Ziwei Z

Brussels, Bruges – Belgium.
Travel

Brussels, Bruges – Belgium.

What happened in Brussels recently deeply upset me. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become much more empathetic and attuned to what’s happening all around the world. However, things hit me the hardest when they happen in places I’ve been. Belgium was never on the top of my to go list, but when you live in Europe as a student, every city is fair game as long as it’s cheap. So for no other particular reason than Brussels being an affordable destination during that particular weekend in October 2014, I hopped on an easyjet without having the highest expectations. With no…

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04/14/2016
Five Things About London
Thoughts

Five Things About London

As I may have mentioned once, or a hundred times really, London is my favorite place in the world. I’m completely in love with it. Yes I’m fully aware that it’s not a perfect city – there are even things I hate about it – but I still love it as a whole. After studying abroad, I missed my life in Europe immensely. Now that more than a year has passed by since my return, a lot of the memories are starting to fade. However, my love for London never seems to cease. Here are five random things I miss…

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04/01/2016
Restart
Food

Restart

A few days ago my boyfriend and I celebrated our one year anniversary by treating ourselves to a whole day of deliciousness and a stroll on Rodeo Drive, not too unlike any other day in our relationship really. A year is a magical length of time to me. Facebook likes to remind us of our memories from one or more years ago this day, but I’ve been subconsciously doing it for a long time. Whenever I get some free time to myself to reflect in a day, I always end up trying to remember what happened a year ago. If…

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03/10/2016
Settling In
Los Angeles

Settling In

It’s really not where you are, but how you are that decides if you can get a peace of mind. Though my move to LA has been pretty stress free, I still have moments of complete weakness when I think to myself about how much I hate this place. But maybe I just haven’t given it a fair chance. Living in a city is certainly not the same as visiting it for short day trips. Third Street Promenade and the Santa Monica pier are the ultimate tourist haven, but going there for a stroll on a beautiful afternoon made me…

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02/25/2016
UCSD and Me
Thoughts

UCSD and Me

I don’t know if the cliche that “college is the best time of your life” is true, since I’ve only been out of college for less than a year. Whenever I get the chance to walk on UCSD campus now, however, I miss my college life immensely. My appreciation for my university, and just education in general, has definitely been increasing continuously through the years. I went to a high school where students were so overachieving that UCSD only seemed like a mediocre choice, so it wasn’t until I arrived in San Diego in fall 2011 that I had a…

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02/04/2016
Family, Smog, Leaves – A Weekend in Beijing
Thoughts

Family, Smog, Leaves – A Weekend in Beijing

How can you breathe in China? Does everyone really wear masks outside? China’s heavy smog has fascinated foreigners more than anything else, making China literally more mysterious than it already can be. Being back in Beijing for the first time in almost two years, however, I’ve noticed things beyond its imperfections and difficulties. The smog was apparent as soon as I first glanced outside of my plane window as we approached Peking International Airport. On the ride home, everything was hard to see, even though our apartment is technically in the suburbs of Beijing, where it’s less developed but populated…

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11/16/2015