Cultural Awareness

eating in the restaurant

menu

Eating with friends

On Feburary 28th, I went to an Italian restaurant with my friends.

This restaurant is located on ZhuJiang Road and is called TaKe Restaurant.The restaurant was not very big but so warm that I felt very comfortable.Before I began to take a seat, the music went into my ears.There was a TV hanging on the roof which was playing the NBA game between Huston Rocket and Cleveland Cavalier and I was interested in this match so I watched it for a long time before other friends of mine came.We called the waiter to give us the menu so that we can know the information of the dishes of this restaurant and the waiter also introduced some famous delicious dishes to us.Diversity pictures of dishes were shown on the menu and it made me feel very hungry.Then I ordered a spaghetti with curry in it.As we were going to make a film from school assignment,we chose this restaurant for the shooting scene.So I did not take the spaghetti until the shooting work was done,but the spaghetti was totally cold by then.Though it was cold,it was still very delicious because of the curry.The spaghetti was a little bit saulty,so it fit my taste. I remembered one thing which was funny that I ordered a cola,but the waiter did not give me until the last minute,maybe he had forgotten.

In fact, my feeling of this Italian restaurant is nothing special, after eating in this restaurant.I think most of the western reataurants are alike in this or that way: fine interior decoration;quiet atmosphere;people talk peacefully;background music and good service.I have been to western restaurants many times before with my parents and I feel the big difference between western and Chinese food lies in that Chinese food serves rice and many different kinds of dishes while western food serves steak, salad, bread.There are more people eating in Chinese restaurants than in western restaurants.

TaKe restaurant is a nice place and I will recommend my friends to eat here.

Art and Design

ticket of the meuseum

my favorite artwork

artwork in the room

at the center of the exhibition

Visiting Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum

It was a sunny day on March 7th, my friends and I went to the Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum which is located on ChangJiang Road.We went to see the Chinese caligraphies in it.

I like caligraphy, so this time I decided to visit this meuseum. The meuseum is a very traditional building,there is an open place in the front, two tall green trees stand symmentrically.The title of Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum is carved on a stone plate hanging on the gate.

The title of the exhibition is called “Chen Maoran caligraphy show” Chen Maoran is a girl from NFLS,she practices caligraphy at a very young age and has successfully held three exhibitions and won many praises.We went into the exhibition hall which is divided into four rooms.Each room is covered with different caligraphy works on the wall.Some works are written in“Caoshu”,some works are written in“Lishu”,some characters are big and some are small but most of the works are written from the famous poems of reknown poets in Tang and Song dynasties.You can see some parts of the characters are hard to understand because of the writing styles of the Chinese characters.These writing styles are difficult for modern people to understand.They are “carapace-bone-script”, “Zhuan script”and“Cao script”.We may think they are hard to read, but some experts will always think these handwrtings are very beautiful.The one which is my favorite artwork is written against an ancient Chinese poem called“Shan Ju Qiu Ming”The poem writes about mountains and rivers.First it depicts beautiful views around mountains and they are very quiet.Then it writes the moon in the sky and the stream running across the rocks.While it writes about the noise in the bamboo grove, the writer also finds the fisherboat and the beautiful girl,this is to show the mind of the poet.This artwork gives reader a deep artistic conception,so that we can think a lot after appreaciating this caligraphic artwork.I took a photo in front of this artwork to show my likeness of the poem. I like this exhibition very much,because it shows the profoundness of Chinese culture.Chinese people have developed so many different ways to write a character.Chinese characters have involved new creations along its evolution.As as a student I need to develop myself on a creative basis.To think creatively and to develop creatively!

Personal Health

Chapter 6.1
Physical Activity
Fitness Center

Life lies in exercise, we need to do more exercise in our daily life so that we can build our body healthier.This winter vacation I have been to fitness center to do exercise myself.

There are many different kinds of exercise machines in the fitness center such as the machines can train you pectorales, biceps, triceps, deltoid, muscles on your crus or big legs and so on.There are also many kinds of barbells with these weights such as 2.5kg, 5kg, 10kg, 15kg, 20kg, 30kg, 45kg, 50kg, 60kg. With these selections people can lift up the barbells they like best for themselves. If people are tired enough out of long time working on the exercise machines, they can take a short rest or walk slowly on the running machines which operate at different speeds at your control.The higher the speed is the more energy you need to spend. So you can run very slowly after doing all the machines and get relaxed on it. You can also choose to run for warming up first before doing other exercise apparatuses, by this way you can get a better work of doing exercise. If you have some problems of how to do or use the machines, you can ask a private coach for help who can offer the best advice to you. At the same time, you can also ask the coach to help you draw up a plan of doing exercise so that you will not exercise blindly. I like this way of guided exercise.The above is only an short introduction, I will tell you about how to do physical trainings myself the first time.

After I got to the fitness centre, I found many people training themselves there. I put my bag in a private box then strode to the biceps machine and there were different iron weights in it.The first time, I did not know how heavy I could lift up myself.Then the private coach came to me and asked if I would need some help, she suggested me not to do the heavy one, “you must do from the light one” she said to me. She also told me that I might lift up 15 times as a group and that is suitable for the people who came here for the first time. I obeyed her advice. After doing 15 times I felt a little painful in the arm.Then I followed her to try other machines. About 30 minutes later sweat dropped from my face, I felt very tired and exhausted, but very happy
because I did exercise myself and felt healthier than before.

After I finish doing these exercise, I find doing physical activities is so important to us.It is good for building your physique and good for your personal health. As a student, we should do more physical activities so that we can build a strong body for study and future. These are my precious physical experiences and I learn a lot. For example, you must ask others for help if you do not know the answer of a question; If you put more efforts in your work, you will get more satisfactory results than others; During our study, as long as we do not give up, we can achieve our goal finally. These are three things I learn from the physical trainings. I also realize that you need to set a small goal first and try to achieve it, then set more difficult goals to complete. With a good health you can be more optimistic about life and future, these lifestyles are good for everybody.

verification

doing exercise

doing exercise

doing exercise

doing exercise

Member Card

Education and Career Planning

Sunlight Volunteer Activities
Chapter 3.1

In our school there are many kinds of clubs such as tennis club, badminton club,basketball club,volunteer club and so on.I just take part in the volunteer club and have a lot of experiences.

There are quite a few students attending this club, and the leader of the club is Nick who often organizes members to do volunteer work outside school.

On September 21st 2008, Nick informed us that we would go to the blind school and help the small students there study and give them happy feelings in their hearts.The first time, Nick took our new members to the blind school, and that was my first experience. When I went into the blind school, two big buildings were standing around me, not gorgeous but more normal-looking.Then there was a girl coming to us and asking if we were the students who came from Nanjing Foreign Language School to help them.She led us to the classroom. Here I would tell you that all the students from this school cannot see the world, they can only “see” the world by their hearts and mind. It is very difficult for them to study because of their blindness, but they all put more efforts into their study to get good grades. That spirit we can not imagine.

Nick told us that we would teach the small kids English from grade 3. They had learned 26 letters and Unit 1 from Oxford Primary English. I came to a kid and saw his book. Then I opened his book but found nothing. More carefully, I found many small points were dotted on the pages. Though I could not understand what were written on them, I asked the boy to teach me how to read and write. He carefully took out an object just like a ruler and a small particullar pen.There were many holes on the ruler, he started to teach me how to use the ruler to write. Actually I did not know the way of using the ruler, but I focused on the emotion on the boy’s face which was full of naivety and happiness,very beautiful. Later Nick told us that they would have an exam the next day, the test was to write 26 letters and read the dialogs in the book. So I helped a boy whose name is Wu to practice writing and reading the dialogs in the book. Then I came upon a game which could help them to remember the words in the book. I called my classmate Jack to help me. Jack and I gave them the Chinese words to say in English and English words to say in Chinese.We let Wu and his deskmate to ask the words each other. At last they both could say words quickly, we were very happy that they could remember these words well. After our help, we played with them in the playground and it was sunny outside, we all had fun.

From this club I have learned how to be kind and ready to help other people, be more patient to friends of yours. These are all the children who are blind and can not see the world at all. I should help them know how the world is, how the people around them give care and love. The club experience helps me to improve my way of dealing and working amicably with other people. We now live in one world, everybody needs help from other people, show your love to other people and you will receive love in return. I think this club is good, it can help us know how to care about the disabled and handicapped in the society.

We were playing with blind boy in the playground

certification

Community involvement and Employability

Volunteer work

Chapter2.1

After our mid term exam, my classmates and I started to help Mr. Harris our PE teacher as our volunteer workers. This was the first time we helped him to clean the PE house, and we had fun there.

In the PE house the stuff were in a mass.There were many things such as mats,various kinds of balls, paddles, a desk, a shelf, some iron sticks and so on.The room was also dirty, ashes were in the air, there were also lizzards on the walls. We must clean the house two times as suggested by Mr.Harris.

On January 3, Mr.Harris called us to carry all the stuff out of the house. We spent a lot of energy on removing everything. Each of us had much sweat after doing this work, then we stood out of the house for a short break, throwing the flying disk for fun. After that we cleaned the room and sports apparatus thoroughly, moved back the stuff and arranged them well in the room. At last we were all tired, but saw a neat PE house in front of us,and we were all happy. Finally we took photos for the verification.The second time on January 10 Mr.Harris told us to make the room neat first.We worked for him about 30 minutes.Then he asked us to calculate how many mats can be laid in one court. He had made a proportional plan on the paper. The length of the court was 40cm in the paper and each mat was 2cm in the paper, so we need 20 mats for one court. There were many mats in the PE room, some were light and some were heavy. Some of us loaded the soft mats in a small trolley, it took four people to lift and move heavy mats to the court. After all the mats were delievered to the court we started to lay them one by one. Though this work was first time for us, we successfully finished the work with excitment. We run out of breath but all felt very happy. Actually I have never done such work before, but it is a new experience that I helped the teacher to do so many work. In my heart I have some good feelings that can not be expressed out.As reward, Mr.Harris invited us to have dinner with him for our hard working. We had a long chat and had fun eating together. I had never been out eating with my teacher in the past.The dinner made me feel more comfortable with the teacher.

From this volunteer work I learn several things.The first one is we must get united in a team work when doing things.Suppose an important work involves a teamwork with a few people having different minds, the work can not be fulfilled successfully. So solidarity is a very important fact in doing collaborative work.The second one is one must try to take part in volunteer activities as much as he can so that he can learn new skills, build the friendship and understanding among friends. Last, volunteer work lets me learn how to help other people and this can give me pleasure.

helping PE teacher Mr.Harris(volunteer work 1)

ceritfication
community help(volunteer work 2)
making the poster
community help
community help(poster)

Visiting Wu Weishan Sculpture

ART and design

GCA Critique worksheet Wu Weishan Sculpture Exhibition

Chapter1.1

On Dec 4, 2008, with our art teacher Ms Hadley, our class went to Nanjing University to see “Wu Weishan Sculpture” exhibition.The weather was fine that day and we rode bikes there.

There are scores of sculptures inside the exhibition hall, some are tall and some are short, one of the short exhibits is called Sleeping Baby; some are fat and some are slim,and of all the exhibits, I like this one best, which is called“Spanish teenager” and the artist of the sculpture is Wu Weishan. It was made in 2003. This sculpture is a slim man with concave-convex, uneven lines. His head tilts on one shouder, his eyes are deep-set. His face shrinks with little muscle,and his hair is in a disorder.The color is brown because it is made of soil and some fingerprints still remain on it, so it is just so vivid.

The subject of this artwork is to describe the characters and personalities of a Spanish teenager. The artist used sculpture to show the rich inner mind of the teenager. From the sculpture I can see a sad-looking and sullen teenager. This artwork made me feel solemn and depressed. when I was looking at the sculpture. “Why is he so sad ?” I asked myself. “Why does the man have a poker face?” and “ what is he looking at?”, “What is he thinking about ?”.

This artwork reminded me of a picture in which a handsome man was standing beside a window who was thinking about his girlfriend. So why does this artwork reminds me of this picture? Because I think these two artworks have the same eyevision, same face expressions and even poses are similar. This also relates to one of my chlassmates who does not talk so much in the class and he also has a poker face and is always sullen and serious.

I think the artist depicts this teenager to indicate that he is deeply thinking about his uncertain future since he had a very unpleasant life. I like this artwork because it gives me a deep impression and makes me think a lot. The most common way to describe an object is to draw, but the artist Wu Weishan uses sculptures to show people his mind and understanding of the world. This artwork is so vivid that it stays in my head for a long time. Because the sculpture is just like a real person,and his eye-vision catches on my eyes as if he is talking to me about his story with sadness. This artwork also makes me think that, to be successful in life,one must have a correct start-up, have a good education and then be calm, cool-headed never get discouraged in front of failures. Be brave and deligent!Following this way one can get to success in the end.

I think other people will also appreaciate this artwork. Because it touches you when you walk past the sculpture.He is a sculpture but he gives us the feeling that he is more than a sculpture, everybody walking past the sculpture has the same feeling. But I hope everybody in the world will have a good and successful life.

my favorite artwork

Wu Weishan sculptrue exhibition

Cultural Awareness

Chapter 5.1
French Food

When we talk about western food,what comes to our mind?Romantic,flavorous,good atmosphere,and so on. Last week,on the 21th of December, I went to a French restaurant with my classmates.

This restaurant is located at Qing Liangshan Road,the restaurant is not so small,but I think inside this restaurant, the style of interior decoration looks like a Chinese restaurant.Maybe you will ask me, why do I chose this restaurant?Because this is a special restaurant which is run by the parents of my French classmate,Hugo.When we took the seats aroud the table,the French music began.It was warm inside.There were some pictures on the wall.We waited for a long time before the food were sent to us,because French food entailed a very special preaparation. Our first course was salad.This salad was imported from France so it was of original taste and flavour.Salad was a standard course in western restaurants.The second course was called pumpkin soup.The soup was in a vessel which shaped like a small boat.I thought this soup quite distinguished from traditional Chinese soup.The third course was the main dish.Everyone was given a big plate with duck meat,chicken,potatoes and some peppers in it.In the plate there was also a fork and a knife for eating.The main dish was very delicious,it was a little bit salty.I thought the flavouring agent had a most usage.I like this kind of food,because it was quite different from Chinese traditional food.It gave me a fresh feeling.The last course was some dessert.The dessert was a small cake.I felt quite full after I had the dessert.

This is my eating experience at a French restaurant,and it is very different from the way we Chinese eat.In Chinese restaurants,we order a table of dishes while in French restaurants we are served only one portion;In French restaurant,the waitresses give us a big stone board,knives and forks while in Chinese restaurants we use chopsticks;In Chinese restaurants we serve soup at last, but in French restaurants, soup is served at first.This meal gives me a big cultural impact,and let me learn a lot about French eating costoms and culture.Maybe next time I will invite other friends to eat with me in such a restaurant.

food picture 1

food picture2

menu

group picture in front of the French restaurant

food picture 3