Dora's little blog!

I need a guide

2006-11-13T01:00:00.000+13:00

I suddenly think of my little blog tonight. OMG, it's been three months since my trip to Australia!

Actually, I'm now feeling kinda strange when blogging in English here, cos I've barely read or write in English recently except uni assignments. I've been reading Chinese blogs, speaking in mandarin and typing in Chinese when chatting online. So excuse me if you found dora's english is getting worse even after such a long break;)

I will be back continue blogging. I need a guide.

Any time, any place

2006-07-08T22:41:00.000+12:00

Here are some no theme pictures left. I only took them for myself. Sometimes, photoing could be personal, emotional and for no reason.

Ok.So by now I've posted all my selected pictures. Don't forget to tell me which one you like best ; )

Cairns

2006-07-07T22:30:00.000+12:00

1.Cairns is a place of beautiful sunshine and free spirit

2.Hello, angels

3."Let's sail away, honey"

4.Good time to show off your legs, huh?

5.It is real blue

6.And I'm really crazy about it

7.One big step forward!

8.What are they looking at?

9.Crocodile!! By the way, this place, Cape tribulation, was one of the most famous attractions in Cairns, and it really bored me!

Brisbane & Gold Coast

2006-07-07T22:12:00.000+12:00

1.I felt Brisbane is much like the cities in China. Crowd, fast-pace and sometimes you need to squeeze through people in the shop malls.

2.Nothing is more exhilarating than walking along the beach.

3.See the footsteps?

4.Did I tell you it's Gold Coast ;)

5. It would be cool to drive such a car/boat?

Sydney

2006-07-07T21:36:00.000+12:00

1.A well-promoted hot dog shop near Sydney harbour.

2.They sell hot dog like this.

3.Yeah, it's Sydney, and yeah it's Sydney Harbor Bridge.

4.This is a "famous" art gallery in Sydney, just like all the other famous buildings in Sydney.

5.Art Gallery, again

6.Again, art gallery

7.Anyone tell me what does this mean

Melbourne

2006-07-06T15:59:00.000+12:00

The buildings in Melbourne are very impressive, but unfortunately the weather was no good when I was there. Here are some pictures I took there.

1.While the arts are treated seriously in those art galleries, the city well displays its art on the streets, which is easier for us to approach.

2.Statues on the ordinary apartments.

3.One of my favorite street arts in Melbourne

4.Football! I'm not a fan of football. I don't even watch the World Cup. But yeah, as the picture showed, it was Australia vs. Italy when I was in Melbourne.

5.See, I've told you; it was cloudy.

6.A local people kindly told me it is a special building and recommended me to take a picture of it. So I did it.

Back to reality again

2006-07-05T15:09:00.000+12:00

I'm back in New Zealand now. The World Cup is still on; the petrol price hasn't gone down. Seems things around here didn't change much because of my two weeks absence, hehe.

Photo

2006-05-26T19:38:00.000+12:00

on holiday

2006-04-21T01:40:00.000+12:00

Just finish the Korean drama series "This Love I want to kill". Rain is soooo cute+hot!! I heard he is called to be the "Asian Usher",hehe. oh gosh, am i too old to be crazy about hunks??.

ch-ch-childish

2006-03-26T22:02:00.000+12:00

I skipped two classes on Friday and went to buy couple of toys to hang inside my car. I'm quite fond of them;those little cute faces even delighted me for the whole day. Women are weird, you can never understand why those childish toys can please them so much..

p.s Excuse me for the not very clear pictures;I took them by cell phone :)

The culture of culture

2006-03-22T00:41:00.000+12:00

To be honest, I'm fairly bored of dealing with the topic of cultural difference. Since I came to NZ, I've tried to aware of the cultural differences around me. At the beginning, I was curious about that, but soon getting used to the environment. There's still challenges and problems in front of me. But sometimes I'm just fairly bored with it. I'm bored with saying I'm a Chinese; I'm from China. Or things like I'm collectivism and you're individualism. I'm neither proud of my culture nor feel inferior about it. I'm just bored, of talking about it. Every time I'm talking about the topic of culture difference, I fall into more confusions and "paradoxes".

But regarding to Graham's comment, I decide to clear up my opinions here again. Some random thoughts came through my mind when I was reading his comment. I didn't know if I could state it well. Culture is a concept that people can demonstrate it in different ways. And this is just my personal humble opinion. I didn't put it in certain logic, purely random.

1. Sometimes, I like to compare between two situations that a Chinese people come to NZ and a New Zealander come to China. Then we can see the difference. When a westerner comes to China, he or she can soon become somewhat a "king"or "queen"; they can just soon become "famous for nothing". People in China are curious about those foreigners' life. We wanna learn English; we're interested in life in other countries; and we wanna learn things from outside. Even when I came back to China last time, my parents and my frds are quite interested in my experiences in a western country. "What do western people eat?" "What's their dressing style?" "What are they habit?""Are they interested in learning Chinese?" And on the other hand, while Chinese people come to NZ, nobody cares about you! Not many people are interested in your culture, your country or your language. Maybe they're so used to the diversity, and they just ignore you most of the time.

2. I don't quite sure about the meaning of "discrimination". Hopefully, like Graham said, "it is only our imaginations". I really hope so. Sometimes, I see some Chinese students talking aloud in class; they don't even stop talking while the lecturer is talking! I see some Chinese people behave in rude or impolite way in public place. Even myself, I may behave inelegant sometimes but I'm just not aware of it. It is a shame. If "discrimination" means "dislike", I was wondering if western people don't like us because of this.

3. I saw some criticism in local Chinese newspaper that New Zealand employers have the discrimination on Chinese people during the employment process. Personally, I don't think that is a fair saying. Suppose a westerner come to China looking for a job, his or her qualification can't be fully recognized too, because employers are looking for people best fit for the position or people who can help earn the most amount of money. The language is the problem. No employer like to hire an employee can't communicate with him/er or the customers, and people with no specific skill can't be the right one employer look for. Say, many westerners come to China find teaching English is the right job they fit for because as for many other jobs, the local people may be more qualified with that. So I think there's no discrimination in this sense.

4. I'm aware of the culture difference not only when I'm abroad. In fact, when I came back to china last Nov. I noticed more, besides things like noises, pollution and population. For example, I'm quite used to say "sorry" "please" and "thank you" in New Zealand. You're perceived to be impolite if you don't say these words often. But when I came back to China, if I say 'sorry"and "thank you" too much, it somewhat an "overdo". I would be regarded as an "outsider" or "stranger"!

5. Language is a communication barrier people mention often. Good language ability not only help express the right opinions, but more importantly it help raise the confidence! I really envy some Chinese students who can speak English confidently. They don't speak really "native", they still have the Chinese accent, but there's nothing wrong with that, as long as we can say it loudly and clearly.

6. Graham also mentioned that many Chinese people like to say, "we chinese are different" "This is not the Chinese way". Well, difference is inevitable, but in my own experience, I never try to emphasize the difference. I like western food, I like western music and I like the way westerners behave. I never say, oh, I can't do this because I'm a Chinese people. By contraries, I always enjoy doing in western ways because it is a new and interesting way for me.

7. Differences indeed exist, especially between East and West. There're some US students in the uni. They're here studying one or two semesters for experiencing the cultural differences too.But I'm sure the difference is not that large like we face as we're from China.

8. The final point I'd like to state is that, difference is difference, but human beings are the same. See, paradox again.

some random photos

2006-03-05T02:32:00.000+13:00

Before sunset

All about

2005-12-02T18:08:00.000+13:00

I've been back home only for about 12 days, but the almost one year time I spent in NZ felt like a long ago memory already.

My love

2005-11-15T12:31:00.000+13:00

My favorites: Blue sky, pure white clouds, unbounded sea. I love the wilderness.

I don't really like trees and mountains that always block my sight.

Before, I thought pictures could tell everything. But now I think photos are really awkward ways to express what I saw and felt.

photos here.

Hear the wind of Wellington

2005-11-11T21:59:00.000+13:00

A long train journey today. Stay in Wellington tonight, will head for south island tomorrow.

First time travel alone so far away. Feeling a little bit nervous :)

The first day of my holiday

2005-11-08T19:26:00.000+13:00

3 missed calls didn't wake me up this morning...

Updated

2005-10-18T20:01:00.000+13:00

Maunganui pictures are transfered to my former blog space in blog-city, cos the templete here seems too narrow to post large pictures.

Btw, Heather set up her new blog in Blogger! China no longer blocks Blogger!

How good does it feel when you stand and speak in front of so many people

2005-09-23T00:42:00.000+12:00

I look enthusiastic!

I look professional!

I'm happy!

I'm confident!

Relax. Don't panic!

Welcome

2005-09-06T22:59:00.000+12:00

Sorry, still a mess here, so is my current life. Will come back and tidy it up later on.

Welcome! Anyway ^_^

Test

2005-08-31T23:44:00.000+12:00

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