My Silly Journals 4

[Living in Another Country]
I lived in China for two months and live in the U.S. now. I didn’t have any special feeling about living in another country, although I have to spend some time to know the culture of them at the beginning. I like to try the different life style, so I came here and try to get close to the American life. I think the most interesting things are the ways people celebrate holidays in the U.S. and the special social behavior in China. Last month, I went to the downtown Tempe with my friend on the Halloween, we were so surprised about people’s dressing. It was our first time to join the real Halloween “party”, and I really like it for people’s rich imagination. During my first trip to China in 2000, I was so surprised about their behavior in the public especially in scenic spots. No matter what places, there were more than hundred and hundred people around you. When you want to take a picture, you have to keep saying: “excuse me” or you will see some people you don’t know in the picture. When you want to buy something to eat, you have to keep going in the line and tell the waiter what you want loudly or you will have nothing to eat, because the waiter and the people who beyond you will ignore you. I very enjoy living in another country because I can experience different cultures!


[My Favorite Season]
My favorite season is autumn. Someone may say: “autumn makes people sad because of the falling leaves.” I like autumn for the cool temperature. When I came to Tempe this August, it was so hot and the shining sunshine even made me couldn’t open my eyes. During the summer time here, I always stayed inside the buildings. I went to school in the early morning, and went back my apartment in the evening. I also don’t like the summer in Taiwan for its hot and humid weather. Now, it is autumn in Tempe. After class, sometimes I like to take a walk or ride bicycle from ASU to the Salt River and take some pictures for my friends, because they always ask me to introduce Tempe to them but I didn’t want to go outside in summer. I really enjoy the cool weather now, and finally I can go outside and take some beautiful photographs to introduce my friends how beautiful Tempe is.


[Hot News]
Most of the narcotics are illegal in Taiwan, but recently, there are several famous people who have become suspects for taking in the narcotics such as hemp, cocaine, amphetamine, MDMA, etc. Before that, some of them just finished the imprisonments, but they still keep taking drugs. They are TV stars, singers, or sport stars, and they also have a lot of young people as fans. It’s a big problem to Taiwan’s society, because it’s not only a crime but also affects other people especially the adolescents.

情感這東西

為了寫一篇有關周歲前民俗慶典的作業，找到一個詳細記載台灣風土民情的網頁，細細看了一回，又更覺禮節繁瑣。也不是有時候，而是很深刻的知道自己能夠承受的情感深度在哪裡。很久沒有頭疼了，因為那段曾經已經離我似乎很遠，會想起來的週期也漸漸拉長。

人生也不過三個階段，出生、延續生命及死亡，也許會少掉中間那一項。對我而言，死亡後生者的哀痛似乎比迎接一個新生命的喜悅來的深刻，我幾乎不記得迎接新生命的喜悅，有的幾乎都是逝者已矣的感覺，不過也因為這樣，更珍惜今後的陽光。

有出生就有死亡，而死亡後是什麼？沒有人知道，知道的魂都不知道漂蕩在哪個時空裡。習俗帶著期待與希望迎接生命，卻用敬畏來送走未知的魂，讓我有些錯愕。

生命無法永恆，永恆的是精神。

The Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan

[My I2 Writing-2]  This is an exercise about a descriptive paragraph. Describe a national or traditional holiday in your country.

At the Mid-Autumn Festival, we eat many delicious foods. This festival is on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month to memorize the goddess of the moon, and it’s also one of the three most important religious holidays in the Chinese societies. We hold wonderful barbecue parties and eat moon cakes and pomelos. Families like to get together and have a barbecue party. We prepare meat slices, all kinds of vegetables such as green pepper, golden pumpkin, and eggplant, and beverages. We arrange the party in front of the house, on the rooftop, or in the park in the afternoon and wait for the others who live far away from home to come back. We start the party around 6:00 p.m., and it’s an important time to show who can light up the wood coal first. After lighting up the fire, everyone leaps at the toaster because we all like to barbecue. We have the juicy meat and the colorful vegetables for dinner. Then we eat the moon cake and the pomelo and watch the moon. The moon cake is a kind of pastry, and it looks like a mini cake. The brown exterior of the moon cake is made of oil, flour, and sugar, and the interior of it is the sweet and fruity legume stuffing. The pomelo is a kind of fruit that looks like a big orange, but its peel is olive green. We like to cut off the peel of pomelo and put it on children’s heads to wish them health. I like this holiday very much, but I couldn’t come home this year. My family still celebrated the festival, and my dear sister emailed me the photographs of their barbecue party. I really wanted to join them at that moment.