Journal 10

Two weeks courses of dancing with Cloud Gate 2 really give me a lot of thoughts and many precious memories. The teachers are all professional dancers who can teach me something I have never tried before. Before participating in this course, I never thought that modern dance can be understood that easily. After two weeks of training, I learned what modern dance is, and how beautiful it could be. I can not imagine the most is that I can also move others in this way.

There were some things that I could not forget the most. The first class, the teachers asked us to use our feet to touch our face. This really surprised me, but it was really interesting. I found out that I never cared for this part of my body before. The teachers also wanted us to communicate others by our bodies, especially strangers. I realized that I could do such things without any embarrassment. Although during the courses I also encountered some setbacks. Like, we have some conflicts between the members; luckily, we could all solve it at last. From these classes I learned more about myself. I also felt that these classes expanded the limit I gave myself.

The last day of the classes, every group had to perform a dance which we composed by ourselves. On that day everyone used their won way to express their selves. Everyone was so concentrated on their movements. Without any languages, we moved the audience by our dance. At that moment, I found out modern dance is to share the emotions and feelings with the audience, whether the audience really understand the story we are telling might not be that important anymore.

Journal 9

This week I gave a speech in the English listening and speaking class. I put more efforts than before. Because I know I am not good at giving a speech so I prepared it long before. However, nervousness still got in my way and I performed badly. But I still want to share what I said in my speech.

Below is the edited version of my speech script:

Martin Luther King has his dream, and I have mine. I believe that everyone has a dream or had a dream. When you are a child, you may dream of being a teacher, a bus driver or a president. Or you may even dream of being a superman or marrying a hot prince or princess. But do you have a dream now? Or you just want to idle your life away. When we are children, we used to dream our dream big. However, as we grow older, we tend to leave our dream behind. We don’t have the courage to dream a big dream now. We are all limited by the reality. It’s like the reality have eaten our dream. But it shouldn’t be like this. As we grow older, we should get more courage to conquer the difficulties which is blocking us from reaching our dream. I think everyone should have a dream. A dream can be the motive for you to move on. It is a target for you to fulfill. Maybe at last, you fail to reach the goal. You will definitely gain something from the process. You will definitely climb to a height that you won’t reach it if you didn’t dream of something higher than that. For example, if you always got 50 on your test, and you don’t want to change it, and you don’t think you can improve; then, you will always be like that or lower than that. But if you are willing to dream, and try to get your dream done, you may not have reached it, but you may definitely get close to it. This means, you may not get 100 but you can get 98 or 99.

So, why not dreaming? This is the chance to shine.

I, myself, have a dream. I used to dream of being a teacher, a millionaire or even a “queen.” My dreams are always changing, but there is a dream that I am always dreaming of. I always dream of traveling around the world. And I am still working on it. To fulfill this dream, there must be a lot of difficulties. But I believe there must be a way out. Maybe I can be a millionaire, and then I have money to travel around the world. Since this method is kind of difficult, I come up with another idea. Perhaps I can be an ambassador, and then I can travel around the world while I am working. No matter in what ways. I will make my dream come true. Maybe it will take a lot of time to make my dream com true, I will still try and I will still dream. Now, I am in the department of foreign languages and literatures. I am preparing my language equipment for my trip. I am dreaming my dream, what about you?

Journal 8

Today I went to see the guitar competition. I saw a lot of people performed different songs. Just like every competition, there would be a number one, and some people might play not so well. But I could tell that they have something in common, they really love to play guitar. I think the purpose of a competition is to let the competitors know how well their skills are, and how much they should work on, also to learn from others. What really matter is not the price you get, but the stuff you learn from the competition.

I wanted to learn guitar long time ago, but I gave myself a lot of excuses not to learn it. When I was in junior high, I told myself that I still got a lot of time to learn guitar. When I was in senior, I persuade myself that I should work on my study. And when I just got into college, I said to myself that it was too late to start learning guitar. However, after seeing their performance, I made up my mind to fulfill my dream. I bought a guitar now. I went to the guitar club. Though my movements were really awkward, I believe I can do it. Practice makes perfect, I will try even harder to make up the time I wasted.

I know I could not play as well as those competitors, but one thing I can do as well as they did. The attitude toward their dream and the things they like. I believe that if I do not lose the patient toward guitar, one day I can do better than now. No matter how small the progress is, as long as I am working on it, one day I can shine like those people did.

Journal 7

Today is mother’s day. My sisters and I had lunch with my mother in a restaurant she likes. I felt very happy to have lunch with all the girls in my house. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like to have lunch with my father, is just that since I got into college, we seldom have lunch together. My father has to work seven days a week if he has a case. When I was young, my mom often took three of us to take afternoon tea. We often stayed in the coffee shop for a whole afternoon chatting about what we have been doing lately. However, since I got to college, I can not spend too much time with them. Every time I got back to Tainan at Friday night, but I have to leave on Sunday afternoon. Deduct the time I spend in sleeping, I have very small time with them. That is way I feel so happy to have lunch with them. As before, we talked about our school life, and things happened lately. Though we share a lot of things, there is still something that I want to tell my mom.

Dear Mom:
I know you care about me and you really love me. You have been protecting me so well since I was born. You always let me do the things I like to do. You try to give me a lot of freedom. You teach me to take responsibilities for the choices I made and the things I do. I know you really worry about me for studying in Chiayi. Among the three daughters in our house, I am the most dependent one. However, I am the first to leave the hometown to study. I know you hopes me to go back to Tainan to study, but I think I can do better stay here. I am sorry that I always say something rude to you. I am sorry for my bad temper. I know the things you do for me are all because of love. I know you love me. I love you so much, too. Although I am not really clear for my future, I promise that one day I will make you be proud of me. I love you, mom. Happy mother’s day!

Journal 6

After about a month, I went back to Tainan, my hometown. Last month, I was too busy for the activity, “foreign cultures festival.” That is why, as soon as the activity was finished, I went back to Tainan to see my families. This time I went back to Tainan for two reasons: to celebrate my friend’s birthday, and to see my families.

When I arrived at Tainan, my mom was already there waiting for me. Every time, I go back to Tainan, my mom will bring me to the night market to buy the food I like. This time was no exception. My mom took me to the night market which I went there very often when I was a senior high student. I remembered I used to go to the night market with my friends, but now I like to go to the night market with my mom more. After being a college student, I spend less time with my families. I guess my mom miss me so much that every time I go back to Tainan, she always tries to buy me a lot of things. My mom bought a lot of snacks in the night market. When we got home, my father and my sister were waiting for us for dinner. My dad said that he wants to bring us to a new restaurant which near our home for dinner. There were many people in that restaurant; we waited for our meal for a long time. Although my father was really unhappy waiting for the dinner, I felt happy for the time we spend together.

The next day was my friend, Judy’s birthday. We made a reservation in a very special restaurant. The restaurant is very unique for the decoration. There are many antique in the restaurant. When we get into the restaurant, it was like we go back to 20 years ago. We sang happy birthday song for Judy, and gave her the gift we prepared. We had a wonderful lunch and a wonderful time. We made a promise that after 20 years, we will go back to that restaurant and celebrate Judy’s 40th birthday.

Journal 5

This week is a normal week, nothing special happened. I sat in front of my computer listening to the radio. And then, a beautiful song came into my ears. Now, I am going to share this song with you. If one day you are sitting in front of your computer feel that nothing to do, go and listen to this song. I believe this song can company you a whole afternoon. This song is called “By Your Side,” performed by “Tenth Avenue North.” I listened to this song over a hundred times. Every time I listened to this song, I had different feelings, different thoughts. Due to the culture differences and my insufficient understanding of different languages, I may not be able to introduce this song precisely and completely. I will try my best to express my thoughts and my affection for this song. If I made any mistakes or had any misunderstanding about this song, please inform me and correct me right away.

The first time I heard of this song, I thought it is a love song. The story was about a boy who was so in loved with a girl. But the girl seemed to feel that he was not enough, and keep searching for someone better. However, the man still cared a lot about the girl, and is always by her side and willing to give her a hand when she need him. This is what I thought about the song when I first heard it. Yet, the next time I listened to this song, I feel like that it was a song about religion. The song was telling you that no matter what happen, God will always by your side and protects you. These were my thoughts and reflections about the song. Every time after I listen to this song I feel that I am full of energy and have the courage to start over the next day. I hope whoever listen to this song will feel the same way.










Below are the lyrics of the song.

By Your Side
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

reference:
http://www.6lyrics.com/by_your_side8-lyrics-tenth_avenue_north.aspx

Journal 4

This week is spring break. I went out with my friends who are my best friends since junior high. We seldom met each other since college, so we all expected for the coming of that day very much. We went to an expensive restaurant for lunch. The food was good and atmosphere was also nice. We chatted about our lately life, and played some games. We really had fun there. After lunch, one of my friends who just got back from London drove us to her house. In her house, we saw our photos together, talking about our other friends and we shared a lot of our precious memories. Though everyone laughed out loud, we all miss the good old time, and felt a little sad about our separateness.

Time flies, we sat on the floor talking about our dreams is just like yesterday. Now, we are all in different places, fulfill different dreams. We used to spend most of our time together, but now it is so hard for us to get together. Now, we all have our new lifestyle, we all got new friends. Everything seems to be so different than before. But one thing will never change. The promise we made the day we graduated: we will always be friends.

Again, comes to the separateness. We said good bye at my friend’s house, and keep on our own new life. We got together this spring break, expecting the next meet. Used to spending all our time together, till now, we see others almost twice a year. I believe that when we grow older, it would be even harder for us to get together. No matter how far they are to me, as long as I know they care about me, I would gain a lot of courage.

Journal 3

I was really sporty this weekend. Sunday morning, good weather for sports. I played volleyball, basketball and badminton on the very day. It was really interesting to play those sports. However, I suffered a lot for it. After a whole day of sports, my legs hurt a lot. I can't even walk normally now. But I really think it is worthy. I think that when I was really concentrated on the sport that I was doing, I would forget anything that had been bothering me. When I was playing the sports, I really enjoy it. I can felt the sunshine, the wind, even my sweat. I laugh from my bottom of my heart. I was surprised that how happy I was when I was playing the sports.

I had been too busy to enjoy this little happiness. When I was a child, I could feel so happy merely because I went to a park for the swing. However, as I grew up, I could not feel satisfied that easy. I tend to ignore the happiness I could get from my daily life. I try to seek something is far and vague. Today, I suddenly found out that happiness were always there. I recognized that happy or not depends on how we see things. I might feel exhausted and tired for playing all those sports, but I could also choose to be happy for my achievement. After a sporty Sunday, I found the girl who can feel happy due to a song she likes. I found the girl who can feel the simple happiness of life. I found myself back today, and I hope I would not get lost again. From now on, I am going to cherish all I can get from my everyday life. I will try to live fully of my life. Be a girl that is thankful and easy to feel satisfied.

Journal 2

Yesterday was my mother and my father' birthday. It was really special that their birthdays were on the same day. That was because my mom’s birthday was the same day as my father’s birthday by lunar calendar. It was really a meaningful day, so my families went to a fancy restaurant to have dinner together to celebrate their birthdays. I really like that restaurant because the steak there is delicious, and I also love the dessert a lot. Above all, the atmosphere there is really appropriate to celebrate birthday. We often celebrate birthday in that restaurant because the servers will come over and sing a birthday song for us, and after that, they will take a picture for us, and give us the photo before we left. That day was almost as usual, except we invited our cousin. Surprisingly, my cousin is a regular customer and is a friend of the restaurant manager so the manager gave us aperitif for free. That was really a joyful thing to have that savory drink for free. Another delightful thing is we took a lot of gifts for spending a certain amount of money. I think the whole dinner was really fun and the most important thing was that my parents felt very happy.

p.s. I happened to know that the restaurant would have a branch store in Chiayi. I will go there someday to see if I can find the same happiness there. I also hope that everyone can find some joy in this restaurant.




This is my favorite!

Journal 1

Today my friend and I went to see a performance in the school performing hall. It was a music performance. We didn't plan to see this show at first. We happened to see the poster outside the performing hall. The poster was quite attractive. So, we went inside the hall. However, when we were there, we were already late. But we were touched as soon as we saw the performance.“聲光火舞”is a performance present by music with some special visual aid.

Most of the performers are from Taiwan, but there are some foreigners who also appreciate the music and the culture from Taiwan. I think it was really special that the foreigners were performing the things from east. They could also understand the beauty of the eastern culture. They not only sang but also used guitar, drum, and some other instruments from different country to perform the music from different culture. I think that was really cool. They combine the elements from both east and west, and perform something new and creative.

The show really impressed me. I enjoyed the music and the light effect a lot, but what really touched me is the spirit that the lead singer wanted to show us. That is the spirit to show the beauty of our country (culture) to the world. The performers all think that to show our culture to others is a kind of duty. Especially the lead singer, a girl from Taiwan, she is really proud of her own country. They toured around the world, and brought the shows from Taiwan to the world. When I heard the lead singer sang, I could tell that she really love this place.

Week Fourteen

Q1: How do you like the weekly writing prompts? Are they interesting or boring? Inspirational or weird? Are they related to your life? Can you suggest anything better and give some examples?
I like the weekly writing prompts; I think those topics or issues are interesting and related to my life. They are not only interesting but also inspired me to think.
Q2: Do you like the two-way online discussion with your keypal? Or do you think we should have more people (like 3~4 students) form a group blog to exchange ideas? Why or why not?
I like the idea of the two-way online discussion with my key pal; however, when the theory put in to action, it might encounter a lot of difficulties. For my own experience, once one side of the student could not finish the task on time, it would be difficult for his or her partner to finish her own part. For this reason, I think more people to discuss one topic might be better. I believe that if more people participate in the same task, we might know more different ideas about the issues or it might inspire us to think those topics from different angles.
Q3: Have you encountered any difficulties during the semester when using blogs to discuss with your keypal, e.g., computer problems or anything?
Actually, I think the whole process was quite successful, despite we don’t get a lot of chance to discuss the topics.
Q4: How do you like the project website? Are they friendly enough? Have we left out any important content? How do you like the layout/design?
In fact, I love the project website. It is delicate and it is very convenient to see our task every week due to the link. I also like the pictures or videos about our every week tasks. It makes us easier to understand the topics or sometimes it even inspires me to come up some thoughts about the tasks.
Q5: What have you gained from this blog activity?
From this blog activity, I learn to express my thoughts in a more efficient way. I also learn to think things in other ways, in different angles. The most important is I try to think more, I try to show concern to the latest issues.
Q6: If you had an opportunity to start over, would you have done anything differently? If so, how?
Since I already saw others’ thoughts about those issues, if I can start over again, I might have more thoughts to express.

Week Thirteen

Q1: Please offer your suggestions as how we can grade your performance better?
First, I think the content is the most important part to grade our performance. The reason why I think that the content is the most important is that to write blogs is to show our opinions of the topic and to share our thoughts about the issues.

Second, the grammar and the writing skills are also important. This class is about writing, so the way we present our ideas also matters. The ability of writing will affect the readers’ understanding about our thoughts. That is why grammar and some other writing skills should also be valued.

Third, the last but not least, I think how much efforts we make in writing the blog is also very important. For myself, maybe I am not doing very well every time, but at least I try hard and I take those tasks seriously every time.


Q2: Based on the criteria you suggested in Q1, please give a score to yourself and explain how you’ve earned it.

I think I would give myself 7, since I try my best to fully express my opinions of those topics, and I do think a lot before I write the blogs. However, there must be some other improvements I can make. For example, I saw other’s blog and the ways they presented their thoughts are clearer than mine. Also, I found myself bad at grammar, though I tried to pay a lot of attention to it; there must be some mistakes that I didn’t notice. But I think I make a lot of effort to write those blogs. I also think that I learned a lot from writing these blogs.

Q3: Based on the criteria you suggested in Q1, please give a score to your partner and explain how s/he has earned it.

I would give my partner 6. First of all, I believe that she might be very busy so that she can not do the tasks on time. However, it is a little unprofessional to catch up the progress at one time. It also makes me hard to do some tasks too. Nevertheless, I think that she presented her ideas and thoughts briefly but clearly which I should learn from her.