Trip to Indy

I have visited Indy for several times, but mostly is to take planes. Last Saturday, One of my friend, Hong invited me and my roomate Zifei to Indy to have fun. At first, I was going to gently refuse this kind offer because of my burdensome workload; however, thinking of the good weather and delicious food, I decided to go!

Sitting in my friend's car, watching trees and cars passing by, enjoying the warmth of the sun and running away from the place I am familiar with and the stress of work and study, I really felt relaxed and congratulated on my wise decision of going out.

It is really interesting of three girls with poor sense of direction to drive. We wasted a lot of time in following the right direction and finally had our lunch at around 3 pm. We really enjoyed this authentic Chinese lunch and the quiet environment of this restaurant. After lunch, we went to the cross creek shopping center.

Zifei and I have been living together for almost a year; and we share plenty of commonalities including the dressing style and thus shopping together with Zifei is really fantastic experience. However, Hong's style differs a lot from ours. When Zifei and I were shopping, we noticed that Hong was a little bored; while when Hong was shopping, she felt the same way and quickly finished. At last, we end up having ice cream while talking in the mall which we all have interest in and had a really good time together.

Actually, this issue is really tricky. Not enjoying shopping with Hong doesn't mean I don't want to hang out with her. If I want to visit an exhibition rather than shopping, I would definitely go with Hong. This may be because our personality has so many layers and we have different interests. Therefore, our play also has multiple aspects. And this could be the reason why we need so many different friends, some of them sharing more commonalities with us while others sharing less. If we cannot find an appropriate person to play with, we would rather to  immerse ourselves in solitary play.

Another aspect of this issue is that our friendship is just on the first stage, we know but not quite familiar with each other. That's the reason why have to take care of others' feelings by concealing our true feelings. If we are close enough, I think those social nicety will give way to the true happiness in play. This is the natural way  of building relationship, from formality to familiarity.

Diamond and Alpes

Diamond and Alpes are two lovely dogs of my friend Anna from Taiwan. Diamond is a one-year old Corgi and Alpes is a three-month old Samoye, both are boys. Actually, before I knew them, I always love puppies because puppies are much more cutter. However, through interaction with the two lovely "big" dogs, I found they perform equally with puppies in terms of acting cute. They'll excitedly welcome me everytime I visit Anna. They jump on me, lick me and even kiss me (which I barely can resist, they are big and strong). I really love Aples who always acts like a naughty boy; while when he feels tried, he'll sit on my feet and rest,  which is really a sweet moment. For Alpes, I am not threatening and even make him feel safe and comfortable; For me, being accepted and trusted is an important source of my self-affirmation and happiness. I have similar experiences when I was working in a todder's room where I am welcomed by those innocent babies.

Diamond and Aples also served as a bridge to connect Anna and me. Anna strongly supports Taiwan independence while I, like most international students from mainland China, insist that Taiwan is a part of China. And political position is not a taboo between us and sometimes we can even jest with each other. This may because we are both straightforward person. On the one hand, we maintain our own position, on the other hand, we listen to and respect others. Regardless of this huge difference, we share a lot of commonalities except for loving dogs; we both love travelling, music, shopping and believe in love.

I strongly felt that sometimes, hatred and discrimination is aimed at an abstract concept, but not a concrete person who may share the same system of values with you.

My Play History

I am a playful person and I sincerely value play as a way to take inventory of the world, communicate with people and express our inner feelings. Looking back through my almost 30 years' life, I can see what have changed as well as what have remained in terms of my play.

When I was in my childhood, since I am the single child in my family (which is also the case for most of my friends), I played with my neighborhood peers. I was the leader of that small group of 7 or 8 children, including both boys and girls. Our parents gave us plenty of freedom to choose what we want to play and how to play, which I feel very grateful both then and now. Every winter or summer vacation, we would do a field trip to the countryside nearby with the money sponsored by our parents; we played badminton on the playground in our neighborhood, laughing, shouting and sweating; we played hide-and-seek in the "whole world" (meaning that you can run as far as you can) but ends up with the cat catchers giving up and going back home watching TV and the cats hanging around the neighborhood...

When I entered my adolescence, I preferred solitary play to group play.  At that time, I was always immersed in my own world. After school, I would ride bicycle to the book store to select my favorite music tape and listen to it again and again and again; Flew a kite on the top floor until the kite slowly shrank and finally vanished; And what I liked most at that time was organizing according to a certain pattern (e.g., date, color) while listening to the music. Since then, I became extremely obsessed over logic and orderliness.

When I entered into my twenties when is the rapid expansion of electronic information, I, as well as my classmates and friends, normally spend my free time on computer. I chat with my friends on line; I watch movies and TV dramas on line; I read e-books on Kindle; I listen to the online music and I even shop online instead of going outside to the mall... Yes, I have much more choices of recreation owing to the convenience and diversity that internet brings to me. Nevertheless, I feel guilty and emptiness from time to time. I kind of lose the joy and enrichment back to the time when the choices are quite limited. At that time, I always
repeatedly appreciated the book, music or movie until I finally memorize them. This externally tedious repetition is actually the essence that contributing the exquisiteness of our life.

To summarize, my personal history of my play is on the path from unconsciousness to self-awareness; from group play with limited choices to solitary play with ample choices; from pure happiness to value-based  pleasure. I may have lost the fun in the childhood that becomes extremely difficult to review as I grow up. But that might be the cost of growth.