留學英國 11 (BU 新生說明會手冊)

前幾天 Bournemouth University 寄來一份 ISOP (International Students' Orientation Programme) 資料, 還附上一本非常實用且重要的 Welcome Guide, 心中的某些疑惑獲得了解決. 看到 ISOP 的行程中還包括倫敦一日遊, 更是不免興奮了起來.

ISOP 詳細內容請點選以下圖檔, 即可放大觀看:

很高興看到台灣學生的留言竟然出現在 ISOP 的信件中 (下圖上方螢光筆處)

Welcome Guide

A Chinese regal vegetarian restaurant

2007-07-21 evening

King Join restaurant logo and teapot (below)

some curios (below)

核桃南瓜羹 Walnut Pumpkin Paste (below, translation from the menu)

蘿蔔酥餅 Turnip Buns (below, translation from the menu)

山藥枸杞炒蘆筍 Chinese Yam & Wolfberries Stir Fried with Asparagus (below, translation from the menu)

紅燜猴頭蘑 Stewed Hedgehog Mushroom with Gingko (below, translation from the menu)

什錦炒飯 Assorted Stir Fried Rice (below, translation from the menu)

精燉猴菇麵 Hedgehog Mushroom Noodle Soup (below, translation from the menu)

Chinese zither music

Desserts (the following introductions are excerpts from the menu)

As the capital of China for five dynasties---Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing, snack history in Beijing dates back to the 14th century...

碗豆黃 Pea Cake
made of choice yellow peas and a kind of special herb
This cake was one of the snacks served at the state feast to welcome Mrs. Thatcher's state visit to China.

驢打滾 Rocking Donkey
The donkey played an important role in the old agricultural Beijing. Donkeys were used to drive the grinder that ground the bean flour, one of the ingredients of this type of snack. The cake looks like the mud sticking to the surface of a rocking donkey and thus it is called Rocking Donkey snack.

蓮蓉捲糕 Lotus Seed Paste Roll

a mascot symbol and a kind of tonic

奶酪 Chinese Yogurt

It is made with fresh milk, fermented rice soup and sugar and baked on a charcoal fire, then cooled with ice for condensation.

2007 Taipei Aquapets & Family Pets Fair

10th Taipei Aquapets & Family Pets Fair

7/20~7/23 (10:00~18:00)

My cutie ^^

All photos and video clips by TJ. All rights reserved.

I am of Mongolian descent?

July 16th, 2007 was a special day for two reasons: it officially marked the end of my 3-year Spanish learning and on the same day when I went to see a dentist for dental scaling, he told me that I may be of Mongolian descent since I have oral tori, a genetic legacy from Mongols according to the dentist.

This probably explains why I find Japanese familiar to me (even though whether Japanese belongs to Altaic family is still disputed).

I'm beginning to find intriguing the interplay between genetics, anthropology and historical linguistics...

Manila (a cocktail of diverse cultures) 2

Story by TJ

On the way to Intramuros (official site), they passed by Rizal Park, where José Rizal was executed. The park was named after this national hero of the Philippines who advocated social and political reforms during Spanish rule (late 16th century to late 19th century). As others were listening with rapt attention to Rizal's anecdotes, Hanson was engulfed in a surge of repentance. He wished he could have learned more about Rizal and Filipino history before this trip. "If I at least googled him before coming here, I would know better about this interesting polymath," he muttered.

The first stop Hanson and the others went to in Intramuros was this 426-year old Manila Metropolitan Cathedral.

Since a wedding was being held there by the time they arrived, they did not have a tour inside. Just when Lily was backing up the car, a little boy around the age of 10 suddenly began to rap on the trunk. He continued to rap until the car came to a stop. Lily rolled down the car window, gave 5 pesos to the boy, turned over and said, "This is our custom. In many countries people may knock on your car to warn you against a wall, a ditch or something. Here we knock to tell the driver it's ok to keep on backing up the car." She continued, "I gave him 5 pesos in case he broke my window."

It was only a 2-minute drive from Manila Metropolitan Cathedral to Casa Manila Museum ("casa" means "house" in Spanish), a time tunnel into the lifestyle of a rich family during Spanish colonial period.

Kenny and Justin read out the introduction of this museum, which they printed out from Intramuros website:

"...The vases are Ming, the wooden furniture is Victorian. Walls are Baroque. The high ceilings and wide narra planks for flooring are Castillan. And the capiz windows and louvers were adapted by the Spaniards to provide better ventilation in our tropical climate..."

"Narra is our national tree and Capiz is a province in the middle of the Philippines," Lily explained.

The picture below shows capiz windows.

"An amazing view," exclaimed Hanson, "What geometric forms can you see from here?"

"Trapezoids," Justin said with confidence.

"A combination of a sector and a trapezoid," Shelly added.

"Parallelograms?" Kenny murmured.

"Arches, rectangles and triangles," Lily interrupted while surveying the panorama of this atrium.

Hanson smiled at their answers as if he was conducting a symphony.

Indeed, this marvelous piece of architecture is imbued with the beauty of equilibrium and steeped in a myriad of cultural elements, something that Hanson has always looked out for on an urban trip. That evening the group had a feast in a boat-shaped restaurant...

...and went for a stroll on the sidewalk of Roxas Boulevard, next to Manila Bay.

Lily sent Hanson back to New Solanie Hotel. When leaving, Kenny sent Hanson a buko pie (buko means young coconuts in Tagalog) as a pasalubong (souvenir).

This reminded Hanson of the buko pie he bought on the way back from Taal volcano and of the fact that he couldn't go there again as all his friends would have to work the next day. For the following two days, he would need to explore the city alone.

To be continued...

Manila (a combination of modernization and backwardness) 1

Story by TJ

This was Hanson's second time to visit Manila, the first time being 2 years and 7 months ago (in winter). To his surprise, it was cooler in Manila than in Tokyo in summer. Due to the serious delay of his flight, it was past dinner time when he arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Many travel books say it's dangerous to take other means of transportation except taxis so he hailed one at the airport counter and bargained for a 550-peso taxi ride. Although he knew that was a rip-off and that the driver would go in circles, all he had in mind was to get to New Solanie Hotel quickly and safely for the first night.

The next morning (Sunday) around 6:30 Hanson was awoken by incessant jeepney honks 4 floors below. This shows how people there like to honk:

To say that you can hear honks of this magnitude on any main road in Manila is by no means an exaggeration.

Like many foreigners, Hanson soon got used to this uninviting morning call.

Before this trip, Hanson had contacted his friend, Kenny, who has just stayed in Manila for about a month. He was scheduled to meet Kenny on Sunday morning. It so happened that Kenny's friend, Lily, who is a Chinese teacher at a local kindergarten, wanted to show him around in the city so Hanson was also invited for a free ride. While they were waiting for Lily, Kenny bought a grande cup of Halo Halo for Hanson.

Finally, there came Lily's van. When the door was swung open, Hanson was surprised to see a long lost friend, Justin, in the car. "Hey Justin, what a coincidence!" said Hanson. He was then introduced to Lily and her niece, Shelly. As everyone was thinking where to go for lunch, Lily suggested to go to Mall of Asia, the largest mall in the Philippines.

After lunch, they headed off to an area with Spanish remains called Intramuros. (In Spanish, "muro" means "wall".) That was a gorgeous place with churches (iglesias) and houses (casas) in Spanish architecture. Even the names of roads are of Spanish origin. In fact, even outside this historic site, many road names such as "Adriatico" (which is derived from "Adriatic Sea") in Manila are Spanish.

To be continued...

Advantages of Personalized News to the Journalist and the User

Personalized news could be defined as customized news tailored to the needs and preferences of online users. Due to the advancements in technology, personalized news has unparalleled advantages over traditional media to its users and journalists. One of the strengths is the ability to deliver customized services, such as so-called "news alerts" and "news on demand", to individuals. With personalized news, the viewing public can "be the first to know" as soon as a story breaks, as CNN boasts.

Another advantage is the interactivity inherent in the online world which enables users to share views and feedback, instead of simply acting as passive recipients. With this interactive ability, users have been able to take a more active role in shaping which stories news media publish. In some cases, users have even leveraged the internet to mobilize support for certain grassroots issues. In other words, users could also be agenda setters.

In addition to offering benefits to news consumers, personalized news also benefits journalists. They can get instant feedback from individual users and know better about their target audience. What's more, because the news content is user-defined, online journalists don't have to make the same trade-offs as their traditional counterparts when selecting topics and thus have greater leeway in deciding which topics to publish.

Finally, neither users nor journalists of personalized news are bound by the same constraints as in traditional media. They have greater freedom to access news archives virtually any time and any place. Personalized news has opened up a new page in journalism and it is interesting to see how the future of journalism unfolds.

translation of quotes 3 (travel)

The English quote is from the Quotations Page.



translation/photo by TJ (Tony Jian). All rights reserved.

translation of quotes 2 (tough times)

The English quote is from the Quotations Page.




translation/photo by TJ (Tony Jian). All rights reserved.

translation of quotes 1 (experience)

The English quote is from the Quotations Page.



translation/photo by TJ (Tony Jian). All rights reserved.

留學英國及獎學金申請過程---10 (獎學金說明會, 行政契約書)

6月21日菁英留學獎學金的得獎生帶著以下文件參加了校內獎學金發放說明會:
1. 簽證影本
2. 護照簽名頁影本
3. 存簿封面影本
4. 入學許可影本+正本(驗畢退還)

這次說明會主要是向同學解釋行政契約書的內容及一些注意事項:
1. 三分之二的獎學金於出國前發放, 剩餘三分之一於返國繳交心得及國外成績單後發放.
2. 大筆金額的消費如學費, 來回機票, 住宿費等要保留單據核銷, 其餘小額消費總歸為生活費
3. 兩名保人可為自己父母
4. 在友校可把握機會介紹自己母校

如果三分之二的獎學金可以在出國前發下來的話, 就可以趁英鎊下跌時分多次買進, 湊足學費後一次繳清, 有的學校還可因此提供優惠折扣. (BU 是 5%).