Currently (Week the Third)

Books I'm reading:

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly


This week: 138 pages
Last week: 534 pages
This semester: 1078 pages


Sentences of the week:


1. "For some reason, the Chinese are not very fond of eggs. 'Stupid egg,' 'bad egg,' and worst of all, 'turtle's egg' are common insults." -American Shaolin

2. "Life is a one-shot deal." -Same book

3. "What struck me the most was not the devotion of the monks, which was evident, but rather an overwhelming feeling of alienation. Standing in that room, I felt as alone as I'd ever felt, a stranger in a strange land. Suddenly, I realized how desperately far away from home I was. It took my breath away, and I had to fight an instinct to flee the room." -Same book



I've definitely heard of stupid egg and bad egg as insults as stated in the first quote, but never have I heard of turtle's egg. And believe me, I have heard all of these insults while I attended first grade in China: someone who didn't do well on a test would be labeled a stupid egg while we would label unsavory characters in cartoons bad eggs. I can definitely relate to this quote.

As for the second quote, life is definitely a one-shot deal. That's why I don't get the people who contemplate suicide or murder. Why would someone extinguish his own or someone else's life when that life is all each person has? This world lives in the moment, but does not pause to consider the gravity of its decisions.

Third quote: I definitely felt this way for a while after I immigrated to America. All my friends and family members were back in China, and although there were Chinese people in my grade school back then, I couldn't relate to them because they were more Americanized than me. Eventually, I grew to accomodate American life, but I've never forgotten that feeling of loneliness.