Nightmare

Recently, there has been a lot of news about earthquakes in different countries, which have hit me hard. They remind me of an earthquake which I once experienced in my childhood .
When I was seven, the northeast of China suffered a 7.6 magnitude earthquake. Although there was no one killed or hurt in my family, it was still a nightmare for me.
It happened in 1976. The epicenter was in Tangshan, Heibei province, which was not more than 250 kilometers far from Tianjin, the city where I lived in. In Tangshan, most of the buildings collapsed. Many people lost their family, and even some families had no survivors. It was really a disaster. Until now, there are still a lot of people suffering from it. Some of them are disabled, some have mental problems.
Since my home city, Tianjin, was very near to it, we could feel the strong effect of the earthquake. It was a nightmare for me. I was awakened by my grandfather not long after I fell asleep. He took me in his arms, and we crouched beside a cabinet. All the furniture moved up and down, and the lights went on and off. Neighbours shouted and some babies even cried loudly. It seemed that the whole world was in chaos.
Thank God. My whole family survived this nightmare of a disaster.

Saint Patrick's Day

March 17 , when I opened the google homepage, I was deeply attracted by the beautiful image of "google". The color was totally green. The letters G, O, O, G,L, E were designed in such a magical and beautiful way. I liked it almost at my first glance. When I moved my cursor, a pop-up message said that March 17 was the Saint Patrick's Day. I immediately searched google and found this fantastic information below. I hope it will be useful for all of you and you will enjoy it also.

"Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) is a yearly holiday celebrated on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (circa AD 387–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. It began as a purely Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland's culture.It is a public holiday on the island of Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) and widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora in places such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and Montserrat.

Wearing of green

According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.

Traditional Saint Patrick's Day badges from the early 20th century, photographed at the Museum of Country Life in County Mayo.





Customs today
Today, Saint Patrick's Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-coloured clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched affectionately.
Seattle and other cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1962 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and had the idea to turn the river green for Saint Patrick's Day.



Originally 100 pounds of vegetable dye was used to turn the river green for a whole week but now only forty pounds of dye is used and the colour only lasts for several hours.Indianapolis also dyes its main canal green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. Missouri University of Science and Technology - St Pat's Board Alumni paint 12 city blocks kelly green with mops before the annual parade.[citation needed] In Jamestown, New York, the Chadakoin River (a small tributary that connects Conewango Creek with its source at Chautauqua Lake) is dyed green each year."

This is the website which the information come from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/saint_patrick's_day

Differences between China and Canada

There are a lot of differences between different countries. The same goes for China and Canada . Let me list some differences between the two countries below.
First of all, I think the environmental difference gives me the deepest impression. As you know, China is a developing country. Pollution is very serious problem now. In the city where I came from, people can seldom see the sun and clouds. It seems gloomy everyday. But when I landed here, I could enjoy the sun, the blue sky, the beautiful clouds and even the bright moon and stars at night.
Secondly, I think it is the education. The education system is different . In China, students work very hard from 7:20 am to 5-6 pm. They even should study on Saturday in school. And summer or winter holiday is not an exception. Students get so tired with their studies. They are always asked to memorize a lot of things but seldom have opportunity to improve their creative abilities. On the contrary, the Canadian education system allows students to learn through discovery. It seems more relaxed. Students have the right to choose the courses which they are interested in. And they get much encouragement from their teachers, and are not criticized the whole day. So children become more open and more confident.
The third point of difference I think is the life style. In China, it seems that everyone is in a hurry to do things, especially to earn more money to support their lives. They face the pressures of life. A lot of people work on Saturday and Sunday. Life is a burden. But in Canada, I feel that life is more relaxed. My husband and I can enjoy our spare time. My daughter has time to do what she likes to do, for example, reading her favourite novels and listening to her favourite music.
Actually, there are many more differences between China and Canada. It's difficult for me to write all them down. But no matter how many differences there are between the two countries, I love both of them. I love China because I was born there. She is my motherland. I love Canada, not only because it starts with the letter "C", but also because I'll live here for the rest of my life. It's my second motherland.

Field trip on Feb 23rd

It was a cold day after two days' snow. But four of us--Apphia, Ehsan, Terry and I-- followed our teacher, Joseph, and enjoyed the whole day trip.
The first programme is skating. Since I once broke my arm skating in China, I was too afraid to try it again. But I was still very happy because I could see Joseph and Ehsan skating.
Joseph did a very good job. But it was hard for Ehsan because it was his first time to skate. But it was lucky for him since Joseph tried his best to help him. At last, he could walk on the ice. Although he skated slowly, it was still a big achievement for him. I should congratulate him because he didn't break his arm like poor Yuanyuan had done.

Find sunshine to make yourself happy

Today is my first day to start a blog. I am so happy about that!

Blogs are new to me, I will try my best to learn how to use it, especially how to use the study resources that my teacher gives us.