Life is what you make it!

With Liu Xiang, the “fly man” limping out of the field with pity step by step, my tears filling with sorrow and sadness run down my checks. I truly felt the great sorrows in the depth of his heart，helpless from his desolate back view, also the reconcile to the situation. We had thought of either win or lose of this former gold medalist. However, we hadn’t thought it closed in such a way, Liu Xiang withdraw the 110 meter hurdle with the unbearable injuries in his feet, leaving millions of astonished spectaculars tremendous pity and sympathies. Later in the press, Shun Haiping, Liu’s coach said that Liu had suffered the injuries for a long time, but he born the sustaining sores and trained harder to compete in the Olympic Games. As an athlete, competition field is their playground. There is no doubt that Olympic Games are the grandest meeting. I believe Liu is the one that dreams most to challenge with other excellent athletes and himself. Not so many people might remember the morning on August 18,2008, while Liu would sure inscribe this day on his memory, on which he participated the Men’s110meter hurdle, but his injuries attacked as he was training for preliminary, finally he left the field with great pity. It’s the courage which only the champion holds to choose to withdraw in the watching of millions of spectacular. We are proud of you, Liu Xiang. In the competition field, it’s filled with too many results that are too cruel to bear. In the eyes of most people, the final results in grand competition, the simply numbers represent all your hard work in the past several years, even in your whole life. Nobody gives a view to the failures, although they maybe more excellent than the gold medalist standing in the highest award platform. We misunderstand the true meaning of Olympics, “higher, faster, and stronger.” The most precious thing is the process of participating, not just lies on the result. So when you are cheering for the champions, no forget to applause to other failures. 

 When the whole nation’s hope rests on one pair of legs, it also has right to soften for no matte however iron its master, there is certain time when he cannot bear it. We usually focus on the miracle he makes and how high he can fly but few people care about whether he’s tired and need a rest. When he feels fatigued, please leave him spare room and time to lie down, storing energies for next rise to the sky.

                                                                                                                                                              Written in August 18

While the praises for the splendid opening ceremony of the Summary Olympics in Beijing on Aug.8 has reverberated around the world, we shouldn’t forget to show our great honor and thanks to all the people who have been working hard for this great celebration. Liu Yan is such a girl deserving our respects and remembering. Is there any people still remember the magnificent solo Silk Road dance in the opening ceremony, in which a girl was dancing on a swirling paintings lifted and moved by a couple of people below her. It was Liu Yan, who was selected to perform the solo dance at first. However, she fell from a three-meter platform during the rehearsal on July 27. Liu was paralyzed in this fall. And now she is receiving treatment in a Beijing hospital. It remains uncertain whether she would be able to stand up or to do her favorite thing –dancing.  Liu is a famous young dancer who has received a lot of rewards and enjoys great frames either in domestic or abroad. As a professional dancer, legs are as important as life. For me, a normal girl, I still could not imagine the life without healthy legs. So what’s the life would be if such a genius dancer cannot use her legs. This indomitable young girl moved the whole world again, she didn’t defeated by the sudden tragedy. When the three directors of the opening ceremony visited her, she showed her strong will and expressed her determination to stand up again and get back on the stage. It’s a great pity that we couldn’t enjoy Liu’s excellent dancing in the opening ceremony, however, we will all remember this beautiful girl, her great dedications, incurable sacrifice for the Olympics. Liu Yan, in which “Yan” means tough in Chinese was supported by all the people in china to go through such a huge block and make a miracle once more. We are all behind you!

                                                                                                                                                                 Written in August 10

             Yesterday was the first day of a series of fencing events in the Olympic Games. Tan Xue was supposed to be China’s most medal hopeful contender in Women’s Individual Sabre. We were all looking forward to seeing her fight in the Gold Medal Match and wining the Gold Medal. However, after the every moment of round of 32, I was shocked by the desperate yells from the neighboring offices, in which several volunteers were watching the match. Later I received the Results Bracket in the round of 32 from PRD (I am ONS pigeonhole asset) and learned that Tan Xue, failed to enter top four, losing to Russia’s Velikaya Sofiya 9-15 at the preliminary. When our colleague, a flash quote report interviewed her, she ascribed her failure to her unfamiliar with her rival.” Maybe we should have studied this rival better.” Tan said with regret. China’s another fencer, Bao Yingying was also knocked out during the quarterfinals. So china had no chance of medal in the first fencing event. Compared with the setback of china women individual saber squad, American team’s clean medal sweep really excited the whole fencing hall. It was American’s fist gold medal in the first day. In the end, the former American president George Herbert Bush rushed to fencing hall to congratulation to their heroines.

An increasing number of people, even including college students, are choosing to live together before marriage, so called “cohabitation”, thought the conservative oppose it; the radical young men hail it; the rest remain the ambiguous attitudes. A new round of debating about “cohabite or not ”are going on: some stick to the numerous benefits of cohabitation in love, finance, harmonious family life and so on, on the contrary, others believe that cohabitation is not so beneficial as it sounds on the surface. At least, the disadvantages overweight the possible advantages. After going through profound research, we find that the latter is more convincing. These are a number of reasons given today for living together, most of which are based on current popular myths. Several of the most common myths are as follows.
“Living together before marriage increases your chances of having a happy marriage together.” This may be the predominant reason persuading couples of young girls and boys to move to live together. In a study at the University of Western Ontario, sociologists investigated the relationship between cohabitation and divorce among Canadian couples. Through analysis of a national representative sample of over 8,000 ever married men and women, the sociologists established that “premarital cohabiters in Canada have over twice the risk of divorce…when compared with no cohabiters.” It is not a coincidence, and such results are also found in other studies. Perhaps people living in such a union “cohabitation” are lack of the restriction of legislation of formal marriage. Such a trial marriage means they can easily end up the relationship, and they hardly take the relationship seriously, take little notice of the small things, which may not affect the present life, but it’s vital to the latter happy marriage. Most of people who have already cohabitated regard marriage as cohabitation with a piece of paper” so they would end it without too much concerns, which is different from people who haven’t have such premarital cohabitation. Thus, trial marriage is not the guarantee of happy marriage. No doubt that relationship dispends on but the unsteady, unreliable, abstract motion or feeling is hard to sustain.
Another myth is that “Everybody is doing it, nobody cares.” Admittedly, more and more people accepted premarital cohabitation, some even actually do it, however, in china, and the predominant moral standards still go against this kind of action. In traditional Chinese ideas, girl’s chastity is the best gift for the bridegroom. Having sex or not is considered to judge a good girl, wife, even daughter in law. It’s understandable that people have such thoughts. Take buying shoes for instance, most people would like to wear it to see if the shoes are fit. However, they usually refer new shoes to the sample shoes, which maybe a lot of people have already tried it. It’s out of the instinct, not something else. Even if the husband doesn’t care about it, the moral pressure coming form people around, especially family members, can be the impediments on the road to a successful marriage even on the process of getting along with the kin. However open China is, virginity is still a rather important thing in a country with a long history of feudal culture.
“Cohabitation is as same as the marriage without a certificate” seemingly a piece of paper is the only distinction between them. It is true that they live together, share the expense together, make love, and maybe bring up children. However, apart from that, there remains lots of differences. Most men cohabit because of the need of sex and the convenience of relationship. Whereas, women cohabit with expectation that it will lead to marriage. Moreover, women usually spend more time in, devote more to the family as a real wife, the hostess. Now modern women, also have a job outside as man, have to bear duel duties, which definitely exhausts the women. Nevertheless, they also have to take the risk of being pregnant and have to abort if the men don’t want this baby. Absolutely abortion blows both physical and mental hits to the girls. Furthermore, once men break up with them, they can not receive the legislative aid. What’s more, Dietitians have found that women tend to gain weight once they move in with male partners. “Living with a male seemed to put pressure on females to consume more of the ‘unhealthy’ choices while females had a positive influence on the diets of the males”, according to the research at the Newcastle University Human Nutrition Research Center in Britain. Because women tend to take control of the diet and also voluntarily take up the task of consuming the leftovers, which are undoubtedly damaged the women’s health. In such a relation, females suffer more than males.
“Cohabitation provides the economic benefits.” In terms of money, it’s cheaper to live together because another one shares the house rent, and living materials with you. You acctually hold more money in you hands. At the same time, what are you losing? Moral standards, virginity, purity, self-esteem, as well as good impression in others’ mind. Can they be measured by money? Or do they just worth such a mount of money? Everyone has a rule in their minds.
In short, living together before marriage is not a good choice. Short-term love or relation cannot accumulate to a happy marriage without the vow in public, the firm loyalty as well as the faith to live through the whole life and bring up their children. Thus, girls and boys need to think for a while before moving to live together. Ask ourselves whether we are equipped with enough responsibility, confidence, determination and mental preparation for the difficulties in future. If not, we’d better abandon the idea.

Work Cited List
L. Harris Catherine, Ph.D “Cohabitation before Marriage: Is It a Risk Factor for Divorce?” 3 Nov.2000.
Risen Clay “cohabitation is bad for women’s health” New York Times 10 Dec.2006
“Allow college students to cohabit” 9,April, 2007
“Cohabitation Pro or Con”
“Money and jobs play major role in predicting who cohabits and who marries” Cornell University, 1999, www.newswise.com

 I felt rather uncomfortable and inconvenient when my laptop was borrowed by my elder brother for he needed it to write his thesis. At the first several days, I don’t know what to do in the time in which I usually watch movie, read novel in-line, and chat with friend on-line or just rambling on line. I have adapted to the life with computer. The trouble doesn’t end at that. The inconvenience followed after that. As an English major student, we are often assigned to write blogs or essays in computer, make PPT, find materials, and listen to English videos and so on. Sometimes I had to write to essays on the paper and then borrow roommates’ computer to type it. The computers in the Teaching Building or the Library are also available, but the time limit makes it not convenient for me. However, with the time going, I am gradually finding the benefits of it; I am forming a better and regular living habit. Instead of surf the internet limitlessly in free time, I began t o try other activities. Now at dusk, I will go to run, play table tennis, or do other sports in the playground; at night, I may study in the classroom, or rambling in the campus, enjoying the scenery at night, or eating snacks with several friends outside the school. More still, I will not stay up to night to watch movie, and will go to bed early and get up early, which keep a whole day fresh. Compared with the life in a mess before, I am fond of the regular life now I am leading. I realized that I was lost in the internet too much so that I left my life in utter disorder. The days without computer let me realize this point and it’s not too late to correct it. From such experience I have learn that you should never leave yourself lost in the internet and let your life be controlled by it. We all should plan and live our lives by ourselves                                                                                                                                       Written in April 30

            Yesterday I learned that one of my roommates broke up with her boyfriend, I was taken aback for I knew that they really developed a good relationship which started form high school and continued till now. I don’t want to inquire into the reason causing their broke-up, I just find that why love are so fragile. Since I entered the university I have seen so many people around me beginning a love and ending a love, which is disobey to my belief in love. The expected love in my heart is the purest and as firm as a rock, which cannot fade with the passing of time. The girl and the boy meet occasionally, they are getting know each other, and understanding each other, and they fall in love with each other naturally. In the road of life, they support each other, care for each other, and don’t fell lonely in the pursuing of dream. In the daily life, may be they will find the defects and disagreements of each other, however, they love will overcome it and they will learn to think in the opposite site. When their love goes firm enough, they will go to the church and vow to accompany each other, love, honor, comfort, and cherish each other from that day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto each other for as long as them both shall live. Through the best and the worst, through the difficulty and the easy, they give each other life to keep. They will bring up their fruits of love, their children and form their own family, then live like this until death. That’s the love I yearn for. It’s unnecessary for the love to be spectacular. Only the flat and pure love last long. The most important in love is that you are loved, and keep your love fresh in the daily life. I once came across an old couple rambling in the path in the sunset, I admired them very much. The harmonious and peaceful scene reminded me of an old Chinese saying “To hold your hand; to grow old with you.” That the highest situation I have longtime dreamed of. We may be not rich, but we can live by ourselves; we maybe not have abundant material life, but we are rich in thought, communicate in heart; our house may not be so large, but it’s enough to hold our love and accommodate ourselves. Although I haven’t start my first love or find my Mr. Right, I  do believe that there is a boy in some place in the world waiting for me, one day we will meet and fall in love with each other, love till death.                                                                                                                                        Written in April 28

Three days FIE World Championship final end with success, and I, first worked as a flash quote reporter, also gained a lot from it. Being a volunteer has been a deep dream for me since the success of Beijing Olympic application. Our work is to interview the athletes after the competition, ask them about their feelings and something related to the recent competition. I haven’t contact things like interview or report, and weren’t quite familiar with such issues, while most of my partners are the students’ of media major. After many days’ training and learning from partners, I was getting into it. Before the Championship, we were assigned to take responsibility of several national team or fencers and search their information from every possibly way; we entered the practice place to find certain fencers and check their faces with their names so that we would not mistake them when we interviewed them. However, on the first day of test events, I still felt nervous and uneasy, so did other volunteers. As the fist competition began, we work consecutively; we watched every competition including the fencers we were in charge of and interviewed them after the competition. Because the world championship is a kind of elimination series, the interval time was so short. Usually this competition ended, we interviewed the fencers, rushing to the office to write the report and returned to the fencing hall as the next competition was starting. We didn’t get a second to rest, not to say to have lunch. After the fist day, we all felt exhausted. Under the instructions of the experienced journalists, we just interviewed the seed athletes, the black horses or the expected athletes who lost the competition surprisingly. For the people we served for were the journalists, and they needed the valued information we posted in the INFOR system to help them to write a good report. At the beginning, I was so nervous that I didn’t dare to ask fencers questions. Nevertheless, with the competition going, I were getting braver and braver, and I found that such world class fencers were not so hard of approach, they were delighted to receive our interview either they won or lost, although a minority of fencers weren’t willing to do it. I am really happy to have such experience although I once was scolded well-intentioned by the manager when I forgot to ask the name of the fencer after the interview, when I lost the report as I forgot to copy it, or when I missed the fencers I was in charge of. For the things I gained from it overweight anything else. I hope that I can quality to serve for the Olympic Game.                     Written in April 21

  If you know nothing about the stories happen here, maybe you will find it to be but an ordinary garden, even a touch of shabby and tattered as you step into it. At the first sight, the luxuriant old trees, the tranquil yards, the grey tiles, the flourish unknown purple flowers everywhere consist the garden. However my friend studying in Peking University told me that it’s neither the “Weiming Lake”, nor the “Boya Towel” that Peking University most famous for, instead, it is the Yannan Garden, which is the spiritual home. Once it gathered Chinese most intellectual scholars and professors. Due to the long-time curiosity and the yearner for the scared place, yesterday I went here, view the beauty and was lost in her charm. Walking past the playground, you will see a small slope, stepping up; it’s the door of the garden. Once you enter in, you feel the greatest tranquility and you will step lighter unconsciously not to interrupt the harmonious and quiet atmosphere. Smelling the fragrance of the unknown purple flowers growing everywhere and verdant grasses, listening to the long-tailed grey sparrow, seeing the low but elegant houses , walking in the quiet winding slab stone path, I had the illusion that I came back to the 1920s or 1950s, I saw Bingxin(a famous female poet) along with her beloved husband rambling in the garden in front of me, I saw the young people talking volubly with excitement in the face, I saw Zhu guangqian (a prominent aesthetics master ) staring at a litter flower and lost in thought. Once it is said that “Not every prominent scholar is living in Yannan Garden, but everyone living Yannan Garden is prominent scholar.” I know Yannan Garden has a very important place in the deep hears of Peking people, even include me, a student not belong to Peking, who just touch a little of it. It is the most enjoyable thing to sitting in the stone stool, having a book in hand, and reading in the sunshine with the breeze blowing over. Yannan Garden, a spiritual home.                                                                                                                                                             Written in April,23  

The desperate loneliness rose from my bottom of hear at the first scene “Weeds have sprouted and flourished in the once splendid Time Square. Numerous abandoned cars blocked the street. It’s empty of all human life except for Robert Neville (Smith), patrolling the streets with his rifle and his faithful dog Samantha.” The inception of the film has already set the mood of the movie. As the only survivor and soldier-scientist in the New York City invaded by unknown virtues, Neville is driven by the only one mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. He says to the radio everyday “My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York City. I will be at the South Street Seaport everyday, at midday, when the sun is highest in the sky. If there is anybody out there…anybody. Please. You are not alone. I can provide food. I can provide shelter. I can provide security. If there is anybody, please. You are not alone.” Maybe he was saying to himself “You are not alone”. I don’t know whether you have ever thought of the scene that you are left alone in the world. At least for me, never. Living with the sole friend, loyal Samantha in the spacious city; enjoying the absolute freedom, entering any place, taking anything without permission, speaking to the mode everyday in the CD store, be familiar with the cartoon as to be able to recite all the subtitles, playing golf in the wing of fighter crafter, waiting hopeless for other survival, this is Neville’s isolated life. Will Smith inhabited the character so fully that let me go inside with him, share the same loneliness with him, and weep with him when his only companion Samantha sacrificed for him. Despite that many people pointed out the too much commercial elements, out-of-date plot, unreasonable setting, I love this movie. Not only be attracted by Smith’ remarkable acting skills, I was also led to feel the similar loneliness as Neville. We usually live in community, and we should thank to the companion of people around, known or unknown. Fro their  existence, we feel less lonely. That’s what I first realized after the film.

                                                                                                                                                                                    written in April 1st