Joy For Life-Joyful life

Construction workers, shopkeepers, students and bureaucrats across the bustling nation of 1.3 billion people paused for three minutes at 2:28 p.m. — exactly one week after the magnitude 8.0 quake hit central China.

Air-raid sirens and the horns of cars and buses sounded in memory of the dead.

In Beijing's Tiananmen Square, thousands of people bowed their heads and then began shouting "Long Live China!" and thrusting their fists in the air. Traffic on the capital's highways and roads stopped, and some drivers got out of their cars.

During three days of national mourning ordered by the government, flags were to fly at half-staff and public entertainment was canceled — an unprecedented outpouring of state sympathy on a level normally reserved for dead leaders.

The moment of tribute also was marked in Hong Kong, where double-decker buses sounded their horns. Rides and performances were halted for three minutes at Hong Kong Disneyland, and the daily fireworks show was canceled.

NEWS from AP

It hasn't been easy for the Beijing Olympic Torch relay, and most foreign countries,including their medias, are not helping it to a better event.Most report I have seen from foreign medias are negative about China and I do belive they deliberately kept one eye off on reporting the torch relay. Here is one Article that is extracted from san Francisco Chronicle, which I translated into Chinese. This is one of the few article that has looked at this issue more properly.

为什么我要传递奥运火炬？

Helen Zia

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

2008年4月8日 星期二

I am in training for the Olympics - not for any of the breathtaking feats that world-class athletes will perform this August in Beijing. As a sedentary 55-year-old, I am training to run a block or two without stumbling if someone tries to knock me down and to hang onto a torch-like object if people try to wrest it away from me.

我正在为奥林匹克而训练，并不是为了今年八月在北京与那些技艺超群的世界级的运动员同场竞技。作为一个55岁的不经常运动的人，我正在练习在一两个街区跑步时能够不被突如其来的人撞倒，而且如果有人试图从我手中夺走火炬的时候不让他们得逞。

The special event I am preparing myself for is the Olympic torch relay Wednesday in San Francisco, the only site in North America where the Olympic torch will pass on its world journey to promote peace and understanding through excellence and friendly competition.

我正在为之训练的特别的活动就是周三即将在旧金山举行的奥运会圣火传递。旧金山也是本次圣火传递在北美唯一的一站。而奥运圣火传递的宗旨就是通过友好而出色的竞争促进和平和理解。

Many will scoff at this Olympic ideal and I understand why. As a longtime advocate of social justice, I'm familiar with the long list of failings attributed to the People's Republic of China from the days of its founding in 1949, including the simmering tensions in Tibet - especially because I just spent five months in Shanghai as a Fulbright scholar conducting research on the mass exodus that took place at the time of the Communist revolution.

我知道为什么很多人也许会轻视奥运会的理念。长期以来，我一直是社会公平正义的提倡者，对于中国（政府）从1949年成立以来的种种过失我也很清楚，其中包括西藏问题。我刚刚作为一个富布莱特法案基金学者在上海进行了为期5个月的调查研究，研究的内容关于文化大革命期间大批人员的离去。

As an American of Chinese descent, I grew up hearing constant critiques of the terrible Communist dictatorship. And because I am an open lesbian, my stay in China felt tenuous because, unlike America, which has anti-gay laws, China doesn't even recognize that we exist. Any of these might be reason enough to run as far from the Olympics as my middle-aged body can carry me.

作为一个美籍华裔，我的成长中听到了很多骇人的关于共产党专政的事情。作为一个公开的女同性恋者，在中国的5个月期间我没有感觉到什么“另眼相看”，甚至中国都没有公认到我们的存在，不象在美国，有反同性恋的法律。任何这些都足以让我这中年的身体离北京奥运越远越好。

But my time in China gave me another perspective. I observed firsthand the wide-ranging diversity and openness of viewpoints and cultural expression that now exists among China's 1.4 billion people. I met with hundreds of Chinese for my research and was struck by how outspoken and opinionated they are and, yes, even critical of their government.

但是我在中国生活的日子改变了我的一些观点。我亲眼观察到了当今中国14亿人中观点的多样性以及文化的、表达方式上的开放性。为了调查研究我和上百的中国人交谈，他们的坦率直言、他们很强的主见、对于政府的评价甚至是直接批评深深地冲击了我

Many of my conversations were with elderly survivors of civil war and revolution who have endured immense human suffering, from deprivation and humiliation to torture and death. Almost every one of them had family members or friends who had committed suicide before or during the Cultural Revolution that ended three decades ago. Yet, nearly all told me that they believe China is changing for the better and they are hopeful that Chinese society will continue to become more open.

我的很多谈话是和那些饱经了内战的巨大痛苦及文化大革命的羞辱、折磨的老人。几乎所有被采访者都有家人或者朋友在30年前的文革期间自杀。然而，几乎所有人都和我说他们相信中国正在变好，他们也有信心，中国社会将会继续变得更加的开放

I've seen this evolution myself, from my first visit to China in 1972, to the time that I attended the International Women's Conference in 1995 as a journalist, reporting on the 30,000 women activists who converged in Beijing. Only 13 years ago, there was just one program, a telephone hot line, for victims of domestic abuse in all of China. But feminist activists within China used the conference to create many new initiatives for women and girls, such as programs to end female infanticide and sex-selective abortions, to help rural girls get the same schooling that boys do - and to address the issue of family violence. More recently, the Special Olympics were held last fall in Shanghai, along with a national education campaign about people with disabilities. This year's Olympics has the potential to foster similar change in China on an even grander scale.

其实我自己也亲身见证了这些变化。从我1972年第一次访问中国，到1995年作为一个记者参加世界妇女大会，报道了这项有3万妇女参加的盛会。当时，在3年前，全中国只有一部处理家庭暴力的热线。但是中国的妇女权益保护者以那次大会为契机发起了很多新的保护妇女和女童的运动，其中包括终止选择性别的堕胎，帮助偏远地区女孩获得与男孩一样的教育机会以及关于家庭暴力问题的重视。更近一些，去年秋天，上海举办了世界特殊奥林匹克运动会，同时开展了全国性的教育人们如何善待残疾人的活动。今年的奥运会也将可以，甚至是在更大的层面上对于的中国改变。

Such change might be led by some of the eager young adults I met who are looking for work at grassroots organizations in China, not for high-paying multinational corporations. Some told me about a left-wing progressive movement that is growing in China. Others explained how activists and bloggers in China are constantly finding creative ways to get their messages out.

这些改变也许就将由一些年轻人来发起，他们放弃了高薪的跨国企业的职位，投入到基层工作的锻炼中。有人告诉我中国正在进行中的左翼激进变革，另一些说到人们如何利用博客这样的工具找到一种很有创造性的表达自己观点的方法。

Up until I left China just before the uprisings in Tibet, the Chinese government was heavily promoting the Olympic spirit and teaching Olympic values of friendship, understanding and fair play in the schools. China is not a democracy, but its people - whether Han Chinese, Tibetans, Uighers or its other many minorities - are becoming more vocal because of its increasing openness to the world.

我离开中国的时候，西藏的暴乱还没有发生，中国政府正在不遗余力的在学校宣传奥林匹克的友谊、理解、公平竞争的价值观。中国不是一个民主制度的国家，但是由于中国不断的对外开放，使得她的人民，不论是汉族人、藏族人、维吾尔族以及其他许许多多的少数民族人，已经开始变得更加地敢于表达自己的思想。

Unfortunately, the calls to boycott the Olympics and to label everything about China as evil can only serve to isolate China and the United States from each other. China is not a monolith, and blanket condemnations of China and its people are as simplistic as blaming all Americans for the U.S. human-rights violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Such rhetoric, however, is driving many Chinese bloggers into a nationalistic response.

不幸的是，抵制奥运会、将中国的一切贴上‘恶魔’的标签只能使中美之间的关系对立起来。中国不是一个独立存在的巨石，对于中国铺天盖地的谴责和声讨都过分简单化了，正如以偏盖全的为了美国在阿布格莱布和关塔那摩湾的人权问题而指责所有美国人一样。这些倾覆式的谴责却激起了中国人在互连网、博客中的全民反击。

Attitudes such as these hark back to the Cold War days, when the United States and China were completely shut off from each other. A recent survey conducted by the Committee of 100 on American and Chinese attitudes found that both countries have significant fears about the other and believe that news coverage about their country is distorted by the other. It is worth remembering that during the Cold War, fear and ignorance of the "evil enemy other" was used to suppress internal political dissent, in the United States with the McCarthy Red scares and in China, through several of Mao's "anti" campaigns.

这样的态度可以追溯到冷战时期，当时中美之前彻底断绝了往来。最近的一次100人的调查显示，美国人和中国人都认为自己的国家被对方媒体扭曲了。值得注意的是，在冷战期间，正是这种对于“邪恶的敌人”的恐惧和无知被利用来镇压本国内部的异见，比如美国的麦卡锡红色恐惧以及中国毛的几次“反”运动。

Someday China will join the United States as a world superpower - but the American and Chinese people do not have to retreat back to those Cold War corners. The world will be safer if China, the United States and other countries can address human rights and other critical issues in the community of nations and peoples, not in isolation.

总有一天，中国将会加入美国的超级大国的行列，当时中美两国人民不需要象冷战时期那样相互退缩，保守己见。如果中国、美国以及世界上其他国家能够从世界民族的共同体的角度出发，问题来谈论人权以及其他关键问题，而不是相互隔绝，世界将会变得更加安全。

There is another vision: that a peaceful and better world is possible through friendly engagement and mutual understanding, not violent confrontation and polarization. It's an Olympic message, a possible dream that our global civilization and everyone who is a part of it can aspire to - and for which I am proud to carry a torch.

还有一个愿景：一个和平美好的世界将会通过友好协商以及相互理解形成，而不是暴力冲突或者两极分化。这是奥运会传递给我们的信息，一个有可能实现的全球文明的梦想，一个人人都可以热望的希望，这也就是为什么我会自豪地传递奥运圣火！

Helen Zia is the author of "Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001). She is board co-chair of the Women's Media Center and a member of the Committee of 100, a national organization of Chinese American leaders.

This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle

At the moment I am sitting in the waiting room of Nanjing International Airport, listening to my ipod while trying to catch some information of my flight on the announcement. There are lots of angry passengers around me. Passengers from particular areas like Sichuan ,Hunan and Northeast China have formed groups fighting against the airline company. Waves of protests can be heard in the crowded hall, echoing with announcements of more delayed flights.

Ok, I understand the importance of delaying flights due to poor weather condition and I fully support it. I also understand the extreme reaction of those passengers because neither has the airport nor the airline company provided us with sufficient information efficiently.

We like saying ‘This is an information age’, is it that difficult to send sms messages or E-mails to passengers registered about the information of their flights? In that way passengers can decide when to go to the airport or whether to go to the airport instead of coming to the airport at the regular time only to find out that their flights have been delayed or even cancelled!

Ok, let’s make some compromise; we come to the airport as told from the ticket. Shouldn’t it be easier for airline companies to spread out information? Should the airline company let passengers check in their luggage and get boarding pass when the flight can not take off in hours, or can be cancelled?

That is what I experienced this winter in Nanjing.

I was very happy to know that only my flight allowed passengers to check in when I was waiting in the check in line. But when I went through the security and into the waiting area I found ‘mountains of sees of people ’. It suddenly came to my knowledge that no planes had taken off for a long time and my flight could not avoid the destiny of being delayed. I am right!

I am daring to make some wild guess on why the airline companies check in passengers even when the planes can not take off.

Well, while passengers have checked in, they are not themselves; they belong to the airline company. All of their luggage are now under the possession of the airline companies. And they are stuck in the airport in the middle of nowhere. They can not go anywhere else because it can start boarding at any time. It is almost impossible to refund your tickets. Thus the airline company will have a guaranteed sales volume.

To make matters worse, there are planes taking off from time to time, making the excuse of weather condition a wee bit ridiculous and creating more angry passengers.

I just came to know that some passengers have been waiting for over 10 hours and kept getting no replies from airline companies. It seems the only way to get your problem solved is to make your voice heard, physically.

The intense atmosphere inside the airport can surely melt the ice and snow outside.

Safe trip.....

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.  There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself.
 
Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.  The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings.  An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
 
'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.
''No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer.
At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. 
'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.
'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.
'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.'

And that he did.   Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. 
Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved his life this time?
Penicillin. 
The name of the nobleman?
Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? 
Sir Winston Churchill.
  
Someone once said: What goes around comes around.  

Work like you don't need the money. 
Love like you've never been hurt. 
Dance like nobody's watching. 
Sing like nobody's listening. 
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

It's National Friendship Week. Pass this on, and brighten someone's day. 

AN IRISH FRIENDSHIP WISH: I hope it works...
May there always be work for your hands to do; May your purse always hold a coin or two; May the sun always shine on your windowpane; May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

This following acticle was one of the version of my speaking competition semi-final, it is not the one I used in the end but I like this one as welll....

Each Generation always worries about the generation that follows them, especially concerning their perception of too many temptations in the “modern” society and the apparent surrender of youth to these temptations. To some extent, this is most certainly true. This is part of how society evolves, for good or bad, from each generation to the next.

For better or for worse, the temptations of society, encountered by successive generations, whether as a group or as individuals, helps define us by allowing us to determine, for ourselves, to give in to societal temptations or to reject them. We do this by receiving and examining the guidance of our elders, observing the behavior of our elders and peers and, finally, judging the effects these temptations have on our own personal lives. In example: Do our elders live by the values they pass on to us and do our peers benefit positively or negatively by the personal and collective exploration of our evolutionary journey to adulthood. No generation is perfect! But the simple truth is this: most of us become relatively good at resisting most kinds of temptation, those that do not fall by the way side; the result of Societal Darwinism. Another truth is this: every generation, old, aging or new; continuously encounters temptations through out life and deals with them as best as they know how. Temptations are a fact of life and the best way to resist them and deal with them successfully and beneficially is to discover the “value of life”! Today I do not wish to talk much about how to resist temptation, but instead to talk about the value of life as I am beginning to understand it, a philosophy of living that I am beginning to form, and to do so I would like to share a personal experience with you.

Last winter, I went to a park with my friends to see a famous tourist spot called ‘Beauty in the Mirror’, the beauty is a small mountain in the shape of a young lady and the river below which resembles a mirror. Walking on the man made path, we noticed a partially hidden trail to the side, covered by leaves. Should we ignore it and walk toward the destination on the designated path, or shall we follow the unofficial trail to see where it may lead; a path of mystery?  We decided to risk the unknown and dived into the bushes. We soon discovered a high stone wall which we decided to climb. When we reached the top of the stonewall we found ourselves on the peak of the mountains overlooking all the natural glory of the world below. We realized at once what a great decision we had made. We didn’t make it to the tourist spot; the Beauty in the Mirror, but, on top of the world, beneath the clear night sky, without any obstacles to block our sight, we saw a complete view, the many mountains, vistas and the glassy river betraying countless beauty reflected into the star-studded mirror of the water below.

Some people would consider the little trail as an unwise temptation because it distracted us from the designated journey and may lead to failure. Others may say the man made path is more like a temptation because it could prevent us from seeing what was, for us, the real beauty and grand achievement of that day.

For me I would like to see neither path as a temptation, but each as a worthy experience of self discovery. They were just two of the many options that life has offered to me. The real temptation is actually from our inner selves; the temptation not to choose either path, we are always tempted by ourselves to live a ‘comfortable’ life, a life that is unwilling to make a choice or to be changed, devoid of evolution, a life that leads to drifting through meaningless existence; work, eat, sleep, have babies, pursue decadent self-indulgence and have our babies do the same, until one day we  may wake briefly and too late, complaining that our life has no value. But it is not the purpose of life to provide us with value, rather, it is our purpose to discover and supply the value to life and learn the meaning of life’s true value; Care, respect, love charity of heart and joy in the world we live. For a viable philosophy of life, we must make our choices without doubt or fear, maybe the journey through life is more important than the destination. On this journey, we need to be able to trust our elders and they us. I believe that the average seventy-something years of life should be lived to the fullest, with out harm to self or others, because we can do little about the length of our years, but we can do much about life’s width and depth. I wish to experience living, to love, to taste, and to learn as much as I can in my short time even though I might fall and get hurt but I will learn by my experiences.

After all, Helen Keller once said: Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.

I have been busy being lazy when I got back from Hong Kong way a month ago. Well. Technically I was actually busy with my study but as it always has been that way it is not a ‘business’ any more. But obviously since you are not busy yourself somebody will be busy for you and that ‘somebody’ can be many people.

Yes, for this Hong Kong English speaking competition trip my university can be called my sponsor as they paid for the round flight tickets for me and my tutor which I am grateful for. And after I won it is reasonable for them to make the full ‘use’ of me which made me feel like being a stock share they invested when the market is a bull one. The English department published the news of my winning in the contest the day after I won and making great contributions to the ‘high level English teaching quality of their department which enables me to have won in the contest’. And then the university put up a grand awarding ceremony where all the university presidents and vice presidents and heads of all administrative apartments were present with a cash reward of 4000 RMB, approximately 500 US dollar, which, I haven’t received yet. They made sure that everybody knew that I got(would get) this much money by making me holding a huge red board with 4000 RMB on it when they took the photos which of course they published on the internet. And then my school, the International Audit School couldn’t hold up any more and asked me to give a lecture which I did and they also made sure that that was on the internet. A week after that, I was asked by the university student study support center to give a lecture on the first night of the education evaluation week and I don’t have to say you may have guessed that was on the internet too.

After such intensive public promotion I became sort of celebrity in the campus. To be frank I enjoyed the feeling. I think it is human nature to feel a need to be focused and when that need is satisfied we feel good. There are students screaming, yes screaming, I heard that, when they saw me in campus. There are many cell phone short messages from unknown number wanting to make friends. There are some posts on the university BBS relating to issue about me, some funny ones are like: He likes going to dinner on the 3^rd floor in the dinning hall; he wears ear ring; he has a girl friend; I want to know everything he does in his day in detail; anybody want to know which in classroom he will take his class tomorrow, call 12345678 for his information. And many of the students claim themselves to be my fans. Well, Ok, be my fans, but I am afraid I am gonna let you down, I ain’t that good! What I did is just winning some English speaking competition and that very much relies on good luck.

I am just like one of the many celebrities in the entertainment industry being talked about and monitored everyday on my behavior. Ok, I had some good feeling toward this being a celebrity thing but not that much as things going on.

Several days ago when I tried to open my hotmail account I failed. And later I got an E-mail in my Yahoo mail box saying that he was sorry that he ran into my hotmail account. He just wanted to know what I have in my mail box. I don’t know how much that is related to the whole fan thing but I was scared and felt very unsecured.

Maybe I shall just relax, I am no big star, and the craze over me will just die out soon, as most for those real celebrities. After all, a celebrity is what celebrity does….

If you can still feel yourself and feel well, you are luckier than millions of people who cannot even see the sun of tomorrow.

If you have never been in war, prison, poverty or torture you are in a better environment than 500 million people.

If you can go in and out classroom or temple without being threatened or killed, you are luckier than 3 billion people.

If you still have some food in the fridge, clothes on yourself, a shelter to live then you are richer than 75% of people in the world.

If you have savings in the bank, some cash on hand you are one of the 8% luckiest people in the world.

If you can understand this article you are lucky enough not to be one of the 2 billion Illiterate people.

So please don’t live to wok. To love not to hate. To dance and just enjoy dancing. To sing no matter how you sing. To live as if you are living in heaven… Best wishes to all my friends…

I am busy preparing for the final exams. My winter vacation is about to start in 2 weeks. I took part in the regional English speaking competition last October and won the first prize. This March I am going to Hongkong to take part in the National English speaking competition. I just got the subjects for the semi-final and the final. I will really appreciate if you tell me what you think of the subjects and your ideas about how to organize the speech. If you have more time, you may send me your words over the subjects. I am collecting ideas from all my friends now and I will start writing after this research. I find these two subjects very challenging but at the same time very good. I am sure I will make it with your help! You don’t have to send me reply right away. I will start writing from February. Thank you very much for your wisdom and that is a great help to me.

Wish you all the best! 

Subject for semi-final: The value of life and the temptation of society: your philosophy for living

Subject for final: Let’s join a team of volunteers: in giving, we also receive (problem with this title is I have never been a volunteer of any kind.)

Thank you again!

My E-mail address: felixdahcky@yahoo.com.cn

or felix_dahcky@hotmail.com

Some people once compared the world to an entity of diversity. This is true indeed. Biologically speaking, life itself has evolved into at least 1.5 million species, and each individual of each species is unique, carrying out its own nature, making this world a more wondrous place. So we can say that diversity is essential to the beauty and interest of our world, without which everything would be blank and monotonous. As the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its sweet scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose the glory of variety.

Thanks to Social diversity, our life is a much different story. We can either choose sushi or Kung Pau Chicken for today’s dinner; we can go to the museums, appreciating both the charming smile of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the sublime power of XuBeihong’s painted horses; we can be guided by the wisdom and philosophy of both Confucius and Socrates, leading us to a more colorful life; it is diversity that gave us the inspiring plays of Shakespeare and the insightful writings of LuHsun.

China is a country which never has a lack of diversified cultures. We are continuously delighted and inspired by the unique cultures of all the 56 minority groups. On one hand, all these different yet splendid cultures are the fundamental components of Chinese culture, making China a magnificent, unified Society. On another hand, it is the unity of a great China, with time-honored history that has allowed each minority an extremely rich and diverse cultural heritage; it is the unity of the Chinese people that holds together the affections between all ethnic groups. It benefits and enriches Chinese civilization and our aspiring national spirit.

Let’s turn our attention to the social aspect. People are sometimes considered eccentrics because of their very different thoughts and behaviors to so called “ordinary” people, or even just because of their fantastic visions of the world. But can you imagine what it would be like if there were no such differences or vision? Had Columbus no such enthusiasm for exploring the world or if the Wright brothers stopped those dangerous flying tests, America might still be a never land and human flight would still be only a dream.

Any society that fully embraces diversity will achieve greatness, and in turn, diversity brings harmony to a unified society and a vision for its’ future. It is in unity where everyone can be loved and cared for, men and women, black and white, straight and gay, handicapped and whole, where different people participate, contribute and live together happily, marching together towards a brighter future and a greater nation.

Welcome back!

It has been such a looooong time since I wrote my post last time. I think there might not be so many people reading this but I still want to state what I have been doing these days.

The reason why I haven’t been writing is simply that I have been preparing for the ACCA (Associated chartered certified accountant) n December the 7,8 and 11 respectively. n for managing and Paper 1.3 Managing people. tests. They are Paper 1.1 preparing financial statement, Paper 1.2financial information for managing and Paper 1.3 Managing people. The tests took place on December the 7, 8 and 11 respectively. All the tests are of 3 hours, no break in the middle but the good thing is that we got to take food into the exam center. Some of my classmates joked that maybe we could bring a camp there and have camps fire. But the truth is, we seldom got a chance to eat the stuff we brought. And believe me, sometimes 3 hours even seem short for the test. Let me cite an interesting thing in Paper 1.3 Managing people test, which is made by 5 essay writing questions that are in English. I wrote full 17 pages of A4 size paper and used up the equivalent of 3 ball point pens.

That is the test and we are just beginning!

What else happened during my long ‘space break’?

I took part in the CCTV cup English speaking competition but did not even get into the second round in the eliminatory contest. I was a little upset about the result but not very surprised because I have never done well in the English speaking competition whose panel of judges are all Chinese, especially whey they are some teachers or so called ‘professors’ from some unknown university. Well, no intendance to defend defend myself but I still think even now that I have done a good job both in the speech itself and my presentation. (for the speech I am gonna post it on the blog so you can read it)

A week after the CCTV cup, I went onto the journey to the beautiful city of Hangzhou, 3 hours bus ride or 6 hours train ride from Nanjing. I went there to take part in another English speaking competition: “21^st Century. Lenovo Cup” National English speaking competition, which, by the way has a panel of judges made by an ambassador of Great Britain, a foreign professor from Hong Kong Chinese University, 2 English professors from famous university and chief editor of China Daily! To be honest I didn’t really prepare for the competition given that I have already started to prepare for the coming Exams, which by all means should be given all the priorities of my energy and time allocation. And it turned out that I didn’t do really very good in one of the question answering part but that does not stop me from promoting into the national final to be held in Hong Kong Chinese university next March. Well, Hong Kong again, I still remember when I left Hong Kong 1 year ago I said to myself that I was gonna come back, but I didn’t know the come back would be this soon. Here I would like to thank my English teacher Miss Jenny who has always been supportive and been accompanying me to Hongzhou as my tutor. And I also want to address my thanks to my friend Joey who has also been of great help especially in my speech writing and addressing.

After the Hongzhou trip, I got sick, my body temperature reached the point of 39 Celsius Degree and I had to actually go to see doctors, which is so ironic because not long ago I said that I have not been to a clinique for quite a long time. I got 1 injection and the other I felt much better so I didn’t take the other injection. The following 3 weeks I had been spending with constant coughing which I think came from the pneumonia. But it seemed that my body fixed itself and for quite a long time after it, even in this cold winter time I have never got sick. Oops! Shall I better not say that?

A week after the Hangzhou trip, which by the way I am in the middle of a serious sickness I went to take the Shanghai Interpretation qualification oral test. This is the result of me passing the writing test and giving another 300 RMB exam fee to the committee. For sure, I didn’t prepare for it at all, well, I was going to but who knew I would be sick! So there I was, taking what they called as a naked test, meaning taking the test without any preparation. Well, it is a little bit unfair to say it because I think the classes I took in Shanghai this summer still worth something. I felt terrible after the test, and never felt so sure that I would fail it.

But I had no more time to mourn, because the ACCA tests were really coming closer. I got up as 6:30 in the morning and stood in the cold wind early in the morning to wait for the library gate to open so that I could get a seat there and spend the rest of my day studying. I have never been studying so hard, not even during the hard senior 3 year when I had to prepare for the college entrance exams. Well, each one of the ACCA test has an exam fee of 50-90 POUNDS! Dude, that is not RMB or even US dollar. That is POUNDS! 15 RMB to 1 pound. Money had a firm hand!  

I feel ok for the tests, not so good, not so bad. Oh, one thing that worth of mentioning, for the first time in my student accountant history I reached a balance when preparing the balance sheet and I was really thrilled of that.

When I almost forgot about the Interpretation Oral test a friend of mine asked about it and I looked for the result on line and surprisingly I passed it! I could not believe that but I really passed it. For most of English Major students, that certification is just like the guarantee of a good job and as they say in the advertisement, 100,000 RMB per year pay. So far I haven’t seen anything like that happening on me, oh, maybe that is because I am not an English major. The passage rate is 4%, so even most English majors can not pass it.

Ok, it is really about time to give myself a break. I have a fruitful semester and now waiting for the final exams and the winter vacation.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are going to arrive at the city of Guilin in 10 minutes. Please be ready to disembark.” The passengers on the train started to cheer up, as next stop is their destination, the resort of their summer holiday, the city of great beauty and charm, Guilin.

Beside the window, I sat quietly, reading the last chapter of my book. To me, Guilin is just another city on my way home. After all, there is only 3 hours to my final stop. The city of Liuzhou.

Most people know the city of Liuzhou from their geography book as a semi important traffic junction of rail lines in southwest China. Or if someone has a more profound knowledge of Chinese history and literature he may know Liuzhou also as the place where the great poet Liuzhongyuan was sent for punishment.

After spending 4 months in the city of Nanjing and 3 weeks in the cosmopolis of shanghai I still feel that Liuzhou is the city in which I can live most comfortably. Yes, the outskirt area is still dirty and under organized; yes, the social security is sometimes not so satisfactory; yes, sometimes the local slang may not sound fully civilized. So what? It is still the city where I grow up; it is the water from Liujiang river that breeds me. Wherever I am, I would still say with a great pride: I am still a “Liuzhou guy”.

Great changes have been taken places recently in my city. Another 5 star hotel will be built; in 3 years there are 3 more bridges over the Liujiang river, 2 more still under construction.; there are 7 flights linking the city with 7 other cities, bringing in and out the hospitality of people from home and outside; the water is cleaner, air fresher, roads wider, people happier. Even on the face of the farmers who sell vegetables everyday making very limited amount of money I can still see a sunny smile, the smile to life and to a better future.

How can I not love my city?

I like the city of Nanjing, the historical feeling touching every cell of me, making me mature.

I like the city of Shanghai, the cosmopolitan atmosphere let me experience a different China, making me international.

I like the city of Guilin, nobody can reject the beauty, the chant, and the charming scenery of the masterpiece of out mother nature, making me elegant. 

I like the city of Melbourne, Hong Kong, Beijing, I like them all, and I am grateful to what all of them can offer to me to make my life more joyful and colorful.

But I LOVE the city of Liuzhou, for every inch of the land, every drop of the water, every breeze of the wind, there is story of me, making me the person who I am, without which it is useless to talk about being mature, international, elegant and so on.

There is a saying,

East or West, Home is the BEST.