That was the youngest part of my heart, believing I wouldn't see it again. -- To Your Former Self
Saturday 14th
It's the fourth day since I started dreaming here, and I'm starting to enjoy it. The room temperature doesn't cool my enthusiasm, but it might even warm my entire winter of chill.
Volunteers are a happy coincidence of being here, and I do my best to do what I can. Sister Yuan is a hostel boss who is surprisingly delightful from the start. Perhaps her past experiences have made her more open-minded, or maybe all hostel bosses are just young and passionate. When I asked myself if I could do it, I realized I might not be able to. Sister Yuan said that as long as you take the first step, things will naturally develop. Most things will go as expected. In her, I can see many faraway lands, appreciate many beautiful views, and observe many people's lives.
Any situation will propel me towards a better life. Currently, a better life doesn't mean much money, a good job, or a happy family, but it does mean that my heart feels incredibly full. This fullness is something I can't find anywhere else. I'm not sure where I'll find it, but I'm sure I'll find it somewhere.
This life is never monotonous. Staying in a place like this is like being in a concentrated camp of a homeland, but each friend representing their homeland is unique. You can meet people from all over the world in this way, listen to their stories from north and south. We talked about Weihai, Shanxi, Anhui, Qixia, Penglai, Hezhe, Liaozhou, Xiamen, Shanghai... The stories of these places are very interesting. In just four days, I learned a lot. Meeting them, forgetting them, and then meeting others, is about my life.
There's sea, books, basketball, friends, food, and fun – it's always exciting.
Tuesday 17th
I chose to record these words this morning because I completely forgot last night. Joy is always present, and it's easy to forget that it's there, because you're already happy. But I still want to record it, because there are too many things and I've forgotten how to record them. I always set an alarm for 6:00 AM, but I open it in many different ways. Yesterday, Sister Yuan got up early, made egg fried rice, and sent me a message to remind me to eat hot food. It's very grateful. It reminded me of my parents. I'm doing this to remember my original intention – to never forget my roots. I need to wake up early, and they have to go to work and eat, so I feel very embarrassed. I like a lively atmosphere, and I'm not shy. I like making friends. In the afternoon, a younger hostel guest came. He was about the same age as me and also in his third year of university. I listened to him talk about his journey from Mohe. I'm interested in everyone's travels, because that's something I want to do but haven't done yet. He's from Wuhan, and he feels that Yantai is warmer than it is, because the 40 degrees Celsius below zero in Mohe makes him feel like there's no cold in the world. He and his friends can be completely naked in the icy snow. He showed me his map and circled the places he'd been. The map is small, but the world is big, but once you go out, it doesn't seem so big anymore. Northern people want to go to the south, and southern people want to go to the north. He recommended going to Dali, because his trip to Dali decided he would travel all over China.
He didn't realize until halfway through that hostels were a thing. There are also many older young women who prefer not to marry, but they want to travel around the world. I'm only 22 years old, I shouldn't be afraid of turning 25 or older. I should be beautiful.
It's noisy when people gather, and they work honestly. I want to pack dumplings for them this afternoon and cook a meal for them, and I'll bring jade dumplings to home, just like my parents do. They cook with a sense of family. It's really fragrant. I'm a weight loss enthusiast, so I'll control my mouth. Let's eat jade dumplings tonight.
Thursday 19th
Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, a day when many people miss their hometown. Someone who loves his hometown so much that he bought a ticket to return home on this day, didn't spend every day dreaming of going home, because 'Dreaming' gave me a feeling of home. Maybe it's because there's always something exciting happening here. I used to miss my home's food, but here I can cook and live together. Thank you to the hostel chef for preparing every meal with care, so it's particularly fragrant. I had a great dinner and played a lot of games and chatted a lot. I even got a horoscope, which, for me, is just based on stars, but it's still interesting. Play table tennis, play Mahjong, and send red envelopes.
The smoke is falling in Yantai before I leave. I really wanted to express my gratitude, but I couldn't. In the next ten days, I realized that time flies, just like sand, the tighter you squeeze it, the faster it runs away. I didn't want to say goodbye to everyone. The classmates who came to the hostel for a long winter camp, now they can stay here for another night, and people get to know each other over work, meals, and games. 'Werewolf' was stuck in a game. The more people there are, the more fun it is. I used to hate playing games. In my opinion, all games are a family. But now I also like playing games. Maybe I just put it aside, or maybe my IQ is a little worrying. For me, 'Werewolf' is attractive in itself, or the people in 'Dreaming' are also very interesting, even if they come from different backgrounds, they are all different but have common things.
Friday 3rd
Many days have passed, and many stories have been selectively forgotten. We live different lives every day. If you want to remember, you can't remember. But I really don't want to delete these beautiful and unforgettable memories. I'm sure they geomagnetic places will play a role in my life in the future.
Tuesday 17th
I chose to record these words this morning because I completely forgot last night. Joy is always present, and it's easy to forget that it's there, because you're already happy. But I still want to record it, because there are too many things and I've forgotten how to record them. I always set an alarm for 6:00 AM, but I open it in many different ways. Yesterday, Sister Yuan got up early, made egg fried rice, and sent me a message to remind me to eat hot food. It's very grateful. It reminded me of my parents. I'm doing this to remember my original intention – to never forget my roots. I need to wake up early, and they have to go to work and eat, so I feel very embarrassed. I like a lively atmosphere, and I'm not shy. I like making friends. In the afternoon, a younger hostel guest came. He was about the same age as me and also in his third year of university. I listened to him talk about his journey from Mohe. I'm interested in everyone's travels, because that's something I want to do but haven't done yet. He's from Wuhan, and he feels that Yantai is warmer than it is, because the 40 degrees Celsius below zero in Mohe makes him feel like there's no cold in the world. He and his friends can be completely naked in the icy snow. He showed me his map and circled the places he'd been. The map is small, but the world is big, but once you go out, it doesn't seem so big anymore. Northern people want to go to the south, and southern people want to go to the north. He recommended going to Dali, because his trip to Dali decided he would travel all over China.
He didn't realize until halfway through that hostels were a thing. There are also many older young women who prefer not to marry, but they want to travel around the world. I'm only 22 years old, I shouldn't be afraid of turning 25 or older. I should be beautiful.
It's noisy when people gather, and they work honestly. I want to pack dumplings for them this afternoon and cook a meal for them, and I'll bring jade dumplings to home, just like my parents do. They cook with a sense of family. It's really fragrant. I'm a weight loss enthusiast, so I'll control my mouth. Let's eat jade dumplings tonight.
Thursday 19th
Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, a day when many people miss their hometown. Someone who loves his hometown so much that he bought a ticket to return home on this day, didn't spend every day dreaming of going home, because 'Dreaming' gave me a feeling of home. Maybe it's because there's always something exciting happening here. I used to miss my home's food, but here I can cook and live together. Thank you to the hostel chef for preparing every meal with care, so it's particularly fragrant. I had a great dinner and played a lot of games and chatted a lot. I even got a horoscope, which, for me, is just based on stars, but it's still interesting. Play table tennis, play Mahjong, and send red envelopes.
The smoke is falling in Yantai before I leave. I really wanted to express my gratitude, but I couldn't. In the next ten days, I realized that time flies, just like sand, the tighter you squeeze it, the faster it runs away. I didn't want to say goodbye to everyone. The classmates who came to the hostel for a long winter camp, now they can stay here for another night, and people get to know each other over work, meals, and games. 'Werewolf' was stuck in a game. The more people there are, the more fun it is. I used to hate playing games. Maybe I just put it aside, or maybe my IQ is a little worrying. For me, 'Werewolf' is attractive in itself, or the people in 'Dreaming' are also very interesting, even if they come from different backgrounds, they are all different but have common things.
Friday 3rd
Many days have passed, and many stories have been selectively forgotten. We live different lives every day. If you want to remember, you can't remember. But I really don't want to delete these beautiful and unforgettable memories. I'm sure they geomagnetic places will play a role in my life in the future.
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