When I was asked why I wanted to go to The Netherlands for a semester, I quickly considered cultural exchange as an important reason. I fantisiced making new friends from different countries and learning their perspectives. I was excited about the idea of visiting Paris, the cultural centre of Europe, and reading philosophical texts from the continental tradition. My plans have been well executed so far, although I would rather re-consider whether cultural exchange is an accurate term decribing my semester abroad, or in general my experience of studying abroad away from my Chinese home.
Category: Personal Thoughts
Writing, Life, and My Writing Life
When I first came to study in Singapore six years ago, English was my nightmare. For me, writing English essays was similar to a direct translation exercise from Chinese to English. As a result of that misconception, I constructed awkward sentences with improper structures and funny expressions that hardly make sense. The awareness that words…
A Tribute to Alan Rickman
I was really shocked and extremely sad to hear about the death of Alan Rickman. I feel deeply sorry for his family, and may Mr. Rickman rest in peace. As a matter of fact, I know very little about Mr.Rickman, except for his portrayal of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series and his…
Why do I major in Pure Mathematics
Why Mathematics? This is the question that I received constantly in the past semester, and indeed many people found my decision of studying Pure Mathematics puzzling. If I said that I had found beauty and eternity in Mathematics, I would be weird although that was exactly what I believed. In the end, I often chose…
US College Applications
I shall start by making it clear that I am not an expert in US college application at all, and I am in fact just a normal high school kid who feels the whole process as miserable as you do. A few weeks before, I emailed one of my friends who share the same ‘American…