I am listening to a variety of music on SongTaste.com, a website recommended by cookie.  A lot of thanks!

More and more I think Chinese pop music is learning and copying from the west. There is really a long way to go before Chinese pop music goes abreast with the west or even leads the world.

We have our strengths, we have our special national instruments, traditional dramas, from which even today we can borrow some elements in composing and performing pops.

The 12 girls band (女子十二乐坊) sets a very good example for future followers, with our traditional culture elite tapping into not only the oversea market but also the oversea culture domain, thus displaying and promoting the profound and wonderful Chinese culture to the outside world.

I just like Koto and flute, imgine what it's like with them blended in a rap or working with other western instruments... Msut be cool !!

What do you think?

I feel like back to the summer of 2004, when my flunk of college entrance exam fell like a hammer strike. This time my cousin sister is suffering the same situation.

She had been a top student in her class and the school all the way, been expected to go to a top university in GD or somewhere, how come she just got 476, kissing goodbye to universities, and her dream of being an undergraduate．

I know shit happens in life, I just can't believe it falls so often and random, u haven't even recovered from the previous, when the next came to u, not me this time though, it feels like to me, cuz she is my cousin, I do know very well how she feels. I can't bear to see her suffering, while I can do nothing to help.

There were times I shed my tears on top my house in the middle of the night, and put my hands together praying to the stars in the dark sky for a better way to go. However things turned out not the way I wanted. (I was enrolled by a university that I didn't give a damn) With love and encouragement of my family and my relatives, I re-entered high school to take a chance, a second chance to fulfil my dream, and my folk's.

Funny enough I was quite happy getting along with my classmates who were in the same boat, meanwhile I found myself getting huge headways in every subjects, as if my road ahead was lit up by a guilding star and all I needed to do was keep going, step by step, closer and closer to my dream colleges.

2005 witnesses a great success in my second strife for a higher grade. However I seemed to have made a mistake in filling my college application form, which led me to a different place of disappointment, well, more or less.

So the question is, is it worth the time and energy to go for a second college entrance examination? It remains a question unanswered to me.

What's she supposed to do?

Brothers and sisters,

A lot of thanks to CE, Yan, Vivi and all for ur regular visits and nice comments that honor and grace my place, and a lot of guilt to the msgs I didn't reply promptly and my being a terrible friend without even saying hi often.

The truth is I like you all and I like this place.

Everytime I switch on my desktop I just can't wait to log on here and check out what I am missing on my space, what's new in this community. I really enjoy the the surprising joy of seeing a new msg or more poping up in the msg board, of seeing a new face or more in "recent visitors". Now blogging is part of my life, I don't think I can drop it in the near future.

Originally we came for the improvement of our written english, along which it brought us the happiness of "sharing", and very nice friends. We are doing the right things.

BUT dear friends, after all these years of studying english, we should really quit it and should really switch to more readings of native english on abroad websites, more listenings to whatsoever english shows and programs you like, and most importantly should really take every chance to open our mouths. ( That's what we call a lifetime plan)

Then come back here to tell us you are making headway.

Good luck !!

Yours, Lost in english

Dan

How come my skin becomes so weak?

How come Youku becomes so slow?

How come it keeps raining?

How come…

The other day chatting on MSN for the first time with a Canadian, Casara, a friend i got to know from a blog community, I really learned a lot and knew more about myself.

It feels so good, cuz she 's always teaching me new things, I can feel what's real english. Here are part of the random chat history I wuld like to share with u and hope u can learn sth from her words.

So that's called allergy ( a new word i earn after experiencing it).

Right after a walk with a very good friend, my right foot got itchy, which i thought was due to mosquito or sth. Somehow my right leg got kind of numb, stinging tichy, then my waist, my neck, my face my head...

Then I tried to scratch but, it's like taking drugs, once begins, never ends. Wherever I scratched there got swelled, with bumps popping up. Before long, my head turned into a pig head. ( It was horrible, u couldn't believe it was me if u were there)

I took a tablet, no, it was two, even though the instruction told me to take only one. However it didn't seem to help at all. lying in my bed, I felt like my whole body was floating on hot water.

For fear of waking up to see me in paradise with angels, I decided to see the doctor. It was 11 PM.

Thank goodness, I got much better 20 minutes after an injection, as the bumps turned red and were fading away. I am much better now !!

It's my third time to get allergy ever since my childhood. Once was in my primary school, the other in my middle school. So I bet it will never happen again in my college life. Allergy, I don't wanna see you again, never ever !!

Today I visited my sister and her husband. They live in the suburb where it's closer to their workplaces.

Stepped on to the bus I knew what kind of place I was heading to -- the bus was obsolete, hard-seat, without air conditioning. And I knew how many miles it could take me away with a one-Yuan ticket.

The bus pulled out of the downtown Guangzhou, after bumping for one hour and a half, it stopped at a small town where lived mainly migrant people speaking mandarine-like dialects. Walking down the street all I could hear was noisy bumping music playing outside stores and supermarkets on clearence sales, however they failed to attract me.

There my sister and brother-in-law were waving hello to me, as I walked towards them...

My sister was a great cook, she made a table of yummy food and soup... I ate and ate, finished all the food on the table, killed a watermelon, and wrapped up 2 Zongzi, 2 of the  3 they got. Hahaha...

I wonder what it's like after my graduation, do I have to go through a tough time renting a samll department before life becomes easier to me?

Annual college entrance examination kicks off this morning, unlike the past years, it comes all at a sudden when we are focusing on some other social events, like the earthquake, Olympics...

The reasons are more than this. The challenging job market situation after graduction, and the negative depiction of college students on the media, and many more, are cooling down the craze on going to colleges. Theoretically it's true, but practically the group of candicates applying for colleges are increasing dramatically. What a paradox!

I have 2 times taking this painstaking national exam, in 2004 and 2005. Actually the first time I was accepted by an undergraduate uni, but I gave no shit to it. The next year, I went to a nominally famous uni, started my major that I am not at all interested in. Once I came here, I have to settle down, cuz I can't afford a thrid time of torturing myself.

It's Jun 7, the date meaning sth to me and many many other college students. A date to end tough high school, to begin an era of freedom. Oh, is it freedom? The war never ends.

Whatsoever, wish my younger sister a great success, it might be a better way for her to go, not perfect though.

I have 3 goals in my life, be a good son, be a good husband, and be a good father.

Seems that in China it's been traditionally highlighted in chinese culture showing respect to parents. Father is always right, when he says yes, you can't say no. Father is harsh, when he asks you to study you can't play, and he never asks you to play. So that's what it's used to be in the old days. Things have been greatly changed in the modern age, but to the bone of a chinese, father is an unchallenged polar in a family. So is that a good son who is always in line with a father, always walking in the shadow of his father? My first goal seems plausible now.

Being a good husband seems easier, for you are just responsible for one person -- your wife. However, the problem is you will still have illusions of love when meeting a pretty girl or a sexy  woman, unlike that you are not likely to have the illusion having someone rich and kind as your parent. So to be a good husband firstly is to be loyal to your wife, never cheat on her, and sometimes have to make up a story to please her. That's it? No, you gotta be as rich as she expects you to be, with handsome income, a big house, a car... Well, it would be perfect to make time eating out with her regularly, going travel home and abroad at least twice a year...

What about good father. Well, it seems the easiest one to achieve. With the experience of being a child, he knows better what a good father is supposed to act....

Being a son, a husband, a father is just 3 different stage of a man. Without the first two phases, where comes the third ?

Men are not easy to be, either.

Have you ever understood that...

Easy come easy go

Respect all fear none

Good health is there in the food you hate.

You weakness lies in what you like and hate

Ordinary people don’t know they can be unordinary

You valentine is the most beautiful, your wife is not

Sometimes you just need a woman, while sometimes an angel

You are ignoring some other things when you are pursuing something

Some people who read my post " old dramas" may find me kind of nostalgic, yep that's the truth, besides i like songs of different times and have a lot in store.(to be honest I like Rap and rock, too) Somehow, I like to associate this state of mind with sunset.

Do you like sunset?

Golden beach, crystal clear water, and refreshing gentle breeze. Hand in hand with your beloved one. See the flame in her eyes. That’s sunset, as beautiful and romantic as it can get.

However, I have a fear of sunset when it’s a metaphor of old age, even it’s beautiful as depicted in poems.

When you live on memory rather than on aspiration and illusion, you mentally rank in the old, even not physically. No access to every segment of the past,  sweet or bitter; no even a thread of hope of what a surprise coming tomorrow. Like a placid surface of lake without ripple by breeze, and a sunset following which is a dark night-- the end of the day. All they have is memory, which gets heavier and heavier as it rolls.

Feels like my mind is getting old faster than my body.

Maybe i really really need to get some fresh air...

The next day of mother's day, how many families were tore to pieces. No longer is saying that "Mom I love you" for some people, everything about the family is the history, even he survive from the disaster, he could never survive from the grief of losing his beloved family overnight. It's a tragedy, of the victims, of Sichuan, of china...we are experiencing the worst time in the decades!!

Can't bear to see pictures of tears, blood, dusty faces... can't believe the increasing death toll, can't hold back my tears on reading so many touching stories of the rescue troop, volunteers, and help from all walks of life. Premier Wen vowed," we will never give up as long as there is a thread of hope". His tearstained eyes, cracked voice, were always there bringing hope to the victims.

A lesson was learned out of a hard way, for which we paid too high a cost.

However rich or poor you are, however you look, when it's the fate of human being you just can't escape. No one knows when and where the demon of death comes back again. That left us pondering the meaning of life, how lucky we are that we still can breathe, can see sunrise for every new day, can decide which song you like best and put it into your mp3, decide what we eat for lunch... every little small thing never come easy, for someone out there it's a luxury, you believe it or not.

A long or short life we will live doesn’t matter, what matters is the meaning we give it.

The annual May Day is around the corner, as lots of classmates are leaving school for a happy time home or travel. I asked for a leave of almost 3 weeks to concentrate all I have on sth…but not chilling myself out at home or outside, I am staying at my “workplace” through the days.

Just called home just now, who took up the phone was my 2-year-old niece, pretty and smart. She could tell me as uncle the first second I spoke, and then turned to my mom, her grandma, saying “it’s uncle”. Mom said she always rushes to pick up the phone whenever it rings, and claims no one could beat her to that. En, fair enough cuz everybody has a phone now, cell phone or telephone.

Ok, speaking of my family, I wanna tell u more about my hometown.

I come from a small place in Guangdong, not very rich though, it enjoys a reputation as the capital of bamboo, town of Wushu, and “Base of orange” recent years crowned. Yes, it’s Guangning county in Zhaoqing city, the nearest county to the Pearl river delta, for some reasons, however, it was left behind a lot in economy and civilization in the past decades of the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world, ashamed to its location, and some other medium-sized, county-turned cities nearby.

Delighted to see that the local government seems to have found its way to make it a rocket economic entity, and remain a beautiful place to live, that is to develop tourism industry featuring it’s resource advantage—bamboo, the highlighted points on its name card. 4 years ago a tourist site was built named “the sea of bamboo”, which means all you can see is bamboo till the end of the horizon when you place yourself on the sightseeing tower. As a blast of wind sweeps, the green sea of bamboo waves and rolls quite spectacularly. Then you are left wondering is it for real or in dreams? Plus the refreshing air which it’s hard to find in any other places in Guangdong, you have to knock yourself out to breathe making every second of your stay in Guangning count.

Oh, I was so much into advertising the place of interest, and almost forgot it’s just blogging.

Ok, you are very welcome to my hometown, and be my guest.

What about this May day vacation, or??

April 4th was the tomb-sweeping day in China, the first time it came as a legal holiday. Plus the following weekend people have 3 days off, enabling those far away from home to pay a visit back to the hometown. I was one of them.

I didn’t expect the situation could be that bad with no ticket to my hometown unsold in any passenger station in GZ on 3rd. But for the ticket my hometown fellow gave to me I couldn’t make it to go home that day, even though it took me 65 Yuan (50% risen) and 4 hours due to the terrible traffic condition.

I don’t know if it’s worthwhile going all the way just to show our respect to the ancestors. The bus arranged to set out at 1:40 PM didn’t show up until 3:30, and I was kept in the jam-packed and stuffy passenger station for quite a long time, with nowhere to stand not even sit.

People‘s keen on Tomb-sweeping day is not secondary to that on spring festival. The legalization of this holiday just encourages a home rush. Being serious with this day has been sth traditionally unchanged, even someone bad enough to abuse his old parents seems to have great loyalty to his ancestors, spending lots of money to commemorate them in an luxurious way in hope that his “good deed” would be rewarded in some way, like making a killing in the stock market or winning the lottery, hah, ridiculous enough, isn’t it?

I noticed nowadays the countryside has been undertaking some profound changes, obviously indicated from the poor’s hate to the rich, and the rich’s scorn to the poor. Now the tomb-sweeping day is like a get-together for those working from different places far from the countryside, giving them a chance to show everybody they have made a lot of money, giving them a good reason to feel proud showing off his ACCORD to people who’s never seen a BENZ. Now it’s coming clear why they are keep on this day.

Interesting !!

What’s the most interesting is that, as is reported on TV, people nowadays not only burn “paper money” for their ancestors, but also some paper “computer”, “sports cars” “villas” and even “valentines”. OMG, they are really modern enough, even their ancestors could keep abreast with the time because of them. Regardless the modern stuff like computers or cars, would their grand grand ma go jealous when their grand grand pa receive a “valentine” from his grand grand son?

In the presentation by our second task force about “how we think about the 11^th ‘two sessions’ (NPC and CPPCC)”, we came to some conclusions after a long time discussion, during which we mainly focused on Zhang Yin, the ever richest woman in China, and her proposals to the CPPCC, as well as the unprecedented 3 migrant worker delegates (MWD) that show up in the NPC, one of whom named Hu Xiaoyan from an enterprise in Guangdong.

As far as I am concerned, Zhang Yin as the delegate standing for the upper income groups in china has her right to defense and strive for their interests. That’s very reasonable and comprehensive when we know what interest group is. However it’s not a very good time for her. As we can see the proposals especially the first involving the labor law that is coming into practice soon, and the second trying to decrease the tax rate for the white collars, are challenging the authority of the legislative system, and testing the tolerance of the grass roots when china is facing the inflation and a very huge gap between the rich and the poor. Her ideas immediately stirred up lots of debates and criticism in the society and on the internet. And due to the great pressure received from the media she gave way to the public voice and apologized, stating that she is all for the new labor law.

Actually I think Zhang is an honorable richest woman with patriotism. Her corporate is based in the U.S and Hk, however she spares no effort investing in the mainland these years creating many more jobs opportunities. So I reckon that netizons have no business criticizing her, but should be more rational and logical on her proposals themselves.

The second highlight of the two sessions is the 3 migrant worker delegates. Definitely it’s a milestone in the development of democracy, since the migrant workers in china as a lower income group have a more legal way to express what they need, have their voice easily and impressively heard. However here come some questions.

1)      What number of migrant worker delegates is appropriate for the 0.2 billion migrant workers behind them?

2)    As we can see that the MWD Zhu Xueqin from Shanghai, is now a boss of a clothing factory, is he a migrant worker now? How can he speak for migrant workers? So I doubt how he was elected as a delegate.

3)    Are the MWDs well educated and mind independent enough to be good delegates? They don’t seem to be speaking for the migrant workers behind them, but like the spokesman of the government when interviewed.

Last night my bro text me that he was home on a long leave, and asked me if I am going home on tomb-sweeping day. Yes, I am. Dunno how things are between he and his wife, getting better? I doubt.

Seems that many people are stuck these days, like the weather gloomy and blue all the time. Have been losing sleep for a couple of days, I do look wan and pale, no wonder every time my partner would pull a long face when she saw me spaced out as if I was unwilling to be there.

My hair unkempt, my eyes drowsy, my life is a mess… I always slouch…I hate myself. Why can't I just make myself a little bit useful. emmm, I gotta change a new look before my mom see me, or else I have to face the music. So the most important is to take a good rest and have my hair cut.

Why the power don't go off after midnight as last spring, so that my roomies and I couldn't make it to stay up so late every night. Even sometimes I tried not to stay up, I just can't bear a dim beam of light or a slight noise from under my bed. What can I say when Ray has to pull an all nighter for his second bachelor's degree.

Sorry for crapping up here, maybe that’s the best way to vent my feelings.

Anyway, I do hope he will pass this exam, too.

Never heard anyone said "I don't like music", like no one would doubt his/her good taste for beauty, no one would deny his/her good taste for music. So it's stupid enough to promote his value on Music and so...

I don't buy your words doesn't mean you are wrong, but that we have different value system that we formed through different life experience, and most of the time we stand in a different place, to look at it from a different perspective. And maybe what we're talking about is showing us a different aspect of it.

If you happen to see people that think alike, you should be happy, otherwise, why bother to go upset or irritated?

To love is like to get on a bus. But it’s like playing game with you that your bus just doesn’t seem to be coming while the other buses coming and going.

When it finally comes belatedly, it comes in couples, and then you get lost which to take, for fear of missing the best. Not until you get on the bus will you get the answer.

We have different routes leading to the same place, all up to your choices. Maybe, to take the shortcut way, you gotta wait, if you can’t bear waiting, ok, you can get on those buses after which you gotta switch to another to get there. Some fast, some slow, some never stop…

And there are some people who thrust onto a jam-packed bus struggling all the way, some who mistken his bus and have to get off halfway or switch...and some who miss their destination but have a good time during the journey... and some other...

For their comfortalbe buses, many young people thought they were young enough to wait, then it turned out that many of them were losing patience...and left randomly with a passing bus, leaving behind all they had spent for nothing. It's the persuit of perfection or the unworthiness of quitting that left them wating and waiting ???

For some, the bus is not coming, never ever...Nothing to complain, they should have known it and quit waiting sooner.

However, miracle happens. The bus he has been waiting for so long comes when he is about to leave.

Maybe in years, some lucky dogs may have their own cars and don't have to wait in a bus station any more...but another problem comes--the shortage of parking space. Problems will never end.