And yet, people can’t even, do this, and so, the morality is still, going down that, slippery, slope, the morals are, too, messed up here! Off of the Front Page Sections, translated…
The econ student of N.T.U., as s/he went for the election of the head of student council, posed the wayward campaign calls, that’s filled with a ton of sexist beliefs, along with, the wayward claims too, this caused the criticisms from all around. Or maybe, the student was just, amusing himself, a careless act on his part, but, this, “sense of humor”, had hurt a lot of people, and it’s, not at all, funny! And for this, N.T.U. publicized the apologize to the society.
There’d already been, countless incidents of how students turned something that’s outrageous to believing it was humorous. As early as the N.T.U. student council’s free speech month had a racist slur about the natives, on how they were given the free percentage scores added to their entrance exam grades automatically, with the P.S. of “the specialty rights of the natives is the government’s tyranny to the rest of us”, this clearly, sparked up debate, and it has nothing to do with freedom of speech, and it’s worrisome, that this might start up the chain reactions of racism responses.
There are many more of these incidents, including the unnamed high school in Taichung, setting up the carnival booth, using a derogatory remark against the native populations as the booth’s name, the unofficial fans pages of several high schools had the Swastika made of the symbols, it’s also, alarming.
In 2016, a high school in Hsinchu held a costume parade, some of the students dressed themselves up like Nazis, and it’d caused upset from the Israeli Diplomatic Office here. All of these bad behaviors, had all, gone overboard; they’d all, discriminated against a subculture, a people, and they all sparked up the hatred for the certain groups in question.
The high levels of discrimination will cause hate, what the Nazis did to the Jews, were the violence acted out from discrimination. As educators, we needed to remind our students, teach them, that the global community is made up of many different races of people, that they should avoid any forms of stereotypes and, discriminations too. In Taiwan, freedom of speech is what’s been given, but, these speech can’t discriminate against others, nor should it, spark up hatred. The values of the students aren’t yet stabilized or formed completely yet, the school teachers, the parents, the friends, and the classmates, all have the responsibilities to remind them to note, that freedom by definition, is not to discriminate against anyone else, nor can their speech, actions spark up anger, and it doesn’t matter if it was intentional or not, discrimination is, unallowed and unacceptable.
But, these incidents, are only, occasional, we can’t generate this to every school in the country, nor can we, round all the younger generations up, and label all of them as, discriminatory.
and, here’s, the “hoard” of what we can be called, based off our, “colors”…photo from online
Back in 2005, Prince Harry wore the military attire with the Nazi Swastika to a party, and it’d, caused something huge; but if we say that the education in England had, failed, then, it may be, too, overboard. Back then, the age of Prince Harry is around the same age as the econ students in N.T.U., clearly, he too, hadn’t, considered everything, just like this group of students hadn’t either.
Respecting others is the most basic of virtues of citizenship, nobody can use any forms of discriminations toward anyone else. Making fun, and joking around, should not have anything racist, even if it is a discussion of public policy, for instance, the policies to give the extra points to the natives on the entrance exams.
And so this, is just how dumb these, COLLEGE students are these days, or maybe, the prefrontal cortexes are, delayed in developments for some reasons, I mean, at LEAST, you should have the senses, to know, that hey, what I’m about to post to say, to write, constitutes as, “racist” or “sexist” remarks, I mean, you can’t point to a BLACK (I mean, “African-American) person, and call her/him a “nigger”, just like you should NOT making those noises that sounded like metals clinking when you encounter, one of us, Asian people, because that is not what Chinese sound like either!
But, hey, these college level ADULTS are still, getting, DUMBER by the generations, thanks to the education in the schools, in all around, the world!
My way versus your way, which way’s, better??? Why don’t you do your way, and I do mine? Translated…
My son was, peeling off the garlic, ready to, stir-fry the shark meat, close by to him, I watched, as he worked really hard, trying to, peel off the garlic, then, I’d, picked up the butcher’s knife, SMACK!, took off the garlic peel easily. He’d glanced over, and, continued, using his own way, to do things, I’d not said another word, just, let him do it on his own way.
Recalled how an elder saw that I did the dishes differently than she had, she’d, started, giving me the how-to; out of respect, I’d, followed her means, but, as she’d left the kitchen, I’d started, doing the dishes, my way again. Think about it, I too, hated, to copy others’ means.
Thinking on the matter more closely, there are, the miniscule, the unimportant matters of life, there’s no need to zoom in on the procedural, so long as I got it done. But, the more experienced would often direct the younger generations, based off of how they’d done things. Hoping that by this way, it can save the younger generations some turns, to become, more, efficient, surely, they came from, the good wills, but, disregarded how the younger generations needed to test things out on their own, so they can, gain their own, unique, life experiences, or maybe, the younger generations’ taking the longer routes, taking too much time, but, they’d, gained the results, based off of their own, means.
The means of the older generations, their experiences, surely allowed for the techniques, as well as getting what needed to be done, quicker, and yet, the values of self-discovery, and changing ones’ ways that didn’t work the first time, that is, priceless, besides, the younger generations have the advantage of testing the waters, of adventure; the reactions my son showed, allowed me to understand, that as the children grow older, we need to let go of them, and respect them more on how they choose to, do things on their own.
And so, this just showed, how you should NEVER, impose your ways of doing things, no matter how much more efficient you believe it is onto someone else (i.e. your subordinates, your children, etc., etc., etc.), as everybody HAS her/his own way of working through things, and, who would want someone, to BREATH down her/his necks, when one is, working? So, don’t be a pain, parents!
The attitude of this young boy on study, is truly, amazing, and surely, he will, carry these good values he’d been socialized with, into his, adulthood, years too! Translated…
I’d gone into the schools for my early morning before sunrise stroll, starting my day off. It was 6:30, a child of the lower grades entered into school, sat on the steps, pulled out the writing assignment books from his backpack, started practicing writing the characters; as he’d come across a character he couldn’t read, he’d looked up the words from his Chinese text, he was sitting, squatting as he read, or got down on his belly side to write, his focus drew me to him, I can’t take my eyes off of him, but, I’d not, interrupted his, self-learning sessions either.
Before I went home, I’d gone up to him and inquired, “why are you here so early? Do you not have a desk to read on at home? Working on your assignment from yesterday?” “I’d done my assignment from yesterday already, my parents have a breakfast truck nearby, I thought I can come to school early, and finish today’s, assignment earlier.” I’d silently thought to myself: child you not only owned just, that one full house of gold in reading.
why we all need to get an early start on our, days, because the best time of work is in the mornings! Illustration from online
There are the various tasks we are all in need of completing in our separate lives, and we can, choose the attitudes to which we face these; and yet, the temptations of video games, internet, chasing the soaps are oftentimes, too enticing, “life should be wasted on something beautiful”, and reasons of the, likes, it a good excuse for our own, laziness, but toward what’s really important, what we should really work hard towards, we’d often, rushed through them, and brushed them all aside, with that scent of, carelessness.
The young boy’s attitude toward life offered me the important lesson of “the best time of day is in the mornings”, and he’d moved me, even though, he’s, on his belly, moving slow onward, but, in putting the words of being humbled by one’s own circumstances, he’d shown that strong force of life, and his, persistence as well as, his, stamina too.
So, it’s this young man’s attitude that’s impressed this writer, because of his means of taking advantage of time, unlike how a lot of us would take time for granted, and waste it all away, this young lad didn’t, he’d, taken the time before his school started, to study, to review over what he’d learned from before, not wasting a minute, away.
On the son’s, learning to manage his own time between the extracurricular activities and his, academia, translated…
“I dozed off in math class again! What do I do………”, my son LINED me, with that, crying face.
This was about six months ago, when he was still in the community college level. With the familiarizing of the school campus environment, his learning, he’d gone from his timidness in class to, after classes, going to the libraries to study by himself, to getting involved in the street dancing crew, rehearsed the dance moves until ten in the evening, by the time he’s done with everything in his dorm, and his assignments, it is usually past one. He’d, not gotten enough sleep, draining his energies out, the mathematical equations, the basic principles of physics got turned into, that gentle sounding, lullaby, which was no surprise at all.
As I’d first learned, that my son had, stowed away in class for his appointment with the Sandman, having been through the tests, the trials of my schooling career, I’d, offered him some advice on how to stay awake; from chewing gun to liven up the neurons, using the mint oils to wake him up, the vitamin B, and as none worked, his classmate next to him can’t take it anymore, pulled out the 100% pure dark chocolates to share with him, hoping that the bitterness, and the caffeine can wake him up, so he won’t be, scapegoated by the professor.
illustration from UDN.com
And, the topics of discussion with my son went form combating the sleeping bugs to tactics to overcome them, other than the handful times he was successful, more of it was his sharing with me, his failed attempts, of how he’d, pinched his own thighs, to wake himself up from the pains, to how he’d, ended up, raising that white flag in, defeat, he’d, never, won, not even, once!
The result of his, repeated defeats, showed in the midterm exams. The low score finally made him realized, his own, need for sleep, and he’d started, adjusting his, schedules on his own, to shorten the time of his dance rehearsals, and finally, he’d, stopped, going to meet up with the, Sandman in the lectures.
Recalling those days of how we’d, tried to, help him stay awake, I’d had the thoughts of telling him to “focus on the academics, and not on the extracurriculars. But thankfully, I’d, swallowed these words down. At age sixteen, for an adolescent, the very first step toward his, independence, is time-management, along with balancing his schoolwork, with his extracurricular activities. No matter how much people say around him, nothing beats what he’d learned on his own, as he’d, stumbled and fallen, and hurt himself, then tried to, get back up again! And, of course, we should NEVER, strip our own young of this, “trial-and-error”, just because we can see the difficulties they will be, faced, with.
And, because of how he’d ultimately learned to, adjust his own means, he was able to, be the “Adolescent that played with Fire” at the exhibition show, and, his final grades were all, passing. As I’d talked with him on this before school began, he’d smiled and told me, “I’d not dozed off in class a long time already!”, and, he is about to, return back to campus, to show off all the cool dance moves he’d, developed during the winter vacation with his extracurricular group soon!
And so, this parent, instead of telling her son, that NO, you can’t go to dance practice, she’d allowed him to stumble on his own, so he can learn, to adjust his own schedules, to manage his own time better, which the son learned to, and, the mother didn’t need to worry about him not passing his classes again, because the son’s found a working method, to study and to dance. This young man learned to manage his own time, and all the parent did was to, let him do it!
Everything you were worried about before you left to visit your son, became, excessive, but hey, you are a parent, and, parents would always, worry about their own young, nonstop, right? Yeah, that’s because you don’t realize, that fate will take care of everything in our, lives…translated…
Eight years ago, I’d decided to move back to Taiwan, to take care of my mother, as I’d decided to leave my only son in the U.S. to find employment, I’d worried, incessantly then.
Before leaving the U.S., we’d sold the house, left nothing for our son, hoping he could become independent on his own; but, after a few years or working in the food industries, he couldn’t even live out his dreams of having a food truck, he’d started, showing signs of, depression, refusing to get vaccinated. At the time when the pandemic was most severe, I’d, flown to the U.S. to see him, to let him know, that mom’s care for him, had never been, gone.
From before, when I’d gone to visit him in the U.S., I’d stayed at friend’s houses, coming and going in a hurry, I’d not even seen where he was staying, and the meals we’d gone out for, lasted only, two, three short, hours; this time, he’d, invited me to stay with him, let up his own bedroom, and it’d, made me feel, pampered. In the month and a half, I’d, made his meals every day, as a professional chef, he too, had, prepared for me, a few of his, agile dishes, especially the barbecue pork ribs that I’d, longed for so much. The two of us both, treasured these moments we got to, sit down and eat together very much.
her son’s dreams…
that’s come, true! Photo from online
To save up the money, he’d originally wanted to stop the rents of the place he lives in, and start camping out in his own car, but after I’d, analyzed the means for him, after we’d, discussed the matter more, he’d not only decided to continue the rent, also, agreed to get vaccinated too; as for his dreams of purchasing a food truck to start his own business, I’d, searched with him, found a brand new, and reasonably priced food truck, now, he can finally, live his dreams, of working on a, food truck.
My son is an only child, and we are both working, he doesn’t have many friends. Thankfully, his friend, Ken had asked him to move in as a roommate, to share the rent, they now have the company of one another. I’d thanked Ken for looking out for my son personally, and, everything that’s worried me before I went to the U.S., all found their, resolves on their, own.
It took me a total of thirty-eight hours for the total flight, the transfer, to finally get back to Taiwan, and, after the fourteen days’ worth of quarantine in the hotels, and seven days’ worth health self-managing, I finally got to, sleep on my own, bed. The pandemic had affected the whole world, and it’d, given me a whole month and a half with my son, and it’d, made us realized, how much we cared for one another.
So, this is on the good thing that came out of the pandemic, and, everything you were worried about, became, excess, because fate will take care of your own young, and, he’d found his “calling”, as a food truck owner, with a good friend of his.
The measures of this man, how he’d, given all he could in life, and left behind, a wonderful, legacy after his, death…translated…
Zhong-Ji is Very Passionate and Puts Everything He Has into Work, the Tiananmen Incident in Beijing, in the Rain of Bullets, He’d Interviewed the Witnesses, Victims, & Those Who Participated, Had it Not Been the Manager of the Station, Lee Ordering Everybody to Retreat, He’d Thought about, Staying…………
No Matter How Difficult the Check-Ups, He’d Agreed to Them, in an, Instant
It’d been said, that he’d, passed, so, abruptly.
The medical staff members kept trying to pinpoint the source of his infections, but, he was in a coma due to the medications they’d administered to him, he couldn’t say a word, but, the machines showed his vitals were dropping, the blood pressures dropped sharply, then, the heart slowed, slowed…………then, stopped. He’d, used his behaviors, to prove his statements of death before he’d died: how I will go, is leaving NO regrets behind, free and, clear.
He was, the noted good friend in the news media industry, in the business realms, the not-for-profit organizations, everybody who knew him deemed him a good friend who’s, understanding, and kind. He was, Zhong-Ji Liu.
In the ten months he’d battled it out with his illness, he was, the best, most compliant sort of wonderful patient that any doctor and nurse could, ever, ask for, no matter how awful the checks, how painful the treatment measures, he’d, agreed. Like there wasn’t an inkling of emotional response; but he’d disclosed his fears, worries, and helplessness to us in private, it’s just, that he’d, made up his mind, to fight the cancer cells in his, blood.
April 22nd, 2022, Zhong-Ji’s birthday party was held at a certain restaurant, the owner of the restaurant was an old acquaintance of his; Zhong-Ji told me quietly, that the foods were amazing, the prices, good, but, the owner was having a difficult time, keeping the restaurant going. That evening, it was so rare, that his son, Jen-Ning was there too, and, in an instant, the wine glasses were emptied in both their, hands, Zhong-Ji talked on, still quite the, drinker. A few days later came, the news of his blood producing cells stopped working, meaning, he was diagnosed with, leukemia.
He’d immediately gone with the treatment plans the Veteran’s Memorial oncologists had assigned him to, scheduled a bone marrow transplant. Just got out of the hospital on May 14th, by the 17th, he’d gone with his wife, Hsu, became a Buddhist under the Fagu Mountain master. Close to twenty years ago, his own father passed away, he witnessed how the master of Fagu Mountain and all the other Buddhist followers recited the passages of the dead for his own father, he was moved; after that, he’d gone to all the activities of the Buddhist Foundation, no questions asked. It’s just, that under the affinities, he’d never, become, “baptized” as a Buddhist, I’d wondered about that a bit, but, it wasn’t my place to ask. Until the cancer came at him, he’d, told me, that he worried he wasn’t, good enough, that he’d lacked the qualities to become, a Buddhist follower, that’s why he’d, put it off too long. I’d laughed at him in the phone calls, that he’d, worried to much, that becoming a Buddhist was like registering for an account online, to prove oneself as a Buddhist, with only the desires of finding a place to belong, along with seeking out the wisdoms of mercy, and kindness, the path to learning these values, nothing more. So, Zhong-Ji stopped hesitating, told me, that he would, become a follower of, Buddhism!
Zhong-Ji is my younger school mate at World Journalism University, we’d gotten involved in the choir, but not together, I was the leader of the tenth annual choir group, and he, the leader of the, fourteenth, and because we became schoolmates, we’d become, connected, and even if we are separated by the years, we naturally, couldn’t, break the bond, for decades, we’d sung, gathered for meals, and it’d, never stopped.
He’d once helped me a great deal at work, in the T.V. programming, he’d only worked for a short six months, and it was the most leisure of time that’d been, offered to me, working with him, all the nitty gritty of the settings of the shows, the shows themselves, he’d, taken it all on his, shoulders. At the moment that he’d died, he was still, a member of the chairs of the foundation.
Witnessed Everything that’s Bad in the World, the Trials of the People, Had Been Hit by a Serious Illness
Zhong-Ji was more than devoted to his work, passionate too, the interview he’d done of the Tienanmen Incident in Beijing, he’d interviewed the people under the fires, had it not been the station manager Lee, who’d, ordered the crew to immediately return, he would’ve, stayed there. On his way back from Beijing, to Narita, Tokyo, back to Taiwan, I’d gone to pick him up; on the evening, I’d take him to the beer house in Tokyo, he’d asked me to, stay for the night at the hotel, and, told the thrilling moments he’d encountered in Beijing to me in one breath.
There’s that tight ruler that Zhong-Ji measured himself by inside of him, especially on the means of interpersonal relations; he tight-lipped, only told of what he’d observed, nothing that will put a damper on someone else’s, reputations. Once after he’d quit the job of a television station manager, as he’d sorted through his desk, I’d gone with him and his wife to dine, as Zhong-Ji went to the restrooms, Huei-Jen, his wife smiled and told me, that this man she had is really, easygoing, he’d made such a high pay per month, and yet, it was, so easy, for him to, let go of that, without a, second, thought. That evening, Zhong-Ji did not mention anything from work, only comfortably, drank and ate, but, I’d observed, that there was, something, going on, in his mind, that’s, not spoken, aloud.
illustration from UDN.com
During his time at Fuxing Airline, he’d gotten involved in two crashes of the airlines, toward these sorts of bad predicament, most would dodge all they could, but, the owner of the airline asked him how he was to answer the massive media inquiries, Zhong-Ji told him that he will tell the press about the most difficult section, the payments that will be made to the families who’d lost their loved ones in the crash. In the podcast, “Fearing Death, Wanting to Live Longer”, I’d asked Zhong-Ji why was he willing to, get himself, in that, huge, mess? He’d told, that he was once a member of the media press, that it was not possible, to take himself out of something this major; at the same time, he’d not feel proper, to just act as a bystander, as the company he worked for, goes into the line of, fire, wanted to use empathy to face the families, who must feel the panic, the losses of their, loved, ones.
He’d continued, that a lot of the families are already in deep distress, and started cussing him out, to cussing his own families out too, but, Zhong-Ji did NOT act upset one bit, he’d empathized, that had it be his own loved ones who’d died in the crash, could he use an even worse means to cuss out the airline too? And so, he’d flown to China, to help sort out the means of compensation of a mother-daughter pair, the families ordered him to get down on his knees, and had the Taiwanese-Chinese relations agent get down on their knees with him, he’d told me, had he not kneeled, how could the families feel okay, to sit down with him, in a calmer manner, to discuss the compensations with him? By the same, in the mortuary, seeing how the undertaker had, worked their hardest, to patch up the corpse, how could he not kneeled beside the families? That was, such, a huge HIT of sorrows, and loss for them!
A survived young man, was paralyzed from the waist down, it took him a total of five whole times, to get him to see him, and, he was made to stand outside under the scorching sun for over an hour, and, the survivor of the crash mentioned the Buddhist master, Shen-Yen, said that it was because of the words of the master, that’s helped healed him, Zhong-Ji immediately used his cell phone, to find the video of a recording of the Buddhist master, and the man’s attitude changed suddenly. Following that, he’d not only been “graced” by the air-conditioning, the man also, served him some ice tea too, and, at that eighth time, the man finally signed the papers, to get the payments of the damages. What touched Zhong-Ji the most was, the survivor, before he left, asked, “can we become friends?”
the man, apologizing at a press conference for the crash to the public, photo from online
Zhong-Ji, after he witnessed the ups and downs of life, life and death, was hit hard, with his own, cancer. He’d told me peacefully, that based off of the prognosis, he had no more than six years at best, but, in only a year and a half, after he was, injured inside and out, he’d finally, turned in his, timesheet in life, and ran towards the embraces of, Buddha. The moment I’d heard the news of his passing, there was, a scene that’s, frozen, before my eyes,, what his wife, Huei-Jen had, sent to me—his son, Jen-Ning readying to go to the hospital to donate his own marrows to try to save his, father, when Zhong-Ji hugged onto his son, who’s, a head taller than he was tight, with his face, distorted, crying so hard.
And so, this is what this man left behind after he’d died, with his means of treating others kind and gently, and, his actions AND his words, are exactly identical, which was truly rare, especially in today’s, world.
This man had the amazing work ethics, the right way of treating others, and, that’s something, that we can all, learn from!
The lessons of it’s always better to give than to receive, learned from the best friends of her, daughters’…translated…
Seeing How the Three Kids with Similar Interests Being in the Different Environments, I’m Worried, if Their Friendships will, Last…………
As I’d Only Begun, My Youngest Daughter Seemed to, Have, Understood
As my youngest returned home from hanging out with her friends on the weekends, she’d started sharing with me what happened at their gathering. My youngest told, “we didn’t spend that much for lunch at the Japanese restaurant, because Megan paid with all the loose changes out of her purse, that it’d, made the straps fragile. She’d begged us, to let us, pay with the loose change she had first, and what’s not enough, we would then, split it among us. And, after all the loose change had been used up, we were still four dollars short, and Bei-Bei made up for it, I was in charge of the tips.”
“Does Megan enjoy collecting the loose change?”, although my youngest is already adult, she’s still, quite, naïve, as she was enthusiastic in telling me what happened, I’d, asked her, “I recall you telling me, that last time you guys went out, Megan paid for the meals with the loose changes too.”
“Yeah, she always hauled that heavy purse of hers, and begged us to let her clear out the coins, and she’d fought for the bills with us”, as she’d blurted that out, my youngest seemed to have understood something, she’d looked at me with doubt, “mom, do you think, that Megan was doing it, on purpose, to treat us out?”
“Think about it yourself first, then let’s, discuss it.”
My youngest, Megan, and Bei-Bei all enjoyed writing, they were the three musketeers in university, a decade after graduation, the three musketeers followed different paths, the first book Meghan wrote, sold out, she’d become, a bestselling writer, the agent already asked her to write a second with the cash presented to her. My youngest daughter published a volume of poetry, and decided to not write full-time, instead, became an editor by profession. For Pei-Pei, who was the most talented of all three, she’d not found the right agent, started part-timing with a law firm during the days, and only wrote with what time she had left away from the office; because of the downturn in economy, it was hard for her to find a full-time job, the work she was doing didn’t give her any insurance benefits, and to this very day, she is still, renting a tiny room with her, roommates, I’d often heard my daughter’s worries for her.
Seeing how the three children with similar interests, having such diverse tracks of life, I’d worried, if their friendships are to, last. Hearing how Megan used an assortment of reasons, to treat her friends, I’m glad for my youngest, that on the path of her life, she had been blessed, with such a wonderful friend, whom will accompany her through her, life.
My daughter is adult after all, as I’d reminded her, she’d suddenly understood, “Mom, how smart you must be! Seemed that Megan didn’t want us to feel troubled by the bills of the meals, so she’d paid for it, and made us feel okay about it. How did you know?
I’d felt, amazing, at the commends my youngest was giving me, but actually, this was taught to me, by my eldest daughter’s, best friend.
An Odd Coincidence, that the Company Made the Mistakes, & Shipped an Extra Order?
That was the year my eldest just entered into university, we were still worried about if she is adapted to living away, one day I got a call, “Mom, I accidentally knocked my roommate’s iPod on the floor and broken it when I was sweeping the floor, it was her birthday from her parents just last week, what do I do?”
Her dad grabbed the phone from me, told her, “You did something wrong, pay for it, tell your friend you’re sorry, and give her the four hundred dollars, so she can purchase a new one.”
illustration from UDN.com
My eldest told us, that her roommate turned her down, told her that it was no big deal, to not mind it at all.
But this is a matter of, principle, my husband insisted that my daughter must, pay for it.
As we’d wired her the amount, we’d, left it behind, two weeks later, our eldest called us abruptly, told me excitedly, “Mom, we were so lucky, her mom ordered a new iPod and the company made a mistake, sent two over, her parents told her to give one to me, now, we both have iPod.”
Such a coincidence, that the company made a mistake? And sent two?
At the time, there was a feeling, later, I’d gotten to know her roommate, and her character too, and I’m more than certain: it was her parents’ seeing how we insisted on paying for what our daughter had broken, and found a round-and-about way, to return the money back, to us.
My eldest daughter’s roommate was from a very affluent family, living on the eastside, and her family often had our eldest over to their homes, the parents are humble and generous, didn’t care at all, about the large gap of socioeconomic means, our two children became friends for life.
I’d remembered how I’d asked my daughter as her roommate was coming to our home to visit, “are you, nervous?”
My eldest said firmly, “No, I can compare to her, how poor we are, and I’d, win.”
Then we both burst out laughing, and I’d felt, relieved. The kids had found someone, and, can connect with one another with such means, my daughter was, blessed.
What’s interesting was, my youngest was also, blessed with, such luck, to have a good friend who is, also, very, kind.
From when I was little, we lived in poverty, picked up the foods thrown out by others to feed ourselves, and had the hand-me-downs, I’d become, experienced in the means of “receiving”, but not really agile enough in “giving”. And, it was from after I’d become a mother, and learned this lesson, from the younger generations, to give to others, and not cause harm on the recipients’ ego, to give so much, in the cares and concerns shown.
“I have too much loose change, please, let me spend them first”, it’s a line that we can all benefit from using, I hope that one day, I will be as intelligent as Megan, to tell a friend in need this too.
And so, this is in the lessons of giving, and receiving, and, the family isn’t well to do, but the children are blessed with amazing best friends, that socialized them, that taught them how to give and to receive, and that’s what friends are for, those with whom we can grow up, grow old with, those whom we can, learn from.
Lessons in death and dying, taught to us, by our, pets…translated…
I’d met the cat in this place, very clingy, so I took him, home. Had him, for ten years.
Returning back to this place, the cat’s been gone two years already. But everything is still, the same, the grasses, the trees, green as they ever were, the surface of that lake, very, clear, it was, picturesque. Returned back to when she fell ill, to her death, those days were, too hard to, bear, it felt like someone else had, lived it, not me.
grieving is, ABSOLUTLEY necessary in D-E-A-T-H…illustration found online
What’s left behind, other than the never-ending I love you and I will miss you, were, the two, lines. That was when I held her in my arms, she, convulsed, as she’d, swallowed her, last, breaths, my tears fell, all the way, down, what I was able to see: life in company of, another, life, maturing in, love.
So, this is the lessons, your beloved pet cat left for you, she’d taught you what it’d meant, to love something, so unconditionally, to give her, all of your, heart, to care for her, until, the end, until, death, finally, came, and you will grieve, but after you’d grieved for the loss of her life, when you look back, you will feel, that she’d, made a, huge, impact on your, life, and that should be, more than enough, to help you, left go, of her death…
The name-calling, and, I’m sure, it’d, started out, very innocently, by these, middle school, students, but, this showed of the intolerance the people have for different cultures, how ignorant, the schools can be, in allowing these sorts of discriminatory remarks to get posted! Off of the Front Page Sections, translated…
Awhile ago, a carnival stand at the First High School in Taichung had the name of “Sodium Cyclopentadienide” homophonous with “you DEAD Native”, it’d caused the online community to get heated up. In actuality, this wasn’t an isolated incident; last year, at a middle school in Taichung, there’d been an incident of someone calling a native, “You DEAD Native”, that’s caused a fight to break up, that ended in the victim of the bullied leaping off the building to commit suicide. The school and the department of the school responsible in overseeing these issues in discrimination, if they don’t take these things seriously enough, and start changing the systems, once the modeling effect sets in, there would be more and more cases of bullying in schools.
There are two facets worth noting in this current “incident”: the meaning of these events, what the schools and departments of the schools responsible should do about it. On the meaning of the events, the racism in school went from the individual, to the collective. The propaganda with the discrimination isn’t from just one individual, but through the discussion of the class, which they’d, come up with; not only did the theme carry that overtone of discrimination, the items served on the stand, are also, insulting to the, natives. A group of sixteen, seventeen year-old boys, spent a whole lot of time in class, discussing about how they’re to, verbally assault a certain group, this collective discrimination is alerting to the realms of, education for sure.
at a school carnival like this, where discrimination against the natives was, happening! Photo from online
Although the school demanded the students take down the posters as soon as it was sighted, and gave the class opportune education, to prevent the discrimination from spreading, but the severity which the school viewed the events, needed more attention on. What sort of a schooling environment, can cause the students to make fun of another race, subculture so heartlessly, to STEP on the dignity of the group, to view it as, something, funny. I strongly recommend, that the school go back, and reexamine the lacking of education in cultural awareness, race, equality, to make up for the damages of the events, and to have the measures, to PREVENT these sorts of things from recurring again.
Besides, the school should not forget, that there are, many, native students attending the school, as a parent of native origins, we feel it, that our young is, learning in an, unfriendly environment. I suggest, that the school should pay more attention to the minds, the psychological wellbeing of the natives students who are attending the school, to not put this group of students under more pressures, or cause them to become the detonator of conflicts on the campuses.
And, although the education forum had started pushing forth the education of native cultures in the policies, through the curriculum, teaching the students to understand the native cultures more, but, comparing to the gender equality education, with its separate set of curriculum, there is, the room for more improvement on this.
And so, this, is how something that’s, so “innocent” (no it’s not!), can get blown, out of, control, and, these students did NOT get their discriminatory beliefs, from thin air, they must be, absorbing these values, from watching the adults in their lives, interact with their, environments, because, children still watch and, learn, and, the school, as well as the classroom are both at FAULT, for NOT “reviewing” things, more, carefully!
As we age by the day, this is something we all have to face on our own, eventually! Translated…
Rode the MRT to the HSR to pick a friend up, bumped into my neighbor, Yun, I thought she was traveling out, she’d shaken her head, and told me, since her husband had passed on, she couldn’t face the empty house anymore, “loneliness sent me straight into panic mode”, and so, she’d come to the high-speed railroad station, sat at the corner, to read the papers she’d brought with her, to be in the company of the crowds that were coming and going, and, after she had the railroad station lunch box, she’d headed home.
As I’d heard how she’d passed the time, it’d made me feel sad. Yun didn’t have children, didn’t go out to socialize, she’d built up that high wall, isolated herself; I’d often called her up to ask how she was doing, invited her to exercise with me at the parks, to increase her human contact.
what we will all be, faced with, one day! Photo from online
Those who live alone in my community, mostly were the unmarried, the widows/widowers, or those who’d not lived with their young. And, the rate of those who live on their own is getting higher, becoming the trends, and the, norm. And, there are more and more who’d come to understand, that even if two people were married, one day, one will leave before the other, and, everybody has to practice living on one’s own, to finish the bottom halves of their, lives, alone.
Recalled how there was a study from before, that the elderly if they’re healthy enough, can take care of their own daily living needs, living alone gives them that sense of independence, made them happy; but the prerequisite to this is you need to be able to face up to the multiple challenges that come your way on your own, you need to be prepared in the finances, health, as well as your social connections beforehand, then, you will meet that goal of “living independently on your own”.
And so, this still showed, how maintaining social contact in the elderly years is one of the keys to stay healthy, and yet, as people become reliant on each other, because they’re married, shared a life too long, then suddenly, it’s just, one of you that’s, left, and it take a long, long time, to adapt to that, and sometimes, you don’t completely, adapt yourselves to your lives, alone!
Mirroring the World 
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