Summer Vibes-Back to Taiwan
Guess the point of summer back in Taiwan is to sit back and relax, yet I’ve still drafted a summer to do list in the 6 weeks back in Taiwan and in between our Germany trip. I have to slow down, sit back, and watch life go by sometimes-which can be easily done by enjoying afternoon with Mom in a nice little café, catching up with friends, slowing your walk and aligning it with the pace of inner thoughts, writing calligraphy, or swimming and basking under the sunshine. Some activities solitary, some with friends and family of high homogeneity- you relax and enjoy.
Grateful to learn from mom’s wisdom-of living and enjoying the different paces of life, and on decision making. Yesterday we went shopping at Top City, and walked past a bakery featuring too many pastries and European wheat breads for a normal functioning homo-sapiens to make a choice. (yes, that’s me) I stood in front of the bread stall unable to make a choice. Mom later told me-these small decisions in life should just be looked upon lightly, and life will be easier. If the flavor doesn’t match up your expectations so be it-it’s a small purchase and alternatives are everywhere. Let the small things go and not squander mind power on trivial stuff, derive happiness with ease and small rewards for yourself.
But for this week I’m enjoying my lifestyle anyways-waking up early, 5:20 am in the morning for morning jogs or swims for about 45 minutes, returning home and enjoy homemade breakfast with Mom and Dad around 6:30 a.m., and then starting the half a day of work. A lot can be done in a seemingly short morning. I start off with the most important (and unpleasant task), this really does the trick as your concentration and productivity is at its peak after morning breakfast and exercise-finishing the Coursera 4 week course-Learning how to learn (psychology related)/Mastering Data Analytics in Excel, planning our Germany trip, and then reading and writing.
In the afternoon most is free, I enjoy making new recipes-novelties that are enjoyed when you smell the golden-brown focaccias, pizzas, or pumpkins baking in the oven. Every single dish I make with Mom tastes and smells like heaven to me-I’m an easily satisfied person. From pizzas, bagels, focaccias, minced pork sauce, banana smoothies, pumpkin chicken bake, and a variety of Chinese dishes-Mom teaches with wisdom in healthy, efficient, and gastronomic novelties. I enjoy chopping and preparing the dishes and feeling the food-there’s not much mind work to deploy, and you get the reward immediately. Tasting and sharing it with family is the best of the times.
Having solitary swims in the pool frees your mind-I suddenly realized that I could be incredibly busy next semester, and will only get busier. Job duties (***).
They say that friends for life are those from high school, and during those cherry sweet and sour days I never realized how true this is. At that time where school is about routine-goals of gaining entrance to our dream universities, of occasional weekend treats after midterms and finals, of working hard for classroom activities-all seemingly mundane and simple yet this is the essence of true friendship-not outcome oriented and vivid in our memories. Met Julia and Jennifer this week, it was mostly talking and catching up-on our lifestyle changes in the past year, about the places we visited and the people we met, about adaptation and foreign endeavors, and about future career plans. When we talk about this, I don’t feel the tension and apprehension when sharing this with university classmates, it’s like sharing our blueprints and dreams together, not about worrying about competition and outcomes. This high level of comfort I guess comes from trust and homogeneity, and having shared all the high school memories together. I’m grateful of these true friendships, and as Heddy said, we don’t need to have too many friends-just a few that clinks and knows our hearts well will be enough.
