Sum up for 2014a.

Dear Readers,

It has been literally a year now since my last blog. Thank you if you are still following. There is so much to write about this year. I am not sure whether I have even at this point decided to write down everything I intended to blog about.

This year marks a really significant year for me and for the people in my environment. To be honest I do not know where to start off with. Anyway, let me put them in a 'at presence' format and then started to add in flavours and spices here and there just like when one is preparing for Chinese food - it is all about the layering (a famous quote by an American born Chinese chef featured in the food programme on BBC iPlayer).

Now, I am renting a place at a shared accommodation at Basingstoke, Hampshire, a town South East of England that I never even heard of before. Just as a token of appreciation, I would like to say some words of appreciation about my housemates. They are John, a Portuguese pharmacist; Ella and Lydia, two Romanians ladies as care workers looking after vulnerable people with needs; and an English lady working as a station enquiry officer. They are a bunch of lovely people indeed, I felt so fortunate to have them in this point of my life. We spent this Xmas together, spoke about our own problems/challenges and encouraged each others when life is down. It is a bit like the Buddhist Discussion Meeting I participated monthly.

Being granted an opportunity to work at Design ACB here is itself truly an amazing thing. Everyone knows that it is indeed extremely hard to get a job in the UK as a non-EEU national. However, I am able to put the practice of the Lotus Sutra into reality and persevere through hardships and champion it, making the impossible possible. My determination during that hard time was 'as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood or to obtain water from parched ground'. At the moment, I am the only non-EEU employee there. Very diversified cultural background, as we have colleagues from German, Italian, American, Polish background. Colleagues at ACB are very helpful when it comes to any technical / work-related questions; and very crazy too when it comes to 'playtime'... They are very beautiful human beings. There is so much to learn, I hope I do not disappoint them, especially those 3 young directors, sincerely respecting them from the bottom of my heart. There are a lot of challenges ahead but I have decided to face each of them head on! Bring it on! I am surrounded by beautiful, helpful and playful colleagues, I appreciate that a lot. Thank you ACB.

As for friendship, I think 2014 has been the most significant year when it comes to building bonds between friends. I met so many people this year, meeting at least 200 or so of them this whole year. Some are existing friends, housemates, some strangers, etc. Friends, I called are those whom I have spoken and met with and had a heart-to-heart conversation, let it be issues associated with work, family, friendship, society, economy, politics, architecture, food, Buddhism, you name it... Each conversation and encounter are very unique in its own way and had since then planted a seed in the bottom of my heart. These are the seeds of friendship. I have decided to mention the big word here together in this friendship section - L O V E. I had met a special one this year too, a very beautiful lady with very distinguished characters. That was what attracted me most, we have so much in common, we are both Buddhist, we had been letter-writing the old fashion way... Thank you for sharing your life with me. Though it was short but it has impacted my my life in some way. Please stay the way you are and be happy. I will always chant for your happiness and people around you.

On 17th July 2014, that day marked one of the most important day in my life - Graduation. A recognition for completion of my Masters Degree in Architecture.  So much effort was put in along the way, those countless nights drawings in the studio, doing models, eating Dominos, those countless power naps, those tears and laughters... They all surfaced into my mind at this very moment once again... I have to thank the ever highly respected Professor Alan Dunlop, lecturer Penny Lewis, lecturer Simon Leeman for their words of encouragement and the help they provided in any kind of dimensions throughout these 2 years within the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture - Masters Unit 2, the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom. One point need to be noted, they strived hard to assist me in the dimension of job-hunting too, sincerely appreciate that and thank you! Leaving University does not mean the lecturer - student relationship cease there, we managed to keep in touch with each other in different dimensions.


Your Blogger,
Ron.