Tag: family

  • COVID Days

    COVID Days

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    As if time was not passing by fast enough with a growing baby, COVID has only made the days blur into one another even more. It’s been over a month since Zoe’s first birthday. Did she start walking right before her birthday, or was it right after? When did she start saying 蛙蛙 (frog) and…

  • 周小宝名字发展史

    周小宝名字发展史

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    帮宝宝取名字算是大事。我有的朋友是藏着掖着不肯告诉别人,生怕被偷用了。有的是想了好几个名字,要等宝宝出生看一眼才能定下来。有的是父母各有所持,严重的可以吵成僵局。 我个人觉得取名不要太麻烦。简单好念,不要太普通也不要生僻到没人认识,最好还是initial也要好听。一开始想名字的时候说实话根本忘记宝宝还有爸爸这件事,觉得宝宝有个ZZ的initial会很酷,就选了Zoe,越看越喜欢。后来跟J讨论的时候才想起来宝宝是该冠爸爸的姓?ZS就不怎么酷了。虽然觉得孩子是我辛苦生下来为什么要冠夫姓,但想想美国这种社会有个白人的姓说实话还是有优势的,就摸摸鼻子没争取了。这一来觉得既然姓归了你,名字总该随我取了吧!还好J也没有什么特别想要的,英文名就随随便便的这样定下来了。 既然英文名叫做Zoe,音译不就是zhouyi么?连自己的姓都嵌进去了,你看我这名字取得多有技巧!周妈的第一想法是直接叫周一,想着以后每个Monday都要郁闷一次的小孩觉得还是不太好。第二想法是周逸,又觉得这名字太超凡脱俗了不符合我对宝宝未来的期待。文化程度不高的周妈也想不出太多字来,就直接就打了个yi的拼音,看看有没有顺眼的。看到第六行有个奕字,觉得颇有眼缘,就百度了一下,有此得: 【1】形声。从大,亦声。本义:大。【2】同本义 :大。【great】奕,大也。——东汉·许慎《说文》往小来奕。——《太玄·格》四牡奕奕。——《诗·小雅·车攻》奕奕梁山。——《诗·大雅·韩奕》伯夷相唐,尚父宾周。受氏胙国,重光奕休。——宋·王安石《祭吕侍读文》【3】姣美【beautiful】自关而西,凡美容谓之奕。——《方言》万舞有奕。——《诗·商颂·那》【4】累(积),重(复)、重(叠)【many times】是仆与君奕世为通好也。——《世说新语·言语》又如:奕世簪缨(子孙世代都为显宦贵族);奕世(累世,代代);奕代(奕世,累世);奕叶(累世,代代)【5】光明【bright】故其华表则镐镐铄铄,赫奕章灼,若日明之丽天也。——三国魏·何晏《景福殿赋》奕奕(光明的样子;亮光闪动的样子);奕赫(光显的样子)【6】用来表达某种情感的增强,一般前或后带有明显的情感词,加双写“奕奕”:未见君子,忧心奕奕。——《诗·小雅·頍弁》 孔颖达 疏:“奕奕,忧之状。”神采奕奕。——出自明·沈德符《万历野获编·玩具·晋唐小楷真迹》。中来不可绝,奕奕苦人肠。——南朝·梁·刘孝绰 《上虞乡亭观涛津渚学潘安仁河阳县诗》 又大又美又光明的褒义词,还有什么挑剔的?立马拍板,反正也不是法定名字,用了再说。 话说我们周奕小同学出生后,妈妈的第一印象是你声音可真大啊!抱到身边却是小小的那一团,皱巴巴的模样甚是可怜。外婆看着十分怜爱,叫她周小宝。小宝这昵称也太普通了吧!妈妈自然是觉得自己的宝贝要有更特别的昵称。左看右看,觉得最特别的就是这小家伙一天到晚皱着眉头,连睡觉都是苦巴巴的样子,就说叫皱皱吧!但是家里就这么几个人,外婆天天小宝小宝的唤着,妈妈也不知不觉的开始这样叫了。 小宝一天一天的长大,母乳吃得十分愉快。双下巴越来越明显,肚子圆圆滚滚,腿更是肥到被她爹质疑是否营养过甚。老爹自己八块腹肌,对于体重有一定的偏执,看着小宝横向发展十分担心。每次看到她吃完饭一副醉了的样子,被抱着唉声叹气,哀怨的说你这Plauze(可以翻译成大肚子吧)可怎么办。也算是昵称之一吧。 小宝叫了一阵子,外婆觉得不够,在前面冠上了姓,每天周小宝周小宝的叫。我听着觉得十分好,想把她的中文名字改成周晓奕。这样一来如果用initial就成了XYZ,多么可爱(周妈好象对initial格外注重,也不知道是为什么)。 Zoe君的名字发展史到此告一段落,但宝宝还才三个月,来日方长,所以记录在此,过些日子再来回味。

  • 356 | On the Road Together :: Grand Canyon, USA, 2006

    356 | On the Road Together :: Grand Canyon, USA, 2006

    Even before I could remember, my parents were taking me along on road trips all over China. That tradition continued after we moved to the US. We didn’t have a lot of money, but all we needed was a car and a couple of tents, and we’d never run out of places to explore. This…

  • 静好

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    旅途中其实多次有记录的欲望,好不容易停下来却又忘记当时想要留下的记忆是什么。刚来那两天阳光明媚,J的父母两人一早就在庭院里忙着,四处欣欣向荣的样子。J和我早上会起床后出去买面包,要走一大圈,去好几家面包店。他会一路告诉我这一家已经在这里很久了,那一家曾经是如何的好吃,又或是突然惊叹他最喜欢的一家居然已经改成了比萨店。早餐就是各式面包,加上自制果酱或是新鲜的午餐肉,还有J爱吃的巧克力酱。他们家似乎都没有吃午餐的习惯,但下午三四点是咖啡时间,妈妈会煮好咖啡,端上自制甜点。我不经饿,总是早已经偷偷吃过零食,但看到甜点自然又要再吃一轮。那以后爸爸妈妈都会坐在阳光下各自读书,我和J坐在早餐桌上工作,大家都安安静静的。 昨夜开始变天,今天从早上起来就听见雨声淅沥,天却是明亮的,坐在天窗下一点也不需要其他的灯光。他的妈妈坐在屋檐下说着我听不懂的话语,声调一如既往的温柔。因为下雨,大家都坐在屋子里看报纸,虽然都是在一起却也是很安静。下午茶的时间Georg问我要不要吃蛋糕,然后跑出门去买了许多小蛋糕来。J和Barbara都说这是他们家第一次去外面买蛋糕回来吃。我觉得很不好意思,或许是因为早上我要J顺便带零食回来,他们发觉我这样贪吃? Georg的姐姐和弟弟,也就是J的姑姑和叔叔,几十年来也都住在J的隔壁。当年J的爷爷是建筑师,在二战后搬来科隆帮忙重建这个满目疮痍的城市,也在市中心不远的地方为自己设计了新的家。他的儿女们感情很好,成年后把原本宽敞的地一分成三,建了两座新房子,院子却还是连在一起的。J便从小和他堂兄弟姐妹们一起长大,比起自己的三个哥哥弟弟,反而是和同年的堂兄弟更要好些。如今走得最远的大概是他和他弟弟,一个在美国一个在澳大利亚,其他人都是离得近的,每当节假生日,都能欢聚一堂,热闹得很。我偶尔问J他会不会想要回到这里,他都说不会。我们似乎都已经走得太远,即使已经厌倦了最繁华的那些城市,却也不再眷恋如此安静的生活。 来的第一天我们一大早就开着窗户,一整天的没有关。晚上我照旧坐在被子里看会儿书,听见滋滋的声音,本以为是蚊子,一看却是那种会飞的蚂蚁。我急忙先把窗户关上,本是懒得理这些虫子的,却发现它们不是一般的笨。抓蚊子是要看眼力,脑力,和反应力的。听到细微的嗡嗡声就得早早的准备好,仔细观察它从哪里出现,不能有大动作,要等最有把握的时候才出击,若不能一击而中就前功尽弃。飞蚂蚁却是无头无尾的四处乱撞,明明是有翅膀,却会停在一个地方慢慢爬,轻易的就被捏在手中。其实对人是没什么坏处的,只不过它们笨得可以,常常会莫名其妙乱窜到头上身上,吓得我跳起来,比起被蚊子咬到还要讨厌。无奈只好一只只抓住,虽然看他们可怜,也懒得放生,全部送往极乐世界。本来想等J回房间把这任务交接,却一直没等到,这一晚杀生十余,很是戚戚。 最最开始的时候,当我还不知道自己想要的生活,我以为这样的平静是我想要的。那以后的许多年,我追求着其实不需要的人和物,在失败中却积累出也算精彩的人生,渐渐忘记自己曾向往过平静。而今天我在这桌前,做一份平凡的工作,喝一杯半热的茶,听着雨声回忆些旧事,看着他专注的侧脸计划着明天,脑海中又浮出那句被文艺青年说烂的 — 岁月静好,现世安稳。

  • 225 | Looking Up :: Dallas, USA, 2006

    225 | Looking Up :: Dallas, USA, 2006

    Looked up one day to find my little sister sitting up on the roof reading a book! A bit quirky that one.

  • 177 | Tunnel Vision :: Moscow, Russia, 2013

    177 | Tunnel Vision :: Moscow, Russia, 2013

    When you visit a country like Russia in winter, you’ll immediately acquire an affinity and appreciation for underground tunnels. I perhaps lingered longer than I needed whenever I’m underground, just to get a slightly longer reprieve from the wind. Snapped a shot of this pink bundle of joy, whose brightness brought a bit of color…

  • 047 | Animals :: Texas, USA, 2009

    047 | Animals :: Texas, USA, 2009

    jiajiadesuThis is our dog Roxie. She’s old and arthritic now, but in her younger days she was quite smart and agile. One day my dad tried to teach her to jump over the fence. Since he couldn’t jump over the fence in one try, he had to sit on the fence first. Roxie thought she…

  • 016 | Flora :: Kyoto, Japan, 2003

    016 | Flora :: Kyoto, Japan, 2003

    I took this photo on my very first solo trip. I had been living in Japan for about 3 months by then, and was ready to explore the country some more. It was autumn and I heard the foliage in Kyoto should not be missed, so I packed my bags, booked my first hostel, and…

  • Sister Sister

    Sister Sister

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    I still remember the day when I found I was going to have a sister. I was at an extended family dinner at my uncle’s restaurant, which, at the age of 12, was something I absolutely hated through no fault of anyone else. As I stood in the corner and passed my boredom with people…

  • On being another year older

    On being another year older

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    I feel like I’m losing my sense of time. Birthdays and new years. The best occasion for reflections and resolutions, as they so clearly mark the passing of our days. I’m not a big fan of either, perhaps for exactly that reason. Some people, in their younger days, could not wait to grow up. I…