People here say I’ve changed.
It’s been five years, and my grandma used to describe me all the time as “seun”, a Cantonese word for “pure, clean, unmixed”. But when I arrived last week, she said she wouldn’t recognize me if she saw me on the street.
They used to say I looked like Leon Lai.
Yeah, this guy. Now they’ll concede that I’m better looking than my dad.
People notice the white hair and say I used to have a baby face. That I’m older. Or more mature.
It’s true that I feel completely different than the person I was five years ago. I tend to reflect and evaluate on a daily basis (which is far too often) so I never get a sense of any long term changes.
But now that I’m in Hong Kong again, and I look back on the person I was the last time I was here, I see the changes much more drastically.
It’s reflected in ways that I’m not accustomed to noticing. Not just in the way I see the world, but from the way I handle things. The way I speak with those older than me. My interests in what they have to say. I didn’t even start working yet the last time I visited.
But at the core, I’m still the same person. The same morals, the same logic, the same intellect. It seems like it’s only the way these core traits manifest themselves that has changed, most likely from the things I’ve been through.
Five years is a long time to be so blind to these changes.
It’s quite surprising.
aw that picture is sweet. Are you sure this lady is in her 90’s? that is what you said right? I’m having difficulty believing it.
Yep…she has a hard time believing it too, as she says it’s not something she thinks about every day. She says she feels like she’s in her 60s or 70s. I think this mentality has truly kept her young.
Sweet Jesus, comment on that BEFORE putting your pic up, for a moment I thought you WERE Leon Lai. Haha!
The thing about real change is that we never do notice them until someone points it out, so its no biggie if you didn’t see it. It’s about the parts that have changed which you kept as part of you. That’s what matters more, for better or for worse, it’s what you do with what has changed. And in retrospect, that’s always a good thing to look at.
I tend to be fairly self-aware, so I notice changes in myself before other people do. These changes were a nice surprise though. You’re totally right about the changes one keeps as being the important ones; they’re the things we (along with other people) deal with every day.
I think you’re a hottie Mc hottie. A little crazy, but a hottie nonetheless.
* holds up HEART sign *
** The HEART sign is the one that says, take my humour with a grain of salt! I think you’re awesome! Don’t pay attention to my insults! They’re a sign of affection!
(That’s what the sign says. I made it with markers just for you)
I hope your insult is the crazy part. Not the hottie part. Unless a Mc hottie is a low-end, fast-food version of a regular hottie!
Anyway, I know I’m a little crazy. A little crazy is a good thing. Otherwise, I’d be plain boring.
ha ha ha… a low end hottie. Too funny.
And you can be glad you don’t have that manboob chest he’s got!
Oh come on, he doesn’t have man-boobs. And with a face like that, do you really look at his body?
Sorry, he’s So not my type. Guys often don’t understand a “formally understood as handsome” guy isn’t necessarily handsome to us all.
You’ve changed a lot. More mature, more stable, more tolerant. 5 years back, you paid more attention to your appearance, now you care more about what you do, what you observe. Now you’re a bit sloppy :)…and I like that. Your spending habit is so much different.
I don’t know what caused all that…work experience? Parents’ divorce? Love life? Tai Chi and Taoism?
I tried replying to your comment, and my response become very long. I’m going to address the ideas you bring up in a separate entry. There’s a lot to say.