Fast Forward, Year 2023
February 16, 2024
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中文: 快进，2023年
I am currently on a red-eye flight from Hong Kong to Zurich, a 14-hour flight. A Boeing 777 with 10 seats crammed into a row. My sleeping neighbor made the already cramped space even worse with his long legs straight stuck into the space where I’m supposed to put my legs. I originally planned to drink some wine with the meal on the plane, getting tipsy and sleep through the whole flight. But the sudden cold I caught the night before completely ruined this plan. With a running nose, I know there’s absolutely zero chance I can get some sleep before I get to Switzerland. Facing the remaining 8 hours of flight, I suddenly realized that now is an excellent time to organize the photos for 2023. 2023 is a year of quite some ups and downs for me. The last year’s rollercoaster reflects in the photos I took. Sorting photos by time, I found that there was a gap of nearly two months in which I basically didn’t take any photos. So this time, I’m not going to force myself to pick a few photos for each month, I’d rather just pick interesting ones about which I get something to say.
The snow covered the roofs and cars all over Lake Leman.
My 2023 begins in a state of calm, I thought. In January, it snowed heavily in Lausanne. From a distance from my office, I can see Evian, Lake Leman, and the cars in the school parking lot covered by snow, shadowed by thick marshmallow clouds. But even with the good view, I got little time to calm down and look far away. Most of the time, I was stuck in front of my computer and kept scratching my head. While scratching, I also occasionally noticed my hair abandon me and fall on the table in twos and threes. But it was probably hard for me to foresee back then. One year later, I would be worried about completely different things.
Until around mid-June, I was kept constantly busy with various things. There are always deadlines one after another that I have to meet. But I’m actually glad to see from the photos, that I did break free from work a few times – a weekend in Paris, a conference in Saarbrücken, Germany, brief visits to Luxembourg and Strasbourg. I also went to the UK several times, experiencing the extremely lacking urban life in the small Swiss town of Lausanne.
The very last picture before moving out my room. Also featured are my floor lamp, monitor, headset, microphone, fountain pen, and electric guitar.
However, by the end of June, the once unreal worries turned into a brutal reality. The boat of my life capsized in no time. I had to leave my study and my life in Lausanne, and I had two and a half months to leave a room I thought I would live in for five years. I sublet the house, cleared out the clutter, and cleaned the room. But just all of these has really worn me out, left me mentally and physically exhausted. I hadn’t had any sleep for the last two nights before I boarded the train leaving Lausanne. I was so exhausted that I sometimes just lay on the floor and stared at the ceiling with empty eyes, silently praying that everything would be over when I stood up, and I can go back to my bed and have a nice sleep. If someone were standing next to me at that time, they would definitely lament that my eyes were so empty. Now that I think about it, I really need to thank the friends who let me store the box at their places.
I probably shouldn’t have bought that incredibly heavy floor lamp, as well.
Anyway, the following is a small selected compilation of the photos I had from my travels and life back home last year.
Waterfront
Brighton's seaside has a pirated and dilapidated sea pier amusement park, a pebbled beach, and countless seagulls.
Brighton's Sea Pier Playground. In the thick fog, there is quite a scary atmosphere. But if you look at the pedestrians and busy traffic around you, you feel a little more relaxed, and what you see is just a set of a horror movie.
While cliffs by the sea.
A windmill surrounded by large industrial chimneys.
Bicycles and canals are scattered throughout Delft.
The night of Delft.
On a boat in a Dutch town. The lake surface is reflected on the glass on the top of the boat.
What happened in 2022?
Ice? This always sounds like a offer I can't refuse.
Museums
At the entrance of the Louvre at night.
If they sell this at an affordable price. I will for sure buy one for my desk.
Eternal watchers.
Egyptian boats in Egypt.
Egyptian boats in France. You tell me why it's in France?
Looking forward to Olympics
Strasbourg cathedral.
Dusk
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque didn't get all the attention.
Visitors in the very big mosque.
The sunset hour in Cairo, traffic is jammed.
White disks all over the buildings.
Caramel Peanuts for museum visitors.
An afternoon in Flon, Lausanne, gloomy and shiny. I was on my way to grocery.
A game stall in Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi, maybe a little bit creepy.
Pieces About My First 20 Years of Life
After leaving Switzerland, I stayed in Shenzhen for quite a while. It was a lovely time. I have had some opportunities to record the first 20 years of my life with my camera. But it seems that the time that has passed is the past. No matter how hard I try to duplicate my memories. It’s just always difficult to get it right.
A delivery person on his e-bike, through the old and deteriorated part of the city. The once highest building in Shenzhen in the horizon.
A chinese chess game on my grandma's bed.
No parking below the pine tree.
BBQ with stools.
Dumplings in the making.
Coffee corner, cold milk tea, butter on the knife.
Skyscrapers below the dark sky.
General post office.
A rainy day.
A local dim sum restaurant, 'spring all over the world.'
It’s about spring time, hope you have the spring all over the part of world you live in, if you’re in the same hemisphere as I am.