April 22, 2008
brilliant smiles
燦爛的笑容: A brilliant smile.
Sometimes when I’m lost in my musings, random Chinese phrases will pop into my head like this one. I don’t profess to be an expert at Chinese at all, and in fact my Chinese is woefully lacking for one that grew up in Hong Kong for 18 years. I think in English, but there are times when you want to express things that you can’t quite describe in English but are perfectly summarized in a few Chinese characters.
燦爛的笑容: A brilliant smile.
燦爛的笑容 isn’t particularly hard to describe in English. “A brilliant smile” pretty much covers it. Yet, there is so much more to “燦爛” than brilliant. When I think “燦爛“, I think dazzling, resplendent, blinding, gorgeous, shining with the light of a hundred suns. Of course, “A smile that shines with the light of a hundred suns” is a little too much to stomach. But then, you get my point.
So why did I think of 燦爛的笑容, randomly out of the blue? I was thinking of the people I love and how their smiles are so beautiful, and I could think of no better phrase to describe those smiles than 燦爛的笑容. When I think of the smiles of my friends, my family, and of you, it is only that phrase that can describe how dazzling and meaningful those smiles are to me. Smiles of joy, smiles of gratitude, smiles born out of love, out of experience, out of good times.
I didn’t mean to write a sappy and clichéd post, sorry. But I’m tearing up a little now at the thought of graduation, and knowing that some of those smiles will be far, far away.
April 16, 2008
my boyfriend is getting a root canal
…While I sit in Starbucks, listening to Stephane Pompougnac, giving myself a break before I bury myself in books.
It’s been a tumultuous past week. Fling happened at Penn, which means eventful. My brother came to visit (checking out Penn – the clever boy is considering Stanford and Penn’s Huntsman program for college) and on that note…
I LOVE MY LITTLE BROTHER. I absolutely, completely, unabashedly adore my brother. Ever since he was born, I have loved him pretty much unconditionally – is it normal for a sibling to feel this way, lol? I was never the jealous sibling, and since we’ve grown up we never squabble (except about very trivial things – he puts me in my place most of the time, unfortunately). I feel proud that he is at this very important crossroads of his life – he’s about to enter the Singapore army in September (a 2-year mandatory requirement for all Singaporean males) and by accepting either college, he will be set for the next 6 years. He’s my baby. I feel very protective of him, even though he’s probably the more mature of the two of us.
We’re pretty close – we talk about most things, I tell him about my problems, he tells me about his. It give me a rush to know that my brother would come to me for advice (being the proud big sister that I am). He’s really my role model instead of the other way round, because he is perfect in almost every way – personable, athletic, musical, smart, diverse interests. And I’m not just saying this as the adoring big sister – he has a lot going for him.
Okay, so maybe I am jealous in some way – I sometimes wonder why the deep set eyes and long eyelashes went to him, and not me 😛
Ah, sigh. I miss him already.
diary of a chinese kitten 