【65】A love affair in Seven words@Absent and Present October-November

From the second half of October to the first half of November, I was away. I went back to China, where you could say is my motherland, and stayed there for a hustle-bustle month. Got some work done, met lots of people for business as well as for friends and family reunion, and yes not surprisingly felt ill, just like many westerns would do when they are there, for a long while due to the air pollution in most of the cities on my agenda. 

While adjusting myself to the familiar-turned strange-turned familiar country, I was in awe how much China has advanced in the past several years, especially in those big cities. You could see skyscrapers everywhere in both CBD and residential area, housing developments often extend miles and miles to no end in your eyesight, Starbucks and luxury brands are fixtures in those high-end shopping malls, where customers seem of no shortage....On the other hand, I also saw the side of China I had known for a long long time, where small mobile business stances selling food or other goods are crowed in market places, those business owners stand in the cold and wind all day waiting for customers while always keeping an eye on the City authorities who often confiscate or destroy stances for the sake of public image of the markets, and those residences hurry in and out of those closely built high-rise buildings for their separate days and lives and never give too much attention to those around them. All of these amaze me, comfort me, but also puzzle me and make me wonder why in the world people's lives can be so different. More alarmingly is that those differences are open and visible for everybody to see and the "high" and "low", the"big" and "small", and the"grand" and "humble" are often not that far from each other either. This might have contributed to a lot of resentment Chinese felt in a lot of ways towards one another in a superficial monetary aspect.

The one thing that seems never changed was my hometown where my parents, relatives, teachers, friends live. It is still a warm, clean, humble, and yet upbeat county, township, village where the mundane world seem to be able to disappear in front of those familiar faces in an instant. I love that feeling, just like when I am in Pittsburgh, my adopted hometown, I feel a clear presence of the power of Love and the power of Dream. So long you are surrounded by people who you love and love you back as well as who you respect and respect you back for what you do, by a sense of purpose to make some memories, and by a genuine belief that whatever you do matters, you are brave enough to live each and everyday full. It is that fullness makes us present, and being present in life is a blessing.

So while I was away from Pittsburgh, and present in the places where I come from, I was inspired by an English Hint Fiction contest, in which contestants can only use seven English words to tell a story. It is so powerful to see how far and deep a few words can reach an audience. I dare to challenge myself and use this style to record and share my love affair with Pittsburgh and my hometown.

The day I left, I lost, home.  (Pittsburgh, and my family here just give me a strong sense of belongings)

I see you, in my parents' winkles. (Wherever my parents are is my hometown, although I am not there most time of a year, I see it and miss it still)

Higher, Further, Stronger, You are still behind. (When a country's development is simply driven by GDP, there are still so many things behind, like equality, happiness, and quality of life for all)

Back, back into torment, by two childhoods. (For a traveler, we will never settle in one home without experiencing torments inside. We miss our parents who gave birth to us and always treat us with unconditional love, for we are their children. But we also can not miss the opportunity to have a life of our own, to give birth to our own children, their grandchildren, to pass on the beautiful love we had received.)