Time to say....

Dear my lovely classmates

It's been 16 weeks since I've studied at ELI. I still remember my first day here. It was an orientation day and I remember I met Chieu on my first day :-) Now, he's my classmate and our class will be dismissed soon >< Time really flies. I can't believe that it's time to say "GOODBYE" now.
It's my pleasure to meet you guys here. I'm lucky to be in this class. I have nice teacher and awesome classmates! I'll keep you guys in my memory. Imagine how wonderful it is.. to be friends with people from diiferent countries. I'll hardly find this experience in Thailand. Finally, I wish you guys all the best for your future and please keep in touch;-)

At this moment....

Honestly, I don't know how to describe my feeling. Some people asked me how do I feel about leaving Canada. I usually replied them " I feel both happy and sad at the same time." It might sound a little weird but it's absolutely true. I'm happy to finish my school. It's been the most hardworking class since I've studied here for a long time. Also, I'm happy to go back to my country when I call it 'my real home'. In my opinion, no place is better than my country. Even though I will be in super hot weather and polluted city, I'm willing to face that. On the other hand, I'll be missing Vancouver a lot. I've mentioned that I've learned a lot from this city. I got used to my daily life here. I have good friends, nice apartment and enjoyable life. Frankly speaking, my life is almost perfect here. Some people asked my "Why don't you live here? You have been here for a long time. You must like living here. Otherwise, you should have gone back to Thailand earlier." I strongly said "No". "This is a nice place to live. But,still, I don't feel like it's my home. I'm a 'foreigner' here. This feeling has been with me for the whole time here. I think this is like vacation for me. One year is more than enough." Despite those opinion, I feel that time goes so fast. I can hardly believe that I'm leaving in the next two weeks. I'm pretty sure I will cry on the day I leave. But life has to go on. There's time we say 'Hello. Nice to meet you.' and there's also time we say 'Goodbye'. This is life!

Summary of 'Studies of the brain in love'

An interpretation of 2001:Space Odessey

I agree with other students that this movie is so difficult to understand. Each person can have their own interpretation and might be totally different from one another. In my opinion, one of the points that the directors try to deliver is the development of human beings. The movie shows our ancestors ,who are ape men; they gradually develop to become future humans. Another point is the complexity of human beings. When we were ape men, we just knew simple things. For example, ape men fight another tribe for water but modern human fights with many things, like themselves, machine and other humans. I think the movie tries to say ‘the more developed we are, the more complex we get’. This movie was well-created even though it was produced in 1968.  The producers are brilliant in the way they predicted what was going to be like in 4 decades later. In addition, there are lots of symbolization in this movie. They convey something that directors intended present. Meanwhile, the audiences can interpret in many different ways. When I watched this movie, I did not realize those symbols until Nathan told us. I must have been watched it many times in order to catch every single detail. Interestingly, this movie has very few conversations. It is probably the most silent movie I have ever seen. This movie mostly shows the pictures but we understand it through the pictures.  The end of this movie is mysterious. It does not say exactly what the ending is. The audiences have to think or imagine by themselves. When I was watching it, I felt like I was stuck in the middle of nowhere. I did not even know it was the ending of the movie. The sad thing is I could not imagine what the ending is.

Overall, this movie is kind of interesting in its way that makes us think and use our creativity. I am impressed with the producers that they could create such a complicated movie. But if I can choose, I will not choose this movie for my entertainment. I will go for other types of movies.

Summary of The Riddle of Experience vs. Memory

Cognitive traps that make it impossible to think straight about happiness are: Trap 1 Reluctannce to admit complexity. People usually think happiness is not useful because they apply happiness to many things; Trap 2 Being happy in... and Being happy about/with... ; Trap 3 Focusing illusion.
In our minds, we have 2 selves. First, experiencing self memorize the present of our lives. Second, remembering self memorize the past of our lives. The biggest difference of these two is handling of time. The speaker explained an example of this. In conclusion, happiness is not a substitute for well-being.

Response to 2001: Space Odessey

Since I've watched this movie for one hour, I think this movie has deep meaning of human being. To be honest, when I watch movies, I usually don't think too much about the details, meanings or relationships with other movies. After our instructor pointed out that some settings and things in this movie reflect the development of human beings from apemen to human in civilization period. Overall, this movie is done quite well in the way they linking between things. So I'm looking forward to seeing the end of this movie.

What I have learned from Vancouver

I came to Canada last June. The weather nicer than this summertime. I lived with a homestay family downtown. Then, I moved out to an apartment. It's been more then one year that I have spent my time here. This trip is the longest trip I have ever had. I have some ups and downs...quite a lot of joy and sorrow.
When I first came here, I rarely had homesick. Everything was new to me...new people, new place, new atmosphere and new weather. I found it challenging to hang out with friends after the class everyday. I was studying in private school at that time. So I didn't have a lot of homework. I can say that last summer was the best time for me in Vancouver. After summer had gone, winter came. Frankly speaking, I really hate wintertime here. I rains most of the time. There's no sunshine. Everything is grey. Plus, people usually stay at home. I almost got depression at that time. It's my first time to be in gloomy weather which is totally different from my country. The weather is getting warmer these days (even though it's still chilly) and we have more sunshine. Luckily, I can stay here for another summer before I go back to Thailand!

Back to the topic, what I have learned from Vancouver? Well, I would say I have learned a lot from here and I will never find this kind of experience in Thailand. First, I learned how to adapt to other cultures. Most of my friends here are foreign friends. When I first came here, I sometimes felt like...Why don't we have same opinion? Why do they do/act that? Why is it difficult for them to understand? Why don't they like the same thing with me? I found it interesting to expose to different culture. Some good things are: I need to communicate with them in English; Something from different culture is good to know and can be adapt with my life; I will hardly find this atmosphere in Thailand. Secondly, I learned to live independently. When I was in Thailand, I had my family and friends who always support me whenever I need help. When I live here, my life is kind of free. I can be what I want to be; I can do what I want to do. I have to make decisions on my own. I can't rely too much on friends here since I have known them for a short time. I have to be strong(mentally and physically) and mature. And I feel that I'm stronger than before. Last, I learned how to deal with people. When I was young, I was protected by my family. Once I'm old enough and living far away from my family, I'll have to deal with other people by myself.