April is National Poetry Month!
Hopefully I can follow through!
April is National Poetry Month!
Ah, I hope I can follow through!
A Sushi-ful Dream
I just had a dream in which I was graduating from college, and my grandpa and my mom came. After the ceremony, we went to a supermarket, and I was told to buy anything I want. As I was picking out among rows of Pocky and other delicious Asian snacks, one of my grandpa's old friends came and walked up.
My grandpa told me to get "something" from the other side of the store, as if to keep me away from the conversation. He was treating me like I was 7 and still living with him in China--surely he doesn't think my 22-old-year self would have no suspicions to such a suspicious request? I walked slowly away from them, and overheard bits of their conversation. "She...don't know...yet." In my dream, I knew that my dad had been out of the country for a while, and my mom and grandpa are the only ones who came to my graduation. I deduced they must have gotten a divorce.
I walked to the other side of the store, and found rows of delicious sushi. I decided to have them get some for me--it's the least they could do after treating me like a child and hiding this from me. Even though I knew it was because I had final exams and they didn't want to disturb me, I had rather they told me when it happened, instead of waiting until now to give me the news. I'm an adult now. I can take it.
My mom came down from the stairs (there were stairs in the supermarket that led up to a hotel they were staying at, apparently). I told her I found out what happened. She immediately started crying and ran up the stairs, telling me she had something to give to me.
I walked back to where my grandpa and his friend were still talking, almost wanting to avoid the emotional mess my mom was becoming. It's not as if I don't understand. It's their choice. I'm an adult now.
As I approached my grandpa, my mom suddenly came down and handed a plastic bag to me. Inside, were the diary entries she wrote for me when I was an infant, my birth certificate, and various scraps of paper that I drew on when I was young. "The zoo," I had written. "I want to go!" Apparently, my small hands had drawn a picture of me holding with one hand onto mommy and another onto my daddy, looking at a giraffe excitedly.
"I thought you might want these with you, now that you have graduated," she said.
I bursted out crying. I didn't feel sad--well, my 22-year-old self didn't, at least. But my 7-year-old self felt like it was being torn apart, as if that dream of going to the zoo with my mommy and daddy was being torn apart. It was so completely irrational and I knew that now that I'm an adult, I can make my own choices and didn't need to depend on their constant present in my life, but, maybe, part of me still wanted a home to go back to.
Yet, when I go back home, I knew I was only going to see one of them, alone, apart from the person they loved for so long, waiting for me.
I decided to treat my mom to sushi.
Some Very Belated Tagging
So on Valentine's Day, 
tagged me with a lovely note filled with lots of love, so I suppose I must reply to her heartfelt feelings! 
1. You must post the rules.
2. Each person must post 6 things about themselves in their journal.
3. You have to choose 11 people to tag and post their icons on your journal.
4. Go to their page and tell them you have tagged them.
5. No tag backs.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about "you're tagged if you're reading this". You legitimately have to tag 11 people.
Since she asked me some questions, I suppose I'll answer them as 5 of my 6 things about myself. Hopefully that's not cheating.
Do you have a special someone who you wish to be with? What are your favorite love songs?
Favorite couple you ship?
What does love mean to you?
What's your favorite chocolate?
1. Hm...I think so.
2. That's depends on my mood! Though I really like 一剪梅. ^^ Also, "First Love" by Utada Hikaru and "For Fruits Basket" and "Koibumi" from the game Rewrite and "Colors" by Maaya Sakamoto. Hm...I think I like "Colors" the most. It always has this serene feeling to it and calms me down.
3. Ah, I would have said Xelloss/Filia without hesitation before and I still like them, but it really depends on the stuff I'm watching at the moment haha. Recently I really like Mayaka and Satoshi from Hyouka! And in real life, my OTP is and her boyfriend (you know who you are)~
4. Love comes in all forms and I can write an entire page about what psychology have to say about it and it's all really interesting (especially the Triangular Theory of Love, go check it out), but I think in the end it comes down to what Tomoyo said, "When the person I love is happy, I am happy." I feel like true love is not possessive; it's not a trade; it's not like "I love you so you must love me back." It's something freely given. I'm not saying that the possessive kind of love is not love, but I think that the possessiveness comes from insecurity about oneself and not from loving the other person.
5. Hm...I'm not sure what it's called but once I ate this French or Danish or something chocolate that is in a crispy chocolate cup filled with mocha cream and sprinkled with small white and dark chocolate balls. It was super delicious! Ah...I wish I can find the name...
6. On the topic of food, yesterday I went to a toilet-themed restaurant! The food looked unappetizing to say the least, but was surprisingly good. Everyone sat on toilet-shaped seats and there was poop-shaped ice cream served in squatting toilet-shaped plates. Haha it was a lot of fun. If you ever go to Taipei or Beijing you should go check it out. It's called Modern Toilet. 
Ah...I don't feel like tagging people. But do it if you want to!
Happy Chinese New Year!
I spent my morning translating this pretty, pretty song to celebrate. I thought it would be appropriate since it kind of shows how even in the depth of winter, the promise of spring is always near. And Chinese New Year, although in winter, celebrates the arrival of spring, which is why in Chinese it's called Spring Festival.
The first translation is loyal to the original meaning, while the second is meant to be sung. I swear this was harder than iambic pentameter...The Chinese language is so concise and has so many spondaic meters! (The meter and rhyme scheme of my English lyrics is a bit off...
) Ah, but that's what makes it so beautiful and irreplaceable. Enjoy the pretty music!youtu.be/tLYloWG3whc
Chinese lyrics/translation:
一剪梅
A Sprig of Flowering Quince
真情像草原广阔
True love is wide as the prairie
层层风雨不能阻隔
Layers of wind and rain cannot block it
总有云开日出时候
There will always be a time when clouds part and the sun rises
万丈阳光照亮你我
Towering sunshine illuminates you and me
真情像梅花开遍
True love blossoms everywhere like the flowering quince
冷冷冰雪不能掩没
It cannot be buried by the freezing ice and snow
就在最冷
At the coldest time
枝头绽放
It blossoms at the tip of the branch
看见春天走向你我
And sees spring walking towards you and me
雪花飘飘北风啸啸
The snow flutters, the north wind howls
天地一片苍茫
Heaven and earth is endlessly white
一剪寒梅
A sprig of flowering quince
傲立雪中
Proudly stands in the snow
只为伊人飘香
Its puts out its fragrance only for that one person
爱我所爱无怨无悔
Loving my love, I have neither complaints nor regrets
此情长留
This feeling will stay everlasting
心间
In the heart
English lyrics:
A Sprig of Flowering Quince
The prairie of love is so wide
That to drown it rain won't suffice
There'll come a time clouds part, sun shines
Dawn will light up our winter skies
The blossoms of love the earth embrace
The ice cannot cloak its tender glow
In coldest times
It blooms and grows
Watching springtime coming in the snow
The north wind chases shivering snowflakes
The world depleted of hue
A sprig of blossoms
Standing in snow
Gives its fragrance to you
For loving my love, I've no complaints
This love will stay
Always