Learning Journal 2(December)

     I have found out that when I was asked to write in a limited time period in class, I always could only write about 100 words. Even though when I was writing my free writing at home it sometimes took me one to two hours to finish it. When I was writing, the fact seems to be that  I couldn't write fluently. After writing some sentences then I would have to pause and figure out what I want to write next. My personal experiences and opinion toward the topic are not enough, so it will take me a lot time to think some examples or my reaction to the subject. To solve this problem, I think I need to read more related articles or novels to improve writing speed and skills.

My Meaningful Object(WA2)(VERSION3)

      I have always wanted to have a warm blanket that carries a lot of memory like others. I thought my brother probably influenced me on having this idea. He had two blankets since he was little, and he had brought them to every place where there was a bed. For at least twenty years, those blankets had become rags and my mother had to sew them again and again. Watching my brother cherished them so mush, l also had a strong desire to have my own one. However, l didn't have a chance to tell my mother about this for a long time. Until three years ago, I still could remember that day clearly, we went to Costco at Saturday night, and on that special day my little but sweet dream came true. I finally seized the critical moment to say out loud "Mom, l really want that yellow blanket." As soon as I saw it from a far distance, l knew it was the kind that I wanted. In front of my sight, this object was shining even though its color was a little bit close to beige. This blanket was made of artificial fur (100% polyester) and its color is between yellow and beige. Unfolding it, its width is 1.5 meters and its length is 1.3 meters, which allows me to roll myself up in it and it is large enough to cover my whole body when I am sleeping. To try to please kids, there are a duck head that was made to be a hat shape (kind of like hoodie), claws and a little tail. The color of those three sections is red. I love it not only its cute appearance but also its touch which is very soft and tender. Since I got it, I felt ecstatic joy as a little girl, I really wanted to scream and jump up and down at that time.

      Most people cherished their blankets because they could smell their own odor that may relieve them on the blankets. That odor was built up by several years, so some of them don't want to wash them. But for me, I love the scent which is given off by fabric softener whenever my mother washes it, they really smell good. Although I owned this blanket only for two or three years, I still felt that there was some connection between the blanket and me. Just like that l had owned it for many years, and I think the relationship will be stronger and stronger as time passes. Every time when I watch this soft and yellow blanket, it will remind me of the scene that my sister and I covered in it, huddling against each other to conquer the cold winter night. This is the critical scene that makes this blanket become the most important thing to me. In a person’s life, there are certainly some things that he or she relies on, visible or invisible, item or person. As for me, I believe this blanket was, is and even will be my meaningful object for the rest of my life.

Fight for Our Right(WA3)(version2)

     As same human beings who are all protected by Constitution, why can’t gay people get married? For a long time, we think the ‘normal family’ must consist of a man and a woman who love each other so much, so the government provide them the legitimate marriage statement. Now, some people say gay people can’t get married because they are not qualified candidate based on law, but when we think in another way is that means gay people don’t love their partners as much as ‘normal couple’ do so they can’t get married. Or just because they are two mans or two women, which don’t meet our general idea about how should a family consist of. Those gay partners want to get married not only because of a statement that prove their everlasting love for each other but also the rights followed by the legitimate marriage. Those rights can include signing agreement about DNR for their partner when they are facing major and urgent surgery and also insurance fee provided by government or company.

     Somebody may think this issue is not his or her business; however, once you have a friend who belongs to GLBT group, you will know what they are suffering now and why they desire this right and “a paper” so much. A right that allows them to say out loud who they love, no matter that person is he or she. Why these rights are so important is because not everyone can get through the discrimination upon gay society. One of my sister’s friends is a gay and has a boyfriend for a long time. Unfortunately, they broke up lately, because his boyfriend got tired of being seen as alien who is considered too special to be tolerated by our society. We all know that he still loves my sister’s friend, but it turns out that he can’t overcome himself and the society's criticals. He said” I am just too sick about it and can’t bear anymore.”  

     Nowadays, we are instilled more and more ideas that we should accept differences and diversity of gender (LGBT) by current education. Under this influence, our environment is more and more friendly to those LGBT group, but I think the present situation isn’t enough. Sometimes, we may end up calling slogans instead of enforcing actual actions. Speaking of actual actions, I may want to focus on making laws to protect their rights, which I think is the most important mission at the time. However, everyone has his or her own right to decide what his or her belief is, I can’t ask them to have the same thoughts and opinions to these issues. But what my point is, even though you have your different opinion, you still have to respect those people’s characteristic as a human being. Don’t tend to criticize them merely because they are different from you; also, don’t think they are gays is because they are sick. Finally, to those who are still fighting for their right and happiness, I appreciate their efforts. Although there is still a long way to go and their goal is still far away, fighting for what they think is right and also for the following generations. I think there must be one day, a special day, they will get their sweet achievement. ‘’Courage means going against majority opinion in the name of truth.”

A Blue Team

     No matter which corner you walk by in Soochow campus, you always can catch sight of their back. Whenever you find them, they are working hardly to make campus clear. This scene will make me think of the memory that almost every student has shared and experienced before. When we were in elementary school, junior high school and high school, we had to clean our environment by ourselves. some people think that it is a way to cultivate students' sense of responsibility and also make it to be a good habit, which I fully agree with. When we enter college, we don't have to do this job anymore maybe because the most important thing now is to focus on studying our specialty and developing our interests in different fields, which I also agree with. But what my point is that we should appreciate that someone is taking good care of our environment for our sake, even though maybe others will think that it is their job and they are just doing what they should do as a cleaner.

     I have also noticed that most of the cleaners in that blue team are middle-aged people or even older, some of their age is maybe as same as our parents'. At their age to be a physical labor is really a hard job for them, every time when they are out of work they must feel exhausted. However, I am not saying that we should feel sympathy for them; actually, it is totally opposite. We should feel happy for them, because they still can work means that they are healthy enough and also they are very lucky to find job based on their age. What the attitude we should hold is having a appreciate heart and every time when we meet them we can say a simple word: "thanks"to them.

Learning Journal(November)

     I have already known that I don't have a very solid foundation about grammar and punctuations, but through several courses talking about the basic definition about some proper noun and some sentence structure, making me more clear about where is my problem. Sometimes, I will make mistakes about comma splices, I may write a very long sentences and only use commas to split the sentences. And I also find out that when I want to use some words to describe a thing, I often have to check the dictionary that if I spell it right or I can't think of some proper words right away to use. I think it is because I don't have enough vocabulary bank, which leads to that I can't use some more elaborate or more accurate words to describe my feelings or situation. So I really need to enlarge my word bank. Also, when I am writing, I really need to be more careful about some details(little grammars), such as plural or singular , capitalization and also the title. My last and also biggest problem is that I tend to overuse "the" instead of "a,"because I can't fully understand what's the difference.
 

Fight for Our Right(WA3)(Version1)

     As same human beings who are all protected by Constitution, why can’t gay people get married? For a long time, we think the ‘normal family’ must consist of a man and a woman who love each other so much, so the government provide them the legitimate marriage statement. Now, some people say gay people can’t get married because they are not qualified candidate based on law, but when we think in another way is that means gay people don’t love their partners as much as ‘normal couple’ do so they can’t get married. Or just because they are two mans, which don’t meet our general idea about how should a family consist of. Those gay partners want to get married not only because of a statement that prove their everlasting love for each other but also the rights followed by the legitimate married. Those rights can include signing agreement about DNR for their partner when they are facing major and urgent surgery and also insurance fee provided by government or company.

     Nowadays, we are instilled more and more ideas that we should accept differences and diversity of gender (LGBT) by current education. Under this influence, our environment is more and more friendly to those LGBT group, but I think the present situation isn’t enough. Sometimes, we may end up calling slogans instead of enforcing actual actions. Speaking of actual actions, I may want to focus on making laws to protect their rights, which I think is the most important mission at the time. However, everyone has his or her own right to decide what his or her belief is, I can’t ask them to have the same thoughts and opinions to these issues. But what my point is, even though you have your different opinion, you still have to respect those people’s characteristic as a human being. Don’t tend to criticize them merely because they are different from you; also, don’t think they are gays is because they are sick. Finally, to those who are still fighting for their right and happiness, I appreciate their efforts. Although there is still a long way to go and their goal is still far away, fighting for what they think is right and also for the following generations. I think there must be one day, a special day, they will get their sweet achievement. ‘’Courage means going against majority opinion in the name of truth.”

My Meaningful Object(WA2)(version2)

                                                  My Meaningful Object

     I have always wanted to have a warm blanket that carries a lot of memory like others. I thought my brother probably influenced this idea. He had two blankets since he was little, and he had brought them to every place where had a bed. For at least twenty years, those blankets had become rags and my mother had to sew them again and again. Watching my brother cherished them so mush, l also had a strong desire to have my own one. However, l didn't have a chance to tell my mother about this for a long time. Until three years ago, I still could remember that day clearly; we went to Costco at Saturday night, and at that special day my little but sweet dream came true. I finally seized the critical moment to say out loud "mom, l really want that yellow blanket." As soon as I saw it from a far distance, l knew it was the kind that I wanted. In front of my sight, this object was shining even though its color was a little bit close to beige. This blanket was made of artificial fur (100% polyester) and its color is between yellow and beige. Unfolding it, its width is 1.5 meters and its length is 1.3 meters, which allows me to roll myself up in it and it is large enough to cover my whole body when I am sleeping. To try to please kids, there are a duck head that was made to be a hat shape (kind of like hoodie), claws and a little tail. The color of those three sections is red. I love it not only its cute appearance but also its touch which is very soft and tender. Since I got it, I felt ecstatic joy as a little girl, I really wanted to scream and jump up and down at that time.

     Most people cherished their blankets because they could smell their own odor that may relieve them on the blankets. That odor was built up by several years, so some of them don't want to wash them. But for me, I love the scent which is given off by fabric softener whenever my mother washes it, they really smell good. Although I owned this blanket only for two or three years, I still felt that there was some connection between the blanket and me. Just like that l had owned it for many years, and I think the relationship will be stronger and stronger as time passes. Every time when I watch this soft and yellow blanket, it will remind me of the scene that my sister and I covered in it, huddling against each other to conquer the cold winter night. This is the critical scene that makes this blanket become the most important thing to me. In a person’s life, there are certainly some things that he or she relies on, visible or invisible, item or person. As of me, I believe this blanket was, is and even will be my meaningful object for the rest of my life.

The Unforgettable Trip in My Life(WA1)(Version3)

      My second trip to Sabah in this summer was right after the trip to Japan. After the trip to Japan, my mother, sister and I were all obsessed with the feelings of traveling, so we arranged this trip when we went back to Taiwan. Just like japan, Sabah was not in our plan at first, we even didn't know that Sabah is a tourist attraction. I had only this Sabah in geographic textbook. Why this place came into our mind was because when we were browsing Air Asia (a cheap airline website) someday and saw an advertisement which said that the air ticket fare to Sabah was very cheap. So we searched the information about Sabah on the Internet and found out that almost everyone who has been to Sabah all recommended others to visit it. We booked the air tickets right away and also hotels. Actually, we almost canceled this trip, because my father was worried about our safety, he thought only three girls went to an unpopular place was a little bit dangerous. After we told him how much we wanted to visit this country, he finally consented to this decision and made this trip came to being. 

     I was so nervous before our trip, and still felt nervous after alighting from the plane because I didn't know this country very well. I was afraid there were lots of bad guys, which was the stereotype. However, the more you knew about this country, the more you loved it. People here were not so passionate like Taiwanese. When you saw them first you would feel that they were a little bit cold, but actually they were really kind people. 

     The focus of this trip was a leisure and luxury trip. We didn't arrange a lot of tourist attractions to visit; instead, we booked two nights staying in very expensive hotels (two different hotels), which I thought was very worthy. We spent time lying on the beach and watching the beautiful scenes; time seemed to stop at that moment. We also enjoyed one of  the hotels' buffet, in that restaurant we were surrounded by lots of foreigners that was a great memory for me (it's so cool).

   There are also lots of wild animal resources in Sabah. We have seen several types of animals that are unique only in Sabah and rare to see, such as Orang utan and Proboscis Monkey(長鼻猴). To watch Orang utan(紅毛猩猩) is as important as to eat delicious food for us during the trip in Sabah. Because my sister is a big fan of Orang utan, when she saw them she said that she wanted to bring them home because they were so cute. One of the hotels we stayed has a conservation district of Orang utan, so we arranged one afternoon to visit there. After hiking a little bit; finally, we saw their cute figures climbing up and down and ran forth and back. There were three baby orang utans which were really tiny and just as big as two-or-three-year old human baby. The time we visited was their feeding time so that we could see them, or usually they would stay in the woods and in higher places. At that time, one was hanging on the tree and watching us; the others were eating the fruits provided and I found that they had a bad habit just like some of us that they were picky. There were a variety of fruits and vegetables, but those cute buddies only chose banana and some other sweet fruit, leaving lots of vegetables. However, during lunch, some uninvited guests appeared, I guess they were a kind of Macaca mulatta(普通獼猴), they rubbed a lot of food when those cute buddy were distracted or in front of their sight. The result was that half of the pictures we took were Orang utan.                            

      Food, scenes, people, animals and both of my most beloved women created this amazing trip together. We tried to relax ourselves and forgot all the disturbing things in Taiwan. Every trip is a chance for us to create the sharing memory. Because of my mother’s job, most of the time we have to separate in two places so l cherish every chance I get to be with her a lot. After this trip we are all full of energy, so I have to say Sabah is really a good place to relax ourselves.