My senior 3

There is a popular saying amongst Chinese students: “Being a Chinese student, your student career would be defective if you don’t experience the CEE (College Entrance Examination). More or less exaggerative, it indicates the indispensable role that CEE plays in Chinese students’ life today. For the students before college, they are told that their only mission is to do well in the CEE, in order to enter a good university. And if you do achieve that, not only you but your family and your school will be proud and happy. But if unfortunately, you fail, it would be a great defeat for you and your family. So you can imagine what a stressed life a senior 3 student lives.

As for me, the senior 3 year means too much: A tough time, the CEE, and the admitted letter from NPU that I longed to for 12 years, the goodbye to my dear friends… And every time when I see the lamp which companied me until midnight every day for so many years, the test papers which could be piled up as a small hill, the Hello Kitty alarm clock that dragged me out of my dreams every morning, and the basketball which I played even in the last days before the final adjudgement, the subtle emotion from the bottom of my heart will engulf me. They are all proofs that I had gone through a hard but significant time in my life.

And it is memorable because of the friendship I gain. In the most difficult times, it was my friends that gave me courage to move on. When I failed in exams, it was also my friends that shared my sorrow and encouraged me. I still yearned the time I played basketball with my classmates, which was always a way we poured out our pressure. I still recall their smiles now and then…

I also encountered the terrible earthquake in this year. It happened just one month before the CEE. To guarantee our safety, we had to spend the last one month in the tents on the playground. It was summer exactly, the sun seemed to burn everything. In the roaster-like tents, we counted down in heart every day that how many days left, and encouraged each other to be persevering. So, despite of the horrible temperature and the annoying aftershocks, we managed to overcome these difficulties to prepare for the coming exams. This is really an exceptional experience.

There are too many things to recall for my senior 3 year, but what I want to say is that despite of all these toughness, the senior 3 year was really a purest and happiest time in my life.
Like the song sings: “ although the time had flew away , we had walked through it together.” Yes, it will be etched on my heart forever, the time we spend together, my senior 3 year.

A hug left behind

I went to Parry Hall last month. Compared with the standard facilities in Parry Hall, Eton Hall is a bit more like home. One “crazy” and “super-enthusiastic” uncle, two wildcats, three Chinese cooks, four “pleasantly plump” aunties……and a kind female guard consist of a big family called” Eton Home”.

What depressed me most recently was that the kind female guard was fired. There are many versions about her leaving. But a prevalent saying was that she was fired because of her “overkindndness”. I must admit that she is really so nice. Every evening, when she came upstairs to open the air-conditioners, she would always actively chat with us and ask whether we need her help. When it came to study time, she would check every dormitory and give a soft remind that we should not phone or watch a movie. Her smile was always there. For me, she was maternal and I am sure she treated us as her own children.

How could I forget what she said to me the night before her leaving? “I am leaving…..aunty doesn’t like me…..”she said upset. I was stunned there when I heard that. “Do you have camera?....we can take some photos ...but not today, I will come back and we all wear beautiful….” Something sparkled in her eyes and I knew what it was. “I will miss you” was what I said to her. She didn’t say anything but give me a reluctant smile. I knew she was too sad to give anyone a big smile. Then we hugged tightly. Though the hug only lasted 3 seconds, what kept in my mind was everlasting. Afterwards she left, waving her hands instead of saying goodbye…..

I was told that she went away the next day. “she will be back . she promises that she would come back.”I said to myself assertively. “she is a single mother.” One of my friends told me. “But I don’t think she would be alone. Because she has so many children in Eton Hall.” I returned.

Since she left, my life in Eton Hall seems partial. But her hug left behind is the biggest comfort for me.

My Storytelling Contest

My Storytelling Contest
Last week, I had a storytelling contest. It seemed to have been a long time since the last time I told a story in public before this. Furthermore, I seemed to have been over the age to speak something such like “once upon a time” or “happily ever after”. However, the contest taught me that a storytelling was not limited to these.

I should start with my preparation for the contest. Three weeks ago, we were told by our tutor, Ms Tan about writing an original narrative and presenting it to the whole class. “A story,” I murmured to myself, “I thought it was a thing for children.” On account of this, though I put much effort in my first draft (I spent almost all my Sunday afternoon in it), I really thought nothing of it. That was the beginning of my failure. Several days later, the punishment arrived. I had to rewrite, because Ms Tan wrote on my assignment paper, “This is really not a story.” Well, I had it coming. My problem was that I did not add any suspense or climax in my story. As a result, it seemed more like an experience.

The procedure of rewriting was painful. I thought over my head hour after hour, but still could not figure out a suitable suspense for my story or “experience”. I really need a rewriting, from head to toe. Finally, I changed my warm and moving experience (at least I thought so) into a thing somewhat like a horrible story. After I finished it, I leaned against the back of my chair, admitting that writing an original story was not an easy job, at least not as easy as I had thought. I began to admire Anderson and Grimm more than I had ever had before. How on earth could they come up with so many brilliant stories that even till today still grabbed the eyes of millions of children or even adults? The incredible imagination. What else could it be? I should admit that through my eighteen years’ life, I had already lost the enormous curiosity and creativity which belonged to me in my childhood. These were the gifts of God, and the sad thing in that once you gave up, they would hardly return. I felt very sorry for me and for myself.

One week after, the storytelling day came. I remembered that someone used to say that I should not have problem in speaking in public. Actually, I had. I really had butterflies in my stomach before I went in front of the class. Because of time limited, I did not get the chance to submit my rewrite story to the tutor. I was not sure whether it was acceptable, or even whether it was a story. Before I found the answers to these key questions, it was time for me to tell the story. I stood up and walked to the front step by step, trying to comb my messy thoughts. Then, I turned around, facing my audience and opening my mouth. Strangely, I got calmer and calmer. The words came out like flowing. It seemed that my rehearsal was not in vain. I finished my story with a clear ending and won a round of applause.

Though I did not win the first prize of the storytelling contest, I felt very happy. The experience taught me that treat every task as a task and do not look down upon it. If not, sooner or later, you will get your result. Another thing is facing your bad points and trying to change them or at least improve them. No one in the world is perfect. If you keep on trying, you will also get what you deserve. God is always just.

The story of taking photos

Today I will tell you about my interesting story in high school about taking photos with my classmates.
It was two days before the national universities’ entrance exam, that day we didn’t have lessons and we will leave the school after the exam, so we decided to take some photos together before we parted from each other. There were 11 students. But we had no cameras so we went to a photo studio to rent a camera, but the boss said that all the cameras that could be rented had been rented and there was only one professional camera left and it was very expensive so he didn’t want to rent it to us. So we begged the boss for a long time. We said that we were the top students in the Ezhou senior high school, and we won’t cheat hi m and won’t break the camera. However, the boss then said he could rent the camera to us if we gave him 1000yuan as a pawn. But how would us students have so much money? At that time we were very upset and don’t know what to do.
Finally I said that if I could use my telephone as a pawn. I supposed that he won’t agree because my telephone was a ve ry old one and surely wasn’t worth 1000yuan. But to our surprise, he agreed. So we took the camera back to school happily.
Then we started to take photos. We posed in many different ways to show our happiness. You can see from the pictures. There was one photo in which I was lifted by my classmates. Look! How happy we were! We even lay on the football field to pose like a letter V and the number 3 and 11 because we were in the 3(11) and we al l wanted our class would have a victory in the exam. We took so many pictures that we used up all the energy in the battery. We were so happy that day that we all forgot the stress of the exam…
Now I often take a look at these vivid photos, and it is an enduring memory in my life. And I always think about my friends. I miss them very much. But fortunately I have these photos. I can take a look at it when I miss them. And the happy moment will revive in my mind. Oh the happy senior high school…..

A boy in China I miss a lot (2)

A boy in China I miss a lot (2)
I have received many comments since I posted my first blog about the boy who I miss a lot. Thank you very much! And I think I should continue to share my story with you.
Just a week before my leaving for Singapore, I made a phone call to one of my friends in shanghai. He promised me that he would call the boy after I arrived at Singapore. I just wanted the boy to know that I enjoyed taking the same bus with him.
However, my friend didn’t keep his words. I received a phone call from a stranger. I didn’t answer it. Afterwards, I sent him a message to ask who he was. He told me that he was the very boy who I never talked to. I was shocked at that time. Later, we shared a lot of good memories about our school life. I was surprised to find that he almost remembered all that I did. He always wondered what kind of girl I was at that time.
I had a good talk with him by sending messages during my stay in Beijing before landing on the plane. But we didn’t talk anything about love. He might know that I had a spot for him. But he avoided mentioning that to me.
I agreed that it was good for both of us for it was still too early to know the future. When he asked when I could come back to shanghai. I just told him honestly that I didn’t know. I couldn’t give him any promise about the time I would come back to China. I want to achieve my dreams of being a good businesswoman. I can’t and I won’t give up all my efforts to strive for my dreams. Maybe a few years later, I will have a good career in a foreign country. And I am sure that he will just stay in Shanghai.
I have learnt from my friend that he is an introverted person. I found that he almost didn’t speak to any other students, especially girls, except his best friend during the school days. I could feel that sometimes he even didn’t know what to say to me. It was not because he didn’t want to say something, but because he didn’t know how to say something. I was happy to learn that our conversations were his longest talks with a girl. I appreciated it that he didn’t say anything unfriendly to me before my leaving.
Four days ago I sent a message to him after losing touch nearly two months. He replied soon. We talked to each other on the QQ. We all told each other that we wanted to focus more on our studies. We treated each other just like normal friends.
I think he is one of my good friends now. And I won’t consider anything else expect my study for I don’t know how my future will be. One thing is for sure, I will have a promising future. What I can do for him is to send him my best wishes.
He is studying in the Heilongjiang province which is in the northern China. And I am studying in Singapore which is near the equator. The distance is rather great. This experience will certainly be my nicest memory in my life. I hope our friendship can last forever.

Time Out Singapore

Are you a new recruit to Singapore? Are you being away from your old friends and family? Are you desperate for suggestions that can tell you how to fill your time and live your life to the fullest in this country? Then Time Out Singapore, which is a kind of magazine I specially want to recommend to all of you, is surely a prefect choice.

One day I was browsing the bookshelves aimlessly to kill time in a bookstall, when Time Out Singapore came into my sight.The artistic cover and its well-coloured illustrations throughout the pages drew my attention all of a sudden. As I went through the magazine, I found that such a thin booklet did provide us with abundant information that might help us a lot.

Time Out Singapore deals with all that you could think of. From latest films in the cinema to albums newly released, from the coming sports events to grand activities in the offing, from all kinds of exhibitions available in galleries and museums to the best piece of music that tops the charts recently, it is just the right information source that you can consult. On top of all that are listed above, Time Out Singapore is also your personal travel agency that can offer you all the information you need to make a enjoyable trip. Tips on the local food, brief introductions to your potential ideal destinations for holidays, and helpful suggestions on planing your schedules are all included in it.

Via this magazine, I also learned about an organization called naturetrekker, which organize outdoor trips to every corner of Singapore that worth exploring and visiting,from now and then .

Just go to www.timeoutsingapore.com to have a look and reveal the secrets yourselves!



Zhang Qiong Veronica

Sad to hear that

I heard the news at night, after finishing my studying in the study room. My friend told me that the female security in my hostel was fired. I was so shocked to hear that. Because in my impression, she is a very kind and helpful woman and I couldn’t figure out a reason that is legitimate enough to fire her.

When we used our laptops with the wires going across the corridor to reach the plugs, which created a possibility that someone would stumbled and fall if they didn’t notice the wire under their feet. So, every time, when she noticed this, she would come to us to remind that put a chair over the wire in order to draw the passer-by’s attention. I can still remember her words:” you should put a chair here, or your mates would fall, safety first!” Every time she saw the situation, she would come and remind us patiently or just put a chair over the wires herself. See, how careful she is!

And the time to light off in study room is eleven o’clock at night. But sometimes, we needed more time to finish our work. So, she would kindly extend the time limit to let us finish. And sometime if it is impossible for her to give us a longer light, she would allow us to brought our own lamp to the study room. See, how kind she is!

Sometimes students came back to hostel after curfew because some forgivable reasons, she would let them in and not scold them and told them to be punctual next time. I am sure that she knows this is against the law, but I think she just didn’t want to see us being penalized so she made some compromises.

She is so kind a woman but we even didn’t know her name yet. And now she is fired. I really feel very sad about the incident. And if it was these reasons that caused her lay-off, I think it would be unfair for her. Something she did may be a little bit conflicting against the rules, but she just want to create a better environment for us. At least she should be given a chance to correct her “faults”.
At last, I sincerely hope that she would be forgiven and keep doing the job..

A boy in China I miss a lot

A boy in China I miss a lot
Shanghai was divided by about 11 districts. Most of the students should go to the school of the very district where he lives. A few students can go to other districts to further their study by their good academic performance. When I was admitted by my senior high school, I found the life difficult for me to deal with.
I took a bus to school every. It was a trip about 30 minutes or more. Then I had to walk a long distance about 15 minutes to arrive at the school gate. There were only 10 students who lived in my district: pudong new area. Several of them chose to live in the school, and others preferred to take a bus like me. I always felt tired and lonely on my way to the school. It was such a long route, but I could hardly find a friend who was on the same bus with me!
A few weeks later, I saw him. To my surprise, I have not seen him before on the same bus. He was an impressively handsome tall boy who attracted me at the first sight. I noticed that he would sit in one particular seat silently. And he always admired the scenery all the way. Finally, I knew the reason why I hadn’t seen him before. Because he went to school so early that we never took the same bus.
I was a little curious about him. I wanted to know which class he was in. To my surprise, he was a member in the competitor class. That meant he was one of the top students in our school. I couldn’t help to observe him. I changed my time table in order to meet him on the same bus. Gradually, I knew some first-hand information about him. He was a quiet boy. He was everything but a boy who liked to boast about himself. He always got great marks. Sometimes we would walk along the street side by side silently. But I was so ashamed that I didn’t dare to speak to him.
The first year, he usually went to school early. I also did so. I found I didn’t do things in a hurry like before. I have more time reading materials during the morning, and I could focus on my study better than ever before.
The second year, he would go to school late. I did so, either. We were both tired for the mass amount of homework. We kept company with each other every day. But we still didn’t speak to each other.
The third year, we both worked hard to achieve our dreams of entering a good university. Although tired, I still enjoyed every minute taking the same bus with him. Until the last school day, we stood side by side on the same bus. We didn’t see each others’ face. It broke my heart to get off the bus. I even was not sure whether he knew my name or not though we met every day.
The result of college entrance examination came out. He went to a famous university in another city. A few months later, I was pronounced to be admitted by NUS. There was still a long distance between us from beginning to end.

comment 2

Dear Jinlong,
Sorry to reply your comments late. I am afraid I cannot agree your arguments. John .F. Kennedy said: “ask what you can do for your country, do not ask what your country can do for you”. As a Chinese born and Chinese brought people, we cannot deny we are Chinese although we can become Singapore PR or citizens. China is a great and giant country, maybe it is no use for us helping it.
But I must say: although it has many problems and is not as affluent as Singapore, as a Chinese, no matter where we stay , what we do, when she need helps , I will try my best to offer my helps just like Mr. Tan Ka ki.

my comments

Dear Kongli,
Thanks for your help. I appreciate your comments on my blogs. I think what you said is quite right. We cannot change something. But we can do our best to adapt to it and overcome it. I think I has recovered from that kind unpleasant feeling. Yes you are right. We are now grown-ups.
So we should no longer act and speak just like a child. We ought to do something in return our parents instead of letting them worried.
Yida

A great artist

There are many famous artists in China, but only three are very familiar to the common people. They are Xu Beihong, Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian. Here I want to introduce Xu Beihong to you who I admire so much.
He was born in July 19th, 1895, in Jiangsu province. That year, China lost the war to Japan and the Chinese were suffering great disaster. That time his family was living a poor life. His father named him Shoukang and started to teach him when he was only six years old. His father had a great expect on him and he stared to learn painting from his father when he was nine years old. However he didn’t want to follow his father’s load to be a painter in the country, what he wanted to be was a great artist. So after he had saved some money, he went to Shanghai for further development. But life in Shanghai was not very plain sailing, several months later he run out of his money without any achievement, so he had to return to his hometown. That time, he was already very famous for his painting in his hometown so he was employed to be a painting teacher in a middle school.
The year when he was 17 years old he married a girl as his parents’ hope. But he was very unsatisfied with his marriage so he changed his name to Beihong which meant great sorrow. His father died when he was 19, so he had to work very hard to support his family. He went to Shanghai again for his dream, there he met some good friends who gave a lot support for his study and life. He went to Japan to study painting when he was 22, after that he was employed to be a tutor in Pecking University by its principle Cai Yuanpei.
With a great effort, he finally got the chance to go to France to study painting with his second wife Jiang Biwei when he was 24. During his years abroad, he met many famous artists and studied from them which had a great influence on his painting. When he returned to China in 1925, he was already very famous home and abroad. Later, he traveled in Europe and produced a lot of great artistic creations. He conducted many art exhibitions in Europe in his late thirties. He also put forward the “seven laws” in charcoal drawing. He was invited to conduct art exhibitions in India by the famous poet Tagore and became good friend with him.
During the War of Resistance against Japan, he created the famous painting Yugongyishan in order to inspirit the Chinese to hold on fighting for their freedom and their country. He also contributed all his money made by selling his paintings to support his country.
In his late forties, he suffered a serious disease, but he still kept on drawing and teaching. He divorced when he was 50 and a year later he married Liao Jingwen. He made some political achievements in his fifties and published some books on painting. His physical condition got worse but he still kept working. Then in 1953, he died from cerebral hemorrhage when he was 58 years old.
The reason why I admire him so much is not only he created a lot of great paintings but also his faith in achieving his goals and his patriotism. Just like a running horse which appeared many times in his paintings, he was always working hard to achieve his dream during his life. I think I should learn from his steadfast belief whatever I come across in my way pursuing my dream and never give up in my life.

My observation

Look at the world through a microscope, you can find virus and germs. But through your insight and observation, the world is colorful and full of human devices. Let me share some discoveries in Singapore with you. But I have to make an announcement first: the analysis below hasn’t been confirmed, in another word, it may not be true, just my individual opinions.
1, Q: Why must we press the button if we want to cross the road?
A: In order to reduce the waiting time. If pedestrians press the button to get the” green man”, the traffic system may react by reducing the waiting time for the pedestrians.
2,Q: why can we hear reminding sound” Bi…Bi…..Bi” when we pedestrians get the “green man”?
A: because some pedestrians can’t tell the difference between the green light and red light easily. So the system use the sound to give a friendly reminder to those pedestrians.
3, Q: why do some buses forbid standing?
A: Some buses have notice that “ Strictly no standing on the bus until the bus gets the destination” while others do not. If you are carful enough, you can find that the buses which forbid standing have no handles or some other devices for standing passengers, so for security, they don’t allow standing. Those buses are usually rent for tourism not used for public transportation.
4,Q: why the buildings in NUS are combined as a whole like a maze?
A: Reason1: Because nobody can give a precise prophecy whether it is going to rain or not in Singapore, when it rains suddenly , “good luck” to those without an umbrella .But if you are in NUS, take it easy, the combined buildings can help you. you don’t need to rush in the rain, just follow the signs then you can get to the ultimate destination. But if you still get lost, you will have yourself to blame.
Reason2: the combined building represents “unity”. The designer hoped everyone in NUS could unite as a whole.
Above are the results of my observation and pondering, maybe you have noticed that, maybe you don’t agree with me. My suggestion is that observe more and think more, you will get a good harvest.

Dear my friend Yangying

Dear my friend Yangying:
Yangying, perhaps you don’t know that I have kept one letter you sent me two years ago in my pocket since I left China.
In the letter, you recalled our happy time in the Jiangqiu where we had a military training; in the Wuxi where we went together for an autumn outing; in the Century Park where we rode a tandem bicycle.
There were so many beautiful memories. I can still remember that we slept on one bed to get warm from each other. I can still remember that we held hands tightly when we overcame lots of difficulties to climb on a mountain. I can still remember that you comforted me when I felt rather depressed.
I didn’t want anyone to see my tears except you. You always share my joys and enjoy my success. Whenever I got excellent remarks, you encouraged me to strive for further improvement.
Yangying, perhaps you don’t know that I always admire your positive attitude towards life. Your merry laughs always affect others around you.
I have only seen you cried twice.
The first one is the day you were wronged by your teacher. Your hurt expression made my heart ache for I totally agreed what you had done. I didn’t know what I can do at that time. So I chose to stand besides you silently. You knew I would always around you.
The second one is the night you learnt that I was admitted by a university of Singapore. You cried on the other end of the phone. My happy voice suddenly turned to be sad when I heard your cry. You wrote down a few words on your blog. You said:’ she will leave me for ten years.’ You knew no more words needed to describe our sincere friendship. It will be everlasting and unchanging.
I have promised you that I will show you around in Singapore. And I will also provide you an airplane ticket. I will keep my words! Every day I want to tell you something new which I have experienced in Singapore. I hope I can climb a mountain in Singapore with you although it is not very high. I hope I can have a race with you on cycling. I hope I can sleep on the beach of sentosa with you. I hope……. I can see your smiling face.

in night safari

During the Chinese festival holidays, I went to the night safari with one of my friends.
I had heard a lot about the night safari. It is unique in the world for it opens on the night. Tourists can either take a tram or walk along a path to see various kinds of animals. ‘ It is amazing!’ I said to myself.
When I was standing at the gate of night safari, I was attracted by the special atmosphere. Following the long queue, we headed for the animal show inside the zoo.
A young lady jumped on the stage. After having arranging seats for some audience, she suggested us to applaud to welcome our animal stars. Unfortunately, it began to rain at the moment. She was a little hesitated, because she knew that it might thunder from time to time. She explained that it was rather dangerous to stay out while wearing microphone. And it might hurt both her and the audience.
All of us felt nothing but a little disappointment. Before long everyone cheered as they found the rain stopped. The young lady leaded many animals to the stage. She required that we should not use a flashlight when we used a camera. For the simple reason that it might hurt animals’ eyes as well as frightened them.
But when the animals appeared, I saw a lot of flashlights around me. I couldn’t help worrying about the lovely animals. The young lady was a little angry. She put emphasis on that problem over and over again. But some people still didn’t pay attention to it.
Finally, the young lady had no choice but to ask help from most kind people. She required that if we saw anyone who used a flashlight, we should help her to point the one out. Just a few seconds after her words, we all saw a dazzling flash. ‘Will others point the person out?’ I wondered. To my surprise, I saw many people turned back and pointed at a beautiful lady. The lady was embarrassed. I was happy to see no flashlight any more since then.
I cheered for not only the well-trained animals but also for most people with good quality. It were they that made Singapore a harmonious country.

I am working now

In my opinion,I am more than a student. I am also a worker in Singapore whose job is to behave well as a scholar in the NUS.
Yes,I am a worker now. I attended the examination and interview,and as a result ,I was slected by the ‘employer’. Then I signed the contract with Singapore. As to the ‘salary’,that is the scholarship for my tuition and my cost of living in university. As a worker,I would be dismissed and shall compensate for a breach of the contract if I don’t satisfy them. In addition,I have colleagues, and I should also deal with the relationship with them and learn to cooperate with them.
I am a worker who is following the instruction that train myself for gaining knowledge and skills as a candidate for working in Singapore for 6 compulsory years or more.
I also work for myself.
I am working as a salesman in a sense. I sell myself everyday—- school,to my ‘boss’,to new people I meet.
I am working as a financier in a sense. The one who is supposed to manage my money is none other than myself.
I am working now. Of course,regarding myself as a worker,I shouldn’t forget I am a student in the university. The similarities between a student and a worker are far more significant than their differences. As more and more workers in the world are amid the depression of the economy which compounds the confusion about their life and carrer while I am beaming with pride as a scholar,I konw I am taking on more responsibilities.

Mirage, wisteria and I

Mirage is one of my best friends. She has unique characters; so many people can't understand some of her behaviors. While I like to talk to her very much, as she is really very humorous and she can always come up with many creative ideas resulting from her distinctive way of thinking. The most important reason is that we care for each other and share almost the same interests.

Contrast to her dissatisfaction to society, she appreciates the beauty of nature very much, especially lovely flowers. When we first met, she just couldn't wait to introduce me to her favorite flower--wisteria. 

Therefore the first spring after we met, at a sunny noon we went happily to the Fu River near our school, where standed a line of wisterias. Amazed by the spectacular purple waterfall against summerhouse, I found myself standing still staring at it.

The wisteria was a splendid, like a waterfall, falling down from the sky. The colors of wisteria were not exactly the same, some were light purple, some were dark purple, just like flowing purple water. It was noon, however, the sun was suitably strong. Due to that, the wisteria, interspersed with tiny diamonds twinkling happily, wore a brilliant look.

I just standing steadily seizing every minute to enjoying the purple beauty, while Mirage was telling me, every time she looked at this wisteria waterfall, she was surprised to find her unhappiness sliding away along with this purple water and she herself was drowned in silence.

Apart from its look, wisteria had a light scent，surrounded by which， you couldn't help closing your eyes and dreaming.

Then we step into the summerhouse enveloped by wisterias, talking happily about comic, wuxia (武侠), some funny things, forgetting about any other thing certainly including the time.

As I grow up, I, little by little, know about society, which sometimes frustrates me. This memory always calms me down and reminds me life is so beautiful.

A beautiful mind

Yesterday I saw a film called A Beautiful Mind. It told the story of a famous scientist, John Nash, who won the Nobel Prize for economy. But the process he won the prize was not very smooth.
When he was very young,he had already shown his talent in maths. Then he was accepted by Princeton to study maths. There, he worked hard and soon became very outstanding. But he had few friend except a roommate. They were so intimate that Nash could tell him anything that was deep in his heart. A few years later, Nash became a professor in Princeton. But he didn't like to teach students. He thought it was a waste of his time and he find his life now was very boring. But it was in his class that he met a very pretty and considerate girl, Alicia Larde. They loved each other very much. Meanwhile, a man called William Parcher who said he worked for the Ministry of National Defence found Nash and asked Nash to help find enemy's code from newspapers and magazines to save America from crisis. What's more he had to keep the secret and be very careful. It was an excited job and Nash liked it very much. Then he married Alicia Larde. But Nash's odd behaviors made Alicia very worried. So she called a psychiatrist. After examination, the psychiatrist told her that he had schizophrenia and the roommate and his secret job were all thought of by his mind. Nash couldn't believe it and he was forced to have the treatment and take pills which made him nearly impossible to think. In order to keep studying maths. He stopped taking the pills. Then all the illusion turned up again. But he tried his best to ignore them. Finally, thanks to his great talance and hardworking, Nash finally won the Nobel Prize.
From Nash's story we know that how powerful the interest is. Although Nash was very sick at that time, driven by his strong interest in maths he conquered the problem and kept studying. We are now going to choose our majors. I think the interest should be placed in the first place. Then we can go further in the future.

Never Give Up

Our lives are full of chanllenges that we must to face. Sometimes we may fail and sometimes we may we may want to give up. What I want say is that never give up no matter how hard the situation is.
We are ordinary persons and we may face a lot of difficult situations. We may hurt by someone, we may fail in exams, and we may even drop off from the top of our career that may even has taken off. But, never give up! Never give in others. Someone hurts us, we can just tolerate; Fail in exams, we can study hard and try again; Your career is defeated, never mind, your can settle up a new career.We must never lose hope even in the most desperate situations. We can never be saved by God and others, only ourselves can save us.
Futhermore, we should have our self confident. You know, we are all the unique persons in the world and no one can replace us. We must believe in ourselves. Chairman Mao failed a lot of times in his life. He leaded his army of Communist Party defending the strong army of National Communist. During that time, he lost his battle a lot of times and even has to fled away onetime. We all call the it as the Long March. You can't imagine how hard the situation it was. But chairman Mao just persisted in and he did it. He never lost his hope. We all can gain great acheivements if we never give up.
In a word, a man can be defeated, but he cannot give up. Never give up, and you are the winner.

A VISIT TO PULAU UBIN

During this Chinese New Year holiday, I paid a visit to Pulau Ubin. It was a small island lied to the northeast of Singapore. I enjoyed myself there and I want to share my experience with you in my blog.
It was a fine day that Tuesday. As Eton Hall was on the southwest of Singapore, I had to go across the whole island; I set out at ten o’clock. First I walked to the Queen’s Town MRT station to take the green line which led to the Changi airport. Getting out of the train at Tanah Merah, I found the NO.2 bus stop just near the MRT station. Ten minutes later, the bus came and picked me to the terminal-------Changi Village. It was a small dock where I got on board of a little boat. It took me one and a half hour to get there but the journey

The boat left the shore and was swaying in the sea like a big cradle. Gentle breeze was kissing my face. I felt so relaxed on the boat. Looking through the window I could see the Pulau Ubin in distance. There were so many trees on the island. Some small restaurants were located in shore.
Ten minutes later, I stepped on the island. Pulau Ubin was a good place for cycling. I saw stores renting bicycles. The price for renting a bicycle ranged from six to ten dollars. But I preferred to walk.

I wandered along the narrow path in the tropical forest. Both sides of the road were lined with different kinds of trees and plants, such as coconut trees, palms etc. the sun was shiny; birds were singing on the branches. Sometimes I could see squirrels ran from one tree to another agilely. I really took in the tropical flora and fauna. They brought me a sense of serenity and a breath of fresh air. Suddenly, at the end of the path the big ocean appealed. The green woods, blue sea and the gloriettes on the sea made a beautiful scene. I got lost in this beautiful island
Time limited. I just stayed there for about two hours. However, Pulau Ubin had a deep impression on me. It’s a wonderful place for meditation and relaxing.

My Year 2008

My Year 2008 (I)

Chapter 1 Introduction

Year 2008 saw too many events and disasters that happened to China, ranging from snow storm in southern China, riots in Tibet, Wenchuan earthquake to Beijing Olympic Games, poisonous dairy produce, financial crises caused by America. No matter how heavily those events and disasters influenced China, even the world, at that time, is influencing at present, and will influence in the future, it seems that they hardly have something to do with me.

I was born and grew up in the north and I had never left my hometown, Shandong Province, before I came to Singapore; hence, the snow storm in southern China and riots in Tibet did not affect my life at all. Wenchuan earthquake happened at 14:28 May 12, 2008, when I was attentively studying in the classroom. Beijing Olympic Games were wonderful, but I was only one of audience in front of television; besides, I have no interest in sports. Poisonous dairy produce shocked me at first because I drank milk every day when I was in senior high school. However, I did not worry any longer since only young children were affected. Financial crises seemed to be ruining the world, but I were not a graduate from colleges or universities, so I did not need to be too anxious about my future job.

However, I went through many a thing in the year 2008 just as my motherland. There is an old saying in China that “a male should not weep as soon as when they want to” (男儿有泪不轻弹).However, I wept in the January of year 2008 because I was quiet sad at that time. I had a strange feeling when my elder sister got married in February. I suffered from disappointments one after another in March, April and May. I spent three painful days in June. I did not manage to enter my first choice university and had to go to Shandong University in July. I struggled in August and September, turned SM3 scholar in October, abandoned myself to television in November and reached Singapore in December.

Now it is February of the year 2009 and they already turn past. However, when I recall them every time, some strong emotions still leaped out of my heart and I cannot get rid of them and cannot also express them explicitly. Therefore, I decide to write something about my year 2008 to recognize it gradually and recognize myself better gradually.
From GUO JINLONG(Eric)

The story telling contest

Today (Feb 17th), we had a story telling contest. The stories which we told were that what we wrote of essay 1. It was really an exciting experience to hear so many stories.
We started at about 9:20 am. Everyone had a chance to present his/her own story. The order was based on the class list. Of course, I was the last one to tell.

After hearing all the 19 students’ story, it was the time for me to share. For me, it was really a challenge to speak in public because of my shyness. Having preparing for such a long time reduced my tension. When I stood forward and looked at all my classmates, I felt that I would give a wonderful performance and I did so. Although I had some mistakes and didn’t use my voice well, I still felt that I was successful. I knew that I should change my voice sometimes up and sometimes down. I knew that I should use some gestures to help me express better. But when I stood face to face to my classmates, I was still too nervous to perform like that. I thought that it was progress for me to speak in public.

What impressed me was the story ”Because of love”. It was really a moving story that shocked me. The others were also very good. Veronica, Susie, Guoqiang, Tina, I thought they all performed very well. From them, I learnt many skills of story telling. Voice, gestures, expressions… I still needed to work hard.

This was the first contest of practicing our spoken English. I hoped that there were more activities like this. I’d like to improve myself.

Go out, challenge, and have fun!

The sun is burning in the sky, the sunshine seems terribly strong. But don’t be afraid of turning black, the world outside is wonderful!

I am that kind of person who wants to try new things, get different experiences and wants to keep energetic all the time. And I think this perception helps me very much to stay active.
As you know, in these two months in Singapore, I have participated in many activities such as the National Vertical Marathon, the Absurd Valentine, and some performances in NUS, go barbecuing, have a night in Sentosa, etc. I think these activities are all very interesting and happy to me, and they even gave me some material benefits, aren’t they?(LOL) And if you had gone participating, I am sure they could be equally interesting to you.

Vertical marathon, for instance. In fact, before I decided to participate, I was not sure if I could do this. But it was really exciting for me, so I took part in without hesitation. And the game following was very exciting and even educational. Before the game, we studied the principles and discussed for our competing plan. In the game, we learned to help each other and competed as a team. And I challenged myself. When I felt very tired and hard to move, I encouraged myself to keep going on, to be persevering and then I tried my best to move forward. So, I accomplished the game at last. Standing on the 60th floor of Republic Plaza, I was exhausted, wet, but happy. And it was surprising that we all made it in less than 15 minutes. I myself even didn’t believe I could be so fast. From these processes, I learned. I learned to be tough, to be collaborative and to be optimistic. My friends and I also got an opportunity to know each other better. Meanwhile, I had fun. What a fantastic competition it was!

Doing some absurd things in the Orchard Road was fantastic and crazy, too. We posed on the sidewalk on the Orchard Road with many strange and ridiculous postures.(visit my Xiaoei) You know, it was Valentine’s Day. There were so many people on the road, you really need courage to do that. And actually, I was very shy before crowd when I was a child. And at that day, I felt a little shy anyway. But because I had participated in the activity, I couldn’t fail my friends. So, no way could I retreat, I had to do that. Therefore, I tried to and finally managed to do some absurd things that I had never done before thousands of people. As our activity went on, I felt more and more relaxed and thought it was interesting as opposed to be embarrassed. Once again, I challenged myself and overcame my defect. And who could imagine we would be the first and got the award for a trip to the Bali Island! See, just do it and impossible is nothing!

And many other activities, such as the International Students Show in UCC, which brought me new experiences about different cultures, and gave me an opportunity to meet foreign friends. Go barbecuing, let me know about the barbecue skills and have a good time with my friends…..

So many interesting activities are out there waiting for you, my friends. Why not go out, challenge yourself, and have fun! I am sure you will have a different and happy experience!

what i want to tell my parents

Today I went on a journey to Jurong East after class over. The sky became dark and cloudy and was going to rain. Everyday seems to be like this. It may be true that the rainy season has come to Singapore.
At that time, I felt a little bit homesick.
I have reached Singapore about two months. I have been gradually used to have meals with knives and forks; I have been gradually used to the map of Singapore; I have been gradually tendering to dissolve myself into that society; and I have been accustoming to use English writing journals and communicate with each others.
In Singapore, the relationships between individuals can be described as the contract. Owing to contrast, we are drove to work, to learn, to team up, and to break. In a way, the marriage can also be regarded as a contract.
The scholarship is also as same.
We cannot get free educations and hostels from MOE. In the other words, it should be paid off. We should use our 10 years even all lifetime to work for this country. What’s more, this is why we cannot go back home because MOE is afraid of us running away and never back.
On the other hand, our parents prefer to pay our schooling fees in university; they agree us to go to college by air; for our live comfortable, they can just go to Beijing only for us; when we go abroad, they can left their work aside and see us off; when we meet difficulties, they are willing to do what they can do; when we hurt them and make mistakes, they can forgive us without any hating.
As for them, they do these without any special attention. They just wanna us to lead a more ease life than theirs; don’t have to overcome the difficulties they overcame and go the wrong way they went.
J.F. Kennedy said: “ask what you can do for your country, do not ask what the country can do for you.” Just like parents, they are the people who never mind what I can do for them
Thanks for the devotions from my parents!

The Workshop

The Workshop
Today I attended a workshop, which provided a psychological test to help you know better about your personality. I really gained a lot from it, both knowledge and fun.

The workshop was called DISC, which stood for four main kinds of personalities, dominant, inspired, standard, and critical. According to the lecture, we each belonged to one kind, though we might also have the thoughts or behaviors of the other three, and this test had nothing to do with intelligence or ability. Its aim was just to help you learn more about yourself and the people around you. Thus, we could understand people and ourselves better, which would benefit our communication with others and future career, because sometimes it was the key to success.

First, every one of us was given a test booklet. On the booklet, choices were divided into groups of four. We were told to choose the two alternatives in each group that matched our usual deeds best and worst. It took us almost seven minutes. Then, on next page, we found that each choice corresponded to one of the four personalities, DISC. So, we figured out the numbers of the alternatives we had chosen under each personality and collected our results in one form. At last, we drew a graph according to the data in the form, and the whole test was finished.

Then, we were asked to turn to the page which had the similar graph with ours. On that page, we could find the analysis of our particular personality. From the graph we drew, we could find out what was our dominant personality, and moreover, some of us might have subdominant one or even ones. The maximum was three out of four. If you had more, the lecturer would like to give you an additional counseling after the workshop.

Each personality had its advantages and disadvantages. For example, I got a “critical” personality, which indicated that I sometimes tended to be rather critical about the things and people around. This kind of people might be standard perfectionists. They require high standards both in others and themselves. In their career, they are very precise and always to the point. That is also to say, they are easy to hurt others by their direct or maybe sharp comment. However, on the other hand, they are easy to be hurt by criticisms. In their heart, they are very vulnerable, because in usual life, they put too much pressure on themselves to achieve perfect. If they fail, they will be very frustrated. On account of this, they usually do not have a calm status of heart. The elaboration may not suit every one of “C” kind, but they are sure to find some of it is quite true in their reflection of the past.

For me, it was “it”. From the further explanation of the lecturer, I knew more about my character and was taught how to avoid bad effects of it, which would surely develop my nature and personality. Nevertheless, someone found that the test was not very accurate or it does not match them at all. Well, just take it with a pitch of salt. At least, we got a chance to explore people’s personalities.

My Thoughts about Regrets

We humans are fallible. We often make mistakes and regret about what have happened. That is our nature. No one can avoid it. But in my opinion, there is no use crying over spilt milk. Anyway, the past has already passed. Tomorrow is left for us to create.

I always regret many things I have done and said, especially the ones that get myself in trouble. However, I try my best not to let the bad mood or any other negative feelings in my way. Because I know if I indulge my self in the sorrow of losing, I will have more to regret. The only thing I can do is to find whether I can compensate for it. If not, well, I just learn a lesson from it and let it go. I think the experience is the only thing I should treasure, just like the old Chinese saying goes, “Failure makes people wise.”

On the other hand, there are some regrets that could not be made up for. When we hurt someone without caution, even if we apologize afterwards, the hurts of the heart are still there and will always be there, just like nailing something to a wooden material and pulling it out. The wound of people’s hurt needs time to recover, and comfort to cure. Of course, a sincere apology is necessary. Moreover, my experience teaches me that do not waste time to blame myself or regret and take action to prove that I really don’t mean it. That is the point.

Sometimes, I regret the things I have not done. I regret that time goes by, but I do not make full use of it. I want to take good advantage of my seconds, minutes, and hours and gain a fulfilled life. I believe that the most wonderful life is the life has nothing to regret. I am envious of those people who have such kind of life. When the shade of death comes to them, they can say loudly “I have nothing to regret for my lifetime.”

However, every coin has two sides. Regrets also bring us reflection and good teachings. It makes me more mature and helps me figure out how I can do it better next time. At least, it keeps me cautious by saying so in my mind, “Don’t regret again.” I will be more careful when the same situation falls on me.

I regretted something in the past and I feel I will regret something in the future. But what I have in my hands is the present. I hope I can fetch it and lessen unnecessary regrets in the following days.

My learning strategies in learning English

As is known to the world, the key to mastering some skills is to discover the regular of them. That’s to say, strategies are always significant. Now, I would like to share some about learning English with you, such as building up your own vocabulary bank, practicing speaking and seeing films at the suitable time.
First of all, I am building up my own mini-dictionary which includes the most words of what you aren’t familiar to or forget easily. Because we have different experience in studying English, it's certain that the words we have managed are diversified. Based on the situation, it's necessary for me to build up vocabulary bank belonging to me. In this way, I can not only review my new words conveniently, but also save the time of looking up them in the dictionary again to know more ones. However, I never write in smaller letters to make it mini, I prefer to record high-frequent words to compress it.
Including building vocabulary bank, the second strategy I use is practicing speaking. I want to have face-to-face conversation with foreigners, however, because of my poor listening and some extent shyness, so that I don’t dare to do it. I think of imitating the voice from the tapes or radio. Oh, it works. I enjoy the sentimental or encouraging voice given after it’s well-prepared. I become active to speak though I often make mistakes or don’t know how to continue suddenly. Moreover, I discover my listening improves as well. That’s really called a thing is completed, but you benefit twice.
Seeing movies is the most popular among these three strategies, because it’s the best example which mixes the studying and entertainment. But when I see it too long, I will care more about the plot rather than the language. Besides, I often miss the exciting moments of study because of seeing. And I know, now, seeing films at the suitable time is the real strategy I should refer to. I usually enjoy it when I’m tired of learning English. Besides, the time is limited in one or two hours. Sometimes, I can return to study soon after relaxing myself through seeing movies. It’s really an useful and scientific method.
Above is what strategy I use, and I quite benefit from it. As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”. I believe, if I insist on it, I am to gain more. Thank you. That’s all.

Dedicated to Ran -who is caring me loving me sustaining me but now in doldrums and need my comfort

"A confused sensation of having suddenly lost my familiarity with the past, without acquiring any additional clearness of idea in reference to the present or the future, took possession of my mind. " Collins wrote those lines and I quote, which perfectly depict my current feeling being a newcomer in Singapore.

At such a tough transitional period, I keep everything that once etched in my mind with great delicacy for fear of losing track of those vivid memories. However,every time I try hard to walk down the memory lane and figure out the blur of the past, the awareness of our being apart tears me into pieces. In the last few days before the departure, we both deliberately avoided meeting each other as if that would definitely become the last meeting. This continued until I eventually boarded the plane in a hurry.

I parted from you, without my farewells bid and without a chance to shed tears in front of you.

I miss you. Take a leave at your hardest times, I even do not know how to comfort you. I dare not to pick up the phone and hear your voice coming from afar any more. I wonder and ponder, intending to come up with the best possible words that can immediately release you before I am courageous enough to contact you.

Sometimes I write several lines as a short poem especailly for you, and this time once more. I do not know what will help but I hope those will do.

My dear friend,

how can I polish your mood against dust,

how can I stretch out my hand to comfort your heart,

how can I fly to your side to cheer you up,

how can I convince you that we are not apart.

Just be happy and be strong. We can make it!!!

p.s. I will also post it on my xiaonei homepage in hope of her viewing it. Just let her know I am caring her loving her also...

Dedicated to Ran -who is caring me loving me sustaining me but now in doldrums and need my comfort

"A confused sensation of having suddenly lost my familiarity with the past, without acquiring any additional clearness of idea in reference to the present or the future, took possession of my mind. " Collins wrote those lines and I quote, which perfectly depict my current feeling being a newcomer in Singapore. At such a tough trasitional period, I keep everything that once etched in my mind with great delicacy for fear of losing track of those vivid memories. However,every time I try hard to walk down the memory lane and figure out the blur of the past, the awareness of our being apart tears me into pieces. In the last few days before the depature, we both deliberately avoilded meeting each other as if that would definitely become the last meeting. This continued until I eventually boarded the plane in a hurry. I parted from you, without my farewells bid and without a chance to shed tears in front of you.

How can I be successful as a student this semester？

Success, what an inviting word it is, it’s the same to me. Though I haven’t been successful, but I want to depend on time-balanced, co-operation and good attitude to contribute to making an achievement as a student this semester.
Time-balanced ranks the first place, I think, because it's the foundation of anything else. It includes arranging time between study and entertainment, work and sleep, compulsory assignments and freedom. I fell asleep deep late during the last month, so that I didn’t be charged fully, I probably performed less efficiently. Sometimes I couldn't maintain the balance between compulsory assignments and freedom, I felt like a person who misunderstood the meaning of life. I usually think I can control my time well. Not exactly, in fact. Developing a good schedule is about to help me make a different, I believe.
co-operation is the second place, that's because however erudite I am(in fact, I really know a little things all the time), my knowledge is limited as well, so the best way to cover the shortage is keeping co-operation with the others. Once, Zhang Liang and I were responsible for the games of Jungle Travel, but I couldn’t come up with some good ideas by myself. At last, I ask Zhang Liang for help, and his ideas were also not enough. To our surprise, we created many ideas that we didn’t ever think of. Though the ideas weren’t put in practice, but that discussion makes know how important cooperation is. It reminds me of finding the solution to the difficult problems during the secondary school. I think, it will help me to continue the success at school as well.
Attitude taking the third place doesn't mean it's least important among these things, that's because my attitude is developed with the advance of time-balanced and cooperation. For example, I ever thought playing computer games was more exciting than anything else, so I gave up the sleep time and the activities with friends; it's obvious that I feel tired during the working hours and lost some good friends. Because of a negative attitude, balance is broken and co-operation is disconnected, as a result the success become more and more far away. However, I am doing my best to change my wrong attitude so that I’ll become successful.
As the saying goes“All roads lead to Rome” I’m sure relying on the three keys, I am about to be something as a student this semester and just like you. Come on! Thank you and that’s all.

Blog Entries

Dear Students

I have advised that your blog entries should not include the titles of your journals and the information in your oral reports. Do remember that this would not be counted as your blog entries, which should comprise of different titles based on your English learning and any other aspect of interest and relevance regarding your current study.

Keep up the hard work.

All about My Fantasy

Sometimes I would like to imagine that I had a super power. And with my growth, I’ve changed it many times.

When I was a child, I was fond of watching the cartoons. And in some of them, the major actors always have special and super power just like spitting out the fire or water, flying and so on. For instance, when I watch the Spiderman, I wish I could fly between the buildings and can also make up the net just like him.

Later when I was in junior school, my fantasy became more practical, because the people who owned that ability really exist in the world. Because learning put big pressure on me .And I had too much knowledge need to remember. So I wish that I had a photographic memory. Then I can save a lot of time and get a high mark.

When I was in senior school, I began to feel that the most difficult thing in the world is to know what people are thinking about. So I wish I can understand everyone’s inner feeling and what they are thinking about.

But now, I’ve changed my mind .I wish I could move to anywhere in the world I want at a moment. Why this fantasy came to me .At first, I just missed my parents so much .So if I had this special ability, I could see them every day. Then, I found this fantasy was really great. Apart from this, I travel to the entire world but don’t need spend any money. I could call on all my friends in China now whenever I want.

So, this is all about my fantasy. I guess you must have you fantasy too. Would you please share with us? ~O (∩_∩) O~

Thank you for your reading^_^

An extra daughter

I am the single daughter of my family. How can my parents have an extra daughter? Let me tell you more detail about it.

I have a very close friend named Lizhen. We met each other in the primary school. She has a reputation for kindness. So we often say “if you have trouble, please tell her and she is too kind to help you.” All of my friends call us “an excellent couple” for kidding. Because I am very fat and strong while she is very thin and short. If I am marked as “XXXL”, she will get a mark which says “XXXS”. And that is why I always call her “thread paper”. In oder to “repay”me, she calls me “fat beauty”. Actually ,when she first called that nickname, I felt very confused. “ I know I am fat. But why do you call me beauty? That is a little ironic.” I said to her,” Do remember you are the most beautiful girl in my heart , so it is with your family and your friends.” She replied. This is my best friend thread paper, a sincere and helpful girl.

I didn’t tell her about my leaving for singapore until the last few days before I left. I dare not do that. And she didn’t blame me when she got the news.” Wish you happy” was what she told me . That was simple but something further I could feel.

It was 28 January that I got a short message form my mum which said “ Lizhen came to see me yesterday. She brought a special gift for me. You know, she called me mum.” I have a vivid memory about my feeling at that time. I cried.....

So Lizhen is an extra daughter of my family. I really appreciate this little “sister”. So now, she and I are not only close friends but also family.

My Learning strategies in English Learning

When I was in junior school, my English teacher always wanted another student to perform better than me. Having realized that, I was frustrated, so I hated the teacher, hated the lesson and furthermore hated English. And eventually, my English teacher realized his dream. My lack of motivation in English sustained even though he didn’t teach me, therefore, my English fell behind. Fortunately, Mrs. Chu came and breathed new life into my English learning. She seemed to like every student and was very humorous, which inspired us so much. Resulting from that, my English progressed rapidly. So I think, motivation--retain interested in is an essential part of my strategies.

In addition, collecting and memorizing is a useful way to learn phrases, idioms and collocations, which are fundamental to language use. As they are in large amounts, you can’t recite them in one time, the viable way is to set them down and know them by heart, the time you encounter with them.

At last, it is practice that makes the perfect.  I find that the best way to make your vocabulary effective is to use it. As for other skills, practice enables you to be competent of them.

My learning strategies can still be improved during the process of learning English.

Keep up the good work with your Blog

Dear Students

It is good to note that you are making a good effort to keep up with your Blog Writing. Some of you have even submitted lovely pictures and you have written sequentially. However, please remember to read the Posts of your classmates and give your Comments.

The first phase of your course will end on 19th March 2009. For this first phase, we need to see 5 Posts and 5 Comments. Please note that these are part of your assignments.

Happy Writing

From Sir Stanford Raffles

From Sir Stanford Raffles
When talked about Singapore, the most impressive creature may be Stanford Raffles. You can notice that numerous things named after him.
Raffles used to be the chief colony officer. From Chinese’ eyes, it’s incredible to remember a person who was a colony governor. In our culture, we describe colonizer as defends who invader our territory, kill our people, and enforce us to compensate money.
However, it is the truth that he devoted a lot to Singapore.
When he first came to Singapore, his sensitive judgments helped him think Singapore was a good place as a transition of goods from China to western. So he bought lands from local tribe lords and prepared to build Singapore as a free-duty harbor. However, when the news spread to British court, some short-sighted ministers were strongly declined his opinions and they persuaded Queen Vitoria not to allocate even one penny to Raffles successfully. In other words, Raffles needed to rely on himself to raise money to come true his ambitions or just gave up his blueprints.
Raffles is not a person to surrender. He got rid of pressures from many fields and started on his career. Firstly, he drove away the ex-governor of Singapore, a Malaysia landlord, who lived on exploiting ordinary people and get shares from importing and exporting. Therefore, he caused offends from many individuals and almost was murdered. But he never failed to carrying on his duty. He finally transformed Singapore into a free harbor and saved all the people from exploiting and slaving.
Moreover, he changed the basic facilities of medicine. At the early era, Singaporeans suffered from many kinds of deceases for lacking of basic medicine facilities. Many people even died from the proliferation of serve disease, like malaria, cholera, and dengue. after he came, he tried to improve conditions and built toilets. From then on, the inflection has been greatly decreased.
Before he fulfilled his potentials, he had to go back England and died tragically due to owing huge number of money. Unless his wife sought for justice nearly everywhere for him, he would be buried by history.
Sometimes truth is just like that: when you try to do something, others will not approve and give some barriers in case of you attaining your goal. Unfortunately, when you arrive at terminal costly, you cannot get the reputation you deserve, even some of you will be regarded as a villain of the piece forever.So what? We do never live for others. We are ourselves. Being your personal best and caring not what people think about you. Dakin said: “I dominate my own destiny without hearing other's words” so we need this kind courage. If we are the tragic prisons, these are our fates we are not able to change. The only thing we need to do is no regretting and no guilty for our country. Ask what you can do for the country; ask not what the country can do for you.

SELF opening hours

Do visit SELF if you want to improve your English . The opening hours are:

· Monday: 9.00am – 12.00pm & 1.00pm – 5.30pm
· Tuesday: 1.00pm – 5.30pm
· Wednesday: 9.00am – 12.00pm & 12.30pm – 5.30pm
· Thursday: 12.30pm – 5.30pm
· Friday: 9.00am – 12.00pm & 1.00pm – 5.30pm

Mdm. Maureen Tan

The Use And Abuse of The Internet

As time goes by, the Internet is becoming more and more common in our daily life; the importance of this hi-tech cannot be ignored. It has even become one of the most important things without which some people cannot live today.

The use of the Internet has a wide range of advantages. Every day, we read news on the Internet, it is the cheapest and fastest way to get information at the first time. Besides, the Internet provides us a platform to get contact with people, whether we know or not. Through this technique, we can keep in touch with our families, friends or colleagues, we can also get to know some new people from all over the world. What’s more, the Internet gives birth to the so called online shopping today. In that way, we can just do shopping at home instead of going to a shopping mall.

However, every coin has two sides. Because of its convenience, the Internet has also brought forth abuses and caused many problems. One of the most important issues today is online stealing. People who are less technologically advanced or who are enthralled by the technology often become the victims. The criminals use a Trojan horse program to break into their computer, secretly put down the password of their credit card as they typed in. In addition, the Internet also provides an ideal opportunity for online fraud, and a most invisible way to infringe copyrights.

With the development of the Internet, both good things and bad things happened to our society. Whether the Internet brought us better life still remains a controversial issue today. It seems that the only way to solve the problem is nothing but to behave ourselves, avoid abuses, and make full use of the Internet.

So far away from home

Listening to the song Far Away from Home, I closed my eyes and a tapestry of my warm home had come to my mind: wooden sofa, bamboo chairs, soft bed, and my Hello Kitty clock which companied me for the last six years… and then mom’s voice that called me to dinner came to me, so I went to the dinner table and sit down, then, mom and dad put delicious dishes they cooked on the table. In the tender light of the dinner lamp, a warm and delicious dinner began, I could even see dad’s smile and hear mom complaining that the meal she had just cooked was not good enough(haha, my mom was always modest) .
Back to the reality, see through the window, only to found that the sun is burning in the sky, and what I am wearing is just a T-shirt, now, in February in the northern hemisphere. All these signs indicate that I am not near my hometown, I am now in Singapore, I am so far away from home.
One and a half month have passed since I came here, this is the first time I come to such a distant country alone, apart from my parents and friends in China. It is reasonable if I have a strong homesickness at this time. However, I don’t feel like that actually. I remember that one day, when asked the question by my friend” do you miss your home?” I even didn’t have an idea whether I miss my home or not, I just hesitated there, pondered on the question and kept asking myself “do you miss your home, do you miss your home…” and then still couldn’t came to a conclusion. After that, I began to think over this question. I found that I was not that kind of homesick at all.
So, didn’t I miss my home? I don’t think so.
I feel that, actually, a strong emotion in my heart tells me that I am missing my hometown very much. Although I didn’t always think of the differences or make a comparison between my hometown and Singapore, every time when I saw the smiles of my parents and grandparents on the photo on my desk which was taken before I left China, it all gushed forth in a youth bubble. The every details of my life at home would appear in mind. And I would feel a strong support that can invigorate me to overcome every difficulty from the photo.
I think as the years I spend out my hometown increases, the emotion which lets me feel I rely on my hometown would become less and less, but the colours of the hometown in my heart will never fade. Home will more and more becomes an anchorage for my soul.
Looking though the window again, the sun is still burning, I am so far away from home, I am never that far away from home.

What does a man need to be successful?

Do all men need to be successful?Does the successful means money carried by lorries,flying higher than all the birds in the sky?Do you think a wealthy person without the mercy showed for the poor is a successful person?
I think what a successful person first need is morality.Person without morality can't be totally succesful,he can't achieve a high goal.
Surely a successful person need to have ambition.He must willing to suffer more,but a anchoretic heart which is less eager for materiality but more morality inside.
Personally I think happiness,satisfaction of inner part are vital parts of success.
As Elbert Hubbard said in the'A message to Garcia':
"The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, “Where is he at﹖” There is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing -- “Carry a message to Garcia!”
"My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the “boss” is away, as well as when he is at home."
I think the only thing you need to be successful is to do!

My learning strategies in learning English

Everyone has his own strategies in learning English. No one can tell which is more effective. I also have my own strategies. Now I will introduce them to you in three aspects, listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Listening as much as possible is very important. If we want to communicate with others, we should understand what they are going to express. So every night I listen to the BBC. Although I can' t quite understand all that they broadcast, I will try my best to catch each word and pick out the word I know or am familiar to guess the meaning of the whole sentence.
Try to speak English in our daily life. I think speaking is the best way to improve my English. While speaking, I can use my vocabulary ,practise the grammars and correct my pronunciation. I my dormitory, I try my best to communicate with my roommates in English. Then you can correct esch other and improve together.
Read at least one hour a day. Reading can expand our vocabulary , reinforce the memory of the words I have learnt. What's more, it can also improve your comprehension ability. Every I manage to read newpapers or a few pages of a book. Try to guess the meaning of each word. Then record the good words and phases. A period later it will be a large fortune.
Through writing, we output what we have learnt. Try to use the words and phases you have collected. Only by using them flexiblely can you master them indeed. Try to keep a diary or write posts in English. That is really helpful.
I think if I keep on with these strategies, my English level will be higher. Which one is suitable for you ? You can have a try.

How can I be successful as a student in this semester
If you have thought how I can be successful as a student in this semester, congratulations,you have done the first steap.It's important that you have the desire to be successful, and it's your attitude to your study that matters.So, what should we do then to be a successful student?Let me show you below.
As a student, especially you want to be a seccessful student, it's your duty to study hard.Every one can't achieve something if you don't work hard, and so it is with student.Studying is not a easy thing, and we can encount something that is diffucle for us,so it's impossible to be successful student if we don't work hard.
Studying hard alone is not enough,we need some learning strategies that are fit for us also.It's stupid that we just study hard without any strategy or thought of our own. For example,we can make summary often or we can study what we need in the internet or the librery.
Besides,joining a study group is a good idea and a effective way to study better.In the group,we can exchange our ideas with each other,cooperate to do a research,debate and help each other,and you can learn something in the group.So,make sure you join a study group and you can achieve your goal more easily.
It's necessary to make friends with your schoolmates and teachers whether you want to be a successful student or not.Everyone need friends in our life,and we need friends with others surrounding. If you don't have friends, you can't live a happy life, and you will feel lonely let alone you want to be a successful student.It give us a harmony condition that we have friends around.
Do the suggestions above, and you can be successful as a student in this semester.

My Learning strategies in learning English

Learning English is very important for us. We all work hard in English. But it is not enough, We should also have some learning strategies. I have my own learning strategies in learning English.
I always try to remember words that we usually use. I think that there would be some barriers in communication if you don't know the certain words. You also can't do well in your exams if your vacabulary is so poor. So I think that we should remember a lot of words. We can't remember al the words we meet, so we have to choose some words that we always meet with to remember.
I also read some readind matierial loudly. I think that it is good to develop our sense of English lunguage. Reading loudly also gives me confidence. I believe that I can learn English very well when I can read a matierial fluquently.
These are my learning strategies in learning English. I think that everyone should have their own strategies so that they can learn English well.

My Learning Strategies in Learning English

I began to learn English since Junior High. It was a pleasant experience when I first opened an English text book, the excitement, the curiosity and the eagerness to gain knowledge helped me to get a good start for my study in the following years. Because of my great interest in language, I studied very hard, and throughout all these years, I have learned a lot. Here, I want to talk about my learning strategies in learning English.

The thing that helped me the most, I think, is reading English books, newspapers, and many other kinds of materials. Whenever I read, I always set off the new words and useful expressions, which, I think, is really a good way to broaden my vocabulary. Besides, due to my great interest in films, I watched a lot of English movies, usually, I will watch for the first time without looking at the subtitles, and then for a second time, putting down some idioms and good sentences. This has not only helped me pick up some new things, but also improved my listening comprehension. What’s more, I always spend some time when I was free listening to the English radio programs such as VOA and BBC, and I also try to read after the announcers in order to improve my pronunciation.

All in all, learning English well requires not only frequent practice but also your interest and passion. I believe the most efficient strategy in learning English is to treat it as your hobby, fulfill it and completely enjoy it.

My Strategies on Learning English

Charlemagne said:” to possess a second language is to possess a second soul.” At the same time, proper strategies play a key role in English learning. Learning strategies refer to the art of planning the most effect way to master what you want to learn.
I overview some of the strategies I have ever used. To start with, one is just talking with classmates in English. We always complain about the scarcity of English learning environment, however, at the same time, we are always too shy to open our mouth. Therefore, I encouraged all my roommates to speak English during daily life. At the beginning, we weren’t able to get accustomed to it and always made mistakes. But changes come to us. Now I reckon our communicate abilities have been greatly improved. Moreover, another one is never feel ashamed when we are wrong. Everyone seems to make mistakes, especially for our green hands. Like Mrs. Yap said: we have to drink water of pool when we learn swim. Only by making mistakes can we get close to the appropriation. Last, we need to have a strong desire on learning English. Ask what you can do for English, don’t ask what English can do for you. Cheer up and don’t lose interests when you confront reverses.

My learning strategies in learning English

As the world becomes a global village, all of the people are trying to learn English to communicate with other villagers. For me, the purpose of learning English is not only to communicate with others, but also to have the ability to understand the lessons which are taught in English.

In my previous time, what I did in learning English was just listening to the teacher carefully in the class and doing exercises after class in order to get high marks in the examinations. So I didn’t have any strategies to improve my ability of learning English. But now, I’m in Singapore, a new condition for me to adapt to, and I know how important it is to learn English well. So I’m forming some strategies little by little.

For English learning, there are for parts: reading, writing, listening and speaking. In the reading part, I read some short articles every day. In reading, I don’t need to know the meaning of every word, just to get the main idea. After getting the main idea, I look the new words up in the dictionary. And I think, I can improve my reading comprehension little by little. In the end, I can read some long books about academy. In writing part, I try my best to learn writing skills and use the new words into the passage which I write. And I think, the best way to build up my vocabulary is to put them into practice. In the listening part, I listen to the tutors carefully in the class, and try to understand every word he/she says. After class, I may talk to my friends in English sometimes in order to improve my listening as well as speaking. In the speaking part, besides talking to my friends in English, I listen to some dialogues, passages and articles to speak by following the speakers.

Learning English is easy, but leaning English well is quite hard. Maybe my strategies are not so good, but now I’m trying to find the best way for me to learn English well. And I think if I have the proper strategies as well as active attitude, I may succeed.

LIU HALL (FINAL EDITION)

Have you ever seen the cartoon movie called Bolt? Bolt is the PET dog’s name of the actress. However, one of my roommates is also called Bolt as his nickname because he looks like that dog very much. Today I want to introduce you a well-known person in Eton hall. His name is Liu Hall, which is also an interesting name. Because dormitories in NUS are not sufficient .So almost everyone wants to Liu hall (means having right to live on campus).By the way, I am familiar with him because we have been roommates since we attended Beihang university.
When I first met him, I felt he was very self-important owing to he looking down upon nearly everyone. His facial expressions were always seemed that he disdained to talk with you with his eye opened. But after long time getting along with him, I found I was totally wrong, he is not only a very modest person but also has many shining points.
He is a really remarkable student. In the college entrance examination, he got 672 scores. It’s really a high mark: I heard that if your score were beyond 665 in Shaanxi province, you would already be enrolled into the top Tsinghua University or Peking University. Actually he had and still has a strong desire to be a student of Tsinghua University. But in Shaanxi province, you don’t know your score exactly until you hand in your form about which university you want to attend. So it’s a pity for him to miss a great opportunity because he thought he never can get this high mark.
When he is free, he is crazy about music .When he listens to some rock music. He often turns the volume up until very high and waves his head with the rhythm. His favorite rock band is Slayer. One day he went to the audio store. When he said he wants to the CD of slayer, all the staffs were laughing, because they think that kind of CDs are not fit for a dull-looking boy such as Liu Hall.
He doesn’t talk much and always buries his head in books .But when you have opinions on some issues such as mathematics, sports, music, literature, he will talk a lot with you related to. He is quiet a knowledgeable person. He enjoys debating with us. Although sometimes his view is totally wrong, he still can win the debate .He also like speaking to us in an adult’s tongue. For instance, he once said to us roommates: You were too young to remain illusions on love. When we roommates talked about something about girls, he would say: getting rid of the tawdry-demands, Therefore, he also has a new nickname called PROFESSOR.
He is not interested in incidents because he devotes all his life to the exploring of knowledge. He even said that he will not get married in the future, because in his opinion, to date a girlfriend is just a killing time game and a waste of money.
His pet phrase is “So what?”He seems not care for how people think about his behavior. So if you ask him: Why do you always wave your head? He just smiles and answers: so what? If you ask him why do you say you won’t get married? He will just smile and answer: so what? If you ask him why do you always say so what, he will just smile and answer: so what?
So Liu hall entertains us nearly every day in this way. If everyone wants to make an acquaintance with him, please visit him at room 201 of Eton hall. Girls are also welcomed and please take it easy because he has no interest on you.
That’s all. Thank you!