Roxie is with me now.

JJ and Zhe went back China a few days ago, they couldn't leave Roxie alone at the apartment. Therefore, they left him to me to take care of him. Now, he is with me.








Hey, look at this little body, he is so cute, isn't he? And he is naughty too! He doesn't like to stay at the cage all day. Once he can come out of the cage, he always jumps and runs happily. He also likes to bite things, especially papers. While i am not at his side, he bites every thing , including his cage.:-)He eats a lot every day. No wonder he grows so fast. he he :-p

Mom's birthday is coming.

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. Actually, from tonight to tomorrow morning is her birthday because of the jet gap. Virtually, i feel guilty sometime for my absence in every important moment. I prefer live around my parents. I love them and they love me too. They raised me, but i haven't done anything for them until now. I know they don't need me do anything, but i still can't stop thinking about that. Although, i am not at home with you, but my spirit is with you now! I am ready to talk with you online tonight and tomorrow morning. :-)
Happy birthday to you, mom! Thanks mom, I LOVE YOU! Wish you healthy and happy for ever! In addition, i will be a good person as you wish!

Congratulations on Jin.

Jin just passed the road test one and half hours ago. I knew he could do it well. He indeed did it well. From now on, he can officially drive a car alone. Congratulations on you, honey!:-)

Jin's driving skill is improved.

It's time for Jin to take the road test. He passed the written test last October, but he is not eager to take the road test after the written test. Because he doesn't formally learn about driving, he made many mistakes during driving in the past a few months. I was trying to teach him in months, but he paid less attention to it. I was worried about him very much during him driving. Finally Jin decided to take the test and seriously learned it in couple days. He somewhat surprised me. He improves his driving skills so quickly. Now i am quite confident that he will pass the road test. He's going to take the road test tomorrow morning. This afternoon, i will give him the last lesson. Hopefully, he will pass the test smoothly. Good luck, Jin!

Symbol is only a symbol!

This morning, Jin received an e-mail from und_announce. This mail is Statement from UND President Dr. Charles Kupchella and UND Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Greg Weisenstein. Yesterday afternoon, staff at the University of North Dakota School of Law discovered an 8-by-10-inch figure of a swastika on the outside of a window near one of the Law School entrances. In the mail, they mentioned that the swastika has come to be a symbol of hate, conveying a message of intimidation, violence and intolerance. They said "we are saddened, disappointed and disgusted that swastikas have appeared on our campus. These acts are NOT tolerated at UND. There is no place the University of North Dakota -- or anywhere else, for that matter -- for harassing, demeaning or culturally insensitive acts. We will continue to investigate these activities and when perpetrators are identified, we will seek prosecution through our Code of Student life and, where warranted, through the court systems."
Actually, swastika is not only the symbol of the Nazis, but also the symbol of good things. Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck. Throughout the subcontinent of India, it can be seen on the sides of temples, religious scriptures, gift items, and letterheads. Therefore, maybe the swastika on the outside of the window means sun, power, strength, and good luck. I heard about the swastika from an Indian before. She told me that they still use it as a symbol in a good way now. Then I am a little confused, how can people know it is used in a bad way or in a good way?
In my opinion, people don't need to be too sensitive about that symbol. After all, the Nazis will never come back again!Symbol is only a symbol!

I am trying to find an apartment.

A long time ago, we have already heard about that the apartment in A&M is not easy to apply.We still had a hope of getting one. After telephoning them, we know that the amount of apartments is limited in A&M. We are not able to get an on-campus apartment by the early August. Therefore, we need to find an off-campus house. It's really hard to find one near by the university. In addition, the price is pretty high if we want to get an appropriate one. Due to this, we decided to find a one bedroom and one bathroom apartment now. Even this kind of apartment with A/C, Internet &W/D is around $550-750 per month, and electric is not included yet. If without A/C, Internet & W/D, it is cheaper, it's around $375-500 per month. An average of the cost of electric is more than $100 per month. I prefer the apartment with A/C &W/D. How can people live without A/C in summer in TX? What do you think? Please give me some advice, i am trying to find a good place to live.
In addition, i don't want to share my apartment with bugs. It's too dangerous to live with them! :-P

President Hu pays silent tribute to earthquake victims

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday afternoon paid a three-minute silent tribute to victims of the May 12 earthquake in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing.

At a ceremony that began at 2:28 p.m., Hu, in a dark suit with a white flower pinned to the chest, bowed his head under a national flag which was lowered at half-mast. He looked sad and solemn.

Hu was joined by his colleagues in China's top decision-making body, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang.

The short ceremony took place while air raid sirens, cars, trains and ship horns sounded across the Chinese capital and most public activities came to a halt in the city, as part of the nationwide observation of a three-day mourning period for the quake victims.

It was the exact moment a week ago that the devastating 8.0-magnitude tremor hit Wenchuan County and its neighboring areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, claiming 32,173 lives and leaving more than 220,000 injured as of 7 p.m. Sunday in Sichuan Province.

Nationwide, the confirmed death toll climbed to 34,073 by 12 a.m. on Monday, while the final figure was estimated to exceed 50,000.

Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin also stood in silence for the quake victims at a separate place at the same time.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, observed the silence in Beichuan County of Sichuan, one of the worst hid regions in the earthquake. Li was there overseeing the rescue and relief work.

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Sunday ordered a nationwide display of respect for the dead of the quake. The ongoing torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, slated to open on Aug. 8, was also suspended from Monday to Wednesday.

Flags are flying at half-mast across China and all public amusements have been suspended from Monday, as the country of 1.3 billion people enters the three-day mourning period.

Chinese diplomatic missions abroad also observed the mourning, some holding the silent tribute simultaneously with domestic public despite the time difference. Condolence books were opened in the Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world.

The Chinese president just returned from a three-day visit to the quake-hit areas. During the trip, Hu stressed, "quake relief work has entered the most crucial phase. We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory."

He asked rescuers on Sunday to use "every available means" to reach every village affected by the earthquake, instead of just working in towns and cities.

Shortly before the national silent mourning, a 5.4-magnitude aftershock hit Qingchuan County of Sichuan, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The tremor, which occurred at 2:06 p.m, was the latest major quake monitored following more than 20 aftershocks above magnitude 5 that rocked the hardest-hit area in Sichuan.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)

China accepts foreign medical teams to help relief work

China has agreed that foreign medical teams could come to China to help relief work in the wake of the massive earthquake in southwest Sichuan Province, said Qin Gang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, on Monday.

"Considering the need of the current relief work, China Red Cross is authorized to accept medical teams from foreign countries to come to assist medical and treatment work," he said.

China would like to keep close contact with all nations on the rescue and relief work, Qin said.

He said some countries and Red Cross societies have expressed their hopes of sending medical teams to China, and the Chinese government and people are thankful for it.

The spokesman said the Chinese government is mobilizing all forces of the nation, including military and medical staffs, to join the relief work.

With regard to the time when foreign medical teams could enter China, the spokesman said the Chinese side has made necessary preparation, and medical teams from relevant countries should contact with the China Red Cross society as soon as possible. They can also contact with Chinese embassies in those countries, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)

Let's help them.

The confirmed death toll rose Sunday to 32,476. Another 220,109 people suffered injuries, a State Council statement said. Some 9,500 remained buried in Sichuan, the provincial government said.Officials have said the final death toll is expected to surpass 50,000.

All the victims and survivors in the earthquake need help from all the people in the world. China has accepted a lot of donation from people with a loving heart. That helps them a lot. Let's help them with our hands. Your a little donation can help all of them.

Crazy ants overrun Houston.

The following news is from http://www.kauz.com/news/18989644.html
Now, I am scared of moving to Texas because of those crazy ants. Maybe there have more dangerous bugs.

Crazy ants overrun Houston.
Some crazy ants are making the trek to North Texas--they're tiny and are found in the Houston area.

Officials say the ants, called 'crazy rasberry ants' are invading homes. They arrived in Texas a few years ago aboard a cargo ship and have since spread across several counties. And it seems no matter what homeowners do, they can't get rid of the pesky insects.

Patsy Murphow can't get rid of the ants and says, "I went down and bought RAID and they'd figure out where the areas were I sprayed and they go around 'em."

Tom Rasberry of Budget Pest Control says, "You can kill them by the millions and even billions, but the problem is you can't kill all of them because their numbers are too high."

The ants are named after Tom Rasberry of Budget Pest Control because he first noticed the ants. The bugs are called 'crazy' because they don't travel in a single line, instead they move in irregular patterns. They don't sting, but they do bite.

More information about crazy ants http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=news-bytes-ants-teeth

Summer holidays

Our class was ended by a wonderful potluck yesterday. Our teacher, Anna, made a plan for our summer picnic. Our first picnic time will be on June 10 at University Park. Our classmates will meet there on that day. Hopefully, that day will be a very nice day.
Grand Forks only has a short summer every year. So we'd better enjoy every nice day during summer holidays. Since i am going to leaving for Taxes, i will miss the summer in Grand Forks very much next year. And also i will miss my friends, especially a few of my best friends here. I hope we could get together more often during this summer.
I am thinking about learning swimming again now. When the swimming pool is open to every one, i will go there and swim. I am not sure if i still remember the skills of swimming that my friends taught me, but anyhow i will try my best to practice. :-)

Bless my country.

This is a virtually harsh year for China. After the big snowstorm, China only had a little break, then Earthquake attacked China without any warning sign. It ruthlessly killed more than 12,000 people till now. More than 26,000 people were injured during the only a few minutes earthquake, meanwhile, many buildings collapsed. Those numbers are not included all. We still have three cities that are not able to get in until now, because of the damage and the bad weather. It's too much damage from the earthquake. Due to this serious earthquake, many Chinese people lost their family members and became homeless. They are in May God bless my country. I am praying for my country, for all Chinese people. Hopefully, this would be the end of all disasters of China.
How can people avoid this kind of natural calamities？How should people do now?Chinese people, let's help each other please and create a new life.

The seeds have sprouted.

I am so surprised that most of the seeds i planted in my gardening class have sprouted. Three tomato seeds and six green bean seeds were separately planted into two flower pots. They all grow well. Even though they didn't sprout in the same time, they really have a intense competition in those pots. I water them regularly and place them nearby the window, so it can be easy to get some sunlight when there is sunlight in the early morning. If the wind is not very strong, I also open the window to let them get fresh air from outside. Virtually, you can't see any changes in the daytime. They always give me a big surprise in the early morning. Every sprout grows faster at night. When i saw that the first tomato seed sprouted, i felt very excited. I somewhat hoped that it could grow up to a tomato tree immediately. And then I hoped that it could fruit very well soon. I know that sounds like a daydreaming. :-P But i really hope that it could happen later. I had given them to Cynthia, who is my classmate, on the other day. So i am sort of missing them.

Mother’s Day is coming.

There is nothing new recently. I just want to say that Mother's Day is coming. This Sunday, May 11 is Mother's Day. Are you ready to give your mother a sweet phone call, or prepare a gift for your mom? Being a mother is a hard job for every woman. This job is for nothing, expect for raising their children and taking care of families. No matter how hard it is, mothers would never quit. Mothers deserve the greatest glory.

Need help!

What is Family Values? I wrote an essay on Family Values last week, but the essay I wrote was about the Importance of Family. I totally misunderstood the meaning of the topic. What is Family Values? I am confused.
In the words of my own, Family values is influenced by every single person in the family. Every person has family values that comes from their parents before they get married. After the marriage, new family values comes from both of the family members. It depends on many aspects, such as backgrounds, cultures, environment, and so on. Am I right? I don't really know. In addition, i also think that the values is the way to see or to treat something. Most of the time, it can be influenced by family members, society, country cultures, etc. I am not quite sure about that...

The importance of the family unit

Family is a group of people related by blood or marriage. We all belong to a family. In a family, people support each other, depend on each other, respect each other and comfort each other. Each of us in a family accepts the responsibilities of being a part of the family. People receive what they need so that others may have their share, and helping to strengthen the family through other services. Family values are very important to every one. Family also means home---a place to grow up, to store memories, to heal and to perform a duty.
For children, some times they feel that a family is like a cage. When they are young, they want to be independent. They want to get out of the cage. Nonetheless, when they are getting older or they get some problems, they will turn to their families for help. In addition, family is also the first school in every one's life. People can learn much from their families, such as knowledge, good manners, cultures and so on. Family can influence on a person's life and future; it can influence on our society as well.
For Parents, most of them feel that a family means responsibilities. They are trying their best to give everything their families need. In order to make their families happy and healthy, they are totally willing to pay more to gain more. They never stop being concerned for their children, no matter how old their children are. This is a good effect upon children. However, on the contrary, few of parents pay less attention to their children. Sometime, they set a bad example for children. This is a very bad effect. Many of those children are able to have a tendency toward having some psychological problems.
Therefore, family is critical to human beings.

China's Labor Day is May 1.

One of my friends just got married on May 1. I virtually hope i could congratulate him on the marriage in person, but it is hard for me now. May 1 is the Labor Day of China. People have three days off. (It was a week off in the past few years. It just modified the last year, and it is put in practice from this year.) Generally we take a short vacation on this holidays, or we return home to spend that time with parents. Time flies. I have been here for more than a year. I miss my parents , my parents-in-law and my little brother so much. Even though we can see each other online by camera sometimes, I can't stop missing them all. I hope we could find a time and go back to China for a vacation next year. However I guess May 1 couldn't be the appropriate time. :-)