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.

It's like a long march to get a driver's license, and that's definitely true in GuangZhou. 8 months was all it took to finish all the tests, one by one, amonge which i gotta wait for almost 2 months for the next... Well, it's not always the case, some lucky dogs just spent 4 to 6 months for all these.

Anyway, I did it!!!!

The driving test was in this morning, thank god, everything went smoothly , and it took no more than 3 miuntes to finish the section. You know what, I really stressed out last night and lost some sleep...but it just turned out much easier than i expected.

And it's just this guy who last went out with us in the long distance training under the symbol C, that failed the drving test.(don't know him? check out "On The Way" in my Jan's issue for more)... Poor him !! He should have studied the rearview mirror and made sure there was no cars coming behind when he started moving the car...that's his weak point,deadly, he always repeated the same mistake!! For god's sake, does he ever know what rearview mirror is used for?? Is it for decoration?? 

...

I am going to sign up for BEC higher next Monday, and it will cost me 1160 yuan,(610 for entry fee and 550 for training fee), a big sum of money to me  ... you see, broke Dan as I am !! Well you may ask why it takes so much, to tell you the answer, it changes according to the exchange rate between RMB and Pound...emmm, I just learned that china CPI has hit a new high of 7.1% in Jan.

It's kind of like risking the money! So, i gotta go all out for the best, I swear!!!

Never updated my blog so frequently, but I am going to put up a post about my experience chatting in QQ groups...those we call english learning groups, where we speak english only..

Last summer long, I kept doing one thing--chatting on the net, of course, with those who thought they had a very good command of english, sometimes with one or two oversea students in the U.S. To be honest, I had lots of fun in chatting, and got to knew bunches of cyber pals. With a high level of my QQ account, I was qualified to set up a goup, and so I did. So a group named " English lovers in Guangzhou" came into being.

As the creator, I took it as my responsibility to encourage all to join us talking, to point out what their mistakes (when I am sure they are making), to promote a slang on the bulletin board everyday, and so...

At the same time, I had join many other groups of this kind. Alawys marked as the Bro Dan, a kind-hearted nice person...always there to help, to talk with..

Still remember there was a girl lois, who spoke suck english but had lots of "friends" in the group. Another girl, Rebecca, a Chinese oversea student in the U.S, a close friend of mine. One night when chatting in the group, lois kept sending scary photos to the group for no reasons, photos like bleeding feet, horrible beheaded body... making many of us really sick. I warned her time and time again, "never do this again", but she just didn't listen. Then Rebecca couldn't take it anymore, and contended that I should kick her out, immediately, or else she's leaving. Finally, I had to...

After that, the group was no longer the warm place as it had been, silent all day long. Many people, "friends" of lois, seemed to be unsatified with everything I did...

Then I wondered, was there another way to go...but I think I did it right.

Before long, the group was dismissed.

Afterward, whenever I chatted in some English learning groups, I couldn't feel good, and some bigheads just always pissed me off.

I am getting so sick and tired of those chatting groups, so I have been searching for some other ways out... Tell you guys, I have found it. What's that, remember?

P.S  Can't believe blogging could be so fun...

You don't have to hide your feelings cuz you were given a brain to think, a heart to feel, a mouth to speak.

You don't have to mask yourself cuz you're just who you are.

You don't have to act so nice to everybody around, cuz it will make you seem so fake...

I got a good place to share, check it out, see how fast you can type...

http://10-fast-fingers.com/

I just typed 45 words per min, what about you?

My friend Charlyn can type 84, pissed off, I am going to beat her record!!

I just learned it yesterday that I had past BEC vantage. But it didn't cheer me up as I thought it would, cuz I just got a C, anyway, it's better C than zero. So sorry that my partner just bombed it. He swore that he's not gonna give it one more go.

School begins on 25th, but we will be idle for the first few days with only 4 classes arranged. As to me, things are a little different, cuz I gotta help subscribe books from the publishing houses for the class. It's my duty.

Well, even sometimes it's not.

This afternoon, I got a phone call from Alice, she cried out on the phone," help me, my desktop is in crisis...blue screen error...what am i supposed to do? help me"

"calm down, have you rebooted it?"

"yep,I tried, but it just doesn't work..."

"Okay, i will give it a check." (I am not expert in PC though)

Minutes later, I brought back my dorm a host computer. I tried hard to work out what made it this way. I ghosted the system, but what pissed me off was that it couldn't even login the safty mode. Finally I came to a conclusion that it's because of virus, or esle hardware problems... well, nonsense, isn't it? 

But I tried.

Then I returned the stuff to Alice, and told her to drop it off to a repairman. When I left, I shouldn't have looked back, guess what, she was standing still, eyes on somewhere out there. Suddenly a strong sense of guilt popped up in my mind. I realized it's the paper, she must be worried pretty much about the paper to hand in this Thursday. Maybe it's done or half done already...things came up and she may have to start from scratch, so sorry for that!!

What should I do?

Before my NOKIA I had a SUMSUNG, which was my first cell phone I had been yearning for years. The beauty of it was its automatic folder, so cool and funky that I couldn’t put it down the first day I got it.

But now I am giving lots of credits to my Nokia 3120, one of the earliest products made with colorful screen years ago, even today is still popular among guys and gals. Without any fancy configuration, either too bulky or smart in size, it’s quite easy to use, to carry around, and is endurable for any unexpected falling on the ground or being crushed, or scraped.

My cell phone is nothing but a phone, with which I can make phone calls and send messages. Or an alarm clock for sometimes. That’s enough, isn’t it? I don’t need a camera or mp3 set inside, I don’t wanna pay for the extra luxurious functions I don’t need.

To be honest, nothing is perfect for men, and my phone has its shortcoming too—the battery. It really pissed me off when it went dead within two days after charged. But, don’t worry; it’s not the original battery when the phone was bought.

However, a cell phone is simple not always because it’s made simple, sometimes for what it means to you…

Cell phone brought me more friends. There was a Sue, a sister of a classmate in high school. We used to talk a lot, as if people in love. As time past by, things came up and we found us not that close friends as before. I once would go upset without her text message in a day, I even sometimes confused her with my Miss right. But I know she is not. We belong to completely different worlds.

So have you experienced? When you are into someone, the ringing of message can grab your nerves and breath, which you thought was from her who you had been expecting 24-7. When it was not, you fell in deep blue. Then the phone is more than a phone.

There would always be someone on the contact list, those I call “people in my phone”, meaning something to me. A close friend or a gonna-be girlfriend. It rang when she came; it kept mute when she’s gone. No one ever stays.

After all these times, my phone means less and less, sometimes I even get sick and tired of it.

When asked what I am going to buy with my first month’s salary, I will definitely buy anything else BUT cell phone.

I am going home on this 22^nd, and off the internet for the whole winter vacation.

Before leaving, I wanna write an article about how I look on the blogs here. Still remember Moni’s article “What Do I Think About Your Blogs” caused some episodes so that even today no one else talks about that. Let me be the second. But, I gotta state: no offense!

To be honest, I don’t feel like reading most of the articles posted here, and I tend to click the “newcomer” in hope of sth that turns me on.

When I read the writings that really suck, I have no business saying “hey, bro your writing really sucks”, cuz my writing sucks too in some people’s eyes. Even if my English is better, I mean relatively, I can’t say that to frustrate a person. You know it really hurts. Instead, I would say sth nice, like “keep going” or sth.

Chinglish, so what?

So you have to take the responsibility to make it English.

I am telling you, we can’t make it by writing the so-called English we thought it’s, we can’t make it by memorizing how a word spelled, we can’t make it by saying “you don’t understand china, that’s just the way Chinese students are learning English.”

Why not go read Monica’s articles?

Yes, you don’t have to, but…

Why not go to surf some English websites, read in blogs written by English speakers, watch English movies or series? If you like music, why not sing English songs. Whatever, you gotta do sth.

I found sth weird and interesting in a blog. A guy posted lots of news there, then I saw hundreds of messages saying how amazing your English is, can you tell me how you make it, or can I learn from you….

It shocks. Why even no one can tell they are copied from some English news websites. Obviously, they never read this kind of articles before…

 Just a piece of advice.

It was an overdue long-distance training, for some reasons, not until yesterday 17^th did we five men set out from Guangzhou to begin this two-day trip, A,B,C,and me D, plus our coach whom we call Sir. Our destination is Liannan county, over 300 km. away from Guangzhou, where lived mainly the Yao people.

9 o’clock in the morning, as the car walked onto Guangcong road, A was the first to drive. His driving really sucked, and he was blamed by sir along the way.

After some 70 minutes, when A finished being taken his 15^th photo by the camera set beside the driver seat, B took over the car and drove on, who did better than A.

Everything went well, no thrilling close call ever happened, before C.

For god’s sake, C didn’t do any practice for this long trip beforehand. He sat on driver seat, then forgot about the seat belt. When he remembered to give a push on the accelerator, he forgot to steer. It was more dangerous still, when the car speeded up but went like a blind fly.

But for the coach sitting beside, we might all have had been someplace, paradise or hell. That’s not kidding, you see, there were more than 3 car accidences along the way. We three passengers were freaking out at the back seat, and my heart was floating left and right as the car turned so, up and down as the car braked and speeded.

Okay, okay, it’s my turn.

To be honest, my performance was perfect except for a little flaw in moving the car in front of a green light. The car ran at 80 to 90 km/h, on the country roads, but it seemed peaceful in the car and our partners seemed falling asleep. Everything was under control. Sir sat beside me, and didn’t speak a lot. Ennn, speechlessness is confirmation, I know.

More details, please. OK! Buddies who are going to learn driving (in china), do remember to turn on the left light, step down the clutch pedal, turned to gear 1, then study the rearview mirror and make sure there’s no car coming near, when you start moving it. Following, raise the clutch till it seems to be about going, lay off the grip brake, and give a little step on the gas. As the car speeds up, shift to gear 2, then 3, 4, 5. When it’s running fast, be cautious on the road condition, whirl the steering wheel as much as you should, according to the car speed. Be patient when the timing is bad to overtake the car in front of you. When the time comes, don’t hesitate, just go, with the right lights on, blare horn when necessary.

I kept driving until we got to Yangshan county around 5 o’clock in the dusk, and the landscapes along the road turned to be more beautiful. Later on, night fell, and hills and rivers became hazy in the dark.

“hey, guys, you see the valley over there? It’s like Yangtze Gorges.” Sir cheered to us.

We tried hard to figure it out, but failed. So we swore to sweep away her veil the next day.

Though it’s at night, our coach drove so fast and so cool !  At 7 or so, we finally arrived!

We had super in Liannan hotel, then checked in Jinzhou hotel.

So it came to the next day. On our way back we finally saw what we couldn’t wait to see the day before.

See!

The stone hills in Liannan and Yangshan were so high, so sharp, so heavy, and so strong.

On the hill side were some waters, which were so long, so clear, so calm, and so soft.

Along the waters, were some cottages, beaches, rocks, or big grassplots.

All we could see were like a long paiting, masterpiece of God, stretching itself along the high way, throughout the horizon.

Em, I am looking forward to my own driver’s license, and someday, I can drive my own car going sightseeing on this broad and mysterious land, like an acquisitive child first opening his eyes to the world.

This article i am posting here was writen months ago, in my summer vacation. I was then confused about to what a degree the behavīors on the net can explain a man's true colors.  

After balancing the good and bad, I make up my mind, to take a nap first….

Wow, dinosaur can wear a cap? Yes, I am talking about dinosaur.

Before my next test, I have a break of 2 days. And today I just went though a toughest subject this term, the lecturer of which is really a tough guy.

Some call him dragon, some dinosaur (his Chinese name is 龙，which can be translated to either, anyway, they both perfectly suit him… To avoid a fight over what dragon really means, we adopt the latter). So, call him dinosaur.

And he acts like a dinosaur.

Okay!! His lectures suck, and he is really bad-tempered, like a volcano that no one knows when it’s breaking out. And when it’s, we see a man-eating dinosaur.

It was 2 months ago, when the ring belt ended the class, and most of the students were leaving… he suddenly shouted up, “What’s that? You gotta be kidding!!! You all stay here!!” with a hard strike on the platform.

All eyes to eyes, nobody knew what happened, until he raised a paper and continued his nasty words, “What the hell is that? Is that called assignment? ....Group 2, you wanna pass? In your dreams”

The paper was a group assignment from next class, but then he was taking it all out on us.

It was dead silent, and all the students seemed to be holding their breaths. No one even has the guts to break a wind.

Now you see what a MAN he is. Nightmare!!

On the first day of this term, he said to us:” I am the only one in this college who dares to teach this subject…. Not many universities have launched this subject in undergraduate period, you are so lucky!!”

“Gee, so we are the only students in this college who dare to have your classes…”

No one ever likes him!

Okay, we are talking a dinosaur with a baseball cap.  The only thing we can make fun of him, and the cap on him always cracks us up.

Try to imagine what it’s like to have a teacher giving a lecture with a baseball cap making ads for a travel agency everyday…. He never noticed that, or he doesn’t give a shit to the logo and the long phone number on it at all??

So, someone bets he must have a secret peanut head that really shames the sun….

Oh, that’s killing me!!

Dinosaur, we hate you. You don’t even change a new cap!!       : )

After reading Monica’s article” Where is your confidence from” I have been thinking about why, general speaking, relatively, Chinese tend to lack confidence, even when doing something that they know is their strength, even sometimes they know they are better than others. Early this morning when I opened my eyes, the answer seemed to be coming clear in my mind.

China has experienced a feudal period of more than 2000 years, in a feudal society traditional culture which emphasizes humility and modest takes charge of every aspect of the society. For women, ignorance is virtue. For a child, who acts humble is always a pearl in the eyes of his parents and teachers. It’s 2000 years, not 200, within such a long time the dropping of water can wear a stone, such a wrong thing when have been repeated millions of times, it’s the truth, or a rule, that anyone who acts against is a bighead, and would be despised or isolated. Everyone takes the truth for granted, and no one dares to break the rule. It goes on and on, even today, we don’t always feel free to say “I can”.

Then who is the second to blame? Our education, exam-oriented education! The only days as I remember when I was often praised was in my kindergarten. As I grow up, the compliments I receive are getting less and less. And the truth is I am not the only one suffering from this circumstance. Big boys don’t need praise anymore? It’s ridiculous! Why are you always picking on me? In exam-oriented education, teachers only praise those nerds who burry themselves in books, only praise you when you got a No1 in a test (we know No 1 is only one). You will never get too many marks, you are never satisfied!!

On the other hand, they don’t care if we have learned something real. Take learning English for example, they don’t care whether you say it right, write it right, all you should do is master grammars and recite paragraphs and glossary, and then get a high mark in exams. That’s enough!! So that most of us can’t “speak”, and what we have learned for years turned out to be mute English. “sorry, my English is poor”, ”sorry, I don’t understand very well…” why? Not that we are slow, not that we are lazy in learning English, but that we are not educated properly.

Today the government says they are sparing no effort in making-education. But as I see it, if they have really done something, the trend of making-education only can be seen in colleges or universities. There we are given lots of time at our mercy, granted freedom that we couldn’t imagine before. But, everything seems to be too late. Just like a tiger that has been living in a zoo for ages, one day he is told “you are free, please go back to the forest and make your own life”.

To see it from the perspective of population. Rumor has it that “rules” don’t apply to china, a country with a huge population of 1.3 billions (in fact, much more than that). I think it’s true. Sometimes we can’t work out the problem by analyzing in a simple way, a rational, logical way. In such a big but crowded country, that happens thousands of candidates compete for a post in civil service examination. It’s obvious that people are being divided into two parts in such fierce competitions, increasingly confident winners and increasingly self-contempt losers (and they are the majority).

    Now you see where is your confidence? If you see it somewhere else, tell me then.