{"id":900,"date":"2026-04-09T16:20:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/?p=900"},"modified":"2026-04-10T00:33:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:33:40","slug":"zoey-spends-a-night-in-a-house-afterword-lets-talk-about-houses-and-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/2026\/04\/09\/zoey-spends-a-night-in-a-house-afterword-lets-talk-about-houses-and-home\/","title":{"rendered":"[Zoey spends a night in a house] Afterword: Let’s talk about houses and home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Home Journal 2026.Jan.12  by Master Yang's eldest daughter, Ji Shuq\/Sue YANG<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
That afternoon, everyone\u2019s familiar tea room manager, Zoey, and her husband drove nonstop from Hualien to their home. Opening the car door with an exhausted expression, they hurriedly invited us to stretch our muscles on the tatami mat in the Japanese-style room, sitting by the side enjoying the cool breeze, while relishing afternoon snacks and coffee on the low tiled table. After shedding the tension of driving, we first talked about Zoey’s plan for a lifestyle I had never considered before\u2014changing places to live every six months.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
She and her husband have already arranged a real estate agent to manage their house in the United States. For the next six months, they decided to move to Taiwan and see how life is there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I listened as she described the upcoming mobility plan to be implemented, while thinking about something else in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because if it were me, after attending a forum, I would just want to go home immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That day we talked about a theme: What is the difference between a house and a home?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I suddenly realized that looking back at every place a person has lived, naturally each has its own definition in one’s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mobile Home and Immobile Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Zoey’s visit to the house coincided with her and her husband’s decision to implement a wish: to change their living place every six months<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
This idea has been brewing for a long time. So, they first arranged a trusted intermediary to manage the house in the United States that hasn’t found tenants yet, and then they really set out to take action. As their first stop, they chose to come to Taiwan with the plan to live here for half a year to see how it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also therefore, I invited Zoey to stay at my house for one night and to complete my final Coaching lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That day, we talked a lot about “house” and “home”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zoey longs for a way of life that is mobile, moving to the next place she wants to live in after a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I am just the opposite<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since I was young, I have actually never really liked moving. Even if I am willing to temporarily leave home for learning\u2014attending a forum, participating in workshops, viewing exhibitions\u2014once the event ends, I will immediately head back home, not wanting to stay a moment longer in a strange place. Traveling abroad has never been part of my vacation plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, I have been following the content shared by Zoey, watching her write newsletters and listening to her Podcast “Zuo Bian Cha Shui Jian,” discussing brand management, and also talking about her life as a Digital Nomad<\/strong> \u2014 wherever she wants to live, she moves there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although our life action lines are completely different, after going through Zoey’s one-on-one Coaching course on “brand management,” I suddenly realized something very interesting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our answer seems to point towards the same thing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is \u2014 how to master the action lines of your own life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does every place you have lived in have the look of home?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Before moving into the third wooden house built by my father, I had actually lived in quite a few places. If we exclude the four houses I lived in with my parents and in-laws, most of my other time was spent renting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the years of studying and just entering the workplace, I almost lived in different rental spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those houses are not technically “one’s own home.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now looking back, those places were actually the strongest fortresses of life at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time I move to a new place, I always put a lot of thought into arranging the space, trying to gradually make the originally unfamiliar room resemble a home. Until later, when I had a partner, my husband decided to accompany me back to my family home, and that period happened to coincide with the construction of the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we began a very special life: living while accompanying father in building a house<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The house is not finished yet, there are no doors, no windows, the walls are not built yet, only columns and a partially completed roof, we even set up a tent in the house to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This kind of day has lasted for at least five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Now looking back, the house back then was actually not complete
But the strange thing is \u2014 home already existed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there are family members inside, even though it is noisy, at least I am not facing the joys and sorrows of life alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2021, during the pandemic, the workload suddenly decreased, and the pace of life slowed down. It was during that time that my daughter was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The arrival of the granddaughter is like a kind of soft lubricant, making this home more complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her laughter filled the house that was not yet completely finished<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every key holds a part of life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Until now, I still keep many keys from places I used to live, some of which still have the charms from that time, recording my preferences back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every key, like it has sealed a part of life<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have discovered that the places a person has lived will gradually shape their current self.
Compared to my father’s experiences, I have actually been much more stable thanks to my parents’ blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When his father was young, he worked various engineering jobs, as a laborer, and even traveled to Arabia to work. In that hot land, he lived a life without a permanent home for many years. Those wandering years carried the weight of life given to him and shaped the current Master Yang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps because of this, he later insisted on wanting to build a house \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A home that can allow a family to live for a hundred years<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many keys have you had in your life?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s see, from birth until leaving home to study and work, I have now lived in 11 houses<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we add the time when my parents ran a restaurant, the two experimental cabins built on the same piece of land mean that I have actually lived in 13 houses and had 15 rooms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
There is a key that I always remember<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was a very busy and exciting period. Every day I ran between the classroom, school publication club, editing camp, printing factory, freelance design company, dance troupe, and dormitory. When the door opened, the floor was often piled with assignments, color samples, and manuscripts. In the corner, that blue jelly computer was still breathing hard, helping me calculate the Cinema 4D assignments. On the tatami bed, there were costumes and uniforms that had been washed but not folded due to lack of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back now, those days of staying away from home have quietly shaped who I am today<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps I can never stop because I have long been accustomed to advancing things simultaneously on multiple tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Houses, like a relay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Later, I slowly understood one thing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every house lived in is like a relay carrying different versions of oneself<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those spaces record the lifestyles of different periods and gradually shape our imagination of future living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such longing, in fact, does not arise out of thin air<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is generated slowly step by step in different places<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you will go abroad for further studies in a subject; you might also temporarily leave your familiar hometown for a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when one day, you have accumulated enough ability and honed your skills<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps it will start to think about another question: Can one live in the place they want to be with these abilities?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, the answer right now might be this: whether moving or not moving, being prepared with one’s brand management skills, along with some digital work skills, perhaps can gradually regain \u2014 the freedom to choose where to live.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I want to leave a question for you who have read to this point:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many keys have you had in your life?<\/strong>\ud83d\udd11
Which one locks away the most memories for you?<\/strong> 
What kind of house does your ideal life look like?<\/strong>\ud83c\udfe0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Home Journal 2026.Jan.12 by Master Yang’s eldest daughter, Ji Shuq\/Sue YANG That afternoon, everyone\u2019s familiar tea room manager, Zoey, and her husband drove nonstop from Hualien to their home. Opening the car door with an exhausted expression, they hurriedly invited us to stretch our muscles on the tatami mat in the Japanese-style room, sitting by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":940,"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900\/revisions\/940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abookhouse.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}