Why bring the Iranian president to talk in America?
We have satellites and all that stuff. He can talk from his own home.
We already know his stand on the Holocaust and nuclear programs.
If the inviter and the crowd is not really going to welcome him why bring him here in the first place. Getting him here only brings unrest.
There are wackos in America with guns who kill random people. Just imagine what will happen if someone (either wacko or not) did that to him. Yikes, we will be immediately drawn to yet another war. I wish the Iran president a perfect safe trip home, to prevent further unrest.
Perhaps tension can loosen if someone buy him a new jacket.
Unrest is what America needs least.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Bonjour Paris (part 4)
Telephone
In America we have area code, 3 number prefix and 4 number suffix, like 312-123-4567. In Paris they have 10 digits, in groups of 2, like 12 34 56 78 90. I didn't make any phone calls in Paris (who do I call?), but when I pick up the phone, the dial tone is higher pitch than American phones. I suppose the ringing is different too, but can't confirm. I am not going to call just anybody to test out the ringing sound.
Ambulance and Police Sirens
Their siren is constant: bee-bu-bee-bu. In Chicago, the sound seems to have much wider range. Both police cars and ambulances are smaller than those in America.
Grand palaces, beautiful gardens, elaborate churches
The glory of the monarchs of yesterday still remain in Paris. There are so many palaces and gardens that it is hard to name and visit them all. The Louvre is one of those. It even has its own mini Arch of Triumph. There are also many well maintained gardens/parks in the city, the most beautiful one we've seen is Jardin Luxembourg. We found many people relaxing and young energetic people playing soccer.
There are also many elaborate churches of the old days, the most well-known one is of course the Notre Dame. There was some service going on while dozens of people walking around inside. How about you host service some other time or we come visit another time? People don't seem to be serious about religion there, many old churches seem to be abandoned or became museums.
Flea market and street markets
We visited a flea market, in a seemingly not very wealthy neighborhood. Many items are sold and not just clothing. Many products are made in China! (How do you escape that?) Prices are rather inexpensive but of course qualities isn't that great. At a street market by the Italian town, they even have seafood and roast chicken sold at side street. Whoa, even these guys have credit card machines.
Chinatown/Vietnam town
We visited the sort-of Chinatown close to the Italian town. It is actually mix of Vietnamese and Chinese town. Only a few restaurants and a few grocery stores there, rather depressing if you want to look for authentic Chinese cuisines. Some Chinese restaurants within Paris lay out all the (cold) food for display and when you buy them they microwave for you (now that's not authentic way to serve Chinese food).
However, there are many, many great Japanese restaurants in Paris.
End Note
Paris is a VERY nice place if you like European style old stone buildings. If you have a lot of Euros to spend it is a great vacation place. Today most people don't know or even care the glory of the monarchs in the old days, but their great palaces remain. If you have even more Euros to spend it is perhaps great idea to take trains to London or other places in Europe and let your adventure continue.
In America we have area code, 3 number prefix and 4 number suffix, like 312-123-4567. In Paris they have 10 digits, in groups of 2, like 12 34 56 78 90. I didn't make any phone calls in Paris (who do I call?), but when I pick up the phone, the dial tone is higher pitch than American phones. I suppose the ringing is different too, but can't confirm. I am not going to call just anybody to test out the ringing sound.
Ambulance and Police Sirens
Their siren is constant: bee-bu-bee-bu. In Chicago, the sound seems to have much wider range. Both police cars and ambulances are smaller than those in America.
Grand palaces, beautiful gardens, elaborate churches
The glory of the monarchs of yesterday still remain in Paris. There are so many palaces and gardens that it is hard to name and visit them all. The Louvre is one of those. It even has its own mini Arch of Triumph. There are also many well maintained gardens/parks in the city, the most beautiful one we've seen is Jardin Luxembourg. We found many people relaxing and young energetic people playing soccer.
There are also many elaborate churches of the old days, the most well-known one is of course the Notre Dame. There was some service going on while dozens of people walking around inside. How about you host service some other time or we come visit another time? People don't seem to be serious about religion there, many old churches seem to be abandoned or became museums.
Flea market and street markets
We visited a flea market, in a seemingly not very wealthy neighborhood. Many items are sold and not just clothing. Many products are made in China! (How do you escape that?) Prices are rather inexpensive but of course qualities isn't that great. At a street market by the Italian town, they even have seafood and roast chicken sold at side street. Whoa, even these guys have credit card machines.
Chinatown/Vietnam town
We visited the sort-of Chinatown close to the Italian town. It is actually mix of Vietnamese and Chinese town. Only a few restaurants and a few grocery stores there, rather depressing if you want to look for authentic Chinese cuisines. Some Chinese restaurants within Paris lay out all the (cold) food for display and when you buy them they microwave for you (now that's not authentic way to serve Chinese food).
However, there are many, many great Japanese restaurants in Paris.
End Note
Paris is a VERY nice place if you like European style old stone buildings. If you have a lot of Euros to spend it is a great vacation place. Today most people don't know or even care the glory of the monarchs in the old days, but their great palaces remain. If you have even more Euros to spend it is perhaps great idea to take trains to London or other places in Europe and let your adventure continue.
Bonjour Paris (part 3)
Dining in Paris
Dining experience in Paris is quite different from America. First, there is usually no smoking/non-smoking section. The menu (la carte) expects you to order a "formula". Starter dish + main dish, or main dish + desert. A starter dish is called an entreé, I would have guessed it means the main dish.
The "formulas" I see in menu reminds me great mathematicians from France: Pascal, Fermat, Cauchy, etc. Are French people more interested in math?
Water comes in bottles. When you order water you get a little jar. Ice is not provided (unless you ask I suppose). Coke is pronounced like "co-ka". Coke zero seems to be popular. Diet coke is called Coca-coca light. I see no Pepsi there.
Tips already included. That's good. I don't have to calculate. Whoa, every restaurant waiter/waitress have their own (wi-fi operated?) credit card machine. When you ask for check, they use the machine right in front of you.
Surprise 1: large soda cans
Here is a surprise. Soda cans are not 250 ml (nicely 1/4 of a liter), it is 330ml!
And, they also use a strange "cl" unit, which is 10ml, so their cans says 33cl. This totally surprises me, European folks have bigger appetite than Americans in pops?
Also, it is the French who are the metric proponents. The liter and the milliliter is standard scientific notation. What's up with this "cl" unit?
Surpirse 2: different keyboard!
At a car dealer, we saw a little computer that links to the car dealer's company site. When I look at the keyboard I am shocked: they don't use the QWERTY keyboard! It is only slightly different, with A,M,Q,Z in different places! The French alphabet is exactly the same as English alphabets (different pronounciations though). Why can't they have the same layout?
At the department store
It is interesting to see how different countries indicate a sale. In America, we say "10% off". In Hong Kong, I see "Less 10%". In Paris, I see "-10%". People know how to work with negative numbers there. And in a directory saying 3rd floor has what items, 2nd floor has what items, I am suprised to see 0 floor for ground floor, and -1 floor for basement! When do you see negative floor numbers in basement in America? We either say "Basement" or "B1". I suppose typical French students understand negative numbers much earlier than American students. Ok, I am not into fashions. Things do look good but I don't see very, very significant difference from American stores in merchandises, except the suits. Suits tend to be much tighter fit in Europe.
At the museums
There are plenty of museums in Paris. Don't have time to see them all. We saw the 2 most famous: the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay. Lots of VERY lively sculptures, and lots and lots of paintings. Art students will love these museums. Mona Lisa is re-made famous by the (controversial) Da Vinci Code. Math and art enthusiasts may know that it involves the golden ratio φ! But it is actually a very small picture and nothing really visually standout comparing to the many big and beautiful pictures around it. Ok I am not an artist.
At the Café
In America people take a big cup of coffee with them, like 32 oz Dunkin. In Paris I didn't see 1 person carrying big coffee. Here they like expresso and cappincino, both are in small cups. Expresso is strong stuff, and they give you cube sugars (not packets or sugar substitutes or cream).
At the Bakery
Americans loves donuts, and ham/sausage sandwiches, and other calories heavy breakfast items. Perhaps Parisians don't. Crossaints are simple crossaints (no meat). It is hard to even find donuts. That perhaps explain there aren't as many overweight people in Paris. There are many Au Bon Pain in America, I didn't see one in Paris, though I saw many Pomme et Pain (Apple and bread). They seem to like apple pie a lot.
They don't have hot dog buns! They poke a hole through the long bread and stick a hot dog in.
(To be continued)
Dining experience in Paris is quite different from America. First, there is usually no smoking/non-smoking section. The menu (la carte) expects you to order a "formula". Starter dish + main dish, or main dish + desert. A starter dish is called an entreé, I would have guessed it means the main dish.
The "formulas" I see in menu reminds me great mathematicians from France: Pascal, Fermat, Cauchy, etc. Are French people more interested in math?
Water comes in bottles. When you order water you get a little jar. Ice is not provided (unless you ask I suppose). Coke is pronounced like "co-ka". Coke zero seems to be popular. Diet coke is called Coca-coca light. I see no Pepsi there.
Tips already included. That's good. I don't have to calculate. Whoa, every restaurant waiter/waitress have their own (wi-fi operated?) credit card machine. When you ask for check, they use the machine right in front of you.
Surprise 1: large soda cans
Here is a surprise. Soda cans are not 250 ml (nicely 1/4 of a liter), it is 330ml!
And, they also use a strange "cl" unit, which is 10ml, so their cans says 33cl. This totally surprises me, European folks have bigger appetite than Americans in pops?
Also, it is the French who are the metric proponents. The liter and the milliliter is standard scientific notation. What's up with this "cl" unit?
Surpirse 2: different keyboard!
At a car dealer, we saw a little computer that links to the car dealer's company site. When I look at the keyboard I am shocked: they don't use the QWERTY keyboard! It is only slightly different, with A,M,Q,Z in different places! The French alphabet is exactly the same as English alphabets (different pronounciations though). Why can't they have the same layout?
At the department store
It is interesting to see how different countries indicate a sale. In America, we say "10% off". In Hong Kong, I see "Less 10%". In Paris, I see "-10%". People know how to work with negative numbers there. And in a directory saying 3rd floor has what items, 2nd floor has what items, I am suprised to see 0 floor for ground floor, and -1 floor for basement! When do you see negative floor numbers in basement in America? We either say "Basement" or "B1". I suppose typical French students understand negative numbers much earlier than American students. Ok, I am not into fashions. Things do look good but I don't see very, very significant difference from American stores in merchandises, except the suits. Suits tend to be much tighter fit in Europe.
At the museums
There are plenty of museums in Paris. Don't have time to see them all. We saw the 2 most famous: the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay. Lots of VERY lively sculptures, and lots and lots of paintings. Art students will love these museums. Mona Lisa is re-made famous by the (controversial) Da Vinci Code. Math and art enthusiasts may know that it involves the golden ratio φ! But it is actually a very small picture and nothing really visually standout comparing to the many big and beautiful pictures around it. Ok I am not an artist.
At the Café
In America people take a big cup of coffee with them, like 32 oz Dunkin. In Paris I didn't see 1 person carrying big coffee. Here they like expresso and cappincino, both are in small cups. Expresso is strong stuff, and they give you cube sugars (not packets or sugar substitutes or cream).
At the Bakery
Americans loves donuts, and ham/sausage sandwiches, and other calories heavy breakfast items. Perhaps Parisians don't. Crossaints are simple crossaints (no meat). It is hard to even find donuts. That perhaps explain there aren't as many overweight people in Paris. There are many Au Bon Pain in America, I didn't see one in Paris, though I saw many Pomme et Pain (Apple and bread). They seem to like apple pie a lot.
They don't have hot dog buns! They poke a hole through the long bread and stick a hot dog in.
(To be continued)
Friday, September 21, 2007
Bonjour Paris (part 2)
The Hotel (ok, I need a ^ on top of the o in "hotel" if I am to write en francais)
Before you go to a trip to foreign place you will need to exactly pinpoint your hotel on your map. Google map can do foreign countries too so it is a great help. For honeymoon(!), it is best to pick the as-luxury-as-you-can-afford hotel. So I shelled out about 200&euro a day for a Orbitz proclaimed 4 star hotel. The hotel is quite small compared to typical hotels in America. Whoa the hallway is so tight. A 6foot person would bump his head on the hallway. Whoa the room is so small! Oh the bed's springs are so worn out my rib case hurts, almost. I'm glad hot water works, so I am good. There are a few things the world cannot agree on: 1) date format mm/dd/yyyy or dd/mm/yyyy. 2) electicity voltages and plug shape. Besides North America, just about everyone elses uses 220V. I do have a plug changer. The hotel provides 110V or 220V. (now that's good) So all we need is a plug changer. Just why the world can't agree on voltage and plug shape?
Hotel location is important. You don't want to be too far from all the actions, or too middle (night noises). Choosing hotel in foreign place takes a bit of luck. I am glad the hotel is just a minute of walk away from Metro stations. But Metro stations are all over so it is probably not too difficult to find one anywhere in central Paris. The hotel attendant does speak English, though not real good.
Impression of Paris, in general
Most are small stone buildings about 5 stories high. Is there any skyscrapers in Paris? Graffiti all over the place in train ride from airport. Many street cafes, but not quite the same experience as American dining. Air pollution is light, making such experience possible and enjoyable. The neighborhoods don't look scary to be in, even at late night. America is banning smoking completely almost, but Paris would be a smoker's heaven. People also love wine, a must-have for every meal for them.
The Eiffel Tower
We decided to head out to the #1 landmark of Paris: the Eiffel Tower. There is even a (rather strange looking) programming language named Eiffel so I long see what the tower looks like. In day time it looks like a big tower of rusty iron. Given I work near the Sears Tower in Chicago, Eiffel looks pretty small. At night it is decorated with lights, even flashing lights. Two amazing sights at the Eiffel Tower. 1) Beer bottles ALL OVER THE PLACE! Some soccer (football) tournament is happening and people drink no less than Americans there. 2) There are military personnels with heavy-duty automatic weapons patroling the area! It is a nice tourist magnet for France. It is next to La Seine, the river that runs through Paris. Old palaces and other landmarks are within walking distance.
The Arc of Triumph
Our next must-see landmark is the Arc of Triumph, where Napolean built to show is prowness, with BIG stone arch. Many streets are pointing to the arch so cars are all over. It is decorated with a lot of engravings. Ancient people love to do that type of work. Have you seen modern structures with highly artistic stone engraving? There is a huge shopping street known as Champs Elysee with the top expensive stores (with a few car dealers too). It leads you to more old palace attractions.
(To be Continued)
Before you go to a trip to foreign place you will need to exactly pinpoint your hotel on your map. Google map can do foreign countries too so it is a great help. For honeymoon(!), it is best to pick the as-luxury-as-you-can-afford hotel. So I shelled out about 200&euro a day for a Orbitz proclaimed 4 star hotel. The hotel is quite small compared to typical hotels in America. Whoa the hallway is so tight. A 6foot person would bump his head on the hallway. Whoa the room is so small! Oh the bed's springs are so worn out my rib case hurts, almost. I'm glad hot water works, so I am good. There are a few things the world cannot agree on: 1) date format mm/dd/yyyy or dd/mm/yyyy. 2) electicity voltages and plug shape. Besides North America, just about everyone elses uses 220V. I do have a plug changer. The hotel provides 110V or 220V. (now that's good) So all we need is a plug changer. Just why the world can't agree on voltage and plug shape?
Hotel location is important. You don't want to be too far from all the actions, or too middle (night noises). Choosing hotel in foreign place takes a bit of luck. I am glad the hotel is just a minute of walk away from Metro stations. But Metro stations are all over so it is probably not too difficult to find one anywhere in central Paris. The hotel attendant does speak English, though not real good.
Impression of Paris, in general
Most are small stone buildings about 5 stories high. Is there any skyscrapers in Paris? Graffiti all over the place in train ride from airport. Many street cafes, but not quite the same experience as American dining. Air pollution is light, making such experience possible and enjoyable. The neighborhoods don't look scary to be in, even at late night. America is banning smoking completely almost, but Paris would be a smoker's heaven. People also love wine, a must-have for every meal for them.
The Eiffel Tower
We decided to head out to the #1 landmark of Paris: the Eiffel Tower. There is even a (rather strange looking) programming language named Eiffel so I long see what the tower looks like. In day time it looks like a big tower of rusty iron. Given I work near the Sears Tower in Chicago, Eiffel looks pretty small. At night it is decorated with lights, even flashing lights. Two amazing sights at the Eiffel Tower. 1) Beer bottles ALL OVER THE PLACE! Some soccer (football) tournament is happening and people drink no less than Americans there. 2) There are military personnels with heavy-duty automatic weapons patroling the area! It is a nice tourist magnet for France. It is next to La Seine, the river that runs through Paris. Old palaces and other landmarks are within walking distance.
The Arc of Triumph
Our next must-see landmark is the Arc of Triumph, where Napolean built to show is prowness, with BIG stone arch. Many streets are pointing to the arch so cars are all over. It is decorated with a lot of engravings. Ancient people love to do that type of work. Have you seen modern structures with highly artistic stone engraving? There is a huge shopping street known as Champs Elysee with the top expensive stores (with a few car dealers too). It leads you to more old palace attractions.
(To be Continued)
Bonjour Paris (part 1)
About French (the language)
I took French in high school and in college although Spanish is much more common. I didn't like the sound of machine-gun talk of Spanish as seen in Channel 26 or 44. Upside down question mark and exclamation is too wierd looking. French is fairly close to English. English readers can probably guess some French sentences because of such similarity, for example, sandwich == sandwich. Watch out for same spelling with different meaning though. You will see "pain" all over the place, it means bread. But it is not the bread Americans are used to, "pain" are the long bread. Waita minute, "buffet" is not all-you-can-eat?
A beginning foreign language course is also a great fun way to increase GPA. A beginning class with textbooks full of pictures can't be too difficult.
Studying foreign languages may startle you: adjectives don't have to go in front of the noun it modifies (as in French). Heck, you don't even have to write from left to right (as in Chinese or Hebrew or Arabic).
Even the globally accepted numeric symbols 0..9 don't have to be written the same way. The French prefers to lengthen the little, optional slash in the number 1 so it looks like a captial A without the horizontal line. The 7 needs to have a dash across to distinguish 1 and 7. Oh my they don't use the decimal point! They use a comma instead. So π is approximately 3,14159. They simply use a space for thousands separator. Ok, they are not afraid of people inserting an extra number there.
They prefer 24 hour clock over 12 hour clock. They don't even use the colon between hour and minutes even though it is in every alarm clock I've seen. So they write 6:00pm as 18h00.
I already know this before I go to Paris. Still some more culture shocks to come after getting there...
Need some l'argent (money)
The franc is gone, now they do Euros. US dollar is at all time low, so 100 US dollars is equivalent to 70 something Euro, according to some websites I've seen. I went to my trusty savings account bank in US, "Do you have Euro?", The answer is no. "Ok, do you know where is a currency exchange?", so I got pointed to the nearest one. "Do you have Euro?", The answer is also no. Ok, all you have is Mexican Peso? So I relied on my credit card. But yikes do I even have a PIN for credit card? No I don't. I don't allow myself to cash advance on 19.8% interest. I'm glad the ATM card work fine. The current exchanges in Paris, marked by "Change", will only give me 57 euros! I know my numbers en francais (in French)... but when the lady tells me, I must go, "combien, en anglais s'il vous plait" (How much, in English please). My listening skills in French needs some work. Another culture shock: they use the euro in the BACK of the amount, like 20€, or use as a decimal point: 20€10. Many people in Paris speak English, but not all.
Train to the city
Paris's Charles de Galle airport is about 40 minutes from the main city. Show the address of your hotel and the Information guy should be able to tell you what train or bus to take. We took the RER train, and it costed about 8 Euros. The trains are not as new and cool as I expected. I can see graffiti all over the city from the train. Another culture shock: you must press a button to get off the train at the station! (or flip a switch in regular trains within the city).
Paris's metro system is way cool. It can take you anywhere within the main Paris region, with a total of 14 lines. You should have a street map with train station clearly marked to get around... You can use credit card to buy tickets. But yikes, no English at all on the ticket machine. "Vous parlez anglais?" at the train station returns a "non!" I'm glad I can read/guess the instructions.
(To be continued)
I took French in high school and in college although Spanish is much more common. I didn't like the sound of machine-gun talk of Spanish as seen in Channel 26 or 44. Upside down question mark and exclamation is too wierd looking. French is fairly close to English. English readers can probably guess some French sentences because of such similarity, for example, sandwich == sandwich. Watch out for same spelling with different meaning though. You will see "pain" all over the place, it means bread. But it is not the bread Americans are used to, "pain" are the long bread. Waita minute, "buffet" is not all-you-can-eat?
A beginning foreign language course is also a great fun way to increase GPA. A beginning class with textbooks full of pictures can't be too difficult.
Studying foreign languages may startle you: adjectives don't have to go in front of the noun it modifies (as in French). Heck, you don't even have to write from left to right (as in Chinese or Hebrew or Arabic).
Even the globally accepted numeric symbols 0..9 don't have to be written the same way. The French prefers to lengthen the little, optional slash in the number 1 so it looks like a captial A without the horizontal line. The 7 needs to have a dash across to distinguish 1 and 7. Oh my they don't use the decimal point! They use a comma instead. So π is approximately 3,14159. They simply use a space for thousands separator. Ok, they are not afraid of people inserting an extra number there.
They prefer 24 hour clock over 12 hour clock. They don't even use the colon between hour and minutes even though it is in every alarm clock I've seen. So they write 6:00pm as 18h00.
I already know this before I go to Paris. Still some more culture shocks to come after getting there...
Need some l'argent (money)
The franc is gone, now they do Euros. US dollar is at all time low, so 100 US dollars is equivalent to 70 something Euro, according to some websites I've seen. I went to my trusty savings account bank in US, "Do you have Euro?", The answer is no. "Ok, do you know where is a currency exchange?", so I got pointed to the nearest one. "Do you have Euro?", The answer is also no. Ok, all you have is Mexican Peso? So I relied on my credit card. But yikes do I even have a PIN for credit card? No I don't. I don't allow myself to cash advance on 19.8% interest. I'm glad the ATM card work fine. The current exchanges in Paris, marked by "Change", will only give me 57 euros! I know my numbers en francais (in French)... but when the lady tells me, I must go, "combien, en anglais s'il vous plait" (How much, in English please). My listening skills in French needs some work. Another culture shock: they use the euro in the BACK of the amount, like 20€, or use as a decimal point: 20€10. Many people in Paris speak English, but not all.
Train to the city
Paris's Charles de Galle airport is about 40 minutes from the main city. Show the address of your hotel and the Information guy should be able to tell you what train or bus to take. We took the RER train, and it costed about 8 Euros. The trains are not as new and cool as I expected. I can see graffiti all over the city from the train. Another culture shock: you must press a button to get off the train at the station! (or flip a switch in regular trains within the city).
Paris's metro system is way cool. It can take you anywhere within the main Paris region, with a total of 14 lines. You should have a street map with train station clearly marked to get around... You can use credit card to buy tickets. But yikes, no English at all on the ticket machine. "Vous parlez anglais?" at the train station returns a "non!" I'm glad I can read/guess the instructions.
(To be continued)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Another outrageous comment
I read the following from Chicago Tribune:
Now that's an outrageous.
So he is saying you don't need to work hard in school, having a C can actually be better than those who got PhD.
What is that No Child Left Behind thing? isn't it supposed to encourage students to do better? But this comment is exactly saying the opposite.
While that statement can be absolutely true, your boss (and your friends) were probably a poorer student than you but make much more money and in control more.
It takes much more than academics to "succeed" in real life. Ok, it also depends on your definition of "succeed."
But this is POOR influence on students.
This is not encouraging kids to learn, succeed in school, and go for the A marks. Grade marks buys you nothing, but it is something to aim for. It can be a stimulus to learn. Having a B or C is not the end of the world either, kids.
America do not need such comments. American students need to work much much harder in language ability, math, science. Future America need educated intellecutals to run this country and to face the problems of tomorrow.
The PhD is the advisor because the shameless C student leader is outrageously incompetent.
The president, in a press conference that lasted little longer than a half-hour, repeatedly played off his own image as a poor student, noting that he likes to remind people that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has "the PhD… I'm the C student," he said, but look who's the leader and who's the adviser.
Now that's an outrageous.
So he is saying you don't need to work hard in school, having a C can actually be better than those who got PhD.
What is that No Child Left Behind thing? isn't it supposed to encourage students to do better? But this comment is exactly saying the opposite.
While that statement can be absolutely true, your boss (and your friends) were probably a poorer student than you but make much more money and in control more.
It takes much more than academics to "succeed" in real life. Ok, it also depends on your definition of "succeed."
But this is POOR influence on students.
This is not encouraging kids to learn, succeed in school, and go for the A marks. Grade marks buys you nothing, but it is something to aim for. It can be a stimulus to learn. Having a B or C is not the end of the world either, kids.
America do not need such comments. American students need to work much much harder in language ability, math, science. Future America need educated intellecutals to run this country and to face the problems of tomorrow.
The PhD is the advisor because the shameless C student leader is outrageously incompetent.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
I am married!
Unbelievable but true. I have went through all the wedding plannings, went through a day of strict wedding schedule, have the pastor sign official paper and mailed it back, and went to a week of honeymoon on Paris. (Yes I will write extensively about Paris later)
That is a defining moment of life. Life (after 30s) is a 2 player game. We are built that way. And yes, everything is different after you're married. Most SHOULD be different in a good way.
Anything different in a bad way needs to be trained to become a good way, because life IS a 2 player game.
Marriage is best at your 20s where your life is at peak. 30s are still ok. The earlier 30s the better. I don't want to think wedding at 40s and beyond.
Time pushes you to new stage of life. If you are in 30s you should not be thinking about what to wear in your high school prom (ok, unless you are doing high school at 30s). You are not going to think wedding decoration at 70s? (ok, unless you really are getting married when you are at 70)
When single, you need a LOT of friends to help you on your wedding. You especially need a few buddies as best man and groomsmen. How many buddies do you have that qualifies to be your BEST man? Ok if you have a brother or a similar age cousin you don't have to think.
Ok, it depends on how big a wedding you want to have. Having a quiet, just 2 families wedding is no fun though?
You don't need to be overstressed in wedding planning. Do it as if doing any major project: identify what you need to do, do it! When possible, delegate it to people who you trust (that's why you need a lot of friends). Reading other people's plan help. But it is best to have your own plans. You are your own most trustworthy ally.
That is a defining moment of life. Life (after 30s) is a 2 player game. We are built that way. And yes, everything is different after you're married. Most SHOULD be different in a good way.
Anything different in a bad way needs to be trained to become a good way, because life IS a 2 player game.
Marriage is best at your 20s where your life is at peak. 30s are still ok. The earlier 30s the better. I don't want to think wedding at 40s and beyond.
Time pushes you to new stage of life. If you are in 30s you should not be thinking about what to wear in your high school prom (ok, unless you are doing high school at 30s). You are not going to think wedding decoration at 70s? (ok, unless you really are getting married when you are at 70)
When single, you need a LOT of friends to help you on your wedding. You especially need a few buddies as best man and groomsmen. How many buddies do you have that qualifies to be your BEST man? Ok if you have a brother or a similar age cousin you don't have to think.
Ok, it depends on how big a wedding you want to have. Having a quiet, just 2 families wedding is no fun though?
You don't need to be overstressed in wedding planning. Do it as if doing any major project: identify what you need to do, do it! When possible, delegate it to people who you trust (that's why you need a lot of friends). Reading other people's plan help. But it is best to have your own plans. You are your own most trustworthy ally.
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