Dear all,

It's been a humid summer.

I always find this season to be revelatory; distanced from the busyness of school and people, it gives me a chance to quietly meditate on my present. I am starting to like it, learning to balance my self and the societal self.

Sometimes the old emptiness echoes too loudly, then I remind myself of the existence of other people, taking a risk, a chance, at a different routine. Or sometimes being tied down by commitments eats too much into my personal commitments, then I set my boundaries.

I'm trying to learn more about how to control my physical and mental well-being, reflecting and experimenting with different approaches. Yoga, reading, napping, running, playing the violin…

China has not been what I expected at all… The variety of scenes seen here are much more diverse than media portrays to the overseas… There is poignancy, mediocrity, pettiness, kindness… An ethereal beauty envelops some parts of her and a cruel simplicity settles in other parts of her…

• In 4 days, I will be having an orchestral audition. Follow me from being unprepared to panicking at the deadline!

• In 9 days, I will be completing 30-day yoga journey with Adriene.

• In 17 days, I will have lost 5kg from 65kg to 60kg.

• In 24 days, I will have to leave China, or have found a reason worth extending my visa

Signing off,

James