Chapter 16 Relax

First semester of graduate school at Columbia University. Since the beginning of the semester, in pursuit of excitement, I have taken 18 credits of courses at once (generally students only take 12 credits): there is no so-called weekend in this half year.Entering December, the final exams are swarming, and there is really an ambush from ten sides: three papers of 20 pages each, and a TV documentary.It must be handed in within two weeks, plus a three-hour in-class exam, which really made me realize the imagery and accuracy of "brain racking".Sleeping less than four hours a day makes the distinction between day and night irrelevant.After scrambling and crawling through this "black fortnight", the nerves have been ground into thin ones and stretched transparently.I couldn't bear to touch it anymore, so I stuffed all the books into the cabinet, and never allowed any notes to exist in my field of vision.

Sleep soundly for three days, then pack up and go to VAIL. Go skiing, the first time in my life. The blue sky, snow-capped mountains, pine forests, and elk, before I could exclaim, all the forbidden copper in my heart collapsed in an instant, and I took a deep breath of the air in the high mountains of Colorado. It was moist and cold, and slightly stinging my throat, but it gave me an indescribable pleasure .I laughed out loud for no reason, almost scaring myself. After staying in the dull computer room for too long, the emotions are wrinkled; too much is seen in black and white, and the eyes are only used to the shortest distance.Finally, there is a big sky above my head, with flying snow moistening my dry skin, I feel my nerves become stronger in the mountain wind and tree fragrance, and sing softly to the undulating melody of the distant mountains; I can see The flash in my eyes, through the way others look at me and the bright clouds at the end of my sight.

The people of Vail are simple and happy, like a group of children, the most colorful ski jackets, the most daring jokes, the best physical strength and appetite.There are maids in short-sleeved sarongs shuttling through the outdoor restaurant, there are men with bandages on their arms who still don’t forget to drink beer and brag, and there are also the carriage slowly driving through the brightly lit streets at dusk. Visitors to Vail come from all over the world, and even the troubled Princess Diana of England has come to Vail.At New Years, she, like everyone else in Vail, was looking for a power that had almost become alien—joy.No matter the princess or the villager, they become equal in the face of happiness, and the satisfaction of the self makes the worldly value irrelevant.Skiing and finding pleasure makes their communication a non-issue.

But skiing is still problematic, especially for someone like me who has never skied.In the past, the only sensory understanding of skiing was that I dreamed that I was galloping down from the snow peak, and suddenly found a thick pine tree directly in front of me at the turn, and I was about to hit it head-on, but I couldn't control my feet anyway... Fortunately, some of my friends are good skaters.Under their careful teaching, I mastered the essentials the next day.While taking care of his feet, he can actually raise his eyes and look around from time to time, which is quite pretentious.

The snow falls freely, sometimes densely and sometimes sparsely, without paying attention to any rules.The bushes by the stream are covered with layers of frost flowers, without the embellishment of spring blossoms and autumn fruits, it looks more elegant.On the branch of a tall tree was an eagle with black feathers, motionless in the howling wind, with its neck curled up to the sky.A tuft of golden fluff on the top of the forehead is the beauty in the silver world.It does not have the desolation of old trees and crows, nor the solitude of cold eyes towards others. It endures the cold wind and snow, but it is serene and self-satisfied;

I stopped and looked at it, which was an inconsiderate compliment, and it was not to blame.We stared at each other for a while, until a friend behind me yelled that I was blocking the way. One slide is five kilometers, and the mood is as relaxed as snowflakes.Only then do we know that the scenery in the snow and the mood in the snow are the real fun of skiing. The day before we left Vail, my friends and I had a hot air balloon experience. It was an exceptionally sunny day.The rainbow-colored balloon inflated into a full surprise, and my mood was already too light to be my own. There was almost no vibration, and it was already flying in mid-air.The earth that was still in it just now has turned into a landscape that is fading away.Don, the hot air balloon pilot, has 12 years of experience, but he admits that all he can do is adjust the height of the balloon to catch different wind directions. As for the specific route and landing point of the balloon, it is really up to fate.Everyone agreed: This is the charm of hot air balloons—the possibility of control and uncertainty, so this is more exciting than any precisely set flight.You can neither be blindly confident, nor dare to give up the opportunity to work hard.In fact, the same is true of the fun of life, which lies between the fixed and the uncertain.

Everyone admired the scenery below them all the way. When we overlook the world, is there a pair of eyes overlooking us? Back in New York, the results of the final exam were announced: except for a B+ in one subject, all the others were A, which is definitely a good grade at Columbia University.This is the end of the first winter vacation in the United States. The new semester has started.