Father's e-mail

My father send me a e-mail on Thursday, actually this is the first letter he has wrote to me . I feel a little wired because any word that has been writen down always seems formal .
I know writing such a long Chinese letter is difficult to my father ,for he is not good at Pingyin( a kind of Chinese phonetic symbol . In my father's ages, this symbol was not popular,but young people can use it very well, like me ,haha ~~), but he types English very fast, much faster than I do!! He told me to take care of myself, especially my stomach, and said that he had received my photos ,and they are great!! However, I prefer to receive his English letter next time, so that he can save a lot of time .

I like this way to communicate with my family, but unfortunately, my mother and grandparents can not use computer, but I have had a great talk with them on Saturday by phone.

self study ----- Smashing the Iron rice Bowl

China's Economic Challenge - Smashing the Iron Rice Bowl is a great book I have read for many days. Do you know what 'iron rice bowl 'means? It is directly translated from Chinese vershion , which is a metaphor. It means a kind of economic structure that all companis are controlled by government. There is no competiton, no efficiency. China has proceeded this patten for 30 years until 1979. The government began to realize that this model could only inhibit the development of our country, so that they tried to smash this out-dated structure and to bulid up private sectors which can encourages people 's creativity and enthusiasm.

This book describs all the improvements and defects China has acquired in the process of economic revolution in a rather objective way . His point of view, which Chinese can not see clearly ,is usually very constructive .

The author mentioned the Dam bulit in the longest river-Yangtze ( Chang Jiang river). This dam is also a controversial topic in China. Many people say that it accelerates the deterioration of China's environment, because Yangtze can regulate the whole ecology, while the dam breaks this funtion. However, it has been there that no one can change this truth. In my opinion, The only thing we can do is to protect our environment all heart and soul, instead of criticising and doing nothing.

I will return this book on Monday, but the new words and ideas has been in my notebook and my mind.

04/09

I have to do some memory work so as to write down my self-study, for the whole afternoon Thursday has devoted to essay, and on Friday and Saturday , I was busy with moving to a new
flat. Finally, I can relieve on Sunday!! But I am so tired because I was carrying luggages and doing cleaning whole yesterday until 10pm.

Let me talk about my essay. I actually have learned a lot from this practice. First, I begin to konw some theory about what an acdemic essay is . Although having written several essays before both in Chinese and English, I just tried to finish as soon as possible without thinking about what I was doing . Now I have the idea that essay is a rather serious work which asks me to treat every source I am going to use in a respective way.

Second, many acdemic words which I know but could not use beforehand now appear in my mind all the time , so that I no longer need to look up my e-dictionary again and again.


Finally, I find that I can read some English academic materials faster than before. It is really very cheering, for reading is always difficult to me, but I still can't understand many strange words in newspaper .

OK, next job is PPT and presentation

selfstudy

Follows are some phrases I put down from these days' research

well-being: state of being healthy, happy,etc

manoeuvre: movement performed with care and skill

sought-after: popular

dissemination-- disseminate: spread (idears,beliefs,etc) widely

formidable:causing fear or great anxiety; frightening; awesome

fallacy --- fallacious

These days

Searching for information and writing my essay are my major job for these days. Keep busy gives me the impression that I am at school again, which means my summer vacation has ended.
My friends in China also began their new semester yesterday. To some of them ,this summer is their last leisure vacation. On Saturday, I had a great talk online with my roomates-- three cute girls . I miss them so much!!!

Follows are some websites I have found which may help you with your essay

www.iso.org
www.imf.org
www.globalpolicy.org
www.standardsinfo.net

That's all for today :)

self study on Sunday

all but: almost

put sth down: stop, suppress, or abolish sth by force or authority
eg: put down a rebellion, a revolt, an uprising, etc

lump sb/sth together: put or consider people or things together

reiterate: say or do sth again or repeatedly

lay-off : dismissal of a worker , usually for a short time
laid-off worker

carry sth off: handle a difficult situation successfully
eg; He carried the speech off well despite feeling very nervous.

Involve: make sth necessary; entail
Involvement

quid pro quo : thing given in return for sth else

symptomatic (of sth): being a symptom

bailout: financial assistance given to a failing business, often by government ,to prevent its collapse

trip on Saturday

Yesterday, we went to zone one to look at those famous scenes in person which we have seen in books and movies thousands of times.
Again, it is proved that anything staying amazing in your mind is not so exciting when approaching them. However, they are the symbols of UK.
Seeing London bridge on the bus , at length I had the feeling that I was in London, for wandering along Holloway road simply gives me the expression of being abroad.
After the hottest cruise in Thames, we arrived in Big Ban , Westminster and London eye where I tried the most sweet muffin I have ever had.
And then, 15 pounds and 1hour’s queue took me to the highest point of London eye for a view of the whole city.
Almost lying on the bus for home, unfortunately, we came across traffic jam , but it was still a good day for me . I can’t wait to send photos to my parents.