I have been going home almost every month for the past 6 years, but this time it has been over 3 months since my last visit.
This year's May Day holiday was 6 days long, and it was the first long weekend where I could travel freely. The high-speed rail was as crowded as the subway during rush hour. I didn't go on a trip, didn't write code, but went home to participate in a competition, practiced driving on the highway, maintained social and family relationships, and rested...
🏸️ Badminton and Driving Practice#
During the first two days of the holiday, I participated in the Shuangxiong Club Ningbo Station. Thanks to my friends for organizing the team, we eventually advanced from the group stage [lucky draw].
At first, I wasn't interested in the Shuangxiong Club. Every year, the clothes are from Victor's inventory and they don't look good. But this year, they surprisingly customized the competition venue in Ningbo. It had the words "Ala Ningbo" on it, which gave me the motivation to participate. Even if it was just a round trip, I treated it as buying a piece of clothing.
We were lucky in the group stage, advancing from the top 4 to the top 2. At first, when I saw that our opponents were all post-2000 kids, I was a bit worried because I had already been mentally scarred by post-2000 kids in Hangzhou. However, on the day of the competition, it turned out to be a false alarm. After all, as an old turtle like me, I am not suitable for intense physical competition with students who are still studying. The first day's three matches were all easy, but after seeing the opponents for the second day, I knew it was almost over. So on the second day, I just played with the right mindset and finished the competition.
The highways during the long weekend were very congested. After not driving for 3 months, I drove alone on the highway again. The journey there was very smooth, no traffic jams, and I drove at a speed of 120km/h the whole way. I arrived in no time. But on the way back, as soon as I opened the navigation app, the screen was filled with red lines. It took me 2 hours to drive the last 70km.
There were two accidents on the road and one incident of road rage (I became a bystander). But most of the delay was caused by the congestion at the toll booths in Dongqian Lake and Taizhou. The Shenhai Expressway is just too small...
On the third day, there was an invitational tournament at home. I heard that national badminton players from Malaysia also came, but I spent the whole day resting at home and wasn't interested in going to watch...
⛰️, Gathering Around the Fire#
The adults always can't sit still and always want to go out. They always say it's not good for me to stay at home all the time. In the past, I would directly refuse and let them go play by themselves. But this time, I decided to go with them, just to practice how to communicate with unrelated elders.
"Looking at the whole picture from the mountaintop can make me daydream for a long time."
In reality, the scandals that happen in their circles are not much different from those around me, but their scope is usually larger and they generally don't show their true feelings. On my side, the usual solutions are to stay away or isolate, or to openly express my thoughts.
"I don't understand expensive tea, I prefer sweet and fancy ones."
I used to naively believe that as long as I did my own job well or carried on the "craftsman spirit," I could survive well. The reality is that if I can't handle interpersonal relationships well, I will always suffer in certain situations.
🧑🤝🧑 Friends#
Almost all of my high school classmates and friends chose to develop in their hometowns. I envy them because they can play basketball almost every day without much life pressure. The topics of conversation are gradually becoming less relatable, but I can still have smooth conversations with a few friends who play basketball.
👪 Family#
Usually when I go home, I would visit my grandparents. This time, I didn't call in advance, so my grandfather was out and only my grandmother was at home. I chatted with my grandmother for almost half an hour. Elderly people always hope that their children will live well. Although my dialect is not very good and she may not understand it well, for the elderly, every visit and chat is a happy moment for them.
The communication between me and my parents has become more like the communication between friends. We help and advise each other, and share our emotional values.
Through this communication, I discovered that my father has his own insights into AI and proudly said that he has helped his friends and his own writing work with ChatGPT, and he also has ideas for application layers. My mother is exploring Crypto and was shocked after learning about DeFi...
Usually, I boldly express my true thoughts. I believe that through more communication, our family can reach a consensus on the big direction.
Finally, here are some mistakes from the past few months...