I used to complain often. I always complained that my dinner was not delicious, my clothes were not the latest fashion and so on. I did not realize how lucky I am. I just took my good life for granted.

  One day, I met a lady engaged in voluntary service in the Cih- ji charity. She took her leisure time to share her thoughts and information with us in my junior high.

  She told us that there are still many people suffer from famine, illness and in the turmoil of war. She showed us a shocking photo. That was a weak African boy, and there were many flies flying around him. His stomach was very big because water was accumulated inside. The lady told us the boy may die of hunger. She called on my class to donate money to them.

  After knowing how lucky I was, I did not complain anymore. I saved money to donate to the poor instead of spending money on shopping with friends. Now, I am a contented person. I know that all I have is precious. Thanks to the lady, she let me know how blessed I am.

  People like beautiful scenery, some even drive for a long time to the scenic spots on holidays. However, we often ignore that the surrounds around us are also breathtaking.

  Neihu is a suburb of Taipei, and I have lived here since I was born. Neihu was a simple area. When I was a child, my parents and I usually go biking on leisure time. But since many areas have been transformed into the industrial park, we seldom rode bikes to enjoy our spare time.

  Furthermore, the population has increased a lot due to the establishment of industrial district. The traffic has also developed rapidly. Buses have become a very convenient transportation, and the MRT system will be finished in several years. The increasing of population makes Neihu crowded day by day.

  In spite of these modern changes, there are still many advantages in Neihu which are different from downtown. There are two lakes here – “ Bi-hu “ and “ Da-hu “. In the park, there are many animals, like egrets, frogs , bugs and some colorful flowers. Many residents go there to take a walk and get some fresh air. Moreover, lots of scrappy lands are reserved and turned into parks.

  What’s better, there are a lot of mountains here. Whether you arrive breathless at the summit or just go hiking for relaxing, it is really comfortable to breathe the fresh air in the mountains.

  Neihu is a picturesque place, I am very lucky to live here. Next time, if you want to work off pressure, just go to Neihu to embrace nature and relieve stress.

                                                      Thr,Feb21,2008 

Dear Diary,

  I read the cards again which were sent from my teachers, friends, and classmates after I cleaned my room.

  After I read the cards, I realized that I am a blessed girl. I’ve got a lot of blessings and I should count my blessings.

  There were some expectations and encouragements to me from teachers and friends. Also some birthday wishes and Christmas cards. I still felt touched although I’ve read them several times.

  I found a hand-made card from my best friend, Ewa. She has been to England to study 2 years ago. I miss her through the card.

  Another card I like very much is a big pink card from class 302 on my birthday last year. They wrote lots of whishes, sincere talks, and funny jokes to me. I am really lucky to have these nice classmates.

  These cards are very precious to me; I put them into a box. I want to preserve these wishes and memories eternally.

This picture was taken on our graduation trip 12, Apr, 2007 in the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. It’s the second day of the trip. The weather in Pingtung was warm and sunny. There were also many interesting things happening during the trip. We had a lot of fun on those days, and it’s really memorable.

    In the English class the week before, the teacher wrote “We are the world” on the blackboard and discussed the issue with the students. Everyone was conscientious, but Tom was dozing off. He often dozes off in English class, because he thinks the class is too boring.

    In Tom’s dream, he dreamed that he would be an English teacher twenty years later. To his disappointment, although he tried his best to teach the students, they did not pay attention to him and slept all the time. “Hey! It’s important to learn grammar. Do not sleep in my class!” Tom thundered.

    Then, Tom was losing his patience, and waking the students up angrily. Meanwhile, he was really hearing an annoyed voice. “Wake up! Tom,” his teacher yelled. His classmates were laughing at him because the teacher had awoken him many times.

    After the terrible dream, Tom does not fall asleep in class anymore. After all, he really wants to realize his dream- to be an English teacher.

On Jack’s birthday last week, he received a gift from his parents. “It is a cute dog! I will take good care of it,” he said. Jack named the dog a lovely name “Won-won”.

    One day, Jack took Won-won to the park. They played ball, took a walk and had fun with each other. “It is time to go home, but I would go to the toilet first,” Jack said. Then he tied Won-won beside a tree and told Won-won to wait for him for a moment.

   Astonishingly, when Jack came back to the tree, he could not find Won-won! He was so nervous and worried, and he even burst into tears. Then, he sought all parts of the park but in vain. He even could not hear the dog barking.

   With the feeling of sadness and disappointment, Jack came home alone. To his amazement, Won-won was standing behind the door and waiting for him! Because it took too long for won-won to wait for. Won-won went home itself. “You are a clever dog, but I hope that you can let me know that you went home first, hah!” Jack murmured. Then, they went into the house and had a big dinner. It was the best ending for the day!

pictures from   

http://www.gamemad.com/go/ShowPost.asp?ThreadID=2692

http://www.twbb.org/viewthread.php?tid=23285

   On one warm morning, Emily took a walk in the park. Suddenly, she found a cute kitten on the roadside. Then she took out the small ball from her pocket, and played with the kitten. They had a great time with each other. Therefore, Emily wanted to take the cute kitten home and kept it.

   Emily named the kitten a lovely name “Meow”. She took it home and requested her mom’s permission to keep it. Her mom could not resist the adorable kitten, so her mom agreed. But her mom demanded one thing. That was, Emily should keep the house clean and neat.

   The next day, they went to the park and had fun. To Emily’s amazement, lots of Meow’s friends were following her and wanted to go back to Emily’s house with Meow.

   Emily was unwilling to leave those kittens behind. She could only take them home. She took them to the living room and fed them some fish. While she was decorating the cat’s home, those kittens were biting and clawing wildly everywhere. They messed up the living room. After Emily came back, she was so shocked. Now, she decided to take them back to the park. After all, she did not want to break the rule which her mom set. She should keep the house neat and tidy.

    Mr. Chen was my junior high school teacher who taught Chinese. He was an unique teacher. The most distinctive characteristic of him was that he was always dressed in red. Besides, he has grey hair and he was often holding a teacher’s pointer in his hand. 

He set strict rules for our class. For example, we could not put bottles on the table for fear that would mess up the classroom. And we could not stand on the podium without the permission. There were countless similar strict regulations. Mr. Chen was an authoritative teacher at school. But he was so strict that most of my classmates did not like him. 

One day in my junior year, he told us the news that he would retire the next month. Instead of cheering, we felt so sad to hear the news. We did not realize his hard work until then. We really did not want him to leave us. 

When we were in our senior year, every teacher praised us “you were all well-mannered and behaved well.” To tell the truth, we gave the credit to Mr. Chen. 

Until now, Mr. Chen still has a profound influence on the way I act. He is the fact teacher and the one I respect the most.