Journal 8: Optimism vs Pessimism

"Is the glass half empty or half full?". I'm sure most of us are familiar with this famous expression. To be honest, I myself never paid attention to how our observation of such common thing can relate to our personality, not until I read its explanation. Once in a while, when I had a choice to see a "not so full" glass of water, I automatically thought someone must have taken a sip. Does that mean I'm a fan of pessimism? The answer maybe yes. Before studying abroad, I had a very "peaceful and happy" life, when I was supported to the fullest by my parents and good friends. I was too naive to realize life could be that hard. I was so optimistic that I thought things could be worked out easily, until I came to America. It's like I started a new life, learned everything again - even the basic commonsense - and knew the true meaning of "life pressure". It's not something related to my parents' expectations. It's a whole combination of the perspective my relatives have on me, the feeling of being compared with other successful cousins, and a completely different lifestyle with lots of rules and restrictions. I was so stressed out that I always thought I was a loser, empty-handed, and poor-educated. I believe this mess reflects how pessimistic I was. Until I moved out. I started to do everything on my own - things that were always organized by my parents. I learned how to face difficulties without complaints and to ignore what other people talk about me. I also realize that the hard life in America will never be for those who only whine and cry out loud every time they deal with struggles. Now I believe how a clear and optimistic mind can change my life, like Winston Churchill once said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." A miracle never happens itself. It's you who has the power to make use of every opportunity life offers and thus, make yours better.

I read Wendy and Candy's posts.

My best friend

"Birds of a feather flocks together", in Vietnamese we have the same saying: "A pot and its lid fit together". Honestly speaking, sometimes, I dont really believe in sayings, for what I learn in real life is different from what the moral lesson the sayings teach us. An example is the friendship between my best friend and I, for we're totally different in every aspects.

I've known her in university, the weird thing is that we were in the same college preparation course but not very close, until we were in the same university, same faculty, same major and same class. 4 years is not a long time, and even after 4 years, sometimes I still didn't get what she thought. However, she's by far the best friend I got. What surprises me is that even though we don't share the same interests and personalities, we're still very very very good friends. She's like a totally contrast version of me. She's outgoing, loud, like to talk to strangers while I'm quiet, rather shy, and keep my mouth shut when I meet strangers. She goes crazy about sour food while I must have at least 10 sweet teeth. She doesn't dare to watch horror movies while I have no hesitation to watch them - well, sometimes I covered my eyes. Even our favorite boyfriend type is different. But then she and I have been best friends for more than 4 years, although now we live far away from each other. People say a good friend is someone who is beside you when you're at the worst time of your life. I think this is true, from what my best friend did for me.

Music for my life: No Promises

Now I'm writing about my all time favorite song, which is always included in my playlists. No Promises by Shayne Ward would definitely be a song for those dedicated to ballads. There are several reasons why I love this song. The first thing is that because of the melody. When I first listen to a song, I pay attention to its melody instead of lyrics. The lyrics of this song is simple (enough for me to remember), and somehow cheesy. What I love is its sweet melody combined with the vocal of Shayne Ward - my favorite artist (not only his vocal, but also his look haha). I first heard this song like 3 years ago, when it was very popular in VN and UK. At that time, I was wondering why these people could be crazy about such a cheesy song. But then when I listened to it, i was taken aback. It was awesome, and from that time, I kept repeating the song in my mp3 player for almost 3 months.

Every time when I'm moody or need something to calm me down, I listen to this song. Every time when I'm so stressed out, I listen to this song. People say music can heal your soul. For me, I don't really need music that is so classic or high class. I just need what can tranquilize my senses, and this song can do that job well.

I also had the chance to know some great songs recommended in Stella and Lien's posts.

Hey! What's up, piglet?

Have you ever wanted to ask a question to your cute little pet and expected an answer from them? I'm sure at least 50% of us once wished that we could talk to animals, or animals could have human languages (English, French, Chinese, Japanese, whatever) as their mother tongue, instead of Cluck cluck, Meow meow, quack quack. For me, when I watched Winnie the pooh, I once wished that I had that cute little pinky Piglet who could talk, dance, play games, and even do housework O_O (very convenient).

Come to think of it, what would happen if animals can talk? That would be a huge deal (not just big deal). Animals that talk will have the right to speak. And due to the way we treat animals, at least 99% of world population will be sued by animals for unfair and ill-treated crime. Now that we mention animals, "animal" is not just the friendly (or fierce) dog or cat we have as pet. Animals are also cattle, poultry, wildlife, etc. Everyday, we have meat, dairy products as part of our diet. What would happen if one day, the representative of human beings have to attend the court and fight against a chicken lawyer??? I think my imagination has come too far.

If animal could talk, that would be fun. I'm sure I'll love talking to my little fish, or let the cockroaches understand what I curse them. Imagine you come home after a long long day studying. You feel so tired and lonely and need someone to talk to. Here comes your loyal dog who let you pet him while at the same time be your listener. That would be great for seniors or single who live alone.

Well, if I have a cute little piglet who can answer my silly questions, I'll check this list:
- Are you an early bird or night owl?
- If you love another piggy, what would u say to her?
- What do you do for fun, besides eating and eating?

Awesome classmates whose posts I read: Sherry and Vivi

What's the weather like today?

Have you ever asked that question? I guess 90% of you said that at least 1 time in your life. As for me, it's the most basic thing that I learned from my very first English for children class. Come to think of it, it's been like 14 years since I knew how to ask what the weather is in English. Talking about English, at least 70% people using this language as their mother tongue live in temperate climate zone. So what? That means they have more chance to ask "What's the weather like today?" and it's just common if you see someone stranger asking them that question. However, it's a whole different situation if you live in Vietnam, where there is only 2 seasons: dry and rainy season. Now you may wanna ask, so what to do with it? Here comes the answer. In Ho Chi Minh city in the South of Vietnam, there are basically no stuff like snow, icy rain, red leaves, etc. Here we have 3 months full of rains and the rest 9 months full of sunlight. "That's good, why do you have to complain? You don't have to waste money on winter clothes like sweaters, scarves, gloves." Does that idea pop out in your mind ? The answer is no. Together with sunlight is high humidity, which means you can sweat a lot if you go outside for just 15 minutes. Human beings are complicated specie. They complain if there is scarce sunlight, they also mumble if there is too much sunlight. In this case, I mean, in my hometown, people grudge because of the latter. Due to the climate, the average temperature is always around 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and in combination with high humidity, going out at noon in a sunny day is the most annoying thing people want to do. Here sunlight is the most fearsome enemy of women, so don't be surprised if you visit Ho Chi Minh city and realize that you just come to a town of ninjas, where 99% of people going around with mask.

Now here comes the rain. During 3 months of raining, we have all kinds of stuff that can satisfy the most fastidious rainists. We have drizzles to wet the streets, we have showers for girls to show off their colorful umbrellas or raincoats. We also have a little lightning, or thunder during heavy rains. We even have thing called sudden rain, which can be described like: the clear sky turns immediately into cloudy state, and here comes water from the sky, and just after 5 minutes, we can see clear blue sky again. That's what we expect in rainy season in HCM city, my hometown.

Now that you have some ideas of how the weather is like in my hometown, it's my turn to ask you "What's the weather like today?"

Fear: Say hello to mister Cockroach, Ewww !!!

Everybody knows cockroaches. Everybody hates them (except some cockroach-ologists). That little black creature with stinking smell is what I fear the most, 100 times more than seeing a giant dinosaur right in front of my very eyes. With its small head, large eyes, black thin wings, and legs full of prickles, cockroaches are definitely the ugliest and most disturbing insects in the world (I also hate insects). Its smell is terrible and I don't have any objections to say that it's the most useless creature. Wherever dirty, there comes cockroaches. Since its habitat is culverts, it comes together with all kinds of bacterias and germs. Cockroaches can also fly, so beware that one day, on the pursuit of food and happiness, that little creature can fly and land on your head.

I've hated cockroaches since I was a kid. My first impression with the lovely black insect is when I was in elementary school. Some of my classmates played a trick, which was about killing a cockroach, glued its body on a paper and put that stuff inside the drawer of my desk. As usual, before school day ended, I checked it and you can guess what the outcome was. Since that day, I have grown a deep hatred towards cockroaches. Day by day, that hatred turned into fear and for now, I don't even dare to see a picture of cockroach.

People say you have to face with your fear, and soon you will overcome it. As for me, seeing a cockroach in front of me is already bad enough. The one and only solution for me is : RUN FOR MY LIFE !!!