Tuesday, July 31, 2007

oral presentation

Today we have done the oral presentation in the class, from my point of view, every classmate has done a good job.
The class have made my life busier, but that also have made my life more interesting.
The preparation of the oral presentation took me about 10 hours, 10 hours for 7 minutes, sounds not really effective, so, I think the problems time manage, I think i am not good in time manage.
i wonder how my classmate prepare their presentation, and how long they spend on the prearation, I would like to know if someone share with me. To know different ways to prepare would be a good thing.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

In Taiwan, people rely on lunar calendar for their daily life, so almost all the festivals are controlled by it. The Spring festival is on the 1st of January of the lunar calendar, also known as Chinese New Year is the most important. All the family members get together to celebrate their big and cheerful occasion.
About one month before the festival, the mother in the family begins the preparations. She needs to buy new clothes, hats, and shoes for everyone in the family, buys new furniture for the house, and makes special food, like cured meat and Chinese sausages for the festival.
In the very early morning on the 24th of December of the lunar calendar, every family prepares wine and dessert as a sacrifice to the Kitchen God, after that, use glutinous rice to make pastry, the pastry symbolizes good luck and job promotion in the future year, so bad words are taboo while the pastry is being made.
Two days before the festivals, people clean house, have their hair cut, most women will have a new hair style.
One day before the festival, it’s the busiest day. During the day time, people paste Spring Festival couplets on the doors and windows of the house, hang new lanterns out, and arrange fresh flowers in the house. The couplets are written on red paper, the lantern is made of red cloth, everything is reddish, people believe the color will bring good luck.
In the evening, all the members of the family should be together, so most of companies are not working on that day, so people who work in different cities are able to be home in time to put on the new dresses and have dinner together, there is always fish, meat balls, and dumplings in the meal, moreover, the meal should be eaten as slow as possible, as the fish represents luck in money some is left for the future.
After the meal, the older generations gives red envelope to the young, so the children always get lucky money in the red envelope from their parents and grandparents. The younger generation stays up all night to pray for their elder members and happiness in the coming year.
In the first day of New Year, everybody gets up very early to visit relatives and friends then bow and compliment them. Something needs to bear in mind, such as hide all the cutting tools away, they are unpropitious.
The 2nd day is son-in-law welcome day, every daughter goes back to her own parents’ home with her husband and they have to prepare gifts for her parents.
People do some particular activities on the 3rd, 4th and 5th day, but the 6th day is the day people begin their work, although Spring Festival last until 15th of January of lunar calendar.

Monday, July 23, 2007

homework for Beth

The sitcom is called “mother and son”. It’s about the relationship, trivial things in daily life between the mother and her two sons, Arthur and Robert. The mother suffers a little dementia, lives with her divorced son, Arthur. Arthur’s wife divorced him because she could not stand to live with the mother in-law any longer; the mother always uses emotional black mail to make Arthur feels guilty, so that he would stay with her. So, Arthur could never have new girlfriends. Compare with Arthur’s good-natural, conscientious, and piety. The second son, Robert is selfish, affectation, and pretense. Robert visits his mother just only if she calls to see him, or when he needs something from the mother, he always gives the mother flowers and little gift to make her happy. It seems mother always think Robert is sweet, and always complain about Arthur did not take good care of her, but actually in her mind she knows, Arthur is a good son, and always the one who look after her.
Watching “mother and son” just like watch my family story on TV.
My grandmother is 85 years old, has two sons, my father and his younger brother, they just like Arthur and Robert in “mother and son”. Grandmother has lived with my father in my family for more 30 years. In these thirty years, She also used emotional black mail to make my poor father felled badly, so, for so many years, my father never had long-term relationship with any woman, not because he did not want, it’s because my grandmother always not happy with his girlfriends. Grandmother is also suffering dementia, sometimes, she even could not remember who we are, most of time, she could not remember what just happened minutes ago, just like the mother in” mother and son”. When I watch the sitcom on TV by accident, it reminds me of my family, especially my grandmother.