Movie lines that impress me “I guess when you are young, you just believe that there will be many people you’ll connect with. Later in life you realize it only happens a few times.” “The past is the past. It was meant to be that way. The world may be less free than we think. When given these circumstances, that’s what will happen every time.” “I mean I’m really happy when I am on my own. Even being alone, it’s better sitting next to a lover and feeling lonely. It’s not easy for me to be romantic and after you’ve been screwed up over a few times, you forget about your delusional ideas and you take what comes into your life. That’s not even true. I haven’t been screwed over. I’ve just had so many blah relationships. They weren’t mean, they cared for me, but there were no real connection or excitement. At least, not from my side.” “There is an Einstein quote that I really really like. He said ‘if you don’t believe in any kind of magic or mystery, then you are basically as good as dead.’ ” “I always feel like a freak because I’m never able to move on like this: people just have an affair or even entire relationships, they break up and they forget. They move on like they would have changed the brand of cereals. I feel I was never able to forget anyone I’ve been with because each person has their own specific qualities. You can never replace anyone. What is lost is lost. Each relationship, when it ends, it damages me. I never fully recover. That’s why I am really careful with getting involved because it hurts too much. I miss the person the most mundane things. Like I am obsessed with little things. When I was a little girl, my mom told me that I was always late to school. One day she followed me to see why. I was looking at chestnuts falling from the trees, rolling on the sidewalk or ants crossing the roads, the way a leaf cast a shadow on a tree trunk. I think it’s the same with people. I see them in little details, so specific to each of them that move me and that I miss and will always miss. You can never replace anyone because everyone is made of such beautiful, specific details.”

Why foreigners tend to use a new language in a creative way? When you talked to a foreign friend, did you ever find that he really used a new language in a funny and creative way?

Why I fear to be alone Is it true that as we grow older, we’ll be better at dealing with loneliness? Whether this belief is true of false is not for me to say, all I know is with the increase in age, I am getting closer to where loneliness comes from and what it means to me. I was afraid or even terrified of being alone in public places. I hated it so much when my loneliness was exposed to others and I felt it was really something to be ashamed of. At that time, as for me, being alone somehow equaled lack of charm. Girls are supposed to work by groups, aren’t they? They go to class together, have lunch together or even go to restroom together. If a girl has no partners when doing things which are believed to be done by more than one person, like shopping, there seems to be something wrong with her. At least something to be pathetic about. I don’t know why but this idea was deeply imprinted into my head for quite a long time. However, now, as a 20-year-old, I am genuinely glad that I have a totally new understanding of it. Being alone actually never equals being lonely. If you enjoy all the moments you spend with yourself, if you feel peaceful and euphoric whenever you are on your own, if you don’t have to check your social media every 10 minutes to see if someone sends you messages, but still feel you’ve always been cared and loved by people around you, then you are not lonely! Forget about what other’d say! It’s such a personal experience. Your true feelings far outweigh the stupid seem-to-be-right belief. It just dawned on me that sometimes loneliness actually results from our failure to find a proper way to get along with ourselves. We may throw ourselves into endless parties, organize activities in which we even have little interest or chat with friends on We-chat about things neither of us cares about only because we are afraid of being lonely. Or to be more specific, only because of the fear of being alone. Confusion sometimes leads to more fear. But on the bright sight, one practical way to tackle one’s fear is to find out what he or she is really confused about. Like I was so afraid of being alone. But when I realized that I had mistook it for being lonely, my confusion was cleared up so no more panic. I started to learn to enjoy my own company and really solved the problem. Fortunately it turned out that being alone with myself is undoubtedly one of the most magical experiences I’ve ever had.

A life of service (2) This idea is based on the belief that all kinds of jobs exist essentially for serving humans. If one becomes excellent in his own field, he can provide better services for people in certain need. If everybody becomes brilliant in his own area, people having any need can be benefited! One telling instance would be: if a surgeon is outstanding in his own domain, he could relieve more patients from pain and help them return to health, which by essence, equals providing better services. Moreover, it’s universally admitted that one has to work before he retires, which means he will serve others for quite a long time. In this way the sustainability and stability of services is secured. Improving your own professional skill is a smarter and more efficient way to provide high-level and professional services, so whatever the job is, I will work hard to perfect my professional skill! However, sometimes it’s much easier to answer the “how-questions” than the “why-questions”. We know how to better serve others but we may fail to see why should we do that. With our time and energy limited, why on the earth should we waste them on someone else? I figure the answer must has something to do with one’s definition of success. As for me, I believe success is having the ability to live the life you want, while never forgetting to use the same ability to help others achieve their dreamy life. I believe what drive us to help or serve others is barely pure generosity, but our shared feelings. This is my answer to why I’d like to live a ‘life of service’.

A life of service 1 “ Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” The first paragraph of The Great Gatsby reveals the fact that everybody has his own deficiencies, therefore the help or service provided by others are being stressed. Compared to the contribution we could make while providing services, happiness and sense of contentment brought by it counts more because they are the indispensable parts of success to me. As a result, living a ‘life of service’ is listed as my goal. Usually when talking about offering help, the first thing people could think of is volunteering. Undoubtedly being a volunteer is a good way to serve people. They generously give other individuals a hand without asking for money and could nearly provide any kind of services. However, I really question the sustainability and level of it. Since volunteers are volunteer to offer services, they are also free to quit, which poses a threat to the stability and sustainability of their services. We have to admit that more or less, the lack of pay may lead to the lack of responsibility and discipline. As employees, if we fail to get up in a weekdays’ morning we might be kicked out by the top banana, finding it hard to make a living. But as volunteers, if we get late, we don’t have to lose anything. Additionally, the unstandardized level of this type of services is also a problem unsolved. There is a huge demand for volunteers, making the quantity far outweigh the quality. In this case, the level of their professional skills will possibly be compromised. All these shortcomes imply that being a volunteer is far from living a ‘life of service’ for me, so I decide to adopt a new model---polishing my own professional skill. (to be continued )

Is genetic engineering a path to perdition or prosperity? (2) ( I really hate writing essays about science and technology, with my poor knowledge about these stuff... This is the topic given by my teacher, so basically there is no option. I'd be very appreciative if you could give me some advice on wording, organization of the essay or logic while paying less attention to the content:) ) The essential principle of this technology is to select certain genes and introduce an exogenous DNA, which is extracted from genes, into a cell, making the cell to acquire a new phenotype. The technology is meant to help creatures better adapt to this ever-changing world. So far, gene engineering has been successfully put in to practice in increasing the production of crops, vegetable and fruit. It is also on its way to help people tackle some vital diseases such as cancer in a molecule level. It’s predicted that with the advancement of this technology, hopefully the average age of humans will go up to 100 years in the future. It’s easily ignored that the moral crisis coming with this technology is not necessarily caused by it. Gene engineering itself is not to blame. It’s the lack of related regulations and laws that results in people’s fear. Once government and related authoritative research institutes work out a complete and mature system of regulations, the severe issue won’t be a problem in the future. From what has been discussed, I figure genetic engineering is a path to prosperity rather than perdition.

Is genetic engineering a path to perdition or prosperity? (1) ( I really hate writing essays about science and technology, with my poor knowledge about these stuff... This is the topic given by my teacher, so basically there is no option. I'd be very appreciative if you could give me some advice on wording, organization of the essay or logic while paying less attention to the content:) ) When theory of relativity was first unveiled, it was much more of a curse than a bless. Nearly all of the established theories were against this newly born one. It was much easier to take it as nonsense rather than truth because once you did, there would be a unprecedentedly huge storm in the whole physical world. However, time tries truth. Einstein’s theory was finally universally recognized. It gave the whole world a big shake by redefining the Newton mechanics, time and universe. Nowadays, this theory, though still criticized for leading to the existence of the notorious nuclear weapons, is widely applied to promote the development of science and technology and make this world a better place to live. Gene engineering seems to be going through the same pattern as the theory of relativity once did. It’s severely condemned for its immoral nature. People feel threatened with the possibility that cloning may break the rules set by nature, thus resulting in the extinction of human beings. But I figure it is a narrow understanding of this revolutionary technology. ( to be continued)

The Dining Table 2 As obvious as it is, you could imagine my situation in this hateful game. The dining table turns out to be the “heaven” for her and the “hell” for me. Whenever having a meal with my family, my cousin never fails to receive those seem-to-be-endless compliments only for her enormous appetite, while I am always “friendly” brought out to make a cruel contrast. Every time after going through this funny-to-them yet brutal-to-me process, all of my family member would always burst into laughter. Now my cousin has been to Canada to study, leaving fewer chances for the big family to eat together. Suddenly I start to crazily miss the time when we ate around the same table, listening to our grandmother praising her again while putting more meat and vegetable in my bowl. I can’t help recalling the time when I saw her absorbed in cleaning up all the dishes, a unconscious smile also spread secretly across my face. I come to realize I have been so fond of this unique dining atmosphere in my family. Food is a central focus of cultural values and human relationships in China and dining table is also an important place where all the family members sit next to each other and express love and wishes in a natural and subtle way. In this sense, the dining table is no longer a battlefield, but a warm harbor filled with eternal love and laughter.

The Dining Table It’s safe to say that in my family, the dining table is absolutely a battlefield. The faith that the child who eats most grows best has been firmly believed by my family members. Due to the reason I haven't figured out, they tightly hold the idea that only if you consume adequate food, can you attain enough energy and nutrition to support daily life. More specifically, enough food keep you healthy and vigorous, thus promising higher quality of life. It sounds like an idea making perfect sense, except the fact that the standard of “adequacy” here is always set by them. Without the privilege to set rules, all I could do is fight. In this super weird game, the only rival for me is my cousin, a girl 4 years younger than me. Age seems like an advantage in this competition, yet the truth does the reverse. It’s nearly unaccountable how a girl as little as she is could possibly eat 3 times as much as I could! She seems to has been starved for a million years when seeing the food on the table. Her expression then always reminds me of the image of an extremely hungry lion desperate for preys, with her eyes fixed on the dishes and her chopsticks moving mechanically between her bowl and the plates. I was wondering whether she had ever taken class in how to eat efficiently yet gracefully, and how to make the food appear much more delicious than they actually are. ( to be continued)