Thursday, December 16, 2010

The journey of my learning and teaching English

I have learned English for almost 20 years, since the very first day I entered  junior school. At that time, the learning condition was beyond imagination.  No tape recorder, no walkman, no English channel, no qualified English teachers in my hometown. I did not remember clearly why I was infatuated with   English. Back when I was a middle school student, my favorite subject was  Chinese, I was proud of my compositions, which were often read to the whole class as "model essays" It is a pity that I didn't turn out to be a famous writer, my talent at writing was submerged before it surfaced.
   
When I told my students that my first English teacher was a man who has acted as an interpreter for the Japanese army when they invaded China, they burst out laughing, they did not take what I said seriously, but actually I was telling the truth! His major is Japanese. It is my senior high school teacher who encouraged to take up English as my major.(You know, at that time, it was a hard decision to make, I was dreaming of being a writer and winning Nobel Literature Prize for China!) To tell the truth, I am personally grateful for him, he has been so generous to me as to offer to share his apartment with me to save me much inconvenience. Moreover, he let me choose my own way of learning, which was very rare at that time. And the sad fact is that I often cut him short and made him embarrassed by asking him tricky or silly questions, with which he was always tolerant. Since my primary school day, I had developed the habit of airing my views whenever it occurred to me.
    
I entered a just so-so college majoring English, two years of learning English offered a good beginning. As time went by, my memory of college years blurred, but some scenes do stand out, I was nicknamed by my head teacher as" living dictionary", whenever I went ,  I carried a pocket-sized dictionary with me. I spent most of evenings in school library reading China Daily, Beijing Review, copying those unfamiliar words on a piece of paper and later consulted them in dictionary. When my roommates were playing cards or courting girls, I buried myself in English or Chinese periodicals.(so you see, my college life was dull rather than colorful!) My speaking skill didn't develop as my reading skills. I still remembered the first time I was asked to read a short passage to the whole class, I was so nervous! Shame, once properly handled, can sometimes turn out to be a disguised blessing, I decided to improve my pronunciation and intonation, which was the hard part of the battle, I bought many tapes, listened to VOA, BBC every evening and read New Concept English in the morning. My efforts, at last, paid off more or less.

When it was time to say goodbye to my college, my dean, who is almost as obscure as my small college, said to me, “learning is a lifelong process, college is not the final destination. If anyone keeps on reading English magazines or newspapers for 20 years, he is sure to become a master or an expert in this field!’ Looking at the old professor with gray hair and thick glasses,  I thought these were words from the bottom of his hearts, I set up my mind to speak good English. This has been my college life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chances were offered to me. Looking back, I don't complain that life was not fair to me, instead, I thank all those people who have stepped into my life and gave me a hand when I needed. I appreciate all their timely help and unselfish aid.

  Now I have stepped into the real world, I got a job far away from my hometown, teaching kids English. Although working pressure was heavy, I enjoyed my job anyway. During my spare time, I locked myself in the study. It happened that Li Yang Crazy English began to spread throughout China; I couldn't wait to lay my hands on books and materials of Crazy English. After reading Li Ying's story, I was deeply touched.
   
    At that time, I had no girl friend to flatter, no family to support, it is easy for me to focus on something which interested me. My dean words still lingered in my mind "Learning is a lifelong process; college is not the final destination” Since I was fairly started in English learning, there was no excuse to give up or turn back. I began to read English novels, altogether, I have read about 20 English novels, Jane Eyre, Gone with  the wind, the thorn bird, the Wuthering heights, Godfather, the White whale, The adventure of Tom Sawyer, to name just a few. To be frank, I could not understand everything in the novels, but I just kept on. Step by step, I began to better appreciate the beauty of the language while enjoying those stories. I also read some easy readings such as 21st century, English saloon or some simplified novels. You know, One can easily get upset or bored when you reach a kind of "plateau", so you have to encourage yourself by all possible means to ensure that you have a sense of achievement.
    
It took me almost 2 years to finish reading those 20 novels, some of which I only covered half or less. At the same time, I took the self- study courses in English and graduated with excellence. To my amazement, I was able to think in English, if I wanted to express myself in English, I didn't have to think of any Chinese first. This, I think, was a great step forward and it was also the result of years of enthusiastic, continuous and hard work, which anyone who has no determination can ever achieve. Someone said,” The most important thing in life is to have a great aim and the determination to attain it.” I am a strong believer of it.

One interesting fact I like to cite here is I was always dreaming in English during that crazy period and my roommate often played jokes on me the following day. Once I read an article by a famous professor from Nanjing University who said that students of English department in Nanjing University speak English in their dreams. Until then did I realize that he was telling truth?
    
  Did I stop here or move on? Fortunately I got a chance to receive a two-month intensive training in England in the year 2002. It is a dream came true. I had a fabulous time there, I met so many interesting people, visited so many wonderful places, experienced so many strange adventures, but the most important thing is that I finally got a chance to speak English to real Englishmen, I made full use of the time by watching British TV, read daily mirror, Evening standard, Guardian, talk to all kinds of Englishmen with a large variety of accents. I was praised on many occasions for my English, which I suppose is just a polite way of showing their kindness, but anyway I was tickled to death by other's remarks. Being happy was one thing, and feeling motivated was     another. I resolved to speak better English to meet that praisal.Each time I was praised by others, I asked myself "Am I that good?" That is why I keep on learning English after graduation from college so many years. Teaching English is joy, learning English is fun. My work is my pleasure, It seems that I belong to those whose work and pleasure are one. I would like to say that I am never ever afraid of making mistakes and showing my weak points to others inmy English skills. I know that my English is far from perfect,. but who cares? As long as I enjoy the process of learning, I have found out the true meaning of life: Be a happy learner, be a happy man, and share happiness with others

Lights out, my dear

Yu was stung by some vicious mosquitoes. My poor, poor little baby, his plump hands, his soft cheek and his little chin were all attacked, and to the worse, the place where mosquitoes bit were swollen now. Since one of these places was right under his left eye, and it was so swollen that he could barely open his eye. I could hardly bring myself to look at his miserable face. I was afraid that the mere sight of it would throw me into a murderous rage. I am not violent type but now I wanted to catch the mosquito, and I wanted to reach down its throat, grape its small intestines, pulled it out of its mouth and tied it around its neck… literally.
But Yu was still happy and adorable like usual. His small face split into a wide smile when he spotted me through the line he worked so hard to make with his eyes----which made it even more unbearable to look at. "Did you bite by mosquito?" I asked him. To reply my question, he reached his little hand---which was also red and swollen—for me to have a better look. ”Wu, wu…” he whimpered. And I wanted to cry. My mum felt even more terrible about it. Plus worries, she also felt guilt---as if it was her fault that she couldn’t protect yu from the mosquitoes attack. Thinking about it, I gulped down my tears and put a real good face on it. “You are a very brave baby, aren't you? Don’t be afraid, my dear.” I said and gave him a real hug.
Before we were out of the parking lot, Yu already fell asleep. That was a gift he had. He never had troubles in sleeping.  And no matter how excited he was, as soon as we got the car started, he would fell asleep within a few minutes. Lights out my son. Mummy promised you that tonight there would be no mosquito bothering you.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

In the Name of Love

The other day I received a call from a good friend’s girlfriend, because she found a bill to me in his purse. She asked me something about it. I told her he borrowed money from me and just returned it to me. She then asked me what’s the use of the money. I frankly told her I knew nothing about it. She accused me of lending money to him without knowing the use. I said I didn’t think I needed to ask such questions, since I knew him for a long time and trusted him. She continued to ask more about it and myself. I said: “ Why you ask me such question? ” She said,“I think I have right to know about it.” I still said with a peaceful tone “ I don’t think you have right to know about it. If he agrees me to tell you, I will tell you. If not, I won’t tell you. Because he is my friend, while I don't know you at all. I should respect him first.” The words enraged her and she lost her temper and shouted me discourteously on the phone.
“I have right to know about it.” I’m sure that this saying is familiar to us. It’s not my first time to meet a girl like this. Some girls, maybe most of the girls, think they have right to know everything about her boyfriend.
In my personal opinion, every one is independent, belonging to nobody except himself. The parents gave us our life, but cannot go through our life instead of us. The bosom friends can touch our hearts and feeling but cannot taste the happiness and bitterness in our life. Therefore, I always attach selfhood most. My life, my feeling and I just belong to myself only. In my inner belief , for me, I should be responsible for myself ; and for the others, I should respect him, including his feeling, his choice and his life. I hate everyone who thinks he has right to know everything about other people, to interfere others’s choices and to invade others’ personal spaces.
It’s said that pesons are like hedgehogs in need of warmess. If we are too far away, we can’t get warmness from each other. If we are too close, the thorns over our body will hurt each other. Therefore, the perfect distance between persons is neither too far way nor too close. We should care for, believe and contain each other, and above all, we should leave each other a personal time and space.
However, a lot of persons are aways against the rule. During our childhood, a lot of parents request their children what to do and what not to do, even impose their will on the children. Generally the parents choose the school, the major and even the way of the future for the children. Since we are little child, we are told to do whatever adults tell us to do. Increasingly we lose the ability of listening to our inner heart and just do whatever others tell us to do. That’s why we lose the ability of innovation, which is the largest power and motivation for our civilization. For inviduals it causes our spirit world becoming vacuous and boring, since we don’t know what we want and what we are intersted in and what we can do. We don’t know where our heart is. Gradually we lose the zest and interest of life, which is the major reason for high suicide. In some way, this is a kind of hurt, in the name of love.
To make matter worse, few persons look through this matter. We are hurt when we are children. We hurt others when we grow up. When we are in love, we take the right for granted that to contol our lover’s everything, including his choice, his money, his socienty relationship, and even his feeling, as my friend’s girlfriend said, “I have right to know about it.” When we are parents, we follow the same way as our parents. We think we have right to interfere other people, who is intimate and important in our heart. As a familiar saying, that’s because I love you. Therefore, in the name of love, we hurt our most intimate person without guilt. However, as a famous writer Gaoersiji said, even a hen can love his own children, but most of all, how to love. Everyone can love other people, however, the way to show love is the most important. If a love cannot make each other feel safe, comfortable and inspiring, it is an unhealthy love which should die and cannot survive. We love just we want warmness and comfort. It’s the obligation that we should stand on each other’s point and try our best to give each other this kind of feeling.
A true love is an unconditional love in which pay without thought of gain; a sincere love is a selfless love in which thinking about others rather than himself; a healthy love is a comfortable love which contain concern rather than interposition, communication rather than inquest, respect rather than interference, help rather than substitute, toleration rather than nit-pick.

I am back!

I haven’t updated my blog for a long time, but I felt extremely happy and calm when I saw today that there were so many supporters to read my diary, my life. Thank you!

After last interview which was described last article, I attended my second interview in a company which is called “Guangzhou SurExam Bio-Tech Company” in Science City, Guangzhou on Jan’3rd. My BF and I went there on Jan’ 2nd to ensure I could get good preparation the next day. In fact, I like this company when I first saw it and my critical BF also has the same feeling. I thought that I prepared this interview well, and I successfully passed five turns interviews at last. You know, I indeed felt that I am one of the luckiest girls in this world. I never ask my company about the salary though my employer said that I could ask some questions about this job, because I know that I am always the student in the university, and in fact, I am lack of society experience. Because of my heavy experiment job and I love this company, and then I didn’t deliver any resume to any other place.

I arrived at my home to enjoy my spring festive on Feb’ 8th, and I got back my university on Feb’20th. I always have the pressure of my graduation and paper, therefore, I didn’t live my life well these months. You know, I must worry about my experiments, extremely the result was not as good as I predicted before.

I found that it is difficult to express myself now because I wrote few recently, but I will try my best. I would like to say something about my love affair. My BF Gary and I quarreled once seriously in March, and at that moment, I nearly left him alone. Fortunately, he found that it was his fault immediately, and after two days anger, I accept his apology finally. Frankly speaking, I was also responsible for that quarrel, but my BF loves me more and made us regain our happy life. Now, some of my classmates still ask me such questions like why I chose him as my boyfriend because few girls could accept BF’s height is lower than them. As for me, I don’t think that is necessary for two people’s relationship. There is a saying that beauty is the eyes of the beholder. It is true. I like him, he is so cute.Haha.

A large number of my friends envy me that I have found a job, had a darling boyfriend, and I would graduate in advance. Yeah, compared to them, I indeed have too many kind people in my life, that is my fortune. I think that I should always think about these fortunate things and kind people so that I could move on no matter how difficult my situation is.

There is one thing which I consider more and carefully than before. That is parents are the most important people in my life, though I always make them angry. For example, I never get up early and always get up at noon when I enjoy holidays at home no matter whether somebody will visit us. I must treat Dad and Mom well in my future life to pay back their devotion on my growth. I am looking forward to one day that I could make money to buy something for them. I know that, that day is coming!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The last dinner

Last week, on mutual agreement, David and I packed our traveling bag and got on the bus heading for Qufu, the sacred city where the great philosopher Confucius once lived and studied. It’s about 20minutes’ travel. Usually, with nowhere to go, we just choose to hang around the neighboring towns or cities on weekends. There, we spent a happy day strolling around rows of fancy souvenir shops and art galleries. It was not until dark that we remembered to came back. It was 7 a.m. when we got off the bus. David suggested we have dinner in a Sichuan Hotpot Restaurant, explaining that the mutton would provide me with more energy and warm my stiff body. On hearing this, I breathed hard on my palms and rubbed my hands.
The moment David set our luggage aside, I opened the menu and began my selection. I ordered three plates of mutton, one plate of beef and some vegetables, including potato slices, spinach, and onions. David added some frozen tofu, shrimps and a plate of dumplings. Later, a waitress came over with a kettle. She took the menu and poured some white liquid into the pot, which was prefixed on the table. Then she switched the gas on and adjusted the fire. No sooner had the soup started to bubble than I put some potato slices in and stired. I bet I could eat an ox then! Noticing my nervous expression, David chuckled under his breath. I suppose he must be hungry as well, but he is a guy who always maintains his composure whatever. As the soup boiled over, David turned down the gas and put in some slices of mutton. Then began the race to scoop up meat from the pot. The mutton should be fished out with a high speed, otherwise it will go tough.
During the next hour, we just enjoyed our share of food separately, not bothering to care about each other. I managed to ladle some soup to David’s bowl, but was refused with a serious look. “Take care, You mustn’t burn yourself!” I moved my mouth to one side, convincing that our relationship changed much after marriage. There are not many formalities or trifles, and polite remarks are left out. If we do need to exchange views, we just speak it out bluntly. I wonder if it is an intimacy or estrangement. But in the last year when we were dating each other, we always ended up in a fancy restaurant. Every time we sat face to face, David and I would stand on ceremony. When a new dish came, I pushed it to his side, and then he pushed back, teasing his arm is longer than mine. David is humorous. Maybe as time goes by, we become much closer. Our relationship is far beyond the simple connection between husband and wife, but transforms into the affection among family members. David loves me so much and I too.
Finally, we each have had our stomach full. Not expecting to waste a grain, I took up my chopsticks and forced a few morsels in. David put down his fork and leaned back, “Emma, I must tell you something important.”
“What is it?” I looked up, surprised.
“Would you go back home and spend a few days with your parents?” David assumed a serious look.
“Why?” My voice a little blurred, I feel my heart pounding hard.
“I will be away on a business trip. Maybe you prefer to stay with your parents.” David responded in a feigned flat tone.
Heaving a long sigh, I felt relaxed. I had thought
People hate David just because he always purposely makes a mystery of simple things. I realized he just intended to make me a fool. I replied in a casual way, “Certainly, you can go anywhere you like. This is our last dinner.” We both smiled. 

YOU ARE OLD

Well,just finish all the job, edit all the essays, especial the one which is so,well,how to say , writing with  qinzhou dialect.......

e,the most bad feeling of these days is that I really find that "I'm old".......It's a terrible thing that you have to face the reality that you are old......I saw the videos that tell us that people will have a new body every two years.....so I think my body must have deteriorated badly in the last two years......bec I feel very uncomfortable since stay up late for two or three days ,which never happen before......So I think that may the body teel me that"YOU ARE OLD" ........It's a pity thing

Monday, December 6, 2010

colors of friendship

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel.
All claimed that they were the best.
The most important.
The most useful.
The favorite.
Green said:
"Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."  
Blue interrupted:
"You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."  
Yellow chuckled:
"You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun."  
Orange started next to blow her trumpet:
"I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."  
Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
"I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."  
Purple rose up to his full height:
He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey."  
Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination:
"Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."   
And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.
In the midst of the clamor, rain began to speak:
"You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."  
Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands.
The rain continued:
"From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow." And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another.

If

Many people like the word “if”, though nearly none of us think that possible. But why do we still like that word?
    In fact, it’s easy to understand. Many of us want more than we can get. So there comes the word “if”. Do you think so? What’s more, we are more impetuous.
    When we were still little guys, we always had daydreams, dreaming that we would fly, dreaming that we would be the princes or the princesses, dreaming that we would grow to be adults faster and so on. So as simple-minded children, we used to use the word “if”. If I were a bird; if I were the superman; if I were the clouds in the sky; if…
    Wandering along the street, I always hear others say, “If I hadn’t believed the ads, I would have saved the money!” “Next time if I see such ads, I would never believe those again!” As I go on and on, I find that many of us always regret doing something. Why so? Because nowadays people always forget the saying that look before you leap. We are so impetuous that we seldom stop to think over another second of the thing we are going to do. As a result, we always regret that we haven’t thought things over clearly.
    So no more “if”, because we are no longer little children that always daydream and also our life is too short to sustain so many ifs. We have no time to regret.

I like for you to be still

                        I like for you to be still: it is as though you are absent
and you hear me from far away and my voice does not touch you
It seems as through your eyes had flown away
and it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth
As all things are filled with my soul
your emerge from the things, fill with my soul
You are like my soul, a butterfly of dreams
and you are like the word melancholy
I like for you to be still, and you seem far away
It sounds as though you are lamenting, a butterfly cooing like a dove
And you hear me from far away, and my voice does not reach you
Let me come to be still in your silence
And let me talk to you with your silence
That is bright like a lamp, simple as a ring
You are like the night, with its stillness and constellations
Your silence is that of a star, as remont and candid
I like for you to be still: it is as though you are absent
distant and dull of sorrow, as though you had died
One word then, one smile, is enough
And I'm happy, happy that's not true

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Ten years of marriage

Marriage is a magical word. The longer you are married, the more you need  to treasure it and care it, and never take it for granted.
They say that marriage needs caring and tending just like a young tree. If you do not water it or it does not enjoy plenty of sunshine, it will wither. I think it is a good and colorful metaphor which will always remind me that I need to pay attention to my marriage. I just celebrated my 10th anniversary of wedding, now as I look back, I write down whatever is on mind.

Ten years may be long to someone, but to me, as if I only met my wife just yesterday. Back then, she was just 22 years old, how youthful and cheerful   she was. We used to sit down on the sandy beach, the trees are whirling, the  congenial breeze was blowing, and we were lying on the sand, chatting and dreaming about our future, picturing what a nice villa and a car we’d like to own, and how many children we are going to have.

In fact, life turned out to be not as romantic and rosy as we imagined.We had  ups and downs together, and our love produced luscious fruits, a lovely daughter and a naughty son.

Looking at the wedding photos, I can still clearly remember the days we were married. How happy we were then. I am thankful that God gave me such a nice and beautiful wife.Yes, I have to admit secretly that my wife is beautiful,which is partly the reason that I fell in love with her at the first sight. Anyway, it is in man's nature to love beauty, isn't it? In the same way, it is in woman's nature to love handsome man.(It is a pity I  do not belong to the category, and my wife is always complaining that her dream white prince is not that handsome, and to be honest, a little bit short.)My appearance let her down.

It is always amusing to think of some of the scenes in the past, my wife liked to buy fancy and fashionable clothes, after trying it in front of the mirror, she would ask my opinions of how she looked in the new clothes. I was getting tired of this, every time I would open my eyes widely and gazed at the clothes closely, and then winked, saying jokingly:” How beautiful you are in the new clothes! But you would be more beautiful with nothing on”, she would get angry, chasing and cursing:” you wicked man!"

Now I came to realize that, besides beauty, she has something beautiful inside. Beauty is just skin deep, I know that. But inner beauty never will vanish or fade, it will always shine brilliantly. I felt depressed easily when thing went amiss with me or I had a certain bad luck, but she would always be there to   encourage me, telling me to focus on the positive side, to cherish myself  and face the setbacks head-on, she even bought some psychology books to read to better comfort me. Sometimes, I couldn't fall asleep at night; she was there to comfort me, rubbing my feet. Strangely enough, my insomnia disappeared. To my great amusement, I began to fall asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow while my wife was constantly woken or kept awake by her trumpeting (snoring) partner! It may be easy to do such these things for a day or two, but it takes patience, perseverance, more importantly, love to stick to it.  Now as I am writing down these lines, tears began to stream down my face. Moved? Happy or bittersweet tears? Only I know what it is.
"I,  take you , to be my wife to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. "The words moved me to tears whenever Isaw western wedding ceremony, most probably they mean it when saying so, but many couples turn out to strangers or enemies, both hurt seriously. Buddhism has a saying: it takes ten years of destiny to take the same boat and a hundred of destiny to share the same bed (with someone), but I used to lose my temper at my wife when I got blues, she just suffered silently.

When our daughter was born into the world, I was not at her side and it was not because of my job that I was not there instead I enjoyed myself with some friends, never did I change a wet diaper. How selfish I was! 5 years later, she gave birth to our son. And I moved to another place; seldom did I stay with her. She lived in her unit, looking after our daughter with on one around to help her. To make things worse, there was no one living in the unit during night, I could never imagine how she managed to be so courageous. "A woman is like a teabag, you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water", I think that my wife is even so, but I would rather I myself get into hot water instead of her.” You can not just love someone by saying you love some-one wholeheartedly while doing nothing for her.” Actions speak louder than words".

I am not successful, nor ambitious, but it is my responsibility to make sure my wife and children have a happy life. It is her dream to buy a decent car so that we can improve our life quality, but the flats cost us a huge amount of  money, we are still in debt, I made a promise that one day a nice car will be bought for her, I need to keep my promise, I need to earn a little bit more  money to make it a reality.
Dear wife, you are the only one I would like to spend the rest of life with!  I am fortunate to have you as my partner, I will love you more and more   every single happy.
“If I got down on my knees I’m being with you
if I cross a million oceans just to be with you.
would you ever let me down?

If I climb the highest mountain just to hold you tight.
If I said that I would love you every single night.
Would you ever let me down?”
My darling, deep in my heart, I know you will never let me down, ten years of marriage has given me a definite answer.

You make me so much stronger

Sitting at the back seat with my son, I felt my head hurt like hell as if it was going to explode at any time. I suffered from periodic migrainous neuralgia for many years. It has become part of my life and never bothered me too much until now. Usually, I took some pills and went for a sleep, when I woke up my old friend would go away. However, for this time the timing was really bad. We were heading home from a weekend short trip, and my son was in a high gear after a good nap. So it was impossible for me to have some quiet time, let alone a sleep. I sucked in deep breaths, fighting hot nausea which boiled in my throat. Oh, no. I can't throw up in front of my son. It would scare him. I told myself over and over again.
“Mama, Mama.." my son handed me a picture book and implored me to tell him a story. With the back of head exploding with pain, I couldn’t concentrate on the book. The words on it seemed to swirl out of the focus, so I made up one through my confused thoughts: Fox mother was sick, and the baby fox was getting hungry…. My voice was weak and twisted, as if from some far away stranger.
“Are you OK?” came from my husband, and his voice sounded strange and distant too. I didn’t know how to reply for a moment until I heard his anxious voice again: Answer me, are you all right?"
“Fine.” That’s all I could manage to speak. He was driving the car on a highway, and I couldn’t trouble him now.
“Mami is sick, be good and give mami a kiss, OK?" my husband said to my son.
Yu was so adorable that he climbed up on my legs and gave me a sweet kiss. Then he put his arms around my neck and tucked his head under my chin. “Gai, Gai.” he babbled when he pat me on the arms lightly. He tried to tuck me in like we did for him when he was not well.  For a moment, I felt my eyes stinging a little as if an invisible hand had just squeezed my heart. My son is only one and nine month old. It is impossible for him to fully understand what was going on, right?
I wanted to hold him like that forever, but the position made my head throb even worse. All the trees and bushes outside of the car window did a quick, sickening whirl. Lightly, I put him aside. For the next time, he behaved really well. He played his thumb and toy alone until he found a plane in the sky. "Fei fei" he exclaimed excitedly. We were driving on a highway, so soon the airplane disappeared into thin air. He couldn’t understand----in his memory, the plane would hang in the sky for a while. A logic answer to this mystery popped up in his little head---the plane must play hide-and-seek with him. So he covered his eyes with his plump hands for a minute. When he opened his eyes again and failed to find the plane, his lips pouted and he started to wail. Usually his logic would make me burst into a round of laugh. But not this time. Luckily, yu is not a wailing baby, and he is not difficult to deal with when he is crying.
We finally made home. When my husband was pulling over the car, I couldn‘t hold it any more. I bent over with my hands braced on my knees and I puked all over. I heard my parents coming around, "Are you Okey?"
“Get him out of there.” I managed to say. Yu was so scared. Sorry, my love.
When I felt better, I tormented myself with what-if scenarios. I am not in a fragile condition, but exposed myself long time to an unhealthy life-style, I have never been strong. What would happen to my son if I died untimely? I knew that physically he would be well-cared for. But what about his emotional wellbeing? He would grow up feeling abandoned by his mother, and no amount of logic would offset that primitive response.  It is time to make some changes. I didn’t have a care in the world, but now I have my boy to consider. It’s my responsibility to raise him, discipline him, and keep him safe while mold him into a responsible human being. So I need to take care of myself well first. From now on, I will pay regular visit to gym, and shy away all the unhealthy habits. I used not be a worrier, but I am a mother now.

without you

------
No I can't forget this evening
Or your face as you were leaving
But I guess that's just the way
The story goes
You always smile but in your eyes
You sorrow shows
Yes it shows
No I can't forget tomorrow
When I think of all my sorrow
When I had you there
But then I let you go
And now it's only fair
That I should let you know
What you should know
I can't live
If living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore
I can't live
If living is without you
I can't give
I can't give anymore
Well I can't forget this evening
Or your face as you were leaving
But I guess that's just the way
The story goes
You always smile but in your eyes
You sorrow shows
Yes it shows
I can't live
If living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore
I can't live
If living is without you
I can't give
I can't give anymore
I can't live
If living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The last dinner

Last week, on mutual agreement, David and I packed our traveling bag and got on the bus heading for Qufu, the sacred city where the great philosopher Confucius once lived and studied. It’s about 20minutes’ travel. Usually, with nowhere to go, we just choose to hang around the neighboring towns or cities on weekends. There, we spent a happy day strolling around rows of fancy souvenir shops and art galleries. It was not until dark that we remembered to came back. It was 7 a.m. when we got off the bus. David suggested we have dinner in a Sichuan Hotpot Restaurant, explaining that the mutton would provide me with more energy and warm my stiff body. On hearing this, I breathed hard on my palms and rubbed my hands.
The moment David set our luggage aside, I opened the menu and began my selection. I ordered three plates of mutton, one plate of beef and some vegetables, including potato slices, spinach, and onions. David added some frozen tofu, shrimps and a plate of dumplings. Later, a waitress came over with a kettle. She took the menu and poured some white liquid into the pot, which was prefixed on the table. Then she switched the gas on and adjusted the fire. No sooner had the soup started to bubble than I put some potato slices in and stired. I bet I could eat an ox then! Noticing my nervous expression, David chuckled under his breath. I suppose he must be hungry as well, but he is a guy who always maintains his composure whatever. As the soup boiled over, David turned down the gas and put in some slices of mutton. Then began the race to scoop up meat from the pot. The mutton should be fished out with a high speed, otherwise it will go tough.
During the next hour, we just enjoyed our share of food separately, not bothering to care about each other. I managed to ladle some soup to David’s bowl, but was refused with a serious look. “Take care, You mustn’t burn yourself!” I moved my mouth to one side, convincing that our relationship changed much after marriage. There are not many formalities or trifles, and polite remarks are left out. If we do need to exchange views, we just speak it out bluntly. I wonder if it is an intimacy or estrangement. But in the last year when we were dating each other, we always ended up in a fancy restaurant. Every time we sat face to face, David and I would stand on ceremony. When a new dish came, I pushed it to his side, and then he pushed back, teasing his arm is longer than mine. David is humorous. Maybe as time goes by, we become much closer. Our relationship is far beyond the simple connection between husband and wife, but transforms into the affection among family members. David loves me so much and I too.
Finally, we each have had our stomach full. Not expecting to waste a grain, I took up my chopsticks and forced a few morsels in. David put down his fork and leaned back, “Emma, I must tell you something important.”
“What is it?” I looked up, surprised.
“Would you go back home and spend a few days with your parents?” David assumed a serious look.
“Why?” My voice a little blurred, I feel my heart pounding hard.
“I will be away on a business trip. Maybe you prefer to stay with your parents.” David responded in a feigned flat tone.
Heaving a long sigh, I felt relaxed. I had thought
People hate David just because he always purposely makes a mystery of simple things. I realized he just intended to make me a fool. I replied in a casual way, “Certainly, you can go anywhere you like. This is our last dinner.” We both smiled. 

The winter clothing scheme

Today is Sunday, the last day of October. When I crawled out of my nest, I approached the window and draw apart the curtains. Out of expect, an icy current blew against my face, went into my nostrils, spoiling and ravaging my weak respiratory system. It seemed every nerve in my body was awakened. I coughed and kept sneezing. By instinct, I put my hand across my mouth, thus coughing pacified. Seeing my frightened look, my husband David went over and put my coat over my shoulder. One step forward, I discovered window panes were white with a thin coat of frost. “Damned weather. It should be brisk and pleasant in autumn.” I gave a puff towards the glass, tiny water drops streaming down. “Honey, there are not so many ‘should-bes’. We are experiencing unseasonable autumn weather recently. Do you remember last winter?” David assumed a mock-serious manner. Certainly I do. The cold was unbearable. My office was like an icehouse that whatever clothes you threw upon, your feet and hands still remained stiff and numb. We had to resort to hot-water bag to warm our fingers.
“Dear, don’t dwell on the past any more. Get dressed and let’s go shopping. Maybe you need a new pair of feather trousers.” David’s high-pitched voice cut off my thoughts, reining them from drifting farther. I always compare David as the worm in my stomach. Yes, he is right. I need a new pair of feather trousers. For one thing, a new cold air front is reported to be approaching Northern China. For another, my work place has moved into the western suburbs, where there are few trees and buildings to fend off the whistling winds. I swiftly slipped the clothes on and went into the washing room.
Since we moved, I have little time to go shopping. There are no commercial areas in the west. Department stores and shopping malls are clustered in the east section. Not having been in downtown for a week, I feel as if I were deserted by this bustling city. On the bus, David told me the price for feather coats has gone up dramatically, together with edible oil, sugar, vegetables and so on. My heart quivered a bit. Our monthly salary remains unchanged, how could daily goods be raised? With living expenses deducted, we have little left on the saving account every month. I explained to David that there was no need to buy an expensive one and that we had to battle against the rocketing prices. David smiled, squeezing my arm. “Dear, we only buy things we need badly, but that doesn’t mean we are bargain-hunters. Remember quality counts.” Then we spent the whole morning strolling around shelves of mountains of winter clothing, feeling the material, selecting the style, and comparing the color. Finally, our eyes were locked on a pair of black feather trousers, soft and smart. After trying it on, we were both satisfied. Though it may appear a bit swollen, it would get me through the cold winter. Money is easily spent than earned. A small portion of my salary was gone, but I gained love and care. David is a nice guy, I appreciate the opportunity to be his wife.

Friday, November 26, 2010

The Scar

A little boy invited his mother to attend his elementary school's first teacher-parent conference. To the little boy's dismay, she said she would go. This would be the first time that his classmates and teacher met his mother and he was embarrassed by her appearance. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar that covered nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to talk about why or how she got the scar.
At the conference, the people were impressed by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother despite the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed and hid himself from everyone. He did, however, get within earshot of a conversation between his mother and his teacher, and heard them speaking.
"How did you get the scar on your face?" the teacher asked.
The mother replied, "When my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught on fire. Everyone was too afraid to go in because the fire was out of control, so I went in. As I was running toward his crib, I saw a beam coming down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked unconscious but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us." She touched the burned side of her face. "This scar will be permanent, but to this day, I have never regretted doing what I did."
At this point, the little boy came out running towards his mother with tears in his eyes. He hugged her and felt an overwhelming sense of the sacrifice that his mother had made for him. He held her hand tightly for the rest of the day.

Student Health Insurance: Something You Can

Obtaining good health insurance while you are studying overseas is a real necessity to protect you from minor and catastrophic medical expenses that can wipe out not only your savings, but you dreams of an education abroad.
There are often two different types of health insurance you can consider buying: internationl travel insurance and student insurance in the country where you will be going. An international travel insurance policy is usually purchased in your home country before you go abroad. It generally covers a wide variety of medical services, and you are often given a list of doctors in the area where you will travel who may even speak your native language. The drawback might be that you aren't reinbursed for your medical expenses immediately. In other words, you may have to pay all your medical expenses and then later submit your receipts to the insurance company.
On the other hand, getting student health insurance in the country where you will study might allow you to only pay a certain percentage of the medical cost at the time of service (commonly called a co-pay), and thus, you don't have to have sufficient cash to pay the entire bill at once.
Whatever you decide, obtaining some form of health insurance is something you should plan before you go overseas rather than waiting until you are sick with major medical bills to pay off.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Listening is powerful medicine

I believe listening is powerful Medicine.
Studies have shown it takes a physician about 18 seconds to interrupt a patient after he begins talking.
It was Sunday. I had one last patient to see. I approached her room in a hurry and stood at the doorway. She was an older woman, sitting at the edge of the bed, struggling to put socks on her swollen feet. I crossed the threshold, spoke quickly to the nurse, scanned her chart noting she was in stable condition. I was almost in the clear.
I leaned on the bedrail looking down at her. She asked if I could help put on her socks. Instead, I launched into a monologue that went something like this: "How are you feeling? Your sugars and blood pressure were high but they're better today. The nurse mentioned you're anxious to see your son who's visiting you today. It's nice to have family visit from far away. I bet you really look forward to seeing him."
She stopped me with a stern, authoritative voice. "Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not your story."
I was surprised and embarrassed. I sat down. I helped her with the socks. She began to tell me that her only son lived around the corner from her, but she had not seen him in five years. She believed that the stress of this contributed greatly to her health problems. After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do for her. She shook her head no and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to listen.
Each story is different. Some are detailed; others are vague. Some have a beginning, middle and end. Others wander without a clear conclusion. Some are true; others not. Yet all those things do not really matter. What matters to the storyteller is that the story is heard — without interruption, assumption or judgment.
Listening to someone's story costs less than expensive diagnostic testing but is key to healing and diagnosis.
I often thought of what that woman taught me, and I reminded myself of the importance of stopping, sitting down and truly listening. And, not long after, in an unexpected twist, I became the patient, with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at age 31. Now, 20 years later, I sit all the time — in a wheelchair.
For as long as I could, I continued to see patients from my chair, but I had to resign when my hands were affected. I still teach med students and other health care professionals, but now from the perspective of physician and patient.
I tell them I believe in the power of listening. I tell them I know firsthand that immeasurable healing takes place within me when someone stops, sits down and listens to my story.

An Ingenious Love Letter

There once lived a lad who was deeply in love with a girl, but disliked by the girl’s father, who didn’t want to see any further development of their love. The lad was eager to write to the girl, yet he was quite sure that the father would read it first. So he wrote such a letter to the girl:
My love for you I once expressed
no longer lasts, instead, my distaste for you
is growing with each passing day. Next time I see you,
I even won’t like that look yours.
I’ll do nothing but
look away from you. You can never expect I’ll
marry you. The last chat we had
was so dull and dry that you shouldn’t think it
made me eager to see you again.
If we get married, I firmly believe I’ll
live a hard life, I can never
live happily with you, I’ll devote myself
but not
to you. No one else is more
harsh and selfish and least
solicitous and considerate than you.
I sincerely want to let you know
what I said is true. Please do me a favor by
ending our relations and refrain from
writing me a reply. Your letter is always full of
things which displease me. You have no
sincere care for me. So long! Please believe
I don’t love you any longer. Don’t think
I still have a love of you!
Having read the letter, the father felt relieved and gave it to his daughter with a light heart.
The girl also felt quite pleased after she read it carefully, her lad still had a deep love for her.
Do you know why? In fact, she felt very sad when she read the letter for the first time. But she read it for a few more times and , at last, she found the key – only every other line should be read, that is the first line, the third, the fifth … and so on to the end.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Life is about choices

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I'd be twins!" He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don' t get it. You can' t be positive all the time. How do you do it?"
Michael replied, each morning I wake up and say to myself 'Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right. It isn't that easy." I protested.
"Yes it is, " Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how you live life. " I reflected on what Michael said.
Soon thereafter, I left the big enterprise that I had worked in for years to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often though about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off 60 feet from a communications tower.
After l8 hours of surgery, and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "... the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the operation room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, l read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me" said Michael. "She asked me if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I said. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled", 'Gravity'" Over their laughter, I told them, 'I'm choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."
Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
I learned from him that every day we have a choice to live fully. Attitude is everything.

Speaking Effective American English

On job interviews when first conversing with an individual and when addressing small or large groups, the first few seconds are critical in setting the tone for how you'll be perceived. If she has an annoying regional accent, uses incorrect grammar, has a limited vocabulary, and if she has an irritatingly sharp piercing voice, sounds whiny or bossy or doesn't articulate her words clearly, it' s an immediate turn-off. This isn't someone who you would hire or proudly introduce to your friends and business associates. This doesn't mean that everyone should try to sound like a professional actor or broadcaster. All of us have qualities unique to our own way of speaking, our individual voiceprint as distinctive as our fingerprints. Our voice is very personal and an important part of our identity. Some natural characteristics of our voice may be very appealing.

      The idea is to take the voice with which you've been gifted and give it the very best sound that you can. With the right type of practice, by paying attention to the quality of your voice and by knowing how to properly express yourself,you' II almost immediately improve your opportunities in job interviews, social situations, in selling, and in running a meeting or addressing groups of people.

      Let' s say it again, it all begins with the instrument, your voice. If its sound and quality is flawed and needs improvement, that' s where you start. That' s what everyone hears whether in casual conversation or in making a major speech to a large audience. Pure vowel sounds, articulation, proper breathing, expressive speaking patterns, a pleasing vocal range, naturalness, all these will make you get twice the result with half the effort.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A-----Z

       A Friend is....朋友就是....

Accepts you as you are接受原本的你

Believes in "you"相信你这个人

Calls you just to say "Hi"打电话给你就是想说声"嗨"

Doesn't give up on you从不放弃对你的信心

Envisions the whole of you预期你总是尽全力

Forgives your mistakes原谅你的过错

Gives unconditionally无条件地给予

Helps you帮助你

Invites you over邀请你

Just "be" with you静静地在你的身旁

Keeps you close at heart靠近你的心

Loves you for who you are因你原来的样子而爱你

Makes a difference in your life使你的生活与以往不同

Never judges不间断

Offers support支持你

Picks you up扶你一把

Quiets your fears止息你的惧怕

Raises your spirits鼓舞你的心灵

Says nice things about you跟别人述说你好的那一面

Tells you the truth when you need to hear it当需要时会告诉你实情

Understands you懂你

values you看重你

Walks beside you与你同行

X-plain things you don't understand解你的疑惑

Yells when you won't listen and在你听不下时会大吼一下

Zaps you back to reality把你拉回现实

Youth

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.


Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing appetite for what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.


When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The love world is big,the love world is small

The love world is big, which can hold hundreds of disappointments;

the love world is small which is crowded even with three people inside.

原来爱情的世界很大,大到可以装下上百种委屈;

原来爱情的世界很小,小到三个人就挤到窒息。

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

对于世界而言,你是一个人;但是对于某个人,你是他的整个世界。
 

Don’t waste your time on a man/woman, who isn’t willing to waste their time on you.

不要为那些不愿在你身上花费时间的人而浪费你的时间。


Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one,

so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.

在遇到梦中人之前,上天也许会安排我们先遇到别的人;

在我们终于遇见心仪的人时,便应当心存感激。

It is better bo have love and lost than never to have loved at all.

宁可曾经爱过而失败,也不要从来未曾有过一次爱。


Love me little, love me long.

爱不贵亲密,而贵长久。

To live in a world without you is more painful than any punishment.

Do you know that no one can replace you in my heart?

生活在没有的你的世界,比任何一种惩罚都要痛苦,

你知道吗,对我而言,你是任何人都无法取代的。




If love is a mountain, then if men go up,

more women they will see while women will see fewer men.

如果爱情像座山,那么男人越往上走可以俯视的女人就越多,

而女人越往上走可以仰视的男人就越少。

Love makes man grow up or sink down.

爱情,要么让人成熟,要么让人堕落。




The only thing you can do when you no longer have something is not to forget.

当你不能再拥有的时候,唯一可以做的就是令自己不要忘记。

To forgive is not to forget, nor remit, but let it go;

to be lonely is not because you have no friends, but no one is living in your heart.

宽恕、原谅并不代表忘记,也不代表赦免,而是放自己一条生路。

孤单不是有没有朋友,而是有没有人住在你心里。


 The worst way to miss someone is to be

sitting right beside them knowing you can’t have them.

失去某人,最糟糕的莫过于,他近在身旁,却犹如远在天边。

To keep someone around you is not love; love is to let the one you love go freely.

不是把对方留在自己身边才叫爱,能放手让所爱的人离开,也是爱的一种。

During the whole life, you will regret for two things:

one is that you don’t get the one you love and the other is the one you love is not happy.

人的一生,有两种遗憾最折磨人:一是得不到你心爱的人;二是心爱的人得不到幸福。


Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.

不要因为结束而哭泣,微笑吧,为你的曾经拥有。

Never expect the perfect man,

it’s not because that you cannot find, but just because there is no perfect man.

不要期待完美的男人,不是因为你期待不到,而是根本没有完美的男人。

An unacceptable love needs no sorrow but sometime for forgetting.

A badly-hurt heart needs no sympathy but understanding.

一段不被接受的爱情,需要的不是伤心,而是时间,一段可以用来遗忘的时间。

一颗被深深伤了的心,需要的不是同情,而是明白。
 

I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.

我爱你,不是因为你是一个怎样的人,而是因为我喜欢与你在一起时的感觉。

No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won’t make you cry.

没有人值得让你为他/她流泪,值得让你这么做的人不会让你哭泣。

It’s often said that you will have the same life as the person you find.

Therefore, different choices make different endings.

人们说,找到了什么样的人就有了什么样的生活,于是不同的选择,就有不同的童话结尾。


 Sometimes you need to look back,

otherwise you will never know what you have lost in the way of forever searching.

偶尔要回头看看,否则永远都在追寻,而不知道自己失去了什么。

Most of people are looking forward the crystal-like love—pure without any defect.

However the truth is most people are having the glass-like love.

许多人向往水晶般的爱情,晶莹剔透没有瑕疵。但更多人拥有的是玻璃般的爱情。



The one you love also loves you. This is a miracle.

And the god names this as falling in love with each other.

自己爱的人同时也爱着自己,这简直是一种奇迹,

神明为这种奇迹取了一个名字,叫做恋爱。

How it feels when you are loved by the one you love? How could it be like?

If you want to answer it immediately, you shall know how happy you are.

被自己所爱的人深爱着是什么样的感觉呢?会是什么样子呢?

想要立刻回答的人,你要知道自己是多么幸福。



Hope and trust is the tail of a lizard, which can reproduce even after being cut off.

希望和信任是蜥蜴的尾巴,即使被切断,但它们还会再长出来。

Do you think that the sourest feeling is to be jealous?

No, the sourest thing is that you have no rights to be jealous.

That’s the sourest thing.

你以为最酸的感觉是吃醋吗?不是的,最酸溜溜的感觉是没权吃醋,

根本就轮不到你吃醋,那才是…

To lost in something you love is better than to win in something you hate.

宁可失败在你喜欢的事情上,也不要成功在你所憎恶的事情上。



When every love comes to the end, if you look back,

you will find flowers and sorrows, but it’s always beautiful.

每段爱情在走向终结时,倒带回去,

一路上或花草鲜美,或落英缤纷,而最初总是倾心的。

I know that love shall not be compared, but I still used to complaining what he is lack of.

我知道感情不能拿来比较,但无意中还是习惯抱怨他所缺少的。




Never frown, even when you are sad,

because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.

纵然伤心,也不要愁眉不展,因为你不知是谁会爱上你的笑容

Love is an impossible meeting.

For example, I am a bird flying in sky,

you are a leopard in forest. We just fall in love accidentally.

缘分是不可能的相遇。比如我是空中的鸟,你是林中的豹,只是我们碰巧相爱。



When someone abandons you, it is him that gets loss

because he lost someone who truly loves him

but you just lost one who doesn’t love you.

当你认为被抛弃的时候,受损失的其实是对方:

因为他失去了一个真正喜欢他的人,而你只不过少了一个不喜欢你…

The so-called turning-around is that you not only miss

the sun in day time but also the stars at night.

所谓的回头,只不过是丢掉了白天的太阳之后,又错过了夜晚的星星。


 Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to,

doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

爱你的人如果没有按你所希望的方式来爱你,那并不代表他们没有全心全意地爱你。

Good love makes you see the whole world from one person

while bad love makes you abandon the whole world for one person.

好的爱情是你通过一个人看到整个世界,坏的爱情是你为了一个人舍弃世界。

Sometimes, I just wonder, we are from different waters,

although I admire your world, I will be drowned if I get close to you.

有时候我会想,我们是不同水域的动物,

虽然我很羡慕你那个世界的美丽,但是浅水区的我一走近,就会被深水淹死。


Why to ask so much when you are in love?

The mature never ask the past,

the wise never ask the present

and the open-minded never ask the future.

爱,又何必多问?成熟的人不问过去,聪明的人不问现在,豁达的人不问未来。


The key for happiness is not to find a perfect person,

but find someone and build a perfect relationship with him.

幸福的关键不在于找到一个完美的人,

而在找到一个人,然后和他一起努力建立一个完美的关系。


If you leave me, please don’t comfort me

because each sewing has to meet stinging pain.

离开我就别安慰我,要知道每一次缝补也会遭遇穿刺的痛。

The most special feeling of human is the one-sided love. That’s the unique.

You would never see a cat loving another cat in secret.

人类的感情最特别的就是单恋,那是绝无仅有的。

你绝不会看到一只猫,会偷偷地喜欢上另一只猫。


The love world is big, which can hold hundreds of disappointments;

the love world is small which is crowded even with three people inside.

原来爱情的世界很大,大到可以装下上百种委屈;

原来爱情的世界很小,小到三个人就挤到窒息。

Friday, November 5, 2010

Self-reliance

i'm Sia
i'll let others know
i won't be afraid of it
i'll do it by myself
i should be self-independent
the more i controll myself
the strongger i'll be

if i believe no one can hurt me

there won't be


i love you,Sia~Such self-reliance

Thursday, November 4, 2010

You shouldn't be inside my mind.

Everytime you walk away,You take my smile away
But I have no reason to make you stay
Every promise you have made,There's nothing could replace
I hesitate, if you were the right one who came late
I try to mend, I feel so ashamed,You shouldn't be inside my mind
But I'm so confused
I always think of you

What it makes to miss you so?,He's the one I should have hold
But I can't block you out of my soul,I don't wanna let you go
What it makes to miss you so?,When you're gone, I couldn't find my rainbow
But I can't leave him alone in sorrow,I have to let you go

Every little thing you say,and everything we taste
They are something could never be erased
Everything you dedicate,There's nothing could replace
I hesitate' if you were the right one who came late
I try to mend' I feel so ashamed,You shouldn't be inside my mind
But I'm so confused
I always think of you

What it makes to miss you so?,He's the one I should have hold
But I can't block you out of my soul,I don't wanna let you go
What it makes to miss you so?,When you're gone,I couldn't find my rainbow
But I can't leave him alone in sorrow,I have to let you go

If he didn't ever came into my life,then I'll take no regret
But I don't dare
he'll be so sad

Miss you so,He's the one I should have hold,I can't block you out of my soul,I don't wanna let you go
Miss you so,When you're gone,I couldn't find my rainbow
But I can't leave him alone in sorrow
I have to let you go

When you told me you loved me .

Once
Doesn't mean anything to me
Come
Show me the meaning of complete
Where
Did our love go wrong
Once we were so strong
How can I go on?
When you told me you loved me
Did you know it would take me the rest of my life
to get over the feeling of knowing
A dream didn't turn out right
When you let me believe that you weren't complete
Without me by your side
how could I know
That you would go
That you would run
Baby, I thought you were the one
Why
Can't I just leave it all behind
I
Felt passion so bright that I was blind
Then
Something made me weak
Talking in my sleep
Baby, I'm in so deep and you know I believed
When you told me you loved me
Did you know it would take me the rest of my life
to get over the feeling of knowing
A dream didn't turn out right
When you let me believe that you weren't complete
Without me by your side
how could I know
That you would go
That you would run
Baby, I thought you were the one
Your lips
Your face
Something that time just can't erase
Find my heart
Could break
All over again
When you told me you loved me
Did you know it would take me the rest of my life
to get over the feeling of knowing
A dream didn't turn out right
When you let me believe that you weren't complete
Without me by your side
how could I know
That you would go
That you would run
Baby, I thought you were the one

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Many designers like flowers, and it shows in their work

Along with crocuses and daffodils comes another surefire sign of spring: florals in fashion.

The garden-party look is a seasonal classic, but there's been some updating this season. Look for artistic - almost abstract - brush-stroke technique, or realistic, photo-style prints. Other twists include tulip-style hemlines and fabric petals adorning everything from tank tops to ball gowns.

Flowers, say designers, are an endless source of inspiration because of their delicacy, femininity and beauty. And it turns out many fashion insiders are gardeners (or aspiring gardeners), too.

The AP asked designers who are offering florals in their spring collections about their favorite flowers:

Carmen Marc Valvo

Flowers creep into his clothes all the time, but there have been two specific flower-themed runway shows. One came after his treatment for cancer six years ago. He saw the rebirth of his peony trees as a hopeful sign, so he used pinks, chiffon petals and "dewdrops" of crystals.

A few years later he blew up Georgia O'Keefe-style flowers as prints.

"I was fixated by the way petals moved, and I started playing with organza like an origami rose," Valvo says.

The highlights of Valvo's actual garden include the Carmen rose and his peonies. Those peonies have taken him on a roller coaster of growing, thriving, shriveling up and once again blossoming. His orchids are also finicky, but Valvo now has a greenhouse for them.

"When they come back, it's very satisfying," he said.

Tracy Reese

Peonies are also a favorite for Reese. She said she likes that they evolve from such a compact ball into lovely layers as they blossom. They're also such a welcome sign of sunny days ahead after a long winter, Reese said.

In her work, though, Reese doesn't restrict herself to springtime blooms. Many of her fall collections, including the one just previewed at New York Fashion Week, will incorporate florals.

"It's hard to point to a season where we haven't used flowers for something - either shape, color, print," she said.

Florals are a staple of her wardrobe, and she likes to mix them with other prints.

"I'll wear florals and plaid, a striped sweater and a floral-print skirt, but sometimes there's nothing more beautiful than a spring garden dress."

Shoshanna Lonstein

Lonstein recently tossed the holiday paperwhites and moved on to cut gardenias and honeysuckle in the spirit of spring. Later in the season, the hydrangeas she planted will blossom. She loves having their cut flowers in the house.

She also grows tomatoes, but is a killer of orchids.

"I need to stick to the sturdier bushes," she saod.

You won't find watercolor florals in her designs either, but every collection has florals, including one lily of the valley print that was fashioned after her wedding bouquet.

She said florals look chic and sophisticated when they're anchored with black or on tailored pieces.

"You don't want too much fabric," she said. "Try sleeveless or the top part of dress that's floral with a black skirt or vice versa. If you pull one color out of the print and stick with it for the rest of the outfit, you'll have a nice balance."

Michael Smaldone, creative director at Talbots

"I'm a pink guy, but my favorite flower is an orange poppy," Smaldone said. "I love how they're both wild - with ugly leaves and hairy stems - and have a beautiful delicate flower."

His thumb is pretty green, he said.

"I like to get as tropical as I can in a nontropical location," he said. "My garden is very green, organic and has things with big leaves. There are poppies all over the place to give a burst of color."

He turned to a brush-stroke floral print for Talbots' spring line, though, because he thought that approach was very optimistic, something the fashion world needs right now.

But whatever the climate is for style trends, flowers always fit in, Smaldone said.

"You can do everything with them," he said. "They can fit into any trend: ethnic, watercolor, Impressionistic, pop art - you name it."

LeAnn Nealz, American Eagle design chief

Nealz said she loves white magnolias for their intoxicating scent, but ranunculus are her favorites because they're so cheerful.

"They look like they're made of hundreds of layers of brightly colored paper," she said.

Nealz interpreted sweet, small florals for spring onto a flirty daytime skirt as well as a day-to-night minidress. She used a more tropical flower for menswear on board shorts.

Janie Schoenborn, Lilly Pulitzer design director

Coming from a long line of gardeners - her father has a degree in landscape design, mom has a traditional English garden and Aunt Molly's specialty is tropicals - Schoenborn is trying to keep up the tradition with lilacs and syringas.

So far, she hasn't done a lilac print for Lilly Pulitzer, but a shade of lavender was just added to the label's palette so it probably won't be long until she tries one.

"Every spring is a floral bonanza for us," Schoenborn said. "We don't always do an exact replica of a flower. Right now we have an abstract orchid. There's a Queen Anne's lace that we hadn't done but will have for summer. ... We don't discriminate against any flowers, but we like 'pretty' so no cactuses, but we'll even do lemon and lime blossoms."

Peter Som

Som is yet another peony fan, and he also has a thing for green roses. There are some orchids in his house right now that he's trying to revive, but it's not going all that well.

"I wish I had a green thumb," he said.

His spring collection had an underlying vibe of Japanese woodcuts - and he found that all sorts of floral prints worked with it. The range included big-scale flowers to 1940s'-inspired painterly blooms.

"A flower is eternally beautiful," Som said, "and it really screams spring."