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!!       : )

I thought you were my fairy tale. Why the first time I saw you, I saw a fairy?

Enchanted.

I thought a sincere heart can always  win a fair lady, now I know nothing is meant to be.

I am hit to death by the bricks from your lips. How can I cheer up, how can i move on, when we are “just friends”?

My heart sinks down, pains well up. Lying in bed, I feel a teardrop slips down my face, when I turn sideway.

People said sleeplessness causes tears sometimes, doesn't it?

Seems like the globe has stopped running. A night stretches into a year.

It's also said that however smart you are, man, when you are deep into someone, you act like a fool, you are a fool.

Am I a fool?

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.

    Busy, I am busy!!

    I have been busier than ever before with lots of things, preparing for the upcoming BEC, papers, and assignments. All the assigned writings are required more than 1000 characters.

    These mornings I got up a little earlier than I did last week, opened my book and did some reading, of course the read out loud kind, despite I am taking pills for my throat sickness. I would have a dialog with my partner who is also my roommate, choose a topic and talk about it all as is required in the test. We all feel good and have a faith in ourselves to believe it’s gonna be a small potatoes. But I think I really need to do more homework to make it easier to pass the exam, cuz BEC is after all quite different from what I learned before, from all English test I had taken. I have to know some words that may be familiar but with different meanings in the biz area, and how to write a fax massage, how to take note of a meeting, things like that. So it’s really a challenge to me. I have been taking a course of BEC, twice a week, 3 hours for each, in hope that I will learn a lot from those excellent teachers and pass the exam smoothly.

    On top of this, I have too been taking a course which is set for those who want to join the Communist Party. Though it seems boring sometimes, I have no choice but to take it. Hey, yesterday I learned how to sing the internationale (国际歌), haha, I wrote down the lyric on my note book so as to sing to it whenever the training class begins. Believe or not, most of the trainees around can’t sing this song.

     As is scheduled, we are going a pay a visit to 农讲所 in Guangzhou this Saturday. There we will learn more about how our ancient martyr (烈士) devoted themselves to the revolution, and tried to save the nation in this hard period. I am looking forward to it !!

     Following I am gonna talk about the assigned writings. We trainees are demanded to hand in four essays 2 weeks later, about how we think when taking this course, and after reading the books about the history of our Party. It’s kinda perverted !!!

Busy, busy, busy!!

I didn't update my blog for many days, since I have been busy throughout this week, preparing the PPT presentation for Thursday's class, stuffs about the sports meeting today, things like that, busy but meaningful.  I suddenly came to aware of gifts from god, at least one or two gifts, that maybe most of us never notice or just take any surprisingly good thing for granted.

Let me recall what i did yesterday.  I didn't have any class to take for the whole day.  Early in the morning, I got a short message from my sister, in which she told me a kind of medicine *** might have a specially good effect to my throat sickness.  Actually I heard about it, but I hadn't thought about it until she told me.  So I went out for the medicine and felt it obviously worked after taking the drugs.