First Entry /初见

By Beautiful stranger
 “Find yourself wherever you are！"

作者：美丽陌生人：
“无论身在何方，记得做自己！”

​The story of Beautiful Stranger started with an unfamiliar welcome to the City of Edinburgh. I moved to the city around December, all the city was full of lights and colors, and people, it felt so alive, with a lot of movement, parties on the street, people from all over the world… It was never quiet, the streets were packed; I remember I couldn’t even walk on a decent pace. At some point it was a little overwhelming as I didn’t know anyone on the city, I was there, missing my family and friends, standing all alone surrounded by all this Christmassy gear, and cheerful people. I couldn’t feel more far from home; nonetheless I managed to spend Christmas Eve with some friends. 

The city was getting less louder and less crowded just as holidays were over. It was now January the 1st of 2016, I woke up quite early and went out for a walk. Everything seemed so bright and quiet, few people on the streets, all the stores and restaurants were closed, I felt for the first time like an outsider, watching in silence the lack of movement of a hung over waking city. It felt nice for a while to contemplate the city just as it is, trying to picture myself on it.
 
Back to the flat, I found a little envelop waiting for me on the door step, it said: “beautiful stranger / with love” I took out from the inside a little note: “ticket for a lifetime of happiness” with a little stamp of a kitten on it. It was the best welcome note ever, from a Stranger to a Stranger. That in fact, made me realize we are all strangers, and the first thing we share is this space / this city. 
 
However Beautiful Stranger is you, me, everyone,  it has no color, no nationality, no border…  it is an idea under construction, an evolving concept, a belief that we all are strangers, travelers, collectors of moments, curators of our own memories and experiences. We all have been strangers at some point in our lives and sometimes that feeling can be terrifying but at the same time an opportunity to create our own identity, our connections and relations with more strangers and our personal discovery of places.
 
So I invite all of you Beautiful Strangers, to discover all those new places waiting for us, new cities, new faces, and share your experiences with me in this little corner, where I will be sharing my experiences of living abroad, what I’ve learned by traveling around different countries, some of my life-hacks to survive cultural and language differences for example, also part of my rituals, recommendations, crazy thoughts... well in general my ideas and philosophies of being a Beautiful Stranger. ☞ I will finish this post here, hoping my story gives you a different perspective of being a stranger in this world. ​

Cheerio!

​美丽陌生人的故事的源于我对爱丁堡这座城市的陌生……
 
大概今年12月左右的时候，我搬来爱丁堡这座美丽又陌生的城市。记得刚到的那天，我觉得整座城市灯火通明，五彩斑斓，到处是熙熙攘攘的人群，还有拥挤的圣诞集市。多么有活力的一座城市啊！站在街头，我看着来自世界各地的人们享受着这座城市的繁华与多彩，而我却感觉自己和周边的一切格格不入，无法跟上集市中人们的步伐…因为这座城市对我来讲如此陌生！我只是孤身一人，站在人来人往享受着圣诞欢乐的人群中，思念远方的家人和朋友。突然感到一种从来没有过的距离感。
 
总算，随着圣诞假期的结束，这座城市渐渐恢复了平静。还记得那是2016年一月一日。我醒的很早，一个人出去散步。周边的一切看上去都好刺眼，街上静的出奇。偶尔看到几个人走在街上，所有的商店，餐厅都大门紧闭。第一次，我感受到了这座城市在繁华后的静谧与安详，也是第一次我可以试着想象自己生活在这座陌生的城市中。
 
回到家里，无意间看到门口静静躺着一个小信封，标题写着“爱你的-美丽陌生人 ”，好奇地打开信封，里面有一张精美的小卡片，淡淡几个字写着“一张通往快乐的门票”，右上角一个小猫图案的邮戳。这对我来说真的是最棒的一份欢迎信，欢迎我来到这座城市，从一个陌生人到另一个陌生人。这也突然让我意识到，我们彼此都是陌生人，我们唯一共同的是，共生在这座华丽而陌生的城市，分享着同一片天空。

我想，美丽陌生人可以是你，是我或任何一个人，Ta没有颜色，没有国籍，没有界限……这是一种信仰：我们都是彼此的陌生人，我们一直走在路上，收集片刻美好，创造属于我们自己的记忆。也许我们都是彼此的陌生人，而陌生这个词有时候让我们觉得害怕，因为未知，但从另一个方面想，陌生也是一个机会让我们能够重建自我和自己身边的一切，认识新的“陌生人”，探索新的世界。
 
所以，在这里，我邀请所有的“美丽陌生人“来加入我，让我们一起探索在前方等待我们的未知和陌生，陌生的城市，陌生的面孔……欢迎你在这里分享你自己作为“美丽陌生人的“ 经验，当然我也会在这里与你分享自己的生活和旅途中的所思所想和实用攻略。希望我们能跨越国界，跨越文化地域，跨越语言，最终从未知到熟悉, 从未知到熟悉，从害怕到爱上。
 
----美丽陌生人
敬上

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