JOURNAL#20

Every culture has its unique characteristic and history background. Doubtlessly,there are also some special cultural custom and unacceptable behaviors from my country. one of the special custom will be the religion. In Taiwan, the most general religion is taoism which means peopel will go to temple to worship and peopel are not allowed to step on the doorsill. And the food that you bring to temple are also limited to some items such as you can't bring guava or some speacial food. Moreover, it also not polite to point the figure that the people worship and it may also bring bad luck if you do not respect the figure. Sometimes, it requires some wisdom to give a present. It is because some time the present's pronunciation has a hidden meaning and it may mean bad luck. For example, the couple won't send each other a umbrella as a gift and its because the unbrella in chinese pronunciation is sound like break up.

JOURNAL#19

The first idea that come into me when I think of my favorite activity during my leisure time is watching tv. For some people, they may think to watch tv is quite boring for them because they can't find the program they like or they think it is waste time to sit in front of tv for a whole day without doing anything. As for me, I like to watching tv not only because the tv program provide me with a lot of choices but also I can find some interesting and funny news. For those peoeple who like to travle they can obtain the information from the travel channel and able to know the great spot to visit and the good resort to stay without spending time searching for the place to go. I also like the food channel that provide some good shows to demonstrate how to serve a savory food even though I can't cook but I still like to watch this kind of show.ha Sometimes, I also watch some dramas and Grey's anatomy is my favorite one.

JOURNAL#18

The thing that I wan to do is to go shopping. I usually went shopping once a week while the time that I was in Taiwan. However, I am not often to do shopping since I have been here. The reason that I can think of probably is the distance. The environment here that is hard for me to adjust will be the distance whether you want to dine out or to do shopping even though you just want to buy some drink. You are not able to finish without driving. I have heard some good places for shopping such as Santa Monica , Pasadena or South coast plaza. But all of these locations require at least 20 minutes drive and it will cost more time if you hit the traffic. Sometimes, I really want to go out and visit some famous spots such as museum or shopping mall but I am lazy. Orz!! I will grasp the next vacation to visit some place after finishing this semester.

JOURNAL#17

This spring break I went to mammoth for sonwbording. This is my second time to play the snowboard but I still had hard time with it.HA~ We have eleven people in three cars and it was also a long way to drive to there. We left here around 5pm and the time we got there almost 11pm and it is also the first time to have this long distance trip since i came here. We plan to stay for two nights and to play snowboard for two days. Although I can handle the board well than the first time, I still fell a lot. I feel like my body was falling apart and it was really like a torture. But I like the speed of this activity and it is really exciting. My friend was kind of forcing me to try the difficult route and I was enjoy it even though it took me around one hour or more for the top to get down. This was a fun trip and the snow season is also almost over.

JOURNAL#16

The strategies that I can think of to keep the language proficiency is to watch TV. There are various tv programs that you can choose. In order to keep up with the familitarity of English, you can choose the topic that you like and you are interested in to watch. For example, if you are interested in some social news, you can watch the news channel and with the subtitle so that you can catch the vacabulary that you don't know. With the repeat words from the news, you may remember those words spontaneously. Furthermore, you also can watch the mtv to listen to music and able to know what's hot now. And you can also use the same way to improve the English by using the internet. You can find the news that you like or the website you are interested in. The reason that I think this strategy can work is because you can find the word which is used quite common in your daily life and you can remember those words more easily than the words in the text book.

JOURNAL#14 Cultural Identity

The things that make me different and unique is related to my cultural background. And my personilty and concept which is also totally influenced with the environment that I grew up. I think my mom plays an improtant role in my life. She is quite open when compare to other's parents and the way we stay with each other just like friends. Sometimes when I was in a difficulty and need some dircections or the guideness and she is always there for me. The most first impression that I gave to others usually is quite and even hard to get close. For me, I think it is just hard for me to start a conversation with stranger and furthermore I am a passive person . I am willing to meet new friends and so I will try to change myself but I know it takes time.

JOURNAL#13

I have been here for around 2 months and I am still trying to figure out the way of living here. We have met each other for more than seven years. Time flies , we are going to experience another stage of our life which is totally different from being a student and maybe it is more difficult.I hope you can do the thing you like to do and don't be overwhelmed by the reality. I miss the time that we stay and hang out together and the things we have been

through. I feel ease to stay with you guys and just like one of you had ever said the relationship between us is like the string and kite. Even though we are not usually to contact each other at all, we still attach to each other. I know it's hard to meet the person who is similar to yourself and I am glad to meet you guys. cheer up!!!

JOURNAL#12

The movie Cinderella Man is the one which impressed me the most recently. The class required us to read the book and to watch the movie. And the background of story takes place in New York and New Jersey during the Great Depression, a time that people experienced the worst economic hardship in U.S. history. James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) was a light heavyweight boxer who was forced to retired from the ring after breaking his hand in his last fight. And the whole story described how he fought for himself and his family. He gave the hope to those people were suffered from the Great depression. I was able to understand the whole movie completely due to the preview of the book. For me, I think the story is touching when it describes the interaction between him and his family.

JOURNAL#11

After taking the eight weeks of composition, I had found out that the basic ideas of writing a paragraph. At first, I was a little bit confused about the concepts from the text book because I ha never learned the composition in this way. By these following weeks, I got to know what element should a parapragh possess which may include the sapce order and enough details to describe the subject. However, I think my grammer is still not stroung enough and sometimes I will still confuse about the tense. Moreover, I can't come up with any idea to support my paragraph in the topic that I am not interested in or the field I am not familiar with. So, I should try to work on this part.

JOURNAL#10

Last weekend, one of my roommates held a pot luck party to invite her friends and coworkers to our home to have dinner together. And it was my first time to hear this word pot luck which means a gathering of people where each person is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group. At the time that I received the invitation from my roommate, I started to wonder what kind of dish I can bring to this party. Apparently, I am not at cooking at all. Therefore, I decided to bring the salad to the pot luck party and went to the supermarket to get the lettuce and some different kinds of dressing. The party started at around 8 clock and people just came in succession and we just to grab some food and drink to enjoy the Saturday's night. I am glad to meet these new friends and also able to practice English with the native speakers.

Journal#9

My favorite ride in the Magic mountain is the one named Tatsu. I like to take the ride that is thrill and excited. I feel that I am able to release the pressure when I scream a lot during the ride. I know it is kind of crazy. The reason why that the Tatsu is my favorite ride is because it is a little bit different from those traditional ride. you will be hanged by the machine when you tkae the ride. During the ride of Tatsu, you will fly at speeds in around over 62 mph through deep plunges and you will also have been through some huge spirals and sharp vertical dives that make you flying through the Park's mountainous terrain. The duration of the ride is 2 minutes which is quite long when campareing with others. And it is my favorite ride from the Magic mountain.

Journal#8

The Friday night,the side walk is fill of crowd and there are several artist are performing their specialty. Here is the place named Love River which is the famous spot in my hometown. People usually spend their time here during the weekend Love River is located in the south part of my hometown and has been renovated by the government in the recent years. With the support of government, Liver River is decorated with many artists' creation and settled in the random. Sometimes, when you walk along the river and you may find those creation accidentally. There is a heart shaped bridge across the river and embellished with different kinds of light. At night, the river will reflect the light which is really fascinating and charming. People sometime are stopped by the performance and sit down to enjoy the music and atmosphere here. They can have a leisure time here and just throw their busy task ahead temporary.

Journal #7

The most unforgettable thing which happened in my teenage would be the one when I was in the middle school. I joined an English Summer Camp to the United States for two months. The reason why this impressed me the most is because it was the first time that I was this far away from home alone. It was a precious experience for me. The English Summer Camp was held by my middle school so there were a lot of my friends to join this activity. We were not worried but happy to experience the journey. The school we visited was Cal Poly Pomona which is located in the California. I still remembered that the first day we arrived and everything here seemed so fascinated for us. The people, environment and the way of living were new for us. My friends and I just tried to seize the chance to do the thing that we had never been through. All of the memories are still quite fresh for me now and we even talk it a lot when I hang out with my middle school’s classmates. I really appreciate my parents to give me the opportunity to experience different way of living and this invaluable remembrance that I am able to share with others.

Journal#6 Earthquake

There was a devastating earthquake which happened in 1999 and caused an incredible damage to Taiwan. This significant event impressed me a lot with it's remarkble power of the earthquake and the disater it resulted in. At that time, I was a middle school student and the date of earthquake was September 21th. There reason why I could remember this day clearly was because my school had a graduated trip in the same day. The earthquake happened at midnight. I could feel the shake of earthquake but I thought it may not that serious and just kept sleeping. Beacuse Taiwan is located between two faults. We are used to the sitaution when the earthquake happened. The next morning, we still followed the schedule of graduated trip;however, w were on our way to the destination and we were informed to stop the journey and went back to school. It was because the road collapsed by the falling stones from the mountain side and the middle part of Taiwan still along with some small earthquake. For ous safety,it's better to cancel the trip. After went back home and turned on the tv and saw some frightening pictures and realized the serious consequsence. It was the significant event that took place in my lifetime.

Jounal#5 The three little pigs

Once upon a time ,there was a mother pig who had three little pigs. The three little pigs grew so big that their mother said to them, "You are too big to live here any longer. You must go and build houses for yourselves. The first little pig built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do. He was very pleased with his house. He said that the wolf won't catch me and eat me.The second little pig built himself a house of sticks. It was stronger than the house of straw. The second little pig also was very pleased with his house and said that the wolf won't be able to catch me and eat me.The third little pig built himself a house of bricks. It took him a long time to build this strong house. The third little pig said the same woeds too. The next day the wolf came along the road. He came to the house of straw which the first little pig had built. When the first little pig saw the wolf coming, he ran inside his house and shut the door. The wolf knocked on the door and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in." The little pig said I will not let you come in." "Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in," said the wolf. So he huffed and puffed. The house of straw fell down and the wolf ate up the first little pig.And the same thing did happen on the second one. The third one was survived from wolf's attack because of the firm bricks house.

My first arrival to Usa

As the time goes by, I still remember the first day that I arrivaled to the USA. The plan was arrivaled earily than it assumed. I was excited and worried to be here. It was my first time to be this far from home afterall. My roommate would pick me up and we had never met before. She left me her cell phone and asked me to call once I arrivaled at the airport. Unfortunally, I forgot to bring the note with me which had my roommate's cell phone on it. At first, I was so nervous and even called back to my mon and asked her for help.And I just tried to look around if there was a same person who was searching for someone too. At this time , I remembered that we had reminded each other what color of shirt we would wear as a sign which could help us to recognize each other. Finally, we met in front of the information board.And it was my first to the USA.