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.

Summary of the talk

The things that we call beautiful are different. They vary from human being, natural landforms, works of art and skilled human actions. They travel across the world. There are some things that people all over the world that they are beautiful.The Charles Darwin Theory can be used to explain this universality. It is believed that human's idea on beauty depends on human's psychology. Charles Darwin's natural selection theory explains revulsion and pleasure. The main goal of these are survival and reproduction. One trait that is passed on from our ancestors is the beauty that we find in skilled performances. Every human beings have permanent innate taste for beauty.

Personal response to Bill Reid Gallery

I went on a field trip to Bill Reid Gallery last Wednesday with my classmates and my instructor. I have never been to this Gallery before. I was impressed by several displays in the Gallery. I wonder how could Bill Reid created so many pieces of arts. Each piece of arts is very beautiful and represents first nation culture. My favourite carving is 'Mythic Messengers'. It looks complicated that implies some meanings in reality. I guess it must be hard to make it.

Also, there are some accessories made of gold and diamond. They look so precious and absolutely stunning. For example, 'The Milky Way' necklace with detachable brooch.

Even though we weren't allowed to take photos in the gallery, I can still remember what I've seen there. It will be one of my interesting experiences in Vancouver.

A diappointment from an international student's heart

Yesterday, I went to The Citizenship and Immigration Canada(CIC) office. I went there with my Thai friend. We wanted to ask if we can extend our Canadian visa. We got there around 3.45 pm. The office was closed at 4 pm. There were very few people in the office. My friend got a queue number before me so she talked to that person first. She asked about how to extend Canadian visa in Canada. That person just reply her shortly 'No'.
My friend wanted to tralvel to the USA after the day Canadian visa expires. She would not be able to come back here if she did that. She tried to ask if there is any ways she can do to travel to the USA at that period of time. That person replied angrily and impolitely 'There is no way you can do that'.
My friend stepped back from the window with a pale face. Then, she told me to try talking to the person because I have better English skill than her and I also have similar situation with her. So I reached the counter.
'Is it possible if we make a visa from inside Canada?'
'No'
I was curious and stopped talking for a second. I was thinking about the reason and the logic for this answer. The person didn't explain the reason or anything else except 'No'.
My friend interrupted 'What if...'.
'Don't you hear that? Visa is a permit'
I and my friend looked at each other's face. That person kept saying 'Visa is a permit' many times.
I was thinking 'So what?'
I asked her 'If we apply visa from Seattle, then we will pick it up in Seattle...' 'THERE.....IS....NO....CIC....office...in..Seattle' that person  shouted at us at a very unusual slow speed and sighed heavily.
'You'll have to mail it and wait for them to mail back.Understand?'
'Yeah, thank you'.
We left the office immidiately. I was so disappointed with that person's beheaviour. She didn't look like government representative. She has quite a lot of tattoo.
My friend doubted 'Is it ok for a government representative to have several tattoos? It's very rare in our country for government people to have rude beheaviour.'
I agreed 'Yeah. If we faced this situation in Thailand, I would do something to revenge her.'
My friend curious ' Maybe because we are international students, people usually look down on us.'
'It could be' I said to her.
At least,I learned something from this situation. It will be one of my unforgettable experience in Vancouver.

My wonderful weekend

This weekend is one of the wonderful weekends in Vancouver. I had quite a busy schedule. First, on friday, I went to a Thai cultural showcase in Richmond. I felt like I was in Thailand at that time. It was my first feeling since I have been here for a year. I sometimes feel like it is so hard to find Thai people in Vancouver. When I was studying in private school, I had some Thai friends. Even though it is not good to speak our own language, sometimes I need to be with people who have same culture and language. The reason for this is that I can expect what I want from them. For instance, I just realized how strong our friendship is in Thai culture. It is different from friendship in other cultures. By the way, I was so happy to feel like being at home again. I saw Thai dance, ate Thai food and mingled with Thai people. You can see my pictures below.



Thai traditional dress




At the main stage




She is more beautiful than normal woman!


On Saturday, I went to Summer Live festival in Stanley park. We enjoyed listening to live music in the park and doing activities in the festival. It was so crowded in the park. We took a free shuttle from Waterfront station to the park. Can you believe? It took almost one hour to get there because of the traffic. After we saw everything in the park, we decided to walk along sea wall back to downtown. On the way back, we saw a man walking with a snake on his neck. I was so freak-out. I think he was not supposed to do that in a public place. Even though he seemed to be familiar with his snake, it didn't guarantee that he could definitely control it. We walked pass him quickly. I almost ran. Once we got to downtown, we went to ramen shop. It was yummy. Then, we went to drink bubble tea.

At the festival

It's so crowded here.



Bubble tea with pearl^^














On Sunday, my Korean friends came to my house. We cooked and drink together. I drank So-Mac(Soju+Macju) again this time. It taste incredibly good. I love eating spicy food! Right now, they just left my house. So I'm doing homework now and I'm going to a movie tonight!

Comparison between Genesis 3 and Prometheus Bound

First, to be honest, I don't quite understand the story of Prometheus Bound because I was absent that day. Also, I don't have any knowledge about Western history before. However, I'll do the best I can.

In Genesis 3, the serpent was not a bad guy. He told Eve the truth about the fruit but he didn't prohibit then from eating it. When God found out that Adam and Eve ate the fruit, he investigated all of them. Eve blamed on the serpent, so they all were punished and sent out from Eden Garden.

The similarities between these two stories are: First, God in Genesis 3 can be campared with Zeus in Prometheus Bound because they are responsibility for punishing people. Also, they punished people unreasonably or they might have wicked reasons. In Genesis 3, God punished the serpent, Adam and Eve because he didn't want human to know good and bad. In Prometheus Bound, Zeus punished Prometheus because he helped people gain vital knowledge. Zeus didn't want people to get knowledge. Second, the serpent's role is similar toPrometheus' role in these stories. They both tried to help people but they got punished somehow. Last, Adam and Eve can be compared with people in Prometheus Bound.

These stories show that if we do good things, we may get bad results somehow. It's similar to a proverb that we have in Thai but it's totally different from Buddhist moral precept.

A Very Short Story: My personal response

Well, after I read this story, I feel like this is the way humans are. It is inevitable that there are both good and bad guys in this world. This is an example of such a bad guy. We can't deny that women are responsible for being pregnant-- not men. But this is our nature. We can't change it. One thing women can do is to protect themselves. There is a Thai proverb 'Always love yourself more than loving anyone else' It might sound a little bit selfish but it helps us survive from bad people in this brilliant world.

The difference between the first and the second account

From my point of view, the first account is well-organized and written in process. He created things by speaking. It takes six days of creation. First day, God created light, therefore, the earth had day and night. On the second day, he created the sky. Third day, he created the sea and dry land. He created sun, moon and stars on the following day. Fifth day, he created fish and bird. Last, he created animal and people. The sequence of creation is from vegetation to human. In this account, God didn't seem to have any feelings. He seemed to be a fair God.

In the second account, God created everything in a day. He created things not only by words but also by breathes, forms, builds and plant improvization. The way narrator wrote is like a story. It is not in a process like the first account. The sequence of creation is man, vegetation, animals and woman, respectively. In addition, God seemed to have feeling like human. He sympatized that there was only man on the earth so he created woman and took a good care of him. Also, this account gives feelings of inferiority of woman.

How do I like Vancouver?

I have been in Vancouver for a year. Whenever I told somebody that I have been here for quite a long time, people usually asked me...How do you like Vancouver? The answer is I do like Vancouver because...

First, I like fresh air here. Vancouver is a middle size city. However, there's very little pollution. The scenery  in Vancouver is full of green. There's not a lot of car on the street in downtown...Thanks to the reliable public transportation. Second,as I mentioned in the previous post, Vancouver is a multicultural city. I enjoy eating food from different parts of the world. Also, I enjoy meeting people from various countries. It's always exciting to learn something new. Third, the weather, Even thought Vancouver is known for 'Raincouver', summertime here is fantastic!. I love going out everyday in the summer. Long daytime makes me want to stay outside longer. Third, politeness of Canadians, I didn't know how to get on the escalator at the first time. Later on, I realized that there are standing line and walking line on the escalator. Plus, Canadians always say 'Excuse me' whenever they want to walk pass or want me to be out of their ways. Last, I enjoy studying English!

An impressed experience on the other side of Canada

Last weekend was the most exciting holiday I have ever had in Canada. I took a 6-day off on midterm break and flew to Toronto! My first impression toward Toronto is that it's a huge city that offers many activities to do. Once I landed there,I got it right. I could feel that the city is energetic, lively and diverse. I could notice some differences between Toronto and Vancouver. First, the lifestyle, people in Toronto have more active lifestyle. They are always in a rush. They don't care about others as much as Vancouverites do but they are quite friendly. Whenever I needed help with direction, they always answered nicely. Second, diversity, when I first came to Vancouver, I thought that Vancouver is a very diverse city. You can hear many languages spoken on the street. When I went to Toronto, it's even more! I saw many people from different ethnic. For instance, the majority of Vancouverites are Caucasian and Asian. In Toronto, I saw some African-American, Caribbean, South American and, of course, Caucasian and Asian. In addition, there are more young people than seniors in Toronto. It's similar to other big cities around the world that young people usually live there.

I went to many places in Toronto. You can see my pictures attached. 

 at the front of Casa Loma with my friend who showed me around Toronto

 inside Eaton Center...a huge shopping mall in downtown Toronto

I spent almost a day there!

view of downtown Toronto from the ferry

What I prepared for the exam?

1. Revise the lessons that we learned.
2.Look at the writings that have been marked, find common mistakes, then, study more about them.
3. Practice some writings.

7 ways to keep your brain active

Since I have been in ELI for a month, I have noticed how hard-working every ELI student is. We have to concentrate for a long time in the classroom and we have a lot of homework everyday. We usually spend time with friends after the class. We have so many things to do each day.  Those could make you feel tired sometimes, especially your brain. Today I have some tips to keep your brain active

7. Take enough sleep

Have you ever felt that you are dull when you don’t have enough sleep? As we know, sleeping is necessary for every human. Sleeping affects perceiving system: our memory system and our concentration system. Then, how to avoid this feeling? The answer is easy — just have enough sleep. Try going to bed a little earlier than normal but don’t get up late because our school starts early. You will feel fresher and better once you have enough sleep.

6. Take a rest

There are many ways to take a rest. You can do it whenever you have free time. Do some activities that you are interested in like listening to music, singing karaoke, doing yoga or even doing meditation.

5. Exercise

This is a really good way to kill time in a rainy day. The fact is that when you exercise, your body releases a hormone of happiness called ‘Endorphins’. It cheers you up in a gloomy day and it is good for your health. It helps metabolism, helps you look younger and definitely makes your brain active.

4. Quit smoking

Smoking does not only harm other surrounding  you, it also harms yourself. It makes you look older and reduce your ability to memorize. It never be too late to quit it. Even though it is not easy to quit, other people can do so you can!

3. Play games

You can play either computer games or board games. As long as the game requires you to use logic and strategize, they are good for your brain. Logic games help developing your left brain lope. It is a good idea to play Sudoku or Crossword. Strategizing games help improve your problem-solving skill. Try some chess or other board games!

2. Eat vegetables

Vegetables contain a lot of vitamins and antioxidants that help prevent some diseases such as Alzheimer and also help your skin looks better. If you rarely eat vegetable and really hate cooking, why don’t you try making salad? It’s very easy to make. Just wash the vegetables, put some dressing and be ready to enjoy.

1. Go to school

Can you believe it? Going to school encourages your brain to work. When you come to school, you learn something new every day. For example, you will know what’s going on in ELI and Vancouver, you will hear some gossips and most importantly…you will learn English!

What do I think about " Being There"?

To be honest, This is an amazing movie! I have never heard or watched this movie before. After I watched it, I found that the writer of this movie is genius. They used and made fun of English language beautifully. They also tied up American culture and religion together with the movie appropriately. The whole movie was not boring at all even though the main character spoke very slowly. I was carefully listening to his speech. The main character (Peter Sellers) is an awesome actor. He acted naturally. To me, I felt like he was really Chauncey Gardiner. Overall, I was impressed by this movie and I would like to see other cool movies like this in our class again.

The CLOD and the PEBBLE vs. Hills Like White Elephants

The poem indicates the advantages of love which are care, comfort and happiness. The poet compares the joyful of love like a heaven in hell. On the other hand, There are some disadvantages of love such as commitment and discomfort. Conversely, it is like hell in heaven.

The story shows a young couple who were in a foreign country. They seemed to enjoy each other until they know that the girl was pregnant. The baby would be a big responsibility for them. They tried to figure out what to do. The American wanted the girl to do an abortion but the girl did not want to. So they both were struggling each other.

These two writing are similar in the way they show pros and cons of love. It gives not only joy but sadness. It might be happy in the beginning and unhappy in the end.  These two writings give a good moral to readers.

Reading Response for Hills Like White Elephants

I like the way the narrator tell this story because he did not say about the characters' feeling but we can guess their emotion from the dialogue and the way they acted. The narrator concealed the characters' personalities and gradually released them. The story is interesting because there's a change in the girl's personality. From the first that she seemed to obey the man because the man could speak Spanish so that he had more power than the girl. After that, the girl started to assert herself since she felt the man did not care about her and was taking advantage of her.
This story reflects a young couple's real life. They were not ready to have a baby but they had it somehow. So they tried to figure out what to do with the baby. This is one of problems that is happening in Thailand. Our country is quite a conservative country. Abortion is illegal, though, some people still do it. There is a moral issue involved. If a couple decide not to have abortion, they might deliver the babies and abandon them. These babies may soon become beggars or robbers. On the other hand, having an abortion is considered immoral because it's like killing a human. This issue is still ambiguous that hardly anybody can judge whether it's right or wrong.

Life in the Moonlight

Here's what I did last weekend..

Partyyyyyy!!! on Sunday@our house

Ummm...Yummy:-)

The Gold Mountain Coat

In this story, Judy Fong-Bates narrated a Chinese family in her hometown in Ontario. The family consisted of Sam Sing(father), Ken(son) and John(son). The sons wanted to buy a new coat because they had been sharing a coat for a long time and the coat was completely worn out. They tried to find a way to persuade his father to give them money to buy it. Their father was an old, tough, thrifty and stubborn guy. They came to Judy’s parents to get some advices about how to say and when to say to their father. After that, the day had come, John told his father that he wanted a new coat. His father started to get angry. Luckily, Ken blurted out that they needed  a coat for John’s son because he would not be able to go to school without a coat and they wanted another coat for adult because it could be used by two generations.

Relationship between writing and speaking??

Many people agreed that "writing goes together with speaking". I partially agree with it. From my point of view, both writing and speaking reflect our opinions. They show the way we think and perceive each situation.

However, when people write, they have time to think before they write. As a result, people might make up their stories or not telling the truth. When people speak, they have little time to think. As a result, they could say something that make them regretted afterwards.

Speaking is the way of commucation I preferred because it happens and finishes fairly quickly. Plus, I don't have to have some equipment for writing such as pen, paper and/or computer.

Ma' 1st post

 When I was young, I wrote diary in my language saying what happened to me in everyday life.I wrote about a book of diary. I did not share my story with other people because my diary is very special - it has a lock to prevent others from reading it without my permission. I kept the key of that diary. Then after few years, I lost it somehow.

These days, I don't have a chance to write diary. Since I am busy studying and working.
I only write when I have to. If I don't have to, I usually spend time hanging out with my friends.

I think writing is important in my future life. When I worked in my country, I had to write reports to my boss everyday. I wrote in my language; I've never written in English. After I go back to my country, I will look for a job in international company. At that time I will have to write reports in English. That's the reason why I am here in Vancouver;-)