Web communication from our guest Wei

Web communication

I have been a-continent away from home for over four months, but strangely, from the day I arrived till now I am not homesick at all. One reason may be that I am the sort of person who enjoys being alone. Another more important reason is that I am not that far away.

I talk face-to-face to my mum several times a week by webcam. I telephone with my dad over skype (only 0.14 euro per minute!) weekly. I chat on msn with my friends daily. I read their blogs and msn spaces every time I linked on the internet. Therefore, nowadays, saying goodbye and seeing people off at the airport or train station has lost the aura of the past, as the geological distance does not seem to matter so much as in the pre-internet time. And everyone, no matter where he or she is physically, is of the same distance: just behind the screen.

The weird thing is no matter how convenient now it is to meet people through various software, oicq, msn, skype, email, bbs, blog etc, people still chose to 'talk' to those they like. Me, for example,. I have all these software and I have a long list of 'friends' on each of them, but I only
talk to three or four people through all these software. Sometimes I am thinking if I never talk to other persons, why don't I delete them from my friend list? As sometimes maybe in the midnight, there would be only one 'friend' (whom I never I speak to) and myself on the msn, but we still
prefer keeping the silence just like people choose be to silent in the small room of the lift.

My professor told us that if we have any idea about the final dissertation, just write an email to her. 'I am only an email away. ' she said. Nevertheless, I think that is really a long distance.