A River Runs Through It - Reflection

1) The last sentence of the novel, the author says “ I am haunted by waters.”
What do you think he means by this quote?

I think this quote means that the main character has already merged with the water because he had been fishing since he was a little boy, so water is something that has been in his life since he can remember. He used to fish with his younger brother, but he died. The author must be very sad because whenever he went fishing, it will remind him of his little brother. They both like fishing very much, and they have a very close relationship. Since they grew up in Montana, fishing is also an important leisure activity for them, so their relationship with the river; Montana; and the nature is something that will be with them for the rest of their life.

2) Of the characters found in the book, which character do you like the most? Why? Which characters do you like the least? Why?


The character that I found in the book that I like the most is Paul; he is a very special person. In my opinion, I think that he was a bit moody and always do things out of impulse, but deep down, he is actually a very smart boy. Even though his family was very concerned about him, but he can always managed to make things right and let his family members be proud of him. He always made his own decision, and very determined; that’s way I like him the most because he will do whatever it takes to reach his goal and get things done.


3) What do you think is the major lesson we can take from this novel/movie?


In the novel and the movie, the major lesson that I think we can all learn about is the nature rules and the relationship between the father and the sons. The father taught them many things through the time they were spending doing their fishing trips. The nature got it’s own rhythm and rules, and they are there and sure not be broken. The boys also matured through the years, and learned the facts of life through fly fishing.


image source:
http://www.sportsmoviesfanatic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/a-river-runs-though.jpg
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Original_Photo/2008/03/27/1206653937_3018.jpg



Children killed in US plane crash

There were fourteen people killed by a plane crash in Montana. The plane was flying fourteen people from California to Montana for a ski trip; seven of them were children. This horrible accident took the life of seven young children. The accident is still under investigation, the official claimed that they didn’t have much information at this moment and not really sure what caused the terrible accident.

Monday, March 23 2009
By BBC
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7950000/newsid_7958500/7958563.stm

School meals rules "too strict"

The schools in England are having a plan of making healthy food for the students. There are some special rules need to be followed and it is really interesting. There's also a group called The Local Authority Caterers Association which provide the school meals which says that the best way to help those students have a healthy body is to have a balanced healthy diet.

Wednesday, March 25 2009
By BBC
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7960000/newsid_7962700/7962738.stm

Bizarre food in Taiwan

In the video that we watched during Taiwan Social Study class, there was a foreigner that came to Taiwan to travel. The first place that he visited was Shilin night market, which is a very famous night market in Taipei. There are lots of young couples or even families will have their meals there. The foods in the night market are very special and it also represents the Taiwanese food culture of. The first dish that he tasted was called "fried shrimp". The foreigner really liked it, I think it was very special because I had never had anything like that. Another dish was called "coffin bread". They cut up a thick toast, and put stuffing inside. I was so impressed by this simple food; it was so different. I might want to try it someday in the future. The strangest food that I think I will not forget was called the "goose tongue, goose head and the goose brain". I can't believe that someone really loves that stuff. The man also went to a store that sells many different and valuable medicine. They sell mushroom which is very special, dry fruits, shark fin that can strengthen people's health. He also went to the most famous building in Taiwan which is the Taipei 101. There is a big food court in the 101 basement. Lots of people go there for meal because there are varieties of food you can choose from, range from local Taiwanese cuisine to exotic cuisine from all over the world. These were the things that I found in the video that we watched. Actually, not all the food that they introduced was very nice, some of the dishes were not as delightful as the other, but they are still very special and represent our culture.

image source : http://www.andrewzimmern.com/files/images/IMG_1041.JPG

Scotland

The people that lived in Scotland around 1200s were in a dark age. They were very poor and most of the people had never taken a bath in their whole life. In the movie that we were watching during our humanities class was called "The Brave Heart", the British had controlled the people in Scotland. At that time, there were no laws to protect the people in Scotland, so the solders from England can do whatever they want. For instance, the solders can take someone else’s wife. They can kill whomever that they wanted to kill. It was very unfair to the Scottish people. 1200s was a very dark age; there were a lot of people who lives in Scotland were killed. They were poor; they wore very dirty and simple clothes. For my opinion, it was a very terrible time.

image source: http://api.ning.com/files/SxxQ-bTcXOnPFSIiTjABsfdwDip75uJ8-TYWHBY72Vd*wQKrqw1TBJoPhgIw0jmVuT5L-J2ILqpSQT3x-Akeswb6LfhlbjUJ/scotland.jpg

My Facorite Place

My favorite place is my auntie's house in America. I have been there for vacation once when I was in the fifth grade. I went there for my summer vacation with my family, my parents, two twins sisters and my grandmother. My auntie's house was a white color villa. The villa has a very big and green lawn with beautiful flowers all over and also big trees. My aunt drove us to a small hotel that they built, we stayed there for several weeks and visited some famous sightseeing near there, and sometimes we will go visit our auntie. Our auntie lives in a small town, there weren't a lot of cars and people live there. In that town, there were also a very big market where we bought a lot of food and clothes there. Once was my uncle's birthday, they had a party that lasted for the whole day and they invited a lot of their friends included my family. We went there and I made a lot of friends. They are very talented, some of them know how to play the piano, violin, cello, etc. There were kind and nice, we chatted, went swimming and played the mini golf, which was wonderful. I love my aunt's house; there were a lot of fun and interesting thing that we can play. I hope I will visit there in the future.

image source: http://www.commquest.at/comenius/images/language_books.gif

After the fall of the Roman Empire

After the fall of the Roman Empire, there were no strong army that can protect the people and the land. Many wars broke out, the society of that time was also not in order, that was the time we called “Dark Ages”. The Roman Empire had little ability to control those lost lands. Without the protection from the government and constant wars going on, people’s life changed a lot, during that time, the rulers was not able to keep the libraries, public baths areas, and major educational institutions. Any new building that was much smaller than before. Cities and businessman lost the economic benefits and there were no safe conditions to trade things or make things. Culture development and education were fall behind. It became unsafe to travel or carry goods to other places, many arts and crafts disappeared overnight.

image source: http://knowinglyundersold.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/13602_fall_of_the_roman_empire_screen_5.jpg

Nitrogen Passport Reflection

1. Why didn’t everybody go to the same stations in the same order?

Everyone couldn’t go to the same stations in the same order because everyone started from the different stations, so in that way, people can go through all the stations and not waste time.

2. Did you go to the same station twice? If so, what does this tell us about cycles?

Yes, I did go to the some station twice, it tells me that everything can cycle around the world, even the atmosphere.

3. Was there one station that seemed to have a lot of people at it? Why or why not?

Yes, there was one station that seemed to have a lot of people standing there and tried to get the stamp. I think there were a lot of people in a same station because they got the same number, so they went to the same direction.

4. What do you think the point of this activity was?

For me, I think that this activity was about teaching us that how the different things in the world cycle around, where are the places that they might go, etc. This is part of the lesson that we are studying now during the science class. We used stamp to remind us which stations that we have been through and we also provide evidence, so we can learn something, and also know why we are going to other station, which matches the cycle lesson that we are studying now.

Article - Feudalism

After reading about the feudalism information from the about.com, I learned that the scholars created the word “feudalism” in the 16th and 17th century to describe a political system at that time. Feudalism was not the only form of political organization back in the medieval Europe. The peasants work on a land for a lord so they can get protection, known as manorialism or seignorialism, they are not the same as “feudal system”. Still others since the 1970s have re-examined the evidence and concluded that feudalism is an unworkable term and should be removed entirely from the educational discussion, or at least used only with severe qualification and warning. Therefore, I think fedualism is just a general term to describe the polictical system at that time, can’t be fully represent the political system in the medieval time.

image source: http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/feudalism.jpg

The Science of Benjamin Button!

Benjamin Button TED Talk

About the TED talk that I had watched during science class today, it was about how the people used the scientific method to create Benjamin Button. They talk about what is going on in the movie, a person called Benjamin Button was born as a very old man, and as he grew older, he looks younger which was very weird. People use the scientific technology to create him. Before the completion of Benjamin Button, they need to think of the color of the skin for Benjamin Button, and also his hairstyle. It was very difficult for the workers and actors because the scientific process wasn't very easy. They tried different ways to present Benjamin Button, there are steps that can clearly help them prove, and they have to be realistic as they can. I think this kind of scientific method that can present Benjamin Button is a very creative and special. Including to the TED talk, the most part that interested me was how they created Benjamin Button. They have actor to portrait Benjamin, and makeup artist and special effect team to make different faces and get through the computer so that they will have a new Benjamin Button. I think this is a very advanced invention, it really clearly shows how good we are in technology. After this TED talk, it interested me to get to know more about this. I think this kind of special invention will be very common in the future.

image source: http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2008/11/17/benjamin-button-poster-1.jpg

Blood Red Horse

William has a horse that has a small chestnut. And Ellie is a very fair person. She has agreed to marry William's older brother Gavin. And because the king Crusade had already sign for a war and all the knights of England must go to the Holy Land to fight for their king. And of course Will and Gavin must go to the war too. Their lives will be in danger, but the girl Ellie and the red house Hosanna will stay and wait for their return.

image source: http://www.inlyschool.net/summer_reading/BookImages6-10/proficient/BloodRedHorse.jpg

The Crusades Video

In the video that we had watched during humanities class was about the Christian of Europe in the 11th-13th centuries that wanted to take back the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Crusaders were against everyone who did not follow their religion and did not look like them. This included Muslims, Jews, and even dark-skinned Christians, all of whom were attacked and murdered by them. It was really terrible because all the different groups had been killed by the Christians. I really think that Crusaders were heartless and cruel. People should have their freedom to choose their own religion, and the Crusaders really caused the hate between the Christianity and Muslims.

image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Gustave_dore_crusades_entry_of_the_crusaders_into_constantinople.jpg