I love the Chinese culture, especially the language. I think the Chinese language is the most beautiful, complex, powerful language that ever exists. One Chinese character projects to you a story, two characters a movie, four characters contain the whole universe. I'm so much in love with this language that I feel thankful I was born a Chinese.
Very rarely do I feel frustrated being a Chinese – when I apply for visas.
Switzerland is a small country located in the heart of the Europe. Basel is a city right at the border of Switzerland, Germany, and France. More than half of the Basel population do their regular grocery shopping in Germany or France, because the price is less than half and they get the tax return. The border of France and Switzerland cuts right through my company campus, so half of the campus is located in France and there's a custom in the campus. If I forget to get off a train or tram that I'm riding on, I end up in Germany or France.
However I need to be careful not to override because I don't have a Schengen visa to go to these Schengen countries.
Half of my friends live and work in Germany or France and come to Basel every day for socializing. The other half go to Germany or France daily to socialize. I'm probably the first person they've met in their lives with such a "special situation". The YAG bible study group in my church used to meet occasionally in Germany but now we meet in my apartment instead. My friends have to change their life style to accommodate their dear new friend Mindy, by organizing all the activities to take place in Switzerland only.
In return they get all the entertainment from the discussion about the ways to smuggle me cross the border. My friends are very creative and adventurous and they've come up with thousands of ideas, some of which are indeed quite feasible I have to say. They've taught me all the access points along the border where there's no custom, I should be able to cross freely in theory. They've also suggested me to go jogging in the forest and accidentally "get lost" in the German side. I could also just walk through the French custom after \n8pm, because "French don't work after 8pm". I could cross the custom on a bike with helmet and sunglasses on, etc. Usually 80% of the topics are centered around smuggling. They also sometimes threaten me by saying they'll have a party in Germany.
Since I'll have an interview in Frankfurt I went to apply for a Schengen visa. The interview takes place July 26-27. The visa officer at the German Consulate looked at my brand-new passport and said: "ok, I'm going to be very generous to you. You will have a Schengen visa July 25-28. " I wonder what he would have been like if he had wanted to be nasty. Nevertheless my visa fee for 4 days is the same as those of 6 months.
There is a unique point which is the border of 3 countries: Switzerland, Germany and France. There is a restaurant built upon that point. My friends suggest me to go there and I'm really tempted to circle that point many times so that I cross the borders many times – just to make my visa fee worthy of the money…
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The Order of the Phoenix
In Swiss cinemas, movies are paused in the middle so that people can take a break.. (but I don't need a break!) The stopping point is chosen exactly at the middle of the movie so most of the time the line got cut just as the characters were speaking... nevertheless I enjoyed my first movie experience in Switzerland, with my favorite Harry Potter now the 5th story.
They have terribly grown up a lot.. now Harry had a girlfriend not sure whether the story will continue into Harry's getting married (can't imagine!). Fortunately seems that the author has decided to end the whole Potter story.
I like this one the most because Harry has grown more mature and he was facing more challenges. When he was a kid his only danger was his enemies who were much stronger and powerful than he was, while now he sometimes has to struggle with himself. Welcome to the adults' world Harry! Human hearts are not just as simple. Realizing the angry dark side in his heart Harry said to Sirius "I'm afraid I'm a bad person", and I like Sirius' answer "we all have good and bad sides in our hearts it is which side you choose to act on". This reminds me of how we live our lives as Christians. We were all born with sins that never go away from us until the day we die. Even the most faithful Christian sometimes has the desire to sin, if not everyday. The desire to sin does not make us sinners, as long as we fight with it and choose not to act on the desire. However, if this world did not have a God that is righteous and almighty, like in the movie if Voldemort the dark Lord was the highest and most powerful being, how desperate would it be then -- in fact I think if that was the case, there would have been no need to fight with our sinful desires.. why not just go with them and we would have all gone to hell in the end anyway.
If there was no such God, Harry wouldn't have won the battle with Voldemort in the end. Seems that love and joy had defeated Voldemort. But love or joy are emotions that can be controlled by human beings -- "we want to defeat the dark lord? we just need to love each other. " It doesn't sound too hard to accomplish, at least it is not entirely impossible, even without any extraterritorial help. We, as human beings the created thing, still believe in our own abilities so much that we think somehow our intrinsic potential, if being stimulated to the highest extent, could defeat anything. This is the so-called "self-righteousness".
It is just a movie and still, I love the scene when Harry was possessed by Voldemort and finally Harry won by going through all the lovely memories in his mind. He said to Voldemort "I have friends and love and I feel sorry for you". I've never thought this way before. If the dark lord is indeed someone completely deprived of love, joy, all the beautiful, pure, good, just things that ever exist, I really do feel sorry for him. What is the use of his power? Even powerless human sinners like us sometimes do feel all the beautiful things and think our life is worth living.
I praise our God for being the righteous, loving, sovereign God that is above all power, higher than all kings and eternal in time. It is within Him that we have all our hopes.
They have terribly grown up a lot.. now Harry had a girlfriend not sure whether the story will continue into Harry's getting married (can't imagine!). Fortunately seems that the author has decided to end the whole Potter story.
I like this one the most because Harry has grown more mature and he was facing more challenges. When he was a kid his only danger was his enemies who were much stronger and powerful than he was, while now he sometimes has to struggle with himself. Welcome to the adults' world Harry! Human hearts are not just as simple. Realizing the angry dark side in his heart Harry said to Sirius "I'm afraid I'm a bad person", and I like Sirius' answer "we all have good and bad sides in our hearts it is which side you choose to act on". This reminds me of how we live our lives as Christians. We were all born with sins that never go away from us until the day we die. Even the most faithful Christian sometimes has the desire to sin, if not everyday. The desire to sin does not make us sinners, as long as we fight with it and choose not to act on the desire. However, if this world did not have a God that is righteous and almighty, like in the movie if Voldemort the dark Lord was the highest and most powerful being, how desperate would it be then -- in fact I think if that was the case, there would have been no need to fight with our sinful desires.. why not just go with them and we would have all gone to hell in the end anyway.
If there was no such God, Harry wouldn't have won the battle with Voldemort in the end. Seems that love and joy had defeated Voldemort. But love or joy are emotions that can be controlled by human beings -- "we want to defeat the dark lord? we just need to love each other. " It doesn't sound too hard to accomplish, at least it is not entirely impossible, even without any extraterritorial help. We, as human beings the created thing, still believe in our own abilities so much that we think somehow our intrinsic potential, if being stimulated to the highest extent, could defeat anything. This is the so-called "self-righteousness".
It is just a movie and still, I love the scene when Harry was possessed by Voldemort and finally Harry won by going through all the lovely memories in his mind. He said to Voldemort "I have friends and love and I feel sorry for you". I've never thought this way before. If the dark lord is indeed someone completely deprived of love, joy, all the beautiful, pure, good, just things that ever exist, I really do feel sorry for him. What is the use of his power? Even powerless human sinners like us sometimes do feel all the beautiful things and think our life is worth living.
I praise our God for being the righteous, loving, sovereign God that is above all power, higher than all kings and eternal in time. It is within Him that we have all our hopes.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Finding the place where you should be
Paul Potts
"My dream is to do what I feel I was born to do."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA
A little lump of coal is turning into a diamond
A frog is turning into a prince
semi final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDB9zwlXrB8
final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkVnyfdGYQ
Connie Talbot
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true
Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MndLRdPsuJE&eurl
"My dream is to do what I feel I was born to do."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA
A little lump of coal is turning into a diamond
A frog is turning into a prince
semi final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDB9zwlXrB8
final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkVnyfdGYQ
Connie Talbot
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true
Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MndLRdPsuJE&eurl
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