Overdue update

Yes! Finally back at Duke with Internet access again. The past week has been hectic: going to and from airports 4 times, being overwhelmed with fast-paced, mentally demanding talks from 9am to 7pm, trying hard to network with brilliant compsci grad students, waiting 5 hours for my roommate in New York who made the reservations and not able to contact him because Verizon cancelled my American phone, lining up for 2 hours to mail my rice-cooker and CDs to myself, losing my friend's hat and leaving my driver's license with some guy who flew to Taiwan, lugging my two broken 50lb case and two 20lb bags through rain at night (working out helps =-) ), and now quickly adjusting to life while most of my stuff is still in a friend's house 40km away. Nevertheless, it's been a lot of fun!

Now I'm going to copy some things from my notebook which I meant to post earlier. Surprisingly, the compsci conference didn't offer free internet and I didn't have Eric's amazing IP-over-DNS technology. (He could bypass their protocol and obtain free internet anywhere where paid-internet is offered!)

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Jan 3: I just took off from Pearson airport on my way to New York. Outside the window a white, glistering, gorgeous Toronto recedes from view, gradually being covered by what looks like rolling foam. The past 3 days in Toronto has been a frenzied, compressed experience, and I will try to capture the most memorable points here. (I need something to do to keep me awake or fixing this jet lag would be hopeless.)

Flight to Toronto:
Aboard the plane, friends' text messages make me feel warm inside. With regret, I turn off my phone, symbolically ending the lifestyle I had enjoyed in Beijing. (Come to think of it, text messaging in China is such a great way of communication, because it's so cheap and convenient, bringing people near no matter what time and where. In North America, I would have to use clumsier methods like skype and phone calls.) But it's unhealthy to live in the past, so even though it's difficult, I must move on.

Here's what I remember from the 13 hour flight: chatting with the guys beside me, one from 天津 and one from 成都; comforting a newcomer to Canada who's nervous and jittery; ordering multiple meals (first time realized that I can); trying to read but eyes failing; watching "Ghost Town"--romantic comedy where the main character complemented his mean, cranky wit with his British accent; watching an episode of "House" and taken aback by how ridiculous it is (people buy this stuff?); Too tired, gave into sleep...

Wonders of Skype:
Skyped China at 10:45 am to catch countdown in Beijing. Hmmz, hmmz, hmmz...blah, blah... Incomprehensible screaming that made me feel warm once again. Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm missing out. Skyped other friends and gave New Years wishes.

Lobster!
Dinner with mom and her friends. Things seem to be a lot better for her, and for this I'm comforted and thankful. Ice wine tastes so good! Somehow the conversation led to me explaining parts of Christianity to older people. I'm surprised at how much bolder about my faith I have become over the past year.

Most productive New Year's Eve ever! sad it had to come to this...
After waking up from an accidental nap at 10pm, I realized that saying "haha, you are funny" to my professor in lieu of sending him my powerpoint was not going to cut it anymore. I promised I would finish the presentation before the New Year, and for someone planning to go to compsci grad school, SODA should be a big deal. So I took a "focus-now" shower and began envisioning the best ways to present our "restless bandits" paper. After hours of diagram drawing, bullet making, math typesetting, I emerged from "the zone" at 6:30am with a respectable 30-slide powerpoint. When I finally went to bed, I felt volcanoes building up pressure; I was tired but still kind of excited, enjoying the security and pride that I finally had it done.

Lunch with Dad and his new wife
I want to build a closer relationship with my Dad but it's hard, especially with this annoying woman who keeps putting things in my dish that I don't want. I only wish to eat my Jan Pong and sweetened potato in peace!
Who do you think you are? I don't want this hospitality; I already have a home and I don't need any other.

Yes Man: Such a good movie! Jim Carey is simply awesome. After watching cheesy Chinese epics for half a year this felt like omelet and orange juice after a long night! This is even funnier than pineapple express, and it had a message that I needed to hear: stop fearing being tied down; say YES to opportunities and trust in serendipity. Don't wallow in boring, dark reflections, laughter makes people alive!

Mac Reunion: So it's not just me because I went to the States but others have drifted apart as well. After all, people change and paths diverge, but it's nice to pick up after a year and laugh about random stuff.

Lol! Starring at blue dream lights, skipping your exam to have dimsum, over-heating the room so ginger ale ferments better... You crack me up. This is good enough to be in a comedy movie.

Mixed fruit tea with apple, passion fruit, pear, and baby orange. Yum! This embodies the best of what I miss about Toronto.

ROM and AGO:
Haven't seen paintings for a while... remembered how much I like impressionistic art. The shimmering light captured on paper, the bright colors, so pretty!

你跟我讲的那些故事真叩人心扉，让我颤抖。世界好不公平，我不知如何能有所帮助...不知如何去关心...你的反话实在太刺心！“啊，没事，痛能忍，只不过有时会痛昏...”“虽然痛得不能写字，不能动手，只能一天躺在床上，但没什么大不了的，我一个人撑撑就可以了...”你好顽强，我心里充满钦佩！

God job Tianle, so brave, so macho. You are the man!


Math reunion:
I tried to be nice, but this was unreasonable: "Don't touch this piece, I put it in", "don't turn this, it's mine, I just turned it"... What's wrong with you? I thought barbecue etiquette was different...
What happened? We used to be good friends! I remember biking in the snow with you, being on the wrong end of your 85 mph baseball throws, and doing all those contests together... I'm sorry for being so careless in what I said before and possibly appearing arrogant. I didn't mean that you should go home, it was a figure of speech! Sorry if I had offended you but that was so long ago!

JITZZ!!!


Why do I always have to start packing so late? Completely unnecessary stress. So short-sighted...

Note: Sorry the writing changed from reasonably cogent sentences to point form. It's hard to write in complete sentences!