Who else?

Ninety days passed, who else remember this place?
3 months passed, who else come for a review, or, for the lost memory?
A quarter of a year passed, who else wanna leave a message here: my loved groupmates, I'm missing you. Wish you all the best.

alexander

Alexander, the Great
The film is based on the Alexander the Great, the Macedonian King who conquered Asia Minor, Persia and some part of Ancient India. Shown in the movie are some of the key moments of Alexander's youth, his invasion of the mighty Persian Empire and his death. It also outlines his early life, including his difficult relationship with his father, Philip II of Macedonia, the unification of the Greek city-states under the League of Corinth and the conquest of the Persian Empire in 331 BC. It also details his plans to reform his empire and the attempts he made to reach the end of the world.
The plot also illustrates Alexander's private relationship with his childhood friend Hephaestion and later his wife Roxana. Before succumbing to an unknown illness or poison — it is never revealed which, yet both are suggested —, Alexander distances himself from his wife, despite her being pregnant, believing that she has killed his childhood friend Hephaestion.
After conquering Babylon, Alexander admits that Hephaestion is the only person whom he loves. During the film, Hephaestion shows extensive jealousy when he sees Alexander with Roxana and deep sadness when he marries her, going so far as to attempt to keep her away from him after Alexander murders Cleitus the Black in India.
Frankly, I do not think that this movie is a good one. I do not like the character inside. Alexander the Great was not supposed to be like that in history. At last, he turn out to be a bisexual and homosexual emperor. It is quite an awful thing.

Wandering ( Jeg blog10)

It is troublesome and tiring to create some structure-specialised articles. So this time I will just be myself and put down whatever my subconscious indicates. At the beginning of the bridging course, I made a commitment to fulfil myself by working hard on my courses and playing as an active participant as much as I can on every valuable activity. But now it turns out that I failed to meet my “demanding” promise. So many things came out and distracted my mind. Well, I am afraid to say my English is still that poor. Bridging course is a precious time. But it seems too late before I realised that I ought to pay more attention to it. Time flies! And now it is coming to the end. Our tutors are really very great I have to say from the bottom of my heart.  They are willing to help us and hope us would kick well in our future academic majors. And I should have talked with them more. You know my spoken-English is really terrible. Sometimes, I ask myself if I am fully prepared to cope with the university and then I am a little scared. Am I losing my confidence? There are so many acquaintances who do not know much about me. I got problems with them. Talking with them is just like cross-talking. It didn’t make any sense to argue with them gracefully. I should have thought about myself and turned to be more sensible and reasonable about the relationship. I have a good mood today and then I realise that it is a good start. 

Holiday visualization (lugg)

Whew, my stay in Singapore is eventually going to end. In just one and a half month’s time, I will be back in my hometown, Chengdu, again. How wonderful will that be? Regardless of what I have done here in Singapore, I will just get rid of those unhappy feelings, those obsessing problems or whatever, and just enjoy myself. Whenever I think of the coming holiday, I will get excited from the bottom of my heart. It always works, especially when I feel blue.
My flight will carry me back to Chengdu at 2:00 am on July the 17th. I will just pack a few things like some necessary clothes and go back home without heavy luggage. I will arrive at Chengdu Shuang Liu international airport at about 6:20 am. My parents and my twin brother will be there to pick me up. How happy and excited we all will be then! I will have not seen them for like a year and there will be so many interesting things to share. As soon as I come back home, I will not waste time for relaxing. Every minute and every second is precious for me. Maybe after a quick shower, I will go on a trip to travel around Chengdu. I will have left this city for so long and I would like very much to observe it and see the changes that came into being when I was not there.
Then, I would like to meet my relatives. I will have also expected me to come back for a long time. Then I will have a fine supper with my grandmother, my parents, my uncles, my aunts and my cousins. We will have an enjoyable talk while eating and we will laugh happily together. Then I would like to meet my old friends and classmates. Maybe they will all change a lot. We will play basketball together, we will have a meal of nice hot pot together and we will talk about the funny things happened in the past. Then maybe I will go on a trip to some wonderful places with fantastic scenery to get close to the nature. I will enjoy myself very much because I know the mountains and streams of my hometown will be certain to please me.
That is so far what I can imagine. I am sure it will be more wonderful than it sounds now. And I really can’t wait for it to come.

Some emotional feelings (Lugg)

To be frank, I have been a little moody and anxious recently. There seem so many things to worry about in my life. Time flies before I am aware of it. Just in a several days time, this bridging course is going to end. What have I learnt so far? Am I better than before I came to Singapore? What the hell am I doing NOW? It seems that I have just wasted several months time without any clear plans and goals? I am always fooling around with my friends and do nothing but playing games or even just do nothing. I spent uncountable nights and weekends playing those corruptive computer games. I sank into it and I could not get the hell out of it. Now I just cannot understand. Why have I been like that? What exactly made me believe I had the right to spoil myself like that?
Anyway, now I am awake, hopefully. I don’t know how I start to be aware of the sin of my dark past. Maybe I just suddenly woke up and found out there were actually much more important things to do in my life. I am feeling regretful and I cannot forgive that I have waste so much time and so many opportunities to do those important things in my life. And now, the horrible consequences of what I did in past befall me all in a sudden. Then, I feel my world is shattered and I am not able to cope. How I wish I could go back to the beginning of the bridging course? If so, I would lead a totally different life and I would absolutely not waste any opportunities to fight for what I now deem significant in my life. I would treasure every day of my life and put all my effort to get what now I long to possess. Anyway, it is just imagination. It is like the sweetest dreams which intoxicate you and when you wake up it is a dream and nothing more. Now, I have to confront the situation. I have already lost a lot, so now I am destined to suffer. I should not complain whatever will make me painful, `cause that will benefit me. I will definitely not waste my life anymore and I will try hard to make up what I have lost until there is no hope.
Ok, I think it is enough. Perhaps it is a little surprising for you to see me being so serious. If so, just do not mind as if I was joking.

my dream

I have a dream that I can retire with a sufficient money when I am in my forties. By that time I can do something I have dreamt for long. I may buy a small grocery in a small town. I am the boss and my wife is a grocery's wife. Of course, my kids are sons and daughters of a grocery.
Everyday, life is casual and easy. I can earn a little money to support my family. Money is not a problem, for I have earned enough for the rest of my life. The people there are friendly and familiar to my family. Sometimes I will invite my friends to come for a sit-down, or playing basketball. When meeting, my friends and I can recall the unforgettable times when we are careless young guys. We drink, laugh and sing songs which are fashionable in our young age. Then we talk about our friends' happiness and unhappiness and maybe laugh out or cry for them.
My children are no more sons and daughters of two scholars or executive staff, but of two learned citizens. They may not go to school if they do not need it. However, they must be educated. The most important thing they should learn is to be honest, sincere and loyal in life and modest, critical and creative in career. Of course I will teach them whatever I know if they need, but how to be a man comes first. They can make friends with anybody.
When I get the passion to travel, I will set off without hesitate. It can last for half a year. For example, I may rent an apartment in the suburb of Florence or Milan. During the 'work days', I may do some job, like teaching Chinese or math for some entertainment. When it is the 'play days', I will travel and feel the place I travel and feel it with patience. It is really a good way of traveling.
This is my dream. It can be a grovery in a small town, a farm in the countryside or a small bookstore in a big city, whatever like that.

my dream

nonsense

This is my ninth blog. The English course is coming to its end and Economy is coming. I feel something difficult to express. I really do not think that this set of lessons had improved my abilities. One of the most important thingsis that I have got a group of classmates and friends.
In these days, I have learnt a lot from them. They are talented and hardworking. Their attitude of academic achievement seems more positive. I always feel shameful when I am not concerned about my lessons. Illusion sometimes strike my mind. I should have a talk with somebody and express my impulsive and sincere thought. I feel more and more eager to struggle and strive. It is the very way for me to achieve my life goal, the final goal, the hard-to-reach goal-----retiring at my forties.
Today Orlando Magic beats Cleveland Cavaliers home with 103-90. I felt very happy when the game ended. It is a big victory for the Magic. It is its second time to play in the finals (the first time is 94-95, led by Shark). Though the referees stand on the Cavaliers, they lose. Comparing with them, the Magic played better and more efficient. Magic is also better in height and accuracy, so it is right for them to win. What is more, when playing semifinal in the east they met a Celtics without KG, otherwise they would never stepped foot on that court.
Today is the last day of may and I wish Iwould have a good June.

The first day of service learning (Lugg)

Today is Saturday. I used to sleep till 11 o’clock or so on Saturday. I treated this precious day a really perfect time to supplement my very scarce sleeping time since I found I had always been sleepy during the daytime. However, I have changed my opinion somehow. When I woke up at almost noon, I did not find the long time of sleeping made me energetic and conscious. On the other hand, I felt even sleepier and I even did not feel like start to do things. Anyway, I figured out that I should get up early at weekends and make use of the time more reasonably.
So, this service learning program just gave me a good reason to get up early. I had to get ready before the set-off time, 8:00. So, I got up at about 7:30. I had to say that I was a little bit sleepy tough. Anyway, it was a good start. I was not sure about what we were going to do this day. I only knew that we were going to take part in some activities. So I expected those activities to be interesting.
To my surprise, this whole day just somewhat sucked. We were not sent to visit some kids or some lonely old people, instead we were just sent to a park near the beach to do some meaningless activities. One of the activities was even irritating. In that activity, there was a steep slope there and a plastic carpet lying from the top to the bottom. Our group of ten must find a way to climb up the hill altogether as a team. This was nothing. But the difficulty was that someone would pour water mixed with soap and butter down then carpet so that the carpet would get very slippery. So, this game was intended to let us aware of teamwork. But, why did we have to get wet all over our bodies to show some teamwork? Could not we just do some other more friendly and peaceful activities? As for the following activities, they were also very dull and meaningless. I just thought it would be more meaningful if we went to help some lonely people.
Anyway, it was a good start for my new lifestyle.

Twelve places I want to visit ( M.L.)

One of my lasting hobbies is travelling. I firmly believe that travelling can change my way of thinking and stop me from being pride and ignorant. I have twelve places rooted in my mind which I want to set foot on one day, five in China and seven abroad. In this blog I will write about the twelve places I dream to go to in the future.

I want to visit the Tsinghai Lake someday. High on the Tsinghai-Tibet plateau, I will marvel at how close the indigo water is with the azure sky and how they joins as one on the horizon. I will also visit the birds’ island in the middle of the lake, which is the habitat of thousands of brown-hooded gulls. Then I will go along the newly-built Tsinghai-Tibet railway to Lhasa to visit the Potala Palace, where according to legend Princess Wencheng had lived in the Tang Dynasty. If I am lucky enough, I may catch sight of a yak, which Tibetans revere as symbol of strength and tenacity. When I am at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, I will not forget the hardships the road builders encountered, I will remember the song Road to Heaven, “At dawn I stood on the grassy meadow, I saw the holy eagle fly across the sky, like a piece of auspicious cloud with its feathers lit silver by the morning glow, promising the fortune of the Tibetans. At dusk I stood at the steep peak, I saw the railway had reached my hometown. Over mountains and valleys, the long dragon has brought warmth to the snowfield plateau, and the happiness and unity of all the ethnic groups…” (Forgive my rough translation).

The second place I want to visit is the Mogao Caves which is also known as the caves of the Thousand Buddhas. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. I want to appreciate the ancient sculptures and wall-paintings. Although I have seen for many times photos of these most famous Chinese Buddhist grottoes, it must be breath-taking to see and feel the real thing by myself.

The third place I want to go to is the Hulunbeier Grassland in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia. I want to go there neither because of wanting to experience the Mongolian way of like as shepherds and horse breeders living in yurts nor of wanting to see the mammoth skeleton exhibited in the Inner Mongolia Museum, instead I want to see a creature living on this vast land-the prairie wolf. I conceived this idea of seeing a wild prairie wolf after I read a novel “Wolf totemism”. It was about an intellectual’s story who was banished to Hulunbeier during the Cultural Revolution. The novel describes wolves as a kind of amazing animals which are clever, crafty and hierarchical. It also tells the continual fierce battles between the Mongolians and the wolves, which reflects the wildness in the nature of the Chinese people. In the mainstream climate where harmony is enhanced as a basic policy of development nowadays in China, I want to get a glimpse of the remaining wildness in the Mongolian-wolf relationship on the vast grassland of Hulunbeier.

The fourth place I want to travel to is the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. I want to see the magnificent army of Qin Shi Huang the first emperor of China. I have always been amazed in learning that the warriors and horses were lifelike and you cannot find two exactly the same. I want to see them with my own eyes.

The fifth place I want to visit is the Crescent Spring and the Ringing Hills. Not far from the Mogao Caves, this place of interest is also in Dunhuang, a once prosperous ancient city on the Silk Road. The Crescent Spring is of crescent shape, surrounded by hills of sand. It is especially precious that the water in the Crescent Spring is clear and refreshing despite the immense Gobi Dessert it is located in. The sand on the Ringing hills around the spring makes noises like bells ringing when winds blow. Another strange thing is that because of the unique landscape, the sand of the surface of the hills does not fall into the spring, instead it moves up towards the top of the hills in the wind. This is why the Crescent Spring has not been buried by sand. How this special landscape came into being has not been fully revealed yet, but personally I do not want to know the scientific reason behind it, maybe it is better just believing in the beautiful tale in which a Taoist and a Monk competed on magic powers and the Holy water from Sakyamuni turned into the Crescent Spring.

The place I want to visit most abroad is Stonehenge in Avebury, England. Many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate, but I think the mystery is fascinating. A new theory suggests that Stonehenge was part of a ritual landscape and was joined to Durrington Walls by their corresponding avenues and the River Avon. Durrington Walls henge represented land of the living, while Stonehenge represented domain of the dead. If that is so, I want to walk along the Avon from the Durrington to the Stonehenge and imagine the scenes of celebrating ancestors and being alive thousands of years ago. I will visit it in midsummer, so that I can see the sunrise and appreciate the view where the memorial stone in the middle of the four concentric circles, the Heel Stone, and the newly-risen sun above the horizon are in a line.

I want to go to Vancouver one day. One of my seniors is on exchange in UBC now and I really like the pictures she took there. I want to go there because Vancouver is ethnically diverse and is one of the first places in North America set foot on by Chinese during the Canyon Gold Rush. The highlights of visiting Vancouver may be watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, taking a ride on the sky train, and simply stride along the bay and sneeze the breeze of the sea.

I want to see the Sakura at Tokyo Imperial Palace; I want to ride a caribou sled in the Quebec City, where French meets Canada; I want to see the Great Valley; I want to see the fjords and aurora borealis in Norway; I want to visit the Red Square in Moscow. I know I will set foot on these wonderlands someday.

Home (YSM)

These days I always see SM2 students pulling their heavy luggage go out of Eton Hall. It is time for them to go home now. Every day I see their happy faces when they talk about what to bring back home as gifts for relatives and friends, or when they will set off, when they will arrive home. I admire them very much. Home, now becomes a word so far away from me.

Before I came to Singapore, I thought I was strong enough to live alone without missing home. I thought I could do anything by myself. However, thinking is not equal to doing. Until I really live by myself, I finally recognize how hard life is, and how much efforts my parents have made to tend our home. I miss them, I miss my relatives, my friends, my hometown… The weather in Dalian is sometimes similar to that in Singapore, especially when it is sunny and with gentle breeze. At that time, I feel as if I were at home, but when I realize that it is only my daydream, I turn to be fairly sad. Yesterday, I happened to see the newspaper post on the broad in Eton Hall. It suggests some goods of typical Singaporean characteristic to take back to China as presents, like tassajo, tinware, sweeties, preserved fruit, makeup… I even have the illusion that I will go back home soon too. I remembered last time I went to the beach with my roommate, I saw the boundless sea under the sun which was around the corner to set, and was shrouded in a purple color. It made me recalled the days when my family rambled along the sea at weekends, and inspired the feeling of homesick.

Last week, when I chatted with mom, I heard that both mom and dad had some health problems. I got extremely worried about this. Luckily, this week they said they were much better. I felt a little relieved, but still can not set my mind at rest. I begin to think about what I can do for them. First, I will help mom do some housework, like washing the dishes, scrubbing the floor, washing clothes… Second, I want to study how to cook, and instead of waiting for them returning home after work and cook for me, I want to prepare dinner for them. I make a plan to get up early to make breakfast, then when they go to work, I will go to market to buy food, then cook dinner. The rest of the time, I can do some housework, as well enjoy myself doing something I like. Third, I want to encourage them to exercise more. As they are getting older, the condition of health becomes worse, they should do exercises in order to maintain health and keep the physical age young. All in all, I want them to see that after my living alone for months, I am now independent, mature, and can look after myself. So they don’t need to worry for me any more. I intend to let them know that I have grown up, and it is already time for me to take care of them, not on the contrary.

Though sometimes I regretted to make the decision to leave home and come to Singapore, I have to say that it is thanks to this experience that I really grow up as an adult, and understand more of life. If I never lose something, I will never know how much it means to me. That is life.

nothing but a blog(4)

The world now is not peaceful. Lots of current affairs happened in the past months. Conflicts, epidemic disease and economic crisis fill the content of newspaper.
North Korea, facing international censure for this week's nuclear test, threatened on Wednesday to attack the South. It is because the north regards the action that the south joined a U.S.-led plan to check vessels suspected of carrying equipment for weapons of mass destruction as a war declaration. The situation becomes worse and worse. Furthermore, the north declared that it is going to quit the truce agreement. It indicates that the Korean Peninsula is no longer peaceful and warfare can happen at any time. The UN condemns this action and prepares to take action to stop the war between two countries. But the north seems to be very firm and get ready to face any difficulties. As everyone knows, the north is developing nuclear equipment though we do not know what it is for. So it is normal that the south is so nervous. I hope they can get back to negotiation table at once to avoid a worse situation.
There is another thing. After the swine flu spreads almost every corner of the world, Singapore finally suffered. Singapore has confirmed three more cases of Swine Flu. This brings the number of infected persons here to four. The second case is a 43-year-old Singapore PR who returned to Singapore from San Francisco via Manila on Tuesday. The third case of Swine Flu is a 28-year-old American woman working in Singapore. She returned to Singapore from Honolulu via Tokyo. It is hard to say where she was infected. The fourth patient is a 28-year-old Singaporean man who returned to Singapore from Chicago via Hong Kong on 25 May. They all came back to Singapore from the infected areas. However, I think the government will deal with this issue well, making it in control. Wish the disease disappear more quickly.
What I mentioned above are some current affairs. Maybe they do not make any sense. But, I think it is beneficial to know what is happening in the world.

nothing but a blog(3)

The European championship league finally came to the end. The finale was held in the Roma Olympic stadium, attracting the whole world’s attention. It is between Manchester United and Barcelona. In fact, I like neither of these two teams. The teams I support are Liverpool FC and Real Madrid. Coincidentally, their respective implacable foes are Man U and Barcelona. I do not like these two teams and even hate them to some degree. However, the two teams which entered the finale are indeed two of the best teams in the world. Furthermore, they truly played fantastic games this season. So the finale is a decisive battle between two strong teams.
As a fanatic of soccer, I decided to watch the remarkable game though it started at 2:45. I expected it deserved it. The Man U creating many good chances in the first ten minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo was very active to make a goal. But the situation changed suddenly. Samuel Eto'o scored at Edwin van der Sar's near post in the 10th minute after escaping Nemanja Vidic. It became the turning point of this game. After that goal, the Man U started to be a little scatterbrained. Barcelona's peerless midfield pair of Andres Iniesta and Xavi ruled midfield with a display of passing perfection, making the ball stay in the half pitch of Man U. Man U did not come up with some good ideas to solve these problems, to restrain Barca’s attack. They were very passive and could not threaten the Barca’s goal. The finale became Barca’s time. In the 70th minute, Xavi was the creator with a cross that looked too high for Messi, but he expertly soared to send a header over Van der Sar. 2:0! There seemed to be no suspense to the final result. But Man U kept on threatening Barca’s goal. Valdes stopped a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, and van de sar stopped one from puyol as well.
Finally, Barcelona won the championship league even though I am not so happy about that. Hope Liverpool and Real Madrid will play better in the next season. Either of them winning the cup is ok.

Blog (YAP)(18)

This is the last assignment of blog I shall finish, or in other words, this is the last advertisement I put here to show myself to my dear classmates.
Blogs are advertisements, at least for me, they are. However, there are no profound opinions, interesting stories or any other wonderful things in my blogs, instead, all are just about something I like to talk about and some small feelings I have in a certain period. I admit that they are not attractive, and they cannot teach people lessons. I just want the people who are interested in me know more about me. I write blogs for them, the one who concern about me and want to share lives with me. My blogs are just these kinds of simple advertisements.
The other assignment is to comment on other’s blogs. It is really a tough task for me. I am not the kind of person who has many things to say about others. When I read an interesting blog, all I want to do is laughing; when I exactly agree on what the blogs say, I don’t want to express my agreement by writing down the same ideas like a parrot; when I find blogs which are extremely good in language, I am afraid that my poor comments would just show the ignorance of myself, which in a Chinese saying is “playing the axe in front of the door of Lu Ban’s house.” In English, it means displaying one’s slight skill before an expert. I will feel shameful doing this.
One of my classmates once express her pity that when our bridging course comes to an end, there may be nobody will come to read our blogs again. They are abandoned here, like a lively garden become a graveyard. More or less, I had this kind of pity feeling every time I came to the cross roads of my life and decided to give up something. But in this situation, I think there is no need to feel pity. Every time we came up with something and write them down as our blogs, they became parts of our mind. Like the food we eat, we may not remember what we ate a week ago, but they have become part of our bodies. It is the same when we read other’s blogs, we have known the person’s hobby and characters after reading their blogs, there is no pity that we forget the blogs, at least we have kept the soles of them.

Living in the present(YAP)

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called present.” Who put it so? I’m not sure, nor do I care, but I do like it. Why? Because I’ve tasted the real flavor of the saying through my own experience. Back to the first days I entered my senior high school, I was more sad and lost than excited. Seeing so many of my former classmates enrolled in famous high schools, I was much distressed and down-hearted. I kept thinking of the past days when at junior high school. How I regretted the time I wasted that I should have studied. But it was only too late. Life and future are not easy for a vocational graduate in the present society. I am delighted that now I have tided over the river. I know it is useless and futile to dwell on the past. The past is past, it is dead, and it is not healthy for us to linger over it. We should live in the present instead of past. Tomorrow is mystery. It is also useless and futile to worry about the future. As many of the things remains unpredictable or unable to control. And this kind of unpreventable future things can really ruin our lives if we worry too much about them. There is nothing we can do except living well in the present. To live in the present, we should learn to cherish the gift given by God. This very gift is to the time today. We must fully awake that our time at school is more precious than any other period of our life, because it is the golden period for us to acquire knowledge and develop ourselves. If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away, we shall never be able to make up for the loss. But if we use them properly, they will yield us innumerable advantages. In this increasingly fast changing world where competitions are everywhere, time definitely means opportunity and success. What we can or should do is to make every day count. We are alive, let us live. We have the ability to experience, let us experience. We have the ability to learn, let us learn. The meaning of life can be grasped in a moment. A moment so brief it often evades our perception. The great leader Chairman Mao once wrote, “So many deeds cry out to be done, and always urgently. The world rolls on, time presses. Ten thousand years are too long, seize the hour, and seize the day!” Let us remember the famous remarks and live in the present.

Outside The Window (YAP 20)

I am sitting in a chair at level 4 in a certain building. I am looking into a window. I see nothing in the window, so I just look outside the window. I see something.

I see a tree, a very tall tree, a very straight-built tree. It must be very old because there are lots of tree animals there. The tree animals are living a happy and steady life, just like the one they see though the window who is just staring at them. I see the time there stop to work, it stagnates.

I look through the tree. I see a cloud which is shinning clinquantly. Maybe it is the cloud dropped by the Monkey King. I see there is a spider floating in the cloud. He is suffering a lot, certainly. He goes up and down, down and up, his fate is not in his hands, though he has a lot of hands. Only the God knows whether he would be on the ground again. Time flies there, because every second, great changes can take place.

I look through the cloud. I see a mountainous area. Two groups of men are fighting fiercely. They are from different villages. The cause of fight is very simple. That’s why the fight seems so much like a fight between beasts. The only different from that is this fight does not have female soldiers; the female are weeping in their houses, concerning the safety of their husbands as well as the future of their children who is facing the danger of losing a father. Time flies.

It is the clock who takes our lives away. But now the trees and the place I stay do not have a clock. It is better for me to go and buy one. It is better to stop. Goodbye to you, my trusted friends.

The Great Death of Underground Love (YAP 20)

17, 18, 19, it is the spring time in human’s life. Spring is beautiful because of its various life-forms all starting to flourish; human’s spring is beautiful because all emotion-forms start to grow and the love between boys and girls is the most beautiful among all.

Few teenagers dare to express their love to the one they admire immediately, so they choose to love underground. This situation is just like the seeds lying deep in the earth in spring, they are looking forward the bright light, free air in the overground world. It is very comfortable to stay in the earth and preparing to grow. And the longer seeds stay in the earth, the stronger love they hold for the promised outside world. Of course, I am not a seed and I have not been in the earth, you may not believe me, it’s ok. I want to imagine more what I will do if I am in the earth of spring: I will do my best to prepare to be an excellent seed to adapt to the outside world; I will never cease to dream about the happiness that one day I come out of the earth; I will feel sad sometimes because it is so much pain waiting but I know throughout my lifetime it is the most beautiful pain I can feel; I will taste the never-ending process of the love’s becoming stronger and stronger, deeper and deeper, as well as the outside world’s impression on me becoming better and better and finally beyond description; also, I will sometimes show off my talents to the overgound to attract her attention because I believe it is such a good overgound world that I have countless components and I cannot be left behind and I swear to God I will sacrifice all; and I will be discouraged when I see the overgound world shows favor to other seeds but I am determined that the only thing I want is her happiness, no matter with me, or without me…

That is the great feeling of underground love. I still want to be the seed. When another seed told me it is time to come out, I lose my mind and come out, and I died, greatly.

The final oral presentation (Lugg)

Finally, we have all finished our final oral presentation. Everybody has done a very good job! Congratulations! This oral presentation was a really fantastic one that everyone has enjoyed very much. It reflected our great effort and ourstanding talents. Before the presentation, everyone has worked very hard to prepare for it. First, we had a better insight into our research report and we summarized it into a more concise and concentrated one. Then, we adjusted it to become a proper script for our presentation. As far as each group was concerned , each of four took charge one part of the script. Each made a splendid and marvellous PPT for his own part and practised a lot for his or her speech till it was fluent enough. Each group also had several rehearsals and everyone just wanted to ensure that the presentation would be perfect. This is how the preparation was done.
Furthermore, the process of the presentation was more remarkable. Everybody was well dressed on the very day. The boys were in formal suits and so were the girls. Everybody just looked smart and even like some big bosses of huge companies. Before the presentation began, eveyone was in very positive mood and we talked, laughed as if this presentation was just a funny and enjoyable game. Then, the presentation began. The fist group stood in front of the whole class and began their presentation. Meng Yu was the first speaker of group one. Her wonderful and sweet voice really impressed me very much. She talked so confidently and well as if I was listening to some professor demonstrating some interesting subject. Then she passed the speech to Meng Lu. She was again a excellent speaker. She spoke a very fluent English as if it was her mother tongue. Then the presentation carried on. The first group finished their speech and then the second group began. Everyone was just so confident and natural. They talked without nerves or hesitation and the content was really informative and interesting. Then the presentation ended. All of us stood together and made some good postures. A great picture of us was taken. I think we will all remember this wonderful experience for a long time.

nothing but a blog(2)

Twenty weeks has passed since we got to start our bridging course. I do not want to say “how time flies” because it is a cliché. But it is truly fast. I still remember the first day when we began our first lesson. It is from that day that we started our new study life in Singapore. But now, our bridging course will come to the end soon. I do not want to sigh that I am very depressed because of the end of bridging course. I just want to say something meaningless at wills, to express what I feel now. Maybe it does not make any sense,
Our job in bridging course is to learn English. The purpose of bridging course is to train our English skills in order to make us adapt to the university life. But I feel that I do not make improvements after this course. Furthermore, I think my English level now is even lower than the level when I was in my senior school in China. So I am very depressed and disappointed now. I do not know what happened to me and why it became so. My situation is not so that good and something must change, I think. There are many reasons causing this circumstance. To be honest, I did not work very hard to study English speaking and writing as I expected. At least I did not make every effort to achieve the goal that we have great English communication skills. I am a little ashamed for this issue. However, I do not think this course can help me so much even though I studied hard. The lessons we had seem not to make so much sense. Sometimes I wondered why we waste time to have such lessons, thinking that it could not help my English skills. Perhaps this is my own problem and the course is good and helpful to almost everyone in my dear group. But sometimes for me, it is not so beneficial.
Whatever, I need to strengthen myself in the future. I will face the fact and aim to overcome difficulties. I hope I can do a good job in the coming months to make up for the loss in the past months. that is only my own opinion. That is all.

Oral Presentation(ML)

It’s the time to finish the research report and it’s the time to say goodbye to all my oral reports. The second oral presentation is so special and meaningful.
It is more formal than the first oral presentation. Therefore, almost everyone wears suits to deliver the report. It is very fresh and interesting to see my friends wear suits. It is also the first time that I have worn suit. Today seems to the show time of suits. We are happily taking photos when suddenly Mr Willsion enters the classroom. I become nervous immediately. Although I have done quite good in the oral report, I am still nervous before I give the oral report.
After Mr Willsion gives our group comments, I finally feel released. I am quite upset because I make several mistakes, at the same time I feel very happy because our group shows good teamwork. In fact, we have several practices before the oral presentation. Our group deserves it. However, when I look the video record of our oral presentation, I feel so awkward especially when I see that I make the mistakes.
Everyone tries to show the best side in the oral presentation. It is a very important and precious part of our bridging course. The research report is a great suffer because it causes countless discussions and arguments. I think it is worth it because I experience the difficulties of delivering questionnaire and I find the importance of the teamwork.
The bridging course will come to an end soon, I hope that it is as good as our oral presentation and hope it is a happy ending for everyone.

nothing but a blog

Life is good at least in theory. But why are there so many people committing suicide? Do they want to evade the world? Today I surfed internet for a while and read a piece of surprising news that a pair of lovers committed suicide together. It maybe happened yesterday. After reading this news, I was shocked and wondered why they did it. They are undergraduate student, the future of our nation. Besides these two lovers, a vice mayor also committed suicide few days ago. Those are both startling news to shock commoners.
I really do not understand what the motivation that can lead to this result is. It is true that everyone would have some sad time. Everyone could be depressed when they come across some bad things. But one thing is solid. It is that everything will pass by and you will go on living in this world. Truly, there are many things in the world which always trouble you or depress you. And you must face them day by day. But do not forget that there are still some good things existing in the world at the same time. You just do not find them, confused by those bad ones. If the people who want to commit suicide realize this issue, everything changes. Be optimistic. That is an important thing. Never surrender, and find good ways to solve the problem. Only by this way could these people beat their despair or fear.
I think, good luck do not always exist in our everyday life. Bad things happen to us accidentally. That is an inevitable fact. These good things and bad things make up a variety world. Those misfortunes are also parts of life. We cannot be frightened. Just face them. After people go through the tough life, they will clearly know about what the life is. That is the law of life. I want to say life is good at least in theory.
At last, wish those people who committed suicide live a joyful life in another world.

My last blog (AW)

Before realizing this is my last blog, I am happy and a little worried.
Bridging course is coming to the end. To tell you the truth, I am somewhat tired of having this kind of course now. Everyday we sit together and do almost the same job. However, after this bridging course, we will have our lessons about C programming and economy, which would be more interesting than this language course I think. And we only need to go to NUS three days a week. We have a lot of space to manage our own time.
Furthermore, after I have searched every corner of my memory, I am a little worried about my English. Firstly, I should say I show almost no gift in learning any languages, no matter English or Chinese. Though I do these things often worse than my classmates, I really love reading and speaking. When that day a tutor asked us “Do you think you have progress in English now?” Everyone kept quiet. Maybe all of us were modest. But I could feel I have progressed. Recently I finish reading The Lord of The Rings, and I can feel my speed of reading is much faster than before. This point can be proved by reading comprehension test, now I am capable of grasping articles’ meanings more accurately. But my writing is weak, especially in grammar. When I write, I often try translating my words from Chinese to English directly. This case causes troubles sometimes. My mentor, Mrs. Wong, told me to try to write in simple way. I am trying to do it. Come on, Lei. Believe I can solve this problem.
Last Friday, I went to Chinatown to buy the plane ticket back to Chongqing. Previously, I intended not to go back to my hometown this July. Considering my parents miss me very much, I changed my mind at last. Now I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends in July, Which is another thing makes me happy. In Conclusion, no matter sweet or bitter, I really enjoy this bridging course.

In the Water (YAP)

What I am also fond of (after coming to Singapore) is swimming. At first, I found it a little bit weird that I could not find any indoor swimming pools here to keep myself away from the blazing sunshine. However, this turned out to be a fantastic situation.
A friend of mine taught me how to swim with my back lying on the water surface, legs beating the water. It is not the known “backstroke”, but a very relaxing way to float. I enjoy the posture a lot, especially when there are few people in the swimming pool. Facing the azure sky and slowly moving white clouds, I feel great peace in my heart, and I take advantage of the pleasing period of time to think. To think the joyful things I have experienced and the things that I have done wrong… I can hear almost nothing but the sound of the water hitting my eardrum, because both my ears are beneath water. This at times makes me feel that the whole world around me is unreal, but I like this feeling, as well as the comfortable breeze and the tall palms beside the pool. Everything is just so beautiful and so right for me.
Another fantastic way to swim is to hold my breath and try my best to swim under water as far as I can. Lack of oxygen increases my nervousness yet gives me great momentum and pushes me ahead, with a blank mind. And then, at the moment I expose myself to the air again, I breathe in the oxygen I have long desired. This kind of action is somewhat ridiculous and causes my mother and my friends’ worrying a lot. However, every time I look back at how far I have swum, I feel great satisfaction. You know, what people relish can be very eerie sometimes…
Although I always choose to go swimming in afternoons and have not forgotten to slap on the sunblock, ultraviolet rays are still strong enough to quickly tan my skin. In spite of this, I insist on going swimming as usual. Isn’t it a comfort that when I have to make a choice between appearance and spirit, and I firmly embrace the latter one?

Happy Children's Day (YAP)(18)

Children’s day is coming.
I remember that when I was in private school, there would be garden parties in the campus and some parks of the city every year on this important day. Many activities would be organized, such as intelligence games, shooting, jumping and so on. I can still recall the scenes of those exciting moments when we children joined the garden parties and ran everywhere to seek for games that were interesting and then queen up to play. Enjoying the games and showing up prizes get from the games to our friends; the wonderful day always passed fast, so as the years. Now, I am no longer a child.
I can remember exactly when I began to quit playing childish games such as hiding and finding, throwing earthbags and police and thief; I can remember exactly when I began to consider serious relationship with girls; I can remember exactly when I was firstly allowed to come home late at night, but I cannot remember, I cannot catch the time when my mind began to change from a child to a teenager, and now maybe to an adult. When I came to realize, it was already there. I began to be reserved. I became very serious with other’s opinions about me. I forced myself to do something unwilling to do to make others think highly of me and I also know much more about responsibility, although still not enough. I dare not to say whether the changes are good or not and I also have no way to judge. However, I have fed up with thinking of what others want us to de instead of what we really want to do; I have fed up with the gossips from others when I want to make friend with girls; I have fed up with myself to be an actor in front of other people; I have fed up with the competition to reach higher places.……..I have fed up feeling feed up………..
Children’s day is coming. For those who have become too adult, it is a good time for us to recall our precious days in childhood; It is a good time to recall our pure relationships in childhood; It is a good time to have unrealistic dreams just like what we did when young. And for me, I would like to keep some of the characters forever if I can, but I must live with responsibility, I must consider other’s feeling, I must make the people who love me feel happy about me, I must obey the rules to make the society harmonious and I must sometimes follow others to make a collection works well, even if I really do not want to, because I am already not a child now.
Happy Children’s day.

A starting one…(lugg)

Hello, everyone! It has been a long time since I wrote my blog the last time. Actually that blog was the fifth blog and it means that this one is my starting blog of the phrase two. OK, now it is distinct that I am starting to right the first blog when there are only two and half more weeks to go for the whole bridging course. It also points out that I will have another 4 more blogs to go regardless of this one. What a pathetic life I am leading!...
Alright, after the preface paragraph, I would like to reflect on why my all life is just a mess. To start with, I want to declare something. I am not that kind of guys who think this bridging course is just a waste of time and who are interested in nothing but games or something else. I do find this bridging course useful and beneficial and I am anxious for my English to progress. I will be delighted if I find that I can speak English more fluently or I get higher marks in any form of exams. Anyway, deep in my heart, I am always intended to study well. However, I have failed to attain this goal, which can be simply told by my blog righting process. I have wasted so much time that I didn't start to right my first blog of phase two until now! Damned, if only I had not wasted the precious time!
After a while, I calm myself down and begin to think of the reason for the horrible consequence. The first thing that comes to my mind is bad time-management. Once I come back to Eton hall from NUS, I always tell myself that, oh, it has been another tough day and I ought to entertain myself, just leave those sophisticated works undone till the weekends and then I will have them all done just in a short time. So, put off all the assignments and those self-study tasks in terms of reciting, memorising, etc, I just throw myself to those computer games, those fascinating movies and I even spend a lot of time in chatting with others. Another reason might be I am homesick and I am not in a very healthy condition. But that’s just not the main reason.
Now, I am regretting. I shall work harder in the last two and a half weeks. I have determined.

My 10-kilometer Race(AW)

My 10-kilometer Race
Like numerous young men, I also love sports very much. However, I am a little distinctive among them because I choose running as my favorite sport. For the energetic and passionate guys, running seems boring and tedious. But I am really fond of the feelings when I am running. To challenge myself, I participate in the Singapore Passion Run.
With the help of my alarm, I pushed myself out of bed. It was 5:30 already! Then we run onto the bus after a quick breakfast. Here we were! There must be more than 1000 runner there. Wearing in red, each of us seemed so excited and energetic. 20 minutes were left. We were busy doing warm-up exercise. Then the loudspeaker said, “Everybody ready? Let’s see your smile and enjoy the running. Start! ” Numerous people poured out of the station. We run along the east coast and enjoy the beautiful scenery all along the road. For the first five kilometers, it was really easy and pleasant. With a partner, I keep a slow and relaxing pace. And we even told jokes to each other and laughed. However, as the running proceeded, I gradually found that my friend was running out. To keep him motivated, I slowed down and kept him accompany. I also tried to encourage him with words. However, it did not work. After almost six kilometers, we were almost walking. Then he told me in pity, “Hey, brother, carry on with your running. I need a rest. ” Having nothing to do, I speeded up and carried on. As time passed, I felt heavier and heavier. The last two kilometers were the most difficult. At that time, my ankle ached and I nearly gave up. But when I saw the people along the road cheering, I felt refreshed and determined to complete the distance. Finally, I passed the finishing line. At that moment, I was filled with pride. To cheer for each other, we sprayed water happily.
A 10-kilometer race is really a challenge for each of us. However, I make it with my determination and enthusiasm for running. I will keep running because I like the feeling when I am running.

Hey, Change the Life? Change the World?(AW)

AHey, Change the Life? Change the World?
Recently, I have been reading some books. In one book, an idea impresses me a lot. The author asks “How do you want to be remembered by others?” That is to say, what do you want people to say about you when they come to your grave? It is really a matter. And I ask myself for many times. Finally I realize that there is really something I can do to change my life and even the world.
In fact, this issue has something to do with our values. Guided by different values, people usually lead distinctive lives. Maybe it is not a right-or-wrong matter since there are different views among people. But for me, I always get so excited to change my life. Furthermore, it is usually a pleasure for me to change others’ too. I do not like an ordinary life which is restricted by others. Maybe that is why I reject to play computer games. I am keen to expose myself to excellent ideas and find ways to improve. On top of that, I usually ask myself, “How can you do for others?” To a great extent, my values lie in how many people can be influenced by me and how much can I influence them.
Compared with changing others, changing myself seems much easier. However, the latter is the foundation. Normally, there are two ways to complete that. Just as is said, “You will remain yourself 10 years later except two things: the books you read and the people you meet.” Some books present the author’s accomplishments after many years’ hand work. So it can save a lot of time for me in my exploration of life. It is the same with people. The more people I meet, the more ideas I come across.
Once, I sent an SMS to one of my friends. It said, “Hey, Have you ever thought about changing the world? I think we can do something interesting and unusual.” Changing the world sounds that huge for us. But we really can do it. Actually we are doing it in our daily lives. Because the things are small, we tend to ignore them. So we need to find the things interest us a lot and try to do it. Try to make more changes to this world.
Life is so precious. For one of us, there is only one chance to lead a life. As is said, “Our lives are the accumulation of our choices.” To put it in another way, we can make choices to lead a life that we want. The life is so exciting because we can change it.

NBA playoffs (Jeg, blog9)

These days, I’ve always been very excited about NBA playoffs. My favourite team is Rockets and I have a good reason for it---the big man Yao is in this team.

That morning in Los Angeles, to our great surprise, Rockets beat the Lakers by 100:92 and Yao gave us a fascinating performance. I was very proud of the Rockets players. As we all know, Lakers has got many talented players, such as Kobe, Paul, and Odom. And it seems that it is much more powerful than Rockets and could beat them without extra effort. But now the fact is that Lakers was beaten even in their own play field.

Rockets has always been a strong team. Its excellent teamwork and defence would frighten away any team in the NBA club. During this season, Rockets has gone through too many hardships. The initial five players were always changing because of the disease and wound of the players. Furthermore, to enhance the power of the team, it has taken in several new members who would need a relatively long period of time to adapt to mechanism and strategy of the team. So the whole team was constantly in an unstable state. But still, it got a satisfactory result.

Now, people like Rockets not only because it has got great players like T-MAC and Yao Ming, but also it has an excellent and special way of teamwork and braveness.

Self-control (Jeg , blog 8)

From time to time, I kept questioning myself: am I capable of coping with different kinds of difficulties.

Once, I always thought of myself as a confident and brave young man who would never fear anything ahead. During my past 18 years, I had really tried my best to be the best. And the fact is that I’ve constantly pushed myself to be as perfect as possible. But now, I really feel quite confused about myself. Due to the lack of perseverance, I could not withstand many colourful things from outside. I am prone to be distracted from my normal occupation, such as doing my homework, reading books and exercise, which has made me very frustrated. Then I would conduct sort of monotonous and negative things like playing computer games, chatting with roommates and watching jokes, which had waste me a lot of precious time.

I really appreciate the phrase: self-control. Maybe I am intelligent, but I will behave just like a stupid if I am not gone to control my mind. 

Running in Hortpark (Jega)

My health is not on a good condition just because I am lack of exercise. After I have realized this, I decide to do a running everyday. Well, it is really a tough decision for me. To some extent, I am a little bit lazy. While, I sit on chairs for more than six hours a day without any activities, which is really a bad habit. The basic thing of a living is just sports. When a person does not do any body exercise, he or she may definitely get ill somedays. Since we have to go to school for the whole day, I can just spare my evening time for everyday exercise.
These days, I try to get on the first bus to Eton hall and just put down my bag. Shortly after that, I change my clothes to dress like a sportsman. After everything is ready, I get on my way. The time is still early and the sun shines a lot. Nevermind, I just in a good mood to run. The good landscape along the way is really a feast for my eyes. The birds fly and sing all the time. Trees are green and full of leaves. Workers are just busy watering the flowers. I run from one side to the other side without a stop. It's a challenge fot me to keep running for more than 30 minutes without a break. But I think after several times hard try, I will finally make it. The extreme record is improving everyday and also means that the strength of my body is improving everyday. After about 40 minutes' running, I get very tired. Then, I hardly make my way back to my domintory. Rest for a while and then take a long shower.
It's really perfect plan for me only if I can keep on doing everyday!

Air Force One(YAP)

For this blog, I want to talk about a movie I watched several years ago —Air Force one. This is an old movie. I say it is old not only because it was made nearly ten years ago, but also because the plot is a stereotype. It tells a story that an American president uses his strength and wisdom to strive against the terrorists on a hijacked plane and succeeds to rescue other passengers and himself finally. However, it is universally acknowledged to be a successful blockbuster.
Primarily, the director has maximized the reality and paid a lot of attention to details. There is one scene that the president tries to contact the White House, but the telephone operator is so impolite and even claims to be the “First Lady”. Later, the handphone also becomes low power, which traps the president into a more difficult situation. Thus the whole story is very coherent and attractive. The movie is in a tensed atmosphere most of the time, leaving the audience preoccupied in it to guess what will happen next.
Moreover, the movie also provides contradictions, and this contributes dramatic changes to the movies. In the beginning, the American president issues a statement that he will not negotiate with the terrorists. But when his family members’ lives are at stake, he has to compromise, which violates what he has said. So here we see a more real person, not a president who always thinks of the benefits of his country. In addition, there comes another climax at the end when his trusted advisor betrays him. The movie shows a side of weakness of humanity, and it to some extent reveals some examples in life.
On the whole, as a commercial movie, Air Force One wins at its action. It indeed gives our eyes a feast. I recommend you to watch this film if you haven’t watched and to watch it again if you have watched.

One Day Happy, One Day Sad(Yap)

This is life, no matter what your attitude is! Happiness and sadness can switch in one's heart at an amazing and unacceptable speed. I am experiencing such a contrast the lately two days, a happy yesterday and a sad today. Is it supposed that if you undergo sorrow first you will enjoy your happiness more? If such is the case, I am suffering my sadness more severely.

Fifty days ago, Michelle told me excitedly that her package arrived finally after one-month eternal waiting. She even wrote a blog “received my package today” to express her delight. I commented on her blog and delivered my congratulations to her, but not showing that I also wanted to receive a package from my mother. So last Wednesday when mother phoned me that she had sent out a package to me, I was very delighted. Unanticipatedly, it arrived yesterday, taking only seven days, less than a quarter of the time Michelle had waited for! Maybe I can say that I was even more blissful than the then joyous Michelle because I did not suffer an unendurable wait and received it with not only the feeling of my family’s care but also great surprise. “What a lucky boy I am!” I kept saying to myself to dispel the unhappiness caused by the loss of my camera and recent illness.

However, this morning the defeat of our debate team was an ominous sign of today’s misfortune. We got the results of Progress Test II after the debate. While many of my group mates were celebrating their prodigious progress inwardly, I was facing the undeniable fact that I did even worse than the first one. I did not expect so awful despite that I had already known that I did not well judging from the unreasonable time allocation during the test.

Fortunately, I had a great talk with two of my group mates during the wonderful lunch in McDonald’s. I complaint about my recent unhappy things to them but they managed to persuade me to think more about the positive sides of my life. Everybody has his harassment and how do I know others are really luckier than I? We should pay more attention to the basic elements of our lives rather than those small trivial things. Recent unhealthiness can be the incentive to more exercise, which could make one stronger. And today’s failure may be the foundation of tomorrow’s success. What I need to do is do more sports and bear in mind the reason why I failed. As long as I distribute my time sensibly during next test, I have the confidence that I will do much better.

The First Rehearsal(ML)

It was rainy that day. Bad ominous I thought.
I was really worried about the first rehearsal today because we only practiced twice before it. There were a lot of things that I hadn’t arranged yet and the ppt wasn’t ready. There were less than 3 hours before the rehearsal and we didn’t have extra time for the practice. I asked Mrs Yap to give 30 minutes for the practice and she agreed. The practice was always a mess. It was always noisy and disordered. Perhaps Mrs Yap expected that we had already had enough preparations. When she saw the practice, she seemed to be upset and annoyed. Finally when I threw the thumb drive to Lei, her anger broke out. She didn’t shout but I could feel the anger under her calm words. I felt quite guilty and sorry. The atmosphere was very down. I began to come to the end of the day.
The rehearsal was 12:45 and we finished class at 12. Besides, it was very crowded in the canteen in the noon. Just after I finished the meal, it started to pour dogs and cats. I felt so bad and had to wait until the rain became little. I just felt very unlucky today.
The first rehearsal started. The room was so quite that it added my nervousness. The opening seemed good. The MC and the music matched well. The advertisement went smoothly. All the bad luck went away and the result was far out of my expectation. The time was within 10 minutes and all my groupmates really performed well.
All of our efforts were paid back. I thought our groupmates are very talented at acting because we spent little time and got great result. Hope that our performance on the real variety show will be a great success!

Variety Show (ML)

I feel that I am on the breaking point since I was appointed as the director of the variety show in our group.
Things are really beyond of the assumption. Only the scripts have already made me crazy. The first draft comes two days later and it doesn’t meet our purpose. I have to write it myself. After two days of working until 2 a.m. in the morning, I finally finish it. Besides the discussion about the content, the different ideas about the scripts, the arrangement of the practice time, all the things are just pouring on me at the same time. I feel stressed out. On one hand, the pace of our group is much lower than the other group. On the other hand, I am really afraid I can’t reach the expectation. When things are about the group, they become more difficult. What’s worse, I just get the information that we will have the first rehearsal 5 days later when I finish the script. This totally messes my plan. I have to find time for the practice immediately. Otherwise, the first rehearsal would be a nightmare.
Although I feel the great pressure, the support from my dear groupmates really gives me a lot of encouragement. I want to thank them for the willingness to do funny actions. I want to thank them for offering the advice wherever it is necessary. I want to thank them for sacrificing the time to practice. Maybe these words could not express my gratitude. Their support is just like the sunshine when I am in the dark hole.
I want to stress that the thanks are not hackneyed. They come from my bottom of my heart. Thank you seems to the simplest but most meaningful words.
The experience of being the director is suffering but precious to me. I hope that our program can be the best one in the following variety show!
I feel that I am on the breaking point since I was appointed as the director of the variety show in our group.
Things are really beyond of the assumption. Only the scripts have already made me crazy. The first draft comes two days later and it doesn’t meet our purpose. I have to write it myself. After two days of working until 2 a.m. in the morning, I finally finish it. Besides the discussion about the content, the different ideas about the scripts, the arrangement of the practice time, all the things are just pouring on me at the same time. I feel stressed out. On one hand, the pace of our group is much lower than the other group. On the other hand, I am really afraid I can’t reach the expectation. When things are about the group, they become more difficult. What’s worse, I just get the information that we will have the first rehearsal 5 days later when I finish the script. This totally messes my plan. I have to find time for the practice immediately. Otherwise, the first rehearsal would be a nightmare.
Although I feel the great pressure, the support from my dear groupmates really gives me a lot of encouragement. I want to thank them for the willingness to do funny actions. I want to thank them for offering the advice wherever it is necessary. I want to thank them for sacrificing the time to practice. Maybe these words could not express my gratitude. Their support is just like the sunshine when I am in the dark hole.
I want to stress that the thanks are not hackneyed. They come from my bottom of my heart. Thank you seems to the simplest but most meaningful words.
The experience of being the director is suffering but precious to me. I hope that our program can be the best one in the following variety show!

Meals at Home(ML)

It is the first time that I have haven meals at a stranger’s home. However, I didn’t feel uneasy. The host and hostess are quite kind. It seems that we are more likely to be at home.
In fact, the house is not very big but very comfortable. When we reached their home, we were so happy because of the TV. It has been half year since I haven’t watched TV. The more exciting thing is that we could see the Chinese program even the boring advertisement made my eyes full of water. We just watched TV and talked about the news before we had dinner.
The dinner was quite delicious but I was surprised that the meal was cooked by the hostess’s mother. The host told me that his mother-in-law cooks meals for them.
Although the activity is called “Meals at home”, the interesting part is not the meal. The host and the hostess showed some pictures of their wedding. They have been married only for two years but they are nearly 40 years. I wondered whether most Singaporeans married so late. The most beautiful and unforgettable memory is kept in the picture. I felt the happiness when I saw these pictures. I hope that not only the host and the hostess but also all the couples can live a happy and sweet life forever and ever.
After dinner, we sang Karaoke at home. The mike didn’t work and the songs were out of date but the feeling of singing with my friends was almost the same. The hostess also sang some Chinese songs with us.
That night was nice and fun. I am looking forward for the next meal.

learn to tolerate

Learn to tolerate
I have been in Singapore for nearly half a year and learned not only knowledge but the importance of tolerance.
I still remember in the first class Ms Yap told us to assimilate the new cultures in Singapore. She wanted us to be accustomed to the new circumstance as quickly as possible. I have tried to incorporate the different ways of eating, speaking and dressing. Toleration is important for us to adjust to the new country.
A Chinese idiom said sea tolerates hundreds of rivers to make itself broad. So if we assimilate different cultures, we can broaden our horizon.
Furthermore, I have read a lot about the misunderstanding between different religions and races. In Jerusalem, Christian, Muslim and Jew-dom have to struggle for living together. There are a lot of conflicts among the three religions. In the film Schindler’s list, Nazis perpetrated cruel crime to Jews in the name of eugenics. Besides, I also learned in America prejudice still exists between whites and blacks.
Why does so much discrimination exist? Helen Keller said that the highest result of education is tolerance. So as the world becomes more and more civilized, we should learn to tolerate different religions and races. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said we must learn to live together as brothers or we are going to perish together as fools.
So next time, when you enjoy the beauty of the sea, keep in mind that we should learn from the broad sea. Be a tolerated man and try to adjust to the diverse world.

More than a Linguistic Game ( M.L.)

In auditoriums, concert halls and other closed public places in China, the side doors for emergency use have marker beacons on them which read “Taipingmen”. The literal translation is “Peaceful door”. I don’t know exactly how this Chinese name came into being, the only reason I can think of is people originally named emergency exit as “Peaceful door” because these exits are not in use and rest in peace in usual circumstances. I have to admit that this name cannot provoke even the slightest sense of emergency, instead everytime I saw the marker I felt safe and relaxed.

When I arrived in Singapore, I was a bit shocked to see so many “Emergency” signs. On bus windows there are signs that read “In case of emergency break the glass”; on certain exits of most buildings there are signs that read “Emergency Exit”; on the campus security call service machine in NUS there is a sign that reads “Emergency Call”. At first I was a little disturbed by all these signs which gave me a feeling of potential danger. But after a while I started to think that “Emergency Exit” is much more appropriate than “Peaceful Door”, since when fire, earthquake or other catastrophe strikes, surely people who see the “Emergency” sign will react towards these exits more quickly.

This reminds me of the Chinese name of insurance which means “Security” when translated literally. When I think about it now, I have a strange feeling about referring the arrangements for accidents and damage as “security”, but I hadn’t felt this way before I came to Singapore. In Japanese the names for insurance means “Japanese Fire” and “Japanese Life” when translated word by word. Now I marvel at the Chinese way of “underestimating” or “neglecting” the fatality accidents when these kind of things. The Chinese terms draw attention to the unlikelihood of accidents and the compensation afterwards rather than to avoiding accidents.

There are other examples where accidents and injuries occurred in elevators or with electrical appliances due to the absense of vital warnings or directions. Perhaps this is because Chinese people tend to think it inauspicious to put up signs suggesting danger directly. Unfortunately we have seldom thought about how ridiculous this is, just think about how many injuries and damages can be avoided if dangers are pointed out in a more direct way. This is more than a linguistic game, it is a matter of attitudes towards danger and catastrophe, and obviously it can be concluded that facing the crisis is a far better way compared with palliating it.

Final comments on (JEGA)

Last night, I finally finished watching prison break season 4 the 21th and 22th. I have kept on watching prison break since I was a senior student. Although some other people think that the American TV series are not that good after season 1. I still like it and never give it up. At first, I think the fantastic contents attract me a lot. In China, no director would conduct such a series that teach people how to break out of prison, so when the new things come out, everyone get excited. The plans and the exciting incidents almost take my breath away. Criminals with different characters live together.
Most of all, I feel merciful for Michael. He tried very hard to help his brother and also the other criminals break out but after the long time of struggling, he lost the chance to live a normal life and died of cancer. A kind of incurable disease. I think the audience are all happy to see that the other roles like Sucre and Burrows come back to their lives with their family. They suffer a lot and sometimes even lose their hope. The company play tricks on them just for the secret Cylla. May be we can say that all the story is centred by cylla. So many people die and many families are broken. I just wish that the story will never happen in out daily life, it is really terrible.

Nineteen Already (YAP)

Before I came to Singapore, I had spent more than eighteen years in Xi’an Shaanxi China. My sixth birthday there was the first birthday that was celebrated with my friends instead of only my parents and relatives. That year was my last year in kindergarten. Since then, classmates and friends become an integral part of my birthday. Every year, I received their greetings and gifts, however, this year’s birthday was supposed to be very different from the ones before, because I am here in Singapore.
To tell you the truth, I did not even anticipate many people could remember my birthday, and most weirdly that I actually had not a bit passion to celebrate it. I once said to me myself in my diary that I have to be mature, and obviously caring not about this kind of formality is a symbol of being mature.
Much to my surprise, two days before my birthday I got a parcel from China which was sent as a birthday gift from a good friend of mine. It contained a book and a thumb drive, but what it contained is not important at all. I am moved, for someone could bother to send me a birthday gift, even when I am thousands of miles away. Covering such long distance and carrying so much love, the parcel is far more precious than it was normally considered. Nevertheless, this was not the only thing that touches me. My 12 friends from the same home university arranged a warm and elaborate getting-together for me. They bought me a beautiful and yummy birthday fruit cake and a Tinkerbell model (Tinkerbell is my favorite cartoon character). Partly thanks to my birthday, we finally got a chance to round up again, because, I have to admit that, I really enjoy staying with them. They are all very good and sincere people and we are just like one big family…So many greetings and surprises came along one after another that I think I did not fully expressed my heartfelt gratitude. However, this is why I am writing this blog here.
I want to frankly thank those people who remember me, who care me, and who love me. It is your remembering, caring and loving that give me the strongest momentum and motivation to cheer up and to move on. What you have done for me touched the softest part of my heart, and I mean it. Last, my nineteenth birthday also teaches me that to always be grateful is to be truly mature.
Thank you all again.

May They Rest In Peace! (Lugg. 7)

Today, May 12, 2009, is the first anniversary of Wenchuan Earthquake, which devastated several cities, killed around 87000 lives and made numerous people homeless. The catastrophe not only tore the ground in half, but also tore up millions of people’s heart.
Unconsciously, we have gone through one year after the most destructive disaster in China in thirty years. All about the earthquake is still clear in my mind, including my crying when I watched documentaries on TV and listened to the radio programs about how civilians in earthquake-stricken areas struggled to start a new life. When we were standing in silent tribute in class this afternoon, I thought a lot within those few minutes. I recollected the scene when we whole class in high school did this. At that moment, I felt a whiff of power pouring into my body as the sound of car horns and air-defense warning goes around all over the city. I remembered the night when I listened to an earthquake survivor, a middle school student, speaking out his gratitude to his classmates who lost life when helping him escape from the classroom. I failed to hold back my tears after the student made a promise that he would go to cemetery and kneel down in front of the deceased’s tombstone every “5.12”.
WenJiabao, prime minister of China, said that it was the catastrophe that made the country prosperous, when he visited the earthquake-stricken areas. He went to a hospital in the city of Beichuan and comforted the newly orphans who lost their parents just several days before. The orphans were sobbing, unaware of what the old man was talking about. It was rather provoking that some local officials asked the vulnerable children to stop crying with a fierce tone. I could not understand what was in their mind. How could they do that to a group of people who just lost parents and were only about 7 years old? Anyway, when I thought of our volunteers and medical staff and soldiers who were in the front line, I would forget the scandal and be touched by the strength of Chinese people.
May the deceased rest in peace, and the survivors keep striving!

a tragedy

As usual, I searched the internet in Central library after lunch. It is cool to come to my own QQ space. Not only can I publish some blogs which present my life stories and emotions, but get a view of my friends’ new trends. If I am lucky enough, I can receive some interesting feedbacks from my lovely friends. In a nutshell, I like the wonderful space to get in touch with my acquaintances and enjoy my time.
However, when I read a new blog in one of my high school classmates, I did not feel easy. A young Chinese female teacher in my high school committed a suicide. Although she had not taught me, I felt sad because she was only 30 years old and didn’t have enough time to enjoy love from family and friends. It was said that she didn’t get along well with her mother in law. After a fierce quarrel with her mother in law, she lost her temper and jumped from the window in her own house in 2.am. What a repulsive incident!
The young teacher was a leading teacher in a class in Grade 3. After hearing the bad news, her students expressed their sad feelings and swore that they would work harder to pass the coming national entrance exam to comfort their beloved teacher. It indicated that she was a good teacher. She had won a lot of prizes and the students respected her from their heart.
I can imagine that her parents must have been very grieving. She had a good job and got married. It was the very time to look after her parents and cared her own family. How could she choose a suicide? It was committed impulsively and hurt a lot of people. Maybe the domestic problem was serious but through more interactions and tolerations I think she could alleviated the gap problem with her mother in law.
We should value our lives and be responsible to ourselves and family. When we felt frustrated or irritated, please pause and cool ourselves down. Gap could be wiped out if we try to solve.

The Lord of the Rings (AW)

This is a very famous story which was written by J.R.R.Tolkien in1956. At first, the writer only wanted to keep track of the story that he often told neighbor’s children and his daughter. However, since his book named The Lord of the Rings was published, his magic story has been read again and again even adapted for a film.
As famous as the story of Harry Potter, it directs us into a dangerous and magic world. In this world, there are many special creatures and these special Rings, of course. It is said that long long again, a blacksmith forged 20 pieces of Rings. Among them, three Rings were given for the Elven-kings, seven for the Dwarf-lords, nine for mortal Men and the last one Ring for the Dark Lord on his throne. The last Ring was the One Ring that could control the rest Rings, unfortunately, it was fallen to Dark’s hand. After many adventures, One Ring came to the pocket of Frodo’s uncle, Bilbo. Though the One Ring was filled with great power and everyone wanted to own it, but it only belonged to its master, Dark Lord, the others who owned it would be swallowed by it. As a Hobbit, Frodo was born with the ability of resisting any temptation. After he had known the whole thing, he volunteered to bear this burden. With the guide of other warriors, he would send the One Ring to the Cracks of Doom which was in the center of Dark Lord’s land, Mordor, to destroy it. However, the journey was rather rough, and the enemy from Dark Lord always pursued them, wanting to get the One Ring back to exert its power and let the world become dark.
There are three parts of this journey. I am reading the first part, named The Fellowship of the Ring. After finishing half of the first part, I think it is a very good story for me to continue. The plots are very interesting that I never feel tired of reading.

P.S. We have studied our bridging course for four months, and one month later, we will finish our course. As time is enough for us, I recommend that you should read more books in this leisure time. Maybe you think it is quite difficult to start, but you can choose comparative easy and interesting one to do, like me. That is what I want to say.

Happy Events (YSM)

“To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love.

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.”

After reading the poetry above, I remember this sentence: “ No matter the distance between us is hundreds of meters of thousands of meters, my heart will always be with you.” Though I am far away from home now, my heart is always filled up with happiness from home. This year witnesses many happy events in my family.

First, I am very happy that there is a new member in our big family. I have finally waited until there is someone calls me aunt. I heard of that he is a handsome and naughty boy. How I wish I can see his lovely face. May he be healthy and happy everyday!

Second, my cousin got married. She is the first one to marry in my maternal grandmother’s. Mom said that my dear cousin dressed in her dreamlike beautiful wedding dress, smiled sweetly like an angle. I can imagine how happy and excited she was at that time. Best wishes for her and my new brother-in-law.

Third, my parents celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary. I am always proud of my harmonious family atmosphere. As for as I can remember, they have never quarreled with each other, though they do sometimes get a little angry with each other. However, it is like the thunder shower, coming fast, going faster. When I was at home, they left the center of their life to me. They took every care of me day after day. Now I am away from home, at first they said they were at a lost, but now I am glad to hear that they begin to enjoy life for themselves. They have worked so hard and burdened themselves with too many responsibilities for others, they should give themselves a rest to enjoy life. Mom said that they felt as if they went back to the time when they fell in love.

In fact, there are many other happy events in my family. I just state these most important three ones, and want to share with you my happiness. I believe that happiness is around anyone. Do not narrow it to be only the moment when you make a good fortune, get a high mark, win a game… It also can be the moment when you peacefully read a book, enjoy your dinner, stand among trees listening to birds’ twittering… Sometimes we chase after it, when it is just waiting around us. Do not ignore the small happiness in your life. All in all, happiness is not wishing for what we don’t have, but enjoying what we do possess.

A Visit to MINT Museum of Toys (YSM)

Last Sunday evening, we attended our first get-together with our host families in an MoE’s activity. We met in a museum of toys. Sound exciting, right? I’ve never imaged that there would be a purpose-built museum for toys, but this time I saw a wonderful one.

At first, the friendly people in charge designed some games for us, in order to let us be familiar with each other. The fist game was looking for people born in the same month as you. The room suddenly turned out to be in a mess. I saw hands rising highly gestured one, two, three, four… At last people gathered in groups, and the first group in order got chocolate as rewards. The second game was looking for people who satisfied the requirements on a chart. This time people rushed around like ants on a hot pan, the atmosphere became so lively. Then we were divided into two groups, one visited the museum first, one ate buffet first. We were the second group. Though there were not so many kinds of food, they were very delicious. We had soup, rice with raisins and pine nuts, fried fish with fruit, roasted chicken, fried onions and potatoes. We ate and chatted with our host families happily.

It was our turn to visit the museum. The toys in the museum were all older than us, some of which dated back to 1920s, while most of them dated from 1950s. The toys there were extraordinary, some of which were the only one or two in the world, and of course, owing to this, their value frightened us very much. The price of them can be as much as 50,000 US dollars each. They were collected from China, Japan, UK, USA, and India… Walking in the museum, I recalled those days in my childhood, or I can say that the memories suddenly woke from deep sleep and rushed out. Mickey, Snoopy, Popeye, Bat Man, Tidy Bear, Star War, picture-story books, masks, candy boxes, water pistols, Beatles… They stand peacefully in the showcase but inspire endless excitement from deep of our hearts.

Then we were called back to the lobby and invited to enjoy some snacks. They offered us fruit puddings, cheese cakes and chocolate cakes, and gave each of us stationery as souvenirs. Until then, our dreamlike journey came to the end; however, the happiness didn’t fade. It was such an unforgettable experience that I will cherish forever. Thanks for our host families offering their kindness and love for us, thanks for MoE arranging such an interesting activity for us, thanks for the MINT Museum of Toys reminding me that small and pure happiness in my childhood.

My Roommates(YSM)

It has been almost 5 months since I came to Singapore. Namely my roommates and I have been living together for about 5 months. Maybe it is time to write something about my roommates.
The first one is the second oldest one in our dorm while looks like a boy. He is a very good at swimming. He always thinks about how to saving money for his parents which requires him a great ability of bargaining. Fortunately he is a professor in communication. Also he is an optimistic boy.
The second one is the oldest in our dorm. He is a funny one who always plays jokes among us. He is very good at playing Red war3 and when he plays it someone else will always watch him playing to learn some skills and enjoy the art of playing it.
The third one is the youngest but the tallest in our dorm. His ability of jumping is so great that he got his nickname “airplane”. He is the most curious boy in our dorm especially on food. He had once bought an avocado and tasted it. Then it turned out that the avocado tasted bad except for making juice. He is also the best player of computer games in our dorm. He plays all kinds of games and does well in each of them.
The fourth one is a very handsome boy. He plays table tennis very well. Also he is famous for his posture, jumping up straightly and shooting when he shoots in a basketball game. For he does well in sports and has a handsome appearance he is popular among girls.
The fifth one is the leader of our dorm. He plays well in basketball. Though he spends a lot of time on playing he has some efficient strategies on study that is why does well in study. He goes to gym almost every two days which gives him a muscular proficiency.
The sixth one is a carefree one. He never cares about the money he spends on things especially on food. His favorite two things are eating and reading e-novels. He eats four times a day, one breakfast, one dinner and two meals during daytime. All these meals cost him about 7 dollars on average per day which equals 3 days’ meals for me. As to novel he can finish 40 novels in three or four days. Every time I see him apart from eating and sleeping, he is read a novel.
The seventh one is the most hardworking one among my roommates. His pace of life is at a high speed. He does thing as quickly as possible and every time I see him he is in a hurry. He is so proud of his voice that he often sings songs in our dorm.
As all above each of my roommates has his own character. All of them make our room full of the atmosphere of harmony and happiness.

Learning Great Thoughts(YSM)

Yesterday I met my old friend and classmate who is an SM2 student in NUS. As it has been several months since I saw him we went to McDonald to have dinner together. During the dinner we talked for a long time. We talked a lot of things including how we are going recently, which course we have chosen and our plans about our future. After the talking I realized that he had improved a lot. His thoughts became deeper than before.
Last night when I was lying on the bed I tried to found out what made him improve so much. After a while I realized that maybe it was the people he met who pulled his thoughts forward. As he has been in Singapore for more than one year, he has met many people here and some of them are great people who have many great thoughts. As he talked with them he could learn from them and achieve the thoughts. After learning and judging those ideas by himself whether the thoughts were right or wrong he accept the good ones he thought. In this way the great ideas permeate into his mind and were assimilated by him so that he has his own great thoughts.
In fact I think it is a good way to develop our thoughts by learning from others especially those who are great for they all have their own great thoughts which make them succeed. After we get a thought we judge whether it is right or wrong and if it is right we can accept it. After we have accepted many great thoughts our views will become wider and our thought will become deeper. Someone may say that if we learn ideas from others we are not ourselves however I will say that we have the right to learn from others. Furthermore though some of the ideas are others’ it is we who have the unique idea which includes all the great ideas.