HAPPY EVERYDAY

My second hometown---Hurstville

2009-11-19T04:19:00.000-08:00

Hurstville is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. I think it is a good place to live in .

Firstly, the environment is so good. The fresh air and the beautiful green parklands are good for your healthy. You can visit many interesting places and use the efficient transport. The Shopping centre is advantage for your life. People are friendly, you can get help when you need .

Secondly, many people who live there are Chinese, it makes me less homesick (OR miss my hometown a bit less). In Australia it costs a lot of money to go home to see family and friends, so I can’t go home frequently. There are so many Chinese walking on the street, which makes me feel like in China, and then I will miss my family and friends less.

For all these reasons, I like live in Hurstville, I think Hurstville is my second hometown.

Reaction to Annabel’s story

2009-11-19T04:11:00.000-08:00

Everybody has his story when they are a new comer in Australia. A new comer has many difficulties, some try their best to overcome them; but some people escape them, and then complain about them again and again. Many years later, they stand there and have no progress, or return to zero.

Annabel is the brave one, she faced troubles. She worked hard then got same or even better achievement than other persons, even though they are local. She said Assyrian was her heritage, I think that English and challenging experiences also are her heritage.

Annabel experienced the revolution and Iran-Iraq war in her childhood; the bad circumstances didn’t hit her but made her good character. I think the most important thing is learning to study harder and have less complains. Being active is more powerful than complaining. Come on!

Cairns

2009-11-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

Cairns is in the north-west coast of the Queensland, 1700 km from Brisbane by road and 2500 km Sydney by road too.

The population of the Cairns is 123,760, there are 25 state primary schools. The TAFE campus is large but the James cook University is small, it only has 3500 students.

Cairns is the safest tropical city in the world.The average temperature in the winter is 24-28 Centigrade and in summer is 30-35Centigrade. July is the coldest month, the minimum temperature is 16 Centigrade. It is often wet and very humid in summer.It often rains in the late afternoon or night. It has frequent thunderstorms on both October and December.It is the especially tropical climate.

The famous industry in the Cairns is tourism and fishing.Nature attractions are its main advantage.Firstly,the great Barrier Reef is very clear, and the water is very warm, which is good for dliving.Secondly, the freshwater lake are fascinating. Thirdly, white sand and clear water made beaches cleaning and beautiful. At last the tropical rain forest is also the main reason.Many tourists like to visit in winter, both diving and river rafting are the popular tourist activities.

A Bad Day

2009-11-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

The day began terribly.My alarm went off and I left the house with only 1 hour to spare before my English class started.

When I was running on the way, it began to rain.I was wet.I hurried up and fell down the stair, I didn't think so much, because I worried about missing the train. Unfortunely, I missed my train.

I arrived at school , then I found I'd forgotten where my classroom was?What could I do? My god! It was a terrible day!

The 2009 Glebe streert fair

2009-11-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday Peiyi and me went to the Glebe street fair.It was funny. We just looked around and didn't buy anything.

Sculpture 51 FIRMAMENT

2009-11-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

My individual sculpture is Firmament 5770. The "firmament " is a reference to that solid sphere in which the stars were thought to be fixed. It was made by John Adair, he used timber, plastic and light to make up a 5m*5m*15m black three dimensional box.

I didn't understand it at all the first time I saw the picture and the information about the firmament. When I walked inside, it made me think about horror, it was so dark I couldn't see my fingers. I was worried about following the way around it in the dark. I always felt there was a trap and I would fall down in next step. Lastly, I walked out I couldn't think anything. The next day, I remembered it and read the information again, then I found the meaning but I can't express it with my poor English.

These are the artist words. They may explain it better than me: Here the black walls had been pierced by tiny pinholes which allowed needle like pricks of light to illuminate the dark and oily meterior creating an intense and somewhat disorienting effect. A box made of mundane material and yet full of mystery, both empty and full, dark and yet filled with light,slient and yet resonant with voices. Arttist also think that the sucess of this work may lie in its ability to stand without debt to any prior narrative or meaning.

The Day on the Sculpture by the Sea 2009

2009-11-11T03:52:00.000-08:00

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I find sculpture is very hard to understand. Before I went to Bondi beach, I read the information which Rosa had given us. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand it. I thought maybe when I saw the sculpture in Bondi beach for real, then it could help me understand it.

I woke up at 8:00am, before that, I woke up twice at 4:00am and 6:00am. I think I was worried about missing the train! After breakfast, I said goodbye to my family then walked to Hurstville station. During the 20 minutes walk, I was enjoying the fresh air and smelling and looking at everything. I arrived at Kogarah right on 9:00, I met my classmates, we talked about our weekend and the longing about the Sculpture by the sea 2009. Most of us missed the 9:16 train which to the Bondi Junction station, only May, Lucy and Peiyi, who walked quickly, got on the train. They waited for us at Bondi Junction station.

We arrived at Bondi beach after a 15 minutes bus ride. We walked around the beach and we saw many sculptures, we took photos of the sculptures and our classmates. I just enjoyed the colourful sculptures, but I couldn't understand what the meaning of them was. I also remembered to look for my individual sculpture . There was such a long queue to wait to see sculpture 51, that at first we gave up waiting and went away to see other things. After we went around looking at other sculptures, Peiyi and I decided to buy an ice cream and ate our ice cream while waiting to see the real face of the sculpture51(firmament).

We walked inside one by one, I held onto a boy who was before me tightly. We couldn't see anything in the firmament, everybody just walked, and one person screamed, then we all screamed, which made us briefly less scared, but really afraid again when we heard everybody screaming. The firmament was full of cries. I didn't notice how long we stayed there. When we walked out, one boy was swinging his arm, I couldn't face looking at his face and I walked to the other side, far away from him, feeling very embarrassed. I asked myself not to think about it, and I played in the water with Lucy and Peiyi.

On the way back home I thought about firmament. Its use of black walls which had been pierced with tiny pinholes which allowed needle like pricks of light, which were like stars in the firmament, to illuminate the dark.

It was a lovely day!

2009-11-11T02:31:00.000-08:00

Smoke Get in My Eyes

Dear sir,

We are fed up with people like youself ,Joe, amokers.
Maybe,you contribute alot of money in taxes,however non-smoking protesters also pay a lot money to the goverment,But because of your smoking everywhere, we have equal rights to enjoy the fresh air,can't hardly enjoy that.
Secondly,you can't think that you pay money ,so you can destroy the enviroment.Meanwhile, it is harmful to your health and the health of others.Stop smoking for your own sake and the rest of us.

Your sincerly,
Non-smoking defenders:Jin &May

2009-11-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

MAYA has been in Australia between three and a half and four years. She has three children. She comes from RUSSIA, English is not her first language, and she spoke Russian in her country. She studied EFS (ENgish for Further Study) here 2 years ago. She learnt more English here than in her country, because she listened to ABC radio national (which is more clear for her to understand) and read a lot. She was lucky when she finished her English study, her teacher helped her get a chance to practice in a TAFE library, and she worked there 9 months for free. Then she got a real job in the library.
In Russia she studied librarianship, but she worked in marketing. Then she migrated to Cyprus first, Australia eventually. She enjoys her job in the library and is also happy with her salary. She works full time, she doesn’t need to work on Saturday, but she needs to work at 1:00pm-8:00pm once a week. She can learn new things every day. She hopes her work is useful for the students and the teachers. Every time she makes sure she understands what the student asks, if there is a complaint, she will found out “why isn’t the student happy?” and “how did it happen?”
She didn’t take an interview for her job, but she also gave us many valuable advices: 1.Open our mind to find any suitable chance to get training, don’t just stay in the old seat. 2. Think clearly about what we need 3. Read the job description. 4. Borrow some interview books and videos from a library.
To finsih, she told us she plans to get a master in education in the future, but she thinks it is very hard because of her full time job, but she will try.

The Bad Effects of Physical Punishment

2009-11-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

Spare the rod and spoil the child is often stated by parents to justify spanking. But, in my opinion physical punishment is not good for the children.
Firstly, according to experts, hitting children can be harmful for their development. Reports show that physically abused children are not confident in comparison to other children. It can also result in a reduced IQ. Because Spanking creates stress, anxiety and fear and this can slow a child’s cognitive development. It can actually result in fewer neurons in the brain. Children who are abused will become abusers and turn into bullies in the school yard.
Secondly, new research shows that physically abusing children when parents are angry can cause serious physical damage. Such as ruptured eardrums, brain damage and other bodily injuries and death. While the physical damage done to the body can be treated, the emotional and psychological effects can affect the survivor deeply. It is bad for the children.
Thirdly, it has been also proven that using physical punishment doesn’t work with children. If punishment is used in many times, they don’t believe in it again. And corporal punishment does not help a child to develop into an adult with self-discipline and respect for other people. Instead, it makes them have a bad relationship in the society. They only use force to solve problems.
Childhood is not only a long journey but also an important part of one's life because it affects what they become later in life. Punishment is bad for their further development, health and personality. So I think physical punishment has a bad effect for the children.

THE TAWNY FROGMOUTH

2009-11-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Popular name: Tawny Frogmouth.
Scientific name: Ponderous strigoides.
Location: The Tawny Frogmouth is found throughout Australia.
Description
The Tawny Frogmouth feathers are marbled, When they at threat, they compacts their feathers and squints their eyes. The male plumage of the Tawny Frogmouth is grey, the female’s is browner. The female is less mottled in color. The upper parts dark grey streaked with black, their face are grayish and eyes are lemon to orange yellow. They have large bills which are olive to black grey with a yellow mouth and white tipped bristles spreading towards tip off bill, their tail grey barred with black, tipped with white and russet flecks. Their feet are olive brown and their claws slightly darker. South-eastern birds are larger than birds from the north.
Voice
They sound like a motor that won’t start “oom, oom, oom” call, which they repeat 10-15 times and also a sharp “too took” when in alarm. They growl, hiss and snap in threat or defense.
Adults
Minimum size: 35cm
Maximum size: 53 cm
Habitat
The Tawny Frogmouth like a broken branch of a tree. Which make them be able to camouflage in day time, they are indistinguishable while roosting in trees. They are sedentary birds, which prefer open forest and woodlands. They also could live in the same area year after year. They hunt for insects as food at dusk. Tawny Frogmouths are pair permanently. During the day, they roost closely together.

Breeding
The Tawny Frogmouth’s nest is made of leaves and twigs which are high above the ground. Tawny Frogmouths have a regular breeding season: August to December, They incubated eggs for about 28 to 32 days after female lays 1-3 eggs. Both parents spend up to 12 hours in incubation. The male sits during the day.

INDIAN PEAFOWL

2009-11-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

CLASSIFICATION
The Indian peafowl has other names: common peafowl, peacock, and peahen. Peacock refers to the male, the female called a peahen, and the young are peachicks.The term peafowl can refer to the two species of bird in the genus Pave of the pheasant family.

DISTRIBUTION
India and Sri Lanka
Introduced in many parts of the world

DESCRIPTION
MALE: Brilliant blue head and body.
Its ‘Train’ consists of abnormally long upper tail-coverts: glossy dark blue-green with many golden blue ‘eyes.
Raised fan-like and concave in display, supported by the short refocus tail
feathers.
FEMALE: Grey-brown above
Whitish below, patterned on breast
Lacks ‘train’

SIZE RANGE
Male: 2-2.3m, include ‘train’.
Female: 1m.

VOICE
Loud.
Discordant.
Descending wail or crow, sounding like ‘help
.
HABITATS
Singles, pairs or parties.
coastal scrubs, private and public gardens, sanctuaries, homesteads.

MOVEMENT
Flies heavily aloft to roost.
noisy.

FEEDING HABITS
Feeds on ground.

BREEDING HABITS
Eggs: 3-5
Brownish buff.

The day on the Featherdale Wildlife Park.

2009-10-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

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After a two-week holiday, on the first day of Term 4, we went to Featherdale Wildlife Park. We went there by bus. I arrived outside of the Building A at 8:40am, I couldn't find my classmates, then I saw a beautiful lady coming toward me, but I couldn't recognize her, I saw a student in AMEP C at the same time. She helped me recognize that beautiful lady, she was LINA. I told my classmates about my joke, and then they called LINA a STAR that whole day.

We started our happy short trip on 9:00am, on our way to the park we talked about our holiday and the view outside the window. It was merry in the bus. How fast time flies! We arrived there an hour later, one teacher asked us to wait 10 min, she told us something about what we couldn't do in the park and the time we would meet back on the bus, and then she went to buy tickets for us.

We visited the park with some classmates, 3 or 4 in a group. We took photos in the front of the sign, animals and stamped on our tickets. I saw many animals I hadn’t seen before, I tried to remember the name of them, I wanted to check them on the internet, and then I would learn much more.

When I walked back to take a photo of the kangaroos, I felt there was something under my foot. Can you guess what that was? It was one of kangaroo's feet, I lifted my foot quickly, and then the kangaroo ran away quickly too! Both I and the kangaroo were scared. I told myself I must be careful, or I would hurt other small animals!

There was another valued thing. I found koalas were lovelier than the idea in my mind. The first time I saw a koala was on a key ring; I didn't know what the animal was. I asked my friend, I didn't pay any attention to it, then I saw the animal that day, and I found it lovelier when I saw it turning here and there. I liked it very much when I saw the video made by our dear ROSA.

I am a new comer in AUSTRALIA although I have stayed here 4 months, everything is interesting to me, and I try to learn more and find more, and then tell to my family and my friends. Let them to share with my happiness. Life is very beautiful!

JIANG YIN ------MY HOMETOWN

2009-09-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

JIANG YIN is my hometown. I was born and brought up there.

JIANG YIN, ofen called YU YU, the town has a leave shape. It is the largest harbour in China. It is located 30 km south west of FU QING, FU JIANG, CHINA, opposite Taiwan. The Taiwan Strait is between JIANG YIN and Taiwan. There are ferries from JIANG YIN to TAI WAN, which take a whole week to get there. The main industry in JIANG YIN is transport.

JIANG YIN is wet for most of the year. There is more rain in SPRING and SUMMER. MAY and JUNE are the hottest. Temperature ranges from below 1.2 Centigrade to 38.7 Centigrade during the whole year. In SUMMER is hot during the day and night. In winter the wind is very strong.

Every year the 15Th day after the Spring Festival is the festival of YUANXIAO. JIANG YIN's people eat sticky rice balls and other delicious food. There is a worship show. People go out to celebrate the day, but we can't turn on the lights after 9:00pm until next morning. It's spectacular. The people of JIANG YIN are kind and friendly. Welcome to my hometown.

THE DUST STORM DAY

2009-09-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

I saw the sky was red, I thought it was the sun, so I took my clothes outside, I wanted to put them under the sun, then I ate my breakfast, my husband found the wind was strong, he advised me to take my clothes inside, I didn't have enough time to do that, so my husband helped me at last!

I went to the train station to take the train to school at 8:25, my husband sent me out the door, then we saw the car parked in front of the house was covered in dust, then we thought it may be a dust storm, I hurried up to school, we didn't talk about it much.

On the way to the school, I used a handkerchief to cover my nose, then I remembered my sister-in-law helped me closed my room's window the night before, so my room didn't get dirty, but my brother-in-law wasn't as lucky as me, he forgot to close his room's window.

Someone said there will be another dust storm in few days. people said the dust storm brew from Melbourne. I didn't try to find some news about it! I am so lazy! ^_^!

Technology & ESOL

2009-09-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

As everybody knows, society develops very fast. There are more and more new technologies whcih are baneficial for learning English, such as computers, the Internet, smartboards and so on. These new technologies are very useful for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners.

First, English learners can learn many things using technology, not only just from books. They can learn new words, they can read and write emails, they can find websites with pictures and voice at the same time, because they can learn things through looking at videos or pictures on the computer, which could help people remember it more easily. Nice voices and colour pictures make learning more interesting.

Secondly, English learners can learn English through the things which just happened in the world, because on the internet people publish news as quickly as possible. It is quicker than the printed press. They can search things on the internet which is quicker than looking up books. You can just use a word to search what you want, even if you don't konw what you want exactly. Then you can learn English at achieve many kinds of knowledge.

Finally, English learners can learn online. They can learn during their free time, they don't have to worry about time. Maybe they can't attend an English class which takes place at a normal time, but they can learn at other times. They can study with more people which are not just their classmates and teachers. They can attend an English cource which is offered on the internet. They can also use many resources for English reading, speaking, writing and listening. They don't need to study face by face, they may be worried about their faults when they stay in the public or contract with others face to face, online they don't worry about mistakes, they may try to talk with others without being shy, because they don't knowe each other. As they try again and again, on day they'll be able to talk with other people in the public or face to face.

All of the esamples above, the development of the technology, easy to access news, online ways to study English, allow ESL learners to learn more things more quickly! To sum up learning English using new technologies is useful and also fun.

2009-09-16T17:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we were working on two short reports on tigers and lions. I've checked up our doubts: How long do they live? Are they good climbers? Can they swim? Do they hunt at night?

I found that wild tigers can live 20 years, Tigers rarely climb trees...but can and will do it occasionally. They are strong and willing swimmers and will chase deer into water, they hunts mainly between dusk and dawn, usually alone.

Lions live for about 15 years in the wild, and about 24 years in captivity. Lions are not particularly adept climbers. They are quite capable swimmers. They tend to hunt mostly at night or in the early mornings, and for much of the rest of the time are very lazy. However, being opportunists they'll hunt whenever the chance arises and that could be the middle of the hottest day.

2009-09-16T04:28:00.000-07:00

I couldn't understand the article about the building with my poor English and my lack of interest. I like the photos of the building but not the design, the design of the building is hard to understand. But then I tried to read the Heritage Office information, I looked at the photos at same time which made me understand the information more easily.
The building style is Federation Romanesque and it is an educational building, the first technical college in Australia. The building was built at 1891 by W E Kemp. They used materials such as brick, slate, sandstone, tile, trachyte. The building has a slate hipped and gabled roof and is three storeys high. I like the arched window's shape best. The building is bright under the sun , I like bright things, I think it is full of hope. It was originally built as a tecnical school and offices in the past and now it is also a school and offices.
Maybe I will visit Ultimo TAFE college one day, I will use my eyes to find beautiful things.

My First Day In Australia

2009-09-15T04:31:00.000-07:00

My first day in Australia was both a surprise and an amazing experience. I arrived at 11:35 27Th,June. My ears were ringing all the time while the plane was landing. My father-in-law,mother-in-law and my niece came to meet my husband and me.It was the first time I saw my father-in-law, I was felling so strange. After a long fly, I felt thirsty. Under the sun, I felt terrible. It only took us 15min to arrive to our house.
I phoned my grandfather-in-law and grandmother at first, I told them I had arrived safely. My sister-in-law helped me to coordinate my baggage, my aunt tidied a bed for me. I was too confused to sleep. I tried to have a rest but couldn't fall asleep. Then we went out for dinner. My parents invited many of their friends. We had a good time.
I realised my life was different, I believed it'd get better in the future. Then I fell asleep and had a good dream, that was my first nice dream in Australia.

The Love Mandarin

2009-09-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

I and my husband had our marriage registration on 08/08/08. The meaning of the number is luck. The form of the number is interesting. It was The OLYMPICS GAME OPENING DAY IN CHINA.Yesterday was 09/09/09 whose form is also interesting. Maybe it is important to somebody, as our dear Rosa! Happy birthday to our dear Rosa!
There was also an important thing for me, it was really a little thing, but it made me feel warm. The wind became fresh at 5:00pm yesterday. When I got home, I felt bad, I had a headache. I didn't want to eat anything. My husband came back at 7:30pm and saw how I was feeling. He remembered I like eating fruit, so he peeled a mandarin for me. Maybe it was the rest I had, maybe the headache was not serious, maybe it was just my husband's loving action, but I felt better very soon. I said thank you to my husband in my heart, I looked at the mandarin and smiled, then I fell asleep and had a sweet dream. So I called the mandarin the love mandarin.

Our weekend

2009-09-02T18:34:00.001-07:00

2009-09-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday class, we were talking about different wedding customs in different places, even though they may be in the same country. It was interesting.

In my hometown, FuQing (FuJian,China), the week before the wedding is a very busy time. They prepare the bridal chamber and the bride's wedding dresses, which sometimes are three different dresses. The colour of Red is jubilant, black and white are tabu. The number of things in a bridal chamber is an even number, or the number 3 (the pronunciation has good meanings in my hometown). In the past, the bridegroom and bride couldn't see each other, but now it doesn't matter. They may come together to buy something which they will need for the wedding.

The fortnight before the wedding is important and busy. There will be some Buddhist rituals, which will last 3-4 hours. It is the blessing of the young people who will get married the next day. The day of the wedding is such an important day! There is a party at the bride parents' home before another one at the bridegroom' home. It is believed that certain hours of the day are lucky hours. For example from 12 to 1 pm. So the lucky time is not long enough and the groom and his friends, the groomsmen, have to collect the bride during that hour.

The groomsmen follow the bridegroom to the bride's house, because when the bridegroom takes the bride away, the bridesmaids will ask some questions to the bridegroom and the groomsmen will try their best to help him answer the questions, otherwise they can't take the bride away. It is amusing, but sometimes it becomes a problem, so usually there is a person to control it. When the bridegroom takes the bride away, there is a simple ceremony, the bride's parents will cry, their friends will cry when they remember the good times they had together in the past and now they think they maybe not see their friends easily. The controller will stop it, because a wedding is a happy thing and they should finnish before 1 pm, which is the end of the lucky hour. As they leave the bride's home, her parents will pour a jug of water behind the bride and groom, which means that the married daughter is thrown out of the water and hope their girl will have a happy life. Then the bridegroom's home's feast will begin.

When the bridegroom takes the bride to his home, there is also a simple ceremony, some people in bridal chamber ask for lots of sweets and cigarettes, or money. The bridegroom and bride have to stay in their bridal chamber, so they have to accept their request. Sometimes it becomes a problem when they require too much. But at last it will be solved, the bridegroom and bride come into their new room. Then the feast in the bridegroom's home begins. During the feast the bridegroom and the bride will drink a toast to the guests who come to their wedding, and all of the guests drink a toast to the bridegroom and the bride. When the feast is over, the newlyweds' best friends will have some games. It is a happy day, they will have different games from other days.

Before the feast starts, people who are invited, will give the newly Wed's parents money or give presents to the bride (like some jewellery). When the feast is over, both in the bride's parents home and bridegroom's home, they will give their wedding guests some presents, like sweets, delicious cakes, meat and noodles. Sometimes they give back the money that the guests had given to the bride and groom. If their parents are rich and they are happy when their children get married, they give the money back to everyone; sometimes only to some of guests if they may be an important person or an older person.

The next two days of the wedding are important. The first day the newlyweds will come to the bride parents' home to greet them. It means that the son-in-law will protect his wife and there will have a simple feast for their kin. On the secondly day, the bride's brother and uncle will visit them. There will also have a simple feast, it means that the elders hope their new son-in -law will look after their daughter and their daughter will help her husband. And all of it means that they hope they love each other for ever and help each other for ever.

Have a good day , everyone! Thank you for reading it in your valuable time! I hope you can tell me the wedding customs in your hometown one day!^_^!

Taronga Zoo

2009-08-23T00:14:00.000-07:00

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I had a good weekend. Last Saturday I went to Taronga Zoo with my friends. I want to thank my brother-in-law; he sent me a zoo ticket which his boss gave him. It was my first time to visit a zoo in Australia after I have arrived in two months. I was so happy, so I couldn’t sleep all night. I woke up early the next mooring, and the alarm didn’t go-off. I put on my clothes and shoes which I had prepared last night. Then I began to wait for my friends. It was 11:00 then we set out. The time which I waited was so long. We arrived at the train station at 11:25; then we bought tickets to the city. We have an TAFE card, so we could have some discount on the tickets.
We arrived at the city at 12:00; then we went to by ferry. On the way to the ferry, we saw a statue but it was an surprise, he smiled to me, then I knew he was a person, my friend told me that was Body art, I could take a photo with him, I was in surprise, so I took a photo with him, before that he put two neck clothes on my neck, one is in front of my neck and another one is behind my neck, then put flowers over my head and put some fruits over my hands, I tried to ask him not put flowers on my head, but I smiled so cute. That was my first experience. Then we saw some aborigines; they played music and also were taken photos with visitors. I also took photos with them; they taught me how to play music like them in a friendly way. That also was my first time to do that.
My friends had visited the zoo several times, but they forgot how to buy a ticket, so they asked others with poor English. We used the TAFE card to buy ticket, after 15 minutes we got on the ferry; we sat in the front of the ferry. We took lots of photos when the ferry was passing the Sydney Bridge and Sydney Opera House. When we arrived at the zoo, we had to wait our turn to take the cable car. But I didn’t have any words, because it was my first time to take a cable car, it was value . When we were waiting, my friends told me that they hadn’t visited the whole zoo in the past, they weren’t sure they could visit the whole zoo in that day.
We had a visiting out of order. When we arrived at the seal place, the seal show was just over; the next show would be in an hour, so we went to another part. We saw a bird act, but we couldn’t go inside and sit down to see that, because the show had begun before we arrived there, so we only glanced it. But it doesn’t matter, we saw some other animals like bear, ostrich, sloth, pig, sheep, elephant (I didn’t see a baby elephant, they told me that a baby elephant is lovely). I was surprising when I saw big gun in the zoo. I didn’t know why? I thought that only in China! It is a joke!
We lost our way, sometimes we visited a place two or three times. We went back at 4:00pm. On our way to home, we took some photos in front of Sydney Opera House and we had supper at my nephew’s working place. An interesting thing was that we took photos with policemen, my friend helped me take a photo when I was shaking hands with a policeman. At 6:30pm we took the train to Hurstville. On the train we laughed, we saw our photos. It was a good day. I want to keep my ticket as a souvenir. There were so many first times!

Last weekend

2009-08-21T06:10:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my husband planed to take me to buy a pair of glasses, but he had to work on Saturday. He was so sorry! But it doesn’t matter. My family took me to buy glasses. They were my father-in-law, my mother- in-law, my sister-in-law, my older sister and so on. They wanted to buy glasses too. It’s interesting why we bought at the same time? We didn’t know.
When we went out, the sun was shining! We went to several shops, at last we chose to buy glasses in OUTO EYE SHOP. At first when we went there, the owner was earnest. Second we chose style, they said big glasses (but not too big) and dark red suit my face. The material is strong but it’s also very light. I chose a dark style for my husband. At last we talked about the price. We asked the owner to give us more discount. The owner accepted my older sister’s and my request. But we couldn’t have the same opinion on my sister-in-law’s glasses, so she didn’t buy them. My older sister and I were asked to examine our eyes, then they could make glasses for us.
It was 15:00; we went to take some refreshment. We arrived home at 18:00; my mum began to cook for us. Every time my mum take a lot of time to cook for us. May be 2 hours or more. I received our glasses on Wednesday! !*_*!

a special present

2009-08-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Today I will tell you about a present which I received from my best friend! When I was preparing everything to come to Australia, she sent me the present! Before she bought present, she thought of one thing which has good meaning and I would use it every day! At that time, it was so hot in China, because it was summer. She wasn’t afraid of the hot sun, she visited the Internet and saw shop after shop to look for the right present. At last she decided to buy a comb and a mirror as present for me. It‘s not a common comb and mirror. They are made of sandalwood, which is one kind of tree, it’s good for our health. It has good aroma. In the past I thought sandalwood only existed in China. Then I wrote this post, I searched for it in the Internet. I found it also is found in Australia and found some other information about sandalwood, like which shape it is, kinds, value and so on.

2009-08-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

Hello,everyone! I am very happy! I have read the introduction about how to do the cloud with a facein Rosa's blog. Then I made it with my husband ! It took us 30 minutes, because we had locked the PrtScn (print screen) key on the top right hand side of our keyboard. We tried it again and again. But we failed. My husband looked at the keyboard, then he smiled and called me to unlock the PrtScn key. Good luck! we could do it and Upload it as an image in my blog post! Everyone can try to do it! When you finish it, you will be very happy! It's an interesting thing!^_^!

2009-08-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

Do you like fruit?

I like fruit very much!

For example:APPLES,ORANGES,BANANAS,WATERMELON......... Today let me show you "How to cut a watermelon and turn it into a fruit basket! ".
Let us see the video on the link.

Then let me copy down the steps(it is easy to see):
First for this task we will need:
1.a large knife
2.a thin serrated or a craft knife
3.a non-toxic marker
4. if you have a melon-ball tool, or an ice cream scoop, that will come in handy

ALSO A WATERMELON(JOKING)

Secondly
1.Choosing a Watermelon with a flattish bottom
2.Draw Lines on the Watermelon
3.Carve Out the Lines
4.Cut Out the Basket Handle
5.Scoop Out Remaining Watermelon
6.Carve Out Decorative Shapes

My name

2009-08-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

My name is Chen Jin Gui. Chen is my family name, Jin Gui is my first name. My grandfather named me Jin Gui when I was born . Jin means gold, Gui means a kind of tree. When I studied in high school I learnt that Jin Gui also means one kind of flower. You can see it on the left. It is also known as Sweet Olive, Tea Olive and Fragrant Olive. In Chinese we write it like this:基本资料　　【植物名称】桂花树

【汉语拼音】guihua

【中文别名】木樨、月桂、金桂、岩桂、九里香

【英文名称】Osmanthus fragrans

【英文昵称】Sweet Olive

【拉丁名称】Flos Osmanthi Fragrantis

【拉丁学名】Osmamthus fragrans

【科属分类】木犀科，木犀属，
My English name is Jin. One day I looked it up in GOOGLE, then I found it means manito. I was very surprised.

2009-08-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

I do not like people smoking. First it's bad for people's health, not only the smoker but also the others. Secondly cigarette butts may start a fire. Then it costs lots of money and so on.

I am worried about my husband. He is a smoker. I think he just started smoking one year ago, so he hasn't smoked for a very long time, which means he hasn't done a lot of damage to his lungs yet. I try my best to advice him to give up and help him in some ways. But I am failure.
I think friends and anyone reading this post may give me some advice. HELP ME! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
(It's just my opinion, I don't despise smokers!)

cross stitch

2009-08-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Do you know cross stitch? It is an interesting craft. I have made a cross stitch notecase as a present to my husband. Today let me show somethings about cross stitch. Look at my smile box and you will see lots of different examples of cross stitch work done by people I don't know and some of my friends.

Hi everybody!

2009-07-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! I am Jingui Chen. I come from Fujian, China. I'm just new, I came here only a month ago. I began to study English at TAFE on 22nd July, I can not understand when people speak a lot, but I do not worry about it, because my teacher and classmates are so kind, they give me a hand when I need help. My family is also suppot to my study .I'll do my best! I believe everyday is a nice day!