It’s Day 4 since returning to the States after spending two wonderful months in Taiwan. It’s currently 10:47 at night here in San Francisco. 1:47 in the afternoon over in Taipei. Here are some jet-lagged thoughts you absolutely don’t care about, but I will tell you anyway:
No one is coming to save you, so you can stop waiting.
I usually read a ton of books, but I’m reading drastically less this year. It’s okay though. Better to properly digest all this new information than to keep cramming things into my brain.
I like this version of me. I can more or less communicate, read, and write in Chinese. I can communicate with my friends in Taiwan. I can make new friends. I can even fall in love. I like this version of me. Do you like this version of you?
宋冬野
Voice lessons
Should I move to Taiwan?
Knowing that I will most definitely fall asleep before 12 a.m. is comforting and very efficient in a way. It forces me to get everything done before then. I know I’ll fall asleep. No sleepless nights rolling around for no reason. 12 a.m. Shop is closed. Efficient.
What does a couple do after they’re past the fun and exciting “Getting to know you phase?” How do you keep the flame alive? Figure that out, and you’ll be a millionaire.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
As long as you have people by your side that care about you, anything is possible. I truly believe that.
How much suffering should one endure before they call it quits? When is the pain no longer worth it?
People like to be the “type” that can handle a long-distance relationship. Unfortunately, most people are just that.
When you like something, you don’t always have to know why.
Eat slowly.
I dance hustle just for fun. A hobby. I don’t do it for the money, for the fame, nothing. Funny enough, when you expect nothing, you get everything.
Don’t look back.
I barely spent anytime on social media during my two months in Taiwan. I think time spent scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram feed can equate to how little quality time you are actually spending with your friends, family, or even yourself. Because if you were actually spending quality time with them, you wouldn’t be wasting it on social media looking at what everybody else is doing. I’ve only been back for 4 days, and I’ve already spent way more time scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed than I should have. Terrible. But is it also because all my friends and family are also doing the same? Sigh.
American culture is a bit absurd. Why must we drink so much protein and work out so much? Doesn’t make any sense to me. Sure, I guess it looks good if you’re part of the American audience – though to the rest of the world, you just look fat.
After all my travels, I find it quite hard to define anything or have a standard way of viewing life based on any one country’s way of thinking. Diet, muscles, clothing, dating, alcohol, art, dancing, the freakin’ weather. While everyone sees it like that, I, on the contrary, can only see it as, “Yeah, sure, I can see why you may think that way.” If I was an element, I’d be water. If I was a martial art, I’d be Jeet Kune Do. Style of no style. Form of formlessness.
Life is so much better in love.
by Jason Lam