Face the Music and Dance

Last week, I read an article about the Mozart effect, which has been a trend in these years. Although some scientists are debating on the Mozart effect, there are huge amounts of CDs and books of that in the store. People, especially pregnant women, may be attracted to the claimed spectacular effect on infant’s intellectual development. Nevertheless, the Mozart effect is still a myth because we cannot really prove it or disprove it.

One experiment shows that the kids who listen to a Mozart sonata in D major have improvement in paper-folding task. However, maybe it’s just a temporary effect on spatial reasoning, and its help is limited. On the other hand, some scientists find that music therapy is helpful for some patients who suffer from epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, or autism.

There are other anecdotes about the power of music. Some say a plant leans towards the source of classical music, especially Bach music, and another plant leans against the source of rock’n roll. Some say that cattle which listen to the music, especially Mozart, can produce more milk.

I don’t really know whether the Mozart effect is real or not, but I do agree that music has a soothing power for humans. I believe that music can relax and relieve our minds, and set our hearts free to fly. Sometimes music is the best companion when one is alone overloaded with unbearable weight of sorrow and pain. Music can also cross the borders of countries, and we may feel overwhelmed by music from different corners of the world. Sometimes music gives us a touch that is too deep for tears. Music strikes strings of our hearts and does incredible healing.

I don’t know much about music, but I appreciate the wondrous encounters with music. The issue of the Mozart effect may be still controversial, but it doesn’t stop us from enjoying the music. Maybe it’s not the right time to ponder the question now. Let’s just face the music and dance.

Housewife Issue

Recently, I have read an article from Times, and the content is about “housewives.” According to Times, some women write homemaking books and post online blogs about housewife’s skills, and they are quite popular.

Nowadays, maybe we should define “housewife” in a new way. Before, we might think that a housewife should be enslaved to her husband and should have no financial dependence and no personal recreation and pastimes. However, on one of the blogs, the blogger says that they feel tired and overworked, and they decide to have a new plan for life. In my opinion, to devote oneself to domesticity is not guilt, but a personal choice to live.

Thanks to their articles about how to clean or how to cook, many of us can try to do housework in an efficient way or a creative way. Some of the long lost skills are very useful in ordinary life. We might cheerfully find some knacks to knit a dishcloth or to clean the toilet. The skills can not only help us be smart to deal with the housework, but also give us pleasure and a sense of achievement when we finish our work. I find many of my friends are interested in knitting and cooking, and that shows even in this modern era, women would still like to do some handcrafts for fun or for other reasons. This trend can promote us to think outside of the box, and to think of other possibilities. The author who writes the homemaking manuals says that the blogs and manuals do not mean we’re going retrograde. I think the fashion of housewife is a reflection of the busy life style, and it also shows that doing domestic work well can also be a pride—the repetitive tasks can be an art, too.

I think we are lucky that women can freely choose to be a housewife or to go out for work at their will. Both can show women’s importance and ability. To accept different point of views and life styles can also show an embrace and tolerance of diversity in our societies. No matter what is fashionable, it is good progress.

Plain Stage but Moving Performance

I remember that last time I went to Fei Yu Qing’s live concert which had my heart filled with delight and content. Fei’s concert did not focus on the state-of-the-art stage effects which could provide pleasure to the eyes, but the simple, modest, and graceful touch which brought sensuous quality of music.

According to some reports, Fei did not hire any hair stylist. Instead, he blow-dried the hair on his own. He just prepared one suit for the concert, so he did not need anyone to take care of his clothes, either. The stage was decorated in simple and elegant way--There were some curtains which could be projected with variety of images. There were just a band and a few dancers in the back of the stage. All just highlighted the singer, Fei himself. Fei is a marvelous singer in old Chinese songs, and he is renowned for his crystal-like voice. To my surprise, he also sang some pop, folk, and Taiwanese songs in that concert. He has insisted in his gentle and delicate style of singing for many years, and he has also maintained his own posture when singing—raising his head 45 degrees upwards. I was fully satisfied with his singing and almost had goose bumps being in the live concert.

He is also a man with quick wit. He is talented in jokes which make the audience burst out laughing. He said that some great singers held concerts at the same time and people struggled to get the tickets, but he was also grateful for all seats being occupied in his concert. The last part of the concert was imitation. Fei is a genius in imitating other singers, and he always exaggerates the feature and makes it funny. The audience could not help applauding and laughing out loud. Later, Fei said that he found out what the audience really wanted to see is the abnormal Fei. The statement was killing me and other audience again.

Overall, I truly enjoyed his performance, and I was amazed that he did not attract people by special effects, but by his dedication to music. Time after time, the gentle voice and the sentimental songs are softly floating within my deep heart’s core and never fade away.

A Picture in My Mind--People in Kyoto

Encountering people and discovering different cultures and life styles in a foreign country are exciting and unforgettable experiences of going abroad. While backpacking through Kyoto, Japan, with my family this summer, I met some nice locals who helped me in different ways. The People I met reminded me of the warmth, hospitality, and mutual respect of valued humanity, which crosses international borders.

When my family and I arrived in Japan, we couldn’t take the scheduled train because of some accidents. We proceeded to the station counter, and a man in uniform came to ask me some questions. He told us about the railway accidents and how we could take another line and transfer. Although my Japanese is quite poor, he still tried to answer all my questions of traffic in a clear, slow, and easy way to help me understand. Finally, we found that taking the shuttle bus was the easiest and most direct way. We appreciated his assistance and departed. The information note he wrote is still in my drawer now.

Once, I had difficulty getting a bus and I turned to ask a Japanese man whom I thought was also a traveler. He answered my questions and gave one of his local maps to me. He still had a few maps, and he kept looking at them. After a little chatting, I found he worked for the local government, whose building was located on the opposite side of the road. He told me about the city bus, the festival, and the historical attractions of Kyoto, etc. He said that Kingakuji is the must-see place. After we got on the bus, we waved goodbye to him. But what impressed us the most happened in the next fifteen minutes. When the bus arrived at our stop, we didn’t notice that we should get off because we didn’t understand the language and supposed the destination is two stops farther. The driver burst out saying, “Taiwanese people, Taiwanese people!” We were surprised and immediately knew what he meant. We felt grateful that the man we met at the bus stop had reminded the driver where we would like to go so that we would not miss our destination. How thoughtful and kind he was.

I met other polite, generous, and earnest people in Kyoto and all of them composed the wonderful memories of my travel experiences. Thanks to them all, I really had a delightful time.