博文欣赏：A New Day Has Come

when it was my first day at Paralympics as a volunteer and a lot has happened that I haven’t been able to take a break and process until I came back to school with an exhausted body yet a fulfilled heart. I wrote in another blog that life is a sum of moments and I can assure you that a few moments like this happened to me in just one day.


A badge


I was wandering at the lobby since there was not so much to do at hand. Then a foreign journalist came along and asked me whether all the teams had arrived and the flag-raising ceremony had been held and I guess she wanted to interview some of them and did some reports. Since our department was not in charge of that, I took her to the board to see whether it had been informed. Unfortunately we did not find anything, so I guided her to another department. They still had no idea. Finally, a manager-like woman came over and told us that she was very sure that they hadn’t arrived yet. I felt sorry that we took her all along the way yet the result was not satisfying. However, to my surprise, she thanked me and another girl with badges, which were really beautiful with the picture of a little cute doll on it. I was always thrilled to receive that kind of gift. It meant something not only as a souvenir but also as a symbol of a country, a culture, a piece of land in this spectacular earth. CRC中国英语学习网




A handshake


So I was strolling through the darkness in a trail when a foreign guy came over and asked me where a center was. I told him that I knew the way and he could follow me there. Along the way, we chatted casually. I said it seemed that people were no paying as much attention as the Olympics. And he said it would get better after such a grand event. Soon, we arrived there and then he appreciated my little help by shaking hands with me. Little interactions like this always touch me. Likewise, when I helped a foreign couple find a taxi and told the driver the direction, they thanked me by kissing my cheeks, which the first time people greeted me in that way and I felt great. Being kind, always ready to help others and doing a stranger a favor really makes one’s day. It gives people hope, offers earth future.



A touching interview


I watched tv about an interview of a Paralympics athlete. As she was answering the questions, I found great power and strength within her, a handicapped yet determined and passionate. She said before all this, people see her handicapped body before her, but now with everything she has achieved, people see her before her handicapped body. Then she said Paralympics are just like Olympics. If you have a dream, a goal and you work hard; you have passion for sports, and just go for it. Although she was handicapped a few years ago, but deep inside, she’s still her, the same person, you just got to move on and live a positive life. With everyone supported her and behind her, Paralympics, for her, means more than just defeating others, but the precious friendship, passion for sports. When she was swimming, she felt her lost leg was still there. She could feel it under the water. She also mentioned famous Olympian Michael Phelps, but after all, they are the same who have strength and the drive to just be the best you can possibly be…that touches the softest part of my heart. It may sounded like trite when I wrote it down but when she said all this, you could see sparkles in her eyes, the passion in her face and true self in the way she talked and behaved. She was just that person she was talking about.


That reminded me when a journalist came in the other day, who was also handicapped with only half an arm left. When he tried to close the door, the pen and paper fell down on the floor, the banging sound just hit me, hit me like a thunder and all at once tears filled my eyes. But I did not bend over and pick them up for him for fear that his self-esteem was hurt. I saw him pick them up slowly and difficultly yet sat down in a chair like nothing had happened. Maybe this kind of thing happens to him everyday, but my heart literally felt a sharp ache. I saw him adjusted the pen with his mouth and jotted down some details he heard from the athletes, yet left out quite a few…I wondered how he managed to be a journalist in the first place since it’s a job highly demanding of writing speed and fluency. Everything about him just got me so much. I could not look at his arm because I would not be able to hold back tears in my eyes.


It’s the first time in my life that I met so many handicapped people in one day; much less they are all athletes, sports competitors. I saw them in armchairs, or guided by dogs, or practicing running with maimed limbs, it’s like something piercing my heart and it really hurt. They are so unfortunate yet they all managed to love life and live a great life with passion, strength, optimism as possible as they can. We tend to forget how much we are blessed with a healthy and full body, which we always take for granted. Now who is the pathetic one, it is me, not anyone of them.


A message


Today I wrote messages to a person on the other side of the world. What unites us is the same person, the star we care and love. We talked about how he affected all of us and shared some of our deepest feelings. She once said to me: “you are me, you just live on the other side of the world. You are so faraway yet you feel like a girl next door”. My eyes were moist when reading those words. We felt such a strong connection and every time we talk, it’s like we are reading each other’s mind. She is just like my auntie. I have never felt like this close to a stranger before. In fact, she was not a stranger to me at all. She knew me, understood me, and cared about me. People around passed by and asked me why I was so happy; I could not express it fully to them, the people who are real in my life, just around me everyday. But the bond connects us so deeply that even we are oceans apart, we still feel free to talk and share anything. I never did this before but it felt great even if I was not being typical me.


And when all is over, I finally dragged my feet onto the bus and plopped down in the seat. I was really fatigued yet with satisfaction and smile on my face. I totally stretch my body out and fully relax myself. With music rocking in my ears and I am resting both physically and mentally. The only difference is today I did not indulge myself in the rest but I earn it. Words came to me, recollect, rearrange, recall, recharge, refresh, rejuvenate and relive… thanks to everything I have experienced the last couple of months, boce, Olympics, Paralympics…they just gives me a Baptism, a new life. I did feel I was reborn and tomorrow I was not the same person as today, whether she was good or bad, happy or sad.


Everything made my day today and my life will never go back again, I appreciate everything that I have touched and everything that has touched me. Tomorrow is another day and no one can steal the sunrise, sunrise in my palm of my hand, in my life…