Time

Someone once said to me "There are twenty-four hours in a day, but it takes thirty hours to complete my daily tasks." I've never forgotten this saying, but it remained in the back of my head for a while. Until now.

Now, hours upon hours of academic work is being piled upon me like an excavator piles dirt upon the ground. On top of academic work, I have track practice and I need to either maintain or build my body shape, which also takes time. On top of that, I need to visit my grandmother once every week to check up on her and take her out for lunch. A man also needs time for some rest and relaxation. I simply don't have the time to do all of that. I even started to feel slightly overwhelmed.

So today, I had track practice, and I decided to tell my coach, who I hold in high regard, about my little dilemma. He made an analogy, now it might sound strange but I'm doing my best at translation here, asking me if I should eat meat or vegetables. I responded saying that both are important and I should eat both. Then he linked that to my problem. He said that my time is mine, I can choose what I want to do with it.

I think I will always remember this.

Globalization

I've been wondering lately, what would the world be like without globalization? Well, I'd imagine I wouldn't have as much freedom or choice in what I use or eat. Although some people are completely content with just having what their nation provides for them, I do agree that it is nice that we can have a good variety of things, wherever we are.

Of course, the United States has always been a melting pot of peoples and cultures, and with that comes cuisine. But not everyone is lucky enough to live in the United States. Thanks to globalization, though, people all around the world can enjoy items from places halfway across the world. When I have my breakfast, eating a breakfast burger with hash browns and drinking my coffee, I think to myself: globalization is great.

An Unexpected Sight

This is my first blog post for the AP English class. Kinda late 'cause I didn't know I would be taking this class... heheh....

My schedule is completely messed up. I didn't sleep last night. I think its because I drank too much tea. I laid in my bed from 3 to 5. I got up at dawn and I walked into my study where my computer was. Through a reflection in the window, I saw something I had never seen before. It's probably because I had never noticed it or because it's covered in smog during the other hours of the day, but it was a new sight to me. It was a mountain range, just looking over the city of Hsinchu. It was quiet, and there were birds chirping, and I thought to myself that even though I hated it here sometimes, there was beauty to be found that was unparalleled with anything I've ever seen.

Being a New Englander, I thought that not even the White Mountains of New Hampshire, or the vast autumn foliage of Vermont could quite compare to the unique mountains of Polynesia. I stood in front of the window, just staring at the sight. The early morning environment, no cars, and the faint singing of birds was reminiscent of my days back in rural Massachusetts. In a way, I missed my home a lot, but I also knew that behind the wanton disregard for traffic rules, the grotesque pollution, and the dirty-mouthed Asian teenagers that so define this island in my mind, there was serenity. I knew that this was the way the world was supposed to be.