Skill of a Robber

In Viet Nam, many people drive motorcycles because they are very convenient. You can park a motorcycle by any curb or any sidewalk without a time limit or permit.

If you want to park a car for a long time, you can park it in a place or by a house where it registered for parking with the city hall. Each time it costs 2,000 Dong. Dong is the name of the money in Viet Nam. But, if you change parking spots many times a day, you have to pay a lot of money and waste a lot of time.

A businessman had to go to many markets everyday, so he only parked his motorcycle on the side walk and locked it carefully. But each year, he lost one or two motorcycles, even though he locked them with the best locks.

Then, he thought of a safer way to keep his motorcycle. Every time when he went to the market, he took his wife with him. When he went into the market, his wife stayed outside to take care of the motorcycle. Everyone thought it was the perfect solution, but no, he still lost his motorcycle again.

One day, when he went into a market, he left his key in the motorcycle. His wife was standing next to the motorcycle. A robber went behind his wife. Suddenly, the robber pulled down his wife’s pants. While his wife hurried to cover herself and struggled to pull up her pants, the robber jumped on the motorcycle and drove away.

The Last Breakthrough

Last weekend, I stayed at home to enjoy a Chinese movie. The title of the movie was “The Last Breakthrough.” It was produced by a film company in Hong Kong. It described a group of young men and women who studied medicine in a university. After graduation they found jobs in a large hospital in a modern city. It was easy for them to find jobs, but they were unhappy.

All of the young doctors had a dream. They wanted to use their knowledge to help patients who really needed help. They didn’t care if the patient was rich or poor or even where they came from or their religion.

They knew that the life was very valuable. When they saved a patient from death, they were very happy. They celebrated together the whole night, but in the hospital, they had to follow the rules of the hospital. The hospital only cared for patients who could pay the expensive medical bills.

They had to treat rich patients who was not seriously ill, while they couldn’t treat poor patients who was very sick. The young doctors watched many poor patients die. . They were very upset.

At last, they decided to quit their jobs in the hospital to attend “The Life Force” as volunteers.

“The Force Life” was a national organization. It required that every volunteer had to go to any remote location in the world. These places could be in the mountains or forests far away from the modern cities. Sometimes these places were attacked by natural disasters like storms, tornadoes, or earthquakes. Sometimes the volunteers had to go to a war zone, where two countries were fighting. These places never had enough medicine. Their jobs were very hard and dangerous, but the people in these places really needed their help, and the doctors were very happy because they could work according to their dream. They could save more people from death. They preferred to work in these places than to work in the big city hospital.

This film described a group of volunteers who worked around the world. They had to talk in English. So in this film, we could learn a lot of English, and it was easy to understand because it had Chinese subtitles. I thought this film was good and enjoyable.

People and Monkey

I remember when I was a child, an uncle (a friend of my father) asked me, “Do you know where the first men in this world came from?”

I first laughed and then I looked at him because I didn’t know the answer.

Then uncle told me that the first man came from a kind of large monkey, like a gorilla or an ape.

Our ancestors had tails on their backs and if the tip anyone’s tail turned yellow it meant that he would die soon.

One day, a farmer worked in the field. Accidentally, his tail touched the ground. When he took a shower, he found that t tail had turned to yellow at the end. He thought that he would die soon.

From that day, he didn’t go to work anymore. He enjoyed life and waited to die, but after he had spent all his money, he was still alive. He was very angry. He ran to the kitchen. He took a knife and cut off his tail.

Beginning with that farmer until now, people don’t have tails anymore.

Old

A hundred years ago, people’s lives were short. Most of them would die at about fifty years old to sixty years old. Maybe they didn’t know how to stay healthy. They worked too hard.

Not all of people would die at that age. A small number of wise men lived longer, but hardly anyone lived to be over seventy years old.

One of these wise men who lived 150 and was still active and full of energy. Maybe he lived three times longer than other people.

All his friends and his relatives had died already. Everyone, even himself, had forgotten his original name. So all the people called him “The Oldest Child”.

Life was usually short. When people died, their relatives inherit their property according to the traditions. Most of the young men and ladies got marry at about sixteen years old. Their parents arranged who they should marry. So when they became old, got sick finally died, they had a lot of children and grandchildren to take care them and inherit their property.

There lived a man, who widower, whose son was almost thirty years old. The old father hadn’t yet arranged a wife for his son to marry.

The son thought he was too old to get married. Why didn’t the father do anything to help his son? The son was ashamed to ask his father about this problem. How he could remind his father that he need to find a wife.

Then, one day, the son wrote a sentence on the restroom door.

“Thirty no wife, forty no son.”

When the father saw that sentence, he smiled and thought, “Aha! My son wants to get married.” But the old man was a funny person. He wrote a sentence under his son’s sentence.

“Fifty, sixty still not too late”

The son saw the father’s sentence, and he was very anxious. Then, the son wrote one more sentence, “Life is short. Few live to be over seventy.”

At last, the father wrote one more sentence, “Compared to my “Oldest Child”, seventy is still a kid.”

A "Lonely" Girl

A young girl lived in Vietnam. When she was three years old, her parents separated. The girl did not have brothers or sisters.

Her father had to work to support the family, so the girl spent most of the time with her grandmother. She only saw her father at night. After work, her father felt tired and seldom talked with her.

In the girl’s mind, she wanted her father to talk with her more. She loved her mother. She really wanted to know why her mother had left her. No one could give her a reason that the girl could believe. She felt lonely and she did not like to talk to other people besides her father.

Three years ago, her father and she immigrated to the United States. She still seldom talked with her father, but she became more independent.

She knew if she was to be independent that she must rely on herself. Fortunately, this country provided her the chance. She studied English in the morning and worked in a nail shop in the afternoon. She studied and worked very hard. She graduated from Laney College with a business management degree last year.

Recently, her boss at the nail shop arranged for her to become the manager of the a newly opened nail shop.

Who is she? She is Tao. Tao was my classmate at Clinton Park School three and a half years ago.

Jaime and Burr's Excellent Adventure

Congratulations to the newlyweds!!!

Burr told us about their honeymoon in Brazil.

If you want to read more about Jaime and Burr's honeymoon, click on their blog.

Happy Birthday to Richard

Today is our teacher's sixtieth birthday. We are very happy and we wish our teacher a great birthday. We wish him always looks younger and heathier.

My country, when people to the age of sixty, most the children like to do a banquet in a restaurant to celebrate for their parents. The children want to do like this because they think people's life has sixty years only and they let their parents enjoy life with good food.

My Idea

This morning our class had a conflict between the teacher and a few students. I think this is bad because we are all adults. We can talk by many ways or we can make a compromise. Don't from the small thing, we make everybody unhappy.

Although, the school doesn't have a rule but the teacher can have his own rule because he thinks his rule can make the students improve english quickly. I think we should follow it.

However, we are all adults but when we are come into the class, our roles are students. We always need an instructor and we should have obey what he requires.

For exmple, we go to learn Kung Fu, the coach wants you to wear uniform. You have to listen to the coach right? You cannot say I can wear any clothes.

When we are out side of school, we are adults, but when we are in school we are always students. So, we should have followed and respected what the teacher suggests.

I need you guys' comments.

Newest Member of the Family

She doesn't have a name yet.

Do you have any suggestions? 

Why I Like to Go to School

School is a place to improve my English. School is a place to develop my knowledge. Not only that, school is a place to learn many things from classmates.

In school, I have learned about many things from the teacher such as grammar, news, histories and different cultures. Beside that, I have learned a lot of new things from classmates like cooking, joking and talking.

School is an interesting place to me. School is very helpful. If I had more time I would go to school very often.

The Key

I feel like grammar is my key to English. If the grammar is not correct I could confuse people.

Grammar is difficult in English so that I have to practice more and more in my writing. I try to read the difficult sentences over and over. Sometimes I learn them by heart.

Whenever I speak out loud naturally, at that moment, I feel like I am holding the key to English.

I Would Rather . . .

I prefer to learn grammar at the beginning of the class than at the end because most of the time I leave early.

Everyone comes to the class in order to improve English, but some students have to leave early because they have to go to work. If our teacher would switch to teach grammar first then every student could learn grammar and improve their English quickly.

I'd rather our teacher taught grammar first than taught the other skills. If he did it, we'd love him more.

I know my words cannot change the teacher, but at least he understands what the students need.

Go To School

Go to School

Kieu Banh

Education is very important for everyone, especially for children. They go to school to get more knowledge, intelligence, and perception.

They learn how to listen to people and respect their opinions from school. They grow up to become self confident and creative. They learn to discuss and find solutions to their problems. They will have a brighter future.

American children are very lucky. They go to school without a fee. The textbooks are free. Sometimes, the teacher brings all the students on field trips. They see puppet shows and read many kinds of books in the library. They enjoy picnics in the park, look at photographs, paintings and different kinds of animals in the museum.

I go to adult school to learn English. Some classmates are seniors, but they study hard and speak English very well. They were versatile and effective in their country. My teacher is terrific. He always says, “Bring a pencil, notebook, and news.”

Everyday he asks some students to tell their news. It is a good way to improve oral presentations. My first time going in front of the class, I was very shy and nervous. My face was red and my heart was beating very fast, but now I feel that I’m better than before. I respect and appreciate my teacher. I hope everyone enjoys a prosperous and a happy new year. Bye! Bye!

New Years In Viet Nam

Hi ! Teacher, classmates. Happy NewYear!

In my country, New Years begins in January or February. It's a very happy time of the year. People buy a lot of food because the markets will be closed for several days at New Years. And in other meaning, people think that having a lot of food on New Years represents plenty of food all through the year.

On NewYear's Eve, people put fruit, flowers, candles, tea, wine, and special food on their ancestors’ altar.
After that, they burn incense to honor, and invite the spirits of their ancestors to come back and share with them during the three or four days of the NewYear.

Before dinner, people take a shower because they want to be cleaner than other days. Some people add grapefruit leaves to the shower water because they suppose that it washes bad luck away for the whole new year.

Then, people put on new clothes and eat dinner together. Many people go to temples and most of the young people go to see fireworks at midnight.

During the New Year's holidays, everyone usually goes to visit their relatives and friends. They want to give best wishes to each other for the New Year.

It's a special time for children because they get a lot of red lucky envelopes from adults. And, they also get to eat a lot of sweetmeats, watermelon seeds and sticky rice cakes.

People celebrate New Years for about three or four days. On the last day of New Years, people burn paper money, paper clothes for their ancestors and say bye-bye to them.

How about you? How do people in your country celebrate New Years?

The First Day Of 2007

This is the first day of 2007.

The sun is bright and the sky is blue out side. It makes me feeling pleased at the beginning of the New Year.

What shall I say?

First, I wish our teachers and classmates a bright and a happy new year.

Second, I’d like to write these several words for the first of my essays in this year.

Third, I’d like to post two pictures which were taken last year before Thanksgiving.

Apologize

Hi ! Teacher and classmates .
How are you doing?
I'm sorry that. I could't come to the party on Friday. Because I had go to work. I wish, I could come and enjoy with you guys on that day .
But I enjoy our class' pictures on the blog. I think, the party was very fun. And I also thank the teacher about helping me hold my certificate when I wasn't there .
We are having a long holiday. So I'm missing all of you very much. With best wishes to you for a merry Christmas and a happy NewYear.

Dim Sum in December 2006

Please click here to see photos.




See you next year!

Writers' Awards

Yan Hua, Nhu Thai, Cam and Kai Yan received their Distinguished Writers Certificates.

Thuong Thi could not be present, so the teacher held up her certificate.

Congratulations!!!

Why I have been absent from school

Hi, Class,

How is it going? I hope, everything is going good!

Did you miss me all this time? (ja, ja, ja, ja, I'm just kidding, do not believe me. )

Well, I have been absent from school for a long time. It was not my intention, because, I like to go to school a lot. But, I had to leave it for a few weeks, and I became sad about it, because I did not see you guys for a long time.-(

First, I left the school on Thanksgiving Week. It was, because my son was on vacation from school, therefore, I had to stay with him the whole week.

Second, I started volunteering at my son's school for more days. For different reasons, I needed to be as near as possible to him and his classmates.

Let me tell you that volunteering for any good cause is one of the best things that you can do. It is not just for your own benefit ( because you are practicing and improving your English, and you are getting some experience) It is also for the satisfaction that you can feel from helping others that are in need. It does not matter if the time that you can dedicate in this labor is just a little bit. The most important is, that you must do it with all your heart.

I was very busy, but now I am returning to my normal schedule. Some days, I woke up with a lot of desire to come to school. But, it was hard for me, because I had to choose between my duties with my son and my school.

This Monday, I am returning to school. I hope to understand everything that the teacher Richard is teaching, because I lost a lot of lessons.

O. K. Class, take care and be well :-)

Favorite Holiday

When I was living in Viet Nam, my favorite holiday was the Viet Nam New Year. It was a lot of fun.

One week before New Year, everyone was very busy. Some people needed to clean their houses and some enjoyed going to the flea market to buy some stuff that they needed to decorate their houses before New Year arrived.

Anyway, I loved the flower flea market the most. It was very crowded with people. They sold many kinds of flowers for three nights. The customers never forgot to buy some red lucky envelopes that were special for the children.

But now, that I am living in America, maybe Christmas is my favorite holiday. After Thanksgiving. everywhere you go you see stores selling stuff for Christmas and a lot of Christmas trees.

Some people decorate their houses and their front yard with lights. It's very beautiful. But in America, they don't have any flea market at night and people are busy with their jobs. They just stay home with no where to go. Anyway, I still miss New Year in my country very much.

Talking To My Supervior In English

Last Friday was the my day off . As usual, at 4:45 pm I was watching TV at home. The telephone rang. I turned off the TV and went to pick up the telephone, but when I heard the sound on the other end I was worried. I recognized the voice was my supervisor. I thought maybe I made a mistake last week and he was calling me to complain.

When I talked to my supervisor, I found out that he just called to ask me to work overtime, not to complain about any mistake. I asked my supervisor, why he didn't call me earlier. because it was 5 o'clock ,and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. How could I get to work by 5 o'clock?

Then my supervisor told me that one of my co -workers just called sick at 4:30, and he hadn’t known my telephone number .He had to check in the computer, so he was a little late. And he told me not to worry about being late. I could come in at 6 o'clock.

I was very happy because this was the first conversation I had in English on the telephone and I could understand it one hurdered percent! I hope I can understand all my conversations in English in the future. I know this is only my dream and goal.

A Blind And A Cripple

In a large apartment building, there lived about 30 to 40 tenants. Among them lived two handicapped people. A blind man and a crippled man. And both of them lived alone and lived next door to each other.

Every day the tenants who lived in this apartment went about their lives the same as all the other people who lived in the city. They went to work or to school. At night they stayed at home to watch TV or enjoy music. Their lives were simple and peaceful.

One windy night in autumn, suddenly, someone in this apartment building shouted, “Fire! Fire !”

The appartment really had caught on fire. Every tenant escaped from the apartment except the blind man and his crippled neighbor. No one went to help them.

When the blind man and the crippled man were woken up by the noise, the cripple saw that the apartment was surounded by the fire and smoke. The blind man heard the sound of the fire and smelled the smoke .They were very surprised. They tried to call 911 for help, but the telephone had lost connection. They ran to the window, but there was only fire and smoke. No one knew that they were still stay inside the apartment building.

While the blind man and the crippled man didn't known how they could escape.

Both of them ran to open the door, but of course, outside the door it was full of smoke. They ran into each other. So both of them and talked a while about how to escape.

Then the blind carried the crippled man on his back .The crippled told the blind the safe way to escape.

At last, both of them escaped safety from the fire.

From this story, we can learn that when we meet something dangerous or difficult, if we keep calm and help each other, we can solve many problems easier than if we try to solve them by ourselves.

The Problem

A couple of weeks before my daughter was ten years old, she gave me a paper from her school. It said, "Your daughter’s eyes have a problem and she can’t see clearly, so you have to take her to the doctor to check her eyes."

One day later, my husband made an appointment for her on the next Friday. That Friday I was working, so my husband took her to Kaiser Hospital because our insurance was in there. My husband paid $30 for an appointment.

A doctor checked my daughter's eyes and he told my husband that my daughter needs to wear glasses, but we had to pay for the glasses because our insurance company didn’t cover that.

My husband called and told me about that on the phone. I was very surprised to hear that, so I told him to go home and I would find another place.

After two days, I found a glasses shop on International and 6th Avenue. I went and asked for some information and then I showed our insurance policy. The doctor told me that our insurance is very good. So the check up was free. Then the seller explained to me that if my daughter chose glasses worth less than $200, they would be free. But my daughter chose glasses for $380, so I paid $180 to the shop because it was over the coverage of our insurance company.

The doctor also gave me some information. She said, "Your daughter can go to a check up every year for free but the glasses are just free every two years." So we went home, and my daughter was very happy. Now I think the problem was with Kaiser. It was not our insurance company. I don't like Kaiser but I have to go there sometimes.

The Driver License

Today I was absent because I went to the DMV to take a driving test. Yesterday my father said, if I passed the test, he would make something special for me on my birthday, so it made me feel stress.

When we got to the DMV, we saw the road and we got ready for the test. On the car in front of us, the back lights of the car were not working.

My coach said, "If some lights are not working, the car can not go on the test road. You will be the next one, are you ready now?"

I said," I feel very nervous."

He said," Don' t be nervous. You will pass."

After that, the examiner came to my car and my coach had to get out of the car. The examiner asked me something about the car and he told me to drive where he told me to drive.

About 20 minutes passed, we got back to the DMV. The examiner asked me to park the car. After I parked the car he said to me," You have made some mistakes on turning the corner, although you make these mistakes you still pass."

When I heard this, I felt very excited. I made a phone call to my father and told him that I passed the test the first time I took it and I said," Don't forget what you promised me."

He said," Ok." After that, I made phone calls to my sister, mother, aunt and cousin and told them about that.

The whole family are happy for me.

Dangerous

Today, I went to the school to pick my daughters up. I was late a few minutes .
because I needed go home first to cook lunch for my daughters before they got home.

On our way home, in front of the school, we had to wait for the traffic light until it changed to green. I saw a little girl in front of us. She already had stepped down to cross the street and she crossed to the other side .

I wondered why she was going home by herself! I looked back behind me and I didn’t see an adult.

My daughter asked me, “ Why is that girl walking by herself?”

The girl looked younger than my daughter.

We didn't say any thing more. I just kept my eyes on the little girl because she was walking on the other side of the street from us. But, she just walked and didn't look carefully. Some streets don't have much traffic there. Still, I was afraid for her.

I watched her for more than three blocks until I turned to go to my home. The girl continued walking. I think, it was very dangerous for her.

A Sick Boy

A few weeks ago, I saw a movie on TV, that was called “Criminal.” It told about a little boy who just was 11 years old but he was a murderer.

The police found that some kids in his village had been killed and all of the victims had been attacked in the same way. But the police couldn't find who the murderer was. Then, after that, they asked for help from the F.B.I. Several days later, some FBI agents came, investigated and wrote a report. Finally, they suspected and arrested a man who lived in that village. He was a quiet man. For a few years, he had been separated from his wife, however, he was living with his son. When the FBI visited the man, his son was suddenly missing. The agents thought that he had killed his own son and even the other kids.
Then the police came to search his house and they found some things that proved that his son was alive. The FBI thought that the man was covering up something.

Finally, that man had to tell the truth. Although it hurt him very much, he said that his son became a sick boy when his parents separated. He was jealous of all the kids who had a happy family. He liked to play baseball. So, when he couldn’t control himself, he brought his friends to the wood to play and after that, he attacked them with the bat. All the victims were his friends.

I remember, when the police arrested him, that he wasn't afraid and his face was very angry. If you were his mother, how would you feel?

Discrimination

My eldest sister, her family has immigrated to Canada in 1989. I immigrated to the USA in 2002. We always keep talking by long distance telephone once or twice each month.

But my elder sister’s family didn’t call me recent two months. I felt that this was an uncommon thing and I felt nervous, so I brought a telephone card to call my elder sister’s family.

Unfortunately, I learned that my brother-in-law got sick from the call. He is 78 years old. He had treated in the hospital for about 20 days. The next day when he got better, he went home. But at that day, his youngest son got a serious appendicitis.

When my nephew waited to see a doctor in the hospital, there were eight patients who had the same appendicitis but not serious were also waiting.

May be the staffs of the hospital knew that my nephew is an Asian. They scheduled him to get his operation last, so he had waited for about 22 hours.

Treating appendicitis requires a simple surgery. If a patient who has serious appendicitis doesn’t get surgery soon enough, it is very dangerous for him or her.

During the surgery, my nephew’s appendix exploded. It was very dangerous, but my nephew was very lucky. His life was saved after about two months of treatment in the hospital.

Do you think he was treated unfairly because he was an Asian?

My First Essay

Hi, teacher and class.

I have been learning English with you for almost one year, but I haven’t written anything on the blog. I know that practicing writing and speaking are the only ways to improve my English. I only can say "sorry", because I thought I didn’t know enough English and I didn’t have time to write an essay. Also, I don't know how to use a computer.

Everyday, during the class, I just understand about twenty to thirty percent of what teacher taught. I thought the level of this class was too high for me. Sometimes I wanted to quit it, but I told myself to try one more week. So I still study in this class.

Thanksgiving 2006

Click here for more photos.

Thank You Richard Very Much for The Turkey

I thought our teacher was an average cook. I was wrong. Our teacher is indeed a good cook!

Today our teacher brought a turkey to the class for our "Thanksgiving" party. He carved the turkey into many slices. I tried one slice of the turkey. Oh, it was delicious! I couldn't believe that our teacher seasoned the turkey so tastily. I liked it very much.

Thanksgiving is the first holiday of the season, so everyone is very excited. Most families gather together to have turkey and some traditional foods. People enjoy eating and talking each other.

Today our class had a big party for "Thanksgiving." Everyone shared food in the class, so the tables were full of foods. Everybody enjoyed good food and each others company.

We appreciate our teacher very much for staying up all night and cooking for us. We'll always remember your tasty turkey. We hope our teacher will cook for students every ' Thanksgiving Day.

I thought our teacher didn't love his students, but he does.

A Vietnamese Woman's Diary

Click here to read about this incredibly moving story about a young Vietnamese doctor's diary.

Aljazeera News

Click here to view the news on Aljazeera.

The video stream uses the Realaudio program. If it hasn't yet been loaded on your computer, you can get it here. RealAudio is free. Be careful, however, because RealAudio also sells a "premium version" that is not free.

Tonights lead story is about corruption and politics in Taiwan.

Snickerdoodles

(Cookie mixture)
3-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup softened butter or margarine
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
walnuts (optional)

(Cinnamon-Sugar mixture)
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1.Blend flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, mix butter, 1-1/2 cup sugar and eggs thoroughly. Add milk and vanilla and beat well.
3. Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture (butter, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla), beating until well combined.
4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
5. roll cookie dough balls into cinnamon-sugar mixture (3 tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamond) and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Bake 8~10 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about 66 cookies.

Was the cake delicious?

Ask Kathleen or Kai Yan. 

The Room 101 Cooking Club

Look what Nhu Thai started!

 

Strange Land

Hi ! classmates,

You and I are immigrants. We are from many different countries. We came to America to live. I don't know how you felt, but for me those first days were very difficult.

Seven years ago, I left Viet Nam. I came to America to live, because my husband was living in Oakland. He wanted to bring me and our three years old daughter to this city to live together.

I remember the first few days when I came here. Everything was so strange to me. I couldn't go to sleep because the time here is different than there.

I stayed at home. I was very afraid to go out. That's easy to understand because I didn't know the way and my English was poor, too.

I wanted to go to English school, but I had to take care of my daughter. I was very weary. At that time, I missed my parents and the rest of my family in Vietnam. I missed many things from my country. I would have gone back to my country if I had had a choice .

Now , it 's a different story. My kids go to school. I have a little free time to go to English class. I also have a part time job, too. I'm busy now. I don't have time to think about coming back to my country or not.

The Good Ideas of Our Teacher

If I had known our teacher had a bunch of cards in his drawer, I would have asked him to let us practice conversation using the cards. I think it is very good to do this everyday.

It is a good idea to change partners and tables in conversation every time. It makes our conversation practice more exciting.

If we had started the conversation practice two months ago, we might have been very good by now.

I Try To Write Some Sentences.

I will try to write some sentences with “unless”, “as long as”, “provided” and “providing”. I hope our teacher and classmates will give me your valuable corrections.

Thank you.

I’m going to play soccer tomorrow unless it rains.

(Looks good to me.)

I’m going to play soccer tomorrow provided it is not raining.

(Still good)

The Fox team can win the champion as long as their team finishes the last competition.

(Not so good but we can fix it.

The Fox racing team can win the championship for this year as long as their team wins the final race of the year.)

The Fox racing team will win this year’s championship unless they lose the last race of the season.

(OK)

Providing their team wins the final race of the season, they will win the championship this year.

(OK)

(All the the rest are also OK.)

We’ll achieve our goals unless we are lazy.

We’ll achieve our goals as long as we study according to the plan.

We’re going to eat out tonight unless it rains.

She can catch the bus as long as she leaves home early in the morning.

They’ll arrive here on time provided the traffic is not too bad.

He’ll go to the concert provided the ticket is free.

Great News! Great News!

Today I try to make the Coconut Milk Cake . It's indeed successfull. I feel very happy.

I'm going to bring the cake in our class tomorrow. I let you guys try how the taste is.

If you guys come in late tomorrow. The cake will be gone.

Specially, Veronica, If you want to try my cake, you have to come to school tomorrow. If not we will eat all!

My School

The name of my school is the "Neighborhood Centers Adult School." My school has two branches, one is at the corner of International Blvd. and Eighth Avenue and the other one is nearby, just one block away.

My school building is old but classical. There are many class-rooms in it. My school has many classes such as E S L , Computer, and G E D. There are three teaching shifts in my school: morning, afternoon, and evening. My school is always busy and crowded with students.

All the teachers in my school are excellent. The teachers of my school are of many races. They are enthusiastic and hardworking teachers. All the pupils like them very much.

The personnel who work in my school are sweet and efficient. When students need help, they are willing.

There are many pupils that take two classes. Some students live in other cities. They like to come to this school to study because the teachers are interesting and the school is comfortable.

Anyway, my school is the best place to learn English. I am indeed proud of my school.

Hacking Democracy

Click here to view the HBO video about problems with computerized voting systems.

A Special Day

Last Friday, I was absent because I went to a hospital with my aunt in Berkerly. My aunt is pregnant now, but the doctor in Chinatown could not make sure whether the baby has heartbeat or not, so they asked my aunt to go to the big hospital in Berkerly. When we got there, it only took us 20 minutes to wait for the doctor. We got into the room, the doctor asked my aunt to lay on the bed and closed to her. My aunt's English is not very well, so she said to the doctor," Can you speak Chinese?" The doctor said," I can't." "Can you speak English?" the doctor asked me. I said," No." Because we knew there is a Chinese staff there, and we thought if we said we could not speak English, the doctor would ask the Chinese staff to help us, but she didn't do that. After that, she started to check the baby. I thought maybe she got mad because no smile on her face, and she didn't say anything to us even one word during she checked the baby. I was afraid because I didn't know whether she got mad or the baby was not very well. After she checked the baby. She walked out with a paper and said," Wait for me here, I'll be back." We thought she was going to ask the Chinese staff to tell us something about the baby, but she came back alone. She looked at us and said," I think the baby is ok, you can leave now." After she said the baby is ok, we were very happy, because we love baby very much. We all look forward to this new baby born.

Halloween Gathering of Witches

  

Halloween This Year

I asked my children if they wanted to go out to " Trick or treat " this year.

They said, "No." Perhaps, they think they are too old, so they don't want to go out on Halloween now.

Previously, when Halloween was coming, they were very excited. They insisted that I take out their costumes and Halloween buckets. They used to want me to prepare a costume for them, but this year my son didn't ask me for anything. He didn’t want to wear the costume to his school this year.

Last night, I asked my children again, "Don't you want to go out on Halloween?"

They said "No!"

So I feel free tonight!

No Richard No Success

My country has a proverb, "No teacher no success." So that, If we didn't have Richard's help, we wouldn't be successful. Do you agree with me?

We are all hard working students. We should set a good example students in this school.

For adult students, there is nothing happier than if we could speak and write English correctly.

If we could write and speak English fluently, We would be on the top of the world!

If Richard help us, everyone in Room 101 would be a good writer and maybe like the author Shakespeare.

Freedom

A year ago, my family went to a flea market. We saw many kinds of pets there, but my oldest daughter picked two birds. She chose a blue bird and her sister chose a yellow bird, so I decided to buy a big bird cage and some bird food.

We got out of there and my husband drove us home. My kids were very happy to have pets.

Three months later, the yellow bird was sick. After a few days it died. My youngest daughter was very upset. She cried a little bit. The blue bird was very lonely and very quiet.

I told my oldest daughter, “Maybe we should let it free.”

She was sad but she agreed with me to let it go. We thought the blue bird should have friends, so we brought it to the front yard and we let it go free. It was very happy. As I was openning the cage, my daughters said bye - bye to the bird.

“We hope you find some friends, ”my daughter said, and then the bird flew away.

A Great News For Our Classmatess

I have read Cam’s essay which had been posted the day before yesterday.
She said our teacher Richard Blum had promised to edit Cam’s essays continually. I think this is not only a great news for Cam but also for our classmates.
That is right. If we study riding a bicycle, teacher can uphold the seat of the bicycle, pushes the bicycle and balances it behind us, and tells us how to steer for a certain time.We will get to the goal successfully.
But when we just learn to understand balance, teacher lets go of his helping hands, we would fall down badly. We do not know what was wrong. And we would stop learning riding a bicycle forever.
Constantly, I think our classmates start to study writing. We need more help from our teacher. I understand that teacher Richard Blum will spend more time, and works hard for editing our essays.
I appreciate our teacher Richard Blum for this changing.

A Young Girl's Handbag

Few years ago, a Sunday morning, my friend, Ron, went to San Francisco with his wife and their niece. Their niece was eleven years old.
Ron had invited his friend to meet at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. When Ron drove approaching Chinatown, he discovered many cars had parked along the road sides. He thought that it was no reasons to spend some money to park his car in a garage on Sunday. So he drove through several streets around Chinatown to find the park space. Certainly, he could only park his car on the road side far away from Chinatown.
Before he left his car, he made sure that he had closed all windows and the doors of his car. The seats were very clear except his niece’s handbag. Her handbag was a toy. There was no money inside.
After enjoyed a lunch, they returned to their car. Ron found some broken glasses appeared on the ground near his car. Then he looked up at the window. Oh! left rear small window was broken. He checked the car inside. Only his niece’s handbag disappeared. He felt unlucky and sighed himself.
This story tells us that do not leave anything in the car seat, especially the thing looks like worth. It may attract thieves’ interesting and will cause the meaningless loss.

I Might As Well . . .

Hi, Classmates,

I have enjoyed reading you guys' essays for almost two months. I really like them and would like to share my essays with you from now on. I hope my writing is as good as yours.

In fact, I didn't want to write on the blog again, but our teacher wants me to write and he promises me to edit my essays, so, I might as well write to make him feel happy.

As you know, we are very lucky to have a teacher like Richard. He always works hard on students' essays. Richard is the one who always encourages students to get ahead with their English.

I feel very happy that he is editting my essays again.

A Good News

On Wednesday afternoon, my mom was making a phone call to me while I was studying at school.
She said, "I have a good news for you." I said,"really." She said," Yes, I find a new job as a waitess in the restaurant. I only work four hours a day, but the money is less than the ex-job,but I can cook for the family and I can take care of the family. Do you agree?" I said,"It's up to you. If you don't like to do your ex-job, you can have a try on your new job, but I heart, you have to work very hard in the restaurant, because it has a lot of works to do. If you think you can stand for it, just do it. "She said,"Ok, I want to have a try and now I want to make a phone call to you Dad. Good-bye."I said,"Ok. Good-bye."
After that, I was very happy,because I don't need to cook dinner any more, and I don't have to think about what shall I cook today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I think it was really a good news for me and my family.

Planning Our Vacation

My husband, children and I are planning to go to Mexico at Christmas time. We have gone to Mexico in December for the last three years. We always had traveled to Mexico by plane. It is especially expensive to fly at Christmas time. The cost of the tickets can be double during the holiday season.

This time we plan to go to Mexico by car. People who have traveled this way say that we can spend half of the money that we usually pay for airline tickets.

There will be two weeks vacation at my children's school, but we are thinking about asking for an extra week, so we could spend two weeks in Mexico. We can spend the extra week to get there and come back.

We are very excited about our trip to Mexico.

I Quit My Job

Last Sunday was my last day of work at the restaurant.

I quit my job, because that area is not safe. Last Monday, one young guy was killed. Many police came to investigate and to make a report. I saw a lot of blood around the young guy's body. I felt so scared. I decided to quit my job.

A Funny Day

Last Sunday, I went to the park with my cousin, sister and brother. When we arrived there, we went to the basketball playground. We didn't have a basketball. We only had a volleyball, so we decided to use the volleyball as a basketball . We tried to throw the volleyball into the basket. Sometimes it was easy to get it into the basket, but sometimes it was hard.

My cousin asked us to stand a short distance in front of the basket and then to shoot the ball. If the ball didn’t go into the basket, he would help us to throw it into the basket.

We started to play. I was the first one. I threw the ball , fortunately, the ball went into the basket. My cousin was very disappointed, because he could not do what he wanted to do.

The second one was my sister. After she threw the ball, my cousin was very happy, because the ball did not go into the basket. He ran and caught the ball and then threw it, but the ball did not go into the basket. No matter how many times he tried, it was the same. He felt upset and angry. He held the ball in his hands and said, "I don't want to play it again. It makes me crazy, I don't like it. Let's go home now." After that, he walked home by himself, so we went home with him.

On our way home, he said, "Let's go to the park next Sunday."

I Learned My Lesson

One day when I was on my job, my sister called me to ask if I had time to go to lunch with her.

I said, "Yes."

So at lunch time, I drove on the freeway to meet my sister at a restaurant, but I never got there.

I was driving too fast, maybe about 85 miles an hour. A policeman saw that I was driving over the speed limit. I didn't notice the policeman because I was listening to music on my CD player. When I finally saw the flashing lights behind me I felt scared. I knew that I had been driving too fast.

I heard the policeman talking on a loudspeaker. "Pull over," he shouted. But when I pulled over, the car in front of me pulled over also.

The policeman began to ask me questions. He asked me, "Why didn't you pull over sooner?"

I told him, " Because I thought you were trying to stop the car in front of me."

He said, "So, is that why you didn't stop?"

"Yes," I told him.

Fortunately, that day was also lucky. Even though I didn't have a driver's license or any other ID with me, the policeman didn't have my car towed. He just gave me a ticket. I didn't meet my sister, I just drove back to work. I don't remember how much I had to pay for that ticket.

I learned my lesson. I don't recommend that you drive over the speed limit if you don't have a driver's license.

My Library Card

Today, after school I went to the Oakland Public Library to apply for a library card for myself.

I arrived at the library at 11: 55 a.m. The library had not opened yet. At noon the door opened. I presented an application form to the clerk who was working at the check out counter. He typed my information on the computer. Then he scanned a library card and gave it to me. I felt happy. I did not understand clearly his explanation about the effective date. I thanked the clerk and left the library with my new library card.

From presenting the application to getting the library card, I spent less than two minutes. How highly efficient the library is!

A suspicious crime

What would you think if you heard that a man was found seriously hurt in bed and that his wife did nothing to help him?

Something strange happened one night. Mr. Sanchez was stabbed in his bed. He passed away some hours after the police came to investigate..

Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez had been married for five years. they had a two years old son,and Mrs. Sanchez was pregnant again.Mr. Sanchez worked as a policeman.

The day before the murder, while on duty, Mr. Sanchez had an argument with a man. The angry man had shouted at Mr. Sanchez, "I'm going to kill you."

The police, however, arrested Mrs. Sanchez. The police thought that she acted suspiciously because she didn't do anything to help her husband. She told the police that she had been in the bathroom when she heard some strange noise. The police asked her why she didn't come out of the bathroom. She answered that she was scared.

There is a lot of evidence that points towardMrs. Sanchez. One of the bedroom windows was broken, but the police said it had been broken from inside the room.The police think she is guilty because some wet clothes were found in the Sanchez house .The police suspect that Mrs. Sanchez got some blood on her clothes when she stabbed her husband and that she had washed the clothes immediately. .

Now she is not in jail. she is on bail and she lives with her parents. She can't leave the city untill she can prove that she is innocent or until the police find another suspect.

Who do you think killed Mr. Sanchez?.

My Son's Soccer Game.

My son, is a soccer player. Every weekend, I go with him to his soccer game. This Sunday, we went to Stockton. We had never been to this town before. It is a beautiful place. People have farms, and there are many grape and strawberry fields. I liked it a lot, more than other places that my son and I visited before.

The day was perfect.It was sunny, but not really hot. My son's soccer team was excited. They have been waiting for this tournament for long time. The game started at 10:00 a.m.

The two teams played very well. In the first half, one of my son teammates scored the first goal. The game got thrilling at this time. Everybody was shouting. Emotions were high. There were a lot of parents and everyone was excited. My son scored the second goal and I was very happy, but he was happier than me. He was running and jumping around the field. It was very funny.

In the second half, my son's soccer team scored three more goals, and the soccer game ended 5-0. The other team's players were very sad, because they did not score any goals. It was their unlucky day. But then, the two teams exchanged greetings and everybody was happy.

In any kind of game, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you win. But the most important thing is that you enjoy the game. It shouldn’t matter if you lose or you win. Watching children play soccer is a lot fun and it's very interesting, because they express their emotions when they are playing.

Now, we are waiting for another game next weekend.

A Terrible Morning

Hi, my class. This is my first time to write on the blog. I hope all of you can understand what I wrote.

On Tuesday morning, I was on my way to school. I saw two men fighting in the street. I was very afraid. I didn't know what was happening, so I just stood there and thought whether I should go to school this way or go another way.

While I was thinking, I saw a white man wearing a white T-shirt. His T-shirt was torn and there was a lot of blood on his T-shirt. It looked ugly. I also saw a black man. He was wearing a black jacket. His forehead was hurt, and blood as streaming down his face, and it looked terrible. A car was parked next to them and a woman was standing in front it. That woman was, maybe, with the black man, because the black man asked the woman to call the police. While the woman was making the phone call, the white man was trying to run away. The white man couldn't do that, because the black man was pulling his T-shirt.

After that, I made up my mind to change the way I go to school. I don’t know what happened to them. This is all I know.

A Little boy's Day at Fairyland

On Sunday morning, there were many people at Fairyland, a playground near Lake Merritt. Some of them were feeding the geese. Some of them were strolling.

A father held his son in his arms. The boy’s mother walked beside them. The boy was about two years old. When the boy saw the many geese eating, he kicked his father.

Speaking in Chinese, the boy demanded, “Let me down!”

(to be continued)

Where Are We?

IMG_1911
Originally uploaded by muypadre.

Teacher Jean and I were here today.

Can you guess where we were and what was happening there?

Add your guess to the comments.

My First Time at the Water Slides

This was the first time that I saw a park with water slides. It was a beautiful place. There were slides in the park and there was a beach with sand. I want to write about the experience that I had there.

When we were there, my son wanted to go down the slides. I took him there, but after arriving there I asked the lady how deep the water was. It wasn’t very deep, but I felt scared. My son and I didn’t know how to swim.

I went down first. It was very fast. When you go down the slide you put a piece of plastic under you. This helps you go faster. I was so scared, I let go of the piece of plastic, but I made it down.

When it was my son’s turn, I was worried. I worried about how he would feel. I waited for him at the bottom in the pool. The first time he slid down he felt scared, too, but he wanted to go down again and again.

Finally, he lost the piece plastic that he was sliding on and he got stuck on the slide. He started crying. He was really scared. But, he was lucky. My niece came behind him and she gave him her piece of plastic. He slid down safely. She shared her friend’s plastic.

After that, my son didn’t want to go on the slide anymore.

We had a great day. The water slide in Pleasanton is a nice place to bring your family.

My Relative Mrs. Chan Tao

Mrs. Chan Tao is a relative on my wife’s side. Twenty years ago, Mrs. Chan Tao was pregnant. Unfortunately her husband died from cancer. She was very painfully sad.

After her son was born, she gave her unique son all of her love and time. She fed him and gave him a good education. She worked hard for him.

Twenty years past. Mrs. Chan Tao’s son, Derrick, grew up to become a youth.
He enrolled at UC Davis this year. He had prepared everything for the coming new term this September. His mother was very happy.

But an unfortunate thing happened to her again. Last Tuesday at midnight, Derrick drove to his uncle’s home. He drove too fast. His car crashed and turned over. He passed away.

Today, in the morning, my family attended Derrick’s memorial service in San Francisco. During the memorial service, his mother fell into a swoon twice. I tried to keep calm in my mind, but I could not stop the tear that dropped from my eyes.

This is one of the tragedies in the world, especially for our relative, Mrs. Chan Tao.

Vacation By Plane

This summer my family took a three week vacation to Viet Nam. My husband bought the tickets two months before we left. At first we decided to buy four tickets from Eva's Airline Company, but they were sold out. We bought tickets from China Airlines.

We started our trip on July 13. My brother took us to SFAirport. At the airport we checked in. We went through passport control. We waited in the departure lounge. It was almost time to get on the plane when, suddenly, they told us the flight delayed because of a huge storm inHong Kong. We waited and waited. Finally, we got on the plane. It took about twelve hours to get to Taiwan Airport. In Taiwan we transfered to another plane to Viet Nam. The flight took about three and half hours. I was very tired because it took so long.

The stewardess reminded the passengers to complete the landing cards because in fifteen minutes more would be landing.

At last we arrived at Sai Gon city. You know, Sai Gon is very hot and wet in the summer. We took a taxi to the Sai Bay Hotel. During the three weeks we stayed at the hotel, we visited our big family, friends, and old neighbors. My daughters love to swim, so sometimes we went to the beach or a swimming pool. At night we went shopping and enjoyed delicious food.

Have you ever been to Viet Nam? There is a lot of food , and it is very delicious!

My Return to School.

Hi class! Let me tell you a little be about my return to Oakland Adult School this year. I left it around five months ago, but right now, I'm here again. Ahhhh, how I missed this wonderful school...in truth!!! Are you asking to yourself why? Well, well class, I'll tell you why in a few lines; don't be anxious please. There are too many reasons why I missed and I came back to school. One of these is: I didn't come to school in a lot of time, therefore, I didn't learn new things about English, and it was hard for me, because my son came from my country two months ago and I still needing to improve my English for help him with his homeworks, talk with his teachers, and specially you know, find a better job. Another one more reason is: I wont to see one of my favorite teachers at school again. Do you know who is this teacher? Yes class, you get it!!! He is an excellent, terrific and smart teacher, who always has something new to teach us, sure, he is the Teacher Richard. You don't think? I think so! I hope to see my old partners at school too, you know, when you have good partners, good teachers, and you want to go ahead in your life, you always, always will be thinking about school. O.K. class, thank you for read about it, take care, and I'll write more next time.

A Man and A Bird

When you see this picture, what do you feel?
Last time, I had a trip to Monterey. I went to a street fare there. I saw this scene which gave me a strong impression.
The bird acted like a spoiled child leaning on her parent, and the man was comforting his child. This scene was full of love.
At this time, I thought that If our world were full of love, it would be becoming peace and brightness.

Last Sunday

Last Sunday, My friend’s family and my family went to Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel. This was the first time to visit these places for my friend’s family.
In the morning, we met in Oakland. Then I explained the routes about this journey with the maps, and allocated a walky-talky and several maps to my friend. It is convenient and reliable to communicate using the walky-talkies during traveling.
My family’s car was a navigator. We drove towards south along the highway 880 and 17. When we arrived a path near the Mystery Point in Santa Cruz, we saw many cars were stopping in line and waiting for entering. My elder son got off the car and went ahead to ask a superintendent what was the situation. He told my son that we had to wait to enter the Mystery Point in forty five minutes. We felt it wasted our time. So we went on to Monterey. When we went to the Monterey Municipal beach, we were attracted by its white sand and blue sea. We walk to fisherman’s wharf along the coastal trail. There are many different kinds of restaurants in the wharf. We could take a sniff at the fragrant smell of the food from air. The fragrant smell guided us to a Mexican’s restaurant and we had the smoked salmon sandwiches there. The taste was very good. After lunch, we visited a Greek’s street fare. We did not stay there for a long time and left to Carmel.
Carmel is a small town with Europe style. There are beautiful houses and shops in the main street. Many visitors and vehicles go there during the holidays. We did not easy to park our cars on the street, besides the time was late to return home. So we decided to leave.
Leaving Carmel we enjoyed the Vietnam’s food for our dinner in San Jose.
We all enjoyed this day, and we hope we will have another chance to visit Monterey and Carmel again.

Photos

Hi, All,

Here is a link to the photos I promised.

Fixing a Flat

IMG_1604
Originally uploaded by muypadre.

It is a good thing that we brought a patch kit and tools.

A Cafe in Small Village

IMG_1603
Originally uploaded by muypadre.

We stopped for coffee and a slice of apple cake in this cafe.

America's Life

Many immigrants come to the United States in order to turn over a new leaf. They wanted their life to be a bed of roses, but it is not easy for each immigrant, because America's life is competitive. People are almost not satisfied with what they are having. So that they have to work hard all the time.

America's life is always busy. It is really bushes. When people see each other, they just say in a nutshell. They don't beat around the bush like the people who are living in my country right now.

Have A Good time to Peter, Teacher

This Friday is going to be the last day to see Peter. I'm going to represent the class to say "Thank you very much" to him for the four weeks he has been teaching us.

In the last four weeks. We have learned many good lessons, idioms and a few songs. They were very useful and connected with the life. We liked it very much.

Well . . . time is quite short for us. four weeks are almost passing. Perhaps, we can't see Perter anymore. We hope sometimes, Peter will comeback to substitute our teacher again. He is nice teacher. He always ran against time. We never forget him because he always let students win. That the point we liked it very much!

Peter is going to Mexico. He is going to visit his girl friend, Maria. He'll surely have a very nice vacation. We hope Peter has a good trip and has fun with Maria in Mexico!

There really are windmills in Holland!


Yesterday we bicycled to Volendam.

It is about 20 miles from where we are staying.

Volendam is a very cute village. The houses are small.

English Is So Complicated!

Engish is so complicated. If we don't try to remember above all the rules of grammar, we never speak or write correctly. Sometimes, I force myself to remember all the grammar that I have learned, but it is not easy after all. I told myself that I have to take time and take it easy. Sooner or later I will get it.

I wonder I have learned some words quite a few times, but they're not more and less in my mind. Finally, I realized that I didn't like them much. No wonder they didn't keep up in my memory!

Kayak Polo Worlds 2006

IMG_1639
Originally uploaded by muypadre.

Alex and Sophia (my son and daughter) almost pose for a photo at the park in Amsterdam where the tournament is being held.

It is a beautiful place, but there has been a lot of rain.

Here is a photo of the Under 21 Men´s team.

Smart Mouse

There was once time I bought a jean for my daughter. At that night I didn't bing the jean into her closet. I put it on the sofa of the ling room.

Next day morning when I just woke up. I went out the living room to watched TV. Ah ah, the jean was ripped. There were a lot of holes on the jean with deep layers.

Suddently, I thought of a mouse. It really had a lot of nerve. It played a mischief on my jean. I had to give the mouse a taste of its own medicine because I took pains to picked and chose for a long day shopping.

I held my breath. I went to the market to bought a " mouse trap." At that night I put some " mouse's favorite food " to hung on the hook. I left the " mouse trap " at the living room.

Following the next days, I was indeed hopeless because the mouse may felt it in its bones. The mouse didn't comeback to do mischief again. What's a smart mouse!

My Idea

Come up to talk is a big charlenge, but I try because this is an oppotunity for me .

I know come up to talk, sometimes, I confuse classmates and the teacher. I feel nervous and embarrass. I try my best on the next time and the next time . . . . I believe that I will be brave to talk in public one day.

As you know "Time is money" "Time as gold" If the teacher ask each of students to have news everyday. Don't you think like this waste our time? We are all immigrants, the time we are in class is very valuable. We try to be active, don't be passive students. We will lose our gold time.

Peter is nice teacher. He doesn't want to be a tyrant with students. So I hope everybody to make a volunteer to come up to class to talk. I think the people come up to talk are "Heroes."

The Apple

My daughter is the apple of my eye. My daughter is the one who brings me a lot of happyness and laughter. She can joke to make me happy. She can imitate the people to make me laugh. My daughter consoles me whenever I am feeling blue. She is center of my universe.

Joanna is a smart girl. When I am in a pickle, she comes right and helps me out. She helps me a lot to watch and take good care of his brother. She is a boss if no parents home. When his brother did something not right, she felt fishy and screamed at his brother. She is a tyrant.

Sometimes, She substitutes me to take care of her father. So everyone loves her except his brother, but he adores her alot.

Joanna is center of my world. I love her very, very much . . .

Am I A Peach?

There was once I visited an orphan institute. I bought a bag of peanuts candy. When I entered the orphan apartment, I gave each of the kids a present. They were very happy and nuts with my candy. Humm . . . Yummy! They shouted and ate the candy. They whispered in smb's ears to each other that I was a peach. I felt very pleasure and joyous.

I stayed there for a half day. We were in a group to play together. Suddently, there was a boy played pranks to one of the other girl. I went bananas at that time and I yell at him. Then, we continued to play. Accidentally, I had heard the boy whispered by himself "She was not a peach." "It was baloney."

Somtimes, to control myself is not a piece of cake.

The Berkeley Kite Festival

The annual Berkeley Kite Festival held up in the Cesar E Chavez Park yesterday.
My two friends, my wife, my elder son and I went to the park at noon time.
The sky was cloudy, but we could see more children and their parents had been there. Many giant kites floated and swung their tails in the sky. When the show and competitions started, the blue sky appeared gradually. I found that people became more and more. Most of people were all the whole family. And I found that many disabled persons showed up even more. In that time, more variety of colorful kites flied full of sky. ‘Candy Drop’ caused children and people cheering. It made me felt this active event could give all people happiness, no matter child or elder, healthy or disabled.
We enjoyed this event yesterday.

It Looks as If . . .

Ellen is almost as funny as Richard. We have ever hope to have a substitute teacher like Richard Blum.

Everytime Ellen comes into our class to be our substitute teacher. The class is so exciting. We conflict each other. Everybody is very active and in a happy atmosphere.

Ellen is our top banana, so we respect her a lot. Whenever she tells us to stop talking, everyone stop right after that.

Ellen acts as she is very busy with her mouth, he ears and her gestures. She has to control many students in the class.

Ellen is a good and devoted teacher. When she substitutes Richard I feel as if she were real Richard in the class room.

A Subtitute Teacher's First Day

Today is the first day we start to work with a subtitute teacher. Everyone in the class is very happy and excited to the new teacher.

Now everyone in class almost speak English. So, today the subtitute teacher only made one penny in the jar. it's very good because money is newcomer's blood and tear. So that we have to be very careful and control oneself. We have to obey what our teacher requirement.

I thought speaking English in the class is "Rule of thumb." Our teacher has made "The big mouth jar" about several months already. We almost had used to speak English in the class now. I think nobody wants to spend that money anymore.

I left early today so, I asked Peter to give me the grammar sheet. He gave me right away both of the grammar sheets. He is indeed very nice teacher. My hope has come true now.

Have A Good Trip to Mr.Blum

Today is the last day to see our teacher because he is going to take a long vacation to Denmark. Although ocean's apart, but we will be right here waiting......... and waiting for him because he is number 1 teacher.

We are going to be here with another teacher next week. We don't know yet who is going to substitute our teacher. We hope he (or she) will be an interesting teacher like Mr. Blum, but we hope he won't be a tyranny like Richard.

Next week, we are going to be freedom. We can talk our languages when we don't understand each other. I think the substitute teacher will be nice to us and won't tell us put the money in the jar.

We actually don't know what to say is better than the words "Have a good trip" and "Have fun" to our teacher.

Our teacher is going to live it up overseas. For sure, he will enjoy and relax much over there. We hope he won't forget the waiting of all of us right here!

Xiao Qin’s Story by Mei Fang

This story happened in Chen Du, Sri Chuan, China. Xiao Qin was fifteen years old. She completed middle school. After that, she spent three years writing her story.

The story was about her mother’s “tears of blood” life. The story was four hundred thousand words long. The title is “Went ThroughWind and Rain, Haven’t Seen Rainbow”

Xiao Qin wanted to sell the rights to the book. She wanted to use the money to pay for her studies in high school and at the university. Xiao Qin and her mother stood on a crowded street and held up a sign. The sign said, “Hot and bitter story.” She talked to many publishers, but no publisher would buy her story. She went home disappointed.

In her story, Xiao Quin wrote that when she was seven years old she had a happy family. Her father planted lotus root for a living. He had saved a lot of money and they had a happy life, but her father enjoyed gambling. He lost his money and he left the family for another woman.

Xiao Qin’s mother, who also took care of her uncle and his daughter, had to leave the family to go find work.

When Xiao Qin’s mother arrived in Shen Zhen, she was tricked and sold to a song and dancehall for 5,000 yuan.

Eventually, the police rescued her from the dancehall and sent her back to her family in Cheng Du.

For a living, her mother worked as a dance hostess. She made friends with a bad man but he treated her very badly. Xiao Qin didn’t know what to do. She had come to the end of her patience.

Fortunately, she met an unemployed worker. They were married. This ended more than ten years of suffering. From then on, Xiao Qin, her mother and her stepfather lived ordinary happy lives.

submitted by Mei Fang

Humor

I think humor is xxx. It is necessary for everybody. It relaxes our tiredness and relieves our stress. Do you agree?

Life can be ridiculous. I like it when something crazy happens. I like it when people or situations make me laugh and I like to share my laughter with people.

Previously, I didn't think I needed to collect amusing stories, but now, suddenly, I think I should collect them and write them down in my essays because I want to share my humor with all of you. I want you guys to share a smile with me.

I hope you guys collect interesting storiesand spend a little time to share them me on the blog. Make me laugh, because laughter is good medicine for everyone.

I think humor has to a part of everyday life so we don't feel bored while we are working or studying.

Humor is a heath food. It helps us to look younger and have more love of life.

Promotion Ceremony

On June 14^th, there was a “promotion ceremony” at my daughter's school. She had to go there an hour before because she was salutatorian. She had been chosen to give a speech at the ceremony.

After an hour my husband and I attended the ceremony. Outside the school, people were selling many things for the graduates like garland wreaths, bears, and balloons. My husband told me to buy a gift for my daughter.

I bought a bird for her and we went into the ceremony room. As I entered, I saw my daughter sitting on the stage with some teachers and students. The ceremony started. People stood up to sing the national anthem.

First, the principal came up and welcomed all of the parents and guardians. Next, the guest speaker talked about the students' study process. He talked about the students' goals for the future. Then, several students came up to read their essays.

Finally, the students who were being promoted were awarded certificates.

After the promotion ceremony finished, we went out to the stadium. We took some pictures and then we went home.

A few days later, my husband went to Costco. He bought an Ipod for his daughter. She felt very happy and enjoyed the Ipod more than the bird I gave to her. But she never forgets to listen to the bird’s song every night when she goes into her room to sleep.

Problems to Report to Your Landlord

1. There are a lot of ants in the kitchen.
2. The refrigerator doesn’t stay cold.
3. The bathroom ceiling is leaking.
4. The roof is leaking. It needs to be repaired immediately.
5. There is a big crack in the wall near the living room window.
6. The window in my bedroom is broken.
7. There is a big wasp nest the gutter on the south side of the house.
8. The bathroom sink is clogged.
9. The toilet is clogged. It overflows when I flush it.
10. The front door is sticky. I think the hinge is broken.
11. The smoke detector doesn’t work.
12. The dining room light is not working.
13. The water heater doesn’t work. We don’t have hot water.
14. There are termites in my bedroom wall.
15. I don’t have lights in the living room and bedroom. I think there is an electrical problem.
16. The fan in the living room doesn’t work. I smell smoke when I try to turn it on.
17. The carpet in the living room is torn.
18. The hot water faucet in the bathroom is broken. I can’t turn it off.
19. The garage door will not open.
20. I get a shock when I try to plug something into the electrical outlet in the kitchen.
21. The paint in the kitchen is peeling and I am afraid that there may be lead in it.
22. I smell gas when I turn on the stove.
23. I think the tree in the front yard is going to fall.
24. The wind knocked down the side fence.
25. The upstairs neighbors make too much noise.

The Sandals

Yesterday afternoon, I went to a supermarket. As I walked towards the supermarket, I saw a lady who had just gotten out of her car. She walked by me. Suddenly, she stopped walking and squatted down to pull out a bamboo toothpick from the gap of her left sandal and left foot. She was lucky that the toothpick did not stick into her foot.

I find that many people like to wear a pair of sandals when they are driving or walking around. They just think that sandals make them feel cool. Sandals are convenient and comfortable, but in fact, sandals do not protect their feet. Especially, when driving a car, wearing a pair of sandals can be dangerous if a person needs to stop quickly. You can image what could happen.

I hope people who like to wear sandals when driving or walking around outside understand the danger.

Help Me to Say Thank You!

On Thursday our teacher was absent, so, Miss Ellen was our substitute teacher. At the end of the class, I asked Ellen to explain the meaning of this sentence, "I'm too old to know everything." She wasn't quite sure that she understood my question.

The next morning, I drove my car to school. While I was parking my car, (it was across street from the parking lot of our school) Ellen saw me and she crossed the street to greet me. She said, "Oh, now I understand the sentence that you asked me yesterday." Then, she explained the meaning of that sentence to me clearly. There were some words I didn't understand so she tried to explain it to me another way. She is the most enthusiastic teacher that I have ever seen.

Ellen has taught me only two times when my teacher was absent, but I feel as if she is full of enthusiasm for her students.

We both were in a hurry, so I forgot to say "Thank you" to her the help she had given me.

If anyone sees Ellen, please help me to say "Thank you very much!"

Some Virtual Souvenirs

Here are some virtual postcards from last summer's trip in Denmark.

I don't have a photo of Hans Christian Anderson's house, but I hope you enjoy these photos of my family and friends.

It ain't no Eiffel tower, but ...

Angel Island Photos

Here are the photos from the Angel Island Trip we took last spring.

Do you remember that field trip?

A Little Eiffel to Students

I remember when my son was in the third grade. His teacher took a vacation to France. After the vacation, his teacher came back to the class. He gave each of his students a gift. It was a little model of the famous Eiffel Tower. It was made of steel. It looked cute.

When my son came home, he was very happy and took the little Eiffel out from his pocket. He said, "Mom, Mr. Nguyen gave each of his students a little gift."

My son's teacher loved his students very much. While he was on vacation, he always thought of gifts to give to his students. He made the students very happy with the presents which he brought from France. He was a generous teacher.

Our teacher is going to Holland next week. Well....I hope our teacher will have some little gifts for us after his long vacation.