Competitive Sports Should be Compulsory in Schools

The smell of winning in the air gradually inches closer as you race towards the finish line. One mistake, one minute error, one fault, is all it takes for others’ to finish a step ahead of you. Around the world, many children are trained to be professional athletes. The competitiveness in competitive sports is so intense that it’s not just about physical skills, but also about mental abilities. Life, after all is a game about survival of the fittest. 

Whilst some kids are not born athletes, naturally in their minds they would like to participate and ultimately to be a winner; it is only human nature. In sports, unfortunately there is only one winner - and it is in every human's blood, to be the only one standing on the podium, cheered by the crowds.

First and foremost, participating actively in any competitive arena forms a strong and concrete foundation for physique, cognition and mental infrastructure. With a solid mental training simultaneously built - one can keep their minds calm under intense pressure, which will enhance the performance of the physical side. 

Furthermore, it is unanimous that everybody loves to win and take pride in beating other people, and they certainly enjoy all the benefits that come along with it - fame, pride, honour, monetary gains, self-esteem, etcetera. Inarguably, winning is one of the best satisfactions of being human because it can enlarge an individual's power and in the animal kingdom it could mean territorial rights. Take for example tigers, they fight for territorial rights among each other because naturally, the one with power will be the herd leader and dictates over every other tiger. Professional athletes are not simply trained because of the sport itself, it is their job to be excellent, and in order to be the herd leader like the tigers, they indeed have to go through intense training, hard work, dedication and commitment so that they will be the only one to win. Only the number one spot can give them all the benefits that have been described above. 

Compulsory competitive sports also mimics competition in the real society - where everybody is fearless and is contending for the same thing. For example, people compete for promotions, money, fame, power, self-interest, etcetera. These kinds of competition are no different from competing in sports. They have to go through all the challenges and obstacles in order to achieve their desires. Therefore developing at a young age a strong mental, physical and emotional attitude is crucial for their forthcoming societal needs. They need to be prepared for the intense competition when they become grown ups. On a bigger context, a society without competition will be a society that is not advancing, and we would never be able to live in a better society as time prevails. 

Taking all of the above into account, compulsory sports can enhance people's’ attitude towards their life, as well as their physical, mental and social attributes. Therefore the importance of competitive sports should be acknowledged within schools and be mandatory. 

Internet - Impact

With the invention of the Internet, the speed of communication has speed up drastically that people from the last era could not have imagined. In the old days, it will take a letter a week or 3 weeks to its destination. Now e-mails has taken over the old form of letter, and to receive an e-mail it will only take nanoseconds. 

The speed of the Internet not only has improved in communication between friends and families, it has affected people in all different occupations such as business, retail, students and teachers, scientists, photographers, artists, musicians, etc. In the olden days, business’s were conducted through signing contracts face to face. All we need to do now is send an e-mail and reply with an agreement, and there you have one business transaction complete! 

In the old days, if you want to see or locate someone it would take days or weeks. With the introduction of the Internet, basically you can locate anyone anywhere in this world instantly. 

The most common way, and possibly the only way to locate people through the Internet is via social networking. Common social networking sites amongst people are Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Skype, MSN, etc. The advantages of social networking sites are that you can meet new people, chat to friends or colleagues whom you have not seem for a while, and maybe possibly connect with family members that you thought did not exist! 

Nowadays you can basically find anything you want to know on the Internet, anything. In principle, anything you want to learn, to clarify, to read, to teach, to watch, etc. You can find it in detail. In the old days it is almost impossible. You would have to go to an library to find out just one specific topic, and that would take you ages. 

The introduction of the Internet has also promote the introduction of the e-book, which has drastically minimized the cost of reading to readers. And purchase of books have now become eco-friendly as no papers are involved. You can now store up to thousands of books because of the computer. Whereas in the old days, you would need a big room to do the same thing. 

The above are only subtopics that I have touched a little on. The subtopics are mainly about how the Internet has changed the way we live. In the bigger picture, it has changed all facets of this world, including medicine, arts, history, wars, politics, philosophy, science, etc. It will take pages to describe the effects of this invention that has affected all the above. 

Can you imagine having just one day of not having any Internet? People of today must have Internet, if not there would be severe consequences. Business would take months to complete transactions, banks would take ages to process, friends inability to find long-lost-friends, it would be like going back to the dark-medieval ages. 

Rugby World Cup 2011

As you may be able to tell from the title, yes it is the Rugby World Cup '2011' and now it is 2012. But nevertheless, I thought I would include this short research paper I did in class.

What is the game of rugby about? Originating from the 19th Century, rugby football is a branch of football. Rugby was first developed in England. Rugby has developed from being an local sport into an internationally celebrated icon. Rugby is not a common sport played amongst Asian people. 

During the 19th Century, there were no regulations for rugby. You could have 2 people, to up to 100 or more attendees. Thus making the sport a contact sport where many get injured. 

“Rugby is one of the largest international sporting competitions in the world”. The Rugby World Cup is held every 4 years, where many countries compete over who should be the right host. Fortunately, New Zealand will be 2011’s Rugby World Cup host. 

At 41º South of the equator is a country made up of 203 small islands inhabited and uninhabited. 20% of New Zealand is mountainous. The highest place you can get in New Zealand is Mt. Cook 3754m. Latitude: 43º35’44.69”S Longitude: 170º8”27.75”E. There are 3 main islands: North Island, South Island and Stewart Island. 

On a map, New Zealand lies far from the equator, but has a temperate weather. Temperate weather climate zones are the most comfortable to be in. 24ºC average in summer and around 9ºC in the winter of Auckland. Temperatures in New Zealand vary from the North to the South Islands, 16º to 10º during spring, which is an excellent climate to be doing active outdoor sports such as rugby, football, rock climbing etc. 

	Summer Average Weather	Winter Average Weather
New Zealand	24º	9º
South Africa	26º	7º
Japan	27º	0º

Since only 20% of New Zealand is of mountain ranges, it is a good place for growing crops and agriculture, as well as for farming and sheep herding. Most New Zealanders are relocating or are already located in Canterbury (Christchurch), Bay of Plenty (Tauranga), Waikato and Otago. Many New Zealanders have relocated from Auckland to places such as the above. 

New Zealand’s population as of now is 4,290,347 approximately. New Zealand is the 126th most populated place on Earth.

	Population
New Zealand	4,400,000
South Africa	50,004,031
Japan	127,960,000

The capitol Auckland, is the most populated urban area in the country, with 1,354,900 residents; one third of the countries population. New Zealand is not known for its own cuisine, since they do not have their own type of cuisine. Instead they use diverse cultured foods such as British, Mediterranean and Pacific foods all in one. Auckland is a extremely low crime-rate city, in fact New Zealand is 52nd overall compared to other countries around the world. 

People all across New Zealand are all friendly and highly intellectual. 

Because of the small amount of population, there is no problem in traffic congestion. Since Auckland has a very convenient subway system, this makes Auckland the perfect spot for hosting big major events such as the Rugby World Cup. 

Giving all the benefits of this country. No doubt this is a great choice to be hosting major events such as the Rugby World Cup. 

With all the positive attributes of New Zealand there is no doubt that the “International Rugby Board (IRB) have selected New Zealand as the host country instead of Japan or South Africa.” 

Works Cited

http://www.allcountries.org/maps/world_map_menu.html

http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/weather-and-climate.html

http://www.emigratenz.org/MovingToNewZealand.html

http://www.roughguides.com/website/travel/destination/content/?titleid=83&xid=idh185804920_0099

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10712838

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081210195700AASbXVc

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmcumeds/99/99ap22.htm

Gifts - Fiction

Below is a short story of what I think a so called 'special gift' is. Other peer members of mine wrote about materialistic items such as a toy, car, and so forth. I decided to take a different approach which I find is the ultimate gift. Of course, it is only my opinion and yours may vary from mine. 

Thank you for Your gift. 

GIFT

What is a gift? Ever since we, human kinds have been born have been given gifts. All kinds. Everyone of us have received many many different spectrum of gifts, mundane gifts. As a baby, we have been given our mothers care, little toys, dolls, toy cars, helicopters.....etc. When we move onto different stages in our life,for example, as teenagers, you will be given also a lot of other forms of gifts, such as Xbox’s, clothes, laptops, shoes,watches etc. And as an adult, gifts vary as well. You will be given items such as houses, cars, rings, necklaces, and so forth. Infinite varieties of gifts. But lord oh lord, have you ever wondered, what is the ultimate,special gift? How many of us, you, me, our parents, our neighbors and everyone else on earth have ever wondered, really wondered that life itself is already and indeed a special gift? The ultimate gift.

Without life, this gift, I would not be able to experience being in Central, being in Hong Kong, being on this Earth, being in this Universe, being in existence itself. In fact, there would be nothing to feel, nothing to experience. There would be nothing. Nothing!

Life itself is unique, in fact life as being a human is even more unique. Unique to a degree that thinking about our own existence is already so unique. We, as well as all other existing beings, can feel all kinds of emotions such as fear, anger, pain, happiness, pleasure, satisfaction, hopelessness and desire. Is this not the greatest special gift of all? 

Responsibility

Should this gift which we all have received requires our attention to its responsibility? And if someone gives us any gifts should we not take very good care of it and uses it to enhance ourselves and to everyone and everything around us?

I believe that we definitely do have a huge responsibility to take care of this gift itself, and yet at the same time we do have the responsibility to take care of every other living being (I need not mention that these are also gifts in other forms).  We should therefore not take this special gift for granted. It is unique and every human, every individual has the responsibility to protect this gift -life itself. This special gift is not to be ignored. 

As it is our responsibility to protect ourselves, as well as other  species, (endangered or not), such as sharks, lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos etc., we should really ask ourselves, do we really need to kill and harm these beautiful and graceful species? These beautiful and graceful species are just like you and me, they are also being sent to us as special gifts, to co-exist with us together, as our companion. Yet these species are innocently harmed and killed every day because of greed.

 Sharks for example, are killed only for their sharks fins, and the rest of the carcass is being dumped into the water, leaving the shark to die. Animals such as tigers and lions, their skins are peeled off for profit and left to die. What has happened to human consciousness ? Has this gift from the Creator gone ashtray? In retrospect,and if we think deeply,we as human must take care, and protect other living species as well, if not, everything will and  can fall apart. Say if just sharks were to be extinct, and removed from the food chain, it would affect the ecology of the ocean. In fact, the affect would spread to affect the food chain of humans, and other animals and every other organisms on earth. If all sharks were destroyed and consummated, there would be too much fish, and then plankton would be gone. You may think that if sharks are gone,  there may still be  dolphins and whales. NO no, they won’t exist either as the food chain is already disturbed.The viscous cycle had begun.

Do any of these other special living  do any harm to us? No, they do not, so why should we do such cruel and brutal actions to them, when they bring us no harm. They are just like us, trying to live, to experience and to survive, as another form. They are also trying to experience, like us, this wonderful experience of being in existence itself Thus, we must take the responsibility to protect them. As they are also unique gifts to all of us.

We can protect other human beings, or other beings, by not trespassing what is theirs; things such as their habitats, their nutriment, their survival gears etc.. If we do the above, not only do we make ourselves safe and out of harms way, but we also provide happiness to the everything around us; ultimately leading to  interconnected joy. 

Process of Life

The process of life is different for everyone.

“Most people live life on the path that is set for them. Too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while, special people come along and knock down all the obstacles put in their way. People who realize free will is a gift, you’ll never know how to use it until you fight for it. I think that’s what His real plan is. But maybe, one day, He won’t write the plan. We will.” 

When we are all born, our life may seem predestined. But as being said above, there are some people who push their limits to the utmost, and change what was predestined for them, making their own destiny and history. As humans, it is only  our nature to feel equal as others’ around us; friends, family, teachers, colleagues. But there are people in this world, who push and strive to be different. They love and wish to change history. A good example is Steve Jobs. 

“It’s easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is much better at the top”

Certainly the process of life is different for everyone, but the ultimate statement is not to do harm but do things that  are beneficial to mankind. Yours and mine and Steve Jobs lives are definitely different form each other, but have we noticed that we affect each other and we are all connected.  

There are times in life, where we all have to experience ups and downs. We have diseases, we experience depression and have our dark days, but this is part of life. Some people are born with no arms, no legs, but yet they have no worries, no complaints. 

Another painful aspect of life, are losing people you dearly cherished. People come and go, friends, family, colleagues. Nothing lasts forever, but the process of life is the same. Each of us is unique, and we all are gifts form the Creator.

Fairness in human beings? 

After being endowed with life, can we substantiate fairness? In life, it is fair. What makes it fair is using the power of Now. , the power of Now is to think of the current this moment. To not think of the future, nor the past. Base your decisions on what you wish to occur for the next few minutes. The power of Now is a technique for learning how to live. To really feel what existence is. To totally understand this gift of life.  

To be fair, we all must work together, we must cooperate, and we must work hard. In order for fairness to work, we must try and make our surroundings fairer, by fighting for ourselves. 

To be fair, we must not use people, we must not lie to people, we must consider other peoples well being. We must also not be in it for ourselves, we must look at the bigger picture. 

If we are not fair to each other, countries could fall apart, economies could fall apart, corporations could fall apart as we can see from the current world situations, in politics and  economics .To attain fairness, there are certain qualities that must be involved, such as honesty, commitment, and so forth. Fairness is therefore ultimately important so that life can be sustained, this gift of lifecan be kept forever.

Connectedness

All living organisms are connected to each other one way or another. Each and every single living organism has its own strand of DNA, and their own set of genes, but that is not to say we are not connected, or we are not similar. We are similar, we are all living creatures, living, experiencing. We are all just beings, doing what is in our nature to be existence itself, to experience ourselves as lives.

Connectedness includes communication,and communication could be with anything or anyone. Your parents, teachers, friends, pet dogs, cats, squirrels,anything. A good thing to keep in mind, is to act in a nice and respectable manner to everyone and everything you encounter, treat them as you would like them to treat you; in other words; be nice and do no harm, then they will return the favor. 

Then all life forms as gifts are blessed.

Awakening

All of us are awake everyday, but I would say most of us are not awakened to truly understand how to manage life itself. As an awakened individual, it is therefore important for us to understand that this network of connections must be upheld. It is like an butterfly effect, where something that happened across the continent could affect you. which it will.


There are definitely causes and consequences in this world and in physics, this is called action and reaction, every action has its consequences. As awakened individuals, we must keep this in balance and check, so that everybody will be able to understand we are all connected, and therefore horrible consequences can be avoided, because again, every action has a reaction; if you do something bad, something bad will come to you, if you do something good, something good will come back to you. 

To be able to be given this gift as a being, as a human is a miracle. And thank God for giving me the ultimate.

This is Wonderful!

The World is Grey - Values

Here is a speech that I wrote for class. The speech talks about fairness - thus I titled it 'The World is Grey' since it represents the middle, between white and black. Sort of 'good & evil'. I used an example from the Justice lecture presented by Harvard University about the car track as part of my speech.

Quite often, I hear people complaining that’s not fair.

To be quite frank with you, the world was never fair, and never will be. People try and make it as fair as possible, but never can make fairness. People can only make the world fairer.

Fairness also is determined by how you define ‘fairness’. Being fair to yourself does not necessarily mean you are being fair to others. Fairness would mean for everyone to be equal. Does the world function on equality? Certainly not, and neither do we want it to function on equality.

Fairness does not equal equality. We are all equal because we are humans. But at the same time it is not fair, because we are all born in different sizes, different intelligence, different social levels etc. For example, nepotism exists in this world. It is only natural. If I were a doctor, would I make my father wait in line? If I were a concert manager would I give priority tickets to my friends?

I would.
You would, everyone would.

As a conclusion, let me post you the following scenario: You are a driver of the train, and you come to a fork in the train track. You can either turn left, or turn right. If you turn left, you will kill 5 people. If you turn right, you will kill 1 person.

What would you do?

Is it fair?

IS IT FAIR?

知足長樂

Here I have what I myself consider my first well written Chinese piece of work. It talks about what makes me happy and it gives two examples of what an happy and unhappy person would do. The two examples are based on a person who is wealthy, and one that is poor - the different ways in which people think.

“知足常樂”

中國人為什麼要說知足長樂這句話呢？

我知足長樂的原因是因為我很幸福，我每一天起床的時候我問自己快不快樂。中國人會說知足長樂所以我每一天都會快樂。最普通的東西我都有：一對眼睛，鼻子，口，雙腿，雙手，每一天都有地方住，能上學，洗澡，有清水喝，衣服穿，等等。

“不知足的感覺”

我每一天起床的時候，我每一分鐘都在想東西不夠，要多一點兒，什麼都要想多一點兒。我現在已經有兩對鞋子，但我想要買多五對。我已經有一個勞斯萊斯，但我還想要多兩家法拉利。我已經吃了兩碗魚翅，我還要多三個鮑魚。為什麼我每一天多這樣想呢？為什麼我每一天都不快樂？我買了那麼多東西，我還不快樂！

讓人快樂的不一定是有錢或物質化的東西，而且也不是在上面提出的東西。讓人知足長樂的是一重心態。知足的感覺已經令我很快樂。

Ulysses - Alfred Lord Tennyson

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
life to the lees. All times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
that loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea. I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known---cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honored of them all---
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades
Forever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end.
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains; but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son, my own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the scepter and the isle---
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill
This labor, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and through soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centered in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine. 

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me---
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads---you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
the sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are---
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. 

Trip to Beijing!

Do you like traveling? Because I sure don’t like going down to those big airports and mounting on to those fast big jets!

Anyways, you better pay attention and listen up carefully, because I’m going to tell you a secret that not many people know about me; Well, I’m actually acrophobic and scared of heights … Remember not to tell anyone!

When I looked down, I had the sense that I was going to fall down. I found myself at least 50 feet off the ground. Seriously, that is creepy… 

I was in a Chinese made orange cable car. As soon as I tread onto the cable car, my step made the car sway from one end to the other started making me lose balance to wave around as I sat on one side, I was scared, and when my dad and my dad’s friend got on, they both sat on the other side of the cable car, I felt even more scared, in fact I felt hopeless. Them both weighing at least 60 kg each and me just weighing under 40 kg sitting on one side? The cable car started to bank backwards, and as I tried to look at objects at far away distances, I felt like vomiting. But they both were happily laughing and “giggling” their heads off, I just wanted to hug my dad… Although that is pretty humiliating for an 11 year old kid hugging his father? If any of my friends saw that, they would just start to provoke me. 

Anyways, the ride only took 5 minutes, although it felt like half an hour to me, it was disgraceful. Oh, excuse me for not clarifying where I was traveling; I was on a trip to go see one of the top ten great wonders of the world! In China, you are “required” to go see at least one famous historical structure, for example: the Great Wall. As we got up to the Great Wall, the landscape was breathtaking; everywhere was covered in natural habitat as if it were pristine. As we stepped onto the great wall, I asked myself: “how was it ever possible to bring such hefty bricks up these steep and narrow mountains”? We looked across to see the other side of the Great Wall. And this just blew my mind, all I saw was steep perpendicular staircases, and it would just go on and on and on. It was just steps of millions. 

As my dad took his camera out to take a picture, I saw a child and his mother speedily walking downstairs. At that point, I thought that I was a psychic; I knew that the child was going to stumble; he was just like a little 5-year-old kid running around on slippery steps. Two seconds later, all I saw was just a little rock rolling down 3 sets of staircases and the mother running after. I personally wouldn’t have run down that staircase. 

When I looked to see that everything was black, I knew something was wrong, so just to check, I rubbed my eyes to see if it were just I. But it wasn’t, I looked up to see a big patch of cloud and a splash in my face, my face was wet. Well, what can we say? Life is unpredictable eh? Anything can happen. As we carried our tiresome walk to another depot (another structure such as: weaponry room, cooking room, sleeping area etc.) I realized that this place hasn’t been touched ever since it was built, none of it was, even the tiles on the floor, they were all still intact, but some of them have cracks or had been smashed. As we were paying too much attention to the stunning terrain, my dad almost tripped because of a broken fractured slate tile. 

Anyways after we arrived to our designated location, the watchtower, we went to the roof, and stared at the million-stair staircase, and took great photos, especially with my dad’s friends Leica camera that was encased with a leather cover. Suddenly a stranger (probably from a country from Asia) came up and asked us graciously in English for us to help him take a photo. It’s surprisingly wonderful how people around the whole world can speak English, right? But I think someday Pu Tong Hua will take over the language of English used in the world, and will be the most popular language in use! I especially noticed, all the tourists up at the Great Wall were from foreign countries such as: Russia, England and the US. But they were all expensive: Canon, Sony, and all of them in possession of professional cameras!

Well, we had to go home some time; we couldn’t stay forever although I wished I could! So we began our final descent down back to where we came from, and I had the same instinct as coming up, just even worse. So this time, my dad had come to sit with me this time, so I felt quite safe but at the same time scared.  

What do you think about China? Do you think that you would like to stay in China for a living? I personally wouldn't want to stay in China to live, even for future endeavors. If you look at the people: spitting on the floor, mad driving on the streets? I’ve even seen a dead dog lying around the corner of a street! But I would like to be related to China in some sort of way for business because I am pretty sure that China will be the future market! A market that includes all items: cars, cameras, food, eyeglasses, blankets etc.  

That night, we intentionally reserved a table at a restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. In fact, do you know what Beijing cuisine is famous for? Because when you visit this restaurant, it will blow your mind! Beijing cuisine is famous for eating Peking Duck “北京烤鴨”and Peking dumplings “北京羊肉水餃”. That restaurant name was pretty funny… Guess what the name was? Made In China! The restaurant decoration was pretty much Western and there was an open kitchen where you could see the chef’s cooking! All the fresh aroma, from meat to vegetable could be sensed from the whole entire restaurant. Our reservation table was right in front of the dumpling counter; they would make the dumplings right in front of us. Good way to learn how to make good and tasty dumplings! Lets skip to the yummy and tasty bit. When our Peking duck arrived, we had a chef cut it up live, in front of us. And when we received our duck, all of us just plucked for the skin, the reason why was; the skin was the most tasty part, it just melted instantly as soon as it would come in contact with your tongue. When we asked for our cheque 買單, I took a little peek at it, and it wasn’t that expensive compared to Hong Kong! 

Driving in China is one of the lousiest places to drive on earth, especially on 长安街. Chang An Street is the densest area in Beijing. The road simply is just an uncurving road; it goes on for miles and miles. If you were in the middle of rush hour, you will have taxis to buses pushing and honking their way to every minuscule space you could imagine. A ride supposing to only take 15 minutes home became a disaster of becoming 45 minutes. Terrible isn’t it? What is the difference between driving in Hong Kong (apart from terrible driving)? Well, there are only two main differences, and they are; that the driver seat would be on the left side instead of the right, and that you have to drive on the right side of the road and not the left side. But does it make a significant difference? I doubt it makes a difference, but I guess that’s the way the Chinese government prefers it! 

Letter Home - World War 1 (Fiction)

Dear Mama and Papa,


How are you doing back in England? Hope all is well. Here at the Western Front it is a living hell.


All day we dig trenches, and pray to God that we do not get hit by enemy artillery bombardment. The trenches are narrow, possibly only able to fit 2 people in a spot. The trenches run along forever, I have never seen the other side of the trench though. You are lucky you aren’t in my position haha. All my friends have vanished, off the face of this earth, and my only best friend is my weapon, the Lee Enfield 0.303 rifle. I sleep, fight, eat and whatever you can name with my weapon.


I am eager to come home, but Sergeant Chapman says we won’t be coming home any sooner. Every now and then, there is a ripple of machine gun fire in the air. It is frightening to hear bullets whiz right next to your ear. It’s almost like there is a beehive right next to you, and if you move, the bees would sting you (but in our case, the bullets would take your life).


Yesterday was possibly the worst day yet, we had just captured an enemy trench, but the floor was half full of mud and water. We started draining it, but our work soon became needless. The captors before us already had buried their dead in the mud. The place was full of rotten, swollen, bodies. The smell, it smelt.... like vomit, mixed along with.... you know... it was basically vomit and human waste and everything altogether.


Yesterday I even witnessed a soldier who shot himself, and sacrificed his leg for his eagerness of homesickness. He couldn’t bare it no more here in the trench. He said “Harry, I am going home to my wife and kids. I’ll be some use to them as a cripple, but none at all dead!” and he pointed his gun at his toe, and squeezed the trigger. Instantaneously two of his toes blew off, and the others were left hanging by a thread. That was how far some soldiers would go, they would do such extreme things to themselves to get home. Let’s hope I am not that fast on the trigger.


Everyday I have to put up with the intolerable stench of corpses, possibly dead or alive. The bodies had been exposed for days, all swollen and mostly burst. All we can do is hope we can move soon to a new trench. But rarely will we find one without at least 50 bodies for the least. As I said, trench life is a living hell.


Mama and Papa, is it Christmas time yet? We don’t have time to keep track of dates here in the battlefield, have you had your turkey yet? Haha, our feasts rarely get any special. All we have are tea and dog biscuits. On rare occasions would we get meat, possibly once every 2 weeks (that would be considered lucky). Never would we get a second of comfort, and we would have to eat the most terrible of terrifying foods,while dipping our feet in cold, damp, wet water and put up with the smell of dead corpses.


Many soldiers would get frostbite or trench foot as they call it. It is almost a sensation of someone trying to pull out the bullet that was fired into your shoulder, just that its 100 times worst. The eerie feel lasts forever, never stopping, your feet start to swell, swelling 3 times above the regular size. Your foot would be completely numb, and someone could even stab a bayonet into your toe and you wouldn’t feel it. Many of the soldiers end up amputating their feet.


Each and every second us soldiers live by the fear of getting hit by an enemy sniper. It seems like the enemy snipers are equipped with some fancy scopes. As soon as we hear a sound or echo in the distance, we have to follow the order of hit the deck. Although there is the wary of disgust on the floor, it is for our own protection that we hit the deck when we hear a sound pop off in the distance. The snipers only pop off a few rounds to keep us occupied when we think its the safest time in the day. Most of the time, they don’t manage to hit us, but occasionally they sometimes do.


The rest of the German army charge forward towards our traverse (Front Line Trench if you would like), but they are stupid, and blind enough not to see the wire obstacles, and the barbed wire entanglements just 40 yards out of us. I mean seriously... Would you not see a whole line of stupid glittering silvery stuff? Come on... Oh well, its unfortunate for them that most of the time the raids fail.


Just recently there were some curious activities just a few clicks off of our trench camp. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it had some smell of garlic. Sergeant Chapman stated it was some sort of gas...? Ah... I recall now.. Sergeant Chapman called it Mustard Gas I think. He said that to all the traitors who tried to run would be caught by the Germans for some reason. And they would get caught and be exposed to Mustard Gas (he said to keep it a secret between him and I). He said it would lead to death if too exposed. Phew I ain’t nowhere close to any of that stuff. What a relief.


It is so frightening here. Everyday I am opened to seeing all my friends dying, (now that they are all dead) I feel very lonesome. I do not know what to do. All I can keep thinking about is Mama and Papa at home. I’ve seen some of our machine gun post men ordered by our own Lieutenant to light up any deserters, or either let them run away and get captured by the Germans by waving a white flag. Our Lieutenant is very harsh, and he takes everything deep down to his heart. He is sort of like those patriotic-militaristic-and-imperialistic people.


Mama, have you ever wondered to yourself why humans go to war? Well lately, this question constantly comes across my mind. And honestly, even though I am experiencing front line trench warfare I can’t give you a definitive answer.


Papa, how is work? Doing good old man? Must be hell of a struggle to be making cash, or is it the other way around? Haha. How’s the weather doing back there? Although the frontline’s of Verdun seem like a hell of a crisis, the weather is the absolute best I could have wished for. According to my new buddy Richard Beasley (he’s an weather expert) he says the Northern part of France is in an temperate climate zone, which is marvelous (you could say I fished my wish). Beasley says we are in the better side of France in terms of weather: The South-east is full of an Mediterranean climate. The West is in an oceanic weather zone, and inland, it’s not the best pick out of the 4. You know what? When I come back, and I mean when I come back from this living hell. I probably would like to come back to London and become a geologist or a historian! In fact, that is exactly what I am going to do!


Anyways, how is Joan doing? Haven’t been in touch with her for a while. Please tell her that I kindly send a Hi from the frontline of the Battle of Verdun haha, and tell her I will be coming back soon. Please tell her I love her as well.


Yours truly,
Private First Class Harry Patch

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the fourth longest river in the world at 2230 miles ( 3730 km). It spreads from 31 states in the United States to two provinces in Canada. It is the second longest river system in the US, starting from the river source at Northwestern Minnesota to the river mouth the Gulf Of Mexico.  

Historically, the Mississippi River came from Ojibwa and was named “Michi Sepe” which translated means Great River. The name was created by Lieutenant Henri De Tonti. Many native “American tribes have had faith in this river”. But today, the name of the river has formed into the Mississippi River. 

Presently, the river is used for many things such as amusement, mostly for water sports. Also the water in the Mississippi River is very important to some industrial residents in the nearby area because of the drinking water produced by the Mississippi River, it is very important that it is clean!  If you haven’t noticed, the Mississippi River looks pretty a like to a shipping port, many barges and ships dock and import many things such as agriculture and industrial goods. 

Recreation: The Mississippi River catches many people locally, and internationally, it is also famous for its recreational purposes. Many people go their to go on barges, steamboats or even go canoeing, it is most famous for water sports such as water-skiing. But there are many more different things, it is not just all about water! Its about nature! There are many national parks, nature trials. 

Issues or Problems: It is said that the Mississippi River has four major problems with pollution, bacteria pollution, nutrient pollution, toxic pollution and sediment pollution. A report from the 1990’s stated that there were many toxic pollution of organic and inorganic materials. Mostly referring to metals and heavy metals.  

Start of the River: Mississippi River goes through many states in the United States, and starts from Lake Itasca, Minnesota, New Orleans, Louisiana Minneapolis, St. Louis, Memphis, Tennessee, Los Angeles, St. Paul and Baton Rouge and begins its flow to the Gulf of Mexico. One of its main tributaries is the Missouri River. Because of developed tributaries in the area, the water quality of the has changed the Mississippi and the Gulf Of Mexico. 

Up Stream:  The Mississippi River starting from its source to the confluence in the Ohio River. The Upper Mississippi River is divided into three parts: 

• The headwaters 493 miles (793 km) headwaters is the closest stream from the source. 
• Man made lakes 
• Middle of the Mississippi River

River Source: 

The river starts from Lake Itasca, Minnesota. Lake Itasca is also connected by some other smaller streams. The whole river has 41 dams in between lakes, confluences, etc. The most closest lock and dam is in Upper Saint. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. As the closer to a lock and dam, the elevation of a river gets drops inch by inch closer to sea level.  

Tributaries: The confluence of the Mississippi River is where the Mississippi and the Ohio River meet. And from the Ohio River and downwards towards the Gulf Of Mexico it is called the Lower Mississippi River. During the whole course of the Mississippi, it consists of 250 tributaries, a few major tributaries are: the White River in east central Arkansas. What is a opposite of a tributary? The opposite of a tributary is a distributary. A distributary is a branch of river that does not connect. And an example of that is: the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana.   

Water Shed: The Mississippi has the fourth largest drainage basin in this world. The drainage basin covers all over all 31 states and 2 provinces in Canada. The river basin then flows to the Gulf Of Mexico for about 100 miles. The Mississippi River drains the majority of the area from one side of the country to the other side.   

The river system for the Mississippi River down to the Gulf Of Mexico, including all 31 states. 

The Gulf Of Mexico is the ninth largest coverage of water in the world. The Gulf Of Mexico is landlocked and is surrounded by North America and Cuba. It is considered part of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The deepest part of the Gulf Of Mexico reaches up to 4384 meters deep. Due to the connection of the Gulf and the Atlantic, the Gulf has very small tidal ranges.  The Gulf receives water from 33 major lakes or rivers from 31 states across the US. It supports many fishing and shipping companies. The reason why it supports many fishing companies is because: the outer border of the Gulf the Florida and the Yucatan receive more cooler water which gets rich quality nutrients by a process known as upwelling, which increases plankton growth, which then attracts more sea creatures such as fish, squid, crabs etc. It is also one of the warmest bodies of water in the world. 

What is the connection between the Gulf Of Mexico and Mississippi River? The connection between both the Mississippi and the Gulf is, the Mississippi’s river water flow down to the river mouth, which supposedly is a bigger stream of water e.g. lake, sea, ocean etc. So the Gulf Of Mexico is the river mouth for the Mississippi River, meaning that the water flows into the Gulf Of Mexico... 

Pollution: There major problems in the Gulf as you see on the Newspapers. Many oil spills have occurred in the vicinity. There are 27000 abandoned oil and gas wells hidden in the Gulf. Not just oil spills from the oil or gas wells, but also from shipping companies that have tonnes and tonnes  of oil on board and when either the ship explodes... Or the ship sinks... Or maybe even the oil just gets spilt. 

Works cited:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico