Lionboy: The Chase

The words used in the story and the way the story went are not difficult to read, but I didn’t like it any way. The setting was complicated. It went up and down, and lift and right, I couldn’t catch up the story. I’d got this feelings before when I was reading other books, usually I could get what the story was when I kept reading. Reading just a chapter is too short, before I could get what it was telling, it ended. I think I’ll get a better feeling if I read the whole book one day.

 Interview Audio

Zizou Corder. Lionboy: The Chase. :Puffin Audio, 2005.

• Genre: Fiction
• Source: Mrs.Farrer
• Rating: 1
• Read: The first chapter

Vocabulary

• Unidentified -Not recognized or known; not identified
• Miserable -Very unhappy or uncomfortable

The Chinese American

One of the major American immigration is Chinese immigration. It started during 19th century when Chinese went overseas for jobs. The story goes though from the first Chinese workers to the new Chinese immigration today. It tells the feelings and the problems them have gone though.

During the war, the mainland China and Taiwan were political separated. Many Taiwanese people thought the war would have soon come to Taiwan and immigrated to other countries. Lots of them have gone to Americas. There are now about 500,000 Taiwanese Americans living in the U.S.A. But not only the U.S, Taiwanese immigrants have gone to all the countries that they could get to, many countries in South America. Today, there are still lots of people moving to other countries, most of them become Canadians, American, Australians and New Zealanders.

I’ve at least three friends became Canadians, six friends became New Zealanders or permanent residents, and my own family also have immigration background. I think because of this situation, the history of immigration is important for us, it shows how the people are scared and find a way out for life.

Chinese Historical Society of America

Organization of Chinese American

Marissa Lingen. The Chinese American. Broomall PA:Mason Crest Publishers, 2009.

• Genre: History
• Source: Senior Library
• Rating: 3
• Read: Whole Book

Vocabulary

• Bigamy –The practice of having two wives
• Segregate –To separate from the general population

Stray Bird

Stray Bird has been done by Tagore in 1996. He used the language as a prayer, a conversation of the world or a whisper in the silent. His work, Stray Bird, is a guide of the stray people in the believing of the god. He used a lot of the old English, such as thou or hast. They’d given the poems a different soul. I think people shalt leave this book on the cabinet, in case sometimes get lost, it’ll frozen the time into another world for you.

Since it was September Eleventh yesterday, I would like to leave these lines for the U.S “When I stand before thee at the day’s end thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds also my healing.”- Stray Bird 289 by Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore. Stray Bird. Taipei:Bookman Books Co. Ltd.,2006.

• Genre: Poetry
• Source: Book Store
• Rating: 4
• Read: Whole Book

Vocabulary

• Hospitable –Having good condition that allow things to grow; having a pleasant environment
• Afterglow –The light that is left in the sky after the sun has set; a warm pleasant feeling after a good experience

Dream Land

What and where is home? One of a most difficult question is asked by this book. Is home where you live or your parents or grandparents ever lived? The girl named Safinar and her family had gone from Uzbekistan to Russia to find Caucasus that their grandparents came from.They had been dreaming of going back to Caucasus, but time passed and thing had changed. Facing the strange land that she had only heard from the stories, Safi wondered if it could really call home.

Many people came from China to Taiwan back in 1946 because of the war, it was sixty years ago. My grandfather was one of them; he came from the north of China. He was around seventeen back then. The people whom came to Taiwan like him were expecting to go back at that time. They thought they would have just stayed for a while. But the things didn’t turn out like that, most of them are still living in Taiwan today.

Traditionally, the place you belong is where your father belongs. If I follow this rule, then I’m from northern China. But like the story, is it really a place you would call home? I think home is a place your mind belongs, a place you feel home. In the story, the girl and her family feel that they belong to Caucasus, and started the hate and argument, I wonder if it worth. People can belong to somewhere, but I think we needed remember we’re all the citizens of the world. That’s where we really belong.

Lily Hyde. Dream Land. London: Walker Books Ltd,2008.

• Genre: Fiction
• Source: Senior Library
• Rating: 3
• Read: Whole Book

Vocabulary

• Collectivization –Joining several private farms, industries,etc. together so that they are controlled by community or by government
• Restructurization –Organizing something such as a system or a company in a new and different way

Teachers & Students

I still remember, one day when I was in SPP level one in grade eight. The teacher didn’t come that day, so an other teacher came to take the class. We were asked to do some work, but we didn’t understand what he’d said. Andrea tried to ask him, but he was not listening, so he called out "Umm… teacher?” And the teacher turned to face him and said mockingly “ Yes! Student!” We didn’t know what was wrong with that.

We’ve discussed how we called our teacher back in our own country after that. In Taiwan (and China), we call teacher his or her sir name with the word teacher followed. It a kind of reminding that he or she is a person who teach you, give you knowledge and should be honored. Also in Italy, they’ve said that it was a proper way to call a teacher. But in English, it seems like they think using the word teacher is looking teacher as a person who serve knowledge and not respecting them. It was really a huge difference between what we’ve meant and he’d thought about the word teacher.

I’m fine with calling Mr or Ms if the teacher’s staying with you for years. But if it’s just for a day, please just let us call you teacher. You know, names are hard to learn.

Heidi

As the title, the story is about a switz girl called Heidi. Both her parents were died when she was very young. She was taken care by her aunt for few years, and her aunt took her to her grandfather in a mount in Switzerland. Her grandfather was known as a wired person in a town down the mountain. He lived in his own way and stayed away from others. But, eventually Heidi’s clear heart taught him to give up the hate.

Heidi was written in about hundred years ago in German. It is one of the most well known story. I think the reason that it could last so long is because of the character of Heidi. The child’s clear heart give us a unadulterated realm in our mind.

Johanna Spyri. Heidi. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1996.

• Genre: Fiction
• Source: Book Store
• Rating: 4
• Read: Whole Book

Vocabulary

• Dreadful –Very bad or unpleasant
• Opportunity –A time when a particular situation makes it possible to do or achieve something