I am doing double major ( Accounting and Finance).  But as I study in depth about these majors, I have a feeling that I am not a business person.  I know I can do it, but I am not sure if I like it or not.  And the most important thing is that I don't know what do I like to do.  Mom talked to me last night about my majors.  She told me it is okay to change it.  it is better to chnage it now than after I graduate and found that i don't like that.  If I change it now, I would waste my entire two years.  I need to start from the begining.  i am really lost now.  I need a direction!!  Hopefully I can figure it out as soon as possible. :(

     I am a teacher . I have worked on this kind of job for 7 years. I like my work and my students. Every day I am busy checking my students' homework and talking with them. My life is filled with my work and my students. I used to be satisfied with my life. However, one day when I had a chance to meet a foreign teacher by accident and worked with her for a long time, I found suddently I had lost my life. I have lagged behind. I have lost my major. At that time I was really sad. I say to myself I am supposed to change this situation. So I am here. And I want to make friends with every one who is good at English,no matter who r a native speaker or not. I just want to get a chance to improve myself. Anyway I think making friends with people who r kind and friend is a fantastic thing for me to open my views. If I can be ur friend , I will feel very lucky!   

I started to learn French two weeks ago. I am going to introduce myself in French here.

Moi, je suis chinoise.  J'habite a pekin. Je m'appelle Nina(my French name).

Je suis professeur de japonais. Je connais bien Tokyo. J'aime bien travailler.

 J'etudie le francais.  Je ne parle pas bien francais maintenant,  mais j'aime beaucoup etudier le francais.

Je voudrais savoir parler bien francais.  Je voudrais aller a Paris.

J'ai un fis et un joli chat. Ils sont tres amis.

That's all for taday.

Thanks for reading.

Hi all,

I'm watching each day the exiting events in the Beijing Olympics and i can say i am proud that i watched live when the Romanian Judo 48kg fighter, Alina Dumitru won the Gold.

I love to watch Artistic Gymnastics, Water Sports and esspecially tennis.

What sports do you like?

Did you practiced any sports?

With Love,

Moniq.

Ok this is the third time I'm trying to post. Haha. The other times didn't work.

Anyways, this site is quite lonely and quiet. I wasn't referring to myself in my post title. =p

Is it just me or does anyone else also find it a little awkward just randomly friending people?

I like this site. 'Tis cool but kinda boring at the moment.

Oh well.

再见

Hello my dears,

We all are here to become each others' friend. So  i want to start sharing with you one of my greatest pleasures and that was and still is to watch the TV series "Friends". I think this TV series show perfectly what real friends are like.

Here it is a brief description:

"With a Little Help From My Friends" is a song written by the Beatles (and expertly covered by Joe Cocker) and it could easily be the subtitle for the thirty minute comedy, "Friends". In 1994, the idea was created for "Friends": a show about six friends in New York as they navigate their way through life and learn to grow up as they approach the third decade of their life. All, with the help from each other to get them through the obstacles that life naturally has for us. Monica is the excessively neat and organized "older sister" of the group, who works as a chef while yearning to find her ideal love. Ross, Monica's older brother, is a paleontologist with a lifelong crush on Rachel. He is a laid-back man with low self esteem and a recent divorcee. Rachel is the pretty, bubbly girl who spent most of her life as a spoiled rich princess. Now she must learn to face the real world. Chandler is Ross' college buddy and the guy who will crack jokes at a moment's notice. Phoebe is a lovable eccentric masseuse who easily could have fit in with Haight Ashbury in the 1960s. And Joey, the friend who has an inverse relationship between his good looks and his intelligence. He dreams of becoming an actor. These six individuals make up the cast of Friends.

I hope you will enjoy with me this trip in the Friends world.

     I just finished a trip yesterday,which was a 7-day travel in Xi'an.But now I have already started missing you,Xi'an! 

   As people konws,Xi'an is one of the four major ancient civiliztions,there has many cultural relics,such as Terracotta Warriors and Horses、Ancient City Wall、Bell-Drum Tower、Mosque、Wild Goose Pagoda、Forest of Stone Tablets and so on.

   And there also has many many delicious snacks.I like them very much!

   Wishing my second travel to Xi'an come to me soon!I miss you Xi'an!

Time is so boring with many papers,reference books...i  almost sleep in the piles of test papers every daydo not know why the Chinese students have always been tired since we born,parents force us to learn all kinds of instruments,mathematics or foreign languages,we did not have more free time as children abroad,lots of adults who born after 1980s said they do not have a happy childhood,because they have less free time than others,for the Chinese education system ,want to say"change we need"

一、回到家门之前准备好开门的锁匙，不要站在门口才来找锁匙。

二、开车送朋友回家，要等朋友进了家门才好离去。

三、平常在身上一定要备有各金额的零钱（硬币）。

四、发生不幸时，一定要镇定，记得对方的特征。

五、女性朋友要常备着保险套，发生不幸时，要求对方使用。

六、行车时，一定要把车门反锁。停车熄火熄灯后，留在车内稍作观察片刻再开车门出来，将值钱的东西放在看不见的地方。

七、皮夹内放有自己的名字及亲友名字、电话的小卡片。

八、开两个以上的银行户口，平常只带放零用钱（出门够用就好）的提款卡。希望能把 意外降到最低，若不幸发生了意外，也尽可能将伤害减到最少。

九、进出电梯注意同乘者是否面露邪恶、不按楼层，尽量站在控制钮的地方，一旦被攻 击，立即用手拍打每层楼按钮，此时，电梯会在每个楼层停下来，同时对外大喊失火了！ 」不要徒手跟歹徒搏斗。

十、如果与人合租房，必须约法三章，不得随意将钥匙交给其它朋友，免出入复杂。

十一、晚上出门尽量拿件外套，将皮包套住，避免被抢劫。

十二、一旦发现被跟踪时，可以用脚踢或用皮包拍打路边停车，触发报器响声，引起别 人注意。

十三、搭计程车时，注意前座有没有斜靠下，以防藏有他人。

十四、开车族，上车前注意周遭有没有人，上车后第一个动作是按下门锁，以防有人突 然开门而入；停车时，千万不要把家里电话写在车窗前，避免有人故意叫你移车时行歹。


十五、为防假车祸，真抢劫，碰到车祸，千万不要马上出来，最好先冷静观察对方是否 有好几人或来者不善，最好马上开走，同时猛按喇叭，引起旁人的注意。

十六、停车时，如果有他车跟着，停妥后，不要马上出来，等对方先车走远后，以防被 劫持。

十七、单身到公共场所喝东西，如果没有喝完就去上厕所或离开打电话，后就最好不要 再喝了，以免中间被下药。

十、晚归时，应走灯光明亮的街道，或是逆向行走，以便掌握路况；上楼时，先按门铃 请家人下楼接，以免歹徒躲在楼梯间。

Hi, buddies! I am a retired teacher in China. Welcome to exchange with me!

Here are some hobbies of mine: Language learning, collectibles(stamps, coins, papers...), travel, photography, music, swimming, computer and net-surfing. I like making friends with all kinds of people, LOL, certainly including u!

Actually, I don't like so much to live in Beijing, because it's sometimes too stressful. There are just too many people and too many noises here.

Everybody looks so busy. And so do I. We have no time to care about others and we have no time to really enjoy our life.

The air is not clean enough, nor is the water. We are not sure about the quality of the things we eat. 

I would really like to live in a smaller city like Lijiang in Yunnan if I could choose. But I can't until I get retired. At least it seems so to me at the moment. And that's the problem. 

And it's so difficult to make friends here as a Chinese. I say so because it will be much easier for a foreigner for people here are kinder to a foreigner, especially to a white person. Maybe that's just my feeling though.

Anyway I wish I could enjoy more. I am just so tired.

In my last blog, I talked about how I want to change my major.  I kind of decide to change my major to pre med, then I would go to medical school and be a doctor after 7 years.  But my mom start throwing ideas to me.  She thinks medical school is too hard, and take a long time.  She wants me to be a Chinese teacher.  She thinks being a Chinese teacher in the U.S has very bright future.  I am so confused, and don't know what do I really like.  Some people say that just do what you like to do, but most people can not do whatever he or she likes to do.  There's always constraints from the society or people around you.  I was told that to make a list of things that I like to do and things that I don't like to do.  He told me just don't do things from the "things that I don't like to do" list.  But I still don't think the list could help me.  Sometimes, people ought to do things they don't like. 

I was 15 years old when I recieved the admission notice for the Department of Japanese of Shanghai International Studies University. I didn't know why because I had applied for the Department of English.

But, I thought, OK, I'm still young,I would like to learn a new language. 

So, without any hesitation, I checked in. I found that allmost all my classmates were just like the same with me. They applied for English, but were put into the Japanese Department without knowing why.

Later we learned that it was the goverment's idea to make more students learn Japanese because a friendship agreement was signed between China and Japan the year before.

That meant the interchange between the two countries would be much more frequent and more diversified. And along with that, countless interpreters, translaters and researchers concerning Japan and its culture would be needed. That's why the Japanese Department became the second largest department of the University.

But we still didn't know why and how WE were picked. Not even now.

(to be continued)

I began to learn English when I was 13 years old. I was a middle school student.The Culture Revolution was just over and the university entrance examination was restarted that year.All the young people were studying hard so as to pass the examination.

Although English was not a required subject at that time,we already had English lessons. Our first English teacher was an elegant woman. Her voice was so attractive that English sounded extremely beautiful to me. 

Many people thought that she was kind of arrogant,but that's not true. She was just too elegant to be loose enough to get along with the people in that little town. 

Anyway I liked her and I could feel she payed more attention to me than to other students.

(to be continued)

i just asked a friend of mine from UK.he told me that it's not bad at all.everyone use that.

anyway,there's stupid everywhere all the time.

and i wont say that again here.take it easy.

i'll be waiting my twitter and facebook back to me.

Today's freaking HOT!!!i think i'm gonna go swimming soon.

As always it's probably important to begin a blog with a post about myself.  My name is Jeff, I'm 25 years old and from Stillwater, MN land of -30 degree temperatures and hockey .  I went to the University of Wisconsin and studied History and Communications/Public Relations.  After I graduated I spent a year teaching English in Yuyao City China and traveling around Asia and Europe.  I have one brother who is currently studying to be a lawyer, both my parents are retired and a plethora of cousins, uncles, and aunts that live to make my life interesting.  I am totally addicted to Ultimate Frisbee and the Dave Matthews Band, I will make a promise right now that most of the posts I leave here while reference one or the other.  I'm studying beginning Mandarin now that I'm back in the U.S., I was too busy having fun in China to work on the language and I'm preparing for Graduate School.  My goal is to work in a field that will either allow me to travel back to China regularly, or move there long-term.  I miss green tea and dance clubs and going out to McDonalds as a special treat instead of as an everyday thing.  I miss bicylce taxis and karaoke rooms, I was the American champion among my Chinese friends.  Right now I'm working for Target Corporation in their Transportation department and soaking up all the knowledge I can about air, land, and sea transport.  I also play the cello, piano, guitar, harmonica, and am trying to learn the Chinese flute, it's been quite an experience.  I'm a dedicated long distance runner, looking forward to completing my first back-to-back marathon weekend this summer, it's not about the time you post, it's all about the race you run.

I guess that pretty much covers me in a nutshell, I'm easy to get along with, fun to hang out with, and most likely frustrating to understand .  There will be more but for right now that is it, outside we have two feet of snow and it's not that cold so time to bust out and head to Afton Alps for some snowboarding!!  Take care everyone and of course, Happy 2009!

After you live in China for a while, you will inevitably learn that the law of osmosis doesn’t apply to its language or culture. If you don’t take steps to actively interact, study, and improve, the sites and sounds of your everyday life will probably be just as baffling as when you first arrived. More familiar, but still baffling. In other words, a plane ticket and an apartment will only get you to the door. It’s up to you to work your way in and explore.

Counting myself among the many foreigners who have decided to call China home for a while, I can honestly say that most people (myself included) bump into this problem sooner or later. My first solution was trying to teach myself Mandarin and leaving my apt more often, but this plan resulted in lots of random “Learn Chinese Quickly” book purchases and only a little bit of spoken language.

After enjoying structure and classmates for a while, I’m sure that signing up for an actual Chinese class was a step in the right direction. Hopefully I’ve made another one by deciding to move in with a host family. Fortunately, my Mandarin school had an opening in one family after their previous guests, a Vietnamese couple, returned to their home country.

A few days ago I moved from the ground floor of my student dorm to a cozy apartment overlooking the Beijing skyline, with the infamous Water Cube and Bird’s Nest glowing softly in the distance. Nothing too fancy, but definitely a nice place to call home. So far it has been a big challenge. My two hosts, an old Chinese couple, have been very welcoming and friendly but don’t speak a word of English. While I can’t complain about the food my host mom cooks (amazing), our nightly conversations are still pretty rough around the edges. More often than not, I have to use guess work to communicate but it forces me to talk, listen and think instead of staring at the internet or heading to the bar.

Culturally, I've quickly learned that both real and host Chinese mothers hate it when you leave the house without warm headgear and socks during winter. I wouldn't recommend trying it, unless you like being cold and making your host mom worry. It will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few months, particularly with Chinese New Year approaching.

I have been living Beijing since November 4th, and although I still have a lot of the city to explore and experience, right now I'm pretty sure their subway system is the best thing that has ever happened to me. After growing up in suburbia and living about an 1 hour away from the nearest subway stop in Shenzhen, Beijing's metro system feels like a godsend. Crossing the city can still take around an hour, but a smooth ride on the subway or train beats a crowded bus anytime.

Currently I'm living in a student dorm in Beijing's Haidian District. The Beijing Foreign Student's Activity Center is an independently owned international student residence. It has a great location, only about 10 min from the Wudaokou subway stop by bus (30min by foot). I've been enjoying hot showers in my private bathroom and a quite study environment. The mini mart has also really come in handy for random breakfasts consisting of croissants and doughnuts. Anyone looking for a safe place with basic comforts to start out in Beijing should consider it...it's a good base for people studying Chinese at nearby universities and private schools. I've even bumped into a few expats that are semi permanent residents

The Haidian district encompasses the northwestern part of Beijing. From what I can tell it seems to a hub for academia and high tech companies. Peking University, China's top University, is located out here along with several other prestigious schools. Lots of college students, both Chinese and international, are usually roaming around.

Nearby Zhongguancun street is also apparently a household name. I've heard it referred to as China's "Silicon Valley", which seems appropriate since familiar names such as Microsoft seem to pop up here and there as you take in sites from the metro. I'll be visiting the Wal Mart I spotted at the Zhichunlu subway stop (intersection of Lines 13 and 10) as soon as possible for some badly needed winter gear.

For those of you who don't care about prestigious universities or high tech companies, Haidian offers a great base for some important site seeing. The Summer Palace is about a 20 RMB cab ride away. The Bird's Nest and Water Cube are also easily within walking distance.

Other key locations nearby include a student bar at the Wudaokou subway stop. You have access to three floors, with a Mexican Restaurant called La Bamba up top, a bar called Propaganda on the 2nd floor, and below a dance club that gets pretty packed late night as the bar flys migrate downstairs. I haven't tried La Bamba's Mexican food....I am still skeptical in part from enjoying Mexican Food in Southern California , and in part because Shenzhen's expat Mexican restaurants never seemed to get things quite right. However, drink prices are reasonable and it's good to have a place to mingle with random expats from countries throughout the world.

Homesick Americans should also take some time to visit the Krow's Nest, located near Peking University's West gate. They were originally an independently owned restaurant that gained momentum with their massive pizzas, and have since opened up two new restaurants in other areas of Beijing. (http://www.thekrosnest.com/). There's no better cure for culture shock than a massive dose of extra large cheese pizza...hands down the best I've found in China so far. It's refreshing to see someone besides Domino's and Papa John's stepping into the Chinese pizza market.

Walking up the hill tonight

when u have closed ur eyes

I wish I didn't have to make

All those mistakes and be wise

but plz try to be patient and

know that I'm still learning

I'm sorry that you have to see the strength

inside me burning and where r u now

don't u see me crying

I know that u can't do it all

but u can't say I'm not trying

and I'm letting myself down by satisfying u

I really wish that u could see

I...

I just finished the grammar and vocabulary section of TEM4 paper tonight, but the surprising result really drove me nuts! It can't be true that I got nearly half of my answers wrong. Then I found that most of the answers were actually controversial after seeking help from my friends. It turned out to be that not all my answers were certainly incorrect.
Afterwards, I've been trying to figure out the explanation for these errors one by one with the helping hands of my friends, the native English speakers. However,what was most surprising me was that the answers they chose were exactly those answers I had thought were correct but which were supposedly wrong. :(
you know,I believe that no one would trust the answers from the test creators (出題人,all of them are Chinese even if propably many sentences were found out of the examples in a dictionary,) over those of the native speakers themselves. What do u think?
Here I'm going to show you 2 questions from the test.Plz tell me which would be the best answer or the correct one.

1. Had Judy been more careful on the maths exam,she _____ much better results now.
A.would be getting B.could have got
(the so-called correct answer is A here,but my answer was B,so was that of my friend.)


2.In his plays Shakespeare _____ his characters live through their language.
A.made B.makes
(B is said to be the right answer.I'm not sure cuz he told me that he would choose A,but B is not completely incorrect.)

So, what would be your answers?

I am sure that he is singing and learning the angels the moonwalk.....

I watched the Michael Jackson TV memorial, it was really touching.....I was most impressed by his daughter, Paris, who burst into tears when saying she loved her father very much and that he was the best daddy in the world.

Anyway.......he deserves to be remembered as the greatest entertainer ever in the music industry. His innovative, unique style brought us love, joy, tears. We fell inlove on his music, we separated, we learned to be better, to love people and the world that we live in.

I'm just sorry that we have to lose someone before we realised how much we appreciate him / her.

Dad is telling his daughter the story of his childhood, in which his family was poor and he suffered a great deal.爸爸对女儿讲他小时候家境贫寒，受尽了苦难。 After hearing his story, the daughter's eyes are full of tears. She says sympathetically, "Dad, you came to our home because you didn't have enough to eat, right?" 女儿听完了故事，两眼含泪，十分同情地对爸爸说："哦，爸爸，你是因为没有饭吃才到我们家的吧？"

Hi everyone! THis is my first blog post.

It's already 1:30 am here, so this will be short.

Everyone is welcome to read this blog, but I really want to make this blog easy and comfortable to read for those Chinese students who wish to learn English.

Feel free to contact and friend me.

More coming on the way!

Best regards,

Haotian

I've found this add on to firefox incredibly useful for both character study and communication, especially when I don't have time to open a dictionary and go hunting for radicals.

Basically, its an instant Chinese character dictionary. You just have to highlight the character and a definition will instantly appear.

This can be a huge asset for MSN conversations and email communication with Chinese friends.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3349

Check it out and let me know what you think!

1.一天在超市里买东西，看见一个黑人，我就对旁边的朋友说："看，老黑，真黑。"结果他看了看我说："就你白!" 　　 　　

2.大学时，一次我们同学几个去上选修课，做好之后,前排来了一个非洲哥哥，剧黑。我一同学顺口而出："真他妈黑"，不想老外回头就是一句："真他妈黄!" 我们当场暴倒！ 　　 　　

3.两个女人和一个外国男子一起坐电梯，一个女的见到那个老外的胸毛很长就对另外一个说，你看老外的胸毛好性感啊。谁知那老外突然回答说：谢谢！
　　 　　
4.偶和偶女朋友在旱冰场玩，女朋友屡屡摔倒，我就说："猪啊，你看那边的外国美女，比你高多了，划得多好。"结果她划过来，"谢谢帅哥夸奖。"晕，我急忙用英语说了一句："not at all." 　　 　　

5.有次俺爹爬长城，走着走着看见一高大白人坐在台阶上。俺爹跟周围人说："看那个老外没劲爬啦。"那白人说："我歇会不行么？" 　　 　
　
6.有一次我在小区的露天摊子那吃砂锅，挥汗如雨，如痴如醉，旁边正好是南大的教工宿舍楼，结果一中国籍年轻女子拖着一小黑人，大约5岁从我身旁走过，一边走一边回头看我，口水滴滴的样子，最后突然用标准的南京话冒出来一句，"妈，我要吃沙锅！"我一口粉丝差点没喷出来. 　　 　　

7.曾经在广州地铁，看见一家外国人，妈妈带着个女儿，那小女孩长得好漂亮啊，跟个洋娃娃似的。然后旁边有个大叔用标准English问：where are you from？ 　　小女孩很淡漠的、不耐烦的回了一句：美国。 　　 　　

8.一个周末去北京想拉上同学作伴，她犯懒不肯跟我去，只好一个人上路。在城铁上，旁边坐一颇有"姿色"外国GG，于是打同学电话气她说："你就不跟我来吧，叫你抱憾终身！告诉你，坐我旁边的外国GG侧面酷似布拉德皮特，养眼啊~~~" 　　电话放下发现那GG冲我乐，心里咯噔一下，脸上发烧。外国GG还就真的冲我来了一句：小姐，你的侧面也很漂亮！...... 对面坐着的一对情侣当场笑倒，我恨不得跳车！ 　　 　　

9.我是济南的，一次我爸爸的同事几个去美国出差，到超市买东西，用济南话讨论，这是旁边有个美国人过来用标准的济南话说："你们是济南的？！"同事们暴汗，聊了会，原来这老外是以前战争时期留在中国的美国人后代，同事问他："那你英文怎么样啊？" 　　老外一拍大腿道："英语太他妈难学了！！"

Hmm...maybe I should make the first post special...but, after considering about all the other trash that I've wrote in blogs/forums scattered in the dark corners of the Internet, writing about something I know a great deal about seems to be more appropriate...at least I have tons to say on the subjects. ^_^

-------------------------------------------------I'm A Line-------------------------------------------------

Ok...= =
I suppose that if I put everything I know about every anime that I want to write about then the post will be too long...so I will only do one anime per post. =(>_<)=
 
Before I continue, there is one word I want to explain here...はらぐろい - I don't know the English word for this... we don't even have the Chinese word for it, so we just use the Kanji of it... basically it means a person who looks cute/benign/etc but is actually mischievious/evil on the inside. Some good examples should be...hm... Lelouch (Code Geass), Yagami Light (Death Note) , Allen (DGM) - WHAT?!...well, he is one...concluded from later chapters of the manga..., Kyouya Otori (Ouran), etc...
 
*** In Kuroshitsuji, Sebastian is considered ... はらぐろい... (haraguroi?)

-------------------------------------------------I'm A Line-------------------------------------------------

Title: (JP)Kuroshitsuji
        (EN)Black Butler
Media: Manga (27 chapters so far)
           Anime (1st episode aired in Japan this October)
         
The manga of Kuroshitsuji has a total 26 chapters at the moment and has been going for a bit more than 2 years, since it is serialized monthly. I have read some scattered chapters of it in the anime magazines, but I had no intention of following it back then because I didn't think the plot suited me...too much "shojo" things in it although it was in the shonen category. But since this October's new anime series really don't have many new series that are interesting or of great quality, I had no choice... *sweats* but I have to admit that the art of Kuroshitsuji is really good. The mangaka didn't follow the manga mainstream (led by mangakas such as CLAMP I think) of drawing characters of really exaggerated proportions - her art style is a bit similar to that of the earlier DGM series.
 
So I thought it would be a good idea to read the manga first, just to get a general idea of what the manga is about, and...*sweats again* I became absorbed after a few chapters... I suppose my interests change?...anyway, the plot is quite...um...はらぐろい, and so are many characters...in fact, the one thing that makes this series so interesting is that the characters in it are basically divided into the two groups - silly and はらぐろい...of course there are some mild characters...
 
Each manga chapter features on one story, though a battle between Sebastian and the Shinigami is has taken the space of a whole book...and a little more of Ciel's past and Sebastian's secrets are revealed in each chapter. The background is set in England, so Toboso (the mangaka) must have had an enjoyble time drawing all the costumes...= = she stated that that was one big factore for her drawing the manga...another was that she has been wanting to draw a story about a butler every since she became a mangaka...though the idea had been rejected several times..
 
One thing about Kuroshitsuji is the use of puns throughout the whole manga. Toboso sure did make good use of her language...Japanese is really well suited to punning!...*sweats*  and that's how she slips in secrets about the characters of the plot. For instance, when Sebastian says "Bokuwa akumatsu shitsuji tsusukara"(I am nothing but a butler, which he says quite often...) the word "akuma" means both "butler" and "demon" so that kind of implies his identity. Also, when the Shinigami (appeared later in the manga) said to Sebastian that "kuretsumo shitsuji tsushi" (at least I am a butler), "tsushi" has the same pronouciation as "death" in JP...
 
Sebastian
People have been talking about Sebastian ever since the manga became popular, and before him, a character named Yoite from another series, Nabari no Ou. There are significant similarities among Sebastian, Yoite, and Mukuro from Katekyo. And since Katekyo is the oldest of the three mangas, someone has suspected that the mangakas of the other two series have been copying...though this was proved to be untrue... it's just that the three mangakas' styles are a bit alike, though Katekyo seems more shonen. (Kuroshitsuji and Nabari are both shonen, but...some people mistake them as shojo when they didn't follow the whole series... *like me...= =* ) 

Since I started to find new job, it has been almost one month passed. now I start working in a joint-venture company since this week. I'm happy that  I find my way and return to the society,start my new life even thought this is just the beginning.

During this month, sometimes I almost lost my direction, I didn't know how to make decision. some companys who I knew asked me to join them. I knew I need to think and find the right place.

However, it was good to know myself better during this month, I can think very carefully and analysis myself. The first step was to change the bad habit that like sleeping too much and to get up very early in the morning to breath the fresh air and doing morning exercise. Time is life, How can I waste it?

What should I do now is work hard, I have to get up at 6:00am in the morning, and crowd to the bus to company like fighting every morning. but this is life. no matter what, just do the best,  no matter what, enjoy the work, enjoy the life..........

Yesterday when I called my Mum, what she said make me feel sad. they do not understand me, nobody understand me except my nice brother. they complain and blame. no encourage. I feel that they are dissappoint at me. but I'm dissppointed too. all what I did and what I do is for them,but they don't know it. I feel sad about this.

This is hard for me, I have to endure something,I need time to do something. Chinese New year holiday is coming soon, I don't want to go back home for the festival, but I'm afraid that they will worry about me, I don't know what shoud I do.

I have to tell myself that do not care what others saying, just go your own way, if you want to be success, you have to suffer more pain than others, you have to endure more tough things than others. life is not easy.you have to be strong and patient. but easy to say, difficult to do. what shall I do? what shall I do?

Sometimes, I want dissappear, to somewhere that nobody know me, but I have my family, I can not let them worry about me, I have the responsibility to take care of them, escape is not the wise choice, brother asked me to be brave,yes, I have to be brave. brave enough to face everything.

  Many times,when I saw this pic,I would like to think about it:A lovely dog.

  My family doesn't agree me to feed a pet,but I like pets very much.Sometimes,when i saw some bad news about animals,I felt sad.We are family,a big family~

  So,people all over the world need to protect animals~

   Finally,see it! 

My name is Madline. 22 years and 9 months ago my parents were hoping for a Michael, but I guess they realised by now that I won't be the famous football player-son they were hoping for. Instead I participate to the world well-being by watching movies and writing scripts. It's a good job, especialy since I learned how to watch movies. It's harder than it looks.

I am a student at The National University of Film and Theatre in Romania, and things got tough this year. Working hard on my graduation script and watching weirder and weirder movies that i wish I had made, takes half of the time I used to take for granted. But I can't wait to see the THE END phrase at the bottom of the last page of my script. There's nothing like that feeling of seeing your baby-script all grown-up and ready to take life in his own hands.

This blog will be about how to watch movies and how to write for movies. Not as easy as it seems and not as hard as it should be.

Je travaille le lundi. Je pars de chez moi a 7 heures et demie.

J'arrive a l'universite a 8 heures. Je commence le cours a 8 heures et demie.

(Le cours commence a 8 heures et demie.)

Je finis le cours a 12 heures 20.

(Le cours finit a 12 heures 20.)

A 12 heures et demie je vais au restaurant avec Madame Nagatomo.

Je rentre chez moi a 2 heures. Puis je lis des livres chez moi.

Soir j'apprend le Francais de 6 heures a 8 heures.

J 'ecrive encore. Je regarde la television. Je parle a mon fils.

C'est tout! Ce n'est pas amusant. Je suis desolee.

Bonne nuit!

Vous etes francaise?   Non, je ne suis pas francaise. Moi, je suis chinoise. Et vous?

 Vous etes professeur de francais?  Non, je ne suis pas professeur de francais. Je suis professeur de japonais.

Vous venez de paris?  Oui. Mais j'habite a Pekin.

Vous habitez a Pekin maitenant?   Oui.

Vous aimez habiter a Pekin?  Oui et non. Je ne deteste pas habiter a Pekin, mais je prefere habiter a la campagne. 

Vous avez des amis chinois?  Oui. J'ai beaucoup des amis chinois.

Qu'est-ce que vous faites le dimanche?  Je vais au theatre.  Je fait aussi du sport.

Vous aimez le theatre?  Oui. J'adore le theatre.

Alors, vous allez beaucoup au theatre?  Non. Je voudrais aller beaucoup au theatre, mais je ne peux pas. Je ne suis pas libre.

Qu'est-ce que vous faites comme sport?  Je fais du tennis.

J'aime aussi le tennis. On fait du tennis le dimanche? 

D'accord.

C'est tout! merci!

That's all for today's French.

   There is an English Island in zj park. Every Sunday, some pwople who like English or who want to practise their oral English go there.

And I among them,not only like ,but also for practising, go there almost every Sunday.

   On Sunday, the island sems like a noisy viliage market,kids,teenagers,adults and even old ladies with snowy hair, amony whom college students are the main force.

   Sometimes, I can not find one with relevantly the same English level there. And just to talk with different people but the same content, such as "What is your name?" "Where are youfrom"etc. Tudt for this boring questions, some of my classmates hate coming there. Admittedly, it is an embarrassing thing for two strangers have nothing to say after introducing themselves.

   Why can not I change this situation? How could I find more words to avoid emvarrasment? Thinking of this, I keep on going there.

   Now I have three friends there, a primary boy, a railway station officer and an old lady. I am cherishing them very much. Now one big problem befalls me, how could I keep the friendship as long as I can. We three do not connect at usuall, even theor Chinese names I do not know, which I think is not important. We just meet in the island and talk in English. That is enough.

   So, maybe the only solution of keeping this kind of friendship is talking itself . For the old lady, we can talk about the magazine she lends me. Mother-son ralationship and novel for the boy. And the   officer, we have the same aim,to be an interpreter.

  Of cource, I am lucky, that should be pleased, but the looming pressure distulbs me every time after I return. "What is your academic major? Whst is your advantge?" These questions very much on my mind. In fact, my major is medical English, exactly for TCM. And now, I am a

This week is a little bit hard, since back from business, something changed,after the long business in the factory, I do not have much confidence in the company anymore, but I didn't aware that they would decide to delete the office in shanghai, I should know it earlier or they should tell me earlier for I can arrange something earlier. but nothing, I have to do many things this week, what the urgent is to find the nice house to live. but it's not easy to find nice house in such short time.

I felt ashamed that most of my friends get married and have their own house or car, but now still I need to rent the house and sometimes need to move due to some reason. what's wrong with me?

Thanks to my korean brother, he gave me some confidence in doing something, He talked to me everyday, I know he wants to help me, but I'm the girl who do not want the help from others, I'd rather do it by myself even it's tough. I will try my best.....

My son always wants to be independent. He only wants to do what he likes to do. Unfortunately, my husband, his father, always wants to tell him what to do or what not to do.

When my son was still small, he knew he had to obey his dad. But I could see clearly that he was very unhappy.

Now, in the middle of his adolescence, he said that he sometimes would feel like exploding when his father pushed him.

So I told my husband not to push him too hard and to give him more freedom. But then my son's score in the school got bad. And my husband started to blame on me saying that I should have been more strict with him.

Mmm.

It's my first time here.But ,there is nothing but silence.

I have begun to doubet if there is really anyone online.

Anyway I wish there could be more nice people talking

with me.

Here, I am going to give you another tip for learning a foriegn language.

The other day I wrote that I learned my English and Japanese mainly through reading aloud. Apart from that, what I did more than many other language learners is writing. I wrote all kinds of compositions. For example, letters, essays, reports, papers and stories, etc.

Again, I wrote more in Japanese and I am trying to write more in English now.

Reading aloud can help you improve your pronunciation, your intonation, and most of all, the sense of the language, while writing can help you deepen your knowledge of the language. 

So I would suggest the students of English to start a blog in English, and those of Chinese, in Chinese. And we correct each other, when we feel like doing so.

I found that I haven't really written HOW but WHY I learned English and Japanese.

Now I'm really going to write HOW.

It's very very easy. I just READ ALOUD for not less than 2 hours every day. I think I did even more when I was studying Japanese at the University. So my Japanese is far better than my English. Well, I lived in Japan for 12 years. But you know, not everybody who lived in Japan for 12 years can speak very good Japanese. And I think that's because they don't read aloud everyday. So they speak broken Japanese forever.

It seems that there are many Chinese young people who want to improve their English here. You can try my way if you don't want to speak broken English forever. Let's make progress together.

Good luck!

How is my title? I was overjoyed when it came to my mind.

Ok, today I am going to introduce a Chinese proverb to my American friends here.

害人之心不可有，防人之心不可无。

（hai ren zhi xin bu ke you, fang ren zhi xin bu ke wu.）

My father told me to keep this in mind when I first left them for Shanghai to start my new life all by myself at the age of 15.

It means that you can never have the intention to harm others, but you should always be cautious enough to avoid being harmed by others.

The latter half is the real point in this proverb. So some authorities translated it as below.

Honesty must be based on security. 

I have another idea but I don't know which would make more sense to a native English speaker.Here it is. 

Harm no one. Be harmed by no one.

Ok. Stay happy and stay safe!

Later my parents told me that she had mentioned to them that I was a language talent.

She even recommended me to her husband who's also an English teacher of the third famous high school in the county. 

So her husbnad, Mr.Lao Zhi Ding, whose brother-in-law Zhu Rong Ji later became the prime minister of China, came to visit when he heard that I was admitted to the most famous high shool, and persuaded my parents to let me apply for his school. 

At that time, so-called good students were all trying to become scientists. People believed the whole world would embrace you if you did well in science. Naturally,all my science teachers thought I would major in science some day.And so did I.

But Mr.Lao's visit changed my life.He was so enthusiastic that my parents couldn't just turn him down.I finally entered his school and got into his English class. 

A year later,I was sitting in the classroom at Shanghai International studies University,one of the top two universities that specialize in teaching foreign languages in China.

But I was studying Japanese instead of English. So,next time I will write about how I learned Japanese.

(Fin)

hi, everyone. it is the first day when i come here. i like english. i like USA. also i like us tv show such <<gossip girl>>,<<friends>>,<<the secret of teenager>>and so on. my english spoken is poor, i hope you can help me. if you are interested in learning chinese, tell me, i can help you.  i want to make friends with you. my msn number is lancy_1988920@live.cn  .  add me . contact me.

Loong is a supernal totem in China. It flys above clouds. It hids in deep pool or river. Rarely does Loong show itself. When Loong appears, people know it's auspicious.

There is no convincing evidence that Loong existed.The very few documents that mentioned Loong had been seen are recorded as far back as the early days of Chinese culture. The common view is that loong is mythological. Most think loong is the creation, instead of a creature, that shows the Chinese worship of all kinds of wild animals, variations of weather and climate, in all, the worship of nature. It's not hard to find those elements selected from nature in loong's totem.

Loong used to share the translation of dragon,which brought many misunderstandings say the Chinese worship the evil...

There are some pictures and a repaste of an article from this website:

http://www.loong.cn/word_loong.htm 

Loong is not so much in the Chinese life nowadays.Only in special occations like a Loong light in Yuanxiao Festival or a Loong Canoe in Duanwu Festival and maybe some Dragon Dance, a very cultural way of celebration. 

Loong's image can be very abstract.There are different versions.Some looks scary,some looks nice.Well,different artists or artisans do loong differently.Loong should be romantic I suppose.

Antique.

In Feudal Age, only the empire can use loong patterns. People then knew that they should never risk to try the country's tradition. It's OK if you put on a empire's clothes now.

The character 龙(Loong) is common in Chinese names.

 Many Chinese families hold such bowls,some are precious, most are not.

Loong 的新版英语解释（英汉对照）（欢迎批评指正）

（全英文版地址：www.loong.us/loong_word.htm）

The word loong was created on the base of the pronunciation of its counterpart character in Chinese at least 60 years ago.
（Loong 这个单词是根据它在中文里的对应汉字"龙"的发音创造出来的，时间至少是六十年前。）

The packaging of Loong Voong cigarettes, 1940's （龙凤香烟的包装纸，1940 年代）

The bas-relief of loong （龙的艺术品）

Loong is a mythological creature, with the head of a camel or horse or snake, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a cow, the neck and body of a snake, the belly of a kind of huge clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of a hawk, the palm of a tiger, whiskers and a beard.
（龙是一种想象出来的生物，头部似骆驼或马或蛇，角似鹿，眼似兔子，耳似牛，脖子和身体似蛇，腹似蜃，鳞似鲤鱼，爪似鹰，掌似虎，还有着胡须和腮须。）

Loong has not wings. But Ying Loong has wings. Loong will become Ying Loong after a one-thousand-year's self-tempering.
（龙没有翅膀。但是应龙有翅膀。龙经过一千年的修炼可以变成应龙。）

Loong is generally regarded as benevolent, powerful, worshipful and lucky. It is thought the source of wind and rain.
（龙一般被认为是瑞兽，拥有巨大的力量，尊贵，吉祥。龙被认为是风和雨的制造者。）

The earliest artwork of loong ever discovered was built in China about 6,000 years ago. It is a sculpture of loong made by heaping shells of clam.
（迄今为止所发现的龙的艺术品中，最早的是六千年前在中国建造的一座用蚌壳堆造而成的堆塑。）

Loong used to be the symbol of Chinese emperors. Now it stands for luck, happiness and power by ordinary Chinese people.
（龙曾经被中国皇帝用作自己的象征。现在它被普通中国人作为吉祥、幸福和力量的象征。）

It is wrong to translate loong as dragon in English. In fact, loong is so different in nature from dragons that it may be more reasonable to consider them as dissimilar creatures, rather than as the same creature interpreted differently.
（把龙翻译为 dragon 是错误的。实际上，龙和 dragon 在性质上的差异非常大，把它们理解成不同的生物，更加合理。它们不是相同的生物的两种不同解释。）

Loong is a part of the Chinese culture. It is the symbol of the Chinese nation. Loong is a spiritual tie linking the Chinese people all over the world. Chinese people are proud to call themselves "the offspring of the Loong". （龙是中国文化的一部分。它是中国的象征。龙是连接全世界华人的精神纽带。中国人自豪地称自己是"龙的传人"。 The famous Chinese Kung Fu star Bruce Lee's Chinese name is Lee Sui Loong, written in English. "Siu Loong" is the pronunciation of "a little loong" in Chinese, and means a strong and smart boy. （著名的华裔功夫明星李小龙的名字翻译成英文时，其中的"龙"字被写为 Loong。"小龙"的意思是"健壮机灵的孩子"。

The stage property used in The Loong Dance (or Chinese Dragon Dance) is called loong in some Australia museum based on the Internet (e.g. http://203.219.57.198/dragons.html).
（龙舞所使用的道具龙灯，在澳大利亚的一些网上博物馆里被翻译为 Loong。例如：http://203.219.57.198/dragons.html）

(黄佶，2006年12月15日)

Hi All:

I know fantasy football, baseball and basketball is extremely popular here in the US so I was wondering what was popular in China.  Is there such a thing as fantasy sports?  You may call it something different.  We here get a great deal of amusement by selecting football players for our own teams and then assigning values to the statistics that these players put up.  In the end, the person who picks the team whose players perform the best wins the contest.

What sports lend themselves to this type of game in China?  I find it great fun.  It is a way to compete with your friends for money or bragging rights.

Hey everyone!

I made it to the next round for a 20k scholarship! In order to keep moving on, I have to get the most votes. I really need YOUR help because this round is super intense! Only the top 2 move on.

So, it would be wonderful if you could help me by voting! Just go down to the link in step 3 if you already have an account!

It doesn't hurt to create an account. Zinch provides you with many scholarship opportunities. And you could even be selected as a finalist next year!

If you don't have an account yet,
1. Create an account here:
http://www.zinch.com/Anonymous/StudentRegister.aspx?affid=413474

2. Confirm email

3. Vote for Angela Cai here:
http://www.zinch.com/voting/Regionals2.aspx?GroupId=84#Angela-Cai

4. send this message (copy + paste) to all your friends, family, coworkers, etc..!
Anyone can vote!

THANK YOU!! I'd really appreciate it!

This round ends on Tuesday, March 16!

Hello! I'm a new here!My english is very poor!  Hope everybody can contain me! Help me!

Hello, I am a girl from China, beauty, simplicity, I am seriously deal with feelings, I believe that the world is love there, even if I never met, I was often moved by the bailiff of hand portability old son and the elderly. I wanted to find a healthy, motivated, sense of responsibility, and his filial duty to work more seriously, the other time of the humor, comparative music, coming, loving family, loving cause. Honest, no bad habits. foreign men. However, because my English is very poor, I do not understand your letter, if you can be sent to link I will understand what you mean, and sincerely hope we Predestiny become friends, and look forward to your letter.

http://InterPrefectLove.com/en/lang105544about_shiyayun.html

Hi, everyone.

I am a Chinese girl and my hometown is xi'an. It is an ancient city with glorious history.

And hope, we can be friends. sharing culture with each other.

Take care

SiSi

VIKI:

My mothers name was Victoria (nickname VICKI).  She was interested in China as a child and wanted to be a writer.  She went to college 1 year and had to quit when her father died.  She later went to nursing school and became a nurse.  I have also been interested in China since a child of 8 and have followed Chinese history all my life.  My mother encouraged me to go to college and was my mentor and greatly helped me in developing the correct habits of study and hard work that helped me get through college where I studied Business Administration and then became a computer analyst.  I have retired after 44 years as a computer analyst and have been able to live a much better life for having worked hard and gotten through college.  Do whatever it takes to get through college and have a wonderful life.

JERICOAB

I lived in a small village where is by the sea,the sand,the sunshine,the sea ,the field,the path to my house and all those things will never gone in my life,but now they just become thousands of pieses  in  my dreams,because ,I would never see them again,the place I lived was changed,the beach ,where I spent so much nice time on  ,but now ,the sand on the beach  was taken away by foolish people who are still living there,I saw it at a dark night in winter after I had been away from there for only a few years.I can not find the right words to describe  my feeling on that moment,just like a giant ,without his clothes,lying in the place he had been since the beginning,trembling in the dark,in cold,with helpless,with despair.the reef which was shown out ,just like muscles,have no skin  to wrap them,but I can hear he is shouting in voiceless,that's sad ,really sad,for now I  can only see it in my dreams, after that I hadn't been back to see it,but I would never forget what I saw at that night,it showed me his colour _black although which was used to be  gloden,and if people don't stop destroy natural  around them,black will be our last colour!

中文：In Chinese：

这是我的第一篇博文，要写些什么呢？？？好吧，我是一个高二女生（要上高三了啊～～～），喜欢古典文艺，中国的和欧洲的～当然，日本动漫也可以啦～（不过这些貌似在我博客的说明中已经提到了哈～），我的血型是AB型，星座是白羊座，所以说我就是白天外向乐天，可到了阴雨天或者黑夜就回归到了另一个自我：冷静沉默。唉，谁叫我是AB型呢？呵呵o(∩_∩)o...我希望在这里可以认识一些志同道合的朋友，不管国内国外，交流心得，升华思想～

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

In English：用英文：

This is the first time I sat foot in the website,what should I do now???Well,I am a Senior 2 girl,enjoy classical art,Chinese and European~Of course,anime is also to my taste(But I found that I have wrote them down on my blog describe...),my blood type is AB,I'm Aries,so I am open-minded on day,but I am silent at night.Because of my bloodtype ...hahaI hope that I can find some friends who have same interests,I don't mind your nationality,to communicate view,and develop our thinking~

Hello everyone,

I know it has been a long time since I've last entered a blog entry but that is because I've been so busy. I have finally chosen to attend Williams College( for those of you who don't know what that is, it is a top liberal arts college, even people like Wang Lee Hom went there).

School will start around September 2.

I will be going back to China this summer. I will be there from June 11- August 3, during which time I will be doing some personal tutoring of students who wish to improve their english proficiency. I will be traveling to different places- Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and maybe Hong Kong and Tibet.

I enjoy talking to you guys and look forward to our conversations!

Thanks,

Haotian

P.S. the best way to reach me is via email @ Haotianx@gmail.com

In Forest Park

Once again I seek solace
alone in the forest above Portland
reading poems of Li Po and Tu Fu,
halfway between dawn and dusk
beneath falling sprays of amber sun.

 Raucous croaks of a crow coughing, twice,
(Wake up! Wake up!)
echo through sentient fir trees
where our dead lay dormant
as vague memories near forgotten
beneath dark, moss draped limbs.

Two golden dragonflies duel overhead -
their immence primaevil shadows fall
upon the grassy meadow below them,
upon the open pages before me.

 Portland mumbles in the distance
like the restless drunk does in his sleep
as the blood stained Empire on the Potomac
plots its next war,
and shadows crash to earth.

 

One of the benefits of being Western in China is that from time to time you will have an opportunity to do a modeling job. I had a chance to be photographed for my Chinese school's new brochure. I was worried about my bad haircut but I think things came out all right. See if you can find me!

http://www.glexchange.net/images/GL%20brochure09-web.pdf

If the link dosen't work you can find it at www.glexchange.net

Recently I was also an extra for a kung fu movie. I'll post the photos from that soon.

 An event happenend twenty years ago.Now I am twenty-two years old,that is to say I am only two years old when the momentous event happened,and few of us know the details,especially the reason,and result.I first heard the event when my senior middleschool chinese teacher told me about it.She said it is an Political Turmoil between Spring and Summer of 1989 (Chinese: 春夏之交的政治風波).From western countries' media.it seems to be a peaceful protest as a result of Chinese social problems.I have seen a film called"the Gate of heavenly peace".In my opion,it seems to be objective.when I want to learn more by searching chinese website.When I input''八九学潮"或"八九民运"then it says what you have inputed is illegal .I think we have the right to know the truth.I am loyal to the communist party of China,but I think that Chinese people have the right to know the truth

Took a moment at work today to look back at the blog here and realized that it's been quite some time since I posted anything.  Life has been so busy that it's been hard to find the time to long onto any of the social networking sites at all so everything I'm a part of was out of date. 

Since I last wrote my company has continued to cut the hours for most employees so that has been a bit stressfull.  However, with the way things have been going in America I must say that I'm grateful simply to have a job, let alone a job that I enjoy.  I registered for my GMAT Math Intensive test preperation last week so that was a big weight off my mind.  I will be starting that on the 2nd of June and continuing through the summer, hopefully taking the test at the beginning of fall.  I've continue to apply for grad school visits and information, I would like to have my decision made by the time that I take the exam.

On a happier note the weather in The Twin Cities has been warm enough for daily running outdoors.  I'm back up to around 7 miles a day and I've also been playing Ultimate Frisbee 3 days per week.  It's been great to get back outside and be so physically active again, I truly believe that half of the stress we feel is due to our somewhat lethargic natures in America and I will never be one of those people.

I hope that all of you are doing well and your lives are active, healthy, and happy now.  I also wanted to let anyone of you know that I am now on Twittter at http://twitter.com/Zanzibar41 if you are interested in following my daily events.  I was a bit sceptical of the site at first but it does grow pretty addicting and it has been useful for keeping up with the family.  I thought I would close with a quote this time around so here it is and I hope you have a great day!

"I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown.  It places me on a far higher plane than any politician"               --Charlie Chaplin

I will be here for more friends!Ok,this is the first post I publish.I don't what to say.well, just say hello to everyone here and hope everybody be happy everyday.that's all.thanks!

I'm happy that spring has finally made its way north to Beijing. The warm weather hasn't really kicked in yet, but I'm down to two layers of clothing, which is a start. Sometimes I miss my old home of Shenzhen in the south, but then again Beijing dosen't have an insane typhoon season so I guess I shouldn't complain.

It's exciting to see plant life returning to the city in the form of green fuzz and white flowers popping out of trees. I took a cab by Tiananmen at night after bowling this weekend and was treated to the surreal sight of trees filled with white blossoms and hanging lights. 

My Mandarin school also released an online newsletter for March.

Some of you might find it interesting because it features interviews with a grad student from Finland, a translator and mother from Germany, and a British woman who used to work with addicts in the UK.

Check it out:

http://www.glexchange.net/Newsletter/Jan-Mar/Newsletter-3.html

It's facinating to see how people of all shapes and sizes somehow all end up in Beijing studying Mandarin. It makes life here really interesting.

 It is pretty strange and depressing. when I loged on , then it lost. Is there anybody use windows vista? Who can help me and tell me more about it.

I am first to be here today. how exciting , I found such good web.

I can make friends with different persons.

I can acquaint myself with various culture.

Also welcome friends to duscuss about Chinese culture.

It was a great Tuesday in America this week.  For anyone who has been living under a rock for the last year we as a nation bowed our heads and swore in President Obama.  For anyone lucky enough to witness this event in person or on the extensive news coverage it was a day that none of us will ever forget.  After eight years of darkness, xenophobia, and despair we have a voice of change and reason guiding our country.  I'm proud to call myself an American for the first time in a long, long time and it feels great.  I wish President Obama all the success and happiness in the future as he guides our country, it will be a challenge but those of us who understand the sacrifices we must make are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work!!  Here's the the future!!!!

Spending Christmas in China, whether you are a resident or a traveler, can often feel a bit weird. Christmas trees appear everywhere and Santa hats suddenly seem listed as employee dress code for employees in shops. KFC even runs ad campaigns featuring gift wrapped buckets of chicken dropping down chimneys with an excited family waiting around a Christmas tree. This can all feel a little surreal, particularly when your family is far away and most Chinese don’t actually celebrate Christmas in the western sense. However, I managed to find some Christmas cheer by going to the Bird's Nest on Christmas Eve. I was astonished to find an eloquently decorated Christmas wonderland among the famous Olympic landmarks. It featured rows of Christmas trees spanning more than a half mile, with a massive tree right in front of the Bird’s Nest. The stadium’s lights were complimented by the Water Cube’s glow, mixing perfectly with the lights of the surrounding Christmas trees. Anyone in the area next year should stop by and take a look. I have to say, for the moment the spell was broken when I noticed a small army of women clad in Santa suits selling merchandise and a stage with a break dancing competition. I guess you can’t fault another culture for putting its own spin on Christmas, especially when people around you are smiling and enjoying the evening with their loved ones. For New Years Eve, I would recommend San Li Tun, a bar street and shopping area in the Chaoyangdistrict. The sheer variety of bars, pubs, and clubs of varying nationality and theme makes it easy to move about and find a scene that best suits you. Now of course the Chinese New Year is upon us. Fireworks stalls are appearing on every corner of Beijing and my host mother is excited about making dumplings together. However, aside from fireworks and dumplings, I am not sure how to properly bring in the year of the Ox. Does anyone have suggestions about places to go or things to do in Beijing?

okay, so hello! my name's christine, and i'm a sixteen year old girl from a town in south eastern pennsylvania. i'm a junior at a really big high school and i'm really, really into politics and theatre. i love light design and may want to pursue that in a career, although lately politics has been drawing me in a little more and so i'm really undecided on my career path.

i love text messaging, and i do it ALL THE TIME. like, every day, every minute. i also love music and  it's rare that you'll see me without my ipod. i also sing and write a lot of poetry, although i have an eternal case of writer's block that's often munching on my muse, so i can't write.

um. haha i can't think of anything else.

<3 christine

There are seven arts and many other aspiring to the title of 8th, 9th, 10th .... art. Cooking art, art of conversation, the art of being human and many others.

Ever since movie got the 7th art title, every domain actually wants a piece of the word art.

But what I think will be a succes in the artistic field is the game industry. It may sound far-fetched. But think about it. It might be considered the newest branch of cinema, just waiting to be recognized. They look more and more like interactive movies than everything else.

I’m not sure if you have played the newest computer games (and I don’t mean pacman and snake), but nowodays they employ scriptwriters, directors, designers and all kinds of documentarists to make the story more interesting.

They are making the new urban mythology.

BioShock is based on a novel by Ayn Rand, and it has a complex philosophy as a motivation.

For Assasin’s Creed they had as documentarists a few of the best historians at the National Museum, and they „reconstructed” the old Damasc as it used to be.

Oblivion’s environment was conceived by geologs.

The concept artists are obviously tallented painters, and there is a big team of artists behind the games industry.

Yesterday was my birthday, I didn't expect to have a party or what else. Just like normal day. My brother from korea came and celebrate the birthday for me, I appreciated for everything he did for me. I will not forget.

We had good time and full enjoy the music till midnight, I'm happy, because all of them are nice to me, especially my brother. I feel like to be spoiled and feel safety. but the moment when we apart, I felt a little bit sad, I can not describe the feeling. but I enjoyed the time that we were together.

Brother said that I have very good destiny and will be very rich in the near future, he always praise me and encourge me, so I need to work hard and grow up. I should not let my family and people who loves me dissappoint. Come on, Mary............. 

I discovered this website by pure chance. It's really full of fun. Here are the link to the website and its brief introduction:

http://www.sleepingchinese.com/

"Dear Visitor,

I gotta warn you! Before you click through my large collection of photos, you should not forget, what you hear and read daily in the media of your home country about the booming China.

They talk about "The Sleeping Giant". About "The Birth of the New Super Power" or "The Awaken of the Red Dragon". Very often with a strange kind of undertone, which is supposed to frighten us. The reality looks definitely more peaceful.

Since years I am fascinated by the country and the people. Whenever I linger through the boomtown Shanghai, I carry my snap shot camera with me. Because at every corner you can discover people that either are napping in the strangest positions and situations, or are even snoring, while sunk in a deep sleep. Noteworthy are the missing mattresses and pillows!

The calmness, the flexibility and the adaptability of the ones, who are jointly responsible for the revival of China, are fascinating me. I would be happy, if I can bring over some of these feelings to you.

Enjoy now a selection of my already over 600 photos large collection of SLEEPINGCHINESE.

Yours,
Bernd, June 2007"

My dears,

Can you remember how the trip of all the 6 characters of "Friends" started their journey into the beautiful world of friendship?

Let me give you a small reminder: it was called "The One Where Monica looks for a roommate" (aka Pilot)

The first episode of the show begins with Monica, Chandler, Joey, & Phoebe sitting in Central Perk, the show's coffee shop set in NYC. The gang of four are sitting around on the couch, doing what they do best: Having discussions about their personal relationships.
Everyone wants the inside details about the guy who Monica is going to go out with later that night. She claims there is nothing to tell, she just works with him. But Joey and Chandler want details ... after all something has to be wrong with him if he is willingly going on a date with Monica. Chandler asks if he has a hump or a lot of hair. Phoebe gets in on the action by asking if he likes to eat chalk. (This causes the gang to give their friend a strange look, but that is a normal response to most of what Phoebe says.) Phoebe explains that she once dated a guy who ate chalk and his name was Carl. Monica finally tells her friends to chill, it's just a date and no sex will be involved.
Next scene is still at Central Perk, just at a later time. The four of them are still sitting around the couch, this time discussing their dreams. Chandler mentions a recurring dream of going back to high school, being in the middle of the cafeteria totally naked. Everyone chimes in that they had the same dream. But Chandler continues by saying he looked down to his private region to find a telephone there instead of the usual equipment. The gang quickly refutes that they have never had a dream like that in their life. Chandler adds that the phone begins to ring and he answers it, and the person calling is his mother and he says it's weird because she never calls him in real life.
Ross, Monica's older brother, enters Central Perk. He is completely depressed and looks terrible. Monica asks if he is okay and Ross responds by saying he "feels like someone pulled out his small intestine via his throat and then tied it around his neck." Chandler, in his usual joking manner, asks if he would like a cookie.
Monica tells the group that Carol, Ross' ex-wife, moved her stuff out of the apartment today, so that is why Ross feels like this. Carol was Ross' wife and the first woman he slept with. They were married for an unspecified amount of time before she got a divorce on the grounds that she was a lesbian. This only makes Ross feel that much worse. Now he feels his manhood is at stake.
Phoebe noticing Ross' demeanor immediately gets up from her seat and takes her fingers and plucks at the air around Ross, trying to clear his aura. Ross, clearly agitated, tells Phoebe to stop and that he will be fine and that he hopes Carol will finally be happy.
Monica tells Ross that he doesn't want Carol to be happy and Joey wonders why Ross never knew she was a lesbian before. Ross goes into a spasm and tells everyone to stop fixating on her being a lesbian, he didn't know, and she didn't know. Joey offers to help Ross out by taking him to a strip joint but Ross does not want to go, he doesn't want to be single, he wants to be married again.
At this point, the final main character, Rachel, enters the scene at Central Perk. She is in a big wedding dress and is completely soaking. She looks around the coffee shop, trying to locate Monica, whom she hasn't seen for awhile. Monica notices Rachel and calls out to her.
Rachel tells Monica she just went to her apartment but couldn't find her and a guy with a big hammer told her to go to Central Perk. Monica introduces Rachel to the gang, mentioning that she is a graduate of Lincoln High School, apparently the same school as Monica and Ross. She goes to hug Ross, but the umbrella he is holding opens, making it impossible for Rachel to give him a hug without bodily harm. Ross sits back down, his umbrella deflated along with his ego.
No one speaks for a moment as the entire gang looks at Rachel, wet in her wedding dress, expecting her to explain her unusual appearance. She doesn't until Monica asks. Turns out, Rachel got cold feet and could not marry her fiancé, Barry, a dentist. Thirty minutes before her wedding she looked at all her presents and fixated on a gravy boat. She had an epiphany that at that moment she was more turned on by the expensive gravy boat than by Barry. She got freaked out and realized that Barry had an uncanny resemblance to Mr Potato Head, so she left him at the alter. She didn't know where to go and the only person she knew in the city was Monica, so she headed to her place.

And this is how a beautifull friendship began.

I am Shirley ,come from China.I hope I can make friends with you!

hi,nice to meet you ! I am wildfish who is living in Beijing,China.

I'm a man of 26 years old, come from the University of Business and Economics .I major in International trade and Business English .

i can tell you many Chinese folk stories and teach you our cultures or guide some interesting places for you , certainly , at the same time .i will talk with you to improve my oral english .Then, we will get the common development. So, let us make friends now !

My e-mail :mxc_2008@sina.com,my QQ number is :2808 76840 or my phone number is :132 6966 9756.

I am looking forward to receiving your reply soon.Thank you !

                                     Yours sincerely,

Just sitting here on the first day of National Day holiday, trying to figure all of this blog and other computer stuff. obviously thes things are not one of my forte's. Maybe someone can give me some instructions. Hope all of my Chinese readers have a great Golden week free from work.

James

Hi All,

The American TV Series are very popular among college students in China.

I think FRIENDS is watched and favoured by most. PRISON BREAK and LOST used to be the most popular. Chinese students are attracted to HEROES and GOSSIP GIRL now. English teachers would recommend DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and THE APPRENTICE.

I am a fan of BOSTON LEGAL.

Do you watch any American TV Series?Any favourites?

There was some officious Chinese stirring up the discussion on the nation's reaction to Liu hypothetically failing to win the gold medal on the internet. Quite a portion of Chinese netizens, majorly consisting of people age between 15-30,said Liu should not be blame in the hypothetical situation. Some people，who I thought them being ill-intentioned，"predicted" that under pressure Liu would flee the competition. Well, the ill-intentioned get to laugh now. Liu quit the 1st round during the time when players getting ready for the second firing after someone beat the gun. He limped off with a painful injury.

When the announcer informed a stadium of puzzled Chinese, each of them were ready to shout and cheer at the moment Liu spins, a loud and long sigh burst in Birds' Nest, I can sense the astonished and disappointed tone of all the audience.

One of my friend was standing close enough to clearly record every movement and facial expression of Liu in the Birds' Nest with clouds of fans. She said the fans started shouting "LIU Xiang jiayou (a term to cheer the players in Chinese)" two hours before Liu showed up on the track. When she heard Liu quit, she can't help the emotions burst into tears like any Chinese fans there, and the next thing they want to do is to leave the stadium.

Liu is an excellent athlete. His magical performance four years ago introduced the whole nation to the excitement of 110-meter hurdles and the joy of witnessing Liu's every single winning. And in the past four years he was keeping his legend for the most of time. Liu's character is adorable. Every Chinese remembers what he said after winning gold medal "Who convinced the world that the yellow can't achieve top eight in such kind of sports? I am the Olympic champion." He likes to challenge, and he is qualified to do so. He was becoming an icon of Chinese pride and glory. Thinking about Chinese pride and glory, the old way is to date back to ancient times. I do respect and love the Chinese history and culture, but honestly speaking, the glorious ancient history is too far away from us, fading and not as exciting as 2004 Heroic LIU Xiang wining Olympic gold medal. Ever since, the nation was expecting to wave the national flags on Liu's victorious moments, especially the one in 2008 in Beijing.

Nobody knows Liu would really have no choice but quit, including those "accomplished predictors" .The injury, the cause of his quit, was an old one, and it was reported to be under control. Liu was said to have achieved around 12'90 in a test on August 8th.However his good condition just wait till last Saturday. And this morning, before his went to the call room, three doctors tried to control his pain, but unfortunately, even some extreme acesodyne methods could not ease his pain. Liu insisted to compete. SUN Haiping, Liu's coach referred to this determination as putting his life at risk. When he appeared on the track, he managed to walk normally at the beginning. But after a warm-up sprint, Liu can't hide his pain anymore. He rested on his knees, with an aching expression. After he got on his feet, he limped, still looking painful. But he went straight to the block and bend to be ready for the starting gun. He was grinding his teeth to tolerate. The gun fired, all of the players started. There was a false start. Liu's Olympic ended right in front of the first hurdle.

Banners in air, people stunned. Why? Athletes quit because of injuries are common. Why Liu's quit hurt the Chinese so much? Does it has anything to do with the lost of hope repeat to be champion? These days we have several athletes failed to repeat miracles( SHI Zhiyong, weightlifting gold medalist, quit during the game for injury,etc.) , but no audience would text messages, make phone calls to tell acquaintances like what we react to Liu's quit.

Liu was a miraculous golden boy. All we know about him is, he comes he wins. We know nothing about how he was trained to be a champion. We don't know about his injuries, his rise and fall. From the day we heard about him, he is always with good news. Almost Four years he often kept winning and winning. We just don't see him lose. And perhaps he is the first Chinese athletes who kept the image of healthy, dynamic and indefectible. Lost in his victories, the Chinese has forgotten Liu is after all a human being.

When I saw the contrastive pictures of people smiling before while weeping after today's event，I realized something quite unfamiliar in the slogan of 2008 Beijing Olympics "One World, One Dream". When the theme song "You and Me" went along with the shots of Liu today, the song for the first time touched me.