No. 11 - P/S: MS PATTON, YOU ARE SUCH THE NICEST TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Tuesday, we had an enjoyable day in class. Ms Patton brought two chocolate and some pumpkin cakes since we had several birthdays in November. By reading other classmates' blogs, we know it.

Before 

After

Lonely pumpkin cake

Then we performed three plays, The Man in a Case, Triffles and The Sound of a Voice. We discovered some really good actors and actresses such as Jennifer, Matthew, Lucio and Hans.

- Jennifer: 2014 Oscar's best actress in The Man in a Case
- Matthew, Lucio and Hans: 2014 Oscar's best actors in The Man in a Case, Triffles and The Sound of a Voice.

goes to Jennifer, Matthew. Lucio and Hans.

 Good girl: At the beginning, I was a little worried for the acting part.

 Bad girl: Which character you starred?

Good girl: I am Mrs Hale in Triffles.

Bad girl: Did you practice your part at home?

Good girl: I watched the play on Youtube to see the ways characters act.

Bad girl: How was your performance?

Good girl: Not as good as I expected. But I tried my best.

Bad girl: As long as you tried your best. Nothing else matters, girl.

Good girl: Only 5 more classes left for 1A. I do not want to think about it.

Bad girl: Time in the U.S flies much faster than time in Vietnam.

Good girl: Maybe, I just want to scream out loud "Time, please slow down. Please let me enjoy the moments of life".

Bad girl: Busy life keeps you from worrying and thinking too much. All you have to do is moving forwards.

Good girl remains unspoken.


P/S: MS PATTON, YOU ARE SUCH THE NICEST TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 

                                                  SILENCE ALL OVER THE PLACE

No. 10 - The bicycle can not move with only one wheel BUT

The relationship between Byelinkov and Varinka has raised a lot if critical thinking.

- Some people think that their marriage will end up in disaster. My avater agrees with the first thought
- Some have opposite idea, their marriage will be successful. I have same opinion with the latter one.

Bad girl: Imagine Byelinkov and Varinka as the wheels of the bicycle. The bicycle can not move with only one wheel. Byelinkov is stationary while Varinka is mobile.

Moreover, only Varinka wants to be the rider.  Their marriage is like a long-haul journey, Varinaka sooner or later will get tired and if Byelinkov does not want to replace her position, their journey will never reach destination which is compatible marriage.

While Varinala always wants to move forward, Byelinkov keeps his feet on only one place

Good girl: Your cirtical thinking is not wrong. There are 50% that their relationship will lead to nowhere. How about the other 50%? Do you know puzzle? Each of us is a single piece of a puzzle and our partner is another piece that can match with us, incompletely or completely. In this case, the Byelinkov's piece and Varinaka's piece match each other but not perfectly.

There are some parts of Byelinkov's life where Varinka can not reach but it does not mean they can not live together. You remember the article Baba and Daddy Gus written by Bell Hooks, Baba and Daddy are the two extremes of the spectrum and they were together for more than 70 years at the time of his dealth.

- Baba: "smoking an abundance of cigarettes a day, she talked endlessly. She preached. She yelled. She fussed". (373)
- Daddy: "He was a man of few words, deeply committed to silence - so much so that it was like a religion to him". (373)

And "after his dealth it was easier to see the ways that they complemented and completed each other". (377)

Bad girl: It is unbelievable. Daddy must love Baba more than his own life. If you can find such a man in your life, there will be nothing else important.

Good girl: Haha, I am trying to look for that man.

Bad girl: All women, does not matter how rich, beautiful, ambitious, powerful they are, they always need a real man to be by her side and love her unconditionally.

Good girl: You are so emotional today.

Bad girl remains unspoken. 

No. 9 - I have a dream

I drew two simple pictures to convey the message of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr in the reading I Have a Dream. He used so beautiful language in emphasizing freedom and equal rights for all human beings, that made me think I was reading a literature artwork intead a letter. Therefore, I am afraid that my words will diminish his excellent and imaginational language.

Dr Martin Luther King, Jr devoted his entire life to bring what are being drawn above to every corner of the U.S

Good girl: I was thinking all the time to find a better way to write my blog.

Bad girl: You mean how to make it look original, interesting, and unorthodox.

Good girl: Too many words bore the readers. One picture is worth 1,000 words.

Bad girl: I know that principle.

Good girl: You know what, sometimes I get very interesting ideas and really want to transform into pictures. But I do not know how.

Bad girl: You should take graphic design class.

Good girl: That is exactly what I am thinking for my major. By the way, shouldn't we discuss about Dr Martin Luther King, Jr' writing?

Bad girl: I think we do not need to. I have one word to describe it: "outstanding".

No. 8 - Grandma, I miss you, so freaking bad. :((

Thousands of miles away from you! Whenever I talk with her, my grandma, I can not keep my tears from dropping. She is my father's mother. In Vietnamese, we distinguish 2 pronouns for grandma:

- Ba noi: on the father's side
- Ba ngoai: on the mother's side

Grandma is one of the women I love the most in my life. Sometimes, I get the stupid idea of her death, and that breaks my heart into pieces. I want her to be immortal. If I could give her 10 years of life expectancy, I would immediately do without any hesitation.

My entire childhood was taken care by grandma. I did not close to my mom, iti is quite unusual, some people may think. Every night, I need my grandma to be beside so that I could go to sleep, otherwise, I spent all night crying. It is so ashamed.

The day I left Vietnam and came to the U.S, grandma took me to the airport. Promising to myself "do not cry, do not cry" and told everyone who cried will pay me some money for my future costly spending. Finally, my tears came out much more than anyone else.

In Persepolis, Marji is very close to her grandma. :)). The night before Marji flied to Austria,  grandma came and slept with her.

Marji mentioned how her grandma used the jasmine flowers to put in her bra so that she would smell nice all day long, it is very interesting.

I also have interest in my grandma's boobs. Touching them is one of the ways showing how much I love her.  It is still very beautiful even she bore 7 children, 7 children, can you believe that?

Good girl: Grandma is very proud when I told her that I am qualified for Honors Program.

Bad girl: Of course, she is. She is always proud of you.

Good girl: Even though grandma has no idea what Honors is? Hihi, :))

Bad girl: Have you talked to her frequently?

Good girl: I have not. I am too busy with my study and my job also takes away all my free time.

Bad girl: You had better call her, she must miss you a lot.

Good girl: I bet she does. I miss her too, so freaking bad. By the way, you remind me a very emotional video I watched. It has the English lyrics so do not worry about understanding. I hope you enjoy it.

Mom's Diary

No. 7 - I get a Golden Raspberry Award for my writing instead an Oscar.

Ms Patton, am I the worst student in your Honors Class? I can guess your answer: Definitely no. All of you are awesome.

You do not tell me the truth, you hide it, but I know.

The reasons lead me to this conclusion are:

- You were not happy with my second paper (You do not know how grateful I am when you gave me a chance to rewrite it and even moved the deadline two more days). I did try my best to make the paper better. I am afraid of letting you down the 2nd time.

- Accessing to other blogs is an opportunity for me to compare and evaluate my writing. And the result is embarrassing. My writing seems to be the worst. Not a good feeling at all, Ms Patton.

English 1A Honors Class

Good girl: I am qualified for the Honors Program.

Bad girl: That is good to know.

Good girl: Yeah, but there is one small problem.

Bad girl: What is the problem?

Good girl: A lot of writing required in this class, and you know, how bad I am at writing.

Bad girl: Are you a risk-taker or risk-avoider?

Good girl: Of course, I am a risk-taker.

Bad girl: So, why do not you consider this is a chance to improve your writing skill.

Good girl: You are absolutely right.

No. 6 - Everyone does not need to be 李白 or 杜甫 to compose a poem

Poem is a part of literature and literature is boring, according to my personal opinions. There are some exceptional cases, of course.

In my senior high school, we learned many patriotic poets who used their gifted talent in literature as sharp weapons to fight against enemies.

My most favorite poem is "Tay Tien" written by Quang Dung. Here are some lines that I can still remember:

Rải rác biên cương mồ viễn xứ 

Chiến trường đi chẳng tiếc đời xanh 

Áo bào thay chiếu anh về đất 

Sông Mã gầm lên khúc độc hành 

The poem does not have English translation, moreover, I believe the English version if available can not convey completely the greatness of the poem.

One of the factors contributes to the fantasy of a poem is the ability to connect reality with imagination. For example:

Good girl: In my Humi class, the teacher always requires is to do free writing to clear our minds before class gets started. Then, we usually finish with composing a poem.

Bad girl: Sound like he focuses a lot on writing.

Good girl: Yeah. He wants us to become a better writer, a stronger thinker, and a more critical reader.

 GREEN

What if I tell you

The color I like?

Will you buy me

Anything with that color?

It can be very expensive

Like diamond

But it can also be

A cheap hightlighter

You always ask me

Why I like green apple milk tea?

With pearl

Now you know the reason

Everything with green

Make me fall in love

Even it is a traffic light

There is one secret

That I never told you

Your green eyes

Drive me cray

Everytime I look at it. 

No. 5 - Dialectical materialism - The best sleeping pill

Yesterday, we spent most of the time in class for presentation. Some of them talked about the torture, which is quite scaring. Some talked about the customs of Muslim society.

The presentation I remember most is "Dialectical Materialism". The reason is not because it is the most interesting one, insteads, it is the most boring one. I did not know what my classmates were talking about.

I am sorry but it is true

When I was at university, Ho Chi Minh's thoughts, Political Economy, Communist's History, etc were all the compulsory subjects students had to learn. From that time until now, I have not known what is the purpose of learning these subjects.

Honestly, I do not even want to spend my time looking for the answer. If "dialectical materialism" is this interesting, I am more than willing to learn about it.

It is better to figure out a more interesting method to teach boring subjects

After that presentation, we had a small discussion about the types of economy of different countries. The economy in Vietnam now is more open than before, even though there are still some state-owned enterprises, more and more foreign companies invest in Vietnam under the form of  joint venture or 100% capital investment.

No. 4 - Left over food

Good girl: Do you like to eat?

Bad girl: If course, I do. Eating is not just for surviving. Eating is enjoyment and exploration.

Good girl: What do you mean by "enjoyment and exploration".

Bad girl: Oh, you get chances to experience different cuisines, taste different food.

Good girl: I want to show some pictures.

They do not even have enough food for surviving, how can they get opportunites to try different cuisines. When I saw these pictures, I felt really heart touching.

Around the world, there are some organizations that help these people. One of them is Peace Corps.

So Who they are and What they are doing to give support?

Peace Corps: nonprofit organization founded from the idea of Senator John Kennedy who challenged students of University of Michigan to serve for their country by promoting peace and friendship in other developing countries around the world. Their missions focus on education, youth in development, health, community economic development, agriculture, environment, HIV/AIDS, food security, etc. 

By watching the video below, you will have a better understanding about Peace Corp. Here it is the link. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxR8XZOeV-s

Good girl: I am thinking to become a Peace Corp's  volunteer.

Bad girl: Are you? It means you may give away what you are having here in the U.S and live in another less developed country. 

Good girl: Isn't that volunteer to be meant? 

Bad girl: Not really, some volunteers do things because they want to impress their employers with "charitable activities" on CVs.

Good girl: That is not who I am and what I am. Life is too short to live selfishly. 

Bad girl: ok ok ok, we will see what you can do. 

DISCUSSION HAS NOT FINISHED YET. 

No. 3 - Did Vietnam conquer U.S in the war or the U.S just left Vietnam?

The war between Iran and Iraq ...

Good girl: Can I ask you one question?

Bad girl: Go ahead

Good girl: How do you think about war?

Bad girl: About what? War?

Good girl: Yeah

Bad girl: It depends. But most of the cases, I don't think war is something that people want.

No one likes war, except for some people who do not have philanthropy. By the time I was born, the war in Vietnam with the U.S was already over. We only leanrned about it via textbooks and adults' stories. What textbooks told us and what we heard from people who were actually present in the fights are in conflict. In the textbooks, the Vietnam army earned all the victories, how many U.S tansk, trucks, planes, soldiers etc were defeated.

It is really astonishing how Vietnamese government forces us to absort these dead wrong facts. I have not recognized that what I have been taught from my childhood is just a very small slice of the truth until I came to the U.S.


In the U.S, you have:

Say whatever you want to say and set it out loud. 

Here is the case in my home country:

Shut your mouth up if you dont want to get into troubles

In the U.S, there are several Vietnamese channels that broadcast discussion sessions for what happening in Vietnam and most of the comments aim at the Vietnam Communist Party. There is a very good song I did not know it exist when I was in Vietnam. The Vietnam Communist Party makes people in Vietnam believe that this song was written by those who are traitors, while they are not.

It has the English lyrics, you may want to listen to it. I love the meaning, the beat and the rhythm. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X75q92uM_1k