life – Grow with me

My Netherlands adventures with the language genius

Long time no blog, guys! A few of you actually asked me when I would blog about the Netherlands. I had been meaning to, but it takes a lot of brain cells. However, I will try my best to give you guys some interesting tips and stories.

Here are some of the things that surprised me quite a bit about the Netherlands:

The number of bikes

The moment I arrived to Rotterdam, I saw AN INSANE AMOUNT of bikes. I think there were at least several hundreds. Biking is extremely common in Rotterdam/the Netherlands. I’d say you’ll see a biker every 10 seconds (not exaggerating). They have their own designated bike lanes, but you still need to pay a lot of attention if you’re trying to cross the streets.

Have you ever seen so many bikes before?

Expect A LOT of walking

Similar to Paris, I don’t think the streets were designed for cars. If you go to Amsterdam, you’ll see a lot of roads that look more like square, rocky tiles. It’s not exactly a smooth surface, and the streets are crowded. It’s extremely difficult for cars to go through a lot of streets, so even if you want to be driven somewhere, it’d probably be like a 25 min walk vs a 20 min car ride in the city center. Hence, if you want to go to the Netherlands, either be prepared to bike or walk a lot. If you are not a fan of either, then it’s probably not a good idea for you to go.

Their English is amazing

We struggled a lot in Paris, but we were pleasantly surprised by how fluent everyone’s English was in the Netherlands. It seemed like 90-95% of the people we encountered spoke like an American. They are able to switch to Dutch and other languages very seamlessly. If you are afraid of not being able to communicate in the Netherlands, do not fear. As long as you can speak English, you’re basically fine 95% of the time.

They are very tall

I’ve never seen such tall people in my life. Apparently, people from the Netherlands are the tallest on the planet. The average height is around 186cm, and it’s very common to see guys above 190cm. I, as a tiny Asian girl who is 158cm, felt like a midget. The doors are also so big.

They love doors

Speaking of doors, I’ve also never seen so many doors in my life. Sometimes, entering the bathroom means you’d open three doors. One door, and then there’s another door (I guess in case people entered by mistake?), and then that’s where the sink will be for people to wash their hands. Then, to actually go to the toilet, you have to open another door. I found it very strange since in North America, we usually just have one door, and then a bunch of stalls lined up next to each other.

Note: The doors are also incredibly heavy because they’re actual wooden doors and not cheap plastic stuff. Continue reading “My Netherlands adventures with the language genius”

Travelling to Paris: My experience and helpful tourist tips

Surprises

Narrow streets: I didn’t expect the streets to be so tiny! I could literally cross some streets in six steps (I counted). It is not wise to drive in the heart of Paris, and most of the time, you could probably get to your destination faster by walking if you’re already in the area.

Uphill: I had no idea that everywhere would be like climbing a mountain/hiking. The streets are so slanted that it’s a huge workout every day if you’re outside. If you’re not physically fit and able to walk a lot, I would NOT recommend going to Paris. Many places don’t have elevators because the buildings were built hundreds of years ago.

Police presence: I did not expect the police to be holding all these gigantic assault rifles on the streets. They were alert and ready to fire. You wouldn’t want to mess with them!

Chinese: The airport has Chinese signs everywhere. The Chinese tourists must bring in so much money.

Fit people: I did not expect the Frenchmen to be so fit/skinny. I would say the majority (at least 75-80%) has the body type like One Direction when they had first debuted. I think it must be all the walking.

Note: I was only in Paris, so I’m not sure if it’s the same outside of Paris

Not many fast food chains: Apart from several McDonalds and Starbucks, I did not see any of the fast food/American chains that I commonly see in North America. I was surprised since there are quite a lot of fast food chains in Asia. It seems like the French really protected themselves from Americanization.

Things to Note

A lot of security: If you’re planning to go to a tourist attraction, expect to go through heavy security check. You’ll need to remove all your belongings and go through a scanner like at the airport. So, avoid carrying a lot of stuff. If your bag is over a certain size, they might not let you in. They do not allow carry-on either.

Wear comfortable shoes: If you’re a tourist, and you’re outside exploring, expect to walk thousands of steps and hundreds of stairs a day. Even if you are getting driven to your destination, you’ll need to walk a lot when you’re inside.

Museums tend to close on Mondays: We did not know this ahead of time; if you’re planning to get the Paris Pass, make sure to go to all your destinations before Monday or don’t activate it until after Monday.

Note: I would NOT recommend getting the Paris Pass unless you plan to check out more than 5 attractions in a day. It is extremely expensive, and most often than not, you’d probably be exhausted after 2-3 attractions in one day. The pass will activate the moment you enter your first attraction, so if you have a 2-day pass, you’ll need to see as much as you can within the next 48 hours. For more info, check out https://parispass.com/en-us/paris-attractions

Warning: I will go into detail about the attractions we visited and include pictures, but the post is very long since there’s also my own story + experience.

Why Did I Choose Paris?

I had always wanted to go to Europe. Back in 2020, my brother and I were going to take my mom to Italy. However, the trip was cancelled due to covid. So, when one of my family friend asked if I’d like to go to the UK in April 2023, I thought it would be nice.

Jasper, my colleague at the time, is from the UK. I thought it would also be great to see him again since we had gotten so much closer during our time in LA.

So I mentioned it to Jasper, and he suggested that we could also do a Europe trip since he’s already there, and we could travel to multiple countries!

It sounded like a wonderful opportunity as I had always wanted to explore Europe. However, I never had the courage to go alone as I was afraid of pickpocketers, being kidnapped, being scammed, and etc.

Since I was going to the UK with my family friend and my brother’s friends, it wouldn’t make sense for me to ditch them to go on a Europe trip with Jasper, so I told Jasper it would probably have to be another time, and we decided to go sooner (in Dec) instead.

I had asked Jasper if he would like to invite our other colleagues since a few of us had met in LA back in July 2022 and gotten covid. But Jasper said that it was already quite difficult to plan for two, so the more people, the more complicated it would be.

It made sense, and we had gotten so close, so I didn’t mind.

Later on, when Cosy (our colleague + friend) found out that we were going on a Europe trip with just the two of us, she bombarded me with questions.

“What? Just the two of you? Is this a couple trip or something?”

I, of course, denied it. I told her that me and Jasper were just colleagues who had gotten a lot closer since we spent ten days stuck together due to quarantine.

She replied, “Stop lying! Why would you go on a trip with the opposite sex if you do not want to progress things further?”

I told her she could join us if she wanted, and Cosy messaged Jasper to “test” him. Hahahaha.

When Sangria, my previous assistant and friend, found out, she was grumpy!! Sangria and I had also worked together for 3 years or so, and she had always wanted me to end up with Jasper. In fact, she was/is so hardcore that she created a fan name called, “Grasper” (the combination of Grace and Jasper lol).

Sangria had always thought that we would make a good couple for some reason. This was way before me and Jasper had even met. She’d imagine that Jasper was a respectful, calm gentleman with the British accent, while I was the friendly, excited girl who could help him open up.

Anyway, Sangria did not want me to invite other people to our trip. She said, “Grasper only!” LOL she was serious.

Cosy eventually said that she could read the room and was not going to intrude on our trip. (Awww, Cosy, don’t worry! We want to go on a trip with you too!)

At the time, I was a bit conflicted. I had just gotten out of a relationship, and I wanted to move to Asia for health reasons. After all, I’m allergic to all the trees in Canada. Birch, willow, elm, fir, maple, cedar… you name it. And I’m severely allergic to ragweed and pollen in general. Moving closer to the equator and near the ocean would help me immensely, and that was my plan.

That was why I had gone to visit Singapore in Sept. I really want to move to Singapore!!!! (I still do, but it’s a lot harder than it looks, and it doesn’t seem like a realistic option.)

Hence, getting into another relationship was not something that was on my mind. Not to mention, me and Jasper don’t even live in the same country!

But as time went on, people who knew we were going to go on a trip together started to tease me a lot. They really wanted me to view it as a couple’s trip even though we weren’t in a relationship.

One of my male colleagues messaged me and asked what I thought of Jasper. I responded, “Jasper is a very nice guy. We get along very well.”

His response was, “Okayyyyyyyyyyy.” (Clearly unsatisfied)

He then said, “You know, Jasper wouldn’t go on a trip like this with anyone else but you.”

I thought long and hard and figured that Jasper probably does like me to some extent, since we were going on a 2.5 week trip, and that’s a lot of time to spend with someone you didn’t like!

For me, I felt positive emotions towards him, but I wasn’t sure. And it was stressing me out.

I told my colleague that Jasper never said he liked me, and he had never even flirted with me! His responses had always been so professional. We had worked together for three years, and I’d say it was just a work relationship. He was a great listener and helpful, but he had never shared anything personal about himself. However, Jasper was a lot more open with me after we met in LA.

My male colleague said, “Flirting is not his style.”

Meanwhile, one of my close online friend/reader/supporter/ex-colleague, Dimple, was grilling Jasper like crazy and trying to be an investigator. She was super hardcore and even gave him multiple choice questions to respond to. It was hilarious when they told me about it afterwards.

Dimple stated she would be happy with whatever decision I make for myself, but I knew she was also a Grasper.

At this point, I was still unsure. Not only was I older than Jasper, but I also have a lot of health issues due to my autoimmune condition. I didn’t want to drag him down, and neither did I want to be accused of being a cougar.

My real life friends would tease me all the time and ask why I am always talking to younger guys. It just happened that the discord community tends to be younger people. It’s not like I go looking for a bunch of younger men and decide to talk to them because they’re young!

I’d say probably the majority of the people I meet online are younger than me, but we’re generally in our 20s-30s.

Anyhow, I had a lot of doubts, and even on the day of the trip, I wasn’t sure. After all, it wasn’t like Jasper confessed he liked me, so it doesn’t really count until he does, right?

Continue reading “Travelling to Paris: My experience and helpful tourist tips”

Day 1: Arrival (Friday, Sept 9th)

Back in May, I found a SUPER good deal to go to Singapore for a week (hotel and flights included) for $2000 in September. I was very excited because I was finally travelling again after five years!!!

Actually, for the past decade, prior to my San Diego + LA trip, I had only gone to China in 2014 for treatment, and to New York City for several days back in 2017. I had been so sick that I couldn’t really go anywhere. That is why I’ll be travelling A LOT this year and in 2023.

Anyhow, I only told several people I would be coming after I had booked my ticket because I wasn’t going to arrive until September, so I didn’t think I’d need to give people four months of notice. It seemed too much.

Because I deal with Chinese to English translations, I know quite a lot of people in Singapore, and probably had met roughly 30 people on this trip. As a result, I’ll be breaking down my posts into seven or eight (one for each day). It would be impossible for me to describe my experience and everyone in one post.

Quite a number of people had told me that my previous post was way too long, and they couldn’t remember who was who, because the letters confused them too much. So, I’ll be using their discord names or a shorter version of their discord names instead. Hope you’ll enjoy!

—–

The first two Singaporeans I told were Fallen and Cosy. I had met Fallen over six years ago on a translation discord server. Back then, I was translating on my blog because I wanted to grow my audience, and wanted people to read my blog posts.

Meanwhile, Fallen was translating and editing on volarenovels. However, Fallen actually can’t read Chinese. He read/listened based on the sound of the word (pinyin), instead of reading the characters themselves.

I thought he was nuts because it seemed so much extra work, but I eventually met more people that translated based on listening as well. Some people could read, but not speak. Some people could speak, but not read. In the end, I guess as long as you can process what the text is trying to say, it doesn’t matter!

Anyway, Fallen was asking for help in the translation server, and I helped him out back then. I think eventually, he privately messaged me and asked me to read his novel (and I did). At the time, I was also promoting my novel and my blog.

Back then, because I wasn’t really working due to my poor health, I had quite a lot of time. I would hop onto discord voice chat and talk to random people from all over the world and karaoke with them. I really enjoyed listening to different accents, and songs in different languages!

People might find it really odd, but I’ve actually met and maintained quite a few close relationships through discord (both male and female). However, most of the really close ones were formed years ago when I used to have a lot more time to chat leisurely.

Anyway, at the time, Fallen would hop on VC (voice chat) sometimes, and listen to either conversations/people singing. I remember I would tell him to hop on sometimes to chat/listen. He rarely spoke, but he would type a lot. I even remembered playing pipa for him once and he played the piano for me before as well. But that was soooo long ago, and I haven’t touched my instrument in years.

Throughout the years, I had made numerous Fallen jokes that he did not find funny. Ex. I told him he should name his future son “Trippin” since he’s “Fallen” LOLOL. I thought it was hilarious, but he just thought I was lame.

One of Fallen’s hobbies is reading, so he read all my translations from the time we met online (and probably most of my blog posts). From time to time, he would ask me for book recommendations. We would go for months without talking, but when we did talk, it would be quite a lengthy conversation.

However, Fallen never sent me any photos of himself. I had asked for years, but he said I would only see if I came to visit Singapore. He is not a fan of social media. (Disclaimer: I did not go visit Singapore because I wanted to see his face, BUT I did want to meet him. He’s the first Singaporean I had ever spoken to!!)

Anyway, Fallen told me if I was coming over, I had to give him a lot of notice, since he had to take time off work in advance because of his job. So, after I booked my flight, I told him I was coming!! He offered to get me from the airport if I wasn’t arriving in the middle of the night; I arrived at 7am.

Anyhow, when I arrived, I messaged Fallen and told him where I was, and took a picture of the area around me so that he could easily find me. I was grumbling and sad because I wanted to get a SIM card, but the lady at the booth told me I’d need to pay $60 for a 100GB one that would be valid for a month. But I didn’t need 100GB! I was only here for a week! Sadly, she said that was the only option. Fallen told me to wait until he got there; he was probably fifteen minutes away.

Later on, I noticed a good looking guy walking towards me. I didn’t know it was Fallen. Then, he stopped in front of me and said hi, so I was like, “Uh, are you Fallen?” LOL

And he said yes. I blurted, “Why wouldn’t you send me a picture for the past six years? You look fine!?! So cute?!?!” Continue reading “Day 1: Arrival (Friday, Sept 9th)”

Touching quotes from Tuesdays with Morrie

I had wanted to write about this book for a very long time, but the last time I read it was around 15 years ago. Time really flies.

I recalled feeling very touched and inspired after reading this, and bought ten copies on a whim to gift to people. (At the time, it was only $9.99. Now, the prices have more than doubled. *sniff* Inflation sucks!)

Anyhow, today, I finally finished rereading the book. Now that it’s fresh on my mind, I’ve written down a few quotes I personally found very touching from the story.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a real-life story about an old man dying from ALS. Morrie shares his life lessons with his student, Mitch, who is the author of this book. It’s a very genuine story that really makes you ponder on life. Here are a few quotes from the novel that evoked a lot of emotions in me:

“Well, Ted, one day soon, someone’s gonna have to wipe my ass.”

Mitch was very accepting of his condition and knew he was dying. But this was one thing he dreaded the most. Because when you need someone to wipe your ass, you no longer have the ability to take care of yourself. It is such a sad realization. Society also makes us feel very ashamed.

Despite so, Morrie was grateful he had the time and mental state to say goodbye to those he loved.

“I traded a lot of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never even realized I was doing it.”

This is also so sad. I think most of us would choose a bigger paycheck over our dreams. Sometimes, we just need that stability in order to survive or maintain our quality of life. It’s really hard to find a balance.

I just hope that we can still dream a bit, and chase some of our passions even if it doesn’t pay.

“Everyone knows they’re going to die, but no one believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.”

Death seems to be something that’s so far away. For those of us who are in our 20s or 30s, we probably think we still have several decades left; perhaps working another thirty years or so before even thinking of retirement. But who knows when life will end?

I don’t want to regret, so I’m going to do the things I want to do now before it’s too late.

“This is part of what a family is about, not just love, but letting others know there’s someone who is watching out for them. It’s what I missed so much when my mother died –what I call your ‘spiritual security’ –knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame.”

Knowing that there’s someone watching out for me is very comforting. I’m really lucky both my parents are still around. Although the generation/cultural gap makes it very tough sometimes, I am grateful for everything they’ve done for me.

I’m learning to cherish and forgive. Continue reading “Touching quotes from Tuesdays with Morrie”

Beware of Online Love + Crypto Scam. Personal experience included!

I was going to write this post several months ago, but I got lazy. But this issue happens too often, so I believe that it’s important for me to write a post about it to warn you all.

Nowadays, the younger generation spends most of their time online and on the phone. It isn’t uncommon for people to have various apps to stay in touch with friends, family, and even to meet strangers/potential love interests.

However, because you may be exposing yourself to the “world”, you really need to be careful. Sometimes, you’re not even actively searching, but they will find you.

For example, I received a random text from this dude who messaged me on Whatsapp a few months ago.

Translation:

Guy: Hi, Gwen. Nice to meet you. Auntie Wang gave me your phone number.

Me: Hi. My name is Grace. Who is Auntie Wang?

Guy: Auntie Wang said she already told you about me. Aren’t you Gwen? I have already messed up once. *angry face*

Me: You found the wrong person. I don’t know any Auntie Wang.

Guy: Forget it. I won’t keep searching. I’ll tell Auntie Wang I’ve found you. Nice to meet you, Grace. My name is Louis. Oh wait, you know Chinese?

This guy is clearly a scammer. First of all, I don’t know any Auntie Wang. And let’s say this “Auntie Wang” did exist, why the heck would she introduce me to someone that doesn’t even LIVE in Toronto? The phone number was from the U.S. And this person sounded surprised I know Chinese. Does he think I’m stupid? He is getting “introduced” to someone without knowing that person actually knows Chinese, but he messages me in Chinese?

Omg. I got so mad that I blocked him after a few more back and forth. I wanted to know how he would try to scam me, but it’s not worth my time.

And it’s also quite obvious he stole the picture of a random handsome “western” looking guy and is pretending to be him. I don’t know how he got my phone number, but I know of a few people who’ve also received messages from random strangers on Wechat and Whatsapp. My guy friend got a message from someone who claims she’s from Hong Kong. He told her she got the wrong person, but she kept talking and started talking about investing and etc. BEWARE. Continue reading “Beware of Online Love + Crypto Scam. Personal experience included!”

What would it take for me to play Squid Game?

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own discretion.

I’ve been seeing memes and videos of people talking about Squid Game everywhere. When I found out it was only nine episodes, I decided to give it a try. Personally, this is not the type of show I’d watch. I’m afraid of violence, loud noises, blood, death, suicide, and basically everything remotely scary. But I was curious, and I wanted to see who would win the money in the end, and how they would ultimately become the winner.

In Squid Game, a man approaches desperate people and asks them to play a game with him. If they win, they would receive $100,000 won (the Korean currency). If they lose, they would have to pay him $100,000 won or be slapped. Those who played the game eventually won some money, and they were given a card in which they could sign up to participate if they were interested.

However, the players really had no idea what they were getting themselves into. When they entered the vehicle, they were knocked out by gas chemicals. By the time they woke up, they were dressed in a numbered outfit and had all their belongings taken away. In addition, all the people working there were dressed in these hot pink suits with either a triangle, square, or circle mask over their faces. Some of them carried guns in their hands. There was one man in a black mask that appeared to have the most power. Anyhow, it wasn’t until during the first game that the players realize that losing would mean death. They were all freaked out and were given a chance to leave if the majority voted to do so.

Despite being “freed”, most of them decided to return to continue the games when given another chance. They knew they were gambling their lives, but they still chose to do it for the prize.

I thought the series did a very good job in the episode where a few of the gangsters butted in line to get seconds, while those who lined up and followed the rules didn’t get any. It was so cruel, but it also made sense. There are limited resources. The weaker players would either die because they fail in the games, or they would be killed by the other players. The game actually encourages people to get rid of each other, since each death would result in more money to the pot.

To stay alive, the players had to stick or work together. But eventually, they also had to turn on each other. Humans are ultimately selfish. Even though the main character was a super good guy, he still took advantage of the old man’s memory when he was about to lose. He knew only one of them would live, and he would rather sacrifice his partner, regardless of their close bond. Continue reading “What would it take for me to play Squid Game?”

Nine ways to retire early and achieve financial freedom

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could quit your job and not have to worry about paying your bills?

Even if you enjoy what you do, I think it’s fair to say that having the option to quit whenever you want while maintaining the same standard of living would be awesome.

But how?

I have come up with a list of nine ways.

Earn more

There are multiple ways you can earn more money. For instance:

Work more hours. If people usually work 40 hours a week, you could try working 60 instead. However, there are only 24 hours in a day. There will be a limit on how much you can trade your time for money.
Have a high income skill. To be worth more in the workforce, you need to become a person that is harder to replace. It would be in your best interest to develop skills that make you more valuable. Ex. If you’re the only person that can fix X, then you will be compensated more. But if you were selling popcorn, they can easily hire someone else to do your job. (No offense to those selling popcorn)
Side hustle. This could be a business, being a social media influencer, your own personal project, and etc. Basically, it’s something that earns you additional income from your current job.

Lower your costs

You can lower your costs by:

Finding a roommate/significant other to split the cost. Having two incomes to pay for expenses make it easier.
Moving to somewhere cheaper. If you are able to work online, perhaps you can move to another country where the cost of living is lower and your currency is worth more.
Spend less. Buy fewer things, eat less, and go out less.

Use patreon/onlyfans and sell your own merchandise

This is tough. There are A LOT of content creators. Even if people watch you or consume your content, it doesn’t mean they will give you money or buy your merch. In fact, based on my own personal experience, only one in a hundred would donate/give monetary support.

However, this is a very good way to scale. You’re no longer trading time for money. For example, perhaps you spend 2 hours creating content for a tier, but you can have unlimited subscribers for that tier. This means, there is no cap on how much you can earn. Regardless if 100 or 1000 people subscribe to it, you only spent 2 hours.

Note: It is EXTREMELY difficult to get loyal followers who would pay for content. There’s also no guarantee how long they will support you for. Continue reading “Nine ways to retire early and achieve financial freedom”

Topics: Simu Liu, racist girl, and Minari

Hey guys!

I’m back with another blog post! I’m really on a roll these days, aren’t I? 😛 (Just kidding).

Recently, I went on another podcast! It’s called Asian Movie Club, and you can find it on spotify and other podcast platforms.

Asian Movie Club is a podcast that is hosted by my friends Kyle and Robin. They talk about film, music, pop culture and more.

They have just recently begun so I’m featured in episode 2! Please do give it a listen. It is quite mind-boggling.

We talked about Simu Liu deleting an old tweet of him calling out Mark Wahlberg on his racist assault towards two Vietnamese men back when he was 16.

Simu and Wahlberg are going to be co-stars on an upcoming film. Naturally, it made sense for him to remove it. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be super awkward if fans/haters bring it up? (They still brought it up anyway, but that’s beside the point)

Do you think it was wrong of Simu to have removed the tweet? What would you have done if you were his situation?

We also discussed about people being subconsciously racist. There was an incident where a girl had accidentally left her phone inside an Uber, but had assumed it was stolen. She targeted a black teenager who happened to be around her vicinity and accused him of stealing her phone. Continue reading “Topics: Simu Liu, racist girl, and Minari”

My views on censorship: we can’t have an opinion

Lately, there has been an issue that has been bothering me and I would like to blog about it.

Ever since what happened on January 6^th at the Capitol in the United States, Donald Trump has been banned from Twitter and I think every mainstream social media app out there (correct me if I’m wrong).

As the president of United States, I think he should not be able to say whatever he wants due to the effect his words may have on his followers. Actions have consequences, and those who have participated in violent acts should be punished.

Some of his supporters are so extreme that they would probably kill or die for Trump.

So, I thought limiting Trump’s access to Twitter was actually a pretty responsible thing to do.

I didn’t, however, expect him to be banned from everything. Furthermore, a super right winged conservative app, Parler, has also been taken down.

While I do understand, I do think it’s an issue that needs to be discussed.

There are extremists for everything. Does that mean all extremists should be banned? Or are we only focusing on right winged extremists? How about violent left winged extremists?

Now, I’m neither extreme left nor right, but I feel like nowadays, people can’t even have an opinion.

What if you’re just a non violent supporter of Trump? Or BLM? Or Communism? Or whatever you believe in!?!

If you state a political view, someone is going to be triggered. The more popular you are, the more backlashes you’ll receive from the other side.

Nowadays, people may be afraid to speak out their views because they want to avoid getting banned or losing access to their accounts. In more serious cases, they may even lose their jobs.

This is even worse if you have a following. Because that means you have impact and haters may just be waiting around the bush to strike. Continue reading “My views on censorship: we can’t have an opinion”

Luck

These days, I have been thinking a lot about luck.

I am currently reading a Korean novel called, “The Second Coming Of Gluttony” and it really inspired me to write this post.

In the novel, the main character, Seol Jihu, basically gets a second chance at life. He gets recruited and is given the Gold Mark in which he is given a lot of cheats.

The MC basically starts off with more money/items than the rest, and has an ability to see colours. Red signifies danger, orange – do not approach, yellow – take caution, green – safe (there are still more colours to be unlocked, I’m only 100+ chapters in).

However, as I keep reading, I really feel like it’s so unfair. Yes, he works and trains hard, but he had all these abilities/things that others didn’t. In my opinion, he already had a huge unfair advantage against everyone else.

Next, I thought about how all the MCs in dramas are usually rich guys who are already hot, those who already have power, status, and money. They don’t even have to do shit and all the women just flock to them. It is so unfair.

I can’t help but feel, “You’re just born lucky.”

Then, I thought about myself. How much of my accomplishments were based on my abilities alone? Am I just born lucky too?

I want to take credit and say I got to where I am with my hard work and persistence. But there are actually a lot of things that played a factor. For instance:

I mainly grew up in Canada, so English is the language that I studied in school. English happens to be an international language, which is used worldwide. This made it easier for my translations to get popular. Imagine if I had translated into Russian or something; most likely, only Russians would be able to understand. Continue reading “Luck”