My Adventures and I.

Working Holiday in Japan - Re-entry Permit

2012-01-11T08:25:00.001+08:00

I went to Tokyo Immigrant Bureau to get my re-entry permit for my working holiday visa. For those who are in working holiday visa, don't forget to get the permit before you leave Japan if you want to keep your working holiday visa. Without getting re-entry permit, your working holiday visa expires when you leave Japan.

The process is relatively easy.
You will need following documents with you when you apply for re-entry permit:
1. Passport (of course, this is where the permit will be granted.)
2. Your foreigner ID
3. Re-entry application form
4. Revenue stamp form (And you can get the revenue stamp at fami-mart at first floor. 3,000 yen for one time only re-entry, 6,000 yen for multiple time re-entries. )

Make sure the amount of revenue stamps you are going to buy. They are not refundable!!!! I made a stupid mistake. I bought 6,000 yen revenue stamp while applying for one time only re-entry permit......tears..... I will save the extra revenue stamp for next time.......

Sent From My Android

2012 New Year Resolution

2012-01-04T10:33:00.001+08:00

Looking back to 2011 and trying to review the 2011 New Year Resolution and realizing that I didn't make any New Year Resolution for my 2011. (No!!) 2011 had been a very busy also dramatic year for me. It was my 2nd year at work. I was in charge of many big projects. But the earthquake in Japan happened out of the blue in March. And I had thought a lot about me and my girlfriend in Japan and decided to move to Japan to start a new life with my girlfriend so we can take care of each other no matter what happens in the future. I was even too busy to make my 2011 New Year Resolution. **tears**

I will make my 2012 New Year Resolution and live it up from now on!

Japanese New Year in Kagoshima

Keep my weight between 60~63 KG.

Keep on jogging a least 4 times a week.
Intensive muscle workouts, 2 times a week.
No carbon dioxide food and sugar after 20:00, except for Friday.

Read 36 books.

Averagely 3 books per month.
Three books each month in different categories to expend my reading experience.
Post reading reflection on my blog.

Passing JLPT Level 1 in July.

Two 1-hour Japanese lessons a week.

Others

Avoid working overtime. Set Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as my no-work-overtime days.
Go to bed at 23:20 every night.

Travel in Korea

I have been thinking about visiting Korea for a long time. But I never had the chance. I am aiming to visit Korea sometimes between August to October in 2012.

These are my New Year Resolution for 2012! Hopefully I can achieve them all!

Good morning Tokyo. We will share 2012 together!

Here I come, 2012! Let's have fun!

2011/8/24 Food shopping + foreigner ID application

2011-08-25T15:50:00.003+08:00

2011/8/24 Food shopping + foreigner ID application

I went to ward hall yesterday for my foreigner ID application. The ward hall looked a bit old, the stairway is dimmingly yellow. The staff there is extremely nice. But they only speak Japanese....it must be very hard for all foreigners, who don't speak Japanese. There was a Chinese girl just came and applied for the visa as I did. Hope she can find her ideal job soon.

But I wonder what visa they are taking........

And I went grocery shopping. Um.....I have never seen these vegetables before.......um. I have no idea how I should cook them.......What about my Taiwanese Food Competition? I have a bad feeling about that.

And this is a Dori Gate (a gate indicating the range of the holy spirits) built between 2 buildings. Mizuki and I thought it was cool.

推動停滯不前的公車前進的，竟是人的冷漠與自私

2011-05-11T22:20:00.002+08:00

4月18號，一個一如往常的禮拜三夜晚，這一天我沒有加班，下班之後我就直接到南京東路上等待回基隆的國光客運巴士，站在公車月台上，我看到有一對夫婦，太太看起來是台灣人，先生的口音聽起來像是英國人，先生看起來行動不是很方便，他使用一台自動式的輪椅車，除了這個以外，他們感覺起來是一對非常幸福的夫婦。

沒有人特別注意著他們，或者是說大家都在努力試著將眼光移開，不要去注意他們。

穿過人群，在公車月台上，我站在平常站著的老位子，大概就是月台的正中央，我也聽著平時最常聽的"生物股長"的"雪やまぬ夜二人 (雪夜中只有你我)"，隨著音樂讓心情沉澱，看著大樓玻璃上映出的這個世界的倒影........。

就在此時，我突然發現公車好像都停止了，南京東路上的公車道似乎都沒有公車在跑，沒有任何公車進站，我試著找出原因，同時間我注意到，等待公車的人們的目光都放在同一個方向 - 那對夫婦身上，那對夫婦試著想要搭上公車，但是因為南京東路因為捷運工程的關係，公車站都是臨時搭建的，臨時公車站高度太高，導致無障礙公車的坡道不能夠順利搭在臨時公車道上，那位搭乘輪椅的先生就沒有辦法坐上公車，而太太則是努力地與公車司機商談，看看是否有順利能夠讓先生搭上公車的方法。就這樣，公車道阻塞了。

而在旁邊所有的乘客以及等待公車的人群就這樣投以冷漠的眼光。就這樣過了數分鐘，沒有人願意向這對夫婦伸出援手，只選擇在一旁靜靜地看.......。這残酷的畫面讓我下意識地拿下我的耳機，我走向前對他們詢問是否有我可以幫得上忙的地方，他們問說這邊他們並不熟，他們只是回娘家玩，沒想到居然來的時候可以下車，回程時確沒辦法上車，如果走到前一站或是到下一站是否會比較好上車，但事實上因為南京東路上的工程，基本上都是臨時搭建的公車站，不管走到哪一站都是一樣的。

我有想過用搬的方式將輪椅車搬到公車上，但是因為電動式的輪椅車非常的重，就算有很多人一起幫忙也是很吃力（也不能搭計程車）。我們也試過從前門進入公車，但因為北市的公車不知道出於什麼理由，都將前門做的很窄，輪椅車的長度剛好進不了公車，數分鐘過去了，居然有一位太太走出來說話了，她說這對夫婦讓公車道堵塞，應該要放棄坐公車，讓公車道回復暢通。。。。。

試問，公車的使命就是要搭載乘客，公車並不會也不應該在乘客還在上車的過程中，不顧乘客是否已搭乘完畢，就將車門關上開走，是吧？今天公車為了你，在公車站停下來，就應該要為這夫婦停下來，這樣的理解應該不過分吧，我完完全全不能理解該太太的想法。

而公車司機也聽取該太太的意見，將車開走了。

還好，下一班公車司機來時，將公車停離公車站遠一些些，預留一段距離讓後車門下的坡道可以彈出來，這才是標準公車司機應該有的專業知識以及態度！！！還好這對夫婦最後有搭上公車，真為他們捏把冷汗。

事後我一直不斷地想，那位太太為什麼會說那樣的話，而那第一台公車的司機又為什麼會這樣輕易地放棄這對乘客，台灣真的落後其他先進國家的腳步這麼多嗎？

我為台灣感到傷心。

If buses stop for me, they should stop for you, too.

2011-04-19T07:46:00.002+08:00

There was a couple at the bus stop tonight, right at the bus stop where I wait for the buses going back home. The wife is a Taiwanese. The husband looks like he is from UK. His accent is a bit British. The husband is sitting on auto-wheel chair. No body was paying attention to them, or i should say everyone is trying not to pay any attention to them.

I was standing at the corner of the bus stop, and listening Yo my favorite music, Ikimonogakari, the song was Yukiyamanu Yorufutari. I was look at the big building in front of me as I always do. It was a big offie building with black windows. I can see the reflection of this street on the building window, so I like to look at it.....and think about things.

But I started to realize that buses stopped coming. I tried to find the reason. I found everyone's eye sights are in the same direction. It was on the couple who were trying to get on the bus. The bus stop was a temporary stop, so the height of the stop is a bit higher. And the bus ramp couldn't pop out and reach the bus stop. The man in the wheel chair couldn't get on the bus. And the lady is trying very hard to negotiate with the bus driver to see if there is any way they can get on the bus. They were worried other bus stops might have the same problem. The truth is many roads are under construction in Taipei as we are building more metro routes. A lot of bus stops are temporary ones.

It had been couple minutes past, still, no one is helping them, not even trying to.
I was still standing at the corner, struggling if I should do some thing? There was nothing I could really do.....I thought. But the freezing air and everyone's cynical eye sights pushed me walked towards to them. "is there anything I can do?" I asked.

And the wife told me that they couldnt get on the bus. We tried to get on the bus from the front door, but the auto-wheel chair is too long to fit in the front door. Couple more minutes had past, there was a lady came to us and told the bus driver "all the buses are stuck on the bus lane, you should drive now." "..............what....." I thought. I should've let her know her that she had said a wrong thing.

Bus is a viechle which takes passengers to the places they are going to. The bus will not drive away until all it's passengers had gotten on the bus. Now there is a passenger who is still getting on the bus, how can you tell the bus driver to drive away? Tell me how come you have that kind of idea? I cannot comprehend.

If the bus stops for me, for you, it shall stop for everyone else. Even it is going to take longer. Lady, you are living in Taiwan. And now I am feeling sad for Taiwan.

Tears in BMW / 寶馬的眼淚

2011-04-17T17:07:00.001+08:00

This is teaser of making fun of a news I heard this morning.
There is a material girl celebrity in China who says "I would rather cry in a BMW than smiling on a bike." I thought it was really funny.

As I was trying my newly bought iRig and iPad Garageband this morning......I thought it would be very interesting to make a song out of the news.

Ps, I was using a YAMAHA electric guitar with EMG pickups. The sound on simulated amps in Garageband sounds ok~

So......There you go~

I hope you would enjoy it!

昨天買了iRig，還有拿回寄放在朋友那邊的吉他，今天一早接起來玩，又加上早上看新聞時，看到一個大陸拜金女的新聞，就寫了這首歌。其實沒有什麼特別的意思，對於拜金女其實沒有什麼太特別的意見。單純好玩而已，希望可以搏君一笑。

讀書心得：跟誰都能聊不停 By 金井英之 (劉姿君譯)

2011-04-10T22:39:00.002+08:00

從事業務行銷開發的工作已經有一年多了，這一年多來，需要第一線面對客戶的機會真的是非常的多，但是與客戶的談話並不是每一次都非常地順利，所以我就找了這本書『跟誰都能聊不停 By 金井英之 (劉姿君譯)』來看看，想要提升與人談話的品質還有效率。

此書可以以兩大部分來分解：

1. 對話的問題

2. 對話的技巧精進

對於本書的大意，我有以心智圖的方式將重點記下與大家分享，大家可以直接參考心智圖。

另外，關於本書，我比較有感觸的地方是作者建議讀者在說話時以『精簡』為主，因為文句要精簡才容易達意；我在之前一直以為說話時要儘量用好聽一點的話語來取代一般的用字遣詞，並且說話的量越多就表示對話品質越好，但是作者表示對話內容若有太多不必要的內容，反而會讓說話者在說話的同時忘記原本開始對話的目的與初衷，受話者也不好抓說話者真正想要表達的重點。

以上就是我簡短的心得，希望可以對大家有所幫助。

小弟要趕快睡覺了，因為明天又是禮拜一，要上班啦!!!!

Completing the ICND I course

2011-02-27T15:08:00.004+08:00

Competing the first stage of my CCNA certification..........

ICND II training will star in 2 weeks!

Who Is New Burger King Product Line Aiming At?

2011-01-24T21:45:00.002+08:00

I just found out the latest value meal. well, is it a value meal when doubling the sale price?

Of course, they use steak instead of grounded beef. But the price is doubled?

Um.....will this starts another new trend for fast-food industry?

Looking forward to it!

My Friend!!!!!!

2011-01-17T22:51:00.001+08:00

See!!! The last photo in the bottom of the page!! The guy on the left side at second row is my friend! Well, it is my girlfriend's cousin!!!!

http://www.nhk.or.jp/ohayou-blog/100/69195.html

Cannot wait to share!

Remarkable Things in 2010

2011-01-16T22:52:00.004+08:00

Well, to improve my memorization is always something I am working on. Because I always forget about things happened in the past. Well, in order to remember my 2010 better, I would like to put down some remarkable things happened in the world in 2010 in my blog. In this way, I think I can recall 2010 better even after couple years later.....maybe...:P

1. North Korea bombed South Korea (This should be very hard to forget as I am in Asia. I can feel the tension.)
2. Taiwan Flora Expo Started (Well....I had been there three times!)
3. The release of iPad and iPhone 4. (Apple actually had changed people's life!)
4. Japan prime minister had changed to Naoto Kan. (Well, I am not very familiar with Japanese governing system. But it seems like they change their minister very very often.)
5. Miner rescue in Chile. (That was really really touching! If you don't know this, I mean if you are reading this blog in 2020 or something, go GOOGLE "Miner Rescue in Chile." I believe you will find a lot of inspiring information and stories. I hope Google still exist in 2020. :P)

These should be enough. What are the most remarkable things in 2010 to you?
Mind sharing them?

2010 Year Plan Review / 2010年度計畫檢討

2011-01-02T10:00:00.002+08:00

2010/12/30 Thr.

又到了一年一度的"年尾Review"以及"年初擬定新計畫"的時刻到了。在回顧今年的Blog文章時，驚然發現今年只有寫4篇文章，真的太打混了！不過也是因為一方面2010發生了很多事，像是跟奶奶說再見、找到了理想的工作、迎接新生的小外甥女、回到鹿兒島"返鄉"、景仰的課長被外派到日本、招待聖月的家人到台灣玩、歡度聖月的母親生日、第一次跟聖月一起過聖誕節等等，感覺每一個月都有重大的事件發生，心情很多起起伏伏，也因為開始工作的關係，在時間管理上面臨了前所未有的挑戰，所以今年沒有能夠好好的整理出來一些好的文章，真是可惜。

Time flies! It is time to review year plan and to make New Year Resolution! But look back 2010, I only wrote 4 articles! That is just too few, I was surprised by this outcome. It is mainly because there are too many things happened in 2010, things like: "saying Goodbye to my grandma, getting an ideal job, having a new niece joining the family, going back to Kagoshima for Obon holidays, bidding farewell to my respected manager who was transferred to headquarter in Tokyo, host Mizuki's family to Taiwan, celebrating Mizuki's Mom's birthday together, spending X'mas with Mizuki for the very first time in 3 years…etc. Pretty much, there was at least one big thing happened in one month. My emotion went up and down every month. And other main reason for not keeping on updating the blog is my work. It is my first time to work! I am facing a new challenge which is to find a balance point between work life and private life. It is very different than being a student.

好啦！現在就是要檢討去年的計畫啦！

Well, let's get started on reviewing 2010 Resolutions.

2009年的年度計畫共有6個，含自我檢討講評如下所示：(評分標準：單項目滿分5分，1分為完全沒有該項目之進度，2分表示成果介於1~3分中間；3分為達到預期，4分分表示成果介於3~5分中間，5分為成就大大超過自我設定之目標。)

There are 6 resolutions I made for 2010. I will comment on each of them and score them. (Score on each item: Full score is 5. No progress at all is 1. Achieving Expected outcome is 3. Outcome between 1 and 3 is 2. Achieving further/better beyond expected outcome is 5. Outcome between 3 and 5 is 4.)

將體重控制在68KG以下，並維持體型。
從一月到十月都保持的算是不錯，都維持在68KG，但是11月開始暫停了一直以來持續的晨間運動，加上常常晚餐太晚吃或是吃太多，所以體重現在到了70大關，偶爾會突破70，但是誓死都要守住這個關卡。因為一年中有10/12的時間都有達成目標，所以評分為2分。
在今年8月到鹿兒島聽生物股長（いきものがかり）的演唱會。
最愛這個項目了，目標簡單明瞭。今年在8月份日本的清明節時回到鹿兒島探望好友，順邊就去了鹿兒島文化館看了生物股長的演唱會，到現在主唱Kiyoe的聲音都還在我的心中迴盪；說實在的聽現場跟聽CD感覺差很多，一方面是因為現在的音場設定的模式與聽CD截然不同，另一方面也是Kiyoe的聲音好像變了，在高音以及中音的地方更有力了。本項目的評分：3分。
在夢想中的公司中好好學習，並做出一點成績。
今年我個人的業績達成率比我想像中的要好一些，再加上年末時又多拿到1張新電路的訂單，所以以業績面來說我可以拿到3分~4分了；但是以非業績面來說，例如技術方面的專業知識我還有太多不懂了，在明年我一定會更加努力加強。本項目評分：3分。
償還就學貸款並增加存款。
今年很奢侈的去了日本兩次，還有聖月來台灣三次，所以這五次的見面花了我不少錢阿！不過花費都還在控制之中，預計今年是沒有辦法全數償還就學貸款，但是預計明年第一季就可以將目前所有資產由負轉正！本項目評分：1分
精進英文能力 - 提升字彙能力 (特別是網路資訊方面的專業字彙)

平均每1個工作天就會閱讀至少一篇有關於資訊之原文報導，但是對於資訊方面的專業英文字彙並沒有特別的試驗可以用來做自我評量，所以我也很難衡量這一個項目，姑且就以2分來代表吧。

6. 通過日本語檢定考一級試驗

本項目結果是，沒有達成。其實是在工作開始時，發現我所隸屬的部門的工作是偏重在英文，所以我將語言的培養著重在英文。但是在2月~8月我有參加永漢日語的商用日語會話班，將自我的日語能力再往上提升一些。(主要是希望我可以用日語作基本的電話接聽應答，因為常常有本社來的電話。)本項目評分：2分

1. Keep my weight under 68.

I had done pretty well on this resolution from January to October. But I stopped my continuous morning exercises in November. And I ate too late or too much in these days. My weight has reached to 70 KG. And I will keep it under 70, even make it go under 68 again! For the most time thorough out the year, I kept my weight under 68, I will give myself 2 points on this item.

2. Going to Ikimonogakari's concert in August.

This is my favorite resolution. Simple and exciting! I went back to Kagoshima in August for Japanese Obon Holidays. It happened that Ikimonogakari was holding a concert there in Kagoshima! Lucky me. And I got the ticket this time! It is as if I can still hear Kiyoe-chan's voice bouncing in my ear! It is SO DIFFERENT to hear Ikimonogakari in live than listening to CD. The sound settings in CD and in live concert are different. And, personally, I think Kiyoe-chan's voice had changed a little bit. Her voice is even stronger in high and middle frequency now. Without a doubt, I gave myself 3 points for this resolution.

3. Working hard in my dream company.

On the perspective of sales, I did pretty well as a new comer in this company. Plus, I got another new order by the end of 2010! Oh yeah! Sales Up! However, on the perspective of non-sales, for example, professional technical knowledge, I still have so much to learn. And I really want to shorten my learning time. For 2010, I will give myself 3 points on this item.

4. Pay off my school loan and save money!

I spent way too much money this year! I went to Japan twice. And Mizuki came to Taiwan 3 times. Totally, we met 5 times this year, which costs both of us a lot of money. Thank God the expenses were still within manageable range. I don't think I can pay off my school loan this year. But I think I should be able to pay it off by the end of Q1, 2011. I will rate myself as scoring 1 point on this item.

5. Sharpen my English skill (learn more about IT vocabs)

Although I keep on reading at least one English IT news article every workday, but there is no such a test can evaluate my understanding on IT words. I will give myself 2 points on this item for now.

6. Pass JLPT Level 1.

The fact is I didn't accomplish this mission. Because I realize English is a lot more important at my work position in my department than Japanese after I started working. So I focused on improving English. But I never give up on my Japanese. I took Business Conversation Course in Japanese in private education institute from February to August. After all, I am working for a Japanese company. I need to take phone calls from headquarter in Tokyo sometimes. I realized I should at least know how to take phone calls in correct Japanese manner and in Japanese. I give myself 2 points on this item.

總分：13分。達成率72% (滿分以達成期望值的滿分 - 18分計算，簡單計算，僅供參考)

跟2009年比起來，達成率算是大大提升了呢，哈哈。2011年也要持續加油！

Score Total: 13 Points. Completion Rate: 72%. (Full score is 18 points, on the basis of achieving expected outcome. It is a simple formula. Only for reference.)

Compared to 2009, I had made a great leap in 2010 on the terms of completion rate. Hahaha! Keep on moving forward in 2011!!!

Music! Goodbye Happiness by Utada Hikaru

2010-12-05T11:04:00.004+08:00

I saw Utada Hikaru's latest music video in Taiwan. The song was called "Goodbye Happiness."

It's a song full of energy. I really wanted to get to know more about the lyrics, so I searched it on Google. I was trying to type in Japanese. And I realize one thing.........................

Utada = 宇多田(Her name in Kanji) = 歌だ (Song!)

So maybe her destiny is to making great songs and music for the world.

I cannot stop wondering......what is my destiny? :)

I will leave that to myself. Let's enjoy Utada's new song - Goodbye Happiness~

The reflection on "The Last Lecture"

2010-09-18T16:26:00.003+08:00

I usually pick up something to read during traveling. I pick up the book "The last Lecture" by randy pausch.

I have watched his lecture on YouTube. It was very inspiring. So I bought it at TPE airport, on my way to Cambodia.

I believe this book has great impact on many people, and even has helped many families with cancer patient to go through their life paths.(if you have time, you should read it. In fact, its not really a book about dying of cancer, but living fully.)

Everyone will benefit and learn from this book in different ways. Let me share 3 lessons of mine:

1. Enjoy every part in your life.
This was a cliche, and it wasn't explicitly pointed out in the book. But it is not hard to find that Randy is a guy who know how to enjoy his life. Skipping a ticket from police while speeding had made his day. Well, this is not something we should really look up for. But it is the spirit we should look up for. Find the little things that is worthwhile of your smile. And enjoy them.

2. Time is one of the most valuable resource.
Randy had shared his tips at managing his time:

Time must be explicitly managed, like money.
You can always change your plan, but only if you have one.
Ask yourself:Are you spending your time on the right thing?
Developing a good filing system.
Rethink the telephone.
Delegate
Take a time out. (It's my favorite part. I love how Randy set up his phone message to keep his honeymoon with Jai unbothered.)

3.The brick walls are there to the people who don't want it badly. They are there to stop other people.

Brick walls are there fore a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

These are the 3 lessons that I have learnt from the Las Lecture. Oh, believe me, I have learnt far more than just 3 lessons. But I have shared some of mine. Now that will be really cool if some one had read this or watched Randy's clip can share theirs! :)

So, what are yours?

「感謝你的美好」/Thank you!

2010-05-16T18:03:00.002+08:00

『這對我來說，不只是一個必須注意禮讓的符號，

這對我來說，不只是一個在停車場裡有較大停車空位的標誌，

這對我來說，不只是標示電梯就在不遠的前方的標示，

這對我來說，更不是一個可憐的故事的開端………….』

給我的人生夥伴，聖月小姐：

親愛的聖月小姐，我想要藉由這機會好好的感謝你！

你的笑容有如陰天的太陽，穿越重重雲層，給我一道指引的路還有無限的溫暖。

你的勇氣有如夏天的南風，飛越海洋、全力向北，牽動著我、督促著我向前走。

常常有人告訴我：『哇！你與行動不方便的人交往，你好有愛心喔！你是不是一直都在照顧她啊？』

我一貫的回答是：『?!??，會嗎？其實都是我一直受到我女友的照顧耶。』

這不是說說而已，其實我有時候很難過，因為不了解的人常常會誤解我們的關係，如果沒有妳，我今天一定會是個不一樣的人，如果沒有妳，我在人生這片大海裡一定會更迷惘。

我要感謝妳：

我在日本短暫學習日文的期間，因為我太過愛玩，每天都想著要到哪裡走走，雖然說到日本的目的是為了學習日語，但是我人一到了日本，就忘記了我原本的初衷，只想要去還沒有去過的神社參觀，或是到沒有去過的Shopping Mall，妳在當時嚴厲地對著我說：『你到日本來到底是不是來學日文的？你如果抱著玩玩的心態，我是不會再教你日文了。』(當時聖月是我的日文家教。) 如果當時沒有妳的當頭棒喝，我當初就不會考過日本語檢定考2級了！

還有謝謝妳在我們一起在美國念書時，為了省錢，常常做我最愛吃的飯糰。還記得有一次約會，我們一起做了一些飯糰，到校園南方的農場野餐，我們在吃完飯糰後，居然當下決定就在樹陰下睡午覺！我還記得當我們醒來時，在我們躺下的草地旁居然出現了一大批馬兒，居然還看到戴著牛仔帽的農夫，在趕馬兒。不知道那農夫會不會以為我們是發生什麼事了，居然躺在草地上，哈哈哈。不好意思，在一起的時候，很少可以帶妳到高級的地方走走，謝謝妳願意跟我一起到草地上野餐，謝謝妳給我這麼美好的回憶。

還有謝謝妳常常趁著長假時，從日本飛過來台灣看我，因為妳沒有辦法邊走邊拿行李，所以下飛機後，都要請機場工作人員幫你拿行李，妳最不喜歡麻煩人了，即使這樣，妳還是要飛到台灣來，機場工作人員常常看到我都會說：『你女朋友好勇敢喔！就算不會說中文，又坐在輪椅上，還敢一個人飛到台灣來玩！』這時我就會說：『對啊，她還到過泰國還有澳洲玩過耶！她就是愛冒險。』而在回程要回日本時，機場Check-in的工作人員都會用無法置信的臉問我，『你女友要自己飛回日本嗎？』這時妳就會用著充滿自信的臉，用力點著頭說『嗯！』

更要感謝妳，在一個忙碌的工作禮拜結束後，在某些禮拜六因為要幫我在日本買生物股長的演唱會的票，就算前一天很晚睡，妳還是特地早起，死守在電腦前，在10:00 AM 一到時，妳就狂點網頁，希望可以幫我買到票，不過很可惜，試了很多次，每次都是票一開賣的前五分鐘網頁會因為購票人太多，所以進不去，等到可以進去時，票已經賣完了。

還有好多事情，我必須好好地謝謝妳，全部的感謝都寫出了的話，我可能要寫好久，哈哈哈。

最重要的是，今後還要請妳多多指教啦！

『那對我來說，不只是一個必須注意禮讓的符號，

那對我來說，不只是一個在停車場裡有較大停車空位的標誌，

那對我來說，不只是標示電梯就在不遠的前方的標示，

那對我來說，更不是一個可憐的故事的開端………….』

那對我來說是：月を乗る少女 (乘著月亮的少女 – Moon Rider) 的標誌！

(You and Me)

新年新計畫 / New Year Resolutions 2010

2010-01-24T18:59:00.002+08:00

轉眼間，2009年即將結束了，要迎接2010年的來到，每次新年的時候就要來擬定一下新年的新計畫，當然還有回顧以下2009年當時訂下的新年新希望。

2009 is coming to an end. Time surely flies. As the 2010's arrival is approaching, I should make a New Year resolution like every other New Year. And, of course, look back and evaluate my 2009 New Year resolution.

2009年的新計畫只有6個，其中包括：

參與AIESEC的Exchange Program的演唱會
結果：未實現
因為今年三月底退伍後發現，如果真的想要參與國外的實習計畫，先必須有一筆存款才可以，另一方面也是希望可以在經濟能力上可以有突破，進而幫助家中經濟。(家中經濟是沒有問題啦，只是我希望媽媽在買菜時可以多買點自己喜歡的菜之類的。)
交女朋友
結果：實現
這是我在當時覺得最愚蠢的新計畫，因為怎麼會有人要計畫交女朋友呢？真想不通。不過諷刺的是，這也是我在2009年唯一完全實現的新計畫。哈哈哈。
存新台幣10萬元
結果：未實現
雖然存款有微微的成長，但是因為在11月的時候決定轉換跑道，辭掉之前的工作，所以連續兩個月沒有收入，還有剛好遇到朋友來台灣玩以及朋友結婚，所以就沒有達成了。
將體重控制在65公斤
結果：未實現
這我真的不知道要怎麼評論了，回想剛退伍時我只有65公斤加上一些肌肉曲線，哀......我要加油了，今年持續加油，還要加上行動計畫才行。
考過日本語能力檢定考1級
結果：1/2實現
今年5月時，非常衝動地衝到日本去自修學習日文，跟著聖月小姐學習日文，在退伍前還自信滿滿覺得只要努力一定可以在2個月內準備完畢並考過日本語檢定考1級，但是在退伍後，我就回到學校請教日文老師以及很多考過日本檢定考的朋友，都給我一樣的建議，先考2級再說吧，在自我評估後，我決定聽取大家的意見，事實證明，大家是對的，我在準備2級考試時，也是準備的非常吃力，果然兩個月的時間是不夠的！不過上天似乎非常眷顧我，不僅讓派給我私人家教聖月小姐，還有很好的學習環境(每天在日本餐廳幫忙，廚師們總是很熱心地教我食材的日文，還有幫助我學習在模擬考上的錯誤。)
我居然以260分的成績低空飛過合格邊緣啊！喔耶！所以算1/2達成囉！
看生物股長或是Angela Aki的演唱會
結果：未實現
今年非常衝地訂下了到日本的機票，甚至為了看生物股長（いきものがかり）的在東京現場演唱會，我還將機票的抵達時間提早一個禮拜，誰知道！誰知道！票居然賣完了！萬事俱備只欠東風啊！

There were only 6 wishes in my 2009 New Year resolution, including:

Realize an AIESEC Exchance internship by the end of this year
After finishing my Taiwanese National service in the army, I started to see things in a more practical way. I realized that I should save enough money to support my plan. On the other side, I also want to be more financial stable and independent, even strong enough to help my family. It is not like my family is having a crisis. It is just I want my mom can shop "easily" while buying things for the family, like grocery-shopping.
Get a girlfriend.
I thought this was the most stupid New Year resolution at that time. Who will plan to have a girlfriend? Weird, huh? But ironically, I got a girlfriend. And that is the only resolution that I have realized completely.
Save NTD$ 100,000.
I have saved some money. However, I quitted my job in November and had been unemployed for 2 months. Other than that, my friends came to Taiwan to visit and some got married in Taiwan. I had spent too much money on socialization. Hahaha.
Keep weight below/at 65 KG.
.............well....I still remember my muscle in March when I just finished my national service.....(sign)......
Pass JPLT Level 1.
I went to Japan to study Japanese in May. When I was still in the army, I thought passing JPLT level is really easy. I just need to study very hard. But I was very wrong. I have consulted with friends who had taken that test and with my Japanese professor. Taking JPLT level 1 is not very proper for my Japanese level. So, I took the level 2 instead. And oh, yeah. Everyone was right about it. Preparing for the level 2 was already hard. I only got 2 months.
Fortunately, I had been very lucky. I had a private tutor, Mizuki-san. And I had a great Japanese Learning environment, which is my friend's uncle's restaurant. All the cooks were so nice. They not only taught me Japanese but also how to cook.
And I passed the Level 2 test by 260. Oh, yeah! I guess this resolution is 50% done.
Watch Ikimono Gakari/ Angela Aki's concert by the end of 2009.

Ah!!!! I had even bought the airplane ticket to Japan. But the concert ticket was sold out. ;(

總結2009年的計畫執行進度來看，只有25%而已！不過沒有關係！在了解了之前的計畫為什麼沒有達成的因素後，加上今年新學習到的知識，還有調整過後的Mindset，我相信我的2010年將會是比2009更要豐富，並且成長更多！

I have completed my 2009 resolutions by only 25%. Well, but that is ok. I have adjusted my mindset and got ready for 2010! I believe I will get stronger in 2010!!

===================來吧，接下來就是2010年的新年新展望！The following is 2010 Resolutions=========================

將體重控制在68KG以下，並維持體型。
實際做法：每周慢跑2次，週末假日晨間慢跑；每天伏地挺身50下；早餐吃燕麥片。
在今年8月到鹿兒島聽生物股長（いきものがかり）的演唱會。

實際做法：我想這已經非常明確了，只希望可以順利買到票！
在夢想中的公司中好好學習，並做出一點成績。

實際做法：雖然此願望有點不明確，但因為正式上班日期是1月4日，所以對於職務還沒有全盤的認識，現在只有滿心熱血以及興奮，預計在7月1日時修正此願望，使其更明確。

償還就學貸款並增加存款。

實際做法：在每月給付日時將每月薪資一半直接提撥存款。
精進英文能力 - 提升字彙能力 (特別是網路資訊方面的專業字彙)
實際做法：每日閱讀3篇資訊相關的新聞報導，每月一本相關專業雜誌。
通過日本語檢定考一級試驗
實際做法：持續自修，依照之前準備2級考試的讀書計畫執行，並先報考7月舉辦的考試，最晚在12月要合格考取一級證書。

最後就是，今年也要元氣滿滿的過！每一天都要以最高戰鬥力勇往直前啊！衝衝衝！

Keep my weight under 68.
Method: Jog twice a week. 50 Push-ups everyday. Have wheat oat as breakfast.
Going to Ikimonogakari's concert in August.
Method: This is a very precise goal. I hope I can get the ticket this time. I have asked my friend's friend, who is in ikimonagakari's fan club. Let's hope she can get tickets for me. Please!!!
Working hard in my dream company.
Method: I just started my new job. I will make a more precise goal on 7/1. ;)
Pay off my school loan and save money!
Method: Save half of my salary every month. Invest after I save enough money to support my life for 3 months.
Sharpen my English skill (learn more about IT vocabs)
Method: Read 3 IT related articles everyday, and one professional magazine in a month.
Pass JLPT Level 1.
Method: Continue my Japanese learning journey based on how I did it for JLPT level 2. I have 2 chances this year, one in July, one in December. I will try both! I will pass it this year!

Last, but not least!

I will stay full of energy everyday in 2010 as always. I will get ready for all the challenges and overcome them one by one!!! Let's roll!!

年輕人的自尊 / Pride of a Youth

2009-12-03T13:24:00.003+08:00

最近因緣際會看了Buzzer Beat零秒出手這一部日劇，老實說我在真的接觸到這部日劇前，非常排斥這部日劇，因為我當初認為這部日劇的拍攝上有很多困難難以克服，像是球賽的鏡頭，演員並不是每一位都會打籃球，雖然我也不是個籃球高手，但是我實在是看不下去那些漂亮的啦啦隊姐姐們為明明連運球都有問題的主角來喝采；不過『零秒出手』對於球賽畫面的呈現完全超過我的想像，我想其中有些演員是真的球員吧，有些球員的動作真的好漂亮啊！他們帶球閃人時的前進曲線，還有流暢度實在是讓我有他們就是職業球員的感覺。

另外女主角莉子(北川景子飾)是一位小提琴手，在演奏小提琴時的畫面也取的非常好，另外我也不得不佩服北川景子小姐，我想他在開拍前一定有練習過一陣子的小提琴了，從右手拉弓到左手手指的律動都可以對到音樂節拍！真是太厲害了！整體畫面看起來比一般有小提琴畫面的戲劇要真實的很多。

啊！不過我今天要說的不是這個，我也不是一位專業的日劇評論人，我只是說說我個人淺見；我今天主要想要說得是，『零秒出手』這一部日劇的內容比我想像中的要豐富的多了，我之前一直以為這只是一部籃球跟愛的電影，不過其實這是一部有關於年輕人追逐夢想的故事，男女主角都到了一個人生的轉淚點的時刻，也就是24歲，也許說在24歲時就要放棄自己的夢想而遷就現實，有點言之過早，但是如同山下智久大哥哥在劇中所說的『24歲真的是一個不可以在為所欲為的年紀了』，24歲就是要好好審視自己，『如果夢想之路太過遙遠，是不是應該轉彎了呢？』(這一句是我自己加的)的年紀。

我實在是很不想要這麼說，但是來到24歲的我，我也漸漸有了這種感覺呢，我的人生路一路走來還算順利，雖然有很多顛簸，但也算順利呢；在我的前一份工作，也就是在智慧型手機的企業軟體開發公司擔任行銷業務人員，在那短短的時光，我也學到了很多目前手持型裝置的最新應用，但是最快樂的還是參與了很多行銷活動，像是兩個月前的台灣微軟Windows Phone上市發表會的參與，都是很好的回憶，一起與精采公關團隊們合作，讓我體驗到團體合作的樂趣還有酸甜苦辣。

只是在投入職場時，我一心只想要可以找到可以直接接觸並開發國外市場的工作，想要好好善用我長期以來一直培養的語言能力，但是台灣的企業多是中小型企業，在開拓國外市場時多還是要透過規模較大的代理商或是公司來進行；而台灣的大型企業的進入門檻都設在平均需要5年以上的工作經驗。好不容易找到了行動智慧，想說可以透過行動智慧到國際市場闖蕩天下，但是進入公司後發現，公司的政策偏向只調派工程師到大陸，所以身為行銷業務的我是無望了，於是我就離開了行動智慧……….。

在離開行動智慧後，在不斷的尋找下一個工作時，我也不斷地自我審視，我的『職涯路線』該如何規劃，如果Google Map連這種東西的距離也可以算出來的話就好了，最好是連"交通工具"都可以建議我使用，哈哈，我真是別做夢了。在重新列出自我的人格特質還有優缺點時，我發現我的人生興趣中心居然是落坐在大學生夢想的職業，也就是行銷公關企劃類別的工作；的確，在行動智慧的時候，所有的行銷活動就算是要用到我私人的時間，我也都會主動參與，像是禮拜天無薪加班參與討論等等；我在美國留學時也是念行銷的呢！當然還有業務的工作，可以一直拜訪企業，了解市場最新的動向！

原來我繞了這麼一大圈(還好這一圈不是太大圈)回到了原點，所以現在呢，朝向行銷公關之路或是能夠提供高品質的服務的業務員之路邁進，因為我實在是太喜歡與人接觸了，站在現場第一線的感覺真的非常刺激！雖然我剛過完24歲生日，但是我還是希望在與現實低頭前，可以再試一次，朝向我想要走的路前進！我這個人沒有什麼厲害的，就只有用不完的熱情還有衝勁啊！衝啊！

附註：

(不過劇中的山下大哥堅持了自己所謂的自尊(Pride)勇敢的在籃球路上走，在一年後的公開賽得到了不錯的成績，所以也不要抱有過分的負面思想啊！跟我一樣，衝啊！)

成功を呼ぶ7っの法則　ＢＹ　勝間和代/ Katsuma’s Seven Rules for Your Business and Your Life

2009-11-17T20:15:00.004+08:00

(成功を呼ぶ7っの法則　ＢＹ　勝間和代

Katsuma’s Seven Rules for Your Business and Your Life)

這本書我並沒有花太多時間看完，我跳著看約看了70%，當然其中不包含我看不懂的日文，哈哈。一如勝間先生以往的書一般，裡頭有很多reference books可以去參考，不過主要是勝間先生自己的書，畢竟這是一本『勝間全集的導讀書籍 – Total Katsuma's Book Guide』，真是會賣書啊，其中我得到最多的大概就是複習勝間先生的七大法則(大約一半在別的書中都有提到)，還有得到神田昌典的書籍名，現在非常期待可以趕快閱讀神田先生關於影像閱讀的看法以及口碑銷售的相關書籍。

七大法則包含：

三毒追放を実行する ─ 也就是實行『不忌妒、不發怒、不抱怨』三毒的解放守則，換個角度看世界，以更正面的力量來面迎挑戰。
投資と消費の区別をつける ─ 區分『投資』與『消費』的不同。在為一件事物投入時間以及金錢之前，應先考慮投下去的成本在未來是否會以有形或無形的利益回報在自己身上，若是，就是投資，若否，就是消費啊！要學習如何利用有效的時間以及金錢！
自分をGoogle化する ─ 將自我Google大神化！根據勝間先生的意思，有一點是像將人類的一些腦部活動還有意志力方面的工作外包給現代的科技技術，這樣好像是雲端科技喔(勝間先生沒有說啦，不過我是這樣覺得)！哈哈！真Cool耶！由於人類的意志力不夠穩定，有時強有時若，所以更應該要好好利用科技資訊技術，像是如果想要減肥，就應該要利用營養管理系統來監控自己每天攝取的熱量以及消耗的熱量等等這方面的應用，還有利用其他3C產品來提升學習效率，像是在通勤時邊聽有聲書，像我啊，我的廁所裡一定有一本日文單字的書，每天上廁所時就會背個幾句！
上手にわがままになる ─ 要變成『自私高手』！不能一味的想要成為全方位的好人，其中包括不要對別人的要求全盤接受、適時地委託適當任務給適當的人來做，不要自己拼死拼活的做；簡單的說，就是要成為『對自己以及他人負責的人』(我自己的翻譯啦，翻錯請指正)，成為一個可以讓他人可以信賴的人。(如果別人請你幫的每一個忙你都答應，每一個邀約你都接受，並不一定會讓你成為一個值得信賴的人喔，況且，每一個人的時間都是很寶貴的，不可以隨便浪費！)
Giveの5乗を実行する ─ 給給給給給！給的五次方啊！『投資在人脈以及資訊上』並在整理完資訊過後，做有效的產出，就像我現在在打這篇網誌啊！在我不斷產出的同時，不但希望可以幫助其他需要相關資訊的人，也希望可以號召更多喜歡勝間和代先生的讀者們出來啊！不要在潛水了！留個言吧！(說實在的，最近開始，有越來越多的陌生人在網路上與我互動了，開始知道我小小的讀書心得，還有生活點滴可以娛樂別人，或是幫助別人，我真的好開心啊！
心と体の体力をつける ─ 精神力要集中，首先要有體力來支撐，就像是想要熬夜念書，沒有體力哪來的集中力來念書呢？所以要開始鍛鍊肌肉爆發力，勝間先生好像是每周做兩次肌力訓練，每次為期一小時的樣子，其他時間做有氧運動，還有以自行車最為主要交通工具。強健的體力 + 適當的睡眠與休息à高度精神力！
セレンディピティを持つ ─ 就是『Serendipity力』，根據字義上來解釋就是：意外地有所獲得，有所發現；這也就是勝間先生說的偶然力啊！勝間先生說只要凡事積極以對，並實際執行以上六點，第七點的偶然力就會自然而然的降臨在你身旁了！以勝間和代先生的例子來說，凡事積極以對à將資訊有效產出(Blog還有麥田社群)à獲得華爾街日報評選全球最受矚目的50位女性之一à獲得其他獎項à認識更多名人(勝間先生最常提到的就是黑木瞳小姐了！我也好想要認識黑木小姐啊！)à獲得更多想法與刺激à產出更多有效以及有益的資訊！

(我製作的七法則桌面，與大家分享，大家可以一起將桌面換成7法則，時常複習唷！1280X800)

I quit! / 我辭職了！

2009-11-12T12:11:00.001+08:00

I quit my first full-time job in my life last week. You might think I am crazy. Why would I quit my job in a hard time like this, financial crisis and super high unemployment rate? And it is almost hitting the end of the year. I lost my bonus if I quit now! And it could be very hard to get another job at this moment during a year, since everyone is sticking to their job for yearly bonus. No more job vacancies.

我辭職了！我辭掉了我人生的第一份正職工作，為期三個月。大家一定覺得我瘋了，現在工作這麼不好找，又逢金融風暴、失業率飆高！你一定覺得我在想什麼吧！　況且，就要年底了，我如果現在辭職，我的年終就飛走啦！現在對於目前工作不滿的人們都在死撐，撐到年底領完年終，或是撐到明年領完紅包後再一起迎接"辭職轉換跑道潮"。

But….why why why~? I still decided to quit my job?

但是，為什麼！為什麼！為什麼我還是決定要現在辭職呢？

Of course, Rome wasn't built in one day. I am feeling like I am losing my passion! That is the main reason. This is the first time I don't like the arrival of Monday, which I seldom feel even when I was in army. It is not because the job is too hard. Rather than that, it didn't provide me a stage where I can perform what I am good at. So, I have decided to make a turn in life. Three month working experience is not really a plus to me when I look for a new job. However, my ex-employer wrote me a recommendation letter to show that my capacity towards to work. I am very grateful to that.

當然，這不是一時的決定，而是我覺得在這短短的時間內，我內心那一顆『火熱笑年A的心』的火焰越來越弱了，這我怎麼可以接受！我最大的專長就是我那『火熱笑年A的心』啦！這也是我人生第一次會害怕禮拜一的來到，就連我在當兵時，我也不會這樣覺得！我的熱情退卻不是因為這份工作很難，只是這份工作並不可以給我一個能讓我發揮的舞台，所以，我決定在人生的道路上，轉個彎了。還好，我很感謝我的前雇主願意幫我寫封推薦信，畢竟我這份工作只做了3個月，下一個雇主難免會懷疑我為何離開上一個公司，多虧了那封推薦信，讓我在面試時可以好好地跟面試官解釋。

I thought of one thing that I heard a lot before I started my first job. "Do not rush to decide to work for one company." Now I have understood that saying. I didn't have enough life experience as I take the offer. Therefore, I didn't make a proper choice. But I've also learnt a lot from this experience. Here are my suggestions to current job seekers:

此時，我就想起在我找工作時常常聽到的一句話：『多花點時間找工作，不要太快做決定。』現在我終於了解那句話的意思了，當初我在決定去這家公司上班時，我並沒有足夠的人生經驗，所以我的第一份工作只有三個月吧。不過我也因為這次的經驗，學到了很多，以下是我對正在找工作的人們的建議：

Do research and talk to your elders more before making any decision regarding career planning.
Think twice when your future employer told you he will give you some incentives or promote you if you do well in the following 6 months. (You will never know how your future employer defines "well." He says that just to get you in the company first….It is like a sexual relationship in the old times. ""I am not a gender discriminator pig, don't take it wrong. This is just a saying."" Before the male, future employer, get laid with a female, job seeker, male will try everything he can to impress the female. After getting laid, the male will take advantage and make it most out of the female. There is not much the female can do.)
Do not believe in what your interviewers said to you fully. (Maybe this only applies in Taiwan? I am not sure. But I really think there is less trust among Taiwanese people.)
No matter what you heard about the job in the interviews, the job description is always different than you thought. Therefore, you should make some assumptions before making decisions. ( I am not telling you to quit right away!)
Your employer will never know how hard you work for him. He only cares about numbers and profits. (I can totally understand that. Since my boss cannot monitor me 24/7, judging me by my performance is, I would say, logically-understandable)
Know what matters to you that most in life. And stick to that. (I can never lose my passion. If I lose my passion, I am like a dead man. Therefore, I quit)

在決定要去哪一間公司服務前，一定要做足功課還有多跟有經驗的長輩討論。
當你的面試官說：如果你這段時間表現的好，本公司就可以給你XXX，或是升你的職位；你要知道，他多半是唬爛你的。(你永遠不知道你未來老闆如何定義表現好，他只想把你抓進公司而已。就好像古早時代的男女關係一樣，在洞房前，男方(公司)會跟女方(求職者)甜言蜜語，一進洞房後求職者就被百般揉濘(我沒有性別歧視啊！只是比喻而已)，百年不得超生啊。
不管面試官說什麼，都不要完全相信。(不知道是不是只有在台灣是這樣，我總覺得台灣人彼此都很不信任。)
不管你面試時聽到你的職務的工作內容或是公司的狀況是怎麼樣子，等你正式進入公司時一定還是會不一樣。所以你在進公司前一定要有心理準備！
你的上司永遠不會知道你工作有多辛苦，他們只管你的報告還有你的業績。(其實這也不難理解，因為你上司不會24小時地黏著你，所以依照你的績效來評斷你是完全可以理解的。
了解你人生中對你最重要的事物是什麼，然後說什麼都不要改變！(我永遠都不可以失去我那一顆『火熱笑年A的心』；對我來說：沒有一顆火熱的心，形同行屍走肉啊！

讀書心得 - 鍛鍊你的地頭力 by 細谷功

2009-10-18T21:01:00.001+08:00

讀書心得 - 鍛鍊你的地頭力 by 細谷功

Book Title: 鍛鍊你的地頭力
Author: 細谷功
Why do I want to read this book?
主要希望可以從書中得到『邏輯力』還有『思考力』相關的啟發。
What is the main idea of this book?
獨立思考能力
What are the key points?
獨立思考、不過份依賴網路資源、費米推定(也是我的favorite part)
How is this book benefiting me?
從練習費米推定進而加強思考能力；另外練習了費米推定，現在比較會唬爛人了！哈哈。開玩笑的。
Conclusion:

之前在網路上在準備面試的資料時，就有聽說過日本有些公司在面試時會問的奇怪問題包括『如何移動富士山』或是問『芝加哥的鋼琴調琴師有多少人？』這些問題我想了很久不知道該如何下手，如果我真的在面試時被問到要如何最有效率地將台北101移到高雄，我真的還不知道要如何回答這樣的問題呢！不過在看了『鍛鍊你的地頭力』一書後，對於這樣的問題終於有了頭緒，雖然我還在練習當中，不過至少腦袋不會因為被剉到一下而無法思考了！

在閱讀此書前，我常常面臨到一個問題，我沒有辦法在有限的知識資源以及時間下思考，像是在學校要做研究報告時，沒有統計完抽取的樣本，自己會先認定沒有分析完樣本是不可以預設立場的；在開始上班後，老闆丟給我一個問題，我總是說，先讓我查查，我等等回答您，如果資料查的到還好，查不到就糗了，不然就是花了一兩個小時調查資料，下出結論後，老闆卻說：喔，剛剛請你查的資料我已經不需要了。這時心中只有!!!!!!!!

我在此書中獲益最大的就是，現在的我可以短時間用既有的資料來評估現在面臨大部分的問題，當然費米推定只是思考模式的一種，它絕對不是聖經，也不是萬能，也是有誤差值得，不過這就好像是影像閱讀法一樣，你一定要先粗略用眼睛"掃"過書一次，來評估你需不需要進一步閱讀這本書，費米推定就好像是先粗略的"掃"過大腦現有的資料庫，然後分析出一個粗略結果，這樣之後對於之後要採集資料的準度也會提升。

隨文章附上心智圖一份，不過這次的心智圖跟以往有很大的不同，以往來說我都會參照在讀書時所記錄的關鍵字對應到書的目錄這樣的做法來做心智圖，我當初是覺得這樣做出來的心智圖最全面，可以忠實的反應這本書，不過相對的它也花了相對較多的時間；這次我的心智圖是參照我讀此書的印象以及對我實際上的影響而記錄做出來的，僅供大家參考用；還有這次的心智圖有點亂，我喜歡用線把相關事物連在一起，還有用我喜歡的顏色來畫線，看起來有點亂，不過我喜歡！哈。

用Google 街景的時候，突然覺得離你很近，真的！ / It feels like I was really there for you......through Google Street View

2009-09-27T13:51:00.001+08:00

咱們的聖月小姐在前天到了東京都，即將開始自己的就職生涯了！

Dear Mizuki arrived at Tokyo two days ago. Your career path began here. Ganbatte ne!

遠在台灣的我，什麼也不能為你做，真是抱歉。加油啊！你一定可以克服萬難的！我相信東京一定會被你的勇氣還有生命力給感動的！

Sorry, I cannot do anything for you now. I am in a different country, Taiwan, now. But I believe there is nothing will bring you down. You can definitely impress Tokyo with your courage and enthusiasm towards life.

在你給我你的地址的時候，我用了Google Maps看了一下，居然在你住的那一區已經有Street View的圖片了，所以，我就用Google Street View逛了一下你的新家的周圍環境，還不錯嘛！有公園耶！我最喜歡的公園！希望有一天我們可以一起在哪裡野餐唷，附近還有小學，所以應該是個非常寧靜的地方吧！真為你看到開心，不過Google Street View剛好快到你的公寓門口的前一條街就停住了，如果可以轉彎就好了！好想看看你現在的公寓大樓長得是什麼樣子唷！

As you gave me your new address, I looked it up on Google Maps. Impressively, that area is already "Google Street Viewed." I walked around in your neighborhood. That area is pretty nice! There is a park. Park is always my favorite. Maybe we can have a picnic there someday. J Oh! There is an elementary school there. So it should be very quiet and peaceful in that area, right? I am so happy for you.

But that street you lived at now is not Google Street Viewed, yet. So I couldn't get any closer and look how your building looks like. That will be nice if I can make a left turn on Google Street View…..just one left turn, then I can see it.

雖然到不了你家樓下，不過我會在你家出門後左轉的第一條街等你的！我會在那裡看著你的！

I cannot be waiting for you at your front door. But I will be waiting right at the corner. Every time when you get out of your apartment, you should look at your right hand side. Because that is the closest place I can get to you now. ;)

I will pray for you.

一起加油吧！

Ganbaro! 頑張ろう

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影像閱讀法大摸索-集體活化 / Groping in Learning Photoreading the Whole Mind System – Group Activation

2009-09-20T23:18:00.001+08:00

開始影像閱讀的探索，約有40天左右了，看書的速度已經有大大的提升了，可是還是不能達到所謂在極短時間內完成閱讀並保持高度的理解程度，還有在遇到不擅長的領域時無法突破知識障礙(Information Block)，或多或少都有一些擔心，因為我真的很像要趕快更純熟的掌握影像閱讀法的精隨，好來處理我面對的龐大訊息，不過保羅哥說學習影像閱讀時絕對不可以操之過急，要用玩的心態來"玩"影像閱讀法，所以我就儘量保持放鬆的心態。

說實在的，不知道影像閱讀法的人會覺得使用影像閱讀法看書的人很像中邪吧！因為有時候書還會倒著看，翻頁的速度極快，一秒鐘要看兩頁，一般人會覺得人類根本辦不到吧！不過我跟保羅先生一樣，我相信人類可以快速且高度理解地處理龐大的訊息，我一直相信人的潛力是無窮的！我也相信我的潛力是無窮的！(要對自己要有正面肯定！)我也相信正在閱讀這文章的你，你的潛力也是無窮的！

在學習影像閱讀法的同時，我也將影像閱讀法介紹給我的好友JT先生，意外地，他居然沒有笑我：『天啊！你不會這麼惡搞吧！小夫！』『這種旁門左道你也相信！？』他反而感到很好奇！一直問我更多有關於影像閱讀的相關概念，我也引導了他來做第一次的影像閱讀，讓他體驗影像閱讀的魔力，雖然第一次的成效有限，不過他也喜歡上了影像閱讀…。在這一次的接觸後，我們常常在有空的時候討論使用影像閱讀的心得，包括作夢的次數變多了等等。而我們也都面臨到了相同的問題，就是無法達到所謂一秒鐘看一萬五千字，並保有高度的理解力，我們正苦惱不知道要怎麼辦的時候，我們走到了一間書店(當時我們正在公館散步)，JT說他想要去找一些準備要考研究所的原文書，我當然就說好啊，在他找他需要的教科書時，我在閱讀北野武的一本改編童話故事的小繪本，正當我看得有趣時，JT發現那間書店沒有他要的教科書，所以我們就離開了書店，但是在離開的那一瞬間，他看到了一本書，名子好像是跨越知識時代之類的書，分上下集，所以我們決定花5分鐘兩個人各影像閱讀這兩本書，然後到公車上後再一起活化，說實在的，我現在也想不太起來那本書的內容了，不過我們反而想到了更好玩的事情，就是一起影像閱讀，然後一起活化！

當天晚上，我們將本次的集體活化分兩部分，第一部分我們將各推薦對方一本自己已經熟讀的書，並以自己對書的了解問對方問題，幫對方活化，第二階段我們將閱讀兩本類似的書，但是彼此都不熟悉的，藉此實驗想要得知由幫人活化的人的知識對於被活化人的影響，還有觀察對方的影像閱讀方式。結果意外的發現我跟JT對於影像閱讀的方式有很大不同的理解，還有作法，當然跟彼此的個性有很大的關係；像是只要時間一到，我就會停下來，準備下一個步驟，但是JT會堅持繼續自己的閱讀，直到自己滿意為止；還有在影像閱讀時，我除了書中的資訊以外，我還會接收到來自於外界的訊息，像是風吹的聲音還有蚊子在我的左膝蓋上休息的感覺，我還是會接收到，但是JT將自己與外界的聯繫完全斷絕了！就連自己的媽媽在幫自己洗碗的聲音也沒有聽到……。還有我大部分的步驟會照著保羅先生說的做，但是建廷就是會改一下，像是在影像閱讀時，他不會默念放鬆放鬆，他會默念『我是天才，我是天才，添財是我……。』我聽到覺得實在是太有趣了，藉由說我是天才，不但可以讓自己更放鬆，還讓自己的腦袋認為現在是遊戲時間，還順便自我肯定了！這一招真是高招。

我們從晚上10點左右，一路讀到半夜兩點，中間不是因為想要讀更多所以停下來而使用傳統閱讀法，而是我們花了很多時間在討論，分享每一個段落有趣的地方！

集體活化真是一個好玩的活動！我們決定每個禮拜天在基隆的誠品來閱讀一樣的書籍後，彼此活化，並且追求更有效的方法！

在人生中能遇到這樣的夥伴我真的是太幸運了！

(現在開始就離題了)也許有些人並沒有這樣的夥伴，或是夥伴已經到了遠方，很難聯絡！但是我們還是要堅強的走下去！

在這裡送上一首歌，是いきものがかり(生物股長)的新作品，還有英文歌詞唷！希望沒有夥伴的人們，或是不在夥伴身旁的人們，也可以堅強的走下去！

�

好書推薦：新●知識生產術 by 勝間和代

2009-08-17T21:43:00.000+08:00

這次要推薦的是勝間和代的書，我第一次聽到她的名子是從大前研一的書中得知的，勝間小姐的豐功偉業讓我不得不注意到她的存在，介紹文裡就看到她獲得『世界最值得矚目的50女性之一』的殊榮，讓我真的很想要再多多了解她。

所以我就買了她的書，其實，我的第一本勝間和代的書是我在日本玩的時候買的，叫『腦力UP』，是一本非常有趣的書，書中有很多腦力激盪的題目，目的在於刺激腦部活化，增加問題解決能力；不過因為全是日文的，我閱讀起來的速度真的是太慢了，所以回到台灣後，便開始尋找『勝間流』的其他中文化後的書籍。

新●知識生產術就是我的第一本勝間流的中文化後的書，內容大約是說如何有效的吸收知識、分析知識、以及產出知識，還有其他良好的生活習慣、思考技術等等，勝間流的書還有一點很特別的地方就是在書中推薦很多其他的好書；我因為想要更快速並且有效的吸收知識，所以照了勝間小姐的推薦看了有關影像閱讀的書籍，還有相關的有聲書，今天大約是學習影像閱讀法後的第10天，對於影像閱讀法的操作還是很生疏，努力練習中！

我也依照了影響閱讀法的部分觀念，訂出了一個精簡的讀書心得格式，就來與大家分享吧！

我還做了『新●知識生產術』的心智圖，但是因為我不知道要上傳到哪哩，所以想要的人可以給我Email，我會email給你們，或者是你可以教我如何上傳PDF檔給大家下載。

以下就是讀書心得

===================================================

Books Sharing

1. Book Title: 新‧知識生產術

2. Author: 勝間和代

3. Why do I want to read this book?

• 希望可以透過此書得到獲得新知識的最有效率方法。

• 學習勝間和代前輩的想法。

4. What is the main idea of this book?

• 介紹在資訊洪流中尋找對自己最有利以及最精華的知識使用法。

5. What are the key points?

• 利用科技工具幫助自己更有效率吸收資訊，包括使用google、勝間三寶、輸入力6技術(資訊輸入)。

• 介紹讀書技術，包括：影像閱讀法、心智圖、主題天線、尋找本質1%的六技術(資訊分析)、讀書投資七法、三點測量法、焦點團體訪談。

• 利用資訊產出為自己創造其他資產，包括：人脈資產，新的知識回流，贈惠於他人、提高產出6技術(資訊產出)、Give 5次方。

• 思考技術及其他：資訊三階段、MECE、金字塔結構、說話4意識、生活習慣5技術、小行動大改變。

6. How is this book benefiting me?

• 提升資訊的輸入、處理以及產出的品質還有效率。

==============================結束

非常簡短吧，不過都是重點唷，其實應該還要有比較非重點式的心得，但因為時間不夠，所就下次囉！

今天謝謝大家的閱讀！

記得，有需要心智圖的來找我唷！

不要再說『隨便』或是『都可以』 / Don't say ''everything is fine'' just beause you don't want to think

2009-08-07T20:53:00.001+08:00

不要再說『隨便』或是『都可以』 / Don't say ''everything is fine'' just beause you don't want to think

我相信大家都有這樣的經驗：

跟朋友們一起去吃飯的時候，朋友A問：『今天晚上要吃什麼好呢？』

朋友B說：『都可以阿，我很隨合的，我什麼都吃。』

I bet this happens all the time among everyone. When dinning out with friends, friend A asked you "hey what do you want to eat for tonight?"

Friend B replied "everything is fine with me. I am very easy-going. And I eat everything."

也許在這種時候，朋友B說都可以，可以省下很多麻煩，尤其是在朋友A已經有打算吃晚餐的地點時，但是朋友B再用體貼一點的用語，像是『你有想要吃什麼嗎？想吃麵還是飯？』先詢問對方的意願，表示你的尊重，最重要的是不要讓對方覺得你沒有在思考對方的問題；甚至，你對自己的意識也沒有在思考。

Maybe in times like this, friend B saved a lot of troubles and time by saying everything is fine. But things could be better. If friend B asked friend A "what do you want to eat for tonight? Do you want to have rice or noodles?" Asking friend A shows friend B's respect. Most important of all, it shows that friend B is thinking about friend A's question. It shows that friend B is listening.

有一部電影叫做『命運好好玩』是由亞當山德勒與凱特貝琴薩主演的，劇情大約是男主角亞當山德勒在因緣際會下得到了一個宇宙遙控器，可以跳過人生中不想要經歷的片段，像是在早晨起床時洗澡，漫長的升遷等待等等，而在跳過這些經歷時，亞當山德勒的心智會由一個叫做自動駕駛員(AUTO PILOT)的程式會幫你做思考以及行動，所以亞當可以直接跳到自己想要去的人生片段...。

There was a movie called Click. That was a very good movie, played by Adam Sandler and Kate Beckinsale. It is about Adam Sandler got a universal remote by chances. The universal remote can let Adam skip the parts in his life that he doesn't want to experience. Something like taking bath in the morning or the long wait for next promotion. While skipping the parts in his life, his mind and body will be controled by a program called Auto Pilot. Auto Pilot will do all the thinking and acting. Adam can just enjoy being to the moments he wants to go to in his life.

在現實生活中，在你說『隨便』或是『都可以』的時候，就好像讓自動駕駛員控制了你的心智，而有一天你會習慣這樣的模式，不管誰問你任何的問題，你的第一個回答都會是『隨便』或是『都可以』。

In real life, saying "everything is fine" is like letting the auto pilot taking over your mind and body. And once you get used to it, "everything is fine" will always be your first options when you are asked a question, especially easy ones.

如果，今天是你的小孩，開開心心買了三包他最喜歡的餅乾想要跟爸爸你分享....

小孩說：『把拔，我剛剛用馬麻的零用錢買了三包餅乾喔，有兩包是你喜歡的X乖喔！把拔想要哪一種口味？』

爸爸說：『都可以啦』爸爸一邊看著電視，看起來一點也不在意的樣子，下意識地這樣回答自己心愛的小孩。

小孩說：『喔..........。』

然後小孩低著頭默默地離開了爸爸的房間。

試問，這樣的小孩在父親的忽視下長大，在成人後，會有一個溫柔的心嗎？

But what if, what if it is your adorable kid bringing you his favorite candies that he wants to share with you.

Adorable Kid says: Daddy, I just went shopping with Mommy. She let me buy some candies. I got your favorites! Which one do you want?

Daddy says: either one is fine. And daddy is wathcing TV without looking at his loving kid. Daddy answered the questions without thinking.

And the kid returned to his room.......quietly.......

Do you want your kid to grow up in this kind of family

今天我的思考有點太過於跳躍式，但是我想要說的是：

『為自己，以及為自己愛的人，不要隨便地放棄自己的意識，好好將自己的友情、愛情以及親情等等的感情好好傳達給對方。』

My thoughts kinda jumped around today.

But what I really want to say today is:

"For yourself and the ones you love, don't give up on thinking. And diliver your love to them well."

讀書心得─ 負面思考的力量

2009-08-04T19:55:00.000+08:00

讀書心得

負面思考的力量

最上悠醫師著朱麗真譯

商周出版社

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會有機會讀到這一本書，真的是因緣際會。因為我的摯友之一在使用他的公司的福利點數購書時，他覺得標題很有趣，在正面思考的觀念當道的同時，居然有一本書叫做『負面思考的力量』，而他在買書過後都會很想要跟我分享，有一次他來我家找我聊天，他就帶來樂這本書要給我看，而我也將它看完了，的確是一本很奇妙的書，其中有幾個觀點讓我感到：『哇！我之前都沒有這樣想過呢！』接下來，讓我們來談談這本書吧。

書中有提到有關於正面思考的人以及負面思考的人在溝通時上的障礙，也就是彼此的想法非常不同，在溝通時如果沒有仔細站在對方的立場來思考，常常會造成有溝通等於沒有溝通。

例如：負面思考的人會覺得正面思考的人說的話：『天啊！你當我傻子啊！你說的我都懂啊，我就是沒有辦法像你那樣啊！』或是『你說的好，但我就是天生不是那塊料，我不行的！』

或是正面思考的人可能會對負面思考的人說：『天啊！你怎麼什麼事情都想得這麼悲觀啊？』或是『喔，不不不，這樣下去不行，我不能再跟你說話了，你身上的負面能量就要侵襲到我了，你離我遠一點！』

以上的例子都是極端的正面思考以及負面思考的案例，在極端的正面思考以及負面思考的斯維下，人們雖然說著不同的言語，但是都是在逃避，無法提出對彼此有益處的建議。你是否是其中之一呢？極端正面思考的人也許在一兩次的失敗就會將思考模式轉為極端負面思考來保護自己，不做其他的改變；而要如何激勵極端負面思考的人呢？有一個觀點我覺得非常有趣，那就是針對極端負面思考的人的痛處發出攻擊，直到他不能在逃避為止，直到他可以正視問題，並且發怒，將心中的不滿發洩出來。這很有趣吧？

其實正面思考以及負面思考並不是正反兩面，他是可以同時進行的兩種斯維模式，書中比喻正面思考就好像是油門，負面思考就是煞車；在擬定計畫時，要用正面思考預測樂觀的未來，但用負面思考來謹慎的執行過程。

書中也提出了很多的做法以及想法來幫助極端負面思考的人走出極端，然後利用負面的力量為自己加分，其中包括：

1. 偏差想法調整表
將情緒量化來幫助自己了解自己的情緒

2. 與自己唱反調三步驟：

a. 找出證據，找出讓你往壞處想的事實

b. 找出反證

c. 與自己唱反調，並以他人的角度來思考問題

3. 無力控制的部分，要能決心放棄
以我自己為例吧，我對於自己的身高其實並不滿意，但是身高的改變實在不是我可以控制的，又好死不死，我常常心儀身高高的女性，在常常被嫌棄身高不高的悲哀下，我有一陣子真的是非常自悲。

不過反過來想，會因為我的身高不高就拒絕與我進一步認識的女性，說實在，在仔細想想過後，我也不會想要認識她了，反而在之後，我有時候會利用別人對我身高的反應來判斷一個人用外表衡量別人的比例，有時候反而變的很有趣。

而我也徹底放繼在身高上追求，其實也沒有什麼好追求的，因為根本不能追求，除非我做接骨手術；我把精力放在加強我的其他內在等等。

4. 還有要透過人際關係尋求幫助，以及身在事外的人的意見

上述四點是我印象最深刻的，在書中，還有介紹到更多其他的方法，以及其他關於正面思考以及負面思考的觀念，整體來說，是一本值得推薦的書，尤其是在看完正面思考的書後，更應該要了解用不同的角度來看思考。

日本之旅第一發日本的就業博覽會 / Adventures in Japan Episode 1 - Japan's Career Fair

2009-08-03T16:55:00.002+08:00

日本之旅第一發日本的就業博覽會 / Adventures in Japan Episode 1 - Japan's Career Fair

各位親愛的朋友，久等啦，現在為大家獻上我的日本之旅，不過我想說如果寫一些旅遊的趣事

的話，不就太無聊了嗎？因為每一個去過日本的人都會寫有關於地方旅遊的經歷，爾且每一個人

的文筆都很好，我寫不過他們啦，所以讓我來談談不一樣的東西吧，那就是日本的就業博覽會！

My dear friends! How are you? Here comes my new article of adventures in Japan. However,

I figured out that if I only wrote about my sight-seeing experience, wouldn’t it be boring? Since

everyone has been to Japan writes about their sight-seeing stories all the time, I have decided to

write about Career Fair in Japan. That is something different, isn’t it?

在日本的就業文化與台灣相較下，非常不一樣，幾乎所有的大學生在大三的時候就開始尋找畢

業後的全職工作，如果在畢業前就通過公司的面試，並且確定了在隔年的3月畢業後可以就職的

職位後，就叫做得到了『內定』。在台灣內定也許是一個不好的詞呢，因為台灣的內定代表面

試生認識在企業內部擔任要職的人，並藉由這樣的關係來影響新血徵選的結果。不過日本可不是

這樣唷，日本的內定可是要靠自己的力量去爭取唷。

The job hunting culture is quiet different than the one in Taiwan. In Japan, everyone starts their job

hunting in the third year of college. If they pass all the tests and interviews and get the job before

they actually graduate from school, that is called “Naitei.” (But Naitei is a term with different

meaning in Taiwan. In Taiwan, Naitai means a job seeker has a connection in the company.

And the job seeker uses the connection to talk him/her in the company without necessarily

passing the test. It means totally differently in Japan. In Japan you have to work hard to

get Naitei.)

不過，如果在海外唸書的日本留學生要怎麼辦呢？由於身在異鄉，無法回日本與企業面試怎

麼辦？而其他國家的學校畢業時間大多在於5月甚至是6月，這樣一來，日本海外留學生不就

吃虧了？在國外畢業後，回到日本發現新人的就業市場全都飽滿了！所以在6月以及7月，會

有類似台灣104人力銀行的機構來舉辦『海外留學生就業博覽會』。

However, what should studying-abroad Japanese students do? Since they are studying abroad,

it is impossible for them to come back to Japan for interviews and tests. What is worse is that

the graduation time, around May or June, is usually later compare to the time in Japan, which is

March. After their graduations and return to home, they might find out the market is full.

Therefore, there will be a human resource institute, kinda like Monster.com in USA, holding

the Career Fairs only for those students.

個人覺得日本的就業博覽會辦的非常好，其中有兩點讓我非常驚訝：

1. 會場整齊有秩序：
日本的就業博覽會並不會像台灣就業博覽會那樣有人在叫囂，並且發廣告，會去參

加就業博覽會的人是要去找工作的，除了工作機會以外的廣告訊息應該要被置於場外。

2. 企業與社會新鮮人兩方都非常謹慎地選擇對象：
在日本找工作，就好像在找女朋友，每一個企業每30分鐘到1個小時會在自己的攤

位舉辦一次說明會，就好像是相親大會一樣，企業的發言人詳細地介紹自家企業的制

度、工作內容、以及福利，有興趣的人也會不停的發問來了解這家企業，兩方都非常

的謹慎，就好像在相親一樣，要確定了彼此每一個方面都合得來，才會開始交往。
(在日本的就業博覽會，全部的人都會穿西裝，表示對這就業博覽會的尊重，也表示

自己是認真地在找工作，我在日前7/29參加在台大的綜合體育館的『大專生至企業實

習』計畫的就業博覽會，我看到有人穿牛仔褲還有T恤去應徵呢！在美國找工作也不

能這樣啊！台灣的就業文化比美國人還要放輕鬆呢！我看到都傻眼了！)

Personally, I found the Career Fair in Japan very impressive. Especially the following two points:

1. Everything is well-organized:
Japanese Career Fair is not like Taiwanese Career Fair, where there will be people

shouting and giving out commercial flyers. People attending Career Fairs are people

who are looking for jobs not commercials and nuts. Everything that is not related to jobs

should be excluded from the Career Fair, just like Japan.

2. Job seeker and talent seeker are like boy and girl looking for each other:
Looking for a job is like looking for a girlfriend or boyfriend in Japan. Not just the job

seekers are very careful about the companies they are visiting, but also same thing

happens in company’s side. Every company holds a seminar to introduce themselves

every 30 minutes to 1 hour. Every seminar is like speed dating. They get the chance

to know each other more in the speed date, well, I meant in the seminar. Both parties

have to make sure that they are right for each other before they start to date each

other….well, I meant to start to work for the company.

(Everyone in Career Fair wears suit to show their respect to companies and their

sincerity of looking for a job. However, I was….”impressed” by Taiwanese when they

are looking for a job. Very very few of them wore suits in the Career Fair on 7/29, held

in National Taiwanese University. I don’t think you are supposed to do that. You cannot

even do that in USA, a country famous for laid back working attitude. I guess

Taiwanese working attitude are getting a lot more laid back these days. I was

totally shocked.)

(當天的會場圖，最熱門的企業好像都是旅行業相關的行業；也難怪，因為求職生都是

海外留學生，都很愛玩。This is the Career Fair's map. It looked like the most popular

booth is travel-related companies. Well, it is not hard to guess. Since the job seekers

studied abraod before, their hearts couldn't wait to go out again!))

(這是大會場的演講時間表，如果在各公司攤位沒有排到位子的人，或是剛好沒有機會聽到演講的人，可以在大會場的演講台聽到公司的說明會。This is the agenda of each company introducing their companies on the main stage for those who didn't get a chance to join the seminar at each booth.)

(這有點像是使用手冊，裡面寫著在會場內的資源，包括：企業的攤位、面試專用的攤位、講演會場、可自由索取的資料攤位，統一規格的履歷表、主辦單位マイナビ的攤位，有提供電腦可以臨時使用來惡補將要面試企業的資料等等。This is kind of like a manual book showing the resources that job seekers can use, such as company booth, interview booth, information booth, standardized CV, and My Navi, the institute holding this event, in My Navi booth, you can use their computer and look for company's information to strike in interviews!)

回到台灣重新出發！　Start a New Journey again in Taiwan

2009-07-25T13:45:00.000+08:00

我在3月30號退伍後，一方面想要加強自己的第二外語，也就是日本語；另外我對於日本的文化，一直以來抱著高度的興趣，不知道為什麼，也不知道從什麼時候開始，我一直覺得有一部分的我迷失了，而我可以在日本找到迷失的那一部分的自我。

After finishing my Taiwanese military services, I went to Japan. I wanted to improve my second language, Japanese, to a better level. And for some reason, I am not really sure why and since when, I have been highly interested in Japanese culture. I have always felt part of me is losing. And I could get the lost piece of mine back in Japan. Weird thing, uh?

這55天的日本語自修之旅，也是我對我自己的心靈探索之旅在7/14號結束了。在日本，我也不知道我有沒有找到失落的那一部分的自我，但是我可以確定的是，藉由更了解一個新文化，日本，我更了解自己了，我也更知道我想要成為怎麼樣的人。這是一個很玄的話題吧，有時候你可以感覺一件事，但是你很難去形容它，我現在說的事，就是那種事情的其中之一。

This Japanese-self-studying trip, also a mind-exploring trip lasted 55 days. It ended on 7/14. I am not really sure if I had found the lost pieces of mine in Japan. But I am sure of that, by knowing a new culture, Japan, more, I know about myself more. I am also more sure about what kind of person I want to become. It is very hard to explain. Sometimes, you can feel something, but you cannot express the feeling in words. This is one of "those" things.

這55天的旅程，可以說是非常充實，但也有一點奢侈，因為6月還有7月可以說是大部分的大學畢業生的就業潮週期，也就是找工作的兩個月份，在這兩個月，台灣的大學畢業生會開始上104人力銀行填寫資料、投履歷表到各個公司，還有參加就業博覽會，這兩個月可以說是台灣的大學畢業生，社會新鮮人的找工作黃金兩月，而我有2/3的時間在日本，可想而知，我落後台灣社會新鮮人的就業腳步有多少了。

This 55-day trip had been very fulfilling, and costly to me, because June and July is job-hunting season for new graduates from collages and universities. In these two months, new graduates started filling out their CVs on 104 ,a Human Resource website, sending CVs to companies, and attending Career Fairs. These two months are "golden time" for new graduates. Well, but I am not in Taiwan for 2/3 of it! How far I fell behind Taiwanese new graduates of 2009!!!

但是我也不全然認為這是一件壞事，套一句英文諺語，就是『You get some, you lose some』，意思就是『你得到一些，你就會失去一些』，用好一點的中文來說，就是：『有得必有失』。

Oh, well. It is not a bad thing if you see it differently. You know, you get some, you lose some.

我在日本的時間，可不是每天都在吃飯還有玩樂啊！(雖然很常吃好料的，這個部分在之後我會好好整理，再分享給大家。)日本的6月到7月是日本留學生的就業潮，他們稱之為『就職活動』，簡稱：『就活』。(說到這裡，我忍不住要反應一下，日本人很愛用『簡稱』，就好像台灣人很愛用日期來下標題一樣，例如：八二三砲戰，五二零就職等等，我個人是覺得這很奇怪，不過事實證明，這樣來記很好記，連國小學到的八二三炮戰我到現在都還記得呢！) 而我的朋友，也就是讓我在日本有個居住之地的朋友，剛好也從美國畢業要回日本找工作了，我就跟著他參加大大小小的就業博覽會、企業招才說明會、面試，以及企業參訪等等。當然，面試的部分我跟不進去，不過藉以參加其他的活動，以及在每一次的面試我都會詳細的詢問我的朋友其經過，我可以說是獲益匪淺！！！喔，這個部分，我也會在之後一一整理後，在這裡與大家分享。

During my time in Japan, I wasn't fooling around the whole time. (I'd had fun and hung around for a bit... I will share this part later on in different articles.) June and July are hunting seasons for Japanese new graduates who studied abroad. They called that period of time "就活(syuukatsu)" short for "しゅうしょく‐かつどう【就職活動】(syuusyoku - katsudou)."

My friend, the one I stayed with in Japan, just graduated from a university in USA. And she decided to find a job in Japan. Wow! Great time! I could participate in "syuukatsu" with her! That was a great experience. We attended Career Fairs, Corp Recruiting Seminars, and interviews. I wasn't able to get an interview since Japanese corps only want a new graduate or an experienced talent. I am not either one. ;( I had to serve in the army, which cost a year. But I asked my friend about every single details happened in the interviews she had. I have learned a lot from these events! I will share more later on in different articles! Wait on!

Meeting Doulos in Keelung, Taiwan

2009-05-19T11:36:00.000+08:00

(Photos are from http://www.wretch.cc/blog/doulos/ Right Reserved.)

I went to see the Doulos at Keelung East Habor this past Sunday. It was my first time to board on this boat. I have never heard of it before. That is ashamed. I should've known it.

What is Doulos?

It is an amazing ship visiting more than 100 countries, including Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and many island nations. It travels with books to share the knowledge with the whole world. The book shop on board has more than 6,000 titles of book. Surprisingly, there are Chinese books on board, too. I am wondering if they already got it on board before porting in Keelung, or they cooperate with the book store in Taiwan.

The line of people waiting to get on board was crazily long. I waited for one hour to get on board. And the people on board were like sardines. I am not kidding! I recommend visiting Doulos during weekdays, instead of weekends to avoid the crowd. But I only got Sunday………Well, but it was worthy, really!

What is the most exciting thing is that I met a great guy on board. His name is PJ. He is from Korea. He has been working on board for 8 months. We talked for like…..2 hours or 3? We were like old friends departing from each other for a long time. I wish I had more time to talk to him and show him around my hometown, Keelung.

We talked about serving in the army. Korean males have to serve in the army, too, like Taiwanese guys. But they are serving longer. Their military service term is 2-year. Mine was only 1 year. He said he’d had to finish his military services before joining the Doulos crew. He told me the training in Korea was very tough! And we talked about how was it like working on Doulos. He said it was fantastic! Wow, I wish I could work on the ship with the rest of the crew like him!

(He gave me a Korean flag as a gift. We hugged and bade farewells to each other. I wish we could talk just a little more!)

I have also met a lot of different people on Doulos. Fumio (I hope I got her name right.) was one of them. She is Japanese. Her mom is a Taiwanese. Therefore, she speaks perfect Mandarin. She was helping translating for Taiwanese visitors and the rest of the crew.

There are more information about the Doulos here:

1. http://www.doulos.org/

2. http://www.wretch.cc/blog/doulos/

You should check this cool ship out while it is still in Keelung. They will port here until 5/28^th. Go and check it out now~! You will have a lot of fun on board!

To My Dear Friends / 給我親愛的朋友們

2009-05-04T00:02:00.000+08:00

"To My Dear Friends" is a song I wrote in a summer in 2007. My study abroad journey ended at that time as well.

''給我親愛的朋友們'' 是一首我在2007年夏天寫的歌，當時我在美國的求學也正是告一段落的時候。

I still remember I wrote the outline of this song some time around March or April in 2007. But I just couldn't come up with any lyrics. But when the depature with my friends got closer, I realized I should do some thing to memorize the moment. I started putting my heart down in words.

我依然可以記得，我第一次寫這首歌的雛型是在2007年的三四月時，但是我在當時卻寫不出任何詞來。隨著與朋友分離的日子的接近，我突然體認到我應該要做一些什麼事情來紀念我在美國的時光，我開始將我的心寫下來。

It is a very easy song. I hope that you can enjoy it and have fun.

這是一首很簡單的歌，我希望你能喜歡並好好享受這首歌。

And I would love to tell all my friends around the world, I miss you all. This ending is not everything. We will meet someday somewhere soon! :)

而我想要跟我在世界各地的朋友說，這次的分離並不代表一切都結束了，我們將會在不久的將來在某處相見的！！

-------

To My Dear Friends

Lyrics:

My journey has come to an ending.

But don't worry. This is not everything.

Say "Goodbye" to my dear friends.

But you'll always be on my mind.

Just give me a big hug.

Say you're always by my side.

'Cuz I cannot stop this.

I can't stop this.

中譯：

我的旅程，將要告一個段落了。

但是不要擔心，這次的分離並不代表一切都將結束。

跟親愛的朋友們說''再見''道別了。

但是你們依然常在我心。

只要給我一個擁抱，說你會一直支持著我就夠了。

因為我也阻擋不了分離的到來，我無法去阻擋.....。

JLPT Level 2 / 日本語能力試驗2級考試

2009-04-30T21:13:00.000+08:00

(日本語能力試驗說明書 / JLPT brochure)

I visited my Japanese professor this week. I told her my plan of taking the level 2 test of Japanese Language Proficiency Test. She told me what the most people would tell me " I don't think so. why don't you take the level 3 test? That should be your level."

這禮拜，我去看了我的日文教授，我告訴她說我要去考日文能力檢定考的2級考試，她說：這樣不行啦！！！你為什麼不先去考3級？那比較適合你啦。

I understand that it is very hard for me to take level 2 test. For a guy, like me, only learn basic Japanese for 2 years. The total study hour of Japanese is about 240 hours. (It is counted in this way: I took 4 3-credit Japanese courses. If there are 5 months in a semester, that will be 5*4=20 weeks. 20*3(credits/hours)*4(semester) = 240.)

我知道考2級對我來說，是一件非常難的事情；我只學過基礎日文兩年，學習日文的總時數加起來也不過240小時左右吧。(是這樣算的，如果一學期有5個月，而我修的是3學分的日文課，這樣就是5*4=20個禮拜 20*3(學分/小時)*4(學期)=240小時。)

What is worse is that I did really bad in my Japanese courses. Oh, I think that is the main reason why my Japanese professor does not have faith in me of taking the level 2 test.

更糟糕的是，我在修日文課時的成績都很差，啊！這才是我日文老師不支持我的原因吧，我想。

I just want to do want I think I should do. Interestingly, there is one thing about me. It makes me wanna accomplish a task more when everyone says it is impossible to. :) It is like I say no when everyone else says yes. And it is just because I want to say something different. Something like that, bu not exactly.

不過我就是想要做我要做的事情。有趣的是，我好像在大家都說做某些事是不可能的時候，我就特別會想要去做那些事。就好像當大家都說好時，我會說不好，並不是我真的想說不好。我只是想說一些不一樣的話而已，又一點這種感覺，又好像不是。

Anyway, I need a level 2 certificate to improve my CV. (Level 3 doesn't count much in job-hunting.) Therefore, I applied for the test.

總而言之，我需要2級證書來為我的履歷表加分。(3級證書在找工作時並沒有那麼有份量)所以呢，我就報名了！

I am not going to lie, level 2 is really kind of.....ok....it is very hard for me. I have been really bad on simulating exams. But I will try my best.

不虎爛你，2級真的有點....好啦，不是有點，是對我來說很難，我目前的模擬考都考很爛，但我還是會加油的。

Ps, why Japanese punctuation only has period and coma? No question mark?? No other expression mark in formal article! It is a lot harder to guess what the author trying to say.

附註：為什麼日文只有句點還有逗點啊？沒有問號，在正式文章裡沒有其他的表情符號，這樣我好難猜作者想要說什麼耶。

Say Byebye to My Old Partner, SONY T1!!! 保重了！我的好夥伴，SONY T1！

2009-04-22T21:25:00.000+08:00

My first digital camera, SONY T1, had died while I was serving in the army. It was a tough guy. I still cannot believe that it is gone like this. I carried it to so many places, like Hong Kong, China, Singapore and the States. I fell it on the ground thousand times. Its screws were falling apart. It would've still kept working. I wouldn't ever believe that it died while I was in the army, while I was NOT using it.

我的第一台數位相機是一台SONY T1，在前一陣子，當我在為台灣付出心力時候，它先走了...。
它曾經是如此的勇猛，我一直到現在都不相信它就這樣走了。我曾經帶著它走過許多地方，從大陸、香港、新加坡、美國到我的家鄉；我怎樣都不能相信它居然在我當兵時，沒有用它的時候壞掉了！天啊！

Some said electronic devices have to be used frequently. I started to believe them now.

有人說，電器用品就是要常用，不然很容易壞；我現在開始相信他們說的話了。

Anyway, I need a new partner to keep exploring the world with now. I picked PANASONIC FX36-GT. Its price fits its value and my wallet. A very handy camera with wide angle shooting function costs about NTD$ 8,300. That price is good. But its picture's quality is not that beautiful as my love, SONY T1's. T1 is old, but its picture quality was very good. Except T1 doesn't have anti-shock funtion. So it is harder to get a good picture with T1 sometimes.

總而言之，我現在需要一個新的夥伴一起跟我闖蕩天下，我選了PANASONIC FX36-GT。因為它的價格跟加值相符，最重要的是跟我的口袋裡的錢相符。它是一台非常方便攜帶又很輕的相機，備有2.5 mm廣角拍攝鏡頭，花了我8,300的新台幣。價格算是不錯了，不過它的拍的照片還是沒有我用T1拍的那麼漂亮，雖然T1很舊了，但是T1拍出來的照片品質都不錯。只是T1都沒有防手震，所以有時拍照時比較辛苦。

Well, Lumix boy 36, I guess we have to start to make our own great memories and pictures together from now on. :) Lumix Boy 36......hahahaha....I just came up with that name. That sounds cute, doesn't it? So here it is, that is its name now, then. Hahahahaha

嗯.....路米克斯男孩36，我想我們要開始好好的製造我們之間的美好回憶，當然還有美好的照片啦。路米克斯男孩36......聽起來還蠻可愛的，那你今後就叫路米克斯男孩36吧，哈哈哈哈哈。

Out of nowhere, a internet pal in Dandong, China / 天外飛來一友，在丹東市,中國

2009-04-18T00:10:00.000+08:00

Around 7:00 pm, I was talking to a friend on MSN, which I barely use in these days. Because she studies Japanese in Japan now, and the only way to contact her is MSN....I guess I didn't have other choices. I logged on the MSN. Meanwhile, I logged on Skype. I was hoping that my friend is using Skype, too, so that I didn't have to type to communicate with her.

今晚，約七點的時候，我在MSN上跟一位友人聊天，我極少用MSN。但是因為他現在在日本學日文，唯一可以跟他聯絡的方法是上MSN，所以我就上了，在同時，我也上了Skype，並希望我的朋友可以給我他Skype的帳號，這樣我們就可以用說的了，不用打字。

All of a sudden, out of blue, there is a "pal" called Ashley added me as a friend on Skype. Well....I am not sure if I know her. I asked her if we met before. She said "no, I just find someone randomly to chat with." Wow...that is spontaneous. Just like me, so I added her, too. She told me I was the first one to talk to her. Hahaha. I can totally understand that, because I did the same thing on Skype. But back then, no one talked to me. hahahah.

突然，非常突然的那種突然，有一位網友加我當好友，說想要跟我聊天，嗯，我不確定我認不認識她，所以我就問了他，他說：我們不認識，我只是隨便在網路上找人聊天。哇天阿，真隨意，跟我真像，所以我就也回加他了。他說我是第一位理他的人，我完全可以理解，因為相同的事，我不知道幾年前就做過了！哈！不過當時，一個人也沒有理我！

I checked her info on Skype. She lives in Dailiang. I have been very bad at Chinese geography. I had no idea where that is. So I logged on Google Map. Wow! Google is sureky the coolest thing ever. I could clearly see Dailiang, which locates on the north-east corner of China. Dailiang is very close to North Korea. So I asked her if she heard some news about the nuclear weapon or anything that related to North Korea in China. She told me "I can see North Korea at my home." .......Holly......Are you even serious?? That is insane! That is so wicked! Well, I had no idea why I got so excited. I guess that is kinda like when I went to Jing-Meng island. I saw China through a scope.

我看了看他在Skype上的自我介紹，他住在大連，中國。我一直以來對於大陸的地理就是非常差，我不太確定大連在哪哩，所以我就上了Google Map上看了，Google大神真是太屌了，我可以非常清楚地看到大連在何方，那可是非常靠近北韓，朝鮮。所以我就問他有沒有聽過最近北韓的一些新聞，他說『我在我家就可以看到朝鮮唷』，天阿，真是太酷了！我也不知道為什麼，我就是很亢奮了起來，所以我一直問他問題。我想那感覺有點像在金門可以看到大陸那樣新奇吧！

Well, what can I say. You can really meet any kinds of people on the Internet! Just open up your heart. Next time when a stranger adds you on Skype or MSN, accept him/her, please. It is not going to hurt you, unless you open a file, called "my nude picture", that they sent you.

天啊，我可以說什麼？我想我只能說，在網路上真的什麼樣的朋友都可以交到！只要你願意敞開心胸！下次，當一個陌生人想要加你的MSN or Skype，就加吧，他們是不會傷害你的，除非他們傳一個檔案給你，檔名是''我的性感裸照''，然後你還打開它...........

Studying Is Not An Easy Thing When You Are Not A Student

2009-04-13T23:01:00.001+08:00

Well...I found it very hard to study as a full-time student when I am not a student. I have a lot of pressure to dace and deal with:

天啊，我覺得要當一個像全職的學生那樣唸書的人，但卻不是學生，真的是不簡單！我每天要面對好多壓力。

Financial Pressure
Being a full time "studier", not a student, means that I am not employed. Therefore, I have no income. It is very stressful to look my DC is slipping away.....Imagine that....isn't that scary?
Family Pressure
As a man of 23, I really cannot come up with any justified reason to persuade my parents why I am not working now, or even trying to get a job. Oh, well......I am truly sorry...My lovely mommy and daddy.
Social Pressure
I don't think you will need me to tell you how does it feel to be unemployed while being 23. And how the other people see me....uh.....They think I am crazy, I guess.

經濟壓力
在我全職地唸書時，我是沒有收入的。每天看著存款一點一點流逝，真的不是一件好過的事。
家庭壓力
身為一位23歲的成年人，我實在是找不到什麼正當的理由去跟我爹娘說，為什麼我現在不工作也不找工作。我親愛的兩親，我真是對你們不起。
社會壓力
我想你應該不用我來解釋這點吧，你應該不用我來告訴你一位23歲的青年在沒有工作時是會被怎樣看待的吧？

While dealing all these shitty things, I still decide to be unemployed until July. Why is that? Oh well, because I wanna take my time and do the things I really wanna do. I am going to Japan on 5/21 for two months to learn more about Japan and the language there.

但在面臨這些壓力時，我依然是決定繼續維持著無就業狀態，因為我五月二十一要去日本唸兩個月的日文，還有深層造訪日本文化。

After watching Atsuhime, a Japanese drama, I am even more sure about my decision. Atsuhime said something like "my heart is mine. I am not letting anyone or any rule to influence it." I guess that is how I feel now.

在看篤姬時，我更確定了我的想法。

篤姬說過類似這樣的話：
我的心是我的東西，我是不會讓任何人或任何其他的規則來左右我的心。

我想這就是我現在的心情。

Ps, Don't think it is easy to study. I spend 8 hours studying Japanese....everyday....Oh..that ain't easy.

Ps,不要覺得唸書很容易阿。我一天唸八小時的日文，天啊！！！！！

The Strongest Power in Most Fragile Body / 最脆弱的身體裡有最強的力量

2009-04-06T20:09:00.001+08:00

The Strongest Power in the Most Easily Hurt Body / 最脆弱的身體裡有最強的力量

My sister brought her new-born baby to visit daddy and mommy last night. The little baby is so tiny! He is only a month old! His body is not....solid....I mean his body is like water. If you don't support his head while holding him in your arm, his head will fall back!

我姊姊在昨晚帶了她的新生寶寶來看我爸爸還有媽媽。

那個小孩，真的是很小一個耶！！！他只有一個月大。他的身體很.....不固定...我的意思是他的身體好像水喔，如果我在抱他時沒有扶住他的頭的話，他的頭就會整個往後倒！

It was my first time to hold a little baby like this in my arm. It was my first time to feed a baby milk. And it is my first time to be an uncle, too.

這是我第一次抱著這麼小的小寶貝，這也是我第一次餵小寶貝喝牛奶，這也是我第一次當舅舅。

He is so tiny. He looks so.....easy to get hurt...... He looks so not strong. But he tries so hard to adopt himself to this new world. He tries his best to learn how to control his hands and legs. He just keeps moving around. He also love to test his voice by crying out loud. I guess he is just afraid of that others cannot hear him.

小寶貝是如此的小，他看起來.......真的好容易就會受傷的樣子，他看起來非常的不強壯。
但是他卻是努力的適應這個他初來到的新世界，他努力的學習如何控制自己的小手還有小腳，他一直動來動去。他也很喜歡測試自己的聲音....用哭的。我在想，他也許只是怕其他人聽不到他吧。

In him, I see the most strong power!

在這樣的小寶貝中，我看見了最強壯的力量！

Another Task to Accomplish!

2009-03-25T22:12:00.000+08:00

Another Task to Accomplish!
又一個任務要去做啦！

There are only couples before I really get done with my national mandatory army service. I have learned a lot from this army journey. I have seen a lot. I have seen bad things and good things. One of the good thing is that Taiwan is not currently participating in any war, so that I don't have to literally kill anybody. And I'd never wanna do that.

再沒幾天我就要從我的軍旅生涯中役畢了！我在這段時間裡，學到了很多，我也看到了很多，有好有壞，還好台灣現在沒有任何的戰事，所以我不用真的拿槍去殺人，天啊！我絕對不想要殺人！

I am very happy to proceed to my next adventure. However, before I get into that, I have a great task to accomplish. The Japanese Language Proficiency Test!!!! I have to get the certificate of JLPT level 1 to get a job in Japan. The test in on 7/5. I have 100 days to prepare it. Oh, well.....let's see......it takes 900 hours study of Japanese, averagely, to take the level 1 test.....hm.....I have probably studied Japanese for 150 hours, as level 4. Ah! That means I have 900-150=750 hours study of Japanese to pass the JLPT. 750 divided by 100......that is 7.5!?!?!?!??! Oh....I have a very bad feeling about that......

非常高興地，我將可以前進到我的下一個冒險。可是，在我前進到下一個冒險前，我還有一個任務要完成！那就是！！！日本檢定考一級！！！如果我要在日本找工作的話，這可是一張很重要的證書！7/5就要考了，還有100天！天阿....平均來說，考一級要累積900小時來看......我的等級應該有4吧，所以是150小時，那900-150就是750啦，那750/100=7.5......我現在開始要一天唸7.5小時的日文？！？！糟糕.............

I don't think I can really literally study Japanese 7.5 hours every single day. So I should make a plan to study Japanese smartly. Oh, well....I am still working on that, though. I have been searching the experience of those people who had taken the test already on BBS. And I have ordered 4 books recommended by them. I wish they will work. I will make a plan once I got those 4 books.

我打死也不相信我自己會乖乖的唸7.5小時的書！所以我要來訂一個聰明的日文攻讀計畫！我現在還在想啦！不過我有上網看bbs的前人經驗談，我也買了4本他們推薦的書，只要我一拿到書，我就會訂一個聰明的日文攻讀計畫的！！！

By they way, there is one thing I'd really want to talk about. I, personally, think I am sick when it comes to buying books. I am a very self-disciplined person, especially, about money. I don't like to spend money on things I think that is not worthy. Well, I think everybody thinks the same way. But what is so different about me is that.....I think most of the things are not worth of buying. For example, food...I think food is something I'd spend the least money on. I always get pork rice, 50 centsUSD, NTD 15, in Keelung Temple Night Bizzare. Thank god I was born in this lovely and beautiful small island, Taiwan, full of cheap food.

順帶一提，我有一件事很想要跟大家說，那就是，我個人覺得我自己有病，尤其是買書的時候。
其實我是一位非常自我要求的人，尤其是在財務上，我非常不喜歡亂花錢，我只會花錢花在我覺得值得花的地方，大家都是這樣想的吧，我不一樣的是，我覺得大部分的東西都是不重要的！像是什麼呢？像是食物，我很不喜歡花錢在吃的上面，我在基隆廟口都吃15元滷肉飯而已！天啊！好險我出生在台灣！這一個美麗又可愛的小島上，都是便宜的食物啊！

But I spend tons of money on books! I love book shopping! Well.....I really think I am sick. I have so many books that I bought but I got no time to read them.

但我就是很愛買書！我真的有病！我買了一大堆書，也沒時間看......。

Come back to the topic. And I am also planning to study Japanese in Japan for a month. We will see how things go. A very good friend of mine is trying to work on that for me......I hope I can get the chance to live in Japan for a month to study Japanese! Oh, by the way, and I might get a sweet personal Japanese tutor! Oh yeah! Please, God! Let it work!

回到正題，我還打算到日本唸日文一個月，再看看吧。

現在我有一位好友正在幫我交涉，希望我可以得到前進日本一個月的機會啊！如果成功的話，我還會得到一個私人日文家教唷！！！嘿嘿嘿！天啊！

全家出遊看電影-赤壁 II / Watching Red Cliff II With My Lovely Family

2009-01-30T22:54:00.000+08:00

喔，這不是一個影評的文章，所以如果你要找赤壁II在演什麼，你們可以轉台了，我的意思是，轉''部落格"，或文章，哈哈。

Oh, this isn't an article about that movie, Red Cliff II. You should "switch channels" if you are looking for something about that movie.....well, I meant to link to a different website.

今天很開心，我爹難得有空放假，又非常難得願意受邀出來看赤壁二，他一答應的那一瞬間，我就火速的call我老姐還有姐夫，邀請他們一起來參加這難得的盛事，徐老爹會出門真是一百年才一次啊！

Today was a great day. My dad was not working today! That is not something happens very often. Moreover, he accepted my invitation of going to watch Red Cliff II. That is even more rare. I called my sister and my brother-in-law right away for this once-a-hundred-year event.

一如往常，我娘總是非常嘮叨，一直吩咐我要先買水煎包，這樣進去電影院才不會餓，還吩咐我給徐老爹的水煎包要清淡一些，給姐夫的要辣一點，她自己是什麼醬都要一些，一直唸唸唸，唸到我都頭痛了，就好像周星馳在東遊記裡面說的，好像有一隻蒼蠅在你身邊一直飛來飛去，吵死了，阿，這樣講自己的母親大人，好像不是很好；我要澄清一點，我是很愛我娘的！雖然他很囉唆，哈。

My mom had been very "talkative". She just kept talking and talking the whole time. She told me to get some fried dumplings before we get in, in case we get hungry. And she kept reminding me of that no sauce for my dad's dumpling, hot sauce for my brother-in-law, a bit of all kinds of sauces for my mom. She just wouldn't stop talking. Well, it is kind of bad to say such a thing of my mom. I still love her a lot. (the flies part I won't translate, which I think is kind bad.)

在把水煎包藏在姊姊的包包裡後，我們就進去了電影院，看到孔明金城武在草船借箭時，徐老爹居然拍了我的肩膀，用很堅定的語氣跟我說：這是不可能的，在古代，只要是打水戰，一定都是用火箭攻打，絕不會用一般的箭攻擊。他這樣的舉動嚇了我一跳，爾且他還不是輕聲細語唷，我想前兩排的人都聽到我爹的分析了吧，我想。

After hiding all the dumplings in my sister's bag, we started our movie night. While Kong-Ming, Takeshi Kaneshiro, sailing the boat to get arrows, my dad tapped my shoulder. My dad said that it is impossible. In the old times, they MUST used fired arrow to fight on water. What happens in the movie is not possible. What he did surprised me. And he didn't "whisper" but "talk." I guess two rows of audience in front of us heard my dad's intellegent opinion.

一般遇到這種事，我一定會制止的，在電影院裡面討論劇情，我覺得會給身旁的人帶來困擾的，可是徐老爹的話，有如聖旨，我只敢靜靜的聽........。

I would've stopped this kind of thing from happening......usually. It is just.....I don't wanna stop my dad...since he didn't really talk much. It is rare that he wants to talk.

我娘從一拿到水煎包開始，一直吃到電影散場，他真的超超厲害......。

My mom had been eating since the moment she got the fried dumplings. She is really good.....at eating. Hahaha.

像這樣，全家去看電影，上一次是什麼時候呢？好像是我國中時，我跟我弟弟吵著要看蝙蝠俠時吧.............，好希望，下一次全家一起看電影，不要在隔那麼久了。

I am not sure....when was the last time we all went to a movie together, like this. I think it was when I was in junior high school. My brohter and I were nagging that we wanna watch Batman.
I wish.....next time won't be too long.

:)

My 2009 New Year Resolution

2009-01-12T21:49:00.000+08:00

Oh Yeah~

Here comes the part that I won't miss every year! It is a little bit late.

Well, here are my 2009 New Year resolution:

Realize an internship by the end of this year
This means I am getting an AIESEC internship oversea this year.
Get a girlfriend.
Well.....I have been single for more than a year. It should be the time to tell the world that I am single now. Hahahaha.
Save NTD$ 100,000.
I barely have any CD, which I think is very bad for myself. I will save more than 100,000 NTDs by the end of this year.
Keep weight below/at 65 KG.
Pass JPLT Level 1.
This could be a very challenging task to me. I only have two chances this year, one in July, another in December. But I know I can do it! I have faith in myself~!!!!
Watch Ikimono Gakari/ Angela Aki's concert by the end of this year. (If they have concerts after July before december 2009)

These are my New Year Resolution. I will achieve them! :)

Big smile for myself! Hahahahaha

Planed Out My Future on Paper

2008-12-23T11:36:00.000+08:00

I wrote down a outline of my future blueprint on a paper in September some night while I was on duty. That was a boring night. No one had past my checking point, so I got nothing to do. And I was bored. Luckily, I anticipated that situation would happen, I brought a plain sheet of paper and a blue pen along with me.

I drew the outline of my future 6 years ahead in 2 hours. That was a pretty good exercise to do once in a while. I love doing it. I mean drawing my future on a sheet of paper. By doing that, I can "try" to anticipate where I am heading to and what could be in ahead of me.

(My Future - Blueprint)

I am a little behind my schedule now. I was supposed to make the decision of either going to Japan or to Latin-America for my internship after army service in late November. However, that is a tough call to me. I can only pick one place to go to, but I am so fascinated by both of them.

Ps,
What is funny is that I even planned to pick up a girl in 2013 on the back of this sheet of paper. What was I thinking in September???!?!?!? What kind of person would plan to pick up a girl in the future. And the future is 5 years later. I must be insane to write that down. And I totally don't remember any of that. Weird, uh?

Random Thoughts No. 02 - Why am I wrting my blog in English?

2008-12-17T09:44:00.000+08:00

Why am I keeping on writing my journal in English instead of Mandarin, which is my first language.
Uh.......I kept thinking about that, too.....for a long time, actually.

I've reached some reasons. Here are my conclusions.

To practice English (very justified reason, uh?)
To type faster (yeah, no doubt, I type English a lot faster than typing Mandarin.)
To pretend I am a cool guy (Well, I am not sure if this function works well. LOL.)
To be connected with the another parts of the world (Oh, well.....people around the world learn English!)
To pick up foreign readers (apparently, it is not working for this reason.)

These are about it. Well, I am not kidding about the second one. I do type English faster than Mandarin. What is even funnier is that I speak weird Mandarin. I speak Mandarin with English grammar unconsciously all the time. I guess that is what I got after intensive usage of English language.

There are some other things I found out, I put way too many labels on each of my post. That makes my label category very long and funny.

Ok...what shall we listen today? Why don't we listen to some "jumpy" music. (Jumpy, I guess I am the only one use this word to describe a song. Oh well, don't be harsh on me. I am not a native English. My vocab is limited. <---I love this excuse every time when I counter a language barrier. Hahahaha)
Ikimonogakari - Kimagure Romantic (気まぐれロマンティック)
~~Let's dance together!~~

ps, there is one sad thing, though. I wanted to go to Ikimono Gakari's concert in Japan this coming Spring. But I don't have money...:( All my budget is tied up to my internship. That is a very sad thing. Seeing their concert is on my bucket list. That is a must-do for me in this life. I will see them someday not too far from now. Once I made my way to Japan, there are more chances.

Well, and instead, I will get their DVD and watch it at home and pretend I am there with them. Haha

My Music Life........?!?!

2008-12-06T20:36:00.000+08:00

2008/12/06

I play guitar. I used to play in a band when I was in high school. I "kinda" stopped playing guitar as I started my college life. Maybe it was because of the wonderful life as a freshman in college, I didn't want to play guitar at all. But I think the main reason is that I left my hometown to Taipei for college alone. All my band members stayed in my hometown, Keelung. I couldn't find anyone to set up a band together in college. I just did not match them.

And the other reason is that I am so tired of practicing. I practiced 6-8 hours a day when I was in high school. Moreover, I put a lot of pressure on myself when I didn't make an obvious improvement in a specific amount of time. I don't know when, and how, it started. I just couldn't recall the good feelings of playing music. The joy of learning a new skill or the excitement of coming up with a new trick were so far from me.

Therefore, I stopped.

But music is addictive. It is so hard to quit. I bought a acoustic guitar. I only played it when I feel like to. I stopped doing boring finger exercises. I just played what I want to play. I cannot play fancy trick since I didn't do enough exercise to train my finger. But I am a lot happier now. I love to play music without pressure.

These things just came up to me when I was listening to Planetarium by Ikimonogakari.

There is a brick wall I am facing now. I really really want to write a song. A song that is meaningful to some people and making people's mind "spinning" when they hear the song. But the songs I have composed are just not quite like what I really want. I wanna write a lyrics that tell a story rather than just repeating the chorus. I wanna make a music video that provides people a place to rest or.....to escape.

I have a lot of things that I wanna do.

Going to a movie......seeing "Cyborg She"

2008-10-05T19:24:00.000+08:00

2008.10.05
The movie - "Cyborg She"

I am back home from the base on 10/3. I turned on my computer as it is the first time I do every time I am back home. I was browsing on the internet to see if there is any movie or drama that I can watch. Somehow, I saw Ayase Haruka's new movie trailer on Youtube.com. After seeing that, I just couldn't quit thinking about it. You guys should check this out.

I have not felt this strong intention of wanting seeing a movie after watching this trailer. I couldn't wait to watch it. But here comes the funny part. I always wonder why I am always "highly" interested in this kind of romantic movies. I am "supposed" to watch more thrilling movies or fighting movies. You know, like more "boyish" movie. Sometimes, I even wonder who lives in my mind. I just like romantic movies. I guess I am just a very different boy.

Anyway, because I don't dare to watch "Cyborg She" by myself. I invited my brother to go with me. He didn't really wanna watch it at first. I said he could invite his girlfriend, too. and I will pay for both of them. But I realized that I might be a fifth wheel. Therefore, I invited my mom as well. Ok, then....there are four of us......it should be ok now. It is just kind awkward for me to watch that movie by myself.

We hopped on the taxi and straight to the movie theater. I bought 4 tickets. I got in and sat down. I realized that there was only 1 audience besides us. Dang.......maybe I should've gone to movie by myself. And maybe I can make friend with that guy/girl. (I am not really sure if that is a boy or a girl. I guess that is a girl. It was too dark and I didn't wanna stare at her and make her feel uncomfortable.)

That movie was really good. At least, that is really good to me. I love it. It is so different than I thought. (I should not be talking about the content of that movie. You guys should find it out yourselves. It is a great movie!) Or maybe, my brain is just set differently than eveyone else. My brother said that it is ok. And my mom said the same thing. :( I didn't say a word in front of them. Somehow, I feel like if I talk too much about that movie. They will think I am a sisi, I am not sure if this is how you spell it. I meant a " girly boy."

Wow....my mind is so complicated. Does this make sense to you? Hahaha. Well, this blog is one of the weirdest ones, I would say.

And about that movie, I have a tought about it. I am not sure if any of you guys feel the same way. I think everyone is hoping somehow and someday there will be a guy/girl poping out from no where and save your life. It is not like literally saving you, like pulling you out of fire. But like, she fits you. And you just feel comfortable to be around her. I have always imagined that there will be a girl popping out someday and tell me that she is from the future. And she comes back to look for me. Some like that......

Days as Being a Military Police

2008-08-26T23:49:00.000+08:00

I have been a MP for almost two months. Being a MP is a very different experience to me. There are a lot of things to do and learn. Most of them are totally new to me, like guarding the base with bullet-proof vest, which is hot as hell.....imagine wearing that in a XXX damn hot summer in Asia......man......I ain't do that if I don't have to.

I couldn't really sleep for the first month. The new base I am staying at is making me nervous. One of my superiors is really strict. Thank god I can get used to every new environment after putting myself in one for a while. Well....almost every new environments...... One of my friends told me that I am like a cockroach because I can survive at all kinds of conditions. I am not sure if that is a complement. But I will take it as one.

Serving in the military making me thinks a lot. The military is like a small reality world, but I can see more dark side of it. I found out people "pretend" to follow all the rules made, but in fact, they don't. I think this phenomenon makes rule a joke. What is the point of making rules, then?

We are told to fine people when they are not following the rule in the base, even if they are higher-ranked than us. But every time we fined a higher-ranked officer, we got trouble. Or he will "negotiate" with our superior to cancel that fine. Oh, well.....what is the point for us to do that, then?

There are a lot of things that I cannot comprehend in the army. And I am not planing to know. I am only taking the good things in the army, like trainings making me stronger. I am not letting anyone changing my thought.

I still have 31 weeks left. That doesn't sound so bad. I will be free when spring ends.

Having Dinner with Students at UWRF in Taipei

2008-08-20T23:57:00.000+08:00

2008.08.20

Robyne is taking 10 students from UWRF to SHU in Taiwan to teach Taiwanese students English. Robyne is one of the greatest professor that I've known. He is so passionate! His body is really "well-developed".....or I should just put it bluntly, he is quite old. But every time I see him, he shows me his great passion. When I looked into his eyes and talked to him, I would never know that he is that old.

We went to eat PHQ, which is a Vietnamese noodles. I fell in love with that when I was in Minnesota. Isn't that funny? I fell in love with Asian food when I was in the States and I am an Asian. We talked a lot. He always gives me a lot of advices in academics or either in life. He is like a mentor to me.

I found out a very interesting fact that he was in the US army before during the war. That was compulsory. He couldn't say no. It is kind like where I am now. But just there is no war going on in Taiwan, which is a good thing. But he didn't really go to the jungle and shoot people. Or I should say he didn't get the chance before the war ends. That is a good thing. I would never wanna see him injured.

He told me a very interesting fact of my when we were talking about my USP, unique selling point. He said I am "dangerous" at English. He said "Jeff, you are really good at English. You are on a top of a mountain, where is a flat square. You can see a lot of views from there. But it is hard for you to climb higher. Because you don't need to climber higher unless you make yourself. You are able to talk to an American without any problem. But if you wanna improve yourself in English. You should listen to more complex shows, read more complex articles. Or you will stay where you are."

I am surprised to hear that. I never really thought about that. I was stunned. That is very true. I might make mistakes at using English sometime. But I can make most of the daily conversation with no problems. But when it comes to doing business, I need higher ability to comprehend complex business English.

Let's see....... I will need to start my intense complex articles reading soon.....when I am done with my army thing......

When Spring ends, I am free!!! There are ......222 days left.......

Falling in love with a Japanese Pop music band - Ikimono gakari

2008-06-29T14:18:00.001+08:00

Well, I have been fascinated by Japanese music for a long time. Mainly, because most of the Japanese words are comprised with vowels, they sound really pretty and nature no matter how you arrange the words. Well, at least, that is how I think of it.

About a months ago, I was browsing on Youtube. I found Ikimono gakari out of blue. And the vocal's voice just impressed me with a feeling of purity. I just simply love it.

Sakura, the video I put here, is one of my favorite songs by Ikimonogakari. This video is very special. It is made by a Ikimonogakari fan. I love what he/she did at the end of this video. Please pay attention to what is in the end. And please think about that, too. :)

Another thing is that, I have been impressed by Japanese music influence on the world, specially on teens. I found a lot of self-made video, in which they sang Japanese songs, on youtube. And they are not Japanese. A lot of non-Japanese speaker love to sing Japanese songs and put that on youtube. I never really found someone who cannot speak Chinese and sing Chinese songs on Youtube.... How interesting. I guess that is because Japanese culture and music penetrate to all of our lives by Japanese animation, which is so popular around the world. You must know what Naruto is, right? And of course, Japanese dramas and movies are also popular around the world. I even found a lot of websites that translate Japanese and Korean dramas into English so that more people can watch them. That is amazing and interesting.

I wonder what will happen to our kids? When our kids live around the world but watch to the same animation and watch the same drama, movies, are they going to be more like each other? Is the "cultural fence" going to be lower? I found that really interesting. I start to feel some "foreigners" are acting and thinking like Asians. (Oh, by the way, I am an Asian.) I think that phenomena is going beyond our imagination. Well, that is just me, though.

At last but not least, I would like to put a video that introduce Ikimonogakari in English, so that more people can get to know Ikimono better! :)

Japanese Mouthwash and Toothpaste

2008-02-16T21:48:00.000+08:00

2008-02-16

Before you read this, I would like to tell you. This article is really boring. I wrote it out of my boredoom. I believe that you can feel how bored I was in this article.

DO NOT read this, if you are looking for useful information.

Ok.....everyone....."My Adventures and I" has become really weird this time. I am doing a blog about a product. Well, I have nothing to do with this product. I was simply too bored so I bought a new thing that I had never tried before.

Let me explain this first. The "product report" is right after this explanation.

I just graduated from my university in Taiwan last month. I am currently unemployed. Simply because that I cannot find a job. Well, please do not think I am a useless person. I cannot get a job is because I have to go to the military for a year before I actually start to work. That is the Taiwanese law, "all the male has the right/duty to serve the country." And my lovely Taiwanese government is so "efficient" that I am still not notified when I should join the military.

Moreover, I have heard that my cousin waited for 6 months before he actually went in the military. Man, can you believe in this? 6 months? What am I supposed to do in these 6 months? The company won't hire me, because I have not finished the military, yet. Why? A company won't hire someone who might be called by the Taiwanese government anytime. Once he is called, he has to leave for the army. No matter what project he is working on in the company, he has to leave. And Taiwanese government is not going to pay the damage.

So.......I am thinking....I might be unemployed for 6 months or longer.......what should I do.....so I have no idea....so I wrote this article. Hahahaha.

Ok, let's roll now.

One day not too long ago, I was doing my grocery shopping. And I realized out that I ran out of my mouthwash, so I went to the mouth care alley. I was trying to find the one that I used to use. But I couldn't find it. As I was wondering, the brand that I usually use is that popular? I found some interesting brands.

One of them was an Australian brand, Listerine. That is a really good brand. I used that a lot when I was in the States. But it is really spicy, too. I can feel it burns my tough every single time I use it. However, that sense of burning convinced me that my mouth was clean. Well, I do believe it does clean my mouth. And it feels like I use fire to clean my mouth. hahaha, Just kidding.

And I found the Japanese Mouthwash.

(These are the Japanese mouthwash and toothpaste.)

Because I was really bored. So I said to me, I was going to pick a really good mouthwash this time. I spent almost 10 minutes standing there just to compare the prices, contents and stuffs. (I was definitely crazy.) And the Japanese mouthwash caught my attention. Japanese brand products are really famous around the world. Although this is not an IT product. But I chose to put my trust in Japanese brand. So I got this one. And the other thing that is really appealing to me is that there is a free toothpaste attached to it. Hahahahaha.

Ok, here comes the amazing part. I broke the plastic cover, twisted the toothpaste jar, put some toothpaste on my toothbrush, and put the toothbrush with the Japanese toothpaste, and then, of course started brushing my teeth. I found out that the taste of the toothpaste is very different. I can only taste a very slight mint flavor. What is really taking my sense of tasting is there is a slight "special taste." I wish I knew more English words to describe this taste. It is really different. I really cannot say it now. Man! It is so unique. And I like it!

And I opened the mouthwash, and poured some to the jar.

!!!!!!

The mouthwash is clear! I have never seen a clear-colored mouthwash. It is either blue, green or orange. It is mostly blue. And I expected it to be blue when I bought it. As you can see the picture, you will assume that it is blue, right?

And I poured it to my mouth. Man!!! This is really cool. When I started gargling, most of the mouthwash turned in to foam. And it is really tender. I didn't feel a burn at all. But I still think it cleaned my teeth. Because when the foam was crossing my teeth, it felt like it also took the dirt between my teeth away. I like this mouthwash!

If you finish reading this, I would like to say thank you. This is that kind of article that has very low academic value, but you still finish reading it. Men, women, you are awesome!

Chinese New Year rocks!

2008-02-11T19:00:00.000+08:00

2008-02-11

Today is the last of the Chinese New Year holidays. This Chinese New Year week always ran by so fast. And as usual, I got a lot of lucky money from my family, yeah! I love Chinese New Year.

Ok, let's talk about Chinese New Year a little bit more. Chinese New Year day is different every year if you count it based on the Western calender. It is the first day of Chinese calender which is also known as "lunar calender."

Chinese New Year holiday week usually last for 6 days. It starts from the last day of a year to the fifth day of the new year. In Chinese New Year holiday week, most of the companies won't run except for some international firms because the other countries don't celebrate Chinese New Year. In order to keep the company running internationally, the international firm branches in Taiwan will only have 3~4 days off during that week.

And what do we do during Chinese New Year holiday?
We, the family members, should gather together on the last day of a year and have a great family supper together. We also call that supper "Nie Yeeh Fun" which is "year night supper" in English. Well....it might not make sense to you if I translate it to English directly.........

(The great supper this year, oh yeah! Yum!)

And later on that night, we will stay up and play the fireworks until sun is awake. There was a story behind that tradition. Way past in the history, people believed that on the last day of a Chinese Year, the "Nie Hso", as known as "year monster", would come out and eat people alive. Therefore, the people in the old times needed to stay up all night and stay alarmed to prevent the fate of being eaten. And moreover, we used fireworks to scare the year monster away.

As time pasts by, we still keep our traditions of playing fireworks and staying up all night.

And we also do other stuffs to keep ourselves awake on the last night of a year. We also gamble........well....gambling is illegal in Taiwan. But we still gamble on the last night of a year to keep ourselves excited. I was really luck this year. I won around 70 USD! Hehehehe!

(No one wanna show their faces because gambling is illegal in Taiwan. & Taiwanese money!)

And on the 2nd day of a new year, if you are married, you should go to bride's home. It is a tradition.

Ok.....that should be it. These things are what I do every year....haha. How fun!

A movie night in Keelung.

2008-01-20T17:36:00.000+08:00

2008-01-20

A movie night in Keelung.

I watched "the Wordlord" last night with my brother-in-law, my brother, and my sister. It was a good movie to watch. But what amazed me is that watching movie in Keelung is much more enjoyable than watching movies in Taipei. It gets so crowded all the time in Taipei. And the seats in Taipei movie theaters are too small to sit on comfortably.

Watching movies in Keelung is more affordable and more comfortable. It takes only 980 NT to get four tickets and four drinks, two popcorns, and four lucky stick, a snack. And there will be much fewer crowd than in Taipei. Moreover, after movie, you can go to the Keelung night market to eat some local food. Especially, Keelung is well-known for its "Temple Night Market". Man! What a great plan.
I will watch movies in Keelung more! That is for sure!

Beautiful Scenes in Taiwan

2007-11-14T22:14:00.000+08:00

2007-11-14

This is the bus stop that I get off on the way to my apartment.
I love standing here sometimes. It feels really good to stand in the middle of the road in the mid of night. It is so quite and calm....and pretty.

Can you see a big fat pile of cloud covering the moutain? I think that cloud ate too many fastfood before it came to Taiwan......so it is that big and thick.....but it looks really cool!

It is a college near downtown Taipei. The building is all surrounded by the planet. Isn't it cool?

That big tall building is Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1. I took on the way back to my hometown. It was built long time ago. But it still looks new. I like this building. A lot of exihibit is held here.

After watching Korean Movie "Sunflower"

2007-11-10T16:04:00.000+08:00

2007/11/10

I hate but also love the feeling of watching a sad movie. A sad movie makes me think so much.....but it also makes me cannot stay clam for days. Each time the scenes of the movie flashed in my mind, I cannot help feeling sad. I think I am a weirdo...........

"Sunflower" is a typical Korean movie. Why I say it is a "typical" Korean movie? Simply because most of the Korean movies are sad. It is not just sad that you feel bad when you done watching it. It is that kind of sad that you will kill yourself and hold your breath when you think of the scenes of the movie. I personally call it a "torturing yourself movie."These type of movies usually are really good and famous, but it kills you when you done watching it. Gosh...I cannot stop myself......I am writing this reflection of this movie with the theme song now.........I am currently torturing myself mentally..........

It is a great movie, I would say. You will learn a lot from it. I was so amazed by the main guy for holding his anger for this long. But wouldn't he just stay with his sister? Maybe he had too much anger inside his heart...........I like to think these kind of questions without being able to be solved.

....................................................

Dinner with Taiwanese UWRF Alumni

2007-11-06T13:48:00.000+08:00

2007/11/5
Dinner with Taiwanese UWRF Alumni

I got a phone call from Lynn. She told me the class of 2007 of Taiwanese UWRF students should get together since we have been apart for a while. It is too bad that I got a Japanese class. I rushed into the East Area, one of the most popular areas in Taipei, right after my Japanese class. The MRT system always amazed me. It was so fast. It only took me 30 minutes to get to the East Area from Jing-Mei Station. And the MRT is so clean as if there were a crew that cleans this place every 20 minutes. Well, I guess that is because MRT’s regulation is really strict. Passengers should not even drink water once they have past the yellow line. I think it is a good thing. At least, I have never seen a mouse or rat here. I almost puked when I was in the subway in New York……. I swear that is true…..The MRT in Taiwan is 10,000 times better than the subway in New York.

There were Jenny, Austin, Jack, Emmy, Lynn, Evie and I in that restaurant, Magical Curry. I was amazed by how fast they ate that meal. They got the meal around 7:30 pm. They finished all their meals when I got there around 8:00 pm. It was kind of weird that I ate when everybody is chatting. But I was really hungry. Therefore, I didn’t care that much during that time. The Curry Cola Cookie Rice I ordered is not bad. The curry paste is really tasty. But I ate a purple vegetable thing, which tasted really funny. I was ok with that……the rest of that Curry meal is really good. Even more, it is not too expensive. It was just 253 NTD.

We talked about a lot that day. It has been a while since last time we got together. We talked about our dreams, our jobs, and our plans for future. Jack’s website is coming out next week. He has been working on that for a while. The website he made provides a channel to show the world that how Taiwanese dresses. Taiwanese’s dress styles are influence by Korean, Japanese, and the western cultures a lot. I think the website will be a great platform for people to talk about Taiwanese young dress culture, and learn how to dress in your own way. Well, we will see more when the website is out. I cannot wait!

Evie is running her family business in Dang-Shuie now. Although she is doing fine with her family business now, she wants to do something more. She is still thinking about it.

Lynn and I decided that we should stick together and do something. Everyone else’s business is running. But we are still at where we were. We should do something. We shook our hands and smiled to each other with confidence as if we know that we are going to success soon. I am so excited that I can find someone like Lynn to build our business dream together.

Ps, Lynn is one of my best friends that I made in the USA. We started a small study group after we came back to Taiwan. We studied some classic books of business and financial education together, such as Rich dad, poor dad. We believe that we can definitely do something in the near future.

I thought I am used to the place I used to live

2007-11-06T13:45:00.000+08:00

2007/11/4
I thought I am used to the place I used to live…….

I have been back to Taiwan for 2 months and a half. And I thought I was used to Taiwan, a place that I have been living for 20 years. But, it is not like that. I felt really weird the first day I came back from the USA. The amazing amount of scooter driving on the street shocked me, although I saw this every day before I left for the States. I felt really uncomfortable. But the next day, I was much better.

I had been ok since last month. I really thought I was ready for the life back to Taiwan. However, I didn’t realize that it is not like that. I have been missing all my friends in the States like crazy. We were so close. I miss Mindy complaining that she doesn’t like to go to school every night before she goes to bed. By the way, Mindy is my first friend that I met in the States. She speaks really quickly. She didn’t speak slowly because I am a foreigner. “My foreigner friend” was her favorite phrase when she introduced me to her friends.

I miss the days with my host family, the Xiongs, every weekend. We used to go fishing and bow shooting all the time. We drank with cousins until we were knocked out. We always finished those liquors that we bought. Man, I miss you guys.

Friends, I miss you! And I realize, where I live doesn’t matter that much to me. To live with the people I love and the people who love me matters the most to me! Friends….I think it is time for you to come to Taiwan to visit me. ;)

I got three part-time jobs now!

2007-11-01T20:14:00.000+08:00

2007/11/01

Sometimes, I am amazed by what I can do....I have three jobs now.....
I work at the international office on campus, babysit two American kids, and tutor elementary school students English.......

I love the kids I babysit. But they are really naughty, sometimes.....They get bored with one thing in 15 minutes, so I have to come up with new things to attract their attention. Of course....I have to lead them to learn something at the same time.

I made a playing set of "peach boy." (Peach boy is a Japanese fairy tale.) I let Nana, the older sister, to play the role of dog. And I was the peach boy. I couldn't believe I came up with this idea. I made her believe that Peach Boy needed to go to the market to buy vegetables and made her remember how to spell celery, apple and so forth. That day was fun.

It is not easy to get kids to learn new things unless they are interested in that. The most important thing is to make up a educational game for them to play....well.....but sometimes they don't buy the game.

Back to Shih Hsin University......

2007-10-17T18:36:00.000+08:00

(SHU Library)

(Broadcasting Building. This building is where SHU develop Broadcasting Major students' potentials. ps, SHU is famous for its mass media education.)

(She-Wo Building. This building locates in the center of campus.

(Management Building. This building is the latest building. It looks like a entrepreneur headquarter, doesn't it? It is equipped with new and nice facilities. It is a must-see at SHU)

2007.10.17

It is really nice to be back to Shih Hsin University in Taiwan. I miss all the mountains here. And I also miss the wave of ocean of my hometown. I used to sit on the shore to relax when I am stressed. The smell and taste of ocean make me feel better.

I was planning to commute to SHU from Keelung this semester, since I don't have that many classes. However, it only took me a week to kill my patient to commute. I didn't know that there were ton of people waiting in the line to go to Taipei to work in my hometown, Keelung. The line is overwhelming. Even more, it takes 2 hours to get to SHU due to the crazy rush hour in Taipei. Usually, it takes 50 minutes to get to SHU. So I rent a "descent" apartment at MRT Taipower Building Station.

MRT Taipower Building Station is a really good neighborhood. I love that area. She-Dai night market is there. GongGuan is 10-minute walk away only. It is a very convenient area.

The funniest part of living there is that I am the only Taiwanese besides the apartment owner. My roommates are one Japanese, two Vietnamese, one British, and one Indonesian. That is really a international apartment.

I only talked to my Japanese roommate. He speaks excellent Chinese which I think it is incredible. He told me that he has been living in Taiwan for 5 years. He loves Taiwan a lot. He is studying in Chinese now. His dream is to teach Chinese in Japan.

I saw the two Vietnamese roommates all the time....but they don't talk much. And I don't know why....they look angry all the time. But last they smiled at me for no reason.....maybe that was a smile expressing friendly message.....maybe.....

I have never seen my British roommate. Personally, I guess that he only rented this place as a storage room because the rent is so low. That could explain why he is never home.

I always forgot yo bring my memory card reader at my hometown, so that I couldn't upload the pictures that I took. To make this blog looks more interesting, I will put some pictures of SHU. It is a really nice, yet, small campus. You guys should come visit if you guys are in Taiwan.

David left us for the States......./ 大衛哥離開了我們，回到美國了

2007-09-01T20:57:00.000+08:00

Today is David's last day in Taiwan. He is going to put an end for his short journey to Taiwan.
今天是大衛最後一天在台灣，他將要為他的短暫台灣之旅劃下一個句號。

Before he left, we went to Song-Shan domestic airport to see aircrafts. David was really happy to see those airplanes departuring and landing. David is crazy and fascinated by the airplanes. He even majors in aviation. He is aiming for being a pilot. He is a really awesome guy!

在他走之前，我們去了松山機場去看飛機，大衛非常的開心，他非常熱愛飛機，他甚至主修航空，以將來當機長為目標的向未來邁進。　他是一位很棒的人。

(David said this kind of airplane is called Dash, so we called it Mr. Dash)

And we found a Dunkin Donut in Taipei. I don't remember that we have Dunkin Donut here. I guess I was wrong. Or it is new. Everything changed while I was gone for a year.

我們今天居然在台北街頭找到了Dunkin Donut，我不記得台灣有Dunkin Donut，我想我是記錯了，不然就是在我出國的一年中，被引進來的。

Anyway, the Dunkin Donut here is really different than the Dunkin Donut in the States. The Dunkin Donut in Taiwan provides more flavors of donuts, the restaurant is super clean, and the waiters and waitress provide excellent services without being tipped. Although Dunkin Donut is originally from the States, the Dunkin Donut in Taiwan is much better!

總之，Dunkin Donut在台灣的店跟在美國的店非常的不一樣，在台灣的Dunkin Donut有更多的口味，店面更乾淨，服務生在不收小費的情況下提供優秀的服務，雖然Dunkin Donut是從美國引進的，但Dunkin Donut台灣店比美國店好多了喔！！！

But.......the Dunkin Donut in Taiwan tastes a little like the Japanese Donut, Mister Donut. And their flavors are very similar........that is interesting!

可是......Dunkin Donut台灣店的甜甜圈吃起來有點像日本的甜甜圈，Mister Donut，而且連口味的很相似喔！這真是有趣。

(Jack, Karen, Evie, Jenny, David, Lynn, and me, Sheng-Fu)

I will miss you, David.

我們會想你的，大衛。

(Dave was lost in the mid of Taipei......looking for an answer!)

Cultural Shock !!! / 文化衝擊!!

2007-08-30T21:57:00.000+08:00

The first day that I came back to Taiwan, I had some serious cultural shocks. Well......not really, after all I used to live here for 20 years. However, leaving this lovely island for a whole year makes me look at this island differently.

在我回台灣的第一天，我經歷了一些文化衝擊，也不全然是文化衝擊啦，畢竟我在台灣住了有20年了，不過離開這美麗的小島一年後重返，讓我對台灣有了全新的體驗。

There are a lot of scooters running over on the rode. And all the scooter riders are really "friendly." They ride so close to each other and even to the cars. I cannot imagine that I used to be one of those friendly scooter riders.

在路上有很多的摩托車騎士，他們都很"友善"，因為他們都騎得離彼此很近，甚至離汽車也很近喔！我無法想像我在一年前也是這樣子的。

And all the buildings are so close to each other, as if all the buildings are connected.

台灣的建築的蓋的很近，感覺好像他們都連在一起。

The weather is extremely hot and humid compare to the weather in Wisconsin. I feel like I am walking in a warm swimming pool everyday.

台灣的天氣實在是很熱又潮濕，尤其是跟威斯康辛比起來，我感覺現在每一天好像在溫水游泳池裡走來走去唷。

While I was in the States, I felt the sky in Taiwan is really small. There are too many mountains and high buildings blocking the sky and making the sky small. The sky in Wisconsin is really wide. There are not many mountains in Wisconsin. And the buildings in Wisconsin are comparably smaller than the buildings in Taiwan.

在我在美國時，我覺得台灣的天空實在是很小，因為台灣有很多的山跟高大的建築擋住了天空，所以天空看起來很小，威斯康辛沒有什麼山跟高的建築物，所以那裡的天空看起來真的很大。

However, I look at the sky in Taiwan differently now, especially the sky in my hometown, Keelung. There are many mountain composing an amazing view next to the sky. You can see all the mountains in different kinds of green. Sometimes, when it is foggy, it is incredibly beautiful. I love my hometown, Keelung.

不過，我現在對於台灣的天空有一個不同的看法，尤其是我家鄉，基隆的天空，在基隆，有很多山，這些山在天空的另一邊組成一個很美麗的景色，不同的山的顏色也都不一樣，有時候，當天氣有點霧霧的時候，景色又有另一番風味！我愛我的家鄉，基隆！

Great Design / 很棒的設計

2007-08-22T23:36:00.000+08:00

One of my friend has begun her designing life. She start her own product lines and her own business. She designs creative little stuffs, such as money bags, cute necklace, and notebook. Her innovative works impressed me in many ways. Her spirits inspired me. She is one of my role models.

I strongly recommand you to see her incredible work at this website. http://www.wretch.cc/album/funandgames

If you wanna order her product, you can leave a message on her board.

My New adventure has begun! / 新的冒險，開始！

2007-08-18T17:14:00.000+08:00

2007.08.12 was my last day in Minnesota.

2007.08.12是我在Minnesota 的最後一天。

(My dear friends who came to the airport to bid a farewell to me. 來送機的親愛朋友們)
I had been in the States for about 362 days and 4 hours. I have learned a lot from this journey. I made a lot of friends. I have expanded my horizon. I have seen further!

我在美國生活了約362天又4小時，在這段日子，我學到了好多，我遇到了好多人，我拓廣了我的視野，我看見了更遠的地方。

Thanks to all the people who participated in this journey so much for giving me this wonderful year!

謝謝我在這段旅程中遇到的每一個人，謝謝你們給了我這樣美好的回憶。

I started from MSP, the airport in Minnesota, to ORD, the one in Chicago, to LAX, the one in Los Angeles, and to Hong Kong and then Taiwan. I have no idea why I transfered so many times.....I guess the ticket is cheaper in this way. It took 28 hours to get to Taiwan from the USA.

(Cotton Candy-like cloud. 很像棉花糖的雲)

我從MSP開始飛，先到ORD，再到LAX，然後是香港，最後才是台灣。我也有點搞不清楚為什麼我要這樣飛來飛去的，我猜想這樣飛應該會比較便宜吧。這段旅程共花了我28個小時。

However, don't panic, if you are coming to Taiwan. The direct flight from the States to Taiwan is only 13~14 hours. It is not that bad.

不過你不要害怕，如果你要來台灣，你可以買直航票，只要13到14個小時就會到了喔。

During my flight, I saw a lot of beautiful things from the airplane. I saw a huge volcano in Japan, that was really awesome!

在飛機上的時候，我在天空中看到了好多漂亮的景色喔！我在飛過日本時看見了一個超級大的火山。

(On the top of Japan. 在日本的上方)

I am not that sad to leave the USA. I know that is not an ending. It is an another beginning. My new adventure has begun!

(Taiwan !!!台灣耶!!!)

在離開美國時，我並不難過，我知道這不是一個結束，這是另一個開始。我的新冒險現在正剛開始。

(I am home!!到家囉!!!)

American Youth/Kid Financial Education / 美國青年/小孩財務教育

2007-08-11T13:05:00.001+08:00

Today, I saw my lovely and cute neighbor baby boy was selling Kool-aid, a drink, to fund raise by his house. He even had a little ATM machine with him. My friend told me, sometimes, the kids in the States will do this kind of fund raising because their moms wouldn't buy them toys. By doing the fund raising, the kids will learn it is not easy to make money and they will treasure their toys more.

今天，我看見了我可愛的鄰居小弟弟在他家車庫前買飲料募款。他甚至還有一台小ATM機器呢！我朋友跟我說，在美國啊，有些小孩會做這樣的募款，因為他們的媽媽不給他們買玩具，所以他們要自己募款買玩具，由此一來，小孩子們就會知道賺錢不容易，小孩子們也會更珍惜自己的玩具了。

The financial education in Taiwan is not well-developed, yet, especially to kids and youths. I don't really get it? Money plays a very important role in our daily life. Why the education about money is not that common? Why isn't it taught in school?

在台灣，財務教育並不是非常的發達，尤其是青年以及兒童財務教育。我實在是搞不懂！金財在我們的日常生活中扮演著非常重要的角色，為什麼金錢教育並不普及呢？在學校老師也很少$敎交關於金錢的教育。

Sometimes I wonder how the parents in Taiwan teach theirs kids the concept of ATM? Wouldn't the kids think that ATM will give their parents money for free, when the parents used the ATM in the presences of their kids?

有些時候，我常在想，在台灣的父母親們如何教導他們的小孩ATM的概念？尤其是在小孩子面前用ATM領錢，小孩子不會想說：「ATM會給我爸媽很多錢，所以不用擔心。」嗎？

BBQ Party and Lovely Amani!!

2007-07-26T22:40:00.000+08:00

2007-07-25

Today, I met Amani, son of Katie, finally. He is so cute. His fingers and toes are so tall. I bet he will grow really tall.

I like him. He impressed me when Katie left him to us alone for about 10 minutes. He didn`t really cry when mommy is not around.

Later on that night, Vang and I held a BBQ party for fun. There were a lot of people. It was too fun! We played basketball. We ate a lot of meat!! Yeah! Today was a another great day!

Tonight was a movie night! / 今晚是電影夜!

2007-07-25T13:00:00.000+08:00

2007-07-24 (Tue)

Tonight was movie night. We watched the "Lord of the Rings" in Kendall's room. I didn't really notice that this movie is longer than 4 hours. That was insane! It was so long. But it was really good. I like that movie.

今晚是電影之夜，我們在Kendall的房間看魔戒，我之前都沒有注意到魔戒有四小時多這麼長！這真是太誇張了！不過這部電影真的是太好看了！我喜歡！

Went Crazy at Albertville Premium Outlet Mall / 在Albrtville Outlet Mall發瘋了！！！

2007-07-23T12:09:00.000+08:00

2007-07-22

Today, I went to Albertville Premium outlet mall with the Japanese students. I have been living in Minnesota and Wisconsin for such a long time, I had never gone shopping in a outlet mall here. Today, finally, I got the chance to go. I found a lot of good deals! I bought a pair of Levi's jeans which was $30 and it is $100 in Taiwan. Therefore, it was a great deal to me.

After the outlet shopping, we had a little party for Mizuki and everybody for celebrating they have passed the TOEFL exam!!
Yeah!!

Today is an anther wonderful day!

Yoshi! (Japanese: Good)

(Sorry, I am too tired from shopping and the party. I am not translating this time. Gomen(Japanese: sorry) )

I added a new function on the right of my blog!!!

2007-07-20T21:12:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone, in order to know you guys more. I added a new function on the right of my blog.
Of course, I am not anticipating there will be a lot of votes......but....I just wanna see what the result will be. hahahahaha

The function is a question. By you answering the question, I can know more about my readers, who are you guys!

Anyway, if you have time....vote!!!

Dear Rebecca is leaving / 親愛的Rebecca要走了

2007-07-20T10:25:00.000+08:00

2007-07-19 (Thursday)

Today was Rebecca's last day working in the international office at UWRF.

今天是Rebecca最後一天在UWRF的國際交流中心

Rebecca has been a very friendly, kind and helpful to all the international students. I really like her a lot. She is like a mentor to me.

Rebecca對國際交換學生一直都很友善、好心，也一直很幫交換學生的忙。我真的很喜歡她。她對我來說，就像一位心靈導師。

(From left to right: Sheng-Fu, Rebecca, Kozue, and Rumiko)

(From top left to top right: Misato, Rebecca, Yoko, Kenji, From left bottom to to right bottom: Mizuki and Miho.)

Rebecca, we will miss you!!
Rebecca, 我們會想妳的。

(The card we made for Rebecca)

How to Keep Improving My English Ability!! / 如何繼續努力加強英文！！

2007-07-19T02:40:00.000+08:00

2007-07-18 (Wednesday) 星期三

I had a lunch with Robyne at a Chinese buffet restaurant today. Robyne was my English 101 professor in my first semester at UWRF. He is a great teacher, most important of all, he is a good friend of mine. He is about 60 years old, I guess. I was amazed and impressed by his enthusiasm when we first met. His heart is so young. He is so passionate about everything. His young mind is always ready to explore now things.

今天中午，我跟Robyne一起到中國餐廳吃飯。Robyne是我在UWRF第一學期的English 101的老師，他是一個很棒的老師，更重要的是他是我的好朋友。我猜他大約60歲左右吧。在我們剛認識時，我就被他的熱血驚奇到了。他有一顆年輕的心。他對每一件事物都很熱情。他的心隨時都在準備著要探險新的事物。

Today, we were talking about keeping practice English after I go back home to Taiwan in order to maintain my English ability. He gave me some suggestions. One of his suggestions is to keep on writing in English regularly. Of course, it is the best to write in English everyday. Therefore, I am going to write my online journal every day now.

今天我們聊到我在回台灣後該如何加強我的英文。他給了我一些建議。其中的一個建議是，每天都練習用英文寫作，所以，我計畫每天都寫我的網誌。

I would love to share some tips, gotten from Robyne, to keep on Sharpening my English with you guys. Reading is a very important part of learning English. Reading a lot of English articles definitely helps. Robyne suggested me to do "extensive reading" 30 minutes every day, at least, 5 days a week. In extensive reading, I can just read through the article and try to comprehend it by picking up the key words.

我很樂意跟大家分享一些Robyne給我的其他建議。閱讀是非常重要的。大量閱讀絕對是對加強英文有很大的幫助。Robyne建議我可以做"廣泛閱讀"(直譯: extensive reading)，至少每一天要讀30分鐘，一個禮拜讀五天。在做延伸閱讀時只要大約能理解文章，並且挑出一些關鍵字就可以了。

Other than extensive reading, Robyne also suggested me to do "intensive reading." What is intensive reading? Doing intensive reading is that I have to pick a high level* and shorter English article. I must read it very carefully by knowing every single words. I gotta do intensive reading once a week.

除了廣泛閱讀外，Robyne也建議我可以做"密集閱讀"(直譯：intensive reading)。什麼是密集閱讀呢？密集閱讀就是閱讀高等級*且不要太長的英文文章。在作密集閱讀時，要非常仔細的閱讀文章的每一個字。密集閱讀約一個禮拜做一次。

Robyne said that I can maintain my English skill and even improve it more by doing extensive reading and intensive reading for 3 years back to back.

Robyne說藉由這兩種閱讀方法連續三年，我的英文一定可以維持在現在的水平，並且可以更上一層樓。

Robyne also said that learning a new language takes time. "Practice helps" He said.

Robyne也說學一個新的語言是需要時間的。
練習絕對是有幫助的，他說。

Great Summer!!! / 超棒的夏天！！！

2007-07-12T10:09:00.000+08:00

Great Summer!

I did a lot of fun things with my great friends in this summer 2007!

Seeing fireworks in Whasington DC with Mizuki.

Picnic at George Parkway!
The Pizza man saved my life!

Watching a play with Saori!
That was a great musical play. Radio Gal.

Watching Transformers with Yoko, Mizuki, Saori, Masha and Kai.

I started to learn how to cook. This was my first Japanese omelet rice.

It has been a great summer so far!

Congratulations!! My friends at SHU. / 恭喜你們，我世新大學的朋友！

2007-07-11T01:32:00.001+08:00

Hello, it has been a while. How are you guys doing?

哈囉大家！好久不見了！
大家好嗎？

Congratulations!! You guys made it!
The class of 2007, Department of Communication Management! I love you guys.

恭喜！你們做到了！
92學年度入學的世新傳管系學生！你們畢業了！
我愛你們！

I made a clip for you guys!

我做了一個小短片，希望你們會喜歡！

Enjoy it!
!!

Fishing With My Hmong Xiong Host Family/ 與我的Hmong Xiong寄宿家庭一起釣魚

2007-06-04T23:40:00.000+08:00

20070603

I went fishing at Big Marine Lake in Minnesota with my Hmong Xiong host family. This was my third time fishing in my life so far.

我跟我的hmong Xiong寄宿家庭去Big Marine Lake釣魚。那湖在迷尼蘇達州。這是我人生第3次釣魚。

(Calvin was getting the boat ready)

Big Marine Lake is a very beautiful lake. We drove Charles's boat around the lake. We fished around the shore. There were Vong, Tony, Calvin, Kou and I, five of us. We were on the same boat. It was so fun! That was one of the best experiences that I had in the States. That was also my first time to abroad a small boat.

Big Marine Lake 是一個很美麗的湖。我們開著Charles的船繞著湖。我們在淺岸邊釣魚。那天有Vong, Tony, Calvin, Kou還有我，共五人。我們在同一艘船上。那天真的很好玩！那是我在美國最美好的經驗之一。　那也是我第一次登上像這樣的小船。

(Vong is my Hmong Xiong cousin.)

(We got everything ready.....but....I couldn't find any parking......)
That day was not our day. I didn't catch anything at all besides sea weed. I spent most of my time practicing throwing the line and roll the line back up. We went fishing for almost 4 hours. And the rest of us caught 4 fishes total in addition to those small fish. We only wanted big fish, we putted the small fishes back to the lake after we caught them.

我們當天運氣不是很好，我一隻魚也沒有釣到，我倒是釣到一大推水草。我大份時間都在練習甩出魚線跟收回魚線。我們釣了將近４個小時，去掉一些小魚，我們只調到４條魚。因為我們只想要大魚，我們把釣到小魚都放回湖裡。

I didn't really like fishing when I was little. All I remember was that I have to stay still the all time to wait for the fish. You know, how can you expect a little boy to stay still for more than 5 minutes. Anyway, it turned out bad as I expected. I didn't catch anything. And it was boring as hell.

在我小時後，我其實不是很喜歡釣魚，釣魚對我來說，我只記得，我必須要保持一樣的姿勢不能動，別鬧了，你也知道這對一個小男孩來說根本是不可能的！你要怎樣要求一個小男生一直都不動呢？總而言之，結果跟我想的一樣，我一條魚也沒抓到，釣魚對我來說，實在是太無聊了！

(Calvin is very confident!)

However, fishing here is so much fun! You can use tons of different kind of jig to fish. Moreover, you have to use different kind of skill to fish different kind of fish. You have to use worm-like jig to fish big mouth fish, for example, using shiny and noisy jig to catch Northern Pike. And to catch the Northern Pike, you have to keep rolling and throwing the line to keep the jig on the surface. Anyway, it is so much fun than you can imagine!

不過，在美國釣魚是在太好玩了！你可以用各種不同的餌去釣魚，而且釣不同的魚也需要不同的技巧。用像蟲一樣的餌釣大嘴魚，用閃亮亮的餌抓Northern Pike。在釣Ｎｏｒｔｈｅｒｎ　Ｐｉｋｅ時，你要不斷的丟魚線跟拉魚線。釣魚實在是太好玩了！

(Tony and his fish!)

We decided to go home around 6 o'clock. And it started to rain at the duck where we parked. We pulled the boat back to the truck in the pouring rain. It rained like crazy. We all got all wet. Right after putting the boat back on the truck, it stopped raining. We got back inside the truck and shivered like scared little dogs.

我們在六點時決定打道回府。而正當我們到小碼頭邊時，突然傾盆大雨，我們全都淋的很濕，一把船栓回卡車上，雨就停了，鑽回卡車的我們，跟淋濕的小狗一樣，不斷的發抖。

(We putted the boat to the lake)

(The life without fish.....is like life without color to Calvin.)

That was a very fun day. Calvin and I went home right after fishing. We saw two rainbows on the highway. That made my day ever better!

那天真是太好玩了！Calvin跟我釣完魚就直接回家了，我們在高速公路上看到了兩道彩虹喔！真是太開心了！

(If you look more carefully, you will see two rainbows!))

I graduated from UWRF!! 從威斯康辛州立大學河瀑(雷河)分校畢業了

2007-05-19T04:52:00.000+08:00

Me and Jessica.

Chee and I. Chee is like a sister to me.
I am really happy that I know her in my life.

Linda and me. Linda always smiles to everybody.

Dr. Tabesh and I. Dr. Tabesh is my Statistics professor. He teaches with all his heart! He is one of the best professor ever!

Me and Mizuki. !!

May 12, 2007, I, Sheng-Fu Hsu, graduated from UWRF!
That day was one of the biggest days in my life.

二零零七年五月號，我，徐盛夫，從威斯康辛州立大學河瀑(雷河)分校畢業了！
那一天，是我人生中最重要的一天之一。

After that day, everything will be so different for me!
My adventure in the States is going to an end. I have 86 days left.

那天之後，所有的事情都將改變。
而我在美國的冒險，也將要到一個段落了。我在美國的日子，還有86天。

Right now, I have a feeling which is similar with the feeling I once had before I came to the States. It feels like I am disappearing from this world and going to a different world. In a another word, I feel like I am dying.

現在，我有一種感覺，這個感覺，跟我在離開台灣時的那種感覺很像。
好像，我正在從這個世界消失，並前往另外一個世界裡。
換句話說，好像我要死掉一樣。

The Sheng-Fu, Jeff, is dying. It is kinda sad to think in this way. But I cannot help it.

在美國的徐盛夫，傑夫，正在死去中........這樣子想好像很悲傷，可是我不能停止我的腦袋。

I just started to get to know my new friends better. But now I am leaving.

我才正跟我的新朋友們混熟，更了解他們一些。轉眼，我就要離開了。

86 days, I will seize these days!

86天，我一定要好好把喔！

And I am looking forward to the birth of new Sheng-Fu in Taiwan!!
而且，我很期待將在台灣誕生的，新的我！

Playing outside for welcoming the beautiful Spring / 為了迎接美麗的春天，我們在外玩耍

2007-03-26T08:03:00.000+08:00

March 20, 7:07 pm is the first moment of Spring. I am so excited!
三月20，晚上七點零七分，就是春天來的第一秒了！我超高興的！

All the snow is melting.
雪都開始溶化了。

It starts raining. People told me that it is "April Shower." It means that it is going to rain a lot in the Spring in Minnesota, Wisconsin. I wasn't a huge fan of rain. But rain reminds me a lot of my childhood when I am in the USA. I was born and raised in Chi-Lung/ Keelung in Taiwan. It rains a lot there. Chi-Lung/ Keelung is known as the harbor of rain, "Yu Gan 雨港" in Chinese, or the city of rain, "Yu Du 雨都."

這裡開始下起雨了，這裡的人跟我說，這叫四月雨，春天在迷尼蘇達、威斯康辛，美國北邊是很多雨的季節。我以前並不是一個很喜歡下雨的人。可是雨讓我回想小時候很多的回憶，尤其是我人在美國。
我是在台灣，基隆出生的。基隆是一個非常多雨的城市，基隆還被稱為『雨港』，或是『雨都』。

Therefore, it reminds me my past a lot when it rains. It reminds me when I was in 3rd grade in elementary school, it was raining outside the window. The sky was gray. All I can hear is the sound of rain drop. It was loud. I was sitting in the classroom, but I wasn't mentally there. I was looking the sky and appreciating the beauty of nature.......... I miss those days. I got nothing to worry.......

所以，每當下雨時，我就想到過去。有一次，當我在國小三年級時，雨下的很大，天空是灰色的，雨滴的聲音很大，我想是很大滴的那種，我坐在教室裡，可是我的心不在教室裡，我看著窗外，我看著天空，欣賞自然的美景.......我懷念那段時光，我什麼也不用擔心.........。

The sky here in the USA is so different than the sky in Taiwan. The sky here is huge. There is not many mountains and tall building blocking my sight. I can capture the huge sky by my eyes. There are a lot of different kind of clouds in the sky, their heights are different as well. It looks like some clouds are hiding from each other. I see all the different cloud forming a huge beautiful natural picture.

美國的天空跟台灣的天空比起來很不一樣，美國的天空好大喔，這裡沒有什麼高山跟很高的建築物阻擋視線，我可以用我的眼睛捕捉全天空的景色。在美國的天空，這裡有很多種不一樣的雲在空中，他們的高度都不一樣，看起來很想他們在玩捉迷藏，互相躲來躲去的。我看見所有不同的雲組成一個大大的自然美麗圖畫。

Today, Sunday, I went to the park in front of mu host family's house to play. I was swinging in the playground. It has been a long time since the last time I swung. It feels so good to swing. I love the feeling of facing the blowing wind. It feels kinda like riding my scooter in the mid of night, and there are no cars around, I take my time to ride...........

今天是星期天。我去了在我寄宿家庭前的公園玩，我玩了盪鞦韆，我上一次玩盪鞦韆已經是好久以前的事了。我很喜歡那種面對迎面而來的風的感覺，感覺很像在半夜騎摩托車，路上都沒有什麼車，我可以很放鬆的慢慢騎，享受自己一人的感覺。

Today, we played for celebrating the coming of Spring.

今天，我跟我的朋友在外面玩，為了要慶祝春天小姐的來到。

I love you, Spring!

春天姊姊，我愛你！

Exchange Program Experience Sharing (SHU & UWRF) Chinese SUB / 留學短片分享

2007-03-17T01:31:00.000+08:00

I made a short clip to share what I have experienced and learned through the exchange program between SHU and UWRF.

我製作了一個小短片，我想要藉由這個小短片，跟大家分享我在美國留學的經驗。
(ps, 這是一個在世新大學與威斯康辛州立大學的Program)

This clip is about 6 minute long. It is only the little tiny part of my experience. There are more things that I cannot show you through this clip. You have to experience it by yourself! You will know how it feels like when you experience it.

這短片約6分鐘長，但這六分鐘僅僅是我在美國留學211天中的小小一部分。
很多事物與經驗，我不能用言語以及這短片來傳達給你，你必須要親身體驗，你才會知道那是什麼感覺。

If you wanna study abroad, I do encourage you. No matter where you wanna go, what you want to study. You should do it! Just do it. It's worthy. I know a lot of people dream about studying abroad.

如果你想要出國留學，我強烈的鼓勵你這麼做。不管你想去哪裡，想要唸什麼科系，你都應該要去試試看，放手去做就對了！出國留學是絕對值得的！我知道很多人的夢想是出國留學。

However, not everyone can do it because of monetary issue. I was in that situation, too. But my friend always told me " there's a will, there's a way." and "it's not the brick wall, yet." I tried everything I could do. And I got a lot of helps from my friends. Therefore, I can come to United States to study. I do appreciate every help I have ever gotten in my life. I love you.

但是不是每一個人都可以辦到，因為出國留學通常需要一大筆經費。我也曾經為金錢煩惱，但是因為我的朋友一直在我身邊鼓勵我，不斷的對我說''只要你真的想要做一件事，一定會有辦法的。''還有他常說：無法跨越的牆，其實還沒到。所以我試了全部可以幫助我留學的管道，我還得到了很多朋友的幫忙。也因為很多好朋友的幫忙，所以我現在可以在美國唸書，我很感激在我人生中，每一個幫助我的朋友。我愛你們！

I contribute this clip to Shih Hsin University, University of Wisconsin, River Falls, the Xiongs, my lovely host family, and all my friends.

這支小短片，我將獻給台灣世新大學、美國威斯康辛州立大學，雷何分校、我親愛的美國寄宿家庭-熊家一家人、還有我所有的朋友們！

How to make a snow angel???!! / 要如何製作雪天使？

2007-03-05T09:02:00.000+08:00

well.....on March 3rd.....I decided to make a snow angel before the snow melt.....

嗯，在2007年3月3號，我決定在雪溶化之前，來作一個雪天使。

Well.....how to make a snow angel......
嗯？雪天使？要怎要作呢？

1. stand on the snow ground
2.get yourself ready to fall on the ground
3.fall on the ground
4.move your legs and arms widely
5.get up
6.a snow angel is down.

1.站在雪中央
2.準備好往後倒
3.往後倒
4.盡力舞動你的手還有腳
5.起來
6.雪天使完成

At last, I wanna apologize about the video. I screamed like a crazy man in the video. I am sorry. Because it is too cold than I can stand.......I cannot even hold the snow to fight back as you can see. I forgot to wear gloves and boots............

最後，我要跟大家道歉，在影片之中，我鬼吼鬼叫的，跟個瘋子一樣，我真的很抱歉，可是當天真的太冷了，我連反擊的力量都沒有，因為我無法抓雪，我忘記帶我的手套還有穿我的靴子................

(Kia and Me making snow angels)

Snowboarding at Afton Alps! and Stock in the snow ditch/ 在阿富頓愛爾柏溜"雪板" 外加困在雪坑中

2007-03-05T07:36:00.000+08:00

(This is the hill next to the front gate of Afton Alps)

2007 March 3rd, I went to Afton to snowboard with Asian American Student Association at UWRF in Minnesota.

2007年3月3號，我跟AASA(威斯康辛大學雷河分校-亞裔美國學生協會)去阿富頓滑雪板。ps, 阿富頓是在Minnesota迷尼蘇達州的一個滑雪場。

(From the left to the right: me, Judy, Hli.)

In fact, we can choose to ski or snowboard. I don't know why, some how I just wanna snowboard! I think maybe snowboarding looks cooler to me, hahaha.
其實，在這裡，你可以選滑雪，或是滑雪板，兩種選擇。不知道為什麼，我就是想要滑雪板！我想可能是我覺得滑雪板比較帥吧。哈哈哈。

(This is me and the cool snowboard!)
Snowboarding is the best sport ever!! I love it! Although, I d0n't know how to snowboard or even skateboard. I think the times I fell is not countable, because I fell too many times! I have no idea why I am just a beginner and I still have the guts to go the the high spot to slide down. Maybe because I think this chance to snowboard is very very rare for me! After all, it doesn't snow in Taiwan.

說實在的，滑雪板根本就是世界上最棒的運動了！雖然我不知道要怎樣滑雪板.....甚至是滑板，我還是覺得滑雪板真是太帥了！我愛死滑雪板了！我不知道我摔倒了幾次，因為次數多到數不出來。
我自己也搞不清楚，我明明是初學者，我哪來的膽子去很高的點滑雪板。也許是因為我覺得這樣的機會實在是太難的了，所以我決定不管三七二十一，給它去了吧。畢竟，台灣是不下雪的！

(This is Xou....he is exhausted from snowboarding.)

I took the trailer without belt to the higher spot with Doua and Kia. They were skiing. I was snowboarding. When we reached the steep hill, we went down so fast! And I don't know how to control the direction and I was a scared..........But I kept telling myself, "just go, just go!" And it got faster and faster. I leaned my body forward.......and it was too fast for me to turn....and I was almost gonna hit Kia and Doua, so I decided to fall myself to stop........It hurt a lot! I bet!!! I hurt my left ankle and legs last night. But it was too fun.....I still wanna do it again!
我跟Doua 還有Kia搭纜車到山中的高點。他們是選擇滑雪。我選滑學板。當我們滑到了很陡的陡下坡，真的很刺激啦！我們的速度超快的！我不知道要怎樣控制方向，而且其實還蠻恐怖的，我還蠻害怕的。我試著將身體前傾，而因為太快了，加上快要撞到Doua and Kia所以我覺得要來一個自我絆倒。天阿，真的很痛，我扭到我的左腳關節，加上我的兩支大腿！
不過就算受傷，我還是要在玩一次！

(Right: Kia; Left: Doua)

Later on that night, on the way back home to River Falls, we got stuck in the snow ditch! OMG! How come???!!!! How did this happen? I have no idea! That night, the driver was Doua. She was on the freeway and talking to Mindy on the phone. She wanted to pull over to wait for Mindy. But Doua didn't notice that the snow besides the shoulder is a snow ditch! It looked so flat, but in fact, it is very deep. It is deeper than my knees!
那一天晚一點，當我們在回家的路上時，我們不小心開車開到雪坑中了！我的天啊！怎麼會這樣！這怎麼會發生呢？我也不知道，心裡亂遭遭！
那天晚上，Doua是我們的司機，她當時在跟mindy講電話，然後在doua要在路邊停車等Mindy時，Doua沒有注意到在路肩旁的是積雪起來的雪坑！我們就這樣一路開進雪坑之中！那是一個非常深的雪坑，積雪高過我的膝蓋！

(Can you see!! That is really deep!)

There are a lot of cars went by......only one stopped by and help us. I am not blaming the other drivers. I can understand why they don't help us. Because they are afraid that we might be bad guys............anyway, a tall, handsome, nice, and kind young man stopped by helped us. He drove a Ford truck and pull us away from the snow ditch! But it didn't work at first, because there were too many cars on the freeway, so the young man couldn't tow us away. Fortunately, a police officer stopped by. He said he can block the cars for us. And then, we got out from the ditch. It was so funny that after we got in the car, Kia and Doua were talking about the young man and the police officer.....they said the young man and the police officer are cute! Hahahaha.

當晚，有很多車經過，可是只有一輛車停下來幫我們，我不是想要責怪其他的人啦，因為我知道晚上在高速公路上，你看到有人有問題，停在路邊，你也不一定會幫忙，畢竟你也不知道那些人是好人還是壞人。言歸正傳，還好有一位帥氣，高大，仁慈的男士來幫我們的忙，他開福特的小卡車，他用拖的把我們拖出雪堆，可是因為在高速公路上的車太多的，所以他不能完全的把我們拖出來。
後來，有一位警察叔叔停下來幫我們，他說他可以把在高速公路上的車暫時阻擋起來，這樣那位好心人就可以盡全力的拖我們的車了！

在我們離開雪堆，回到車裡時，Doua跟Kia 很好笑說，他們在討論剛剛遇到的警察還有好心人長的都好帥！
哈哈哈哈哈。

I was in Maine skating on a frozen pond!

2007-01-17T22:12:00.000+08:00

(I was standing on a pond; 我在結冰的大池塘溜冰！)

That day is one of the most special days in my life. It is my first time to skate on a frozen pond. A frozen pond is so beautiful. As if you can see a different sky through the frozen pond, you see another sky! A frozen pond cannot tell you how beautiful the sky directly. However, if you take a look more carefully, you will find a whole new sky...........

那天，是非常特別的一天，那是我第一次在結冰的池塘上溜冰，結冰的池塘好漂亮。
透過結冰池塘的表面，彷彿可以看到另一個不一樣的天空，結冰後的池塘表面，不能直接反映天空有多麼美，可是再仔細看一下，你可以看到另一個天空，天空以另一種全新的面貌出現在結冰池塘的表面.............

It is so beautiful!
Well....I have no idea what I am saying, either......hahaha.

That day, Molly taught me how to skate. She said I should make the trail I made on the ground longer. Take it easy. Skate slowly......Well, it turned out okay. It did work! Hahaha
那天，Molly教我如何溜冰，他說，讓你在冰上所留下的軌跡長一些，慢慢溜，慢慢來。
結果，我照他說的去做，真的很有用耶，感覺很穩，也比較快了，也比較省力！

(Let's skate up)

Thanks for the Reinholts for giving me a great Maine experience. Thanks, Lizzy.
I love you!
感謝盧怡青一家人給我這樣特別的Maine經驗，謝謝荔枝姐！
我愛你！

Days in Boston

2007-01-11T22:23:00.001+08:00

(these are Ed and Keith in blurry status.)
After finishing the fall semester at UWRF, I went to Boston to visit my friends. Those friends I met in Taiwan when they studied abroad in Taiwan. I miss them so much. And I never thought I can see them again so soon. Hahaha.

Boston is one of the oldest cities in the USA and it is part of New England. I had a some lectures while I am in New Hampshire from Keith's parents and Keith.

I walked on the Boston freedom trail and try to know more about the history and story behind each scenes during the revolution.

My New Year Resolution 2007

2007-01-03T07:03:00.000+08:00

For some reason I think I should come up with some New Year Resolution......I think it is because I am in Boston with my good friend Keith.....and he just showed me a very touching and good resolutions.......

So I wanna come up the resolutions for myself, just for myself.

1. Love.
To spread my love. To love the people I loved more. To hug them and to hold them. I.c., I wanna hug my father so bad....I have not hugged him since I went to junior hight school......hehehe
And most important of all, to love myself more. I will never hurt myself again. I will never do things that will hurt me so bad.

2. Trust.
No matter how the past hurts, I have to move on. I have to trust people again. I will try to trust thoes poeple who are worthy being trusted.

3. Explore.
Do not be afraid to do things that I have not done yet. It sounds easy.....but most of the time, it is hard to do. hahaha.

4. Be Friendly To the whole world.
To live as I live in a world without strangers. Talk to strangers, help strangers and love strangers.

5. Learn to say "NO."
I was too nice to say no to friends when my friends ask me to do things I do not like. From now on, I listen to what my heart tells me. I will not do the things I don't wanna do.

6. Believe.
Come to the U.S.A to study abroad was a dream to me. Now it is a fact to me. I learn that everything can be achieved if you work hard. Well....practically speaking, maybe something is not achievable to me.....like to win the Power Balls (the lottery)........but....."choose" to believe in myself is one of the most beautiful things in the world.

7. Family.
I love you, Daddy, Mommy, My sister and my brother. I can see you when I close my eyes. I can feel you when I image your pictures in my mind. I can hear you.....when I dial the skype to you guys. I love you.

Jeff's resolutions 2007.

學期就要結束囉！

2006-12-10T07:45:00.000+08:00

I was playing Guitar for the Cultural Fest!

2006/12/9

哇哇！離學期結束只有兩個禮拜了！

這禮拜對我來說可是非常累的一個禮拜，我三天只睡了約10小時，都在忙project跟作業。我的Boston之旅離我只有不到20天，天啊，好興奮！

The Xmas tree at the MOA!

不知道在台灣的大家都過的如何？不好意思，我好久好久沒有寫網誌囉！我好想念台灣，來到這裡，每個都問我，你想到美國住嗎？你之後要到這裡定居嗎？尤其是Hmong最愛問我這問題，老實說，我覺得美國的生活Style很適合我，我覺得在這裡生活挺不錯的，這裡好看的衣服都不貴，當然也是有很貴的，不過不像台灣，好看的衣服都要1到2千塊，我才買不下去了，這裡好看的T-shirt才500台幣左右，我最愛的Levis Jean才1000~1500左右，我在Thanksgiving血拼了一條，哈哈，在台灣我一年才買一件吧；這裡收入所得平均比台灣高，另外只要有大學學歷，一般要找到好工作不會很難，聽說Benz對大學畢業生來說，都是可以付的起的，當然不是說一畢業就可以買，要存一段時間的錢啦。

還有啊，這裡食物很貴，不過我很喜歡食物很貴，為什麼呢？因為這樣大家都在家裡吃飯，可以連絡家人的感情，另外，可以吃到心愛的人做的菜，是世上最幸福的事之一了，媽媽，我好想念你煮的飯唷！

來到這裡，台灣人做菜都會被笑，哈，因為我們都沒有自己煮飯的習慣，在台灣的大學生大都是在外面用餐，因為食物都不是很貴，吃好吃的便當才80~100台幣，在台北以外的地方，可是更便宜呢！

日本人可真是厲害，我21歲生日時，有一位可愛的日本女生作飯糰我吃唷！哈哈，是友情飯糰啦，他做的飯糰好好吃唷。不只是女生，日本的男生也很會做菜，日本男生做的蛋包飯，根本比跟在台灣的的餐廳買的還棒，還漂亮！好想要變的很會做菜唷！日本人在做菜的時候，對器具很講究，有一次日本交換學生跟台灣的交換學生一起做菜，日本人都會覺得不好意思，因為台灣人在用器具時都不講究，炒飯的鍋子跟煮湯的大鍋子都隨便用，日本人很想糾正，可是又不好意思，我聽到我朋友說時，我一直笑。

對了，在Thanksgiving時，是這裡的Hmong People的新年，我也有穿Hmong的傳統服裝唷，哈哈。可是那兩天我沒有去搭訕女生，Hmong的新年是認識新朋友的好時間，在新年的時候，Hmong people都會到Down Town St. Paul去參加新年，陌生人只要看上眼，對對方有興趣，就會邀請對方玩”丟接球”，只要漏接的人，就要拿掉身上的一件首飾，或是衣服，所以要小心玩唷！不要想要讓女生脫光衣服，因為他的都首飾多到脫不完！

Hmongs and I!

那裡讓我聯想到台北世貿中心，因為場地看起來很像，哈。

Ps, this is my lovely roommates' stockings for Xmas.

We are playing secrect Santa. We picked a ticket with a roomate's name. And we will be each other's secrect Santa. We won't know who we will receive the gift from until Xmas. I am so excited! I don't know what I will get!

First month of being here.......

2006-10-02T21:10:00.000+08:00

(Today is a terrible day! Looks like the hurricane is coming!)

(This is my lovely host family in Eagan. That is Buckey~. He is a pimple!)

2006/9/30
Saturday
來到美國已經一個多月了，看著寬大的街道，感覺並不是那麼的陌生了，可是，相對的，我越來越想念台灣的街道了，我想念基隆廟口，想念與朋友一起到三兄弟吃豆花…。
人在異鄉，果然感覺不同啊！

我在UWRF的第一堂課是Quantities Analysis，禮拜一早上九點零五分。老師並不是美國人，說話帶有很重的口音，不過不會很難懂；上課的內容大多數我都懂，這堂數學課對我來說，比較像英文課，因為這些數學名詞我都不認識，現在正在學Logarithm；最讓我吃驚的是，上課教授舉的例子都是跟經濟有關，讓我覺得學數學跟日常生活有很密切的結合，不會像台灣，一直作跟日常生活沒關係的例題，像是算籠子裡有幾隻雞，幾隻兔子。
至於我第一位認識的同學，好像有點太害羞了，她是一位韓國裔美國人，他的眼睛很大，一點也不像韓國人，她長的很漂亮！可是當我第一次跟他自我介紹時，她好像以為我喜歡她，想要追她，所以都不太理我，讓我覺得有點挫折感！天啊，小姐，我只是想交朋友而已，你別怕啊！

我周末就待在Eagan，跟Carol的家人，也就是我的Host Family！我大部分就都在這裡看看書，看看電影，跟Carol家人聊聊天。

(In the city.)
I have been in the U.S. for about one month. Looking the wide road, I do not feel as fresh as I did one month ago. I am getting homesick; I miss the streets in Taiwan. I miss Keelung Temple Night Market. I miss to hang out with friends and to eat the dessert in Three-Brothers.
When I do live in a foreign country, the way I think and feel is really different!

My first class in UWRF is Quantities Analysis. It is Monday 9:05 am. The professor is not an American. He has a heavy accent. He speaks slowly so that I can understand him without difficulties. Most of the lectures are not hard for me. I have learned those maths before. However, it is hard for me to learn the big words in English. So this math class is kinda like a English class to me.
The math class in the U.S. impressed me a lot because of the examples and exercises given during the lecture. They are so close to real life, business and economic area. I feel they are very practical to learn them. Not like in Taiwan, I always have to calculate how many rabbits and roosters in one cage.
I usually spend the weekends in Eagan with Carol’s family, which is my host family. I usually study and chat with them here.
(So beautiful.)

I am in UWRF Now........

2006-08-31T14:17:00.000+08:00

2006/8/26 (Saturday)
距離上次寫Blog已經有一個禮拜了，這一個禮拜裡，發生太多事情了，讓我不知道該如何說起，當然，首先，我要謝謝Carol，謝謝Carol在我準備雙聯學制時不斷的給我鼓勵，經過將近長達9個月的長跑，我終於到達了UWRF，這中間，我也放棄過，所以才會拖到這麼久，不然我在4月份應該就要考TOEFL測試……這中間也感謝很多朋友以及教授的鼓勵，最令我感到意外的是我老爸，我以為他一定不會讓我出國唸書的，因為他太擔心我了，可是我跟他說，要出國唸書就要趁年輕，在有偶爾餓兩頓不會死的身體時快來，哈，結果我爸就屈服了，還幫我說服我媽媽讓我來，我媽媽最好笑了，他說他不想讓我到美國唸書的原因是，怕我在美國結婚之後都不回來了，天啊，我才20歲，我還不想這麼早結婚勒，媽，你太寶了！
我對於一切新的事物感到興奮，到每一個地方我都感到新奇！關於時差問題？我覺得還好，只要抵達的第一天盡力努力硬撐，到當地晚上的時間睡覺應該就沒有問題了，我剛到第一天，Carol就帶我去看電影，看一部關於賽車搞笑片，由於我太累了，所以我沒辦法太集中看電影，我幾乎都快睡著了，我只記得片中的主角叫：Ricky Bobbie……
這一個禮拜，大多都是跟Carol的家人玩，去Carol的堂兄弟姐妹家吃好吃的豬肉，我真的不知道他們是怎樣用的，居然讓豬肉吃起來這麼嫩，不是滷的喔！然後喝啤酒，還有玩Taxes Holds ‘Em這是一個很好玩的遊戲，等我回台灣，我會帶回台灣的，有小賭一點點錢，我第一次玩就贏了7元美金唷！我還蠻有潛力的吧！
還有去MOA (Mall of America)，這是全美國最大的百貨公司唷，來這裡發現啊，去Mall血拼，好像是生活的一種習慣，因為我常聽到有人說：你知道嗎，我已經有一個月沒有去MOA耶，你相信嗎？美國人賺的多，花的也多啊！
還有我的室友，我真的要說一下的啦，我的室友都是亞洲美國人(Asia American) 就是說，他們是亞洲人的血統，生活習慣因為父母的養育以及對於本身文化的尊重，所以他們跟亞洲人會相近一些，怎麼說呢？因為亞洲美國人都會加入學校中的亞洲社團，藉此了解本身的文化，即使從小就接受美國文化的薰陶，但是還是不會忘記本身的文化，所以在美國裡，有很多不同的文化同時發展，形成了文化大熔爐。
說到我的室友，只有一個棒可以形容，他們人都很好，常帶我到處走走，去不同的Mall血拼，帶我去他們的家一起跟家人玩，一起吃飯，我覺得很溫馨，尤其是我的寄宿家庭，他們讓我覺得我好像就是家裡的一份子；妹妹Jessi是我除了Carol認識的第一個人，他很妙，講話很有Hip Hop的感覺，還有認識了他的三個哥哥，他們人都很好，我們有時會坐在陽台邊，喝飲料聊天；他們家有一隻狗，常常令我想起大黃，他叫Back，他的動作很像大黃，當我輕拍扶手時，他會將前手趴到扶手上，站著看我，當我摸他的肚子，他會躺下來讓我幫他抓癢；很多動作都令我想起大黃，只是他大很多，強壯很多，有時我會有點怕他，因為他力氣太大了。
天氣？這裡的天氣就是比台灣乾一些，冷一些，現在八月的天氣，我覺得像台灣的十一月的天氣，有點冷；還有就是這裡很北邊，所以日在夏天照的時間比較長，這裡要晚上八點左右才會日落，感覺蠻特別的，感覺時間很多，哈，難過有人說美國時間比較長，哈哈哈哈。

洛城落難記.......

2006-08-17T19:21:00.000+08:00

2006-08-17
In Los Angeles
現在我在Los Angles的Bradley International Airport裡面，我跟政佑現在一起在洛城…….人家都說LA BOYZ是洛城三兄弟，我跟政佑是落難兩兄弟啊，為什麼這樣說呢，因為我們搭的國泰航空從香港到美國的班機延後到達美國了，我們比預定的時間還要晚一個小時到達LA，等我們拿到我們要拿的行李時，我們原本要搭前往芝加哥的飛機已經離我們遠去了，我們兩個超傻眼的，一開始還不相信，後來還是快去跟櫃檯人員確認，結果我們的班機真的先飛走了，看來….今天的好運之神，先離開我們一下了，他應該是去上廁所了吧，哈哈哈哈哈。
幸運？為什麼我這樣說呢？大家都知道，搭到美國的班機至少都要10來個小時，一般的經濟艙的位子都很小，有人說，坐飛機到美國根本就是練習瑜珈練到美國啊，哈哈哈哈；今天在桃園CHECK IN 時，櫃檯先生大哥說：先生阿，你的票，從香港到美國的經濟艙滿了耶，你等等唷，我幫你看看你會不會……。我問說，會不會怎樣？他說：哇：恭喜，你們兩個人都被香港的國泰航空免費升級到商務艙的座位，至少現賺七萬六千元！天啊，真是太幸運了，我跟政佑到現在還在興奮。
商務艙果然不一樣，餐點超棒的，還有燉羊肉可以吃耶，超軟超好吃，吃完還有精美朱古力(Chocolate)可以吃唷！還有！吃不完的哈根達茲(Haagen-Dazs)的冰耶，可是因為我吃太多了，吃到沒有空間可以吃冰，想起來真有一點惋惜……。商務艙的椅子大家一定想不到，只要按一個按鈕，就可以平躺下來，變成一個床耶！睡起來超超超舒服的！好希望不要這麼快開到Los Angeles，果然，此話一出，幸運之神想要讓我在飛機上待久一點吧，所以整班飛機不知道為什麼延遲了1小時………謝謝你喔，幸運之神，哈。
話說回來，現在政佑已經累到受不了了，睡著了，現在LA時間是凌晨快4點鐘。幸運之神似乎上完廁所回來了，讓我們在機場找到可以上網的地方，所以我就趕快趁機寫下我的冒險紀錄！
在過約3小時，我就要跟政佑提早分開了，因為他將前往芝加哥，我因為班機的問題，我要飛到達拉斯轉機到Minneapolis St. Paul Airport，比預定的時間晚了8小時左右……..天啊！
LA的晚上，外面只有20度，我穿著短衣短褲……好冷唷。
期待我下一次的冒險吧！

回台灣的第五天.........看著熟悉又陌生的街道......

2006-08-06T10:59:00.000+08:00

2006.8.6

在2006.8.1的晚間7點左右，我在飛機上俯視，我看到了基隆港(如果沒認錯的話啦....哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈)，可是.......我找不到我的家，我想是因為太晚了吧，我的家藏在山的後面，也許是因為太久沒看到我，有點害羞吧。

很快的，就到了桃園，看著地上的燈火越來越大，越來越亮，心中突然有一種很緊張的感覺，一直到今天，我還是久久不能平復，在登機走到連到飛機出口後，機門打開了，我走出飛機，在看過上海跟香港的機場後，發現原來桃園機場是如此的小，可是我卻有一種溫暖的感覺，感覺這塊小小的寶島是如次的溫馨，家就是這麼奇妙的地方，不管你在這裡的回憶是好是壞，在一段的時間的分離後，你還是會感到溫暖，這就是所謂的"歸屬感"嗎？

我本來想自己直接回基隆的，可是因為桃園機場沒有直達基隆的客運，我又扛著一大箱行李，我只好跟老爸求救，希望可以約在行天宮，沒想到老爸很快的就答應了，搭著爸爸的車，好像回到小時候，我常常跟媽媽搶著做前座的位置，老實說，我也不知道為什麼我這麼喜歡坐在前座......在車上，看著熟悉的新台五線，我以前偶爾會騎著摩托車跟三五好友經由這條路到台北玩，逛樂器行，買樂器，看表演，感覺彷彿可以看到以前的我在車窗外面開心的笑.........

經過一個月的分離，離開我生長的台灣，我好像有些改變，但我也說不出，除了膚色現在變黑很明顯外啦.......

我在經過10天就要再次離開台灣了，這次要離開一年，我一定會很想家的，不過我一定會努力，我會好好用功的，不知道為什麼，我有一種在10天之後，我就會人間蒸發的想法............

現在，我盡量把握每一個可以跟朋友道別的機會，給你們我的祝福，記得，如果你們有需要我幫忙的地方，不要客氣的跟我商量吧，我會盡量幫你們的！

我.......考過了....... / I pass the test.......

2006-07-09T20:48:00.000+08:00

Every one......I .......pass the TOEFL TEST.......

I can.......go to the states.....for my education~~~~~

I am going to University of Winsconsin, River Falls for a dual degree program.

I will be there for an academic year~~~!!!
I am so happy'~~~~~~~~~

同學們......我我我......我考過托福了，我今年8月就可以去美國了！！！
我要去威斯康辛州立大學，雷河(河瀑)分校！！！

耶耶耶耶。

大陸實習記3 / My internship in China, Episode 3

2006-07-09T20:42:00.000+08:00

2006/07/09 大陸實習記 Episode 3
Sunday – Sunny day
Day 10
今天是禮拜天，今天陽光普照，大家都出去玩了，可是我決定要待在宿舍，因為我想要忙裡偷閒，週一到週五都在公司，雖然實習的公司裡什麼也沒做，也不會很累，可是不能隨心所欲的做自己的事，而我想要寫寫網誌，在我忘掉這一切之前，把它寫到網路上；一邊看著廣大的天空，一邊寫著Ｂｌｏｇ的心情真舒服。（我們的宿舍有一片大窗戶，躺下就可以看見蘇州的天空了）
今天我有很多時間，所以我要稍微的整理一下我的心得，這次的網誌分成兩個部分，一個是有關我在這裡的生活感想，另一個是旅遊感心得分享。
生活感想：
在大陸生活最不習慣，也是最不方便的地方是一些網站被大陸封鎖，我都沒辦法看，我連美國在台協會的網站也上不上去，封的最兇的網站應該是中文新聞的網站，如果是英文的台灣新聞這裡是看的到的，這裡的報紙有時也會報導台灣的消息，只是台灣的新聞網頁不能看，如：udn.com.tw或是tw.news.yahoo.com……等等。
我有跟我在這裡認識的一位南京大學的大學生聊到這個話題，他說他對網路上有一部分的資訊是被封鎖的事是可以理解的，一方面是政府要避免於民眾接觸煽動的資訊，另一方面他覺得接收這麼多訊息要幹麻？他說，網路上還有更多別的資訊可以去吸收，為什麼一定要看那些被禁止的資訊？
我個人覺得，中國大陸政府用一道看不見的藩籬將大陸的網路世界從全球的網路隔離出來，很多中國大陸的人民並不覺得怎樣，是因為這藩籬太大了，由於我是從藩籬外走進來的人，所以我覺得很不自在，我覺得我在某種程度上好像被關起來了一樣。另外，令我意外的是blogspot在這裡是被封鎖的，但是ｂｌｏｇｇｅｒ並沒有被封，所以我可以上傳網誌，但我自己看不到我自己寫的內容，真奇怪，哈。

這禮拜在我實習的公司裡，又多了一位實習生，也是蘇州本地人，他叫柳以超，但他跟梁同學不一樣的地方是，他從高中就不在大陸唸了，他高中拿了獎學金到新加坡唸書，現在在美國的賓州(Pennsylvania State) 唸金融與數學，目前升大三；他跟梁浩祺的想法就很不一樣，網路的使用習慣上也很不一樣，浩祺查資料都使用百度(baidu)，而以超就較依賴Ｇｏｏｇｌｅ（這裡的翻譯叫谷歌）；聽浩祺說Ｇｏｏｇｌｅ要退出大陸的市場不知道是不是真的，不知道Ｇｏｏｇｌｅ是不是會為了ｇｏｏｇｌｅ的ｍｉｓｓｉｏｎ　ｓｔｅｔｅｍｅｎｔ- Don’t be evil放棄大陸這塊大餅？令人拭目以待！
旅遊心得：
在這一個禮拜裡，我們去了好多地方，蘇州真的是一個好美的地方，我們去了有點像西門町的＂觀前街＂，還有石路，這兩個地方都是市區，都有很多百貨公司…等等的商店，只是一進去百貨公司就好像回到台北，只是價錢上的標價單位不一樣罷了，這裡不是什麼東西都便宜唷，像是這裡賣的ＰＵＭＡ都比台灣貴一點點，款式看起來也不是都是最新的，都是舊一季以上的；為什麼說觀前街像西門町呢？因為去那裡逛街的人看起來年齡層普遍低一些，好像都是國高中生去約會的地方。
當然，也去了這些地方吃了一些當地人推薦的美食，我們吃了老媽米粉，是有點火鍋的料理，我們點了鴛鴦鍋，加上一些當地的火鍋料，還不錯吃，這裡的麵線，是有點透明中帶有一點青色的，看起來很像青箭口香糖的加長版，吃起來還不錯（吃起來當然不像青箭啦）；而這裡的火鍋佐料很特別，好像是香油的東西，看起來很油，吃起來……也很油，就好像在吃香油，這佐料會在一開始就給你，如果你不想吃，你就放旁邊，不要去動它，一個可要兩塊錢，服務生在最後會跟你收費唷，你可不要傻傻地把不要的東西或湯汁丟到那佐料裡。
還有去了一間叫做＂好人餐廳＂的地方，我們當天也跟了一間＂複合金屬材料廠＂的女生聯誼了，哈哈哈哈，其實她們跟我們一起從台灣過來實習的學生，我們是一起約出來吃飯，不過我個人覺得這次的大陸行被我搞的有點像大陸版的＂戀愛巴士＂，我一直幫別人配對，哈哈，其實我只是希望大家這次在實習之餘，可以有一些共同的話題啦，藉此拉近彼此間的距離。
我們還去了一些知名景點，除了之前說過的寒山寺還有楓橋外，我們還去了，盤門景區、蘇州樂園。
蘇州樂園有中國迪斯奈之稱，聽說是全國最大的遊樂場，我當天玩了三角滑翔翼還有懸式過山車（就是元宵飛車啦，不過是懸吊式的，就是你的腳是騰空的）。
在小時候，看見爸爸在泰國玩滑翔翼的照片時，我就對滑翔翼感到很有興趣，外加上我對飛行有一種憧憬，我想可能是因為我超人看太多了，哈哈哈，現在可以親身體驗滑翔翼真是太酷了，那種在天空中，感受風劃過身體的感覺真的很好，看著地上化成一小點的人們，我不斷地吶喊，希望可以將我的喜悅分享給每一個人，也希望我可以將這一份感動深深烙在腦中………，不過我應該會被當成瘋子吧，哈哈哈哈哈。
昨晚上，我們一行人去坐船夜遊蘇州古運河，順著古護城河繞蘇州市一周，感覺蘇州真的很美，古色古香的，如果你想要在晚上搭船遊蘇州，我建議你可以多花一些錢坐雙層船，因為雙層船看起來很豪華漂亮，不算太貴，要７５人民幣，（可是因為我們要省一些錢，我們可不想要在月初就將錢就都花光，所以我們坐的是單層的）雙層船看起來上面好像有餐廳，可是我不確定，如果可以在漂亮的蘇州古河畔中吃晚餐，一定很浪漫！
還有，坐船遊蘇州有一點很特別，一定要提醒你，在眾多橋下，有一座橋下的兩旁有雕刻壁畫，很漂亮，是白色的，我不確定晚上那邊會不會打燈，我們經過那座橋時，太陽先生還沒下山，所以我們還可以看的到那些雕刻壁畫，由於我的相機早在盤門景區時就沒電了，所以坐船時，就沒法拍那些景色了，ｓｏｒｒｙ啦，各位。

大陆实习记2 / My internship in China, Episode 2

2006-07-07T11:29:00.000+08:00

My Adventure in China – Episode 2
2006/7/3 (Monday)
Day 4

今天是我正式實習的第一天，我被分配到”蘇州東吳證券”公司上班，我跟我的同班同學被分配在一起；說實在的，能夠被分配到證券公司我真的很開心，也很興奮，我對金融理財很有興趣，平時在台灣，我就很喜歡看一些理財的書。有些人覺得我很奇怪，都說我看不出來是喜歡這種八股工作的人，常常問我為什麼喜歡金融業，我的回答是，我喜歡錢，but in a good way，我喜歡累積財富，學習有關於金錢的專業知識，這樣我可以做更多我喜歡的事情，多走走，多看看這個廣大的世界，想要達到Robert T.清崎(窮爸爸與富爸爸的作者)說的「財富自由」！
今天第一天開工，就如學長所說，有些被分配到的單位並不會指望實習生會有什麼貢獻，也不會特別教授實習生專業知識，所以實習生要靠自己學習，要在不妨礙別人工作的前提下提問，多交朋友，多跟前輩聊天；而我，就是被分配到這種單位………哈哈，很幸運的，今天也是一位南京大學的大三生來實習，他叫梁浩祺，我之前常常聽到人說大陸的大學生比台灣的大學生優秀很多，今天，我終於見識到了………！
我跟那位南大聊了很多，那位同學的主修是「文科」強化班，聽起來很炫，好像是中文系加上歷史系加哲学系的樣子，希望我沒有誤解他的意思，他的口音並不是說很重，但是他說話有一些些快，還有加上有些名詞我不太懂，有時候如果一不閃神就會錯過了，我有點怕會誤解他今天跟我說的內容，明天我會盡量搞清楚他每一句話的意思的，我會盡量問他的；他不但對於中國歷史熟悉的很，對於金融相關的知識也是很了解，今天從香港特別的三个发钞银行談到共產黨的獨權統治的背後的深含意義，也談到了一些禁忌話題，但是他對於這些禁忌話題的反應還有想法令我很感到驚訝。
一開始我先開口提到關於網路資訊方面的東西，我問他說，你知道在大陸，有些網頁是已經被大陸政府封鎖了嗎？他說，我知道啊，其實大家都是知道的，他接著說，可是……政府這些行為是可以理解的，因為政府必須先保障人民基本的權利，那就是吃飽，活下去。這樣的話，對於有些民主國家來說，是很不可思議的，我想會有很多人不可以理解，可是仔細想想，台灣人應該可以理解才是，因為在台灣民國戒嚴時期，人民的言論與行動都是被限制住的，為的就是保障人民的生的權利，減少暴動，所以在當時訂定戒嚴管制條例；當然，這些西方人應該是不能理解的，之前在跟微軟工程師吃飯時就有討論到戒嚴時期的問題，Steve完全沒有辦法理解他說：I cannot understand why you sacrifice your freedom for your survival? ( 為什麼你們可以為了安全而犧牲你們的自由呢？)也許西方人對自由的訴求是對於生命還要強烈的。
後來梁同學也說，其實資訊封鎖，他們都是知道的，其實也是可以偷偷的看，大陸學生是很關心世界時事的，這點相較之下，台灣的學生，包括我，都要加油囉！他說，只要利用第三代理器，將proxy掛到美國，在從美國連到台灣的網頁就可以看了，其實他們都是知道的，他們也知道64天安門，他們曾經偷偷在網路上下載64天安門的紀錄影片，可是他說，就記錄片上來看，在當時，鄧小平並沒有下令用坦克車將聚集在天安門廣場的青年們輾過，只有示威，在最後時因為要樹立國家管理集權的威嚴，所以鄧小平最後”默许”士兵开槍，將群眾趕離現場，當時傷亡的人數並不是我們所知道的那麼多，他用很堅定的口吻跟我說，我也是抱著半信半疑的態度，他說那記錄片是由CNN製作的，也許我應該找找那個記錄片……。他還說，當時的政府的作為是可以理解的，一切都是為了國家的安全，他說，如果當时國家将社會交给当时的抗議青年，他不敢想像後果，他不敢想像現在的中國是不是還會存在…………
聊到這，我就知道我們的價值觀是非常不同的，我們生活在不同的社會裡，在不同的教育體制下長大，造就了我們不同的人格，你可以說誰比較好，誰比較差嗎？價值觀是不能這樣判斷的，我想我漸漸了解為什麼他會這樣支持大陸，看看四周，高樓大廈林立，先進的硬體設備，在國際上，大陸可是非常有影響力的，現在中文托福都出現了，想要跟大陸做生意的外商，不管你是哪一個國家的人，現在你都要用中文來跟中國人做生意了！到底……為什麼有人這麼討厭共產主義呢？為什麼有人一聽到大陸人就覺得他們被政府洗腦？在我來到這裡前，我也是對大陸也是懵懵懂懂，我也不是被所謂的洗腦了，我只是覺得，每一個人應該都要有選擇自己想要生活的方式，你可以選擇在共產國家中活，來到大陸，也許你的自由會被限制，可是只要國家治理方針方向對，國家的進步是很快的，尤其是硬體建設，政府想要在你家建橋鋪路，叫你搬家你就得搬，這樣的工程，比起民主國家可是快多了；你也可以生活在民主國家，享受自由言論的樂趣，只要你不妨礙別人，造成別人的傷害，一般來說都是被許可的。
我覺得每一個人都有選擇自己生活方式的權利，不管你選擇什麼，旁人也管不著，左邊？右邊？你高興就好！

我？我也選擇我自己想要走的路，我其實對政治不熟，我也不敢膽大妄為的談論兩岸關係，我還不夠格吧，哈，我只是想要就做我自己想要做的事，走我自己想要走的路，左邊右邊我不在意，世界才是我的家，我覺的全球人民都是同一國的，大家都應該和平相處。
========
Today is my official first day of my internship. I am assigned to Soochow Securities Company. Honestly, I am very lucky to be assigned to a securities company. I am very interested about the knowledge relating money. Some of my friends said that I look not like that kind of people who likes finance and asked me why I like to work in finance industry. My answer is that I love money, but in a good way. I like to learn the ways to manage my wealth in order to achieve the "financial freedom", said by Robert T. Kiyosaki, one day.
As the previous interns said, some interns might have "NOTHING" to do during the Internship. Because some companies do not expect a one-month intern can help anything. And fortunately, I am assigned to this kind of company. So I have to take care of myself. I anticipated this situation, I can make this internship a unforgettable memories and useful or to waste a month doing nothing here. What can I do? I made friends here. I met other intern who goes to Nang-Jing University. I have heard that the students in China studies very hard and they perform better than Taiwanese students in many aspects. Today, I saw it myself. His name is Liang Hoa Qi.
We talked a lot. His major is "strengthened liberal art", sounds cool. He said that he studied history at first and then philosophy. Hope I did not misunderstand what he said. He did not have a thick accent, but he spoke a little bit fast. And I might not understand some terms they use here.
Our topics are various. We talked from the special banking system in Hong Kong to the deeper meaning of Community's authorized ruling methods. We talked about some sensitive topics. but the way he responded about those topic impressed me.
At first, I asked about the Internet. I asked him that do you know your government blocks some information on the Internet. He said, I know, in fact, everyone knows. And he said, "I understand why our government do this, I know they have to block some information in order to rule and manage this country. At first a government should make sure that everyone won't be starving for basic needs, like food and water." For some people who live in a republic country, they might not understand why people in China think to be alive is more important than to live freely. I kinda understand why, because we have the same history before in Taiwan. I have a friend in the US, whose name is Steve, he asked me before that "I cannot understand why you sacrifice your freedom for your survival?" I guess maybe it is because of the level we persue for freedom is very different.

Liang also said that they can try to see those information which is banned in China by changing proxy to the US (wish I translate it right ;P). But it is complicated, not eveyone can do that. He said he saw the video about 64 Dian-An Square event on the internet, which is made by CNN. But his reflection shocked me. He said that he can understand why the government let soliders shoot the gathering crowd. He said, how can a government rule a coutry well without ruling a square well? He said, if the govenment hand this country to them that time, he cannot image what China would be today.
We live in very different environments and we have different education which made us different people. One cannot judge who is better who is not. I think I can understand why he think in this way in his shoes. Look around, nowadays, China is a modern coutry. China stands a heavy position in world trade chain. Today, if you want to do business with Chinese, you have to speak Chinese. Chinese has become a important language in business world. My image about China is changing. I think China is awaking from a long sleep.
I am wondering why some people in Taiwan think people in China is brain-reengineered. And they do not like or even hate community. My personal thought is it doesn't really matter what country you live in. What really matters is that you live in where you really like. Community country can improve very fast, especially on city-building part. For example, when they want to rebuilt the riverside building, they do not negotiate when they ask their residents to move out from riverside, they asked them.
I think everyone has the right to choose the way they live. Do not think the resident in China is weird or something. What side do you want to live? Rigth or Left? Well......I think as long as you are happy, you can choose either one.
Me? I will go my own way. I am not a professional at the cross strait field. I just wanna say that I do want I want. I wish people on earth can live peacefully and happily.

大陆实习记1 / My internship in China, Episode 1

2006-07-07T11:27:00.000+08:00

2006/7/2 大陸蘇州實習第3天 Episode 1
Hey~我是小夫，我現在借用一位台科大的學長(張立群學長)的筆電來打我的生活日記，首先來簡單說一下我目前對大陸的感覺吧，我目前對大陸的感覺跟來之前的感覺完全不一樣，我目前只有到過蘇州市，我就已經感覺很震驚了！關於上海市唷，我目前只有到過上的的機場而已，從機場出來後就是直接到蘇州市了，所以對於上海市尚未探索。
大陸真的一點也不落後，我光在蘇州市我就覺得很驚訝了，這裡的硬體建設非常的先進，高樓大廈林立，不輸台北東區，從路上的建築可以看出大陸現在也正在改變，從路上的建築可以看出很強烈的東方建築融合著西方元素，在楓橋裡的古建築大部分在90年左右已經全部翻修，就連寒山寺也是在95年左右整修過了，這些是我問在楓橋旁的”捨我餐館”的老闆的。
寒山寺……聽起來有沒有很熟悉呢？請翻到國小的國文課本，應該大家都有聽過”楓橋夜泊”，就是唐代的古詩人張繼呀，在一個寂寞的夜晚，他獨自一人搭船到江橋還有楓橋那看夜景，滑著滑著就聽到了寒山寺的鍾聲，一時有感而發，於是我們國小課本要背的詩就多了一首………
這詩是這樣的：
月落烏啼霜滿天，
江楓漁火對愁眠。
姑蘇城外寒山寺，
夜半鐘聲到客船。
我可不是蓋你，我真的是到了楓橋跟寒山寺，我還到了張繼當初停船發牢騷的地方，哈哈。我還聽到了鐘聲唷，鐘聲穿過了千年的時光，傳到我的耳中，我心中有種莫名的感動………
那邊還有賣一些紀念品，是生肖紀念牌，還可以刻名字，但一個要10塊人民幣，我覺得不划算，所以我就沒買了，本來想買給弟弟還有姊姊跟爸媽，但是並不實用，我不覺得我弟他們會將那些掛在脖子上，因為很土，哈。

昨天吃的早餐也很棒，並不像在來大陸前聽人說的很噁心，很髒，我們去過幾間菜館都很乾淨，也很美味，還不貴唷，我吃了面筋麵，才3元，好吃，麵筋真的很甜，又好吃。不過啊，晚上後來跟一些夥伴聯絡過，有3位到西山的馬場實習的夥伴，並不像我們這樣幸福，他們那的食物就不這麼合胃口了，也不是這麼乾淨…………
後來到了網吧，這裡的網吧跟台灣有點像，煙味很重，哈，只是跟台灣比幾來，可真是小巫見大巫，這裡的人也都在這打電玩。
===============

2006/07/02
My Internship in China
Day 3
Episode 1

Hey, this is Jeff~ I am using a friend's laptop to write me blog. At first, let me describe how I feel about Main Land China generally so far. It is way way different than I thought it is. The China in my head is built based on the others' experience and comments. I have never been to China before. I am soooooo impressed when I got to Shanghai airport. It is so modern and huge and beautiful. As soon as I got to Suzhou which is the place I should practice my internship, I impressed more. I thought it is a small town.......but.......
There are many tall mansions in Suzhou city. You can see building combined the strong eastern style with western elements, like lights and air conditioning. You can see a modern toilet in an ancient scenario spot.
Most ancient buildings had been repaired since 1990. HangShan Temple was repaired in 1995. HangShan Temple, sounds familiar? Hehehe, please open your elementary school Chinese book. You can find a poem which is called "Stopping by Fong Bridge at night". It is about a poet who couldn't sleep one night, so he took a boat to Fong Bridge to see night scene there. While he stopped beside Fong Bridge, he heard a bell sound from HangShan Temple. The bell inspired him, so that, I have one more poem to memorize in elementary school Chinese book.
The poem goes like this:
(it is really hard to translate Chinese poem, so I just try to bring you to the Chinese poem atmosphere by letting you "feel" it)
When the moon goes down, raven sings. And snows are attached on the sky.
The lights on Jian Bridge and Fong Bridge are sparkling as if they want to be my companies. The HanShan Temple is located out of town. The bell goes through my boat.

And most exciting thing is I went to Fong Bridge. I stood on the place where Mr. Chung heard the bell rang. And I heard the bell ring from HanShan Temple, too. It is cool that the bell went through thousands years to my ears. Wow~
There are some souvenir stores which sell a Chinese zodiac badge, but I do not think my family will like, I did not buy any.
Food here is great. It is not like what I have heard before, at least in Suzhou. What I have heard is that the food is dirty and gross, you eat, you pew. The restaurants I went to are very nice and clean, the coolest thing is that the price is good. I had a noodle as my breakfast, which costs me 3 RMB, which is about 12 NTD. Coke here is 3 RMB; it is cheaper than the bottle water in Taiwan.
But not everyone is lucky as I am. I have heard that some partners who are sent to other places, they had dirty food. And they live in a dirty and hot dorm without any air conditioning...........
And I went to Internet Coffee Bar which is pretty like how it is in Taiwan.....people in Internet Coffee Bar plays online games and smokes a lot in the Internet Coffee Bar.

我人苏州 / I am in SuZhong right now~!!!

2006-07-01T11:06:00.000+08:00

Hey, I am in the Internet Coffee Bar in Suzhong right now. China is soooooo different than Taiwan. I like China very much~

I am using my broken piyin to type in Chinese which is new to me. I am so excited for eveything~!!

I will update once I have the chance.

ps, I am very close to Cold-Mountain Temple right now, I will probably go there and listen to the bell ringing.

------------------

哈哈
我人 in 苏州网吧
拼音输入很难打
我不大行打拼音输入
我怒力

bye......

ps 我人在寒山寺

My Adventures and I.

Working Holiday in Japan - Re-entry Permit

2012 New Year Resolution

2011/8/24 Food shopping + foreigner ID application

2011/8/24 Food shopping + foreigner ID application

推動停滯不前的公車前進的，竟是人的冷漠與自私

If buses stop for me, they should stop for you, too.

Tears in BMW / 寶馬的眼淚

讀書心得：跟誰都能聊不停 By 金井英之 (劉姿君譯)

Completing the ICND I course

Who Is New Burger King Product Line Aiming At?

My Friend!!!!!!

Remarkable Things in 2010

2010 Year Plan Review / 2010年度計畫檢討

Music! Goodbye Happiness by Utada Hikaru

The reflection on "The Last Lecture"

「感謝你的美好」/Thank you!

新年新計畫 / New Year Resolutions 2010

年輕人的自尊 / Pride of a Youth

成功を呼ぶ7っの法則 ＢＹ 勝間和代/ Katsuma’s Seven Rules for Your Business and Your Life

I quit! / 我辭職了！

讀書心得 - 鍛鍊你的地頭力 by 細谷功

用Google 街景的時候，突然覺得離你很近，真的！ / It feels like I was really there for you......through Google Street View

影像閱讀法大摸索-集體活化 / Groping in Learning Photoreading the Whole Mind System – Group Activation

好書推薦：新●知識生產術 by 勝間和代

不要再說『隨便』或是『都可以』 / Don't say ''everything is fine'' just beause you don't want to think

讀書心得─ 負面思考的力量

日本之旅 第一發 日本的就業博覽會 / Adventures in Japan Episode 1 - Japan's Career Fair

回到台灣重新出發！ Start a New Journey again in Taiwan

Meeting Doulos in Keelung, Taiwan

To My Dear Friends / 給我親愛的朋友們

JLPT Level 2 / 日本語能力試驗2級考試

Say Byebye to My Old Partner, SONY T1!!! 保重了！我的好夥伴，SONY T1！

Out of nowhere, a internet pal in Dandong, China / 天外飛來一友，在丹東市,中國

Studying Is Not An Easy Thing When You Are Not A Student

The Strongest Power in Most Fragile Body / 最脆弱的身體裡有最強的力量

Another Task to Accomplish!

全家出遊看電影-赤壁 II / Watching Red Cliff II With My Lovely Family

My 2009 New Year Resolution

Planed Out My Future on Paper

Random Thoughts No. 02 - Why am I wrting my blog in English?

My Music Life........?!?!

Going to a movie......seeing "Cyborg She"

Days as Being a Military Police

Having Dinner with Students at UWRF in Taipei

Falling in love with a Japanese Pop music band - Ikimono gakari

Japanese Mouthwash and Toothpaste

Chinese New Year rocks!

A movie night in Keelung.

Beautiful Scenes in Taiwan

After watching Korean Movie "Sunflower"

Dinner with Taiwanese UWRF Alumni

I thought I am used to the place I used to live

I got three part-time jobs now!

Back to Shih Hsin University......

David left us for the States......./ 大衛哥離開了我們，回到美國了

Cultural Shock !!! / 文化衝擊!!

Great Design / 很棒的設計

My New adventure has begun! / 新的冒險，開始！

American Youth/Kid Financial Education / 美國青年/小孩財務教育

BBQ Party and Lovely Amani!!

Tonight was a movie night! / 今晚是電影夜!

Went Crazy at Albertville Premium Outlet Mall / 在Albrtville Outlet Mall發瘋了！！！

I added a new function on the right of my blog!!!

Dear Rebecca is leaving / 親愛的Rebecca要走了

How to Keep Improving My English Ability!! / 如何繼續努力加強英文！！

Great Summer!!! / 超棒的夏天！！！

Congratulations!! My friends at SHU. / 恭喜你們，我世新大學的朋友！

Fishing With My Hmong Xiong Host Family/ 與我的Hmong Xiong寄宿家庭一起釣魚

I graduated from UWRF!! 從威斯康辛州立大學河瀑(雷河)分校畢業了

Playing outside for welcoming the beautiful Spring / 為了迎接美麗的春天，我們在外玩耍

Exchange Program Experience Sharing (SHU & UWRF) Chinese SUB / 留學短片分享

How to make a snow angel???!! / 要如何製作雪天使？

Snowboarding at Afton Alps! and Stock in the snow ditch/ 在阿富頓愛爾柏溜"雪板" 外加困在雪坑中

I was in Maine skating on a frozen pond!

Days in Boston

My New Year Resolution 2007

學期就要結束囉！

First month of being here.......

I am in UWRF Now........

成功を呼ぶ7っの法則　ＢＹ　勝間和代/ Katsuma’s Seven Rules for Your Business and Your Life

日本之旅第一發日本的就業博覽會 / Adventures in Japan Episode 1 - Japan's Career Fair

回到台灣重新出發！　Start a New Journey again in Taiwan