respect

so i've just been thinking a lot lately. a lot more than usual, i don't know why.

on monday, my China and Japan history class went on the annual trip to Chinatown. we went to a gym where we did kung fu/tai chi (even though the walls were like all windows, so random people just stood outside and watched us @_@), went on a walking tour of the area, talked to a Buddhist monk and had dinner at Joe's Shanghai (HOMG 小笼包). i feel like visiting the monk wasn't really a part of the trip that other people liked much, but it really got my brain juices pumping. the monk we met is a really happy and friendly guy and for me, it was just a pleasure to be around him (i don't know, i think i absorbed his happy aura or something? anywho it just felt good and very calming). he mentioned that part of the reason he became a monk was that when he was visiting a temple with his friend, he saw the other monks and thought they looked so happy and knowledgeable, and wanted to be like them (also he liked movies involving fighting shaolin monks and the like xD). i feel this kind of admiration, too; they just seem so pure, kind and wise. i wish i could be like them, too. anywho, when someone in the class asked him what his biggest challenge in being a monk was, he said, "being lonely." he said that for training, he has to spend a lot of time alone meditating and distancing himself from others. hearing this from such a cheery guy was just heartbreaking for me. i don't know why, but it's been on my mind for a while now...

in other news, i am so lucky! i got to have bubble tea twice this week! yum yum, i love Quickly. <3 and i saw the same cute guy who works there again. :D