The hard time of my school year

Being a senior, I encountered a lot of problems this year that
I haven’t met. In order to go further, I am struggling on the edge of knowledge. However, the time always laugh at me. It seems to me that it would lick me up. I was so tired to face them. I thought that I would give them up. In this case, I try to think about my family, my friends. When I looked at my parents, I realize that I am the expectation and future of them. When I look at my friends, I understand why they always encourge me. Family value and friendship are both important for me. In America, many people say that there have a lot of opportunities. The case is only true with those people who work really hard. “No pay, no gain”. If you don’t take these opportunities, these opportunities would be useless for you. ( to be continue)

Conversation with principals

This is the first time that we talked to our Principal so close. She is a nice lady. I felt so glad to listen to her ten days trip in China. She mentioned that China is developing so fast these years. I was interested in what she talked about buildings and people in China. She questioned who would live or work in those high buildings when she saw a lot of tall and empty buildings in many places in China. As far as I know, people live in the east of China are much richer than those in the west of China. In the east of China, maybe a few people live in a commodious house. However, more people in the west become homeless. The life is so different between rich and poor. She emphasized that she felt so shock about beggars in those big cities in China. She felt confused why the government didn't help them. In America, there are a lot of financial aids for poor people. Didn't China have it? For this topic, my classmates had their opinion. One of us thought that this is an underground organization of beggars. That means that a person gathered many disable people and children and forced them to beg on the street. At night, that person would give them food, and collect money that they beg during the daytime. Actually, I had my own experience. I was stolen when I went to shopping one day. I lost all my stuff. I called my cousin for help because he was a police officer. However, he told me to forget it. Even the police caught those thieves, they would not return money. ^^^^I felt so angry about it, but I could do nothing, just felt pity for those people. Compare to China, it is much better in America. However, this social problem still exists. It appears in different ways. I always take 7 trains to get to school. In mid-way, I have to go through a long tunnel and switch to F train. I usually saw a young man sitting on the ground and put a sign "hungry" in front of him. The first time I thought that he might be a traveler and lost his whole money, I thought he needed help. I gave him a bottle of milk. Many times later, he still sat over there. I started to ask myself. "Is he young? Can he find a job? Why does not he find a job but to beg in public? Our Principal also talked something about education in China. In China, students always sit row by row. The policy of class is no talking, students always listen to teachers. Oppositely, students always participate in class in America. I have strong feeling about what she said because I experienced the both situations. Actually, those two different educational styles all help me a lot. At the end, thanks to our Principals to visit our AP Chinese class.

Interview Questions for principals

Did you find any interesting things during this trip?
What advantages did you find that help improve our school?
What do you think about China before the trip and after the trip?
Did you notice any differences between Chinese in Chinatown and those in China?
Do you like Chinese food? Did you feel any difference between American Chinese food and those in China?

关于project

语言是我们这个组的主题，jianmin将着重谈一下语言的演变，以及文字的统一作用，我呢，将会对语言与方言的含义进行一剖析，而后我们会一同研究一下语言对中华民族所起的贡献与影响。我们将会从两方面入手，一是，利用我们所收集到的资料，写一些我们对这些的见解和摘录一些重要信息。二是， 利用课件的方式。 据初步估计，我们应该会做一些photoshop及 movie maker的处理。Jianmin的文字演变的movie maker的已经初步完成，至于我的那部分，我希望得到大家，不仅是精神上的支持，还需要大家发挥各自方言的特长，在我的镜头前，秀一段。呵呵， 在此先谢谢各位了！！ 这些只不过是我们的初步构想，如果有建议，或者好的构思，请与我和jianmin联系，谢谢捧场！

语言&方言

汉语有哪些特色？ 语言和方言在定义上有什么区别？ 语言对一个民族有什么重要性？
泱泱中华，在经历了五千年的沧桑之后，依然保持着原先的容颜，也属难能可贵，要追溯到根源，应归功于汉字的结构上。汉字主要分为象形字，会意字，形声字。所谓象形，就是根据事物的形状而模拟的文字，会意便是用事物的组成来表达抽象的意思，比如“明”字，是“日”与“月”的合成，以为日月所带来的光明。 那么，形声字便是根据相同的偏旁部首以发相近的音，如，“巴”，可延伸出“把”，“爸”，“芭”。从文字的构造上，就充分了展示了古代人民的智慧，巧妙的把生活与文字联系起来。记得以前学历史时，书上提过，在文字还没出现时，人们用贝壳，及在绳子上打结来记事，但是我认为这些事宜较为繁琐。 直到后来的春秋战国，百家争鸣，把文学推到了一个顶峰。然而，各个流派都有自己的学术造诣，各说纷纭。战国七雄，也是各持己见。这样文化的传承，也是分崩离析的。这里不得不提的人物应是秦始皇，一代枭雄，不仅统一了中国，同时也统一了度量衡与文字，加强了南北的交流。虽流传至今，有南腔北调之事，但是文字是大家公认的。说到语言的发音，这也是一门文化。据我个人感觉，我觉得语言跟人们所处的地理位置，当地传统有很大的关联。说说北方吧，多属高原，大平原，一马平川的，人们的性格也豪爽许多，说话就霸气那么点，加之地理的原因，人们靠马驰骋在广阔的大草原上，所以交通方便，人们的语言也差的比较少。然而，南方多山河，湖泊，人们的交流就受到了环境的影响，有些人甚至一辈子都没踏出山门。这样文化就如闭关锁国般，封存起来。 故古代有“愚公移山”。 这就如围城一般，城外的人向往城里的繁华，城里人有憧憬城外的美好。记得我外婆家四面环山，小时候，那边似人间仙境，人们在小溪边洗衣服，时不时就能看见鸳鸯戏水，溪水清澈见底。记得那时候都喜欢骑着老水牛在水中荡漾，溪水轻轻的拍打着脚丫子，一到炊烟袅袅的时候，外公便会拉着水牛，抱着我就回家了。小时候，外婆家总是很热闹，每次外婆都会跟他们讲外面的世界，讲的口沫横飞的。外婆总是说，多亏三个女儿都嫁到了山外面，所以她才有这么多机会往外跑，要是像其他人，一辈子估计都没出去过一次呢。每次说到这，她都会很骄傲。（好象跑题了！！！）。不过要提到方言，我算是最权威的南方代表。我生长在一个不怎么大点的海滨城镇，在那么一小块的地方，竟拥有了三，四种语言。（莆田话，福清话，客家话，……）如果没有普通话的存在，我都不知道该怎么交流。记得高中的时候来了好多讲不一样话的同学，我的普通话一下子提高了许多，真是让我感动了几多。 不过我要大大褒扬一下我们伟大的方言，据说，美国在911之后，对电话的监听与过滤都是很严密的。大多数的语言都会被专家破译，然而就是我们中国这些奇奇怪怪的方言，让专家都是丈二和尚摸不着头脑。呵呵，原来方言也是一种特定密码。至于语言的重要性，那就是统一了。特别是在异国他乡，要是听到和自己讲相同语言的人都会倍感亲切。记得我邻居就是这么一回事，我爸妈在逛街，一边聊天一边走，突然有人跑过来用方言搭讪，那人感到格外开心，聊着聊着，就成我邻居了。呵呵， 蛮戏剧性的！！