My Duan Wu Jie

Zong Zi（粽子） - a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves - is no exception. It is meant to honor Qu Yuan（屈原） (340-278 BC.), the pioneer poet of ancient China.

Qu Yuan（屈原） was a famous poet who was also concerned about the fate of his government. Unfortunately his stature aroused the jealousy of the king, who banished him to a remote area. The poet despaired of the government and its policies. When the state's capital was captured by enemies, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River (on May 5th according to the Chinese lunar calendar五月初五). The Chinese people felt this loss deeply, as he was a much beloved poet. Local folk searched for him in the river, meanwhile dropping dumplings of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves into the river in order to keep the fishes from attacking Qu Yuan's body.

Since that time, it has been customary on this day to enjoy Zong Zi dumplings as a memorial to the patriotic poet.

Look! These are my ‘masterpieces’. I made them just before I went to school. They are uncooked yet. I like making them a bit smaller so that they look cute. Eh! How do they look? Can I be a professional rice dumpling wrapper?
这都是我的杰作啦！昨天中午上学之前，我亲手把这些粽子包好的。图中的粽子还是生的啦！我包的粽子比我妈妈包的小一点，因为小的比较可爱。你看我手工如何？是否可以跟一个包粽子师傅比较啦？

Guess who she is. I think you have the answer in mind. Yes, she is my mum. Can you see those ingredients? She had spent lots of time to get them prepared!
猜猜她是谁？我想你们一定心中有数吧。她就是我妈妈。你看到桌上的材料吗？这都有是用来做粽子的。她花了许多时间和心思去准备，就是为了我们可以享受端午节吃粽子的气氛。妈妈，辛苦您了！

Mummy, look at the camera, please?妈妈！看看镜头，等我把你最甜美的微笑放进我的博客里，让全世界都有可以感受到我家的温馨。

It’s 5:30pm. The rice dumplings are being cooked. Mum had finished wrapping at 3:30pm and started cooking until now. It’s not ready yet! Eh? There is good smell coming out through the steam; they may be ready in another two hours.
这时候已经是五点半了。这些粽子在三点半时终于给包好了，然后放进锅中煮了两个小时，但根据以前的经验，它们还要再煮大约两个小时才可以大功告成咯。唉？已经可以闻到粽子香味了！

This is the ‘finished good’! Oh, the color is not natural; it looks too white. Actually, it looks a bit green. It tastes delicious and unique. You can never find this taste in somewhere else.
这就是我们的‘产成品’咯！看起来很好吃吧？它不但外貌美观，而且吃起来还会上瘾呢。这味道是全世界独一无二的，因为这是属于家传的‘秘方’和经过妈妈的改造喔！是否想尝尝啊？

I should have posted this yesterday, but there were errors in my computer that delay the post. Hope you could enjoy the festival and had eaten delicious rice dumplings.

UC Workshop

A workshop was held in UC on Saturday 23rd from 8:30am to 11:00am. The workshop was on ‘How to Apply for Overseas Scholarship: Sharing Experiences of Success’, which was co-organised by UC Student Senate and UC Debate Club.

This is the information sheet related to how to apply for overseas scholarship, Organised by UCDC and UCSS. I think I should have taken some pictures of the workshop when it was being held, but I forgot to bring my phone with me, so no picture were taken. You may want to see how the workshop looked like? What a pity!

Four Speakers were invited to share their advice and experiences of applying overseas scholarship. The four now are UC lecturers, namely Dr. Chheang Vannarith (the chairman of the workshop), Mr. Chheng Kim Long (Master Degree in Economics from Japan), Mr. Theang Chhay Heang (Master Degree in Law from Korea), and Mr. Sun Sam Nang (Master Degree in Law from Korea). Each speaker presented their ideas and strategies in how to study effectively, how to be ready for the scholarship, how to ‘sell’ ourselves in the interview, what statement of purpose and research plan are, and so on.

Mr. Chheng Kim Long presented his strategies in applying for a scholarship as followings:

+ 5P’s
-Purpose: we must have desire to win the scholarship.
-Proposition: we must figure out what field of study we are really interested in and what kind of career we want to do in the future.
-Planning: we have to set goals either short term or long term.
-Preparation: we should start to do research on the subject we want to study if we get the scholarship.
-People: we should contact and consult with people who have experiences in applying for scholarship and who have obtained the scholarship and learn from people’s success and failure.

+ 3A’s
-Ambition: the applicant must have a very strong desire in obtaining the scholarship and be persevering no matter how many times you fail.
-Attitude: in addition to knowledge, good attitude and behaviour in class is very important. It effects our recommendations from our lecturers. What is important is that you should behave politely and appropriately in front of those who interview you in the application process.

+ 3G’s
1. Get prepare/Ready
2. Get organised
3. Get noticed

Besides, Mr. Theang Chhay Heang also suggested that we should never say or have these three ideas in mind:
1. I can’t do it.
2. I’ll do it later.
3. I’m bored with the subject.

Planning ahead for what you have to do by the following methods:
- A large monthly calendar: mark down what you have to do for the month
- A weekly study schedule: note down what you have to complete for the whole week
- Daily ‘To-do list’: detail what you should and have to do the next day. Set the priorities for the day. Cross out things you have done.
‘Start planning with simple things, or you’ll fail to do them all.’

Mr. Sun Sam Nang also gave his precious advice:
- Evaluate your own status (SWOT).
- Aimless person is not wanted.
- Failure is guaranteed if you don’t know what you want to do.
- You must be able to demonstrate strongly why you want the scholarship (Tell them what you want and why you want).
- It’s important that how you say what it is.
- Build a strong academic foundation, including academic records and teacher’s statement of recommendation).
- Identify which areas you should improve.

Opportunities are given to the participants to ask questions after the presentations of the speakers. The workshop ended successfully from which I believe that we got much invaluable knowledge about how to apply for overseas scholarship. We know how to prepare ourselves well to be ready. It is very beneficial that we had the workshop, and at the end of the workshop, Dr. Vannarith proposed to the organisers that we should have another one on ‘How to write a research paper’ because time was limited and we could not discuss all things in a single morning. I’m sure that I will attend it if it’s really planned and organised.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

People tend to forget someone whom they haven’t met for a long time or lost contact with, even their close friends or lovers. I feel that human beings are very fickle; when they see something new for them, the old one is usually left behind and finally forgotten.

Personally, I may not reject that I am not that kind of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ person. Classmates that I knew in Chinese school have been going away from my mind one after another. I can only remember those who are the closest to me. Thought I may remember them, I cannot recognize them if we met again and the feeling of as a close friend has long disappeared. What is left is the feeling of being an acquaintance. For several times, I forget the name of people who used to be with me. And it is really embarrassing or even hurtful to the person when I say that I’ve forgotten their name.

By the way, can love be ‘out of sight, and then out of mind’? It’s harder to forget someone we use to love and it’s the truth that is undeniable. However, I’m sure that time can falter everything, even love. When two lovers are separated for a period of time, the level of their love will go down rather than going up. A Khmer saying writes: When we are physically apart, our heart will be farther—it’s not a good translation, I think, but it means the same as ‘out of sight, out of mind’. What is more, as I said, humans are fickle. In the period that they stay away from their partner and meet a new one, the old one is thoroughly forgotten. I love watching movie and every lover acts in that particular way. There is hardly a couple who will love each other from the beginning scene to the last scene.

Relationship can be easily changed when less contact is made. I’ve lost several friends so far since we don’t keep in touch very often. However, I also believe that if we are very good friend or a destined match, no matter where we are, what we do, or even who we are with, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ will never be applied to us. The bottom line is that we should contact more; sometimes, even a missed call or a short sms can the relationship closer!

Just to say something!

Recently, I've been extremely busy and exhausted. It seems to me that I don't have time even to have a good sleep. Why? Even when I am sleeping, my mind is still stuck with course exercises and assignment, perhaps with some other matters that have been bothering me. I hope I will be more relaxed in two weeks. Everything is almost over at the end of this May.
I have never felt so stressful before, but at this moment my mind is full of things, both school work and....I hope I can deal with them well and live a happier life! Just to say it out to make me more relieved!

Why Love?

What is love? Love is a strange feeling! It can be the most wonderful and the sweetest feeling you have ever had or it can hurt you much to an extent that dead is better than alive. Why does love give people results which are far different? Some people believe that there is true love in the world as long as you are looking for it; nevertheless, true love is too difficult to exist everywhere for everyone. We can only see it in fairy tales such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow white and so on. True love is almost nowhere in real life.

1. Is it possible that love happens at first sight?
Personally, I don’t believe love can happen at first sight. It is possible that we have good feeling towards someone, but this is not called ‘love’; instead, this is just a crush. When you see someone for the first time, you may have a crush on him/her, but the affection from a crush does not last long. When there is the time you are with him/her, you then will feel that he/she is not your Mr. or Miss Right.

2. Is it important that two people with different hobbies and interests come together and color the world?
People can come together as long as they have something in common. The moments they are sharing their hobbies is when they can strengthen their relationship. I believe that the relationship between people with different hobbies and interests will falter from time to time. Sooner or later, they will not get long well and break up.

3. Is it possible that people fall in love with each other by simply mails and letters but have never met?
I used to see the case in movies, but in real life, is it possible? It may be the case. The lovers are chatting through mails or letters about things happening to them. They are sharing what they like, hate, encounter, think, and dream of. As time passes, they can get to know each other better than anyone else in real life. Two factors must be considered here to make love possible: no deception and no appearance discrimination.

4. Is difference in age a barrier to true love?
Some people believe that it’s not a problem for love when the partner is far different in age. An older man is very stable and has more experience in life than a younger one. He can give a happy family to the young woman. An older man is believed to love and take care of his young spouse more comparing to a younger one. However, I personally feel that difference in age mostly leads to difference in hobbies. Two people born in two different decades may have fewer things in common such as education, hobbies, belief and thought, and so on.

5. Is a crush called love?
Like previously mentioned, crush is not necessarily called love. You may have a crush on someone by his/her physical appearance, a single activity, or a particular characteristic. However, the feeling of a crush will dramatically change when you get to know him/her better. A crush rarely lasts long unless he/she is destined to be your Mr. or Miss Right.

6. Is love secure?
Does love last forever throughout the whole life when you’ve found the one you love? The fire of love is very great at the beginning stage. Once two people come together for a period of time, the fire is getting smaller. When they are married, it is almost blown out. Rarely is there a couple who still love each other after many years of marriage as much as they did when they were on dates. Is love secure? Probably not! Time is the enemy of love.