Summer

After sitting in front of the computer in the room for a whole day, taking a little walk outside after sunset feels so refreshing.

Stand still, take a deep breath. Have you ever try to feel the place you’re staying?

I feel cool air, mixed with the smell of grass and a bit of burned flavor – seems that the sun has done a good job heating up the ground during the day.Everything around feels so peaceful: ten o’clock, right after sunset. Gentle wind touches your skin. You can hear slight sound of traffic from the highway. There are a few walking or biking figures on the road.

Ahhh, summer of the Netherlands. According to the weather report, it’s going to be a nice-weather week!

I take a look at the sky – the west still remains some brighter color. No clouds. No stars even. It’s a pure clear sky. I’m always easily obsessed by the world above my head. And I’ve seen quite some impressive views ever since I came here. Unfortunately my skill of photographing is never good enough to express their full beauty. 😛 

Thinking about it, I was used to the summer with temperature as high as 38 degrees (Celsius), so now living in a summer that seldom goes above 20 degrees seems like a paradise which is even a bit “too cold”.

However, this summer in China many places are suffering from high temperature, or flood, or rainstorm. I heard recently many people died in the rainstorm in Beijing… Last year, about this time, I was still in Beijing and there was also a big rainstorm. I still remember people making jokes about how roads became rivers and airport looked like sea. But this time it’s not funny anymore. I feel sorry and pity for those tragic loss.

Nevertheless, I choose to stay here to experience the summer in Leiden, and until now the weather feels a lot more comfortable than the summer in my hometown. When I first came here I used to complain a lot about the weather here. But now seeing all these, what to complain?

Stand still, take a deep breath, and feel – I am on this land. And I feel lucky to be here.