Week 11: Look What I Found!

Its not really Week 11 (more like Week 13), but we have to keep count somehow haha.

This weeks theme was Found and Id like to share some of the responses.

Tell me about something you lost and then found again.

Lost and found. Safe and sound. When I started learningnEnglish, I thought these phrases were connected.

I have too many personal items. Every time I move to a newnplace, it kills me to pack and unpack. But there used to be a physical world.nWhen I grew up, I used to listen to physical CDs, read paper books. It cost toonmuch and when I was young I couldnt afford it. But the desire got stronger andnstronger. Now there are more than a thousand CDs with me. It surely is oldnfashioned. Sometimes I have a thought that maybe itd be better to turn myncollection into digital music.

Presently, the trend is to be a minimalist – to give thingsnaway, to break, cut, and part from the dependence on objects. I should. Even ifnits just so that I don』t have to look around for my stuff all the time. Itncosts me so much time even picking out music to put into the CD player. Plus, Inusually lose track of those things. As for the art of tidying up, I knownnothing for sure: there is no catalog or record of my clutter. Lost and foundnis my everyday life.

By Z

Brian: I like the simplicity of just admitting that every mundane, little thing can be lost and found all the time. In some ways, being disorganized is just a way to leave little surprise gifts for yourself every day.

Tell me about how you found your way back.

My parents always wanted me to study hard. Whose parents dont?nIn elementary school, I was always a diligent student. But in fifth grade, Inconnected with the wrong crowd.

Each year, my father would find a new job. Then we wouldnmove to a new city and I would start a new school. Each time, they tried tonmake sure I attended a good school in the district. But in fifth grade, thatndidnt work out. The better schools were full. The lower-tier school in thendistrict had its fill of smart students too, but the teachers were lessnexperienced. To be fair, I cant blame the teachers, they tried their utmost. Inmade bad friends.

Every day after school, instead of going home, my rowdyngroup of eleven-year-olds romped around the neighborhood. We were always bored.nWe didnt have many toys either. Instead, we climbed over fences, broke intonoffice buildings and loitered around convenience stores. The ultimate game wasneluding our parents. Every night, my parents would have to come hunting for menjust to drag me off to dinner.

Needless to say, my grades suffered. I never did mynhomework. My parents tried to temper my wild adventures, but they were too busynwith work. Well, I never got into serious trouble -– until I was arrested.

We decided to skip school as a group one day. It was bravenand we were feeling braver. Eventually, we found ourselves loitering around anmiddle school in the district. The building was built into a hillside, and fromnthe top of the hill, there was a tantalizingly easy way to climb to the roof.nWe dared each other. So up we went.

When we clamored to the top, we were astounded by the view.nWe felt like kings. We jumped and hollered and threw rocks from the top. Notnfive minutes had passed before we were noticed. A teacher noticed the flyingnrocks and looked up to see six or seven small rascals skipping on the roof. Hencalled for other teachers and other teachers called the police. The teachersnactually gave us the courtesy of yelling up to us, "Get down now! Wencalled the police!"

So naturally, we got down as fast as we could. Then we ran.nBut we didnt climb down nor run away fast enough. Soon, all of us were caught.nWe were taken to the police station just down the street. One policeman sat mendown and asked for my name. I was scared, but I still lied. He asked me whichnschool I went to. Sweating and blinking rapidly, I lied again. He asked for mynhome phone number. Lied three times in a row.

Then he let us go one-by-one and assured us that he wouldncall each of our parents.

We loitered around dejectedly until the late afternoon andnwent home silently. Each of us feared the dreaded phone call that night thatnwould surely ring right in the middle of dinner.

But nothing happened. None of our parents received phonencalls. None of our teachers were notified. We were simply forgiven.

But I didnt want to get caught again. It was no longer angame. It was no longer fun.

A couple weeks later, my family moved again. I started at annew school. A better school. And once again, I returned to being a diligentnstudent. I always went home after school and did my homework. Just like that,nmy wild days were done.

By Singsong

Brian: Its very nostalgic to think about the trouble kids get into the moment their parents turn around. What blows my mind is the Singsong had the guts to lie to a policeman right after being caught haha.

1. Tell me about something strange that happened this week.

2. What』s the strangest thing your family does?

3. Tell me about the kindness of strangers.

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