God's Children

Today we watched a movie about the poverty. There are a lot of poor people out there. They don't have enough money to buy food and go to school, even though they know education may be the only way to leave the poverty. Most of them live in the dirty dump, along with the garbage. One time, the garbage mountains collaped and it took many lives away. The government, however, shot down the dump. Instead of giving the poor people a place to stay and solve the problem, they decided to ignore and did nothing about it. In the end, the poor still did not have a place to stay, not to mention the healthy food and better living environment.

Aftering watching the movie, I feel that we are so lucky to have a good life here. Look around, we all have a decent place to live, all kinds of food that we can choose, and the more important thing is that we can choose which school to study. Compared to the poor people in the movie, I think we should appreciate more what we have right now, instead of complaining what we do not have.

Causes of Poverty by Anup Shah

Author Shah on March 22, 2009 wrote an article about the causes of poverty. At the beginning of the article, there is a list of the facts of the poverty. For example, nearly a billion people in 21st century are illiterate. Shah stated that the brief causes of poverty were mentioned more often than the deeper and more global causes of poverty. In fact, the global causes played an important role in the causes of poverty.

The writer believed that the globalization was needed to put into account. Since the globalization made the world connected closely, it also marketed the captalism all over world. So it made the wealthy and powerful even more wealthy and powerful. The poor countries still stayed poor and poor. In the end, the poor countries will not have any chance to improve their life, health system, lowering the rate of the illiterate, GDP, and etc.

I think the author made a good point about the causes of poverty. The poor countries had little chance to improve their own life when the rest of the more wealthy countries are interconnectedness. They had hard time to get involved in the global activities since the poor countries had little money and power. The global point of view was actually an excellent point toward the causes of the poverty, instead of the internal causes.

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty

Aphorism #5

“Be hopeful but not foolishly hopeful.”

We are used to and asked to be helpful when we are in the negative emotion or in a bad situation. We try to think of the bright side of the situation and look for the good things happen soon. For example, right now the economy is bad and lots of companied bankrupts. But we are still hopeful and think that the bad time will be over soon. The market will be back and everything will be good again. This is what we mean “hopeful.”

However, we do not recommend “foolishly hopeful.” What is foolishly hopeful? When people are foolishly hopeful, they are looking for something that is not going to happen or doing nothing to them. For example, people who are in their 40’s are hopeful to be like 20’s or go back to their 20’s. This is foolishly hopeful some people have. They are hopeful to something that is not going to happen. It is almost like these people live in the unreal world and at the same time, they waste their energy and time in hoping something that will not happen. So I think the aphorism tells us that we should be optimistic and hopeful but not hopeful for something will not do anything good to us or even will never happen to us.

How do electrolytes work in our body?

There are electrolytes in our body and this is why we are conductive. Not only the electrolytes play the conductive role, but also play a very physical role in our body. If we are lack of electrolytes in our body, some of our body system will become imbalanced, such as our hydration and pH.

Electrolytes are mainly composed of sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and chloride (Cl−) in our body. When they are released in the liquid, they will release the ions. Ions are the very important things to make the electrolytes conductive. So when our body is conductive, it also makes the heart beat, makes the muscle work and makes the nerve convey its messages. So electrolytes actually help our body keep working.

The sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and chloride (Cl−) are also very important to keep our pH balanced. If there is an imbalance on the electrolytes, there will be an imbalance on the hydration and pH. So when we finish exercising, we need to replace some water and electrolytes. This is also the reason why electrolytes are usually found in sports drinks.

Aphorism #4

“When you are utterly frustrated or angry, express these feelings. You don’t have to be nice all the time just most of the time.”

We are taught to be nice to people even though we are mad or angry. I guess this is so common in the Chinese culture. Sometimes I am so angry, but I still wear a smile to the person I am angry at. However, in fact, we do not have to be so nice all the time. Once a while, we should express what we really think and just behave like it. There is nothing wrong with it. I think this way is healthier to our body.

On the other hand, when we express our negative emotion, we should keep in mind that we do not mean to hurt anyone. We just show what the current state in our mind, not trying to harm anything or cause damage to our friendships and other relationships to different people.
So, when we are angry, once a while we don't have to keep it, we can express it on our face. We express it but don't mean to hurt people. We can shout out loudly, or hit something, just don't hurt other people or ourselves.

Lightning & Rubber Shoes

It is believed that lightning is a form of static discharge. Static discharge means that some particles (usually electrons) leave its object and move to different place. So what does the lightning cause? It is has to do the static discharge in the storms. When there is a storm in the sky, it will make the clouds and particles in the sky dash to one another. When they push one another violently, their electrons and protons separate or the electrons move to somewhere else. After a while, all electrons and protons are separated. The positive charged will stay on the top of the clouds and the negative charged will move to the bottom of the clouds. When the negative charged are at the bottom of the clouds, it will induce the positive charged from the surface of the ground. Again, the negative charged from the bottom of the clouds move to the surface of the ground where the positive charged exist. When the negative charged move, there is some energy from the release of the discharging process. It is the releasing energy that causes the lightning.
During a storm, it is better to wear rubber shoes because rubber is one of the insulators. Insulator can make the charge difficult to move or pass. So when we wear rubber shoes in a storm, the charge cannot pass on our bodies and we can avoid the lightning or thunder on our heads.

Aphorism #3

“Don’t assume that it’s too late to be involved in something.”

It's always not too late to get involved in something if you really want to learn. Just work hard, then you will be good at something even you were not good at before. Just start it right the moment when you feel like it. Like some old men and ladies that do not work hard or can't study when they were young. But they continue their education when they are old. In few years, they also graduate from the schools. Just work hard if you really want to do something.

Sometimes we think we are too old to do something and think we are too late to do something we really want to do. But we do not realize that we are so conditioned in the culture and we do what people think we should do. There is no right time to do anything, instead of investment in a bad market. My point is that people should do whatever they want to do even though they are old. It is always not too late to do things that can satisfy one self.

Aphorism #2

“Learn forgive yourself and to forgive others.”

Human beings make mistakes. Everyone does some mistakes in his/her lifetime. So it's very important to learn about forgiving one self and forgiving others. We need to try control our emotion when we feel like blaming people’s or our mistakes because there is no need to put our emotion in the situation. Don't be mad when people makes mistake. Being angry and unhappy is not helpful to the situation where the mistakes are done.

Instead of blaming to ourselves or others, we should think about how to solve the problems. To be productive and optimistic is also important when we look at the bad things. If we do not forgive ourselves and others and we stay in the angry and negative emotion all the time, we will not be happy and probably live in a miserable life. Therefore, learning forgiving ourselves and others is very important in our life.

Aphorism #1

“Get a much help as you can when you need.”

It means that when we need help, we should ask for it and don't be afraid of asking. We should get much help as we can. It can make things that we are working on more successful and easier. The more important is that we can solve the problem that we are not able to solve. Sometimes we are too shy to ask for help or we think it is a shame to ask for people’s help. In fact, asking for help and taking care of each other is one of the purposes that people live in a same community.

On the other hand, we can also help others. When people need help, we can help them as well.

what would a day be like without electricity

If I don't have eletricity for a day, I can't use my phone and computer. The only thing I will do is sleep for the whole day, or read some books in the day time because it will be dark at night. It will be a big inconvenience for me. My schedule will depend on the sunlight since I cannot have enough light in the night time. So the only time I can do my homework is in the day. Also, the high speed railroad cannot run and operate since it needs electricity. If the high speed railroad is not running, how can I go to school on time every day. I may have to get up more earlier such as 3 am and head out to school. That is crazy.... Anyway, I think my life will be a mess and go crazy without electricity.

The Moral of The Pearl

Steinback wrote an excellent story about how the Pearl of world changes the main character, Kino's life and his future. At the very beginning of the story, Kino and his family have a very smooth and simple life. Everything seems peaceful and nothing has to worry about. But once his son was poisoned, his life has a goal, to save his son's life. When he is not accepted by the doctor, he went to the ocean and tries his luck to see if he can find anything valuable. Fortunately, he finds the pearl of the world, a great grey pearl. 

When he finds the pearl, he starts to dream about how different his life and his family will be. At the same time, people live in the same village also think about how to take the pearl away from Kino. That is because people only see the wealth the pearl will bring to them. They do not see other things else, such as the moral of being a good person, and not stealing things from their neighbors. People become greedy, so does Kino. Even though he is almost killed by a stranger, he still insists to keep the pearl. He also puts his family in danger and finally his son is killed in a fight. So Kino finally realizes the consequence of his greed and throws the pearl in the sea.

I think the moral of the book is to tell people that we should be satisfied what we already have and not be greedy of the things we do not have. If we can control our desire for money, we can have a more peaceful life. 

The Diary # 5

Date: April 25, 2009

Today is the third day since the day I won the lottery. I keep thinking how can I spend the money. But I decide to save the remaining money for emergency. Also I want to have a trip to France next Spring with my friends. So I think it is smart to deposit the money in my bank account.

However, I got a phone call from my close relative. She is my cousin. She told me that she needs some money to open a businese and she asks if I can lend some money to her. I was in a dilemma for a moment. I wonder if I can have my money back in a year if her businese is a success. But I do not want to be thought as rude or cruel. Finally, I denied her suggestion. I think I make the right choice in the end.

The Diary # 4

Date: April 24, 2009

I woke up at the same time as usual. But I feel released because I think I do not have to study that hard and get a good job to make money. I already have the money in my pocket. But I still do the same things, going to school, doing my homework, and hanging with my friends. I just feel less pressure on my shoulder. I become more easy-going. Still, I appreciate all the things I have. I do not waste anything... I think I will, but in fact, I am still the same me.

Today I donate 10% of the money to the organization which deals with the students who do not have the money to pay their tuition. I always want to do something for these people but I did not have the extra money before. Now I can make it and make this move. I am kind of proud of myself. I also buy my friends and my family meals, lunch and dinner. I am not stingy at all. I like to share the extra fortune and lucky with my family and friends.

Earth day !!!!! :)

April 22 is the day of the earth. It is also the day that reminds us of appreciating our earth. We should do our best to recycle items, turn off the air condition when it is not needed, ride the bike instead of driving the cars and so on. There are so many things we can do to save the earth. 

Our earth is dying now, we should take more care of it. Let the earth extend its existence. On the other hand, we should think of our future and the next generation's. If our environment keeps worse, it is difficult for human beings, any animal and plant to live on earth. If the earth is destroyed, there is no way to replace it. We should think hard of it.   

The Diary # 3

Date: April 23, 2009
Today, I won the lottery and now I have a lof of cash in my pocket. People knew I won the lottery and I felt like they wanted to know how I spend the money. My friends asked me for help, of course money wise. My relatives who seldom talk called me to congraduate me for the locky and asked me what time I can have dinner with them. Good friends and "okay" friends called me today. I thanked for their care but now I just wanted to think for my own and figured it our how to make use of the money.

I felt I am still the same person. But people treated me differently, they always smiled to me and tried to know how I will spend the money. I am kind of not used to the changes and I just wanted to do my things without other people's attention, not at all. I was watched everywhere people knew me. In the late evening, I finally spent a little portion of the money to buy a new eletronic guitar which I had been looking for. But I dare not go out. I shopped online because I did not want to be noticed. So far, I just do like to be watched. So I went to bed a little early only because I was tired of being watched instead of being exhausted of fantasy.

Tha diary #2

Date: April 21, 2009

This morning I got up 5 minutes late and almost missed my train. Today I finally noticed that my clock was 10 minutes late compared to the clock in the train station. No wonder I was always in a hurry when I caught a bus. I had my breakfast in the train and read the newspaper. I learned that the burned infant was dead. I spent 1 minute to wish their family fine.

I went to class as my schedule and talked to my friends. I was at home at the same time as usual. I had a good dinner today with my family. I watched a movie tonight and played a little bit guitar after doing my homework. I went to bed 1 hour late because I cannot fall asleep. I sensed something different in my room.

The diary # 1

Date: April 20, 2009

I woke up at 5 and took a quick shower. I changed clothes, got on the car and waited till I arrived the school. I started the first class, and had lunch and played some guitar during break time with my friends. I went to class again. The all thing repeated every day.

When the school was over, i chilled out with my friends. then I got on the taxi and went to high speed railroad station. I got home, did homework, and had some chat with friends. Finally I went to bed and slept. I waited for the same thing happened tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it will never change.

Hooters Girls Battle Man Hiding In Car

Christopher Childers, 40, was arrested because he hided in two 19-year-old girls' car when they walk into a Wal-Mart to do some shopping. He liked the two girls so he waited in their cars and wanted to do something bad toward them. There was somehting interesting about the crime was that the male said that he thought the two girls are easy. I was not sure about what he said that. Did he mean that the two girls are easy to rob or easy to make friends with them. I think he was trying to do something sexual haraassment to the two girls. This news let me think that girls usually have more difficult time than men becuase females are physically inferior than men.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/19208184/detail.html#-

5 Found Dead Inside Middletown Home

At least five people are dead after relatives found them in a Middletown home.
Frederick County deputies said that a caller told police that there were five people dead in a house. They were a husband, a wife and three kids. The police said that the father killed all his family members and killed himself after murdering his family. The kids were still very young. I found the news is very sad and scaring. How could a father kill his own wife and young kids? The neighbors said that the father looked fine like usual and they could not imagine he killed his family. The news let me feel like human beings' life is so unpredictable. We should appreciate what we have and love our family, instead of destroying them.


http://www.wbaltv.com/cnn-news/19217140/detail.html

The Pearl #1

1. How would you change if you had a lot of money? What your personality be different?
 If I am rich, I may buy a lot of stuff and perhaps, waste the money I have. In other words, I may not appreciate my personal items that much compared to my current stage. If I have a lot of money, I may waste my money because I can always buys things even though I do not need them. In terms of my personality, I may  be more proud of myself since I can easily get things I want. But I am still nice and friendly to my friends and relatives. I will not be mean or treat them in a bad way. 

2. Would you ever take a risk to reach a goal?
I think I am the person who takes a risk to reach a goal. Once I find a goal for myself, I will try my best and overcome the obstacles come to my way. At the point, I will not think too much of my own safety and I will do everything satisfies my goal. I remember one day i'm so thirsty, and i want to go seven-eleven to buy a drink.  So I don't care about the traffic light and the cars. I only want to go buy a drink. This may not completely describe my taking a risk, but can reveal something about myself.

3. Would you ever hurt members of you family just so you could be accepted by friends?
I would like not to hurt anyone in my family. If I do, there must be some reasons which make me hurt them. On the other hand, my friends are very important to me. Also I only accept something reasonable. So I will not hurt my members of my family only because I want to be accepted by friends. If I hurt my family, that is because there are some apparent reasons, instead of acceptance of friends. 

5 dead in Florida boating accident, official says

There were 12 people abroad the boat which was crashed because of a boating accident near Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday evening. The were 5 people found dead and the remaining 7 people were serious injured, sent to the hospital. 

When the accident happened, the rescuers were not able to arrive the dock because the dock was not finished. So they had to put some wood sheets on the water to rescue the victims. 

I feel sorry to these people and think they are unlucky. I think they may not die if the dock is finished and people who had serious injuries may just have bruises.  I wonder if they wear any life vest on the board. Maybe 5 people dead because they did not wear any life vest.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/12/florida.boat.accident/index.html

L'Aquila Earthquake (2009)

The wake of a deadly earthquake that killed nearly 300 people and left some 45,000 homeless, it's a poignant reality they must live with. "It is hard for us to believe right now," the Archbishop of L'Aquila told those assembled for an emotional Easter Mass. "But we must pray, we must pray that God gives us hope.

I think it is nice that the Pope and other bishops comfort the people and pray for them during the Easter. It shows that the world is warm and there is still hope for these suffering people.  I think people all over the world should help them financially or pray for them. 

But it is lucky that people from Taiwan travelled to Italy and got back safely without hurt. After this horrible stuff happen, many people go to the church and pray for people who were dead or became homeless. I hope people who lost their family or home can recover soon for the loss. God bless them.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/earthquakes/laquila_italy_2009/index.html?scp=2&sq=Deadly%20Earthquake%20Shakes%20Central%20Italy&st=cse

Taiwan’s Former President Goes on Trial for Corruption by Michael Wines

The Taiwan former president is going to jail because of the corruption. Police has prove that he might use country's money to afford his own stuff. But he thinks he is good, and a perfect president. Before the trial, there was a statement from Mr. Chen and he mentioned that the whole trial was conducted by the current President Ma, Ying-Jiu, who wanted to win favor with China’s government. Mr. Chen said that it was a political suppression because he supported that Taiwan should be independent from China when he was the president of Taiwan. I wonder how much money did Ms. Wu take from the whole illegal matters? I wonder if all the former presidents “took” money as well. If they did, they must do something good in some ways so they were covered. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/asia/27taiwan.html?ref=world

Blood Red Horse Chapter 11

Saracens in Acre surrendered because they were not able to defend Acre any more. The Saracen hostages were more than 3000 in Acre. King Richard tried to have an agreement with Saladin, the leader of the Saracens. But Saladin refused to pay the ransom money. So the Christian knights decided to kill the captives. It was a massacre. I think what the Christian crusaders did at Acre was terrible and immoral. It was cruel to kill the people who had no hostility and resistance. I will never agree with what they did at Acre. I do not think their God will open the door to heaven based on the massacre they did. Their behaviors only showed that they were barbarians. Through this event, I think the Christianity here is not a good model to follow because they only did whatever satisfied themselves and did not care for other kinds. I think the Christianity let its owe people do whatever benefited and satisfied themselves. While activating the massacre, Hosanna refused to move forward and joined the activity. I think Hosanna tried to tell William that it was a wrong thing to do. The horse had some intelligence and can sense what was good and what was bad.

In Trinidad, a Painted Lady in Distress by David Shaftel

Port of Spain, Trinidad has a lot of historical buildings which can be traced to 1900. Even though they are beautiful and historically valuable, but they are not easy to maintain. Almost every rain season, there is a new leak in the building. In fact, the owners have to spend a lot of money to renovate the, sometimes three times of the expense to renovate than the price to buy. Right now, there are several buildings are for sale. Most of the owners rebuild the buildings with modern furniture and designs. Some run them as B&B. But there are also some preservationists calling for the preservation campaigns in Trinidad. They try to preserve the building as many as possible. There are also laws and fine for the owners and buyers who torn down the historical buildings. I personally agree to preserve the historical buildings. But the government or preservation organizations should help the owners fix their buildings down the line. Otherwise, when the owners cannot afford the expense, they will eventually tear the buildings down. On the other side, I also think everyone has the choice to rebuild his/her own house no matter what type of the building is. Is it fair to receive a fine by rebuilding one self’s house?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/garden/13trinidad.html?ref=americas

A River Runs Through It

The last sentence of the novel, the author says “I am haunted by waters.” I think he likes waters, especially the water his family and he went a lot when he was little. Also waters were the places his brother, Paul, and him spent most time together. Besides, they were waters he thought like stories. He mentioned that reading rivers was like reading stories. Also, the author started thinking of this story when he sat besides waters. So when he looked at waters, he also thought of his family, his parents, his brother, and his stories. Most the important events happened in his life were related to waters and rivers, such as his stories, fly fishing with his father and Paul, his mediation, and Paul’s death. So I think waters reminded him of his important moments in his life. So he said “I am haunted by waters.”

In the book the character I like the most is Norman. I think he is a very responsible person and he tries to take care of his brother. Also, he is a considerate person. Even though he does not like Jessie’s mother and brother, he is still polite to them .
The character I like the least is Neal. I think he is a selfish person who only cares about himself. He does whatever he wants and rude to people.

In terms of the major lesson we can take from this novel, I think it is about help. The major theme in the book is about giving helps to the person we think is in need. In the story, there are some people trying their best to help Paul live his life peacefully and happily. The story explains why the helps people need are not obtainable and why the helps people offer are not wanted. If the helpers and the people in need can understand the essence of the meaning of help, there will be a good chance to make a positive result of help.

New Status in Africa Empowers an Ever-Eccentric Qaddafi

In the article “New Status in Africa Empowers an Ever-Eccentric Qaddafi “ by Michael Slackman, it mentions how Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya became a leader in “United States of Africa.” The africa has a new leader and his name is Colonel Qaddafi. Everyone expects good results from him at the very beginning, but right now people are concerned about their situation.  Colonel Qaddafi tries very hard to be a leader in Africa and wants to be someone influential in the world. Last month, he was selected to leas the 53-nation African Union. He ran a campaign and made people believed that he will make their life much easier and they will all make money. However, the truth is that people suffer and the problem of illegal immigrants will slow down the progress of the civilization. Instead of sending these illegal people back home, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi kept them in Libya and showed people he had the sympathy. In fact, he just wanted his mercy to be seen by the other countries, such as European countries. So one day they will allow these illegal people to live their countries. The more important reason he did not send these people home is because he can save money in this way. In the end, the ambitious leader wants to become more powerful in his leadership in the future. After reading this article, I wonder how people in Libya can empower Qaddafi since the life in Libya does not become better. It looks like it only benefits Qaddafi. I wonder if the consequence is related to the average degree of education in Libya. I think if people are educated, they will not allow these kinds of things happened. Or I should say that all the problems existed because of the economic issues in Libya, a poor country. I hope the situation will change a year later since Colonel Qaddafi will serve only a one-year term as chairman of the African Union.

Nations Near Arctic Declare Polar Bears Threatened by Climate Change” by Andrew C. Revkin

According to the article “Nations Near Arctic Declare Polar Bears Threatened by Climate Change”, it mentions that the polar bears now are under risks of the global warming. The statement was from a three-day meeting in Norway, and the countries participating were the United States, Norway, Canada, Russia and Denmark. It is believed that the emission of greenhouse gases causes the global change and global change causes the climate change. Even though the polar bears are protected by cutting down the hunting, they are still in the danger of the climate change. From my viewpoint, no matter how we protect the polar bears from hunting, we still have to stop and slow down the climate change because the polar bears will not survive under the warm temperature. The polar bears are the icon for us to foresee what things will happen if the temperature continues rising. One of them is the extinction of many species. After reading this article, I wonder how and how much we can do about the climate change.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/science/earth/20bears.html?_r=2&ref=science

Taiwan Culture- Taiwanese Foods

This video is from traveling channel, the Bizarre Foods. The host, Andrew,  goes to different countries and tries different kinds of bizarre foods. This time he went to Shilin night market. Firstly, he tired oyster omelette. It's oyster with eggs, cabbage and sweet sauce on it. He thinks it's sweet, light and a little bit chewy. He also mentioned that it tastes wonderful. Personally, I like oyster omelette very much. I like the taste of the oyster with the eggs. Also the sweet sauce makes the flavor even better. I always have a oyster omelette every time I go to the Shilin night market. Later on, he tried fried chicken butts. He likes it too and he said it is delicious, even thought he was reluctant to try it at the first place. Somehow, I did not think he will try it again since he still resisted to the chicken butts after his first bite. I do not like chicken butts either, no matter how they were cooked. I just think butts are not clean and somehow I feel they are disgusting. In the end, he also tried coffin bread. It's made of bread that looks like coffin. The host, Andrew liked it and he said that it is crunchy outside and soft inside, the filling. Overall, it is brilliant.  I personally like it very much and I agree with his statement.  In the end, he likes the bizarre foods in Taiwan and said there are the huge variety of  foods in Taiwan. I agree with him and I think the Shilin night market is also a place for families, couples, and friends to hang out. People will have wonderful time in this place.

Reading Journal #6 March 21, 2009

Two Quotations:

1. How can a question be answered that asks a lifetime of questions? (p. 103)

2. Now nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was young are dead, but I still reach out to them (p. 104).

Reflection:

In the last pages of the story, the writer reflected the last fishing with Paul and his father as their last time to go fly fishing together. In the end, Paul was killed and his body abandoned in the Big Blackfoot River. After their knowing of Paul's death, his father continued to ask if anything will change if he help Paul in some ways. So Paul would not die and be killed. This reminds me that sometimes I will ask myself if things will change if I do not or I do something beforehand. For example, when I stay up and try to finish my homework, I will tell myself" if I do this earlier, then I will not have to stay up late and do my homework. The interesting part is that even though I have experienced staying up late to finish my homework so many times, I do not learn my lesson. I guess I just like to stay up late and enjoy the quietness of the mid-night.

Questions:

1. Do you think Paul will not be killed if the writer and their father do something to help him?

2. Do you think the write tell everything about Paul's death to his father? Why?

Reading Journal #5 March 19, 2009

Two Quotations:
1.Help is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly (p.81).
2.When I was young, a teacher had forbidden me to say “more perfect” because she said if a thing is perfect it can’t be more so (p.88).
My Reflection:
After Paul and the writer went to their parents’ place from Jessie’s place, they had a great time with their parents. They first had a good dinner and a nice talk. The following day, the brothers went fishing with their father. During the fishing time, the writer mentioned that Paul always can catch every kind of fish he wanted to catch with very limited types of flies. The writer also said that Paul won over him because he never borrowed any flies from him. Well, I think some artists did a great job in their works with very limited tools. But I do not think this is the only criterion to judge their success. It is also based on the quality of the outcomes. Like in the story, Paul did catch good and beautiful fish and only used 4 or 5 types of flies. This is a success. However, I do agree that people who make use of their skill with limited tools and do an excellent job deserve more respect than those who have a lot of tools and materials. I guess it is also a good excuse when one fails catching big fish; just simply say that “I am short of flies.” I find out one of my friend used to apply the excuse every time he fails in doing something by blaming that he is short of the tools.
Questions:
1. If you were Neal, will you come back again and visit his family?
2.Do you agree that “more perfect” is incorrect? Have you ever experience “more perfect?”

Braveheart!

The movie”Braveheart” is a story about a Scotsman called William Wallace (Mel Gibson) and his fight for the freedom of the Scottish people from the English. After seeing the death of his wife, killed by an English man, William got together the Scott people’s power to fight with the English. Very soon the personal revenge turned into a national crusade. In the film, it showed that people in Scotland had distinct social classes. The outfits of the lower class were always grey and ragged. They lived in the village and there were no tiles on the ground. They were mud. However, the people from higher class had a feast very often. They drank and ate meat. They dressed themselves nice and clean. From the very beginning of the movie, I think the society in Scotland was a little backward. There were some privileges for the nobility. One of them, I found it is ridiculous, was that the lord of Scotland can have the right to spend the night with any newly married Scottish bride on the wedding night. It can tell the nobility has some many power over the lower class people. In the very beginning, people were obedient to the rules. It can be told that the Scottish people lived in the society of repression and fear under the ruling of the nobility and the England. But their passion for the freedom was arisen when William had a campaign about their freedom. A lot people were convinced and joined the “crusade” in the end.

Reading Journal #4 March 16, 2009

Two Quotations:
1.One of life’s quiet excitement is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful, even if it is only a floating ash (p.43).
2.Poets talk about “spots of time,” but it is really fishermen who experience eternity compressed into a moment. No one can tell what a spot of time is until suddenly the whole world is a fish and the fish is gone (p.44).
My Reflection:
The writer had a hard time to get along with his mother-in-law and his brother-in-law, Neal. So he decided to spend time with Paul and drove to their cabin away from his wife’s home. When they arrived there, the writer finally found a chance to ask if Paul needed help for money or anything else. This time, Paul did not answer and changed the subject to fly fishing. Later on, Neal and his companion, Old Rawhide drove all the way there to join the two brothers. Neal’s purpose for joining them was not that he liked to go fly fishing, but always from the home as well. Later, they went fly fishing together. This time around, Paul brought up an idea that he wanted to leave Montana and went to the West Coast. He wanted to go to a different place and do something different. Also, he wanted to be away from troubles, like the one he had few days ago. But a moment later, he decided to stay in Montana and will never leave the place. I think it is hard to leave a place where one is used to it. It is easier to live this way even though life becomes a cycle and every day seems the same. But I think maybe it will be fun to study abroad and experience something different. I spent couple years in Australia when I was younger and I found it interesting and enjoyable. If I had a chance, I will study abroad again.
Questions:
1.If you were Paul, will you make the same choice and stay in Montana forever?
2.On Page 45, the writer asked Paul directly if he needed any help. Would you do the same thing like he did, making the points directly? Why?

Reading Journal #3 March 15, 2009

Two Quotations:
1.I took my time walking down the trail, trying with each step to leave the world behind (p.37).
2.The hardest thing usually to leave behind, as was the case now, can loosely be called the conscience (p.37).
My Reflection:
After the writer took Paul home from the police station, they did not talk about what happened in that night Paul had a fight with a guy. Once they had a chance to talk, there were third person around them and also Paul was away from all the people. He basically went fly fishing upstream, instead of joining other people. Therefore, the writer was thinking about how to break the silence between Paul and him and tried to figure it out how to help him. This reminds me that sometimes I try to talk about something important to my friends after there is a misunderstanding going on between us. It is usually difficult to have a start/opening. Or I should call it ice-breaker. Somehow I just do not know how to approach them and start a conversation, especially after we have an argument. I guess sometimes a sense of humor is very helpful in this case. Sometimes I think it is easier to talk to a stranger than a best friend.
Questions:
1.Page 32, “There was something deep in Neal that compelled him to lie to experts, even though they knew best that he was lying.” What do you think of the something? Alcohol? Arrogance? Stupidity?
2.Do you have an experience that you do not know how to start a conversation with your best friend/sisters/brothers? What was that about? If you made the start, how did you do?

Reading Journal #2 March 12, 2009

Two Quotations:
1.Thoughts about fly fishing are often carried on in dialogue form where Hope and
Fear-or, many times, two Fears- try to outweigh each other (p.18).
2. Sunrise is the time to feel that you will be able to find out how to help somebody close to you who you think needs help even if he doesn’t think so (p. 28).
My Reflection:
During the reading from page 11-30, the writer mentions the relationship between Paul and him, including his experiences to go fly fishing together and to take Paul home from a police office after Paul hurt someone in a restaurant. It can tell that the write wants to help his brother to be optimistic to his own life, instead of street fighting and drinking alcohol. I think it is hard to help someone close to us if we, as helpers, do not understand the person who we are going to help. Or I should say that we want to help, but do not know how to do it. Sometimes we want to help the poor and the disable, but we do not know how to help them. So we choose the easier way, money donation.
Questions:
1.Page 11, the writer mentions that in his town, people know his brother and him are the Preacher’s kids, and most mothers prevent from pointing them out to their children. Do you think these women refrain from pointing them because they respect them as the preacher’s kids, or demean them because they are street fighters? Why?
2.If you were the writer, how could you help Paul? Go flyfishing?

After the Fall of the Roman Empire

When the Roman Empire divided into Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in 397 AD, people in Europe suffered from outside invasion. In 476 AD, the Germanic chief Odoacer successfully conquered the Western Roman Empire; it ended the history of the Roman Empire, which lasted for 12 centuries. During the period of Roman Empire, the emperors had absolute power in political and military aspects. In fact, Roman Empire was an autocratic empire and the emperors owned the empire. Therefore, after the fall of the Roman Empire, most people were confused because the empire/king lost the power. Somehow, there was no proud to be a Roman because the citizenship did not work. It was almost like that a membership in a club but cannot have any benefit. Therefore, people in Europe looked for comfort from the church and denoted themselves to their religion, Christianity. People followed the rules made by the Pope. In other words, the power of the empires transferred to the Church. In terms of the social class, there were different social classes in Roman Empire. They were divided based on the property and military force. For example, the richest class was Senatorial class because these people had political power and their own army. But the truth was that they had the wealth to own all the things. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the social status was ruled by the feudalism, which was the land-based system. The social classes can be easily divided into two, the upper class and the lower class. All in all, people in Europe changed after the fall of Roman Empire, as least from the governmental, religious and social aspects.

Reading Journal #1 March, 11 2009

The River runs through it (page 1-10)
We read about ten pages today in class. It is the introduction of the main characters. The main characters are the brothers, Paul and Norman. They live in Montana. The popular activity there is fly fishing. There father is the person who teaches fly fishing.
Two quotations: "Power comes not from power everywhere, but from knowing where to put it on." "All good things-trout as well as eternal salvation-come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy." While reading the section talking about the differences of the brothers, I wonder how it feels like when the siblings feel that they are different. Is it good to be different? Do the differences between the brothers make them apart and not that close to each other? I am the only child in my family and I do not know how it feels. I guess it is okay to be different from the siblings when there is no misunderstanding. I think the more important thing is to respect each other. Quesitons to discuss with my group: If you have younger brothers or younger sisters, do you think they are just kids? Why? If you have older brothers or older sisters, do you think they treat you as a kid? Why?

A Place I Like to Live

The place that I want to live most is Australia. I was born there and studied there for 4 years. It is a beautiful place and it does not rain a lot like Taiwan. It has very pretty and natural mountains and desserts. I also remembered that I went to the beach a lot. People there like to go out and enjoy themselves during the weekend. Besides, Australia people I met over there are friendly and open-minded. Also, there are big shopping malls over there. I went there very often to buy candies and cookies when I was small. I had a lot of good memories in Australia. Therefore, if I can choose, I will love to live in Australia.

The Sun Also Rises!

The title of the book “The Sun Also Rises” was from the Hebrew Bible. The complete sentence was "The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." This was just what Hemingway conveyed in this book. He tried to convince the “Lost Generation” to have hopes to their future. The time after WWI was bad but there were still hopes in the future. Therefore, the sun will also rise even though they had a bad time the day before. It also encouraged people to be optimistic to the future.

Nitrogen Passport Reflection

1. Why didn't everybody go to the same stations in the same order?
Since everyone started at different stations and the different number everyone rolled, the chance everyone had the same was very low. Some may start at the animal waste, some river, and some atmosphere. Also, dies controlled where we wented and what cycle we headed to. We cannot conrtrol the order of the stations we went in this activity.

2. Did you go to the same stations twice? If so, what does this tell us about cycles?
I did go to the same stations twice. The cycles repeats, but it doesn't
have to start at specific point in the cycle. In other words, the cycle can start any point of the cycle and will go back to the same point where it starts.

3. Was there one station that seemed to have a lot of people at it ? Why or Why not?
Yes, the Atmosphere station seemed to have more people in the activity. I think it is because there are more ways to get to the atmosphere. It shows that in the cycle of the atmosphere, there are many resources.

4. What do you think the point of this activity was?
I think the point of the activity was to understand how nitrogen cycle around our environment, including the atmosphere, animal waste, river, dead plants.... I learned that nitrogen can travel from one place to other place and have its own cycle. Also, the atmosphere had more resource from different places.

To believe, or not to believe

It is difficult to agree or disagree with that feudalism was existed in the Middle Ages. In fact, I think that most historical events were not 100% true. So I chose to believe whatever made sense to me. So, was feudalism really existed in the Middle Ages? I think so. Feudalism was basically a feudal system which the landlord (usually a king) gave his/her land to his/her vassals in return for military services/aids. Even thought the term, feudalism, was first used in 17th century, its ideology was first appeared in the Middle Ages. Most places in Europe in the Middle Ages had the feudal system. England was the last place in Europe to develop the feudalism system in 1066 by William the Conqueror. In other places in Europe, they already developed their feudalism before 1066. The first two places were France and Germany by the Norman in 9th and 10th century. Other places in Europe had the feudalism system later on. The places were Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, England and the Slavic countries.

The Science of Benjamin Button!

Benjamin Button TED Talk

Today we watched a video about the special technology in the film, Benjamin Button and how people in the film industry created the old Benjamin, who was 87 in the movie. But the lead actor who played the role of Benjamin Button was Brad Pitt, 40's. In addition to put some make ups on his face, they had to follow a few scientific methods to fill the age gap between the old character, Benjamin Button, and the young actor Brad Pitt. To solve the problem, they applied some computer technology. They first had to start shot the face of Brad Pitt and recorded all kinds of the facial movement and emotional expressions he can make in front of the camera. Then they transfered the pictures and files in a computer to make the pictures look much order. Besides, they had to do a bunch of stuff like lighting and act the body of Benjamin. In fact, the Benjamin character was composed by different people. In order to make the character look exactly like a old man, they used different people for different parts of body. It's a really hard and super project. They spent a lot of time figuring out how to make Brad Pitt look like 80's. I think this is such a real success for the film industry and special technology during this days. 

My Refleciton of the Crusades Video

In the film about the first crusade, I learned that the purpose of the first crusade was to fight with the Saracens. They were called as the Crusades because they vowed to dedicate themselves and a crux was sewn on their clothes. The first Crusade was launched by Pope Urban II in 1095 in order to fight with the Turks. This was a big success and they conquered Jerusalem. Surprisingly, the first crusade actually augmented the wealth and power for the Papacy and the Catholic Church. I was also amazed people’s enthusiasm toward the Christian religion. In terms of the reasons different people joined the first crusade, the Pope Urban II, who launched the first crusade, was ambitious and fought with the Turks who invaded his land. People from lower class jointed it because they wanted to make up their sins by donated their goods and joined the long journey. Besides, the crusaders were Christians because the Crusades were nine Holy Wars operated by the Christian states in Europe. This was why crusaders were Christians.

The Middle Ages, the Dark Ages

There were few technological advances in the Middle Ages, but I think this period of time was still dark because of some cultural and religious disadvantages. From my point of view, the disadvantages from the cultural and religious aspects outweighed the technological progress.
First of all, the idea of social classes was unethical. Everyone should be treated equally since he/she was brought to the world. Everyone should have the right to go to school and choice to decide what kinds of live he/she wanted to live on, no matter how wealth and poor he/she was. The government and the society should sponsor the educational fees to the poor, instead of marking the poor as lower class people.
Also, the idea of following the religious rules made by the Church was not an advance to me. People at this point of time followed the same rules and had the same routines. People had the same goal in their life; the goals were to make up their sins by supplying everything they had to the Church and go to heaven when they passed away. I think the religion did not help people live happily, only make people believe that they had sins and they had to make them up. The Church did not provide any prospective hope to people or help people live their life with fewer burdens. They only put more pressure on people.
Overall, I think the Middle Ages were dark from the cultural and religious aspects, even though there were few technological advances.

Some Thoughts About Blood Red Hourse

The most interesting part in the story is that William picked up a courser instead of a destrier. I was amazed at the type he choose. He choose the one that seems weak as pony. I think he has a high talent of choosing hor ses. That's not surprising that his horse has the same power as Galvin's horse.

This is the way I am.

I have the power to influence people in Europe. From the wealthiest and the poorest, from the highest class and the lowest class, everyone follows my beliefs and values, except for a small portion of Jews. Medieval people travel three thousand miles to visit me in order to make up for their sins and go to the heaven. I am a representative of God and I convey God's massages to my people. My power influences the king and his advisors. People who go against me will be excommunicated and will not receive any blessing from God. Eventually they live their life miserably and go to hell after they die. My people live their life under the rules I make and they are happy that they have the opportunities to compensate their sins by paying taxes to support the Church. In this case, they can estend their life happily.

Two Characters of Blood Red Horse

From Blood red horse, you need three things to become a brave and noble knight; a warhorse, a fair maiden, a just cause. There are three main characters, Will has a horse, Ellie is a fair maiden, and Gavin is Will's older brother. I'm going to describe two characters from Red Blood Horse.


1. Will(William)
He is the son of sir Thomas. He doesn't really like his own brother, he's a littler mean.

2. Galivn
He is a brother of william, his brother always makes fun of him, he and his brother always fight each other, but he isn't really angry at Will.

Bull Fight- LA

In my option, I think bull fight is an inhumane entertaining activity, because the entire activity is totally unfair to the bull, moreover, it's not respectful toward the animals, and it includes violence and murdering act. It's probably an enjoyable entertaining sport for Spanish, but it's not fair to the bull, cause it might not want to join the game which may take away its life.

The Clock Of Life

The clock of life is wound but once and no one has the power to tell just when the hands will stop
at late or early hour Now is the only time for you to live, love and toil with a will. For the clock may soon be still

This is a very good quote, it means do what you want, because the time is running out, so seize the day, or you will lose the chance if you don't take it. We should stay positive and cherish every second, every minute in our life, and make the efforts for ourselves, don't waste the moment that you can make your world different!

Submarine SMASH Day Reflection

For the smash day, we did an assignment of the yellow submarine. The mission that we had to complete on making a thing like a telescope in order to see what kind of treasure would be on the island.

The treasure was in the box on the table. But submarine was not able to flow above the water, so the whole process that we stayed under the table.

we got a piece of cardboard, four mirrors, two pairs of scissors to finish the mission.

From the start to the end of making and modify the telescope we made, took about 5 times in total. We tried every version that we made, if it couldn't reach the box or it breaks, we would have to edit it. And check what the problem would be. Sometimes it broke, which means it's not strong enough, or it's not long enough to reach into the box. If the first idea didn't work then we thought of another one and work hard on it.

If you are the first time playing this game, then try to make your telescope longer, so that it can reach in to the box. And make sure the mirror is in the right angle that you can see.

Mirror-LA

Most of the people use mirror everyday, so do I. People use mirror in different ways. Some are just look at the mirror when they are in a bad mood, or there is nothing to do. But the main thing on looking mirror is to see what yourself looks like.

I don't really use mirror that much, but I do use it every morning to see how I look, however, I'm not a person who has to take a look every five minutes whether I'm handsome or not, but at least be neat and clean! I don't really have emotion looking into a mirror. When I look into the mirror, the one into the mirror is just like a different person, not like myself. People may see the same thing that I see in the mirror of myself, but I just feel like looking a different person in the mirror.

China’s Unemployment Swells as Exports Falter-By Keith Bradsher

Since the global economy recession, the number of unemployment in China has been increasing due to many factories have closed, which will have on the numbers of strikes and other serious unemployment conflicts. One of the company’s owners said : “I haven’t seen that since the early 1990, when China’s economic boom was still in its early stages.” Security forces are taking precautions to prevent social unrest, like strikes and riots. Since there are many migrant workers, leaving their homeland to search work to the bigger industrial cities, and they need to sleep over the streets since the factory dormitories were closed up. From China’s unemployment issue to look at our national unemployment, it’s the major tough problem for all the countries globally. I don’t quite understand what’s the essential cause of this global economy recession, but I can sense it’s pretty serious and have created a lot of problems all over the nations widely through the international and national news events I read. I think that many people would like to know how and when this economy recession would stop, and the global or Taiwan economy would boost again?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/business/worldbusiness/06yuan.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Australian Fire Death Toll Rises

A sever bushfire happened in Australia, and there are about 30,000 firefighters are working how to put off and control this fire. Victoria had accepted an offer from the federal government to send in the army. Till now, there are 75 people died from this fire, and forecasters are predicting more hot weather in the region, which has seen record temperatures of 47C in recent days and it may be the cause of this bushfire. Even bushfires are common in Australia, but current blazes are the most deadly since 1983, when 75 people died on a day that became known as Ash Wednesday.

Undeniably bushfire is one of the natural disasters, but it may also be caused by human beings’ wrongdoing, and we should all think about the damages we did to our Mother Earth, and how could human do to stop all these natural disasters?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7877178.stm

The Reflection of the Humanities project

The Reflection of the Humanities project

-The Greek and Rome Research Report-

The Greek and Rome Research Report

From the ancient history of Greek and  Roman, it can reveal that many of wester modern civilization developments are originated from Greece and Roman. First, from the structure of social status, they classified people from their jobs into different categories. From the loyal families to slavery system, their people were treated differently from a social value. Since Greece and Rome both experienced the great empires  with their strong, powerful great army, which depicts the powerful army force was essential at that time, unavoidably , the social status of army leaders, and different ranks of soldiers held the unbeatable supreme social status.

 

Same as in Greece, people were classified into different ranks  based on their work, for instance, politicians were holding the supreme authority and respectful social position in Greek society. In their daily life, Greek men if they were not training in military, or discussing politics went to the Theatre for entertainment. To watch dramas that they could relate to, including tragedies and comedies. These often involved current politics and gods in some form. It is thought that women were not allowed to watch theatre or perform at the theatre, although male actors did play women roles. As for children in ancient Greece usually occupied their time playing with toys and games. 

Furthermore, the democracy system was derived from ancient Greece, which in Greek, "popular government" which "people", "rule”,and “ strength" political systems then existing in some Greek city-states. Prior to the democracy system built, people were depended on Gods, spirits to rule out and made the order for the society, which would lead to many results to superstition. Hence, the rise and revolution of democracy made a great step and more progress in ancient Greece, then it brought the great revolution and development to our modern society.

From the great progress Greece and Roman had made in political system, it came up their religion, like mentioned above, ancient Greek and Roman believed their Gods and Goddesses and handed in the national essential fairs to them. Their both religions encompassed the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece, for instance, Greek people all recognized the 13 major gods and goddess. On the other hand, since Ancient Roman religion also encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practised in ancient Rome. Within the Roman world, it's common to practical counterpart of roman mythology.

 

As we can see the religious concepts of ancient Greek and Roman are mostly related to God, goddess and mythology, therefore, there were a lot of magnificent beautiful workpieces in arts. Nowadays, we still can see many great magnificent workpieces from ancient Rome. The art of ancient Greece has exercised a great influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until now, particularly in the fields of sculpture and architecture. Roman expressed their creativity in their paintings, portait sculpture, and latin literature, and it's affected from Greek.  In many ways, from nation system, religion, art, and lifestyle, we still can find some Greek great influence on Roman culture, for example, Colosseum, is one of the greatest ancient Roman construction, where comprises not only its lasting history but also the talented and sophisticated calculation and architecture achievement. 

Besides the extraordinary performance in architecture achievement, there are many good inventions that ancient Greek had, and we still have them use in our modern life, like water screw, a device for raising water using an encased screw open at both ends. Now we call it “ Archimedes screw” and it is still in use today. Levers are one of the basic tools, scissor, pliers, hammer claws, nutcrackers, and tongs. The other good inventions like “Cataplult”, “Heron”, “Steam Engine”, “Umbrella”.

All in all, I learned more history about ancient Greece and Rome from the concepts of their economics, social customs, political, religions, arts, technology and geography, especially from people's daily life. We are aware of some current techniques from ancient Greece and Rome culture. Even now, many countries still receive the great impacts from ancient Greece and Rome, like democracy political system, some great inventions in technology, great creation in architecture development, which make us to view and witness those great constructions based on the human beings' ultimate efforts. I'm particularly impressive in the revolution and progress of democracy, Greece achieved one of greatest devotions in human beings' history development. With Greek and Roman's endeavor, nowadays we can demonstrate democratic system developing among the modern nations all over the world.

Bibliography -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_ancient_Rome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/greece.shtml

-Reflection-

From the Humanities project “ The Greek and Rome Research Report”, which made me learn and used the learning outcome of being an active learner while searching and studying the related information and sources. From answering those questions of Ancient Greece and Rome Webquest, which had led me to put all the piece of ancient Greece and Rome history and found out more about  their ancient myth. 

Honestly, at the beginning, I didn’t quiet understand how to process and carry out this project. After several misdirections and discussions with the team members, I finally completed it step by step myself. From this point, I learned  better on how to communicate with the others, and tried to be an effective communicator.  Afterwards, I was trying hard and spent a great deal of time to deliver the whole project through several mistakes and bottlenecks. Finally, I finished up this challenging assignment, and turned me into a critical thinker while I was making my own efforts to make it happen.

Though I received a fine grade on this project, I have to admit that the discussion with my team members and their helpful assistance is one of the major factors contributes to my completion on this project. Sadly, I should have  assisted my team members as well, therefore, I hope that I will be playing a role of helper next time.