jennifer

Several days ago, I watched a movie shown by Vera, she was our Sports Listening teacher. In her class, she mentioned this movie and promised to show us. And that day she got the chance. It is a movie about sports, but after finishing watching the movie, I find it is actually about feminism, or about a female tennis player trying to pursue equal pay as men. This story caused such a great sensation that I presume every American heard about it. Things were like this: Bobbi was a violent chauvinism; he publicly undervalued female tennis players. He himself was also a tennis player, but 30 years past his prime. He first challenged King, the Winbledon winner at that year. But King refused to play with him, thinking it was ridiculous. He then turned to another female player and defeated her. After that female player’s defeat, King finally popped up and accepted the challenge.

There were big promotions before the battle of sexes. King trained hard to prepare for that day. And at last, the day indeed came. King left little doubt of which sex was gonna win on the court. Bobbi lost.

Bobbi gave King her due after the match. For King, this was more than a match, it was a milestone for women liberation. From that day on, female tennis players have been paid equally as men by the U.S Tennis Association.

As you watch it, you may feel it is a little bit ridiculous. However, behind the ridicule lies the sublime— the equality of men and women.

From air pollution to the recent Tibet issue, the author gives a panorama of what problems Beijing is facing. Suddenly, Beijing becomes the enemy of the whole world. Whatever Beijing does is not right, is against the human rights and is opposing the Olympic ideals. Suddenly, a bunch of human rights advocates are beginning to talk, pouring out their theories without checking whether they are true or not. Suddenly, some athletes are beginning to become extremely uncomfortable: “the air is clean and it is going to influence my performance. I will not go.”

Oh, my goodness, what is wrong with these fragile athletes? What is wrong with the rest of the world? When there was no Olympics in Beijing, everything is normal and people are silent. But once Beijing is undergoing great pressures, people begin to attack her. It is like throwing stones in to the well with the clear knowledge that there is a person underneath. It is not a fair play anyway.

I hope most people have a right understanding of what is really happening in China. For those who really can not accept the way China handles problems, my suggestion is to keep your

oppositions in mind and keep your mouth shut. For sometimes you may not succeed controlling that gossip machine. Every individual country has its own way of approaching an issue.

And before you judge others, judge yourself first!

The title of this article drew my attention instantly. It is a title worth pondering. The author actually wants to say that clean and quiet Games are impossible, and Beijing can also not escape the curse. He calls for people : let us not pretend there is going to be clean and quiet Games, let us just accept the fact as it is. He even goes far as to comment that ever since the marriage of Olympic ideals and corporate ideology, the Olympic Games were tainted.

   Personally, I think this columnist really penetrates deep into the issue and presents a unique view. But hoping against hope sounds a little bit too pessimism. If we do not hope for a clean and quiet Game, we would have no incentive to make a clean and quiet Game. We can not leave it there, let it tainted and do nothing with the excuse that it is destined to be like that. We know some trouble is bound to appear during the coming out Beijing Games, but if we even do not hope for a calm and quiet Game, we will not endeavor to make it pure and clean. The fact that we hope for a wonderful outcome does not mean we turn blind eye on the potential troubles. Hoping against hope is not all necessary.

   But this attitude proposed by the author at least makes me feel relieved. Because from his view, I can see he does not bear any particular prejudice towards Beijing Olympic Games, he simply thinks it is normal for some short-sighted bigots to politicalized the Beijing Games.

I never expected that this memory would last so long. Even today, once I see something related to Triathlon, I would instantly jump on my feet. An air of excitement and passion would erupt on my head, putting me into a zone where I would feel nothing but emotions, aspirations, and motivations. I am fueled by energy and dipped into vigor.
I shared my experience as a volunteer in Triathlon World Cup to my classmates. And I feel extremely proud of having his unique experience. It turns my black- and-white into a life with shining colors. It even offers me great ideas when I compose an article. As long as the topic is centered on Triathlon, I could write without exhaustion. Never has an experience left me so much legacy.
The website I introduce to you offers you the most dynamic and exciting news, information about Triathlon. I especially love the videos posted in the web. Some of them are live broadcasts of Triathlon Competitions, others are fantastic promotions composed by the ITU (International Triathlon Union). For the competition videos, the web provides English commentaries, so while you are watching the videos, you can also enjoy the commentators’ passionate and professional tones.
It is gonna be truly fabulous!

After I read this article, I feel there are a lot waiting for me to pursue. I should not just satisfy the status quo; instead, I should look up to Mark Dayoub as an example. Her unlimited vigor rocked me, encouraged me and pushed me forward to take steps bravely. You must be curious about who this person might be. I gonna tell you, she is amazing.
At first, I thought this was going to be a normal article about a senior triathlete who even at the age of 69 kept competing in iron triathlon. However, when the story waded in to other fields of Dayoub’s life, I became refreshed and focused. Her career embarked upon first as a maths teacher. During the teaching years, she have succeeded in getting her master’s and doctor’s degrees. But after she partially free herself from family burden and responsibility, she began to achieve her long-held dream—doing business. She established her own company named Alpha Financial Management, moreover, turning it into a healthy and successful small business.
Such a career and achievement makes people feel jealous, but to Dayoub, her life is just beginning. Triathlon becomes her another dream, “keep on keeping on!” as she would say

Jacobellis’s case reminds me of a story I once read. The story is about a respectable monk in Japan. I forgot his name, but his name was well-known around the village where he lived. One day, an old woman, accompanied by her young daughter, went to the monk’s residence. Once they had arrived there, the old woman began to pour vicious condemnation on the monk, accusing him of making her daughter pregnant. The monk felt extremely confused at first, but after giving a slight observation on the pregnant girl’s eyes, the monk guessed out more or less what had happened to her.
To avoid being rebuked by her mother and people around, she lied to her mum that the monk was the baby’s father. The monk silently put up with the old woman’s humiliation and later even accepted the unfair punishment to bring up the so-called son. During the bringing-up process, not a single complaining word was ever made by the monk. Many years passed, the young girl once lied eventually realized her guilt. She came to the monk’s and repented her vice sincerely. The monk smiled and forgave her. When asked why he admitted the accusation and punishment, the monk replied: “f I had denied, I would have more trouble than now.”
Yes, he is right. We Chinese also have an old saying that“此地无银三百两”, simply meaning that useless explanation lead to more trouble. The story behind this saying tells there is a man who owns a big amount of money, he digs a hole in his garden and puts his money in it. To make it safer, he erects a sign writing“under the ground lies no money!”
Maybe I wander too far away from the topic. However, I think the wit sparkling from these two stories also applied to Jacobellis’s case! She does not need to explain, as long as she is right.

I can not get crazy about it!
“It is just a sport, I cannot get crazy about it!” said a German-Iraqi triathlete champion. First, let us ignore this striking statement and pierce into this champion’s unique background. He is born in Germany, but with his father being a Iraqi who went to German to study, he naturally converted to the Islamic religion, becoming a Muslim. A German Muslim, for me, it is a queer combination. But, to this guy, he thinks it quite normal. He says he is just an ordinary German boy with a non-German root.
He supports Iraq War, for he thinks this War ended the dictatorship there which prevented him from visiting his father’s homeland—Iraq.
What I am concerned here is not his opinions on the issue of Iraq War, or his little-heard-about family background, but his different-from-others views on sport, which I have given at the very beginning of my blog.
This is a very fresh and new opinion, for the majority would say sports make them crazy, but he does not. He refuses to let sport consume him. He perfectly balances his workouts with his studies. He now studies to achieve his master’s in Arabic language, literature and history.
This is the kind of man I most admire! I myself very much want to be like him who can fully arrange his lifetime and live it efficiently. I am also on my way to the master’s; I hope I can suck more energy and vigor from this kind of ironman stories.

Queer! Queer! Queer! A Sister triathlete. This reminds me of a film called “Sisters Are Also Crazy !” Indeed, they are. But here we just focus on one of them. Her name is Madona Buder, a Catholic nun of the order Sisters for a Christian Community in Spokane, Washington. When she was told that running can harmonize the mind, body and soul, she turned instantly to triathlon, a sport that challenges one’s physical stamina. To an ordinary people, this change would seem insignificant and trivial, but to a nun, this may lead to big controversy. “Not to use the gift that God has given you is an insult to your creator!” Sister Buder explained. Her statement rocked me, filling me with both pities and hopes. I feel ashamed that I had heard about this saying so late. But I feel hopeful, for I think there is still enough time waiting for me to explore and make use of. We should set Sister as an example, and endeavor not to “insult our creator”, otherwise, he would revenge on us.

The article just now I read talks about golf class and golf college. Actually, there are also classes concerned with golf in our University, for I am in the Beijing Sports University. And I also remenber one of my foreign teachers once taught us something about golf when we were in our sophomore year: what that equipment is called, how to play it, different clubs one golfer needs to use in different situations, what the golf course looks like, etc. I should say I indeed know golf. However, I still feel that I am far away from that sport. I can not say that I will never have opportunity to get in touch with this sport, but I think presently the chance for me to step into the golf world is slim.
First, it is still a sport played by the few elite in China. Ordinary people would not turn to golf when they think they need some exercises.Second, in my mind, golf is more like a “meeting” than a sport, should I say golf is not a sheer sport. CEOs from big companies, tailed by two or three employees, are swinging their clubs on the golf course. At the same time, they are dealing with some confidential business. The golf course is simply another secret office for him.
Stereotype, prejudice, yes, maybe. I think I have watched too many films in which all the bad deeds were conspirated on the golf course. -_- ! Of course, I am not here to pour my naive opinions on golf. Surely I hope it will be a promising field. Two of my friends swerved respectively from English major and Management major to golf. I respect their choices and admire their bravery. I hope that golf can lead them to wealth and happiness.

Everest should be a place every mounain climber wants to go, if conditions permit, at least I think it is so. But someone semms to hold the opposite opinion. Michael Kodas, a writer who made an unsuccessful attempt to climb the world’s tallest mountain, claimed:” Everest, now more than ever, is a place any sane person would avoid.” Are you surprised to hear that? I am. Actually I am greatly shocked by what he said. The fact that he does not pose this wild opinion out of nothing makes me even more astonished.
In his book: High Crimes:The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed, he describes this highest place on earth as a crime zone where fraud, theft, extortion and perhaps something even worse are born. A climber was allegedly left to die by his guide, he himself experienced a tyrannical, volatile and even violent team leader.
How can we analyse this kind of phenomenon? How do we understand it? Does it imply that humans’ defects are doomed to ture explicit when in a place of no social disciplines? Does it mean humans are born to be greed and bad? Everest simply reflects the real, tearing off the long-worn mask. Does it or does it not?