Perspectives

It has been almost 2 months since I last came to Stoke-on-Trent. I have met people from all walks of life in my time here and each of them has a different perspective to share with me. Perhaps it is because of my age that's why I can talk to anyone about everything under the sun, except those that are really really young.

Today, I had an interesting conversation with one of my Bulgarian friend about how it feels to grow old. She asked if I actually felt that I am different compared to when I was 10 years ago? I told her about my "What would I be story?" and she had a good laugh about it. She said she wanted to write something on "What would she be when she is 30 years old?" I think she mentioned something that really left a deep impression on me, about how as a teenager, you make a lot of harsh decisions, think that you can overcome any obstacles out there and are decisive on all kinds of matter. As you age, you start to think a little more about every little thing. I totally agree. I am a decisive person but not to the extent of being rash. Occasionally, I speak too fast and may end up hurting others but most of the time, I do not. I make decisions quickly because I hate wasting time on jumping from one decision to another but that doesn't mean I do not weigh my options carefully. That's why I feel that even though I am 28, I still continue to have fun, laugh out loud and just enjoy in every happy moment that I experience.

Then, some of my badminton friends found out that I was actually 28 and they were absolutely shocked. They thought I looked like 20! So one of the guys actually asked me why is it that I choose to reveal my age? There is nothing to hide, that's what I feel. I have lived in this world for the last 28 years and I think that I have not lived in vain. I have gained a lot of experiences on my travels, meet people from so many different countries, learnt so much about them and am still learning. I may not have a lot of money, may not have a dream career, may sometimes wonder what the hell am I doing with my life but on the overall, I think I am a happy person. I just want to be free and at this very moment of my life, I am free and I am really happy. I know the time will come when I have to start thinking about my future again, where will I go after this Master's? Sometimes, it is these thoughts that make me shiver because that is when my age works to my disadvantage.

After that, I spent 2 hours of my time chatting with this guy from China, who appears to be a rich kid and knows nuts about this highly competitive world, but turns out to be more mature for someone his age. We were talking about society, culture, economy of China, etc. and I definitely did not think he was capable of this. To a certain extent, I agree with him to a certain extent with regards to the situation in China. All those complaints about human rights, environmental pollution, etc are part of the sacrifice necessary to make China the next America or the UK. The US and UK suffered so much during the American Civil War and Industrial pollution, and that made them the two most powerful countries in the last 3 centuries. However, there was no "US" or "UK" to complain about the pollution and lives lost when the two economies underwent development. Coincidentally, I recalled the tour to the pottery factory in Stoke-on-Trent whereby they talked about how some workers in the potteries never lived beyond 40 because of them breathing huge amounts of coal and other pollutants while working in the potteries or coal mines. I also better understood the mindset of many so-called PRCs and I know why their motivation in life is MONEY.

The more people of different nationalities that I meet, the more I appreciate the fact that we are all different, motivated by different things in life and there is no need to change a person to conform to your beliefs or thinking or vice versa. Ah life, ah humans....