Blog 2: Youth – A Story about my Father
Oct. 7, 2017 4:07 PM
A century ago Samuel Ullman (1840-1924) wrote in his short article “Youth” that:
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind;
it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees;
it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions;
it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
I always think of my father when I read these words. My father is over 70 years old, but he has a very “young” heart. He studied electrical engineering in Harbin, a beautiful city in the north-east of China. He worked as a cable engineer all his life. He has designed cable making machines and has been an ISO quality control specialist for the cable industry. But he has not only devoted himself to his profession. In his spare time, he enjoys many different hobbies. He loves writing, painting, singing and playing musical instruments. He’s really good at everything he’s interested in. I think the reason for this is that he is always passionate about all of his hobbies and persists in learning and practicing them. My sister and I like to call my father “the young pioneer” because he’s always like a little boy, curious about everything and loves learning new things. Some years ago when most people at his age didn’t even know how to use the internet, he had already set up an online blog and had around a thousand fans.
A few years ago, when my father visited Yunnan, a southwestern area of China where many minorities live, he fell in love with a special instrument called Hulusi. The English name for Hulusi is cucurbit flute. It has a history of more than 3000 years. He taught himself how to play it by watching free online learning videos and reading books. Within two years he already played it so well that he won the second prize at the cucurbit flute competition in my home town Most of the other participants had studied the curcurbit flute Flute full-time for many years. He has performed at many events in both China and Australia. He also teaches a lot of kids to play the cucurbit flute.
I see my father as my role model and really wish that I can excel in my profession, while becoming a good portrait artist one day.
However, essentially I want to be like him and always keep a young heart.
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