#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