How to Be A Good Student in NUS (my first blog)

Honestly,I used to be a top student in China.And in my mind,to be a top student usually means you must be hard-working and get a higher mark than your classmates.But now in NUS,it changes a lot.
The points you get are still important,but absolutely not the only standard to prove whether you are the top student in your class.You may be a hard-working one,you may study day and night to get over a difficult problem,and even you give up your precious weekend to learn a subject.However,all the efforts you paid does not necessarily mean you are a top student.Sometimes you will be confused.You don't know why this kind of learning method which used to help you to become a top student doesn't work in Singapore.And also will you never konw why teamwork as well as after-class activitices is so important in here.As a matter of fact,many of the time, after-class activities are consider to be time-wasting in China.
Here are some tips you shoud know and fellow if you want to be a succes.1:Keep a clear mind that cooperation is aways of great importance in both study and work,so next time when you come cross a activity,just join in it,and show your phenomenal talent to others.2:Being a top student in NUS requests a good master of relevent knowledge which can't be found in your textbooks.Therefore,you are supposed to ask your teachers more often to gain these knowledge instead of just sitting in your chair and waitting to be taught! 3：Never refuse to help others.When you show your honesty in helping others,they will think highly of you in return,only in this way can you become a real top student .
Act now to be a top one in NUS!

To Be a "Beggar" For Charity !

Last weekends,I gained a unforgettable experience as a solicitor raising funds for the disabled.It was organized by the Disabled People's Association---a non-profit,cross-disability organization.It was also a Institution of Public Character with approval to issue tax-exemption receipts to out donors.They appealed all students in Singapore including PRC students to be volunteers for the charities.

Definitely,it was the first time for most of us to ask strangers for money with a can on the streets.I was anxious to hold a empty can wearing volunteer uniform like a "beggar"in our Chinese views.However,considering itself a good course out of passion,I had a deep breathing and got rid of the awkward feeling.Meanwhile,since I had mentally prepared before to be refused and treated critically,I brazened to set off my adventure alone.

The first target was always the hardest to handle.After hesitating,I chose a lady who seemed friendly and kind exteriorly to ask lightly as a gentle man:"Um...Excuse me,would you like to help..."before my voice faded,I noticed that she neglected me motionlessly.Then away she went.I sighed and began to search for the next person.In spite of this little frustration,I comforted myself:"It's okay,don't be upset.It's just a beginning..."thus,my yearning "to win the most fundraising"continued.

It cost me three hours to be skilled in this game.I met hundreds of people passing in front of me. Gradually,I got used to deal with various strangers no matter who they were,where they came from.Normally,people would chose to refuse politely or put some insignificant coins into my can with a smile.I could tell they said refusals between the lines such as"Sorry,I've already donated"or"Sorry,I'm catching my time." I congratulated myself for not being refused by abuse.Yet,some ignored me like the first lady.

At last,I raised almost 200 dollars approximately making my can heavy.Even I was not the most funds raiser,I concluded some effective ways for fundraising.First,where to raise was important.The district we started was a commercial area.The exits of supermarkets were always best choices.I didn't set my heart into working immediately.I chose a place with proper floating of people instead of where a few of students asked at the same time.I was not far from a POSB ATM so that people who came to go shopping from their apartments would pass me.Most came and drew money.After that,they met me with purse on hands.It was convenient to donate!Second,whether succeed to raise money partly depended on different people.Some parents with children always would like to give little sums to show the kindness as well as education.The women with headscarves---maybe Arab,and the European were always generous to me as a Chinese guy.Old local ladies would like to help me when they walked weakly to purchase for dinner while old men would walk by without any expression.Maybe their hearings functioned not very well.

For those who had a kind heart to believe me and donated money could take one sticker that I offered.It caused many interesting encounters.

Once,there came two naughty boys who had taken out their hands towards me.They gave nothing to me but a little cheat.I had to smile and said with a flash of wit:"Wouldn't you want to get this sticker?Ask your parents to donate for the disabled!" Hearing this,they hesitated and run to their parents.After a while,they came back with cash.

Another once,I managed to persuade a man to donate.Before he leave,something occurred him.He asked me alertly:"Is there many students raising funds like you in front?""Ur..Yeah,so I recommend you to take a sticker and paste on shirt."He agreed and went ahead.

From this special event,I realised that something might not turn out to be invincible as it seemed.From this unique activity,I got to know that a man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm. From this particular experience,I gained nothing materially but kindness and diversity in society when I was a "Beggar" !

An Unforgettable Day

I’ve never had that true feeling between life and death, that strong desire to live. The thing happened to me at the age of six was a permanent memory.

It was a Sunday in spring. Flowers were full in blossom and grass turned green, giving out sweet smell. Several kids were playing together by the lake, including me. When tired, we congregated and sat around. Cool as we felt, we hadn’t realized the potential danger.

Suddenly, a little boy fell into the lake while others were playing “hide-and –seek”. As I was the nearest one to him, I heard his cry first. Hurrying up to the lake side, I saw his horrified expression. He waved his arms desperately. To rescue him from drowning, I made an utterly foolish decision—trying to pull him out by holding his hands tightly.

Anyway, you can guess what happened next. Yes, I fell into water, too. What was worse, due to my unawareness of swimming, I soon floated to the center—the deepest section of the lake. To gain others’ attention, I shrieked for help but nobody answered. “Is this doomed to happen? Am I going to die?” I pondered. With deep despair and totally worn out, I gave up struggling. Just a minute later, I fell into an unconscious state.

When I finally opened my eyes, I found myself still alive！ My parents surrounded me with tears in their eyes. Seeing me alive, they couldn’t help crying again. I asked how I survived and was told that a worked saw two kids drowning, and he jumped into the water and rescued both of us. But he just left after confirming that we were safe without leaving his name to anyone.

After hearing mother’s explanation, I really wanted to express my deep sense of gratitude to the worker for his bravery and willing to help others without expectations of getting any repayment. If he hadn’t given a hand at that urgent time, I won’t be able to stand in front of you now. I really hope that one day; I’ll be able to make contributions to someone, just as he did.

A Meaningful Day

Feb 20th is the Disabled people’s Association’s Flag Day. All the SM3 students were willing to be volunteers to collect money for the disabled. That came into contact with Singapore’s society so closely the first time. I met many different people and received an abundance of reactions. I learnt a lot from this activity.
I went to Jurong Point shopping center to collect money. This was the first time I took part in this kind of activity. Hardly had I spoken to a strange pedestrian, let alone collecting money in English. So I was a little nervous and hesitated. “ Could I do it well?’’ I asked myself in heart. I had no idea.
I stood by the sidewalk with the tin in my hand. Looking at the walkers passed by, I was so ill at ease that I could not say any words out. This occasion lasted for almost five minutes. No one donated money to me. I began to realize that I could not like that any more. I had to be braver and spoke to the pedestrians of my own accord. So I tried to speak to an old lady.
“ Good afternoon. Would you like to donate some money for the disabled?”
She just smiled and threw several coins to my tin. I was so happy and said : “ Thank you very much. You are so kind. Have a nice day.”
After this I got rid of my hesitation. I became so confident and spoke to every pedestrian. I learnt to smile to every person I met and greet them.
Of course I came across some difficulties. I was refused by many people. Some of them shrugged it off. Some of them ignored my greeting. I did not want to blame anyone. I could not say who was right and who was wrong. On the contrary, I wanted to say thank you to them. Because they taught me a lesson that you can never ever let everyone agree with your opinions and thoughts. Some of them may frown on you. Never mind. Don not became frustrated. Just smile to everyone and do what you think is right. Keeping smiling all the time no matter what happens.

Working as A "Begger"

This Saturday was a Flag Day. Although I still don’t understand why it is called Flag Day, what I exactly knew was that we had to undergo a tough afternoon.

We were supposed to act as the volunteer of the Disabled People Association from 1300 to 1800, that is we had to raise money for the fund during about 5 hours. Every one of us would be given a big tin and 3 pieces of stickers----the tin was a money collector without the output hole, and the stickers were for marking the people who had already donated, thus he didn’t need to donate if he were reluctant to do twice.

Almost all hadn’t done any job like that before, so everyone was wearing a nervous smile. I was also very worried, thinking that what an embarrassment to ask others for money, but what I thought about more was that how awful the job was. We had studied for a whole week so it was time for us to relieve, not for the labour. But after I finished the whole 3 pieces of the stickers, and carried the heavy tin full of money to join other team members, I totally changed my thought.

If you ask any of us whether we’d like to help the disabled or serve someone who need help, I think to a large extent there will be no deny. But that is only a idea on surface, when it comes to the real time needing your service, most would no doubt choose to run away, thus we have no courage to burden the labour and the sacrifice these voluntary jobs require. It’s always easier to say than to do. I think that is the difference between us ordinary people and the noble hero with pure and sacred soul.

Many of us, at least I cannot say confidently that I am prepared well to do for others---- the altruism. When the social moral go against your own right, or the others’ right is the contrast to your own right, which would you choose? I bet mostly we will balance the two opposite, and finally made the decision if the situation permits.

The willing to sacrifice for the others is only the weak slogan hanging on our tongue; our sympathy or the compassion is only limited to such a useless scale by our selfishness; we lack the courage to scarify ourselves to help others; we lack the courage to bravely face the devil inside our heart, but only to find excuses to help concealing the ugly side deeply buried in our soul. Somehow I think it is the sin the Bible and the scriptures of many other religions refer to.

I feel rather ashamed for the initial thought about this task. For me, it’s a bath for my soul. I really cannot understand the asceticism before the task, but now I can. Although it is the extreme I con, it is true that the external labour can purify our internal soul. Hope there will be more chances.

Oh! My Chinese New Year < Jim>

Being the first time to enjoy Chinese New Year without my family ,I'm not lonely at all this time. On the great morning,together with one of my friends,I travelled around the Singapore by bus.Though I had been here for almost two month,but this time Singapore gave us a new impression through its plentiful culture environment and unlimited imagination.
That day ,Chinatown was so crowded, it cost us more than an hour to walk through the main road.Many shops and stores sold a great many of goods,and locals told us it was quite cheaper to buy some particular cargo.Then we went to CBD,when I stood by the bay,I found the night was so beautiful and attractive,the air was fresh .And we made friend with a old man,he was very funny and told us many things about Singapore's history which I couldn't learnt from my class,from that I knew better about what Singaporean thought of their country ,and their life as well as their work.After saying good bye to him,we went to KTV,we sang our favorite songs and we danced together happily,here we found another group of Sm3 students,the two groups had a PK later.Our group chose a song for them and they chose one in return.
The competition was competitive and it lasted for more than one hour.When we came back to Eton Hall ,it was about 3 a.m.. Luckily ,the door was still open.In my room,I phoned my mother,telling her I was fine and didn't worry about me.She was happy after knowing that.
It was a great day and my Chinese New Year in Singapore was so unforgettable!

Cultural Differences

This week we have talked about culture shock and cultural differences. I think we all have many things to talk because for most of us, this is our first time to go abroad. Though there are many Chinese in Singapore, but I also really feel the cultural differences, especially during the Chinese New Year.
This is my first experience to have Chinese New Year in Singapore. Before our holiday, I did make a plan, including many places I want to go. I thought my plan was perfect. But as I just said, there are so many differences things.
The first difference I think is that, Singapore is such a quiet country. I found this the first day I went here. Every car on the road just keeps moving on their way. No matter how many cars on the streets, they seldom use trumpets. This seems strange to me. In China, the streets are very noisy. Maybe this is because there are so many rules about car driving in Singapore that every car driver knows what to do. So trumpets are not often used. And it’s forbidden to play bangers in Singapore, so when I walked along the streets on New Year’s Eve, I found the streets were really quiet.
Another interesting thing is that only Chinese people consider Chinese New Year as a festival. I mean, other people just look it as a long holiday for rest. I was frustrated when I saw there was not crowded at all when I walked on Orchard Road. Then I went to Chinatown to ‘find’ people. Tutors told us that Chinatown will be really crowded on New Year’s Eve. But when I was there, I was frustrated again. There were many people, but not very crowded as I had thought it would. So my friend and I just spent our whole New Year’s Eve, sitting at a place and chatted, trying to feel the atmosphere of Spring Festival. Only one thing made me feel better was that my friend and I chatted a lot and we all know each other better.
We have known that when people go abroad into a new environment, they always have five phases. I think I am just between the third one and the forth one. I still have some daily problems and not do very well in English. But I think everything will be better.

Do As The Romans Do

When we finished our oral reports, our tutors often made comments on our reports:” keeping eye contact with your audience is very important. If you don’t, people will lose interests in your oral report.” I think that is the difference between the Chinese culture and the west culture. Generally speaking, Chinese are very shy to make eye contact when they talk with others while foreigners like to make eye contact with their audiences. They think making eye contact means you respect your audience.

Different countries have different cultures. So when we first come into a new culture, we may feel like we don’t fit with our environment. We may be frustrated with not being able to communicate with people who do not have the same language as us, and so on. Don’t complain about it. What you need to do is learn about their culture and try you best to adapt to their culture.

For example, when you enter the Americans’ house, your American friends say:” welcome! Let me have your coat.” Even though you are always placing your coat by yourself, you had better let them do it. Otherwise they will think you want to see their house and know some secrets. In Tanzania, when a young person addresses an elderly person, it is correct to touch the elderly person’s hand to his or her forehead and say: “shikamo”, which means, “I am not worthy to kiss your feet.” This is a sign of respect for age and wisdom and will bring much good. In Indonesia, girls talk softly and stand very close to other females when speaking. In Taiwan, however, most restaurants are very noisy with loud conversations. So we should take our cues from the local people for the appropriate volume of speech and laughter.

The world become more colourful because of various cultures. So before coming into a new country, you had better learn something about its culture. When you have arrived in the country, try your best to adapt to it.

Do as the Romans do!

New Year

Chinese New Year was coming. All my friends were excited and active. They planned to do something interesting to enjoy themselves in the special time. I was also very happy to ring the New Year, even though there was an indistinct emotion hidden deeply in my heart.
On New Year’s Eve, I was invited to have dinner in my uncle’s house. When I went to his house, I was surprised by their warm reception and incomparable hospitality. Even though the food was delicious and we did our best to eat, there were still lots of food left. When we were eating, we did some interesting games, we also watched the Spring Festival Party at the same time. It was really interesting. At about 11 o’clock, I had to return back to Eton Hall. On the way home, I felt that I had forgotten something important to do, but I couldn’t think it out. When checking the time on the mobile phone, I just found that I had forgotten to call my family. As soon as I got though the phone, a familiar voice appeared, “My son, happy new year!” “Happy new year!” I said. My father seemed to be very excited and told me many things about family and the New Year. After that, when I was talking with my mother, I found that she was crying. I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. In my memory, that was the first time my mother cried. I suddenly realized that my parents cared about me all the time. But I nearly forgot to call back. I felt compunctious and wanted to tell them that I missed them very much. But I couldn’t, because I know if I told them that, they will worry about me. I had to tell them I was happy to live there and there was no need for them to care about me. Finally I said “goodbye” on the verge of tears. At that time, I just wanted to fly back home to stay with my family but I couldn’t, what I could do was just reviewing the past. I thought many things which had happened in the New Year’s Eve in the past. I missed the time I stayed with my family. Eventually, I knew the indistinct emotion was the sentimentality towards home. It was hidden deeply in my heart and I just didn’t want to touch it. But finally I had to face it, which was really cruel. “Tomorrow maybe a sunny day but tonight must be a sleepless night.”

Hello, seventeen

Every time,looking at the leaves fell down from the trees, overspread the entire earth, I always feel that the falling leaves are covering a big secret, and when I sweep leaves open, what I can only see is always the black asphalt road. Cloud passing overhead, I always innocently look at the sky, to see what is exposed after the cloud passing over. But I know that behind the clouds, is the sky, the immutable sky.

Every day with the same scenario, but also perform a similar script. Fate was so quiet that I almost forget it exists. So silent, so silent. What surprises me is that I am going to be a student in National University of Singapore. Apart from surprise, leaving me with a real truth, one not afraid of the old, saying: Time really flies!

Growth, just like a boat, travels in the wave. Sometimes calm, sometimes encounter huge waves. For me, the boat of my life does not have a smooth sailing, which also experiences a variety of disturbances: sweet, salty, bitter, everything there.

Turn around and suddenly find that I have gradually grown up, I do not know when, the word has been often mentioned in my mind. Once upon a time that growing up is so scaring and exciting; only know that when I grow up, I can fly higher and farther. By this time, when I really face it now, I suddenly feel an inexplicable confusion about what to do. I am worried that if I can fully understand the extraordinary meaning of growing up, but I understand that it means responsibilities. Perhaps the growth in itself is a responsibility of duty. When everyday gradually disappeared in the dim and quiet of the night, I often caught in endless memories. In retrospect, the wishes that have been made and the beautiful promise, and the perseverance and tireless efforts, all of these memories become my careful collection.

Yes, the growth records the pain and joy, engraved in my mind. During the 17 years in my life, I walk with the growing footprint, step by step, becoming mature toward my future.

Gentleness Or Descrimination?

This is not a new idea for me. However, right before the ending of Thursday’s class, it struck me again.

A classmate said, “Everyone should have an equal right to get into a lifeboat when Titanic hit the iceberg.” Sure, equality is indeed an important element of morden creek. But I couldn’t help wondering, “if so, what was the point of letting ladies and children get into lifeboats first when the grand ship sank?”

In the case of children, seniors, and the disabled, it is out of question that we should put them before ourselves. The reason is clear. They are either weaker than us and in need of care, or, for children, more important for future. But as it turns out, neither can explain why women should enjoy the priority.

If you consider women are weaker than men and in need of care, I believe all those feminists would drown you with thousands of facts which prove the opposite. Not unreasonably, initially, gentlemen behave gentlemanlike out of the idea that women are inferior, though afterwards, it gradually form an ethic in society and become an act of politeness.

It is a question whether to put equality or gentleness first in a shipwreck. It reminds me of the remark of Ms. Leo, which was about a theory of a psycologist, “There is something both right and wrong, while there is also something neither right or wrong.”

When I think back, it is only a paradox in Titanic. But in reality, when we shove each other in order to get seats in the schoolbus, the gentleness towards girls is not only virtueous but also necessary. Because boys indeed have an advantage in strength. If no boys are gentle, there will be no girls in the bus.

In my opinion, there is a subtle difference between the two cases. Overall, it remains a mistry for me whether it is gentleness or descrimination to allowe women to get into lifeboats first.

The most different spring festival

This is the most different spring festival I’ve ever experienced. It seems to be a tradition to stay with family members during the festival, but I dealt with it in an unusual way.

As a sm3 student, I had no chance to go back home to celebrate this spectacular holiday but stay in Singapore. It is called Chinese New Year here. To make us feel less homeless, our seniors took us to NTU and had a wonderful time together with NTU students on New Year’s Eve.

First we prepared dinner for ourselves. It was really a big project which took two of the seniors about three hours. And our girls made dumplings, though ugly, it contained our efforts. When it was dinner time, all of us were surprised by the delicate dishes, palatable! There were fried chicken, cold cucumbers, roasted beef, and fried aubergine and so on, which totally added up to 20dishes. Certainly we watched New Year Evening Party by computers, Zhao Benshan’s short sketch was really funny. After dinner, we chatted together and played popular games such as San Guo Sha.

Some friends began to complain lives here especially on that day. They just couldn’t help crying to express deep love for parents. However, we still need to spend at least nine spring festivals here. Though it is hard to get through, we should proceed with determination anyway. So, those who are in depression of missing home, please cheer up!

try your best

I have been always worrying about the progress test one in a week for I think I don’t make great progress in English. I still couldn’t understand very well what locals, tutors or the videos say while my partners can. There are also many words they know but I don’t. What’s more, my spoken English is as bad as before.
I suffered great pressure and felt exhausted though I didn’t do anything at all in fact. I was totally at a loss. I phoned my mother, my brother and my best friends for help but yet it’s useless. They could only comfort me up to a point, not what I really needed, though at the same time even I myself didn’t know what I wanted to hear from them. I was very frustrated.
Eventually, I mentioned this to my roommate. She is a girl full of thought. We talked a lot. She told me not to compare myself with others. Yes, I totally agree with her. It is true that we have different beginning lines at first. Therefore, it’s obviously wiser for me not to compare with them. There are also countless people advising me not to do it but I just couldn’t. I know clearly that it’s a sigh of lack of self-confidence. I admit that I have no confidence and that I don’t want to be confident subconsciously, perhaps because I believe falling behind makes it easier to catch up with others. A strange reason, really!
I also turned to my local seniors for help. They are both Christianities. They taught me how to study bible, which says people needn’t worry about anything for Jesus will solve it for us. I am not Christianity, so of course I don’t believe it. What move me most are not the words on bible but their great care about me. They prayed to God for me, seriously and sincerely. At that moment, I was really shocked. I felt the strong power that their belief gives them. After that they find some exercises for me to practice essays. I am really thankful for them.
I remember what my friend once said to me, “Those who love you won’t care whether you are successful or not only if you are happily living; to those who don’t love you, you needn’t care what they are thinking at all.”
So I finally realize what is meaning of “don’t try too hard”. Just do your best to live to the fullest. Never give yourself too much pressure. No one can be the first forever. Make full use of your time and do meaningful things and good results will come naturally.

:( Undulating Mood :)

I don’t feel myself recently. :(

I find myself more sensitive than before, vulnerable to trivias. I frown a lot. Does he feel I’m boring? Does she dislike me? I pay too much attention to people’s comments and easily get hurt, even though I don’t express the pain. A casual look, a certain word, a slight movement will drive me to think a lot and feel sad. I do know in most of the cases people don’t really mean the bad, but I just cannot help thinking.

Besides, sometimes I can feel my obvious impatience towards others, which I really hate. When someone is talking to me about something boring, I look around to show no interest instead of listening to his or her whole speech like before. When someone disagrees with me, I even don’t have a mood to argue to persuade him or her, which was my favorite challeging oral practise. When someone is doing something funny, I no longer feel it is interesting but only childish.

Also, I’m often angry. When I get offended on others' purpose, I'm angry from hair to toes! But I have to hold and hold and cannot lose my temper, otherwise things will get worse and more people will get hurt. It’s pretty harsh. Should I fight for my dignity, or just swallow the sour? Tada~ The best solution is not to get angry. Doctor Tan said that “No one can make you angry without your permission.” So I wonder why I am so generous to keep passing others’ applications… I am too early to enjoy my menopause, I guess. Lolz.

I don’t know why I am becoming the kind of person I extremely dislike. What happens to me? Is my innocence dying away? Is it an essential period everybody should experience when growing up? ( who comes to tell me not…) Or, does it just result from anonymous stress or uncomfortable weather? Anyway, I hope it will just stay for a while and happily run away to play with the flowing clouds.— —b

What is more confusing but rejoicing, I recover from frustration easily. Maybe I am drowning in the bad mood two seconds before, but I can breathe well soon. A happy hello, a warm smile, or just a ready tissue can sweep off my feet. I’m not immune to these sweet crumbs. You see, I felt quite bad so I started this journal to pour out my emotions and release myself. But actually I keep adding new flesh to it; so, unfortunately, it fats and fats, and finally turns to be a happy ending, which makes my journal so weird. I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry. Oh, I frown again. :P

11:30PM,17 Feb 2010

The Unsinkable Titanic

As is universally known, Titanic has sunk deep in the Atlantic Ocean. But in my heart it never ever sank, it is still unsinkable, but not the unsinkable ship.

We have got a quite clear description about how the ship Titanic sank, so there is no point for me to give a detailed account of this again. What deserves our concentration is the movie.

It was 1998 when the movie Titanic first hit the screen. We were only seven years old then, the age of beginning to observe the world, the age of getting to know the concept of love. Here came Titanic, who taught us the meaning of love and something more than love. Without doubt it has become one of our most unforgettable common memories of the whole generation. I am not sure that everyone of our generation watched Titanic at 7, but I’m firmly convinced that we all have at least watched once or twice in the process of growing up and we were impressively touched by the soul.

It is about pure love, a kind of love which can face anything in the world, which cannot be destroyed by any disaster, which is beyond life or death.

No one, unless a piece of wood, can stay unmoved at the scene where Jack and Rose stood at the bow of Titanic, with the wind flowing through their faces, lifting Rose’s blonde hair. No one, unless a cold fish, can keep calm when the first time they saw Jack, who lifted Rose on a piece of wood, sinking in the chill water himself, dying away gently and gracefully, still with a satisfied smile on his face. Even now it stays fresh in my mind, with a little bit sorrowful and a little bit pitiful and more of admiration. He taught us the preciousness of love, for which you can even sacrifice everything including your life.

It is more than just love, but also about people’s reaction to disaster and death.

Disaster is thought to bring both the best and the worst in humankind, so is this time. Who will you think of when faced with death? To whom are you willing to giving your own life? What is the importance of life and what is the fear of death? Why are you still alive and what are you living for?

Well, it is already 12 years since the first show of Titanic. 12 years is enough to identify the quality of a movie. There is no need for me to comment such a classic movie, all what can be commented have been posted. What I can do is to reflecting ourselves, to observe what mark has it left in my heart.

What unsinkable is not the ship Titanic, but the titanic love between Jack and Rose. What unsinkable is not the movie- time might bury it someday-but the mark it left in my heart, in this generation.

my comments

nice experience!i wish i had chance too!
My trip to Night Safari (YSN)



your memories are so clear
I'm 18 years old now



Happy Valentine's Day !
KISS



it's really impressive to have the first spring festival abroad.you have thought about many topics,which shows you concern about china a lot!
My First Chinese New Year Abroad !!!!



the smile on your face covered your sadness inside.temporary loneliness can help to adjust to this new environment and be stronger
Loneliness



i have to say that you are so curious and probing.you can even do some reserch on this tiny topic!

Yellow in China



your blog is so unique! i haven't found this function yetnot telling the truth sometimes is a kind of defense,which is needed in this infermation society
Tell the Truth, and $500,000 is yours!



well,as you have described it so interesting,i'd like to have a look too.
My Favorite Comic



sorry to hear that...it is this kind of thing that is the hardest to overcome.you are to be strong,and don't forget you have company with you!
Big Big World



it's lucky for you to be born in such a city!my hometown has nothing to say compared with yours,but i like it too!
My hometown—Tongcheng



hope you will.....
Say NO to DOTA



i'm so glad to know that you have deside your career now.for me,it's so confused and complex as you have to take everything in account.
Love computing



you defintely have a sharp observation and deep thought,which are your unique characters.
The Hidden Secret



thank you for all those advice
How to be a good learner



we all had fun in the camp
Happy Camp

My Happy New Year (YSN)

I am so lucky because of your company, my dear friend.
Having looking forward to the Chinese New Year for such a long time, I don’t want all the activities to be staying at Eton Hall and surfing the Internet. Because almost all the shops are closed on lunar January 1st. it seemed that all of our plans would run aground. However, we decided to go out to try our fortune.
We went to Bugis. To our surprise, there were so many shops that didn’t close. Actually, we were excited about so many beautiful and cheap things. We bought and bought crazily, laughing all the way. What’s more, we found a small restaurant selling authentic malatang(A kind of food. I don’t know how to translate it into English.) Two Sichuan people ran the restaurant. We were so glad to talk with them. Frankly, that was the first time that I had had such a delicious meal in Singapore.
Our tour didn’t stop. Actually, that was only the beginning. What impressed me most was the time spent on Orchard Road. Most shops were closed, you know. But we had bought enough. The two of us just wanted to take a walk. Orchard Road was quiet and charming at night. We went into all the shopping mall to take photos. We ate all the delicious food we saw. We tried on all the beautiful clothes we liked. We sang all the songs we could sing. We talked all the topics we came up with…
We didn’t come back until over 11 o’ clock. But we didn’t felt tired. Although this is the first Chinese New Year that I didn’t spend with my family, I still felt happy. It is special. It is crazy. It is lucky because of you. Looking at the couples each holding a bunch of rose, I didn’t admire them. Conversely, I cherish the time we spent together more. I would never forget it. If possible, I would like my next Spring Festival to be spent with you, too.

My new concept of Chinese culture

As Goethe puts it “Whoever is not acquainted with foreign languages knows nothing of his own.” After two months’ stay here in Singapore I come to realize that it is also true when it comes to culture.
When I was in China, I thought nothing about Chinese culture. Even though I have been informed that Chinese culture is different from area to area, and world’s culture is also differs from each other, I took that for granted. But the life here gave me a clear concept of Chinese culture. It let me fall in love with our Chinese culture, especially the ancient Chinese culture, despite the fact that I almost know nothing about it!
The first I want to say is the Chinese food. The Chinese food is well known to westerners because almost everything in the world can be cooked in cuisines. We eat different kinds of food according to seasons, occasions and regions. What makes one dish stand out is that every Chinese cuisine is wonderful in its color, taste, smell and shape! Even though we don’t pay much attention to its nutrition which comes first to westerners, we Chinese held the belief that food could not merely serve to make people not feel hungry ,but also should be an art, especially a spiritual art and it should deliver those who enjoy it a sense of beauty both in physical and mental. The beauty in all these four aspects gives people a happy mood throughout the whole eating process.
The second one attracts my attention is Chinese opera. When I was in China, I have no idea of it. But after I saw it several times occasionally here, I started to build my interest towards it. Chinese opera is totally different from other countries’. It is a combination of singing, dancing, literature, magic and some other arts. Some western experts name Chinese opera as the seventh art! In my opinion these actors’ make-ups do a lot to help Chinese opera to be known and then be loved, at least to me! Their faces are colorfully painted, we cannot know who the actors are. Moreover their clothes are different from what anyone nowadays wears. Some of them wear four or five flags behind them; some of their sleeves are meters’ long, but they can still show a remarkable dance. Their lyrics cannot be understood, but it seems interesting!
Chinese instruments also give a deep impression on me. When I was in China I just treated playing it as a skill, but now I think it a way to develop a Chinese character. All Chinese instruments are the result of more than 5000 years’ Chinese extremely brilliant history. These instruments are bridges between our ancestors and us. Through them we can smell the sprite of our ancestors. These ancient Chinese instruments also give a description of Chinese culture.
I’m not rejecting to new things, but I am a Chinese, I love our culture! I would try my best to learn these treasures!

A Visit to My Befriender's Home

Yesterday I together with 6 other camp group members paid a visit to our befriender,Jerry’s home.We really had a wonderful time there.

“Happy New Year!”Jerry picked us up at the MRT station.
“Happy New Year!”
“So,how is your first Chinese New Year in Singapore? ”Jerry asked.
“Well,not bad.”
“We spent the new year’s eve with our seniors and made dumplings ourselves.”
“I celebrated the new year with my seniors as well .We ate the hot pot and watched the Spring Festival Entertainment on CCTV.”
“So glad to hear that you all enjoy your Spring Festival here.”Jerry then led us to his home.

We walked for about 15 minutes,passing a lot of Chinese restaurants which gave me a false impression that I were in China instead of Singapore,and finally arrived at Jerry’s home.

It is a beautiful,delicate two-storey house with a little coutyard.After taking off our shoes,we stepped into the parlor.Wow …What a tidy and nice house:ecru floors,white and light blue sofas,cream coloured curtains,white shelves with orange Chinese madarins put on…The style of his house’s decoration is simple yet pretty and makes people feel comfortable and warm.I think this can be called an idyllic style which I like very much.

The tea table in front of the sofa had already been full of different kinds of snacks:shrimp crackers,almond cookies,pear cookies,dreid fruit…Appitizing,isn’t it?After we were seated,Jerry’s mother came downstairs.
“Happy New Year!”We greeted.
“Happy New Year!”She replied in a gentle voice.
Then we introduced ourselves to her one by one.
“Hello!My name is XiaTingting.”I shook hands with her.
“Tingting,right?”
“Yeah.”At a closer sight,I found that Jerry’s mother is so beautiful and graceful.
“After a walk in the hot sun,I think they need something cool now.”Jerry’s mother said to the maid.How considerate she is!Then she together with the maid brought us bottles of coke,grape juice and orange juice and a box of ice cakes in order to make the drinks cooler.

“Now have a taste of these shrimp crackers.”Shuzhen (another befriender)distributed them to us.”They are my favourite.”
Then we began to have a try of all those snacks which are really really tasty.
At about 1 o’clock we began our sumptuous lunch.Jerry’s mother prepared sooooo much food:fried chicken wings and legs,braised chicken legs seasoned with spice,fresh vegetables and fruits,bunches of shadie (sorry,don’t know how to say it in English),braised beef seasoned with an unkown sauce,a kind of cooked meat mixed with some other food materials(really don’t know its name)and different kinds of sauces.
“So,real Singaporean food is like this.So delicious!It turned out that the food in Eton Hall can’t represent real Singaporean food.”Miaosen sighed.
“Yeah.Actually I don’t think the stuff we eat in Eton Hall can be called food.”I couldn’t agree more with Miaosen.
“You know I thought all the 13 members would come,but only 7 come.So we overprepared .The food will be wasted.”Jerry said.
“We are sorry for that.Some of them have to visit their tutors or host families,so they can’t make it.”
“It’s okay.So you have to eat their shares.”
“Oh,no!We will get stuffed!”
After lunch,Jerry’s mother also prepared desserts:a kind of cold beverage with the flesh of peaches,watermelons,pineapples and pears and many kinds of little cakes.
We kept eating and eating and eating.Finally I am sure that all of us including our befrienders got rather full.

In the afternoon we played the CS game.Actually it was my very first time to play this game.We played,laughed,ate and drank as if we were close friends because I couldn’t see any gap between us although we were raised up in different countries.

It’s pretty nice of Jerry to invite us to his home.It is my first time that I have been to a Singaporean’s home which in my opinion will help me integrate with the local community.
Actually on the first day of the new year Jinshan,another befriender,took me to a dinner party held by her church.There I met many Chinese and Chinese Singaporeans who are all very friendly and nice.The people from the church are very hospitable and served us wholeheartedly.Although I’m not a Christian,I really appreciate their hospitality and kindness.

In the end I still want to repeat the same words that THANK YOU ALL MY BEFRIENDERS!Without them I may probably feel desperately lonely and homesick during the Chinese New Year.Their friendship,their care and their kindness make me feel warm and comforable in a new country.

The key to my world of tales

There are a lot of tales through the long chinese history . Shamefully i did not learn much about them at my young age . Most of my knowledge about the chinese tales was gained when i was in school . Actually what kept me company were western tales , such as Grimm's Fairy Talesor Andersen's Fairy Tales.and all my imagination and fantasy world came from the very thing .
I still remembered that day when i was only a little child . My parents together with me were to my grandparents' home to spend weekends . As we walked along the street where many stands were selling different items . One of them caught my eyes immediately . It was selling all kinds of comics and tale books . I was attracted by the wonderful covers and ask my parents to buy one even though i didn't know what they were about . What i want was just to enjoy the funny pictures in those books and the words in them were too hard for me then . However , my parents wouldn't listen to me . Instead of buying those colourful books , they bought a real book which was full of words without even a illustration I admitted that i didn't like it first because i could hardly read it . I didn't know much chinese character then . I tried my best to understand the first story snowwhite but failed . So i asked my mum to read it to me . Afterwards i became interested in it because the stories in it was much more attractive than those comics i used to read . As my parents were too busy to read every story to me , i began to read it myself with the help of a dictionary . In this story book , i came to realize that there was another world in our mind !
It is this book that open my world of fantasy . I was confirmed that good people deserve good ending , do not do harm to those innocent people and help those who needs help . The stories in it taught me a lot of things that i cannot learn from the reality easily . The book is the key to my world of tales .

My trip to Night Safari (YSN)

Have you ever seen real bats eating just in front of you? Have you ever seen a flying rat? Have you ever been in the jungle at night? I had these experiences on the night of 14th, February. I went to the Singapore Night Safari. That was really a fantastic journey!

By the time we arrived the zoo, it had already been 9 pm, but it was lively there. I saw torches here and there. Flame was jumping up and down. Not far away, a lot of people dressed in aborigine’s traditional clothes were doing performances on the stage. They spurted fire from their mouth! I felt I come to the virgin forest. So we couldn’t wait to buy tickets and started our wonderful adventure.

First we stepped into the Fishing Cat Path. The light was dim and trees were surrounding us. Sometimes we could hear some animals bellowing. So I advice if you are a girl, do not go there alone. “Hey, look, what’s that?” when we were near a river, someone shouted. We spot towards his direction, something was moving at the river bank. It looked like a leopard, but smaller. When we took photos with flash (flash is not allowed in the zoo, but at first we didn’t know…), its eyes reflected the light and shining liked two lamp bulbs! I only saw this on TV, but today I saw it with my own eyes. How incredible! Then I knew it was called Fishing Cat. The cat waits patiently at the water’s edge and lungs into the water when a fish swims near.

Then we went on adventure. What impressed me most was the bat room. Before we stepped into the room, I saw a sign saying “For your own safety, do not touch the bats.” I was a little scared. Would the bats bite me and suck my blood? But my thought changed when I saw the little cute bats. Some bats were no bigger than my hand, and they were eating bananas on the trees. There were also big ones hanging up side down on the trees, making noises to the passing people to protect themselves. I had never seen bats at such a close range, I liked it!

Later on, we saw other variety of animals. For example, binturong, otter, crocodile, tiger. All of them had made a deep impression in my mind. I thought this trip really incredible.

I'm 18 years old now

This is the last day of this year now. It is unimaginable that I will usher in the age of 18 in a foreign country. This new year is really different from any other years before. Think about the past 18 years, although I smiled everyday, I still could not be happy everyday. Even many times I hoped that I would not be able to grow up.
Today is the last day of 2009. And I still remember the same day every year before………
When I was 6 years old on that day, I learnt how to write my name. I wrote my name as big as possible on the wall because I thought it must be a pride thing. But father punished me heavily when he came back. I cried loudly, everyone called me and only my great-grandmother comforted me.
When I was primary one on that day, I played with fire and carelessly lit a neighbor’s haystack. Everyone was putting off the fire and I was so afraid that I did not go back until the night was coming.
When I was primary two on that day, YangKo the village, saying that I was small, did not allow me to participate. I felt so sorrow .
When I was primary three on that day, I spent the last day of that year with my parents who were farmers working in the city as workers. Because it was the first year I stayed in city, my study was terrible and maybe the next year I would go back to the country.
When I was primary four on that day, I changed school back to my hometown again. That day I still did not begin to write my winter operation. If the relatives asked me in the New Year, what should I say??
When I was primary five on that day, I moved to another school in the city which my parents worked in. My great-grandmother was died that year. I missed her so much. It was her who cared me all the time. And also whether I would be rejected by the school again?
When I was Junior one on that day, I lived in the school for so long time and felt so happy with the family after such a long time. That year I had a really happy New Year.
When I was Junior two on that day, I felt a girl in my class was very beautiful and felt very nervous when chatting with her. I did not know why at that time. Also I was in troubled with my study and I did not know what to do.
When I was Junior three on that day, I was not at that school already. I went to a new city alone for study. Everything was new for me and I felt so lonely that I missed all of my old friends. And also I did not want to disappoint my parents again, so I kept my mind to be the best at that time.
When I was Senior one on that day, I made a lot of friends in that city and felt one of them was very similarly to the girl I thought different. That time felt really confident about my future.
When I was Senior two on that day, my family ate together but we had not a single word. My parents quarreled everyday and even clamoring to get a divorce. I did not know what happened to them. It was really a hard time for our family.
When I was Senior three on that day, I was really happy that the relationship between my parents was improved. But just in that year my father was diagnosed as suffering from uremia. Everything seemed to be so dark and not so interesting. But just that time, I promised him that I would get into a good university.
This year on that day, I spend the day overseas. I missed my family and cared about my father’s disease, my mother’s health and my younger brother’s study. I missed all my friends in China, missed the happy time spent with them. And what’s more, I can say that I’m 18 now and I find that I’m changed. I can keep my mind for my own life and try the way to my real future. Everything will be OK. And best wish to all the people I know in the New Year.

KISS

The sun was going down. The wind blew gently. There was a couple sitting side by side along that river. They held each other’s hands and smiled silently. However, their mind had already gone back to sixty years ago.
They were newly married. That dusk they walked along the river and talked happily. Both of them were lost in happiness.
Suddenly the rain poured down. The rainstorm was heavy. And the dazzling lightning lit up the whole world.
“ hoo…long…” the thunder made the whole earth shocked.
There was no shelter to protect them. They could not do anything but run.
Tragedy happened. A big lightening struck him and he collapsed. The current spread all his body. His legs twisted and his expression became so scary. He was nearly burnt by the lightening.
She was only some steps away from him. She witnessed all the things happened just now.
“ NO…” she shouted.
She could not help crying. She fell down in the mad. But she struggled to stand up because in her mind there was only one belief that she would die with him.
She crawled forward. Her two legs were badly hurt. Her blood began to run from the laceration.
He twitched and moaned. She said in her loudest voice: “ I LOVE YOU FOREVER” and kissed him. She just want to die with him.
The current ran to her body and she closed her eyes. There was a smile in her corner of the mouth. She had no hesitation and regrets. She was willing to die with her beloved.
Maybe it was her true love moved the god. Miracle happened. She shared half of the current through her lip. The current was not so strong that both of them survived. Love is the most beautiful and greatest thing in the world. It has big power which could make people happy , even saving people’s life.

My First Chinese New Year Abroad !!!!

Different---very different,is the most proper word I can use to describe my experience of the first time to celebrate Chinese New Year in a foreign country.I'm sure ,many of my classmates will type a blog on this topic ,or even with this title.Even not to be unique,I'd like to talk about my own feelings because,it is the most significant festival for every Chinese people inward. We were only too willing to get back home but could not for study.

The coming of Spring Festival suggests that the cold winter would leave silently and spring would come with hope. Everything will come alive.Spring Festival is a reunion day,our seniors and us from the same university got together to have dumplings,play games,and watch Spring Festival Gala,and,of course,to get rid of loneliness. It's lucky that no difference of time between the two countries,so that we didn't have to stay up late.Far away from family and friends, as well as the familiar sound of firecrackers,we used all kinds of mediums available such as hand phone ,Internet to contact with parents.Sometimes,along with dozens of people calling their families, it really spectacular. . .At the zero hour,a chorus of counting seconds voices came that we cheered for the last moment of the past year!!



Running back over the 2009,I have so much unforgettable experience both familial and domestic that remind me to step forward.Personally,I lived though NCEE which granted both success and failure to me.I got more persistence from the hardest working in China,and the most impressionable happiness when got the permission to go abroad just after a big frustration.I will never forget the scene that my parents saw me off with a little upset. At that night ,on Spring Festival,I looked at the stars far into the distance recalling what I did,whom I know ,and how I lived before.
Proudly,we Chinese are impressed by many events which also suppressed the world. From the success of the 60 years’ National Day to the wise response of the challenges of financial crisis. From the initiating of Chinese Logos at the G20 summit to the sincerity and determination to solve the problem that the world is turning more and more warm showed by China at Copenhagen ,there is no doubt that both domestic affairs and foreign affairs of China are beyond success.


Now, I know that the influence on the world from China is getting bigger and bigger.I feel more proud of my homeland.My first Chinese New Year abroad left a unforgettable impression that I will cherish forever.

Comment

It is such an interesting thing. I also met some things like what you had met. I just cannot understand the meaning. So I think it is really important for us to learn English well.
----this is the comment for “English is so important in Singapore”.

I think that learning in a small class is great and I enjoy it very much. We can attract tutors' attentions more easily. It is good for our studies and relationships.
----this is the comment for “On teaching and learning in a small class”.

To be honest, when I was in China, I couldn't understand that a lot of things were different from China in Singapore. Now, I know the reason. The different culture has a different effect on these things. We must adapt to it.
----this is the comment for “Culture Shock in Singapore”.

Interest is the best teacher. No matter how difficult the thing is to finish it, if you are interested in it, you will be successful. There is no reason for us not to study well, since we have such good teachers.
----this is the comment for “Enjoy Learning English with Tutors”.

Your blog is good, the theory of five elements is interesting and mysterious, but you just talk little about it. Maybe you can tell us more about it next time. At last, I want to say, the colour of Chinese flag is not only yellow and red, but also white, isn't it?
----this is the comment for “Yellow in Chinese”.

I think, we cannot always tell the truth, because there are a lot of secrets and white lies, maybe you can get the money, but I think you aren't happy.
----this is the comment for “Tell the Truth, and $500000 is yours!”

It is really a complex comic and I cannot understand it completely. Maybe I will have a look at it in the future. I'm also interested in the reason why the 3 girls all love the boy.
----this is the comment for “My Favourite Comic”

Life is always full of frustrations and pain, which we have no ability to change it. I am sorry to hear that your grandma is sick, I wish she will be better soon.
----this is the comment for “Big Big World”

My first Chinese New Year without family......to be honest, I want to go back home to enjoy the great time, but the ticket is expensive and I have no time, I cannot see setting off fireworks, I cannot eat dumplings, I also cannot stay with my family. It is hard for me to adjust myself to adapt it. I have some words for both of us, “同是天涯沦落人，相逢何必曾相识”.
----this is the comment for “Be Confused about Spring Festival”.

I also have a lot of problems with my laptop, and I spend so much time to deal with them that I nearly have no time to do my homework. I hope you to be successful, at that time, I can ask you for help.
----this is the comment for “Love computing”.

Group 8 is your home and I'm your brother, although you miss your home and cannot stay with them, you still stay with us.
----this is the comment for “F,A,M,I,L,Y”.

comments by zhaotong

blog 1

to Qin Lei:
It's really unfair if what they said is ture.I support your determination! Don't be upset,and just do well on out work now.
to Yin Shuqing:
"9 years and 11 months" is humous! yestday is just in our memory.Keep forward,my friend.
to Gong Jianlin:
how come? As a man,never look down upon yourself,and never say regret! Am I all right?
to windy:
Interesting.You have a special view of life.I heard that such kind of slipper is the national shoe of sg.Ha!What you heard and saw is culture shock in some way.
to laura:
The very person on the "sofa" seems like tutor so much.I found the possibility that the author is becoming a professor in education to save our students in hunior high instead of a engineer in Singapore.
to cady:
hoho ,if you were a foreigner in our country ,you should say "Chinese is so important in China!"as well.Anyway,it's normal for us to encounter these embarrasses.Finally,we will get used to the society!
to Elain:
beautiful vision and secret mind!You have a quality suggestive of poetry and painting!Good job!




blof 2

to Yemei:
Ha! I've seen this special programme before,and it was said that many families under the burden mently were broken after the husband or wife joined this show and told the secrets.
I think sometimes ,we have the very right to keep our own secrets.On purpose of winning that much money joining this is just to catch eye balls of audiences,of course ,to some extent.

to Wangjun:
Be curious about the world--my other motto.You have a special ,good vision as the tool to explore the life.Supporting!

to Qin Lei:
How much I approciate your visit there! But is that only you three?How much renting a bicycle?

to Felix:
Computer games are really attractive to us .I also installed many games,but after that,I'm always busy doing homework and studing other things and forget the games! Once you lost in it,it's hard to get rid of it.

to Florence:
It's a useful essay for us in Singapore.Before I came here,I heard that it is very essential to drink water as much as possible to adapt to the weather in this coutry.But,it's easier to say than be done.


blog 3
to Wang Yunxiang:

Please use a bigger size of latters to make the blog clearer to read.And,you mentioned that there are phrases in culture shock.I think it would be better if you put them down as your blog is a little bit short~~

to Hanle:
Your topic prompted my eyes with sparkle so that I really wanted to read thoroughly.I enjoyed your words descrabing the Chinese food,and it cannot be catched up for its brilliant extremely history.You made me more longing for our own food!

to Shelley:
When I was 8 or more,I didn't know anything in English.But when the melody of My Heart Will Go On came to my ear,I could feel the moving to my heart.It's such a beautiful song that can tell us what the pure love is.Thank you for recollecting our unsinkable memory of L-O-V-E !

to Felix:
Jealously,I do hope to have a chance like this,maybe on next vacation.I decide I'd raise a bat as my pet! So,I'm bat man!

to Jim:
Ha!Special night,wasn't it ? Your picture perfects your idea and your idea is a perfect picture. It would be much exquisite if you continued to write more ~


blog 4
to Wang Jun:

Oh,dear,how come you have so much time to remember and retell our stories,and then,open your blog to write a thousand of words about us instead of your own romantic memory? Our yearning is to hear your story! So,next time ,you cannot escape !

to Norman:
Interesting! We do have differences about opinions and background even we come from one country. I realize it recently,and have been learning to handle the distorted.Hope you can manage it well! Besides,please give feedback to my blog...thank you~

to Laura
Oh,your title attracted me most.It would be perfect if you continued to write totally depending on the right model of I HAVE A DREAM.
You felt uncomfortable exposed to the environment.May you think of them as useless decorations.

to Gwendoline:
What a pity ! I'd show my sympathy to you.I came accross the similiar case before and the disappiontment still gnawed at me.So,I revolved to let this never happen by saving it all times because it is really odious!

to Hanle:
Human being is the creatrue with desire. Feeling content makes us be happier! There is a great deal of wisdom of this sentence~!




blog 5
to Laura:
It seems I have the same case like yours between my mother and me. But I always talk with her in harmony.She just cares and asks more about my financial expenses. I agree to your method to solve the problem. Nice idea!

to Felix:
I am really realyy sorry to hear that! Being alone abroad,it's a challenge when we meet illness which causes lots of worries upon parents. Hope him recover soon!

to Florence
"To know who you are,you must know where you come from." Exllent words,isn't it ? Feeling lucky should moticate our yielding to move forward!

to Norman:

Oh~ Your blog led me to recall the past.But you indeed did harder than me.I never went to sleep after 23:30,but now,never before that time.So,anyway,support your "diligent" idea from you diligent man!

to Xis Tingting:
You seems to refuse mature? But we have to be mature.I don't think we look so navie even the words we say in English are easy but we just learner. This society is more stable than that in China.I think the only way to get used to sociaty is being mature and gain more socail experience.

to Gwendoline:
Good idea! "Made in China"does not mean in good quality;but our country is still trying its best to improve the supervision of exportion.

Loneliness

Have you ever felt lonely before?
If you say no, you are so lucky. But I think, most people have been isolated at sometime in the past, so have I. I wouldn’t like to feel lonely, but when loneliness comes to me, I have to face it, because I don’t have enough ability to change it. Maybe you will say, “You have a lot of friends and look very happy, how could you feel lonely?”
No matter whether you have friends, it is possible for you to feel lonely. There are many reasons. One is that you have some things which you can’t tell your friends, so nobody can understand you completely, at this time, the feeling of loneliness which buried deeply in your heart breaks out. Another reason is atmosphere. When I was alone in the midnight, especially in the rainy night, I just keep silent, hearing the voice of the rain and the wind. In this atmosphere, I would think about something sad, I would feel lonely just like I have been left in the darkness alone and can’t find the way to escape. So atmosphere is one of the reasons for loneliness. But the atmosphere is just a reason which has a little effect on the emotion, the most important reason may be the outlook on life. If you have a positive outlook on life, feeling lonely can be infrequent, otherwise you will feel lonely usually.
There are still many reasons to get the feeling of loneliness, which is harmful to us. Let’s do our best to defect the reason and be happy every day. Even though it might be difficult for somebody, we have to do it, because we cannot always live with the feeling of loneliness. To be comfortable in our daily life and we can receive a lot.

Yellow in China

Last Tuesday ,Ms Yap asked us two serious questions: why is Yellow Mountain called Yellow Mountain in China? And why is Yellow River called Yellow River? Generally speaking, I have never thought about those questions. We call it ‘Yellow River’ because, of course, the river is really yellow. I have once been to Shandong Province .On the way home the train ran on a bridge cross the Yellow River. It was my first time to see the real Yellow River. It was yellow indeed and to my great surprise, it was very fleet. I can even see a dog swimming in it! We all know that the Yellow River is the ‘mother river’ of China. As I surf the internet, I know that our mother river had, as one time, been really clear and beautiful. Her name is not ‘Yellow River’ at that time. Our forefathers just called her ‘River’ or ‘the Great River’. But in Han Dynasty, as the sand and mud in the river became to accumulate, the river was not clear any more. Then people called it ‘Dirty River’ or ‘Yellow River’ till now

But another question is, where does the name of ‘Yellow Mountain’ come from? Are the mountains yellow there? Of course they are not! In fact, the mountains were called ‘Yi Shan’, which was wrote as ‘黟山’ in ancient China. In Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuan Zong changed its name to ‘Huang Shan’ because it was said that Huang Di had once been there to refine medicine.

There are many places of interest in China whose names include the word ‘yellow’. We can see that the yellow really means a lot to China. In ancient China, people believed that there were five kinds of materials that made up our world. They are: gold, wood, water, fire, and ground. And each of the five materials has a color. For example, white meant gold and green meant wood. The famous Qing Dynasty in Chinese history chose its color as black, which meant water. So in Qing Dynasty, black was a sacred color which can only be used on emperor. Then, Qing Dynasty was destroyed by Han Dynasty. So first emperor of Han Dynasty chose yellow, which meant ground, as its own color because ground can artist water. Maybe Han Dynasty was the most successful dynasty in Chinese history, so yellow became the color of emperor from then on. Little by little, yellow has become the major color of China, as well as red. So the color of Chinese flag is yellow and red.

Tell the Truth, and $500,000 is yours!

“Have you ever fled the scene of a car accident that was your fault?”
“Did you ever wake up in bed with a man whose name you could not remember?”
“Have you ever cheated on your boyfriend?”

Above are such harsh questions to a person in front of the crowd. But if the true answers value $500,000, would you like to give them out?

Recently there appears a special TV programme in the US, which is amazingly hottest, to reveal one’s secrets in front of all the audience, including his or her beloved family and best friend. Its name is THE MOMENT OF TRUTH. All of the participants have undergone a rigorous polygraph exam, and if one gets caught in even one lie, he or she loses everything, and the game is over. So you see, what they can tell is the whole truth and nothing but truth, if they want to walk away with the money-up to $500,000. Such a huge temptation! No wonder there are so many braves keeping trying even if so much humiliation is waiting for them.


Who are still together, whose relationship has broken up, and who is up here until the show got them fired?

The consequences always rush into two extremes. Some claim that the relationship with best friend and family is better than ever. However, some startling confessions do tear family, friends or lovers apart.

The host’s favorite beginning word is that “Is there an honest person left in America? The time has come to face!” Everybody has secrets. Is it called HONEST when one confesses all the time? Or maybe CRUEL is more appropriate? What the hell is the meaning of this TV show? Definitely, a commercial TV show caters to the audience to make profit. Maybe it offers a perfect chance for mass to snoop others’ shameful secrets above board without censure, or to get considerably undulating emotions from the thrilling moment when the machine discloses whether the answer is true or not. Does that the show is highly popular indicate that nowaday people hold twisted souls in their void heart, doesn’t it?

It’s time to ponder on this.

My Favorite Comic

School Days is one of my favoite .It's a Japanese Cartoon ,telling about a love story among four senior high school students,one boy and three different types of girls .
Among them ,Guiyuan Si is a very shy girl but she is so erogenous and knows nothing about how to express her feeling to the boy.And she can be easily hurted by others. Shijie is another girl ,she is very kind though she loves the boy as well,however ,Shijie gives up the chance to tell the boy her love ,just not want to hurt Si.Shijie's best friend Wei helps her a lot ,she encourages Shijie to date Yiteng Chen,the boy .Because she will leave for French soon ,as a matter of fact ,she also loves Yiteng ,but she won't let anyone else know that. Okay ,let's talk about the boy ,Yiteng .Well ,he is stupid about how to care about others.He just thinks of something very H .Perhaps he represents many of us young boys .
To help Yiteng gain Si's heart ,Shijie teaches Yiteng how to make Si happy ,how to arrange a date ,even how to kiss her.But Yiteng always fails to please Si ,and often makes both very embarrassed.That is where interests me most in this comic .Finally ,Yiteng knows the love from Shijie ,and in my opinion ,he does something quite bad to Shijie.Shijie is too kind.She just wants Yiteng to come back to her and their baby......The qut is complex but attractive as well.At the end,they graduate from high school in beautiful Spring.When sakura blossoming ,they stay together to face the coming challenge.......

Big Big World

Again comes the annual festival----the Chinese New Year. This time last year although time was limited, I still made it to keep accompany with my grandmother through the lunar new year. But how about this year?

Today in Mrs. Yap’s class, I was absent-minded almost all the time. However hard I tried, I simply couldn’t pull my attention back from the endless imagination of what my parents were doing… Staring at a simple phrase though in my view it was only a collection of nonsense figures, the sounds made by class stirred up my mind into a terrible mass. I even felt the prosperous vines of homesick tightly twined around me, slowly squeezing the air out of my chest. Fish out of water, I laughed at myself. When learning the material with this title, I never thought that one day it would be my turn. Things went worse when in the afternoon Norman did his oral report about his homesickness. I was in deep empathy. To be honest, I dare not phone my mom, because I am afraid of losing the last self-control and bursting into tears. Once I phoned mom, a sudden pain burned my throat, and burned all my words away. I just held the phone tightly in silence, until mom hung up. Everything I see even only slightly related to China, to hometown, or to relatives will evoke the pretty memory deeply hidden in the bottom of my heart.

Dad sent message to me last weekend, saying grandmother was suffering from the chronic heart disease more and more, and she probably could not hold on for my return. I was shocked at that. How can it be! She had promised to me she would recover and welcome the New Year. Yes, I knew it was only comfort. From parents’ serious expression I could infer that the illness was incurable, and it required lots of efforts to stay in the stable state...

I’m struggling between the desperate miss and the reality, and can’t find the way to release all the bad emotions accumulating into a big devil spoiling my recent life here. Low in spirits, I have no mood for the assignments, but I know I have to do it. As a result, I stay up late to finish them because of low efficiency, and drag myself up to the bed. Woke up tired from the nightmare, I always find myself huddled up in the corner of the bed. The room is in silent darkness, except for the roommates are sinking in the dream, breathing gently. Then the birds start to sing for the sunrise. I know a new day has arrived, a new challenge has started.

I have always heard people say that the world is becoming smaller and smaller, but it is such a long distance that cut off me from my warm family, my dear parents, from all i deeply love. World is desperately big, for me, for the apple of my eyes...

Be Confused about Spring Festival - -!

Spring festival is coming soon; during these days, there are so many complex things in my mind, making me a little bit down in the dumps.
Spring festival, I used not to pay much attention to it. I thought it just a beginning of a new year, at those days, the whole family will get together to celebrate it. However things change this time. This year I can’t spend the spring festival with my family. %>_<%
When I was young, during the Spring festival, a picture will always come to my mind, a man seating in a train looking out side throw the window, in the cold winter go back to home to reunite with his family, in the last day in a year. I thought that man is really cool, drinking beers, feeling lonely, hoping to go back to home as soon as possible. However it turns to me now. I am out country and far away from home. I used to think it’s really cool a few days before! And even when my mother told me that she wanted to come here and spend the spring festival with me but I refuse her, not only for the expensive ticket, but also because I wanted to taste the experience of spending this most important festival myself.
However, with the spring festival coming soon, I am really regretted for my decision before. In these few days, there are so man pictures in my mind, showing those spring festival that I have spent with my family, and I suddenly realize that it’s such a wonderful thing to stay with family and spend the most wonderful night in the year together. However, at least this spring festival I can’t stay with them, I don’t know whether this will last in the next 9 years in Singapore. Now I really yearn that period time. But I don’t tell my parents that I miss them so much and how yearning I am to be with them during the Spring festival, because I know them miss me very much, too. If I tell them that, they will be more worried, so I choose to put yearn under my heart.
Now I have a better apprehend of that word: only when you lose it, you will know how to treasurer it. Now I have to face the fact that I will spend my 17th spring festival without my family. I think many people won’t have this kind of experience in their whole lives. It must be a most unforgettable experience in my life. Maybe both I and my parents will cry at that evening, filled with gladness and sorrow. Even I hope there isn’t spring festival at all, because I am so afraid that my parents and grandparents can’t have their spring festival as happy as before, maybe they can’t adapt to a festival without me being there with them. LET THOSE AGONISING THINGS GO WITH WIND. At least I am really proud of myself that I am so independent. And I believe my family will also think so.
I wish all of us can enjoy our spring festival in Singapore. It must be very interesting and unforgettable!

Love computing

This Monday, Mr. Namazie asked me what I wanted to learn in NUS except engineering. If he hadn’t asked me purposely, I would have been silent for the whole day. But now that he asked, “computing.” I answered briefly. Then after class, Ye Mei and Xiangxin asked me in surprised tone, “Do you really want to learn computing? It’s very hard!” “Yes,” I answered, “I like it.” I have been in love with computing before coming here and I love it even more after arriving here.

I can still remember that when in Xi’an Jiaotong University, I always studied quite hard until the day I knew I was accepted by MOE of Singapore and would attend NUS or NTU later. However, the following 29 days, I dropped out of all courses except the computer course. I continued listening to my professor’s lectures on computer history and operating system, network architecture, data base management system and multimedia systems and got great happiness in them, while my classmates thought they were so boring and beyond comprehension sometimes. How did this befall me that all of a sudden I began to love computing? I don’t know. Anyway, I gradually got aware of the existence of a wonderful digital world. Although my knowledge is such a little, it’s enough to cause my passion for computing.

One important reason for my increasing love to computing is that my laptop, which I bought in Singapore last December, has had several big problems in only one and a half months. Every time I had to find someone to repair it for me. It’s so annoying, troubling others and wasting my time. Just these days, my computer cannot start for the second time. There is something wrong with its memory. So I have to call the support hotline for help after my senior and I tried a lot but finally failed. That is also the reason why on Monday I didn’t want to speak. I was worried about my computer.

Another reason is the fight between China and Google, which lets me realize again that China is only a developing country, no matter how well she behaved in the economy crisis. China needs continually advancing and I know I can make contributions to it by becoming a skilled computing specialist. It doesn’t mean that I’ll become a hacker, though Google claimed that it was attacked by hackers who followed Chinese government’s command. What I want to do is only protect my motherland. You may don’t know it but more than one hundred China’s government websites were attacked within three days. The numbers shocked me when I first saw it. Almost at once, I determined that I must learn computing very well, not only for myself but also for China.

The Hidden Secret

Not everything can be judged by what it looks like, for they have something cannot be seen until you carry on a closer observation—the hidden secret.

To start with, I want to share with you the hidden secret of touch-me-not, which is also named bashful mimosa or sensitive plant. You must have known about this amazing small plant that will close up its leaves and droop bashfully when touched, and usually will re-open within minutes. There is a universal belief that this plant is extremely sensitive, delicate and weak, which gives her the beautiful name bashful mimosa and also make her the symbol of shyness. But my impression of mimosa totally changed last Thursday when I came across this plant on my way home.

After school when I resorted to walking back to Eton Hall instead of taking the unpunctual school bus, I suddenly found some mimosas growing in the grass halfway. Curiosity seized me and invited me play with these interesting plants. Later on, the idea of taking one of them home to plant into a pot occurred to me and I reached out my evil hands, trying to pull it out of the soil. But the moment I touched the stem, I feel an unexpected pain in my finger. “Oh. No! It’s biting me!”I shouted. All of a sudden, it dawned on me that this so weak-looking plant turned out to be equipped with sharp prickles! I was shocked at how it hides its strength so covertly until you nearly hurt it. The hidden secret of touch-me-not, which is finally unfold to the world, turned out to be the prickles, the threat to anyone who come too close.

Another amazing plant with a hidden secret, which I only hear of, is a kind of orchid living in the tropical forest with a special flower as long as 30cm! Lying in the bottom of the flower is its honey and pollen. But no birds or insects have such a long beak to reach the bottom of this flower except for a species of hummingbird that can enjoy the honey and help carry the pollen at the same time. The hidden secret of this orchid is the hidden honey, which is only offered to those who has the ability to enjoy it and appreciate it.

Even the plants have their hidden secrets which are demanding for us to find out, let alone the human being. The hidden secrets of human vary from one to another. But they have at least one thing in common that no matter how hard you try to unfold their secrets, there is still doubt whether you can succeed or not.

Perhaps you will end with the bitter bite of prickle, or if you are fortune enough and you are the right person, maybe you can meet with the sweet honey deep inside. Who knows.

A Memorable Visit to Pulau Ubin

I went to the pulau ubin last Sunday with my two friends. We arrived at the island at ten o’clock.We rent three bikes for sightseeing because the island is very big. Then our sightseeing began.

We rode bikes along the road and talked happily. About 20 minutes later we reached a vocational village. There is a lake in the village. The wate is so clear that we can see almost anything in the lake. Around the lake stand many trees. The trees, the blue sky, the lake form a beautiful picture scroll. We doxbaeuhed in the lake. I felt I had gone back to my childhood at that precise moment.

After a short rest, we went on our sightseeing. Then we arrived in the Kelam Quarry mountain. When I first entried into the mountain, I felt I was in a Virgin forest. We felt a little fearful at first because the atmosphere is so quiet and the road is so narrow. But it is so interesting to cycle in the mountain that we forgot the fear gradually. Cycling in the mountain was very tired because the slopes are very big. But it was exciting when you rode bikes up and down. However there is a fly in the ointment . One of my friends was injuried because of the big slopes . Fortunately the injury was not very serious. After that we went to the other parts of the island and took many photos. We didn’t leave the island until 5 o’clock.

The visit to the Pulau Ubin is so exciting that I will never forget it in my lifetime.