Thursday Blog 54 April 26, 2007 Monastir
Oh gosh. I have a huge amount of work over the weekend. Mainly thanks to not having started work until Wednesday. Whenever I'm sick, I tend to be sick for a much longer time than other people. I think I naturally have a weaker immune system.

Friday Blog 55 April 27, 2007 Sandane
Immediately after I came home at 7:00, I just slept, and slept until the next day. I was just really really tired.

Saturday Blog 56 April 28, 2007 Nuuk
Luckily, the homework wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. I think I could handle it, although maybe I'll be busy for most of the week, as there is still a lot of studying and work to do.

Sunday Blog 57 April 29, 2007 Paamiut
You know, I have somebody who is sort of breathing down my back for a certain group project, and I don't like it at all. It's my fault, I know. But oh well, I guess I really do need to be more productive. I have been spending my time, focused on it, but not exactly working on the fastest pace possible.

Monday Blog 58 April 30, 2007 Gifu
Ah...back to school. I didn't sleep early enough last night, so I'm still sort of tired. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The French election! And the Nigerian one. Did I talk about that already? Oh well.

Tuesday Blog 59 May 1, 2007 Banja Luka
I really do need to start practicing more on piano. It's not working out right now, and I have a examination in mid-late June. Then again, though, I find the examinations highly inaccurate, as the scores are highly subjective based on the examinator. By the way, they cost a lot.

Wednesday Blog 60 May 2, 2007
I think I'm running out of city names. But that doesn't really make sense, as I have been writing doges for less than 240 days. There are way more than 240 cities in the world. I don't even think I've covered all the capitals in the world. Oh well, I'll manage. Even if I don't, I'll find something else to put as title. It's not that hard to think of a title, anyways.

Thursday Blog 61 May 3, 2007
You know, when it comes to sharpening the saw, I think my soul is the one that is most sharpened. I guess this is the age to be sort of sentimental I guess, if you know what I mean. Music helps me relax a lot, even if its pretty strong.

Friday Blog 62 May 4, 2007



For me, I tend to listen to songs about breakups, seperations, wanting someone but not getting it. These songs mostly are slow, melancholy, and to me, gives me a lot to imagine about. I feel sentimental when I listen to those songs. Not that I really hate other songs, but they don't make me actually 'feel' the song the same way.

Saturday Blog 63 May 5, 2007
Oh yeah. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines. I forgot to talk about that.

Well, anyways, for those of you that don't know, there's a low-fare long-haul airline operating out of Hong Kong that adopts a low-cost model. It has already launched flights to London at bargain prices, and will launch flights to Vancouver at the start or around the start of the summer peak season.

This airline has generated the most discussion I have heard about airlines in my family and the general Hong Kong-Canadian community. That's mostly because of the 1000 free flights they're offering there. Honestly, to Oasis, that's less than 3 flights, and they plan to fly 6 flights a week.

I do hope the best for Oasis, as they are going to start another price war. Honestly, Cathay Pacific has barely any competition. Sure, there's foreign airlines, but no airline based in Hong Kong that isn't owned by CX is anything above regional. I sort of ahve to go now, I'll talk about this tomorrow.



Sunday Blog 64 May 6, 2007
Back to Oasis.

A while back, Dragonair (KA) started, but CX payed little attention, as they weren't on direct competition. Anyways, CX eventually bought the company for the China routes among other things.

Oh, and just to let you know, Oasis (O8) is NOT the first ever long-haul low-cost airline. Laker Airways from London a couple of decades ago was the first, and then they went bankrupt, I believe. Or something else happened, I don't know. Oh, and Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier, is transforming itself into a low-cost carrier. Tomorrow, I'll talk about the low-cost model, though many people know it already.



Monday Blog 65 May 7, 2007
Low cost airlines are basically just airline with streamlined operations. However, once you go long-haul, things get more complicated. There aren't that much things you can streamline, and there is way more capital and bureaucracy involved. Much more complex, so complex that even many major airlines have given up some of their long-haul ambitions. These reasons include the right to fly to that destination, airport slots (especially at airports like London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita, and Chicago O'Hare), crew bases (making sure that they don't violate any union rule or contract or time, etc.).

I know I'm jumping all over the place, but yeah. Long-haul is pretty much inter-continental and trans-oceanic traffic, while short-haul is more of regional traffic. Some things fall in between, but they're usually classified as long or short haul. Generally, long-haul is more profitable, because some of the fixed cost is spread over a longer distance. Plus, the fares generally are not as cutthroat as short-haul.


Tuesday Blog 66 May 8, 2007


Since I don't have much to talk about, I'll talk about Oasis again.

The person who heads Oasis is a Brit who headed KA before. No, its not the Christian pastor, although I'm sure he contributes a lot. Especially the money.

Oh yeah, I forgot that low-cost carriers tend to fly point-to-point, rather than through hub. To those of you that don't know, hubs, are pretty much a carrier's homebase, and which a carrier tries to route its passengers through. The most extreme form of hub building is Delta at Atlanta, even though it isn't what it used to be. Point-to-point just serveds origin and destination traffic, and not much transfer passenger. For some reason though, point-to-point doesn't work well in trans-Pacific flights, most are hub-to-spoke/hub-to-hub. Nevertheless, Oasis is just stimulating mature markets, so yeah. Oh, by the way, the Vancouver-Hong Kong route is probably Air Canada and Cathay Pacific's most profitable route.

Wednesday Blog 67 May 9, 2007

Ah. The Science Fun Run. I think I'm going to go, but I have a feeling that I'll miss the early bird deadline. Wait, did it pass already?

Thursday Blog 68 May 10, 2007

I've sort of fallen back on news these days. Oh well, if its really important, I hear it sooner or later from other people.

Friday Blog 69 May 11, 2007

You know what, there's only a little more than a month of school. Hopefully this time will pass soon.



Saturday Blog 70 May 12, 2007



I think many people are probably hating me right now for being able to submit my blogs so late. Oh well. I just am missing like 2 blogs, and I haven't had much time to go back and type them up.



Sunday Blog 71 May 13, 2007



I was watching a couple of the clips of EuroVision today. Basically, think of it as an EU-wide singing contest. Serbia won with person who sang a ballad. Personally, I really liked the Russian one, and the Serbian one. However, I didn't think that they were so great that they stood out from the crowd. They were just slightly better than average. Anyways, the UK one was terrible. The tune was unimaginative, and in 3 minutes I was bored. That's not that easy, you know. 3 minutes is a pretty short time for a song. However, I only listened to a couple of them.



Monday Blog 72 May 14, 2007



Today I spent sometime watching more of the Eurovision clips. The stage, setup, etc., was all pretty grand and pretty. Probably cost a lot. By the way, do the organizers make money on these things? I would think yes, but then again, sometimes they are too extravagant, or so I've heard. Well, it probably would lose money in a small market like Canada, but they have a pretty big market, so it'll probably be okay.



Tuesday Blog 73 May 15, 2007



I've just realized that the Big 4 recording companies all put music videos on YouTube, or so I've heard. At least that's what I read in an article, but so far I've only seen SonyBMG put their videos on there. I've spent most of my time listening to Maroon 5. They're pretty good, but I can promise you I'll get tired of them sooner or later. I think their best song is Sunday Morning.



Wednesday Blog 74 May 16, 2007



Blog 74 already. Hm. I thought I didn't have that much blogs.



Thursday Blog 75 May 17, 2007



Right now, I'm pretty much interest-less. There's not one thing that I really like anymore. My passing obssession (well not really) about cities had ended, and I've given up reading about airliners. Oh well, who cares. At least there's one less thing to keep me distracted.



Friday Blog 76 May 18, 2007



You know, I'm still distracted even though I don't have any hobbies. Augh. By the way, finals are coming. Soon. Within a month. I really need to start studying for socials.



Saturday Blog 77 May 19, 2007



I'm not sure if I talked about this already, but my mom left for Tokyo. (actually, her final destination is Hong Kong). Now, I'm left to survive for more than a month with my brother, until July 3. If past experience says anything, then I'm going to wish I was leaving as soon as possible. Needless to say, my brother does not exactly have the best of personalities.



Sunday Blog 78 May 20, 2007



Hey, you know what, I really need to start working on Applied Skills. The final project...



Monday Blog 79 May 21, 2007



I can never expect myself on weekend to do important but not urgent homework and studying. Its really hard to be motivated. I should write out an entire list of reasons of why I should put first things first. That'll keep me going. Hopefully.



Tuesday Blog 80 May 22, 2007



You know, I'm glad we're doing the GO program next year. I really need it. In fact, I think I need the results now. Although its been hardly a week, and my brother and I have been okay so far, avoiding confrontations, flaws in personalities have begun to reappear. They're not that important right now, but I can promise you one of these days I'll really get angry. And then nothing happens. And life goes on, with no change. Or a super-minimal change that isn't enough at all to change anything.



Wednesday Blog 81 May 23, 2007



Sometimes I wonder what I should do in my future. I've toyed with many ideas, but as far as I know there isn't one thing I love. Some of the things I thought about: air pilot, air steward, management at an airline, financial analyst, car designer, architect, city planner, and much much more. However, generally I don't love the idea of getting dirty, as you probably can see. Nevertheless, I don't think it bothers me that much if I do get a job as a car mechanic, or a garbage collector.



Thursday Blog 82 May 24, 2007



Wow. Its almost the end of the year already. Less than one month left. Time goes by really quickly, whether you're having fun or not. I guess I should be prepared to write a final year-end reflection sooner or later.



Friday Blog 83 May 25, 2007



I was thinking abit about my grade 7 year. I've not been in contact with most of my friends since December. Except for like two. The rest have...yeah. I've like tried to talk to LN in MSN, but he usually doesn't reply. Which isn't surprising, back in Grade 7 he ususally didn't reply, except on some occassions. WF and KL usually get replies pretty quickly. But honestly, I'm probably most notorious for tardy replies, because back then I had web meessenger. Web messenger does not alert you when you have a new message, and I usually shared the computer with my brother, meaning that I hardly could have an eye on the computer at most times. Plus, the computer was pretty far from my working space. And, usually I didn't change my status when I left, so people saw me as online even when I was sleeping while my brother was using the computer.



Saturday Blog 84 May 26, 2007



Back at elementary school, I hardly talked about major issues about the day. Although, by grade 7 and 6, I had begun to gain a general knowledge about the world. Even so, I didn't really know much then, and neither now.



Sunday Blog 85 May 27, 2007



Has it been like 3 months already? There's only one month left. I'm amazed. I think the last time I said I was amazed was less than a week ago.



Monday Blog 86 May 28, 2007



Ah. This blog has been more than a month long now. I think its been, how much? 32 blogs, I think. I really should get started on AS right now.



Tuesday Blog 87 May 29, 2007



You know, there's not that much time left until the term ends. I think I really need to focus all my energies on work and studying. Chinese and piano are also pretty high priorities.



Wednesday Blog 88 May 30, 2007



Today, I've started listening to some of Kelly Clarkson's songs. They aren't that bad, except that theres this one, called 'Low', which I personally think was very poorly written, with lyrics that didn't match the melody, plus a music video which didn't capture the essence of the song. Plus, it was just plain boring.



Thursday Blog 89 May 31, 2007



Some time ago I created a plan for what I'm going to do in June and May. Its pretty full, I tell you. Completely filled with preparing for final exams, and finishing brochure and Applied Skills. I have really no time for procrastinating.



Friday Blog 90 June 1, 2007



I think I forgot to talk about the debate tounrament we had on the 23rd. Anyways, it was hosted at Britannica after school. Churchill had the largest team there, which I found surprising. The debate was split into two groups, junior and senior, with the junior group being Grade 8-10, and the rest in the senior group. There was only 4 teams in the junior group, with Churchill fielding 3 teams. In the Senior group, there were 10 teams, and Churchill fielded 3 teams, as much as the teams from Lord Byng and Britannica.

In the junior team, Churchill did very well, as expected. I mean, 3 teams against 1. We swept the podium, which wasn't hard.

In the senior team, Churchill did okay, with one of our team reaching third, but EY ranked first individually. One of the Lord Byng team ranked 1, while the britannica team ranked second.

I remembered quite some time ago in 2005 when our class gathered at the VSB office, and listened to a couple of high school program heads give a short presentation on their programs, with one student or two from most of the programs giving a presentation. I remember that MY had one presenter, who totally mislead us about the workload, if I hadn't got it wrong. Anyways, this girl from Lord Byng was probably the only one who gave an accurate picture of her school. She was the only one who said anything seriously bad about Byng Arts.



Saturday June 2, 2007



Some time before, I sort of somewhat didn't really understand how 'irreconcileable differences' could break marriages. Well, I sort of could, but I never really deeply understood how that could break marriages. Now, I have a taste of what its like. I don't think I need to say who's personality mine is in direct conflict with. I can stand mild hypocrisy, but not outright hypocrisy, the type where one person totally doesn't do what he's supposed to do, thinks that you could just go do it yourself (when the point really isn't that, its just that its something for that person to do), and then sort of lecture you abit of how you were supposed to do this, and then contradicting himself at the same time. AUGH!



Sunday June 3, 2007



You know, I'm starving right now. Better get something to eat.



Monday June 4, 2007



Oh by the way, Phase 1 of the final crush has ended on June 1st. Now, its all preparing for the finals. And the Science test.



Tuesday June 5, 2007



I'm getting sick, I think its the flu. Augh. Great. The best time to get sick.

Blog 53 Kocise

There's a lot of work to do this week. And next week. However, this is just a hint of what will be to come when we join IB. I heard from a couple of IB graduates at debate club that May is called 'IB Terror' because they have tonnes of exams in that month. I'm surprised that they could even find the time to participate in clubs and councils.
As far as I know, I will most likely join pre-IB, though I'm not sure if I'll go on to IB or not. Sigh...I guess if I knew this a long time ago, I might have chosen to apply for acceleration programs. Then again, I don't really regret it.

Blog

There's a lot of work to do this week. And next week. However, this is just a hint of what will be to come when we join IB. I heard from a couple of IB graduates at debate club that May is called 'IB Terror' because they have tonnes of exams in that month. I'm surprised that they could even find the time to participate in clubs and councils.
As far as I know, I will most likely join pre-IB, though I'm not sure if I'll go on to IB or not. Sigh...I guess if I knew this a long time ago, I might have chosen to apply for acceleration programs. Then again, I don't really regret it.

Blogs 48-52

Ah. I've finally begun to feel better. When ever I get sick, I usually am sick for a significantly longer time than the average person. So, I will try to 'remember' what I was thinking for the last couple of days.

Saturday April 21, 2007 Blog 48 Porto Novo

Very very luckily, there is no Chinese school today. However, I really don't feel well. It's the worst day so far. Hopefully, things will get better from today on. Even so, there is a lot of homework that I have to do. For some reason, I'm not worried. Thigns usually work out in the end. But, when that thought appears, its a warning sign that something is going wrong.

Sunday April 22, 2007 Blog 49 Nouakchott

I've caught up on some music listening. Eason Chan for some reason has a very appealing voice, but there's nothing really special about it. Sadly, though, the social side of him isn't that good. Some of his comments, although factually correct, weren't really called for. For example, Ayumi Hamasaki had a concert in Hong Kong recently. Chan accused of Hamasaki of lip synching (sp). Which was probably true. But nevertheless, even if it was true, Chan didn't have to say that. Now, of course, this is all assuming that Chan indeed did say that, and it wasn't contorted by some reporter or a publicity agent or whatever.

Monday April 23. 2007 Blog 50 Kindu

I looked at my math mark today. Usually, math is the subject which I am most not worried about. Although I never ever have the highest mark in the class, I usually get a high A. Well, today, it dropped to a 82.7%. That was because of two things: the first, I got a 4/7 on a test. Second, on Thursday, which I was absent, she didn't omit the mark, but said that I didn't hand it in, and gave me a 0. Oh well. Hopefully, it'll return to an A, albeit a low one. I'm not sure if I can get into Math 9 Enriched next year though.
Oh yeah! I almost forgot! France and Nigeria Votes!!!!!!! As far as I know, Royal and Sarkozy advance to the next stage, while Umaru Yar'Adua won in a highly controversial election accused of rampant electoral fraud. Which I would believe to be true.

Tuesday April 24, 2007 Blog 51 Heidelberg

Today, I didn't go to school for the first two blocks because I needed my sleep. Yesterday, I came home, ate, then slept, then woke up (because of a fierce argument raging downstairs), then slept at 12:30. I really had a lot of trouble waking up, so I just slept. I think I needed it...Right now, I feel very sleepy.
However, after school, I did manage to get started on the several projects we have. Sigh. We have like 7 projects going on at once, and several of them have really short timelines. However, I think a couple of them could be classified as assignments rather than projects.
I really don't have a good grasp of languages. As you probably would have noticed, my English is full of grammatical errors, incorrect usage of words, phrases, and English. In French, my pronounciation is terrible.

Blog Kagoshima

I am not feeling well at all. I am not feeling better. Going to school was a bad idea, I think, and now, well, my head hurts a lot, I feel very tired even though I can't sleep. Sigh. I'll have a huge pile of work after I get better.

To: MYAS8 Teacher
By the way, in what form shoudl we submit the plane project?

Blog 46 Volgodonsk

Yeah, I was sick today, so I didn't go to school and missed the Odyssey. Oh well.
I was at home reading the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study report for their 2003 study. I wasn't really surprised with the results, adn they actually quite conformed to my stereotypes. Singapore ranked first in everything, with Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and the Netherlands plus Chinese Taipei (just call them Taiwan, its not like I'm calling them the Republic of China) consistently got the highest scores in the mathematics portion. From Canada, there was only Quebec and Ontario, which had above average scores, slightly higher or around the scores of Australia, and USA. Now, what surprised me was this. Norway got significantly lower than international average. Wow. And they left out a lot of countries that I was interested in. Not suprisingly, South Africa, Ghana, plus a couple of other sub-Saharan and Middle East countries consistantly got the lowest scores.
Now, I don't know about the Netherlands, Japan, or Korea, but I know that there is INTENSE peer and family pressure to succeed in schools in Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. There are many side effects of this intense competition, and most of it is not good. And once you go beyond high school, well, the universities in Hong Kong frankly are terrible. At least from what I've heard.
Oh, and in the scientific portion, Singapore again was the first, Taiwan second, with Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Estonia ranking in the top 6 (not listed in any particular order). Quebec and Ontario were slightly higher than Australia + USA. Ontario ranked slightly higher in science, while Quebec ranked slightly higher in mathematics.

Blog 45 Saguenay

I'm quite sick rightnow. I don't even know if I will be able to go to school tomorrow.

Blog 44 Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

I have a feeling that I didn't do well on the science test. Well, that was expected, since I barely studied, and didn't really have the willpower to do well (this term in general compared to previous term). I didn't really have any goals either. I know I will get 9 questions wrong (randomly put answers), so the maximum I can get would be 86-88 %. To get an A, you need 86% or higher. I personally would be fine with a B, whether low or high, but there's the possibility I would get a C+. Not that I cared that much though. Then again, I do care quite a bit, so disregard what I just said.
We completed a Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study test, which basically just testeed our knowledge in math and science. I thought I did very very well in math, and did very very bad in science, because I learnt almost 0% of the things tested. I believe the average would be about 50% more or less.
Oh gosh. I have so much homework piling up. Most of it, though, are the applied skills things and GO things. Plus, I really do need to do some short, medium, and long-term planning, plus set a couple of goals. I do have many goals, but not on paper.
Oh, and by the way, I have been listening to Denise Ho. She's...okay, I guess. Jade Kwan (or whatever her last name is) is not that bad either. She sort of stands out, but she hasn't reached super stardom yet. Not that I'd expect her to. Joey Yung has done that, and she's not bad either.
Virginia Tech. Another school massacre tragedy. I thought they'd learned from Columbine. I guess not. Sigh.
That reminds me sort of all the other tragedies that happened in the world recently. And then I think of how many Virginia Tech-level tragedies that happen every single day, hour, without any global media attentioin whatsoever.
Our priorities are reflected surprisingly accurately in the media everyday. Utada Hikaru's divorce got more media attention then another anonymous person dying in some far away foreing country. Okay, the example I used may not have been the best one, but you get the idea. Not that I'm attemptying to imply that the divorce was not important in anyway; no. Nor am I saying that there's no need to care about Virginia Tech.
I tend to be wary of groups that have race as an entry requisite. It reminds me of racism, no matter whatever the race is. Especially if they're doing something like 'the greatest race' ever. There is no 'the greatest' race ever. If there ever was, they would not call themselves 'the greatest race ever'. What is a requirement for a great race? survivability? Morals? Civility? Gosh, races are unique, and just because you surpased them in living standards, civil rights, etc., that DOES NTO MEAN you are the greatest race ever. People are unique. UGH! A certain race may value these thigns, while another race may be spiritually superior. Oh, and by the way, I'm NOT refering to any facebook group whatsoever.
Nevertheless, I think of all pro-white groups as white supremicists. Unless, if, say, they're operating in Zimbabwe or something. Then they aren't. But, I am also not happy at all by ethnocentricism by any culture. Especially if you're in foreign country.
Religion is another thing. There are many ways to coexist, but, well, in some people, religion is what they view it as, not exactly what it is taught by their leaders/deities/books,e tc. I generally try not to argue with a devoted follower of a certain religion about something that is sensitive, because, well, what's the use of winning the argument? They won'ot change.
I believe I'm sick, cause, I'm coughig a lot. It's not fun, obvioiusly.

Blogs 40-43

Oh yes. I forgot to post the last 3 blogs.
Blog 40 April 13, 2007 Zanzibar City
Ah. Friday. Luckily, its the start of the weekend, but Its going to be a short weekend, I can tell you that.
Blog 41 April 14, 2007 Menlo Park
Well, today was a full day. There hasn't been much time to sleep, taking into account that tomorrows the Sun Run, and I sort of like need to sleep ASAP. I think I sort of need to plan out my week better. Actually, I never planned out my week as a timetable.
Blog 42 April 15, 2007 Khachmaz
Ah... The SunRun was okay for me. I didn't really like do any training, or enter the run with any goals at all, and I think I did okay. I timed my self at an hour and 1 minute 33 seconds. Oh, and by the way, I sort of have a lot of work todo, and I spent a lot of time today doing nothing really in particular. Sigh. That's the status quo for me, and I don't think I'll manage to change it anytime soon. I haven't really done that much to change it anyways.
Blog 43 April 16,2007 Sari
Augh. A procrastinating spree just when I need to work the most. Sigh.

Chetumal Blog 39

I took up wearing contact lenses a couple of days ago, and I wore them today too. As expected, it was a terrible experience.

Oh, and I really need to work on my Science cheatsheet right now.

Blog Sejong 38+ Anachronisms

...

I'm not having exactly the best time right now. After a much needed afternoon nap, I was left feeling slightly disoriented and quite uncomfortable. Turns our that we have ANOTHER problem with the French project, this time because the file I have is corrupted, my other group member doesn't have the full version of the film, and another group member is missing, while another person's computer is not working as well. In total, there are three people in our group that have malfunctioning/uncapable computers, while the other group member has been...uh...missing. So, I've burnt a short version which is missing 1/3rd of the part, although I think we would present live mostlikely, or a mixture of the two.

To: AS+SS 8 Teacher

I've handed in my Kingdom of Heaven notes, and hear is the A Knight's Tale anachronisms. It's the category on right.

A Knight's Tale: Anachronisms: Clothing

Although, in general, the knights costumes are relatively close to the time period, which in this case would be late 14th century, Shannyn Sossamon's clothes are totally modernized. According to Wikipedia, the costumes generally date to around the 15th Century. Heath Ledger's wear at the ball was nowhere near 14th century fashion. He didn't have a gown, there wasn't much decoration, jewels, or even a belt. The cutting seemed to be quite modern, and the combination of inner shirt and a outer jacket was not found in the Middle Ages. Sossamon's dresses at the competitions were sometimes quite liberal, extremely not like the relatively conservative wear the females wore at the time. In the scene where Ledger first meets Sossamon, Sossamon is wearing a modern jacket, and on the back its pretty obvious the pattern wasn't embroidered on, it was more of printed on.

"1300-1400 in fashion." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Apr 2007, 20:42 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 11 Apr 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1300-1400_in_fashion&oldid=121509434>.
"A Knight's Tale (film)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 1 Apr 2007, 11:48 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 11 Apr 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Knight%27s_Tale_%28film%29&oldid=119469328>.

Evanston Blog 37

For now, I'm listening to this Singaporean pop star (whose largest market is actually Taiwan) called Stephanie Sun. She isn't new to the scene, so naturally she has more experience and can sing better than Stephy Tang, although the songs themselves I would say are about the same quality.

We got another extension for French today because our computers just aren't good enough. This computer couldn't even encode the disc.

I was reading one of my peer's blogs today. This person was...dismayed at our ignorance and inability to really understand and sympathsize with other people. Or, basically, just not being open minded enough. That comment reminded me of a report card comment I had years ago. It said that I did not chose to view things from another person's point of view. I didn't really...well...keep that in my mind, but, I think I'm a much more...well...global-thinking person now. I guess what sort of pushed me to be more aware of my surroundings was the awareness that I just didn't know, just lacked the capacity or the means to be sympathetic. However, it wasn't really because of that report card comment. Then again, though, now, when I hear somebody say that it was really hard to do something that I found relatively straightforward, I think, oh, it was hard for this person. And then I move on. I don't really emphasize, I just sympathsize (sp). And with many current events, well, I don't really have a stance on them. I just don't really feel passionate about the issue. Like, say, the Royal Navy officers selling their stories. I dont'...really care that much.

Charlottesville Multimedia Blog up to April 4-11, 2007, Blog 36

Oh, by the way, I remember yesterday seeing MYSC8 teacher on Selkirk yesterday. She was with a group of friends, who, if I didn't know better would have thought were still in high school. Not suprisingly, she was the most conservatively dressed of the group.

The problem with the French project still hasn't been solved.

Oh yeah, I forgot to count the Celebration blog, so this blog is #36 instead of #35

Pearson Blog 34

I'm listening right now to a singer who doesn't have good control over her voice, but the songs she's singing are excellent. Her name is Stephanie Tang.

Another obstacle in our French project has appeared.

I was looking at a list of the oldest companies on Wikipedia. Almost all of them were from Germany/Austria, and also Japan. The oldest company I recognized was Matsuzakaya, from 1611, but I might have heard of some of the other Japanese companies.

Family Extensions 22-28

Extension 22: We sort of forgot after the first day, and there wasn't any major differences. On the first day, to some people, listening with your heart wasn't that fun, since they found it long. However, that was mainly because I dragged listening with my heart.

Extension 23: One of the most important nonverbal ways we communicate is via facial expressions. We can tell from the face how that person is feeling, reacting to what just happened, their view on what happened, and also what they'll do next. We interpret them based on our experience of how this person has reacted when they had that look on their face.

Extension 24: Our family communicates with each other very effectively when we share a common interest, a common point of view, and when we are all in a good mood and environment and at a convenient time. Depending on the person, when any one of these factors aren't ideal, our communication drops in effectiveness, and at sometimes, we resort to being reactive, defensive, selfish, and yelling and screaming. Arguments never ever work out, at least not in the same synergizing way the Go program teaches us to be.

Extension 25: Again, we forgot after maybe an hour or two. We'll do it again, but this time with repeated notices and reminders around the house.

Extensioin 26: Well, I am on pretty good terms with, as far as I know, everybody, at least everybody with whom I have had contact with the past 2 years. Nevertheless, I don't regularly communicate with many of my cousins, and with some of my aunts, and uncles. I could work on that, although, personally, I am not interestsed in communicating with them, unless if I meet them face-to-face.

Extension 27: Recent Decision: delaying the purchase of a new laptop, because we decided not to get a family member of a friend of a family member to bring it here.

We compromised, and, in fact, throughout the entire laptop purchasing process, we did not at a single time synergize, at least not following the 'third alternative'. There were some times that we decided on a certain issue unanimously, but that's because we all wanted the same thing. There have been disagreements, but they have all been compromises, instead of synergizing and choosing the 'third alternative'.

Extension 28: From the laptop purchase, there have been many issues that we could have used synergy to resolve. As of now, however, pretty much all of these problems have been resolved, albeit with compromizes. The next time another issue appears, I will make sure we try to achieve a third alternative.

Lesson 27,28,29 Go Extensions

Lesson 26:Is this supposed to be an inclass activity? The one about the Mouse Caper?
Lesson 27: I don't understand
Lesson 28:HANDOUT
1) Work out a "want" list with someone else for an agreement that you're trying to reach with someone. Then, make a list of possible "third alternative" solutions that would be good for both parties.
Issue: Two group members disagree over how the credits for a film should be. Person 1 said that only the overall roles should be included, because if some people did more then others, the whole group could be penalized. Person 2 said all the roles should be included, as that was what really happened.
Group member 1's "want" list Group Member 2's "want" list
Only original roles included Honest and fair representation of the roles,
-everybody seems to do about and what went on during the project
the same amount of work
-higher marks
Group Member 1's "don't want" list Group Member 2's "don't want" list
-lower marks "fudging the truth" just to get a better mark
-some group members appearing to
do more than other group members

Third Alternative: Hand in the overall roles on the submission, but the specific roles in the movie credits.

Blog 31,32,33

Thursday 31 Mataram
Went to the Vancouver International Auto Show today. My interest in cars have almost diminished to zero. And my interest in commercial civilian aviation isn't that great anymore either.
Friday 32 Etterbeek
Augh. Work. Luckily its long weekend.
Saturday 33 Shijiazhuang
My brother was guiding me through a step-by-step breakdown of group responcibilities, pointing out where there were problems in our group, and putting the blame down on a group member who had worked the hardest, put the most time into the project, and was responcible for almost the entire thing. His way of thinking was not one that I have or had encountered in my peers, for which I am greatful for. Our group, and our peers, don't think with the decisive (evil) manager like analysis of who gets the blame. We have a sense of pity, and are understanding. I know that I don't want to be one of his group members, EVER. His reasoning was...sound, and correct, but was near devoid of understanding, of what I call the human aspect. Also, the problems that occured couldn't really be predicted. However, through his reasoning, the group member should have done tones of research in advance, accurately planned what would happen, think about potential problems, solve them, and then compile everything, and submit it. In addition, he should have stayed within contact for the duration of the project, even though it was long weekend and even though he was supposed to go to Harrisons Hot Springs. Nevertheless, I didn't agree with his thinking, on the basis that the problems weren't really forseable, and that we are still 13 years old, and we cannot demand that much. However, take into consideration that I may be biased, so to be fair to my brother, you should listen to him explain his reasoning, at a time when he is prepared, awake, conscious, etc.

Oh, and by the way, the main problem wasn't actually the DVD, it was the encoding, and etc.

Celebration

I don't feel like this week was all that great, then again, that may have been how I handled it.

Chapter 6 Section Review 1 + 2

Unit 3 Section Review 1 & 2

Section 1

Locate:
Constantinople: Capital of the former Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, and Ottoman Empire, it is now modern day Istanbul.
Bosporus: Straits that separate Europe and Asia, and connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea.
Identify:
Justinian: A prominent Byzantine emperor, during his reign, he recovered many lands from the former Western Roman Empire.
Eastern Orthodox Church: The eastern branch of the former Christian Church, established in 1054.
Santa Sophia: A very elaborate church commissioned by the emperor Justinian, featuring a blend of architectural forms.
Justinian’s Code: A compilation of Roman law by Justinian’s scholars.
Ottoman Turks: The name given to the people of the Ottoman empire, which eventually successfully invaded the Byzantine Empire.
Define:
Patriach: A bishop found in major cities in the Byzantine Empire.
List the areas Justinian added to the Byzantine Empire.
-southern Iberia
-parts of northern Africa
-The eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea
-Italian peninsula
What was the emperor’s role in the Byzantine economy?
The emperor had absolute control over the economy, controlling every part of it.
Describe two factors that caused strained relations between the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe.
Religious tensions, due to disagreements between the Byzantine emperor and the Roman popes, eventually caused the split of the Christian Church. Trade disagreements, once Western European trade revived, were bitter. Venetian merchants caused Constantinople to the looted by western crusaders.
7. Describe one way in which the Byzantine Empire preserved the Greco-Roman heritage.Many Greco-Roman works were preserved and stored in libraries, helping further the understanding of these works during the reign of the Byzantine Empire.

Okayama Blog 30

I'll postpone the Harmony thing later. Maybe I won't do it. But, I really have to go now.

Honiara Blog 29

I was going to talk about what I thought about Harmony Airways, but well, that'll have to wait for another day, as I need to sleep now.

Tisdale Blog 28

This week really hasn't been that fun. A lot has happened, on Thursday the advertisement was due, so I didn't do the blog the day before, and on Thursday, there was badminton, and immediately after I came back and took a shower, I left and didn't do my blog. On Friday, after recycling, I came back, then immediately went out, then came back fairly late at night. On Saturday, well, there was a heated conversation, and then today, I went to KLi's house for French.
That's just a very general overview of what happened, for I could go into much more detail.
Most importantly, my math teacher told me that she was getting mad at me being a couple minutes late every class. She told me I was late 7 times this term already. I am usually late for almost all morning classes ever since September, and it was especially bad in November-December when my mom left, and I was quite late for French, and also AS. Luckily, Miss Todd wasn't that strict, and she let it be. And Mr. Olson didn't seem to care that much either. Nevertheless, I am constantly tardy, and that's the largest problem in school I have right now. The math teacher told me that if I don't get to school earlier, I'll have to start cleaning her overhead. Honestly, though, I don't really care. I can clean it after school for hopefully not more than 40 minutes? Although, I know I really should start getting to school earlier.
On Saturday at Chinese school, we had a quiz. During the quiz, the teacher asked us for homework, then turned on music with lyrics, taught, and asked us questions at the same time. It was quite annoying and disturbing. Oh, and I saw JC there. She sort of strutted across like Peter Pan or someother character, and the girl walking next to her seemed mortified. It appeared that she tried to shrink her head and make it as small as possible. JC was oblivious to this.