An inconvenient truth.

What kind of movies do you like ? Actually I do not go to movies very often, but I like all kinds of movies. I usually just watch whatever is on HBO or Cinemax. Last semester, Jenny showed us a movie called "an inconvenient truth" which was talking about the global warming and immigration problem.

One cause of pollution and global warming is too much carbon dioxide. Global warming can make huge weather changes around the world. Not only has it affected the weather, but it has also had an unexpected side effect. People are moving beacause their land is either drying up or flooding. As people move in great numbers too escape bad conditions, they cause problems at their new destinations because their numbers are so large. Some ares have more rain than ever before, while others have less, causing crop failures. It has been recurring happend again and again.

So what can we do to make our country better? There are a lot that we can do. As you can see someone's car of tailpipe will put the exhaust pipe smoke when we ride or drive on the road, they should repaired their tailpipe before they ride or drive. And people all the time throwing things on the sidewalk. They throw cups , paper and cigarettes. I think people have to start putting their trash in the trashcan and they should have to become more responsible. So let us protect the Earth to prevent the recurrence worse!

Learning.

When you leave school, you can breathe a sigh of relief and leave learning behind ? No ! I think "learning should not end when you leave school behind" because live and larn. The times are changing, you will be defeated if you do not learn.

Learning is a habit as well ! Do not leave it behind after you leave school , otherwise, you will forget what you have learned. I have some tips want to to share with you.

Always have a book : it does not matter if you read fast or slow, just read it !

Make a " to learn" list : maybe you want to speak better English, play the piano or cook Chinese food. Whatever interests you, put it on your list and then make the time to do it.

Anyway perseverance is very important, just keep to learn and do it !

Temple.

Where do you mostly go during the Chinese New Year's holidays ? Travel ? To visit your friends or stay at home ? For me ? My family usually go to at least more than five temples to worship every Chinese New Years. According to my mother's explanation, it will brings you peace and good luck if you go to temple to worship. No wonder you can find there are many people in each temple. Although I do not know this is true or false, but I prefer to believe it because at least my parents feel happy.

Originally I thought that only our family often to go to temples, but after chatting with friends, I found that most of my friends go to temple to worship as well, but we seldom encounter in the temple.

But l will say "hello" to them if I saw them.

The 2nd of January.

According to traditional Chinese customs, a married daughter could only go back to her parents' home every Lunar New Year on the 2nd of January. She and her family could not go back to her parents' home before the 2nd of January, otherwise, her parents will become poorer!

So we usually go to grandmother's house every Lunar New Year on the 2nd of January. My grandmother lived in Yunlin, it spends about 4~5 hours when we go to Yunlin every years. We normally get up at 4:00a.m and come back to Taipei next day at 2:00a.m., we have to rush and rush every times because we will get lots of congestion if we did not rush - especially on such kind of important holidays. So it wastes a lot of time and made us exhausted.

But we did not need to go to grandmother's house this year, my grandmother stays in Taipei so we could celebrate it in Taipei, it had a great fun!

"Apple"

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apples taste good and are good for you, it provides many health benefits as the following:-

1. Fresh apples have traditionally been given to treat constipation because they help digestion while cooked apples bring relief to people with gastroenteritis.

2. A compound in apples can assist with aging issues by helping prevent wrinkles and promoting hair growth.

3. Apples act like a natural toothbrush, eating them fresh will help clean your teeth and strengthen your gums.

4. Many people like to munch on apples because they can help with weight loss. Apples are low in calories and fat but high in fiber, which is what gives you that full feeling.

5. It also helps alleviate stress.

So next time you bite into an apple, remember apples are more than just mouthwatering. It also keeps you healthy!

Hypermarts.

Where do you usually do most of your shopping ? You probably get most of your shopping done at superstores like Carrefour or RT-Mart. Nowadays, you can not go far in Taiwan without hearing about these hypermarts, or at least seeing an advertisement for one! Many customers are attracted to these stores because they offer convenience, variety, and low prices. Normally, you can buy everything you need all in one tripe like as food, clothes, and even household appliances. Plus, their prices are normally lower than smaller stores that only sell specific products like electronics.

Small business owners might be concerned about the future of their traditional Taiwanese shops and markets, since most of these superstores come from other countries like Japan, Korea, USA and so forth. Is there enough demand for both kinds of stores ? Indeed, will the hype about hypermarts ever die down ? Maybe yes, maybe no ... they usually based on the amount of sales to determine!

Chocolate.

Everyone loves chocolate. If no then nine of ten people are like chocolate! Eating chocolate and drinking hot chocolate are a great way to make people happy and warm up on a cold day! I learned "drinking this hot, sweet drink can also fight cancer which might make it seem even sweeter" from magazine. Researchers already knew that chocolate has antioxidants, which fight cancer and heart disease.

Now people drink it instead of the chocolate that they eat. They found that a cup of hot chocolate has more antioxidants than a cup of tea or a glass of wine. But to make hot chocolate healthier, make it with low-fast milk. And do not forget that the best way to get antioxidants is by eating lots of fruits and vegetables!

Tradition of red envelopes.

When I was a child, the highlight of celebrating Lunar New Year comes when my parents give me a red envelope! The color red symbolizes good fortune, and the Chinese characters adorning the envelope wish the children such things as prosperity, good luck and health. The amount of money given can vary greatly, but it must add up to an even number because the odd numbers are considered unlucky in Chinese.

Some of young people remain eligible to receive red envelopes until they begin working or get married. For me, I gave red envelopes to my parents when I started to work, but I can still receive it from my parents until I get married.

Although traditions vary from family to family, the red envelopes are full of blessings!

Lunar New Year !

Ever year about this time, the same things happen. Busy cities empty, traditional markets fill with holiday shoppers, and people journey home.

Many Lunar New Year traditions, like gather with family, eat some holiday treats and celebrate these have been going on for years.

On New Year's Eve, families stay up past midnight, gambles, play games or watch TV. In many places, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks becomes deafening as midnight approaches. In major cities, this popular activity has died down because of the safety concerns. One tradition that refuses to change that is the giving of red envelopes after the evening meal. I also gave the red envelopes to my parents, younger sister and younger brother. But I am surprised that this is the first time I received the red envelope from my younger brother, I am so happy !!!!

Coffee or Tea ?

What do you like to drink ?

I prefer coffee to tea.

Why ? Because I think coffee is more faster and convenience than tea. You do not need to wait if you want to make a cup of coffe. It smells good! I like to try different tastes of the new coffee. I also like to share with friends in different flavors of coffee.

Although there are many kinds of coffee, but I especially like to drink the Caramel Macchiato. It has strong coffee and sweet taste.

A cup of coffee a day, can let you happy for a whole day! It can make you more power as well. Even though the caffeine content is higher than tea, but I still like it.

Skylark.

Today is our office last working day. Therefore we decide to have something special after work!

We went shopping before we had a dinner. Perhaps there are too many holidays so there were not many peopole in the department store.

Everything was on sale in each shop, you can get NTD$ 200 coupon if you spent NTD$ 3600. But you can get NTD$ 400 coupon if you used consumer voucher.

Despite the prodocuts were on sale, the price still high so I did not buy any clothes in the Far East Department Store.

I had a big meal with my coworkers in Skylark. The skylark was in the Far East Department Store's 10th floor. Lighting was so beautiful, the atmosphere was very good and the price was not expensive. But the only drawback was the speed of serve was too fast. The steak was ready when we drunk the soup so we finished our dinner very fast!

Secretly tell you....I went to the night market and bought 2 bowls of oyster noodles after I said good-bye with my coworkers because I still not full.

Lottery.

I rarely spend money to buy lottery tickets. I do not like to gamble as well.

I only bought 3 lottery tickets at 3 times.

The first time which was help my father to buy it in 4 years ago.
The second time which was help myself to buy it in 3 years ago when the Chinese New Year.
The third time which was help my mother to buy it in 2 years ago.

But I won NTD$ 200 only, afterward I never buy it despite I have heard someone who won the big amount from lottery. When I heard someone who would like to buy it then I usually suggest he or she to save the money. Because save money is more practical than to buy lottery tickets!

I like a proverb as "I have no secret of success but hard work." This was written by Turner. And you have to work hard, study hard so that you can have a fruitful career. If you did not put any effort then life is not a lottery because there is no free lunch in the world !

To plead guilty.

"For greed all nature is too little" which was written by Seneca.

This is the first time , the president of corruption occurred in Taiwan.

I am very happy to see the news about former President's son and his wife to plead guilty from Yahoo. I think everyone will have done something wrong , everyone will want to greedy. But if there are too much corruption and they did not admit to feeling ashamed of their conduct then it is really heinous !

How difficult to earn money ! Nowadays millions of people were thrown into unemployment in the world. But they do not contentment, they not only committed a big mistake, they hurt the hearts of their supporters as well.

Thanks god ! Because they have done something wrong and still be found by prosecutor. The judiciary is fair.

Eating habits.

Are the eating habits same as diet ? I think that they have a little different. Eating habis like as what flavor do you usually eat. Some people like to eat more salty and some people do not like to eat greasy and so forth.

But what is the diet ? There are two explanations.

The first one is the food that a person or animal usually eats.
The second one is to control your eating in order to become thinner.

I discovered that most of peopole do not like to eat vegetables and fruits when I have lunch or dinner with them. Actually I also did not like to eat the vegetables or fruits before. I prefer to eat meat ,fried chicken or other foods to fry in oil to the vegetables or fruits. My best record which I could eat 9 fried chicken plus additional dessert form KFC ( family meal) at the one time, how incredible !

But ideas will be change at different times , I became very fond of eating vegetables,fruits despite some food tastes bitter. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits which are healthy and useful for our body so please try to eat a lot of it to avoid any disease.

Chinese Lunar Year.

New Year is coming.... this year our office will be closed from 1/24 to 2/1 for Chinese Lunar Year and we will resume to work on 2/2. But unexpectedly, it took a long time for me to recover from a bad cold. I had gone to the clinic twice but I still have seriously cold, hopefully I can recover it before Chinese Lunar Year.

What are the happiest things in Chinese Lunar Years ?

9 holidays ? Yes !
I can enjoy and take a break during the 9 holidays. I can plan for excursion with my family and friends as well .

Bonus ? Yes, I am expecting Chinese Lunar Year's bonus from my boss. I think waiting the bonus which is the most exciting thing before Chinese Lunar Year ! The annual bonus provides an incentive for employees to work hard.

And how about you ? What are the happiest things in your Chinese Lunar Year ?

Interview - Top 8 questions!

1. Please introduce yourself simply.
Answer：Hi, my English name is Belinda. I live in Shu-Lin.

2. Why do you want to look for a new job ? And why do you want to apply for this position?
Answer：Because I don’t like everything is the same as usual. I want to change my life so that’s why I apply for this position.

3. What interests you about our company?
Answer：I think your company provide very good service (product) to the customer that’s why I want to apply for this job.

4. How would you describe yourself?
Answer：I’m kind of reasonable , frank and cheerful person.

5. What are some of your strengths and weaknesses?
Answer：Well, I work quickly and I am very efficient. Mmm, maybe I am too shy that this is my weakness.

6. Do you enjoy working as part of a team?
Answer：Yes, I do. I enjoy working as part of a team.

7. What are your career aims?
Answer：My career aims is to gain more knowledge from work. And make a lot of friends.

8. What level of salary are you looking for now?
Answer：I only expect what is reasonable for this position.

Funeral Customs in Taiwan

There are two kinds of funerals in Taiwan.

Cremation

-The process is simple.
-Clean.
-Convenience.
- Do not sweep a grave every year.

Burial
-The process is complicated.
-Graves sweeping annually.
-Bones picking.

3 kinds of envelope
-White envelopes (They’re for the deceased under 70 years.)
-Pink envelopes (They’re for the deceased over 70 years.)
-Red envelopes (They’re for the deceased over 90 years.)

Special clothing
-Black color (children, daughters- in- law. signifying that they grieve the most)
-Blue color (grandchildren)
-Light blue (great grandchildren)
-White color (sons-in-law wear as they are considered outsiders)

Chinese funeral taboo

- Marriage (In the 100-day period, it’s not allowed to get married.)

- Appearances. (Do not have hair cut or shave before the burial and

- The family can not wear jewelry or red clothing.)

- Cats (It should be prevented cats from jumping across the coffins.)

- Manners. (Do not whistle.)

Typical working day.

I am a sales woman. I work at fabric mill. I usually arrive at the office at about 7:55 and I start into my regular morning meeting with my production team and manager at 8:20. We discuss any problems, fabric claim or quality issues that may be coming up, we also check the bulk status in order to catch up the customer’s delivery date.

After finished the regular morning meeting, I check my emails. Some of they come in overnight because our customers are all over the world. Then I find some new developing fabrics to show it to my customer, quote the best price with them.

I also deal with delivery date, price, destination, payment term, shipping mark and the quality is ok or no before I issue the contract to my customers.

I work at my desk about 8 hours a day then I go to meeting with my customers about 4 hours a day so total working hours are over 12.

Even though my workload is so heavy, but I like my job because I learn a lot from work, I can work with designers from well-know brands as Nike, Adidas, CK, Brooks so on...and I can also know what will fashionable before next year.

Consumer voucher (Stimulus check).

Now the most popular hot topic is " how to use the consumer voucher" in Taiwan? Media have begun to use advertising to promote the consumer voucher . But I have no idea to think how to use it yet, and my mother has already decided how to use it.

Yesterday, my mother told the whole family, she said "everyone can not use it because she wants to use the consumer voucher to buy delicious foods for family in Chinese New Year. "No wonder she said who will on behalf of the whole family to get the consumer voucher. How cute she is!

And how about you ? Have you already decided how to use it yet ? If no then I suggest you can donate it to your mother or wife to buy the foods or daily necessitiesor for whole famile and they will be very glad to hear that.

Welcome president to go to nightmarket in Shulin !

I have got a cold recently, my sore throat is seriously so I knocked off around 18:00 p.m. and then went to nightmarket before I go to clinic.

According to weather report advised " it will be colder on next Wednesday or Thursday " so I have to buy two sweat shirts in order to keep warmer. But there were many police in the nightmarket and people couldn't drive their car or ride their motorcycle in the nightmarket. Why ? I do not know why as well.

After I asked police, why there were so many police here ? Police told me that the president is going to enjoy the foods and go shopping in Shulin today so that's why there were many police in the nightmarket.

Since I didn't know when will president arrive here , and I left the nightmarket before president arrive. Although a bit unfortunately, it does not matter because I may have another chance to see the president next time.

Resolutions.

The day before yesterday, I visited teacher's blog, understood teacher will not write any new year resolutions for 2009 because of his own reasons.

But for me, I will still write it for 2009. I think write a list of new year resolutions which is the best way to check what I have achieved. Even though we won't be able to achieve everything, but we can know what we have achieved and what we do not have achieved from checklist.

I remember that I wrote 4 things on the end of 2007.

1. I would like to become a student in 2008 because of the educational background. Time is running , I no longer young so I can not waste the time anymore.
2. I would like to learn one more language as Japanese or other language. Learning language is a good investment.
3. I would like to lose 7 kilograms because I still too fat. :P
4. I would like to earn more money. I will work hard and study hard. I will not give up my work or student life.

And now all are dream comes true, I feel a great sense of accomplishment. I also made a lot of friends from school, my life is colorful.

Cold...

This week most of coworkers caught a cold at our office. I have gotten a little sore throat as well. The weather changes so fast and it is too cold to avoid it. So this is 1st time I wore over 3 clothes in this year. Form my opinion, you will feel cold if you wear too much so I seldom wear over 3 clothes.

I knew the average adult gets a cold two to four times a year, and kids get even more. But how does the common cold work ?

I learned the news from magazine, " it all starts with a virus particle, and there are lots of different virus particles that can cause the symptoms that go with the common cold. We pick up these virus particles from other people. When they sneeze or cough or wipe their noses, they release the virus particles that have been reproducing inside their bodies."

So people should wear the mask if they caught a cold, I think that this is a basic courtesy to avoid any infection problem...anyway pls take good care of your health!

"Help!"

Yesterday evening at 22:00 p.m., I went to a supermarket to buy some instant noodles. Suddenly, I recalled that I wanted to buy some cake as well but I could not find it on the 1st floor so I went to the 2nd floor to find it out.

Since there were lots of cake I have never seen yet, so I was considering which kind of cake I would like to eat first. But I did not bring a lot of money, so I could only buy one cake and one bag of instant noodles.

When I went to the 1st floor, there was not any one there. Suddenly, I got locked by cashier. Oh~~~my god. It was ridiculous. I had never been locked at the supermarket. So did that mean I could eat any foods I would like to eat because they did not check was there any body still at the supermarket before they locked the door ? I think they should be responsible for my safety and damages.

Anyway I started eating and enjoyed eating things that did not taste before until I could not eat anymore.

Then, I started to think how I could escape ? I started to find any useful information left at the supermarket.

After a while, I fould an ID card which belonged to a person who worked at the supermarket, and there was some information which I could use. Luckily, I called the cashier and he called his manger to open the door for me. As a result, I could get out of the supermarket at 24:30 p.m.

This is really an unforgettable experience. Be careful when you want to go any store after 22:00 p.m.

What is very important in your life ?

I finally finished the examination yesterday. I can sleep as I want to on every Sunday from this week.....oh YA !!!

I think family and friends are very important for me. But good friends can lead you to a bright road, and bad friends will guide you to the wrong direction.

I still remember when I went to the school at the 1st time on last year, Terry and Luke told me that they would try their best to study and learn it. And Irene also told me that she gave everything her best. They let me felt that I had to study hard as well.

I am very thanks for their advised who led me to a bright road.

Despite I have winter vacation, I still try my best to memories vocabulary. Hopefully I can improve my English and Japanese soon...

Funeral Customs

It was very special that I did the final exam about funeral customs to my classmates. I was very surprised when I knew the topic from Howard on November xx. Because 2 to 3 people had the same topic ,but I was very fortunate to be able to get the subject from teacher.

I am a busy worker who has to work every day except Suday . I did not have time to find about the funeral customs or pictures from internet. But I still had to complete it despite I did not have any time during the day. I scared to find this kind of information in the evening , but I could only do it when I finished my work. And it was almost p.m. 23:00 to p.m. 24 o'clock.

After did it, I learned a lot from this subject. Actually you do not have to be afraid if you respect it and I am very thanks for teacher gave us such kind of training.

I knew some people did not agree what I thought because they felt the teacher gave us a lot of pressure and we had to memories a lot of vocabulary from book. But I thought that we could learn a lot and it was good for us.

Top 10 questions...

Following is the most we would like to ask the questions with foreigners. Before we ask the questions with foreigners, we have to know how to reply it and it’s quite funny to ask and reply the 10 questions with myself…

1. What's your name? Where do you come from? What's your hobby ?
[Belinda] My name is Belinda. I come from Shu-Lin. I like to listen to the music.

2. Do you speak Chinese? How many languages do you speak?
[Belinda] Yes. I do. I speak Chinese, Taiwanese, Cantonese and a little Japanese.

3. Have you ever been to Taiwan before? Do you like Taiwan?
[Belinda] Of course, I have. I was born in Taiwan.
[Belinda]Yes, I do. I am a patriot.

4. Hong long have you been here in Taiwan and how long will you stay this time?
[Belinda] I have been in Taiwan about 29 years.
[Belinda]I don't know….because nothing is permanent but change.

5. Do you think traffic is convenient in Taiwan?
[Belinda] Yes. I do. You can go to anyway by MRT, bus or train.

6. Do you have any job here in Taiwan? Do you feel homesick?
[Belinda] Yes. I do. I have a job in Taiwan. I am a sales woman.
[Belinda] I don't feel homesick because I live with my family.

7. What's your favorite season in Taiwan?
[Belinda] I like Fall . Because it is not too hot or not too cold.

8. Have you ever been to a night market here in Taiwan? If so, what's your favorite food there?
[Belinda] Yes, I have been to night market in Taiwan. My favorite food is oyster noodles …especially add some spicy oil.

9 By the way, are there any interesting places to visit in your country?
[Belinda] You can go to Taiwan's famous night market if you like to go shipping.
You can also go to Hualin if you like going rafting ,dolphin watching or enjoy natural scenery.

10. Can you please give me any suggestions if we would like to travel in your country?
[Belinda] Be careful the traffic light if you walk across the street.Because some of the traffic lights are decorative in Taiwan.