Life is wonderful when u want it to be ~!

Before this very magical moment passes, I shld write sthg down. I’m still feeling the elation from the experience.
In fact ever since midsummer’s day, everyday was filled with so much fun and happiness.
This day started off with project meeting, and then my presentation, I gained so much from it, love to have the feedback from people who understand what I’ve done. Then we left Nansen Centre early to go to an island south of Bergen, bought some BBQ stuff on the way and set off in Francois and Vincent’s cars.
 
(this is cute Vincent with his Michelangelo’s Adam pose)

The spot that they brought us to, was secluded and had a great view of the sea :) together with a big rock (with hooks ready to be climbed), clusters of (real!)mussels at the feet of the stones, and a sea with clear blue water. So the boys went swimming first, in the water of 12 degrees.
 
(this is phillipe, ready to get into the sea)

And Ehouarn started preparing his fishing equipments, he’s an adorable guy, quiet and nice. tranquil. He caught a fish later on, which according to Mingqiang is very nice. Ehouarn taught me to throw the fishing hook as far out as possible into the sea, he was really good at that.

(Ehouarn fishing)

 
(Linling and Mingqiang found great spots on the rock to settle down and talk)

(Intissar just sat in the sun to rest a bit, she was a little tired. She’s quite cool actually, love talking to her.)

Then when the boys came back and dried themselves, Francois began to conquer the huge rock. He was really good! There is more to rock-climbing than what we see usually. Not only strength, but strategies. And looking out for yourself and your friend if you are the anchor.

(Francois, with his encouragement, I tried also to climb)

I’ve never even been bouldering before, no experience in climbing, and I went up. Francois is so cool in the process, telling me what to do as I move upwards. For me, it was really difficult because I’ve never trained up my strength in arms and legs. But I conquered half of the level 6 route, was so happy with myself. I got a small cut on my right index finger though, the rocks are too rough!
 
(now that I’ve done rock-climbing once, I want to try it again!)

Both my supervisors were also there, Hans and Laurent. They are both super nice, offered much help in the project and personally caring and humble.

(Hans trying out Ehouarn’s fishing rod)

(Laurent on the left, anchored Vincent as he climbed)

We ate some hotdog sandwiches Phillippe made, in the cooling shades of the rocks. This place is really a sanctuary. I really love being in Norway, together with these incredible people. This will be part of my unforgettable memories in Bergen, together with bits and pieces I’ve collected all along. Francois, je t’aime!!!!

생일 축하 합니다. 생일 축하 합니다.
지구 에서 우주 에서. 제일 사랑 합니다.

꽃보다 더 곱게, 별 보다  더 밝게.
사자 보다 용감하게, 해피벌스데이 투 유.  *"please be braver than the lion"

생일 축하 합니다. 생일 축하 합니다.
달같은 내 친구야, 폼나게 사세요.
별같은 내 친구야, 톡쏘며 살아요.

       

had a good laugh viewing this vid, happy birthday songs in other languages are entertaining.
well, another birthday overseas alone. can't help feeling the loss. oh well :)
buon compleanno mi

Received an e-mail this morning about this interesting longitudinal psychological study, one that I resonate with strongly.
The Stanford experiment that established that children who could successfully resist eating a marshmallow for 10 minutes and got rewarded with 2 marshmallows - turned out to be much more successful in life. The conclusion at that time is that they are just born with higher will-power, which is the key to success in later life.

However, recently researchers have discovered that such children have figured out how to 'focus-away'. Most children, keep looking the marshmallow lying in front of them, and soon give into the temptation of eating it. The successful children simply distract themselves. They simply avoid thinking about the sweet by focusing-away.

The rest is extracted from here http://sivers.org/time

The great book, The Time Paradox, notes that we all have a different time-focus that greatly shapes how we think and act.

For future-focused people, long-range goals fuel today’s decisions and actions. This keeps them ambitiously working, saving, and planning for a better life. Self-discipline and the ability to delay gratification are key. Future-focused people are more successful professionally and academically. They also eat well, exercise regularly, and schedule preventative health exams. But by always looking through the present to the next goal, they often do not fully appreciate the present. Think of the stereotype of the successful executive who is always too busy for his family. (Friends and family require your attention to be in the present.)
 
Present-focused people actively seek activities and relationships that bring pleasure, variety, immediate gratification, and short-term payoffs. They avoid anything tedious, requiring effort, maintenance, or routine. They’re playful and impulsive, engaging in leisure activities (until it becomes boring). Present-focused people are more likely to gamble, use drugs and alcohol. They’re less likely to exercise, eat well, floss, or get regular health exams. They are the least likely to be successful. While some present-focus is needed to enjoy life, too much present-focus can rob life of the deeper happiness of accomplishment.

The happiest and most effective people are balanced: equally high in future-focus and present-focus, and viewing the past as positive. When you have work to finish, be future-focused. When your work is done and it's time to relax, be present-focused.

In my life, I have met people who fits exactly into these two categories, the type who can always delay gratification (have self-control), and the other who always can’t. And those who mix up these two, they're present-focused when they need to be future-focused and vice versa. After reading this, I start to understand why some people turn out to be the way they are, and I begin to appreciate my own choice in life. :)

Beau temps, liberté absolu, trois musées d’art, une amie Coréen, une promenade, compagnes Malaisiens, un château, un picque-nique.
I squeezed so many things into one day, lol! And answered one 6 sections survey questionnaire.
And finished reading 30 pages arts notes. And made a five-fruits salad somemore. What a fulfilling day! Happy :D:D:D:D
Tony et Rose je vous aime!!!!! Bergen is really a nice place to hang out in summer :)
Back to work tomorrow, yay, Eugene j'ai hâte de te voir vendredi! Next weekend: Oslo!

Here’s a picture from old spanish friend Joan Miró I saw at the Bergen Kunstmuseene, titled people and birds.

And here’s one I love from Norwegian Jacob Weidemann, titled The pianist.

I have like a million things I want to blog about everyday. Some slipped my mind, some just became not worth mentioning.
So I went through my album and found some pics that made me smile stupidly (like i am now, remembering the wonderful moments)
Here, we have the cute and funny people I work with in Nansen center. :):):)
We went on this summer surprise tour called Blåtur, we were not supposed to know what it’s about until it happens!
The mystery turns out to be a walking tour around Bergen, to interesting places in the city.

This is Vilvite, the Science center of Bergen :) The cute man raised me up to sit on the edge of V, and then supported the V in case I fall down!!! sweet guy, but I forgot your name!!! (when can I remember all your norwegian names..) Then in the student’s center; guess which is not Nansen’s employee? heez, I love the creativity of these people.

 

Outside the paleontology building, we did hand holding, mine is held by Swapna! Then, we came to the jardin des plantes small herb garden of Universitet i Bergen, under the lovely sun and surrounded by beautiful flowers on a bench in the middle of the park, all girls looked away as the guys tried to show interest!!! haha, and we ignored stares from other people in the park!

Cute match in striking pose, almost thought they’re going to start dancing in the middle of all the attention! And this, I really can’t help laughing, we found two dustbins, each reading “rest” and “boss”. So Linling pretends to rest while the cute guy pretends to be the boss!! (And then he complained that the garbage bin stinks :P) haha, and they were saying we shouldn’t let Ola (the real boss) discover this pic.

 

In front of the university natural history museum, our heads are all too large to pretend to be eaten by the lion, so we piled onto the lion and took a normal pic instead :) At the tiny square in front of tourist info, we made a line by stepping over the tiny blue flow of water.

   

Our last stop, Ole Bull’s fountain, then we proceed to the very Norwegian Peppe’s Pizza for a treat. Happy Intissar with her quatre fromages pizza while eyeing my big sweet chilli prawn pizza! haha, ok not exactly mine, sharing it with Zhongshi and he helped me eat my share anyway. 

 

Happy. I love happy memories. And I create happy memories by living the moment.