Journal 09 ( May 17 ~ 23 )

I feel that I am entirely immersed in art! I attended an art exhibition and an art lecture recently. Among a wide variety of works in the exhibition, “Installation art” and “Pottery of owls” impressed me most.

As to the art lecture, the lecturer, who is an art director of Golden Bough Theatre, showed his passion for art and his love for Taiwan. While many brands and corporations in Taiwan try hard to go international, the purpose of Golden Bough Theatre is to spread “seeds of art” throughout this island, Taiwan. The way this art director spread “seeds of art” is to share with people in Taiwan several plays performed by Golden Bough Theatre. For instance, Golden Bough Theatre was here (CCU) on tour last semester.

All plays performed by Golden Bough Theatre are expressed in Taiwanese. Certainly, the themes of plays revolve mainly with historical events in Taiwan. That is, they are local plays, which easily make a close connection between the performers and the audience. The play I watched last year was absolutely hilarious. Just as director Wang said, “Watch a play happily, and bring back happiness.” Indeed, I felt delighted and relaxed after the performance. (This is my first time to watch a live Taiwanese play.) What a fabulous play!

Most people do not stick to their dreams and give up realizing them at length. After the art lecture, I admired director Wang’s great dreams and actions. As a proverb goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” director Wang is definitely a role model for all the dream seekers. Also, there is another important concept: “Apply art to daily life.” Actually, people are always surrounded by various kinds of art, but they do not or do not want to pay attention to art.

Appreciating art is a relief for me. Art do add spices to my life. ：）


I feel a sense of happiness and satisfaction since I learn something every day recently.
Sometimes I learn something about psychology by reading inspirational books.
That is an effective way to help me grow in mental.
Also, I am grateful to people around me for helping me release my pressure lately.
Thank you so much!

Smile ：）


Picture: http://blog.roodo.com/woodland_school/archives/9738899.html


More information about Golden Bough Theatre:
http://www.goldenbough.com.tw/

Journal 08 ( May 10 ~ 16 )

May 11

Lady Nai-nai（貴婦奈奈）, a psychological counselor and a popular blog writer, came to our university to deliver a speech. The topic of her speech is “Communicating with love.” Actually, I have become a fan of her for around two years. I appreciate her articles about various themes and her straightforward writing style. Therefore, I seize the opportunity to attend this live speech, hoping to learn more from her address.

She started her speech with two thought-provoking stories: The Missing Piece and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. What a coincidence! (These books are her favorites and mine too.) But, she interpreted these stories in a different angle. She associated the stories with “love”. For instance, from her interpretation of the stories, the process of searching for the missing piece is like that one is in search of his or her Miss Right or Mr. Right. I agree with her brilliant explanation of the stories. As she said, these two stories can be interpreted in several ways.

During her speech, she created some psychological games to interact with the audience. Through the games, the audience can find the differences of communication skills between women and men. Besides, she also recommended some great books, which may help the audience change their minds when encountering difficulties. I can’t wait to read those books. Ha~ ^^


May 13

I attended an activity held by Tzu Chi Collegiate Student Association at Chung Cheng University. People who attended this activity had vegetarian dinner.

“Go green, go vegetarian!” has become a hot slogan in recent years.

My parents have become vegetarians for over 20 years, but they do not order me to be a vegetarian. In fact, I usually have vegetarian meals at home, so sometimes I dislike the smells of meat.

The purpose of this activity reminds me of the importance of being a vegetarian. Therefore, I will try my best not to eat meat and have a healthy diet in my daily life. ：）Keep sticking to this concept of health!

Go veg! ：）





More information about 貴婦奈奈
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/abig99

Journal 07 ( May 3 ~ 9 )

May 4 (Tue)

I went to the library with Jean, one of my classmates. To collect information for our report, we searched for several kinds of picture books written and drawn by different artists. In addition to those masters’ works, we also found some books familiar, which we had read in our childhood. At that moment, we read those picture books as if we were back to our sweet childhood. We enjoyed those books so much and even borrowed many from the library. I think reading picture books can help me get rid of worries and enliven my life. Picture books are like a candy house. When I am reading those books, I am so delighted as if I taste sweets. Thus, reading picture books when I am upset is a great relief. It seems that I am captivated by picture books. Ha~



May 5 (Wed)

I haven’t seen a dance performance since last year. This Wednesday, a dance show “Speed” performed by “Horse”, a male dance group, amazed me. At the beginning of the show, a dancer rode a bike and then other dancers appeared. To my utter astonishment, dancers started to perform by “folding papers”. They were so creative that they could express efficiently and clearly by “folding papers”. That is really a brilliant idea! Besides, some exaggerative dramatic effects were added to the performance. The audience could follow the performers or the plot easily.

I think “dance” is a combination of concrete and abstract things. Concrete elements include performers’ movements, gestures, facial expressions and body language. Abstract things, on the other hand, mean something that performers want to express, which is always not easy to understand or imagine. As far as this dance show “Speed” is concerned, I appreciate the way the dancers performed, which was straightforward and hilarious at times. Finally, I think it would be better if the plot of the second part of the show is arranged vividly.



May 9 (Sun)

Mother's Day ：）




More information:

"Horse"
http://horse.org.tw/

Journal 06 ( Apr 26 ~ May 2 )

An extensive area of paddy field and pleasant climate refreshed my mind in the beginning of the trip. After passing some stations, the station crowded with people – Tainan, is the destination of this one-day cultural trip.

National Museum of Taiwan Literature
The combination of brick red and white correspond to the historical value of this museum. Gorgeous appearance, unique interior design and abundant exhibitions make the museum a hot tourist attraction.

To appreciate Taiwan literature, visitors can do it by seeing, listening and even “playing”. For instance, when I touched a certain part of the poem of buffalo, the buffalo, which is composed of words, would move. What an intriguing design!

When it comes to the development of Taiwanese culture, old TV, turntable, and so on cannot be ignored since they are symbols of an era. However, something has existed for several years… Are you familiar with this special shape?


This is a game that I usually played in my childhood.
I like this lovely design.
It adds different Taiwanese nursery rhymes to each square. Ha~ it’s so cute!











Another interesting exploration is The Exhibition of Taiwan & Japan Exlibris.
Exlibrics [Latin word] is a label identifying the owner of a book in which it is pasted.
I found those exlibris creative and they are full of artistic value.
Then, after seeing a video teaching people how to make exlibrics,
I got a chance to make a simple one. See! This is my exlibrics ↓



If I have spare time and useful tools, I hope I can make an elaborate exlibris and pasted it in my favorite book. ：）







I also visited other ancient architectures with Tina, Joyce and our private tour guide, Sandy.
We spent an agreeable day together. I considerably appreciate this ancient cultural city.
Finally, I hope I can visit other must-see scenic spots in Tainan and taste local delicacies next time.


More information:

The poem of buffalo
→ Click different parts of the buffalo,
something interesting will happen~
http://dig.nmtl.gov.tw/literature/02land/land_01.php

National Museum of Taiwan Literature
http://dig.nmtl.gov.tw/literature/index.php

A report of Exlibris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6XUQCmn1HA

The Image of the Four Seasons

This Tuesday, I attended a special concert – The Image of the Four Seasons. This is a campus & community tour (2010) of Taiwan Artists Ensemble. Two unique elements make the concert fascinating. One is that the conductor’s vivid exposition of “The Four Seasons” (composed by Antonio Vivaldi) is easy for the audience to follow and understand. In this way, the audience have deeper understanding of this great violin concerto instead of being a listener only. Through the conductor’s clear introduction, I find that the images which the composer tries to express become straightforward. The other element is that “digital art” is adopted, which adds different colors in the tour concert.

I enjoyed the pleasant moment when I listened to “The Four Seasons”. If I have an opportunity to go to such a wonderful concert, I will attend it without hesitation. ：）

Journal 05 ( Apr 5 ~ 11 )

I have read many books that teach me how to learn English well. Most of the authors share their “positive” experiences with readers. It seems that their ideas or their learning modes are perfect, but actually, putting those successful learning approaches into practice is not an easy job.

A book, written by an outstanding female supervisor, arises my curiosity and interest. When I read this book, I find that the way the author share her experience of learning English is surprisingly intriguing. Straightforward writing style and hilarious illustrations make her book captivating.

Perhaps, I tend to learn in the way that I learned when I was a high school student. Therefore, I virtually forget two key points: “passion of learning” and “learning in the simplest way”.

1. Passion of learning

The author of this book became passionate about English after she attended the university. She has full passion and she knows how to learn in an effective and efficient way. For instance, in English conversation class, she sharpened her oral skills by imitating and memorizing each sentence that the teacher said. (Remarkably similar to “parrot”~) In a nutshell, she is always well-prepared and full of passion.

2. Learning in the simplest way

Well goes a saying, “Many a little makes a mickle.” (Many small amounts accumulate to make a large amount.) If you really want to enhance your English proficiency, you should not be too eager to “swallow” extensive vocabulary, grammar or other English information in a short period of time. Sometimes, memorizing new words, correct usage and great essays on a regular basis always work. If you do not make it a rule to learn regularly, you will be lazy and then give up soon.

Before I read this book, I assumed that the more precise the content of a book is, the more useful it is. In truth, without perseverance and full patience, it is hard for common learners to acquire all the information from a thick, but not necessarily efficient book. The author suggests that we can choose the thinnest book when we learn English grammar since the thickest book does not equal the best reference.

After reading this book, I learn a lot from this book and “meet” a friend. The author is like a friend who loves English and is willing to share her successful experience selflessly with me. Thanks for her sharing.

Journal 04 ( Mar 29 ~ Apr 4 )

The topics of the lectures that I attended in recent weeks included “Language Learning”, “Novel and Cuisine” (Mar 23), and “The Combination of Poems and Songs” (Mar 24), etc. This Thursday (Apr 1), Yu Huei Liao, a renowned Taiwanese writer and professor, came to deliver a speech in the performance hall in Chung Chang University.

Professor Liao shared with the audience abundant stories in a humorous manner. I admired her well-developed speaking skills and her unique humor. When she mentioned a story, she emphasized some parts exaggeratedly, which made the audience hold their sides with laughter. However, she told one of the stories in a warm and soft tone, which moved the audience to tears.

During the lecture, I learned that the best material of writing can be collected easily in one’s life anytime and anywhere. She strongly encouraged us to write down our true feelings since she knew that students tend to make up stories when they are writing. In addition, I was impressed by the stories she recited to us. She told us that change of color, object and weather and so on in a story would imply some special or implicit meanings. And those elements of writing let readers think and feel. She said that these essential elements of writing are “the essence of literature”. Therefore, if a story is written without these elements of writing, that story will be classified as “a story” instead of “a literary work”.

My afterthought: I do not have a habit of recording daily events regularly since I usually take daily events for granted. Actually, “feeling” of those events is the most important and valuable element of writing. Also, I think I should not put great pressure on myself when I am writing. Instead, I am supposed to enjoy the moment I record my colorful life. In this way, I can express my feeling better and better my seemingly monotonous life. Let’s enjoy writing! ：）