My life in LEAP 4

Finally, this is my last blog. Looking back at this semester, it’s pretty like having a real war.

At the beginning of this semester, we were still in the holiday mood from the end of the last semester.

In the first two weeks, the workload was not very bad.

It is true that Leap 4 teachers are much more easy-going than Leap 3. (I hope Leap 3 teachers will not know this, I don't want to offend anyone. :)

However, as the midterms got closer, we felt the pressure from the teachers, and the students all around us.

It was liked heavy rain storm was coming towards us.

After the midterms, we found that it was not just heavy rain storm.

It was a big thunder storm, a hurricane, or perhaps we could say that it was tsunami.

Couple of us almost got throw out of our small boat (it means that our English is not good enough and some of us almost fail the midterms).

It was then that, we discovered that we should pay more attention during the classes and try our best to face all the challenges.

We have to build our castle block by block, and finish our marathon step by step (we should enhance our English foundation little by little).

We have to climb through the mountains one after another (We have to overcome our weakness).

We even have to change our habit in order to adapt to the environment (we have to speak English more often to improve our speaking and listening skills).

Today is our last day of LEAP program. I hope all of us can do our best in the finals and pass the LEAP. I hope all the effort we have put in will worth it sooner or later. Cheers!!

Insight from a walk

God gives me a job to do. He wants me to take a snail for a walk

I cannot walk too fast, because even though the snail tries its best to crawl,
it can only move a little. I urge it, I threaten it and I scold it, but the snail would look at me apologetically. It seems to say,

“I have already done my best!”

I pull it, I push it, I even want to kick it. The snail is injured,

it sweats, it puffs, and it crawls forward.

This is so weird, why does God want me to take a snail for a walk?

“God! Why?” I ask. But the sky is clear and quiet.

“Well, may be God is busy catching snails.” I sighed and feel defeated.

If God does not care, then why should I care?

So, I allows the snail to crawl, and I grumble behind it.

Then all of a sudden, I smell something. It is the scent of flowers. What a surprise! I do not know there is a garden in here.

I feel the breeze blowing by my side, and I do not know night wind can be so gentle.

Wait! I can hear birds singing, I can hear insects buzzing,

and I can see stars shimmering all around. Hey!

How come I never have all these experience? I suddenly realize,
this must be my own fault.

God asks me to take the snail for a walk.

Have you find your snail yet? Go for a walk sometimes and you will find something unexpected!

Three men and their sacred fish

Years ago, when my uncle Ted was still a college student, he once went fishing with his roommates, William and Mike. They drove all the way to the lake and enjoyed themselves under the warm summer bliss. William meditated, while my uncle Ted studied the birds, and Mike… he fell asleep!

Then all of a sudden, they saw something moving near their fishing rods! It had golden color and beautiful shape. They hurried on and gathered around the fish. With some struggle, they finally caught the fish, put it in the truck and drove home.

When they got home two hours later, Mike’s girlfriend, Sarah, came out to greet them. “How’s your day? What do you guys get this time?” she asked.

“Oh, just a tiny little fish. It’s in the truck.” Mike answered tiredly. Sarah went to get the fish and the guys sat down on the sofa and rest.

“Ahhhhhhhh!!!!” They all heard a scream so they rushed out to see what sent Sarah hysteric.

“It’s… it’s alive!!! The fish is still alive!”

“What?”

“No way, man.”

“Oh, my god!! It’s really alive! This must be a miracle!”

That’s why they let the fish live in their bathtub… and it has been living there almost two years…

The Box from Heaven

Some people use their whole life to look for their true love,
Some people travel around to the end of the world, but still can’t find their “perfect match”.
We always hear that love can’t last forever,
Endless love, forever, can we really find it in the world?

Perhaps his and her story is rare,
But it is real, it has happened right beside us, and it touches the heart of you and me.

Two loving doctors, who pour their hearts out for their patients, who have dreams and hope,
They use their love to make boxes one after another, carrying away worries, unhappiness and problems,
To sooth away the pain and darkness for those wounded souls.

One ring that bounded lives together, one commitment that has heaven to be their witness, and the rainbow to be their prayers,
Between life and death, they use love to fulfill their promise to be together ever after.

Friendship

There is a kind of friend that you can hang out with without burdens or worries. You do not need to ingratiate for his favor, and you can do things together comfortably. Even though you may not always be together, you know you will never forget each other, you will never stop caring and thinking about each other. He may not meet you or talk to you on the phone every day, but you know there will not be any changes in your friendship. Why? That’s simple! If you are in trouble, he will always be there and put your mind at ease. He will help you through the process and stand on your side. He knows what you think before you open your mouth, and he understands what you need before you think about it. He extends his warm helping hands to you whenever you need them. And you know you will do the same to him.
This kind of friend always gives you his heart when he becomes your friend. You will always be sincere and honest to each other. As friends, your personalities and interests will be similar. Over times, you will find a valuable asset in your friendship. It is more precious than a gold mine. So, please treasure your friendship and care for your friend forever.

Interest

I remembered that when I was young, I used to look up at the sky and think. I thought that the Mother Nature was amazing. I kept thinking about the rain, the thunderstorm, the typhoon, etc. How did they all happen? Who had the power to control them? Thus, one of my interests was climate. I would surf on the Internet all day tracking the route of typhoon (you know, when we had typhoon, we didn't have to go to school). I was crazy about everything that was related to weather. I used to dream about being a meteorologist and tracked typhoons all day. However, this was not a good career path in Hong Kong. It was too hard to find a job in this field. So, I changed my mind. But, things happened for a reason. A couple weeks ago, I dropped by the library and found some used books that we could feel free to take. I checked them up and found one book. It was called “Meteorology Today”. Oh my god! The book was so interesting. I kept reading it for the whole weekend and I loved it. It even got me into taking a related class for my listening and speaking attending lecture assignment. I enjoyed the class thoroughly. I will definitely take that class as one of my options next year. I did not get a chance to study this in Hong Kong but I find it right here. I am so excited about it.

Mid-term

This is the second day for my mid-term exam. It means that writing and reading exams were done. I am so happy that I can still survive. In fact, this is the semester that I worry the most. By comparing this term with Leap 3, the requirement has triple and everything is getting harder. For example, typing our writing exam in the computer is not allowed. (It is hard to recognize and correct my horrible hand-writing, Pam :). SORRY) It enhances the level of difficulty because we cannot use the thesaurus in MS Word and choose the better vocabulary. We also cannot use the computer to do spell check and grammar check (honestly, I think the grammar check is a little bit stupid). However, the craziest and most difficult subject for this term is not Writing. It is Reading. The level of difficulty has increased rapidly and the length of the articles has also increased from two pages (Leap 3) to four pages. The vocabulary is much more difficult than before. We cannot pass unless we really stick on to the rules and remember everything that is taught in the class. Leap 4, indeed, is not a piece of cake. In here, I wish all of us can pass this course and finish the Leap program. Then we will have a four-month holiday before the official degree program starts in the Fall.

reading week

It was such a wonderful reading week that I had never had. I remembered that the reading week from last year was horrible. We had to work on 9 assignments during that reading week. I could not believe that I was able to finish all of them. On the other hand, we just have a nice reading week this semester. We do not have a lot of homework to begin with, and during the week, we had an interesting party. There were 15 people in the party. We had hotpot – one of the Chinese traditional ways of cooking. Then we played video games, table football and monopoly. There was so much fun and we all had a great time. It was the most crowded and memorable Chinese New Year party that I had after I came to Canada. However, after having all the fun and rest, we are getting back the business again - our mid-term exams are coming up this week. I wish all of us can pass the mid-terms and finals ,then we can say goodbye to the Leap program and get into the University programs officially.
p.s.: can anyone send me the pictures from the party? I would love to collect them. Thank you very much.

To Those Who Treasure Love

Since the Valentine Day is coming

So, i capture something about LOVE

Hope everyone enjoy it.....

"It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return,but what is the most painful is to love someone and neverfinding the courage to let the person know how you feel."

"It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone and a day to love someone. But it takes a lifetime to forget someone."

"Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we should know how to be grateful for that gift."

"There are things you love to hear but you would never hear it from the person whom you would like to hear it from, but don't be deaf to hear it from the person who says it with his heart."

"Love is when you take away the feeling, the passion, the romance, and you find out you still care for that person."

"A sad thing about life is that when you meet someone who means a lot to you only to find out in the end that it was never bound to be and you just have to let go."

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens but often we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us."

"The best kind a friend is the one you could sit on a porch, swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had."

"It's true that we don't know that what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives."

"Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back! Don't expect love in return. Just wait for it to grow in their hearts, but if it donesn't, be content it grew in yours."


"Never say goodbye when you still want to try, never give up when you still feel you can take it, never say you don't love that person anymore when you can't let go."

"Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been disppointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed, need to love those who still love even though they've been hurt before."

"Don't go for looks it can deceive; don't go for wealth, even that fades away, go for someone who makes you smile coz only a smile makes a dak day seem bright. Hope you find that person."

"There are moments in life when you really miss someone that you want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real. Hope you dream of that someone.


"Dream what you want to dreams, go where you want to go, be what you want to be coz you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want in life."

"May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy and enough money to buy me gifts."

"Always put yourself in others shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably does hurt the person, too."

"A careless word may kindle strife; a cruel word may wreck a life, a timely word may level stress, a loving word may heal and bless."

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them with our own image, otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."

"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the most of everything that comes along their way."

"Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have toughed their lives."

"Love starts with a smile, develops with a kiss and ends with a tear."

"The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches."

"When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling, live your life so that when you die, you're smiling and everyone around you is crying."

A stone

I remember a story... which talk about a stone
This stone is called Kenneth.... he used to live in the up-stream..
He 's very charming and has character..... so everyone loves him so much
However, he makes lots of troubles and argues with lots of people because of his characters
but he swears to god that he will never change himself

During the heavy rain, Kenneth is pushed to the down-stream...
In the processing, he has hit by the others.....
He finds that he has changed a lot when he finally settles at the down-stream......
He is so depressed because he thinks that he is not charming and has character as before

When he looks around, he finds everybody looks the Kenneth... it makes him even more upset....

Suddenly, one of the stones talks to him and ask him what has happened?
Kenneth tells his story to this stone......
This stone says, "it is only the appearance, but inside it is still Kenneth .. isn't it?

Troubles make people stronger.. the most important thing is our hearts

Hope you can understand the meaning of the story...

cooking vs writing

It is so sweet that we have one day off. It is like you give someone a bottle of clean and fresh water when they are very thirsty in the desert. This week is as busy as usual. We have to pay attention on the essay we hand in this week because it worth 5%. In Level 3, I didn’t worry that much since I had enough confidence on my writing (actually, I really did worry a little bit in level 3 but not as much as now). On the other hand, we do have lots of freedom in our writing that we can really enjoy the creative process. So, needle won’t be sharp on both ends.

This week, I start to cook for my client. I find it a great job because I really enjoy cooking and I get pay as well. Fortunately, she is not very picky in food, so whatever I cook, she will love and enjoy it. Sometimes, she praises my cooking skills because she doesn’t know much about Chinese food or how good Chinese food can be tasted like. Nevertheless, I do have more confidence in making good dishes than writing an awesome essay. Can I make a dish to the instructor instead of write an essay during the final exam? I think I will get a B at least. : )

It is first time for me to use a blog in foreign language. I used to have a blog in Chinese but I gave it up a while ago because my Chinese typing was very slow. It took a long time for me to establish it and to maintain it regularly. In a sense, having an English blog is easier because I type English much faster. Moreover, searching someone's blog can be amusing because you are looking at someone's thoughts and perspectives which can help you a lot in creating ideas during writing. As a result, your writing could be improved.
After a week in suffering from Leap program level 4, I find that weekend is the most beautiful day in the whole week. We have written 4 essays during this first week and one book review is going to be handed on next Monday. I cannot believe how terrible this Leap 4 class will be and how I am going to deal with it. I find that our Leap 4 teachers have a great different from our previous teachers. I think that they have a deep understanding in English, for example, while I had to try my best to remember the grammar rules in my previous English classes, my grammar teacher here seems to make us understand why we have to use some sort of tenses instead of just remembering it. It makes grammar more practical other than something you have to keep it in mind but you don't know how to use it.