1. Clothes

(1) What’s your favorite color of clothes?

I’d say, my favorite color is definitely blue, because it always gives me a sense of peace and another reason for this fact is that I’m a big fan of Chelsea football club whose home jersey/home kit is mainly blue.

So when it comes to sportswear, I choose blue first. But in social occasions, I prefer to wear some dark clothes. As you can see, I’m no expert at dressing. As you can see, I’m not adept/good at dressing and matching clothes.

Wearing black is great way to hide/get around/downplay the fact that I have no taste in fashion.

(2) What kind of clothes do you usually wear?

Actually, hardly do I ever consider what I should be wearing when I get up in the morning. I just don’t care too much if they would make me look nice, slim, dashy, mysterious or what, as long as they fit and can keep me warm in winter and cool in summer.

As I mentioned early, I’m crazy about/fascinated by sports events, so I like to wear the jacket endorsed by my idol, which in this case is Rafael Nadal who wears Nike’s jacket/those jackets while being interviewed after matches. He looks pretty cool. However, in some formal occasions or some serious situations, wearing a jacket/turning up in a jacket is clearly not an option, I’ll dress formally in a white shirt, black suit and tie.

(3) What kind of clothes do you never wear?

The kind of clothes that I would never wear would be stretchy pants or spandex.

I’ve never worn stretchy pants or spandex in my entire life.

I don’t know how I got this feeling that I think they look feminine. Well, even though I did see some sprinters like Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin in stretchy pants when they were racing in formal competitions. Maybe, that’s because girls wear them more often than boys do, and I’ve got this stereotype that stretchy pants are only for women.

(4) Do you wear the same style of clothes on weekdays and weekends?

It seems to me that as a teacher, I need to be a little bit careful with/pay attention to what I wear in class or during working hours. Usually, clothes that are too colorful or with sensitive/aggressive words are not allowed in school. This is one of the codes of conduct that is not only for students but for teachers as well.

On weekends, there are not too many restrictions. Because, on weekends, I am more of a normal person who wants to enjoy my spare time/relax than a teacher who should be a role model for students.

In a word, the clothes for weekdays and the clothes for weekends are not gonna be the same.

2. Changes

(1) Have you changed a lot since your childhood?

Yes, definitely, I’ve changed a lot both physically and psychologically.

I’ve changed a lot both on physical side and psychological side.

I am much taller, older and faster but not heavier than I was. Since I am very chubby before I hit puberty.

In terms of mental changes, I am more hardworking/studious/industrious, attentive, honest, focused and decisive, you know, because of years of life experience and work experience and some difficulties/predicaments/dilemmas/embarrassing moments I went through.

(2) What do you plan to change next year?

Well, I plan to build up my upper body and have a healthier life. Specifically, I will go to gym at least 5 times a week and only eat healthy food like vegetables, eggs and fish.

As for my career, I am not gonna change my job.

One reason is that under the current situation（corona-virus pandemic），our job market is not good for job-hoping because most companies are downsizing/ laying off their staff.

The second reason is that my job is fine. My home is not far from my work and every morning I ride my bike for no more than 15 minutes. My boss is very courteous, my colleagues are very friendly and the money/income/salary is good. So there is no reason I would change that.

(3)Do you like changes? why?

If you ask me, talk about my family and old friends, I hope they won’t change. I believe a complete family and stable relationship with my spouse is important for everything. They are the foundation of any other stuff like fortune/wealth, fame/reputation and happiness.

But for stuff like living conditions and income level, I wish they can improve in the next couple of years. I mean, come on, cars and houses, the more the better.

(4)Are there any changes in your hometown?

Yes, my hometown changed a lot in the past/last 20 years.

The first place that comes to my mind is where I live. I vividly remember when I moved here, there was nothing but several grocery stores on the street/the street was empty except for several grocery stores few and far between each other/standing sparsely.

If I wanted to buy some fancy stuff I needed to walk 5 blocks away to a big supermarket and walk all the way back because there weren’t many cabs passing by.

Talk about the city at large, I guess the whole city has changed especially the Eastern Economic Development Zone. 20 years ago, that area was just farmland, but now all you can see are infrastructures like big shopping malls, plazas and skyscrapers.

3. Text Messages

(1) Do you usually make phone calls or send text messages?

It is totally who I am talking to or what we need to discuss.

I send text messages to my friends more often than talk with them on the phone. Because most of the time we just chat or joke around. And for stuff like that both of us don’t necessarily need immediate replies, if he or she doesn’t answer my question right away, that’s OK, he or she can answer me whenever they get their things done.

But with my colleagues, I would call them, sometimes talking to them in person would be better. Because the things we need to talk are often from work and they are pretty serious, we all need the answers right after we asked our questions. And there tend to be something complicated that I would like to explain in detail. The information I need to convey will be clearer if we talk on the phone.

(2) Which do you prefer if there’s something important?

Well, for important things, there is no such thing “as one size fits all”.

When it’s about something urgent or emergency, I prefer to talk on the phone, because I can get the answer in just seconds.

However, if it involves stuff like transaction, detailed list or trading record, apparently sending text messages is a much better way. Because we can refer to these chatting records anytime we want to, it more convenient.

(3) Do you think text messages can convey the information well?

Maybe a lot of people believe that when we are texting, we have time to think about what we are gonna say before we send that message, so in this way we can convey the information well.

But I don’t think so. There could always be some risks of missing out emotion and intonation. In face to face conversations, we always speak with melody and intonation to our voice and we’ll change our meaning depending on that. Reading a phrase, instead of hearing it spoken aloud, makes it easy to misunderstand the speaker’s intention or their aim.

(4) Is there any situation when texting someone is better than calling them?

Actually, there are a lot of situations. When the person you are calling is in the middle of something like a meeting, you don’t want to interrupt him or make him leave the table just to return your call. Or when this person is concentrating on something and he forgot to switch his cellphone into silent mode, your phone call could be awfully annoying.

4. The weekend

(1)Are weekends important to you?

I suppose weekends are important not only for me but for everyone who has to work from Monday to Friday. After one week’s worth of work, I need to reboot myself and get some energy from a sleep and hanging out with my friends. Such two days off can help me refresh and get ready for my new week’s work.

And weekends are probably the best time for you to do your housework or do the chores. For example, my fridge was broken and it would take the mechanic/technician at least 2 hours to fix it. I can’t spare two hours on weekdays, since usually I work till 7pm and at this time mechanics are all off work.

Other than these reasons, I’m sick of eating fast food for lunch on work days, on weekends I can cook by myself or go to a fancy restaurant with my parents.

(2) How do you (usually) spend the weekend?

Speaking of spending weekends, the first and most important thing is to sleep till at least 9 o’clock in the morning. You may not understand how it feels to get up at five fifty every day except Saturday and Sunday. After 10 hours’ sleep, I feel like I’m Michael Jordan. After getting washed up and finishing breakfast, it usually takes the rest of my morning to do all the laundry, you know, there is no way I could do that on weekdays. In the afternoon, sometimes I take a trip with my family to the tourist attractions near the urban area, unless I would invite my friends to my apartment or I go to their house. We got to spend the entire afternoon together, which is amazing.

（3）Which do you prefer, Saturday or Sunday?

I guess a lot of people would prefer Saturday to Sunday, and I’m no exception, either.

Because on Saturday, I don’t need to worry about my work at all, I’ve got a whole day, which is the following Sunday, to do my work. I can do all the stuff I like on Saturday with my friends, just like what/as I mentioned, they also feel like they have plenty of spare time on Saturday, so we can do all these together.

But sometimes, I love Sunday a lot more than Saturday, since my son comes home from his school on Sundays. He spends 6 days at school and Sunday is the only day I can see him since we are both very busy on weekdays. Besides this, on Sunday I can finally focus on my work, because I’ve had all the chores done on Saturday, sometimes I consider/think of myself as a workaholic.

(4) What do you usually do on that day?

I get up at 8:30 and play video games with my cousin for 3 hours in the morning. In the afternoon me and my family would all go shopping at a big shopping center just so we can stockpile enough daily necessities for the next week.

(1) What are you going to (planning to ) do next weekend?

I’m not gonna lie to you. I’m gonna stay at home with my family. Because we are still in the midst of this horrific Corona-virus Pandemic, it’s better we just stay around where we live and be careful with where we go, especially be alert to those high-risk area. Even though there hasn’t been any new case reported, staying at home may not be a bad idea, for our own good and for our country’s/human beings’ good at large.

(2) Is it important for people to have weekends off?

Personally speaking, weekends are very important for people, especially for those under great pressure from Monday to Friday. To have two days off is necessary for both their physical health and mental health. In modern society, there are quite a few diseases associated with mental health issues such as depression, autism and metabolic disorders.

We humans are not robots, we have emotions and there are limits to our psychological enduring capacity. Our lives are not only about work and money, we still have plenty of other stuff to care about, like friendship and family (affection). On this level, maybe those weekends are not simply for you but for your loved ones as well.

(3) Should people be paid overtime for working on the weekend?

In all honesty, I don’t mind working on weekends. But getting paid is necessary.

It seems to me that getting paid overtime isn’t about money or compensation/subsidy itself, it’s about the value of my working. I don’t want to be viewed as a person who does nothing worth anything. Just because I work on weekends doesn’t mean my work is valueless/worthless. I still contribute to the development of my company and I still help my boss handle businesses. What I do on weekends is nothing less than any two days’ worth of work on weekdays.

Well, I think people should get paid for working outside weekdays. First thing is that it’s illegal for the employers to ask theirs employees to do extra work on weekends. No matter who those employers are, they can’t be against the law. Second thing is that sometimes people don’t care too much about how much they get paid, they just need this compensation as sort of mental comfort for their terrible weekends. Such invisible comfort is likely to be bigger than what they can actually get from this.

5. Picnic

(1) Did you go on a picnic when you were a child?

In my memory, I am not sure if that counts as a picnic. When I was a primary school student, we had this school trip where our teachers allowed us to bring some fruit and snacks. As young children, eating these cookies, jelly and potato chips was a part of the pleasure for the whole trip since we could share these foods with our friends, it was quite exciting. And our teacher always reminded us to clean up the rubbish before we leave.

I am sorry to say I never went on a picnic when I was a child. Because I grew up in the city/urban area and both of my parents were too business that time to prepare a picnic on weekends. Moreover, it was not very safe for a bunch of kids to go to the rural area/suburb all by ourselves and we could not do that in the park either, since it was not allowed/against the rules.

（2）How often do you go on a picnic now?

In all honesty, I go on a picnic or an excursion that involves a picnic more or less once a month in summer and I would never do this in any other seasons. Because in winter, it’s damn freezing and the road condition is not good enough for us to drive safely since the roads can be frozen or covered with snow. In spring, it is windy outside; we can never enjoy a happy/joyous/jouful/perfect/wonderful picnic without wind disturbing us. In fall, the weather turns cold/the temperature starts to drop/go down, for us living in the city, we need some time to adapt to this new environment, otherwise, we are at risk of getting sick.

Well, even in summer, the weather is not always sunny and clear; there are sometimes downpours, heavy rains, rainstorms and other weather conditions. Furthermore, I’m not gonna lie, it’s not likely that I’m in great mood on every weekend. So going on a picnic once a month in summer is totally understandable.

(3) Where do you go on a picnic?

To do that in a park would be very convenient, because in the city, there are a couple parks where we can sit by an artificial lake or a real lake on the lawn/grass. But this is not my first option, since to picnic in a park, you have to follow the rules of the park, otherwise they won’t let you do that. Other than the rules, picnicking in a park is noisy and easily to be interrupted by some kids. It could be annoying. The worst thing is that some people would spit on the grass, which is disgusting.

So, I prefer to go to the outskirts/suburb to find woods or some resorts with trees, rivers, even with some birds or squirrels, it feels like I can finally open my arms and embrace nature.

(4) What is the difference between a picnic and cooking at home?

As far as I can tell, they are different. Going on a picnic is supposed to be a lot more fun than cooking at home. If you go on a picnic, you always want to go with a bunch of friends, otherwise it’s just not worth all the preparation and all the time you drive/spend on the road. Actually it’s not about what you eat, it’s about where you eat and who you picnic with. To hold a party in the open is pretty cool. And we hope this could be an amazing trip.

However, cooking at home is more of a daily routine, since as a human being, we all have to eat. All we care about is to get ourselves feel full/feed ourselves. Usually, we cook alone or with our spouse. Maybe, these are the two people you see most in your entire life. In short, we just don’t have too much expectation from cooking at home.

6. Furniture

(1) Are there much furniture in the place where you live?

No, there isn’t much furniture in my apartment. Because I’m not that type of guy who wants to have a luxurious life-style. A bed, a bookshelf, a desk and a sofa are enough for me. Other than this, it seems to me that the emptier my room is, the easier I’m able to find my stuff when I need it. Also, too much furniture will make the room look small.

(2) Did you ever choose a piece of furniture?

Yes, of course/definitely, I chose my bookcase and my desk all by myself. Even though, I’m lousy at matching furniture, I still wouldn’t let other one do this for me either, since it is my room, I wouldn’t want to blame anyone if things go wrong. Actually, I ended up with an ensemble of desk and bookcase, which served me well by saving me time of matching these two pieces.

Yes, you see, the first thing is I’m allowed to choose my furniture right now since I’m an adult and that’s obvious. I’ m also allowed to drink and come home late by the way. The second thing is that decorating room is so much fun; I got to go to the shopping mall/market to see all the stuff that can be possibly suit for my room and exchange thoughts with my friends. Maybe the time itself I spend in the market is valuable enough.

(3) Do you think furniture is important in a house/apartment?

Yes, to my mind, furniture is like necessity in my room. In terms of practicality, you can’t imagine a house without a single piece of furniture right? I mean, where do you sleep and hang out with you friends if you don’t have a bed or a couch. An apartment without furniture is not complete.

Aesthetically speaking, having a room without any furniture is kind of a waste. It’s like having a fine photo frame without a pretty picture in it.

(4) What kind of furniture do you like?

I like my furniture to be single-colored but the color needs to be light and gentle. Excessively bright-colored furniture can make me dazzling; on the other hand, dark color can make a room look gloomy. I’m the type of guy who likes to be in-between when it comes to color.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m not a professional, so I can’t give you too many specific ideas about furniture’s design or style. But I do prefer wooden furniture to any other else. It just make my room look more classic and full of artistic flavor/atmosphere. But as far as apparatus/appliance goes, I definitely wouldn’t want them to be made from wood, considering their function/utility.

(5) What is the most useful piece of furniture in your house?

I would say it’s my desk. Because I sit at my desk all the time playing computer games/PC games or reading books. It is the fact that I spend a lot of time at my desk so I consider it to be useful. Maybe on another level that’s not about time, if you took my desk away like forever, I would feel lonely and empty inside for quite long time for sure. It feels like someone separate me and my best friend forever.