Tag: Chinese language

Out of the box

We are urged to “think out of the box“, be creative etc..

Easier said than done. Having a liberal arts background, and traveled the world, I find it easier just get out of the box, then think from there.

Every place has its own charms and setbacks. Every place gets good and bad people.

Don’t assume, from the propaganda, that your place is best, and theirs worst.

Maturity comes only after you have examined and experienced places and people for yourself.

Ivory-tower and Ivy League people often organize “insulated” academic travel tours to stimulate cross-cultural thinking (most of the time, it’s West-East, and not East-West, although more Chinese can now afford world travel).

Out of these excursions, maybe emerge one diplomat or global business person.

Most came back, feeling good about one’s self that he/she is living in a well-off society, where Wal-Mart rules.

Then at work, they urge us to think out of the box once again. You can’t legislate morality, nor can you squeeze creativity out of workers.

After all, isn’t it written in company’s policies that when X happens, Y is the answer!

Without pressures, we tend to lean back into the path of least resistance.

Peak performance, heroism, and valor come in the middle of heavy fire.

One’s life and achievement are highlighted in those critical moments of choice.

This way or that way. One positive strain then another. Keep paying forward.

Keep finding that road less travel. Approach it from another angle. From other’s point of view. What you see depends on where you stand Hence, to think out of the box, sometimes, but not necessary requires one to be out of the box altogether.

I am out of the box, geographically. I hope I can see things in new light, before I too get settled into daily routine, which eventually blind-sight me. My itching and aching heart by then, will hear the call of the wild. That’s what short-trips are for.

To regain perspective, to see old things in new light. To feel refreshed. To love one’s place all over again. It’s not the place. It’s the people living in it, and how they make the most of its context. Can’t think out of the box when you have lived in it for so long.

Point A To B

We make that trip all our lives. To and Fro. Back and Forth. Arriving and Leaving.

The Goodbye Girl. The Run-Away Bride.

The Mid-night Cowboy. All feels restless Gotta be somebody, going places. This time, point B happens to be Mars itself.

Young people can muster up the courage to go to far-away wars, but dare not venture to South Side.

When B is too close to home (the last few inches are the toughest distance to cross), it’s psychological, not geographical distance e.g.when B is your estranged relatives, your difficult siblings or your X’s.

Somehow, it’s a long trip home if we are not in good terms.

It just is.

Many of us just stay put at point A whose Point B is the general store, or the post office.  For some shut-ins, B and A are the same.

Creative folks refuse to accept that the straight line between A and  B is the shortest. They want style, twist and shout, over and back, or spiral in coils before landing (thus milking the trip out).

We thank them for thinking out of the box. This country needs creative folks: architects, designers and coders.

They don’t sleep much at night. In fact, that’s when they are hard at work.

Bringing us better looking buildings and greener use of space. In-style clothes, shoes, glasses and hats.

Slicker version of WordPress, more integrated communication and command of thoughts and ideas.

The world is a better place thanks to them.

The ROW (rest of world) envies them, imitates them and copies them.

You know you hit the spot when the Chinese start churning out look-alikes.

Let them.

Go on to the next spark, follow the next urge.

Turn things inside out (Madona and Jane Fonda during the 80’s wore underwear outside).

Spell GaGa backward.

AgAg!

(she is going to kill me).

From A to B, a straight line is not necessary the shortest.  Who is to say.

Meanwhile, right after reading this, you will go from point A to point B again. Take the scenic route. Enjoy the city on the Hill. The long view. Take a leisurely Sunday Drive. Order a chili dog. Indulge. Pampering. Eat, drink and be merry. We need it. It’s been too much of point A to point B. Rest up. Until you feel restless again, Papillon.

Lingering

When honey moon is over, people are faced with bills, kids crawl and cry, temptation to compare with alternate spousal choices.

My Dad went through that struggle. I have gone through the same.

Lingering legacy.

Unintended consequences.

The result: my half-sister and me.

What to do and what to say.

Same chromosome, but with a slightly different cut of the same cloth.

I don’t hate her.

Just don’t know what to make of Dad’s lingering legacy.

Staring at me in the face.

Reminding me of my own helplessness.

Of hours spent in agony and even envy (she got more attention, a fact that did not escape my mom’s scrutiny).

Now, both of my parents have passed away.

But me and my half-sister are still here, sitting next to each other at a relative’s wedding.

What to do with each other, and what to say?

Where do you work now? while spinning the Lazy Susan.

The gay singer kept changing his tune and his voice (female then male alternate).

I turned around a few times just to find out it was still the same singer of many voices.

Cost-cutting measures.

Vietnam is better off now. The evidence shows in the proliferation of wedding reception halls to meet a young demographic demand.

No more lingering effect of the war here.

Just married.

Just do it.

No legacy, no lingering. No regret.

I was a bit under-dressed for the occasion. Given the long limo outside and the horse carriage.

Oh well, who would have guessed it’s time to wear a tux here in Vietnam.

But then, who would have thought I could be back here to begin with. Back then, the Chinese in Cho Lon cornered the wedding catering market: just Dong Khanh and A Dong. Go to the left or to the right but same kitchen. Now, it’s live video coverage, cut to live entrance.

Here comes the bride.

All radiant and ready. If only the couple doesn’t shop around any more. If only they leave not a lingering legacy like my Dad’s.