36 posts tagged “qotd”
What question do you hate being asked?
It's either
'Do you have a job yet?' from my father. If I hear it one more time my head may explode.
Or, after someone finds out that I just graduated with a PoliSci degree, 'So, what do you want to do?'
Those are the two questions I've heard the most lately and am getting really REALLY sick and tired of them. It's a complicated situation. When my parents ask me questions like that it makes me want to both get a job to shut them up, or makes me not want to get a job for some bizarre subconscious reason I'm not aware of. It was like back in middle school when they tried to make me practice the piano or the trumpet. I wanted to just to shut them up, but every time they asked/told me, I wanted to do it less and less. Some weird authority thing maybe? Being pressured makes me not feel in control of my life so opposing them makes me feel like I have some semblance of control in at least one part of my life. Maybe. Just throwing thoughts out there.
And to the 'what do you want to do?' I'm sure every new graduate gets that. I also get the feeling that most people don't end up doing it. Will I jinx myself if I say? Or what if I tell the truth? 'I want to travel the world and immerse myself in foreign cultures and languages for the rest of my life. But I'll probably end up in an office answering phones or doing research, if I'm lucky.'
~Nikki
Do you have a pet? What kind of pet do you own, and why did you choose it?
Submitted by Brendz.
I have a cat :) It sort of half chose me. My sister comes to visit me in China saying that she found some kittens and a mama cat behind where she worked, so she picked them up and took them home. Mama Cat (dubbed Mama Mao [Chinese for cat]) was made for being a house cat. Poor thing had to have been dropped there, it was really the sweetest cat ever. The kittens were a gray one, a siamese looking one, and a black and white one. She was finding a home for them. Come home from China. After the kittens were weened off Mama Mao, we got her fixed and found her a good home. My sister couldn't bear to part with the kittens. She kept two, and I kept the black and white. MaoMao. Looked like MaMa and sort reminded me of a panda.
All my friend make fun of me for having a cat. They think I'm turning into a crazy cat lady. If they knew I made my own clothes I don't know what they would say, lol.
Where do you consider home? Is it the place you grew up; the place you're currently living? Why is it home?
Submitted by uncagedbird.
Wow, deep question.
'Home is where your rump rests', right? Huh. I guess, now, home is wherever my bed is, and where ever I go at the end of the day. As far as a 'feeling' is concerned, in Texas, I guess I never really feel at home, because I long to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. I felt more at home in New Orleans in my house, even though it was only for a year, and more at home and comfortable in Beijing than anywhere else, again, only for a year.
I loved New Orleans, and it definitely felt like home to me, but something made you always acutely aware that you were not actually a native. More so than the tourists, but still not totally belonging. Maybe if I had spent more time I would have gotten over that, past that point where I felt the native thought they were better than me.
Strange though that in Beijing, where I could barely speak the language, I felt like I belonged more than I had anywhere in the states. Maybe it is because it was a city and had different 'neighborhoods' that made it feel smaller and people in the stores knew you. Or maybe it was because I didn't feel that isolation for not being a native that I felt in New Orleans, as far as ex-patriots went at least. You were automatically accepted into the life as a friend and adopted family and someone who belonged, as long as you weren't a tourist, you were generally held in the same place as someone who had been there for years. There weren't places that I didn't want to go in the city, everywhere was safe. You could explore and know all the ins and outs in no time like you never could in New Orleans. Maybe it is something about China, or maybe it is something about a big city, I don't know. Before long I hope to be able to clarify the feeling by leaving this horrible state once again. But until then....
"Homesickness is. . . absolutely nothing. Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the time. You don't really long for another country. You long for something in yourself that you don't have, or haven't been able to find."
"The worst feeling in the world is the homesickness that comes over a man occasionally when he is at home"
Edgar Watson Howe
What's the longest boat ride you've ever been on?
It was about 15 hours starting in Suzhou to Hangzhou, overnight, instead of a bus ride that would have taken about 3 hours. Apparently the coordinator thought getting 90 people/college kids in close quarters with nothing to do but drink was a good idea. Fights broke out over who bought the last beer. It was completely ridiculous. And not really something I would like to repeat, Dramamine only goes so far with no sleep and drinking games. The next day was unpleasant. Never had so much fun in my life though. *sigh* I miss my friends. And China.
Being an introvert, I don't call people when I don't have anything to say. And my life got so boring after I got back that I really have nothing to talk about. If only this or if only that. But, there is only so much one person can do at once, and once I complete a few more things here that I fell behind on....someday it'll all turn around. China made me fall back in school, Katrina made me transfer, transferring got me into a new major, new major=even more time. But then I'm off. Internships, DC, China, jobs, life, friends. It'll turn around, I'll catch up. I have a positive long term outlook, but severely pessimistic short term. And an ego that sometimes drives me insane.
What modern book do you think will be read in high school by the next generation of kids?
Submitted by Tom.
Like what other people have said, kids read in high school these days? Even when I was in high school, my friends who weren't in honours classes didn't read anything. It was sort of sad really. And with all these parents freaking out about books and trying to ban them and political correctness and whatnot, I don't believe schools will have any freedom at all to choose books to read. Wouldn't surprise me if they stopped all together.
Not to mention, I am VERY disappointed at all the people who responded to this question with 'Harry Potter'. That almost makes me sick to think about having to read those in school.
It's hard to come up with some books I would like to see read in schools. A lot of the time I walk by those 'reading list' tables in Barnes & Noble and am surprised by some of the books (good and bad) that I see there.
If I had to guess one it would be Life of Pi.
And as it stands, you pretty much just need to wait until college to start reading something interesting...
Where do you go to get away from it all?
Submitted by Hops.
I've really enjoyed looking at everyone answers to this question and wish I had an answer of my own. I needed a place to escape to today and realised that I didn't have one here.
In China you could do anything. Hop on a train and be in a totally different part of the country in hours with minimal expense. You know, if it came to that. You could go to one of the many parks in Beijing, or walk around Houhai, which was always relaxing.
In New Orleans I would drive down Tchoupitoulas with my windows down and music playing. Especially at night. I loved night time in New Orleans. During the day I could always head over to the Fly and just relax on the grass and watch the barges go by on the Mississippi.
But here in Texas? I don't have anywhere. I've lived here, in total, longer than anywhere else, yet there isn't anywhere I can escape to, and it is the place I need to escape the most. Perhaps because nothing seems far enough away here. Comes from hating the place you live I suppose. There isn't anywhere calm, there isn't anywhere beautiful that I could just drive to. There isn't even a nice drive anywhere.
I had a horrible day at work today. When I came home I felt on the verge of crying for hours. But there wasn't anywhere I could go to just relax and get away from everything. The realisation of this just made it worse. I sat around and tried to think of somewhere I could go or something I could do, just to get out. And the only thing that came to mind was the Starbucks down the street. Which ended up being freezing and noisy. So I came back to my small cramped apartment not feeling any lighter.
One of the many lessons that can be learned from today I suppose. I shouldn't need to be so dependent on getting away from things to retain my sanity.
But I am. And I still need it. And I wonder how long I can go needing it and not getting it.
~Nikki
What was your worst cooking experience?
I burned Easy Mac. One of the 3 steps it takes to make....I forgot to put the water in before microwaving it. It smelled disgusting.
Do you believe there is intelligent life on other planets?
Is there intelligent life on this one?
....
Bada ching, I couldn't help myself. :P
What's one of your favorite quotes?
Submitted by Georgie-boy.
I'm a quote addict. I have dozens of word documents with dozens of pages of quotes and another few dozen loose leaf paper with quotes from books I've read. I love quotes. I guess I just believe that other people can say things that I feel so much more eloquently than myself. So, with my addiction out in the open, this is one of my many favourite quotes.
I can only guess that it made the world he went back to…strangely without meaning. Though he lived in it, though he even enjoyed it, it remained utterly remote. I think it had lost sense for him. In his heart was the reflection of a lovely dream that he could never quite recall.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Submitted by Glory.
Oh dear god, I was just talking about it last night with my sister while we were watching the Oscars. I am embarrassed to say that I was madly in love with Leonardo DiCaprio. I ran an online newsletter, I have a box full of stuff, books, biography videos, pictures, posters, magazines, EVERYTHING. It's really...ridiculous. I'm hoping that one day it'll be worth something. And he was so much cuter when he was younger :P
Needless to say, I've been over that for YEARS. I still have that box of stuff somewhere in my garage though. All girls have those consuming celebrity crushes when they are like 10 though, that's how those teenmagazines still make money.
~Nikki
