Last Tuesday is the day that popdance presented the performence '' 盜愛''. the team that i join is girlstyle. In this performance, we play the role geisha, whose mission is to please the Emperor in a feast.
In order to present the best, tewlve girls in this team, including myself, practiced our dance day and night. we almost devoted our every single minutes that is free to the practice. When practicing, i found that cooperation is a complicatied philosophy that is worthwhile to learn.
when lacking some of our teammates during the practices, we hardly can do our work. and everytime that the same person keep doing the samething like being late for no reason or obsents without explaination, it annoyed others but find no way to help the situation.
regarding this situation, i realize profoundly that it is very important to set up a personal credit. let people find us realiable and considerate. if we want to do big, we have to take care of many details to form the whole.
although the practicing had made some sparkles between our teammates, we found a way to solve it. and in the end, we perform the show successfully.
2009年5月31日
Happy Sodagreen's Day
Left to Right：阿福(A.Guitar)、馨儀(Bass)、青峰(Vocal)、小威(drums)、家凱(E.Guitar)、阿龔(Piano&Viola)
Yesterday, I went to join the concert of Sodagreen, an individual band, with my friend, Wei. In fact, I have been their fan for four years. A few years ago, while I listen to Sodagreen’s songs, not many friends or classmates of mine know what I’m talking about. I was upset that no one can share the happiness of listening to the songs with me. However, Sodagreen starts to be more popular due to the song, 小情歌, released in their second album and win the prize, The Best Band of 18th Golden Melody Awards in 2005. From then on, their musical works touch and are fond of by more and more people.
Well, it’s my second time to join Sodagreen’s concert. It’s undeniable that their live performance is attractive. Each of them has good skills and passion for music. Most importantly, they create musical works and treat their fans with their true heart. They don’t want to cater to the main-stream market nor become commercial to flatter the consumers. They just do themselves. While they stand on the stage, it doesn’t mean building the wall between themselves and fans, but go across the distance and talk to fans in the way they treat friends. I indeed like the feeling close to Sodagreen.
The band’s name, Sodagreen, has meaning behind it. They hope everyone who listens to their music has the feeling of drinking cool soda in summer days ─ fresh. In addition, the lyrics of their songs are as beautiful as poems and have a kind of positive power. Usually, the topics of their songs are not only about love, but family or society as well. If you are in a bad mood, perhaps you can listen to Sodagreen’s songs to relax
If no one will listen
You can hear this song from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_zm_W4a0Zo.
Maybe no one told you there is strength in your tears
And so you fight to keep from pouring out
But what if you unlock the gate that keeps your secret soul
Do you think that there's enough you might drown?
If no one will listen, if you decide to speak
If no one's left standing after the bombs explode
If no one wants to look at you, for what you really are
I will be here still
No one can tell you where you alone must go
There's no telling what you find there
And, God, I know the fear that eats away at your bones
It's screaming every step, "Just stay here?
If you find your fists are raw and red from beating yourself down
If your legs have given out under the weight
If you find you've been settling for a world of gray
So you wouldn't have to face down your own hate
I want to introduce a song that I recently love. It is sang by Kelly Clarkson. Kelly Clarkson is the first champion of the TV show, American Idol, in America. I accidently found this song on a day when I was surfing the Internet. When I first heard this song, I love it immediately. I like the powerful voice of Kelly Clarkson and the lyrics. After entering college, I always miss my junior and high school classmates. I could not get used to the new surroundings and felt anxious. The uncertainty of the future bothers me all the time. Although now I have adapted to this new life, this song reminds me of the feelings at that time.
If no one will listen, if you decide to speak
It's screaming every step, "Just stay here?
Stay here, or I’d better choose to go toward the future. (然後呢，一起走吧)
I think what I do now will be the red carpet made by rose to the future. Just do the things in front of me right now.
If you have interests with Kelly Clarkson, you can go to her websites.
http://www.kellyclarkson.com/
Maybe no one told you there is strength in your tears
And so you fight to keep from pouring out
But what if you unlock the gate that keeps your secret soul
Do you think that there's enough you might drown?
If no one will listen, if you decide to speak
If no one's left standing after the bombs explode
If no one wants to look at you, for what you really are
I will be here still
No one can tell you where you alone must go
There's no telling what you find there
And, God, I know the fear that eats away at your bones
It's screaming every step, "Just stay here?
If you find your fists are raw and red from beating yourself down
If your legs have given out under the weight
If you find you've been settling for a world of gray
So you wouldn't have to face down your own hate
I want to introduce a song that I recently love. It is sang by Kelly Clarkson. Kelly Clarkson is the first champion of the TV show, American Idol, in America. I accidently found this song on a day when I was surfing the Internet. When I first heard this song, I love it immediately. I like the powerful voice of Kelly Clarkson and the lyrics. After entering college, I always miss my junior and high school classmates. I could not get used to the new surroundings and felt anxious. The uncertainty of the future bothers me all the time. Although now I have adapted to this new life, this song reminds me of the feelings at that time.
If no one will listen, if you decide to speak
It's screaming every step, "Just stay here?
Stay here, or I’d better choose to go toward the future. (然後呢，一起走吧)
I think what I do now will be the red carpet made by rose to the future. Just do the things in front of me right now.
If you have interests with Kelly Clarkson, you can go to her websites.
http://www.kellyclarkson.com/
Journal Entry 5-ANESSA
I can hardly think of the accurate time when I first know ANESSA. Just so long ago, when you open television, you would see a sun block commercial with a quite beautiful model in bikini. After then, I learned that she is the Japanese model,
Ebihara Yuri (蛯原友理). The slogan of the commercial is that the most excellent product in solar system! When you walk through the EASY Mall, you would see the advertising light-box of ANESSA. These pouring advertisements give me a deep expression with this product.
I love sport very much since I was a senior high student. That is the beginning I started to see sun protection as a serious issue. My skin is very healthy that I seldom be sunburned but it is prone to getting dark when I exposed to sun. I have ever tried some sunscreen products whether cheep or expensive. Most of them are from my friends who played volleyball with me. It is an interesting process that girls talk about the various sunscreen products. After graduating from senior high, one of my roommates traveled to Japan. She brought ANESSA for me. They cost at least NT1700 dollar in Taiwan but less than NT1000 dollar if you bought them in Japan.
I spend the least money to get the newest version of ANESSA. They are mild face sunscreen SPF46 PA+++ and the cleansing.
It’s very useful to avoid suntan. At first, I don’t know how to use it correctly so that my face would be unnatural white. Moreover, I seldom use it because I usually doing exercise at night now and I don’t think it’s necessary to use high SPF product in usual. Recently, I found that there’s a senior also use ANESSA that really make me feel friendly. I asked her how to solve the problem. When I followed her suggestion, my complexion became natural white. Besides excellent sun protection, it could also effectively embellish the complexion. These are the two important reasons why I love it. With ANESSA, I’m ready to embrace the summer!
2009年5月30日
Batman –The Dark Knight
Why so serious? What is justice?
The Dark night has broken the record of the movie history. It is currently ranked fourth in the movie history of America. Heath Ledger who played the part of the villain has won the Academy Award for the best supporting actor after he was dead. Although The Dark Knight is the latest series of Batman, its way of depicting the story is totally different from the former series. The Dark Knight focuses on the leading character’s inner part and more human nature.
Batman cooperates with the police chief, James Gordon and public procurator, Harvey Dent to fight the crimes in Gotham. They work together well and soon they find that they have become the target of the most monstrous bad guy, Joker…….
I think this movie precisely describes the contradiction of human nature and the bright side of people. The ending of the movie really touches me. When Joker has killed many people in Gotham, many citizens wants to exchange Batman for their own safety. Batman has no values when he conflicts with the interests of citizens. That is, people do not need him anymore. In the end, Batman choose make up a crime for himself and silently accepts the trial which people give to him. Batman is just a hero. He has to tolerate things people don’t want to and love others that do not love him.
What is justice?
The Dark knight is definitely a great movie. The actors and actress in the movie really play well. I strongly recommend this movie to people have not seen it.
The Dark night has broken the record of the movie history. It is currently ranked fourth in the movie history of America. Heath Ledger who played the part of the villain has won the Academy Award for the best supporting actor after he was dead. Although The Dark Knight is the latest series of Batman, its way of depicting the story is totally different from the former series. The Dark Knight focuses on the leading character’s inner part and more human nature.
Batman cooperates with the police chief, James Gordon and public procurator, Harvey Dent to fight the crimes in Gotham. They work together well and soon they find that they have become the target of the most monstrous bad guy, Joker…….
I think this movie precisely describes the contradiction of human nature and the bright side of people. The ending of the movie really touches me. When Joker has killed many people in Gotham, many citizens wants to exchange Batman for their own safety. Batman has no values when he conflicts with the interests of citizens. That is, people do not need him anymore. In the end, Batman choose make up a crime for himself and silently accepts the trial which people give to him. Batman is just a hero. He has to tolerate things people don’t want to and love others that do not love him.
What is justice?
The Dark knight is definitely a great movie. The actors and actress in the movie really play well. I strongly recommend this movie to people have not seen it.
Mother’s Day Is Also Buddha’s Birthday
We all know that it is Mother’s Day that on the second Sunday of May. And when it comes to Mother’s Day, we often come out with carnation which is the magnificent symbol of mother’s love. However, seldom do people know that Mother’s Day is also Buddha’s Birthday.
Buddha Bathing Ceremony, which commemorates the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha in May of 563BC, is one of the highlights in May. We hope that the ceremony will bring harmony and peace. Besides Buddha Bathing Ceremony, the event will also feature healthy vegetarian lunch, various exhibitions, interactive games, book fair and performances throughout the day.
It is really interesting and meaningful for celebrating both Mother’s Day and Buddha’s Birthday together. The love of Buddha and the one of mother are pretty similar. Mother loves children, ignoring her hard working and even sacrificing her life, and so does Buddha love all living creatures. Furthermore, celebrating Mother’s day exalts “shou”, which means the duty as children in the light of Chinese tradition; celebrating Buddha’s Birthday has gratitude for living creatures growing up with wisdom.
The significant meaning of Buddha Bathing Ceremony is bathing our bottoms of hearts and souls. With the most devout heart and holiest hands, everyone baths “Buddha’s foot” in a respective way. Returning to certain kind of clean and clear in mind, Buddha’s bathing thanks for Buddha, at the same time, for parents and all living creatures.
There is still a symbolic activity of “washing mother’s foot” on Mother’s Day. Washing mother’s foot activity is from Buddha Bath Ceremony. And the significance is that we have to respect mother as Buddha. Through the activity, we thank for mother’s devotion.
No matter Mother’s Day or Buddha’s Birthday, we appreciate their great, selfless love. Most important of all, we have to have a sincere mind which is full of gratitude, not only on the second Sunday of May but also every day we have.
Buddha Bathing Ceremony, which commemorates the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha in May of 563BC, is one of the highlights in May. We hope that the ceremony will bring harmony and peace. Besides Buddha Bathing Ceremony, the event will also feature healthy vegetarian lunch, various exhibitions, interactive games, book fair and performances throughout the day.
It is really interesting and meaningful for celebrating both Mother’s Day and Buddha’s Birthday together. The love of Buddha and the one of mother are pretty similar. Mother loves children, ignoring her hard working and even sacrificing her life, and so does Buddha love all living creatures. Furthermore, celebrating Mother’s day exalts “shou”, which means the duty as children in the light of Chinese tradition; celebrating Buddha’s Birthday has gratitude for living creatures growing up with wisdom.
The significant meaning of Buddha Bathing Ceremony is bathing our bottoms of hearts and souls. With the most devout heart and holiest hands, everyone baths “Buddha’s foot” in a respective way. Returning to certain kind of clean and clear in mind, Buddha’s bathing thanks for Buddha, at the same time, for parents and all living creatures.
There is still a symbolic activity of “washing mother’s foot” on Mother’s Day. Washing mother’s foot activity is from Buddha Bath Ceremony. And the significance is that we have to respect mother as Buddha. Through the activity, we thank for mother’s devotion.
No matter Mother’s Day or Buddha’s Birthday, we appreciate their great, selfless love. Most important of all, we have to have a sincere mind which is full of gratitude, not only on the second Sunday of May but also every day we have.
The Lecture Delivered by Professor Hong
On Saturday afternoon, May 16th, I went to auditorium to listen a lecture delivered by Professor Hong Lan. She talked about reading and learning which related to neuron in brain. It is interesting for me to explore the inside brain because I had never touched that field except for reading some simple reference books. In other words, it’s my first time to have a chance to have a lesson on professional “Cranial Nerve” Science.
Before I went to this lecture, I was a little afraid that I would have no sense about what Professor Hong talks about. But it seems that I worried too over. Instead, Professor Hong used an easy way and realistic story to explain the relationships between reading, learning and neuron in our brain.
The first information Professor Hong told us was that “everyone has their excellence; we should not ignore their advantages and “cram” the other they may not good at.” The most profound example was the great scientist—Albert Einstein. He was amazingly good at the conception of space. However, the recourses of brain were limited. He was completely a stupid on language, including speaking, reading and writing abilities. Professor Hong claimed, after analyzing on Einstein brain that he devoted for research, we found that the control center of language in his brain was totally non-developed. If Einstein’s mother or teacher forced him to learn how to improve his language ability, he must be crazy. Therefore, for the reason that everyone has their telnets, we should not limit them in an autocratic, single way; we have to leave a room for them to grow, instead.
There was also a vivid story related to read that Professor Hong shared with us. She said that when his son was in elementary school, he was not interested in novel. Unfortunately, his teacher led him to study a novel during summer vocation. He suffered a lot at that time. Then, being his mother, Professor Hong knew his learning condition, and went to tell his teacher that his homework would be pictures about novel’s plot. Finally, his son was exciting and read many times in order to figure out the plot and setting. After he finished his pictures, he didn’t think that he read the novel he hated before; but in fact, he did read it. This experience tells us that “to cater ones pleasure, there will be an astonishing learning.”
There were too many points that Professor Hong shared with us, and it was not enough to say. Here is a picture which about what Professor Hong had told. Have a look at it, it is really interesting!
Journal Entry 4-The Magic Hour
What is magic hour? It’s a specialized term of cinematography, just as the golden hour in photography. It indicates the moment of the sun being so close to the horizon. The dark night is coming but the sunlight hasn’t disappeared yet. The hue of the sky is warmer and the lighting is softer. During the magic hour, the direct light of the sun is less intense and the warm color of the low sun is considered desirable to enhance the colors of the scene. The golden hour is a mild version of alpenglow, described by Galen Rowell, a noted wilderness photographer and climber.
“ If you want to be alive, just take the most famous killer in front of me!”
The affair between the manager of a hotel and the gangster’s mistress was discovered by the gangster. The manager pretends that he is familiar with the well-known killer. The gangster wants to see the famous killer so that he makes the order above. Actually, the manager doesn’t know the killer. For the purpose of patching up the lie told, the manager takes a third-rate actor to disguise himself as the killer. He tells the actor that he is shooting a killer film. The innocent actor doesn’t know the whole scene and incidents are true. It’s hard to imagine what would happen afterwards. However, I’d like to stop the story at a climax to keep you in suspense.
The director wants to tell the audiences of this movie that everyone can decide the way they live and to give the audiences more encouragement. The most beautiful things do not always unshown, they’re just late. To me, the magic hour is the most precious time in a day. If you miss the hours then don’t be depressed. The magic hour always happens day after day. I’d like to say this movie is fun and really cheer me up.
2009年5月29日
The Man Women Want
The man women want
The movie” The man women want “is a German comedy. It talks about whether women love bad guys or not. As part of women, I am very sure that it is not. However, the leading role, Max is the one who his ex-girlfriend thinks not a ideal boyfriend for the reason that she thinks Max is not “bad “enough. What’s more, Max good friend also think that women only love bad guys. One day, he meets a girl he likes. Thus, in order to be ideal bad guys who girls may like, he starts to change his behavior and outside looking with the help from his friend. It’s a fun story about love. After, he becomes “bad guy”, he ex-girl starts to love him again. However, the girl she pursuits also falls in love with Max, and
she says that she likes true Max, not bad guys Max. But things become out of control, Max always in fail to tell his ex-girlfriend that he doesn’t like her anymore while he falls in love with the women he likes. What makes the thing worst is that his ex-girlfriend and his lover are good friends! What will happen to Max? Can he solve the problem?
It seems that people always do funny things when they are in love.
The movie” The man women want “is a German comedy. It talks about whether women love bad guys or not. As part of women, I am very sure that it is not. However, the leading role, Max is the one who his ex-girlfriend thinks not a ideal boyfriend for the reason that she thinks Max is not “bad “enough. What’s more, Max good friend also think that women only love bad guys. One day, he meets a girl he likes. Thus, in order to be ideal bad guys who girls may like, he starts to change his behavior and outside looking with the help from his friend. It’s a fun story about love. After, he becomes “bad guy”, he ex-girl starts to love him again. However, the girl she pursuits also falls in love with Max, and
she says that she likes true Max, not bad guys Max. But things become out of control, Max always in fail to tell his ex-girlfriend that he doesn’t like her anymore while he falls in love with the women he likes. What makes the thing worst is that his ex-girlfriend and his lover are good friends! What will happen to Max? Can he solve the problem?It seems that people always do funny things when they are in love.
(ps. the man in two pictures on the left is the same person)
Mamma Mia
Mamma Mia
The story took place in Greek, 1999. The main character, Sophie, was going to get married, and she had a hope that her father who was a mystery could come to her wedding. Sophie found that there were three men could be her father. Thus, she invited them all. And what will happen when Sophie’s mother meets her ex-lovers? Can Sophie make her wish come true?
The New Mamma Mia! Trailer
In the end, Sophie found that it is not important to define which man is her father. She likes them all! Is great to have three fathers for Sophie and these three fathers are also glad to have a daughter like Sophie. What’s more, out of surprise, Sophie cancels the wedding, for she thinks it is not necessary to have it now. She thinks being with the one you love and understand him(or her) are the most important. What about her mother? The past of her is fantastic! Her love story is also charming although she didn’t choose anyone to be with as she was pregnant. But, she solved complex problems between her lover and found her true love finally.
I really like this movie because not only the story is funny but also the background music is excellent. The most typical music of Mamma Mia is Dancing Queen, which is one of famous song of ABBA. It is a good movie that I want to invite to everyone.
Dancing Queen
Wuxia Novels
Recently, I indulge in Jing Yong's novel, The Return of the Condor Heroes.(神鵰俠侶) Many people read Jing Yong's novels when they were in junior high or high school. However, I didn't have any interest in the novel because I think it's tired to read so much words.
Why did I read it now?
Few weeks ago, I watched the cartoon The Return of the Condor Heroes with my sisters at home. It reminded me that I have a comic book so I took it out and read it again. After watching cartoon and reading the comic book, I was curious about why The Return of the Condor Heroes has such fascination that many movies, soap operas and even comic books are adapted from it. Finally, I borrowed the novels from library and read it. I didn't repel the quantity of words this time; however, I though it was a really nice novel. The novel has a power that makes people want to finish it as soon as possible. The author is good at using language to describe each character's characteristic. The image floats on my mind when I read the description. Moreover, I can combine the text with the cartoon or soap opera to think about many interesting scenes.
Now, I know why Jing Yong is so famous. Through this expeirence, I think I will read more Jing Yong's novels in the future.
Why did I read it now?
Few weeks ago, I watched the cartoon The Return of the Condor Heroes with my sisters at home. It reminded me that I have a comic book so I took it out and read it again. After watching cartoon and reading the comic book, I was curious about why The Return of the Condor Heroes has such fascination that many movies, soap operas and even comic books are adapted from it. Finally, I borrowed the novels from library and read it. I didn't repel the quantity of words this time; however, I though it was a really nice novel. The novel has a power that makes people want to finish it as soon as possible. The author is good at using language to describe each character's characteristic. The image floats on my mind when I read the description. Moreover, I can combine the text with the cartoon or soap opera to think about many interesting scenes.
Now, I know why Jing Yong is so famous. Through this expeirence, I think I will read more Jing Yong's novels in the future.
(#7) Jason Who? No, Jason Wu
Do you remember the dress worn by Michelle Obama, first lady of the US, at the inaugural ball? Actually, that beautiful white dress was designed by a 26-year-old, Taiwan-born designer Jason Wu (吳季剛). Wu was born in Taipei, and moved to Canada when he was nine years old. It is incredible that Wu knew at age five that being a fashion designer was his goal, and his non-traditional Chinese parents who did not ask their son to be a doctor or lawyer, always accompanied their son and backed him up. At age sixteen, Wu started to be the designer of Barbie clothes, and he learned how to deal with small, detailed designs from doing this. Afterward, he created his own brand and began to design for "big Barbies", including the first lady.
What did Wu think when he saw the inaugural ball? He said that he did not know that the first lady would choose his dress in advance, so he was watching TV while eating pizza at home, and when he saw his dress on the TV, he could not believe it's all happened. Before the inauguration, Wu was an unknown young guy; after the inauguration, he is a fashion star.
Though he is famous and has hold a successful runway show, Wu remains humble,thinking that he still has a lot of things to learn and to work on. And it is interesting that again, when Michelle Obama on the cover of Vogue magazine wearing a dress designed by Wu, he had know idea. He saw it on the Internet, and he thought,"Oh my god. I think I made this dress." We can say that the inaugural ball really turned Wu into an overnight reputation.
2009年5月28日
(#6) Summary of "Today's Lesson: How to Start a Successful Business."
Traditionally, big business in Korea holds more attraction for people, but now things are changing. The government has acknowledged that individual and ambitious entrepreneurs can improve the economy of Korea which has counted too much on big corporations. Cho Ki Son, who teaches students how to be successful in business, explains some basics of running small business, for instance, keeping a perfect credit record, do not give up, and so on. Park Soo Wong is typically the new type of entrepreneur, who left his secure job to start his own company; he is young, and has initiative and ambition. Moreover, the government is encouraging new businesses in order to create more new jobs. So that Korea has a lot of opportunity, every one has to grab the chance.
House MD
In recent days, I am addicted to the most popular TV series in US, called House MD.
Here is the brief introduction of this drama. Gregory House, M.D., is a misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. Most episodes revolve around the diagnosis of a primary patient and start with a pre-credict sequence set outside the hospital, showing events leading up to the onset of the patient's symptoms.
It is different from other typical medical dramas, which mostly focus on attempts to diagnose and treat the patient's illness. Instead, Dr.House pays much attention to the patients' mentality.
At beginning, I am not quiet interested in the plots of the TV series but attracted by the mysterious personality of the main character. Unlike ordinary doctors, House acts as a strange cripple and he treats his patients with distinctive methods. Even though he behaves weirdly, his actions are filled with fascination.
What it worthes to mentioning is its public praise. House MD has received many awards and nominations such as Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and so on. Those honored compliments plate the drama with honored gold.
If you have time or have some interests in this TV series, you can spend a little time watching it on PTS.(公共電視) In spite of my recommendation, do not ignore worldwide praise. Never waits until it's too late.
Sunset
When I was a child, I did not have few interests in seeing scenery. As the time went by, I gradually love to appreciate the beautiful scenes such as sunrise, sunset, or the sparkling night scenes.
Recently, I love watching dusk most, especially beside the port. The breeze slightly blows over us. We pick up the good seat to wait for the sunset. You can see the sky is gradually become colorful. Red, orange and yellow mix together and sprinkle over the cloud. At the same time, the twilight pours over the sky and sparkle the sea that reflects the gorgeous sky.
When I watch this scene, my mood will calm down and some agonizing things will be got rid of from my heart. At this moment, the only thing I want to do is to watch, to appreciate, and to memorize such the beautiful sunset.
Despite that, I do not like to watch sunset alone, because I think it will be too lonely and too quiet to feel the pleasure and warm feeling that is fill with your heart. If I want to watch the sunset, I will definitely call my friends go to watch together. I do not need many friends accompany me. One or two is enough. Because I believe sometimes too many people will be a little bit noisy. I know there seems to be a little bit contradiction between the two thought, but this is what I am.
This photo is shot by me at the 漁人碼頭. The scene of sunset is the most beautiful sunset I ever see in this year. Though we could not get the best place to watch, this scene was deeply memorized in my heart.
Recently, I love watching dusk most, especially beside the port. The breeze slightly blows over us. We pick up the good seat to wait for the sunset. You can see the sky is gradually become colorful. Red, orange and yellow mix together and sprinkle over the cloud. At the same time, the twilight pours over the sky and sparkle the sea that reflects the gorgeous sky.
When I watch this scene, my mood will calm down and some agonizing things will be got rid of from my heart. At this moment, the only thing I want to do is to watch, to appreciate, and to memorize such the beautiful sunset.
Despite that, I do not like to watch sunset alone, because I think it will be too lonely and too quiet to feel the pleasure and warm feeling that is fill with your heart. If I want to watch the sunset, I will definitely call my friends go to watch together. I do not need many friends accompany me. One or two is enough. Because I believe sometimes too many people will be a little bit noisy. I know there seems to be a little bit contradiction between the two thought, but this is what I am.
This photo is shot by me at the 漁人碼頭. The scene of sunset is the most beautiful sunset I ever see in this year. Though we could not get the best place to watch, this scene was deeply memorized in my heart.
2009年5月26日
Chungyo Week Wonderfully Finished
Oh yeah! Chungyo week wonderfully dropped the curtain down.
Preparing for almost half year, members of Chungyo put ourselves into the most important yearly event, Chungyo week. We were devided into several groups to be responsible for particular jobs. And I was alloted to Delicacies group(美食股), which was in charge of preparing, finding and cooking. In winter break, we began to find some distinctive food which stands for Taichung mostly.
We went to Yizhong street(一中街), Second market(第二市場) and so on, negotiating with keepers in order to get permission to sell their products. Through our efforts, we had good "gains"!
Then, by other significant arrangements and trivial things getting prepared, the Chungyo week began!
Here is our simple introduction of Taichung specialities which we sold.
1.Dawn cake- with strong fragrance and delicious taste. And its special packaging catches everyone's eyes.
2.Yu-Jan-Shin-delicious cakes and pastry satisfy you stomach.
3.meat aspic of chicken claw-fragrance of chinese medicine, making your nostril and stomach enjoy wonderful taste.
and much much much more tasty specialities are waiting for you in my hometown, Taichung.
Chungyo week achieved its goal to promote Taichung. If you have not been to Taichung, jusi go to Chungyo week to experience our unique food and our friendliness.
Preparing for almost half year, members of Chungyo put ourselves into the most important yearly event, Chungyo week. We were devided into several groups to be responsible for particular jobs. And I was alloted to Delicacies group(美食股), which was in charge of preparing, finding and cooking. In winter break, we began to find some distinctive food which stands for Taichung mostly.
We went to Yizhong street(一中街), Second market(第二市場) and so on, negotiating with keepers in order to get permission to sell their products. Through our efforts, we had good "gains"!
Then, by other significant arrangements and trivial things getting prepared, the Chungyo week began!
Here is our simple introduction of Taichung specialities which we sold.
1.Dawn cake- with strong fragrance and delicious taste. And its special packaging catches everyone's eyes.
2.Yu-Jan-Shin-delicious cakes and pastry satisfy you stomach.
3.meat aspic of chicken claw-fragrance of chinese medicine, making your nostril and stomach enjoy wonderful taste.
and much much much more tasty specialities are waiting for you in my hometown, Taichung.
Chungyo week achieved its goal to promote Taichung. If you have not been to Taichung, jusi go to Chungyo week to experience our unique food and our friendliness.
2009年5月25日
pop dance [5]
Tomorrow is the POP DANCE club performance. This semester I drop out dancing for I want to make better use of my leisure time not just spending on dancing. I thought I wouldn't regret. Though I love hip hop, some factors make me to leave the club. First of all, we have a performance annually; therefore we have to practice a lot in case that we fall behind the schedule. We have to spend much time to dance and every time when I go back to dormitory it's almost midnight. After I take a shower or do something it will be very late. My mom is a little bit angry about that. Secondly, everyone knows that dancing costs a lot. No matter you go to a personal studio to learn dancing or buy dancing dress, they all need money. I don't want to bring about more pressure to my parents simply because I want to dance.
However, with the performance coming, I see my friends all practicing hard. Honestly, I am regretful for giving up. Especially when I know from newspaper and TV that Jolin Tsai working so hard to make her dance skill better, I admire her willpower and her attitude toward everything. I think that maybe when I can earn money by myself I will dance again. Here is the video about Jolin's song "dancer" (舞孃), but it's not Jolin herself. It's a professional dancing teacher in a pair of fancy trousers.
However, with the performance coming, I see my friends all practicing hard. Honestly, I am regretful for giving up. Especially when I know from newspaper and TV that Jolin Tsai working so hard to make her dance skill better, I admire her willpower and her attitude toward everything. I think that maybe when I can earn money by myself I will dance again. Here is the video about Jolin's song "dancer" (舞孃), but it's not Jolin herself. It's a professional dancing teacher in a pair of fancy trousers.
2009年5月24日
The dog which I treasure in my heart
One day, I felt so boring, because I did not find any things that interest me. So I browsed my albums of my high school life to kill time. When I saw this photo, the life with him came to my mind.In our campus, you can find many stray dog come and live for a period of time. But they would leave one day. Then, other dogs came. The circulation never stops, so I did not have deep emotion with them. But he was a special case. His name is大黃. Though his name is not special and too common in Taiwan, his name is deeply treasured by my heart.
He often slept in front of the 302 classroom, so it was easy for me when I wanted to find him. He was such a nice dog that I had never saw him bark to any person. Moreover, he was brave enough to protect his friend called 小白, a timid white dog.
I remembered one day another dog called 大白came back. He was a leader of our campus dogs before. He was so aggressive dog that you could often find new scar and bloodstain on his body. But 小白 seemed not afraid of him and get along with him very well. Suddenly, we saw 大黃 run fast toward 大白 and bite his throat as soon as 小白 screamed. He did not loose his mouth until we ran to 大黃 and called him.
If I did not meet him, I would not have had such an interesting, fun and happy life in my last year in senior high school
(#5) Apocalypto
Have you ever heard of any director shouting out “I need to see the blood!” or “Hey, we are all dying here! We are all dying!” Some things like these? Actually, the sentences came from an Oscar- winning director: Mel Gibson, who was shooting an infernal scene for Apocalypto, his action epic film about the ancient Maya. Apocalypto (2006) is Gibson’s latest work, in which we can see the ritual of ancient Maya kingdom—the human sacrifice and the slave trade. Apocalypto, which is translated from the Greeks as “destruction and a new beginning,” is the idea that Gibson wants to convey to the audience “everything has a beginning and an end.”
In the movie, the Maya kingdom, whose ambitious leaders insist that if they do not appease gods by more temples and human sacrifices the crops will die. Jaguar Paw, the film’s hero, who is chose to be sacrificed to gods and pursued by the sinister Maya warriors. Because of several frightening chasing sequences through the rain forest and people’s unfamiliarity of the Maya civilization, Gibson successfully makes the audience see the movie attentively and feel jumpy about the unpredictable bloody scenes.
In fact, there are some people think that Apocalypto is just a movie with violence and barbarian doings; people are separated into pro-Mel and anti-Mel, having fierce debates on the Internet. However, what I want to talk about is not pro or anti-Mel, I want to talk about some special features of this movie, Apocalypto:
1. The Yucatec Maya dialogue spoken by native Mexican is used in this movie and is companied by subtitle. Gibson is interested in using unfamiliar languages on his film, and he believes that it can make the audience forget the reality, bringing them into the world of the film.
2. It is surprise to find that all cast members of Apocalypto do not have any experience in acting—many of whom are indigents of Guatemala or Mexico and had never seen a movie, let alone acted in one.
3. The movie is so violent that it is restricted. But it is different from the slasher which will make us feel sick.
All in all, Apocalypto is an extremely violent movie, in which casts speak in Mayan and there is no film star. What’s more, some one has uploaded the whole movie on YouTube. And it is not allowed, the file may be deleted some day. So if you want to see this movie, you can choose to see it from YouTube(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm6E7eC9zpw) or rent the DVD from the store.
Summary ( How to Start a Successful Business)
Although Shon Ki Son is young, many people older than he are come to listen to his lecture bout successful entrepreneurship. He said that there are three ways that we should never do. They are “never do bankrupt”,”don’t buy unnecessary real estate” and “remember not to expand too fast.”
Now, more and more young talents tend to work for new companies rather than big business in tradition.
Shon Ki Son is one of the new types of entrepreneur. He left his job designing aircraft to start his own business. The way to do so is hard, he faced many obstacles; for example, money problem, people thinking he can’t success….
But now, the government is promoting start-ups in order to provide more new jobs. It’s much easier than before to set up a new company.
Now, more and more young talents tend to work for new companies rather than big business in tradition.
Shon Ki Son is one of the new types of entrepreneur. He left his job designing aircraft to start his own business. The way to do so is hard, he faced many obstacles; for example, money problem, people thinking he can’t success….
But now, the government is promoting start-ups in order to provide more new jobs. It’s much easier than before to set up a new company.
Journal 6 :Summary of the Article on Page 166 in the Writing Textbook
John Smith, an American who can speak Spanish thinks he can communicate with people in Puerto Rico very well. When he came back to New York, he complained that Puerto Rico people are not organized according to his experience in the local department. He argued that the economic isn't well developed there because the local salesman didn't treat customers in the right way, which means customers are served one at a time in the order of their arrival. However, John's experience is simply an example of communication breakdown due to a misunderstanding of the cultural nonverbal cues. That is, John and the Puerto Rico salesman have different concept of time. The North American one is a monochronic concept, which means tasks are completed one at a time while the Puerto Rico culture reflects a polychronic concept of time where communication at several different levels happens at the same time. The communication breakdown mentioned above can be observed anywhere when these two different concepts meet and neither of them is inefficient or irritating. It is merely a different cultural understanding of time in communication.
2009年5月23日
Journal Entry 4 --- Problem between Mother and I
Just couple weeks ago, my mother took me to a fabulous café without telling me why. Due to my precise intuition, I knew that there must be something wrong since Mom seldom took me outside alone. Just as expected, my mother started talking about some serious topics which did not interest me at all.
Mom started complaining that I’m not her sweet little daughter any more. She said that she cannot get with the change on me since I got into NTHU and lives in HsinChu in weekdays. She said that I used to share all the things happened in school with her including my grades, friends or even love affairs of my classmates. Mom added, “However, now you seldom chat these things with me. Every weekend, when you are in home you just sleep all day long or keep watching TV. To you, TV is more important than me. ” To my great astonishment, the tears welled up in her eyes. I was totally frightened by the awful scene.
Mother looked at me with a helpless expression on her face since she’s depressed that her beloved daughter does not want to share her happiness or sorrow with her as before. At that moment, I just could not utter a word for many reasons. Firstly, I never thought of what Mother said as such a serious problem. It’s hard to understand why she cares about this so much. Secondly, sometimes it’s hard to explain the activities we have in campus to my parents because they are away from universities for a long time. Their response always discourages me from telling more details to them. Most important of all, my mother tends to derive what I tell her. For example, she believes that I got a boy friend just because I mention the boy’s name frequently. It really bothers me a lot.
I think that is so-called ‘generation gap’. I know it’s hard to overcome the gap especially my parents and I do not live together now; as a result, we have comparatively less time to get along. However, to me it is the high time we should communicate and negotiate more with each other or we will become more and more unfamiliar with each other. I love my mom very much so I’m willing to try and to sharpen our relationship with my whole effort. I’ll be more patient when talking to her and ease her nervous feeling of losing her daughter by action.
Mom started complaining that I’m not her sweet little daughter any more. She said that she cannot get with the change on me since I got into NTHU and lives in HsinChu in weekdays. She said that I used to share all the things happened in school with her including my grades, friends or even love affairs of my classmates. Mom added, “However, now you seldom chat these things with me. Every weekend, when you are in home you just sleep all day long or keep watching TV. To you, TV is more important than me. ” To my great astonishment, the tears welled up in her eyes. I was totally frightened by the awful scene.
Mother looked at me with a helpless expression on her face since she’s depressed that her beloved daughter does not want to share her happiness or sorrow with her as before. At that moment, I just could not utter a word for many reasons. Firstly, I never thought of what Mother said as such a serious problem. It’s hard to understand why she cares about this so much. Secondly, sometimes it’s hard to explain the activities we have in campus to my parents because they are away from universities for a long time. Their response always discourages me from telling more details to them. Most important of all, my mother tends to derive what I tell her. For example, she believes that I got a boy friend just because I mention the boy’s name frequently. It really bothers me a lot.
I think that is so-called ‘generation gap’. I know it’s hard to overcome the gap especially my parents and I do not live together now; as a result, we have comparatively less time to get along. However, to me it is the high time we should communicate and negotiate more with each other or we will become more and more unfamiliar with each other. I love my mom very much so I’m willing to try and to sharpen our relationship with my whole effort. I’ll be more patient when talking to her and ease her nervous feeling of losing her daughter by action.
desert
We are all surrounded by the desert. The place we are staying in is only a oasis.
Recently, I had read a novel named Desert,written by Kotaro Isaka. It is a story about five college students. Through reading the whole novel, we readers also experience four years of college life with them. It is a great happiness that I am at the same age with the characters. Since we have similar maturity and intellectual development, it is not difficult for me to understand their confusion toward the world, emotion on love, thoughts of normal people's attitude, and the searching for dreams. But what draws my attention is the character, Nishijima. He is a strange guy who always talk about the terrible things happening in the world right now, such as "How can you guys still drinking so happily here without thinking of the poor child who still hunger for food in Africa?" or "America had already used 'stopping terrorism' that kind of stupid excuse to invade Middle East Asia to search for its own profit, how come Japan government is still arguing on whether to send out troops to assist or not? " Actually, the issues he says are all true and is happening in the world simultaneously, but everyone considers him a weird guy instead of listen to him. Why? Is he saying anything wrong? No! He is absolutely right! The reason which makes people don't want to listen to him may be that, they don't have the feeling of reality.
We are all living in a happy environment. Our daily worries are only on school work, or the interaction with friends. The life just seems so easy that we cannot imagine in some totalitarian country, the scene of soldiers killing civilians in street is as simple as you click your mouse right now. Our kids grow up with toys, while their kids playing with machinegun and grenade. Even we know how cruel the world is, we still can't do anything. The power of only one person is too small. No matter how gifted, a person along cannot change the world. The only thing we can do may be not to take everything for granted or complain a lot when facing a small problem. We should always remember: there are always some people who suffer more than us. They are struggling for survival, while we are worrying about what to eat for dinner.
Human is the only creature on Earth that will feel compassion to the tragedies far away. That is the reason which makes us worry about the things outside of the oasis which we are staying in. But, it is the merit of human nature, because we must have to enter the society which so-called "desert" some day.
Recently, I had read a novel named Desert,written by Kotaro Isaka. It is a story about five college students. Through reading the whole novel, we readers also experience four years of college life with them. It is a great happiness that I am at the same age with the characters. Since we have similar maturity and intellectual development, it is not difficult for me to understand their confusion toward the world, emotion on love, thoughts of normal people's attitude, and the searching for dreams. But what draws my attention is the character, Nishijima. He is a strange guy who always talk about the terrible things happening in the world right now, such as "How can you guys still drinking so happily here without thinking of the poor child who still hunger for food in Africa?" or "America had already used 'stopping terrorism' that kind of stupid excuse to invade Middle East Asia to search for its own profit, how come Japan government is still arguing on whether to send out troops to assist or not? " Actually, the issues he says are all true and is happening in the world simultaneously, but everyone considers him a weird guy instead of listen to him. Why? Is he saying anything wrong? No! He is absolutely right! The reason which makes people don't want to listen to him may be that, they don't have the feeling of reality.
We are all living in a happy environment. Our daily worries are only on school work, or the interaction with friends. The life just seems so easy that we cannot imagine in some totalitarian country, the scene of soldiers killing civilians in street is as simple as you click your mouse right now. Our kids grow up with toys, while their kids playing with machinegun and grenade. Even we know how cruel the world is, we still can't do anything. The power of only one person is too small. No matter how gifted, a person along cannot change the world. The only thing we can do may be not to take everything for granted or complain a lot when facing a small problem. We should always remember: there are always some people who suffer more than us. They are struggling for survival, while we are worrying about what to eat for dinner.
Human is the only creature on Earth that will feel compassion to the tragedies far away. That is the reason which makes us worry about the things outside of the oasis which we are staying in. But, it is the merit of human nature, because we must have to enter the society which so-called "desert" some day.
BAR club trip
The first club trip was on Sunday, May 3. This was the first time that I went to a trip in Hsinchu. I didn't go to a trip in Hsinchu before because I don't have a scooter. I was so excited before the day.
We went to Gangnan Canal(港南運河) first. We prepared to barbecue. Some people set up the
fire and some prepared the food and the other were in charge of barbecue. It made me feel good to see all members cooperating in one thing. After lunch, we diveded in two group and played a game. We had to collect eggs which were concealed by the host. The group that collected more eggs was the winner. Actually, this activity was not so successful because the group that walked fast would be the winner. My group was a relax group and we enjoyed taking a walk instead of collecting eggs because wallking beside the sea was comfortabale.
Next stop was Nanliao Fishery Harbor(南寮). After we finish seafood as dinner, the most important part was coming--fireworks. We went to a spacious place to play fireworks. It was really fun. I think this trip can make members know each other better and become closer.
By the way, I hope that I can have a scooter in the future then I can go to many places myself.
Online Lecture
Can you imagine students in Tsing Hua University in Taiwan can be able to take courses offered by the most famous professor in the U.S.A College? Want to learn how to create a rocket from an engineer at M.I.T, or study blue guitar with professor at Berkley College? Now you can all do it in front of your computer, courtesy of other people’s money. In March, Youtube launched an education hub called “Youtube Edu”, which collects over 100 schools raging from community college to Harvard business school. The on line lectures provided by the school are available to student around the world.
But now the biggest question is, why have colleges started posting all this stuff at no charge? “Schools have always wanted to have to have their own area where they could be among their peer institutions and help with the discovery of their content.” answered Obadiah Greenberg, who leads the project at Youtube. In addition, since the online content attracts prospective students, keeps alumni connected and encourages innovation. Schools have decided that this benefit outweighs the concerns about cost, intellectual property.
As for students in Taiwan, it is a good opportunity to experience different teaching style that is provided by the professors in U.S.A. and it is a window which open to the world of new and interesting knowledge.
Learn to Paint Without Painting Brush
Honestly, I am a totally outsider of painting, but after reading “learn to paint without painting brush”, I think everyone has the potential of painting. As long as you walk into nature, observing the world carefully with your eyes, ears and true heart. This is a very interesting book because the author himself is not a professional painter or art professor; instead he is an anatomy teaching in medical college. He returned to his alma mater to teach students how to dry a picture that not only touch you but also touches others.
At first he asked every student to draw a fish. but he found out all the fish they drew have a lot of feature and characteristic in common; like the fish all turn to the same direction an lack of vitality. His purpose of this course is to help kids to discover the own power of imagine and thought, then express these thought in the picture. Before painting, he took the students to go fishing by the river. He led them to observe the live fish swimming in the water, enjoying the beautiful and pleasant natural environment. After that he taught student how to dissect the fish in laboratory. Though some students were afraid of the bloody scene, most of them were impressive of the experience of dissecting the fish, learning the live lesson that no other thing is better than being alive.
The second day, something amazing happened. There was some subtle change in the picture of the student. They put their own thought and experience of fishing, dissecting and in the fish they were drawing. Besides, the fish on the paper seemed to have something to talk to people, not just a rigid dead fish on the picture. The idea which the author wants to indicate in this book is that through the process of observing and feeling the world surrounding you we can try to express your feeling on any kind of art form, then everyone can be an exceptional artist
At first he asked every student to draw a fish. but he found out all the fish they drew have a lot of feature and characteristic in common; like the fish all turn to the same direction an lack of vitality. His purpose of this course is to help kids to discover the own power of imagine and thought, then express these thought in the picture. Before painting, he took the students to go fishing by the river. He led them to observe the live fish swimming in the water, enjoying the beautiful and pleasant natural environment. After that he taught student how to dissect the fish in laboratory. Though some students were afraid of the bloody scene, most of them were impressive of the experience of dissecting the fish, learning the live lesson that no other thing is better than being alive.
The second day, something amazing happened. There was some subtle change in the picture of the student. They put their own thought and experience of fishing, dissecting and in the fish they were drawing. Besides, the fish on the paper seemed to have something to talk to people, not just a rigid dead fish on the picture. The idea which the author wants to indicate in this book is that through the process of observing and feeling the world surrounding you we can try to express your feeling on any kind of art form, then everyone can be an exceptional artist
2009年5月22日
(#4) If Odysseus used Google Map...
There is an interesting essay on The New York Times(28 April 2009), which is talking about the influence of technology on literature. According 
to this essay, technology is turning some classic plot devices obsolete. Such as, missed connections, miscommunications, and so on. The writer of this essay speaks for Odysseus: can someone look up the Ithaca? Use the " no Sirens" route, please.
It is humorous to think if Odysseus could used GPS or Google Map, he would go back to the Ithaca
smoothly, and he would not cause his family and comrades so much pain. However, is it interesting to read the story if homesick characters from the distant foreign land to the hometown can be instantly or constantly? Actually, many writers, in present days or days of old, are just rejecting modernity. As Kamran Pasha, a writer, agrees that" we want a world where there's distance between people; that's where great storytelling comes from." I think this idea is right because when two separated characters meet each other after going through a long journey, the "aha" moment ("Aha, you are here!") would become significant.
to this essay, technology is turning some classic plot devices obsolete. Such as, missed connections, miscommunications, and so on. The writer of this essay speaks for Odysseus: can someone look up the Ithaca? Use the " no Sirens" route, please.It is humorous to think if Odysseus could used GPS or Google Map, he would go back to the Ithaca
smoothly, and he would not cause his family and comrades so much pain. However, is it interesting to read the story if homesick characters from the distant foreign land to the hometown can be instantly or constantly? Actually, many writers, in present days or days of old, are just rejecting modernity. As Kamran Pasha, a writer, agrees that" we want a world where there's distance between people; that's where great storytelling comes from." I think this idea is right because when two separated characters meet each other after going through a long journey, the "aha" moment ("Aha, you are here!") would become significant.
videos for unit 10
Columbine shooting cafeteria footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ13CZ4Hekg
Remembering Columbine
Lesson from Columbine
Photos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ13CZ4Hekg
Remembering Columbine
Lesson from Columbine
Photos
2009年5月21日
The Bucket List
Has someone brought joy to your life?
Have you ever brought joy to others' lives?
Edward Cole is a successful entrepreneur. He runs his business by himself and earns an amount of uncountable money. Edward concentrates on creating his own business empire from youth to old. On the other hand, Carter Chambers is a poor mechanic. In fact, he had dreamed to major in history in college but he fails because he is forced to find a job to raise his family. However the destiny of these two men interweaves each other when the doctor announces they have got cancer and have not much time to live. More importantly, it doesn't mean the end of their lives, but the start of a new journey.
One day, Edward sees Carter writing “the bucket list”, meaning what you want to do before you die, which Carter's philosophic teacher has taught them in class. Edward tells Carter that they must accomplish all the things on the list together in order not to leave any regret in their last part of life. Although Carter has hesitated and is rejected by his wife, he still chooses to adventure with Edward. They have tried sky diving and drove antique roadsters. Also, they travel to visit pyramids in Egypt, Taj Mahal in India and Tanzania. From high-quality restaurant to tattoo shop, Edward and Carter make the wishes on the list come true one by one.
(The introduction of the plot stops here because it's better to discover this attractive movie by your own.)
“The Bucket List”, an interesting and touching movie, tells us two important things. One is to face death with optimistic attitude. In this movie, Edward and Carter choose to lead their last lives by pursuiting their dreams instead of living in sorrow. Both of them have been busy working and raising family, but what do they have when they know they're going to die at last. As a result, they make up their minds to live for themselves. The other one is to seize the day (carpe diem). From this movie, I realize that life is precious and we have to seize every moment in our life with people we love. In addition, do not hesitate or give ourselves an excuse to put off what we really want to do, because we're less likely to predict the future of our life. “The Bucket List” is absolutely worth giving a try and you will learn a lot from it. (Trust me!!!)
Note: "Kick the bucket" means someone die, because if one wants to commit suicide by hanging, before hanging, s/he needs to kick the bucket s/he stands on.
2009年5月17日
My Unforgoten Trip to Tain-Ren Rock House
On May 16, I visited Tain-Ren Rock House(天人岩屋) in Nei-Wan(內灣) to join some interesting activities. Tain-Ren Rock House is founded by a priest who makes lots effort to improve environment and education. He holds many activities to make people learn environmental-friendly attitude, cooperation, ethic and love. This time, I participated in two activities: going upstream and watching firefly and I really learned a lot from them.Going upstream is an exciting activity which includes climbing waterfall, climbing rock, diving and sliding through the stream. To achieve this activity, cooperation and courage is necessary. In fact, when climbing the waterfalls and cliff, it is easy to be flush away since the torrent, the nature power, is so strong that human can hardly compete. Besides, it really needs courage to climb the rock and dive into the water from cliff. However,
though these activities are kind of dangerous and hard, we can conquer them with adequate preparation and cooperation. That is, with life jacket, diving suit and friendship we can do this adventure safely and happily. All in all, I not only enjoyed the exciting experience of going upstream but also learned how important and sweet the friend can be. 
Besides the going upstream, I watched the glowworms as well. Because the period of the firefly was near the end, there were only a few fireflies in the mountain according to the guide. Nevertheless, for me, there was already "many" fireflies and I was astonished at that amazing scene. Watching that small light flashed around the road, I admired the natural beauty but felt guilty about human’s destruction to the environment and wild lives. According to the guide, glowworms only have a few days to live and as long as they meet more strong light they won't shine anymore, which means that they will die without mating. Therefore, we should be awareness of our behavior and attitude to the nature.
This Saturday, undoubtedly, is an unforgotten memory for me. I experienced some special activities and got many value ideas from them.
2009年5月16日
Finding the Truth
Detectives, a kind of character exists in the novels who has outstanding observation ability, keen judgement, calm mind, and usually excels in one certain sport. Since such a perfect person cannot be seen in the real society, it is an great enjoyment for detective novel readers like me to meet them in the detective world. Through reading the plot of murder, robbery, or any other strange events, detective novels gave us the chance to deal with crime cases. And usually, the truth behind the reason that makes human to do illegal things are some mournful tragedies that worth thinking. However, now I am only going to introduce two famous detectives around me recently.
Shinichi Kudou, a senior high school detective who once witnessed an illegal trade of a secret organization. He was too attentive to the conversation of the two men, which made him unaware of the other one behind him. He was hit to faint, and then they fed him a poison which was still under experiment and then left him there to die. But he didn't die, a more strange thing occured on him. He was changed into his child-like appearance. After on, the story developed with every kind of cases and sometimes his battle with the secret organization after he got some new clues of them.
I think almost everyone in our generation must know him a lot, so I don't have to introduce the story too much. But I got a totally different feeling and deeper thinking toward many of its plots after reading this comics again this year. In the past when were only children, we were too young to understand the tragedies that cause people to kill another one. To reread it made me gain lots of ideas on human nature, and also remember some childhood memories. Sometimes, after a case was closed, Kudou would have some thoughts in his mind which always made readers feel a little bit sorrowful, but it is truely human nature.
Ok~I know you all like to see some handsome guys, here is one, Masaharu Fukuyama. Of course I am not going to talk about him, what I want to introduce is the character performed by him, a strange genius physics adjunct professor Manabu Yukawa. I read the novel first and then know that there was a drama adapted from the novel. Unlike other detective novels which always focus on finding the murderer, the events in this novel are focus on "how to do it." In the plot, murder cases happen with many mysterious phenomenon such as human head suddenly burns and a scary house which always shakes on 8 p.m. In the plots, we can see the writer's knowledge on science and ususally amazed by him.
Finally, I had one question. Is it nessary that detectives need to be so handsome??
2009年5月12日
my struggle for whitening [4]
When I was a student before 3rd grade in elementary school, my skin was quite white. However, things changed a lot when I started learning swimming and playing volleyball.
Every morning and every break time, my classmates and I would rush to occupy the volleyball court. In our school, every student was crazy about it. Even though the sun was so much we didn't care. Besides, in every summer vacation, my mom sent me to learn swimming and the pool was outside. I had to swim under the sunshine. When I was that little and young, I didn't know how to protect my skin. My mom didn't tell me as well for she never applied any cosmetic or facial care products to her face.
I have regretted for it so much since I was in junior high school. I learned that in Taiwan, as the saying goes, "fair-skin girl is more pretty". Most boys in Taiwan like fair-skin girls, which is exactly opposite to westerners. They like dark-skin more. They think it looks more healthy so when we're watching western movies we can see that on beach so many girls love to sunbathe. Unfortunately, I am an Asian and a Taiwanese. You can see so many many many many whitening products or surgery on TV commercial or in a newspaper, magazines and so on. I mean, everywhere! And those models, actress and singers are also very white. They send us average people a message that girls must be white. They have great influence on this society. Even I don't want to care about it that is "mission impossible". Therefore, I have begun rescued my skin from the torment of the sun for many years.
First of all, appling sunscreen to my skin, as the saying goes again,"Prevention is better than cure." In summer, I need at least one bottle of sunscreen in two weeks. Forthermore, I will rub different brand of sunscreen on my skin at one time. I think that in this way it will protect me more. And when I am outside exposed to the sun, I never forget my umbrella. Secondly, I have spent lots of money on whitening products since 11th grade. They are terribly expensive. Besides, It also takes a lot of time for me to take good care of my skin. I have to follow every step when maintaining so that those products could, maybe, have effects on my face.
I have worked really hard on whitening for a long time, but in fact, I can only see little effect. It's true that I did really become whiter than before. For me, it is obviously not good enough. I am always envy of my friends' fair skin. I always think that when fair-skin girls dress up they are more eye-catching. Even some kind of clothes are more suitable for them.
I will never give up. Maybe in the future I will try the whitening surgery when I earn money by myself. It is the fastest way. As a Taiwanese girl I want to say, "God! It is really hard to be a fair-skin girl." Although a proverb goes again and again, "there is no ugly woman, only lazy woman", I think it should be corrected as "there is neither ugly woman nor lazy woman, only rich woman!"
Every morning and every break time, my classmates and I would rush to occupy the volleyball court. In our school, every student was crazy about it. Even though the sun was so much we didn't care. Besides, in every summer vacation, my mom sent me to learn swimming and the pool was outside. I had to swim under the sunshine. When I was that little and young, I didn't know how to protect my skin. My mom didn't tell me as well for she never applied any cosmetic or facial care products to her face.
I have regretted for it so much since I was in junior high school. I learned that in Taiwan, as the saying goes, "fair-skin girl is more pretty". Most boys in Taiwan like fair-skin girls, which is exactly opposite to westerners. They like dark-skin more. They think it looks more healthy so when we're watching western movies we can see that on beach so many girls love to sunbathe. Unfortunately, I am an Asian and a Taiwanese. You can see so many many many many whitening products or surgery on TV commercial or in a newspaper, magazines and so on. I mean, everywhere! And those models, actress and singers are also very white. They send us average people a message that girls must be white. They have great influence on this society. Even I don't want to care about it that is "mission impossible". Therefore, I have begun rescued my skin from the torment of the sun for many years.
First of all, appling sunscreen to my skin, as the saying goes again,"Prevention is better than cure." In summer, I need at least one bottle of sunscreen in two weeks. Forthermore, I will rub different brand of sunscreen on my skin at one time. I think that in this way it will protect me more. And when I am outside exposed to the sun, I never forget my umbrella. Secondly, I have spent lots of money on whitening products since 11th grade. They are terribly expensive. Besides, It also takes a lot of time for me to take good care of my skin. I have to follow every step when maintaining so that those products could, maybe, have effects on my face.
I have worked really hard on whitening for a long time, but in fact, I can only see little effect. It's true that I did really become whiter than before. For me, it is obviously not good enough. I am always envy of my friends' fair skin. I always think that when fair-skin girls dress up they are more eye-catching. Even some kind of clothes are more suitable for them.
I will never give up. Maybe in the future I will try the whitening surgery when I earn money by myself. It is the fastest way. As a Taiwanese girl I want to say, "God! It is really hard to be a fair-skin girl." Although a proverb goes again and again, "there is no ugly woman, only lazy woman", I think it should be corrected as "there is neither ugly woman nor lazy woman, only rich woman!"
2009年5月4日
In the Developing World, Swine Flu Elicits Shrugs, Not Panic
An article from Time By Alex Perry / Cape Town Friday, May. 01, 2009
If the fast spread of swine flu suggests the world is small, the global response to the epidemic reminds us that in many ways it's still light years apart. Swine flu has been making headlines in the Western world, but in places like India and Africa, where "pandemic" is just another part of the daily vocabulary, no one has so much as stifled a sneeze.
In Africa, malaria kills more than 3,000 children a day; in South Africa, HIV/AIDS has taken 2.8 million people and infected 5.3 million more. Every day in India, 1,000 people succumb to tuberculosis. Those are just the big diseases. According to the United Nations, a recent cholera outbreak killed nearly 4,000 Zimbabweans and infected 80,000, while in India diarrheal diseases kill an estimated 600,000 children under 5 every year.
So, when the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that deaths in Mexico from the H1N1 swine flu leapt to 16, you can see why the news didn't make the front page in Africa or India. (The two suspected cases of swine flu in South Africa turned out to be false, and only one case has been confirmed in Asia, in Hong Kong.) Any concern in these regions has so far centered on sports: specifically, whether any new travel restrictions will affect the Confederations Cup, the international eight-team soccer tournament due to be played in South Africa in June, or the Indian Premier League, a new cricket tournament featuring players from around the world, now being played also in South Africa.
Still, the WHO has urged all governments to prepare for an imminent pandemic. "The biggest question is, 'How severe will a pandemic be?'" Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, said in Switzerland. So politicians have to make like they're doing something. Gabon and Ghana have banned the import of pork, even though the flu virus cannot be contracted through eating dead pig. Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe say they are checking arriving passengers at borders and airports and have response plans of varying sophistication should an outbreak occur. In some places, they've gone much further: Authorities in Egypt, which was affected by bird flu last year, have begun slaughtering the country's entire unfortunate pig population of more than 300,000.
But given that many public health systems in Africa do not have the skills, equipment or resources to protect their citizens even against the lethal health crises they battle every day, the truth is that the threat of another disease — even a pandemic flu — tends to elicit shrugs in this sickness-struck continent. If asked what preparations they are making for the possibility of swine flu's arrival, most African governments opt for the same kind of wordy non-statement issued by African Union chairman Jean Ping on Thursday: "We hope to establish a continental plan for prevention, and if necessary a mechanism to fight this outbreak that has not yet affected Africa."
Original link: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1895307,00.html
If the fast spread of swine flu suggests the world is small, the global response to the epidemic reminds us that in many ways it's still light years apart. Swine flu has been making headlines in the Western world, but in places like India and Africa, where "pandemic" is just another part of the daily vocabulary, no one has so much as stifled a sneeze.
In Africa, malaria kills more than 3,000 children a day; in South Africa, HIV/AIDS has taken 2.8 million people and infected 5.3 million more. Every day in India, 1,000 people succumb to tuberculosis. Those are just the big diseases. According to the United Nations, a recent cholera outbreak killed nearly 4,000 Zimbabweans and infected 80,000, while in India diarrheal diseases kill an estimated 600,000 children under 5 every year.
So, when the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that deaths in Mexico from the H1N1 swine flu leapt to 16, you can see why the news didn't make the front page in Africa or India. (The two suspected cases of swine flu in South Africa turned out to be false, and only one case has been confirmed in Asia, in Hong Kong.) Any concern in these regions has so far centered on sports: specifically, whether any new travel restrictions will affect the Confederations Cup, the international eight-team soccer tournament due to be played in South Africa in June, or the Indian Premier League, a new cricket tournament featuring players from around the world, now being played also in South Africa.
Still, the WHO has urged all governments to prepare for an imminent pandemic. "The biggest question is, 'How severe will a pandemic be?'" Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, said in Switzerland. So politicians have to make like they're doing something. Gabon and Ghana have banned the import of pork, even though the flu virus cannot be contracted through eating dead pig. Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe say they are checking arriving passengers at borders and airports and have response plans of varying sophistication should an outbreak occur. In some places, they've gone much further: Authorities in Egypt, which was affected by bird flu last year, have begun slaughtering the country's entire unfortunate pig population of more than 300,000.
But given that many public health systems in Africa do not have the skills, equipment or resources to protect their citizens even against the lethal health crises they battle every day, the truth is that the threat of another disease — even a pandemic flu — tends to elicit shrugs in this sickness-struck continent. If asked what preparations they are making for the possibility of swine flu's arrival, most African governments opt for the same kind of wordy non-statement issued by African Union chairman Jean Ping on Thursday: "We hope to establish a continental plan for prevention, and if necessary a mechanism to fight this outbreak that has not yet affected Africa."
Original link: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1895307,00.html
2009年5月1日
Teachers lament poor scores in English (an article in the Taipei times)
CHALLENGES: Teachers said a poor learning environment and an ineffective education policy contributed to the sharp rise in the number of students who failed in the exams
By Flora Wang STAFF REPORTER Sunday, Mar 15, 2009, Page 2
Statistics released last month on the results of this year's college entrance examination sent a shock wave through the education community, with the sharp increase in the number of students who scored zero in English composition.The figures, published by the College Entrance Examination Center, showed that the number of examinees who scored zero in the guided writing section hit a five-year high of 22,462, out of a total of 141,858 test-takers. This compares with 16,168 examinees who netted a zero last year.The number of students who scored zero in the English translation section also rose sharply from 15,660 last year to 22,179 this year.The percentage of students who performed poorly in the writing section was closely in line with the findings of Hugo Tseng (曾泰元), a professor of English language and literature at Soochow University who graded about 2,000 of the English compositions in the entrance examination this year.
SPELLING
“There was obviously a decline in students' English writing proficiency ... the most surprising decline was in spelling,” said Tseng, who has worked with the center to grade college entrance examination papers over the past decade. “Spelling is the most basic facet of a language. Without this building block, a person would never be proficient — let alone be able to write a simple sentence.”Very few examinees — less than 10 percent — were able to write a well-structured English composition, Tseng said. “The majority of the compositions [I graded] did not have any structure,” he said.The sharp increase in the number of examinees who failed in the writing section could have been a result of a more complicated and difficult writing topic, as this was the first time examinees were given a static picture instead of a comic strip.Students were required to describe and elaborate on a picture with a person standing in front of a pile of debris — a test Tseng said involved students' cognition ability.“Describing a picture is much more difficult because students have to use logic and analysis, while a comic strip already has a storyline,” said Chen Chao-ming (陳超明), a professor of English at National Chengchi University (NCCU).Although the writing test was admittedly more difficult, it also highlighted several key problems.“Our high school graduates lack analytical skills. They lack training,” Chen said, adding that the examinees were unable to describe the scene because of their limited vocabulary.“They did not know the word 'collapse.' They could not even use the word 'fall' [to describe the debris] even if they had learned this word in junior high school,” Chen said.Even his undergraduate students at NCCU had difficulty reciting the whole alphabet or giving the spelling of the 12 months, he said.The decline in spelling ability could be the result of teachers' excessive emphasis on “input” to students.Teachers spend too much time teaching students materials from textbooks but fail to demand a corresponding “output” from students, Chen said.The decline in students' English writing ability also stands in sharp contrast with the government's increasing emphasis on English learning.Asked what he thought was wrong with the system, Tseng said: “I wonder if our high schools reserve special sessions to teach English writing.”The truth is they are not required to do so. English writing classes are optional rather than mandatory.
GUIDELINES
Current high school curriculum guidelines require schools to reserve four sessions — approximately 200 minutes — per week for English classes, but they do not necessarily have to provide English writing classes.Even if schools would like to offer English writing lessons, school authorities could only do so after the schools' English teaching staff win over teachers of other subjects in a vote for teaching hours at the beginning of every semester.“If we fail to obtain any [elective] teaching hours at the vote, we can't schedule any [writing] classes that semester,” a high school English teacher surnamed Hsieh (謝) said in Taichung.Despite the lack of official writing classes, the curriculum guidelines still set goals for high school students' English writing proficiency.The guidelines state that high school graduates should be able to “correctly distinguish a capital letter from a small letter and use punctuation marks.”Graduates should have the ability to “correctly merge and paraphrase sentences” and make correct sentences by using appropriate phrases or sentence patterns.Students should be able to write a smooth and clear paragraph by the time they finish high school, the guidelines say.But the harsh reality is that with only four English sessions per week, teachers may not have enough time to teach students how to write properly.“I distribute work sheets to freshmen and mention some writing concepts when teaching the materials readings in the textbook. That's all I can do,” Hsieh said.Gary Chi (紀昇助), an English teacher at Taipei's Huajiang Senior High School, said he could only assign students weekly translation practice.“I've found that it would be too much to ask them to write a passage before they could construct a grammatical sentence. And really, they can't write grammatical sentences,” Chi said. Chi said he tried to introduce basic writing concepts to his students, but “writing is almost as difficult as calculus” to the students.Chi said although he wanted to spend extra time helping students polish their writing, he was exhausted after spending every week grading the compositions of his 88 students.Doing so also seriously put him behind his regular teaching schedule, Chi said, acknowledging the difficulty for teachers to help individual student with their writing in a large class.
DOWNSIZE
“What we are doing now is wrong. Classes should be downsized to 15 students, starting from primary school,” he said. Chen also emphasized the importance of teachers changing their methodology from explaining grammar to allowing students to actually use language. “We will never make it if we still teach the English language as an academic subject,” he said.Tseng said learning how to write in English should begin in junior high school with sentence-making and gradually evolve to writing in paragraphs in senior high school.Another problem at the policy level, he said, was that the Ministry of Education should stop measuring every student's writing proficiency with the curriculum guidelines.“This is like measuring the ability of students with different levels of proficiency using the same criterion. This is impractical,” he said. “Everyone has a different problem. There should be an approach catering to everyone's needs.”
Human Behavior
This post is about the information of non-verbal communication such as hand gestures, body language, and facial expressions you can find on the Internet.
The links below are from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_expression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gestures
One gesture I'd like to share with you is "corna". When I attended rock concerts, the audience usually raised their hands and used this gesture to show their appreciation of the performance. I pulled it out just as everyone else did but never understood its meaning until a while ago. It's actually a devil sign! I should've known! Then again, rock music is rebellious, and I don't get to use a devil sign on other occasions. Rock on!
You can also talk about a gesture/expression that is commonly known as one meaning but interpreted differently in a certain culture. Please see the video below.
When YES means NO
Another option is to elaborate on one common gesture/expression that people often use but annoys you. For instance, I feel uncomfortable when people clear their throats. It is merely a pet peeve.
The links below are from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_expression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gestures
One gesture I'd like to share with you is "corna". When I attended rock concerts, the audience usually raised their hands and used this gesture to show their appreciation of the performance. I pulled it out just as everyone else did but never understood its meaning until a while ago. It's actually a devil sign! I should've known! Then again, rock music is rebellious, and I don't get to use a devil sign on other occasions. Rock on!
You can also talk about a gesture/expression that is commonly known as one meaning but interpreted differently in a certain culture. Please see the video below.
When YES means NO
Another option is to elaborate on one common gesture/expression that people often use but annoys you. For instance, I feel uncomfortable when people clear their throats. It is merely a pet peeve.
訂閱：
意見 (Atom)
