面朝大海，春暖花开

从明天起，做一个幸福的人
喂马，劈柴，周游世界
从明天起，关心粮食和蔬菜
我有一所房子，面朝大海，春暖花开

从明天起，和每一个亲人通信
告诉他们我的幸福
那幸福的闪电告诉我的
我将告诉每一个人

给每一条河每一座山取一个温暖的名字
陌生人，我也为你祝福
愿你有一个灿烂的前程
愿你有情人终成眷属
愿你在尘世获得幸福
我只愿面朝大海，春暖花开

[海子, 面朝大海，春暖花开]

***
劈柴　－　chop firewood; firewood
关心　－　to be concerned
粮食　－　cereals, grain
闪电 －　lightning
陌生人　－　stranger
愿　－　wish, promise
前程　－　future
终成眷属　－　All’s Well That Ends Well (by Shakespeare)
尘世 – this mortal world
获得　－　gain

smile

They caught me again and within one year have scored 3 number one hits – that’s Jamiroquai! “White Knuckle Ride”, “Blue Skies” and now “Smile” – congratulations. What a great summer song! It’s really pleasant, relaxing, jazzy and chilling! And for download for free!

“Smile – cause you are the one!”

Hitlist #538
June 27th, 2011

1. 3 (3) JAMIROQUAI, Smile
2. 2 (6) 王力宏 (LEEHOM), 自己人　(Ziji Ren)
3. 4 (4) MOBY, Be The One
4. 1 (7) GEORGE MICHAEL, You And I
5. 6 (5) RADIOHEAD, Supercollider
6. 13 (2) RADIOHEAD, The Butcher
7. 8 (3) DURAN DURAN, Leave A Light On
8. 5 (9) WITHIN TEMPTATION, Sinéad
9. 11 (4) LADY GAGA, The Edge Of Glory
10. 19 (2) LAURI, Heavy
11. 7 (10) 林俊杰 (JJ LIN), 完美新世界 (Wanmei Xin Shijie)
12. 9 (8) THE MUSIC, Ghost Hands
13. 10 (10) LADY GAGA, Judas
14. 17 (2) BEADY EYE, Millionaire
15. – (1) EXAMPLE, Changed The Way You Kiss Me
16. 12 (9) SADE, Love Is Found
17. 14 (3) COLDPLAY, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
18. 15 (12) ADELE, Set Fire To The Rain
19. 16 (15) 周杰伦 (JAY CHOU),　天地一斗 (Tiandi Yi Dou)
20. – (1) CALVIN HARRIS FEAT. KELIS, Bounce

Marie Curie

1867, November 7th – born in Warsaw as Maria Skłodowska, she was her parents’ 5th child. Her parents were both teachers – her father taught physics and math, her mother ran a school for girls.

1877 – her oldest sister died of typhus

1879 – her mother died of tuberculosis. As a result, Marie gave up Catholicism and became an agnostic (one who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God)

1891 – went to Paris to study in Sorbonne (following her sister whom she supported financially for 2 years before that). She studied mathematics, physics and chemistry. She couldn’t study in her motherland because at that time women were not allowed to study in universities.

1893 – got a degree in physics

1894 – got a degree in mathematics, met Pierre Curie, whom she married the following year

1897 – her first daughter, Irene was born

1898 – very fruitful year: published a paper on radioactivity, discovered 2 new elements, which she called “polonium” (in order to honour Poland, then partitioned) and “radium”

1903 – awarded with Nobel Prize in physics (together with her husband)

1904 – her second daughter, Eve was born

1906 – Pierre died in a street accident. Marie was given his position of a professor of physics in Sorbonne, making her the first woman in the world with this achievement

1910-11 – a love affair with married Paul Langevin, she was called a home-wrecker by a press.

1911 – got a Nobel Prize in chemistry for discovering polonium and radium – she was the first woman awarded twice and the only person awarded in two different sciences.

1914 – her insitute was built in Paris

1925 – Radium Institute was built in Warsaw

1934, July 4th – died of leukemia

rain

What is a rainy season? When is it?

What can you do on a rainy day? Think of something really interesting!

Who needs rain? Why do we need it? What if there is too much or too little rain?

Why is sometimes rain better than sunshine?

What is a rainbow? When did you see it last time? Does it have any meaning for you?

How does rain affect your mood? What is a thunderstorm? How does it make you feel? Love it! Yes!!

What types of rain do you know? Showers, drizzle, sprinkles, monsoon, downpour… What does “raining cats and dogs” mean?

***

Soundtrack:

Gene Kelly, Singing In The Rain

James Blunt, Tears And Rain

Blind Melon, No Rain

Geri Halliwell, It’s Raining Men

East 17, Thunder

Travis, Why Does It Always Rain On Me

BJ Thomas, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

conquer the world

Hitlist #537
June 20th, 2011

1. 1 (6) GEORGE MICHAEL, You And I
2. 2 (5) 王力宏 (LEEHOM), 自己人 (Ziji Ren)
3. 12 (2) JAMIROQUAI, Smile
4. 5 (3) MOBY, Be The One
5. 3 (8) WITHIN TEMPTATION, Sinéad
6. 8 (4) RADIOHEAD, Supercollider
7. 4 (9) 林俊杰 (JJ LIN), 完美新世界 (Wanmei Xin Shijie)
8. 18 (2) DURAN DURAN, Leave A Light On
9. 9 (7) THE MUSIC, Ghost Hands
10. 6 (9) LADY GAGA, Judas
11. 13 (3) LADY GAGA, The Edge Of Glory
12. 10 (8) SADE, Love Is Found
13. – (1) RADIOHEAD, The Butcher
14. 16 (2) COLDPLAY, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
15. 7 (11) ADELE, Set Fire To The Rain
16. 11 (14) 周杰伦 (JAY CHOU), 天地一斗 (Tiandi Yi Dou)
17. – (1) BEADY EYE, Millionaire
18. 14 (10) GOMEZ, Options
19. – (1) LAURI, Heavy
20. 15 (11) TAKE THAT, Happy Now

you and I

Ah, George. What a voice.

Hitlist #536
June 13th, 2011

1. 12 (5) GEORGE MICHAEL, You And I
2. 6 (4) 王力宏 (LEEHOM), 自己人 (Ziji Ren)
3. 1 (7) WITHIN TEMPTATION, Sinéad
4. 5 (8) 林俊杰 (JJ LIN), 完美新世界 (Wanmei Xin Shijie)
5. 16 (2) MOBY, Be The One
6. 2 (8) LADY GAGA, Judas
7. 4 (10) ADELE, Set Fire To The Rain
8. 10 (3) RADIOHEAD, Supercollider
9. 7 (6) THE MUSIC, Ghost Hands
10. 3 (7) SADE, Love Is Found
11. 8 (13) 周杰伦 (JAY CHOU), 天地一斗 (Tiandi Yi Dou)
12. – (1) JAMIROQUAI, Smile
13. 19 (2) LADY GAGA, The Edge Of Glory
14. 14 (9) GOMEZ, Options
15. 9 (10) TAKE THAT, Happy Now
16. – (1) COLDPLAY, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
17. 11 (11) JAMES BLUNT, If Time Is All I Have
18. – (1) DURAN DURAN, Leave A Light On
19. 13 (6) ARCTIC MONKEYS, Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair
20. 17 (5) BRITNEY SPEARS, Hold It Against Me

肚子疼

－　医生，我肚子疼．

－　什么时候开始的？

－　大约半个小时前．说疼就疼了．我还觉得恶心．

－　你今天都吃什么了？

－　我在一个小饭馆吃了点海鲜．

－　恐怕这是由于吃了不干净的海鲜引起的腹泻．

＊＊＊

大约　－　approximately

海鲜　－　sea food

恐怕　－　I’m afraid

由于　－　as a result of

干净　－　clean

引起　－　cause

腹泻　－　diarrhoea

mother

Mother… one of the most important people in everybody’s lives. Let’s talk about her!

What are your mother’s habits? What are her hobbies? Has your mother changed since you were a child?

What should a good mother do? What shouldn’t she?

Are western mothers different from Chinese mothers? Of course they are. It’s basically the difference between freedom and control, independence and dependence… But in many aspect they are similar.

Do you want to raise your children in the same way as your mother did?

Do you celebrate Mother’s Day? How about your mother’s birthday? Do you buy her flowers and gifts? Do something special to make her happy?

Is there a generation gap between you and your mother? Can you tell her everything? Can you talk to her about everything? Maybe not! Maybe she would like to know everything about you, but it doesn’t mean she will.

Does your mother have any problems? How can you help her solve them? Health problems? Money problems? Maybe sometimes she feels lonely?

***

Soundtrack:

Spice Girls, Mama

Lenny Kravitz, Always On The Run

Metallica, Mama Said

Boyz II Men, A Song For Mama

周杰伦 (Jay Chou), 听妈妈的话 (Listen to Your Mother’s Words)

Ozzy Osbourne, Mama, I’m Coming Home

Pink Floyd, Mother

Christina Aguilera, Oh Mother

Genesis, Mama

Scissor Sisters, Take Your Mama Out

Sinéad, Sinéad, Sinéad

“Oh Sinéad, for the first time
Life is gonna turn around
I’m telling you you will like it, I know
Oh Sinéad, it’s the first time
Only you can set it free
Oh Sinéad, come break away with me ”

[Within Temptation, Sinéad, The Unforgiving]

Hitlist #535
June 6th, 2011

1. 1 (6) WITHIN TEMPTATION, Sinéad
2. 2 (7) LADY GAGA, Judas
3. 5 (6) SADE, Love Is Found
4. 6 (9) ADELE, Set Fire To The Rain
5. 4 (7) 林俊杰 (JJ LIN), 完美新世界 (Wanmei Xin Shijie)
6. 7 (3) 王力宏 (LEEHOM), 自己人 (Ziji Ren)
7. 8 (5) THE MUSIC, Ghost Hands
8. 3 (12) 周杰伦 (JAY CHOU), 天地一斗 (Tiandi Yi Dou)
9. 11 (9) TAKE THAT, Happy Now
10. 15 (2) RADIOHEAD, Supercollider
11. 10 (10) JAMES BLUNT, If Time Is All I Have
12. 19 (4) GEORGE MICHAEL, You And I
13. 14 (5) ARCTIC MONKEYS, Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair
14. 12 (8) GOMEZ, Options
15. 17 (7) ALICIA KEYS FEAT. EVE, Speechless
16. – (1) MOBY, Be The One
17. 13 (4) BRITNEY SPEARS, Hold It Against Me
18. 9 (9) 龚琳娜 (GONG LINNA), 忐忑 (Tante)
19. – (1) LADY GAGA, The Edge Of Glory
20. – (1) HURTS, Illuminated

holiday (continued)

I’ve been back at home in Hangzhou for already 3 days, but my memories still keep coming back to those beautiful days spent in Thailand. Hangzhou has been rainy ever since I came back; that helps me more to dream and recall.

June 1st

What a beautiful morning! After breakfast we had a nice time by the pool. I swam a bit, read a book (“The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank) – I got more sun tan! I was wondering if it was going to rain later that evening, as the forecast said so.

Soundtrack: assorted dance songs.

In the afternoon the wind started to blow really strong! It felt like a hurricane, but we were safe in a restaurant nearby. Later it rained too (I told you so!), however not very heavily and long.

We rode bicycles in search of Thai massage, but unfortunately couldn’t find any.
Stopped by the shore in a local cafe, had coffee and a nice time with the books. Aren’t we nerdy? It rained again but that time there was also sunshine, so we could spot the magnificent rainbow! Oh, isn’t the world a beautiful place!

Soundtrack: Within Temptation, “The Unforgiven”; Adele, “21”.

I came up with an idea to do something adventurous on the following day. So here it comes: safari! Elephants! Tigers! Monkeys! Snakes! Waterfall! We hoped to see that (and possibly more!) soon!

June 2nd

Normal morning routine – breakfast, a bit of rest by the pool.

1 pm – we were picked up by the driver and  went to a safari park located in the centre of the island. There was an elephant trekking, later an elephant show (I didn’t enjoy it too much), a monkey show (I had some photos taken with them), a crocodile show, a bird show, a snake show (my favourite! And again, some photos)… After that we saw a big waterfall and finished that adventurous day.

Later in the evening we wanted to go out and have dinner, but exactly at that moment it started raining… so we stayed in the hotel. Rain, rain, rain – you gotta love it.

June 3rd

Difficult day, when everything made me angry. Maybe it’s because too long time spent together. We took a bus and a ferry back to Surat Thani, where we had a plane from. We got to the airport, flew back to Bangkok… Choosing a place to have dinner in was a cause of a huge quarrel. I didn’t want to wait having seen a lot of people inside, then I was called “spoilt” and “having no common sense”, as all places were crowded at that time of day. Well, not nice to hear that. I wanted to go back home and spend some time by myself.

Anyway, I never stay angry for a long time. Waited for the plane until 1:30 am, took off at about 2 am and arrived at rainy Shanghai in the early morning…