#38

     This morning, I had only one class, so I could just get to school before 11 o'clock. I woke up at 6, and checked my phone. Moja asked me if I could take responsibility for their grammar training. Well, I didn't know why he had such confidence about my grammars, hahahaha, but I was glad to accept the responsibility and glad that I could do something for the group. Moja shared a grammar book with me -- English Grammar in Use -- and he said that the book is the best grammar book he had ever seen. I searched it from an online bookstore right away, and it was a little expensive. However, I think I don't have a grammar book, so I decide to buy it. I can't wait to read the book!

     Last night, my mom took me to the hospital because my right foot hurt for around a month. The doctor said that it was plantar fasciitis, and since I was a teacher, she guessed the reason why I suffered from it was that I stood and walked in class for a long time, and I didn't let my foot have enough rest. It sounds a little horrible. Maybe I should start to do other kinds of sports from now on. I usually went to the stadium to jog or walk with Becky after work.

     Yesterday was Dec. 6, the day to give Jahangir my weight report, and he asked me to give him the report through the app LINE. I don't like to make him disappointed but my weight had no big difference. I still told him the truth and he started to murmur and said that he hoped that I could be slim like other girls, and then I could be more beautiful. He asked me "Don't you feel afraid of fat belly?" (I changed his words because his sentence has some grammatical errors.) I felt a little sad hearing he talking like that. My right foot pain made me a little sensitive and my brain started to paraphrase Jahangir's words, "You are too fat, so you should lose your weight to become beautiful because now you are too ugly! You are fat and ugly!"

     This was the first time that I didn't want to talk to him.

     Last night, Shishir added me in his friend list through Facebook, and it really surprised me. How could he find my Facebook page? It seems not so good because I don't like to be found so easily.

#37

     This morning, when I woke up, I checked my phone and found that it was only 13°c today. It was so difficult for me to get up.

     Today, we had homework of English listening. Moja sent an audio message and asked us to try to understand every word. It was interesting, so when I checked the message, I took my pencil and started to write down the message right away. The speaker used British English, "I'm unfamiliar with this accent, so it's good for me to practice," I thought.

     My mom said, our President Cai came to the stadium in Lukang, but when I got off work, I didn't see her or police officers, so I thought she had left. Then, I took a walk and chatted with Becky around the stadium last night.

     My friend, Ahmed, said that he was going to join a job interview. He shared his resume with me before, and it looked very nice. Best wishes to him!

#36

     It's been a long time for me to come here to write something about my life. I started to apply for job interviews this July, and started to work from the end of August. After I started to work, I had less time keeping those good habits before, like exercising every day, keeping a diary in English, taking online English classes, etc.

     Recently, I met a man from Iran through speaky, and he invited me to join his English learning group. It was very interesting for me to talk with foreigners and know about different cultures. Just last Saturday night, we talked about the topic: phone addiction through Skype.

     Then, it made me think that maybe I should restart to keep my diary to keep improving my English writing skill, so that's why I am here now.

     Nowadays, I almost use English every day because I made some foreign friends on speaky, and if I wanna talk with them, I can only talk in English, or we can't understand one another.

     My best friend, Jahangir, said that he camps and lives in the mountain where the Internet connection is very weak, and he is there for a project of road construction. He seems like a commander because he is responsible for arranging and telling those workers what to do. It's very cool for me since it's a field which I am unfamiliar with.

     I forgot the exact time but before I told Jahangir that I joined a TOEIC test and I told him that I felt good to join it, and maybe I could try to join an oral test next time. As usual, he supported my idea, but I said I have no confidence about my English speaking, so I should practice hard first.  It was so nice of him!!! He said I can practice speaking with him.

     At the night, he called me through the app LINE. It was the first time for me to talk with Jahangir on the phone although we've known each other for more than half year. I felt excited and a little nervous talking with him, and then I couldn't stop laughing on the phone. I felt happy that I had no difficulties understanding what he said. It was a very interesting experience!

#35

Dear Cecilia,

     I am not devoted into any religion, so I know nothing about your recent life. These two days, my dad felt very uncomfortable because of a lung infection, so I stayed in the hospital with him. I dreamed about you this morning, OMG! I feel so happy to see you again! In my dream, you look more beautiful, and you laugh so much. It seems that you are very happy and you look energetic and very healthy.

     Unfortunately, I am a too unlucky person, so when you were alive, I didn't have enough time to make good friends with you, and you were gone. I was too shy, so it was so hard for me to make new friends. Kaohsiung was a new city for me then. New place and new people made me nervous about my new life there. But you were a cute and patient girl, you talked to me and invited me to be your partner in table tennis class.

     I had a great time in Kaohsiung, and made many good friends afterwards. I experienced many good memories with my friends, and you must know how I wish you were also part of these memories. But it's okay, I am not blaming you, so don't worry.

     That's the first time and the only time you broke the promise. You invited me to choose the same tennis class, and then we could be partners again, but you were absent. I was sad, but I wasn't angry with you. I know you didn't mean to make me sad.

     Hey, is everything okay? I even don't know what your religion is, but I hope your God is kind and won't punish you for your death.

     Best wishes.
                                                                                                                                  Jamie  2017/08/24

#34

     Ha ha ha, I think I am on fire recently.

     Last Saturday, I went to Taichung to participate in an assessment of junior high teachers in the early morning. After that, I went to watch a crosstalk comedy with my parents and my aunt and a friend of mine. OMG! I was so glad to see my favorite actor, Shao-Qing Song again. The sentences and expressions used in this performance "弄(Nong)" (I don't know how to explain it in English.) were much more difficult than in their former ones. They used many archaic expressions, and cited many beautiful poems. Although I couldn't understand all of them, I still love all the plots, and I couldn't help bursting into laughs again and again.

     Another exciting thing! I've finished painting Jake on the wall! It was a very big deal for me since I knew nothing about painting before I started to paint the wall. I am very glad that I can see Jake and Finn whenever I come back home.

     Also, I decided to participate in a TOEIC test in July, so I started to do some exercises today. It was harder than I thought because I heard that it is not so difficult. Q_Q I need to study hard.

#33

     I got a cold these days, and yesterday I decided to see a doctor since I had a running nose and a sore throat. It took me about two hours to wait for my turn, and I didn't understand what happened.

     This morning, I went to the hospital with my mom because she had an appointment of a *CT scan. She seemed allergic to the *enchancement, and she broke out in a rash after home. She felt very itchy, so we went to the emergency room in the evening.

     My brother drove the car to help his friend move house after he drove us to the emergency room. We thought that it would take us more than 3 hours during the treatment, so I said he just came back to drive us home after helping his friend move house. However, we're wrong. It finished earlier than we guessed. So, my mom and I went home by taxi.

     Today's English class, Muzina taught me some Croatian words, and I hope I can remember all of them. Bok means hello or goodbye. If you greet with a stranger, you had better say "dobar dan," which means good day. "Dobro jutro" means good morning, and "dobra večer"means good evening. "Doviđenja" means goodbye.

*CT scan -- 電腦斷層掃描
*enchancement -- 顯影劑

#32

     David said that he made a new habit, and that is to read my diary. It gave me such pressure to keep updating my blog. OK, so let me talk about my recent life.

     First, I've passed a job interview and now I am an online Chinese tutor. However, the platform for learning Chinese was just created last month, so there are not so many students there. I tried to open some classes for people to book, but no one came to book my class. T_T I felt a little upset, but I can understand the situation. I expect my first real Chinese class anyway.

     I dreamed of David yesterday. It was a horrible and annoying dream. He took a can of white paint, and painted the walls in my house. He even used white paint to cover the pattern of Finn, one of my favorite cartoon characters, painted by me a few weeks ago. I felt so angry at him for he ruined my painting. Also, he painted so many weird characters and patterns which I don't know and I can't recognize anyone of them on the walls.

     "What do you think you're doing now!!!!!!?????" I yelled at him, but he seemed satisfied with his paintings, and thought that he did me a big favor to decorate the walls.

     I am glad that it's just a dream, or I will split up with him.

#31

     It's been for about a week that I didn't write my diary. The day before yesterday, I went to Hsinchu with Becky and Patty to visit Joe and Ann. When we arrived there, we took a bus to a port to ride a bike. It was very windy and a little rainy, but we still rent a cart to watch the sea.

     It was funny and ridiculous for us to get lost, and we couldn't find the path for bikes. We were riding our cart on a *thoroughfare, and many cars tried to cut in front of us. Oh! My! It was really scary! There were not many tourists there, and we couldn't find anyone to ask for the correct direction, and then two kids passed by us. They were just like our God of the direction.

     I didn't know how we found the correct way, but we found it anyway. Then, we started real riding for sea watching, but later, we found that we started the tour from the destination... And everybody was going to end their beautiful trip, but we just started it.

     During our riding, we saw a funny guy riding his scooter. I guessed that maybe he was suffering from backache because he was lying on the seat when he was riding a scooter. He was such a comedian, I thought.

     At about 5:30, we went to meet Joe and Ann, and we had a big dinner together. Ann bought a can of alcohol drink with plum flavor, and it was so expensive. It cost 250 NT dollars! I was really shocked. After dinner, we said goodbye to each other, and Patty came back home with me. She would stay my house one night, and I would take her to visit around Lukang the next day. It was amazing to meet friends, talk with them, and enjoy delicious food together.

#30

     I think I can sleep pretty well today because everything is gonna be perfect. It was a stirring day for I thought of a good way to solve the problem that I couldn't upload my video without the permission of recording it in an office. Also, I went to the hospital with my dad, and the analysis of his blood has progressed so much. His CRP (發炎指數) was 0.95, and it was good news for me.

     Becky invited me to take a trip to Hsinchu next Saturday, and I've obtained my mom's permission to join her. I would expect it from now on! I'll bring my camera in case I think of some good ideas for Chinese teaching videos.

     Muzina's class again, and it was a delightful class as usual. What different from the first class was I could see him on my screen this time, ha ha. And I found that Arnela was back to Engoo, so I booked her tomorrow class immediately.

#29

     Today, I felt so excited because I was going to find Becky to make a video for my page of learning Chinese. Our topic today was Hobbies. I brought my digital camera, and we got a rehearsal before recording it. It was very interesting during our rehearsal, and we thought of a very funny opening of the video. After the video was done, I couldn't wait to edit it immediately.

     I uploaded the video as soon as I finished editing it, and I was very glad to share it with everyone since it was so funny. However, Becky's mom thought that it was not a good idea to record a video in an office.

     We didn't think too much, and we just did it for convenience, but our background was indeed an office. Becky's mom thought that we should ask for the permission first before recording a video in the office, so I deleted it.

     I didn't want to see Becky bothered by this video, and I hoped it would not influence her relationship with her colleagues and her chief. Also, I was afraid that she would feel guilty for inviting me to record a video in her office, and I knew that it was not her fault although I felt disappointed and sorrowful for I had to delete the video on the Net. I felt such a pity since we already spent time recording and editing the video. Both of us were very expecting to see it on, but we just couldn't carry it out.

     It was a night for a barrel of beer. How I wish I was drunk now. Cheers, ziveli, na zdrowie~ for a better day and better life.

#28

     These days, Stanky and Arnela didn't have classes, so I could't book their classes. Therefore, today, I met another new teacher, Muzina. He is from *Croatia. I think I should broaden my global view because I never heard of Croatia before I booked this teacher's class. Before our English class, I searched the location of Croatia, and it is surrounded by Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

     It seemed that Muzina's webcam had some problems, so I didn't see his face during class, but it didn't matter actually. He was very interesting, and he shared some bands and singers he liked with me. I love music, and I am very glad to know some new bands. After class, I checked all bands and singers he mentioned in class one by one on Youtube and Wikipedia. Oh! My goodness! They are so awesome! So, I'd like to share them with you here, and if you are interested in music, maybe you can check them later: Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age, the Doors, the Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix.




*Croatia -- 克羅埃西亞

#27

     I knew another good teacher today, and her name is Becka. During class, I found that my class time was over, but she still tried her best to answer all my questions about the text. I felt so sorry for occupying her break time, but she didn't mind it. And she said that my pronunciation is excellent, I felt so happy to hear that. But she was such a popular teacher, and I found all her tomorrow classes were already booked. T_T I think this might be our first and last class.

     My father seemed having a cold, so we went to the hospital this afternoon. However, Dr. Ho said it was not a cold but an allergy. He told us that we should turn on the dehumidifier more often, and remember to clear its water box. According to Dr. Ho, I think perhaps my dad felt ill because of the rain. It rained often these days.

     Today, I wrote a birthday card for a friend of mine, but I haven't sent it. I'll send her a letter to her company, and I think it will be such a surprise.

#26

     It was getting cold again, and it was rainy. My dad's condition was not good these two days, and I am not sure if it's because of the weather. For he can undergo a treatment smoothly next week, we decided to *make a doctor's appointment on line for tomorrow afternoon.

     The friend I had on the website HOW DO YOU DO came to visit my Facebook fan page! I was so happy to have her messages on it. She is such a sweet girl. I am very expecting the day I finish my fan page task, and send the web address to my interviewer.

     I learned two more Serbian words today, and it was very interesting to know more languages. Ziveli means long live. They said ziveli before drinking an alcohol drink, like cheers in English, and the other word is rakija. Rakija is homemade Serbian alcohol, and it's very strong, containing 50% alcohol. If I have chance, I would like to try it.




*make a doctor's appointment / make an appointment -- (醫院)掛號

#25

     I slept too late last night, so I felt very sleepy all day long. I was very busy thinking about what I could share and what I could teach on my page for Chinese teaching.

     This morning, I booked Stanky's class, and I enjoyed his class very much. Actually, I like his class since the first time I took his class. He is so smart and logical, and his instruction is always brief and very clear. That's why I adore him so much, and it makes me dare not to choose his class because I can't help but keep beaming in his class all the time, just like having an English class with a superstar.

     I ate a piece of chocolate cake given by Emma today, and it was very delicious! Not too sweet, and not too soft. It tasted slightly firm, perfect texture.

#24

     I didn't record anything in my diary yesterday because I was so *engrossed in making and editing my video last night. But my yesterday and today were so interesting, I'd like to share everything in these two days.

     Yesterday, I went to Taichung to join a wedding reception, and I met some college classmates there. I had a great time eating and talking with them. Our today's main role was the beautiful bride, Shitian. Although I am not really familiar with her, I still feel happy to be one of her guests in one of her important time in her life. It was a really touching scene as Shitian's mother gave Shitian's hand to the groom, and I saw them bursting into tears. It's hard for me to imagine my own wedding now, but if I get married some day, I must cry as well.

     After our beautiful lunch, Emma said there was a store she was very eager to visit in Taichung, so Patty, Anne, Jing, and I went there with her. It was a small store selling old-fashioned clothes. I love the style very much actually because they look so unique, special, and wonderful. But I am not suitable wearing them, they look weird on me. Q_Q Finally, no one bought something at the store, and we left for the train station.

     Emma and I took the same train because she would stay at my home one night, and we planned to take a trip around Lukang the next day. Since she knew I was making a video for Chinese teaching and learning material recently and she was willing to be my special guest in my video, we planned to go to the night market to buy some snacks (although we weren't hungry) and record the short trip with my cellphone as one of my posts on my Facebook fan page.

     We are not stars, so we felt very embarrassed to act and speak loudly in front of the camera *lens. The weather was really nice last night, so there were many people in the night market. When we started to record a video, so many people were glancing at us as if we were *lunatics.

     At first, we planned to buy salty fried chicken (Taiwanese fried chicken), so we recorded a short video at the entry of the night market, and said, "We want to eat salty fried chicken, so let's go buy it!" But when we entered the night market, we didn't see any vendors selling salty fried chicken! It meant that we should record the start at the entrance again. It was really embarrassing to bear a constant gaze. However, after we recorded all scenes of our video, both of us were very excited to complete it and share with friends. So, after home, I couldn't wait to edit it, and I stayed up so late to finish my second video. That's why I didn't post anything on this blog yesterday.

     And today, I took Emma to many famous historical sites in Lukang. I was so surprised that she didn't visit any of them before, and I was very glad to share some histories and stories of Lukang with her. We had lunch with Becky today, and I really enjoyed the time eating with them.




*engross -- If something engrosses you, it is so interesting that you give it all your attention.
*lens -- a curved piece of glass, plastic or other transparent material, used in cameras, glasses and scientific equipment
*lunatic -- someone who behaves in a silly or dangerous way

#23

     I made my first video for teaching Chinese, and uploaded it on the fan page today. I felt so excited to share with my family and friends. I didn't care about the number of fans actually, but I really felt joyful to carry out something only by myself. It was an amazing experience. I spent my whole afternoon recording and editing the video like a professional editor, and I really appreciated that I had so many nice friends. They praised me so much, and they always gave me comments and suggestions.

     My father was in a very good mood and he was a little TOO excited. He got up so early, and started to plan what he could do today. Then, he came to my room to invite me to Mt. Pagua to go hiking. However, there were so many tour buses there, and my dad couldn't find a place to park his car. So, we just drove around the mountain and left. And then we went to Carrefour because my dad thought it was such a pity if we went home right away. We browsed through every kind of merchandise so quickly since we didn't have a shopping list.

     There is a free basketball *arcade game on the second floor of Carrefour, and we took turns playing it. My dad seldom played basketball now, so he felt exhausted after shooting again and again. We had a great time together.

     Now is very late, and I should sleep right away because I am going to join a wedding reception after seven hours. Good night.




*arcade game -- 街機遊戲

#22

     Since I had to accompany my dad to the hospital this afternoon, and I would join the meeting of the study group in the evening, if I'd like to have my English class, I could only take it in the morning. I got up early to preview part of A Christmas Carol for today's English class, and I finished my class at 7:30. Later, I went to have my breakfast, and I still had many things to do. I turned on my laptop to do the exercises of teaching past-exam papers in 2016, and reinvented a test paper for today's meeting.

     It was raining cats and dogs in the morning when my dad invited me to the gym to exercise. So, to avoid having a cold, my dad changed his plan. We went to an *electrical appliances shop to buy a *dehumidifier. The doctor suggested that we buy a dehumidifier because dampness is not good for our health, and it helps *germs *multiply rapidly.

     During chemotherapy, I kept hearing nurses talking and gossiping. They spoke ill of their mothers-in-law, and I felt a little embarrassed but they spoke so loudly that I couldn't stop hearing. They are very lucky, I think, to have colleagues to gossip with.




*electrical appliances shop -- 電器行
*dehumidifier -- 除濕機
*germ -- a very small organism that causes disease
*multiply -- to increase very much in number

#21

     I didn't book an English class today because I had lots of things to do. I went to the hospital with my dad in the early morning for he needed a blood test to make sure if he could undergo a treatment. We waited for a long time. The area of blood test is open at seven, and we usually arrive there at about 6:40, and then take a number from the numbering machine. Generally speaking, if we are lucky, we can get the number 4; if no, maybe number 7. But today, we got the number 17! I guessed it was because the hospital closed during Tomb Sweeping holiday.

     Last night, I didn't sleep well. There was a very annoying mosquito flying around me and I couldn't find it. I got up several times and turned on the light to kill it, but I failed. I even didn't know if I fell asleep last night successfully. I felt so exhausted after we went back home from the hospital, so I went to bed again. But I didn't sleep long for I had to prepare lunch, and my dad needed to see a doctor at 2 p.m.

     This was our first time seeing a doctor without my mom. My mom always prepares everything, and we don't have to worry about forgetting to bring any stuff. But this time was very different, I was under the pressure for remembering everything. My dad is applying the *Fentanyl Transdermal Patch to relieve the pain, and the patch is a *controlled medicine, so we need to return every used patch when we go back to the hospital. Also, we need to record the time we change the patches and the number of patches we use every time. We record them in a green form, and we have to return it back with used patches to a *pharmacist. If we forget to return used patches and the form, the pharmacist won't give us my dad's medicine, so it's very important to collect them well.

     My dad's blood report showed that his condition is good enough to undergo a treatment, so my dad needs to go to the hospital tomorrow for undergoing chemotherapy. We were happy to hear that. After home, my aunt gave me her prescription and asked me to help her take her medicine. Oh! Why did she tell me so late? I've arrived home! Anyway, I just left home again.

     On the way to the clinic, I saw my dad's favorite *omelet vendor standing beside the road, so I went in to buy an original flavor one. I *rejoiced to buy a delicious snack home, and I decided to buy one for myself as well, so I went to McDonald's to buy a combo.

     There was a heap of papers around my room... So, I spent much time collecting them and *transcribing all my notes during English classes into my notebook. It was a very demanding task... I think from now on, I should take notes in my notebook immediately after class.



*Fentanyl Transdermal Patch -- 吩坦尼穿皮貼片劑 (一種止痛貼片)
*controlled medicine -- 管制藥品
*pharmacist -- a person who is trained to prepare and give out medicines in a hospital or shop
*omelet -- 煎蛋餅 (or egg cake)
*rejoice -- to feel or show great happiness about something
*transcribe -- to record something written, spoken, or played by writing it down

#20

     Oh! Yeah! I passed! I passed the first interview of the platform, Billion-idea, to be an online Chinese tutor. And my second mission is to create a Facebook fan page and post at least five pieces of information, messages, articles,or something about Chinese teaching and learning. I've created my fan page, and I will think of what topics I can share on it tomorrow. I wanna thank my friends Becky and Patty for helping me check my introduction script.

     Arnela said she appreciated that I booked  her English class so often, and I felt a little embarrassed, but I was very glad that she remembered me. I really like her English class since she is an enthusiastic teacher and she always gives me a *hearty welcome.

     Tomorrow, I have to drive my dad to the hospital alone because my mom has to work. Originally, we should go to the hospital on Tuesday, but this Tuesday was our Tomb Sweeping Day, and Dr. Ho didn't work that day.




*hearty -- enthusiastic, energetic, and often loudly expressed

#19

     Some relatives of mine came back today to worship our ancestors. We had lunch and watched TV together. My brother came back from Hualien yesterday evening, and he gave us a box of Hualien Mochi (rice cake) as a gift. Today, he showed me some interesting pictures during the trip to Hualien, and I sent them to my friends. Ha ha.

     In today's English class, I showed the picture of *popiahs (spring roll), and Teacher Arnela said it looked like Italian food. So interesting! Our popiah looks international, doesn't it?

     In the late evening, I invited my mom to *stroll along *Lukang Old Street, and we also went to *Lukang Artist Village. We met a very beautiful cat in front of *Lukang Culture Center (Lukang Assembly Hall), but the cat seemed blind. I am good at imitating cats' sound, so I tried to mew like a cat to attract the cat's attention. It did hear my sound, and it did walk on the way to my position, I meant, it tried to walk to me, but it failed somehow. It didn't run away but passed me again and again, and it never looked at me eye to eye, even though I *squatted in front of it.

     I needed to collect all my notes during English classes these days, and it would be easier for me to review vocabulary words.

*popiah (spring roll) -- 我找到的最接近潤餅的說法
*stroll -- to walk in a slow, relaxed manner, esp. for pleasure
*Lukang Old Street -- 鹿港老街
*Lukang Artist Village -- 鹿港桂花巷藝術村
*Lukang Culture Center or Lukang Assembly Hall -- 鹿港公會堂
*squat -- 蹲，蹲坐

#18

     In the morning, Mom drove me to visit my grandma, but she was not home. So, we went to Aunt Lizhen's dwelling. Aunt Lizhen planted many different kinds of vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, cabbages, *scallions, and many other I-don't-know vegetables in a small field beside their house. Aunt Lizhen has said that we could go take some vegetables home any time. So, here we were! Mom *pruned some sweet potato leaves and scallions home, and they became part of our lunch.

     Originally, I planned to make a video of my introduction for applying for a job interview this afternoon; however, I felt so uncomfortable because of my *period pain. I tried to fall asleep to relieve the pain, but I couldn't because I felt very cold even though I was covered with a comforter. It was just like experiencing a nightmare. But I felt better after several hours, and I was able to walk to drink a mug of hot water.

     I've finished making my video, and uploaded it to a website given by the interviewer. Please! Give me the chance to have an interview~

*scallion = green onion = spring onion 蔥
*prune -- to cut off branches from a tree, bush, or plant, esp. so that it will grow better in the future.
*period pain = menstrual pain 經痛

#17

     Because of Tomb Sweeping Day, Mom and I went to sweep my ancestor's tomb with our relatives this morning. Later, we rode a scooter to the *columbarium pagoda to worship our deceased families. There were many people and cars there. After we visited all the places where deceased families' *urns are located, I felt so hungry and I persuaded my mom to browse through the vendors along the street to see if there was something to eat. I stopped in front of a vendor selling *Taiwanese sausage with sticky rice and bought a set because it smelt so good. After home, one of my aunts came visit my dad with her son, her son's wife and her granddaughter. But since we didn't have lunch yet, we were busy cooking in the kitchen.

     It was so exhausted, and I fell asleep soon after lunch. My mom invited me to go to 85 Degrees C coffee shop to buy milk tea and coffee together for buy one get one free when I woke up. Of course, I said YES! I loved milk tea and coffee. When we arrived there, there were so many people standing in line, and the clerk said that we had to wait more than one hour to get our drinks. Therefore, after we ordered, we went to the temple decorated with lots of seashells in Fuxing and spent our time feeding fish. Fish there were always hungry.

     I tried to think of my English and Chinese introduction this evening because I would like to apply for a job interview for being a Chinese online tutor, and I had to make a short video to introduce myself first. It was challenging but interesting for me. Hope that I can finish the video tomorrow. Good luck to me!




*columbarium -- a building or room with special spaces for holding urns containing the ashes of dead people
*columbarium pagoda -- 納骨塔
*urn -- a container that has a lid and is used for holding a dead person's ashes
*Taiwanese sausage with sticky rice -- 大腸包小腸

#16

     I went to Lukang Junior High School to attend Lukang study group meeting and write 100 exercises of teaching past-exam papers in the morning. At noon, my mom sent me a message, and it said that she drove my grandpa to see a doctor, and no one prepared lunch. So, I went home to cook for Dad. I could almost be called a cook, ha ha.

     My parents and I went shopping  few days ago, and we bought a box of *flaxen green hair dye. This evening, I asked my mom to help me dyeing my hair. My mom said, "Before dyeing, you should apply some cream on your ear, neck, and around the edge of your hair. It can help you avoid being stained with hair dye."

     Originally, it looked really great after I applied hair dye on my hair. It was the color I wanted! To let the color fixed, I waited for about an hour, and went wash my hair. Later, I applied a pack of *Colorseal Conditioner on it. After I *blow-dried my hair, I stood in front of the mirror to check the result. Oh! My! It became brown... Actually, it still looked not bad, but it was not the color I expected. Where was my flaxen green?????? Q_Q




*flaxen -- (of hair) pale yellow
*flaxen green -- 亞麻綠
*Colorseal Conditioner -- 鎖色精華素
*blow-dry -- to dry your hair using a hairdryer

#15

     David shared a survey with me, and it showed that when you keep doing one thing for 21 days, it will become one of your forever habits. It sounds cheering, and it means to make keeping an English diary as a habit, I only have six days left.

     My dad went to the company where he worked before to take the check of his pension, and he planned to order fifty cups of coffee to treat his colleagues since he thought it would be the last time he went to the office. But I thought he didn't have to do it because he'd already treated them pizza and drinks to take the place of a farewell party before. He just liked to *splash out.

     I got a letter today, and it was from one of my pen pals. He was an *early-intervention *social worker, but he was just a *novice. He made me recall a documentary named "An elephant boy and a robot girl." It was about a boy with a serious *cleft lip and cleft palate, and a girl suffering from *cerebral palsy. They didn't undergo any early childhood intervention, so it was very arduous for them to learn and exercise like ordinary children, and they didn't know how to interact with people properly since they stayed home all the time, and no body taught them. They were taken care by their grandparents, and their grandparents were too old to take good care of them and teach them. Luckily, some people asked social workers for help when they knew those two kids' conditions. They made progress step by step after accepting an early intervention. So, I think my pen pal's job is very respectable and important to influence someone's life.

     Here comes the winter again. Oh! My! It's so windy at night.





*splash out -- to spend a lot of money on buying things, esp. things that are pleasant to have but you don't need
*early intervention -- 早期療育
*social worker -- 社工
*novice -- a person who is not experienced in a job or situation
*clef lip and clef palate -- 唇顎裂
*cerebral palsy -- 腦性麻痺

#14

     My dad invited me to deal with the money in my saving account of Dacun Farmer's Association this afternoon. Since I didn't work there, it became annoying whenever you wanted to use its passbook and its ATM card because you could only use them in Dacun Farmer's Association, even if in other Farmer's Association, you had to pay for a *transaction fee while withdrawing. 

     When I got there, I found that they've *reinvented their *passbook style and renewed their ATM card for people can use them in every Farmer's Association in Taiwan. They should have done this! My passbook and ATM card were old ones, so I couldn't update my passbook successfully.

     One of the officers saw me taking the old passbook, and led me to her counter, "I'll help you change the passbook," she said.

     "But I don't need a new one, should I change it? I'd like to close my account."

     Well, she looked embarrassed and *perplexed as if it was a very difficult question, so she went in to ask her colleagues and chief... 

     Come on, I just wanted to close my account...

     Later, she asked me to stand in line in front of another counter. That was another section, and there were so many people. I waited for ages, and when it should be my turn, another officer with short hair said, "You wanna close your account, right? You should come here!" What? I was speechless and kept waiting for my turn.

     It really took me a very long long time. The officer said they've made my new ATM card, so I had to take it first, and then I could start the *procedure of account closing. Sounds ridiculous for me. I just signed my name to take the new card, and returned it back, and the officer printed a list of my detail deposits, and I filled out some forms. Finally, I got my money back... I felt exhausted after the short trip.

*transaction fee -- 手續費

*reinvent -- to produce something new that is based on something that already exists

*passbook -- 存摺

*perplexed -- filled with uncertainty

*procedure -- a set of actions that is the official or accepted way of doing something

#13

     Mayday held a free concert in Daan Forest Park tonight, and because the concert was free, many people stood in line for a very long time to get a better position to watch their performance. There was a *live stream of it, so I just watched it on Youtube, and I kept sharing my strong feeling with David via LINE app. I recalled a beautiful old time being with David in Kaohsiung. Once in a lantern exhibition, we were just like idiots, standing under the stage more than ten hours for waiting to join Mayday's concert. It was a fantastic experience, and I couldn't help bursting into tears when I saw my favorite band, Mayday. I remembered I held David's hand and a stranger's hand, and we listened to Ashin together attentively then.

     The date March 29th was very meaningful for Mayday because it was the date that they first used the name Mayday and performed on the stage in public in 1997. It's been 20 years since then, and in 1997, there were no people coming for them. All the audience were just members of other independent bands at that time, but now, more than 35000 people under the same stage were shouting for them, singing with them. It was a really touching moment especially for such a die-hard fan, like me.

     My dad looked very great today, and we went to the gym to take a walk in the morning. We bought two boxed lunch, two bowls of *milkfish soup and fish ball soup. The soup was super delicious, no wonder my dad loved it. It contained much *shredded ginger, so it was very gingery.

     I had an English class at 4 p.m., and my dad invited me to go shopping in the market after class. I recommended myself driving the car, and unbelievably, my dad said, "YES!" Ha ha ha ha ha ! I drove my dad to the market, and my dad directed me to the expressway to go home. Oh! It was an exciting trip! This was my first time driving at a speed of more than 70 kilometers per hour, but still, many cars tried to *cut me off.

     My mom needed to work overtime tonight, so I went to the kitchen preparing today's dinner at 6 p.m. I cooked many different vegetables, and fried rice. I liked the fried rice!  Super delicious and very healthy. It contained cubes of cucumber, *yam, *snap bean, and carrots, and I also added minced pork. If I have to cook tomorrow, I will try to cook it again.

*live stream -- broadcasting video and sound of an event over the Internet as it happens
*milkfish -- 虱目魚
*shredded -- 切絲的
*cut sb. off -- (in this case) 超車；也可以用在插話
*yam -- 山藥
*snap bean -- 四季豆

#12

     Arnela's class again! How lucky! I was surprised that she told me that they also say Cao or Zdravo to greet with people. It's same as in Serbia. She said they had a *power outage today, and the screen was shut down without warning in the middle of her class when she taught a Japanese student.

     My *die-hard reader, Patty, asked me to write down the meanings and pronunciations of difficult words, and it was not difficult for me, so I would do it from this day.

    The same Tuesday, like Tuesday last week, and Tuesday last last week. Mom and I went to the hospital with Dad, and he got a cold. His report of the blood showed that his CRP (發炎指數) was a little higher than usual, so he couldn't *undergo a treatment today.

     I drew a draft of Jake on the wall today, and if I have free time tomorrow, I'll paint it.

*power outage = power cut = no electricity = black out
*die-hard -- 用來形容頭號粉絲

*undergo -- to experience something that is unpleasant or something that involves a change

#11

     It's been a long time since I had Arnela's first class. Today was my second time taking her class. I'd got a very great impression of her in our first class because she was so jovial and active, and of course, her instruction in English words, sentences, and articles was very clear.  I always desired to have her class again, but I couldn't predict when the schedule of her classes opened up for students to book. Therefore, whenever I entered the website of her profile to book her class, and they were booked all the time.

     I had a great time talking with her this evening, and I thought I should look upon her as a model of communicating. She was beaming and always showed a genuine interest in my words. I felt easy about talking with her in spite of speaking English, a language I'm not familiar with.

     I've desired to paint my favorite cartoon characters on the roller doors for a long time, but it's difficult to carry out since they are too big and tall, and it's hard to draw a draft on a roller door. However, today I made up my mind to do something. I decided to paint an indoor wall first as a practice. I started to search further information about painting in the morning, and made a list to make sure what I already had and what I needed to buy. Later, I started to practice drawing Jake and Finn on the paper, and I found I couldn't draw Jake well, so I decided to paint Finn first.

     I went to a paint store in Lukang in the afternoon, and I found everything I needed in it. It was such a nice place. I bought a can of water-based cement paint, some liquid masterbatches (色母), and two different sizes brushes. I found wooden ladders in the store, and they were so beautiful, but I didn't buy any. I was so rational. Also, I went to a convenience store to buy a newspaper for not staining the floor.

     After home, I started to collect all tools I needed. Besides what I bought in the store, I still needed several different boxes and jars to put water and paint in, wooden sticks to blend the paint, a paper plate to lay down brushes and a piece of old cloth to dry brushes and clean my hand.

     Painting on the wall was an amazing experience,and I really loved it! I spent less than two hours painting the wall, but I spent much time preparing before and cleaning after. Cleaning was the most exhausting thing for me, but I really had a great time.

#10

     My brother lent his credit card to me, so I could keep taking English classes on line. He was so nice, and of course I will pay for it. I booked an English class today, but the teacher couldn't attend the class at that time for some reason, so I got a free ticket to book another class no matter when the class is. It means I can use this free ticket to book a class at a later date, and it will be easier for me to book my favorite teacher's class. Only some people will book a class at a later date because if you do so, it means you have to miss some classes before the day, it is not a smart way. Therefore, it is so excellent for me to get a free ticket.

     Mike is my brother. Mom, Mike, and I visited Aunt Shen this afternoon. Of course, I went to play with the dog Black immediately. At first, he was still too timid to get closer to me, but I walked to him step by step, and tried to touch him. Finally, I did it! This was my first time to touch him successfully. I've tried many times to make friends with Black whenever I visited my aunt, but he always felt scared of strangers. (Though I don't think I am a stranger actually.) This time, he even stretched out one of his feet for asking me to pet his head and body. We are friends now!

#9

     The study group meeting for discussing about teaching past-exam papers restarted today, so I went to Lukang junior high school in the early morning. Also, I met students I taught before, and they got taller, and looked nice, healthy. I was very glad to see them again. After the meeting, I had lunch with Becky and one of my past colleagues, Yiwen. We had a good time in the restaurant, and it was fantastic to listen to them and spend time with them. I shared this blog with them as well, and asked them to help me find some grammar errors and incorrect usages of words.

     The weather was a little bit cold, but after home, Dad still wanted to go somewhere to take a walk for exercising. Therefore, Dad drove my mom and me to Taiwan Sugar Corporation in Xihu. It was extremely windy, but the sun appeared soon. We took a walk through the woods, and saw many different machines for manufacturing and transporting sugar. Also, there was an old lady singing beside the path. The songs she sang were not my type, but my dad's. So, we took a seat to listen to her, and Mom and I bought two cases of ice cream. It was delicious but unfortunately, my dad couldn't taste it.

     In the evening, my brother was home, and he got a cold again. Oh! My! I sprayed him with electrolysis alkali ion water (超電水) to kill germs on him, and asked him to wear a gauze mask. Later, he went visit Alice again, but I didn't know. I assumed that he was just visting his basketball partners. As soon as he went home, I got a message from Alice. She didn't tell me the complete story; she just said she was a little angry. I was surprised about that, and I didn't know what happened. I went to talk with my brother and shared some important lessons from my working experiences.

     My brother was an insurance sales representative, and Alice was one of his customers. To complete an insurance case, generally speaking, it needs a couple days for preparing necessary personal files and making a personal insurance policy. Also, you have to sign or stamp the authorization letter for the bank can make a deduction from your bank deposits. It depends on the way you used to create a bank account.

     Last time, Alice signed the authorization letter, and my brother informed her of the date when the bank would deduct the first payment from her bank deposits. However, she was asked to resubmit the authorization letter after the first payment. It was really weird if her files were not ready yet, how could the bank deduct her money? And my brother also felt confused. Alice felt angry about this, and decided to rescind the insurance policy. For the lack of working experience, my brother didn't know how to deal with it, and how to comfort his customer. He seemed a little disappointed, but I tried to encourage him with my mom. We shared our working experiences and how we dealt with difficulties. Making mistakes and feeling disappointed were very common in life actually. At least, he learned a lesson.

     Although he lost a customer, I told him that he should apologize to Alice first when he meets her next time. And he should try his best to show his passion and sincerity for dealing with her case. Also, he has to know what happened, and finds out the answer soon. After all, he has to know how to deal with the same problem in the future.

#8

     I just finished English class, and felt very excited now. Teacher Victor shared his today's crazy thing during class with me. It was about one of his student, and the student was 52 years old. Victor said he got a little cold this morning, so he didn't really wake up, but he had to prepare his first class. When he called the student, he found the student was naked! Ha! Victor apologized to him for not waking up, and said he was not clear-headed, and then the student tried to wake him up, so the student started to sing a song loudly with his naked body. Victor said, "He did wake me up!" So interesting! I also want to meet such a crazy guy! Haha. The story made me think of David. Also, I learned how to greet with people in Serbian today. I searched the information about Serbian on the Net, and I found their words are very different from English. It was a brand-new language system for me.

     My grandma came to my house this afternoon, and she didn't call me and tell me she would visit us first. So, if my aunt didn't call me, I wouldn't know it. My father and I were exercising around the gym then, and we were going to buy boxed lunch. It made me feel uneasy for knowing a sudden visit. After home, I got my grandma's call. She said, "I'm around your house now! Go downstairs!" Umm... I went out quickly, and found her scooter filled with bags. Oh! My! THREE boxes of cake, a BIG bag of vegetables, and many packs of nuts. I tried to refuse her kindness in supplication, but it didn't work. She went upstairs to visit my dad, and I asked her to wear a gauze mask, but she refused. She said she wasn't sick... It was really difficult to communicate with her, and she didn't seem to listen to others. During her visit, she kept complaining about her relatives, but those were long past stories. It was really an exhausting visit.

     By the way, hello in Serbian is Здраво (zdravo). I'll try to greet a Serbian teacher in Serbian next class.

#7

     Since yesterday I booked Dusanka's class successfully, I had expected today's English class very much. I tried many times to book her class, but I failed for she was just too popular. It was a very comfortable conversation, and she was very nice and patient. She made me think that I talked in English fluently, haha. I was filled with confidence during class. She was really good at leading students to answer questions and express their opinions. I was glad to share all my opinions with her. To my surprise, she was familiar with Asian food and she liked to eat and cook it.

     I tried to divide every dish I cooked into three portions averagely, and put them in three separate plates for Mom, Dad, and myself. Guess what? Every dish was over, no leftovers! I was happy to see that, and I could wash fewer dishes by this way.

     Emma said that she will visit me after Eileen's wedding reception, and I expect both very much, the wedding reception and Emma's coming. However, Emma will come to Lukang on Monday, so maybe we'll see many stores closed... She said she'd like to help me prepare lunch for my dad on that day. It must be very interesting!

#6

     It was a very busy day. In the morning, I drove my dad to the gym to take a walk, and went to Lukang Farmers' Association to apply for a scholarship for my brother. I asked one of the officers to make sure all necessary documents were collected for applying. However, I failed. So, I drove the car to the convenience store to print some personal documents. This was my first time driving alone. Although the road was extremely wide, I was still scared. When I was done, I went to find my father. He kept walking along the park, and he looked energetic after chemotherapy. We walked together and he invited me to buy boxed lunch together. Of course, I was glad to do it, but I forgot to bring my purse, and so did he. He was so disappointed, so I said I would go buy it later.

     My great-grand uncle passed away a few months ago, and today his children and grandchildren came back to let his urn put into the columbarium pagoda in his hometown. My great-grand uncle had lived in Japan for many years, and he married a Japanese woman. Honestly, he had taken root in Japan, and his family couldn't speak any Chinese or Taiwanese, but he still loved his hometown where he was born. I went to the nearest columbarium pagoda with my aunt and uncle, and joined the ceremony together.We took incense sticks to worship the God of the land, and then a feng shui consultant taught us how to proceed with the ceremony. It was weird for me to see my great-grand uncle's family keep taking pictures during the ceremony. I guessed they just wanted to record all memories about my great-grand uncle.
   
     Later, one of my great-grand uncle's grandson came to us, and he showed a picture in his cellphone. The picture was in my granduncle's funeral, and we were there. I drew our family tree to make sure our relationship-- he was my uncle. I was like a translator among us--my aunt, my uncle, and my Japanese uncle. We tried hard to understand each other by English, our body language, and facial expressions. It was really interesting for me. Hope that we will be more familiar with my great-grand uncle's Japanese family in the future.

#5

     Tuesday again, the day for my dad to see a doctor. My mom would take a day off every Tuesday, and go see a doctor with my dad. It means I don't have to cook every Tuesday. Yes, I am free!!!! Therefore, I went shopping with my mom this morning, and bought a pack of kimchi and rice cake. I wanna cook Budae-jjigae (부대찌개; literally "troop stew") for myself.

     However, for the lack of ingredients, like sausage, Korean ramen, cheese, slices of ham, it was not a real budae-jjigae, but it was still delicious. It tasted like a kimchi hotpot. It was spicy, and I loved it so much. I haven't eaten spicy food for ages since I started to cook for Dad because he could only eat light and natural food.

     The indie band Fire EX. released a new song "Song for you," and I watched its MV this evening. Mr. Yang was still cute and handsome. I missed the time when I stayed in Kaohsiung because I could always join their concerts then. Hope that I can go to their concert soon.

#4

     I was just like a housewife today, but I was an unmarried housewife. I did a lot of housework, cleaning the room, cleaning the floor, doing the laundry, hanging the clothes, etc. This was my first time to prepare lunch and dinner, two meals a day. Originally, I was responsible for only lunch but since my mom had to work overtime, I prepared dinner. My dad was so impolite that he asked me to buy dinner from a restaurant. Come on! Although dishes I cooked were not as delicious as those made by professional chefs, my cuisine was completely based on natural plants and vegetables. It was absolutely healthy! No much salt and sugar! It was exactly fit for my dad's condition.

     Another story about my childish dad--this afternoon, I invited my dad and one of my aunts to go shopping together. I thought my dad spent too much time lying on the bed, so I tried to energize him to go outside. However, he dare not let me drive. He took the key and insisted that he should be the driver. Impolite again! I've made such progress in driving, but he just grabbed the key tightly.

     On the contrary, my mom was so sweet. Since she needed to work until eight p.m., I left her dinner in the electric cooker to keep warm. After she went home, I told her that I also prepared her dinner, and she could take it from the cooker. My mom said dramatically, "Ohhhhh~~~ What a happiness!!!" I was so happy to hear that. I really like to be praised. Luckily, I am not a king or queen. If I were a king, I would be cheated by those beautiful words by villains.

     Today's English class, I knew a new teacher Victor. He was so easygoing and interesting. He called me when he was in the bathroom. And then he wanted to have water, so he took his laptop and walked to take a glass of water. Of course, he tried to keep talking with me constantly. It was so funny. Also, he was awesome. He could speak Serbian, German, English, and now he is learning Dutch. I hope one day I can also speak other languages fluently. But first of all, I should practice English more.

#3

     My mom invited me to visit Grandma today, and of course I'd like to but when she said she would drive me there, I was really scared. My grandma's house is in the mountain, if you want to get there, you have to go through many curves and go through a very narrow road. My mom was not good at dealing with curves. Whenever she tried to go through a curve, she would turn the steering wheel strenuously, too strenuously. It was very scary. I couldn't help screaming on the way and reminding her to turn the steering wheel back soon.

     However, we arrived without accidents. Thank God, seriously. I was not familiar with driving, either, so I asked my mom to let me drive back home. On the way home, we also went to Aunt's house, and she gave us some papayas and vegetables. I love the dog Black in Aunt's house. Black is so cute and timid. I played with him for a while, and hoped that one day I can keep a dog as well.

     After home, I told my dad that Mom and I took turns to drive, and he felt incredible! Both of us made very big progress in driving. It was a really interesting trip with my mom today.

#2

     Yesterday, I was really expecting to take the online English class because I tried many times to book Marra's class and finally, I got it! However, you can't always get what you want. The time of Marra's class was 10:30 p.m. yesterday, and I went to the hospital with my mom at about 7:30 to apply for my dad's pathological report. Actually, 7:30 was still early from 10:30, and who could predict that we spent more than two hours waiting for that report! I regretted that I had to cancel Marra's class. What a pity!

     After home, I turned on the computer, and it was over 12 o'clock. I tried to find if there were still other available classes of my favorite teachers, but none. Therefore, I booked a teacher I didn't know at 3:30 a.m. It was a crazy decision, I thought. But it made me feel better.

     After class, I started to book the next day's class, and I was so lucky that there were still some available classes of Marra's. Hope that everything will be good this Sunday.

     Today, my brother came home and stayed only for a short time. He went to visit Alice's sister to deal with her insurance. It was so interesting to see him serving my friend and her sister.

#1

     Since I registered Engoo classes, an online platform for learning English, it's been about twenty days, and now there are still seven days left. I'm not sure how much progress my English has made, but I really hope that my English can be better and better. Therefore, I decide to set up a blog to keep a diary in English, and enforce myself thinking in English.

     I am already a very mature adult, which means I have a complete thinking system in my brain. I have my own values, opinions to other things; however, it's always difficult to express my complicated thinking in a foreign language. I really wanna jump to a higher level, I really hope that I can talk about something serious with others in English, not just greeting, talking about the weathers, hobbies... come on! I need more practices and confidence in speaking English. And I think, to improve my English speaking, first, I have to be used to thinking in English.



     Since February, I've stayed home for taking care of my father for he suffering from the lung cancer. It was not difficult for me to take care of a patient like my father because he was such a good and obedient patient. He never rejected to take his medicine although he needed to take so much medicine after and before meals.

     Just a few days ago, I knew a shocking information from the doctor. My father told him that he was drinking the nutrition shake ENSURE, a popular American brand of nutrition shake.Then, the doctor was very angry, and asked my father,

"Why did you drink that?"

"Umm...isn't it good?"

"Of course not. OK, now I know the reason why your condition is unstable. Stop drinking any nutrition shake!"

     I felt really surprised after hearing what the doctor said because I assumed that those nutrition shakes are just for serious patients. On the bottles of those nutrition shakes including ENSURE, it says it can be drunk by patients before or after surgery, or patients undergoing chemotherapy, or old people who can't eat normally, etc. My father is undergoing chemotherapy, and of course we think he can drink nutrition shakes for energizing.

     Therefore, I googled on the Net and I found a book talking about ENSURE. It said that ENSURE contains much sugar, but it won't tell you what ingredient provides it. I took one from the ENSURE box to check its ingredients based on the book. And that's true! It provides many carbohydrates. The book said its carbohydrates are even more than coke in the same capacity. I also took other nutrition shakes and compared with ENSURE, and I found all of them have maltodextrin often used in milk powder for prolonging expiry date. It would make your blood sugar increase promptly. Furthermore, nutrition shakes are made from chemical syntheses, and chemical syntheses are not good for our bodies although maybe they are exactly containing some nutrients. So, if you are not rather ill, just eat natural food as much as you can. Eating natural food will be much better than drinking lots of nutrition shakes.