Steal in Piars

This week our theme is Crime and Punishment. We discussed many terms of crimes, some of which I haven't heard before. Today, I want to talk about a crime that I have victimed when I was in China. Once I was surfing internet in internet cafe. I just made a call then put my cell phone beside the computer. Suddenly, my eyes was covered by two hands, and a person sang a popular chinese song to me:" I cover your eyes slightly. Could you guess who I am?..." I was shocked and confused at that time. I didn't know what was happening untile he took his hands away from my eyes. "Who are you?" I asked with my brow wrinkled. "Oh, I am so sorry! I got the wrong person." The man apologized to me and rushed went away. After a while, a person who sat beside me tell me that my cell phone had been stolen by another man. God! There was no person when I hurried ran out. I went back to ask the internet cafe manager for camera record, but they told me they haven't install the monitor system. I lost my lovely cell phone forever. It has belong to me for four years. It was the most classical type of Nokia cell phone, which is Nokia 8250. After that, people told me that there were many similar crime activities during that time. The thieves always steal in piars. One of them is in charge of getting attractions from their target person, and the other one is responsible for stealing. If they used their intelligence in study or work, they don't need to make a living depend on stealing.

Nice Weekend

This weekend I had a trip with some of my best friends. We went to Lake Louise and Banff. I have heard that the water of Lake Louise is as green as jadeite. However, the weather there was still extremly cold, so the entire lake was a big ice plank. I didn't see a green Lake Louise, but the magciment view of mountains aroud surprised me. I took a lot of pictures. Every photo is beautiful including those which I tooked by casually.

We started to hike Rokey Mountain after lunch. It was really a difficult task. In China, we have stairs and handtrails on the side of moutain pathes. When we hike a mountain in a tourist place in China, we just need to go along with the stairs. But this time, I can't depend on any stair or handtrail. In addition, the road was very slide because it was covered by thick snow and ice. I moved step by step cautiously. Every step seemed to be a big challenge to me. At first, we thought it was not so far from the top of the mountain and we would get there soon. Unfortunately, we thought little of it. It spent us two hours and a half to get the top there. We were all exhausted when we got the top. However, the beautiful view really worth it. I think the exiting adventure should be called a real hiking.

When we were on our way home, these mountains were gradually moving far away from us in our songs. It was a nice weekend. I am looking forward to next trip in summer when leaves turn to green and snow has melted.

The Pursuit of Happiness

I saw a movie called "The Puisuit of Happiness" at home together with my cousin Jay and his girl friend Zi. The movie tale was inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman struggling to build a future for himself and his five-year-old son. Gardner and his son endure many hardships including living in shelters even in washroom when Gardner landed an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm. During 6 month internship with no pay, Gardner had been working hard and had shuttled among customers' offices, daycare and shelters. After 6 month hard working, he finally past final test and got the decent job to which most people were dream. It is the best movie I have seen in this year because it inspires us thinking deeply about our own lives. I think it's not difficult to see a movie with subtitle. I could understand almost the entire plot except a few words. Whenever I met any unfamiliar word, I would ask my Jay and Zi about its meaning. It's fun and helpful. All of us were moved by the story and the performance of Will Smith. Every one has a dream, but in most cases dream is different from real life. If we want to make our dream come true, we have to pay hard effort and struggle with life. I hope everyone's dream can come true!

antivirus

Recently, I am thinking about some problems of my laptop. I think my laptop may be infected by virus because my Symatec Antivirus software has already been overdue. If I install another antivirus such as Kaspersky Antivirus, my laptop can't work due to the friction of these two antivirus. Therefore, I have to uninstall my extencive antivirus first. However, I can't find the uninstall method of Symatec Antivirus. My IBM laptop had been installed the entire system since it was producted from manufactory. There are so many softwares that I don't know well. So confusing! Is there any computer expert can help me? There was a guy even left a virus comment in my blog. Annoying!

If I was given a chance to invent any thing, I will invent a strong antivirus software which can against any virus attacking and won't be expired. It can update automatically to get the latest virus information. In addition, It can pretect personal computer through 24 hours. The antivirus will keep on working even when we shut off our computers. There is no chance for any virus to come and near our data. The most important thing is that this antivirus don't have expire date and it is forfree. We don't need to worry when it will be invalible. We don't need to pay any money. The probelms like mine will never appear. Once we install this antivirus, our computers can be safe forever. I hope this imagination will become true as soon as possible.

Presentation poster

I want to change a little bit about the topic Regina left us because I really want to write something about the presentation which I was preparing recently.
It is 11:35pm, I just have finished our presentation poster. At the biginning, there was nothing in my mind. I just wanted to paste all these printed papers on our poster paper. When my aunt past by, she said that a poster must be creative and attractive. She gave me some suggestions. Year! Why not? It should be more creative.
Therefore, I began to design the poster. First, I reread all these matirals, and make a picture in mind. Next, I cut pictures in different shapes such as circle, polygon and decorative border. In order to make these matierals more attractive, I used yellow marker to highlight them after I finished cutting. Then, I designed the specific position of each paper. Finally, I pasted these papers with glue. Done! Nice, isn't it?
When I appreciated my work, I felt myself like a new mother. I had a variety of feelings including tired, proud, happy and a little nevors. It was so perfect in my eyes; I gave birth to it. However, I was worry about how to tell my partner I have done it before I tell him. Oh~It's time to go to bed. See ya, guys!

Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival is a Chinese traditional holiday which occurs on the 15th day of the first month of Chinese New Year. This holiday marks the end of the New Year. People will finish their New Year vocation and refresh to work and study. People will do many activities to celebrate the Lantern Festival. The typical activity is "Lantern Riddles". Different colors and shapes of lanterns are hanged everywhere. Riddles are written on pieces of paper and posted on laterns. Any one who slove the riddle is awarded a prize. Most cities will have the Chinese Dragon Dance performances. The must eat food on Lantern Festival is Yuanxiao. Yuanxiao is a kind of sweet dumpling, which is made with sticky rice filled with sweet stuffing. In Chinese the festival is named after this food. It is very easy to cook Yuanxiao. You just need to dump them into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes and then you can enjoy it as desert.

A Big Week

This week is a big week to me because we have Chinese New Year in this week. This is my first Chinese New Year in Calgary. On Febrary 6th, I celebreted the Chinese New Year with some of my Chinese classmates in EAP.

At first, I was very sad on that day morning. I felt so bad because I can not together with my family on the big traditional holiday. I was on my way to UC when my family was eating dinners, chatting and laughting, watching the Spring Festival Party Show on CCTV. The weather outside was so cold as the same as the feeling I was inside. Whenever I imagine the warm scence, tears wet my eyes without consious.

However, there are so many nice people here. My friends invited me join their party to celebrate the New Year. At 6:00pm, Adam, Jethro, Amey and I went to downtown after we finished our class. We ate dinner in a Chinese resteraunt. That were the most delicious foods I have ever eaten. We talked for a long time after dinner. They inspired me to be stronger and positiver. I felt much better when I together with them. They are so kind. I like to spend time with them. Now, I know I am not alone in Calgary, I won't be lonely anymore because I have so many good friends. Thank you guys! I had a wonderful Chinese New Year night.

Beijing

As the capital of China, Beijing is filled with history and traditional culture of China. The list of attractions in Beijing can not be end.
The most famous interesting places are The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. The Great Wall, built of stone and brick, was used as a defense barrier against invaders. It is so magnificent that can be seen from the photos which took by sattllites in the space. The Forbidden City was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, a period extending over 500 years. It is the world's largest palace. Tiananmen Square is the heart of urban Beijing and large enough to accommodate an assembly of one million people. The Temple of Heaven is the place where Chinese emperors used to pray the good harvest.
In addition to visiting historic sites, Beijing has many great public parks including Chaoyang Park, Ritan Park and Beihai Park. Beijing is not only a historical city but also a develop business city in China. There are numorous huge construction sites, glitzy shopping malls and high rise buildings. Wang Fu Jing Street is one of the most famous shopping streets. A foods street locat right in Wang Fu Jing Street. Foods street provides various foods from different provinces of China.
Beijing has a lot of universities. Tsinghua University is top1 in China. Peking University is top2 in China. Both of them have high reputations known to the world. Students from different countries come to study in these universities.
It is known that the 2008 Olympic Games will be held in Beijing. Every Chinese is pround of that. Two typical buildings will be built in Olympic Green. First one is National Stadium which looks like a bird nest. The other one is National Aquatics Center which looks like a large cube of water. They are so fantastic!
China is the host to such a wide variety of beautiful places, and a visitor really should spend much more time exploring them all.

Hangzhou

Hangzhou, a city famous for its natural, historical and cultural features, attacts more than 20 million tourists from home and abroad every year.
The West Lake is the most famous attraction of Hangzhou. The lake and its environs just like a large traditional Chinese garden. The typical element is stone bridge. There are many stone bridges above the lake. Every bridge has a beautiful folk tale. One of the folk tales is a romantic love story about a kind man and his nice wife who is transfered from a white snake. When I was young, I have dreamed to be the white snake wife because she is so beautiful and kind. For those who interest in art and sculpture, Fei Lai Peak and Ling Yin Temple are must see attractions. The near by Mausoleum of General Yue Fei is a monument to the patriot hero who was murdered in 1141.
Almost every visitor to Hangzhou can learn something of this city's famous products, namely silk and Longjing Tea( one of four most famous kinds of Chinese Tea). Visitors can learn these history and culture from musumes such as The National Silk Museum and The National Tea Museum. Besides, visitors are welcome to the Longjing Tea village. The village homestays will invite visitors to drink Chinese Tea and talk about the history and production of it. Visitors can buy some high quality tea from them in a low price.
Another attraction in Hangzhou is the Qiantang River. Annually, millions of people come to watch the magnificent tide on the eighteenth day of the eighth lunar month. When the surging tide comes, the water can rise up to a height of 30 feet and the noise is very loudly.
Hangzhou, with its surrounding hills, water and numerous beautiful sightseeing places, has been ranked as one of the ten best famous tourist cities in China.

Life has been changed

Life in China has been changed a lot in 100 years, especially in family life. Chinese People Public Country was found in 1949. Until 1949, most people had lived in a feodal and poor life. Women's status had been very low before then. Women were not allowed to study or work. Marriage was desided by parents. Some marriage was desided before the couples had been born. Some couples never met each other before their wedding ceremony. One man could have more than two wives. Wives had to obey their husband after they had been married. In a family, men and women could not eat together. Women had to wait until men had finished their meals. Women would be guilty if they could not give birth to a son. There was no limitied to baby born. The families used to give up their daughters until they have a son.

A story of my childhood

When I was a child, I used to like flying kites. My parents would take me to fly kites in every spring. My father could make kites by himself. Every year, my father used to make a kite for me. He used to leave a blank white kite to me. I always painted it by myself. I would draw different things like flowers, birds or cartoon roles. I remember one year, I have watched a series of cartoon named "Transformers" which is a movie now. I loved the leader of autobot whose name is Optimus Prime. I said I was going to draw an Optimus Prime on my kite, and I did it. I spent a whole day to draw the cartoon role on my kite paper. Finally, it had a very nice appearance. It was my favourite kite because I have put so much effort on it. We flied it the next day after I had finished my painting. It was a beautiful day. At first, everything was good. The weather was very perfect. The wind was not too strong nor too weak. My Optimus Prime was flying higher and higher. I was so exciting because my kite was flying very high. It was looking like a tiny point in the sky. We almost could not see it. Unfortunately, my kite flied so high and so far that we could not control it at all. At last, it was free like a little bird in the sky. And then it dropped into the river. What a pity! That was my favourite kite!
My father changed work the next year. Since then, he hasn't had much time to make kites for me and fly kites with me. Therefore, Optimus Prime was the last DIY kite in my childhood. That's it;P

Different cultures

Hello, everybody! Welcome to Anna's blog. I come from China. I have been in Calgary for four months. Today, I want to talk about the different cultures between China and Canada which I observed in Calgary.

When I moved to Canada from China, I found there are many differences between two countries. First of all, the most obvious difference was food. Rice is the staple food in China. Most of Canadians like to eat bread. Besides, the family structures of two countries were different. In China, most families are extended families. Generally, there are three generations live in the same household including grandparents, parents and children. In Canada, most families are immediate families. Another difference was city construction. There is no obvious boundary between business center and living communities in China. The whole city is a downtown; the downtown is a whole city. But in Canada, downtown is much more like a business center, and a few people live in downtown. Most residents live in suburb far from downtown. The thing surprise me most is activity. Before I came to Canada, I thought there would be a lot of activities abroad especially at night. But in Calgary, the city is very quiet at night; most people stay at home; only a few restaurants and enterainment centers will keep on open after 9:00PM. The streets are empty after 9:00PM. However, if you are in a big city in China such as Beijing or Shanghai, you will find so many restaurants and entertainment centers keep on open through the whole night. The streets will be crowded at night. There are many night activities in China. For example, shopping, watching movies in cinema, having dinners with friends in restaurants, singing in karaoke bars, dancing in disco bars and drinking in wine bars. It's an endless list.

The things above are based on my observe. They can be straw-man arguments. If you have different views, please don't be hesitating to tell me.