Kabul, the capital, was once called “ Little Paris of Central Asia", implying that Afghanistan was once a prosperous and free country. However, the good times did not last long. The Soviet Union invaded the country in 1979, followed by a 9-year war. After the Soviet Union withdrew, it experienced a four-year civil war and was finally taken over by the Taliban in 1996. The country was destroyed and the people lived under tyranny. In 2001, the famous 911 terrorist attack occurred. Soon after, the US launched the war in Afghanistan. Although they won, there was no way to eliminate all Taliban militants. Anyway, under the umbrella of the US military, people still got a short respite.

More than ten years ago, I read two novels about Afghanistan, Husseini's "The Kite Runner" and "The Brilliant Thousand Suns", which made me better understand Afghanistan and the Taliban government. Before I read them, my only impression of this country came from watching the movie "Rambo: First Blood III". It is a distant central Asian country with many militants, nothing more. I don't even know its correct geographic location. These two books describe Afghanistan as a country with chaos and poverty mainly result from wars, and how the people lived in misery under the cruel regime of the Taliban.

I found a video from YouTube adventitiously this afternoon. The video tells the living conditions of Afghanistan people from the 1960s to the 1970s. The video focuses on Afghan people especially women. In the video, people’s life style and apparel were just same as the western. I didn’t see women wear burqa, which is literally far from my imagination. Compared with the present, it became completely different world.

I have been wanting to visit an island called Mykonos in the Aegean Sea. Mention to the Aegean Sea, it makes me think of Greece. The country allows same-sex marriage, and Mykonos is known for being LGBT-friendly as well. There is a grand gay pride party - XLSIOR which is held for a week every August. At that time, gays from all over the world come to the island enjoying and celebrating the XLSIOR. Mykonos is not only famous for being LGBT friendly, but also a well-known honeymoon destination. There are beautiful weather, clear seawater and Greece style houses. I also think it is a good place for holding weddings, especially for gay marriages. Before going to the island, make sure you have a fit and not overweight body. Maybe there is a beautiful romantic love waiting for you.

In April, I went to Brisbane, Australia to study English. I still remember that in the flight to Brisbane, I tried to order a glass of wine in my poor English to a flight attendant. She asked me some questions in English, and I didn't even know what she said to me because my English was very poor at that moment, I could only answer her by saying "yes". Later, when she came to me, she served me a glass of water. Yes! only water! So far, I still don't know why I didn't get that glass of wine.

It’s time for the ghost gate to open annually again. This year, the date of “ ghost gate opening “ coincides with Father's Day. Traditionally, we call the date "Ghost Gate Opening", which is the first day of “Ghost Month”. In addition, those ghosts who came from the underworld are said to have been hungry for a year, because there is nothing to eat in the underworld, so we have to worship them on the day in the middle of the ghost month. We call the day “Ghost Festival”. There are some taboos in ghost month, such as : do not go swimming in the watersides, do not go hiking and do not got out at night time, because we think that those ghosts attempt to capture people’s souls and take their lives during the ghost month, especially in these place.Although, It sounds a bit superstitious but this kind issues happen each year. I habitually take a walk in the park at midnight, and now I wonder whether I keep this habit in such a special month or not.

I don't know since when we like to kill each other by playing Ludo King. Sometimes people get angry because of being killed. It’s weird to be angry when playing games, because in my opinion, playing games should be fun and relaxing, but it happened indeed. To play the game, firstly you have to download it from the Apple store. The form of Ludo king is similar to checker, but the gameplay is different. I guess it evolved from checkers. It has multiple modes, you can choose to play with the computer, friends and netizens. Most of the netizens are from India, and I guess it is very popular in that country.

I have always been interested in something related to aliens and the universe. I also know there is a place where all alien fans want to go on a pilgrimage is called “ Area 51”. Not long ago, I read a book about "Area 51" which is in a desert of Nevada, USA. The book mentions that allegedly the body of an alien named Roswell has been hidden in this place. You may wonder why the alien is called Roswell. That’s because the alien piloted a UFO and crashed around a small town named Roswell in the area. Hence, people called it Roswell. Regarding Area 51, you may also wonder why people call it this name. Since 1944, the area was originally an air base for testing newly developed aeronautical equipment and stealth fighters (including nuclear tests). It is marked as Area 51 on the military map. Now, this area has become the most popular pilgrimage site for alien fans. There is even a highway here called Extraterrestrial highway. Allegedly there are many people witnessed UFO appeared here.