Watching Frozen II

What do I wake up for?

Kitty’s kisses, fresh air, and Frozen II.

It speaks a simple truth:

Kindness and love,

 Who can survive without those?

观冰雪奇缘续集

为什麽要醒来？

猫咪的小刺吻、新鲜的空气

还有冰雪奇缘续集

讲着善良和爱的故事。

没有善良和爱

拿什么生存？

 

书的魅力

2020年的沉重历史感地球村的每个人都感受到了，但是有一个亮点不能不提：美国和中国的读书量都上升了。我只看到这两个国家的数字，想来世界各地的人都感受到了书的魅力。我一向爱书，也知道以文字为职业是令人兴奋的事，因为总有人比你聪明，进步是没有极限的。更何况当大家为了一个光明的事业共同努力时，那种踏实感很真实。所以再次把我2019年底出版的书呈现给大家。虽然是书海里最小的一朵花，映衬在花海下也给这个美丽的季节添一份鲜活。所以也要借其他著作者一点光，与拙作一起列举如下。疫情终将过去，希望与我们永在。

The Beauty of Reading

        Everyone in the global village had experienced the unbearable historical weight of 2020, but there is good news from the year: the amount of reading increased in the U.S. and China. I only have such figures from these two countries although people all over the world must have been charmed by books and readings as well. I have loved reading and understood my career revolving around writing is exciting, because improvement is infinite when there are always people brighter than me. Besides, when everyone lends a helping hand to a cause for a brighter future, it feels real. For these reasons, I am presenting my book published at the end of 2019 to readers again. As the smallest flower in the sea of books, I hope it adds some vitality to this beautiful season by borrowing the light from the illuminating works of others. The pandemic is ending one way or another. Hope is always with us and will always be.   

          

1.      张柏青(Cynthia Baiqing Zhang)。《身份与社会网络：旅美中国硕博研究生》（Identity and Social Networks: A Case of Chinese Graduate Students in the United States）https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498546584/Identity-and-Social-Networks-A-Case-of-Chinese-Graduate-Students-in-the-United-States

2.      Yingyi Ma. Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education 

https://www.amazon.com/Ambitious-Anxious-Students-Struggle-Educationebook/dp/B07RG84NJM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=yingyi+ma&qid=1620968409&sr=8-1

3.      Peter J. Burke. Contemporary Social Psychological Theories. https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29293

4.      Jan E. Stets and Richard T. Serpe. New Directions in Identity Theory and Research. https://www.amazon.com/New-Directions-Identity-Theory-Research/dp/0190457538/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=new+directions+in+identity+theory+and+research&qid=1620968722&sr=8-2

Identity in Everyday Life.

https://www.amazon.com/Identities-Everyday-Life-Jan-Stets/dp/019087306X/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=identity+in+everyday+life&qid=1620968849&sr=8-6

 

Beautiful Scar

Here is a flower for you:

Transparent stems and soft-colored petals.

It has your look and fragrance.

 

There is a breeze in the valley.

Fishing boats float on the river.

A silver fish jumps out water.

Calves stumbled along

After their mothers.

 

A beautiful March afternoon

Speaks its thoughts of you.

A bald eagle soars.

It is you:

Lives lost and marked with

A most lucky and unlucky number.

 

May all flowers please you,

May all kindness  

Comfort this beautiful scar.

 

This beautiful scar.

This beautiful country.

This beautiful world.

This beautiful life.

And all those we have lost.

 

美丽伤疤

请笑纳这鲜花：

通透的花茎、色泽柔和的花瓣。

它有着你的样貌、散发着你的气息。

 

山谷里一丝和风吹送。

河流上钓鱼的小船。

跃出水面的银色鱼儿。

还有步履蹒跚的小牛。

 

美丽的三月午后

所思所想都是你。

白头鹰展翅升腾，

它就是你：

逝去的生命

无法用数字代表，

不能用世俗捆绑。

 

愿鲜花换你笑颜。

愿人们的善良抚慰这

美丽的伤疤。

 

这是美丽的伤疤。

这是个美丽的国家。

这是个美丽的世界。

这是个美丽的人生。

不管多麽不舍，

那麽多的生命我们终究没能挽留。

 

 

          三月份是母亲和外祖母的三周年祭，虽然时间紧迫，还是停下了脚步。美国的疫情明显好转，然而很多人失去了亲人，有时短时间内好几位，我可以想见他们生活的困境。不止美国，各地都有。希望我的哀思能够分担他们的忧伤。        

          外祖母和母亲的共同点是无私，对社会如此，对家人也是一样。外祖母年轻时经历了战争年代，心胸很开阔。母亲年轻时致力于为他人奉献，老年仍乐此不疲。我去年写过外祖母的育儿理念，今年就写写母亲。

          母亲是我的第一个英语老师，为了我能够努力学习，还请了其他同学跟我一起学习。我记得跟小伙伴一起玩耍的快乐，也记得成绩落在小伙伴之后的尴尬。最怕母亲说，“咱们聊聊。”母亲轻声细语的讲道理常常让我只好低头认错，再努力。当然有时我从一个孩童的角度并不同意母亲的教导，母亲也会耐心地听我反驳矫正自己的信息反馈。我知道母亲在学生中的威信，听说过学生们一听张校长来了，马上好好表现。我也知道母亲为了管理学生读了很多心理书籍，做行政的同时也并没有放下教学。

          我成年后母亲的身体状况并不好，我与母亲仅有的一次争吵让我体会到她的脆弱，对她心生怜爱。但是母亲却仍然身体力行为后代立榜样。我之前提到王立礼老师把我带进了环保的大门，母亲也是很热情地支持王老师的提议。有一天跟母亲步行到居住小区外新建的观鱼池，几条刚放养的金鱼活泼泼地在池里游走。一个十几岁的小男孩突然伸手开始抓鱼。母亲疾步上前阻止，并训斥了他。我有些担心母亲，也对她油然而生敬爱。

          当我看着又生绿意的山峦、雪野上成群的麋鹿时感到更多的是希望：希望来年更好，希望灾难性极寒天气不再来访，希望我没有让外祖母和母亲失望。借用一位朋友的话：如果有不如意那只是暂时的，一切最终都会好的。

          This March marked the third anniversary since my mother and grandmother passed away. I still decided to pause to memorialize them when I was pressed so much by time. The pandemic in the U.S. had eased. Yet so many people in the U.S. and around the world had lost their loved ones, sometimes several ones at short intervals. I hope my memory of mother and grandmother could help them somehow, even just a little when their lives were turned upside down.

          Mother and grandmother were both selfless, dedicated to the wellbeing of the society and family. Grandmother experienced wars when she was young and thus had a huge heart. Mother was devoted to working for others when she was young and never changed her heart on that in elderly years. Since I wrote about grandmother’s educational motto last year, I would like to record mother’s this year. 

          Mother was my first English teacher. She invited my friends to learn English with me in her extracurricular class. I still remember vividly the joy playing with my friends as well as the embarrassment I felt lagging behind them in the English class. I dreaded the most to hear mother say, “Let’s talk.” Mother’s soft spoken voice laying out my problems often forced me to acknowledge her point and work harder. Sometimes I would argue with her from a child’s perspective. Mother was always patient to listen to me and corrected accordingly her information about me and feedback on my situations. I learned about mother’s reputation among students. Students would begin to behave when they knew the vice principal Madam Zhang was around. I knew mother read many adolescent psychology books for her administrative work while kept her teaching.        

          In my adulthood, mother’s health had always been poor. The only quarrel between us gave me the opportunity to understand her vulnerability and feel for her. But mother had never failed to be my role model. I mentioned earlier Professor Lili Wang introduced me to environmental protection cause which mother echoed strong support for. I remember the day when I walked with mother to a newly built fish pond outside our residential neighborhood. A few gold fish were briskly swimming in the pond. Suddenly a teenage boy began to grab the fish. Mother rushed to stop him and lectured him the importance of environmental protection. I was a little worried about mother but felt tremendous respect for her.  

          In this early spring, a new layer of greenness began to cover the mountains and many elks ate hay comfortably over the snowy hills. I felt more hopes for the coming year than ever. I also hoped the disastrous freeze would never visit again and mother and grandmother were smiling on my efforts after their models. As a friend said, “All’s well that ends well. If it is not well, it is not the end.”

 

冬日暖阳

两天前我开着车从Yakima Canyon回来，金黄色的夕阳照在我的脸上，车里温暖明亮。我忍不住侧头看着太阳对它微笑，回转头轻轻搭在它的手背上：那里是所有生命的来源。

The Warm Sun on a Winter Afternoon

I drove back from Yakima Canyon in the golden setting sun two days ago. It was warm and bright inside. I could not help turning my head to smile to the sun. Then I sat my head on its hand of rays, thinking: really, the sun is the origin of all life.  

 公民社会

又到了一月一记的时间。不过几天前读到现在盼着2022年的到来，不禁笑了起来。是呀，坏消息接连不断，总是跟死亡有关，而且似乎死亡近在身边。这也不假。疫情，暴力，自然灾害，战争，不一而足。因着这些死亡因子，善举和更广意义上的公民社会时时提醒着我们什么才是生存之道。助人助己吧，社会学讲。

附上我的网站，有我的履历、任职的职业协会以及在做的工作和研究。敬请关注。如果点击打不开，可以粘贴链接。

https://cynthiazhang7.wixsite.com/baiqing/projects 

Civil Society

          It is time for another monthly post in memory. I could not help laughing several days ago when I read the arrival of the year 2022 should speed up. Yes, there are endless bad news on the shadow of death threatening everyone: Covid, violence, natural disasters, wars, and so on. Because of these causes of death, kindness in assistance to others and civil society in a broad sense remind us what is supposed to be the way of survival. The reason is simple, help is mutual according to sociology.

          The following is my website with my resume, associations I work for, and my research and activities. Please read and advertise. If you cannot open the link, please copy and paste it into browser. 

https://cynthiazhang7.wixsite.com/baiqing/projects  

 

最后一课

当读到2020年是魔幻的一年时，不禁会心微笑。但是我还是要继续做好事做好人，欠这个世界的。这个博客提到了很多我的榜样。还有很多陌生人也是暗夜里的光亮，比如Randy Pausch。我2007年看到他《最后一课》的录像后，不知向多少人推荐过。这是录像的链接cmu.edu/randyslecture/ 。他去世前关于有效利用时间的录像也值得关注。

The Last Lecture

I could not help smiling in agreement when I read the comment on the year of 2020 unfolding as an apocalyptic sign. But I will continue to do good things and be a good person because I owe the world that with all the role models I mentioned in this blog. There are many strangers such as Randy Pausch who are also light in the darkness. I have recommended his "Last Lecture" to so many people after I watched it for the first time in 2007. Here is the link cmu.edu/randyslecture/ Another video by him on how to manage time before he passed away is also thought provoking.