Social media - GOOD OR BAD?

     We all have to admit that the social medias really make our life much more easier. We can see each others' faces even though we are in different parts of the world. We can see what your friends' up to. And we are able to chat with our friends basically anytime anywhere, etc...

     Besides the positive impact social media brings to us, it also brings a lot of negative impacts. For example, people chose to suicide because of the pressure social media brought them, and false news/messages were spread and misled the public, and lastly, less and less face to face communication due to the use of social media etc.

     But overall, I have to say to me personally, the pro is larger than the con. Let us use INS as an example. Yes, there will be inappropriate content on it, and people might feel pressurized by some of them, but comparing with the convenience it brings us like: we as individuals could "feel closer" to our friend by checking out their posts, businesses or school clubs are able to use social media like INS to help promo the product, or certain events...

     Everything that exist in this world have double impact, so does social media. What is important is how we see it, and how we use it. Bad people will continue do bad things, but we as the growing generation, should try our best to prove that millennials are great, and it should be from the social media. 

To a grade 9 me

Hi me,

         I am writing from the future. Now I am in Toronto Canada. I can imagine you would be surprised because of the hate for English since elementary school. But I am delighted that you were able to pick up your interest for English in Gr. 8 and did a pretty decent job. 

         I know you do not like school, nobody does, (maybe few do). But school is more than a place to learn knowledge, it is also a place for friends and train your abilities, which you did great. The only thing is you could spend just a little bit more time to study, and you can get better marks LOL.

         Schools in China are always stressful, it is okay to get frustrated or have mental breakdown from time to time. It is good. You will not have any of those when you are at my age, you can handle all kinds of stress freely. You can sit back and relax while everybody having a mental breakdown at least once a week. Remember that, all the efforts that you made will always get back to you.

         It is good that you dated girls even that against teachers and parents' will. They will not care about that if you are successful in the future. I confessed to my parents and they think it is good. So do not worry about that. Keep doing that. Just be more responsible towards every decision you made about your relationship, it is NOT GOOD to break girls' hearts. BE MORE CAUTIOUS.

         You are doing a pretty good job dealing with your relationship with parents. Maybe spend more time with them whenever you could, and surprise them from time to time. Because now you can only see them like 3 times a year, and that will become less and less frequent. When you see them now, you will find that they are really getting old. What makes me frustrated is you could not be around them when they need you, I am really upset about that. They are the ones who love you the most in this whole world.

         Also try to spend as much time as possible with your friends in China. The special class mode in China produces a special bond between you and your classmates, which can NEVER be found in other places. However, as you study abroad, those friends of yours went into chinese high school, and they have new friends which have the bond between each other, you will be forgotten eventually, or you bond will disappear. So value your friends, and just keep in touch with each other whenever possible. YOU WONT BE REGRET ABOUT THAT.

        And finally, I want to thank you. You changed from a kid who hated school and english, to a passion young man LOL. All the hard work that you did make my(your) life much more easier. Keep up your good work! Be adventurous, travel more. 

Pic - Human - Life

2017.03 NYC

    

     This picture was taken by me during this March Break in Manhattan. It was near the end of a regular workday, people were rushing home after a highly stressful workday. It happened to be the first day after a big snowstorm.

     People were on the phone, there were not much interaction within people, it was a mess. But it was something real. After a long day of working, everybody got exhausted and just did not feel like smiling etc. And the time that it takes to go to work & go home becomes a personal private time. We use that to think about today, think about other personal stuff that happens in life. Yes it is boring and does not seem to be nice, so does life.(sometimes)

     To be human means to get used to routine and trying to have fun from that. As most of us will get a routine job and do it for the rest of our life, it will not be that exciting after 1, 10, or even 20 years. But the majority of us still keep on working. Meanwhile, we try to find things to make the routine more interesting, like vacation, great food, great date etc. After all those, we return to work, and then break, work, break... As human we find ways to balance between all the fun stuffs and boring stuffs, we go through bad days, as well as good ones.

What about a time when you should have but didnt

     Recently, I tend not to regret any decisions that I have or going to make. So I think a lot before actually making the decision.

     The most recently thing that I should have but I didnt was about one of my girlfriends.

     Fast forward back to 2015 summer, the summer that I came to a new country. I had been with that girl for 3 years and we were like the best couples in our school, teachers even decided not to destroy our relationship.

     When I made the decision to came to Canada, I did take her into consideration. But after a thorough analysis, I still decided to go. I had been thinking how I should pass the message to her, and finally I decided to tell her over phone. I realized afterwards i should have tell her in person but i didn't

     I still remember it was a lunch break between my Saturaday classes. As soon as i told her that i was leaving in a few months, she started crying. I do not panic too often, but as soon as a girl starts crying, i panic and do not know what to do at all. She threw a bunch of questions to me after calmed down a bit, but I did not know how to answer, or maybe because i did not have an answer that would make sense to her. She was heart broken for awhile afterwards. It was a tough way to tell someone you love and who loves you that you are leaving. If i chose to tell in person, maybe things could get better, the accepting process could be smoother

     Luckily, she was understanding enough to support my choice afterwards. After I came to Canada, because of time difference and distance, we both decided to be in open relationship. I am so lucky that i think till now, both of us have not find a better partner:)

WHAT IS HOLDING ME BACK???

     We usually do things under surroundings' pressure, and a lot of things such as time, money, location are limiting us from doing the things that we wanted to do.

     To me at this time, the citizenship is holding me back.

     I am not saying that Chinese citizenship is not good, it's just cause where I am. As a foreigner in Canada, we are lucky enough to be able to enjoy the great environment and a lot of other benefits here. Meanwhile, we have a lot of restriction in terms of some official affairs.

     As I travelled a lot, with the Chinese passport added more work prior each departure. We had to prepare the material, apply for the visa, and wait in long line for immigration inspection etc. With the money and time for waiting, I could utilise those fund and time towards another small trip. In rare case, I would be hold back and not able to visit the place I wanted to be.

     In terms of more recent scenario, we are not allow to do part time job as we are international students. Even though I do have contract with a German media production company as a translator, I still want to do some basic part time job, just to enrich my experience and build myself up to a more rounded person. Because of this, I am quite envy with my friends in Australia.  

     One of the biggest problems that I am facing pretty soon are University admission. Besides double or triple tuition for international students, a lot of programs do not admit candidates without Canadian citizenship or permanent residency. As many Canadian airlines do not accept any pilots without Canadian citizenship, it is very possible that I have to cut some choices of my workplace in the future.

     So far, not much that I could work on to change this situation. Although citizenship is holding me back in some cases, I can still enjoy the fresh air, the great education and live by myself, there is really nothing much to complain about. I really appreciate what I have now. 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN??

Why I love Travel?

     

     I always think it is important to have various hobbies, and be pro in some of them. Which I think would make life more colorful.

     Although I was born and raised under a relatively strict education system, but my parents gave me the chance to make my decisions, and they respect and support that. So have quite a few things that I am proud of myself, like travelling and photographing.

      I still remember I booked my family trip for the first time when I was 7.  Unlike many "busy parents" in China, my parents always try to take me out on vacation at least twice a year. After coming to Canada, I started to increase the frequency to around once a month. There is an old saying in China, "Read thousands of books, and travel millions miles away", I have to confess I was not a big fan of books, so I gotta travel LOL. 

     There is no doubt that travelling makes me a better person. It developed my photographing skills, widen my mind, teached me history and knowledge, and make me capable of doing a lot more than average. The one thing I benefit from the most, is to keep calm while emergency happens, to deal with it instead of complaining, and to think and understand from other people's perspective. These things are not legit knowledge, but I feel like they definitely benefit in daily life, and make me a better person.

      Travelling is like mini life. During travelling, you are able to experience the peak and the trough in maybe a few hours. You get to wake up in a completely different place in the morning and stuck in a economy seat for 15 hours in the afternoon. You get to eat different foods, talk(try to) different languages, chat with different people, know different cultures, and try different adventures.

     A lot of people dont understand that why I prefer to travel alone. Despite the conflict between you and your travel mates, travelling alone gives you more possibility to talk to strangers, it forces you to keep calm and deal with everything. Still remember when I went to Vegas and took the heli over Grand Canyon, I met people from the UK, South Korean and Norway, and we are meeting up with each other this year!!!

     Travel, is what I love, and I will never get bored with it.