C7

So how did you become a vegetarian? Ning Nan asked.

The orange light shone on his handsome face, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his eyes soft and warm. He was a typical southern man. He did not have the rugged and rough lines of a northern man. Instead, he had the delicacy and gentleness of a southerner.

After hearing his question, I fell into a long period of contemplation. I didn't know how to answer him …

A year ago, I could still see it clearly, and it caused great waves in my heart.

one

I became a vegetarian because of my first love in Australia.

My parents were university teachers, of the working class. Dad was a professor of ancient literature, the kind of peddler who spent his time in libraries and piles of old papers. He gave my mom a salary of a few thousand dollars a month, but he never gave her any extra money. Fortunately, he didn't have high requirements for his life. He didn't smoke, drink, or even drink tea.

His mother was a professor of physics. She was very smart and good at calculation. Not only was she very popular in the unit, but she also had a strong teaching and research ability. She also knew how to live a good life. Her salary of less than 10,000 yuan per month was forced by her to squeeze out several thousand yuan for financial purposes.

Her method of financing was to buy a second-hand apartment in the center of the city. Since the late nineties, she had bought a house on a loan, rented one, and paid for it with rent. In the last decade or so, she had bought three suites. Since the houses she bought were all downtown school buildings, the rent had risen and the price of the house had increased several times. This has greatly improved our family's lives.

She sold a school block for me to study in Australia, and my eyes watered when she handed me her hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars' worth of cards.

"This is your tuition and living expenses from the past two years of study in Australia." "No," she said.

This card is heavy in my hand...

This was the savings that his parents had accumulated over the years from living frugally!

They never bought high-end clothes, nor did they want to go to a restaurant. Even the tap water at home was used twice or thrice:

He washed his face with a basin and followed with water. After he was done, he poured the water into a large bucket that was one meter tall and 0.5 meters in diameter. He used it to water the mop and used it to water the flowers …

So, after I went to Australia to study, I did my best to find opportunities to work, trying to get rid of my parents' money.

two

I studied at Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

The Queensland University of Science and Technology (QUT) was also translated as "Queensland University of Technology". Founded in 1908, the school is located in Brisbane, Queensland, with nearly 35,000 undergraduates, 5,000 graduate students and 6,000 international students.

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, Australia's second most populous city after Sydney and Melbourne. The main business center of Brisbane is located on both sides of the Brisbane River, 25 km from the mouth of the river. The west was connected with Ipswich, and the east to the coast between Redcliffe and Redland.

The south coast was the cultural center of Brisbane.

South Shore Park has a rippling Kodak Beach, verdant and lush, shady grasslands where people can have picnics and barbecues, take yachts to enjoy the scenery, ride bicycles through the woods, or watch street shows in the square. There was also the Ferris Wheel, which could be called the "Brisbane's Eye". Riding on the Ferris Wheel, one could experience the bustle and romance of the city. South Shore Park has one of the most exotic buildings -- the Nepal Pavilion at the 1988 World Expo's old site. My classmates and I have visited this finely carved temple, and she has a touch of mystery in her holiness, comparable to the traditional monuments of Pattan, Kathmandu, Nepal …

The Brisbane River meandered through the city, dividing Brisbane in two, with its fashionable, modern high-rise buildings, its top fashion district and its colorful cultural life, and its serene, lush southern park and the site of the Expo, filled with fresh elegance. When I first went to Brisbane, I used to run with my classmates by the river in Brisbane.

The Brisbane River, like a bright ribbon in the early morning light, drifted slowly down from the horizon of the mountains, winding through the red and green fields until it disappeared into the distant valleys. This city, with a population of just over 2 million, is picturesque and clean. It is rare to see domestic traffic, traffic flow, dust and haze. The Brisbane River was filled with blue waves under the sun, and the small, neat houses on both sides of the river were shimmering in the sunlight. The lawn along the river was covered with fragrant grass and green flowers, which stood out from the rest, giving off a picturesque idyllic scene that made people feel relaxed, happy and relaxed.

On weekends, I would meet my classmates to play at the Lombercora Zoo on the Brisbane River, the oldest and largest in the world. There were more than 100 koalas in the garden. They were either lying on the branches to sleep, or climbing up to nibble on the branches. They were simple and honest and very cute. There are kangaroos, kangaroos, emus, Tasmanian demons, platypus, canine, and other Australian wildlife...

Living in such a natural scenery beautiful, four seasons like the sun city, the mood is naturally as comfortable as the sun.

My ability to adapt to life is strong. Listening to the teacher's class in English wasn't strenuous at all. So I started looking for part-time jobs and earning extra money.

First, I found a job washing dishes at noon through my native students at A $8 an hour. Australian law stipulates that adults over 21 years of age must not be less than A $15 per hour, otherwise they can be sued. But foreign students usually accept a low salary from Chinese bosses because it is hard to find a job, and student visas require them to work no more than 20 hours a week, while working in a Chinese restaurant doesn't require a tax. "But it was too hard and tiring to bear, and she went looking for a job as a tutor and babysitter.

The welfare of Australians is very good." According to the government, every time a couple gives birth to a child, they can subsidize between 500 yuan and 1,000 yuan a month. Thus, it is common for young couples in Australia to have three or four children. Therefore, tutoring and babysitting had been a lot.

Finally, on my first summer vacation, I found a job as a babysitter and tutor. I ate and lived in my home, which was worth a thousand Australian dollars a month. For me, this was a huge income. My life has improved.

And because of this job, I got to know Chinese professor Von Cannon, and thus began a memorable teacher and student relationship.