Say goodbye to Barcelona

On 27^th April, Pep Guardiola, the coach of Barcelona, announced that he will not continue as coach of the Spanish club after this season. His assistant Tito Vilanova will take over this club.

When he was a player, Guardiola played as a defensive midfielder and did well in Barcelona. He was part of “dream team” that won Barcelona’s first European Cup. At his last four year in Barcelona, he was the captain of this football team.

After retiring as a player, he became coach of FC Barcelona B. although he lacked experience in coach, due to the wonderful performance, he was appointed as the first manager of FC Barcelona. He started to achieve his glorious life.

In four years, he created his legend. The first year, Barcelona won the treble of La Liga, the Copadel Rey, and the Champions League. Because of this, he became the youngest manager who won the Champions League. The next season, he brought the Supercopa de Espana, the Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup. He achieved the honour that it is the first time for a club to win the maximum champion of six competitions in one year. He did it. When he left Barcelona, he achieved thirteen titles. On 8 September 2011, he was awarded the Catalan parliament’s Gold Medal, the highest honour. After four months, he was awarded the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award.

Due to some reasons, he decided to leave Barcelona. However, many people, including me, look forward to seeing his next legend.

Mrs.Sonali-tell me-Liu Yifei

The dawn of ancient Greek culture bore the Odyssey, whose lead Odysseus created the greatest nostalgic. He left for Trojan War and stayed there for ten years. However, his return was thwarted by the gods’ intrigues.

“During the twenty years of Odysseus’ absence, the people of Ithaca retained many recollections of him but never felt nostalgia for him. Whereas Odysseus did suffer nostalgia, and remembered almost nothing.”

                                  -<ignorance>, Milan Kundera

Ruminating the past memories to nausea merely to maintain the limited recollections is pitiful. But one who has no past to recall is inevitably subjected to nostalgia, which does not evoke recollections, but absorb its victim into suffering and nothing else.

Odysseus made a sacrifice. Instead of the infinite life of ease, delights and the unknown adventure, he chose the finite life of the known. He simply longed for his homeland, which was bonded with him irreplaceably and unchangeably like blood tie. To maintain the bond, he may have fabricated all scenes to apotheosis with imagination since he had no recollections to follow. Obviously the apotheosis in his imagination could not be the truth that satisfied his desire. Maybe at the first time Odysseus was not searching for home, but some audiences to whom he could tell his story.

I believe everyone has his irreplaceable person who they believe will accompany them for the entire life. At the same time, because of the irreplaceable situation, the fear of losing the person is also worrisome. Someone say the intimacy is a vein shading the truth and the more close you are with one person, you are more likely to believe your perfect imagine to that person rather than his true traits. Maybe it is a kind of self-protection which prevent from finding the negative and unacceptable aspects so that the irreplaceable and perfect situation can continue.

After Odysseus’ “great” return, to the people who he knew nothing about and only knew about him before he left the war. They kept garrulous about things that have happened in Ithaca during his absence. But none of them realized the treasure Odysseus gave up for his return, the adventures and wandering outside Ithaca, which he could retrieve only by telling them. Truth made him disappointed. Even though the miss to the country was true, that feeling could only exist in the past or in his memory. Even though the fact that he was born on the land bonded an irreplaceable tie between Odysseus and Ithaca, the fact may do not represent any emotional link anymore.

My thought is in a mess now. I still have questions about, without the ultimate bond- the blood tie, whether friendships and loves can be stable like family; or blood tie is nothing but a fact, the shared efforts in maintaining is what matters. However, I know more about why listening means so much in maintaining a relationship. Odysseus waited for the citizen’s word “tell me”, which was the only thing they never mentioned. Tell the people you care “tell me”, which we sometimes have no idea how powerful these two words mean.

I will let my children be rich second generation

Several weeks ago, I watched some movies like “high school musical” and “step up series” with my friends. We were enthralled by the dance movements and the wonderful songs in the movies. And my friends said, “if only I could learn to dance when I was young!” They did not have the chances to learn dancing for this or that reasons and now we think it is too late to do that. Among the several reasons, there was a common one, that is, their parents could not afford them to do that. And at last they said something that highly resonated with me. They said, “I will let my children be ‘rich second generation’ in the future!” their words reminded me of the same line in several TV programs in China.

In fact, “second rich generation” is not a good phrase, at first it is a phrase to describe those who were born in a family which became rich since their parents and received good education and enjoyed affluent resources in the society. But now it is used more to describe those who live extravagant life and enjoy some privileges just because their parents are wealthy rather than they have the ability to deserve it. Because of their wealthy parents, “rich second generation” can be in an invincible and dominant position in the peer competition. That is, they do not need to work hard to live a good life as most of people in their ages do. This makes people feel unfair but can do nothing about it. I treated my friends’ words as protest to this unfairness and also a jokingly way to express their desire to live a better life. Why “jokingly”?  Because no one wants their children to be black sheep as “rich second generation”, however, everyone wants their children to live a better life than they do.

There is no absolute fairness in the society; the only thing we can do is to work harder and harder to pursue our dream. I think most of time our feeling of unfairness comes from comparison or envy. We would complain that we do not have a wealthy family or we do not have the same opportunity to succeed. But we should be aware of the fact that we cannot change the place we were born, we cannot choose our family and we cannot change the whole environment that we live. Unless those “rich second generation” do illegal things to get some benefits, they are not to be blame.

Sometimes the only thing we should do is to be positive to life. We might not be born in a wealthy family, but we get the chance to experience the ordinary life and even a hard life to be strong to face challenges. We might not have the chance to do something in our childhood, but we can let our next generation do it, and that is a progress and an achievement for us. Just as my friends said, “I will let my children be ‘rich second generation’!”

Chang Qizhong-Zuo Mingxue-The composition of College Entrance Examination

This Monday, Yifei, the “tragic” girl, was given a topic by Zhang Zhan which was the Chinese composition title of College Entrance Examination in Jiangsu province. It reminded me of our so difficult Chinese composition. So this time, I want to talk about our “tragic” Chinese composition in every province.

In 2011, most Chinese compositions of College Entrance Examination in different provinces have some materials. Examinees need to base on these materials to find some arguments to finish a composition. Usually, a material has many points: some points are easy to argue, other points are difficult. If we conclude some wrong points which are irrelevant to the material, the score of our composition will be very low. How can we students get high marks?  Firstly, we need to know many things: a lot of examples or stories; many sayings; some patient poems. Secondly, we need to learn to how to analyze the title or materials which are given. Lastly, our writing must not be too bad.

According to a lot of opinions from the Internet, the most 给力 (cool?) Composition title is from Jiangsu Province <Refuse to be ordinary>. This title is very close to the reality. Actually, most people have to be ordinary in the society, not everyone is very outgoing. Therefore, many people said this title was very inspiring.

The composition title <back to origin> from Guangdong Province was regarded the one that made examinees feel awkward most. Why did they say it made examinees feel embarrassed? Because nearly all examinees were beyond 20 years old, they did not have any social experience, they did not have some origins to go back. Therefore, how to ask them to write such a deep article?

The most 坑爹(also make examinee feel awkward?) Composition title<old books> is from Hubei Province. There was no material and clues offered to examinees. Tragic Hunan examinees had to base on the title to write their compositions. Such an abstruse title must match with a deep composition! However, how to write it！

The most entertaining composition is from my province, Hunan Province. We did not been given a title, we just need to base on material to write a composition. This material is: In the past, before performances, the singer would say: “Hello! Everyone, I’m coming!” Nowadays, she usually says: “Thank you for your coming!” As matter of fact, before 2011, our province’s composition is famous for its solemn style. But this College Entrance Examination, the style changed a lot.

I am looking forward to 2012’s compositions of College Entrance Examination in different provinces. 

Will Guangzhou Hengda be the hope of Chinese football?

   Recently, the opening of a football school in Guangzhou has raised many people's concern in China. This football school becomes very popular because it is supported by Guangzhou Hengda Football Club and Real Madrid.
   Why this school becomes so famous? First, because of the poor performance of Chinese national team, China failed again to enter the final circle of the next World Cup. Actually, in the last few years, Chinese football always gives people despair instead of hope. However, recently, Chinese football does light up in the world. At first, French star Anelka was signed by Shanghai Shenhua, which amazed all people. Then, Hengda gave excellent performance in the Asian Champion League, along with its amazing bonus which surprises the whole Europe and Asia. Therefore, many people think that it is really a good chance for Chinese football to develop further now.
   In my opinion, I agree that Chinese football can benefit a lot from the present circumstances. One of the reasons for weakness of Chinese football is that China lacks of advanced and scientific youth training system. However, the opening of Hengda football school makes up for this weakness with the help of Real Madrid. Also, it is not difficult for ordinary children to enter this school because its fee is not high. Thus, it is possible for China to possess some football stars like Messi after several years.
   Many people argue that signing super stars like Anelka is a waste of money. I disagree with this argument. These stars can influence our local players and help them develop better skills. For example, many local players in Shenhua claimed that they benefited a lot from Anelka 's advice. Also, from the recent matches, we can find that Gao Lin, a main striker of Chinese national team, has improved his distribution and ball-control skills by the influence of his teammate Conca, an Argentinian football star. So, it is good for our players to play with those world-class football stars.
   In conclusion, it is hard for us to predict whether Hengda could be the hope of Chinese football. But what we can know is that Hengda really gives people hope and does something good to Chinese football, which encourages people to believe that Chinese football will have a bright future.

No NBA This Time

I intended to write something else, instead of NBA. However, I cannot, because today is the last day of regular season. At this very moment, I want to talk about my prediction of the coming playoffs and of course, I will focus on the first round.

Let’s start from the western conference.

Spurs vs. Jazz

I should congratulate Spurs that they will surely avoid being beaten by the No.8 seed which happened to them last year. If their adversary is Mavericks who holds the same record as Jazz, things may be different. Yet Jazz has a horrible home court and they will possibly not be swept.

Thunders vs. Mavericks

It should be one of the most sensational matchups in the first round, as it is the same version as last year’s western final. I believe Thunders will win the series this time, because many things have changed this season. Cowboys are getting older and older while the young Thunders are becoming more mature and competitive. Tyson’s departure is a great loss to Mavs and nobody, obviously including Odom, can replace his role as the greatest defender in the inside. Moreover, they lose the home advantage as well. However, Harden’s concussion is a big uncertainty. Also, do not forget that Mavs is the defending champion and most of the core players remain. Therefore, I believe any result could be possible.

Lakers vs. Nuggets

People have underestimated the power of Nuggets who really look great. In fact, Lakers have just three more wins than Nuggets who have three noticeable advantages: coach, passion and rotation. They may be troublemakers. Anyway, experienced Lakers with strong inside may probably close the series by 4:2, decently.

Grizzlies vs. Clippers

It will be a spectacular matchup. Both sides’ lineups are formidable. It is a great season for both teams as they have made remarkable progress. They also share another similarity that they have great players in every position. Since the two teams’ power is quite similar, details will affect the result. Home advantage and experience give Grizzlies more chances to win the series. As for me, they are likely to play all the 7 games.

Let’s see how it looks like in the Eastern Conference.

Bulls vs. 76ers

76ers is not a problem for Bulls, but Rose’s injury is a real problem for them. I maintain this awesome 76ers will not be swept this season.

Heats vs. Knicks

Many people believe it will be an amazing series. Yes and No. There are three conditions for an amazing series to take place. One is the best Baron Davis. Second condition is the good chemical, especially between Anthony and Stoudemire. Another is luck, like Linsanity, Winsanity. Maybe, from what have happened so far, this season will be an extraordinary season for NYK. Miracles happen again, or Knicks is knocked down shortly.

Pacers vs. Magic

A messy and Howard-loss Magic is likely to lose the series in 5 games.

Celtics vs. Hawks

We have to admit that Hawks have done a splendid job this season without Horford. They are not capable enough to stop Celtics in their best mood this season. Celtics will clinch the victory in 6 games.  

In conclude, there will probably be no suspense that all the top four seeds in both conferences will top their opponents.

Girl’s friendships...？

    Recently, I watched an animation called BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER. It is an animation about friendship between girls. There is a plot that one girl get very depressed when she afraid that the best friend of her best friend may not be her. She can feel hurt every time when her best friend has community activity so that they cannot go home together because she always thinks her friend just prefer to be with another girl. In the net of such kinds of complex friendship, it is full of envy and hatred. Of course such a story should be dramatized but at another angle, I do not think friendship between boys can be like that even it is double dramatized.

    Actually, I have noticed there are big differences between the two kinds of friendship long before but I just cannot tell what it really is. What I know is that girls are always very close to their friends and they regard keeping together (especially going to washroom together) as an essential part of friendship. But anyhow, those things are no more than external appearance which is seen in the side of a boy. I still feel curious about the differences internal.

    Occasionally, when I am wondering the differences between boy’s friendship and Girl’s friendship, one of my high school classmates (she is a girl) publish a post about the similar question. In her post, she mentioned that girls are more possessive towards friendship.
    In fact, the possessive is a good explanation. In another words, it seems that the friendship between girls is more close the definition of love. Does this difference exist by nature or depend on the different way of life between the two genders? That is really an interesting question but I think it is hard to answer. Maybe the Chinese traditional culture should be one of the factors.

A Lot of Fun@Science Centre

       After the troublesome progress test 2, we went on our trip to the science centre, where we had a lot of fun and relaxation after a long term busy school days.

       On arriving at the science centre, my first impression is that the science centre is like a big amusement park mixing with science, which is designed for children to explore their interests in science. However, after I had visited, my view changed. The science centre is not only a place for children to explore the science world, but also for us adults to get close to the science with a lot of fun.

       At the beginning of our journey, we watched a movie with the IMAX technology in an Omni-theatre, the largest seamless dome screen IMAX theatre in Asia. To be frank, I did not make clear what the movie was telling, but I was touched by the images and sounds, which gave me a thrilling cinematic experience. After watching the movie, we started the exploration of the science world which gave me more surprise and fun.

       On the way leading to the core of the galleries, there were many interesting exhibitions using mirrors or shapes to make the illusion. The most interesting thing that drew all people's attention is a dummy table, which also gave me the deepest impression. When I went up to it, I thought it is just a simple table. Abruptly, a head without the rest part of his body appeared on the table, which frightened me so much that I was frozen at that moment until the boy spoke to me. Actually, it was a box, but covered with mirrors, giving people the illusion that it is just a table. Though the principle is simple, it can cheat all people's eyes, and even the magicians use this method to cheat the audiences' eyes.

       On reaching the core of the galleries, I realized that the exhibition I had watched is just a prelude; the most wonderful things did not show up yet. I mistakenly lost my friends and went into a gallery showing the underwater world. I was captured by the colorful and dreamlike fish tank in which many beautiful fish were swimming freely. These fish tanks were used to imitate the world in the sea and attract people's curiosity. Then, I visited to the sound gallery, where a lot of interesting sound phenomena were showed in a hands-on way. I recorded a sound of myself and cut it, during which I had a lot of fun and experienced being an editor. And there was a machine to slow down the sound; when I spoke some worlds to the microphone, I could hear the slow vision of my voice. By turning the knob, I can control the speed of my voice, which was sounded very interesting.

       Unfortunately, the time flied so fast that I have not finished the exhibition. However, I really enjoyed myself during the visitation, not only having fun but also attaining the knowledge. The science centre is well designed for children and adults to have fun and explore the science world. Maybe, in ten years, I will bring my child to visit science centre a second time.

A poem and reflections

I have read a poem about life on the Internet, so I want to share it with my friends:

This is your life.

Do what you love, and do it often.

If you don’t like something, change it.

If you don’t like your job, quit.

If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV.

If you are looking for the love of your life, stop. They will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.

Stop over analysing. All emotions are beautiful.

When you eat, appreciate every last bite.

Life is simple.

Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people. We are united in our differences.

Ask the next person you see what their passion is and share your inspiring dream with them.

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.

Some opportunities only come once, seize them.

Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating.

Life is short.

Live your dream and share your passion.

I think some points of view in this poem are absolute and a bit unrealistic, for example, it says “if you do not like something, change it”. In my opinion, we should try to be more broad-minded and accept what we dislike instead of trying to change them. There must be a lot of things we don’t like in this world, and it’s unrealistic for us to change everything we dislike.

But I still think this poem makes sense. We should be grateful for every part of our simple life, and do what we want to do.

It seems that I write more about what I don’t like in this poem…

But never mind, if you enjoy yourself while reading this poem and have learnt something from it, then I’ll be satisfied. ^^

Mrs Yap Choo Swi neo----WangYan---a letter to my apple

  After my milk was taken by some stranger in last several week ,my apple has chased the milk and it has desert the fridge and leave me without saying a good bye .i feel so sad.who touched my apple! why my food is so apathetic? i do now understand what kind of mistakes i have done before ,is it my behaviour that cause my food leave me away? if so, i could say sorry to my food ,i should not eat you without getting any permission from you, however, i want to beg for you that could you leave me away frequently because i am losing weight recently.if you food can agree with me,i will appreciate you food from my bottom of my heart!and now i want to write a praiseful letter to you food for your leaving without saying a word to me
            how is it going to you recently? i have not seen you in such a long way and i miss you every now and then ,do you adapt to be eaten by other stranger who you might never seen before? if you miss me as well ,you can come back at any time you want,but i hope you can come back your initial place in a intact body,and i will welcome you with your other brothers and sisters,i have prepared some welcome ceremony for you,and i have also invited some friends for you,such as your best friend grape,your lover kiwi fruit and your maid pitaya.
           if you do not want to come back our warm fruit ,it is OK and i hope you can leave with your friends together.if that happens,i will be transient desperate for a short time,but i will relive and get good mood because i will lose my weight easily as a result of loosing you guys.
          at last ,i want to say i really miss you now, no one can take your place even it is the same quality with you ,you are my favourite fruit forever.
                                                                sincerely
                                                                Your hostess

  dear apple:

an interesting finding in a boring place

Today we went to the Singapore Science Center as our second learning journey. Frankly speaking it is very boring to spend the whole afternoon among the primary school students seeing the excited kids playing those boring games. I was constantly wandering how the science center of Singapore can be so shallow. In my opinion, the science center in my hometown is much better. At least it is more likely to be intended for the adults. The science center here is totally prepared for the children and I was confused why they chose such a naïve place to let us have our learning journey. Well, stop complaining, today I found an interesting thing.

I do not know exactly where it is. It is in a corridor. I found a strange machine there. It is strange not because its shape or function for it is big case used to take photos. It is strange because what I found on the screen was an arm. Who did this? Why did he only take a photograph on his arm? I was curious about this and then I just went into the case to see what exactly happened. I did not find anything strange inside. Hence I decided to just have a try to figure it out. Maybe it is only because someone’s careless or jokes. I touched the screen to take a photograph. About ten seconds later, the computer produced an image consisted of faces. Those small ones joined together to form a big one. Not interesting at all. It must be someone who left in a hurry when the computer took photos. When I was about to leave, Chen Shuyu, a little boy who is always with me found that on another side of the case there was another screen and my photo were hanged there! I wanted to cancel the photo but I found there is no button around the screen! I had to take another photo to take its place. So I just stood outside the case with one of my arms in the case to touch the screen taking another photo. And at that time I realized why there was a photo of one’s arm before I went there…

Carpenters

This topic just suddenly came into my mind yesterday, when I was looking for instant noodles in NTUC Fairprice. I suddenly heard a melody there that reminded me of something deeply buried in my memories. It took me quite a few minutes to recall the song, and finally I remembered the name, Superstar from the Carpenters.

Just like most people do, the first thing knew about this band is the song. That was…almost 8 years ago, when I was only 10 or 11? I can’t really remember. Actually I didn’t know the name of this band at time, all I knew was I like this song, I like the rhythm and that’s all.

The second time I came across their music was about 5 years after that, when I was in my senior high school Grade 5. I mistakenly went into one of my friends’ blog and there I found were quite a few songs written by a Carpenters. I still had no idea about this band until I saw Yesterday Once More in the playing list. After that I managed to download several of their collections and that’s when I really got to know this bad.

Two members of this band were actually siblings, Karen Carpenter and her elder brother Richard Carpenter. What they produced was referred to as Soft Rock, which is a stream of Rock’n’Roll music, but quite different from other hard rock music we know. Such a different style of music, which is the perfect one to express emotions, together with Karen’s beautiful low voice helped them hit the Billboard in the early 1970s easily. They released about 8 albums in that decade won 3 Grammy awards. At the end of 1970s, they still remained to be in platinum statues.

Yet, Karen had some problems in her health during that time, and she sought therapy for eating disorder. Later she was sent into hospital to treat her anorexia and gained 30 pounds. Even so, she was still skinny.

In 1983, one morning, Karen was found her lying unresponsive on the floor. Even though sent to hospital as fast as her families could, she was declared dead, reason being heart attack and anorexia.

After her funeral, On October 12, 1983, the Carpenters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a few yards from the Kodak Theater.

It still seems unbelievable to me today that Karen died of anorexia and too much diet. I am not really a crazy fan of them, but I do like their songs a lot. The death of a talented musician is always a loss to the whole music world.

TIME: The 100 Most Influential People in the World

TIME: The 100 Most Influential People in the World

These days, <TIME> magazine has selected the 100 most influential people in the world, and I want to highlight several celebrities via this blog.

First I want to highlight an NBA basketball player, you all know his name, Jeremy Lin, the “dreamers’ Most Valuable Player” according to TIME. His story now has become world-famous, “his story is a great lesson for kids everywhere because it debunks and defangs so many prejudices and stereotypes that unfairly hold children back.” Indeed, he has dispelled the idea that Asian-American guards somehow couldn’t hack it in the NBA—and that being a world-class athlete on the court is somehow at odds with being an excellent student off the court. He has proved not an overnight sensation. “In fact, he achieved success the old-fashioned way: he earned it.” He works hard and stays humble; he lives the right way; he plays the right way. “I don’t care whether you are an Asian-American kid, white, black or Hispanic,” said the author, “Jeremy’s story tells you that if you show grit, discipline and integrity, you too can get an opportunity to overcome the odds.”

Another celebrity, I believe you are all familiar with her name, Rihanna, was also worth a mention. Another famous person who nominated Rihanna described her ‘one of the coolest, hottest, most talented, most liked, most listened to, most followed, most impressive artists at work today’. To tell the truth, I am also one of her fanatical fans, I know she works very hard and she gives to her fans, friends and foundation not just herself but her energy and spirit. She is one of the few people in that world of fame and celebrity who aren’t all about themselves. She will give a real part of herself to an ordinary person she may meet, which is rare. “This is the beginning of Rihanna—she has so much more to do and to give. She is just getting going, so watch out. She is the Barbados ambassador for youth and culture, and she is coming to a town near you.”

The last person I want to introduce is the brain of one website, named Change.org that transforms the way people tell their stories and make change happen. His name is Ben Rattray. “There are a lot of petition websites, but Change.org is simple to use and supported by a team that provides media-messaging and engineering support.” Ben, 31, created a platform for people to voice their demands and requests. For example, this spring, Trayvon Martin’s mother wrote an amazing narrative on the site that got her son’s story out there, which helped build solidarity with her family and kept pressure on the police and attention on the case. That is momentous. Now Change.org is expanding into other countries, making its website available in different languages and finding solutions for people who live where the Internet might not be widely available or where protests are stopped by governments. That is compelling, as some people in certain countries might not have chances to voice their demands publicly, they may find an outlet to legally and effectively speak out.

Language

Today I would like to talk about languages.

Among all the subjects that we have in school, I like Chinese best. Chinese characters are so charming that each one is actually a beautiful and meaningful picture. Especially when it comes to Chinese literature, how splendid the world inside words is!

When I was studying German several years ago, I heard a joke about language learning: If we regard a language as a forest, learning the language is like travelling across the forest. Then learning English is going in with smile and going out with smile, leaning German is going in with smile and going out with tears, learning French is going in with tears and going out with smile, and finally, learning Chinese is going in with tears and going out with tears. This joke shows perfectly how difficult it is to master Chinese; as a matter of fact I think the most fortunate thing ever happened to me is born in China.

After studying English for nearly ten years and studying German for almost one year, as well as contacting other languages through films, such as Japanese, Korean, French, Thai and so on, I still insist that Chinese is the most completed and attractive language in the world. Tang poetry might be the best example, whose beauty can never be understood by those who don’t know Chinese at all.

Unfortunately, you cannot find someone even poorer at reciting then me. I always forget in which year Lu Xun wrote his first novel, and who collected the Song Ci. Furthermore, most of time my grade in Chinese reading comprehension is quite low, since it is so hard for me to memorise all the functions of rhetoric. However, it cannot stop me from being fascinated by literature itself. Nothing can provide me more joy and happiness beyond reading. What makes it not so perfect is that now I have realised that I can only enjoy reading in Chinese.

I know the problem is that I lack perseverance. I can handle mathematics, physics and chemistry because I do not need to recite the formulas; I know I can deduce them on my own if necessary. But how can I deduce a completely new word or an irregular form of verb? It really makes me sad.

For the same reason, I have given up all my dreams about languages. I used to think it couldn’t be better if I can master the elegant German, the romantic French, the lovely Japanese, and the sweet Korean. Now I have realised that I had better stick to my English.

Before I came to Singapore, I thought that it would become my second hometown, since I believed that few of us would go back to China after staying here for ten years. However, I have changed my mind. All I want to do now is going back to China as soon as I can. Therefore, I can read Chinese books, eat Chinese food, and live in Chinese weather. The most important thing is I can speak Chinese freely!

Follow blindly

Last Friday morning, when I left the bus, I met a problem: where should I go? In fact, MOE officers had already informed us that we would have a section in LT23 before that day. However, since I am unfamiliar with the campus, I had no idea where that lecture theater is even though I used the campus map in my phone.

After I left the bus, the first thing I did is gong in the direction which I thought was right and then I look back to see what other students did. My findings were quite interesting because different students have different reactions. To make my findings easier to understand, let me divide them into three groups. The first group of students did not check the schedule. They knew nothing about the alteration in the destination. In other words, they intended to go to LT31 where we used to go. The second group of students knew that they were supposed to go to a different lecture theater, yet they realized that they did not know where is that lecture theater. The third groups of students also knew there was a new destination. Unfortunately, even though they could not ensure their choice is right, they insisted on the wrong target, which resulted a calamity happened later.

Obviously the first group of students went to the LT31 as usual, but others immediately stopped them and told them they should go to LT23. As for the second group of students, they chose to follow others since they have no other good choice, and who they tried to follow were the third group of students. Because LT27 is the lecture theater which we usually visit, they mistook LT27 with LT23. As a result, most students in first bus went to LT27, and my friend and I went to LT23 with some confusion.

According to my experience, such things happened time after time. Though sometime we managed to go to the right place, but have we ever thought of making our own choices, or just being dependent on others? Every time we just chose to follow, and then complained about the guide. This phenomenon actually not only happens on the campus but also our daily life. When confronted with problems, people tend to follow others' choice, and when they are asked to cope with the problem by themselves, they would be hesitated.

Friends or Lovers, Yes or no?

The movie “Yes or No” directed by Sarasawadee Wongsompetch. It is a movie distinguished from other youth-oriented romantic movies by being “that lesbian film”. I watched this movie by mistake. That is because I want to watch some more Thailand youth-oriented romantic film after I watched “Fist Love”. I never think this movie “Yes or No” is a lesbian movie and I also never tried this kind of movie before I watched this movie. I have to say it is very strange for a boy to introduce such a movie. By the way, there are many girls wanted to know how guys think about this movie when I search some reflections on this movie. So, I think my reflection maybe interesting or um… strange.    ⊙﹏⊙b

As a youth, I think lesbian or gay is not so extraordinary nowadays. We always receive this kind of information from various resources. As a boy, I am not quite sure about the degree of relationship between girls, because the friendship between boys is not as close as girls. From most boys’ point of view, girls handle their hands, hug, even kiss is normal. So I cannot distinguish whether they are friends or lesbian. Go back to the movie. I got at least two information in this movie. One is love is really confusing, even through you are ensure of your sexuality. The other is love need courage, even if the love goes against what is deemed normal. In this movie the protagonists are, as you know, two girls. The girl-type girl is called Pie and the boy-type girl is called Kim. I think the movie can be separated into two parts. The first part of the movie is about how they fall in love. The other part is the course of making their love public. I will not introduce you the whole story here, if you are interested in pure love or just curious about it, please go and watch it.

Demolition Customized For The Invincible

I find nothing unacceptable when I see the Catalan dubbed “The Invincible” again and again in every piece of news. I do not hate them at all, as a fan of Chelsea and Real Madrid, precisely before I find that Didier Drogba is occasionally behaving like an excellent graduate from EI Movie Colegio de La Macia, or that Pepe almost ruined Alvaro Arbeloa. The real graduates are indeed invincible, to some extent. Nobody on the terrene can deny the point no matter whether they themselves are from this planet, which is still under research I guess.

Once again, the universal team was defeated, instead of hindered or something, in Camp Nou this time, in a flamboyantly obvious and straight-forward way just like Jose Mourinho’s arrogance, a couple of hours after Londoners witnessed a rightly predicted draw in the Emirates Stadium between the Blues and Barcelona-lite. Everything could not be more natural- 28% possession, off-side controversy, a counter attack that killed everything from Christiano Ronaldo. Maybe I was wrong for the preceding saying- no red card for Madrid this time, and, equal 14 shots while 3 to 6 for shots on target, to many’s surprise. Compared with the performance in Stamford Bridge on weekday, Jose’s squad did even much better. But basically, they both did it. Although Messi still could attract 6 guys altogether and sent a precise pass into a direct confrontation with Saint Iker, once again, nothing substantial from the Argentine. 7 points are supposed to lead La Liga to the curtain with 4 games to go.

Conventionnally, a La Liga trophy may not satisfy the frenetic. It may not be able to send him to his final destination, the Portuguese National Team, I mean. When it comes to the Champions League battlefield, Roberto Di Matteo, who is expected to be the most successful interim manager in place of Guus Hiddink in Chelsea’s history if he manages to find way out in both Camp Nou and Allianz Arena successively, is more likely to find things tricky. After the tie in the London derby, the Italian is faced with the task to narrow the 4-point gap with the fourth Newcastle with 4 games to go in the Premier League. However, it is nothing but straight-forward at the same time. One step forward, and another, then everything is gotta be fine. Nobody would talk about the qualification any more. The Italian would not only become the most successful interim as well. God blessed Chelsea a clear victory without away goal lost before they go to the north-east of Spain. Can they follow the suit of how they found way out in Camp Nou in the sextuple season this time? At least they will spare no effort to do so. The best model was the 2009 Internazionale, kicking off Barca with an aggregation 3:2 in two legs and stepped into the final in Santiago Bernabeu, and, of course, brought the second Big Ear to Jose Mourinho ultimately.

People criticize conservative football style a lot, no matter whether they are Barcelona fans or not, precisely because this kind of football appears to violate Barcelona’s aesthetic philosophy. However, since the whole universe has not found a way out to defeat “The Invincible” whenever you want so far, it seems that for the time being, the terrestrials can only handle them in an efficiency-oriented style plus some Pepe football elements. In fact, it is somewhat worthy of being respected after objective analysis. One counter attack, one shot on target in 90 minutes, and take away the victory. Efficiency just makes things happen. How artistic.

How Does Everything Go Wrong

When a flock first comes to a new habitat, it is their nature to congregate together all the time so that they are less likely to be deprived of the basic demands in the Maslow Triangle, namely food and security, by any unprecedented factor. It is plausible that more brains improve the possibility of success in almost everything with more detailed thinking and more ideas, even though sometimes efficiency could be the cost. Every member of the herd enjoys this situation. Nothing seems unnatural with everything and everyone going on the right path.

Advanced creatures, especially human beings, are identified with a thing called progress in different periods of time. Things could not be better in the whole system, thus it is still natural that segregation is considered seriously to set up new, smaller, more flexible and somewhat more efficient system. Routines and regulations are so familiar for the moment. It appears that there is really no more value to be like before. The progress is simultaneously accompanied with identity actualization, which is far more advanced than basic demands.

Human beings tend to obtain more satisfaction from anticipation and even desire for future life, until their death when everything ends. The key point to this phenomenon is the tedium triggered by long-period stability. Stability and novelty are bizarrely and naturally looked forward to at the same time. It is nonsense to say that it is the same for everyone, but someone who used to be eager to get rid of everything around to embrace a totally new environment, while he realizes how nice it was and even blames himself solemnly when his wish comes into reality, does exist on this planet.

So far, the situations are quite similar between passers-by and the ones in our life journey. However, even if the nature itself and the normal thoughts and behaviors are hard to change whether with or without realizing the whole process of how it happens, a kind of better life for both yourself and the ones for you is worthy of being made efforts to achieve. Here to this point, both physical and psychological insensitivity shows its significance. There are two common misconceptions about insensitivity. Insensitivity does not mean unconditional tolerance or irresponsibility. I do recommend the book about it written by Watanabe Junichi. Insensitivity is really a kind of sagacity which can and should be used properly in any period of life. Neither life nor human being is a scientific formula. No matter it is between colleagues, friends, relatives, or spouses, every individual has his or her own personalities and desires, let alone the side effects of being with each other for a long time. It is impossible to set up an ideal model in which misunderstandings, animosity, or conflicts never exist. This is the eternal law of nature. It is always the right thing to try to change oneself when changing other elements is impossible, no matter it is luck, environment or people around you.

In life journey, someone comes in only to teach you a lesson, while someone accompanies you forever. This could never happen if the criterion of what makes a fit person for me is whether everything is always smooth and pleasant, precisely as how it starts. The art of life is mutual understanding and proper tolerance, and more concisely, insensitivity. It is basically meaningless to ask and be annoyed by how everything goes wrong like this. Things happen for reasons, to be more accurate, considerable reasons. Ultimately, the easiest thing that we are supposed to do but is usually neglected, is to treasure those who make us believe for the first time the arrangements of fate.

farewell party

   Last Thursday, I attended a farewell party held by a Singaporean family; it was a farewell party of international students. Every two weeks they will invite me to go there and that was the last gathering in this semester so it was a farewell party. In fact, I have attended many farewell parties, for example, class farewell party after college entrance exam. And three of them impressed me most.

   The first one was held for me by my university classmates. In fact, now I even cannot remember all of their names, but that night they were all so enthusiastic. Besides giving me their best wishes, there was an episode on that farewell party. Our vice monitor (a girl) asked all of us to send a message to a boy saying that she agreed to be his girlfriend! Actually we not only sent messages but also called that guy; all of us just said one sentence “I agree to be your girlfriend!”  The next day, that guy said he suddenly got so many gay friends in one night!!! Well, maybe it is because this funny case that makes that farewell so special.

  The second one would be the one I had with “Qi ren zu”. “Qi ren zu” is a group with seven members and that is why it is called that name. I am one of them and the other six members are all from the same province as me. I think they are my best friends in HIT (Harbin Institute of Technology), we always went out together, played sports together and had dinners together though we were in different faculty, in a word, we had a good relationship with each other. And several days before I left Harbin, we had a farewell party and also went to KTV and sang songs all night long. I think why that night impressed me was not because the food or drink but the friendship, especially when we sang “friends” and “zhufu”, I really wanted to cry with them! It is still like a dream to me that I should be good friends with those boys and girls in such a short time. I will always remember the days I spent with them in HIT.

  The third one would be the last Thursday one. In fact, before last Thursday, I did not know the meaning of the gathering of international students. The host told us that he wanted to show that Singaporeans are also hospitable and they are willing to open their house for others and give chances for students all over the world to communicate with each other. In our gathering, usually we would try different countries’ cuisines and then had a discussion with several questions. In fact I felt stressful at first because my English is so bad compared to those from Europe and America. But later I felt much better. That farewell gathering impressed me because I learned something from it. It did have a great impact on me, I think when I am able to live a life like those Singaporeans, I will also open my house and be hospitable.

  Though farewell party is always sad, it is surely a unforgettable memory for us to cherish.