Amy Do Nguyet Anh

  Recently I heard a youtuber (here be barr) describe New York as a "transient" place. Not many people, especially young people, who move to New York decide to, or can, stay for a long time. They live in the big city for some years, then after experiencing the hype, parties, concerts, or whatever they wish, they move away to buy a house, get married, have children... That made me think about how transient all my life has been. Each city I move to, each apartment I move into, each job I'm offered, is a transient place. My goal has never been to hold onto any of those things, but rather to jump to the next. Which is why I never feel like I belong anywhere, but also I don't have homesickness because the definition of 'home' is so fleeting.  There are feelings that resemble being home. Like on the days I have no upcoming deadline or appointment, I just do nothing and stay indoors. Or like when I am so self-confident that I leave work until the last minute knowing ...

 It's been more than a year since I moved to Victoria so it's time that I post something about my apartment. Welp, since the last apartment, this one is even more minimalist! I don't even have a lot of furniture. I have a view from the 16th floor now so I made use of it by putting in a small desk aka dining table. At night sometimes I sit there by the window to read or study. And in the morning when it's not summer I sit there to work. I still have the pillow from my friend and blanket from another friend as the only decor in this living room. Oh, and plus Moomin. The kitchen is also basic and I hide most of my spices in the cupboard. This week I had a vase of flowers to lighten things up a little bit, but I only buy flowers when I spend the weekend in Victoria.  And, the living room is empty. It is my dance, yoga, music studio. So I need the floor space. Last year I got some string lights to brighten the mood a little bit during the darkest days of the year. My bedroom...

 Recently I had a chance to watch Panah Panahi's movie "Hit the Road" on the big screen. The scenes were so beautiful, and the emotions were subtle but powerful. It made me realize themes of loss, fear of uncertainty and family are so universal, regardless of country, culture, time. There is this scene in particular, which I clipped from the trailer video below, that really surprised me. What's the focus of this scene? It looks like a photo of a landscape on Instagram. Beautiful clouds, three trees that frame the scenery. The camera does not move throughout this entire scene. All we see is this landscape, the small silhouettes of the characters in the far distant. Yet, their emotions never felt so close to us. We hear the mother fussing about her son's attire and how if he's not dressed warm enough he'll get sick. We hear the son refusing all this fuss and trying to hide his stress and sadness of his departure. The father, hopping along on his foot that is...

Recently, I finished this movie, "Behind Cut", about an aspiring fashion designer and a delivery boy. Something about the movie really clicked with me, and it felt like by chance, I've been given a message to reflect on my life. The movie repeats a few times the symbol of a signal light at an intersection. Being a transportation engineer, I look at these things all the time at work. But in the context of this movie, the signal symbolizes moments in life where you can make a decision to go or stop. Yes, the light is telling you to go or not, but it's still your decision.  In one scene, the boys talk about how they're stagnant in life and they don't know what their next steps would be. The fashion designer, Ji Kin, is still uncertain about how to make a brand for his design. The delivery boy, Yeong Woo, feels like he doesn't have any opportunities do anything different.  Later in the movie, Ji Kin struggles to decide whether he should take the chance to go t...

 My symptoms are mostly gone and I'm not even coughing anymore. So I went back to Victoria and after dinner, went for a 2-hour walk along the harbour and the water, then out to the ocean. It was nice to breathe fresh air and hear the water splashing again.

 I worked my first full day and then continued watching this show about a gay student trying to deal with society's judgement of him. Went o sleep at 9 pm as "usual".