I usually hang out with friends and stay with them most of the time; I even believe that kind of friendship that plays in TV series. I mean I still believe I and my friends will still have that kind of friendship, but I understood that friends are important but families are even more.
In Chinese culture, a peaceful family will prosper, and my dad is one of those tradition-follower, by that I mean he thinks more towards Taoism. Some words like family or relative are almost equal in most of Chinese opinion. So, sometimes when we host some parties in my houses, my dad always invites a lot of relatives to our house, if it is just some weekends’ parties I would say that is fine. And to invite a lot of relatives to celebrate the Chinese New Year’s Day or mid-autumn festival is still okay for me. Anyway, those are all very traditional festivals, every family would celebrate them. Unlike any holiday that every relative comes over, there is one special day-my birthday, that I would really be enjoyed if I spend time with my friends but not those relatives, that some of those relatives I do not even know their names or how to call them. To me it is very awkward that on my birthday party I do not know most of the guests there. But my dad thought otherwise, he decided to invite everyone, so I got mad at my dad, I told him I would spend time with my friends rather than those relatives. And I used the bitterest words at that time, I said "they are yours, but not my relatives; they are not familiar to me." My dad immediately instructed me that they are my relatives, and it is the truth will never be changed. At that moment, I thought my dad was the worst dad in the world, he does not know what I want.
As time goes by, I think I get more and more mature. Especially once I had a great opportunity to go abroad to be an exchange student, during that year I have grown a lot. I was in a town called San Luis Obispo in California. I had not friends around me, which means I had to make new friends with people from different cultures. It is pretty hard to adapt to a new environment especially when people think differently. In the very first months when I and my dad made our weekly phone call he always asked me if I had some new friends or if the life was going pretty good over there? I always answered him in a very flat voice that everything is just as before, not very good but not bad. The times he called me is much more than I called him. In my opinion, if there is not much big deal happen to me then I do not need to call my parents. Thus, my friends say that I am a very independent person, but I think it is just not necessary to call my parents every day, and this does not mean we do not have a close relationship.
It was almost two years ago that a massive earthquake happened in China. When I heard the news from the News Report, it actually confused me the first time. It showed the map of China, and it pointed out Sichuan and Beijing both, two places that make no connection to me. And later it showed some building collapsed, children were buried underneath. I thought maybe some campus attacks happened. When I got to school, my friends saw me with no sadness on my face; they thought it was surprising that I did not look sad. I went to the office, and the front desk lady asked me if I know the earthquake has just happened in China, and I suddenly realized what had showed on the news was the earthquake. But I still did not know where the earthquake has taken place. It was one of the teachers who has helped me a lot in the school asked me if I need to call my family in China, since she just learned that my home is very close to the epicenter. At that moment, I suddenly felt I was so selfish, my teacher asked me to make the phone call is because she concerned with me just like she cares about all the other international students. But I am her nobody, I am my dad’s daughter, I did not realize I need to call him at the first time, but after other’s reminding.
I actually made that call in the teacher’s classroom, she shared the classroom with another teacher, and the class was just about to started. Those students in that classroom saw me got in the classroom with panic look, and the other teacher asked “so, she actually lives nearby that place.” And then, I heard people were guessing what happened, I guess they have already heard about the earthquake happened in China and heard about there was some connection between me and it. It took a long time to reach my house line, and it rang a long time but nobody answered it, so I tried the other line in my house, still no one picked it up. A bad premonition came into my mind instantly, but I still tried to call my dad’s cell phone. Every second I waited on line was like ten minutes long, finally, my dad answered my call, he told me because of the earthquake all the signals’ station had been collapsed, and they are been repairing. When I heard they are fine, I felt release right away. After I hung up the phone, all the other people asked me if my families are fine, after I said“yes, they are fine.” They cheered for me, all in a sudden I was about to cry. I have never imagined when the time that I may lose my families came to me, or I have imagined that, but I thought my reaction would not be that strong. After that, I understood that my families are all my most precious, without them I am just nobody and I have always depended on my parents. Maybe I am an independent person, but I still love my parents.
Later on, after my exchange program finished, I went back home for one year. High school study in China was known to be very tough; after I got back I just cannot follow the normal pace of a regular high school student. And I just get used to the life in America, such as hang out with friends after 3:00 pm, and do not want to have classes 7 in the morning till 10 in the evening. I just felt the gap between my friends and me gets wider and wider, what they were talking I cannot follow, and what I think of one thing is so much different with them. They kind of excluded me from their clique, I just saw an invisible wall between my friends and built higher and higher, and I was so upset that I felt a sense of being betrayed. I stopped hanging out with my friends, and I stayed home mostly while I am free. It is nice just with families, I would have some little complaints about life or other things to my parents, and they could always give me suggestions to avoid those problems. But outside home, nobody would like to have my complaints. When I got nobody to talk to, my families will always be the people that I can talk to and want talk to me. I am in the U.S. to have my college education now, sometimes I still complain about the food here or hard courses through the phone, my parents always comfort me and tell me to have a nice mind to deal every problem I face.
I understood that home is the safest place to hide, and it will always be there for me. It does not matter about meeting with setbacks in life, we are still young, and those setbacks will just be a class being taught in life, we definite need those, and they are not big deal. But, what truly sad is lack of care from families.
其实故事里说我的朋友离弃了我，其实他们没有，因为我本来就是念的那种国际部，大家go through的都差不多，相反，再也不可能有谁那么能理解我了。
但是，家人绝对是永远都不会离开我们的人。
第
一次知道菲拉格慕的时候是99年爸爸第一次去美国给老妈和小姨带回来两双他家超级basic的鞋子，然后后来重庆有了美美百货，每次经过Salvatore Ferragamo的橱窗的时候老爸总是忘不了说两句他们家的鞋子超级好。虽然这个牌子对于我来说是从小就耳目渲染的，但是其实我喜欢上这个牌子应该还是这两年，应该是上次去香港的时候，在杂志上已经看过千百万次Incanto Shine的海报，然后第一次闻这个香水的时候，瞬间爱上了Incanto的所有系列。
这款香水才出没多久，我是昨天在他家的官网上闲逛的时候发现他的海报的，但到他的第一眼我就被knocked out了。天啊，怎么感觉那么相见恨晚啊，我刚巧在这款香水出来时买了他家的Charm，而且发誓i’m done with perfume shopping。但是现在仿佛睡觉都会梦到他。我就是属于那种喜欢一样东西就会发疯的人，不买到他一定睡不着觉。Bloom的海报犹如一只优雅的芭蕾舞鞋出现在幽蓝和一望无际的草原的场景，总之我看到的是一个很girly的image。
