Blogger 5：Youth

    Today I read a passage on the Internet. It is written by a teacher focusing on how to spend our youth. At first, I thought that the teacher might just remind their students to make good use of time and put all their efforts into study just as what our teachers had told us in school. However, what he said is really beyond my expectation and has impressed me a lot.In the passage, he simply tells us to live our youth in what way we want.
    One day, one of his student who has graduated from school for many years wrote a letter to him to ask for his advice. Although the student performed very well in school and has a good job in a company, he still feels that he cannot get true happiness in his life and he even does not know the meaning of life despite the wealthy and successful life he is leading now. In the letter, he told his teacher that when he looked back on his youth he spent in his middle school and high school, all he could remember are study and the pressure put on him by his parents and teachers. After hearing this ,the teacher fell in deep thought: Is it right to ask all teenagers to spend all their time in study? Is it the only way to pass one's youth which is the most valuable period in one's life?
      It is undeniable to admit the significance of education but significance does not mean necessity. The teacher thought about the question which had also puzzled him for years.As last, he draw this conclusion: you have plenty of time to compensate for the crazy things you did in youth, so why not enjoy your youth by living an ideal life you like? Frankly speaking, such thinking has really shocked many netizens so people begin to think over the old topic: How should we spend our youth that we will not regret later in our life?
      As far as I am concerned, there is no absolute right answer for this question and it is extremely difficult to lead a life that one will not regret. In fact, all we could do is to make full use of our time we are spending now but not only spend it on studying. Do the things that you think is worth of the time and effort that you put in it.Although we have youth only once in life, we can keep young as long as our minds are energetic and full of fresh ideas. This is the life that I am looking forward to live.

blog6: My opinions about k-pop

In this blog, I want to share my points about k-pop.

Actually, whether our Chinese youngsters should follow this trend is a much-debated issue. Many people, especially the parental generations, think this fad will breed a side effect on us. In their opinion, as a Chinese, whose country’s history can be traced back to millennia ago, it is unreasonable to worship others’ culture. Further, South Korea, in their orthodox recognition, is merely one of the countries that once had been denominated by us since Tang dynasty; therefore, its culture is pale compared with ours. They show great concern about such mechanical imitation of South Korean custom, fashions and even the language. In other words, our seniors are worried the loss of our cultural identities. I think some parts of their anxiety are legitimate. From my observation, our domestic markets have been saturated by enormous South Korean products. Indeed, these products are obviously changing our lifestyles. Empirical evidence shows that, in many cases, if a boy could say “sa lang hei you” (I love you) to a girl. She will feel exceedingly happy. One reason is that she could gain the boy’s love. Another reason may sound somewhat ridiculous, but it is true. That is, she probably thinks this boy must be romantic, considerate, bold, debonair, candid and responsible, just like the actors in K-operas.

Undeniably, we should cherish our own culture, since the ancestors had bequeathed so much treasure to us. For instance, although, the contents of examples cited in the classics, were relatively obsolete, the code of ethics and thoughts, which were contained in them, could be still useful to our daily life. Thus, why we need to pursue this trend instead of such time-honored, tangible and intangible wealth? I do not reckon my peers who are crazed about k-pop are not patriotic. Nevertheless, the cultural erosion is a chronic and subtle process. If we disregard this problem, severe repercussions will ensue.

Of course, I have to admit that South Korean culture does have some positive aspects. I want to put a movie called “more than love”(假如爱有天意) as an example. In that movie, the background music sounded soft and its rhythm was always slow. Meanwhile, the scenes in that movie were quite beautiful, which completely captured my heart. More importantly, the plot was very impressed. I think this movie is educative and instructive. Doubtless, it purified my soul and inculcated the meaning of true love in my mind. I am not a suave and sentimental person, but I still could not stand crying when the movie came to the climax. (Since then, I know that if you really love a person, you should try your best to let her happy and never require anything to repay. Even though she does not love you, you should also be gratified to see that she lives happily with another person. What the true love needs is not the money, gifts and a kiss, but the meticulous care, regardless of whether that girl could sense it.) In fact, this movie exemplified the style of South Korean movies. They are fresh, elegant and enlightening. After watching such films, I always subconsciously reflect my behavior and promote my spiritual altitude.

In a nutshell, k-pop is a two-edge sword. What should we do is not to hold back this irreversible trend but to use it to our advantage as well as minimize the disadvantage.

Blog 5: Personal Space

With the world exploding population, we seem to have less and less personal space. Nowadays it is a common problem bothering people that all too often we may feel disturbed and uncomfortable by others encroaching on your personal space , which happens quite frequently especially in a crowded occasion, such as a MRT station or an elevator. Thus, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain personal spaces especially in such a modern society.

Although personal space highly varies with different cultures or individuals, there is one thing in common that it is such an essential factor to protect ourselves from intimate or unacceptable physical contacts. For example, my personal distance is a little longer than the average because I will easily tend to feel being offended and lose the sense of security when unfamiliar persons get closed to me. Therefore, even when I was queuing in a line, I would try to keep a long distance from the person in front of me. Moreover, I am always careful to avoid joining a crowd when I am going to get vehicles. However, sometimes entering one’s personal space can also be an indication of familiarity for the reason that we would like to get quite closed to our friends.

Since personal space can strongly influence feelings of people and even indicate some facts, it is significant for us to pay more attention to it.

Blog 5: My Reflections on the Personal Space

Recently, Ms Christine asked me a very interesting question. She asked me whether I would allow Xiangyu to whisper something in my ear. At that time, I said that I was ok with it. To my surprise, my answer aroused controversy. Some classmates found this action,which is quite common for me, might be too intimate.Therefore, I have thought a lot to find the reason why we have this divarication.

As far as I am concerned, it is about the personal space. Everyone has his/her own opinion about personal space. Some people demand greater personal space,which means they will be bothered if people come too closely to them. But we do not share the same feeling.That is why we sometimes offend others without being aware of it. For example, in China, many people believe that the more hospitable they are, the more satisfied their guests feel.On the contrary , guests will become unconformtable if hosts give too much concern. It is because some guests may think their own spaces suffer from invasions when people pay much attention to them. Therefore, to avoid such embarrassment and trouble,we need to be considerate. We should never take what we think is right for granted because it may be offensive in other people’s view.

In general, being aware of the personal space of those around us and being considerate of how our actions may be intrusive is a golden rule of the social life.

Blog 6: An Unforgettable Experience

March 30, 2012 was surely an unforgettable day for me, for it was the first day on which I became a Chinese calligraphy teacher of more than 20 students in Commonwealth Secondary School. I eventually understood how exhausted my former teacher was when he taught us in my senior high school, and I also realized how dynamic and patient should a teacher be in order to be capable of his or her job.

After signing up for the GIVE Programme organized by MOE months ago, I was invited to share my skills of Chinese calligraphy (pen) with some local students and, of course, I was so excited about that because I thought teaching must be of great fun. When the day of school visiting was approaching, however, as a totally raw recruit, I felt a bit nervous. I did not have a general concept of regular teaching patterns, nor did I know the techniques to handle students. Everything about teaching was covered with a mysterious cloth and it seemed impossible for me to reveal it.

Whether I liked it or not, the day finally came. That morning I got up very early, about 6 a.m. when I opened my eye, there was still entirely gloomy outside. I dressed up decently, packed up my bag and hurried to the MRT station in order not to be late at the first time. I sweated profusely all the way, which mainly because of my anxiety instead of the hot weather.

It was only five minutes left before class began as I arrived at the front door of the classroom. I took a deep breath, adjusted myself swiftly and stepped into the class with a big smile. Immediately, I received some friendly smiles from some of the children, from which I believed they were kind and of good manners. I gradually thought that I was not giving a lesson, but actually had a heated discussion with them- in other words, there were many interacting sections during the class with a brisk ambience. Most of the students were active and willing to show their ideas and thoughts. Whenever I threw out a question, I could receive creative answers regardless of their accuracy.

I enjoyed being a teacher even though actually for only one hour. The children were very lovely and cute and I could not help being with them. I realized the true meaning of the saying: “Roses given, fragrance in hand”. I felt happy after sharing my skills with others perhaps because I received others’ appreciation and respect. I would have a sense of achievement when my students make progress.

I kept talking for so long without a rest that after the class I am extremely dry; my throat also became a bit hoarse for talking in loud voice. Nevertheless, I still love the procedure of teaching, fromwhich both my students and myself gain a lot.

Blog 5: Let It Go

Life is indeed a journey in which you could never go back. Those sceneries along the road as well as time fade away from our sight at an incredible speed. When we look back, we will always feel pity for certain things, for those we've lost. In my opinion, holding a wise attitude to these things is the key to advance in our life journey

Though I have only been in this world for 19 years, there have already been enough things for me to feel sweet, to taste sorrow, and mostly, to regret for. The failure of doing poorly in National Entrance Examination, the improper behaviors which hurt my parents, the final separation of she and I, and countless other things are all the secret pains locked in the inner room of my heart. Every time I recall these memories, I could feel as if someone is squeezing my heart.  I always asked myself what made me so stupid to do such a ridiculous thing? Why i didn't know how to cherish? Why I let her go? There was a time when all of these existed as heavy burdens to me, which blocked my way forward.

I knew my attitude was wrong, but sometimes man just couldn't prevent his emotion from destroying his rational thoughts. However, after experiencing quite a lot of things, I think I am mature enough to handle it.

As the Chinese saying goes:"Things in the past are beyond redemption, yet we can pursue what is in the future", the most degage thing you can do is to leave a loud laughter for the Irreversible past, and hold your sight to the unpredictable future.    Now, I would still feel sorrow every time I think of things I lost in the past time, but I have gained enough courage to face it, to learn from it, to smile to it. Things lost are lost, so why we use the lost things to add worries into our minds. After all, the future is still in our hand!

So, why not let the past things past? Let it go. If they come to our mind, why not smile to them, chat with them, and then say goodbye to them. Maybe we cannot make those things lost to come back, but at least we can seize the things we will have tomorrow and leave less pity in our life road.

Blog5: the Crossroads of My Life

I’m sure that almost all of us have encountered this problem- which major to choose in our four-year campus life at NUS-recently. ”Just choose what you like best” the words said by the professors and acquaintances I’ve asked for advice make the problem confusing me a lot seem very easy to solve. However, it is still fairly hard to choose because I even don't know which subject I have interest in.

Actually, I think that just following our interest when choosing the field of study may not be sensible enough, since things which are interesting and enjoyable when they are hobbies can become both unprofitable and unsatisfactory while turning to professions. Therefore, we should think twice before we decide as well as make the decision not only according to our interest but also career prospects.

Nevertheless, it’s really hard to tell which profession is truly promising. Modern world is changing every minute, let alone four years. The specialties we think are good enough today may even don’t have the possibility for us to find a job four years later. Choosing the major quite needs our long-term vision.

In addition, the name of a profession may puzzle us because its curriculum is probably not like what we have expected by judging from the major’s name. Take chemical engineering as an example, one of my seniors chose it due to the love for chemistry, while he disappointedly found it filled with classes in physics but not chemistry after he was enrolled. From this perspective, we should collect enough information about the curricula of our possible choices before the final decision.

The above are all my thoughts on how to make a proper decision when choosing the field for undergraduate study. No matter what speciality is finally chosen, I think the most important thing for me is to make myself like it and learn it well. After all, it's difficult to change the external conditions but it’s easy to change ourselves.

Last but not the least, hope everyone could get the ideal major:)