Two Weekends of Wandering Away!

I would like to think that both trips have been great, sadly this only applies to the second of the two. YES! Chester is a great great charming little place. A place where you ooh and ahh and time flies unknowingly..FAST. I think the best time is those spent when you lose conscience of time itself, when you care for nothing but to enjoy to your heart's content. 

First, Oxford. 

Everything I want to say about this place has probably been told millions of time. Oxford itself is associated with prestige, with the far fetch dream of higher education which has beckoned to generations of people. It's worn out and cliché and deprives me of a chance to take great glee in revealing its mythical beauty to the (imaginary) readers of this little blog.

Nonetheless,I constantly had this feeling of disbelief welling up in me whenever my eyes met a student-like person. To put into words what was going through my mind will be something like this: "OMG OMG, look at him! he made to the f**king best university in the world!! OMG so this is how a typical Oxford student looks like??!LOOK! LOOK! he's not using a smart phone! I bet he must be spending a lot of time reading...Ohhhh look at that girl, she's dressed so fashionably, clearly a winner!! with both sense and brains!"

So while my eyes were overwhelmed with magnificent buildings and the intricate carvings on marbles and stones, my mind was never a second at peace too. Much of the time I was fancying how it'll be like if I AM ONE OF THEM, going around the cluster of universities with books in my hands, a satchel over my shoulder that carries a sandwich, a bottle of juice, a few pieces of stationary and a library card that proudly entitles me the entry to any of the libraries there..which are mostly out of reach from us commoners/visitors of course. My fancies went as far as being hopelessly torn between walking along River Thames or sun bathing on the extended balcony in one of the houses along it, as a pass-time activity. I also struggled to decide which will be the best place to stay in: a house along River Thame with that extended balcony from which you can feed wild ducks, or a typical student room in Harry-Potter style accommodation clusters (with Junior Common Room and meandering pathways between brick buildings). 

River Thames viewed from a bridge. This picture alone shows how much the underlying colour tones of cities differ across UK, due to their characteristic architectures, density of woods and plants, and natural endowment:)

Radcliffe Camera (which means "room" in Latin), is one of the most distinctive piece of architecture in Oxford. Accessible to authorised scholars though.

At the out-skirt of New College

Me inside New College. 

This fancy was bitterly sweet, and mitigated only a week later when I visited Chester. 

Chester..Chester...I hand my heart and soul to this quaint little city, like a man surrendering his heart for a handsome gal. For I can rest in utter satisfaction of its ability to enchant me, to amuse, and make lastingly good memories :)

Grosvenor Museum: a small-sized museum dedicated to the culture, lifestyle and re-enactments of Romans. It also displays real and replicas of articles relating to Roman settlements found in Chester.  A complete tour will take 20 mins to half an hour. Admission is free and suitable for families with young children. 


St John the Baptist's Church: 

Gift ship at Grosvenor Museum

St John the Baptist's Church

复活节我回家

3月份，英国大学借用复活节的名义又一次放假了。我临时取消了德国法兰克福学习之旅，选择了回到南洋，我的家。

这次的行程不局限于新加坡，在岛国短暂停留后，我还会飞往缅甸，呆个12天。南洋这个名字在我听来，它代表着骄阳烈日和海洋。还有啤酒瓶树、犀牛鸟、热带雨。这个色彩艳丽、热闹喧哗的旅游胜地的另一面，却是闷热、压力、烦躁、物质和金钱主义。

当我发现这个国家的麻木和无感排在全球第一的时候，我才意识到，南洋的这一面并不单单让我一个人失望和抓狂，它也并没有悄悄潜伏在那光鲜亮丽的外表下。南洋的这一面，其实一点也不善于隐藏自己。它的无知、无礼，它的偏见、自私，它的傲慢、气焰，在岛国随处可见，它是那么刺眼。

那是丑陋丑陋丑陋得无法忍受的模样，每一次让我看到了，我会把头扭开，眼不见心不烦。或者加快脚步匆匆离开。但是当我走不开的时候，我恨不得地上蹦出一条缝把我吞灭。然而它偏偏像瘟疫一样在你面前张牙舞爪。那种逃不掉又躲不了的无奈逼得我只拿起电话拨通一个号码，借聊天转移注意力。走不起还躲得起吧？

可能当一个人在特定环境中生活了一段时间后，他就会适应、接受甚至殷勤地模仿它的举止和神态。

但是如果你从另一个时区飞到南洋，那么这一切都不再难以察觉。没有一样丑态是隐秘的，它是如此强烈和刺眼，敲撞着异地客的眼帘。我尝试稀释这个饱和的丑陋，即使我一个人的存在起不了什么作用，但我还是会时不时地微笑、和人们主动打招呼、聊天。即使只是一个人，我还是会面带微笑。只是希望，这样的我如果成为某个游客的风景线，那么他或她或许会把友善和轻松与这里联系在一起。

如果我短暂的离开就如此地打开了我的眼，那等我两年半后学成归来、当我对这片故土接近完全陌生的时侯，我将如何忍受它的无知无礼傲慢和狭隘?

舒适的生活只有一种，就是你完全同意和享受身处的环境和大部分的方试。要么我离开南洋，去寻找属于我的地方。要么我改变自己，像其他人一样迎合它、崇拜它。因为它是不会被我改变的，而我是彻底厌恶和它同流合污，彻底的彻底的厌恶。

我希望学会无视，因为我不屑于改变自己迎合整个环境。我知道自己一定要学会坚持己见。我更要学会保留人性最天然的善良。

我要学会不。随。波。逐。流。