Hello dear friends, it's been a long while—On March 1, I submitted my History and Literature senior thesis!!! During spring break, a hundred of us embarked on the annual peer-led Israel Trek, which took us from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, into the West Bank and territories under the Palestinian Authority, to a hotel by the … Continue reading Harvard Israel Trek 2022
Tag: Reflections
虎年快乐 ٩(๑・̑◡・̑๑)۶
年夜饭是外卖和巧克力,坐在宿舍里被我慢慢吃掉的。窗外是朦胧的雪夜。饺子像是泛着油光的金元宝,又像是漂泊的小白帆。家人都很遥远,年味淡如一缕烟,但爸爸告诉我:“这样的元旦因为不一样所以值得纪念。” 有个可爱的学妹送了一罐凤梨酥和一大罐蛋卷,带着漂洋过海的喜庆和家乡的味道。每一颗圆滚滚的凤梨酥落在舌尖上的重量让我很想很想家。“家”是红红火火喜气洋洋的阖家团圆,不局限于任何一个地方,是爸爸妈妈在身边的心安。当身在异国他乡时,家变成了一个符号,无法言说,只能意会。 隔着屏幕发现原来春节是如此的需要氛围。爷爷说我终于是大姑娘了,但我感觉自己仍如此需要长辈的关怀,好像一个永远长不大的小孩。我看了一会春晚,听了些老歌,抢了些红包,下载了些表情包,顺溜地说着祝福语,等着一个隐形的轮回(因为时差,仿佛要守岁两次)。时针坚定的迈向新的一年,安静却不乏温柔。少了喧嚣繁华,竟别有一番滋味。 确实是值得被记住的一次大年三十 ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪
Thank You, 2021
Thank you 2021 for many things. A calling, a finished manuscript, a postgrad path, mentors and friendships, family and love, good health amid a seemingly never-ending pandemic. Four years ago, a fortune teller in Hong Kong told me that 23 would be an important year. A year when I’d accomplish things that will set the … Continue reading Thank You, 2021
Disney, nocturnal me, Harry Potter
Classes are over for the semester, senior year is past its midpoint, but Thanksgiving break still feels like yesterday. I feel older, not wiser, still grasping at the last straws of magic — of a world slinking away. The gates of college contain within them a world of their own, as do amusement parks. At … Continue reading Disney, nocturnal me, Harry Potter
Happy Fall Things: Wise Professors ft. Other Shenanigans : )
Note: here's a mandatory throwback to my November posts from freshman, sophomore, and junior year. Somehow every November always ends up becoming either my favorite or the most tumultuous month of the fall. Life is truly a cycle, not a progression. Conversations That I'll Remember In Salem's oldest witch shop, behind a curtain, the psychic … Continue reading Happy Fall Things: Wise Professors ft. Other Shenanigans : )
Squid Game Thoughts: the dystopian island
Soundtrack: Still Fighting It by Ben Folds + the Squid Game version of Fly Me to The Moon by Joo Won I binge-watched Squid Game in less than a day. Apart from what everyone else has written on (class inequality, debt, the lost generation, critique of capitalism, EAT THE RICH), which I have little more … Continue reading Squid Game Thoughts: the dystopian island
Just A Sunday Hike: White Mountains, NH
Crawling up slippery rocks, hair flying in the wind, shoes squelching, toes numb, fingers scrambling for a grip on branches, on trunks, on anything. Muddied gloves gripping hands that pull me against gravity. Anxiety, wonder, anxiety, wonder. And the air—so, so clean. A blast of oxygen after a mask-filled existence. There’s the easy rhythm of … Continue reading Just A Sunday Hike: White Mountains, NH
Interning at Bloomberg News Pt. 1
Hi dear readers, long time no see! Realize I've broken my blogging streak for the first time in years — June whizzed past so fast I barely had time to reflect amid the journalism grind. But now that we're past midpoint of my internship, it's a good time to pop on here for some long-overdue … Continue reading Interning at Bloomberg News Pt. 1
Movie Review: Blind Mountain《盲山》(2007)
There are two endings to Blind Mountain. In the censored Mainland Chinese version, the police comes and rescues the female protagonist from her rural prison. In the version for international release, which is the one I watched, the girl grabs the knife closest to her and, in a climactic eruption of violence, stabs her "husband" … Continue reading Movie Review: Blind Mountain《盲山》(2007)
Goodbye, 2020
2020 is a year of records set, plans broken, trajectories transformed, passions lived. It marks the first time I've stayed indoors for four months straight. For 120 days, I didn't take a single step out of the apartment. (!!!) It marks the most words I've written in a year, ever. All these years I've talked … Continue reading Goodbye, 2020
2019: A Tale of Many Cities
滚滚长江东逝水,浪花淘尽英雄。 是非成败转头空。 青山依旧在,几度夕阳红。 白发渔樵江渚上,惯看秋月春风。 一壶浊酒喜相逢。 古今多少事,都付笑谈中。 《三国演义》开篇 Roiling waves of the river flow, Rippling tides sieve out heroes, Wins and losses now hollow. The earth lies here still, Many sunsets come and go. A snowy-haired elder perches by, Seasons ebbing in his eyes. History’s many tales All washed down with wine, Drowning in laughter with … Continue reading 2019: A Tale of Many Cities
Conversation Sparks: Life, you’re the dancing queen
We tend to romanticize the past. For a while, I complained to friends that I was feeling the belated onslaught of the Sophomore Slump — call it the Junior Jetlag. Every seven hours, I would reminisce about my idyllic, fulfilling sophomore fall. But then, I went to read what I wrote one year ago — my pillow … Continue reading Conversation Sparks: Life, you’re the dancing queen
[Story] Remembering Jamal Khashoggi
Author's Note: Wrote this story in March. Today marks one year since the gruesome murder (and dismemberment) of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. One morning before class, on a misty pink spring morning, I went on Twitter for the first time in forever. Behold then: a trailer for CNN's "Saudi Arabia: Kingdom of Secrets." The video automatically … Continue reading [Story] Remembering Jamal Khashoggi
Confession: “I Was Born A Writer”
I’m not sure that Morocco or France are my countries... No, my country is language. My country is a library. Have you ever felt utterly exhilarated just listening to someone talk? I was in a conference room somewhere in the basement of the Center for European Studies. Leila Slimani was in conversation with my Advanced Fiction … Continue reading Confession: “I Was Born A Writer”
Interning at CNN Fareed Zakaria GPS
Working at CNN Fareed Zakaria GPS has been one of the most interesting internship experiences I’ve had. It has exposed me to the specifics of producing a show for air, what it’s like to work at a place like CNN, and the excitement of dealing with ideas, international news, and incisive analysis on a day-to-day basis. … Continue reading Interning at CNN Fareed Zakaria GPS
Happy 54th birthday, Singapore!
Happy happy National Day, all my Singaporean friends! 🎂🇸🇬✨ It's weird how frequently I've thought of you, Singapore, in the day-to-day of my job. Like when the White House published a memo attacking China's developing country status in the WTO and the first thing my eyes were glued onto in the text (read here) was … Continue reading Happy 54th birthday, Singapore!
Futuristic thoughts while grocery shopping
This marks the end of my third week in New York. Say what? It is true. This means three weeks of LIVING ALONE in the biggest city in the United States, actually WORKING eight to nine hours a day in a cubicle on the 21st floor of a massive glass tower, and actually being a … Continue reading Futuristic thoughts while grocery shopping
The Big 21
On May 31, 2019, I turned 21. The big 21 is sundrenched in Californian heat, pulsing in road trip vibes, and peppered with desert sand and surrealist tree-like cacti with muscled arms (think: the Whomping Willow in Harry Potter). Outside of the window are lonely gas stations, abandoned houses, and then a humongous pink ice … Continue reading The Big 21
Brevity: Renaissance Woman
Brevity features short posts on the interesting, incisive, or inexplicably moving ideas I encounter at Harvard. It’s a record of the detail in those intellectual and creative moments, as well as an exploration of the curious questions that keep me up at the midnight hour. Here’s an honest snapshot of my mind. Sometimes, I realize how much more I have … Continue reading Brevity: Renaissance Woman
2018: An Autobiography of Seasons
The countdown of days to the end of the year starts with a burnt nose. As I am steaming my face, eyes closed in bliss, my head dips too far down the basin—nose first. The boiling hot water scalds the tip. When I whip my head back up, there's a pimple-shaped red blotch on my … Continue reading 2018: An Autobiography of Seasons
海外华侨女孩:金庸和我的小故事
Remembering Louis Cha (Jin Yong), my favorite author, in the language I read him in. Today, he died at age 94. May he rest in peace. 今天,就让我难过一下吧。 六岁那年,爸爸几乎每晚都把我拉去公园散步。傍晚的树叶和微风很浪漫,是个听故事和讲故事的好时候。当时的我已经喜欢上了读书,但是天天手上捧着的都是西方读物:英国的艾尼德.布莱顿(Enid Blyton)、美国的《神探南茜》(Nancy Drew)、《甜蜜谷》(Sweet Valley Kids)系列,以及一箱又一箱的外国入门侦探小说。书本中的主人公虽然年龄比我长了几岁,但是都陌生的要死。他们需要喝下午茶,敢用姓名称呼他们的父母,出门要围围巾。 有一天我们又在绕圈的时候,爸爸通知我:“既然我们这几天散步你不愿意给我讲故事,那就我来。我来给你讲讲我最喜欢的。” 他选择了《射雕英雄传》。 说实话,一开始,我是很排斥他这个选择的。对于一个只背过唐诗、论语和三字经的我来说,中国文化是枯燥无味的条条框框。爸爸讲的那个故事的开端是一个臭道士,场景是一个年代久远的乡村,里面有一群叔叔阿姨天天在打架。我很不耐烦地威胁爸爸让他讲一个有公主和王子的故事,结果他告诉我这个故事里会有我这辈子都会想要的爱情。 他说的没错。 就这样,爸爸把这个故事的蓝图在我幼小的脑海里展开。我从不稀罕到走火入魔般地着迷。六岁那年,人生之三大难题如下:降龙十八掌到底是怎么打的?爸爸为什么不是桃花岛主?我应该到哪里去找武功秘籍好能称霸武林?但是,故事太长了,爸爸后来工作很忙,没有时间跟我在公园绕圈。我便开始去烦他,泪眼汪汪地求他继续把故事讲完。 他一指书架,对我说道:“都在那里,你自己看。” 结果是,我苦苦地啃了几个月,也没读懂。《射雕英雄传》分为了四册,我走到哪里都带着一本,搞得母亲对爸爸颇有微词。书中世界之丰富超过了我之前所读过的一切。里面形形色色的人和我有着类似的姓名,一样对长辈又敬又爱,年轻却充满了超越时代的侠肝义胆和令人动容的儿女情长。 后来,我慢慢长大了,却年复一年于这江湖流连忘返。在金庸的文字中,我似乎逐渐能从见自己,到见天地,却至今还是无法见众生。 现在,我二十岁了。我在新西兰出生,新加坡长大,美国读大学。从小到大,我在学府里读得最多的是西方文学,现在在哈佛主修的专业之一也是英语文学。至今,我读了荷马(Homer)、莎士比亚(Shakespeare)和简·奥斯汀(Jane Austen),也读了萨曼·鲁西迪(Salman Rushdie)、托妮·莫里森(Toni Morrison)和J.K.罗琳(J. K. Rowling)这些当代文学的泰山北斗。但是,至今,再也没有一个作家能让我如此留恋他笔下的世界,那些人的刹那芳华、仁义与柔情。 白马带着她一步步的回到中原。白马已经老了,只能慢慢的走,但终是能回到中原的。江南有杨柳、桃花,有燕子、金鱼…… 汉人中有的是英俊勇武的少年,倜傥潇洒的少年…… 但这个美丽的姑娘就像古高昌国人那样固执:“那都是很好很好的,可是我偏不喜欢。” 咱们就此别过,人生离合,亦复如斯。 金庸就是金庸。 四海列国,千秋万代,也就只有一个他呀。
[Story] The Writer
Author's Note: This short story was submitted as the final paper for a class last semester. The protagonist of this story is the act of writing itself. I am fascinated by the idea of the separation of the writer and the person into two selves, of the tension existing within the diasporic writer. Set in … Continue reading [Story] The Writer
Confronting My Worldly Fears
At some point in your life, this statement will be true: Tomorrow you will lose everything forever. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu At the most random of moments, I consider my own mortality. One such instance was as I was seated in the cozy office of Professor Racha … Continue reading Confronting My Worldly Fears
Two Takes on My Harvard Freshman Year (My Year in Review?)
TAKE ONE Here's how it happens: eyelids fluttering, an image rising, and a sudden plunge into the hot, wet mouth of memory. I'm walking on a boulevard and then this hutong catches my eye and before I know it I'm wandering down networks of neurons, lost. Or I'm talking to someone, laughing, and there's a … Continue reading Two Takes on My Harvard Freshman Year (My Year in Review?)
Happy 53rd Birthday, Singapore!
To the sunny island-state who fed me a diet of chicken rice, pineapple tarts, dim sum, herbal soups, bubble tea, zi char, and Pokka green tea, To the towering institutions, well-worn wooden lecterns, scribbled whiteboards, laughter-filled halls, bleary-eyed mornings before sunrise, and the strict, snarky but wise teachers who educated me, equipped my mind and … Continue reading Happy 53rd Birthday, Singapore!
From A Foodie: Tasting Japan & Its Shokunin Spirit
Read other From A Foodie installments: From A Foodie: Tasting Taipei — worn, but lovely 🍹 From A Foodie: California Dreamin’ 🌴 Although my two months in Japan were ostensibly for Summer School (note the emphasis on my liberal arts education), with the overarching agenda of weight loss (refer to my birthday post: From 20-year-old Me, With … Continue reading From A Foodie: Tasting Japan & Its Shokunin Spirit
[Story] Hills
She isn't sure what it is, the colors—Supreme red, the blocky black letters of Balenciaga, the wild marbled swirls of Dries Van Noten—sharpening like psychedelic blotches, the strap on her shoulder suddenly prickly and leaden, an indignant discomfiture that rises like a gorge in her throat until she furrows her brows and realizes with a … Continue reading [Story] Hills
From 20-year-old Me, With Love
Today I turn 20! I wonder how past birthdays feel like because this one feels very homely despite the fact that I'm in a country I've never been before. Last night, I was sitting cross-legged in a hotel room on the 46th floor of Japan's tallest building, wearing a dripping sheet mask, clad in Mickey … Continue reading From 20-year-old Me, With Love
Quirky Snippets of An Untold April
I guess there's an untold side to every story. He handed me a Whole Foods bag. I took a peek and saw a glass bottle of red wine vinaigrette resting against some other random-shaped items. "There're some salt, olive oil, and chili," he said, "and chocolates." "Okay, I don't cook, but thank you, Prof." I was … Continue reading Quirky Snippets of An Untold April
To Harvard China Forum • 致哈佛中国论坛
Harvard College China Forum happened! 🌻🌻🌻 感谢你,哈佛中国论坛。这一年过得忽快忽慢,有时磕磕碰碰,但终归时常能让我深夜里兴奋得睡不着。从一开始担心文化分论坛一个演讲嘉宾都请不到,到奇妙地看到一位位重量级嘉宾加入,再到最后在Seaport会展中心看着座无虚席的剧场和台前分享的方文山、李路、童之磊、杨晖、陈楸帆和刘林老师,也许那一刻感受到的是几百人思想上的碰撞和略微不可思议的欣喜。这是一个有魔力的平台,吸引着太平洋两岸、各行各业的人才一起前来贡献他们对于这个世界的想法。谁能想到一年前在香港红馆《地表最强》演唱会挥舞着荧光棒、亲眼看到台上的周杰伦时泪流满面的我,一年后能有幸邀请到方文山老师出席文化分论坛?反正我一年前跟全家一起追着看《人民的名义》时,完全想也想不到一年后我能亲自与李路导演交谈。 作为大一新生参加哈佛中国论坛的团队是我2017年做的最好的决定之一。感谢向我强烈推荐HCCF的Zara Zhang学姐(who happens to run an amazing blog; she was also last year's Co-President)、整个Organizing Team (尤其是我所属的Programming Committee),以及热心帮助和引导我的每一位学姐学长。团队的力量真的令人震撼。一年前的我很青涩,但这一年来我学会了如何待人处事。这些点点滴滴我会放进人生的行囊里。感激每一次成长的机会和与我一同成长的你们。 Now, time for some life updates! It has been a week since Harvard College China Forum concluded at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. Time has been hurtling forward since Spring … Continue reading To Harvard China Forum • 致哈佛中国论坛
When Reality Beckons: Confessions of a Drama Addict
Recently, my dad sent me this photo which expressively demonstrates my aggressive territoriality over a french fry (or my incurable love for food since I was a kid). When my phone ding!-ed and the screen lit up with this incoming message, I was in the midst of a rough week built up from a lack … Continue reading When Reality Beckons: Confessions of a Drama Addict
Girl in D.C.
Dear You, what is art for? Last week, I was in Washington, D.C. with seven other Harvard students on a 10-day Wintersession at Dumbarton Oaks revolving around this topic: Culture and Power: Art, Philanthropy, and Diplomacy in America. In those 10 days, I've seen art like this: And this: Interestingly, this: But also this: Lastly, my … Continue reading Girl in D.C.
2017, Thank You for Everything
2017 is my most paradoxical year yet in that it is both the most monumental and the most peaceful one in recent memory. For the first time in a long while, I found myself without any clear-cut, measurable goals. Since I was a kid and could grasp the concept of a university, Harvard had been … Continue reading 2017, Thank You for Everything
As I Stand, I Feel
Minutes before the day ends in my time zone, Merry Christmas everyone!🎄🎄🎄 1. Christmas Today, I am grateful for— Funny presents (the wrapped mango slices still win) This year, my dad told me with a straight face: "I'm no longer going to be Santa because you're nineteen." My parents pretended to be Santa for years … Continue reading As I Stand, I Feel
[Story] On Black Friday Morning, in a Sun-lit Café
BLACK FRIDAY — 10:40AM, Friday She sits there, her heart a solid thudding of the metronome, an old man's pace. The café is a startling white, clean like a repurposed showroom. The rows of baked goods behind the open-air counter are a dash of brown-gold, like yolk nestled in egg-white. Patterns crawl across its interior; … Continue reading [Story] On Black Friday Morning, in a Sun-lit Café
My Vipassana Meditation Retreat: 10 days of absolute silence, veggies & no technology
The word Vipassana means seeing things as they really are. It is the process of self-purification by self-observation. One begins by observing the natural breath to concentrate the mind. With a sharpened awareness one proceeds to observe the changing nature of body and mind and experiences the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and egolessness. The Code … Continue reading My Vipassana Meditation Retreat: 10 days of absolute silence, veggies & no technology
PSC Scholarship: Yes, Maybe, No
I write this so that, years down the road, I can remember my exact state of mind when making this choice that had a bearing on how I choose to lead my life. It's arguably the most monumental decision I've had to make in my brief 19 years of existence. This is a raw, honest, … Continue reading PSC Scholarship: Yes, Maybe, No
The Modern Child
Disclaimer: this is a piece of satire (not autobiographical!), but then again definitely all art imitates life. The structure is a parody of Girl by Jamaica Kincaid, which depicts a very different world of expectations -- simmering beneath the mother's long string of admonishments and words of advice to a daughter are the layered themes of … Continue reading The Modern Child
Bali: opening to you, the heart of life
This...unsettles you, from your ordinary, rooted world. I was in the land of photogenic temples -- places of worship perching atop seaside cliffs, nestled in misty mountains, carved within caves, and residing around every bend in rural villages. There was more to Bali than temples, of course -- soaked green carpets of rice terraces, beer-bottle thronging beaches, and museums … Continue reading Bali: opening to you, the heart of life