I have been going home almost every month for as long as 6 years, but this time it has been more than 3 months since my last visit.
This year's May Day holiday lasted for 6 days, which was also the first short holiday where I could travel freely. The high-speed rail was as crowded as the subway during rush hour. I didn't travel, 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 Cup 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 Cup. The clothes they have every year are from Victor's inventory and don't look good. However, 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 to the top 4. At first, when I saw that all of our opponents were post-2000 kids, I was a bit worried because I had already been mentally scarred by post-2000 kids in Hangzhou. However, it turned out to be a false alarm on the day of the competition. After all, as an old turtle like me, I am not suitable for intense physical competition with students who are still studying. The three matches on the first day were all easy, but when I saw the opponents for the second day after the draw, 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 holiday 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. However, on the way back, as soon as I opened the navigation app, the screen was filled with red lines, and 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 were also there, but I spent the whole day resting at home and didn't have much interest 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 exercise how to communicate with relatives who are not directly related to me.
"Looking down at the whole situation from the mountaintop always makes me lost in thought for a long time."
In fact, the things that happen in their circle are not much different from what happens around me, but their perspective is broader, and they generally don't show their true feelings. On my side, the usual solutions are to either avoid 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 forward 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 have chosen to return home for development. I envy them because they can play basketball almost every day and have no life pressure. The topics of our conversations have gradually become incompatible, but I can still have smooth conversations with a few friends who play basketball.
👪 Family#
Usually when I go home, I will 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. The elderly always want their children to 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 my parents and me has become more like the communication between friends. We help and advise each other, and share our emotions.
Through this communication, I discovered that my father has his own insights into the field of AI. He proudly said that he has helped his friends and his own text-based work using 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 picture.
Finally, here are some mistakes from the past few months...