Accidental Eye Ingury

An terrible accident happened to my right eye last week. When I rode the scooter with my friend in Chiayi, the wind suddenly blew strongly. It blew up the leafs on the ground and one of the big leafs flied toward my face directly. My right eye was hit. It was so painful that I went to the doctor after I came back to Taipei. The doctor was shocked at the serious wound in my eye. He wondered how I could I hurt myself like that. "I sat behind my friend on the scooter...the wind blew...then my eye was injured..." I said.

 

The story sounds ridiculous because it seems to take place only in cartoons. How come a person whose eye get hurt seriously only for walking or riding on the street and the wind? And what's worse, it was the second time that the accident of eyes happened to me. The SAME eye got hurt for the SAME reason! Last time was about six year before. The Chinese phrase says that what comes from the sky are bird shit and disaster only. Now I can't agree with it more!   

Dragon Boat Holidays

There are so many holidays in May. Compare with the four days holidays of school festival, when I couldn't leave Taipei for a travel because of the part-time job, I go to Chiayi to visit my friend for two days this time.Although I have stayed in Taiwan for more than twenty years, there are still lots of city which I have never been. Chiayi is an example. For a city resident in Taipei, the landscape, environment, the pace of life, and even the weather are totally different here in the countryside!  First, the sun shine and the heat in Chiayi is unbelievable strong and burning-hot. It seems that I will suddenly melt like a snowman if I stay outside the door more than one minute. Second, the life in Chiayi  is more convenient  than I image, as long as I have a scooter. Third, the pace of life is really slow here. My friend says that Chiayi is a city which is good for retired people. Fourth, there are thousands of delicious food and what's better, they are all cheaper than the price in Taipei! What makes Chiayi so famous is A-Li Mountain. However, I don't have enough time and money to visit the world-famous national park. I hope that I can have this chance soon in the future.

Traveling In Jioufen and Chinkaushih

Last Saturday I had a small trip with my friend. It was a great trip for me to release from the tight schedule and thousand of to-do list. We went to Jioufen, where was a famous tourism spot at north coast in Taiwan. There was a small village next to Jioufen called Chinkuashih. We went there too. And compared with Jioufen, where was full of people, my friend and I preferred Chinkaushih more. Chinkaushih was a mountain which contain lots of gold, silver and copper in the past. Therefore, the land there was affected by the chemical substance which resulted in special landscape: golden waterfall and golden river.In addition, there was an old copper factory which is now a historical site. My friend and I was shocked by the smelling and remainder of the factory. It seems that even though the factory had been closed since 1980, the chemical smelling and the ghastly, black factory kept remaining people the prosperous period in Chinkaushih.

We stayed in Chinkaushih until afternoon. Then we went to have lunch and take a rest in a tee restaurant in Jioufen. The mountain city was foggy in the afternoon. The see was blocked by the dick fog. It made Jioufen become mysterious, similar to the scenes of the Japanese cartoon Spirited Away. Looking at the Pacific Ocean from the north Taiwan coast, all the pressure disappeared immediately. I was filled with energy again, being able to face more challenges in life.

Nuclear Issue Reflection

The nuclear issue is popular in Taiwan in the month. Compared with other classmates, it is still hard for me to have a clear standpoint about nuclear power and No.4 nuclear power plant. The more pro and cons information I read, the more confused I am. At the same time, I am upset at myself. Being unable to have a clear standpoint seems to be lacking of own opinions . And that is bad for a college student who is going to graduate in a year.

However, after watching the documentaries from National Geography and Discovery about Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters, I have some reflection. In my opinion, the biggest difference between the two disasters is that the nuclear problem was contributed by human being in Chernobyl and was resulted from nature in Fukushima. Nuclear power produces less air pollution than fossil power, and it’s cheaper too. However, what people have to pay may be their homes and lifes when nuclear disasters happen. In fact, I believe that the design of No.4 nuclear power plant is safer than the public consider and the manipulation problem from human being can be avoided. But how can a small island with 23 million people fight with nature? All the emergency equipment shut down when the tsunami came and thousands of people had to leave far away from the power plant. There is no enough space for people to escape in Taiwan. And I believe that there are no technical design which and fight against the natural power.

Reflection of the Movie

In Javier’s birthday party Akeelah and Dylan found out that they are each other’s strong rival. After that time Akeelah started intensive spelling training with the professor. In spite of the learning of different suffix and prefix, the professor also trained Akeelah to memorize vocabulary by jumping rope. However, they had an argument one day, the professor then decided to let Akeelah train by herself. He gave her 5000 vocabulary words. Akeelah was sad about the leaving of her teacher and her best friend. When her mother comforted her, the mother provided an ideal of “5000 teachers”. All the people in their community helped Akeelah. Akeelah later made up with her professor and her friend. They went to the country spelling bee together in Los Angeles. Akeelah did well in the final competition. However, when she and Dylan competed for the championship, she understood that the first place was not only important for Dylan but also his father. Akeelah then decided to spell a word wrong deliberately. But her intension was found by Dylan. They made a deal to compete with each other fairly and they finally became the championship in the spelling bee this year.

I was touched by two scenes in the movie. The first is the 5000 teachers. I realized that when a person really wants to reach a goal, finish an assignment, the whole word will help him or her. It is similar to what the book “Secret” said. Second, what Akeelah said in the end of the movie impressed me. At that time, she enjoyed the moment of “now”, and appreciated all the people who help he in the life deeply. I once had the same experiences like Akeelah. In my opinion, the touching feeling and the appreciation are important to our life. We shall try to remember it and extend it from a short moment to the real life.

Spelling Bee

Akeelah was a teenager who studied in a high school in middle Los Angeles. Akeelah felt that it was hard for her to fit in the world she lived, especially her school life. Akeelah’s classmates treated her badly and always laughed at her; therefore, Akeelah lacked of confidence and was afraid of showing herself in front of the public. However, Akeelah was good at spelling. When her teacher found the ability, she asked Akeelah to take part in the spelling bee. After conquering some difficulties, Akeelah finally showed up in the district spelling bee and met a boy in the competition. Akeelah won the chance to promote, but she couldn’t share the happiness with her mother. They had argument. In order to prove herself, Akeelah decided to ask a professor of UCLA for help.

Akeelah lacks of confidence because of her classmates. Although there is no racial discrimination in the school, there are class and bullying. Feeling stressful, the only thing that can comfort Akeelah is spelling computer game. When playing the computer game, Akeelah reminds of her beloved father. Spelling is now the best way to express Akeelah herself; however, the viewpoints of her family members toward spelling bee are different. Akeelah’s mother considers it not important and asks Akeelah concentrate on her schoolwork more. Akeelah’s brother who is a soldier encourages Akeelah to grab the opportunity. Akeelah’s brother who hangs out with gangster in the community makes the atmosphere at home tenser. It’s hard for Akeelah focus on what she likes like other 11 year-old girl. Spelling bee gives Akeelah not only opportunities to change herself but also some challenges which she has to face.

Comparison between holding an activity and having a part-time job

After a busy week, our team and I finally held the 2014 Rheinpokal successfully. Holding such a large-scale activity is really tiring for me and consume lots of my energy. It's even more exhausting than doing a part-time job in the restaurant. However, as I said, I would like to hold the activity for hundred times rather than do a part-time job in the restaurant. First of all, I faced lots of various challenges in Rheinpokal. I conquered them then improved myself. But a job as a waitress and a clerk in the restaurant is boring and unchangeable after I learned all the skill and got used of my job and the customers. Second, I enjoyed teamwork. Although sometimes we had conflict because of different opinion, we respected each other, being humble and patient to listen to other suggestion. After the argument, we solve the problems together and never forget to apologize to each other for being rude. In contrast, the situation has never taken place in the restaurant I worked. I always feel stressful when my college and I have some problem, which we are unable to solve and have to ask our manager for help. And I feel upset and angry when I am yelled for no reason.

I really hope that June could come sooner because at that time I won't have to work anymore. I learned a lot from the experience of working and it also let me think twice when I start to work in the future.  

2014 Rheinpokal

Our department has preparing for 2014 Rheinpokal recently. Though I have a few exams to do these days, I'm still busy at different extracurricular activities. It's always hard for me to distribute my schedule well, especially during midterm exam period when students have to not only study, but also do project---ordinary or team. When here comes an activity, life then becomes a catastrophe. I saw every classmates complaining about their hard assignment and the difficulties and challenges they met on Facebook. Our department lacks of people, and we have no similar experience for this kind of large-scale activity,which all German department will participate in; therefore, team leaders who are senior are responsible for important and complex tasks. It's really a heavy responsibility. Under lots of pressure, there are arguments between us. I hope that this Saturday and Sunday come and pass as soon as possible; otherewise, all of us will get crazy.

The Process Of Having Own Opinion

Lots of  things have taken place in Taiwan recently. The issue of free trade between Taiwan and China caught people's eyes. There are thousands of messages on the internet. When I saw more and more friends express their opinions on Facebook, I felt nervous and skeptical. I was nervous about that I had not had a clear standpoint to the free trade issue yet. At the same time, I was suspected all the information. I tried to solve my problem. In the process, I realize that how important my "own opinion" is and how clear standpoint comes from. At first, gather positive and opposite information as much as possible. Second, keep critical and suspected. Never forget that all the information in life is made by "people" , which I learned from a course of media when I was a freshman in NCCU. Third, try to express your opinion according to the information you had and debate with others. By debating, we will learn more which we don't know before, and we will truly have our own opinion.

KANO

I saw a movie "KANO" on Saturday. The movie talks about the origin of baseball in Taiwan. It was a touching story and encouraged the audience to face the challenges in life bravely. Before I saw the movie, one of my teachers had asked us a question in class."KANO is movie which speaks 90% Japanese, and the leading actors are Japanese too. Then how can we say that KANO is a Taiwanese movie?" I would like to answer that the things happened in the past have great influence on us. History can't be separated. Even though there are some people who still have prejudice and bad attitude toward the period, the effect from the 50 years can't be ignored. Take the topic of the movie "baseball" for example. Japanese brought the sport in Taiwan. Until now, thousands of Taiwanese are touched by it, united easily by an international baseball game. And lots of teenagers' life are also changed because of it. In my opinion, baseball is not only a sport for Taiwanese but also a spirit in thousands of life.

Rainy Days

Now is the beginning of spring in Taiwan. Although I love spring, I still can't endure the changeable weather, especially rainy days. It has already rained for two weeks in Taipei. Rain brings cold weather, which makes March resemble December in winter. Everyone has to hide in heavy clothes and under umbrellas. However, rainy days can also pass by quickly. It's common that people wear heavy jackets and rain boot, carrying umbrellas in the morning, but soon take off all of them in the afternoon. That's really inconvenient and easy to get sick.

Rainy days make people lazy too. Recently, I have looked out the window, staring at the non-stop rain, then canceled all my  plans. In my opinion, getting wet or sick is much more serious than missing a movie. What's the worst is that weather decides my mood easily. Therefore, especially on Monday, I feel exhausted and have no energy to face the busy schedule. Blue Monday then becomes Dark-blue Monday.

Habits Establishing In New Semester

A new semester has really begun after February passed last Friday. I found that it is always hard for me to take back good habits of life every semester. I used to stay up late or even didn’t sleep all night in winter vacation. However, the habit is definitely bad for my new semester, which is full of courses, activities and shifts of my part-time job in restaurant. I am trying to change the way I live now. The first and also the most important thing I have to do is going to bed as early as possible. The second is to record all my schedule in my notebook again, in order not to forget what I should do. Third, which is also the thing that I have tried hard to learn for a long time, try my best to finish the homework and project of activities on time.

Winter Vacation

This winter vacation seemed short for me. It could be distributed to three parts. At the beginning, I went to Kyoto for a week. It was the first time that I traveled by myself, and used the money which I made last semester in this trip. The journey was really unforgettable. Hope that I can bring the courage and passion I showed in Japan to Germany, where I am going to study aboard as an exchange student in the fall semester. The second part of my winter vacation is the busy Chinese New Year. My family and I were busy at cleaning the house and visiting relatives. And because of the warm weather, we went to many interesting and beautiful places too. It was a great Chinese New Year; however, as a person who just came back from seven days trip in Japan, and still have to take part-time job during Chinese New Year, the schedule was a little bit exhausting for me. Therefore, in the last week before the spring semester begins, I usually stay at home, sleeping and eating a lot, watching drama series online and reading the new books I bought from Taipei International Book Exhibition.