Anna#6
I have been in CESL for a year, and the moment that I can remember clearly is when I pay the tuition in the beginning of a new term. Because it reminds me two things—the high expense and my parents, I doubt if the cost is worth. First, I totally spend about 30,000 dollars during the time that I stay in the U.S. The expense is enough for me to open a small company in my hometown, and the question is what I did in last year. Compare with all my classmates in China, some of them have already had their own business; some at least have worked half a year. What about me? I still stay in a language school although I am 24 years old. When I pay the tuition every time, I cannot help imaging what people who as old as me are doing. I ever doubt if I use the money to open my own career, I may have the ability to set up a family now. I am considered as a loser by myself sometimes since everything I did is not enough for my parents to be proud of me. That is the second thing what I concern about. I do not know if I am the son who shows filial obedience to the parents because I choose to study here instead of staying with my parents and taking care of them in their left lives. They may not need how well I can take care of them. Nevertheless, they only hope that I can take good care of myself. Taking good care of myself contains a lot of definitions, including my study, my health, my emotion. In CESL, I did none of them well while I spent a lot of money. So far, I have tried my best to graduate from CESL as soon as possible because I do not expect to enjoy CESL life anymore. I have found my target in my life instead of wasting time. Therefore, I will renew my confidence to face all kinds of challenges that will appear in the future. Hopefully, I can reach my destination of my life, a holler coaster life, and CESL is just a small slope of it.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
It Makes Me Nervous
Anna#5
What can make me nervous? Indeed, that is the tofel test which is coming. The tofel test of this term is very important to me, because it decides whether or not I can go to SIUC. The pressure comes from my parents who are disappointed about what I did last year. They notice me that this is my last opportunity to go to SIUC, or they will transfer me to another school which requires lower quality than SIUC. There are two reasons that I prefer to study in SIUC. First, in Carbondale, I have many friends who give me courage to make me strong when I encounter some troubles. For example, there was ever a negative event which my father was injured by accident, and the situation was not so optimistic that my father might not recover well as before. I thought that I, as a son, could not do anything for my father, and I was even not beside him when he was in a big trouble. I lost all my energy to do something else, but kept upset. At that time, all my friends who knew what happened to me accompanied me and encourage me all the time. Gradually, I feel better because those words which my friends encouraged me make me so brave that I start to understand I should be tough. Next, restarting my American life is still rocky although I have already known how to live in a strange place. Carbondale, as a college town, exists peacefully and simply, and I like the environment and the safety of it. I rarely can stay and study in a town without any anxiety and the fresh air makes me energetic. I cannot ensure that the place where my parents let me go will be as good as here. Therefore, I must be qualified by tofel test this time if I do not want to leave Carbondale. That is the reason why the tofel test can make me nervous although I do practice three times a week during this term. Anyway, I will try my best even if I would fail in the test. Hopefully, I will pass it, and graduate from CESL because I want to finish my bachelor’s degree in SIUC.
What can make me nervous? Indeed, that is the tofel test which is coming. The tofel test of this term is very important to me, because it decides whether or not I can go to SIUC. The pressure comes from my parents who are disappointed about what I did last year. They notice me that this is my last opportunity to go to SIUC, or they will transfer me to another school which requires lower quality than SIUC. There are two reasons that I prefer to study in SIUC. First, in Carbondale, I have many friends who give me courage to make me strong when I encounter some troubles. For example, there was ever a negative event which my father was injured by accident, and the situation was not so optimistic that my father might not recover well as before. I thought that I, as a son, could not do anything for my father, and I was even not beside him when he was in a big trouble. I lost all my energy to do something else, but kept upset. At that time, all my friends who knew what happened to me accompanied me and encourage me all the time. Gradually, I feel better because those words which my friends encouraged me make me so brave that I start to understand I should be tough. Next, restarting my American life is still rocky although I have already known how to live in a strange place. Carbondale, as a college town, exists peacefully and simply, and I like the environment and the safety of it. I rarely can stay and study in a town without any anxiety and the fresh air makes me energetic. I cannot ensure that the place where my parents let me go will be as good as here. Therefore, I must be qualified by tofel test this time if I do not want to leave Carbondale. That is the reason why the tofel test can make me nervous although I do practice three times a week during this term. Anyway, I will try my best even if I would fail in the test. Hopefully, I will pass it, and graduate from CESL because I want to finish my bachelor’s degree in SIUC.
Monday, February 16, 2009
My Girl
Anna#4
The girl who I want to marry should possess a high quality. However, high quality requires high education degree, well communication ability, and ideal inner beauty. First, education measures how the people are educated, and whether or not she has her own thought. This is very important to me because I hope that she can show me a clear direction when I am in the trouble. In the future, we may encounter some situations which are so complex that I hardly deal with by my know ledges. Nevertheless, they may be easily solved only if we cooperate together. Moreover, I believe that keeping in touch well with people cannot stay without good communication. That means when people have difficulties in communication, misunderstanding will exist all the time. The relationship with many misunderstandings will not positively keep going in a long time. For example, two people who have different cultures may have difficulties to communicate with each other well, but cultural gap can be avoid if both of them are good at communication. Finally, inner beauty is also the main part of the personality what I require as it is more important and more difficult to be formed. Contrasting between inner and outer beauty, I prefer inner beauty since I experienced a lot of situations that people use outer beauty to disorder other people’s thoughts. That is called cheating if they want to take something for granted, and it is difficult to see people who have charming appearances clearly. In the other hand, inner beauty is the key that can show me how nice the person will be although it requires a long time for me to find out. Chinese people, like me, rarely demand the appearance so much if they want to have a mutual, stable, and serious relationship. On valentines’ day, people who really love each other need something can express the love rather than receiving a high price present. Although any gift cannot avoid a cost, it needs more value than the money. As a result, I will be the most fortunate man in the world if there is a girl who has both outer beauty and a high quality can stay with me, and now, I am.
The girl who I want to marry should possess a high quality. However, high quality requires high education degree, well communication ability, and ideal inner beauty. First, education measures how the people are educated, and whether or not she has her own thought. This is very important to me because I hope that she can show me a clear direction when I am in the trouble. In the future, we may encounter some situations which are so complex that I hardly deal with by my know ledges. Nevertheless, they may be easily solved only if we cooperate together. Moreover, I believe that keeping in touch well with people cannot stay without good communication. That means when people have difficulties in communication, misunderstanding will exist all the time. The relationship with many misunderstandings will not positively keep going in a long time. For example, two people who have different cultures may have difficulties to communicate with each other well, but cultural gap can be avoid if both of them are good at communication. Finally, inner beauty is also the main part of the personality what I require as it is more important and more difficult to be formed. Contrasting between inner and outer beauty, I prefer inner beauty since I experienced a lot of situations that people use outer beauty to disorder other people’s thoughts. That is called cheating if they want to take something for granted, and it is difficult to see people who have charming appearances clearly. In the other hand, inner beauty is the key that can show me how nice the person will be although it requires a long time for me to find out. Chinese people, like me, rarely demand the appearance so much if they want to have a mutual, stable, and serious relationship. On valentines’ day, people who really love each other need something can express the love rather than receiving a high price present. Although any gift cannot avoid a cost, it needs more value than the money. As a result, I will be the most fortunate man in the world if there is a girl who has both outer beauty and a high quality can stay with me, and now, I am.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Misunderstandings
Ana#3
I ever had a misunderstanding with my girl friend because we are from different parts of China. My mother language is Mandarin and hers is Cantonese while the ascents between those two languages are totally different. Therefore, we cannot understand each other well when we communicate with each other even in standard Chinese. Once, she wanted to help me wash my clothes, and I usually put dirty clothes and clean clothes separately in the luggage and basket. She wondered where those dirty clothes are, and I told her in the box. Box in Mandarin generally means the luggage, but she could not understand it completely. As the result, she washed the clothes which are clean in the basket because box in Cantonese means basket. Both of us felt so embarrassed while watched the clothes that she washed without any words. Several seconds later, we laughed together, and I said that the event will be a good story which described a cultural difficulty of a couple. Nevertheless, this is not the end of the story. When I was trying to explain that box in Mandarin means the luggage, she still looked confused. Gradually, I found that she even could not distinguish the differences in box, luggage, and basket. That really drove me craze because I did not know how to tell her the differences in three things. The harder I wanted to explain, the harder she could understand, and the more I tried to explain, the more she could not understand. Finally, I was enforced to search some pictures on the internet to ensure she could understand the differences in those three categories, like a presentation. After she completely made everything clear, she laughed to me sweetly, and I sat in the seat with a serious exhaustion. That can be one of the greatest misunderstandings in the world because it happens between two Chinese people who use the same language. Unfortunately, there were more and more jokes happened in our later lives, and now, I realized that there will be more in the future. Nevertheless, our relationship surprisingly goes better and better day by day with more and more misunderstandings. Those misunderstandings have become our happy elements which perchance stay with us forever.
I ever had a misunderstanding with my girl friend because we are from different parts of China. My mother language is Mandarin and hers is Cantonese while the ascents between those two languages are totally different. Therefore, we cannot understand each other well when we communicate with each other even in standard Chinese. Once, she wanted to help me wash my clothes, and I usually put dirty clothes and clean clothes separately in the luggage and basket. She wondered where those dirty clothes are, and I told her in the box. Box in Mandarin generally means the luggage, but she could not understand it completely. As the result, she washed the clothes which are clean in the basket because box in Cantonese means basket. Both of us felt so embarrassed while watched the clothes that she washed without any words. Several seconds later, we laughed together, and I said that the event will be a good story which described a cultural difficulty of a couple. Nevertheless, this is not the end of the story. When I was trying to explain that box in Mandarin means the luggage, she still looked confused. Gradually, I found that she even could not distinguish the differences in box, luggage, and basket. That really drove me craze because I did not know how to tell her the differences in three things. The harder I wanted to explain, the harder she could understand, and the more I tried to explain, the more she could not understand. Finally, I was enforced to search some pictures on the internet to ensure she could understand the differences in those three categories, like a presentation. After she completely made everything clear, she laughed to me sweetly, and I sat in the seat with a serious exhaustion. That can be one of the greatest misunderstandings in the world because it happens between two Chinese people who use the same language. Unfortunately, there were more and more jokes happened in our later lives, and now, I realized that there will be more in the future. Nevertheless, our relationship surprisingly goes better and better day by day with more and more misunderstandings. Those misunderstandings have become our happy elements which perchance stay with us forever.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Real Chinese Food
Ana#2
In the U.S., there are many Chinese restaurants that Americans would like to go frequently, but the real Chinese food rarely appears here. The real Chinese food can be evaluated by five categories which are the color, the smelling, the tasting, the meaning, and the shape. Furthermore, dishes which are from different parts of China have different styles. Generally, dishes in China are separated into eight dish systems. They are named by Lu, Chuan, Su, Yue, Min, Zhe, Xiang, Hui as the names of provinces which dishes come from. There are several other dish systems and all these systems formed 24 kinds of techniques of making food. In here, the most famous dish which is known as its spicy is Chuan dish. Nevertheless, even in this dish, a big amount of sweet is still cannot be under controlled. Most Chinese food in the U.S. cannot prevent sweaty, so people in America are difficult to have a real Chinese dish. Liao dish, which is from my hometown, is what I want Americans to know. Because Liao dish, which also has a long history, contains strong tasting, complex shape, wonderful colors, attractive smelling, and majority meanings. The major ways to cook Liao dish are burning, stewing, depending, slide, wire drawing, making with sauce, and so on. One of the most common dishes in my hometown is stew chicken with mushroom. This dish is fit for people to eat in the winter because it includes higher energy. In addition, it has medical foundation which not only can prevent people from catching a cold, but also can improve the circulation of blood. It is made of chicken and mushroom with some Chinese seasonings which Americans or other international people may not know. At last, the formation of Chinese food systems is influenced by different locations which proved different resources of making food. In the north, there is full of pigs, cows and coats, so people like to cook pork, beef, and mutton. In the south and some areas where are near the sea, people often cook seafood. Also, some areas where adopt all kinds of diet culture formed special diet characters of their own. One of my dreams is to open a real Chinese restaurant in the U.S. because the real Chinese food should be famous as its original flavor.
In the U.S., there are many Chinese restaurants that Americans would like to go frequently, but the real Chinese food rarely appears here. The real Chinese food can be evaluated by five categories which are the color, the smelling, the tasting, the meaning, and the shape. Furthermore, dishes which are from different parts of China have different styles. Generally, dishes in China are separated into eight dish systems. They are named by Lu, Chuan, Su, Yue, Min, Zhe, Xiang, Hui as the names of provinces which dishes come from. There are several other dish systems and all these systems formed 24 kinds of techniques of making food. In here, the most famous dish which is known as its spicy is Chuan dish. Nevertheless, even in this dish, a big amount of sweet is still cannot be under controlled. Most Chinese food in the U.S. cannot prevent sweaty, so people in America are difficult to have a real Chinese dish. Liao dish, which is from my hometown, is what I want Americans to know. Because Liao dish, which also has a long history, contains strong tasting, complex shape, wonderful colors, attractive smelling, and majority meanings. The major ways to cook Liao dish are burning, stewing, depending, slide, wire drawing, making with sauce, and so on. One of the most common dishes in my hometown is stew chicken with mushroom. This dish is fit for people to eat in the winter because it includes higher energy. In addition, it has medical foundation which not only can prevent people from catching a cold, but also can improve the circulation of blood. It is made of chicken and mushroom with some Chinese seasonings which Americans or other international people may not know. At last, the formation of Chinese food systems is influenced by different locations which proved different resources of making food. In the north, there is full of pigs, cows and coats, so people like to cook pork, beef, and mutton. In the south and some areas where are near the sea, people often cook seafood. Also, some areas where adopt all kinds of diet culture formed special diet characters of their own. One of my dreams is to open a real Chinese restaurant in the U.S. because the real Chinese food should be famous as its original flavor.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Influence
Anna#1
As many ordinary people, I am also influenced by other people, like my parents, teachers, and friends. Gradually, they make me become a person who considers love is the most important in the world. For example, when I decided to study abroad, my parents supported me both financially and emotionally. They only encouraged me to study hard without any words that I should pay the money back to them even though they knew the money that they earned was not so easy to come. That is only one of thousands of things that can make me understand how love really exists in the world. Therefore, I value that nothing can compare with love, and do not focus on how much love other people can give you before you devote your love as possible as you can. Since there are many things that I encountered have proved that opinion, I believe the value, which I stated. For example, one of my friends and I went to net bar where supplies people in China to surf on the Internet when we were in the collage. We saw a guy who knew my friend sat on the seat everyday without doing anything, and according to a short conversation with him. We knew that he was too poor to do anything as there was nobody could believe him. Nevertheless my friend decided to help him without doubting and expecting reward. At last, because my friend told him the phenomenon that we would set up a music band on campus, the poor guy bought a guitar which was cost 1,200 dollars to my friend when he became wealthy. There are always full of many kinds of things that can make you shocking in your life, and you will make a big difference by those events.
As many ordinary people, I am also influenced by other people, like my parents, teachers, and friends. Gradually, they make me become a person who considers love is the most important in the world. For example, when I decided to study abroad, my parents supported me both financially and emotionally. They only encouraged me to study hard without any words that I should pay the money back to them even though they knew the money that they earned was not so easy to come. That is only one of thousands of things that can make me understand how love really exists in the world. Therefore, I value that nothing can compare with love, and do not focus on how much love other people can give you before you devote your love as possible as you can. Since there are many things that I encountered have proved that opinion, I believe the value, which I stated. For example, one of my friends and I went to net bar where supplies people in China to surf on the Internet when we were in the collage. We saw a guy who knew my friend sat on the seat everyday without doing anything, and according to a short conversation with him. We knew that he was too poor to do anything as there was nobody could believe him. Nevertheless my friend decided to help him without doubting and expecting reward. At last, because my friend told him the phenomenon that we would set up a music band on campus, the poor guy bought a guitar which was cost 1,200 dollars to my friend when he became wealthy. There are always full of many kinds of things that can make you shocking in your life, and you will make a big difference by those events.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Shopping Online
Final Practice
Shopping online has become one of the most convenient medias that is accepted more and more widely. Especially young groups that they cannot live without the Internet have more likelihood to buy something online. In Ball’s (2008) article, he writes that online shopping is very convenient, because not only is it easy to find out the merchandise that you want to buy, but also you can compare with prices that can make you satisfied. Also, you do not necessarily go out when you want to buy them, but there are some people who prefer traditional shopping that is without any risk (Ball, 2008). Despite the fact, Internet, which is one of the greatest inventions, has many advantages, but nothing can be perfect:
“Credit-card companies lose about $1 billion a year to credit-card fraud, while merchants lose about $10 billion annually, according to CardWeb, a credit-card information site (Mulrean, 2008, para. 8).
We cannot predict how many problems exist in this high-tech method that many people like to use when they want to go shopping, because the higher technology you use, the more complicated methods criminals will use to get profits illegally. In Nicholls’ article in the “Evening Standard”, he writes the following:
Abagnale – a former master forger who became an anti- fraud consultant-to the FBI for 31 years and on whom the film “Catch Me If You Can”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was based – says the Shell incident forms part of a major new technology driven crime wave. “Technology has made what I did very simple. Crime is getting easier, faster and harder to detect,” he adds (Nicholls, 2006, para. 5).
In fact, people are only aware of online shopping problems if those problems that cause people to lose money cannot be fixed. So far, we can buy something on the Internet safely, since many companies have plans to protect customers’ profits from events that can cause the loss of their money. You, as consumers, should pay more attention when you are shopping online. If you encounter some cases where someone else uses your card to charge something, you can act as soon as you can.
First, safety is the biggest concern during the time that people are going shopping online. When you go shopping online, one thing that may cause you to be upset is the security that can protect you from losing money. In truth, online shopping has no risk only if you can remember the precaution, and significant information of customers can be secretly kept away from criminals’ intercepting or skimming, because of the consumer protection system (Ball, 2008). Therefore, our deals can operate without any conscious mood, and we can enjoy the benefits that come from technology only if you choose those companies whose trustworthiness is documented by many consumers.
Second, we have to recognize that we must be smart as the same as those criminals who want to use high technology to get money from other people, because any great deal cannot be easy to get unless it is tricky. They can steal money from the Internet, and we also can concentrate more on the deal. That means if we can know how to use online shopping safely, shopping online, as the greatest invention, will make you enjoyable:
Yes, your credit card information can be stolen. Yes, it’s possible for this to escalate into a case of identity theft. But, online shopping is the best invention since… well, since shopping, and you just can’t pass it up. I’m here to tell you that yes, you can shop the Internet safely, if you use your head (Epinions.com, 2008, para. 2).
Therefore, we can learn, how to cope with those thieves although we never encounter stealing. Also, we should learn that, because nobody would like to lose money with any way of shopping.
Finally, online shopping can give us a good way that can make up your loss if you encounter some unknown charge. With the online account, you can see what merchandise has been charged in your account rapidly, and once you have found that someone else is using your card number, you can know it in one or two days, then, you can reduce your damage (Epinions.com, 2008). So people can use the Internet because there is a trend that people will make the security of Internet safer and safer.
In conclusion, online shopping can give us many benefits by which we can save time, can get great deals more easily, and so forth, so we do not necessarily have to reject it. We can safely go shopping online, because people are trying to make more and more strategies to fix those problems that can cause people to lose money. People can safely buy something on the Internet only if they can be more careful. Online account access can be a good technology to reduce the loss when people lose their money by some illegal behaviors.
Reference
Epinions.com. (2008, October 20). Five tips for safe online shopping. Retrieved on May 5, 2008, from http://www.epinions.com/finc-review-2A3E-12E6A23-39F00E0A-prod1
Ball, G. (2008, April 15). Is using a credit-card for online purchases safe? Education Redefined. Retrieve on May 5, 2008, from http://www.bsu.edu/security/article/0,1384,86674-5031-
Mulrean, J. (2008, March 12). Protect Yourself. MSN Money. Retrieved on May 5, 2008, from http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Finddealsonline/P36487.asp
Nicholls, T. (2006, May 10). Chip and pin fraud set to rise. Evening Standard. Retrieved on May 5, 2008, from http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-banking/article.html?id=408939&in_page_id=7
Shopping online has become one of the most convenient medias that is accepted more and more widely. Especially young groups that they cannot live without the Internet have more likelihood to buy something online. In Ball’s (2008) article, he writes that online shopping is very convenient, because not only is it easy to find out the merchandise that you want to buy, but also you can compare with prices that can make you satisfied. Also, you do not necessarily go out when you want to buy them, but there are some people who prefer traditional shopping that is without any risk (Ball, 2008). Despite the fact, Internet, which is one of the greatest inventions, has many advantages, but nothing can be perfect:
“Credit-card companies lose about $1 billion a year to credit-card fraud, while merchants lose about $10 billion annually, according to CardWeb, a credit-card information site (Mulrean, 2008, para. 8).
We cannot predict how many problems exist in this high-tech method that many people like to use when they want to go shopping, because the higher technology you use, the more complicated methods criminals will use to get profits illegally. In Nicholls’ article in the “Evening Standard”, he writes the following:
Abagnale – a former master forger who became an anti- fraud consultant-to the FBI for 31 years and on whom the film “Catch Me If You Can”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was based – says the Shell incident forms part of a major new technology driven crime wave. “Technology has made what I did very simple. Crime is getting easier, faster and harder to detect,” he adds (Nicholls, 2006, para. 5).
In fact, people are only aware of online shopping problems if those problems that cause people to lose money cannot be fixed. So far, we can buy something on the Internet safely, since many companies have plans to protect customers’ profits from events that can cause the loss of their money. You, as consumers, should pay more attention when you are shopping online. If you encounter some cases where someone else uses your card to charge something, you can act as soon as you can.
First, safety is the biggest concern during the time that people are going shopping online. When you go shopping online, one thing that may cause you to be upset is the security that can protect you from losing money. In truth, online shopping has no risk only if you can remember the precaution, and significant information of customers can be secretly kept away from criminals’ intercepting or skimming, because of the consumer protection system (Ball, 2008). Therefore, our deals can operate without any conscious mood, and we can enjoy the benefits that come from technology only if you choose those companies whose trustworthiness is documented by many consumers.
Second, we have to recognize that we must be smart as the same as those criminals who want to use high technology to get money from other people, because any great deal cannot be easy to get unless it is tricky. They can steal money from the Internet, and we also can concentrate more on the deal. That means if we can know how to use online shopping safely, shopping online, as the greatest invention, will make you enjoyable:
Yes, your credit card information can be stolen. Yes, it’s possible for this to escalate into a case of identity theft. But, online shopping is the best invention since… well, since shopping, and you just can’t pass it up. I’m here to tell you that yes, you can shop the Internet safely, if you use your head (Epinions.com, 2008, para. 2).
Therefore, we can learn, how to cope with those thieves although we never encounter stealing. Also, we should learn that, because nobody would like to lose money with any way of shopping.
Finally, online shopping can give us a good way that can make up your loss if you encounter some unknown charge. With the online account, you can see what merchandise has been charged in your account rapidly, and once you have found that someone else is using your card number, you can know it in one or two days, then, you can reduce your damage (Epinions.com, 2008). So people can use the Internet because there is a trend that people will make the security of Internet safer and safer.
In conclusion, online shopping can give us many benefits by which we can save time, can get great deals more easily, and so forth, so we do not necessarily have to reject it. We can safely go shopping online, because people are trying to make more and more strategies to fix those problems that can cause people to lose money. People can safely buy something on the Internet only if they can be more careful. Online account access can be a good technology to reduce the loss when people lose their money by some illegal behaviors.
Reference
Epinions.com. (2008, October 20). Five tips for safe online shopping. Retrieved on May 5, 2008, from http://www.epinions.com/finc-review-2A3E-12E6A23-39F00E0A-prod1
Ball, G. (2008, April 15). Is using a credit-card for online purchases safe? Education Redefined. Retrieve on May 5, 2008, from http://www.bsu.edu/security/article/0,1384,86674-5031-
Mulrean, J. (2008, March 12). Protect Yourself. MSN Money. Retrieved on May 5, 2008, from http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Finddealsonline/P36487.asp
Nicholls, T. (2006, May 10). Chip and pin fraud set to rise. Evening Standard. Retrieved on May 5, 2008, from http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-banking/article.html?id=408939&in_page_id=7
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