Two Collapsing, One Shaking

I wrote this article to conclude my performance in 2013. If everything is smooth, I would be too happy to remember writing this article. The existence of this article shows that 2013 is not a satisfactory year. The first half 2013 was a good period of time so no need to emphasize it or I would fall into my daydreaming. The second half was a mess. It looks like a warning from the heaven that my life during the first half period was too fantastic.

Irreversible Fate?

Last time when I came here, the weather was a rainy day. It was not raining when I arrived. At the beginning, it was cloudy, similar to my feeling. My paper was just been rejected by a journal. This showed I have a long way to go. This strike would ruin this trip if I dealt with it wrong. Luckily, it is not hard to hide my sorrow because my unique personality makes me look sentimental.

I met her again. She is as cute as she was. The most fantastic change is that she seems more mature and prettier. She also shared some costs for meal, transportation, and entrance fee. Not easy for a pretty girl. It was my honor to have her accompany in this short trip. This was the first time I knew she likes to sleep away on the weekend. In the Buddhist temple, I knew she is a devout Buddhist. The next day, I guess I made a mistake by choosing a cold tourist spot. She hasn’t recovered from the cold caught a few days ago. No many tourists visiting there in such a cold rainy day. We left soon and went to have a dinner in downtown. Happy days always pass by soon.

West Lake

One of the largest Buddhist Temple I have ever seen.

Xixi Wetland

Silent Hill in China

I left  without reporting the absence, but people in this research group all knew where I came. They asked why I went to meet this girl and don’t try to pursue her. Indeed, I went to Hangzhou not just for its scenery. There are only three cities, i.e. Boston, Kyoto and New York where I’d like to visit for the second time. If it was not for this special girl, it is very likely I don’t bother to move any finger.

“The distance is a big problem” I said, “Prof. Dong said Hangzhou is a shitty city, but the city which we are working at is hell.” I am like a leave gone with the wind. Today I am in hell, and I don’t know where I will be tomorrow. This fate had been determined right after I decided to get a PhD in the US. Sad but irreversible?

Food is much tasty than food in hell.

Cheese Rice Cake

Rice Soup

Memoirs of My Life in North Carolina and NC State – Dining

2007 Fall  – 2008 Spring

 

In the first semester, I didn’t know what I can eat. There was a Food Lion within the walking distance from the apartment. I always buy frozen food and lettuce for dinner, and bread and milk for breakfast. In the university I grasped a cheese burger and fries in the Atrium food court. When I stayed in the library at night, I liked to join some Korean students to have dinner in Fountain Dining Hall, Waba or Charles’ Grilled Sub. Then I learnt there is a convenient dining option called meal plan. Across the Hillsborogh Street, there was a Chinese fast food restaurant. I didn’t understand why it was always packed with Chinese students in the lunch hour until I work in China. I lost several pounds in the first year.

 

 

 Continental breakfast warmed my heart

Low Present Value

Wednesday, Sept. 25^th, 2013

This was a frustrating afternoon. An idea which I had been thinking about for months back to the days when living in Mission Apartment didn’t work! I tried several DSGE setups and there were always problems. Then I found the main reason is either there is no clearing for a market or the issue I want to ask becomes trivial if I assign a new exogenous condition. I wrote an email to tell older Joe, my colleague and coworker in Japan, that I got stuck in the bottleneck.

A Letter to Philip

Hello, Philip,

      I believe you are about to packing your stuff. Unlike me, a child spoiled by my parents to enjoy life in the US, you might be happy to go home with your family and resume your job soon. I’d like to update my unique experience so far.

 

      Pace is quite slow in this town. Pedestrians seem have no business to do; students seem have no care of their studies. I have known some new colleagues and new friends. Some of them got degrees in the US, and the others are US undergraduates who teach English in the school of foreign languages. Perhaps I won’t forget English shortly.

 

      In the first week of class, I didn’t do much. I wrote and improved a small piece of a working paper. Then I manually transfer a chapter of the dissertation into a LaTex format for submission. It hasn’t been done. The main reason is my Italian colleague. He wants to enjoy nightlife and I sometimes have to go out with him. This guy is so Italian. We went to downtown and eat in restaurants at 4 nights consecutively. Because of him, I went to a KTV for the very first time in my life. He likes to hang out with girls, American and Chinese or anyone causes his interest. Even eating in a coffee shop, the young waitress wanted to exchange emails and phone numbers with him. Oh, my gosh.

 

Noodle soup in a famous restaurant. It tastes ok.

Fish hot pot, the most delicious food I ate in this town.

 

 

      And also because of him, I knew a colleague called Joyce. She is like us, new to this university and the town, but much younger than we are. Aside from her charming, we are also impressed by her English speaking and listening given she haven’t studied in the US. When it comes to the US...

 

I miss my simple and healthy life in the US so much. Soon you will, too.

Ted

First Experience

I came to work too early. I should have taken up the invitation and headed to Beijing first, or I should have stayed at hometown swallowing hamburgers until I would get sick of it. This place is beyond my imagination. I can read the characters, but I hardly understand what street people speak. Maybe they are talking in dialects or Mandarin with very different accents. It is very often I reply them based on the key words I hear. The streets are exotic. You can see brand cars, bizarre scooters and bicycles on the same road. There are lots of shops along the street in front of the university. What interesting is none of them is familiar to me. International food chains haven't expended their businesses to the inland town. Outside the university most people in the town look like countrymen or countrywomen.

Coffee and Movie

It had been one month since I came home. Next Monday the journey will begin. I understand it is depressed to leave a comfort zone. Previously it was in Raleigh, now it is in my hometown. One the other hand, I totally acknowledge without taking risk, how does one get the premium? Hometown, I don’t really know what it is; I’m just familiar with my home and its neighborhoods where includes a coffee shop, a bookstore, a bakery, a grocery stores, and a McDonald’s in which I visit every week. On this weekend, I’d like to stretch the neighborhoods farther. I'd like to go to  Costco, to see an English movie and have lunch in a Japanese Restaurant. Maybe I can regain a part of my memories left in Raleigh.