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.