On Friday, we usually have Mathematics and C-Programming lessons. However, this Friday, according to the schedule, we will not have C-Programming lesson, because Professor Tay will go to China to select the new batch of SM2 scholars. This reminds me of the scene when I competed with others to get a chance to study in Singapore.
I can still remember that during our military training, the cultivation held by my university began at the main campus every night. At that time, we were told that the examination was so difficult that we had to accept some training ahead of schedule. Therefore, every night, I had to ask for leave from my drillmaster and teachers, and then went to the main campus which was several kilometers away. Sometimes I even had no time to have dinner. I was really busy at that time.
Time passed very quickly. Soon, it was time for our examination. During that period of time, all of us who were going to take part in the examination were asked to live together in a hotel, because it was easier for the information to spread. We first attended the Mathematics test and the ability test. To my surprise, these two tests were not as difficult as we had heard from our seniors. It was somehow like our college entrance examination. Then, after these two tests, the interview came, which was considered as the most important part of the whole examination. Actually, what I had been worrying about was just the interview, for that was my first formal interview. I did not know how to behave well in an interview.
After doing a lot of preparation, I went into the office to start the first interview in my life. As I saw the five interviewers, two professors separately from NUS and NTU, and three officials from MOE, much pressure unexpectedly came to me. I tried to calm down and concentrate on the questions but it was really difficult. The whole period lasted nearly 20 minutes and I could not remember how many questions I had answered. After the interview, when I recalled what I said, I thought I could do much better if I felt unflappable enough. Anyway, the result satisfied me and the interviewers were also satisfied with what I had done.
Now, I am in Singapore, leading a new life with more challenges. The experience of the examination and the interview has become a part of my wonderful memory. I really cherish it.
Showing posts with label Angelina Wong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angelina Wong. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
What we gain from the research report
I really appreciate the chance we have to carry out the research and do the report. I gained a lot from it.
The first one is my computer skills. Before I entered the PRC university, DUT, I had been determined to pick up how to use Microsoft Office. Due to delay and my laziness, however, I did not learn it before I came to Singapore. Fortunately, the research report gave us the chance. We have a lot of tasks to do which must be done with Office. I promised doing these tasks to my fellow members and forced myself to learn Office. Almost all the charts and figures were done by me, during which I learned a lot. And I also do better in PPT. Now I can make a PPT within much shorter time than before. As for Word Document, I also improved a lot. Moreover, I have learned how to do simple PS with a simple program Meituxiuxiu, since I do not have PS, and I had never used PS before. I also learned how to deal with poster, I have get some suggestions on the Internet, and I am still working on these nights. What must be mentioned is that I usually do not do something completely, so our group leader Jin Lin did a lot to complete it. I thank him for his hard work.
Besides the technical skills, I also learned many skills in presentation. Such as eye contact, body language, pitch, tones, pause, gesture, voice, etc. What is more, I gained more confidence during the process, which is the most important for a foreign speaker.
Thirdly, teamwork. As Chinese students, teamwork is exactly what we lack. We learned how to share our thoughts, how to exchange ideas, how to persuade other members to accepted our ideas. Conflicts cannot be avoided, but we all understand others, we know that we all sacrificed a lot. And our friendship grows much stronger.
In a word, a meaningful research report.
The first one is my computer skills. Before I entered the PRC university, DUT, I had been determined to pick up how to use Microsoft Office. Due to delay and my laziness, however, I did not learn it before I came to Singapore. Fortunately, the research report gave us the chance. We have a lot of tasks to do which must be done with Office. I promised doing these tasks to my fellow members and forced myself to learn Office. Almost all the charts and figures were done by me, during which I learned a lot. And I also do better in PPT. Now I can make a PPT within much shorter time than before. As for Word Document, I also improved a lot. Moreover, I have learned how to do simple PS with a simple program Meituxiuxiu, since I do not have PS, and I had never used PS before. I also learned how to deal with poster, I have get some suggestions on the Internet, and I am still working on these nights. What must be mentioned is that I usually do not do something completely, so our group leader Jin Lin did a lot to complete it. I thank him for his hard work.
Besides the technical skills, I also learned many skills in presentation. Such as eye contact, body language, pitch, tones, pause, gesture, voice, etc. What is more, I gained more confidence during the process, which is the most important for a foreign speaker.
Thirdly, teamwork. As Chinese students, teamwork is exactly what we lack. We learned how to share our thoughts, how to exchange ideas, how to persuade other members to accepted our ideas. Conflicts cannot be avoided, but we all understand others, we know that we all sacrificed a lot. And our friendship grows much stronger.
In a word, a meaningful research report.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Prison Break
Recently, I just finished watching the famous series Prison Break. It was a very long series, but the complex plots really made me absorbed in them. Actually, I did not start to watch Prison Break until I came to Singapore. With the glowing recommendation, I began to spend my spare time watching it. However, to my surprise, the characters and the logical plots were so attractive that I could not help falling in love with this series. Now, I finish watching it; I know the beginning, the whole progress and the ending. I think it is really worth watching. Here, I will introduce some of the characters. Perhaps through their personalities and stories, you may become interested and start to watch this excellent series.
First one is Michael Scofield. He is the most important character in this series. When we refer to Michael, the first two things that come to my mind are his wisdom and unflappability. He is an engineer, but he knows much more than an engineer is supposed to know. More surprisingly, he can come up with a plan at any time, no matter how emergency it is and usually, his plan will work out effectively. I even doubt whether he can read others’ mind. I really cannot believe he has this ability, but everything shows that he makes his plan according to what his enemies will do. It is so mystical. Moreover, there is another character impressing me a lot. It is Michael’s sense of responsibility. He always feels guilty for getting so many innocent people involved. He even imputes the death of others to his action of saving his innocent brother, Lincoln. More importantly, when he has the chance to get away from the police with Sarah and Lincoln, he chooses to stay to fight against the company in consideration of the whole country and the civilians. It is really admiring.
Second one is Alex Mahone. In my opinion, Alex is really an intelligent guy, even as intelligent as Michael. He is the only agent that can understand the tattooing on Michael’s body. Without Alex, Michael and Lincoln can go whatever they want. However, Alex becomes another prey. He joins Michael to destroy the company. Actually, Alex is an essential teammate of Michael. He is crueler than Michael, so he can make up Michael’s shortcoming in some aspects. Some audience do not like Alex, because it is Alex that kills Michael’s father and forces Michael and Lincoln run as fast as they can, but the fact is that Alex also loses his son, loses his family. Lincoln has forgiven him, why cannot we give him a second chance? I think Alex is also an admiring man. He manages to get rid of the drugs; he does not betray Michael, but helps him find Sylla and destroys the company; he even saved Michael’s life at a pinch in Sona. He did not expect too much, just to stay with his families. After the long fight with the company, he finally made it. It is quite a happy ending for him.
The last person that I want to talk about is Paul Kellerman. He used to be a federal agent. In order to help Caroline become the president of, he killed many innocent people secretly, even his partner, Danny. At that time, he was just a devil. Actually, I am very surprised to see him in the last few episodes. I thought he was killed by the company after he provided the evidence to release Michael, Sarah and Lincoln, but he does survived and becomes a member of UN. After he gives Sylla to the UN officials and destroys the company totally, he even becomes a senator of the parliament, who focuses on fighting against crimes. He is regarded as the angel by the US citizens. However, when Danny’s widow comes to Paul and spits on his face, he has to suffer from grievance and the condemnation from his conscience. As a matter of fact, the evil Kellerman has already been dead. The man standing in front of others is a really good guy. However, neither the people killed by the evil Kellerman, nor the people still alive understand him. The only thing he can do is to bury all the things deep in his heart and continue to act as an angel.
People who are familiar with Prison Break may ask why I choose these three persons to talk about, especially the last two persons, Alex and Paul. Indeed, Alex and Paul are not so important as Sarah and Lincoln, even Sucre. Nevertheless, what I think is that Alex and Paul are the two persons who experience a significant change in their lives. Moreover, it also somehow reflects on the intricate plots. Therefore, I think these two persons are quite typical.
My analysis about the characters in Prison Break comes to the end. I hope through my blog, you can get the interest to watch Prison Break. If you start to watch a few episodes, I am sure you will fall in love with it as I did before.
First one is Michael Scofield. He is the most important character in this series. When we refer to Michael, the first two things that come to my mind are his wisdom and unflappability. He is an engineer, but he knows much more than an engineer is supposed to know. More surprisingly, he can come up with a plan at any time, no matter how emergency it is and usually, his plan will work out effectively. I even doubt whether he can read others’ mind. I really cannot believe he has this ability, but everything shows that he makes his plan according to what his enemies will do. It is so mystical. Moreover, there is another character impressing me a lot. It is Michael’s sense of responsibility. He always feels guilty for getting so many innocent people involved. He even imputes the death of others to his action of saving his innocent brother, Lincoln. More importantly, when he has the chance to get away from the police with Sarah and Lincoln, he chooses to stay to fight against the company in consideration of the whole country and the civilians. It is really admiring.
Second one is Alex Mahone. In my opinion, Alex is really an intelligent guy, even as intelligent as Michael. He is the only agent that can understand the tattooing on Michael’s body. Without Alex, Michael and Lincoln can go whatever they want. However, Alex becomes another prey. He joins Michael to destroy the company. Actually, Alex is an essential teammate of Michael. He is crueler than Michael, so he can make up Michael’s shortcoming in some aspects. Some audience do not like Alex, because it is Alex that kills Michael’s father and forces Michael and Lincoln run as fast as they can, but the fact is that Alex also loses his son, loses his family. Lincoln has forgiven him, why cannot we give him a second chance? I think Alex is also an admiring man. He manages to get rid of the drugs; he does not betray Michael, but helps him find Sylla and destroys the company; he even saved Michael’s life at a pinch in Sona. He did not expect too much, just to stay with his families. After the long fight with the company, he finally made it. It is quite a happy ending for him.
The last person that I want to talk about is Paul Kellerman. He used to be a federal agent. In order to help Caroline become the president of, he killed many innocent people secretly, even his partner, Danny. At that time, he was just a devil. Actually, I am very surprised to see him in the last few episodes. I thought he was killed by the company after he provided the evidence to release Michael, Sarah and Lincoln, but he does survived and becomes a member of UN. After he gives Sylla to the UN officials and destroys the company totally, he even becomes a senator of the parliament, who focuses on fighting against crimes. He is regarded as the angel by the US citizens. However, when Danny’s widow comes to Paul and spits on his face, he has to suffer from grievance and the condemnation from his conscience. As a matter of fact, the evil Kellerman has already been dead. The man standing in front of others is a really good guy. However, neither the people killed by the evil Kellerman, nor the people still alive understand him. The only thing he can do is to bury all the things deep in his heart and continue to act as an angel.
People who are familiar with Prison Break may ask why I choose these three persons to talk about, especially the last two persons, Alex and Paul. Indeed, Alex and Paul are not so important as Sarah and Lincoln, even Sucre. Nevertheless, what I think is that Alex and Paul are the two persons who experience a significant change in their lives. Moreover, it also somehow reflects on the intricate plots. Therefore, I think these two persons are quite typical.
My analysis about the characters in Prison Break comes to the end. I hope through my blog, you can get the interest to watch Prison Break. If you start to watch a few episodes, I am sure you will fall in love with it as I did before.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Memory
Last Friday, after our group had discussed how to revise our research project, Yummy, Huang Da and I stayed at the canteen to finish our job. Suddenly, Yummy sighed, “How time flies. We have been to Singapore for nearly half a year.” This kind of topic can always make people recall a lot of memory. Three of us began to think about things happened in the past half a year, the special half a year.
We thought about the people around us when taking the plane from China to Singapore. We may just know them and then we were separated, never had the chance to meet again, perhaps; although at that time I sat with Ai Heng. Compared to this, we are better. We will be separated soon, but at least we spent half a year together, at least we could see each other even the bridging course ends.
We thought about when we lived in the Parry Hall. Huang Da often played guitar in the canteen, which draw many people’s attention. Yummy included. At that time, most of us did not know each other. So it is rather interesting to think how we met a person the first time. I still remember the first lesson Ms. Lim taught us, I sat behind Yang Mo, and we played a little game. I got ice, and he got cream. Probably, we two will have a sincere talk, with ice-creams in hands.
We thought about the wonderful talent show. Yummy said she was in the group 3 and act the short play the plants vs. zombies. Huang Da, Jun zhe and I were in the same group, we played a comedy which told about the life of some SM3 students. Or I can call it a “tragedy”. I still remember when our monitor introduced their play, my be-friend said, “Oh, her English is rather good.” She wore a skirt at that time.
We thought about when we were asked to make the class rules, Jin Lin said, “no no talking”. And other funny thing about Jin Lin, such as you mean what? We thought about the time we spent in SOC. The first new year, the first oral report. We thought about our desk mates, I have sat with Yang Mo, Tian shi, Guo Yi, Jiang Zheng, and Serene. Now, I sit with Guo Yi again. It is a little pity.
Yummy said she often lived in this kind of situation, in which she just know a lot of friends and she will be separated from them soon. She will live in U-Town, having little chance to see us occasionally. She was sad. Hope she could adjust to it quickly.
In fact, we could think many things if time were possible. However, it was 11 o’clock in the evening. We had to go. It is like when the June 8th comes, we have to go. The good thing is we can see each other tomorrow.
We thought about the people around us when taking the plane from China to Singapore. We may just know them and then we were separated, never had the chance to meet again, perhaps; although at that time I sat with Ai Heng. Compared to this, we are better. We will be separated soon, but at least we spent half a year together, at least we could see each other even the bridging course ends.
We thought about when we lived in the Parry Hall. Huang Da often played guitar in the canteen, which draw many people’s attention. Yummy included. At that time, most of us did not know each other. So it is rather interesting to think how we met a person the first time. I still remember the first lesson Ms. Lim taught us, I sat behind Yang Mo, and we played a little game. I got ice, and he got cream. Probably, we two will have a sincere talk, with ice-creams in hands.
We thought about the wonderful talent show. Yummy said she was in the group 3 and act the short play the plants vs. zombies. Huang Da, Jun zhe and I were in the same group, we played a comedy which told about the life of some SM3 students. Or I can call it a “tragedy”. I still remember when our monitor introduced their play, my be-friend said, “Oh, her English is rather good.” She wore a skirt at that time.
We thought about when we were asked to make the class rules, Jin Lin said, “no no talking”. And other funny thing about Jin Lin, such as you mean what? We thought about the time we spent in SOC. The first new year, the first oral report. We thought about our desk mates, I have sat with Yang Mo, Tian shi, Guo Yi, Jiang Zheng, and Serene. Now, I sit with Guo Yi again. It is a little pity.
Yummy said she often lived in this kind of situation, in which she just know a lot of friends and she will be separated from them soon. She will live in U-Town, having little chance to see us occasionally. She was sad. Hope she could adjust to it quickly.
In fact, we could think many things if time were possible. However, it was 11 o’clock in the evening. We had to go. It is like when the June 8th comes, we have to go. The good thing is we can see each other tomorrow.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Where To Study?
When looking at the Sign-In-and-Out book of Eton Hall, I find many people write down the reason, NUS. Suddenly, a question occurs to me. Is it very beneficial for us to study in NUS on weekends? I reflect on this question a lot through my experience. Hope it can make us think about our way of studying so that we can improve. By the way, I like what Prof. Tay said, “I want you to struggle. You struggle, you learn.”
As with many people, I regard NUS as a place where there are clean environment, comfortable and quiet atmosphere, and plenty of books. This especially stands out in respect to libraries. Let take an example of Central Library. Firstly, many cleaners keep the library tidy and neat, thus building a healthy environment for people to study. What is more, the air condition and battery charging place give much convenience to people there, which eliminates people’s worry a lot. Above all, it stores many books which people can refer to so that people could gain knowledge easily.
However, we should also take some facts into consideration to draw a clear conclusion of the benefits and disadvantages of studying in NUS. First of all, it really costs some time for us to get to NUS now. We will take about five to ten minutes to walk to the bus stop and then wait for the bus in an unknown time, after which we will take the bus to the NUS. If we choose to alight at the playground and then wait for the school bus or number ninety-five bus to Central Library, it will also waste some time. The worst thing is not that waste of time bus the tiredness caused by this travel. If one gets up at seven o’clock in the morning, then he or she could arrive at the Central Library at eight o’clock. This seems good since one have four hours to study. However, when thinking about the reality, we will find the trouble brought by the hunger and tiredness. (At least this is true for me.) Since we have the habit of having a rest in the noon, the time is the most difficult time for us to get through. So the time we can study efficiently is a little limited due to the tiredness. And the situation gets worse when it comes to Sunday when no libraries will be open.
To tell the truth, when I scan my essay now, I find it is a little like persuading people not go to NUS to study. Definitely, I didn’t mean this. I just list some thoughts of my own, hoping people can find the most suitable place for themselves to study.
As with many people, I regard NUS as a place where there are clean environment, comfortable and quiet atmosphere, and plenty of books. This especially stands out in respect to libraries. Let take an example of Central Library. Firstly, many cleaners keep the library tidy and neat, thus building a healthy environment for people to study. What is more, the air condition and battery charging place give much convenience to people there, which eliminates people’s worry a lot. Above all, it stores many books which people can refer to so that people could gain knowledge easily.
However, we should also take some facts into consideration to draw a clear conclusion of the benefits and disadvantages of studying in NUS. First of all, it really costs some time for us to get to NUS now. We will take about five to ten minutes to walk to the bus stop and then wait for the bus in an unknown time, after which we will take the bus to the NUS. If we choose to alight at the playground and then wait for the school bus or number ninety-five bus to Central Library, it will also waste some time. The worst thing is not that waste of time bus the tiredness caused by this travel. If one gets up at seven o’clock in the morning, then he or she could arrive at the Central Library at eight o’clock. This seems good since one have four hours to study. However, when thinking about the reality, we will find the trouble brought by the hunger and tiredness. (At least this is true for me.) Since we have the habit of having a rest in the noon, the time is the most difficult time for us to get through. So the time we can study efficiently is a little limited due to the tiredness. And the situation gets worse when it comes to Sunday when no libraries will be open.
To tell the truth, when I scan my essay now, I find it is a little like persuading people not go to NUS to study. Definitely, I didn’t mean this. I just list some thoughts of my own, hoping people can find the most suitable place for themselves to study.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Learning Journey
After the long, exhausting Progress Test 2, our Learning Journey 2 came at last, which I was looking forward to for a long time. Because the first Learning Journey really impressed me a lot, I felt too impatient to wait this time. I was told that we would go to the National Museum and the Art Museum. In consideration that I would learn something about the history and the art of Singapore, I was really excited.
The first stop of my group was the National Museum. The building of the museum was so splendid that with the limited time, we can only visit a few parts of the whole museum. My group was arranged to visit the history exhibition which I thought was the largest part of the National Museum. It was also what I expected to visit. At the entrance of the history exhibition, one of the staff gave each of us an electronic machine. She told us that according to the number of the floor, we could use the machine to listen to the introduction of the items on display. With the great curiosity, we entered the history exhibition.
However, to my disappointment, the items on display were not exactly what I expected. Compared with the history of China, Singaporean history was so modern. The items here included the original television set, the original broadcast and even some decorations which could not be called “history” in China. They were really boring. In addition, the period when Singapore was controlled by England and Japan was also showed in this exhibition district. It did introduce the history of Singapore, but it did not interest me either. During the whole trip in the National Museum, no thrill, no excitement, everything seemed so ordinary.
After we finished visiting the National Museum, we came to the Art Museum, which was located nearby. We hoped to find some interesting works of art, but disappointment came for a second time. Except some Chinese paintings that we could recognize what was on, others were too abstract for us to understand. Even some terrifying things related to death appeared in the Art Museum. We even suspected whether it was the problem of our appreciation ability or not. All in all, it was a boring trip again.
After we got back to our dormitory, many of us directly went to bed. It was a really exhausted day, both mentally and physically. The annoying test and the disappointing journey destroyed the whole day.
The first stop of my group was the National Museum. The building of the museum was so splendid that with the limited time, we can only visit a few parts of the whole museum. My group was arranged to visit the history exhibition which I thought was the largest part of the National Museum. It was also what I expected to visit. At the entrance of the history exhibition, one of the staff gave each of us an electronic machine. She told us that according to the number of the floor, we could use the machine to listen to the introduction of the items on display. With the great curiosity, we entered the history exhibition.
However, to my disappointment, the items on display were not exactly what I expected. Compared with the history of China, Singaporean history was so modern. The items here included the original television set, the original broadcast and even some decorations which could not be called “history” in China. They were really boring. In addition, the period when Singapore was controlled by England and Japan was also showed in this exhibition district. It did introduce the history of Singapore, but it did not interest me either. During the whole trip in the National Museum, no thrill, no excitement, everything seemed so ordinary.
After we finished visiting the National Museum, we came to the Art Museum, which was located nearby. We hoped to find some interesting works of art, but disappointment came for a second time. Except some Chinese paintings that we could recognize what was on, others were too abstract for us to understand. Even some terrifying things related to death appeared in the Art Museum. We even suspected whether it was the problem of our appreciation ability or not. All in all, it was a boring trip again.
After we got back to our dormitory, many of us directly went to bed. It was a really exhausted day, both mentally and physically. The annoying test and the disappointing journey destroyed the whole day.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The visit to National Museum
It often puzzles me that what it is that can be stored in a museum. Is it a precious stone? Or it is an artwork by a famous painter. To tell the truth, I do not know. However, I am sure that history is something that can be stored in a museum, especially for the national museum, if it really can be kept there.
I did not visit many museums in the past nineteen years. Every time I enter a museum, I feel a kind of depression, which is probably due to the terrible history of modern China. When I got into the Singapore National Museum, I found that the lobby was bright and spacious with high ceiling, decorated with white. Huge glass was used as a wall which separates the museum from the outside world, giving the visitors a strange feeling. I knew that I only have forty minutes to walk around the museum, so I decided to visit the History Museum only. Equipment with a commentary device, I began my journey.
In the beginning, I saw a curved screen around me. Vividly, the screen showed Singaporeans’ daily life, the famous attractions in Singapore and so on. I knew that Singapore only has a history of about forty-five years, but it enjoys a boom in its economy during this short period. This indeed shocked me.
As I walked around, I began to know more about the history of Singapore. What impressed me most was that like China, Singapore also emerged from the aggression of Japan. During the World War II, Singapore was also occupied by Japanese and people suffered from it a lot. Nevertheless, Singaporeans kept resisting and struggling, at last, they won. As a Chinese, I can feel the painful history of Singapore in the past, so I felt depressed again. With this kind of feeling, I finish my journey.
Hope China and Singapore can become stronger and stronger.
I did not visit many museums in the past nineteen years. Every time I enter a museum, I feel a kind of depression, which is probably due to the terrible history of modern China. When I got into the Singapore National Museum, I found that the lobby was bright and spacious with high ceiling, decorated with white. Huge glass was used as a wall which separates the museum from the outside world, giving the visitors a strange feeling. I knew that I only have forty minutes to walk around the museum, so I decided to visit the History Museum only. Equipment with a commentary device, I began my journey.
In the beginning, I saw a curved screen around me. Vividly, the screen showed Singaporeans’ daily life, the famous attractions in Singapore and so on. I knew that Singapore only has a history of about forty-five years, but it enjoys a boom in its economy during this short period. This indeed shocked me.
As I walked around, I began to know more about the history of Singapore. What impressed me most was that like China, Singapore also emerged from the aggression of Japan. During the World War II, Singapore was also occupied by Japanese and people suffered from it a lot. Nevertheless, Singaporeans kept resisting and struggling, at last, they won. As a Chinese, I can feel the painful history of Singapore in the past, so I felt depressed again. With this kind of feeling, I finish my journey.
Hope China and Singapore can become stronger and stronger.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Learning Journey
This Wednesday, we went to SNM and SAM after the test. After 30 minutes’ bus, we got to the National Museum. The building is quite splendid, but not very large. We went to the history gallery, with a high-tech equipment on each neck. Although Singapore only has hundreds of years’ history, we saw a lot of historical relics, from 14th century to 20th century. In addition, the equipment on us provided us a lot of information, which made us know more about Singapore’s history as well as culture. What is different from China is that a large number of relics are exposed to the air, without glass outside. So we must control ourselves, for some are fragile so that we must pay attention. The relics are of all kinds, photos, costumes, containers, newspapers, multimedia, and so on. The most impressive ones are the photos about world war two. It recorded what the Japanese did towards the Singaporeans as well as the Englishmen. We took a lot of photos in memory of our impressive experience.
The second destination is Singapore Art Museum. We walked there. The big cute rabbit outside the Museum is an icon of it. To be honest, I do not know much about art. However, the artworks here are various, some of which are very special. One coat was made of snake skin, another one is made of mice feather, very special. Besides, there are also high-tech products which display the information in term of different places of Singapore, since we know that technology is also a kind of art, art of the natural science. We also saw the artworks of Wu Guanzhong, which were presented by him. Art is always abstract, even this Chinese master’s. One of his artworks is about Zhangjiajie. I did not know this until I saw the title, which convince me of an idea that something cannot be understood is called art.
Generally, it was a good day. Our horizons have been broadened.
The second destination is Singapore Art Museum. We walked there. The big cute rabbit outside the Museum is an icon of it. To be honest, I do not know much about art. However, the artworks here are various, some of which are very special. One coat was made of snake skin, another one is made of mice feather, very special. Besides, there are also high-tech products which display the information in term of different places of Singapore, since we know that technology is also a kind of art, art of the natural science. We also saw the artworks of Wu Guanzhong, which were presented by him. Art is always abstract, even this Chinese master’s. One of his artworks is about Zhangjiajie. I did not know this until I saw the title, which convince me of an idea that something cannot be understood is called art.
Generally, it was a good day. Our horizons have been broadened.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
I am eager for the life in NUS
I am eager for the life in NUS
To be frank, the bridging course is not that meaningful and interesting. All the classes are compulsory to attend and we have other choices. Now, we cannot to choose what we want to learn, such as Japanese and business. But we must to have the bridging course to improve our poor English. Besides, I do not like to Eton Hall. The mosquito bites me every time I am eating or studying in the dining hall. What is more, the most of the dinners we have chicken in our mess tins. It is fine for most of the SMs students. However, I do not like chicken since I was a child. I do not like its skin as well as the sense while chewing it, especially when I think of what I eat is not that nutritional compared with other meets. The third thing is the network. It cannot be weaker. When we want do something tonight, we must bring the laptop to NUS tomorrow, or go to the McDonald’s. I really do not to say something bad about Eton Hall. I am just speaking out my personal opinions. And that is only part of my reason.
The most important are freedom and knowledge. Once enter the NUS, we can do what we want to do as long as we obey the rules. We can attend the lectures even though they have nothing related to our major. We can choose the course according to our interest. We can also join any club and society. That is the culture. That is what I really want. When the day comes, I want to study Japanese and Business as my optional course.
University school life is also a time to chase our dream and goals. It is a time to work hard and also a time to harvest. It can make me nearer from my dream. I am looking forward to it!
To be frank, the bridging course is not that meaningful and interesting. All the classes are compulsory to attend and we have other choices. Now, we cannot to choose what we want to learn, such as Japanese and business. But we must to have the bridging course to improve our poor English. Besides, I do not like to Eton Hall. The mosquito bites me every time I am eating or studying in the dining hall. What is more, the most of the dinners we have chicken in our mess tins. It is fine for most of the SMs students. However, I do not like chicken since I was a child. I do not like its skin as well as the sense while chewing it, especially when I think of what I eat is not that nutritional compared with other meets. The third thing is the network. It cannot be weaker. When we want do something tonight, we must bring the laptop to NUS tomorrow, or go to the McDonald’s. I really do not to say something bad about Eton Hall. I am just speaking out my personal opinions. And that is only part of my reason.
The most important are freedom and knowledge. Once enter the NUS, we can do what we want to do as long as we obey the rules. We can attend the lectures even though they have nothing related to our major. We can choose the course according to our interest. We can also join any club and society. That is the culture. That is what I really want. When the day comes, I want to study Japanese and Business as my optional course.
University school life is also a time to chase our dream and goals. It is a time to work hard and also a time to harvest. It can make me nearer from my dream. I am looking forward to it!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Checkpoint
After getting the result of checkpoint one, many people came to ask me, “You must get two A+s.” However, with embarrassment and a little sadness, my answer was a no. I knew there is an old saying in Chinese, “The loser should never praise himself.” So I just keep silent.
My failure was due to C programming. Or more precisely, it is because of my ignorance pride and carelessness. Thinking I had studied hard and known some knowledge, I finished my paper rather quickly. But I ignored some important details, which could cause totally different meanings. In addition, there are also questions I really do not know. So I can accept the fact that I did not do well in the checkpoint, realizing I need to study harder and become modest and careful.
Although I use the above reasons to calm myself down, I am still not balanced. It is because there are many people around me who just finish their homework and always play computer games or watch movies. They asked me for help one or two days before the exam, but they got the same or even better result than me! Why? How come?
I know this kind of complaints mean nothing, but for me I would feel rather bad if I do not say something or write it down. Hope I will not experience this next time.
My failure was due to C programming. Or more precisely, it is because of my ignorance pride and carelessness. Thinking I had studied hard and known some knowledge, I finished my paper rather quickly. But I ignored some important details, which could cause totally different meanings. In addition, there are also questions I really do not know. So I can accept the fact that I did not do well in the checkpoint, realizing I need to study harder and become modest and careful.
Although I use the above reasons to calm myself down, I am still not balanced. It is because there are many people around me who just finish their homework and always play computer games or watch movies. They asked me for help one or two days before the exam, but they got the same or even better result than me! Why? How come?
I know this kind of complaints mean nothing, but for me I would feel rather bad if I do not say something or write it down. Hope I will not experience this next time.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
girlfriend
As you see the title of my blog, do you feel surprised? Are you interested in what I will talk about in this blog? I am sure you will. However, if you are eager to know who my girlfriend is, perhaps I will let you down. I am sorry about that, but till now, I am single and more importantly, this time, I just want to talk about my thoughts about the things happened around me. It is about the friend of the opposite sex. If you still have interests, please go on reading. I would be glad of that and I would appreciate you as well.
Some things do happen unpredictably these days around me. There are five boys from Ji Lin University in this batch of SM3 scholars in NUS and I am one of them. At first, only two of us have girlfriend in China. I know it is very normal. What surprises me most is that the other two boys also get girlfriends one after the other; even one of the two girls is still in China. I just cannot understand why it is so fast that I become the only boy who is available of Ji Lin University. Moreover, I also do not know why my roommate wants to get a girlfriend in China. It is really far away. However, when I was still confused, another thing happened. One day, when I chatted with one of my best friends, she asked me whether it was the feeling that she fell in love with a boy. I was shocked when I saw the question, because from my point of view, anyone can make a boyfriend or girlfriend except her. She is a very good student and she always spends most of her time studying, but now, she is also “upset”.
These two things drive me back to think about that forever but difficult topic: love and relationship. Before I entered the university, I thought about it and talked about it with my friends. At that time, I got a conclusion that although it was ok to make a boyfriend or girlfriend in consideration of our age, it was better to live alone in university, because we had something more important to do, such as study, career and future. For that reason, we did not have enough time and energy to spend. However, this time, they remind me of another important thing, loneliness. When we enter the university, we have to be away from our parents, best friends and spend most of the time alone, especially for us who are far away from our homeland. Therefore, we cannot avoid feeling lonely. A girlfriend or boyfriend seems to be a better choice. I admit that with the company of a girlfriend or boyfriend, there will be more happiness, but is it all that good as it seems? Definitely not. As what I said before, it really requires time and energy. If we cannot make a good balance, it may ruin our whole life.
These are what I thought, only personal opinions and I do not want to offend those who have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Welcome you to comment and give me some new ideas about love and relationship.
Some things do happen unpredictably these days around me. There are five boys from Ji Lin University in this batch of SM3 scholars in NUS and I am one of them. At first, only two of us have girlfriend in China. I know it is very normal. What surprises me most is that the other two boys also get girlfriends one after the other; even one of the two girls is still in China. I just cannot understand why it is so fast that I become the only boy who is available of Ji Lin University. Moreover, I also do not know why my roommate wants to get a girlfriend in China. It is really far away. However, when I was still confused, another thing happened. One day, when I chatted with one of my best friends, she asked me whether it was the feeling that she fell in love with a boy. I was shocked when I saw the question, because from my point of view, anyone can make a boyfriend or girlfriend except her. She is a very good student and she always spends most of her time studying, but now, she is also “upset”.
These two things drive me back to think about that forever but difficult topic: love and relationship. Before I entered the university, I thought about it and talked about it with my friends. At that time, I got a conclusion that although it was ok to make a boyfriend or girlfriend in consideration of our age, it was better to live alone in university, because we had something more important to do, such as study, career and future. For that reason, we did not have enough time and energy to spend. However, this time, they remind me of another important thing, loneliness. When we enter the university, we have to be away from our parents, best friends and spend most of the time alone, especially for us who are far away from our homeland. Therefore, we cannot avoid feeling lonely. A girlfriend or boyfriend seems to be a better choice. I admit that with the company of a girlfriend or boyfriend, there will be more happiness, but is it all that good as it seems? Definitely not. As what I said before, it really requires time and energy. If we cannot make a good balance, it may ruin our whole life.
These are what I thought, only personal opinions and I do not want to offend those who have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Welcome you to comment and give me some new ideas about love and relationship.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Early Hour of a Day
The Sunday before our recess, I tried to fetch the first streak of the sun. But to your disappointment, it was not a joyful journey for me though I was accompanied by a girl. To be honest, it was the first time I went out with a girl on such an early time of the day. So I did some checks in and around Eton Hall to make sure that our out will go on smoothly. I checked many things in Eton Hall like which gate would not be closed around 6 at Sunday morning, how many CCTVs would on their duties around that time and how many guards or staff would be awake that time. Moreover, I calculated the earliest and the latest time of the sunrise and the route we would take of the journey and even made up some reasons to handle the auntie if out for sunrise, especially with a girl, is prohibited. It really took me a long time, about 2 weeks, to do the preparation.
On Saturday night I double checked my alarm clock to make sure that it would alarm me up at around 6. Frankly speaking, it was really a dreamless night and I woke up several times in case I missed the right time. After turning side by side for a whole night, the alarm finally struck.
Things went on just as what I expected: 2 guards were in deep sleep, no gates were open except the gate near the laundry just as the usual, CCTVs which near the gate were all off. It took me no effort to get out of the Hall and then I made a phone call to call the girl. She told me to wait for about 20 minutes, which didn’t surprise me at all for it was just the time I expected.
But what happened next was just out of my expectation and really scared me. I was nothing to do that time so I just looked around casually. The weather was not that good but still I could see some stars twinkled through the crevice among clouds. But suddenly a lightening just burst out and lit up the whole sky. The pale white dominated the sky without any omens. To be honest, I was thrilled that time. Before I calmed down and tried to be me, the whistling of the wind and the unrhythmical sound of rustling kept pushing me to link what I was experiencing with those thrill stories I had read. The wind was a little bit strong and some thin branches of trees were broken and fell on the ground which was covered by fallen leaves. The sound was rather harsh in this horrible morning.
I tried my best to hold on and dispel the fear. At last, I saw the eventual familiar figure and waved my arms to make myself seen.
On Saturday night I double checked my alarm clock to make sure that it would alarm me up at around 6. Frankly speaking, it was really a dreamless night and I woke up several times in case I missed the right time. After turning side by side for a whole night, the alarm finally struck.
Things went on just as what I expected: 2 guards were in deep sleep, no gates were open except the gate near the laundry just as the usual, CCTVs which near the gate were all off. It took me no effort to get out of the Hall and then I made a phone call to call the girl. She told me to wait for about 20 minutes, which didn’t surprise me at all for it was just the time I expected.
But what happened next was just out of my expectation and really scared me. I was nothing to do that time so I just looked around casually. The weather was not that good but still I could see some stars twinkled through the crevice among clouds. But suddenly a lightening just burst out and lit up the whole sky. The pale white dominated the sky without any omens. To be honest, I was thrilled that time. Before I calmed down and tried to be me, the whistling of the wind and the unrhythmical sound of rustling kept pushing me to link what I was experiencing with those thrill stories I had read. The wind was a little bit strong and some thin branches of trees were broken and fell on the ground which was covered by fallen leaves. The sound was rather harsh in this horrible morning.
I tried my best to hold on and dispel the fear. At last, I saw the eventual familiar figure and waved my arms to make myself seen.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The week after recess
After a whole week of relaxing, we came back to the normal track of life; went to school early in the morning; then came back to Eton Hall. However, this week, there was another theme that we could not ignore, the check-point examination.
The first check-point examination would come in Saturday. Different from the progress test, there was only mathematics and C-programing this time, but it was still very difficult for us, because all the questions were in English and we had to answer them in English. Therefore, we just talked about mathematic problems and how to make a C-programing in most of the time. Sometimes, these topics sounded really boring, even annoying, yet we had to continue. It was said that the results of the check-point examination might be one of the references when we chose our major. For this reason, we had to pay 100% attention to this examination.
As for me, this week could be divided into two parts, according to time. I spent the first three days finishing the homework that I should have finished during the recess week. Then, from Wednesday evening, I started my review project. I read my learning materials page by page, line by line, concerning about leaving out any important word. Every night, to finish reading what I learned again, I stayed up late until 12 even 1 o’clock in the morning. Finally, I made it at the midnight before the examination.
The examination came at last on Saturday. We all expected that it could be an easy test, but things went to the other direction. At first, I just felt not too much, but a little nervous. However, when I saw the C-programing paper, I became upset. There was some knowledge that I did not find on my learning materials. Even worse, for some questions, I could not understand what it was talking about. These were not the worst. What did drive me mad was the mathematic test. It was so complicated that I had to multiple and multiple, differentiate and differentiate; it was quite different from what we had drilled before.
After the examination, when I looked around, depression was on nearly everyone’s face. Several persons left messages on the internet saying that, ‘I am waiting for my first warning letter’. It might be a kind of exaggeration, but it was exactly what we worried about. Now, everything has passed. No matter what the result will be, we should continue our study, continue our life. Let the check-point examination be a warning light on the road of our life, reminding us that we should work harder.
The first check-point examination would come in Saturday. Different from the progress test, there was only mathematics and C-programing this time, but it was still very difficult for us, because all the questions were in English and we had to answer them in English. Therefore, we just talked about mathematic problems and how to make a C-programing in most of the time. Sometimes, these topics sounded really boring, even annoying, yet we had to continue. It was said that the results of the check-point examination might be one of the references when we chose our major. For this reason, we had to pay 100% attention to this examination.
As for me, this week could be divided into two parts, according to time. I spent the first three days finishing the homework that I should have finished during the recess week. Then, from Wednesday evening, I started my review project. I read my learning materials page by page, line by line, concerning about leaving out any important word. Every night, to finish reading what I learned again, I stayed up late until 12 even 1 o’clock in the morning. Finally, I made it at the midnight before the examination.
The examination came at last on Saturday. We all expected that it could be an easy test, but things went to the other direction. At first, I just felt not too much, but a little nervous. However, when I saw the C-programing paper, I became upset. There was some knowledge that I did not find on my learning materials. Even worse, for some questions, I could not understand what it was talking about. These were not the worst. What did drive me mad was the mathematic test. It was so complicated that I had to multiple and multiple, differentiate and differentiate; it was quite different from what we had drilled before.
After the examination, when I looked around, depression was on nearly everyone’s face. Several persons left messages on the internet saying that, ‘I am waiting for my first warning letter’. It might be a kind of exaggeration, but it was exactly what we worried about. Now, everything has passed. No matter what the result will be, we should continue our study, continue our life. Let the check-point examination be a warning light on the road of our life, reminding us that we should work harder.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
One day in Ubin Island
On one day of the recess week, we students from Dalian University of Technology went to Ubin Island. It is really a good experience to cycle most of the time on the island.
We got up quite early in the morning in order to have more fun there. After forty minutes’ MRT and over half an hour’s bus, we arrived at the Jetty and stepped into three small boated, aiming at Ubin. The boats were rather old, and the wooden boards were exposed to the air. However, we did not feel uncomfortable. Seated in such old-fashioned and up-and-down boats, we definitely had fantastic experiences. About ten minutes later, we finally got to the eagerly-awaited island.
At first, we were upset for what we saw. It is so different from Sentosa! There were no high-tech facilities. Instead, almost all the buildings are old and even sort of dirty. Fortunately, the unique thing we could do was to rent a bike and ride it throughout the island. We did so. It was quite a long time since I ride a bike last time. I enjoyed the freedom which I got from the free cycling. It is much more fun than an ordinary walk on feet.
We sometimes meet with bad roads, big slopes, and it is challenging and enjoyable. Some of us were missing half of the way. To make things worse, it rained heavily. They were totally wet when we got together finally.
Renting got injured when she suddenly fall off her bike. What a shame! It nearly ruined his recess week. That is the point. Well, some of the classmates who were grown up in sea side cities, so they could not ride. They finally managed to pick up it. They earned most.
Near the evening, we came back to our own hostels, tired but happy.
We got up quite early in the morning in order to have more fun there. After forty minutes’ MRT and over half an hour’s bus, we arrived at the Jetty and stepped into three small boated, aiming at Ubin. The boats were rather old, and the wooden boards were exposed to the air. However, we did not feel uncomfortable. Seated in such old-fashioned and up-and-down boats, we definitely had fantastic experiences. About ten minutes later, we finally got to the eagerly-awaited island.
At first, we were upset for what we saw. It is so different from Sentosa! There were no high-tech facilities. Instead, almost all the buildings are old and even sort of dirty. Fortunately, the unique thing we could do was to rent a bike and ride it throughout the island. We did so. It was quite a long time since I ride a bike last time. I enjoyed the freedom which I got from the free cycling. It is much more fun than an ordinary walk on feet.
We sometimes meet with bad roads, big slopes, and it is challenging and enjoyable. Some of us were missing half of the way. To make things worse, it rained heavily. They were totally wet when we got together finally.
Renting got injured when she suddenly fall off her bike. What a shame! It nearly ruined his recess week. That is the point. Well, some of the classmates who were grown up in sea side cities, so they could not ride. They finally managed to pick up it. They earned most.
Near the evening, we came back to our own hostels, tired but happy.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Recess Day 4
It was the fourth day of our recess week.
I was extremely happy because I received a reply from R.K., who was the head coach of USA Olympiad of Informatics, which stated that he just accepted my suggestion on the online judge system. The online judge system of USA Olympiad of Informatics, which was a famous online judge system among we competitive programming coders and also known as USACO, had not been in a good condition for almost 20 hours and I just reported this situation and offered my suggestion on this disorder. I got great happiness not only because I was not ignored by a famous person but also I could write a proper e-mail to him and even received a reply and had been informed that my suggestion was accepted! Perhaps my e-mail was not using idiomatically English and looked funny in his eyes, but I did try my best to describe the situation and offer my solution. I thought that was really a milestone for me on my way of studying English.
That evening, I walked to Vivocity with Diana. Our route was quite unique but filled with wonderful sights: We walked through the forest walk linked between Alexandra Road and Henderson Road, and then crossed Henderson Wave, and walked to the top of Mount Faber right after, and finally walk down the Marang trail to Harbourfront. Standing on Henderson Wave, looking at the flushing streams of cars and the skyscraper far away, I was a little bit homesick. I recalled my memory about Xiamen unconsciously. Since I was too young that time, I could only evoke a vague sketch of what I saw when I was standing on a bridge: yellowish road-side lights, flushing cars, high buildings far away.
When we walked down Marang trail, we found a brunch of the trail which was built through the woodland. We were excited and our desires of adventuring were kindled. But after a few minutes of walking, excitement radically changed into anxiety because there was not a single light and the stairs were not in good conditions, in fact, many of them were missing! What was worse, there were brunches during our way down but there were no sign board along the way! Carefully and cautiously, I held her in my arms and every time we moved I stepped out my left leg first to testify whether there was a stair. With the help of my phone light and my perfect judgment of route choosing we finally stepped out the terrible trail and found the neon lights of Vivocity was just in front us.
I was extremely happy because I received a reply from R.K., who was the head coach of USA Olympiad of Informatics, which stated that he just accepted my suggestion on the online judge system. The online judge system of USA Olympiad of Informatics, which was a famous online judge system among we competitive programming coders and also known as USACO, had not been in a good condition for almost 20 hours and I just reported this situation and offered my suggestion on this disorder. I got great happiness not only because I was not ignored by a famous person but also I could write a proper e-mail to him and even received a reply and had been informed that my suggestion was accepted! Perhaps my e-mail was not using idiomatically English and looked funny in his eyes, but I did try my best to describe the situation and offer my solution. I thought that was really a milestone for me on my way of studying English.
That evening, I walked to Vivocity with Diana. Our route was quite unique but filled with wonderful sights: We walked through the forest walk linked between Alexandra Road and Henderson Road, and then crossed Henderson Wave, and walked to the top of Mount Faber right after, and finally walk down the Marang trail to Harbourfront. Standing on Henderson Wave, looking at the flushing streams of cars and the skyscraper far away, I was a little bit homesick. I recalled my memory about Xiamen unconsciously. Since I was too young that time, I could only evoke a vague sketch of what I saw when I was standing on a bridge: yellowish road-side lights, flushing cars, high buildings far away.
When we walked down Marang trail, we found a brunch of the trail which was built through the woodland. We were excited and our desires of adventuring were kindled. But after a few minutes of walking, excitement radically changed into anxiety because there was not a single light and the stairs were not in good conditions, in fact, many of them were missing! What was worse, there were brunches during our way down but there were no sign board along the way! Carefully and cautiously, I held her in my arms and every time we moved I stepped out my left leg first to testify whether there was a stair. With the help of my phone light and my perfect judgment of route choosing we finally stepped out the terrible trail and found the neon lights of Vivocity was just in front us.
Recess Day 3
It was the third day of our recess week.
My stomach did not serve me well that morning and I rested on my bed for a whole morning. I did not even eat much that lunch.
But I spared a wonderful afternoon with my group. We went camping on Kent Ridge Park. The scenery was wonderful and I would just retain the redundant word of describing Kent Ridge Park for I had already written it as an essay. We brought many delicious snacks there, and it was so delicious that even monkey on the mountain came to our table to snatch our food! The fighting for food between human and monkeys lasted about 10 minutes and we won, although we lost some of our food. You could imagine how hilarious it was when one of our group members swung a bag round and round to attempt to frighten away those stubborn monkeys.
I did not join the group games but played flying disc with another two energetic guys in the group. We competed about knocking down a bottle from distance with our discs and we found it was really fun. When we were all tired, we sat on the grass and enjoy the significant dusk with my guitar playing.
At about 7 pm, monitor Niu suggested us to share our love stories in the group. At first, monitor Niu was not that willing to share her story but after she started, she forgot where the end line was and poured off all her emotions. I felt quite pity for her because the guy in her story even did not know she fell in love with him.
We headed back at about 8 o’clock under the shower. But this time, no more unfortunate because I had brought my umbrella~
My stomach did not serve me well that morning and I rested on my bed for a whole morning. I did not even eat much that lunch.
But I spared a wonderful afternoon with my group. We went camping on Kent Ridge Park. The scenery was wonderful and I would just retain the redundant word of describing Kent Ridge Park for I had already written it as an essay. We brought many delicious snacks there, and it was so delicious that even monkey on the mountain came to our table to snatch our food! The fighting for food between human and monkeys lasted about 10 minutes and we won, although we lost some of our food. You could imagine how hilarious it was when one of our group members swung a bag round and round to attempt to frighten away those stubborn monkeys.
I did not join the group games but played flying disc with another two energetic guys in the group. We competed about knocking down a bottle from distance with our discs and we found it was really fun. When we were all tired, we sat on the grass and enjoy the significant dusk with my guitar playing.
At about 7 pm, monitor Niu suggested us to share our love stories in the group. At first, monitor Niu was not that willing to share her story but after she started, she forgot where the end line was and poured off all her emotions. I felt quite pity for her because the guy in her story even did not know she fell in love with him.
We headed back at about 8 o’clock under the shower. But this time, no more unfortunate because I had brought my umbrella~
Recess Day 2
It was the second day of our recess week.
I was still in my tight dream until 12 o’clock at noon. Missing breakfast was already a usual practice. It was the deadline of submission of silver division of Elite March Olympiad of Informatics which was held by USA Olympiad of Informatics. Since I was the first time to participate in this online competition, I only got the invitation of bronze division at day before the competition began, which was the division for beginners. But the bronze division was only a piece of cake for me and I got full mark in my first attempt in bronze division of this competition. To my surprise, I received the invitation of enrolling the silver division on March 19th. I attacked all the three problems within about 2 hours but I still worried about the correctness of my program. Hope it would be accepted.
That night, our group discussed about the topics of our research project and we chose 5 topics at the end with another 3 as backups. I contributed one of those 5 topics which had been chosen. But I still a little bit puzzled because the topic I contributed was still too large for our project. It seemed that I needed some time to work something out to solve this actual problem.
One thing that could not be missed is that the first string of guitar was broken again and much worse, I put the new string up but in a wrong direction. I should have twisted it in clockwise but I just twisted in anticlockwise. That led my guitar sounded a little weird.
Boring day, boring blog. That is it.
I was still in my tight dream until 12 o’clock at noon. Missing breakfast was already a usual practice. It was the deadline of submission of silver division of Elite March Olympiad of Informatics which was held by USA Olympiad of Informatics. Since I was the first time to participate in this online competition, I only got the invitation of bronze division at day before the competition began, which was the division for beginners. But the bronze division was only a piece of cake for me and I got full mark in my first attempt in bronze division of this competition. To my surprise, I received the invitation of enrolling the silver division on March 19th. I attacked all the three problems within about 2 hours but I still worried about the correctness of my program. Hope it would be accepted.
That night, our group discussed about the topics of our research project and we chose 5 topics at the end with another 3 as backups. I contributed one of those 5 topics which had been chosen. But I still a little bit puzzled because the topic I contributed was still too large for our project. It seemed that I needed some time to work something out to solve this actual problem.
One thing that could not be missed is that the first string of guitar was broken again and much worse, I put the new string up but in a wrong direction. I should have twisted it in clockwise but I just twisted in anticlockwise. That led my guitar sounded a little weird.
Boring day, boring blog. That is it.
Recess Day 1
It was the first day of our recess week and I went to Palau Ubin with my friends who were all from Ji Lin University.
We set off right after the end of our mathematics class. It didn’t take us much time to get the Changi ferry terminal. Though the weather was not that good, raining heavily actually, our spirit were not affected at all. In contrast, we were even looking forward to riding bikes in heavy rain. After about 10 minutes boat ride, we finally stepped on Palau Ubin and started our rides.
We stopped many times because of the magnificent scenery: birds twittered among tall trees, insects hummed around softly and formed into a melodious rhythm, streaks of the sun sewed the smaragdine forest and grass up. However, what impressed me most was the serene pool with some tiny ripples which was surrounded by the endless woodland and under the crimson sky decorated by a few floating clouds.
When we were highly inspired by the wonderful sights, an unfortunate thing happened to me. When I was trying to give my way to a car which was driving toward me, I was squeezed to the edge of the road because the car seemed wrongly estimated the span between me and the edge of the. What worse was that there was a gap on the edge accidentally and when my wheel approached there, it did not roll over but stuck there and I was on the muddy ground the next second. My ankle was injured and got a slight wrench. But the pain did not prevent me from enjoying the rest of our journey.
At about 7 pm we rolled back. On our way back, we enjoyed the Super Moon, which happens once in 19 years.
We set off right after the end of our mathematics class. It didn’t take us much time to get the Changi ferry terminal. Though the weather was not that good, raining heavily actually, our spirit were not affected at all. In contrast, we were even looking forward to riding bikes in heavy rain. After about 10 minutes boat ride, we finally stepped on Palau Ubin and started our rides.
We stopped many times because of the magnificent scenery: birds twittered among tall trees, insects hummed around softly and formed into a melodious rhythm, streaks of the sun sewed the smaragdine forest and grass up. However, what impressed me most was the serene pool with some tiny ripples which was surrounded by the endless woodland and under the crimson sky decorated by a few floating clouds.
When we were highly inspired by the wonderful sights, an unfortunate thing happened to me. When I was trying to give my way to a car which was driving toward me, I was squeezed to the edge of the road because the car seemed wrongly estimated the span between me and the edge of the. What worse was that there was a gap on the edge accidentally and when my wheel approached there, it did not roll over but stuck there and I was on the muddy ground the next second. My ankle was injured and got a slight wrench. But the pain did not prevent me from enjoying the rest of our journey.
At about 7 pm we rolled back. On our way back, we enjoyed the Super Moon, which happens once in 19 years.
Thomas' Calculus
I like to recommend a book called Thomas’ Calculus to anyone who is interested in calculus.
The book’s latest edition is the twelfth. The original work was done by George B. Thomas, Jr., who was a professor of mathematics at MIT. And it is revised by Maurice D. Weir and Joel Hass. They are from Naval Postgraduate School and University of California, Davis respectively. The book stands out because of several advantages, for instance, its language, graphs, exercises and structure.
The language is plain, accurate and rigorous, which is illustrated with plenty graphs. Let’s take an example of the approximating function. When explaining how we can approximate complex functions with simple ones, the author not only tells us that the tangent to the curve lies close to the curve near the point of tangency but also uses different illustrations to make it clearer. This makes it obvious for readers to see what the author is talking about. It proves the method to be right at the same time.
The exercise is designed painstakingly. Its difficulty ranges from a low level to a high one, which can guide reader through the progress of getting familiar with calculus. When doing the exercise, readers will be amazed to find that there are only answers to odd-numbered problems. Don’t get puzzled because of it. In fact, the even-numbered problems are related to the odd-numbered problems to some extent. The odd-numbered will either lay a foundation for the even one or give you inspiration to solve the next problem. What is more important, the book also has additional and advanced exercises for advanced learners. This makes the book suitable for all levels readers.
The last advantage is its structure. The book has seventeen chapters. First two chapters will let readers have a precise understanding of functions, limits and continuity, which are the fundamental preparations for calculus. And then the author spends seven chapters to discuss the concepts of differentiation and integration as well as their basic applications. In the rest chapters, further development in calculus is introduced. As readers can see, the structure is simple and clear, making it comfortable for them to know what will they learn in the future during the process of reading. They will also have more precious idea of the way that calculus is found.
That is all I want to say about Thomas Calculus. I hope anyone who is interested in calculus can read it thoroughly.
.
The book’s latest edition is the twelfth. The original work was done by George B. Thomas, Jr., who was a professor of mathematics at MIT. And it is revised by Maurice D. Weir and Joel Hass. They are from Naval Postgraduate School and University of California, Davis respectively. The book stands out because of several advantages, for instance, its language, graphs, exercises and structure.
The language is plain, accurate and rigorous, which is illustrated with plenty graphs. Let’s take an example of the approximating function. When explaining how we can approximate complex functions with simple ones, the author not only tells us that the tangent to the curve lies close to the curve near the point of tangency but also uses different illustrations to make it clearer. This makes it obvious for readers to see what the author is talking about. It proves the method to be right at the same time.
The exercise is designed painstakingly. Its difficulty ranges from a low level to a high one, which can guide reader through the progress of getting familiar with calculus. When doing the exercise, readers will be amazed to find that there are only answers to odd-numbered problems. Don’t get puzzled because of it. In fact, the even-numbered problems are related to the odd-numbered problems to some extent. The odd-numbered will either lay a foundation for the even one or give you inspiration to solve the next problem. What is more important, the book also has additional and advanced exercises for advanced learners. This makes the book suitable for all levels readers.
The last advantage is its structure. The book has seventeen chapters. First two chapters will let readers have a precise understanding of functions, limits and continuity, which are the fundamental preparations for calculus. And then the author spends seven chapters to discuss the concepts of differentiation and integration as well as their basic applications. In the rest chapters, further development in calculus is introduced. As readers can see, the structure is simple and clear, making it comfortable for them to know what will they learn in the future during the process of reading. They will also have more precious idea of the way that calculus is found.
That is all I want to say about Thomas Calculus. I hope anyone who is interested in calculus can read it thoroughly.
.
Change
Perhaps I should make some changes in my daily life.
In the past, I might change my attitude towards study. In fact, I was addicted to the computer games to some extent. I may get up at 6am and continue playing it for twelve hours almost without interruption, ignoring the existence of the homework. I just played games day and night and put off the assignment until the last several days. But since I came to Singapore, I am very satisfied with my behavior.
Perhaps I can say I get addicted to study somehow. Although most people think that math is rather boring and dull. Usually I will read my calculus books whenever I have time. Once I even stayed up until 2am in the morning to solve my math problem. During recess week I just got out of my dormitory when our group had the picnic and SOC held a compulsive briefing meeting. I spent the rest days with my math.
This may sound perfect for students who cannot concentrate their attention on study. But for me it is a little harmful. It stranded out especially when I decided to write a blog last Sunday. Thinking that I have nothing to write about, I asked Yummy how she had so many things to put down. She said, “I have plenty things to write down because I go out of the Eton Hall to experience the outside world.” At that particular time, I had a strange feeling in my heart. Yes, I just enclosed myself in my small world regardless the beautiful nature and society.
It is the time that I should make some change.
In the past, I might change my attitude towards study. In fact, I was addicted to the computer games to some extent. I may get up at 6am and continue playing it for twelve hours almost without interruption, ignoring the existence of the homework. I just played games day and night and put off the assignment until the last several days. But since I came to Singapore, I am very satisfied with my behavior.
Perhaps I can say I get addicted to study somehow. Although most people think that math is rather boring and dull. Usually I will read my calculus books whenever I have time. Once I even stayed up until 2am in the morning to solve my math problem. During recess week I just got out of my dormitory when our group had the picnic and SOC held a compulsive briefing meeting. I spent the rest days with my math.
This may sound perfect for students who cannot concentrate their attention on study. But for me it is a little harmful. It stranded out especially when I decided to write a blog last Sunday. Thinking that I have nothing to write about, I asked Yummy how she had so many things to put down. She said, “I have plenty things to write down because I go out of the Eton Hall to experience the outside world.” At that particular time, I had a strange feeling in my heart. Yes, I just enclosed myself in my small world regardless the beautiful nature and society.
It is the time that I should make some change.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)