The Christmas Shoes

I would like to share this really touching music with everybody.

It's lyrics are so special in the way that it expresses love with sincerity that differs from the common pop music, which seems a bit unrealistic.

By the way

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Sun Moon Lake

2007-12-15,16

Every often or so, our family (including relatives) has formed the habit of going on vacation. We usually picked the vacation spot convenient for every one of us, which is, by far, the middle part of Taiwan. Because some of them live in Taipei, others live in Tainan and Kaohsiung, and still others, like my grandfather and grandmother, live in Penghu. This time, it's no exception, we decided to go to Sun Moon Lake, which is located in the central part of the island.

After driving for nearly three hours, the lake finally came into view, glistening and glowing under the bright sunshine. As we drove along the lake shore, we couldn't help but immerse in the beautiful emerald green waters. When overlooking the lake, it makes me think of the beautiful coast of places like Hawaii. It's a feast for the eyes! No wonder Sun Moon Lake is one of the must-go spots for tourists worldwide!

During the two day trip, we visited various places near the lake. We even went "canoeing" again. Although it was tiring, we had a lot of fun.

I had always liked the family reunion, for it brings us closer together. Besides that, going on a trip makes me feel revitalized and energetic in the midst of the pressure from heavy schoolwork.

It truely makes me feel refreshed and gives me the momenteum to keep on going and face the challenges in life.

Taipei 101 Observatory(part 2)

When the elevator door opened at the 89th floor, darkness fell before our eyes, making the observatory rather mystical at first sight. As we stepped out of the elevator one by one, everyone sprinted out in every direction with excitement. After a few seconds of "running ", the city of Taipei came into our sight, dazzling in our eyes.

Since we are not in a hurry, we took our time walking around appreciating the 360-degree spectacular view it offers. To me, the view is just mesmerizing...

Simply unforgettable...

Taipei 101 Observatory(part 1)

On the first day of a brand new month, December, my friends and I agreed on my suggestion to visit the Taipei 101 Observatory.

We bought entrance tickets at the fifth floor, then lined up waiting for our turn to get in the elevator, it was a exciting moment not only for us but also for the other vistors, most of them are from Japan. Although we couldn't understand what they were saying, we can judge by their facial expressions that they were very enthuiastic! We couldn't wait to get in the elevator from the very moment we bought our tickets, so when it's "finally" our turn after waiting for a few minutes, we streamed into the elevator as fast as we could.

When we stepped into the elevator, we saw that there were two LCD panels located on both sides facing us, bearing on it is the current height, location, elevator speed, and the timing of how fast the elevator travels to the 89th floor observatory. To our amazement, when the very moment the elevator door closes, the lights in the elevator went out, replacing it is a beautiful, colorful, imaginatory picture of the horoscope, sparkling in the darkness. As the elevator "shoots" up, the values on the LCD monitor rose quickly as well. We watched in awe as the elevator traveled at 38 km/hr. No sooner than 37 seconds, here we were, at the highest observatory in the world! (By the way, the speed of the elevator also broke the world record )

To be continued...

High Speed One opens

A new high speed rail link between London and Paris has brought the two capitals closer together, shaving 20 minutes off the journey time. The link that starts at London's St Pancras station also cuts 25 minutes off the journey time to Brussels. This report from Rob Broomby:

The French opened their stretch of the high speed line back in 1993, a year before the tunnel under the English Channel itself opened. The high speed line to Brussels was finished in 1997; and now, ten years after that, Britain has finally caught up with its 12 billion dollar line High Speed One.

At 11:01 the First Eurostar, named "Tread Lightly" to emphasise the environmental advantage of rail travel, edged smoothly out of the station heading for Paris. Just minutes later, the first fast train arrived from Brussels and passengers spilled out onto the platform to give their first impressions of the journey:

PASSENGERS: Great, yeah, very fast and… it's fantastic. Great, you said right - it was a wonderful journey.

But much of the excitement here has focused not on the fast links to Europe but on the lovingly refurbished Victorian train-shed - a jewel from the age of steam - now sporting what claims to be the longest champagne bar in Europe, and it sits under what was when built the largest single span roof in the world.

But most of Britain's mainline trains trundle along at nothing like the 186 miles per hour of the Eurostar. Rail enthusiasts are already asking, if this is High Speed One, when will there be a High Speed Two? The answer is still, no time soon.

Rob Broomby, BBC

This is the article that I adapted from the section "Learning English - Words in the News" from the BBC website. It not only provides interesting articles but also highlights words or phrases plus the explanations for you to learn. I think the words or phrases they picked for you to learn are quite useful actually. I'm eager to put it in my article if I have the chance. Speaking of the high speed railway in Europe, I have already want to take a ride in it for a long time. Especially the route below the English Tunnel, that sounds pretty exciting to me. I really wonder how they could build a railway under the sea. Hmm...wish I could visit Europe next year during the summer vacation. Hope...

How to Charge an iPod using electrolytes and an onion

Since our class blog's homepage have something related to Apple's product, I found something interesting for those who has an iPod. (that's right, I don' t own an iPod).

The movie clip quite amazes me actually, I really wonder what "ingredients" are there in the onion and by what chemical rules it follows that makes charging the battery possible.

This procedure was provided by HouseHoldHacker, which I believed to be a website or firm that teaches people how to save money by finding "substitutes". But as far as I concerned, that maybe won't help much because vegetables are quite expensive nowadays. Ha~

Homework4

PART I. About The Bluemen Performance

A. TRANSCRIBING

Your Attention Please

Thank You For Choosing Earth As Your Planetary Vehicle

We Hope You Enjoy Many Wonderful Features Of This Planet As You Hurtle Through The Cosmos

Please Note However

That In The Event Of Continued Inaction In The Face Of Global Warming

Your Seat Cushion Can Be Used As A Flotation Device

Also

Please Take A Moment To Locate This Planet's Emergency Exits

As You Can See

There Aren't Any

Earth To America!

Can You Hear?

Sending Out The Message

Loud And Clear

Can You Hear?

B.What do you think of this performance?
Actually, I have heard of the Blueman a few years ago. From what I've known, they are a really famous music group. And it's happy to think that more and more people in the spotlight are jumping out to warn everyone about the seriousness of global warming. Former presidential candidate Al Gore received Nobel Prize for that is a great example.
Although I know what issue the movieclip is aiming at, I couldn't really understand what they were performing. To me, the movieclip is a little bit too "abstract".

Part II. About global citizenship
A. In what ways do you think you are already a global citizen?
Born on the same planet, everyone of us were "global citizens" from the very moment we first took our breath. And thanks to the fast development of technology, we can travel to every place in the world ever faster than before. Moreover, with the help of the internet, we can gain access to things that happened in the world simultaneously simply by just clicking on the mouse. I really like to read about the international news on the newspaper or online. These, as a whole, makes me feel truly engaged in the outer world around me.

B. How can you become a better global citizen?
I think there are many ways of being a global citizen, the simplist one is to take concern about what happens in the world often through news, magazines, etc. That is also the easiest thing for students like us can do. Another thing we can easily do is to protect the enviroment, such as don't litter, recycle often, etc.
How am I going to become a better citizen? Good question. I haven't really thought of that before. I think when I have the spare money , I would make donations by helping those in need to faraway countries such as Africa. That is one way I can think of. "Global Citizens" need to make their best effort to help those in need. By doing this, our planet would surely be a much better place to live in.

Comedy-Steve Jobs & Bill Gates

I really can't think of any comments on this. Just watch it and give it a hearty laugh! The part where they made up at the end was quite sweet, the "predecessor" that went to heaven must be most gratified.

English Corner 2- fun moment

Yesterday I went to the English Corner for the second time "voluntarily", because there is suppose to be no class this week due to the upcoming midterm exam. Since there isn't any topic for us to discuss about, we played little games instead.

The game is called "Aquarius", which I believed to be invented in America. Yes, its exactly the same word as the zodiac sign, or constellation, that we usually are familiar with. The rules are quite simple-the one who connects the 7 simliar pictures together first wins. Sounds too easy and boring, right?

Actually, it's not really that easy, you have to think carefully to "expand your borders" AND "break other's connection " at the same time. By the looks of it, its pretty simple, but when you're really into it, you'd definitely have a second thought about that!!

I always enjoy playing small games. For one, their rules are usually quite simple; for the other, they generate equal "fun" as big games. This makes them quite attracting and easy for players to "go on track".

At the end of the class, we discussed what we're going to do the week after the next(there is also no topic). We had plenty of ideas, from keeping on playing games to watching movies or even go rock climbing! I'm starting to anticipate what we're going to do.

Time will tell~

My Comprehensive English Enhancement Plan(Revised Edition)

From the assessment of the Common European Framework(CEF), I think I stand on level B2 in both listening and reading.

1. Listening:
I think basically I’ll keep with my original plan, except that the time for news websites might needed to be cut down. Below are my goals:
(1) Listen to Advanced Studioclassroom every day.
(2) Visit Youtube(www.youtube.com) whenever I have spare time.
(3) Visit news broadcasting sites such as CNN(www.cnn.com), BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/?ok) on weekends. About half an hour per day.

2. Reading:
(1) Read TIME magazine everyday whenever I have the opportunity to. Such as during breaks between classes or spare time.
(2) Read Advanced magazine everyday.

3. Class:
(1) Update my blog regularly, about 2 times a week.
(2) Do my best to talk in English when discussing with my team members or classmates.
(3) Review the textbook before class.

English Corner

I attended the English corner after my sociology class today with much anticipation. But at the same time, I'm also quite nervous since I haven't spoken English for a long time. One reason that motivates me to go is that my classmate said she had lots of fun and the people there are really nice, another one is that I want to improve my English speaking ability and make new friends.

I found myself wordless at times when trying to grasp for words , which is a little bit embarrassing. Speaking of "embarrassing", one of the class leaders asks us to share about our experiences.(Though it had nothing to do with the topic "food") We had a lot of fun listening to other member's stories. Mine was about experiences on Halloween making fun of children for not giving them candies(I want to see what will they do to me, you see).
However, the words I said made both of us froze on the spot facing each other speechless, which made both of us very embarrassed...Then, I quickly gave him the candy and he quickly went away.

Speaking of Halloween...

Trick "o" Treat, everyone

Happy Halloween!!

Personalities

In our last week's class, we discussed the personalities concerning two people. One is Gilbert, who is a bit conventional. He likes to remain what he is and the way he normally does things. On the other hand, Anna is quite a adventurous person, willing to give everything a try as long as she has the opportunity. I think Anna is also more open-minded, compared with Gilbert's frequent complaints.

From my understanding of myself, I think I'm a bit more like Anna. I really like to explore new things out by experiencing them. Of course, I also certainly have the fearness like Gilbert, cause trying a new thing requires risking some "risks". However, as far as I'm concerned, I tend to give it a try since we never know what will happen once we've plunged into it.

Maybe the results are full of surprises that we can never imagined of!!

Until The Day Is Done - CNN/REM

The new trailer from CNN's "Planet In Peril" featuring the new REM song
"Until The Day Is Done"

First, I would like to say that I haven't heard of the group REM before then, is there anyone that can tell me about it? Cause this song is really touching, I enjoyed it a lot. Haven't heard of songs that has nothing to do with romances for a long time...

Back to the main point...this video clip reminds me of the issue concerning the enviroment. Recently, I've seen a comment on a website made by someone regarding that Greenland's ice melt has nothing to do with him/her, and he/she thinks that showing concern for it is a completely waste of time. He/she even claims that more ice melts , the better!

I really can't believe why anyone would say such a thing. I think that person just simply takes everything for granted and cares nothing as long as it doesn't affect his benefits. It's not that I want to be harsh, I really think that person is way too selfish.

Forget the unhappy things...

Let's listen to the beautiful melody and, at the same time, think about something that we can help protect our enviroment. I always believe, by doing something to help, despite small ones(ex. don't litter), the effects accumulated can be gigantic.

My Comprehensive English Enhancement Plan for 2007-2008 School Year

I’ve long dreamed of going abroad to study in places such as England or America. To achieve the goal, I know I will need to acquire at least one certain qualification, that is-the English proficiency test designed for overseas students (such as IELTS and TOFEL). To me, of course, this will be a very big challenge. However, I have the willingness to give it a try. It may really be a tough job, but I think I can master it through hard work.
Who knows, maybe eventually, it will result in a “dream come true”.

Below are some of my plans to achieve my goal:

1. Listening:
Recently I’ve discovered that renowned news broadcasting organizations like BBC, CNN offer audio and visual clips from their news programmes on their website. I think I will take advantage of it and make it a habit to listen to it for about 30 minutes every day. Besides that, I will continue with my daily listening programs with Advanced Studioclassroom. YouTube would be a great choice to practice listening, too. I’ve found the website so interesting and entertaining.

2. Reading & Writing:
I’ve made my mind to submit TIME magazine recently as a bridge to improve my reading and writing. From what I’ve heard, TIME magazine is very famous for its beautifully-written articles and unbiased content. By reading it, I believe my understanding of the language will definitely be more accurate. And since we’re required to update our blogs regularly, I think it’s a great chance for us to practice writing.

3. Speaking:
To be honest, this is a pretty tricky question. I’ve seen information about our school’s English Corner from posters lately. Maybe I’ll join that since it’s a rare opportunity. Or I might consider talking to myself in English at times.