Plz, be harsh !!! Any comments are appreciated, indeed. Maybe it's a little too long, help me to cut it out and suggest a title. Can u help me to choose a better word (where I typr in red). TKS A LOT !!! Good luck u guys, I'll help u if u need :D
There it is. He is running again. It is almost the same whenever I tune in this channel. He is running again ...
"Sis, are you watching the same episode again? What do those people keep running all the time? What kind of film is that?" - my four year-old cousin claims her attention.
"No, this is a new, Chi. It's "The fugitive. Plan B". Of course they should run to make the fugitive." - I slowly explain, hoping she can get some idea of it. "Anyway, there will be no fugitive anymore", I said to myself.
The film will be over soon, yet he is still running. Losing himself once, he now has to set out on the journey to find his self back to the very end. After all, we human have to move non-stop and restlessly on the way of proving ourselves. Every time he runs, my little cousin will ask me thousands things. Her posing the questions and my providing the answers, that is how we have been lived through this summer.
I - the babysitter.
Chi is my uncle's only kid. Summer has finally come when every nursery school will close for at least a month. I then became her babysitter. This summer was very special to both of us: Chi's first summer as a student (though just a nursery one) and my first one not as student anymore. Actually, taking a gap year was my last resort after I failed to find a scholarship to go study abroad. This decision of mine came up with strong opposition from other family members right from the start. My parents' worries about a long-term derailment turned out to be unnecessary. All the time I have spent with Chi was a real challenge. Dealing with a child who keeps asking "why" is not easy at all. Chi's questions require much knowledge to answer, a little of science, like "Why does my mother make me eat stewed bitter melon?", or some about the society and morality, such as "My teacher said that stealing is not good, but why do people still steal?". But what's worth the challenge was that my answers should be perfectly understandable to a four year old. I hate it when it comes to questions like ""Why must a model have flat belly?". I have to cudgel my brains to give her a reasonable answer. If not, I can hardly have a peaceful moment with her. And Chi's questions make my days/ make a day of it.
I - the messager.
"Sis, grandpa told you to send our family pictures to uncle Vitaly. Did you?", Chi always remembers what grandpa told her.
"I did, and Uncle sent a letter back. Oh, I forgot to print that. Maybe tomorrow."
Vitaly was my late uncle's Russian friend. After many years of losing contact, we managed to keep in touch. As I can't expect my eighty-year-old grandpa to sit at the computer and use Skype for the chitchat, I became his messager, helping him to exchange emails, photos or update on our life. I, therefore, could know more about Russia: food, the people and their traditions. Learning about a culture that is totally different from ours is interesting, yet boasting about our Vietnamese culture to him is more than enjoyable to me.
I - myself - a gap-year student.
"Chi, I have my Korean class at 5:15 and our national football team is playing tonight, in the semifinal. I have to go now. Remind grandpa to watch the game and ask him to sing the chorus of our national anthem for you. You must learn it by heart if you want to join the parade to celebrate our victory tonight, ok?"
"But the game has not even started yet", Chi asks back.
"I have confidence that we will win this game. We will have our second championship very soon."
I then rush to my Korean class. There is still a lot to do tonight. Who says gap year can leave a void in life. It is not that I remain in the same place, idly sitting around doing nothing. I am still moving forward and learning, not at school but from real life. I have been able to know another world in the eye of a four year old, trying to explain everything in a different way from what people usually think; I have learned another language and known more about another culture, singing along K-pop songs ; I have listened to stories of a family friend who was, at first, just a stranger from a Russia far away, finding myself surprised at the great love a foreigner can share with me for my beloved Vietnam. I got a chance to deal with many people, the first step to realize my dream to connect cultures from over the world. In fact, I have been given/ granted too much during this gap year. Being a fugitive will get me nowhere to get over the fear of failing again. And I myself know very well that I can now hold my ground/ stand on my own feet , ready to give back and share with the world the wonderful things I have got.
There it is. He is running again. It is almost the same whenever I tune in this channel. He is running again ...
"Sis, are you watching the same episode again? What do those people keep running all the time? What kind of film is that?" - my four year-old cousin claims her attention.
"No, this is a new, Chi. It's "The fugitive. Plan B". Of course they should run to make the fugitive." - I slowly explain, hoping she can get some idea of it. "Anyway, there will be no fugitive anymore", I said to myself.
The film will be over soon, yet he is still running. Losing himself once, he now has to set out on the journey to find his self back to the very end. After all, we human have to move non-stop and restlessly on the way of proving ourselves. Every time he runs, my little cousin will ask me thousands things. Her posing the questions and my providing the answers, that is how we have been lived through this summer.
I - the babysitter.
Chi is my uncle's only kid. Summer has finally come when every nursery school will close for at least a month. I then became her babysitter. This summer was very special to both of us: Chi's first summer as a student (though just a nursery one) and my first one not as student anymore. Actually, taking a gap year was my last resort after I failed to find a scholarship to go study abroad. This decision of mine came up with strong opposition from other family members right from the start. My parents' worries about a long-term derailment turned out to be unnecessary. All the time I have spent with Chi was a real challenge. Dealing with a child who keeps asking "why" is not easy at all. Chi's questions require much knowledge to answer, a little of science, like "Why does my mother make me eat stewed bitter melon?", or some about the society and morality, such as "My teacher said that stealing is not good, but why do people still steal?". But what's worth the challenge was that my answers should be perfectly understandable to a four year old. I hate it when it comes to questions like ""Why must a model have flat belly?". I have to cudgel my brains to give her a reasonable answer. If not, I can hardly have a peaceful moment with her. And Chi's questions make my days/ make a day of it.
I - the messager.
"Sis, grandpa told you to send our family pictures to uncle Vitaly. Did you?", Chi always remembers what grandpa told her.
"I did, and Uncle sent a letter back. Oh, I forgot to print that. Maybe tomorrow."
Vitaly was my late uncle's Russian friend. After many years of losing contact, we managed to keep in touch. As I can't expect my eighty-year-old grandpa to sit at the computer and use Skype for the chitchat, I became his messager, helping him to exchange emails, photos or update on our life. I, therefore, could know more about Russia: food, the people and their traditions. Learning about a culture that is totally different from ours is interesting, yet boasting about our Vietnamese culture to him is more than enjoyable to me.
I - myself - a gap-year student.
"Chi, I have my Korean class at 5:15 and our national football team is playing tonight, in the semifinal. I have to go now. Remind grandpa to watch the game and ask him to sing the chorus of our national anthem for you. You must learn it by heart if you want to join the parade to celebrate our victory tonight, ok?"
"But the game has not even started yet", Chi asks back.
"I have confidence that we will win this game. We will have our second championship very soon."
I then rush to my Korean class. There is still a lot to do tonight. Who says gap year can leave a void in life. It is not that I remain in the same place, idly sitting around doing nothing. I am still moving forward and learning, not at school but from real life. I have been able to know another world in the eye of a four year old, trying to explain everything in a different way from what people usually think; I have learned another language and known more about another culture, singing along K-pop songs ; I have listened to stories of a family friend who was, at first, just a stranger from a Russia far away, finding myself surprised at the great love a foreigner can share with me for my beloved Vietnam. I got a chance to deal with many people, the first step to realize my dream to connect cultures from over the world. In fact, I have been given/ granted too much during this gap year. Being a fugitive will get me nowhere to get over the fear of failing again. And I myself know very well that I can now hold my ground/ stand on my own feet , ready to give back and share with the world the wonderful things I have got.