Zimbabwe 'seeks jail crisis aid

A TV documentary was shot over months recently in South Africa. It reveals a shocking secret that how lots of inmates in Zimbabwe die of hunger and disease. Moreover, this film also showed countless graves in the jails. Because everything was open wide to public, I think maybe the government can not cover up its embarrassment any more. But the new government did not make any comments on the film. They shifted the blame to the previous government. Only the prime minister explained they had urged donors and trading partners to back the government and he said the government had made a significant progress even though it is small within the following six weeks.

The news also describes the atrocious conditions in the jail. As what a prisoner said, the sick and healthy had to sleep side by side in an overcrowded and extremely dirty cell. As what the film showed, the prison stuff had already changed the cells to “hospital wards”.
Worse still, a mortuary had built with the prison’s grounds and you can see many rotted bodies on the ground and there are many maggots moving on the bodies.

According to the film, there are 55 prisons in Zimbabwe. To my astonishment, they only have a capacity to hold 17,000, but over 35,000 lives in these prisons.

I think the prime minister really can not cope with these problems. He can just tell the world this is a good opportunity for the west to invest.

However, even though they appeal to the west to give them help, the countries like UK can impossibly help them, because they can benefit nothing from Zimbabwe. Maybe China can do something because for such a developing country like China, at least the international advocate can help establish a good status. Actually, that is just what China is doing now.

Progress

I think I have changed a lot during my bridging course. Most of the people around me now are new friends who may not notice the change, however, I myself cannot pretend. I used to prefer silence and loneliness -- had my lunch, waited the school bus, slept in the library after lunch and woke up to fearfully look at the darkness outside-- all by myself. I did enjoy it.

However, coming to Singapore, I was pushed to make a change, otherwise, I might feel that I could not match the blazing sunshine and the bright sky here. If I kept donging things by myself in this strange environment, I always found that great stress was put on me, as if I was going to make a big mistake the next minute and had to repeat to say sorry. On the contrary, staying among all my sincere friends made me feel carefree and secure. They are sunny and smart, sometimes they like to act like spoiled children with exaggerating expression. Life is on its way to be simple and happy, which makes me believe that life loves the liver of it.

I wrote a letter to my old friend to tell her that I had changed and was very confused if changes were always good. She said that I used to sit on a hard rock in the deep sea, like a log, and now I got into a large bubble and could float, so I should walk around and sun myself. I think she is right again.

I am still leaning to satisfy, and I have made slow progress. I know I am showing progress, so I feel quite satisfied-- then I progress again.

Thanks, my dear new friends.

If I should see you，after long year.
How should I greet, with tears, with silence.
　　——George Gordon Byron
　　

The Legendary Bridging Course and Group 3

Actually, I had over-finished my blog writing two weeks ago. This week, because of the variety show and post-test, I decided to give up the last blog entry. But after reading Liusi’s blog, I have a strong desire to make a summary, or just write down some feelings about the whole intensive English training course and the relationship we have built up with cooperation and sincerity.
Frankly speaking, I had high expectations about improving my English for this course at the beginning of it. Gradually, it is a pity that I found my progress in English was not as fast as I expected. But soon I also found that I have learnt a lot which I cannot get access to through books, video tapes or, generally speaking, academic studying. I came to know many new friends who have distinctive talents, including Chinese students and Singaporeans. I learnt how to cooperate with partners and how to share your genuine feelings with others. At the beginning of the bridging course, I always tended to keep silent in class and listen carefully to what the tutor is teaching, as what I did in high school. Soon I realised that if one never speak up in class, no one would know what is in his or her mind and others will not be concerned with the person. So I began to try my best to express myself clearly and with a strong stand in class. I felt very satisfied to talk or discuss with everyone in class.
Then I began to know the purpose of this bridging course deeper and deeper gradually. It is called Bridging Course and the subtitle is intensive English course for PRC students. So either officials of MOE of the coordinators in NUS focus their concentration on how to make us assimilate into this new environment as soon as possible. We need to be familiar with people here, the agenda of daily life, the ideology of the whole society and especially, to make ourselves at home. So I think we should still appreciate this bridging course as much as we can, although it failed some of us’s expectation. Through the course, we knew more about Singapore and its people. Once we have mingled quite well with the locals and adapted in to the system here, we can find a lot of opportunities to improve our language. It is a long way to go, but the effect in the long run will be a big surprise for us.
Incidentally, it is really a wonderful experience to have studied in Group 3. We have a lot of talented people here and it is not exaggerated that we are one of the most excellent groups. The legendary group 3 is the stuff of legend in the history of CELC.
Hope to keep in touch with all of you after matriculating in NUS.

Bookworm, me?

On Monday, our dear vice principal Ms. Nora gave me a astonishing comment. She said,"You are a bookworm, rather than a sporty guy". I said:"Do not judge a person by his appearence", whereas she replied,"I am just telling the truth".

How could it be? Why have I made such an impression on her? What is worse, maybe there is not only her who think I am a bookworm! I think it is quite necessary to make a clarification for myself.

According to the Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary, bookworm means the person who devotes all himself to reading. To be honest, I am not that reject to the word. However, what I want to shed light on here is that I do not dedicate myself to reading. My motive of reading is not finding joy or comfort, and why I want to read is somehow out of utilitarianism. In order to make me more competent in the challenging university life, I have to equipe myself with some special knowledge. Due to this reason, I often read some books that some of you think is too difficult. Judging from this, I cannot be a bookworm.

Besides, I often exercise after school, especially playing basketball. As a result, I have a relatively robust body. Thus, it is hard to say that I am a bookworm.

Anyway, what Ms. Nora said at least has proved one thing, that is, I am not that lazy during the bridging course. This is a reward to me, and I do appreciate that she said this!

Sophia and the Story Behind

Sophia is not a girl. Sophia is not a hotel. No, things cannot be that boring, because Sophia is a band. I started to have undying love for the band since December, 2006—in a harsh and bleak winter—when I first touched one of its albums called people are like seasons.

K, my high school soul mate, introduced the band and lent the album to me. The album was kind of love token to him because K bought the CD with his ex-girlfriend. As a matter of fact, I did not think, at that time, students like us were buying CD; instead, what we were doing in the shabby CD shops was more likely to be spending a whole afternoon using our own Walkman to “test” boxes of old CD, most of which came from USA and Europe and only had one copy in the box. We had confidence in our taste for music and could immediately distinguish our own type of music the moment we pressed the play button. Not many students had this kind of access to music and that was partly why we found it so cool. Hundreds of CD walked onto my shelf, as well as K’s. We were willing to exchange our treasures because we were looking forward to each other’s affirmative feedback on the CD and we knew each other even better than ourselves

Back to Sophia, it really killed me. How could it be so perfect, so spotless and so seductive? I loved every single song in people are like seasons. I loved every haunting melody and every word in the lyrics. I even loved the design of the cover and its paper wrap. I listened to Sophia day and night, sometimes under the foolish delusion that the earphone had fused and merged in my ears. K felt proud that I like it as much as he did, and so did I.

At that time, my small room was a big mess with CD here and there. Maybe that was why I lost it. It should have been in my Walkman because there was no need to put it elsewhere since I listened to Sophia all the time. However, what was left for me, was its beautiful, empty wrap. I immediately realized I would never allow myself to tell K that I lost it. He would not be angry at me anyway, but I dared not to take the risk of facing his disappointed eyes and the endless blaming of myself.

I decided to try, sink or swim. And it turned out to be the first time when I got to know how powerful manpower could be. I asked all my friends who seemed to have a small collection of CD if they had ever bought or encountered Sophia’s people are like seasons. They said no. However, I did not expect that several days later my friends’ friends came to me, “Hey, you have many CD? Do you know Sophia’s album? One of my friends’ friends lost hers.” I was even more grateful when I heard the shopkeeper’s confusion about why recently many students asked for an unknown band, called Sophia.

If we kept trying, it was possible that I finally found another and gave it to K, as if nothing had happened. However, I forgot K was also one of those friends, and a rather important and smart one. Definitely, he was asked. Definitely, he was the last one to be fooled in the world.

He called me and said if I really liked it, I could keep it as long as possible. I asked how long the longest was. He said as long as I was fond of it. I said thanks and really meant it.

K was a boy with few words, but the few words he said on the phone conveyed a lot. He did not deliberately pretend, though it sounded so, yet, successfully let me know that he knew what was going on. No embarrassment. No tension. No blame and no lie. He just naturally released me.

Indeed, people are like seasons, changing all the way to die. However, I am bent on listening to CD and will carry on regardless of all the advanced approaches to listen to music (mp3? mp4? mp5?), hoping that I could be taken a trip down memory lane when we could easily forgive and happily sing along.

forever

Group 3 forever
Wait until the 200th blog appears.
Finally, bridging course is to an end. I have been eager to go to university since I came to Singapore. After all, my high school classmates all became my seniors.
6 hours a day, 4 days a week, we spend five months in CELC. The room is too narrow and the light is so dim; together we learnt with our tutors. Sometimes it shined and sometimes it shit, whatever, we should wait in a lousy queue (if there was) for lousy buses. Learning to debate, learning to play jokes on others, learning to give nickname, we spent our Mondays; studying literature, words, grammar and etiquette, we went through Tuesdays; “do you follow what I am trying to say?” “What is your point?” accompanied us and taught us critically thinking in Wednesday mornings; that afternoon was devoted to word puzzles and talk and writing; so many newspapers and fresh things were in Thursdays. Every teacher has special character and so does every student.
It was a pity that our class have never got together to do something meaningful. However, variety Show is a good opportunity; A visit to Ms Lun’s can also be a relief.
Exited about future and feeling pity for our separating, we will spend the next few days. Good luck, everyone.

Bitterest Christmas Day

“Have you decided, Steve?”
“Yes, indeed. I love Houston. I would like to play for it.”
“Actually, Vancouver is not bad, isn’t it?”
“Come on, you want me to be a popsicle.”

On August 27th, 1999, Steve Francis, who was No.2 pick rookie, refused to play for the Vancouver Grizzlies which has chosen him already. Eventually, he was traded to Houston which he had been yearning for day and night.

This boy, wearing a cap with Houston Rocket badge, promised proudly, “I will bring this city glories and prides. Francis did all his best to carry out his promise. He fought for Houston Rockets for 5 seasons, with 7226 points, 2295 rebounds and 2381 assists in total. Moreover, he was the second Houston Rockets player that had been selected to play in NBA All-star Game. Most importantly, In 2002 NBA rookies draft, he helped Houston pick Yao Ming, who was No. 1 pick that year. In fact, that was not a good thing for himself.

Yao should thank God for sending himself a “Big Brother”. Steve is a guy who is loyal to friends and has overall interest on mind all the time. However, supposing you are the big brother and leader of the team without controversy, then a seven feet six inches big guy with a heavy oriental accent came to your team and everybody told you, “Hey, buddy, we all understand what you have contributed to our team. You are really something but for now we must run our team based on the interest of that big guy, so you need to make change for him.” What are you going to do?

That is what Francis did: On the court, he changed his style, passing the ball to the inside as more times as possible to perform “Inside-out” tactic which he was good at. After the match, he accompanied Yao to do shopping, taught him English and invited Yao to parties and camps. When Stoudamire dunked over Yao’s head, roaring to Yao’s face, it was Steve, exploding with anger, who jabbed Stoudamire’s throat with his elbow. “He is my brother! Nobody can bully him. Try it if you dare.” Steve said, vehemently.

Four years later, That Chinese young boy who was protected by Steve before had become the best centre in NBA and the playmaker of Houston Rockets. However, Steve himself had been traded to different teams, warming the bench and being lowly paid.

On the Christmas Eve, Rockets officially declared that 31-year-old Steve Francis would be transferred to Grizzlies for the draft rights of 2011. As for this trade, Francis declared, “I will obey the choice of Rockets unconditionally. Actually, I am surprised that I have to go back to Grizzlies in the end.” Rockets fans criticized the team manager for his acerbity. Yao also expressed that it was sad news. For better or worse, nothing can be changed already. At the reunited evening for every family, a hero fighting for this city before made his way to Memphis.

“I am a real Houstonese for the past, the present and the future.”Steve Francis said.

Imperfect Things are Better

Once upon a time, a king had seven pretty daughters. These seven princesses all had long, beautiful hair. Thus, the king gave each of them one hundred diamond hairpins.
One morning, when the oldest princess waked up, she combed her beautiful hair as usual. Suddenly, she found one of her diamond hairpins was lost. She could not find it anywhere, so she stealingly went to the second oldest princess’ room and stole one of hers.
The second princess found she lost one diamond hairpin, and then she stole one of the third princess’. After that the third princess also took one from her sisters. Then accordingly the forth princess stole her sister’s. The fifth princess took her sister’s diamond hairpin, too. And the sixth princess had to steal the youngest princess’. Therefore, the youngest only have ninety-nine hairpins.
The next day, the handsome prince from neighbor country came and told the king, “Yesterday my naughty lark picked back a diamond hairpin. I think it must be one of your daughters’. I am linked with her by ties of fate, and I will marry her. Which princess lost her princess?” After hearing that, the princess all wanted to say, “It is me, it is me.” But obviously there were one hundred hairpins on their hair. Only the youngest princess came out and said, “I have lost a hairpin.” This was the end of the story. They got married and lived happily with each other.
One hundred diamond hairpins is like a perfect life; if there are only ninety-nine diamond hairpins, it is a imperfect life. Why should we pursue perfection by all kind of kind of means? I think there will be some defects in our lives, which is unavoidable. We should face it calmly. In addition, because of these defects, our imperfect lives will be better.

When we all put on Suit

Last Wednesday, we all put on our suits for the oral presentation in order to look professional and neat. Ms Leo said that our junior should give up wearing suits, but some of us think it is fine to do so. I think it is an interesting and controversial topic to talk about.

Actually, there are several reasons why we wear suits. First of all, we want to seize any opportunities to wear suits. In fact, our seniors advised us to buy suits before coming to Singapore. However, when we have arrived Singapore, there are few chances to wear suits. It must be a waste of money if we do not wear suits for the presentation. In my opinion, it is the most important reason. In addition, in this boring English course, we need some stimulant. It is interesting to see how do our friends look in suits, and we do not want to be the only one in casual clothes. Last but not least, some teachers’ advise. For example, Ms Lim told us we should not wear jeans in the presentation. However, I do not have non-jeans pants except the formal pant, so I had to wear suits.

Although suits helped us to look formal, it also makes us feel uncomfortable. It seems that we must do the presentation perfectly for the sake of the suits. Therefore, we felt more nervous than before.

I think the origin of the issue is the seniors. They should not suggest that strongly. Maybe they can suggest us to buy non-jeans instead of the whole suit. If we encounter an occasion requiring suits later, we can just buy the coat in Singapore.

In a conclusion, when we become seniors, we should suggest our juniors to bring necessary things. Things like suits should not be highly recommended.

Our Sloth

Let us look at what most of us may have experienced before:
"Today I have several things to do."
"OK, start with this one."
"I will do it later, break for now."
"Watching TV, surfing the net, chatting..."
"Those assignments can be done tomorrow because I still have time."

Obviously, we gave in to our laziness. In fact, everyone has his own dream. Nevertheless, some of them will go through with their tasks as long as they have set up their mind on the goal whereas some always live in their plan. Unfortunately, for those “well-planned” people, their plan is just a schedule stuck to the wall which is daily changed.

There is a story about boiling frogs: Put a frog into a pot filled with water, and then simmer the frog for a while. The frog was sensitive to tiny changes in temperature. However, he might think it is unnecessary to jump out of the pot at once as a result of his laziness. Eventually, he lost his consciousness and was put on the dining table. If we forgive ourselves without principle, one day our passion for life will die out in indulging ourselves.

Someone said being lazy is a kind of instinct. The instinct is something related to natural tendency. To a certain extent, there exists difference between instinct and laziness. In the dictionary, lazy means having the tendency not to change one’s life and working habit, which is not natural. Why do people not want to change? To fulfill the insatiability is the motivation. Actually, for most people, as long as they can dress warmly and eat their fill, they can always find something to satisfy themselves. Apart from that, before one decides to change, he or she will always make a risk assessment. Nevertheless, under most circumstances, they will subconsciously pay extra attention to the advantages of the change or even overstate the risk. That is why few people choose to take the risk instead of living the same life.

From a medico psychologist’s perspective, laziness is detrimental to mental and physical health. It will weaken people’s adaptation to the environment, leading to premature senility.

In fact, our sloth is a result of helplessness. Because we cannot or do not want to change our lives, we decide to escape from reality. Most importantly, we cannot afford the lapse of time. It is impossible for someone to strive for something if he cannot manage to take charge of himself. Also, our sloth suggests us to gain more rewards with less cost. That is why we extremely lack in initiative. As our laziness is too powerful, lots of things will not be done until we have no other choice.

We cannot forget our sloth, which is our archenemy. We should not trust “sloth”, because tomorrow does not equal to hope. Every day we have “tomorrow”, but we do not have “present”. However, our hope is based on every “present”.

How to overcome our laziness? Take actions! Remind ourselves every now and then. Yes! Take steps now. It is not enough to just set up our mind. Moreover, we need to warn ourselves that if we cannot overcome our laziness, nothing can be done.

Our life is limited, there is no second for each of us to squander. We should live every day as if tomorrow we would end our life. Cherish the moment!

Staying Up Late

Staying Up Late

Through our research, I found that I am not the only one who likes to stay up late in the night. And this adverse habit is specially common among boys. I like to stay up late, nevertheless I do not know why I like to do this.
When I was in China, I always tried to stay up late. However, my parents did not give me the free pass for that. They were worried that staying up late too often may causing procrastination of body booming. As a rebellious teenager then, I always locked my room door and secretly watched movie or played computer game till two or three o’clock in the morning.
Now, I finally get out of the tentacle of my parents', which means I do not have to be bothered by their nags. In the first few months of coming to Singapore, I excitedly stayed up late for every day, or even stay u the whole night. I felt like I finally fulfilled my dream of living without supervision. Out of my expectation, after experiencing staying up late by person, I do not really want to do that any more.
It was a normal staying up for a whole night, playing computer games. The next day, I felt just ok in the morning , nothing abnormal. When it came to the afternoon, something weird happened. I was sitting at my desk and completing my homework. Suddenly, a gale of dizzy hit me, I felt numb in the head for a while. I recovered soon after this. The painful feeling did not end yet. Following the dizzy, sour feeling rapidly creped my whole body like a snake was sliding all over my place and squeezing tightly and tightly. So frightened I was that I went to bed for I do not think I could hold any more seconds. I felt much better after a restorative nap. Rethinking what had happened to me, I started to wonder it was the consequence of accumulative staying up late. I swear to myself I will not stay up that late again.
The genuine detrimental experience alert me for how terrible it is to stay up late. I will never stay up that late, because I know that it does nothing good but damage. Please get rid of living habits and live healthily.

Cloud? Cloud!

(Last time, I said I’d continue writing something about New Moon. However, I’ve decided to abort the plan. Most of the time, a sequel is not comparable with the original one since the interest and curiosity of the audience has been completely sucked by the original one. So, I must find something new to write about.)

You think I would write the fuzzy intangible agglomeration up in the sky? No way. What I am really going to write about is the down-to-earth technology of cloud computing. Before I came here, my father told me that IBM was negotiating a large contract with our local government to land a “cloud factory” in my hometown, the very first of its kind in China. At about the same time, a new service named document was provided by the new giant Google. It allows people to edit their documents, spreadsheets and slides online. Since then I could see an inevitable trend that all software and even platforms will be provided in the form of “cloud” in the future.

Actually, cloud is a new way of thinking in computing. The concept incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as other recent technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. Cloud computing services usually provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers. The “cloud factory” mentioned above is a typical example of IaaS. The factory is actually a centre fully equipped with advanced computers to perform grid computing, which allows astronomical data to be analyzed and pocessed within several hours. Google’s new service is a SaaS as it functions just like the software Office provided by Microsoft.

The greatest advantages of cloud computing could be seen in the cost cut and stability. As all the services will be provided online, the capital expenditure will be hugely cut down as the consumption will be based on utility. It means there will be no upfront cost and consumers will only pay for what they have used or the time they have used. Cloud computing largely simulates the displacement of electricity generators by electricity grids early in 20th century. Moreover, the data for common users would be much safer as they are stored on servers instead of PCs, whose stability are really doubtable.

Personally, I am really looking forward to the upcoming service Gdrive of Google, which the beta has already been released. Gdrive will install a virtual drive on your PC and all the documents put in it would be uploaded to Google’s servers. Then you do not need to worry about your data since they are stored on Google’s server. It would be a huge relief for people like me who have experienced breaking-down of the operating system( which equals to the loss of all data in my computer). Though some people are concerned about the privacy problem, I believe it would be solved soon.

Oh! Come on, Gdrive.

Ideal life style

Ideal life style
Since I came to Singapore, I got to have a clear idea about the so called liberty and democracy. Of course, I am not intended to talk about politics here. What I want to say is where people’s desire lay when living in a democratic and liberal country.
Many people would consider making money as the most important thing that we need to do. According to many economists, this kind of desire can help form a sound system and adjust itself to changes and make progress, thus our economy can develop. However, I think the development of economy is just the methods while not the destination though I agree with Marx that the society tends to become more productive. To put my point of view clear, that is to say, Marx means we all hope a better life which is based on the development of economy, then we try to make a lot of money which, on the whole, will improve the economy, and thus benefit our life; noticing that making money is just a method and being happy is the destination, what if making money itself is not so happy. Analyzing this matter as a whole, we can also say that development of economy’s benefiting our life is not sufficient to conclude that we must have it to be happy. It is necessary but not sufficient.
Then, what is the ideal life style? I mean when people do not have to worry about where to get money. It is a difficult question. Or maybe, when we reached this point, life will be totally nonsense. That is about human telos, which reminds me of EVA. If we really reach the utopia, I think there must be a lot of philosophers.
However, let us focus on the present. We still need to run for money, and we often forget what is most important. For me, I do not want to have much money. I just want to find a girl who is willing to be isolated with others and to be with me. We work while travel around the world. Then find a quiet place to bring up our children. Learn as much as possible, in the whole life. Think of difficult problems, in many areas.
It is too vague and too far to be true. Maybe I myself do not like it when it comes to reality.

learning to swim

Learning to swim
A few weeks ago, I went to East Coast Park, where there is a big swimming pool. I did not know how to swim at all. I had learnt swimming in China, but never once could I get the idea of how to swim. However, when I saw the pool, I just cannot help wanting to jump into it.
When I really jumped into the pool, I found that the water was sea water and it smelt terrible when mixed with disinfectant. As it was sea water, I wanted to test whether I would float in it or not. Then I found that I floated! I told my friends that when I was in China, I never floated, and I thought it was because of the higher density of sea water that I could float here. They laughed at me and said that it was not a big deal if we compared the density of sea water and pure water. Then I thought maybe I gained fat here.
I found breaststroke the easiest to learn, or rather, easiest for me to keep floating. I had always thought that the force that pushed me forward should come from my pushing away water, and the harder I pushed, the further I would go. However, it did not work. I found myself struggle and stay at the same place all the time. “Why?” I began wondering. Luckily, some little girls who were also learning to swim helped me. I watched them and found that it was when the close their legs that they went forward fastest. I felt embarrassed as I had learnt physics for so many years, and I did not understand where the force came from. Then I tried the way these little girls used, and found myself move forward a few meters! I was so happy and swam all around the pool. After I cooled down, I decided to cover the whole distance without stop. When I reach the middle of the pool, I choked. I dared not give out breath under water and the time my head being above the water was too limited to complete an entire process of breathing. So, when I came to the middle there was no air in my lung. It was time to go, though I do not want to leave.
What a pity I left my learning half-done. However, it was a lot of fun. Besides, there was BBQ waiting for me.

The end

My first blog begins with the American series “Prison Break”, so I also want to write my opinions of “Prison Break” in the last blog.

After 4 years, Prison Break has ended up with the 22nd episode of the fourth season. It is really a pity that Michel died at last due to the disease after they told the truth to the world with the help of the United Nations and broke the company. In my opinion, it is not necessary to make Michel die. Audiences will be more satisfied if there is a happy ending. If I were the director, I will make Michel work for the United Nations since he is so brilliant. He can make the world better and better. Every year, all the friends of Michel can get together to have a party because they have shared weal and woe for 4 years. I think this is my ideal and perfect ending.

General was sentenced to die. It is so ironic that the scene that the general sat in the electric chair is similar to the scene that Lincoln sat there. We can know that guilty people will get the punishment sooner or later.

I still remember the first time I watched Prison Break. I was deeply attracted by the wisdom of Michel and the relationship between the two brothers, Michel and Lincoln. So I keep on watching Prison Break until it is the end and become the fan of Michel. I adore Michel’s knowledge, reaction in danger and bravery. Nobody can control him except himself. That’s the reason why he can always win the battles. However, actually, the last season is not as good as the first three seasons. Perhaps the director has no idea how to develop. As a result, the plots are not quite relevant to each part. Generally speaking, Prison Break is the most successful series I have ever seen, and it has made a big influence all over the world at least in China.

I will always be the loyal fan of Prison Break, and I am also looking forward to the movie of Prison Break showing in July.

A Tiring Journey

Last Sunday, I went to Spottiswoode Park Road to see one of my relatives, who was going back to China. I wanted to give her a package to take back home.
The beginning was very bad, for I did not know where to get off the bus. She did not know, either. She told me to ask the bus driver for help. I did what she told me. Looking at the address, the bus driver thought for a while. Then he told me to get off the bus at the People’s Park station. After a while, the minute I saw the People’s Park station, I knew everything went wrong. I got off the bus in the China Town.
I had no choices but phone my relative. She was also surprised that I was in China Town. She asked me to stay at the station and she would come and take me to her home. However, I told her that I would come by myself.
This time I got the bus right and the bus driver also told me the right station to get off. However, he told me the wrong direction. After getting off the bus, I run for a long time, but I still could not find her home. I had to call her again. Then she came and took me to her home.
This journey afflicted me a lot. I regretted travelling in the afternoon. I was almost dehydrated. However, I was also thinking about who to believe. Both of the two drivers gave me the wrong guide. I tried to find how to get there on the Internet, but no good results came out of these efforts. When you could not find the answer or solve a problem, would you believe what the others told you?

Dota

Dota

Dota is one stream of play in the game Warcraft. Thinking over how contemptuous I was about dota, now, I have already converted myself in this universally-popular trend, being one dotaer. At the beginning of playing dota, it may because I did not have other things to do. Nevertheless, once I start the trip to be more exposed of dota, eventually I find the essential spirit of dota.
First of all, the team spirit of dota is a factor contributing to dota' success. As a hero in dota, you cannot simply carry a team' success only on yourself. Teamwork and tactics are the essence of dota. No matter how undefeatable you are, you still need all your team members and their magic skills so that you will not get trapped. When you are trapped, you need your teammates' help much badly. You will know how stupid it is to neglected your teammates.
Second thing that make dota success is that there are so many characters that you can choose play. As a common sense, you easily get bored for looking at the same character for a long time. In dota, this kind of problem never bothers you. There are more than ninety characters in the game for you to choose and not tot mention for each character he or she has four different skills. You will always find yourself fresh in the dota game.
Last but not the least, the spree of killing and conquer you taste in the dota game is unforgettable. Why war is a thing restricted only for men? I think it is because the bloodshed battlefield is naturally bonded with masculinity. We boys always want to experience excitement. That is why we are fascinated by the killing in the games. That is also why sparing every effort to be the winner in the dota game and conquer the other team driving us to haunt the dota game again and again.
I think I am going to play dota with all of my friends to enjoy the best of the game. As long as you discover the core attracting you, you will start to know the dota game is irresistible.

Metaphors

Metaphors
I was always been tired of Chinese when I was in China and since metaphor was taught in Chinese classes, I did not like it either. I felt it boring when one said that someone’s face was like an apple or something like that.
I did not change my prejudice on metaphor until I attended a class which taught writing skills. The teacher there seemed to appreciate metaphor as the best criteria to judge whether a person is bright or not. He did gave examples to explain this criteria, that is, Qian Zhongshu could give a metaphor as “partly truth” while we cannot, so we are less bright than Qian. He could not stop since he mentioned Qian, and continued giving all the good metaphors in Wei Cheng. Because of this, I determined to read this book, however, before I finished reading, my friend take away the book and never gave back. He then said that metaphor is important as it tried to find similarities in different things, which, in science, was called creativity. Recognizing the similarities of different things and being aware that similarities could be equal to the same qualities under certain circumstance is the most important abilities required in science. I think he was right to a certain extent.
Then he stopped teaching Chinese and began to philosophize how to improve our creativity. A few methods for inference:
1. Make five metaphors every day. Of course, avoid “face like an apple” or such kind.
2. Make stories and try to complicate the plot.
3. Make combination of certain words which came to mind without thinking.
Actually, I have never tried any of the methods; after all, it was Gao 3 when he delivered this lesson. Maybe it is useful, and making stories in mind can be a cure of the dullness of long journey. So, what is this essay like? (like , because it has 314 words if I do not write this sentence.)

Ignite possibilities

Ignite possibilities
Recently, NIF（ National Ignition Facility） has built up a facility which will be used to ignite nuclear material. The experiment was said to use 192 beam of laser to focus on a device as big as a pepper bottle. After a series of reaction, laser becomes strong and exact enough to start and sustain a so-called self-sustaining fusion reaction, which is like what happens in the sun or the H-bomb. As is predicted, the temperature created will be as high as 100,000,000 , and the device will act as a men-made sun to provide energy.
I am interested in it, and also the progress, which need many different kinds of crystal to change the laser. There are also a number of technical problems such as making all the beams focus on one point, and deciding the type of laser needed during each procedure. This part is even more difficult than the main procedure. Then I feel that I know nothing about advanced technology and never could one operate a facility like NIF alone. However, I have been stimulated to know the whole procedure of this issue, from what the different kinds of crystal is used for to which kind of material can be a holder of nuclear material.
Come back to the main idea which this news wants to convey, igniting possibilities, and I really see it. I once heard of that if all the people in the world live a life as cosy as Americans, we need 7 earths! That is amazing, and I think the population in the world is really too large. As the global economy is growing rapidly and people’s lives are becoming better and also population keeps growing, we are doing more and more harm to the earth. The earth is in danger, however, the development of science and technology predicts possibilities, possibilities to sustain the life of human beings.
The next step….. We will step!

Thefts

Life in Eton Hell is not as peaceful as before. Two thefts happened in one month’s time. The first one happened in my room, 108. The second one happened in Room 106.
Several weeks ago, in my room, Xuan Xiaodong’s wallet was stolen. Before the wallets appeared, all of us thought that the wallet was lost. In our eyes, it was just an accident. However, when Cheng Jianpeng was combing his hair, he suddenly found that the wallet was right under his pillow. This triggered a heated discussion. We began to state our opinions about who stole the wallet. After the debate, we reached an agreement. It was someone among us who stole the wallet. Although the wallet was found, 150 dollars were missing. At last, Xiaodong decided not to report to the police. He thought this could ruin a person’s life.
However, in Room 106, a Dell black notebook was stolen this Tuesday. This was quite strange because Xuezhe (But he was sleeping) had been in the room. There were three laptops which could be seen on the desks in the room. It is said that the Dell was the best. On Tuesday evening, Room 106 spared no efforts to find the laptop. Alas, miracle did not happen. They broadcast, “Anyone who finds the Dell, please return it to the reception desk.” Still, nothing happened. At last, they reported to the police. This time, there will be a hard time for the thief (or thieves).
I am wondering who had done the thefts. Many of us think that the thefts are done by someone in the same room. If this was true, there would absolutely be a sensation. And the thief could be deported. However, should we give a chance to him? From my point of view, he shall be punished by law. Sometimes, condoning does not work but indulges crime. It is time to punish the thieves.