Time flies

Since I went to high school, I never sigh with emotion that the time flows and would never stop because I think it's nonsense since to say that. However, I have no choice but to say that the time really flows and would never stop. I have come here for 6 months. I just can't imagine this to be true. The time really goes too fast, maybe one day, when I get up, I would surprisingly discover that I have lived here for 10 years and it's time to go back to China already.
How I wish the time really flew like the bird flied pass my window, which disappeared in a twinkling of an eye. I have left my motherland for6 months. Are you all OK, My parents, my friends? In the above paragraph, I force myself to think the time passed quickly. However, I do feel that the time passed so slowly that the December, by which time I will go back to my hometown for a few days will never come. Although I know I will certainly have chance to go back in just a few months, I still can't manage to stop myself from being home sick.
However, as a man, a man from China, I will never stop going forward due to difficulty or any missing feeling. I will keep going till tomorrow, no matter what difficulty I will meet because I am a man from China, a man with ideal, and what's more, a man who want to make those who love him and those whom he loves live a happy and rich life in the future.
I want to end this article with a song named . You know the closer you get to something, the tougher it is to see it. I will never take it for granted. Let's go!!!
LET'S GO!!!!

The last words

I never know how near I am with the parting until I have to face it. Remembering it is about ten months ago, I attended Dalian University of Technology and began living a relatively independent life. Seven months ago, I had to say goodbye to my friends, my parents and my motherland to come to Singapore to start my new life. Now, it is near the time when we graduate from CELC and leave Eton Hall for NUS. In a year, prating happens again and again and I am not able to deny it. I think, what I can do is to leave and carry with these valuable memories.
In Group 5, I met nineteen brothers and sisters, and we live together and help each other. In Basketball Match, Badminton Match as well as Table Tennis Match, though we did not get the very satisfactory results, we stood as a whole and cheered together. In fact, what we got may not only be the joys from the matches, but also togetherness. In classes, we share our ideas and understand each other. Out of classes, we showed our various strong suits, such as basketball, badminton and so on. We keep optimistic and fight for our common goals that are to study English well and learn to live independently. We completed a drama with the help of our tutors to show it to all the people who give us help and care since we arrived at Singapore. Besides, I feel so lucky that I can do a research with Jacky, Veronica and Harry. I am thankful that they help me correct my presentation script and that they teach us how to do a fairy good research. In addition, I am impressive that all the performance are made by my friends in class, I really really learns a lot.
Another lucky thing that I met is that I am taught by our five tutors who are worthy of respect and appreciation. They have different styles of teaching and teach us not only how to learn English well but also how to think and to act. Teacher Christine always advices us to pay an attention to the lovely animals and scenery around us, I realize that life is what we should learn to appreciate and enjoy. She also highlights four abbreviations which are important to a person, namely PP (personal principles), PR (personal responsibilities), and PC (personal choice or personal commitment). In addition, with her help, our last part of drama, “Do, Re, Mi” song become shining when we rehearsal.
Mdm Tan who is our group leader is very responsible. She pays a lot attention to the whole class. She brings some maps as well as encourages us to make some pictures to decorate our tutorial room like our home. She teaches us how to think, and guides us to discuss something related to the moral affairs. Moreover, in my point of view, she is a sensitive person and she always shows us short but encouraging and moving videos which tell the stories that small fishes succeed in doing big things.
Mr Wilson is always kind to us. I think nobody will forget his lovely fruit at each noon and the jokes as well as the stories which are related to his life in army. He likes to focus on the mistakes that we make when we speak or write and he always find them out to elaborate how to use correctly. In addition, he is a well-read man in my view and maybe he benefits from not only his experiences but also Google which he recommends to us almost every class.
Mrs Yep is our fourth tutor, and it is amazing that she is already 75 but looks like 50. She is an excellent story-teller and she also likes to listen to stories from us. Sometimes, she gave us some hard topic of oral report, such as “if you are a Singapore dollar coin, what’s your journey in one day?” “A big thing you do with a little love” etc. Indeed, I appreciate it that I know how to enjoy making up stories and listening to stories.
If you want me to use one word to describe Ms. Lim, I think, the most suitable one is “energetic”. What she has done all show that she is energetic. Based on her hobbies, she likes adventures very much and she does a lot of extreme sports which the men may hesitate to have a try. When she gave us class, she always intends to divide us in some groups to make some discussions even though some parts are hard to discuss. Besides discussions, she also organizes us to make a virtual show successfully. All these really make us energetic in class as well.
Personally, I am rather grateful to all of my tutors. Because they do me a favor when I am in trouble whether it is about my life or study. I do not know say what else besides the endless “Thank you” and maybe what I or we can do is to try our best to pass QET and put them in my heart.
Time is coming when we separate, my friends, tutors and the persons who give me a hand, I want to say” Keep in touch and hope the next we meet, we all could not be better!”

last but not least

May 31, 2009 is the last day for the exhibition in EXPO. EXPO is near Changi airport. I went there today with three students from SM2. We first went to the city harvest church. Watch the show then listen to churchman’s impressive word about life. Two of our four including me are not Christians, but we think it’s good to listen to him. We can benefit a lot.
Then, we went to EXPO Hall 5. It is a quite small exhibition. But there were hundreds of thousands of people there walking around. Huan Yu went with me. We found BEE CHENG HIANG there. And we bought some fork floss and chocolate floss. Since chocolate will melt somehow in common temperature, I have to put it into fridge. But it is not allowed in Eton Hall. Whether it will melt or not is unsure. But I found it is a good thing to give to our tutor. I ask my research group member for permission, they all agree with me. Happy ending lah!
There is also another thing I bought called Sha Die. It needs to be stored in fridge. Since I can’t put it in the fridge for so long, I must finish it soon.
Fortunately, untie allow me to let it cooked by uncle. So I will share it with my roommates and other friends. Hope we can enjoy it!
This is the last blog I write. Now I’m doing the final draft of the research report. Hope we can do it well. Group leader Si Chen tells me to write my blog first, because it’s around the dead line. I want to say thank you to him for his considerate heart. I am quite happy work with them. This is the first time I found myself in a team. I will remember it for a life long time.

Book responding: Two thousand leagues under the sea

After nearly four days reading, I finally finish the book Two thousand leagues under the sea. This book is written by Jules-Verne, a famous France writer.
It mainly tells a story about a ichthyologist who had received to hunt a monster in the ocean which had already destroyed several ships in the ocean. But when they came across the monster, they found that it was actually a submarine. By accident, the ichthyologist, his servant and a Canadian harpooner were trapped in the submarine. The submarine belonged to Captain Nemo who hated the world on the land very much and decided to get away from the outside world. He gave this three people full freedom in the submarine, but they could not go back to the ground forever. During the trip under the sea, the ichthyologist had seen the wonderful world under the world. He had seen many fish that he, as an ichthyologist, had never seen before. The trip under the sea was not always smooth. They had met many exciting experiences, like giant squid, savages and being trapped in the Antarctic lacking of air. Although the trip was wonderful, the desire for freedom was even stronger. They finally tried their best to escape from the submarine and got the freedom.
This is really a very good book. The trip that the writer describes is just like he has really seen it in his own eyes. Although there are many difficult adjectives, but I can still understand the main idea of the story. On one hand, I appreciated it that Captain Nemo has the chance to explore the undersea world that seldom have man reached, on the other hand he has abandoned the real world, it seems that his life is so boring. This is not very bearable for an ordinary man like me. So if you let choose, I will not be a man like him.

One of my roommates

I have a roommate in Eton Hall called Hu Shangpeng. He comes from Huazhong University in Hunan Province.
The first time I saw him, I didn’t have any special impression about him. But this is just in the view of a man. A few weeks later, I found many girls were talking about him secretly. It seemed that he was very popular among girls. So from then on I started to observe him.
He is about 180 cm high, so it is not surprised to me that he can play basketball. But the thing that surprises me is that he can play it so well. Every time he plays, he will be the core man in the team and will also attract many girls’ attention. He is only weaker than another boy from Dalian University.
A few weeks after we lived in Eton Hall, we had a billiard ball match. Surprised I found his name on the player list. Then I went to see the match. It was really a fierce match. He defeated many players and came to the final round. Unfortunately he lost the last round. But he was still the second. From then on he was more popular among the girls.
Since he is always the second in any sports, we always call him Mr Second for kidding. We think since he is so popular among girls, he will fall in love with a girl soon. But later we find he has already had a girl friend in China and every Saturday he will call his girl friend for more than an hour. So we know he is not a play boy, on the contrary he is very single minded. He always says for fun that he can think out how he can’t be popular among the girls.
He is really a nice person. Thanks to his single minded, we will have more chance to chase the girls we want.

One for all, all for one(part five)

Hello, everyone. This is my last post of the introduction of our “family”. I hope that all of us can leave you good impression. The English Course is coming to an end. I also wish all of you can enjoy the last days and make good efforts in the Science Course.

Look at the three girls on the left in the picture. The loveliest girl, also the plumpest, is called Wu Bo, ranking 12. She is in Group 6. She is from the north province of China. In our daily life, she always smiles and laughs. I like her smiles very much. In her appearance, I can see that she is always optimistic on life. Our “family member” all like to play jokes on her. Of course, she never gets angry. She has applied ISE as her major. Good luck to her and I wish that she can do well in the future.

The girl on the right side of Wu Bo is Guo Jing, in Group 1, ranking 11. Among our 15 members, she is from the most south---Henan. Actually, I think she is younger than her age because she always asks some naive questions. Generally speaking, she is very kind-hearted also. She is very careful as very. I think that everyone may have a good impression about her.

I’d like to introduce more about the left one---Zhu Tianming. We have been classmates since 4 years ago. In my senior high school, she sat in front of me. We were good friends before and now also. In the National College Entrance Examination, we got the same marks and were selected by the same major in the same university. We both got the opportunity to attend the test for coming to Singapore and we both succeeded. After coming out of the Changi Airport, we got the news that we were both selected by NUS and then our next 4 years classmates began. In daily life, we have a lot of things to talk, about hometown, about our classmates and teacher, and also about our experience in senior high school. She is good at math and physics. The subject that she does the worst is English. We are both glad that we have a friend who is from the same city and we can go back home together. We also treasure our friendship. I hope that we can be good friends not only the eight years, but also forever!

For this, I have already finished my blog about our “family”. The course is coming to an end, but the learning will never end. I hope every member of my family will have a beautiful life in the future. Remember our slogan------One for all, all for one!

Meals at Home

A few weeks ago we had a wonderful experience. We were involved in a program called meals at home. Last week was the first we went to our host family.
Since there is a long way between Eton Hall and our host family, we took the MRT. We rushed all the way to our host family. After we left the train and waited for a few minutes, one of our host family members came to drove us to their home. We had a tough experience, because there is not enough room for us in the car. I had to sit on one of my friends’ legs. I thought he suffered a lot. I had said that he should sit on my legs, not the other way round, but he insisted to do so. I felt really guilty.
In our host family’s home, we had a big meal. The food was really fantastic. We tried some of the wonderful local food. I had a good appetite that I did not have for a long time. Besides, we talked happily. It was the first time I had confident in my English. We did not find any obstacle when we were communicating. We talked about almost every thing. One of the uncles told a lot of stories which were really interesting. He was graduated from NUS, so he was actually our seniors. He told a lot of interesting things in the university which was amazing. One thing was that they had so called naked festival, which I could not imagine.
The hosts were very kind. When the time we had to went back to Eton Hall, uncle insisted to drive us back to Eton Hall. I think it was kind enough if they could say goodbye to us outside the door, but they drove us back to Eton Hall. I thought they were so generous.

More than just "give"- Give Program

These months witnessed my first steps of giving lessons in front of class like a real teacher, and my staying with those naughty but cute guys in River Valley Primary School turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences that I would surly treasure as long as I live.

The 40 boys I taught were from different grades of the school, and they come as a group out of a same interest, that is, photography. I am always passionate about taking photos, despite the lack of professional skills. I am rather keen on jogging down the rough and raw images of life itself by pressing the shutter button, and I know it is more than an art to capture the world through the viewfinder of the camera in your hand.

When it approached the end of the course, the teacher who monitored the entire progress of my conducting this course made comments as follows:

“Zhang Qiong is always punctual for all her lessons and she is genuinely passionate about the art of photograph. She shares with the children enthusiastically. She is serious about the lessons and is well-prepared by checking with teacher-in-charge on students’ preparation and gives constant reminders to remind students to bring equipment for all the lessons. Of all the sessions conducter, she is structured in her lesson planning. She equipped the pupils with the technical aspects of photography before she conducts hands-on activities. It is a good start of her and hope she has all the opportunity to share her passion to more people in the world.”

When the bell rang and it was time for me to say good-bye to them all, I bid my farewells , smiling while seeing them once more through my watery eyes, and then turned to the doorway in a decisive manner.

“Thank you so much, Ms Zhang.” That was the last sentence I heard, uttered from these children’s mouths.

They bowed low as I turned around once more. That was the last image etched in my mind.

I am stunned by their great debt of gratitude, and get consumed by a strong sense of fulfilment. Life is beautiful anyway, of which I try my very best to make most.

Zhang Qiong

End To Begin(YAP)

Every start has its ending. This blog is meant to draw a period to my blog writing and my English bridging course in CELC.

In a blink of an eye, six months have passed by. Recalling the very first class, I am still wondering if it was just yesterday. Time flies without leaving you even a clue which allows you to trace how come six month vanished so easily. Reflecting on the past six months, I found it beneficial, happy and meaningful.

What the bridging course taught me most is not the English knowledge, but to know myself and build up my confidence. In China, as my university is very near to my hometown, I more or less have some illusions that there would be someone who could help me on the road ahead. So, I did not think too much about my life or my road. However, when I came to Singapore, I found things began to change. I experienced the state which I yearned for in my middle school and high school years---independence. I have to make decisions on my own, even the most trivial things such as when to get up, when to have lunch, whether go to see a doctor, etc. On one hand, it feels good because I feel like I am the king of myself eventually and I have right to make decisions. But on the other hand, I began to realize that to be totally responsible for myself is not an easy task. I need to be careful when every decision was made, because good or bad, it is I but not anyone else who is going to shoulder the consequences of my decisions.

Meanwhile, I started to think about my life and my future seriously, trying to find the answers of those questions, such as what do I expect from my coming university life, what is my image of myself in ten years time, which are the matters I used to be too lazy to think of. Therefore, I learned to make up plans and try my best to fulfill the plans; not complain in the face of heavy homework but just finish it carefully; do things on my own but not always wait for other’s help; take responsibility for the things I have done… All these things do not seemingly look as significant as getting a high marks in the exams or getting a champion in a competition. But, for me, they are the very firm steps on my road to maturity, on my road to my own life.

Learning from others, being tolerant, and how to make myself understood is another lesson I have learned. Since the world outside is so different, I have to make some change in response. When there are different opinions against me, I will try to put myself in the other side’s shoes and to understand; when there are criticism, I will try to smile and be critical about that; when something unpleasant happens, I will try to grin and bear it if I cannot change it; when I do something wrong, I learn to apologize…I am really happy about these changes happened in me.

I also fully understand the saying “they who love you most in the world are your parents”, which I failed to understand or even ignored in the past, in my six-month life in Singapore. It was the time when facing the bread and doughnuts every day that I realized having “four dishes and one soup” every meal is such a luxury; it was the time, when I got ill, lying on the ward bed in hospital, that I realized how comfortable I had been when I was at home with my parents’ care; it was the time when I felt unhappy and then called my parents to confide in that I realized it is my parents who care me most and comfort me most… All these make the love between my parents and I deepen and I tell myself solidly from the bottom of my heart to work hard to give my parents a best life I could provide.

Undoubtedly, friendships from my friends here and tutelage from my tutors would not be forgotten. It is really amazing that we, from different, known or unknown corners all around China, went all the way to encounter in a foreign country, here in Singapore. “Yes-man” Guoqiang, “little rabbit” Yaxin, “affair woman” Ran Bo… Ms. Christine’s PP PR PC, Ms Tan’s morals for life, Mr. Wilson’s fruit^_^, Ms. Yap’s expressions and Ms. Lim’s adventures, etc, would be the shining parts of my bridging course life. Of course, the experience of doing research with my team was fantastic. Veronica, Harry, Peter (three class monitors…pressure) and I formed a united, effective and happy group; I really appreciate the experience with them.

There are still many other things to reflect on, but let me stop here and leave the left parts to you all to savior.

At last, I want to say thank you to my tutors, friends and others who gave me a colourful six months.

One adventure comes to an end, another is going to start. Today’s sunset will certainly indicate a radiant sunshine tomorrow!

Ladies and gentlemen, see you in NUS!

practice 4

Practice 4
Some people think students should go to private secondary schools. To what extent do you agree and disagree?
Nowadays children in increasing numbers are sent to private secondary schools instead of public ones. Therefore, some people claim that students should attend private secondary schools. Basically I am for their opinions. I think attending private high school may carry more benefits than drawbacks.
Firstly, youngsters in private secondary schools can get access to more facilities and resources than public ones. Generally speaking, private secondary schools are more affluent and generous than public ones. Hence, private schools are capable of purchasing more advanced and extravagant equipments, collecting more books in libraries, and building more gorgeous campus. In addition, owing to considerate payments in private high schools, more experienced teachers would be attracted (recruited). So students are available to enjoy better education in private high schools.
Secondly, private high schools tend to be better administrated than public ones. Unlike public schools, the teachers in private ones can fulfill their potentially more freely and teaching methods seem to be more diverse; with more effective and stringent restrictions, the atmosphere seems to be more favorable, which can ensure students keep away from violence, drugs and puppy love. Thereby, it is more beneficial for the children’s grownup.
Lastly, students in private high schools will enjoy great HR resources in the future. Owing to high cost, most of the students who attend private high are the offspring of social elite or the upper class. When they graduate, they can get access to good Human resources which will help a lot to their careers in the future.
Consequently, I assert attending private school may generate more pros than cons to attend private high school. Therefore, if their families enable to support their expense, students are well-advised to go to private high schools.

practice 3

Q: Children are under increasing educational, social, and financial stress. Some people think this is a positive development. Do you agree?



children being under stress
today, children are under increasingly educational, social and financial stress. some claim it is a development. Fundamentally I agree with this statement in the condition that the stress imposed(exert) on children is controlled bearable to(by) them(paradox).
Children exposed to due stress can lay their academic foundation strongly.(this is a development for what) Some children are born ambitious; while some are not. for ambitious children external stress can keep them away from complacency and therefore incentive(stimulate encourage ) them to reach their destinies(come true their dreams). for those unmotivated to study or achieve, external stress push them(forward) towards progress. With the nature of children, they seldom relish listening reading and writing; for, otherwise the assignment should have not been mandatory. Undeniably it’s the stress from a selective enrollment to universities that make children lay a solid academic foundation and foster flourish(vi) the educational enterprise, which in turn benefit children in intellectual accomplishment considerably.
Children having strived through stresses can possess a valuable endurance and adaptability. In school and family, lessons are preceded to examinations; mishaps can be tolerated. Assignment can be delayed and even classes can be skipped. when stepping into competitive, stressful and ruthless society, a graduate may not be able to cope with tests without illustration ,not be prepared for the cold blooded penalty experience on campus, cannot bear the intense work, adjust to the routine of work. thus when before going out of irony tower, with external stress gradually impose on, by the guide and help with adults during their grow ,they will be aware of the reality that they have to obey certain regulations and they cannot do whatever they want . it‘s very probable that they will eventually learn to bear physical and psychological burdens(non count) and adapt to effectively before they have to confront intense and stringent tests.
Stresses posed on children also can be beneficial to social development. In a duly stressful context, experience told us, that efficiency will be enhanced, competiveness will be consolidated, research will be encouraged and eventually the society will attain its prosperity and people will live a better life.
However, if the stress reaches as far as not bearable, social unrest and even riot will emerge and thus lead to economic and social downturn. Stress must be confined under the usually acceptable lever. unduly intense stress may cause their mental problems. Moreover , children are not physically and psychologically strong and mature as adults, and usually vulnerable in personality. Recently several students’ suicides are enough for us to pay attention to alleviate children’ stress which may cause severe consequences to the individual, the family and the society otherwise.
Fundamentally, under due stresses, children can be motivated and spurred to lay a solid foundation for later study and career, which is beneficial to the individual as well as whole society. However, stresses should be controlled bearable, for otherwise it will be undesirably detrimental.

practice 2

Practice 2
Unemployment is increasingly serious in many countries. Some people think students only need to get primary education while others think secondary education is necessary. To what extent do you agree?


In current world, unemployment seems to become an increasingly tough problem to settle. Hence, some people argue that students just need to get primary education but others believe secondary education is essential. As for me, I reckon that students ought to at least get the secondary education.
Firstly, primary education cannot meet the requirements of contemporary world. With the development of science and technology, well-trained and sophisticated workers are needed. As for some high-tech manufactures and trades, only individuals with high educated background can get access to. However, primary education is just a basic education engaged in teaching children how to write read, and tackle daily math problems. Therefore, if a person go to work just after finishing his primary school, he may not be capable of cater to the needs of modern industry and business. Hence, he may fail to find a job, which would increase the unemployment instead.
Secondly, people may be less competitive when they only get primary educations. Compare with those people who get secondary or even higher education, they lack of academic backgrounds and critical thinking methods. So when assigned to carry on one job, they tend to be more likely to mess it up. Because of limited knowledge backgrounds, they are more likely to misunderstand their work, which may trouble others. In addition, people who only get primary education may not win the job interview due to short of necessary interviewing skills and a satisfying resume.
Lastly, it may exert detrimental influence upon our society, even cause disasters. We live in this world not just for the sake of survive. We need to figure out the beauty of life, to understand the culture diversity, to expand our outlooks. If we just get primary education then go to work, this society would no doubt transfer to be a mega factory of manufacturing workers. We will be automatically become simple-minded and ignorant; we will be easily manipulated by someone who has ulterior motives. This society would be led to autocracy, dictatorship instead of democracy. Personal worship and ideology brainwashing activates (delete) would be inundated with that society. Citizens would lead an inferior and chili life, even need to face internal disorders and ceaselessly wars. Finally it may lead to a tragedy to the whole nation.
In a conclusion, people should take at least secondary school rather than primary ones. Ordering students just take primary education is not only a shortsighted behavior but also a behavior lacking of humanity care. It betrays the spirit of modern society. Therefore, students should rather take secondary educations than just take primary ones.

practice 1

Schools offer a wide range of courses such as physical education, music, economics, philosophy
, math, English, geography, physics and history. Among
all these subjects, which one do you think is the most important and which one is the least important?
You should write at least 250 words.

In contemporary world, people seem have more opts to take the course which they like than they ever have before. At the same time, a wide range of courses are available to students. Hence, whether all the courses should be same important has sparked a spirited debate. Personally, I believe not all the subjects are equal. For the reasons of our limited energy and time, our interests, and our talents, we are well-advised to regard our courses in different important levels.

Firstly, the energy and time of individual is limited. If all the courses are regarded in the same way, a great deal of time and energy would be consumed but little effects would be refunded. People have to lead a very busy and stressful life if they want to perform well, which may do harm to both their physical and mental health. However, sometimes they cannot get ideal grades because they need to address too many questions and put into huge energy which is already beyond their abilities. Therefore, all the courses should not be regarded equally.

Secondly, interests play a key role in the process of acquiring knowledge. We cannot deny that people who contain strong interests towards one filed tend to perform well in it. Interests can fuel our passion and motivate us to explore uncertain world. Hence, it is wise of us to spend more time and energy to what we are interested instead regarding all of subjects equally.

Thirdly, talent towards certain fields should not be ignored. If we have talents in one field, we may pay less but gain more when we carry on it. Moreover, it is likely of us to inspire more creative ideas. Thus, it will be beneficial for us to devote more time and energy to the subjects which we are gifted.

To conclude, it is not scientific for us to regard all the courses in the same important way. We need to understand ourselves exactly and devote our energy and time to the fields which we are interested and talented.

A Walk along the Seashore

Last Sunday, I went for a walk along the seashore of Sentosa with a friend. I’ve been kind of busy in the last couple of months so I seldom went out at weekends. It was so excited to see the blue ocean again. Living far away from the sea, I always envy those who lives near it. There is much enjoyment to be gained by strolling along the seashore! As the sun began to set and sky turned red, my memory flooded back to six months ago.

It was one month before December 16th, the day I left China. I went on a vacation on Hainan Island. Mom and I only had a handful of trips together and that is one of them. I spent almost five days staying at the seaside with my mother, watching the ships passing by, and letting the softness and tenderness get under my skin. I always believe that ocean is a symbol of peace and beauty. Sometimes I would think how the ocean resembles a huge rough sapphire and how the beauty makes me feel so happy as well as sad at the same time.

On the forth day of the trip, I went for a stroll along the seashore at sunset. I saw the splash of pieces of seashells lay scattered on the beach and small holes covered the sand where the crabs had dug in. the wind felt soft and warm and the water not very chilling. I saw the sun changing color from a yellow to an orange and then to a red ball hanging over the horizon. I saw a fisherman’s boat far in the distance...

Walking along the seashore is more than being a pleasure. The sea breezes are highly beneficial, so, a walk along the seashore is recommendable to those who are so lucky to live at places where the seashore is within their easy reach.

The Love of Books

I developed a habit of purchasing one book at least per month after I entered senior high school. I do not know how I formed the habit as a poor student. It might be out of thirsty or curiosity of the unknown, desire of showing myself off, pursuit of comforts, or the mixture of three above. I do not know which of them the true cause is so far. Or I am reluctant to know in case of hurting myself. Neglecting these headache questions, I had bought a big box of books when I graduated from senior high school. I had never considered how much I had spent on books until I arranged all the books I had bought after the vital examination. I realized suddenly that day that I had done what a “crazy” thing as a docile child or student.

Most of them have not covered so far or even if some of them have been, I still do not understand them profoundly. Chairman Mao said that one has no right to speak of the Dream of Red Mansion if he has not read it for five times. Judging by it, I have nearly no any right of speaking of these books. I do not understand yet much about the books I have read many times. For instance, I have read the Analects of Confucius for three times, but I only understand little of it. However, I still love it as usual.

If I have to tell what benefits I gain from these books, I do not know what to tell yet. Recently, I gradually recognize that these books need your whole life to interpret. They are not fast-food culture but like wine of good quality. They will become more and more sweet-smelling as time goes by. Now some sentences from these books occur in my mind suddenly. So quickly, so strongly, and so vividly. I find that they are so powerful to express my feelings.

I know now that nothing can replace them. Wealth, honor, reputation, success, beauty, love, happiness, conscience, and morality are all important to all of us. Last but not least, we should not omit knowledge. The world without knowledge is like an arid dessert. All souls will dry up, and spirits will wrinkle. It is the truth in my heart.

The big escape

Yesterday I saw a Japanese film called big escape. At first I thought it was an action movie. So I watched it with great interest. But after I saw it, the bloody scenes and the behaviours the people showed really shocked me. Can the future world be like that?
The time is set in the future Japan. At that time, children are so spoiled that they look down up adults and are very rude to their parents. In order not to let this situation becomes worse, the Japanese Government set up a law called RB in short. Every year the government will choose a class of students which behave very bad in the past year and send them to a small island. The government will provide them weapon and food. During the three days on the island, only one person can survive. It means that they have to kill each other. If more than one person survive after the three days, all the people will die. So once very intimate friends, now in order to survive, have to kill each other. During they deceive, rebel and suspect each other. All the weakness in our characters has been shown to the fullest.
After seeing this film, I am a little afraid. Can the world be like this in the future? But now really a lot of young people don’t show enough respect to their parents. They have forgotten where they came from. They also have not thought that if their children treat them like that, what the feeling is.
The adults are also wrong. Although the children don’t show respect to them, they should not do such horrible things. In fact, their children’s behaviours are partly because of the parents. They spoil the children and don’t correct them in the early age. The previous mistake leads to the tragedy now.
The weakness of human beings also needs us to consider. On the point of dying or surviving, people can easily give up friendship. An intimate can kill you even without hesitate. How terrible!
Though this film is not true, the situation it shows really exists among us. So be aware of this. Do not let it come true.

Farewell

It's time to say good bye, to all my dear friends, in such a place that is in summer all year round.
together our group went through the day before oral presentation 2, rehearse for three times, work the hardest at the first floor in eton hall. we really find we are the most effective group, because we use a short time disscuss the topic, we use a short time deliver the questionaires, we finish our analysis in a short time, we finish it in a short time. thanks to JI LONG , thanks to our group leader SI CHEN, thanks to RAN BO, we work as a group. even though disagreement on the draft I wrote, realy near to a quarral, I apologize to JIN LONG and SI CHEN for my unkindness word and thoughtfullessness. teamwork, that's the thing I've learned beyond the research report.
I still remember the day I read newspaper on that Monday morning, upset our tutor Christin. how naive was I that day! become unhappy just for that swimmer who take drugs.
I still remember how I fell asleep at the begining of the bridging course, and YI DA, our favorite sleeper, always make the full use of his facail language to express have sad he is when he fell asleep in the class
I still remember……

How I improve in bringing course

I have studied in bringing course foralmost 6 months. I find that I have improved a lot.
Although my marks are a little low and disappoint me, I really realise that I have improved not only in the study. I have learnt many new words and phrases. I have really improve my English speaking although there are still some problems in the pronunciation. I can understand passages more easily. I have more confidence to stand in front of people and do oral presentation. From the courses, I have learnt many things about the culture, technology, education, communication and many other topics.

Besides, I have learn how to study and how to work with others which are more important for me. I learn that cooperation can make things done effectively. Cooperation is not a easy thing. The members should take responsibility and communicate with each other. Every one has his own opinion, and only communication can make us learn more about others.

The courses lead me to think more about my life. What exactlly I am? What I want to get from the life while I am receiving kindness from the society? What can I give to the society? How I live life I want? What is my goal and what will satisfy me? I think a lot of questions about my life which I have seldom thought of. I have got the answers to some questions, although I don’t know whether the answers will change or not. I have learnt more about myself though these questions.

Thank the tutors and classmates. I have learnt a lot from them.

Miss Saigon

Like all survivors, I once thought
When I’m home I won’t give a damn
But now I know I’m caught
I’ll never leave Vietnam

War isn’t over when it ends
Some pictures never leave your mind
They are the faces of the children
The ones we left behind

They’re called bui-doi
The dust of life
Conceived in hell and born in strife
They are the living reminders
Of all the good we failed to do
Because we know
Deep in our heart
That they are our children too

These kids hit walls on every side
They don’t belong in any place
Their secret they can’t hide
It’s printed on their face

I never though one day I’d plead
For half-breeds from a land that’s torn
But then I saw a camp for children
Whose crime was being born

They’re called bui-doi
The dust of life
Conceived in hell and born in strife
They are the living reminders
Of all the good we failed to do
Because we know
Deep in our heart
That they are our children too

These are souls in need
They need us to give
Someone has to pay
For their chance to live
Help me try


The first time I heard the song, I was moved. First, let me introduce this musical play to you: Miss Saigon. It tells a story that an American soldier fell in love with a local girl when he was in Vietnam. After the war, he had to abandon the girl and left for America. However, the girl was already pregnant. She went to America to find her lover with their son, who was call bui-doi, a name coined to call the children whose father was American soldiers.
I listen to this song again and again. I love this song. I love the strong feeling inside this song. Every time I hear this song, I hold a deep compassion for all the miserable children. Maybe this is the magic of the famous musical play.
I have to admit that I’m lucky. I download this play by chance. I like this play no less than other musical play such as les miserable and the phantom of the opera.
Even now, when I am writing this blog, this song is being played again and again. I even can recite all the lyrics in this song. Because there is a historic even mentioned in this song, the song has a soul. When the choruses sing the song together, their voices are so strong that I am greatly moved.
Although these bui-dois’ lives are as small as dust, they must struggle for life. Those who lost their parents are miserable. They don’t ask to be born; however, they go through war and pain. They are born because of love, but they never know the warm and love which they should get in their home.
If you have never heard the name bui-doi, please keep it in mind. There are some children in the history who lose fathers and loving homes because of the war.

religion

Religion
Recently, one of my friends told me that she wanted to be a Christian. I was not so surprised when I heard what she said.
If you ask me whether I believe in religion, I want to use some dialogues in the movie to explain it. Religion is a gift, but I have not received it yet.
My friend told me that every time when she was in the church, she had a feeling of peace. She loved this feeling. Although I have not visited any church yet, I always regard churches as holy places.
Sometimes I will reflect on why people want to have a belief. Maybe they want a God(I am not sure whether there is) to listen to what they want to say in the deepest part of their hearts. And sometimes even I , who don’t believe in any God, want have someone who I can trust and who will never tell my secret to others in the world listen to my confess.
I still remember the day when Mrs. Lim asked me whether I had any belief in my life. I answered no. I didn’t really understand the meaning of ‘belief’. I always regard it as religion. Mrs. Lim widened her big eyes and was very surprised. She said:’ Ranbo, you cannot have no belief.’ So it came to my turn to feel surprised.
Do I really believe in anything? I don’t think so. Or I want to say that I don’t know. But anyone who has something to believe must be happy. Because they have a place to relieve their tired heart. Sometimes when you feel very unhappy, exhausted, disappointed, angry, you want to talk to someone. When you find you cannot even find a friend or a relative to listen to your words, the feeling is hard to explain because it is too painful.
I have attended a party on the Christmas Day. It was nice and moving. When everyone lighted a candle and sang beautiful songs, I have a feeling of safety and peace. Maybe it is the magic of the religion. Although I cannot have the gift of being a Christian, I can admire and enjoy it at least.

Goodbye, My Dear Friends

The bridging course is coming to the end. In my personal idea, I am not willing to leave this class. All of our seniors told us that the bridging course is the most relax course in our college life. I think so. We all have a good time in our bridging course. But what is a pity is that we are so happy that so of us forget study. They spend too much time in watching movie and playing computer games. I have to admit that I am one of them.
It is the most relaxed time since I went to secondary school. In the one hand, we are relaxed, in the other hand, we leave our study behind. Since we have all experienced college entrance examination, w e became more mature. It is the time after our hard time, we are all enjoying it.
Sometimes I just treat studying English as a burden. I really should not have that feeling. We will learn something well only when we really have interest in it. In China, I did have interest in English, but after I went to Singapore, something has changed. I lost interest in English, and that is the reason why I am rather weak in English. Anyway, I have improved my English a lot.
Our whole class is like a family. And we classmates are just like brothers and sisters. I really enjoy the atmosphere in our class. We just talk to each other freely. Wen Yida always like to tell jokes and imitate aunties, but most time only he himself laughed. Zhang Guoqiang always said yes, and every time we laughed at him and imitated him. And Ran Bo and Dong Yingtao always had a lot of stories which are secrets…
Our tutors are the best tutors. Our deer Christine always liked to talk about lively trees. We can infer that she loves the nature. Mrs. Tan always made us have further thinking. Wilson always treated us fruits. Yap always talked about daily issues and Mr.’s class was usually very exciting. We cannot forget these respectful tutors.
Before our leave, I just want to say that we should enjoy the last time we are spending together and have fun.

Well done

Dear students

Thank you for keeping up with your Blog assignments.

Throughout the course, we have noted that your articles became longer, which shows your motivation to write. But more importantly, we cannot ignore the depth of your reflections on several topics covering your living experiences in Eton Hall, your academic performance, your extra curricular activities and your individual experiences such as how you spent Chinese New Year, meeting a cobra, being so close to the birds and many more. We saw effort in the many pictures that were taken and posted.

You have now reached Blog Writing 10. It will be your last post for this course but let it not be your last reflection.

It is essential that we continue to reflect on all that we do.

The prince of tennis

Recently, I keep seeing a Japanese cartoon called The prince of tennis. It is a very famous cartoon a few years ago. This cartoon mainly tells a story of a young talent tennis player called Echizen Ryoma and his effort with his friends to win the national champion.
Echizen Ryoma is the son of a very talent Japanese tennis player, Echizen Nanjiroh. But after Echizen Nanjiroh has won several championships, he disappeared from the circle of tennis. A few years later, a talent young player appeared in Japan. This is Echizen Ryoma. Although Echizen Ryoma is very young, he shows great power which is not worse than that of players who are older than him. But the way to win the national champion is not very smooth. There are many players with great ability. But Echizen Ryoma can always find the way to overcome the obstacle and in the mean time improve himself. He is not alone. There are also many good friends playing with him. They help each other. Finally they make the dream to win the national champion come true,
After seeing this cartoon I feel very excited. Echizen Ryoma works very hard to achieve his aim.every time he meets very strong rival, he will never give up and fight to the last minute. His spirit can dig out his deep potential and become stronger. This inspires me most. Now, as we come to Singapore, there are a lot of difficulties for us to overcome. Sometimes we may think to give up. It seems that it is not a big deal, but you have lost an opportunity to improve yourself. Only by trying your best to conquer all these difficulties, can we really grow to a mature man and be somebody in the future. This is what I learn from this cartoon. I hope this can help you too.

Meals at Local Family

I felt very lucky to be selected to join the MOE’s activity called “meals at home”. In this program, every four students would form one group to be invited to a dinner by a local family at their home. Our group’s family was located in the northeast of Singapore. And the husband was Mr. Dennis. This Saturday afternoon, it was the first time for our group to get together with our family.

One group supposed to have four members, but one of our group members quit from this program by some special reasons. So there were only three of us totally. We set out at 4:45 pm. It was really a very long journey; it cost us about 90 minutes taking 51 bus. There were totally 48 bus stations before we got to our destination.

Our group’s family lived in DBH; there were four family members, the husband, the wife, their 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. At first, Miss Dennis guided us to visit their house, although the area of their house was not very big, it looked very beautiful. Their son was very tall and they said that their son can play basketball very well; what’s more, when we visit the boy’s bedroom, we found lots of beautiful pictures painted by him. And their daughter was a pretty little girl who loved handcraft very much; she could fold paper into shapes representing many things. After chatting with them for a while, it was the time to have lunch. All of us sat around the table to have dinner. The meals they served were really delicious. During the dinner, we told something about everyone’s hometown. From their talking, we knew that they also liked China very much and they paid lots of visit to China.

After the dinner, they introduced a very good game for us. Its name was “set”. It was game to test your visual ability, belong to IQ game. At first the judge would show us 12 cards which had different pictures on them. And the pictures on the cards had some certain orderliness. We just need to find the cards had the same orderliness. At last, the winner would be the person who finds the most. It was a game needs lots of attention. Although I didn’t win the game, I still enjoyed myself very much.

After the game, it was the time to leave, because it was too late. And lucky, Mr. Dennis was happy to send us back. Both of us really appreciated it that his kindness. It was really a good fantastic experience for me.

Posting a Letter

Last Saturday was one of my friends’ birthday, she was my classmate when we were in senior middle school. Actually, she didn’t know I knew her birthday. I just thought that I can give her a surprise, but I didn’t want to just send a short message to her to celebrate her birthday, I thought that was too simple. I just wanted to make it a little special. I decided to use a classical way, sending letter.

One of my roommates got an experience to send letters to China, so I asked him how long it would take to send a letter to China. He told me approximately two weeks. In order to make sure that she can receive my letter approximately last Saturday; I must send the letter two weeks in advance. Firstly, I went to NUS co-op to buy a post card, envelope and some color pens. Then I wrote some blessing words on the post card to wish her a happy birthday. I printed one of our photos and I pasted it on the back of the post card. I also wrote a letter to tell something about my current situation. After everything was OK, the only thing remain is that sending the letter. The next day after l ate my lunch, it was about 12:45 pm. I was a little afraid that post office didn’t open at that time. Because I think these departments such as clinics need time eat their lunch. However, when I went to the NUS’s post office, it opened at that time. Then I bought a stamp to paste on the envelope. At last I sent my letter into the postbox.

I just thought that when her birthday came, she would receive my letter, but actually, I didn’t get any response from her. Then until this Friday, I received a message from her said that she had already received my letter. She said that although her birthday had passed, she still felt very happy and moved to receive my letter. For me, I also felt very happy that she could like my little present.

Total Solar Eclipse

Do you know what’s special of this year? 2009 is the year of the telescope in memory of Galileo’s observations of the universe through the astronomical telescope he invented. Furthermore, in honor of Galileo’s discoveries, the United Nations and the International Astronomical Union have declared the year to be the International Year of Astronomy. Then do you know what’s this year have in store for China? 

On July 22,2009, there will be a Total Solar Eclipse that lasts for the longest time and the Northern part of China is the best place to observe it. 

According to the picture on the right，Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai，all are capital cities in China where the transp

ortation is very convenient. 

Places        Begin      Last Time (second)     Angle 

Chengdu  08 07 05       118                            36

Chongqing  08 08 07       295                            39

Ezhou          08 15 25       309                            48

Hangzhou   08 21 27       324                            55

Hefei            08 18 40       113                            51

Jiaxin           08 22 20       352                            56

Jinzhou       08 12 48       306                            45

Ningbo        08 23 09       261                            57

Shanghai    08 23 26       302                            56

Shaoxin      08 21 53       275                            56

Suzhou       08 22 22       294                            55

Tongling     08 18 05       340                            52

Wuhan        08 14 54       324                            48

Wuxi            08 22 04       225                            55

Xiaogan      08 14 41       325                            47

Zhou Shan 08 23 56       309                            58

 

According to the chart above, the Total Solar Eclipse lasts for a long time. It will last for more than 6 minutes in many places. It is good enough for observations when the angle of the sun is more than 30 degrees. The angle of the sun will be more than 50 degrees in many places. Therefore, it is really a wonderful chance for us to experience this rare phenomenon. In addition, considered the last time and the angle of the sun, these places are highly recommended: Hangzhou, Jiaxin, Shanghai, Tongling, Zhou Shan. 

Many people are very curious about how to observe the Total Solar Eclipse. It is very complicated to observe it by taking pictures with a telescope or a camera, so I just introduce some feasible ways for us. 

1. You can wear sunglasses that are dark enough.

2. Subject glass to smoke so that you can use it to reduce the strong light of the sun.

3. Put several films together with which you observe the sun. 

4. Use the eye-protecting glasses used by a welder.

If you go back to China in July and the weather is good, you might as well go to these places to observe the Total Solar Eclipse.                                                         

Plato’s Permanence----LOVE &AIR

From the book (A Community of Readers), I got an interesting topic for my blog-----‘ideal relationship between a couple’.
Firstly, I want to definite “ideal”. What is “ideal”? In a word, perfect. As we all know, there are no perfect things in the world, just like no pure extract can be found naturally. So when we talk about “ideal” or “perfect”, we have to visualize and imagine. Meanwhile, the content of the “ideal” differs individually. So in this blog, I want to talk about what kind of relationship between a couple is ideal for me.
From the title, maybe you have already got some clues. Indeed, as you guessed, I am inclined to spiritual romance. For me, the relationship between a couple should be as slight as air. Maybe it is a bit of weird to use such a metaphor. Let me elaborate it.
My life journey is an exploration. Aim to find a right person, I am struggling in dark and waiting for the dawn coming. I am always imaging romantic scenes which seem far away from my real life but I enjoy that kind of fantastic thinking. For example, when I see two lovers walking arm in arm in front of me, I would imagine what if I were the girl. Furthermore, I always share that kind of fantastic imagination with my friends. They all said that I was mad and too crazy about romance.
But actually I am passive towards romance since I am a big beauty who is not pretty but fat. I am so self-conscious that I am always feeling that boys are not willing to approach me even cast a glance to me. So if I fall in love with someone, I hope the romance can be as light as air, “0 burden”. I don't want him to worry about me. I will forgive him even he forgets me. But once we are in trouble, the first thing coming into mind is the promise given by each party------I will come to back to you when I am needed. This promise seems weightless and not practical, but for me, I will spend my whole life in keeping my promise. Similarly, I hope my other part could also do so.
I don’t care how long we can stay together, what I care most is that I have ever experienced it. I don't long for seeing you every second, what I value most is that when I turn back for help he can always be there. I don’t ask for a luxurious wedding, what I need is your promise to take care of me.
Everything between us is like air. As light as air, we don't burden each other, knowing when to set the other party free. As heavy as air, we keep promise forever until we can live without air.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I have just finished reading the book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and it was a reading experience that will stay with me. As a novel which deals with how the world has changed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close tells us about its direct affect on one family. The novel begins sometime after that fateful day. Thomas Schell, father, son, and husband, perished in the attacks, and the novel is narrated by his son, Oskar.

The story goes the way when the nine-year-old boy, Oskar, lost his father in the attacks on Sep. 11th, after which he becomes a tortured insomniac. He gives himselves little bruises and he is always in “heavy boots”. One year after his father died, Oskar discovers a key enclosed in an envelope of his dad with the word “Black” written on its back. He begins his journey throughout the city to find the lock it belongs to. Step by step, Oskar gets to know many people and learns their lives, he also discovers the great tragedy happened to his grandparents who survived the fire bombing in Dresden, Germany in the Second World War. Compared to those who also survived in their own ways, Oskar finally finds out his tradedy is only like a single tiny star in the night sky.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a wonderful story about ups and downs in life, about how people handle horrible tragedies, about losing someone that you love and about coming to terms with this loss. The catch of the title is that it is tragedy that is loud and close, but the people who can share and relieve grief are all too quiet and far away. It's an intimate story tightly centered upon one family, but one that links itself to tragedies that happened to everyone around us.

Reading response of 《The house on Mango Street》(Part two)

Dream

Esperanza's dreams are often mentioned in this book.

She dreams to have an ideal friend:

"Someday I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain to them. Before then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor. "

 But actually, the last sentence is more important. "A balloon" shows her strong desire to be free. "tied to an anchor" tells us that, there are things that restrict her to do so. Such as her responsibility for her sister Nenny or her parents don't expect her to be strong. Esperanza mentions three women to imply this dream and the restrictions. 

First is her grandmother who is also called Esperanza, which "in English... means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like number nine. She is "also a horse woman "which is supposed to be a bad luck if you're born female -- but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese like the Mexicans, don't like their woman strong". "I have inherit her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window." "Number nine" means waiting. 9 is the number before 10, which is considered to be a number before changing. Esperanza use this number to show that, she is growing up and she is waiting to change, to be mature. "Don't like their woman strong" gives us an example of restriction. " don't want to inherit her place by the window" tells us that she don't want to be the traditional Mexican woman but want to get rid of all the restriction to be free, to be strong enough to realize her own dreams.

Second is her good friend Alicia who " is a good girl, my friend, studies all night and sees the mice, the ones her father says do not exist. Is afraid of nothing except four-legged fur. And fathers. " Alicia is a girl who just like Esperanza wants to be free and strong so she studies very hard and finally can go to university. We will pay attention to "fathers". How can she have so many fathers? Here, "fathers" just means men who restrict her and hope her to be a traditional woman, acting like her father.

 

 Third is Aunt Lupe. She likes very much Esperanza's poem:

         I want to be

         like the waves on the sea,

         like the clouds in the wind.

         but I am me.

         One day I'll jump

         out of my skin

         I'll shake the sky 

         like a hundred violins.

She says," You just remember to keep writing, Esperanza. You must keep writing. It will keep you free..." 

It is a dream in Esperanza's heart that never changes but there is another dream of Esperanza that changes as time goes by. That is the house in her dream, which is a core image in this novel.

At first she wants the house that has "running water and pipes that worked. And inside it would have real stairs, not hallway stairs, but stairs inside like the houses in TV." The first ideal house in Esperanza's mind don't have to be very big or decorated well but can meet their basic needs and is influenced by the programs on TV. So we can know, at first she just wants to live away from poverty and her idea is not that mature.

Later on, the kind of house she wants is a house on the hill so that she is "close to the stars". The more important is that, she will offer the attic of her house to passing bums. Esperanza begins to be sensitive to the discrimination. She doesn't want to be looked down on just as she is brown or poor. Furthermore, she thinks the rich should help the poor if they can by saying that if she is rich, she will help the bums.

At end of the novel, the house she wants is "a house all my own. Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem." This house shows the inner desire of a much more mature Esperanza. It is a house most connected to her dream to be free. It is said that, the subtitle of this part corresponds to Woolf's work. So this house may not be the final decision of Esperanza.

While growing up, Esperanza keeps on enriching her dream, revising her dream. Yes, dreams need analyses, criticisms and revisions.

Leave and return

The dream to be free and free from restrictions comes true as Esperanza leaves the Mango Street. Three sisters say, " When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand?"  It is a responsible to come back just as Alicia says, " Like it or not you are Mango Street, and one day you'll come back too. Not me. Not until somebody makes it better." So at the end of the book, Esperanza says," They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out."

Leave is for dream and return is for responsibilities. The ones left behind are those you are responsible for and they will always be your support behind you. 

Slowly wander about on Mango Street!

Reading response of 《The house on Mango Street》(Part one)

Attracted by the cover and the name of it, I bought the book The House on Mango Street. Following the narration of Esperanza, I amble on Mango Street, getting to know about her life, her friends and her dream.  Childhood and memory, dream and growing up, hometown and the true meaning of leave and return, all are became known to me gradually, traveling in this world, whose background is light orange, just like the color of a mango.

The voice of Esperanza

Pure, bright and lucid. the voice of Esperanza is the first thing you will encounter with in this world:

 "But my mother's hair, my mother's hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty... sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin..."

However, as I read more and more, I found that this voice of her is not as pure as I had felt at the beginning. It is mixed with sorrow cherishing the past things: 

"You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe when you are sad. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky..."

Still, you will be impressed by the voice of this sensitive little girl as she is always talking to you as if she is talking to herself or her best friend without any gap or distance.

Life & Friend

The things happen to Esperanza and the characteristics and lifestyles of her friends tell us about the lives of immigrants in America. They are always living in poverty and suffering from discrimination.

Let's see how she describes her house from which we can easily know that the financial condition of Esperanza's family is far from good:

" Windows are so small that you'd think they are holding their breath...the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in" 

These metaphors display a world in which everything has its spirit and is alive though, behind the novel and lively metaphors, the feeling of Esperanza is disappointed and even ashamed.

The first friend of Esperanza is Queen of Cats Cathy who claims herself t the great great grand cousin of the queen of the France. She straightforwardly says that, the neighborhood is getting bad because more and more brown people move in. Though Cathy herself only has a vague idea, but her words, to some extend, show the prejudice towards brown people in the adults' world.

English Corner

Today, after lunch, we went to English Corner which is near CELC. As we went into the room, the people in the community welcome us. We introduced each other. Most of them are Singaporen and they are all students in NUS.Then they introduce the activities in the room. We played a childish game together. We built up a “building” use the boxes which like bricks, then we drew out one of the box in the “building” and put on the top again to see who will make the highest “building”. In the game, we communicated and knew more about each other. They also told us more about Singapore. They didn’t talk much about the English Corner in the beginning but talked about the interesting things and talked about NUS. After we played one more game named “Sequence” together, they gave us the paper to do some questions and write down our contact way.

In the communication with them, I feel they are friendly and helpful. We can also pratice our English. We all have the thought that making a Singaporen friend is good. We can not only learning about each other, but also learn the different culture.

Learn From the Debate(YAP)

It is really a beneficial experience, from the class debate to the inter-class debate.
Here I want to share my gains in the debate:

1. The Preparation

If let me set a percentage of the importance of all the procedures in a debate, the preparation would have the highest, 60%. And in the preparation period, I learned most from the discussion with my teammates.

Firstly, I realized that it is not an easy task to make the discussion really effective. It is because we always have too many opinions, and to identify which are of value and which are not is difficult. So, in this sense, to keep the destination which the discussion is supposed to reach in mind and have a good organization is of crucial importance. As long as you can keep your purposes in mind, you would not be confused or distracted by the thoughts which are off-track, so as to lead the discussion into a right direction.

Secondly, the teamwork is very important, if not the most important. In the discussion, it is unavoidable that the team members are sometimes at variance over some issues. When this happens, the most important thing is to speak out your opinions with respect to each other and consider other’s view objectively and critically. Only with this respect in mind and perform as a team can the team be united and strong enough to win. For me, I really appreciate the members to be sincere and outspoken, and I am also ready to hear any voice of opposition and disagreement, because this is the best way to make our work efficient and effective.

2. In the Debate

Although we have made a good preparation, it is actually not enough to win. A good delivery and rebuttal is required in the process of a debate. What I learned from this debate is to keep a clear mind and make a clear note. In the debate today, in my speaking, I missed some points that should have been involved. Actually, I had made notes about those points, but it was a bad one. As a result, I created a problem that made my speech fail to reach the level it should have reached for myself.

Another thing was that the communication in the debate is not enough. We all concentrated on our own thinking so it is easy to ignore other’s suggestions. To do well in this aspect is not easy; maybe it requires much rapport and more experiences between each other.
All in all, I really learned much in this debate.

At last, I want to say we are really a very good team, Veronica, Cliff, Harry and Susie. And Thank those who contributed their intelligence and efforts to this debate.

Reflections on the English course

Time flies. Our English course is coming to the end. In the next two weeks, which are also the last two weeks of the English course in CELC, we are going to have a Variety Show, a Research Report Presentation and a Post-test. So the coming two weeks may be the busiest two weeks we have ever had during the whole English course. As to the English course, somebody like it while somebody do not. I do not want to make a comment on that. All I want is just to express some opinions of mine about the past five months we have spent in CELC.

First of all, I have to say that the English course as well as the Bridging course is very helpful and necessary. For us Chinese students who knew little about Singapore before, such courses give us opportunities to get in touch with Singaporeans and help us a lot to adapt to the new environment as well as the teaching style. Moreover, with the assistance from our tutors, our English has improved. Now, some of us can understand the local Singaporeans without much effort when we are chatting with them. This is extremely important for us, especially when we become formal students of NUS and have to attend lectures. In addition, we also learn much Singapore culture during the lessons by the way. It should help us to know better of Singapore. Thus, I am very grateful for the courses provided by the MOE and NUS.

However, there is also something not so satisfying. The one I want to mention is that our English has not improved enough. The obstacle of communication between the native English speakers and us is still very distinct and large. That is mainly because when we finish our eight hours lessons, we immerse ourselves into a group of Chinese students immediately. Or actually, we are always amongst our Chinese students. And we always communicate with our Chinese friends in Mandarin instinctively. As what I have already mentioned in one of the lessons at the very beginning of the English course, in my view, the key purpose of this course is for us to build the ability that we can think in or at least partly in English after the five months study. But obviously, this goal cannot be reached when the course finishes.

My suggestion is that we should be given opportunities that we can communicate with local students freely as many as possible. Instead of sitting in classroom all day long, it is better for us to take part in activities and approach to the local students. I know that may sound not practical since some of the students do not have that strong self-discipline, and the only thing they may do is just staying at hostel and playing video games. Nevertheless, I still believe that we can find a balance point at which the students can both join the activities and study under the charge of the tutors.

So as a conclusion, in retrospect, I appreciate the help I gained and I am happy with the improvement I have made in the past five months. It is unavoidable that there are things to be improved; yet, I still hope and believe sincerely that the English course will go on well and more Chinese students will benefit from it.




Jiang Xiaoning (Arthur)
May 21, 2009