How this woman had it hard from fate, and yet, due to her positive attitude on things, she'd taken every trial with her face turned, toward the brighter side of things, which is what made her better adapted to the hard times of her life, and now, she's, finally, passed through the difficult parts of her life, she can have an easy life from here on out…translated…
A Year Later, She'd Not Only Managed to Pay Up Her Parents' Debts, She'd Even Bought a Home for Them
I'd stayed in the N.T.U. ladies' dormitories for three years, and was blessed to meet up with my roommate, Pei-Feng. She's an excellent pianist, during the shows of the choir in N.T.U., she was the chosen accompaniment. Her boyfriend plays the violin, the conductor of the choir. They're in love, after they married, they'd immigrated to the U.S. Pei-Feng had continued on in friendship with me all these years, which gave me the front row seat to her tolerance and compassion of her love and her, marriage.
As the Eldest Daughter, She'd Shouldered the Family Economics
In her senior year, she'd moved into the dormitory, shortly afterwards, she'd invited her roommates to meet up at the restaurant, to introduce her boyfriend to us. That was, the very first time I went to a formal American restaurant, it was, unforgettable. And, as I cut up my first piece of steak, after that first cut, like magic, my steak, vanished. Everyone was surprised, surprised to see, that my steak could, fly! I'd looked all over left and right, then, downward, found it, on my, skirt. In everybody's watch, I'd, placed that piece of steak, back, onto the plate, then everybody burst into, laughter. After that, whenever our other roommates weren't around, Pei-Feng would share her thoughts with me, shared with me, everything she'd weathered through in her, life.
Pei-Feng's hometown is in Pingdong, her parents were tailors, in her childhood, she'd learned to play the piano. The year she entered into her sophomore year in university, her parents got cheated out of the money they put into the investments, sold their home, the piano too, and was still in debt. As the eldest daughter, she'd carried the economic burdens of her families on her back. First, she'd worked hard, to get certified as a piano tutor, because a formal piano instructor at KHS. With the reputations and the connections established, she'd begun, teaching piano to the students on the evenings and on weekends, charging $1,000N.T. per hour (back then, the tuition for N.T.U. was $6,000N.T.s per semester). At eight, she'd started the lessons, sometimes, she'd taught for twelve hours a day, causing her to become, too fatigued, and after class she'd not wanted to hear any more piano playing. A year later, she'd not only paid up her parents' debts, she'd even, bought a stay for her parents.
Her boyfriend was a Malaysian Chinese person, tall and handsome, with that gentleman flair, as he'd conducted the choir, he was, radiating, looked like the prince charming in the comics. There were, many girls in the choir (including my classmates) who had crushed on him, to a female choir member stating that she will, steal him from Pei-Feng. And despite all those rumors, Pei-Feng only laughed off the rumors of her boyfriend straying. And her comfortable was naturally, not to be missed out on, on the one hand, she'd treated her boyfriend with a ton of care and concerns, giving him completely support and trusted him wholeheartedly; on the other hand, being a devout Catholic, she's with a huge heart, and gentle minded. And, she is also, full of confidence, plus her beauty was comparable to the famed actress, she is very understanding, had a ton of, suitors. What's incredible was, an older male schoolmate negotiated with her boyfriend, hoping that he would, "give" his girlfriend to him. No matter though, her and her boyfriend's hearts beat as one, they'd overcome the many challenges, trials that came their, ways. Pei-Feng put in a lot of mind a nd her heart, after she'd graduated university, she'd stayed by her boyfriend's side, until three years later, he'd graduated from medical school, the two of them were, married, in the witness of the priest, of all her friends, families, they'd tied the, knot.
She is Gentle, & Strong, an Amazing Example for Us All
After she was married, other than the burdens of her load getting heavier, other then funding her own younger brother, she'd needed to, raise her younger brother and sister-in-law too, because her mother-in-law found, that her daughter-in-law can make a lot of money, so, she'd, tossed her own young to her Taiwanese daughter-in-law to raise. And so, her younger brother and sister-in-law moved in, to her newly wed bedroom, she and her husband shouldered their living, their tuitions. After a few short years, when Pei-Feng's younger brother and her younger brother-in-law had graduated from their universities, she and her husband finally, immigrated to the United States. And yet, her mother-in-law made the requests of her taking her younger brother and sister-in-law with them. To keep the household peaceful, and to be supportive of her, husband, Pei-Feng had, agreed to whatever her mother-in-law asked of her.
illustration from UDN.com
Pei-Feng continued writing to me, and sent the photos of her family. Her letters were full of thought, and always asked how I'm doing. And yet, I didn't have a set residence, kept changing jobs, and started, drifting from my friends, losing contact with her in the end. But, I keep it in my mind: of all the friends I'd met at N.T.U., the virtues that Pei-Feng had was the most admirable. She'd given everything she had, helped paid up her parents' debts, selflessly, supported her younger brother, her younger brother-in-law and her younger sister-in-law, with no words of complaints. Pei-Feng was the embodiment of how a well-rounded woman is, soft and, strong.
And so, this is a woman, who'd, trusted her own fate, because there's no other way for her to cope, given her situation, she had it, hard, but, her positive attitude, her optimism mis what caused her life to turn upward.
People Arguing to Get Their Different Ideals Out on the Square
Freedom is, an ongoing, process, that's continued to be, worked on, and we will, never really quite make it, perfect, because this is, an eternal, struggle…translated…
"Do start performing!", "I'm about to start, how do I begin, if you won't be, quiet?" can you imagine, this was, the shouting match between a street performing artist and a passerby? In the Dam Square, this is, highly, probably, and these arguments had attracted the crowd for these, street performers, making the passersby, that this, was a, scheme of the tourist, the visitors!
Last year I'd found the cheap fare, and, in an impulsive moment, I'd, signed up for a trip to Europe, with my work away from home. To make the cheap cost-efficient, my friend and I selected to enter into Europe from England, and exit out of Amsterdam, the Netherlands—the placement of Amsterdam in this trip, was only, the location of our export to fly out, and yet, it'd turned into, my favorite city that I'd, traveled to on this trip.
On the Netherlands, many would think about "freedom", but what is, freedom? Mostly, when people refer the Netherlands in regards to freedom, because there's the red light districts, the legalization of marijuana, not oppressing the desires of man; from the historical, there were, the theories, and applications of the means of freedom, discussing how the people of Netherlands banded together, to fight for land with the seas, the business developments, how all of this, gave way to tolerance to various religions, artistry, and race as well. While soon as I arrived, I was culturally shocked by how many bicycles that are, all over the places, that don't follow the signals, and can't help but make fun—could this be, a form of, "freedom" too?
But all jokes aside, the most deeply impressing freedom to me, or rather, the conflicted freedom, appeared on the Dam Square, the square is in the center of Amsterdam, with the many government offices, facilities close by, it'd been the center of the country's politics, culture, and business since the end of the twelve century. The dam is often used to welcome the foreign ambassadors, foreign guests, bore witness to many historical events as well. The most famous being, after Germany surrendered post World War II, the residents in the shortest time, came here to gather to celebrate, and it'd, caused the Germans who weren't captured to open fire, causing that chaotic battle.
The moment I entered into the Dam Square, I'd not needed to read my map, nor use the road signs, I'd known that I am, here: the magician with the cup and the ball in his hand, performer who blew out that oversized bubble, those who were passing out the flyers of Falun Gung, the protests to help Palestine, the coming and going of the adolescents and children…….and all of a suddenly, the locals who leaned toward Israel stopped, and started a rational debate with those who supported the Palestinians, not long thereafter, more entered into the arguing debate; at the same time, on the other corner, the shouting match between the performer and the tourists, here, it seemed, that by the second, many things are, happening, all at, once.
The arguments of the performers with the tourists, the protesters with the passersby, this acceptance to the fighting, finding that middle ground, it'd become, the new impression of "freedom" that I formed of the Netherlands. But, with getting deeper into exploring the Netherlands, I'd felt, that this freedom isn't, all, positive: outside of being the victim of World War II, the Netherlands is also, a colony, the freedom that's, built upon someone else's, freedom, and now, this is still a debt, not yet, paid up; while accepting the multiple cultures, isn't like so, just like the U.S., the police entered into the university campuses, to arrest the students protesting for Palestine, the memorial held for World War II at the Dam Square this year, the government also worried about the citizens rioting, the layers of protective measures had been, taken.
My Taiwanese friend who lives here told me, these past years, the extreme right wing is growing stronger, and as she walked down the streets, she'd wondered, "is the person walking adjacent to me, anti-immigrant?" My freedom may not be the same as your freedom, wherever there's freedom, conflicts can't be, avoided. Even so, in my friend's college, there were, many students who put faith in freedom, they keep on organizing the protests, the smaller matters of renting the library out to the businesses to make a profit, and worldly matters of the fight of ideals in the world, continuing to use their actions, to attempt to bring about changes in the world.
After my visit to the Netherlands, I'd wondered, maybe, the road to freedom, is one that's formed, with many opposing beliefs, ideas, battling each other out?
This is on the conceptualizing of freedom, of how freedom is a struggle, how people, are fighting for what's right and just every day, and this is going on all over the world right now, and, the shock that the writer experienced, in the Netherlands serves as a wakeup call, in helping her to realize, that even in the "freest country" of the world, there are still, oppression, discrimination, racism that's, going on, it's just, reduced compared to other countries in the world, due to how open the country is, how accepting the country is, of those who are, different from each other.
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