Identity Library

Veronika Becher 0:14
Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of identity library. My name is Veronika Becher, and today I'm joined by Mingduo,

Mingduo 0:22
yes, correct, yes.

Or words, it depends. They always give two options to people, so either one works for me, and they all had a very long history. So oh my gosh, no, I'm like, actually curious. And dear listeners, if you're curious who this person is in front of me, well, we have also a really funny story to tell.

Veronika Becher 0:50
This is my inspiration to be the international orientation leader, the guy that was sitting in front of the whole audience and just telling a story about his major, and I was just thinking, man, there's at least someone who's studying something he's really passionate about, and he's not scared to pursue his career. But would you like to introduce yourself properly? Yeah, sure. Hi everyone. I am really happy to be here. It's my pleasure to be here. My name is Mingduo, M, I, N, G, D, U, O, sounds like you had a question mark after a name, right? So Ming do, and you can also call me Ward, W, A, R, D instead.

Mingduo 1:30
Either way, works for me. Like I said, I gave two options to people. So yeah, I just graduated from NC State in december 2024,

my concentration. My concentration is creative writing, English, ba, with the film studies minor, and I'm working on my application to library science for, you know, the master of schools. Yeah, yeah, it is. It's also very challenging. So, I mean, we can talk more about it later, yeah, no, but so true, like, I don't know, I admire that. You I don't know how many programs did you apply to? I so far, I have already submitted four programs, both library science and creative writing. Only one creative writing, it's it's NC State's MFA, three other library science programs, one in UI UC, one in Hong Kong, one

at the UNC Chapel Hill. But I will, you know, work on more after I would go back home, so I have more time to prepare everything, all that. This is just, I don't know, I applied to one MBA program right now, and it's stressful, yeah, and just looking into all the other applications, I'm like, how the heck do they expect us to have so much time to apply to so many programs in such a small like period of time?

But yeah, maybe, speaking of Hong Kong,

Veronika Becher 2:55
would you like to you know, I was debating for a long time what I would like to address on this podcast. And I was so sure that I want to have you here. But I was like, what should we talk about? Should we, like, go into your origin, or rather, your hobbies? Like, oh my gosh, there's so many things to talk about.

Maybe let's just dive in and, like, start with your origin, your background. Were you from? How did you get here? Maybe a little like history background? Yeah, sure, sure. So. I am also an international student. I'm from China mainland, from Xian Shanxi Province. Have you ever heard about Terracotta Warriors? They were found in my city. And I came here, I start my pro, my program in creative writing in fall, 2020 and came here in Raleigh in August, 2022

Mingduo 3:55
and to really, you know, get to the on campus study, because before that, it's all COVID. And I start dealing with creative writing, or like writing general when I was very young, and I just love seeing, like, what's in our garden, what's what about the trees, the birds, and then I wrote it down. I drew pictures about and that's pretty much what inspired me to really go into the creative writing field. Yeah,

Veronika Becher 4:27
this is so. I didn't know that. This is so, yeah, this is so interesting. No, seriously, um, I love, well, I'm on the other side of this whole thing. I love reading the books that people write. But creative writing is more than that, right? Like, what is it entailing creative writing? What is falling into this whole degree?

Mingduo 4:48
I am not good at STEM at all. I can't do math, which is very, I think, rare among you. Know, Like, I.

Uh, international student community. I think I am the only student, like international student who was majoring in who was majored in creative writing. And I mean, I feel proud of it, because that brings the diversity to NC State. You know, with my upbringing, I wrote most of my stories based on what I've seen, what I've experienced, and as always, domestic fictions would have happened in the family. And yes, the story came from my experience, how I interact with my family or friends. So you read my story, you will know part of my life more or less, though it's definitely fiction, but yeah, it's rooted from my life. I think. Have

you published anything? Yes, yes. I one of my short story just got published

in win over our NC State literary magazine, literary and art magazine volume 59 what's the name of the short story? The name of the short story is called dumplings. It's a food which tastes really good. I know dumplings.

Yeah. So the story is,

I got inspirations last time,

came back to my hometown, saw my grandma's making dumplings, because I love cooking, but I have no experience in making dumplings at that time, so I was helping her, because, you know, people age, and I noticed how much she aged, you know, from like 10 years ago, because she

she was with me the whole time, you know, right after I was born. So I think, you know, that's a good thing to write about, because we see the change of our family members, and we appreciate,

we appreciate, you know, their their work, like for my grandma, she cooked for the whole family. So I love everyone. So I say, why not write about a story about the person I love the most within my family? So yeah, that's how the story,

Veronika Becher 7:12
that's how the inspirations came up to my mind. Yeah. Are you planning on publishing like a book, like a novel, or is it more short stories, anything that you feel like you actually want to pursue that part of the career path that is unfolding. Or would you say that creative writing is also a major way you can like go into a completely different field with I think the major itself is a very

Mingduo 7:38
it brought you so many path for your future, like you could go study film, you go study law, you go study go to medical school.

But for me, I think because I applied to our MFA program at NC State, so I will keep writing stories. So far, I haven't finished, you know, like a whole book. I wrote fan fictions before, but it's chapters, rather than just like a completed book. But if I, you know, go to the MFA program, if I got accepted by the program, then I would definitely write my own book and then try to get published, because that is part of, you know, what we're doing in in the MFA. So

Veronika Becher 8:25
this is, like, such a different world. I'm serious, like, I just just seeing how someone actually writes the story instead of being the one who's reading it. Is so, like, impactful, I think, too,

in just like the inspirations, like you said, from your family, from your grandma, how things unfold? Would you say that your life in China? Well, you are Chinese, but you said you incorporate these things into your stories, right? Even though you're writing in the United States.

Mingduo 8:58
How would you say it shaped your perspective of living in the United States, knowing that you're from a different background, are there, like, certain specific things I think, well, I mean up to, like, which aspect we're talking about. I mean the creative community, creative writing community, that we have in NC State's a very, like, friendly, very welcoming community. So, you know, I wrote what I want to wrote could be foreign stories. Could be things happen in North Carolina. Or, you know,

you wrote whatever you want to. You write what you want to write about

the story itself, I would say

mostly both the plot, the characters,

the expositions, you know, about the place, about the food, they were related to China or Chinese cultures in the very you know, in a very significant way.

But I think how I connected to the US in general, I think I.

I brought you know this nuanced family dynamics to people who lived here, because I've talked with people who came from whole different family backgrounds and and they told me, Oh, that's actually how you interact with your family. That is completely different with how I interact my parents or my siblings, because there's more than one character in that more than more than the main character and the grammar in that story. So you know, that's more than how I interact with my cousins, my brothers, sisters. So I think it just brings in different perspective to like the students from Carolina to see how world is different in another continent or in on the other side of the globe. I think, do you have an example of, like, a family dynamic that you've seen in your family specifically because of your culture that you haven't seen here? And it's something like, Oh, this is something I like or something I don't like. Yeah, yeah. I mean, based on what I talked with, the friends, I mean, they are definitely more quote, unquote, individual than me. I mean, I can't speak for the like. Can't speak for everyone in China, I think especially for me. I mean, I'm like,

22 now. I'm going to turn 23 in a month, and I'm still having a very close connection with my both of my parents, like I hug them, I kiss them on the cheek, you know, I think this is a very different culture than than you know, we have in here in North Carolina, like in the US in general. I know people who moved out after they're 18, or, you know, they don't talk a lot with their parents, but I think, you know, it's also very nuanced. It depends on who you are. I mean, there are definitely people who are similar to me in the US, but I think at least you know, for the people that I hang out the most with the most I am my family, our dynamic is definitely very different from what they have. Yeah, is a specific like family tradition that you really like? I Yes, I think so, because

ice, because I see what I how I interact with my parents or any family members members, is how my parents interact with their like with my grandparents. So I think it's more of like a family culture. It's like how we interact

throughout all these generations. And I think it's really very hard to change, like,

I interact less with my with any of my family members, because that's how I was educated. And while I was a kid, you know, love your parents because they love me well. So it's like, I love them, you know, we I keep a good relationship with them. It's like sharing my love with them in return, because they treat me well. They loved me when I was a kid. It's like that. I'm curious, did they ever post for you to go into the field of creative writing? No, they fully support me to go to the fields of creative writing. Though, everyone in my family knew that. I think it's going to be very challenging, because it's you're writing, you're writing in the another language, you're writing in English, which is not your native speaker. So it's definitely going to be very challenging. But I feel very, you know, grateful and fortunate that my

my parents, my grandma, all of my family members, they fully support me to go study what I love. And I think that's what you mentioned at the beginning of the podcast. You know, I told everyone, hey, I chose Creative Writing simply because I love writing, and, yeah, and I think it is also because I have, you know, the family supports me 100% so I can, you know, be successful. Do you think it would be possible for you to get there if your family would have not supported you? I think definitely. Yeah, because I share my writings with my family, you know, because I wrote both, I wrote both manuscripts in in Chinese and Mandarin and and in English. So because, you know, they are my inspiration. So I think letting them read my story would definitely make them feel happy, because they are seeing themselves in my fictions.

Veronika Becher 14:35
This is such an interesting thing because I was reading a book just recently. It's, a Korean book was really popular. Was it

the Hyundai Dong book shop? I don't know how to pronounce it. I'm sorry this is like, again, I have no one who ever taught me how to pronounce it.

But there's the story is basically about,

there's like, one.

Chapter where this woman meets

her favorite author, and she asked him a question, and it's,

would you say the your writing is like you as a person, like does your writing and the style and how you portray your characters actually reflect of who you are as a person or not, does that make sense? And I was just something that is, I don't know it stuck with me because I was thinking how sometimes we like to read books to escape our own world, or like to have a new perspective learn something. But what is, if I'm the author, do I always write something that is actually reflection of me. And since you were talking about how you always incorporate something that is like, close to home, close to your any like found memories, people that you love, people that you appreciate, traditions, etc,

would you say that your writing is actually a display of yourself, or rather something you distance yourself from? I think, well, let's use figures. Let's use numbers. Let's use numbers, which was something that

Mingduo 16:07
I'm very good at.

I think,

wow, 80%

of my writings reflects who I am, and for the rest of the 20s, they are not completely like a runaway from my life or something. No, I think they still have what you see in the rest of the 80%

but it's more of like, like I wrote science fictions and I and, you know, I love 80s. I love, oh yes, yes, I know. Go ahead. Go ahead. This is your stage. I love 80s, and I

so like if we watched

Blade Runners, where we left the cyberpunk concept. So I think, hey, what? What about putting the 80s Hong Kong into, you know, as the background of of of the science fiction. So that's like, how I run away from it, because I love the culture of that time. And I would, you know, use the name of the songs that was, songs that was released in the 80s, though the story could, you know, happen in, like, what, 3025 or something like that, that's like a run, that's like a runaway, but the story, the science fiction story itself, could still relates to the family, to the romance, all that. So it's not like fully run away

from

the genre that I write about or from myself. No, I think I feel very satisfied now like I'm I graduated

with a bachelor's degree in creative writing, and that is something that I kept doing, and I love, you know, something I love to do. So I feel grateful for that, and I feel grateful for having people, people to support me doing something I love, and I have my my achievements, and I wrote stories, some of them got published. I also worked for NC State as a student photographer for a whole year. So I feel very satisfied.

Veronika Becher 18:19
And because of that, I don't write about something that would let people assume that I'm running away. You know, have this running away concept, but isn't like the setting that you just described to us, right? The Hong Kong, like 80s and like, Oh my gosh. I just I love it. I love it, which, when you say the setting is still a description of something you like, right? Something that you are interested in, like a certain time that has somehow, maybe, I don't know, I think like, it doesn't have to correlate to you specifically, you don't, you don't have to live in that time, but it's still something that you enjoy, right? So use it and then combine it with something that is more modern, some feelings, or some characters that you would maybe describe as more modern characters, right? Yeah, yeah, I think, like, it's not like a run away from a negative thing. It's like run away to get what I want.

Mingduo 19:19
You know, because we live in 2025 now, and there is no way we can go back to the 80s and 90s, because it can't change the time. I mean, probably you can't, I don't know. I mean, I mean, I mean the English major,

but yeah, just kidding. I mean, we're living 25 you know, the way we dress, the way we speak, the music we listen today is still very different from from the 80s or 90s, so I think for me, since I love that time, you're the way for me to let myself live in that time is through writing. Have you heard of the movie Midnight in Paris?

I believe. So, yes. Oh.

Veronika Becher 20:00
Um, I get introduced to this movie. Let's see. A month ago, I feel like a little bit sad about that, but

I'm not a big I'm gonna be upfront. I'm not a big fan of, like, romanticizing friends or like French Well, I'm thinking I do like those certain like art, a certain art that is like in the around the French Revolution, etc. But I think I never romanticized friends itself. And this movie basically was a does it combines the reality with a story where this guy, every single time when he enters this this car at midnight, he gets, like, kind of goes through, like a time machine where he sees friends in the like, 80s and 60s and 50s and so on. And how he meets some authors, like book authors. He meets Hemingway and, like, it's kind of like really interesting movie, but it's the same thing. It just reminded me of what you just said, how you use, like the 80s to put in like a setting, and then the characters are maybe more modern, but you have them in the same setting, like act out things that you correlate to, I don't know, really random thing, but what would you like? What do you start actually, if you like, where do you get your inspiration from? You mean, like, for, for like, a short story. For short story, let's use dump music as as the the example, it was like few days after I went back home. And, you know, I haven't, I think I spent the first couple, the first two years. I mean, after 2022

Mingduo 21:45
I first went back home in winter 2024

and my my grandma was making dumplings for me, because, like you know, the tradition, you make dumplings to welcome you know, whoever you know, came back home, so she asked me to help her. And need the Dole, because she's 70s now. She's in her 70s now, so I helped her out. And then I said, well, any other things I could do? She said, Well, no, just go be busy. I see Well I you know, that's why I went back home. I finished all my things. I'm here for the family. So I just stood there, you know, looking, watching, or, I think watching or learning how to stir the feelings. But I also noticed, like the blood would go blood veins on her hand, and how, you know, the hand has changed and so many years, because she cooked for everyone every day. You know, you wash the dishes, you know, using the cold water all that so it changes her skin, the skin on her hand, and everybody else. Oh, wow. You know, it's been so many years. We all knew that she did a lot for the family, but we never, never, like, jump into the detail, actually see how much she aged, because she did so many things for us and and, you know, remembering what I saw at that time. That is how I, you know, how it got my inspirations. It's basically things that you pay attention in your world, and then it's like, oh, this is something that inspired me. Maybe I should just write something about it, or something you feel connected to. But it's like being observant, right? Yeah, and taking in everything that is around you, right? Yeah?

Like, what Legos on the on the desk? Yes, you know, it could be something related to whoever is sitting on the seat. And if there's really someone trying to put the Lego in one piece, you know, I could look at it, look at how he or she built this little thingy. And then I would imagine, or, like, if I know this person, I would, you know, rewind and

and see how this process reminds me of the days that we spend together like that. You know, it's a very small thing, you know, playing with the Lego, you put the bricks together, and no one. I don't, of course, not no one. But I think most, for the most time, we're focused on LEGO itself. But if I'm writing a story, or if I want to write a story, I would, you know, focus on the actions. Then the Lego, like the object, is the object, your end result, and then the process is the little Lego pieces.

The Lego is more of like a bridge, okay, or like a hook, like how we were trained to write the academic essays. Yes, it's like the hook. It starts with a Lego, but then thinking about you're watching the film, the camera is pointing at the Lego. Now you have a close up on the pieces, and then it pans to the hand, and then it pans up.

Up to to the face of this person, and we see another close up of his face. We we could probably read the emotions from this person's eyes. And from start, from that, you know, I could write whatever is in my mind. Probably, you know where we've been together before, where we you know the things we've talked about before. So, yeah, Lego is like a bridge connects both me and this person, or it serves as,

as, like the first paragraph, paragraph of the of the fiction.

Veronika Becher 25:36
I really like the Lego idea. Yeah, we have on the table, just since no one sees it, different flowers, botanical like Lego sets. And I have no idea how they got here, but I'm not questioning it. Oh, they're not yours. No, they are not. I don't know whoever bothered and decided to put it out there. We can take it. We can we'll take them away after we finish this exactly, we're just gonna

steal, oh my gosh, no, um, but no, this is, this is interesting. Do you have a role model, like someone you're looking up to?

Mingduo 26:12
Of course, you know name, it's gonna be Andy Lau.

We need to give a full like introduction. It is gonna be Andy loud, capital, A, capital, l,

role model. I mean, he, he's definitely a role model. I think he, he's just like us. I mean, he's a celebrity,

really good at acting, both acting as singing and he he was also a many famous TV shows in the 80s. So yeah, I think his primary, his prime, is like the 80s, 90s.

But now he's like, focus on the film productions and the singing. So yeah, I think he's just like us, you know, like normal people. But so people say he doesn't have talent.

And I, I don't disagree with that. I think, yes, he's just like us, normal, a normal person, but what's really good, or why I consider him as the role models, because I think he tried to explore all the possibilities that he can do with whatever resource that he got. He graduated from this acting class. A lot of people graduate from the acting class in Hong Kong in the 80s, TVB, but he could be the one that is the most famous person you know, in that, you know, in that class, I think the 10th class or something, that's how they call it. Each year there will be one, and then is, and then keep going like that. So he works really hard, you know, he would, he was not. He was never a singer before he learned how to sing, he was doing his show business, you know, acting, acting for this director, that director in this TV show, and that TV shows, and then he decided to go into the music field, field of music, and then start producing his own songs, right, the lyrics, all that. So I think because I I've listened

compare his music in the early 80s and then 90s, 2000s and I see the change in his voice, in the way he's saying he sings. So I really appreciate how much work he have done, and that really inspires me, like when I'm writing the stories, when I'm

making my own film, own film, I would listen to his songs because I really appreciate him as my role model. So it kind of like, you know, motivates me to keep doing the best, or trying my best.

Veronika Becher 28:57
When you say people need role models if they go into these type of fields, is it like, um, good to have, even like as a writer, right? If you're starting and you have a role model and you want to keep close to someone's style, because you think that that inspires you or like helps you move forward, or, would you say, find your own voice, rather than looking up to someone, I think I mean

Mingduo 29:21
both having your own voice and having a role model are equally important. I think having a role model is important, but don't turn yourself into that person, because you're not that person. I'm not Andy Lau. I just like him. I just love his songs. I love his teeth, TVs, movies, you know, I would I bought the same costumes he wore in in the film in the 90s. I think probably me is being too crazy. That's, you know, that people call me crazy fans, but I never consider myself as him, because I knew that I can be him. I have what I can do the best, which is like writing fictions or.

Or

the way I make films, my cinematography, how? How is it different from his? So I think it's more of just learn from his technique and then see if that would benefit me when I'm creating my work. What is something you like like? You said you were talking about techniques. What is like a technique that you feel like, like, Could you describe it? Yeah, so, um, so he's an actor, and

he was in one car way's film. The film is called as tears go by, and one of the very famous or really fancy, you know, technique, or cinematography technique, that you would see in one car waste film is called the step printing, where there are similar words to that, but I call it step printing, which is kind of like slow motion, but it gets the whole image blurry,

but not in the negative way, in a very visually appealing way. So I learned how to

how to use that technique in my in my video production, I learned how to play with the settings on my camera in order to have that effect.

And it's also because, you know, Andy Laos acting while one car weighs, using that effect. I think you know so it both serves as, like a an example for me to learn how to act and how to make films.

Yeah, would you like to be an actor, even if though you were, like, going into, like, a more creative writing field, or is it something that you just pursued because you were interested in it. I think I am simply, simply because I love it. And it also starts with photography, because my old man, he loved his cameras. He took pictures for the family, and he taught me how to have to take pictures. So I start playing with my cameras. I work for school. Then I realized, you know, you always have this recording button on your camera, so why not use that? And I learned how to make videos, you know, get into the video video production class and learn how to, you know, like make step printing or all that. So I think it's all came from my interest. Then really thinking about, hey, actually, I'm gonna be the Andy loud that we have in 2025 you know?

Veronika Becher 32:32
Yes, no, that makes sense. Yeah. Totally makes sense. Yeah. No, I, I agree. Like, even I have a minor that has actually, well, I think, like, your minor connects better with your major than mine does, to be fair, but I have a horticulture science minor right now as a business student. And people like, Oh, do you want to go into this field? Do you want to be like an agriculture like, a nursery management business? I'm like, No. And like, why would you take this as a minor? I'm like, Well,

I wanted to, I was interested in it. I like growing my own plants. I think it's interesting to know how to grow plants. And people underestimate the the impact of like, also learning about things that might be not related to a major directly, but realizing how much they can impact also your work as, like a business owner, I don't know.

For instance, you are a business owner. You open your own like Office, and you realize that plans contribute to your well being. By having them just in the space, they can decrease anxiety as well as stress levels of your co workers. So knowing what plans you put in the corner can actually help you a great deal to just feel better in the space you're in. But you think like, Oh, why would you know? Why would you learn about plants? You're not a business student, right? And that's the same thing. I think it's so fascinating that you went into like, having, like, a minor and also major that, uh, they're correlated, but also they are different at the same time, but I can imagine how much like photography or movies can inspire you to write a story too, because they have also stories, right?

And just like seeing it like on screen, as well as writing it where people just imagine it, I think it's just, it's a really nice put together combination. Yeah, no, I don't know. Yeah, I think text, words or literature, whatever you call it,

Mingduo 34:29
text, photos, videos, all have their

advantage. All have what they're really good at, quote, unquote, at, or they also have what their lack of like with the text. It's only simply text. For those who don't love the text, like reading in general, I think probably they think it's, you know, it's too plain. Just looking at the words, it's the text is too long. My.

Eyes hurts. It could be reason. It could be a reason why, or simply because, you know, with a text,

there are so many imaginations

Veronika Becher 35:10
speaking of that. Actually, there's a study done. I just saw it recently, that people, you know, we always study about how people learn and how people comprehend information, and how it works for everyone differently. But the interesting study is how people actually imagine things in their head. And apparently, not everyone does see pictures. Some people have a voice in their head. Others see a picture. The thirds can visualize things like almost be in a room, in their head and move things around others. Don't even have either of the two things. You maybe don't even have an inner voice. It's so interesting and fascinating to me. But I realized, if I wouldn't have the ability, because I think for me, it's like both inner voice and seeing images a lot of times, I would be, I don't know, not enjoying reading, probably because you just have like, you said, just text, right? I wouldn't have the ability to like, see the like, the the scenery, the setting, like you said, Hong Kong 80s, like the dim light we have, like the like streets that are, like, decorated in certain way.

I don't know. I think it would kind of discourage me from reading if I wouldn't see these things, because for me, it's like an inspiration to sketch, for instance, to draw, because I see these things and no one had imagined it before, because it's my own imagination and my own combination of things. Yeah, I understand that. Yeah, yeah. I think

Mingduo 36:41
because I saw your pictures before, and I think

I feel the same way, like say, for example, we're gonna write

a scene about this character wearing Andy Lyles denim Jack and walking on the street go to go to get his girlfriend, you know, and his bike.

So how would I start this before I would, before I write, write the whole scene. I would

in my in my head, I would, I would ask myself, how would I, how would I organize the shots, as if we are making a film or a short video, or how are we? How can we turn this scene into, you know, a part of the film,

or into a series of shots? Then I was thinking about the cinematography. I was thinking about the shot skills, camera movements, and after I have this shot list, how I would

structure, would organize

the whole scene. I would turn the image into the words.

It could start by we see this character walking, you know, turn at the corner, and then the camera follows him behind,

and that that's how I would write this story. You know, could probably start with how he kicked the the can on the floor, and then it goes up. We describe his jeans, his denim jackets. And then think about the cinematography, you know, over the shoulder the POV shots, we see what he see. We see the other side of the corner on the street. And then, you know, we could describe it in words, what's on the street, right? We could describe how people are dressing differently. They probably dress in the way that we dress in 2025

Veronika Becher 38:41
so he creates this contrast, you know, between the rest of the general public and this guy. He's wearing 80s denim jacket, blue jeans, all that. So probably through the contrast, we see his character. When you create this picture, what my head does, I'm gonna describe it is this really crazy thing, you know, the lamps that I used to, I don't know Well, I saw it in Japan, like, for instance, like, I haven't been to Japan, but I've seen a lot of photography that is used, you know, these, like, red lamps that you have hanging by restaurants.

So you have these, like, wooden, kind of wooden,

wooden stores, restaurants with these lamps. It's more dim, and he's walking down the street. The street is wet because we just had rain. I don't know why. Don't ask me why. That is a thing, but, but the water reflects the light that is really warm and has this red undertone. And the interesting thing is, you said, he turns around the corner and sees the other world type of thing like and so the way my brain works for my art is he has like a sucker on him that is completely warm, has a red lightning, red, like orange, and everything that even the floor.

Around him is the same color, but the moment he steps and sees the other world, it's like a blue it's like completely like a grayish tone. And so he sees, like his world that is behind his back, completely in a different setup, and then the setup in front of him is completely modern. Yeah, this is what I see. Yeah. See. I think that is nuanced with the text, because I'm speaking words, if I'm showing you,

Mingduo 40:26
like, if I, if I really, you know, produce produced this, what I've just said in videos, then we will share, probably share the same imaginations. So that is like

Veronika Becher 40:41
the both gears and bads of each medium, text, photos, videos, yes, yes, yeah. Because then, and that's why sometimes I enjoy reading the book first before the movie, because sometimes movies disappoint me,

and sometimes also movies give me the false image that I like off characters how they could look like but I didn't imagine them this way, and I got super upset about that. I'm like, oh, no, I thought the person is blonde. Like, this is, like, the most up. Like, it's such a small detail, but it makes such a big difference on how we imagine a person.

And yeah, I enjoy just having first the book and then the actual movie, unless I like the movie so much that I'm like, I want to know more details, and then I'm gonna read it after that.

Yes, there's, you know, like Studio Ghibli movies, like Totoro and like all the other ones, like one that is really famous, house Moving Castle was a lot of people don't know that, but it was based on a book that you can actually buy and read, and it has so many more details than the actual movie, but the movie get more famous than the book. But it's also like, sometimes you don't know, sometimes the movie gets famous, and then you can unseen a certain picture in your head and the book doesn't feel right anymore,

but, yeah, would you Well, do you have maybe, like, like, last thing that, if we're already in this field,

Mingduo 42:13
speaking of poetry, do you like poetry? Do you enjoy poetry? Or I try to wrote, I try to write poetry before, and I I even wrote

three or four Not, not that much. No, because I feel like

it's already challenging when I'm writing poetry in Chinese, in my native language, because I see it as like it's short, it has its own rhetoric.

What I am thinking is that it always condensed all the informations, all the images, all you want to talk about, in a very, very limited text length. So it's very challenging in the way, in your writing styles, in the word choice, you know, and also you think about, like the rhetoric, like how you want it rhyme, both make it rhyme and also make it rhymes. And also, you know, deliver successfully, deliver where you want to convey.

Veronika Becher 43:12
Do you isn't it challenging if you think about, like, Mandarin, having, like, all the different how they called in English, the

like, the signs that how you write, like, when you write in Mandarin,

it's, they have several meanings, right? And you can, like, dissect it depending on like the context of, well, I don't know that much about like Chinese. I have a friend who studied Chinese,

and it's just like, how does it differ if you're writing in Chinese versus in English, where you have one word, and even though we do have certain meanings, and like metaphors, and like all the different like, you know, styles you can, like, use,

Mingduo 43:58
how does it defer to write in these two languages, what I'm thinking, I'm thinking in Chinese. I think that's more direct, like that's more

more helpful to explain what I want to say. I think in Chinese. I don't think in English. So

when I wrote down my what I'm thinking,

I could record all the details, because it's my native language, like I don't miss anything that I want to write about. When I'm thinking in English, I would first think about I would first think in Chinese, and then I would translate my thought in English, because I need to speak it in English. That's interesting, because I don't do that anymore, like I completely stopped doing that. I don't translate. There are certain maybe topics where I have to translate, but I never see languages as the translation of a different language anymore. What I mean by that, if I speak in English, I don't think of in German and then translate.

Veronika Becher 45:00
It at all. Yeah, I think, I mean, it's definitely not every time, like when we're when we're talking to each other, I'm thinking in English, but when you're asking how I, how I wrote my story, I think about this scene that happened in China. So when I'm thinking about that scene, I'm thinking in Chinese. And when I, when I start doing that, I'm going to translate my thought. I'm going to translate what I'm thinking about that scene from Chinese to in English. So if it's more daily conversation, you know, it's definitely in English to English. But if, if we're talking about more nuanced, more detailed description, that requires lots of explanations, requires a lot of words to to explain, then I'm definitely gonna go through this process much like how I how I write, like I wrote my manuscripts both in Chinese and English, because I think When I'm writing in Chinese, I can explain my thoughts using the correct words, yeah, I I totally agree. It's like my realization was when I was reading so many books I would translate in, translate into German, where, like, they would double the size. And I was like, Whoa, I've been reading like 400 page books that are actually only 200 pages long in English, it's because in German, we have less words than in English. English actually is difficult as language because of the amount of words you have, not the grammar, not the language itself, pronunciation, etc, it's literally just the variety of words you can use in certain settings. And not everyone knows even all words are existing. In German, though, we have less words, but at same time, we have like, we describe, we like to describe things. We like longer sentences. We like to have, like, a more cohesive story where it's like, not just getting to the point. That's a struggle, by the way, if I can't get to the point, it's literally a thing we do in German all the time. We explain things, we walk around the topic, even though we're really direct as human beings. But same time, the way we just like to write is so much different than in English and then Russian, for instance, since I also speak Russian there, I would say there are a lot of words that don't exist in either of the languages, and that's the struggle. That's when you have a word that just you can't translate it. It's not translated in any language because it's so specific to a language that it's it's almost like the description of the word would not be the right description, because it would never, ever display fully what the meaning is of this word. Yeah. See, I think

Mingduo 47:50
people told me that if I, if I wrote in Chinese, it's gonna cost time, because we're submitted in English. So I mean, I gotta translate the manuscript in English. Yes, it's time consuming, but you gotta think about the whole scene has happened in China. So you're gonna describe the scene.

I mean, I think the best way to describe the scene is through Chinese. No, seriously, it is because if I think of traditional things, words, even dishes, food

Veronika Becher 48:21
culture, things that they certain. I don't know placements, even city names. Let's just start with something simple, right? How many times do you struggle with the fact when people translate them from Russian to English? And I'm like, This is not how you pronounce this word. This is not how you write it. What is happening like you just like, you don't understand how words work in Russian, and I think, like, if you have, like, a Chinese culture that you're trying to integrate into your story, that'll be the same thing, right? Where it's like, oh, this. It's so much better because it's actually used the right words. It's the right setting. You know exactly what is happening. It's also your native language, yeah? But, yeah, yeah. I think it's just, I mean, if, if we can condense the whole thing in,

Mingduo 49:11
well, I always think about one word, but, but I'm gonna say it two words, word choice, yeah. It's about word choice. Word choice, yeah, um, maybe, like, kind of a little bit going away from poetry.

Veronika Becher 49:25
Do you have advice for people, especially if they want to study in the United States, coming from China, in your specific path? Is this something that you feel like, Oh, you've learned over being four years at state and realized, I wish I would have known that when I was applying.

I think so. I mean, there are websites, there are websites, but not like on the bureaucratic way, more like life lessons. I know it's difficult, baby, but like life lessons, you've learned that you.

Wish you would have known when you went into, like, English, creative writing, yeah,

Mingduo 50:07
be aware. I mean, or do you know that it's going to be very challenging when you I think working in creative writing is is very arts, because we're producing literature. Literature is art. We are we are producing another form of art. But you got to understand that people are still, you know, working for their life to get paid. So

what we idealized, you know, what we wrote may not be appreciated by other people, not because they don't like us, or they don't like our our literatures, simply because they're busy and also so you got to understand that, you know, getting a job as an International Students with a creative writing background could be challenging, but you also need to know that

pursuing what you love is really important. Because I think, if I think now I'm applying to library science,

both because it's very career focused, and also I'm still interacting with books, still interacting using the skills, communication skills I learned, both in film class and creative writing class. And I'm still, you know, working with books is still something I love, so I'm still doing something I love, and it's because I'm fully interested in these fields, I am willing, you know, to try it doesn't matter how difficult it could be. What is library science? Library Science, yes.

What is library science? Yes, I think it's, it's a it's a very romantic field, if you describe it, okay, it's you can narrow it down. I mean it, people sometimes refer to as library and information science, because sometimes you will, you will find those programs under the same department.

But you can narrow it down into Library Science and Information Science. Library science is definitely more chance

we we do interact with technologies because, I mean, library is definitely as at the forefront of this technology application. So you work with how to use technology to

better serve for people who need access to books, informations. Technologies could be like maker space, all that, but you also have, like the traditional side of libraries in library science, like the book preservations or index organizations. So I think it's like library science brought me to see the hub, which is library I consider it as I consider it as hub, because I think that is all kinds of technologies. Paper is a technology, digitized technologies, or like informations, people is informations, figures is informations. You know, words, text is informations. I see it as hub where all these information set and technology intersects with each other.

So library science is

you could be archivist. It could be

people who work in the Special Collections like book reservations or

digitize the the old books. You could also work in like

this market outreach. You could also work as, like

more communication focus, for example,

cross department, like academic libraries. You work because you know English departments, for example, nice access from DJ Hill. That's where we need these people. If you need a, you know, teach a class in DJ Hill, that's where we need these people. DJ chose a library. DJ is a library, yes, or like, you can also work in public libraries or even, like, business sectors, okay, yeah, I think it was just important. Because I think when we think of library sciences, like we imagine this librarian who is sitting in a library and just like giving out books. But I think it's much more right than that. If you think about it, it's the same as

Veronika Becher 54:55
well any other field that you think of, we always have a really.

Mingduo 55:00
Included a really small image of what people could do with their degree, but there is so much more than that, if you think about it. Yeah, that is how I used to imagine library as or library signs as, but then it's because I took class in the HCl library before so I see, oh, there's actually more than I thought, and it's closely related to my background, English, background, creative, right? Backgrounds, they require skills that I've learned. So yeah,

Veronika Becher 55:28
would you say, like, maybe to round it up? Um, with this experience, do you have advice that you would give, like, to give the listeners anything that we just literally talked about, any last words, something like that.

Mingduo 55:48
I mean, people always say, I say some cliche things, but I think

I definitely understand life is hard. I've, I've with people who, you know, who, who has been through a lot of things, negative things in the life, but I think know that you can change them, or you could bring happiness to them. Know that you are more than just people who talk simply talk with them more than you know. Know that we are more than just sitting here talking to each other, we are sharing our

sharing our stories. And if we see the connections, if, if we see how we can connect to each other, stories, we would find happiness. So know that your words could bring happiness to people, or sometime you know it could change. I want to say change the life is like to cliche. I was like, change their days, or, you know, their focus in a short period of time. And this change is mostly positive and based on my experience. So, yeah, definitely, you know, know that people you you are needed by other people, and see how you can bring joy to other people. And of course, do what you love to do and go back.

Veronika Becher 57:13
I love that. I love this ending. Thank you so much. I feel like we could have talked for another hour and probably cover even more that was like not even enough time.

But I really hope it's gonna work out with the masters program. And if I ever see a book published by you and it's in English, I don't think I could. I don't think I would probably

Mingduo 57:39
write more stories after I go back, because I'll be done with my applications and fully dedicated into my old field.

Veronika Becher 57:48
Well, I've read a part of one of your stories once when you like, send it over to me and I liked it. So we will see like, maybe you have, like, your first band who's gonna read your I'm not gonna dress like even though you have a beautiful style. Like, actually like a style, but sorry, it's not gonna be like you trying to copy. Andy,

it's not cop. It's inspiration. We need word choice, right? Word choice never copy. It's like borrowing the inspirations from what we have in the past, what we appreciate, and then adopting it to your life. Beautiful. Thank you so much for being here and like recording it literally two days before your flight. It's hard, my pleasure. It's crazy, and I really hope that whoever listened to it may you pursue your dreams and actually go into creative writing, if you're interested in that, we need more people. Thank you so much. Have you on Bye? Bye?

Mingduo 58:52
You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai