Cold Current

Have you noticed that this winter is much colder than in the past? There have been several cold current passing by Taiwan so far, and every time it made the temperature drop sharply. As matter of fact, I can not stand cold weather, so I particularly do not like winter. Moreover, there were lots of serious natural disasters which endangered our lives and environment, sucha as flooding, tusinami and drought. It is not hard to draw our attention to climate change because the climate issue is worldwide.

Global warming contributes to climate change significantly which is the biggest problem for every one in the world. We all know it is because of the greenhouse effect. Due to making too many greenhouse gases which is carbon dioxide( CO2) by people, a lot of people in the world suffer now by the heavy snowing and the severe cold current. There are several factors  affecting our environment, such as pollution, depletion of nonrenewable energy sources, deforestation and damaging the Ozone layer. As a result, it damages our environment badly and greatly. Climate change dramatically is a very good example for us.

I think everyone has a responsibility for it, so we should stop hurting the earth but protect our environment. For me, doing recycling ,saving electrical energy and avoiding wasting food are the basic ways to help our environment. If everyone can aware of the impact of climaate change on our environment, I believe the earth might be getting worse slowly and decreasingly.

Ginger(薑)

Do you know what is the magic medicine for poor people in ancient times? Have you heard that before? The answer is ginger. I would like to introduce this magic medicine, ginger, for you. Ginger is a spicy, pungent root. Commonly used in cooking and it is also used in many traditional medicines. It is also often called " ginger root." There are lots of  kinds of ginger, such as fresh ginger and dry ginger. In the past, when poor people were sick and  they do not have money for medicine; therefore, ginger is best medicine for them. It is cheap and it also can cure some illness. Especially, ginger tea is used to cure the common cold and the flu as well as assuage stomach aches and promote better function in the digestive tract.

My family often cooks ginger soup for curing the common clod, especially when it is the initial period of the cold. Actually it is quite easy to cook, and you just  need to follow several steps. First, you have to wash dry old ginger and smash it into some pieces. Second, you put some water and smashing ginger into a pot then you start to boil it . Third, after boiling it for some minutes and lots of bubbles come up from the bottom of water then you add some brown sugar into the pot.  Last, you have to cook it for few minutes and it is done.  I had a lot of ginger soup this winter because of  preventing cold and curing the cold, too. I would like to recommend ginger for your best choice because it is not only curing the cold but also the best ingredient in the winter; for example, you can make rice wine chicken, medicinal ginger duck and ginger soup with glutenous rice dumpling.

Winter Solstice

Yesterday was twenty-second  December which was also winter Solstice. Winter Solstice is the most important solstice of twenty-four solstices.  In ancient times, winter solstice is a reunion day of a family; therefore, it is also called " Little New Year" which means Xiao Guo Nian in Chinese. It  is the day of the shortest day time and the longest night time. It is also symbolize much bright and hopeful of farmers after passing winter solstice, for the day time will lengthen and the night time will shorten day after day.

Traditionally, Chinese people usually eat glutinous rice dumpling in winter solstice. Some Chinese people even prepare Medicinal Ginger Duck, Rice Wine Chicken or Four Herbs Chicken and so on for Winter Dietary Supplementation on that day. My family  has our own special recipe of glutinous rice dumpling for winter solstice. We are the same as the most people eating glutinous rice dumpling and rice wine chicken. However, we cook sweet balls of glutinous rice with salty soup, dry shrimps and Tonghao cai which is a kind of vegetables be used to cook for hot pot. It is kinda different taste from other people's cooking. I loved eating our special glutinous rice dumpling when I was a kid; moreover, it is also my Mom's special recipe. Evey time when I eat it then it reminds me of my mom. I do dislike to eat glutinous rice dumpling of peanut and sesame flavors with sweet soup very much because it is always too sugary. Next time, why do not try my family special recipe. I believe you will find out it will be very tasty for you because there is a balance flavor which mixes saltiness and sweetness. You might like it much.

Boy A

I knew this book, Boy A, from a blog by accident. When I browsed the blog, I found an article which is introducing the move of Boy A. Then I have just discovered that it is filmed by the book of Boy A. After reading it, I really want to read the book and watch the movie, as well. Last week, when I  returned the books which I borrowed from Xinchuang Library, I saw the book, Boy A, on the shelf. I decided to borrowed it immediately.

The story is about a boy who is from a middle-class family, but he doesn't have much attention fromm his parents, especially his father. It is because he is questioning whether he is his son's biological father or not. As a result, boy a makes a bad friend and they skip classes very often. One day, they meet boy a's  classmate, Angela, they accidentally kill her but in fact boy a is a helper not a killer. Two kids finally go to jail and since it they give them  new names which are boy a and boy b. When boy a is 24 years old ,he finally is released from prison but boy b is committed suicide in the jail. They give boy a a new identity and helps him get a new job and new life. However, his mysterious past troubles him a lot and he finds out it is not easy to escape his past. One time, he saves a girl from a car accident and it has changed his life again since it.

It took me about two weeks to finish reading. After reading, I felt quite overwhelming because of the story. It made me question myself and my believing. I do believe people should be punished if they break laws no matter how their ages are. However, Boy A gives me a different thought of it. He made a big mistake when he was a kid and he paid for it in prison for more than a decade. After getting out the prison, he learns a lesson and wants to be a good person. In fact, there is no second chance for him because most people believe he is still as bad as a killer long time ago. When I think of it, it is a contradiction. Some people may learn a lesson but some may not. However, the question is that  how do we know, how do we believe and  who should we believe?

Having a New Haircut

I usually have a new haircut  two times per year and I think it is quite common for every woman. I had a new haircut first time this year was in May. It is because May is my birthday month and I usually get a special discount on my birthday; therefore, I often go to the hair salon in May. I also have my won hairdresser who is female and younger than me. I still remembered the first time I met her at the salon, and she was recommend by her staff. I usually do not trust a new hairdresser, but I decided to give it a try. Then I have become a regular customer of her since that. The second time I went to there was in November. It was because I wanted to change my look and mood plus my hair was too terrible. As a result, having a new haircut is a good idea to do.

There are several advantages for me to have a new haircut. First, it freshen me.I often feel like I am a new person after having a haircut. It is why I like to do it because it makes me happy and delighted. Especially, when your friends or family compliment you on your new hairdo, it really can make you happier. Second, it is also a good way to have a good mood.  If something upsets me or troubles me, I particularly like to have a new hairdo. When you have this bad mood, you want to change yourself or something. Having a new haircut is a good way to change yourself, and I found it works to me well. Furthermore, there are lots of ways to have a new haircut; for example, you can cut your hair short, you can have a perm or you even can dye your hair. However, there is a disadvantage for me, too. I usually have to spend a quite big money on it. I think it is a common problem for every women and I am not the exception.

Although I lost some money on my hairdo, I still like to have a new haircut. I think you only spend few hours then you can get a new hairstyle wiht a new look which is a good bargain. Furthermore, it is also a easy way for me to change my mood and have a new look. If you have something bother you, why do not  give yourself a try ?

Moi Nojoud, 10 ans, divorcee (我10歲,離婚)

The first time I knew this book, Moi Nojoud, 10 ans, divorcee, on Facebook, and  it was recommended by a studying group. When I saw the title, it did draw me attention because of the book name. How did it happen to a little girl and why came into my mind directly. After few weeks, I found the book in Xinchuang Library. I was eager to read it and wanted to find out the answers, so I stayed there to finish reading.

The story is about a girl, Moi Nojoud, from Yemen. She was forced to marry to a man three times her age by her parents and she was sexually abuse and beaten. At the age of 10, she asked for a divorce but her family disagreed with it. One day,  she went out to buy a bread ,and she decided to go to the court for a shelter and waited until a judge would listen to her. At last, she met a female lawyer who is helping women to overcome a taboo and against these unfair justiciary system to women. Because of her and other people's great help, she finally won the victory.

It is a sad story but it is common in Yemen. It is a kind of practice and it is a part of their religion, so there are lots of young girls who are under 18 years old are forced to get married by their parents. Most parents are poor  therefore they sell their children to their husbands. This is just one of examples. Because of Moi Nojoud, everyone knows  how terrible it is. I can just hope it will not happen again to other kids but I know it is hard to stop this kind of misery . I respect different practices and religions; however, I still want to call  for that everyone should be treated justly and humanely.

Voluntary Simplicity

Last Saturday, I learned a lesson about Voluntary Simplicity at the class and I found something interesting but  also contradictory.

Basically, Voluntary Simplicity is a way you live simply and also you are willing to do it.  Homestead is the most common for us to know. It is like a self-sufficient life which means you grow your own vegetables and fruits in your garden, and you keep chickens or other animals in your backyard. You also prefer buying used goods at secondhand stores instead of buying new things at the shopping malls. The most reason you want to have this life is to look carefully at your consumption habits. In other words, it is another way you want to protect the earth by homestead.

I kinda like this lifestyle but I also found it is a bit challenge for me. First, you have to have your own land which means you need a mount of money to but it. Money could be my first problem. Second, You need to plant your won vegetables and fruits, and have some animals that will be a problem for me because I have no knowledge about gardening and farming. Third, living simply also means do not use anything is related  modern technology appliances. In other words, I should not use computers, cell phones and so on. I am OK not to use electric furnaces, clothes dryers or watch TV, but some of appliances I still need them.

I think it still needs step by step to approach a self-sufficient life for me. Maybe I just only can start to buy used goods, avoid wasting electricity and plant some vegetables or fruits on the weekends in order to increase some experiences for the future homestead. Furthermore, it is also needed to do, for we should save and protect our earth.

November of 2010

November was a very relaxing month for me because I just quit the job and  I really became a full-time student. After three busy months, I really looked forward to having a life of a slow pace. Actually, I don't like to be extreme busy or free and that is the reason why I am looking forward to it.  At first week, I almost did not go out of my house except for school days on the weekend. To be honest, after  few weeks I felt I was a bit bored with no working life. Then, I started doing something which I stopped doing it for sometime, such as reading and blog writing. I had a mid-term examination but I did not get good grades on some courses.  Although I had much free time, I did not study hard due to not diligence. I also found out that I could not be perfunctory of English studying, otherwise I might keep this bad habit. Because of much free time, I also visited my friend often than before. My friend was facing a big crisis, and I was really worried about her. I went to the hospital to see her two times and her recovery from the treatment  was getting better and better. It was the happiest thing to know for me in November. Moreover, I visited Taipei International Flora Exposition with my classmates and it was beyond my expectation; therefore, I am looking forward to visiting it again with my family and friends.

Flora Exposition- Yuanshan Park Area

I took my niece to Yuanshan Park Area of Flora Expo with my classmates last Saturday. We met at Xinpu MRT station at 1:30, and we took MRT to Yuashan station together. It was a sunny day, and lots of visitors visited Yuanshan Park Area. We spent a little time to figure out how to buy tickets and which destination we should visit first. Due to well service by staff of Flora Expo, I felt it is much better than I expect.

We decided to visit EXPO Dome first, and we had to stand in line for some time because of a lot of crowds. Fortunately, it only took about 20 minutes to enter the exhibition, and I also filmed the scenery of Flora Rainbows while we were waiting. Flora Rainbow is just like its name which is colorful with various flowers. When we were there, we saw flowers of every variety and lots of different kinds of gardening. It is as its name which focus on floriculture arts competition and  it houses a rich line-up 16 special exhibits ,competitions, colorful demonstration of Taiwan talent and competitive strength in  the areas of  floriculture, gardening, landscaping, biotechnology, new-style f andlower cultivation. Then we moved on to EXPO Theater. We did not have a chance to visit because we did not book in advance and there were not any tickets left. I think it is a good experience for us to plan well if we want to visit Flor Expo again.

On the way to EXPO Dome, we stopped by EXPO Orchard, Flower Wall, Flower Landscape , Rare Flowers and  Plants and Pavilion of Culture. We also had some snack by the Folk Arts Plaza and took some time to take a look at Pavilion of Culture. However, it is a pity for too many crowds  line up to visit some special exhibitions otherwise it will be a perfect exposition for everyone to come and attend the event.

By and large, it organizes and plans quite good, I would like to visit again with my family or friends. There are four major areas, Yuanshan Park Area, Fine Arts Park Area, Xinsheng Park Area and Dajia Riverside Park Area, and transportaion is also very convenient plus free shuttle buses in each area; therefor, I would to recommend everyone to visit it when you have free time.

When You Are Sick, Do You Usually Go to a Doctor, or Do You Try to Get Better by Yourself? Why?

When I am sick, I usually try to get better by myself. There are several reasons below for it. First, I do not like hospitals. It reminds me the death of my close member of my family, especially ER. Moreover, I think it will have more chances to get other sickness if you often go to the hospital. Second, I do not like to take medicines. The taste of drug is bitter, and sometimes it is hard to swallow as well; as a result, I particular do not like pills. Finally, I prefer a natural way to recover the sickness, such as taking a hot bath, drinking lots of warm water and taking more rests. It will not have any side effect if it compares with taking medicine. However, these natural ways are only useful for minor illnesses, such as catching a cold.. If you are really serious sick, the best way is still going to a doctor and having a well treatment. In summary, a bad image of hospitals, tasteless pills and  some no side effect are the reasons for me to get better by myself. Howeve, I also want to give you a little suggestion, for you are indeed to go to a doctor if your health is endanger.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is quite annoying for me. Sometimes I have to face lots of noises from my neighborhood who don't care about other people. Especially, now is the period of an election campaign, so lots of promoting parade make it worse.

I live in a community building and my house is located on 11th  floor. I had a very unpleasant experience because my neighbor who lives on 12th floor made loud noises near at night and  walked on the floor with huge steps. I filed a complaint to our guard of the guard-house, instead of receiving an unfriendly warming by my neighbor in person. I think like my neighbor said "you are really unlucky to live on the 11th floor." Actually, there is nothing we can do to change this kind of situation unless we move out. It is totally unfair for us to live with bad neighbors. Moreover, I have been waking up with a loudly taking on the cell phone by my neighbor who is next to my building recently. I think there might  be more and more noises pollution if people do not have a sense of morality.

Elections are very often in Taiwan; as a result, we have to suffer by promoting parade  or advertising cars.I know they are the most common means for candidates to promate themselves, but I also do hope they know what they are done during the campaign is also annoying to people. In my opinion, people are smart to vote for their idea candidates without constant noisy campaigning.

In short, I can only hope people should have moral standards and do not be selfish. Elections will be over soon then give me a quiet space back.

Milk(自由大道)

"Milk" is the title of a move and it was released on 20 February of 2009 in Taiwan. I watched it in this earlier day of November because I was sleepless at night. I just watched all the programs on TV then I stopped on HBO and watched it until 2 o'clock in the early morning.

The story is about a man whose name is Harvey Milk and he is also a gay. He moves to San Francisco and opens a camera shop. Due to his special status and a successful business man, he runs for office with his lover Scott Smith as his campaign manager. He also runs several times to win in the city's conservative district. The most important thing in the story is about he fights against a statewide initiative to bar gays and fight for gay rights and becomes California's first openly gay elected official.

Sean Peen is a amazing actor for me.  No matter what kind of characters he act, he always performs so well and I am touched deeply by him. I particularly like a true story to make a film because it always can draw me a great attention to it although most of stories are sad with an unhappy ending.

I Am Sam (他不笨,他是我爸爸)

I watched this movie, "I am Sam", few years ago, and this is one of a few movies that I watch in the theater. I remembered when I first time watched the preview then I fell in love with this move. I even bought a move original CD and all the songs are beautiful and fantastic.

The story is about a father,Sam, whose intelligence is only the same as a seven-year-old child, and he has a daughter with a homeless woman. She abandons them after they leave the hospital. He names his daughter Lucy Diamond because he is a big fan of Beatles. When his daughter is seven years old, he loses the custody of his daughter; therefore, he fights for his right by a high-priced lawyer, Rita Harrison. Through this process, he teaches her a great deal with love.

I like both the leading actor, Sean Penn, and actress, Michelle Pfeiffer, especially, that little girl, Dakota Fanning. They are all really good at acting plus a touching story and lots of warm background music which make it as a great movie. I cried a lot when I watched it,and I believe that no matter how many times I watch, I still cry.

To Spank or Not to Spank?

This is the topic of my textbook and I found something interesting, so I would like to talk about it. Especially, there is a fine line between spanking and child abuse for me.

According to our survey of our class, there are only a few students to support corporal punishment and I am one of them. When I was a kid,  I remembered if I did something wrong then I always got corporal punishment form my mom. As I have lots of sibling, it was quite useful  for us to stop fighting and it was also easy for my mom to teach us. The common corporal punishments were forcing us to kneel down on the floor or hitting on our palm. This is what I had an experience when I was young from my parents, but I know it is a big different thought now due to time, education and concept changing. For me, it is not black and white. And I think that, by and large, most people would agree with me, for there is a fine line between spanking and child abuse. It is hard to define, unless parents are cruel or violent treatment of their children.

I do believe that spanking is work for little kids who are in the kindergarten age because pain helps children learn right and wrong . The most important thing is that spanking is done out of love not anger  and you have to let your children understand why they are spanked, otherwise spanking might teach children to solve problems with violence. If you are a parent what do you think about it? Spanking or not spanking!

Shoppingholic

Shoppingholic combines with shopping and holic. Shopping means the activity of going to shops to buy things, and holic is a suffix of word which means you are addicted to something. For example, " workholic" means you are a person who likes to wrok very much.  A person who can not stop the habit of drinking too much alcohol means "alcohloic". Apparently, shoppingholic is a person who can not stop the habit of buying things.

There is one person who is shoppingholic in family, and we couldn't stop this kind of bad habit of him. He likes to buy things, especially when he goes to the traditional market, he always shops lots of  things and takes them home. Therefore, there are lots of stuff in my house. You are very easy to find three or four pots or bottles or knives or even lots of the same kind of vegetables or noodles. To be honest, it quite annoys to us. However, he is senior and a bit stubborn, so it is very difficult for us to change his habit and for him to quit this habit, too.

Because of this example, I always remind myself of not to be shoppingholic. Sometimes I do the same thing for buying clothing, cosmetic or even shoes. Everytime, when I clean up my room I always find lots of redundant stuff. I think I have to face and improve it seriously.

October of 2010

There were several things troubled me which were spelling task of News English, my job and my friend's illness. First, I like English but I particularly don't like to memorize the spelling of words although I know it is very helpful for enhancing reading and writing. I didn't get good grades of spelling although I improved it little by little. To be honest, I didn't put lots of efforts on it because I was a kind of refusing to study. In contrast, I got good grades of TOEIC spelling task. Now I am trying to improve the spelling of News English without any excuses although most of words are not popular or not in great demand of daily conversations. Second, about my job, it was still not smooth and I still couldn't find any interests of it so, it would be a huge challenge for me. However, I think it was a good experience for me because it reminds me all my previous jobs and let me have a chance to think about it again. Lastly, my friend's illness was upset me a lot. I visited her last Wednesday and I know she was trying hard to overcome it. As a friend, I couldn't help her lot and the only thing I can do is to pray to God to help her to overcome it. I am not good at cheering up people which annoys me.

I know you can't expect all good things for you. There is always up and down of your life. There is a saying, " If you got a lemon, why don't you make it for  lemonade." It is very deep for me.

September of 2010

There were two important things in September. One was school and the other one was my job.  Longhwa University started in September which means the summer vacation is over. How come? It passed so fast and I even didn't fell like I had a Summer vacation because of my new job. There were several new teachers we haven't met before and of course some of my old teachers for this semester. As usual, we had a general idea of our classes  from all our teachers at the first class. I knew that this is going to be a  tough year because we have to put a lot of efforts to each class, especially spelling task will be a big challenge for me. About my new job, I was still adjusting it but there was always an obstacle in front of me. I wasn't sure that could I able to cope with it or not. I always found out that it was changeable with my work and I disliked it very much.

I already knew that it must be a difficult task while you were working and studying but I still believe that if you plan time well then you might be successed on both work and school. And I also hope I can do it like my classmates, but it seems to be unsure. I think I would like to give it a try to myself  for one more month.

Have You Had This Kind of Experience?

Last Friday night,  I was sleepless, so I decided to watched my favorite channel which is move channel. At that time, there was a horrible movie on TV. I still watched it although I was afraid of  all kinds of scary movies. Few minutes later, I couldn't stand it. I tried to change to other channel but the remote control couldn't work. I also couldn't turned down the volume or turned it off. At that moment, there was a fearful thought to come to mind. Was there someone with me or something with me? I know that was a very stupid thinking but I still believed it. Then, I turned TV off without the  remote control and went to bed soon.

The next day morning, I talked about what happened to me  last night to my family when we watched TV and had lunch. They all laughed at me because of my funny reaction.  Especially, after my oldest sister told me that  the remote control was broken few days ago. When I heard it, I was totally speechless and embarrassed. This is not surprised them because they quite understand me. So, have you had this kind of experience?

Making Choices

Have you made any choices before? I guess every one has this kind of experience. The question is that do you really make a good choice or a bad choice.
I have been making lots of my choices of my life so far, but I am still not good at making choices. Some people may say that it regards your personality. For example, I was a good daughter of my mom, as a result I didn't have many chances to make choices when I was a child. After growing up, I had lots of chances to make my won choices. Then I realized that I need to be smart to make a good choice. Especially after my mom passed away. I remembered the biggest choice I have made was that I decided to quit my job and went to Australia to study English. Actually it was not that easy for me, but I still made it to come true.
Now, I am facing it again. As I get older, I really hope I can make a good choice without feeling regret. I have to say that when you get something then you also lost something. I don't know it is fair or not, so you should be careful when you are making choices.

August of 2010

August was a very busy month for me because of my new job. I spend lots of time on my new job even on the weekends. Mostly I just went to work in the morning and went home at night from Monday to Friday. On Saturday, I almost slept a lot and did some paper work at night. On Sunday, I also did some paper work of my job and had  some time to watch TV. At first two weeks, I couldn't get used to it and I even wanted to quit my job. After three weeks, I finally could able to adjust my new job and I could have some time to do my homework of the summer vacation on the weekends. To be honest, it was out of my expectation because I didn't know I have to pay lots of time and attention on it. Fortunately, I could have warm dinner when I went home after work. I could spend some time with my family on the weekends,too. I kept my promise to my niece and nephew for taking them to the park to play with balls. Although I like my full time job, I hope it won't keep me very busy all the time even weekends. It was a pity for I didn't have time to read some books for my last summer vacation. My school starts soon and I hope I can still survive when I work and study at the same time.

Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road is located at southeast of Melbourne. It is from Torquay to Warrnambool and it is about 200 km. Especially Apollo Bay and Port Campbell are the most beautiful and it attracts lots of people who are from different countries in the world.

I have been to Great Ocean Road for two times and I both had a great time with my classmates and my friend. The first time I visited there by joining a tour with my classmates. We have four people to join the tour and we took a min bus at the train station. The first destination we stopped at Geelong where is a small city with clean streets. I took a lot of pictures with my classmates at the port of Geelong. The view of the port is quite nice because the weather is beautiful with clear sky. Then we stopped at Great Ocean Road and we saw lots of kangaroos. We also stopped by  The Twelve Apostles which are the most famous to the tourist. We took a walk to look out The Twelve Apostles which are stunning. At night, we had BBQ at holiday house. I remembered that we took an adventure at night at the beach. We drank and sang at the beach which was very unforgettable because it was very dark and the waves at the beach was very strong and high.

It was fun to go with my classmates. Because of it, we keep a good friendship. It is a pity for we don't keep in touch after coming back to our own countries.

Kung Fu Panda(功夫熊貓)

The first time when I saw the preview of Kung Fu Panda, I told myself I must see it. One day, when my students had a games day then I decided to rent a DVD of Kung Fu Panda to watch together. Kids love cartoons and me, too.

The story is about a panda who loves kung fu, and he is the son of the noodles shop owner. He is supposed to carry on his father's noodles shop, but  from the bottom of his heart, he doesn't really want to do it . One day, he becomes a dragon warrior by an accident. He starts to face lots of challenges not only himself but also his companies and the enemy. There is a saying I like very much when Wugui Master told Kung Fu Panda. It is " Yesterday was a history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift." The most important thing is that we should live at present.

It is a quite funny cartoon with interesting conversations and vivid animation. It is really fun to watch with your family. I have seen it for many times and I laugh every time when I watch it.

Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island is the third large island in Australia. There are more than 850 kinds of wild flowers and some wild seals, kangaroos and koalas on the island. There are some ways to the island which are airplanes and ferries. I joined the tour of three days  with two friends by the bus and the ferry to the island.
The first day. I got up early to take a bus to Fleurieu Peninsula then I took the ferry to Penneshaw. My first impression of this island was very clean, peace and beautiful. There were about fifteen people and one guide in our tour. We are all from different countries but we knew one to the other very soon by talking and taking pictures. We saw a lot of wild animals such as kangaroos, seals and pelicans. I like there very much because there are less people but animals and lots of beautiful natural sceneries. There are two things I remembered the most. One is I was lying on the beach and surrounding by lots of wild seals. The other one is I visited Remarkable Rocks and saw lots of wild seals on the rocks. At the end of the tour I also had a chance to hold the wallabies which are kangaroos' babies. It was a rare experience and a fun to do.
Although it was a short tour, I had a lot of fun with my friends. I also saw lots of wild animals and made new friends. All in all, I had a great trip before going back to Taiwan.
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Adelaide of South Australia

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia. I remembered the first time I visited there because my airplane stopped by it. The second time, I visited there because I took the trip from Alice Springs to Adelaide . I stayed there for only a few days and stayed at Backpackers of YHA and Cannon. It is not very busy and noisy for me if I compares it to Melbourne city. I took one day tour there. I visited China town, Central Market, Adelaide Botanic Gardens, The Chocolate Factory and Glenelg and so on.
I remembered I took the tour of the chocolate factory with my friends who met at last trip. It was fun to go with them because we talked, laughed and took some pictures. I also took the tram to Glenelg where is the popular vacation spot with beautiful beach. I went there with a German girl who lived the same Backpackers as me. We talked about a lot about our trips, countries and jobs. It was good to have a company to go with new places. Last, I visited Adelaide Botanic Gardens alone, and  it is a very big and beautiful park than I thought. On the way to the garden, there was one thing upset me because it was the first time I met very unfriendly Australian people when I got lost. Because of it,  now I know you might meet some people who are not nice and friendly to foreigners.
Anyway, I had a good memory and a good tour there. I think I miss my friends who I met there.

A Rush Morning

Since I have been working in Taipei, I need to get up early in the morning then taking a bus to work. One day in the morning, when I was walking to the bus  station, I saw a series car accident in front of me. At that time, I felt that I was very unlucky and I was grateful for  no one get hurt. What was happening in that morning? Actually it happened very quickly, and I just knew I saw a scooter riding fast to hit a car in front of his scooter. As a result, the rider was fine but a huge hitting voice around me. After a few minutes, I saw another accident happening again at the same intersection. There were two scooters stopped for the red light. When it turned into the green light, one of the scooters was riding fast to hit the slow one. It became very dangerous  because one one of the riders  was felling down. I am afraid of watching terrible accidents, so when I saw these two accidents, it was a bit shock to me. I also know that why the accidents happen because every one is in a hurry then riding and driving fast without being safety. I also remind myself don't let it happens to me and remember that safety is  always the best policy.

Up(天外奇蹟)

I have been seeing "UP" for several times and I like it when I watch it every time. I remembered that the first time I watched it at Lonhwa and it was in English vision without Chinese subtitles. At first, I didn't know what it was talking about, but few minutes after, it drew me attention and then I liked it very much.  The story is about  a little boy who has a dream to take an adventure to explore the world with his girl friend.  Then he grows up and gets married with his girl friend. He has a happy family life with his wife although they don't have any child. When he gets older, his wife passes away early than him. He became a lonely old man who lives in his old house. One day, he gets a notice and then he decides to take an adventure to the angle waterfall with his house which fulls his wife's memories. Then there is an adventure to begin. It is an interesting and touching story by high creative technical animation. It is also quite suitable for a family to watch together.

My Oldest Sister's Family

Suling  Zhang is my oldest sister's name. She has two children, one girl and one boy, and  they used   to live in Natou. This year, she made a big decision because her husband decided to work in China. Then they moved to our neighborhood in Xinzhuang in July. My sister and her children used to visit us two or three times per year, but now they can visit us very often. I helped them cleaning their new home, and that was a big work, too. My niece and nephew were very excited at first because they can visit us every day , but few days after, they became a little lazy because they didn't like to take a walk to my home. Because of their visit and my sister's helping, I have warm dinner and my niece and nephew's warm welcome after working.
Yesterday was my nephew's birthday, we ordered pizza to celebrated his birthday. We sang a birthday song  for him and he was very shy. I gave him a red envelope as a gift although that was only a little money.  This morning, he bought his favorite toy by the money I gave him and he played with the toy almost all day. I am sure he is happy but I hope he can spend more time on studying not watching TV. Next week, they are going to school soon.  I hope they can adjust their new school life and make some good friends there,too.

One Day Tour of Nanjhuang

I had a great one day tour of Nanjhuang with my classmates of Longhwa  on first of August. At first, We met at Xinpu MRT station at 8 o'clock, and  we took a min bus to Miaoli. There were about nineteen people on the bus. We also stopped by at Xinwu to pick up Yolanda. We arrived at Nanjhuang Visitor Center to take a rest for about  ten minutes at 10:30. I met a guide who is a volunteer here and he introduced Nanjhuang and some interesting places to me to visit. After that, we started heading to our first spot where is Shensian Valley. It is a nice place because you can see a stream through the valley,  you can smell fresh air and you can feel peace atmosphere around you. We took a little walk and walk through a bridge to the resting stand. All my classmates took a lot of pictures there because it is really beautiful. I also had a chance to practice the skill of DSLR. Then, we visited  Siangtian Lake. It is a very peaceful place with some aboriginal music. I took a lot of pictures there, too.  We also took a walk around the lake and we talked and laughed all the way.  We went back to Nanjhuang Old Street to have lunch. There were lots of people visiting there, and we had tasty lunch at a traditional food stand. We walked around the old street and visited some stores after lunch. At last, we food a min bus home and went back to our sweet homes. I had a good time with my classmates at Nanjhuang.

My New Job

In the middle of July, I worked at a new company which is the travel agent. At the first few weeks, it was very difficult for me to adjust a new job. There were a lot of things I had to learn, and I only had a limited  time to know all of them. To be honest, it was a challenging job because I had a lot of homework of work to do at home. After few weeks, I was much better, but it was still hard to adjust it because I need enough sleeping time otherwise I will be sleepy next day.  The communication is also a problem for me. I have to spend about two hours from home to the company and return , and sometimes you have to face the  bad traffic jam. Anyway I have been working there for a month. Although I face different challenging work every day, I hope I can get better and better there. There is one thing I concern much that is I am afraid of no much time at work if I study on the weekends.

June of 2010

It was an unsure month for me because it was the  last month I worked as an English teacher. I get tired of teaching children English. I thought it will be a good idea to take a rest. Changing is a quite big challenge for me or everyone because you have to face a new life or adjust a new job.  I also started looking for a new job. To be honest, I was looking forward to having a full time job because I was tired of working at night only. Some of my classmates introduced me some companies or gave me some advices, too. I was glad that I have good classmates and friends to help me. I was busy at studying,too because I had lots of the final examinations. I remembered that one of the final examinations I had was a bit challenge to my classmates because they had to demonstrate the performance of teaching English or Japanese or Spanish. It was fun to see some of my classmates' performances and I learnt some from them.

Cooperative Reading Strategy Instruction

Cooperative reading strategy instruction is a new teaching strategy of English reading to me. I use to learn English reading by individual from teachers although I had some experiences for working with a group. After learning cooperative reading strategy instruction, I get some knowledge about it. Therefore, I benefit by it for some reasons which are facilitating reading comprehension, having more opportunities to interact with classmates and less frustration when meeting difficulties.


The first reason is that cooperative reading strategy instruction is facilitating reading comprehension. I learn lots of reading strategies by cooperative instruction because classmates provide us some ways, such us using context clues, questions and visualization, summarizing the gist, activating prior knowledge, mind mapping and changes of students’ attitudes and so on. When I practice reading, I use some of these ways to identify the text book. I think using visualization, context clues and questions are the easiest ways to apply to reading, but summarizing the gist is the most difficult way for me to do due to the grammar is still needed to improve, vocabulary is poor, and sometimes the meaning of the text is misunderstood a lot. On the other hand, I spend less time on reading to understand a whole article than before because it helps me enhance reading comprehension. It saves me some time, and it helps me quickly to find out the answers when I take an exam.

The second reason is that I am having more opportunities to interact with classmates by cooperative reading strategy instruction. The traditional teaching English reading is much dull and less stimulation, whereas cooperative reading strategy instruction is much active and motive. Traditional teaching emphasizes the importance of memorizing new words and the grammar. It is less inspiration, and all students are very passive to learn. In contrast, cooperative teaching is more interaction. For example, every new lesson each group needs to translate one part of the article and read in front of all classmates. It is a good activity for me because I need to practice the pronunciation and team work. As a result, I have more time to work with our group members and I also have more chances to know them. In order to have a good performance, each group needs to work together that is also a positive competition. Although not every one of each group has time to practice the pronunciation and translation, it did give someone an opportunity to improve them.

Having less frustration with English reading is the third reason. I used to feel upset when I had some difficulties on reading English. English reading is not a very easy job at the beginning for me because when I read an article, I have meet lots of words I don’t know and some of the sentences I don’t understand. All these things stop me reading and it annoys me a lot then I have lots of negative thought come from my mind. Especially, when I meet it few times, I will give it up easily. Surprisingly, after learning cooperative reading strategy instruction, I feel it differently because I have some ways to overcome problems such as, using context clues, activating prior knowledge or applying text structure. Therefore, I feel more positive and less pessimistic when I can’t find the answers or I take tests. However, sometimes I still feel unhappy when I stick in the same level of English reading. I think the most important reason is that I don’t practice a lot and I should develop a wide of vocabulary and phrases.

To sum up, cooperative reading strategy instruction has some advantages which is quite useful to me. The reading comprehension and interaction with classmates are getting better and better. The attitude of English reading is much optimistic and less frustrated.

Chicken Feet

Chicken feet is a very common dish and mouth- watering food for Chinese. It is very obvious to know what they are from its name, chicken feet. Right, they are feet of chickens, so it might be scared of lots of foreigners when they see or hear it. Chicken feet are very often cooked with some soy sauce and spice by stew as a dish. It is specially benefits for women to stay young because of the nutrition which provides lots of collagen. Foreigners don’t eat four limbs or internal organs of poultry because they think they are some kinds of odd food for them. Especially, chicken feet are considered as disgusting food because chickens’ feet are organs that step on the ground which is dirty. But if foreigners open mind to try them without thinking  they are dirty, then they might like test of them and like them a lot. In my opinion, it is always good to try something you don’t know without limiting your opportunities.

Hear Me (聽說)

I watched "Hear Me" few days ago and I quite like it much. It doesn't like Hollywood move at all. There aren't much technology effects, dramatically performance and  many famous casts but quite touched to my heart.

The story is about two sisters who rely on each other. The older sister, Xiaopeng, is blind and good at swimming. The younger sister,Yangyang, is taking care of her older sister and good at sign language. Her mom passed away and her dad is a missionary in Africa, so they live together and take care each other. Although Yangyang is younger, she takes lots of part-time jobs to take a responsibility for their living. Xiaopeng is taking a training for the swimming competition and Yangyang stands by her and be there to cheer for her older sister. During this training, they have an argument but it doesn't break up these two sisters, instead of knowing and firming each other.

I like the happy ending of this movie. Especially, I like the sentence which is dreams and love are strange things because they don't need to be heard or said and even without being translated at the end of the movie.
I envy Xiaopeng and Yangyang because they all have their dreams and they try hard to go for it. When I watched it I feel like I am reading a fantastic book which is warm and bright but sometimes sad.

CHANGELING (陌生的孩子)

I watched "CHANGELING" last Sunday night. At first, I was curious about this movie because the actress is Angelina Jolie. Actually I am not her fan, but she is a quite famous actress. And then,  when I paid attention to it, it drew my attention. I felt sad and angry when I watched it and followed the story. I have to say I like it very much. When the movie was end and I just knew it was a true story. I felt very proud of Christie Collins( Jolie) but sorry for her,too.  She was very brave to fight for the justice but she still couldn't find her child back until she passed away.
The story happened in Los Angeles, 1928. On a Saturday morning in a class-working suburb, Christie said goodbye to her son, Walt, and left for work. When she came home, she discovered her son had vanished. A fruitless search ensue, and  months later,  a boy claiming to be the nine-year-old is returned. Collins allows him to stay overnight. But in her heart, she knows he is not Walt. As she pushed authorities to keep looking, she faced lots of difficulties. She didn't give up no matter what difficulties happened to her and she fought for the justice and  the truth.

May of 2010

I made some big changes in May of 2010. First, I decided to quit teaching English at Hess. I have thought of it for a long time, but I didn't do it because I didn't have enough courage and a plan. I have been an English teacher for  four years. The first year I was a full-time teacher then I became a part-time teacher because I don't like to do lots of things which aren't relative teaching English. Because of it I have lots of  free time and I get used to it. Last year, I studied at Longhua in September then I quite liked my schedule because I could make a little money and I study, too. Few months ago, my job didn't go on smoothly because I had some disagreement with my co-worker who is also a foreign supervisor. Because of his position, it made me more difficult to communicate with him. Plus some of my students are getting tired of learning English and they are becoming very rude to me that made me very disappointed and I am also getting tired of teaching English, too. Although I haven't find a new job yet, I still want to quit and take a break. Second, I had a new haircut on the day after my birthday. When I am upset I like to change my haircut, at least, it makes me happy. I did feel much happier after having a new haircut because it made me look younger than my age. I know that no matter what I do to make me feel happy, but the most important thing is that you should feel happy from your heart and think everything positively. But the truth is easier say than done, at least I am trying. Third, I had a great birthday with my close friends. I am really happy I have them to share my happiness and sadness. I'll also treasure our friendships because they are all my loyal friends. I also hope they are all happy and healthy.

The Proposal

  

I saw this movie " The Proposal" last night. It is a comedy, so it wasn't  out of my expectation. The actress, Sandra Bullock, is quite famous and I have already seen some of  her movies. She is like a next-door sister and her acting is nature and not too much hypocritical. The actor is Ryan Reynolds, and I have seen his last movie "Definitely, Maybe ", too. It seems like he is very suitable for comedy. The story is not very special but romantic and funny. One thing particularllyI found it is interesting to me that is about they went to see the immigration official. I guess all the immigration officials in the world are all the same. They all ask some unusual questions to people who want to immigrate to their country. If you like comedy movies, it is OK to watch because you can see lots of  interesting conversations between the chief actress and actor. It is quite entertaining . And there is no doubt that you  always can see the happy ending in the movie.

Reading a Story In a Book / Seeing It As a Movie

There are some different time consuming and enjoyment but amusement between reading a story in a book and seeing it as a move. One differences is time spending. People spend a long time one reading a story in a book. However, people seeing it as a move only take about one to tow hours. The second difference is enjoyment.  For example, it is filled with lots of imagination when people read a story in a book. They like to enjoy the power of words for fun in reading. In contrast, when people seeing it as a movie, it provides much vision and audition but less imagination for them. They like to enjoy seeing lively pictures for fun. Finally, there is a big difference of originality. Reading a story in a book is truly close to an original story, whereas seeing it as a movie, it rewrites or re-edits from an original story. Therefore, it adapts from a book and much less originality. To sum up, for people who like to take time on reading and enjoy creative of minds, reading a story in a book is an excellent choice, but for people who like to feel vision and audition only spending  a little time, seeing it as a move is a quick way to enjoy.

April of 2010

April was a long month for me because I was very sick, and I had some troubles at work. Since I have been a teacher, I am very easy to catch a cold. Every time,  when I am sick, I usually have a sore throat. Sometimes it is even worst I lose the vice, so I cant speak then I have to skip my classes. This month, I was sick again, and I had a sore throat which took me about one month to cure it. I went to see the doctor, and I just realized how serious was it. The doctor said, " I couldn't speak that was not because of a sore throat. It was because of the inflammation of  vice cord." At that time, I was upset and surprised because I couldn't find anyone to sub my classes. This is what I dislike my job because even you are sick, it is still very difficult to take a rest. Anyway, I asked a help for my supervisor then I finally got few days off.  There was another thing upsetted me very much.  I didn't work with a foreign teacher very well and it was getting worse and worse. I thought every thing I could talk to him and discuss with him, but I forgot he is a supervisor of foreign teachers. Maybe he dislike me to cross the line, but I still think I don't do anything wrong about it. It bothered me a lot and it made me absentminded most of time. I did a lot of stupid things in April, but  fortunately I had some good guys to help me. I think I am lucky, but I should be more careful no matter I meet difficulties or not.

March of 2010

I was a bit busy in March of 2010. First, my school started on the first weekend. Then, I was busy at preparing GEPT of Hess. This is a kind of English test for English teachers of Hess every year. I think it is a good opportunity to improve English skill. I really spent a lot of time studying English, and I also bought some text books to practice activities. I wasn't very good on last training test, so I needed to study hard. I set a timetable for practicing English. I practiced reading and listening for one activity per week. I thought it might make a progress on reading and listening, but I got the result  which was not good. I failed on listening but I passed on reading. Actually I wasn't surprised about it because I remembered the day when I took the test, I was  late about 5 minutes. It made me envious and I couldn't pay attention to listening. I learned a lesson from it but the result still made me be disappointed of myself. I like English, but I don't like to take any tests of English. In fact, only you take a test then you can know what is your weakness of English.  Even now, I don't like tests of English but I still want to take TOIC test to evaluate my accomplishment of English. It is ironical, isn't it? But there is one thing for sure, I need to plan better for next test and don't be late for the test.

February of 2010

February is a very short month for me because it is only 28 days. If it is plus Chinese New Year holidays, then I only work for about fifteen days. Actually I like February but I don't like a little salary. This Chinese New Year I didn't go anywhere but home, so it was a long holiday for me. My old sister and I were very busy at first two days for we needed to go shopping for some food, fruit and some stuff for praying gods and ancestors. The rest of holidays, we stayed at home and watched DVD- Korean drama which is The City Hall.  I like this drama because I like the actress for her personality and her excellent acting. The actor is also good and this is the first time he took the part of Korean dramas. As I know he is a model and he only preforms for movies. This is a quite interesting combination. At the end of Chinese New Year, I had a reunion of my family. I had lunch with my family and aunty at the hotel in Taipei. I like this reunion because everyone of my family can get together. Actually it started five years ago. My aunty who is my mom's friend meets us every Chinese New Year, and she treats us every time, too. I think she is just like a kind of our family member and we all appreciate to her for caring our family.

January of 2010

I had a quite busy schedule in January. I had a final exam at the beginning of this month. After the final exam, our classmates had a banquet at night  for thanking our teachers hard working. Actually I was surprised because all most everyone contributed to a good show for the banquet. I believed that everyone had a good time there. This is the first time I have had an unforgettable experience with our classmates and teachers. Then, I started my first summer vacation at Longhua. I guess every student likes holidays, and I am also not exception. I visited my younger sister in Zhunan for she gave a birth to a girl baby. I was very happy for her because she has one boy and one girl now. Our family had an opportunity to meet together again. I always like to see every member of my family can get together to talk and share our recent development. At the end of  January, I also went to a banquet of Hess at Xinyi district. This is the only time all of foreign teachers and Chinese teachers  meet together from north Taiwan. This is the only benefit for a part-time teacher at Hess. I had a good time,too.

All The Numbers

I bought a book and its title ,All The Numbers, a year ago. Actually I had heard of it from a master of a TV show. She recommended this novel to audiences. I guess because she is a mother of two children, so that is why she is touched by it.
It is about a mother of two children who are eleven years old and thirteen years old. They went on a vacation, and eleven-year-old son died by an accident. After it, she was very depressed,  and she couldn't get out of this tragedy. It made her family almost fall to pieces. Especially, the oldest son had to take the guilty of seeing his young brother drowning, and his mother ignored everything  to him and his father. This family went through lots of sadness and unhappiness. At the end, his mother finally got out of the tragedy by forgiving the killer of  her younger son.  She realized she needed to move on to a new life for her family because she had another son whom she had been ignored for a long time, and he needed her to take care of him.
This story touched me to the heart. I believe that every mother reads it and she must has been touched by it. After all ,we are human beings , and we feel happy, angry, sad and joy. When we meet tragedies to our families, it is very difficult to face it and let it go. If it happens to you and I hope you can find a way to overcome it.

An Introduction of Practicing Speech

Good afternoon, Mr Lin and everyone,
First of all, I would like to thank all of you for coming here today, and I'd also like to thank to Mr. Lin for giving me an opportunity to present my talk here. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Irene. Before my talk, I'd like to know do you know where Sydney Opera House, Gold Coast and Great Barrier Reef are. If you know, please raise your hand. Thank you. Some of you might know but some of you might  not, so my topic today is My Favorite Country which is Australia. I'll start off by talking about location first. Then, I'll move on to transportation. After that, I'll be focus on accommodations. Finally, I'll end with major tourist attractions. It'll take about 30 minutes and don't worry about taking notes. I'll be giving a handout to anyone who wants it. And I believe that by the end of this talk you will be familiar with Australia, and you might be interested in traveling there. Thank you for your attention.

How to Live on a Tight Budget

As I have been a student in Australia for a year, and I am a part-time teacher only making a little money now, I have had some experiences for living on a tight budget. Therefore, I would like to share my experiences with everyone. There are three ways to live on a tight budget. First of all, you must stop eating out often. This is the most basic way to decrease your spending. For example, you eat out frequently almost everyday. If you start to prepare three meals at home instead of eating out, then you will save lots of money you never know. Next, you must cut down your unnecessary expenses. This is also a way to help to lessen your expenditure. You need to strictly decrease your entertainment and material things spending such as new clothing, the newest high-tech gadgets, KTV,  movies traveling and so on. Finally, and it is also the most important way is to increase your income. It means not only have to save some money but also you have to seek more chances to grow your gainings. Likewise, you have a full-time job then you have to take some part-time jobs for making extra money, however, you only have a part-time job then you have to take more part-time jobs or you need to find a full-time job to increase your salary. To sum up, you must carefully expend on your money and find a way to increase your earnings then you can survive in living on a tight budget.

Why Should Pelple Need for Exercising

There are several reasons why people should need for exercising. The first reason is that exercising helps people to get in shape. For example, nowadays, people are too busy to work,and most of them do not eat on time or even not in time. As a result, they often eat too much or too late and then they get fat gradually. Thus, exercising is the best way to help them to stay in a good figure. The second reason people do exercise is to keep healthy. People often have more chances to eat out, and there are too much artificiality such as artificial coloring and favoring. They are easy to get sick or not going energetic for they do not have a well-balanced diet. Therefore, doing sports is a good way to keep them from illness and to be in full vigor. The last reason is people can extend a healthy long life. In the modern life, people suffer serious disease are easier than  in the past. When people are seriously sick, and they can be saved their lives from high medical technologies. However, some of them pass away at young age because of getting great sickness. In other words, if people keep a good habit of exercising then it can contribute to have a long life without being sick. All in all, people want to have a healthy body, a good figure and live longer then they should need for doing sports.

My Favorite Drink

Coffee is my favorite drink and I have been loving it for a long time. I couldn't remember that when I started drinking it. I just know I like the atmosphere of coffee shops, especially, when I chat with my friends there. I like Latte the most. I don't drink milk but I particularly like coffee with milk without sugar. Coffee to me is a special drink no matter when I am in a good or bad mood. When I am in a bad mood I like to drink coffee to change my mood. When I am happy I also like to drink coffee because it will make me happier. I think it is a kind of magical drink to me. I usually drink hot coffee because I like the smell of coffee beans. I used to drink it every day but I drink it maybe two or three times per week. It is not a cheap drink if you like to drink at the coffee shop. I also like to make coffee at home because my house will fill with smelling of coffee. Especially, in the morning is the best time to drink it. It fresh your mind. It has been very cold recently. It is also a good time to drink coffee because it warms you up and makes you cheerful.I guess I am a bit addicted to it, but I have to drink it before afternoon otherwise I will be sleepless at night. I have just found out this problem for few years.