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A Decision Tradition

This family tradition actually started quite recently only a few summers ago, but its enjoyability and family bonding value make it absolutely worth preserving. Since a very young age, I’ve always been quite close to two of my cousins, one around the same age as me and the other two years older. As an only child, they were like siblings to me. Because they have lived in various places in Asia over the years, my mom and I used to travel overseas every time I had a break from school to visit them, and I have numerous fond memories with them. However, during the 1-2 year long pandemic, my mom and I weren’t able to travel overseas to visit them, as everyone was stuck in lockdown in their own homes. By the time we next met a few summers ago coming out of the pandemic (in which they came to America to visit us), things were noticeably awkward, as we hadn’t seen each other for such a long time.           Our new tradition broke these awkward barriers in no ...
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From Stagnancy To Growth: A Pandemic Recovery Story

The pandemic was a period of social isolation that I would consider the low point of my life so far. Besides the gradual development of my interest in Japanese art and culture (as described in my last blog post), I still spent most of my days doing basically nothing. Sure, I willed myself to finish my homework early in the day, and during the online school semester, I managed to drag myself through the day, doing what was asked of me. However, other than that, I remained generally stagnant in terms of my own personal growth and development of new skills. The isolation meant I couldn’t meet new people, so I was restricted to interacting with my tight circle of friends from my middle school over calls while we played video games for long hours. Playing video games, whether with friends or alone, was basically the only activity I did each day, besides the occasional walk, school, and the basic necessities of life.           This was my way of life and routin...
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How I Became Captivated By Japanese Art and Culture

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       I got my first taste of Japanese art and culture during the pandemic. Due to the widespread danger of COVID-19 and the quarantine policy locking my mom and I in our home, there wasn’t much to do, at least together, especially since it was just the two of us. This meant that most of our time was spent doing our own independent activities, which we didn’t mind, as we were (and still are) both introverts that naturally give each other plenty of space to do our own thing. One day during lunch, however, we decided it was time for a little change of pace. After all, YouTube, video games, and books can only get you so far after a few months of quarantine. The two of us sat on our soft leather couch and gathered around our Roku TV, the warm steam and delicious smell of our lunch presented in front of us on our wooden coffee table. We were browsing what was available for free on my mom’s Amazon Prime Video account when we came across a Japanese TV show called Slam Du...
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