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 holiday where we were free to travel. The high-speed train 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 in Ningbo. Thanks to my friends for organizing the team, we eventually made it out of 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. But this year, they surprisingly customized the venue in Ningbo. It had the words "Ala Ningbo" on it, which gave me the motivation to participate. Even if it was just a one-round game, I treated it as buying a piece of clothing.
I was lucky in the group stage, making it to the top 4. At first, when I saw that all our opponents were kids born after 2000, I was a bit nervous because I had already been mentally scarred by kids born after 2000 in Hangzhou. But 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 a relaxed 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 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 had no 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 practice how to communicate with older 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 reality, the things happening in their circle are not much different from what's happening 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 on the spirit of craftsmanship, I could survive well. The reality is that if you can't handle interpersonal relationships well, you will suffer in certain situations.
🧑🤝🧑 Friends#
Almost all of my high school classmates and friends chose to return home and develop their careers. I envy them because they can play sports almost every day and have no life pressure. The topics of conversation gradually became difficult to relate to, except when chatting with a few friends who play sports.
👪 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. The elderly 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 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 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 more communication can help our family reach a consensus on the big picture.
Finally, here are some mistakes from the past few months...