WorldToChina

      I’m standing at the very end of the year 2007. Only three hours later, the cheering new year 2008 will come to the whole world. Firstly, I’d like to say Happy New Year to everybody!

      2008 is a brand new year to Chinese, because the Beijing Olympic is to be held. We are expecting guests from all over the world to come to our country and enjoy the big event together.

      Also, 2008 is quite meaningful to me personally. I will enter my senior year of college life this year. All’s well that ends well. I hope in the new year, I can learn more and have good luck, happy mood and nice time with my friends!

     Resent years, people are less and less inclined to send paper cards to friends on festivals. 

          Take me for example: few days before the New Year’s Day I bought several card. I planned to send them to some of my long seperated friends. But when I sat down to fill the blank cards I found myself short of words.

      What’s worse, I found myself totally at loss when I was addressing my letters. Having no idea of the exact adress of the receicers I had to short message them for imformation. It made the cards lack of some unexpected surprise. Thus my excitement was some what ruined.

      I think that’s why electronic benedictions such as phone calls, E-mails, MSN messages are increasingly popular among people rather than tangible cards. However, when it comes to me, I will cherish it highly if a paper card is received.

      It’s not a surprise yet. I have been informed of the package a few days before the postman deliver it to the small “post hut” on our campus. Normally speaking, I should be excited to trade my delivery note for the big box, but I’m not. Actually, not at all. All my feelings are stessful and embarrassing.

      The reason is a little bit private, but I just want to let my depression out: the good-wisher is my boy friend. Now you may be more confused. Guess what? I ought to be grateful, but the situation is we’ve just broken up last night. Throught telephone! Funny isn’t it? We are always talking on phone. I’ve had enough.  The biggest problem is we have difficulties in doing so, especially me. Every time, I just find it’s nonsense. It seems to me that we are in kind of mother- and-son relationship which almost drives me mad.

       Yes, I admit it’s a little bit unfair to him. But I don’t feel like pretending. I put an end to that unhappy relationship hoping life can be easier and brighter afterward.

      Before long we will be dismissed to go back home. But before that, we should go throught the termly final exams.

      Frankly speaking, I’m not afraid of taking exams at all. Even the College Entrance Examination didn’t mean a lot to me when I graduated from high school. However, I really cannot appreciate the period preparing for them. Especially before college examinations there is to be at least one week for students to do revision on ourselves with no class at all. Some may feel it’s not bad and they will make good use of it to do self study. But I’m not in the same feather with them. Once the courses are off, I would find myself idling all day. I would be killing the time and dulled to death.

     There’s only week before we start to have the torturing revision week. I wish I could survive after the great chanllenge of having exessive free time. I know it may seem a little bit immature and stupid. But, well, I admit: that is me.

     Little Miss Sunshine is an American comedy whose plot is mainly developed when a family is driving on the road.The film introduces audiences to one of the most endearingly fractured families in recent cinema history:

      Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational speaker on a career downslide yet stubbornly committed to his “Refuse to lose” philosophy. His wife Sheryl (Toni Collette) barely disguises her impatience with his canned claptrap, hinting at deeper marital disharmony. Their teenage son Dwayne (Paul Dano) is a Nietzsche devotee maintaining a vow of silence until he’s old enough to become a fighter pilot, while Grandpa (Alan Arkin) is a profane old horndog with a heroin habit. Newest addition to the household is Sheryl’s suicidal brother Frank (Steve Carell), a renowned Proust scholar who lost both the male grad student he loved and a MacArthur Foundation genius grant to a rival academic.

     However, Olive (Abigail Breslin) is a slightly chubby, with a questioning nature and a fixation on beauty pageants. Having been taught to pursue her dreams, Olive has been privately rehearsing her talent routine with Grandpa; her shot at the Little Miss Sunshine crown is the engine that drives the comedy.

(final contest)

     Her worn-out parents gain strength from her hope, determination and enthusiastic innocence. Arkin’s grandfather has his faults, but he is devoted to Olive. The family’s bizarre experiences en route to the contest, culminating with the ultra-weird pageant atmosphere, somehow strengthen their ties.

     Though the theme of this movie maybe a little bit dark, it is a successful comedy anyway.
Most of the humor comes out of the sharply written script and arises naturally from the actions and motivations of the  characters. So, a movie really worth watching!

      Today is a big day for both westerners and younger generations in China– Christmas!

      It’s not easy to see Christmas trees be decorated in shops, Santa standing in front of super market handing out candies and flooding presents and cards people are sending to each other. It shows that Chinese people are more and more internationalized today.  Meanwhile, many Chinese traditional festivals are being accepted by foreign countries, such as Spring Festival and Mid-autumn Day, ect.

      Well, on behalf of the internationalised Chinese, I’d like to extend my great wish to all the people on the net: Merry Christmas!

      In the movie “Brave Heart”, a legendary Scots warrior– William Wallace leads his nation into battle against the English in the years around 1300. It is a full-throated, red-blooded battle epic and an ambitious film, too. It advocates love, patriotism and treachery.

      According to an old epic poem, Wallace was a hero who unified the clans of Scotland and won famous battles against the English. Unfortunately, he was captured, tortured and executed as a traitor.          In the movie, when Wallace is stretched on the rack, he cried out his last word “freedom!” to the world. Even the person who has just protested against him is moved to tears, murmuring “mercy!” The last scene is the most shocking and moving scene for me personally. When it comes to the death of Wallace I was almost chocked by the sorrow. The bounded Wallace lying on the gallows make me can help thinking of the crucified Christ.     

     Yesterday evening was due to be our celebration of the Winter Solstice. Origionally, we planned to have dinner in the small village out side of the campus. But when all of our classmates were gathered together and arrived at the restraunt there, the menu frightened us back. The price is even higher than that in Xi’an downtown! However the restraunt is not looking very well equiped. The heater didn’t work before it had been turned on for almost 10 minutes.

     After a bitter bargain with the owner, we reached an agreement almost unanimously that we should move back to the campus to have a more  reliable meal and a wiser expenditure. It’s ture that we did have a very exciting party yesterday. Our happiness was not influenced by the worthless trip at all. Instead, we recongnized that we are all more mature than the ones that we were two or three years ago. We know what we want and we will try to seek those aims practically and wisely. The “mean” way we spent money shows that every one in the class is sincerely caring for the interest of the whole.

        As a cardre in our class, I organized a collection of public diaries from each member. On the occasion of yesterday’s oparty I brought it to the dinner and have it passed on among all the classmates. They said it is really a good idea to have a shared diary like that. The content is extremely moving. However, at the beginning of this project nobody seemed to be intersted in it and some didn’t want to participate. Well, last night they all agreed on the value of the collection. And some are calling that the diary should be continued until we graduate. Funny isn’t it?

      I think we all love this class and each member of it. But we are lacking of communication or, say, expression of our true feelings. I name the diary as” piggy bank of memory”, hoping that our college life together will be instored and remembered in this specific way. When we get old on day,  the diary can still remind us of our youth and happiness today.

    When it comes to the end of a year, we are immerged in the happiness of festival celebrations that come one after another. The Winter Solstice( around December 22), Christmas and New Year Festival come almost together.

     Since we have already celebrated Chiristmas in advance, we don’t have party at the Christmas Eve. But we will have dinner on the Winter Solstice evening together eating dumplings like most  Chinese families will do one the very day. It is believed that one can save his ears from frostbite by eating the ear-shaped dumpling. Cute excuse for having a good meal, isn’t it?

      However, what I think is the most enjoyable factor of the dinner is to have a chance to get all the members of our class together to stay together for a dinner like a family. Because most of us are from other provinces far from Shannxi, we may miss our families very much especially on occasion of the traditional festival. It would be quite nice to feel like being at home on campus. What’s more, I think these sweet moments will become permanent memory planted in our mind ever after.

     Huaqing Pool locates east of the city of Xi’an. In the Tang dynasty, Li Shimin (Emperor Tai Zong) ordered to construct the Hot Spring Palace, and Emperor Xuan Zong had a walled palace built around Lishan Mountain in 747. It was known as the Huaqing Palace. It also had the name Huaqing Pool on account of its location on the hot springs.

        Close by the Frost Drifting Hall lies the Nine Dragon Pool. According to legend, the Central Shaanxi Plain was once stricken by a severe drought in the very remote past. Thus, by the order of the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Heaven), an old dragon came at the head of eight young ones, and made rain here. Yet when the disaster was just abating, they lowered their guard so much that it became serious again. In a fit of anger, the Jade Emperor kept the young dragons under the Jade Cause Way (玉堤), with the Morning Glow Pavilion and the Sunset Pavilion built at both ends of it respectively, to make the young dragons spout clear water all day long to meet the needs of local irrigation. Besides, he had the old dragon confined to the bottom of the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion situated at the upper end of the Jade Causeway, and obliged him to exercise control over the young.