so the age gap evens out. LOL. Next time I shall post a pic of her to introduce her officially to u all! Thanks to my hobby of watching korean dramas she thinks my korean is 'native' and is a 'genius' and sometimes she would just speak to me in Korean, and I have to remind her that I'm not korean. The funny thing is she likes to introduce me to korean lawyers in the school, studying their masters. They're all quite senior ( i mean age wise..40-60 years old) and are all lawyers in the top law firms in Korea. When we had meals together I felt so stressed! Cuz according to their korean tradition the senior has to treat the junior to meals. But who am I to deserve their treat? That's what made me stressed! Anyway, school is getting tougher cos i was always playing and not in the mood of studying (mama don't worry I will find a way to catch up). So I lagged behind a hundred pages of readings and looking ahead, I have more hundreds to go..and I gotta present in front of a 60 pple class next week..on a topic which I totally don't understand. ARGH. I shall go out now..have lunch appointment with my 'onnie' again. Hehe, after that shall stay in the library to study. I'm loving my law library, it's so big and quiet and full of 'cubicles' for serious mugging..LOL this makes me the mugger excited. U guys jia you ah..I know u all v stressed..me also stressed here too. Lets jia you tger ok? ;) Love, |
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