I was solving a hunt until the small hours last night, so the diary vanished for a day (

Chatting with my parents tonight, we talked about my recent “drastic change in personality” (in a good way, of course), as I have become more extroverted and proactive. I think that’s a pretty good thing…

The extroversion can be understood as having been cooped up abroad for too long. In my bones, I am indeed an “E” (extrovert). Abroad, because I was hesitant (?) to communicate with others, I was always in a passive state. This time back, I’ve done everything I can to take the initiative. Through communication, I’ve actually gained many unexpected rewards, like finding out that the class monitor is a Tokusatsu fan, my roommate is a model kit enthusiast, and so on. Moreover, in the process of continuously getting to know others, I can also re-examine my own hobbies, and perhaps even find unexpected gains!

As for finding joy more easily, surely it isn’t just because my parents aren’t here to supervise me, I read a poem by Su Shi today and thought perhaps this is what it means to travel through life and make peace with whatever circumstances meet you. And, as a line in this week’s Gavv put it, I have many people supporting me—especially in the great family of the church. You can meet someone for the first time and talk about everything from learning English to scuba diving. (One sister lit up when she heard that my parents teach diving and insisted she must visit someday.) Or you can gather around a round table, raise cup after cup, feast on Peking duck, and drink pear soup with abandon (

And all of this is God’s beautiful preparation.

Yesterday I ran over to the Aviation Museum. The steel giants once built to take life now sustain countless lives; I could not help stopping to inspect every propeller blade and wing. (Come on—which guy can resist an enormous airplane he is actually allowed to touch?) The patriotic messaging was inevitable, but viewed carefully through the Way, it was not without value. Before leaving, I checked Xiaohongshu and discovered a free stamping station, so out came my little notebook. Let the collector instinct propel the rest of my travels through Beijing.

Oh, by the way, the sesame flatbread I had yesterday had a sausage added, and today I did my second tithe in life! (Though the first time was probably the 10 RMB I earned from making videos on Bilibili, haha).