Not winter yet

Almost December. It's supposed to be winter. Many places in Northern China already have snow. But in Hangzhou, it's a different scene. The leaves of trees are just turning yellow, and falling from trees. The temperature is all right, I don't feel that cold. The weather report says it'll be much colder in few days, but for now, I feel like autumn is still there.

November is a strange month to me, not that it's special or interesting, life at home is always the same, but time is flying lately, the whole month passes so quickly! I must have had a good time, or not? I don't remember exactly. I like my November anyway. Here're some pictures I took randomly today:

Wonderland

"...So follow your passions and you will be fine--who knows maybe you'll end up owning a watermelon farm!" David in New York left this comment yesterday. Owning a watermelon farm? Wow, that's my dream! No kidding, it'd be on the list of my Top 3 dreams. Watermelon is my favorite fruit, I'm totally addicted to it. Eating watermelon makes me happy, talking about watermelon makes me excited. Past few years, I eat watermelon almost every day. In summer, I can eat 2-3 big watermelons a day; In winter, the price of watermelon is expensive, but it's still impossible for me to give up watermelon. I don't care about formal meals, and I'm not a big fan of any other food, but without watermelon, I can't surive.

When I was a kid, I envied watermelon venders. Selling watermelon in the street seemed such fun, and they could eat as much watermelon as they want. So owning a watermelon farm sounds like an ultimate dream! Ok, let me tell you my dream world: I live in somewhere far from cities, no pullution, no traffic. And, of course, I have a watermelon farm. There're tons of watermelon for me to eat. I'm not alone, probably, there're some fellows who love watermlon as much as I do living with me.(anyone?anyone??) I have a house, everything inside is blue as I'm crazy about it. I can sell wateremlon in a town nearby and make a living by this(not practical? but hey, I'm picturing an ideal world). The scenery around the farm is beautiful; free from pollutions, I see blue sky during the day and lots of stars during the night. When I'm not busy with my farm work, I can bike or hike around, sometimes just sit in a chair or lie on the floor, reading good books or listening to my favourite records. Every year, I spend a couple of months traveling to outside world. And many travel fellows come to my farm visiting me when I'm home...

Yeah, that's my wonderland.

Just waiting

It's a job hunting season, many of my classmates are looking for jobs. There're 22 students in my class, eight of them (8 top students actually) will spend two more years in history department attending postgraduate program here. They probably don't enjoy studying history that much as well, but their choice would give them a stable future: They don't need to pay tuition during postgraduate years, the study won't be hard, and two years later, they'll get valuable MA degrees. I won't say that's too bad, but definitely not the type of future for me. "So what will you do when you graduate?" I've been asked this question a lot. The answer? -- I don't know, really. I used to have many plans, but now, I kinda give up all the plans I used to make. Lately I finally realize making future plan is pointless because my mind changes too fast, new ideas keep coming every day. And in the first place I don't like a predictable future at all; I?m very bad at sticking with a specific goal and working hard to ahcieve it. So next few months, I wanna do nothing, just wait and see. Some of my classmates say they feel stressful about job searching, and they put lots of pressure on themselves. I don't quite understand their feelings because I don't have such frustration. Maybe I'm too naive but I'm not worried about tomorrow, not at all. I will do something when I want to or have to. I'd be a diligent student if I found something engaging to study, I'd work hard if I was broke, I'd happily travel if I had enough time and money. For now travel is my blood, I'll go to as many places as possible. But what's next, I have no idea. There must be some opportunities out there, it's just too early to make a decision now.

Hangzhou Girl

Went to a wedding yesterday, unbelievably boring. The bride is my relative, her grandma and my great-grandmother are sisters. So we're not close at all, but I stayed with the bride from morning to night anyway. My mom was happy about what I've done yesterday, and I lied to her that I enjoyed the wedding a lot. But the truth is I hate family obligations and I didn't have a bit fun the whole day. The wedding was expensive: they spent 600,000RMB in all. 600,000RMB! Man, that's crazy! So are they rich? Nope, the couple is not that well off, they just spent most of their money on one day of glory. Wait, actually not their money, but their parents' money. Poor parents, they've been working hard all their lives, but all the money would be gone after the lavish wedding. I don't want to have any kid, but if I was a parent, I'd never ever sacrifice so much for my children. It's stupid to give your children all you have. And hey mom, don't worry, your daughter will be different, give me freedom and trust, that's all I really need.

The bride looked pretty yesterday, but I just feel kinda sorry for this type of girl-- a typical Hangzhou girl. They're born in Hangzhou, studying in Hangzhou, working in Hangzhou, married in Hangzhou, having kids in Hangzhou... A typical Hangzhou girl is dependent on her family-- she feels guilty about leaving home too far and she'll stay at her parents home until she gets married. A typical Hangzhou girl doesn't have too much adventurous blood, she thinks HZ is the safest place in the world, the outside world is full of danger and crime. A typical Hangzhou girl loves Hangzhou, she's proud of being a Hangzhouren and contented with living here all her life... I know these because I used to be the girl like that, but now I'm fighting against what I used to be. Yep, I've changed, a typical life would kill me. I'm tough, I'm independent, and my life would be different.

Biking to Lishui

Weird, it was only a couple of days ago that I was biking, I remember every little thing that happened on the way, but these things seem so far away, as if they happened long time ago. I guess that's partly because of the weather. The temperature has dropped 20C or so lately. It's getting cold here, I have to put thick sweaters on, but on biking days, it was sunny and hot, wearing T-shirt and shorts was enough. I feel like falling into winter from summer all of a sudden.

The bicycle trip was fun, but not the type of fun I thought I'd get (even better). Before this trip, I simply considered biking was pretty easy-- I'd never get tired or get bored or anything, and on the way there wouldn't be anything wrong with my bike. Apparently, I was wrong. This trip helped me realize how biking for days is really like. Sitting on a bike 10 hours a day wasn't always fun or enjoyable: my butt hurt, my legs got sore, and sometimes my sprit was dragged down by endless uphill roads. It took us two and half days to get to the destination Lishui. The first day we biked 110km, the second day 130km or so, the third day only 60km left. The last day's journey was great as we biked in mountains, the views were really nice.

Three days is too short though, I want more! Didn't have much time to go further this time, I'll definitely do more bike trips in the future. Happy about this trip. It's my first time biking to another city, seems not that hard at all. I'm enthusiastic about trying more things. Before I went out last week, I was so dissatisfied with my current life, but not any more. When I was on the road, I was kinda missing my comfortable life at home: hot water shower, tasty food, cozy bed, computer... Now, I'm home, and I feel good about my life.

Here're some pictures I took on the way:
1.Jing Ning County
--- A County near Lishui, underdeveloped but pure.

2. biking to Lishui

leylop on the road

more to follow...

Go Biking

It's November now. The whole October, the weather is really great in Hangzhou: sunny, bright and warm every day. But no matter how perfect the weather is, my October is tedious and inactive. Wonder why bad weather could ruin my good mood easily, but not the other way around-- the nice weather doesn't bring a bit of sunshine into my life. While others here seem to have many interesting places to explore, cool friends to hang out with, fun parties to attend... I'm just stuck at home, sitting at the computer all day. I envy people who had a good time in October, their happiness plus my laziness make me feel bitter and frustrated. I want to be more active, I need to do something to make me feel alive, but apparently, my determination is not strong enough to beat my laziness. That annoys me. And sometimes, I'm angry with myself. I have time, I have money, I have freedom, but I'm unhappy, what a loser!

So hey, no more whine; I can't t stand living like that any more, and I'm gonna do something fun. Today I bought a mountain bike (picture), I'd been thinking about buying a new bike for weeks, glad finally I did it (but my poor savings... ) Tomorrow I'll go biking with bec. We plan to go to Lishui, which is 300km from Hangzhou. It probably takes us 2 or 3 days to get there. I haven't made any long-distance bicycle trip, but I think I'll love it. I really want to do some longer trips by bike, this short trip could be a good start. This morning I heard two courses I take this semester will be finished around late December, and next semester won't start until March. Long break, I probably have time to go somewhere far by bike . Thinking about adventurous life, I'm happy again.

Stay tuned, I'll be back in five days.

Quirkyalone

"I am, perhaps, what you might call... deeply single. Almost never ever in a relationship. Until recently, I wondered if there might be something weird about me..." (read on)

I was reading some magazine my friend lent me, this essay caught my attention because I'm also deeply single. I did a little bit search on the Internet, and found out this site. There's a quiz there-- Are you Quirkyalone? I know these web tests are stupid, I took it this time though. As I was kinda interested and the quiz is really simple. My score is 117, which means-- Very quirkyalone. Relatives may give you quizzical looks, and so may friends, but you know in your heart of hearts that you are following your inner voice. Though you may not be romancing a single person, you are romancing the world.

Romancing the world? Hmm...not bad. My score is pretty high (what is yours? I'm curious), but I don't think I'm a complete quirkyalone. Here're some of my comments to that quirkyalone manifesto:

"For the quirkyalone, there is no patience for dating just for the sake of not being alone. On a fine but by no means transcendent date we dream of going home to watch television. We would prefer to be alone with our own thoughts than with a less than perfect fit."
-- Exactly. But not only dating, also making friends. I guess that's why I stay alone that much. If I couldn't find people who make me feel they're worth being with, I'd rather be alone, or it'd be like wasting time.

"We are almost constitutionally incapable of casual relationships."
--Casual relationships are okay, but I'm incapable of serious or long-term relationships. I've never been in such relationship, and I don't really want to get one. About casual relationships, simply finding someone ordinary to spend time with is boring. The type of casual relationships I like: fast, instant and now. Like meeting someone on the train, in a strange city... We won't be together forever, maybe just a few days, even a few hours. Though parting is inevitable, the time we spend together could be enjoyable and unforgettable.

"...a community of quirkyalones is essential."
-- Nope, that'd be dull. I think quirkyalones are independent and cool, they'd feel comfortable being single, and they don't need to join any community or look for some support.

"We are the puzzle pieces who seldom fit with other puzzle pieces. We inhabit singledom as our natural resting state. In a world where marriage and proms define the social order, we are, by force of our personalities and inner strength, rebels."
-- I agree. Though my teenage years has been passed for ages, I feel more rebellious than ever. I couldn't stand conforming to established rules, and my takes on society, marriage, traditional values... are getting untypical.

"Yet make no mistake: We are no less concerned with coupling than your average serial monogamist. Secretly, we are romantics, romantics of the highest order. We want a miracle. Out of millions we have to find the one who will understand."
--A romantic? I guess I'm not. I don't expect a miracle, and I'm not waiting for "the one". Well, I'm sort of expecting, not "a miracle" but "miracles". And "one" is not enough, "ones" would be nice.

"Being quirkyalone can be difficult. Everyone else is part of a couple! Still, there are advantages. No one can take our lives away by breaking up with us. Instead of sacrificing our social constellation for the one all-consuming individual, we seek empathy from friends. Friends are more than people to wile away the time with until we find a significant other. Indeed, we have significant 'others'. "
-- In my case, yes, I'm not willing to sacrifice my social constellation for the one all-consuming individual, but I don't usually seek empathy from friends either. I think finding significant others is no easier than finding significant one. I'm picky about friends, good friends are hard to get either.

So now, I'm still happily single, I have freedom to meet anyone I want. Good relationship and friendship are nice, but I have no problem with being alone. Traveling alone, going to movies alone... are actually fun. Quirkyalone or loner or whatever, I just enjoy being alone a lot.

Any quirkyalone out there?