Warmth and Peace

When do you feel warmth and peace? When I see my grandma doing some sewing, I feel warmth. When I see my mother doing some reading, I feel peace.

Durian

Durian is a delicious tropical fruit with a distinct smell. Last month, I had a trip to Singapore. On my way back, I bought some durian chocolate at airport planning to share with my colleagues in France. Even if each chocolate ball is a small piece of dried durian wrapped with a layer of white chocolate followed by a layer of dark chocolate, you can still sense the durian smell after opening the packing.

Colleagues, who tried durian before, thanked me for the chocolate. Colleagues, who have never tried durian, either refused to try because of the smell or tried it and felt regret. I understand all their feelings as I remember that it used to take me at least half a year from disliking it to accepting it, enjoying it and loving it. My colleagues' reaction again justifies the saying, "Durian is a fruit that you may not like it initially, but the more you eat it, the more you like it".

Many things in life are like trying durian: before dawn, it is darkness; before spring, it is winter. So, if someone offers you durian next time, try it!

Trip to fairyland

I had a chateau-trip to Blois, Chambord and Cheverny last weekend. My main destination is Chambord, which is the most beautiful architecture in France in my eyes. Nowadays, with the google map, giving you the name of the place is enough, pictures worth thousands of words.

To have a relaxed trip, I chose to stay at Blois over night. In the evening, before sunset, I joined a horse carriage tour. It is quite a big carriage with about 15 seats, driven by two beautiful white horses. I sat on the first row waiting for the rest of the tourists to join. Suddenly, I saw one horse kissed the other. [You might ask, are you sure that was a kiss? Dana: Yes. I am sure.] Aha! One is taller than the other and the smaller one looks more gentle. They must be one female and one male. I looked around. There were four such carraiges and each was driven by two horses that one is taller than the other -- four couples. In the past, when a horse carriage was a main form of transport, a good horse carriage used two horses of the same height to achieve speed and better balancing. Now, these factors are not so important to tourists and I am happy that they take care of horses' welfare. It makes the carriage tour more romantic.

Trip started, we passed by ancient buildings, river and bridge; rode on ancient lanes as well as modern streets. When I was capturing these beautiful moments, the carriage stopped. I looked at the front. Oh, it was because of the red traffic light, [Yes. Horses also follow traffic light.], which took me from the fairyland back to the reality.

After my chateau-trip, my first feeling is that I do not want to live in any of them as it does not seem to be a place that gives you much privacy. But it is quite pleasant to walk in the royal gardens being companied by these nice architectures. My second feeling is that my French seems improving. Although I only know a few sentences, it seems that they are good enough for me to travel around in France. Local people are quite happy to meet a Chinese tourist speaking some French. Some of them also speak some Chinese back to me, quite a friendly atmosphere in general. My third feeling is ...  Must I have the third feeling? Maybe not.  

New dictionary

If a man tells a woman "this is good for you, that is bad for you", it is called caring.

If a woman tells a man "this is good for you, that is bad for you", it is called nagging.

If a husband tells his wife "don't come back too late", it is called concerning.

If a wife tells her husband "don't come back too late", it is called controlling.

Spider

Today, I met my neighbour "Spider" in my room. As my window was open, the spider wrongly assumed that it was welcomed. I was shocked and also a bit scared when I saw it because it is so big -- as big as half of my palm.

People always judge other people or creatures by their look. For example, when you see a small rabbit, you may think that it is cute and lovely even if it is known that rabbits are tricky animals. For another example, when you see a lion, you may think that it is violent and cruel, but lions have good family values among animals. 

Although I know that judging the spider by its look is unfair to it, I had to invite it out by catching it in a plastic bag and then put it outside. On my balcony, I found that the spider net had been destroyed by the rain. So au revoir, my spider.

Spider net

Today, I found a spider net on my balcony. It is only visible when you face a tree and look up. No wonder I have never noticed it through my window. The net is very thin and looks quite new as there is no dust on it. For many people, spider nets indicate that the place has not been cleaned for long time and the first cleaning job is to remove it. But I did not. If spiders catch mosquitos, they should be my friends. So why not let them be my neighbours. 

Human beings always talk about being equal, talk about animal rights, etc. But it is very hard to achieve. I personally like spiders more than mosquitos so bon appetit to spiders.    

Personality determines forture