Julie & Julia

I saw a movie yesterday titled "Julie & Julia". It was about an American woman, Juila Child, followed her husband and moved to France around fifty years ago. She decided to learn how to cook and gather the ideas into a book just to kill some spare time. Then she became a very famous writer and motivated those housewives who can cook as good as she could. Many years passed by, another American woman, Juile Powell, who suffered an equally dislike of routine in her daily life. She was inspired by the cookbook wrote by Juila Child. She decided to challenge the 524 recipes in the book within a year and posted her thoughts on her blog. During her commitment, she found that she was gifted with cooking. She messed it up sometimes. However, her husband's endless support was very important for her. This is a sweet and lovely story that reminds me that I should always cherish my beloved ones who always support me. I should never give it up as it is right thing to do. Through the process, it is sure of finding our own value to other people.

Twilight

"Twilight" is about a love story between a vampire and a human being.
The character, Bella, moved to the town, Forks, where her father lived thought she was obviously not interested with the town at all. In school, she met Edward Cullen who was a vampire but nobody knew. They fell in love soon after they met. However, Edward had to fight against his nature not to suck Bella's blood and Bella had to be brave to stay with vampires which people considered them as monsters. A love adventure soon began between them.

This story is about a loving relationship between a human and a vampire which reminds me of a legend in Chinese culture titled "The White Snake". It was a romance between a snake spirit and a human being. I admire the romantic love between Bella and Edward. However, I am more impressed by the love among the family between Charlie and Bella, the friendship of Jacob and Bella and the great love in which Dr. Cullen and his wife who save people's lives instead of sucking their blood. Single parent like Charlie who was not used to living with his daughter have difficulty in expressing his concern for her. Nevertheless, he would always try his best to take care of his beloved daughter. Moreover, Jacob, a friend of Bella, was also worried about her being harmed by the vampires. This is also a way to express the love of a friendship. Furthermore, the great love showed by the family of Cullen's by saving other people's lives has always touched me.

Stories such as "Twilight" in Western culture and also "The White Snake" in Eastern culture have similar meanings. These stories represent how someone show love to those around them. Although the characters are not the same, they still try to fight for their beloved ones. They faced not only external obstacles but also nature. But they never give up. Therefore, we should learn from this lesson to be brave to love and to be loved.

City Transportation

City transportation is a very important issue while traveling a city if you would like to go without any tour. My friend and I have traveled within Seoul, the capital city of Korea, for four days in April. We had done some research for the transportation before we went to the city. Hence, I would like to show you the three kinds of transportations that we had taken when we traveled in Seoul if you are interested in traveling the city, Seoul.

The subway in Seoul is just like the MRT in Taipei. It is widely distributed over the city. They are thirteen lines and are recognized by different colors. It is easy for people who do not speak or understand Korean to figure it out because each station has its own number. The guide books have always indicated the famous place with its station number. As long as you know the station number, you still can find the station easily. Although, you are not sure whether you are at the correct station or not, there is the station name in both English and Chinese on the wall which you can check. It is really convenient to the foreigners who are travelling as backpackers in Seoul. Moreover, the difference between the MRT in Taipei and the subway in Seoul is that passengers are allowed to eat on the subway. There is no such a rule to ban people from having food on the subway. However, the drinks are not allowed.

Secondly, the bus systems are a bit difficult for us to take if the Korean words are totally unfamiliar to you. The bus drivers are not good at English that you can check with them. Therefore, before we went to Seoul, we had to find out the bus number we were going to take and the bus station where is close to our hotel. Then we counted how many bus stops from the airport to the hotel. So we were counting the bus stops which we passed by. You have to be very careful, otherwise, you would get lost if you miss one stop.

There are three kinds of taxis running in Seoul. Unlike, there is only yellow taxi in Taiwan. The taxis are charged differently. Combo taxis and deluxe taxis, color black, are charged higher. General ones, color silver, are cheaper compared with the other two kinds. Some people said that the drivers of silver taxis are not as polite as the drivers of black taxis, so they recommend taking deluxe taxis if you do not speak Korean. However, we used to take the general ones. It was fine for us. I think we were lucky to meet the drivers who were friendly.

Here are the three kinds of transportations in Seoul. I hope it would give you some idea for traveling around the city without the tour guide.

Smile

The definition of smile is a facial expression formed by the muscles near both ends of the mouth. People smile when they are happy, pleasure and joyful. However, a smile means more than just a simple movement from the faces. Smiling is considered as a communicative tool all over the world. Whenever we meet someone whom we does not know or does not speak the languages, a genuine smile to others will bring us closer although we are strangers. Smiling can also influence people who are frustrated, upset or purely in a bad mood, it would comfort them and even cheer them up. We,therefore, should always keep a sincere smile on our faces; others will be positively affected and be brightened because of our lovely smiles.

Autumn

The sun sets earlier and nights arrive sooner lately. I notice that it is autumn already. Autumn is usually cloudy and windy. This kind of weather always depresses me. It is not only caused by the bad weather itself but also it does recall a sad memory to me. My father passed away two years ago and it was within autumn. The day seemed just like any other ordinary day. He was suffering from a lung cancer and accepting a treatment in the hospital. I took a day off and on the way to the hospital. While I was heading toward the hospital, I got a call from my mother and be informed that my father suddenly was unconscious . Then I rushed but it was too late. Since then, it always remains me how painful the period we have been through whenever autumn arrives. The day is just like yesterday and being a day I would never forget.