{"id":1204,"date":"2019-10-17T08:05:56","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T08:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/?p=1204"},"modified":"2019-10-21T05:47:45","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T05:47:45","slug":"shijing-xiao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/shijing-xiao\/","title":{"rendered":"Shijing Xiao"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; use_background_color_gradient=&#8221;on&#8221; background_color_gradient_start=&#8221;rgba(196,19,33,0.5)&#8221; background_color_gradient_end=&#8221;rgba(224,153,0,0.5)&#8221; background_color_gradient_overlays_image=&#8221;on&#8221; background_image=&#8221;http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bg-img.jpg&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;50px||50px||false|false&#8221; fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0&#8243;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_3,2_3&#8243; use_custom_gutter=&#8221;on&#8221; gutter_width=&#8221;2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||0px||false|false&#8221; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.0&#8243;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;http:\/\/box5765.temp.domains\/~cultusq5\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/profilephotonew-1.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.0.0&#8243;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;1&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.1&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;By Author Name&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _dynamic_attributes=&#8221;content&#8221; text_font=&#8221;PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;28px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;38px&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||&#8221; header_3_text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; header_3_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; header_3_line_height=&#8221;32px&#8221; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.1.0&#8243;]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9jYXRlZ29yaWVzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiQnkgIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6ImNhdGVnb3J5In19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;20px&#8221; _i=&#8221;1&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.1.1&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>I used to major in Broadcast Journalism in university, when I got some chance to write news reports and articles. I became an English teacher after graduation and reporting has always been of keen interest for me. Mostly though I consider writing as a way of self-healing too.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=&#8221;off|tablet&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;1&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.1&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.1.0&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.1.0.0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Happy and Sad<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I clearly remember at that time I was studying in the city library during winter holiday. As Chinese New Year approached, there were few people in the library. I was struggling with my bachelor thesis, and what\u2019s worse, I had received no offers from the universities I had applied for my graduate studies. Suddenly, a notification popped up, telling me I\u2019ve got a new email. I opened it and had a glance at the title. It started with \u201cCongratulations!\u201d, from the graduate school of the University of Amsterdam. I knew finally my efforts had paid off! I was too thrilled to read through the email nor to continue working on my thesis. All I wanted to do is go back home and share it with my parents.<\/p>\n<p>My mind goes back to the time when I was a high school student. I went to a boarding school which is far away and has many strict rules. On every Friday on the way back home on the school bus, I was always so elated\u2026that I could finally escape a little from the suffocation I kept feeling. But the happiness usually didn\u2019t last for long as when I got home, I would find my parents quarreling. At first, I expressed my dissatisfaction to them, so they stopped arguing when they realized I was there. However, they also avoided interaction. It seemed that the other person was transparent. They talked to me, asked me how I felt at school, prepared food for me, but they didn\u2019t talk to each other. It was much worse than the quarrels, I thought. I wanted to shout out, but refrained \u2013 those days are behind me.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; use_background_color_gradient=&#8221;on&#8221; background_color_gradient_start=&#8221;rgba(196,19,33,0.5)&#8221; background_color_gradient_end=&#8221;rgba(224,153,0,0.5)&#8221; background_color_gradient_overlays_image=&#8221;on&#8221; background_image=&#8221;http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bg-img.jpg&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;50px||50px||false|false&#8221; fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0&#8243;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_3,2_3&#8243; use_custom_gutter=&#8221;on&#8221; gutter_width=&#8221;2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||0px||false|false&#8221; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.0&#8243;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;http:\/\/box5765.temp.domains\/~cultusq5\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/profilephotonew-1.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.0.0&#8243;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _i=&#8221;1&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.1&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;By Author Name&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; _dynamic_attributes=&#8221;content&#8221; text_font=&#8221;PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;28px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;38px&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||&#8221; header_3_text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; header_3_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; header_3_line_height=&#8221;32px&#8221; _i=&#8221;0&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.1.0&#8243;]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9jYXRlZ29yaWVzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiQnkgIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6ImNhdGVnb3J5In19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;20px&#8221; _i=&#8221;1&#8243; _address=&#8221;0.0.1.1&#8243;] I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shijing-xiao"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1204"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1847,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204\/revisions\/1847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}