Reflection

Last week I discovered the song "Good Life" by OneRepublic, and I've been playing it on repeat for the past four days because I think it's great.



The first time I heard the second verse, I was shocked at how well it described me.

I mean, people probably say that about a lot of songs that deal with love and friends and hardship and other lame things like that. But this verse literally has specific details about my life. Namely:

"To my friends in New York, I say hello.
My friends in LA, they don't know
where I've been for the past few years or so,
from Paris to China to Colorado."

Anyway, besides this coincidence, I also love this song because of its optimistic and appreciative tone. The other day I was riding in a cab back from Beihai Park while looking out my window and just taking in the sights of Beijing. The buildings weren't particularly beautiful nor the weather particularly nice, but at that moment I was overwhelmed with excitement at being in such a different world. Every few days it dawns on me anew that I'm actually in China right now and that, while a few weeks ago I was only able to say few things in Chinese, I am now able to have full conversations with my teachers and friends in the language. It's surreal. And I'm not even done with my first of six month.

Really, I am so thankful to the Light Fellowship for sponsoring my stay in Beijing.

In three days I will have been on this Earth for a total of 20 years. I can't believe how fast time flies. I still remember my dad bringing me to the park to learn how to ride a bike, and how he and my mom would urge me to yell a warning to the pedestrians in front of me when I was unable to stop. But I thought it was embarrassing to yell and chose to just just run my bike into the people on the sidewalk. When I was young I also believed that if you got cut with a piece of glass you died. And now I've already finished two years of college.

I feel old. But old 是 old, I am the luckiest guy in the world.