One Quarter Has Passed....

This is crazy....Another quarter has already passed!!!! Just finished the finals yesterday, and next week the new quarter of this semester will begin. How come time rushes so fast???

But, I'm glad that I only have to do this program for one year. Then I can finally get a job and work in the real world. Well, this is another problem: finding a job.... Where will I be after I graduate??? Of course, my first priority is moving to Germany. However, getting a job there from here is not an easy issue, especially my German is still at basic level. Although for an investment bank environment, speaking English is fair enough, the problem is that if I can really get a job from an investment bank!!! Thinking of these things causes me headaches....

Richard will be back to Germany on Sunday. I'm getting used to the geographical distance between us, but actually, after I came back from Germany, I did feel that the distance between our hearts has become closer and closer. While he's staying in Boston this time, he called me almost everyday and I felt happy that he does think of me, no matter how busy, tired or weak he was, he would still give me a call or send me a message. I'm so touched. T__T

Therefore, I have to keep working hard to find a job in Germany. Don't want to part from him for too long a period. No matter what, I must get closer to him!!! Gogogo~~

Learn to be Lonely

It's kind of hard to explain why this headline shows here. But I hope it's just a temporary situation that will disappear soon.

Long distance relationship is always a very difficult one among all kinds of relationship. Lucky me, I'm in that situation for the most of my relationships. Maybe it's just because I'm too independent and busy, I seldom asked my partners to do anything for me, especially when we were parted. And that gave them the impression that I'm very strong and do not need extra care.

Yes, I tried to be strong. Not pretending, but really became stronger. However, there were still days that I felt lonely away from my loved ones. I would not tell them that I didn't feel good, because that would only make them worry about me. Thus, I had to "Learn to be Lonely."

Recently, Richard came to Boston to attend a conference. I am very happy that he could make it to the U.S. because he always wanted to go to that conference and also go back to MIT and Harvard to attend the fellowship reunion. I am also happy that we're now in the same country and being closer, geographically. However, he was sick before he departed from Germany and was getting more and more serious when he arrived in Boston. He did write me emails and call me to not to worry too much about him. But still, I'm a nervous person and want to know if he has been better or not. I called him several times yesterday but couldn't get through him. That made me more anxious!! Suddenly, I found myself so lonely and I put too much attention on Richard that I could not concentrate on other things!!!

I felt sad and angry about myself that I couldn't stay the way I was as he was in Germany. Even though he's now in Boston, he's still 3000 miles away from me!!! I should not be that excited and lose control of my emotion.....

So, I should go back to my normal life and stay the way we used to communicate with each other. I'll be fine in a few days!!

夢幻南德之新天鵝堡

來到德國好幾天，到慕尼黑之後都是自己一個人在大冒險，終於來到週末，親愛的Richard可以陪我去玩耍一下了。這天起得挺晚，但是還是趕上了中午的火車，在下午時間約莫兩點半抵達了新天鵝堡的所在地。

很幸運的，又是一個有太陽的好天氣，搭火車的一路上，只見皚皚白雪厚厚的覆在兩旁的道路上，這是來到這邊之後第一次看到雪，一方面很興奮，一方面又覺得好冷，真是矛盾的心情呀！不過下車之後，看到城堡也蓋上了一層白雪，非常有白色聖誕節的味道啊～～所以，就算冷死我也甘願啦！

火車兩旁道路的積雪

位於阿爾卑斯山的山腳下，新天鵝堡是巴伐利亞邦國王Ludwig二世建造的城堡，他是一個非常具有浪漫藝術情懷的人，對於音樂以及中世紀的各種故事都十分著迷，無心從政，只想遠離塵囂，在他夢想中的城堡裡，與音樂共度餘生。新天鵝堡自1869年開始費時15年的建造時間，Ludwig二世實際上只住在裡面半年就過世了。城堡在他過世之前仍未完工，所以直到現在仍然是保留著當初未完工的模樣，變成了博物館，供遊客參觀。也因為新天鵝堡夢幻的建築外表，成為當代最有名的城堡。迪士尼的城堡商標還有遊樂園裡的睡美人城堡，都是以這座僅有一百多年歷史的新天鵝堡做為藍圖設計而成的。

Schloss Neuschwanstein--新天鵝堡

先去買了票，確定入場時間，我們就開始在附近照相，並且一路爬坡往城堡的大門口前進。下圖這座黃色的城堡，也是Ludwig二世的城堡。在新天鵝堡建造的期間，他就住在這個城堡裡監督新天鵝堡的建造工程，稍有不滿意的地方，就立刻修改。正是因為他的善變以及多種要求，新天鵝堡耗時多年，卻始終沒有完工，而他自己也無緣享受這夢幻般的城堡。

Ludwig監工時住的城堡

經過大約半小時的上坡，在半路因為肚子餓買了熱狗還有一點零嘴之外，我們還挺快就抵達主要的入口處，距離我們入場的時間還有二十多分鐘，我們也開始在附近及城門裡照相，因為進去城堡裡，是禁止照相的喔！

城堡外牆


入口處城門


城門內部

接著我們又走到稍微下坡處的一個天台照相，希望可以照到全景。這個雲的形狀和城堡得尖塔，真是太搭了！

城堡頂端


天台上照的城堡


天台上與Richard合影

終於輪到我們進去參觀了，導遊小姐很親切專業的跟我們解說著城堡的歷史以及每個房間的特色，新天鵝堡之所以會有這個名字，就是因為Ludwig二世非常喜歡天鵝。所以真的可以發現城堡裡有非常多天鵝的圖案，不管是門把還是壁畫甚至標本，都出現天鵝的影子。但是可惜裡面不能拍照，不然真想把裡頭華麗的裝潢以及栩栩如生的壁畫給照起來呢！既然不能照裡面，導遊小姐說照外面的風景是可以的，所以就照下城堡後方美麗的湖吧！不過據說Ludwig二世就是死在這個湖裡的！有一說是自殺，也有一說是遭人毒殺，但因為皇室不願開棺驗屍，於是他的死因至今仍是個謎團囉！

城堡後的湖


從城堡裡看山下的居所

參觀完城堡內部，天色漸漸暗了，於是我們也準備下山搭車回慕尼黑啦！臨上車前，仍是不忘再來一張，配上滿月，以及老樹的襯托，非常有感覺。當然，攝影師是我家的Richard囉！！呵呵～



回到慕尼黑，接到Julia的邀請，我們就一起到她家吃晚飯，因為我們隔天就要去柏林了，所以算是提前一起過耶誕節吧！於是等Hanno也到了之後，我們就開飯了！今日晚餐：奶油義大利麵。Julia說，這大概是最肥的奶油醬汁了（我的天哪！熱量熱量熱量！！）不過真的好好吃喔～反正天寒地凍的需要熱量，就吃吧！>__<

晚飯後，我們又照了很多很好笑的合照，這邊就不放啦！有興趣的人，到我的相簿去看吧～（連結在My Favorite Link裡面喔～～　^__^）

我和Richard兩人第一次的夢幻城堡之旅，在冰天雪地的夜裡，帶著圓滾滾的肚子和飽足的笑容，圓滿的畫下句點。