"No Promises" by Shayne Ward

Another song by Shayne Ward that I like at the moment.

"Breathless" by Shayne Ward

click the link below to see the music video

(youtube video)

If our love was a fairytale
I would charge in and rescue you
On a yacht baby we would sail
To an island where we’d say I do

And if we had babies they would look like you
It’d be so beautiful if that came true
You don’t even know how very special you are

Chorus

You leave me breathless
You’re everything good in my life
You leave me breathless
I still can’t believe that you’re mine
You just walked out of one of my dreams
So beautiful you’re leaving me
Breathless

And if our love was a story book
We would meet on the very first page
The last chapter would be about
How I’m thankful for the life we’ve made

And if we had babies they would have your eyes
I would fall deeper watching you give life
You don’t even know how very special you are

You leave me breathless
You’re everything good in my life

You leave me breathless
I still can’t believe that you’re mine
You just walked out of one of my dreams
So beautiful you’re leaving me

You must have been sent from heaven to earth to change me
You’re like an angel
The thing that I feel is stronger than love believe me
You’re something special
I only hope that I’ll one day deserve what you give me
But all I can do is try
Every day of my life

You leave me breathless
You’re everything good in my life
You leave me breathless
I still can’t believe that you’re mine
You just walked out of one of my dreams
So beautiful you’re leaving me
Breathless
Breathless

Wrong Question or Correct Answer?

I thought that exposing students to native English speakers would be a good experience for  the class since most of them haven't tried communicating with a foreigner in any means. I thought using my skype would be the best idea since I purchased a plan for USA and Canada. Before the activity, I gave an example of conversation between a hotel receptionist and a customer who wanted to book a hotel room. It was simple and to help them understand the dialogue better, I explained the idea using more examples and using pictures so everything would be clear. Their task was to ask for a price of a hotel room, and they only needed to read the questions because I already wrote them on the board. I just wanted to see if  a native speaker could understand the way they speak and in return is to test their listening skills. We only called to inquire for the price, and they could either say, "How much is your single room," or "Do you have a vacant room for this coming...?" All they need to do was just read the sentences out loud. I made the first call and after I got the price I thanked the person and hang up. They were all quiet for a moment. I asked if they heard what the other person said. Most of them said yes. So I thought they were ready. I wrote some expressions that they  could use such as, "Good morning, Thank you, please, hold on, one moment please and have a great day." I asked if someone was ready to go first then the class pointed to a boy at the back. They said, "ta..ta...ta..." it means, "he". I called the boy to come forward and I was glad that he stood right away and took the mic. I asked him where he would like to call and he said that he wanted to call a 5 star hotel in Houston Texas, USA. Using google, I quickly searched for 5 star hotels in Houston. When I found the list with phone numbers I made sure that he clearly understood what to do. I asked everyone to listen for the conversation. Before dialing the number, I wanted to add a phrase for him to use which is, "could you repeat that please" or simply saying "pardon me" to make the person repeat what he said.

I asked the class if they could provide the phrase,

"Class what would you say if you couldn't understand the person in the other line?"

Everyone seemed to be thinking, then suddenly a boy at back answered,  

"Just say, Can you please speak Chinese?".

I responded by saying, "Good luck! I hope you can find a receptionist who can speak Chinese."

Most of them were laughing so I had to wait for a few minutes for them to calm down. We got someone from Houston who was so friendly and helpful. The student was able to get the  most important information which is the price of a single hotel room. He asked for the total price of 5 nights stay and everyone was shocked after I converted the rate to RMB. The total price for 5 nights was 15,500 Chinese Yuan, before tax and without breakfast. They were all saying "wahhhhhhh!" The next student called New York 5 star hotel and most of them said "wahhhh" again because 5 nights was 18, 755 RMB, if I remember it right I think the name  of the hotel is New York Palace. Honestly, I don't understand why these hotel room charges are so high,when we get the same sleep we're getting when we're at home, at the airport of even out there in the street? Don't tell me it's the food, because breakfast is not included. I wonder, is the bed made of gold? 

I'm Thinking About Food

I miss those hot summer days when I don't have to wear a lot. I miss the warm sunshine and the warm breeze when I left my windows opened at night. Those were the days when I didn't have to think about electric blanket, heater and food a lot. The changing seasons in China is one of the reasons why I really wanted to be here, to feel what it is like in autumn, winter and spring. This is my second year in China and I am happy that I was part of their four seasons. Now, I'm facing the cold winter again, and my colleague said, it should not be too hard for me since it's my second year. Perhaps he was right, I should not be feeling too cold since I already had an idea what it feels during winter, but I couldn't control my body from shivering when the temperature drops below 5 degrees Celsius. I turn my heater on to 30 degrees and I wear at least 3 clothes but I still feel that I'm going to freeze. All I wanted to do is stay in my warm bed all day and think about those delicious food, but I don't even have the motivation to go to the city and enjoy a good meal. I'm still looking forward to see some snow. They said that perhaps this year it will snow in Suzhou since this is the coldest year for the past decades in China. I would love to see some snow through my glass windows. I'm sure the temperature will be below 0. Well, of all the four seasons, I love Spring the most. I can pick some flowers such as wild roses from the bushes. I'm feeling lazy this winter season and I'm just thinking about delicious food that I have tasted during my stay here.

Here are some photos of the  food that I enjoyed in the past few months.

Hot and Spicy Fresh Water Fish.(from Tai Lake Suzhou)

"Hot Pot" Ideal for winter, mixed vegetables and meat with Kung Fu Noodles.

(a man made the noodles while doing actions like Kung Fu)

Hot and Spicy snails...so delicious. Sold in the street restaurants.

A big fish in a small pan? It was tasty, I wish I knew the name.

Fried Chicken Value Meal with fried banana balls and tomato.

I love those fried banana with eggs. Hmmmm

Fried rice with meat and egg.

Hot beef with tomato soup.

Shrimps with cheese and "others" so delicious..cheesy.

Rice with meat in pineapple, beans and shrimp

Sichuan Hot and Spicy chicken..super spicy but so delicious,

I just love this dish but I forgot the restaurant, it's somewhere near

Guan Qian Street, Suzhou.

I thought we ordered "broccoli" but not the first time though.

So my friend and I said, is this "Chinese Broccoli"?

I guess we pointed the wrong picture,
it's hard to be illiterate....

Finally we got the broccoli but from another restaurant.

Beijing Roast Duck, so crispy, juicy and delicous....

Exotic barbecue stands in Wang Fu Jing Street, Beijing.

I couldn't take a good picture because the owner tried

to chase us with his knife or stick. You can find snake,

Cicada, scorpion and vegetables barbecues. I just

love vegetable barbecue like mushrooms and pepper.

A Reason to Smile

A few days ago, I felt that teaching was the most difficult job in the world. I was staring into a pair of 61 eyes and all I could see in those eyes were the words, "I don't care" and "I don't understand". I felt that I was giving everything yet I still see so many students with no interest in learning English. I decided to find out what type of learners do we have and so I changed my lesson the following week. Instead of giving them short dialogues and stories to read, I decided to use Dr. Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences which is basically a lecture type. I made few simple YES/NO questions for each type for them to easily identify their abilities.

The class with 61 students didn't disappoint me. More than half of the class said that they are Body Smart people, that they love sports and other outdoor activities than any other things. The rest fell under people smart, musical smart, number smart, nature smart and self smart. Out of 61, only one said that he likes to learn a foreign language specially English. At least there was someone in that room that made me smile.Then, going to the next class, I was expecting the same result. So, I just went on with the discussion and finally asked questions to more than 40 students. There were more than half of them who said they to learn English so much and that they enjoy our English class. When I asked about one girl about her ability she said she is musical smart and word smart. So I asked her if she could sing any English song. The class supported my request by saying, "sing..sing..sing". The girl started singing, "My Heart Will Go On". She has a really nice voice and the class gave her a big round of applause. Another boy was inspired by her song so he also sang, "God is a Girl", a song which I heard before but I actually didn't know its title. The singer is a girl but the boy gave justice to the song. He really did well.
Here is the video from youtube. No wonder this song has become no. 1 in China.

 

The last boy really surprised me when he said he can sing and dance like Michael Jackson. I thought he would do moonwalk or some Michael Jackson moves, but the class applauded more when he started singing "Nobody" and doing those  cute moves from right to left by Wondergirls.

I just felt that the students would do best once they are given the chance to do what they can do best. I always believe that teachers can motivate students, but that's just 50%, the students should add 50% of that motivation in order for learning to take place. That day, they gave me reason to smile :)

Tug of War

These are the teachers and staff enjoying the opening of workers’ day celebration in our school last September 4, 2009. Our department, The International Business Department didn’t make it since there are many female teachers than male. The  rule of the game is just to have the same number for each department regardless of one’s weight or gender. I remember when we did it back in college when the rule was a little strict since the coach had to weigh all the players for each team and had the same number of females for each team.

 

Common Sense Obituary Printed in the London Times

Author: Unknown

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has
been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since
his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended
from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children. It declined even further when schools were required to get
parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but
could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have
an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the religious organizations became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took
a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own
home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded
in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his spouse, Discretion, by
his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now,
Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Spiderman ReturnS

I had fun watching these two men while they were cleaning the glass walls of the college restaurant. I was glad I noticed them that day since few days after taking this photo I found one of them outside my room, in the terrace, wiping the glass. I wondered how he got there since I was inside my room and all the main doors were locked. Then I remembered this scene and I thought, " Oh, Spiderman is outside my room". Then few minutes later another man appeared hanging on a rope just like the one on this photo. I just waved at them and said my overused Chinese phrase "Ni Hao".

Fun Farming at Farmtown

I could say that I am still addicted to farming in Facebook Farmtown. I was glad that I accepted my friend's invitation to start farming. At first I didn't think it was interesting since I only saw a small plot with a few plowed plots and planted with potatoes. I didn't realize how interactive the game is. Later on, my friend Leah, taught me how to make my farm look better by removing the spaces in between plots. I wanted to plant more and plowed more plots but the problem was I didn't have enough money to buy seeds. Again, my friend helped me by letting me harvest and plowed in her farm. While I was harvesting, her husband joined and we were chatting in her farm and later on he also hired me to work in his farm. It was fun, I was working while we were  having a conference chat.  It's like an IM where you can send a real time message when you are both online. It has also a function that would let you send an offline message if your friend is not online. I started to get interested when I went to the market place and saw many people looking for jobs and shouting phrases like,"Hire me!" " I need a job!" "The baby is hungry!" "I need some job to feed my family!" "I'm a good harvester!" "I'm a fast worker!" and many more. I had fun at the marketplace. I stayed for a few minutes without saying anything, but a farmer hired me to harvest his farm. I earned a lot and I went up to a higher level. I asked him how could I hire someone to work for my farm, and he said that I needed to have at least 10 neighbors. So from there I invited some friends to be my neighbors and also tried to befriend other farmers and asked them to be my neighbors. I finally got the privilege to hire someone to harvest and plow my farm. The most interesting part of this game is the fact you have to work in order to get something. If you want to buy a house then you have to work for it. To get more money, I worked a lot in other farms, planted every spaces in my farm and sold some gifts. Now, I can just visit my farm to see if harvest is ready, then go to the marketplace to hire someone to harvest and plow then plant some seeds and get back to work. It's virtual farming yet it's fun since I can "reap what I sow."