It’s hard to believe that just a little over a week ago I was sitting on Columbia’s low steps, wearing my graduation gown, prepared to spend my last hours as an undergraduate student before crossing over to that frightening, but also exciting realm of true adulthood. But before plunging into work life, I, like so many of my recently graduated friends, decided to take that quintessential post-graduation trip to Europe. And so it is that I am writing this blog post from Istanbul.
It’s not my first time in Europe, I even spent a year in Paris for high school, but traveling post-college is such a different experience compared to my travels with family a few years ago. I’m much more appreciative of the historical landmarks, and find myself even referencing information that I learned in Art Humanities, a Columbia required course, when looking at the architecture of buildings. Having only arrived on Istanbul yesterday, I will save my impressions of Turkey for when I’ve seen more of this beautiful country, but wanted to just quickly comment on the four days I recently spent in Barcelona.
I love New York but I’ve realized that living there has made me acclimatized to the fast paced life that so many New Yorkers lead. As students we shuffle from one class to the next, then onto our extracurricular activities, and even outings with friends are oftentimes planned far in advance and scheduled into our iCal, which is then synced to our iPhone, iPad, computer, or whichever device of choice we use to get through our busy days. Europe somehow feels different. In Barcelona, I saw many a patron stop into bakeries, chatting with store owners before picking up their pastries and going on with their day. Lunch is also an extended two hour affair, and it is customary to stop and have a quick snack after work at 5PM, before starting dinner at 9PM…a meal that stretches close to midnight even on weekdays. In general, the atmosphere feels more friendly, a nice contrast to the concrete jungle that I feel describes NYC at times.
This lifestyle reminds me of the Chinese phrase, “Xiang shou” (享受), and seeing this in action over the last week in Europe makes me determined to inject some of it into my life once I start work. In Chinese culture, although success is extremely important and highly sought after, once in a while one needs to stop and enjoy his or her accomplishments, instead of blindly striving on. I realize this is no easy feat given the demanding nature of finance, but knowing when to stop and smell the roses is just as important as carrying out the values of hard work that have been instilled in me (especially growing up in a stereotypically Asian family). And I truly hope that after close to a month in Europe I’ll have a better sense of just how to do that.
很难相信在一个多礼拜以前我还坐在哥伦比亚的阶梯上, 穿着我的毕业袍, 准备迎接我大学生活的最后几小时. 毕业之后就得跨到成人生活这个可怕但是刺激的领域. 但是在投入职业生涯之前, 我, 就像很多我最近毕业的朋友一样, 决定毕业之后来一趟典型的欧洲之旅． 因为这样，我现在是在伊斯坦布尔写着篇部落格．
这不是我第一次来欧洲. 我甚至高中花了一年的时间在巴黎. 但是大学后的旅行跟我几年前跟家人的旅行十分不一样. 我更懂得体会历史地标,并发现看到自己建筑时能够用上我在人文艺术课，一堂哥伦比亚的必修课，所学到的东西。我昨天才抵达伊斯坦布尔, 所以我把我对土耳其的印象留到等我看过更多这美丽的国家之后再说. 但是我想很快的评论我在巴塞罗那最近这四天.
我很爱纽约，但是我发觉住在那里让我习惯了纽约人快速的生活步调. 学生时代我们从一堂课赶到另一堂课,再去参加不同课外活动， 跟朋友出去玩常常要在很早以前规划并记录在我们的iCal上, 再传送到我们的iPhone, iPad, 电脑或是任何用来帮助我们度过我们忙碌日子的电子厂品上. 欧洲的感觉不太一样. 在巴塞罗那, 我看到很多行人走进面包店里拿他们糕点之前会先跟店主聊天再上路. 午餐也延长至两个小时之久， 而且他们习惯五点下班时候吃点心, 在九点吃晚餐，有时候平常日时还会接近凌晨才吃饭. 大体而言,这边的气氛比较友善， 跟纽约是这个都市丛林形成很好的对比．
这种生活让我想起一个中国词汇“享受 ”，这一周在欧洲看到享受在生活当中的体验让我决定要在工作开始之后将享受融入我的生活. 对于中国的文化, 成功是非常重要也是很多人追求的, 但是偶尔人需要停下来享受他的成就, 而不是盲目的一直走下去。 我了解到这不会很容易，尤其在金融这项如此费力的行业里, 但知道何时停下来闻闻花香跟实践从小灌输在我身上的工作价值观是一样重要的 (特别是因为我从小在一个典型亚洲家庭长大). 我衷心希望在欧洲快一个月之后, 我可以更了解到底要如何才能做到我想要的.