Karakoram Highway

An unfamiliar way I have never heard before. I knew it better after I read the background of Karakoram Highway. It is a transnational road which winds past some of the highest mountains in the world—the Himalayas, Karakoram and Pamir. The unbelievable thing is that it connects China and Pakistan. Two different races and customs connected by a highway. How amazing it is. Most of the road lies in the long barren peaks, so it’s not hard to imagine why more than 800 workers lost their lives constructing this road. I was stunned by the spectacle of the pictures. An unusual road snakes through the dark green and high mountains. It is a worth trip for those people who like to see superlatives.

Grow up

Six days left before I go into the new coming year 2008. I usually think about my remarkable things within this year and make a goal to what I want to do next year. It is also a month which excited me. The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and I am going to be 22 years old. Sometimes I am happy that I grow up but most of the time it bothers me. I always ask my parents’ suggestion when I was going to decide anything in childhood. Now, I ask for some suggestion, they will say I have to make decision myself because I am old enough to deal with anything. Some of my friends said their parents didn’t give them too much freedom to decide anything, but I like my parents to give me a lot of suggestion that I can make anything easier.

What's new?

Malaria has been a fetal disease around the world, especially for people who live in undeveloped or developing area. It causes severe illness in millions of people and kills more than one million each year. Now, a researching crew found a slug-like species, sea cucumber, produces protein and lectin which can effectively against the malaria parasite. Researches produce the same protein the mosquitoes have first, because mosquitoes carry the malaria parasite. Then, they fused protein with part of the gene from sea cucumbers. Professors said the processes still go with unpredictable danger but it’s promising. This news stimulate not only medical person but also those who suffer from this disease or who live in risk.

Train crash

Train crashes always happen thought trains today have high qualities. The high-speed railway in Taiwan had its first driving in 2006. It and the old Taiwan railway are all emphasize that they offer a comfortable and maximal safe environment for passengers. However, I saw many train crashes in Taiwan very often. Today, I read online news from BBC, about a train crash in Pakistan. One of the officials said the signalling faults and poorly maintained tracks are often the cause of the accidents. I think railway in Taiwan has the same problems the Pakistan has. Worst of all, the accident in Taiwan’s railway sometimes happened because of the controllers. Many innocent people will be killed in this disaster due to their careless. Taking a train is the convenient and economic way for me to go anywhere. For commuters, taking a train is a part of their lives. It is an important transportation though it has potential danger.

An exciting trip

Some of my best friends and I are going to have an exciting trip this weekend. We planned to go to Kaohsiung. Instead of taking transportation, we decided to ride our motorcycle. We will take a rest at some spots that our motorcycle won’t break down. One of us lives in Kaohsiung; she has already made a schedule for this trip: a new and famous department store, a beautiful port and a big night market. We are excited about this trip not only because the attracting schedule but also the gift-exchanging activity. I spent a lot of time to think about which present is practical and useful for male and female. I can’t reveal the gift here until the end of this weekend. Guess what it is?

My plan

It was the third year since I studied in this university. I got not only the knowledge but so many things from my teachers, friends, and some people I didn’t know very much. It was a difficult time to start a new plan for my own future as Elisa mentioned few days ago. I was panic even though teachers suggest me try to find a job. I think the Bachelor Degree is a basic certification that can prove a person has the abilities to do a job. I will not find a good job which I interest in if I don’t get the Bachelor Degree. However, it will be a very hard task if I enter graduate school. I still have to follow my original routine like study more articles, listen to English radio and so forth. I will also learn computer skills from books that I can have a test and get the certification. That’s what I have planned to do so far.

My aquarium

One day, I kept watching at my aquarium which my friend gave me two moths ago. It was a coincidence, her mother didn’t allow her to feed any kinds of animal at home and I wanted to feed fishes since I moved into my own room. Therefore, she gave me for free. There were too many to count and they swang very fast. Especially, three small shrimps in it, their bodies were very clear that I could look through them to the other side of the aquarium. I wonder how their life likes in the aquarium because they stay in a limited place for their whole life. Are they happy or not? What do they do in it? All silly questions came to me while looking at the aquarium.

Electronic dictionary or paper dictionary

Teachers always suggest us not to use electronic dictionaries. I once tried to use a paper dictionary but it cost me a few more time than searching on electronic dictionary. Although I could get further information such as different meanings, examples, synonyms, and antonyms while using paper dictionary, I save a lot of time by using electronic dictionary. I could just turn on the power and entered the word I wanted to search, and then the meanings will be showed on the screen. It helped me a lot when I had a large amount of articles to read. I will use paper dictionaries as possible as I can because I am English major.

keep going?

I have no idea about my future study plan and I found it was not a big deal whether to get the university degree or not. I used to be a diligent student, of course, I am still is now. I concentrate on English learning since I decided to major in English. However, I didn’t make a great progress in my English abilities in these two and half years. I was afraid of speaking English and I had not enough vocabularies in writing and reading. After attending a speech and getting some suggestion from my teachers, I started to think my future carefully. I consider if it was right to contribute all my time to English or I should give it up and learn another skills that has big differences from English. Was it a panic time to most of the students in the third year in university or it was just my problem?

A fortune-teller

The last time I went to see a fortune-teller was at the age of seventeen. I went there with my parents. They gave the fortune-teller my lunar calendar birthday that he could analyze my present and predict my future relied on my birthday. He told me a lot of things I had to follow or I might get hurt. For example, I couldn’t ride my bike too fast nor could I ride too slowly because I might get hurt by someone at twenty-three years old. I was told it will be better to get marry after twenty-seven years old and I would have a sweet family. Yesterday I went to see a fortune-teller with my friends again. This fortune-teller looked at lines on my right hand and said the same thing as the last fortune-teller. Was that a coincident or it will really happen?

Taking a train

Taking a train is the most convenient way for me to get home. I spent three to four hours at train station and on a train. That is, I had a lot of free time while taking a train. I used to read a book at train station, but I couldn’t concentrate on my book for there were too much people and too much attraction. I also try to sleep until I reach my destination but I felt sharp pain on my neck. I started to watch at people around me. I found it was interesting to hear the conversation between people. Sometimes it made me laugh and sometimes it surprised me. It seemed strange and not good but I could get some idea or information from them. I also got some idea that I could write on my blog.