Special Numbers - Yeobin

-Yeobin

Do you have any special number? Like number 7 is your lucky number, or number 4 is your fatal number. Those things are kind of numerology which is ancient studying that study about special relationship between number and special meaning of numbers. Like that many culture and ancient study think that number have some special meaning. Number 3 is good number in many religions and cultures.

First, many religions use number 3 in good meanings. In Christianity, number 3 is perfect number of heaven because of the father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, and in Buddhism, Buddha, the law of Buddha, and a Buddhist monk are three treasures. Classic myths have three Dame Fortune, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Also they have three goddesses who fight to get golden apple (Aphrodite, Hera, Athena). Moreover, Sparta myth also has three          goddesses of beautiful whose names are Aglaia, Euphrosyne, Thalia. Celt people have three goddesses of fate.

Next, for culture, we also use many number 3. In Korea, we spend three days to hold funeral (I don’t know about other Asia countries.). Also, refusing three times is polite in Korea. History of Three States which is about ancient China historical story has three states. The three little pig has three pigs, and also Three Musketeers has three musketeers. In ancient China, when they used bronze ware, they made dished to ancestral rites which had three lags. Moreover, in the ancient East, people divide world to three; sky, people, and land. In The Yang and Yin which is ancient china studying, 1 is Yang (man, father, sun, sky, so on) and 2 is Yin (women, mother, moon, earth, so on), so 3 is harmony.

Number 3 is also common in our life. Rock, scissor, and paper have three choices. When we count important people, picture, or event, we count three. Including Olympics many sport competition give 3 medals. To make side we need at last three points. Color has the three primary colors. We divide one day to three, morning, noon, and evening, and we eat meal in every part of day. We also divide time to three part; past, present, and future.

Those things are little bit forced story, but many scholars are looking for reason why ancient people used number 3. Anyway, it is funny and interesting, isn’t it?

Talking with native English speaker

by: Misa

I take an Oral Skills Development class in elective class. On Thursday, I had a presentation. We could choose each topics by ourselves. This presentation's purpose is to talk with native English speaker. So we had to go interview to native English speaker, and ask 5 question about topic.  

I chose the topic about "Birthday."Before going interview, I decided 5 questions and how I should call to people first. I practiced with my friends!

After school, I went to the UV for going interview. I'm so shy of strangers, so I was really nervous. I was afraid of whether or not I can listen what they say and I was worried who should I talk with. Then I saw the girl who is very beautiful and cool. I especially like her hair style. She looked same age with me. That's why I decided to ask her. Although she looked cool, she was very kind and funny. I could ask 5 questions and we talked a lot. She answered my questions clearly and she told me her experiences on her birthday. They were all really funny.

 Finally, I could ask 4 people. At first, I was really nervous, but I could enjoy talking with strangers. They were very kind. If they couldn't understand what I mean once, they didn't make a face at me and they listened over and over until they understood. I was glad to meet them. After going interview, I thought that I have to study harder and talk with many people positively to improve my speaking English.

I'm going to try again!

1 million Syrian child refugees (Chace)

  There are now over one million child refugees because of the war in Syria. The United Nations called this number "a shameful milestone". The children were forced to leave Syria because it is too dangerous for them to stay in the country. Most of them are in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. They have recently started escaping to Europe and North Africa. The United Nations said: "This one millionth child refugee is not just another number. This is a real child ripped from home, maybe even from a family, facing horrors we can only begin to comprehend." Another 2 million children in Syria have no home. Half of Syria's 2 million refugees are children. Over 740,000 of these are under the age of eleven.

  Syria's civil war started in March 2011. The UN says it is the worst refugee crisis for 20 years. The last situation as bad as Syria was the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The UN high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, told reporters: "The youth of Syria are losing their homes, their family members and their futures. Even after they have crossed a border to safety, they are traumatised, depressed and in need of a reason for hope." The UN warned the world that the children face many dangers. Many are now used illegally for child labour. Others are sold for early marriages or for the sex trade. Very few fo the children can go to any kind of school. The UN said just 118,000 of the children are in education.

site link : http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1308/130824-refugees.html

My next vacation (Misa)

by:Misa


After the end of summer quarter we have a long vacation. I'm planning on going to Seattle in Washington for seeing my friend. My friend who lives in Japan have stayed in Seattle for only one month. We have known each other for two and a half years, because we had been classmates since I admitted to my university in Japan.  He came to America for internship. I have not met him for 6 months, so I'm looking forward to seeing him.

Moreover, I'm going to travel the East Coast with my Japanese and Taiwanese friends. We booked 7 days tour. This trip is going to go NY, Boston, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C. and so on. I'm not sure, but I think 7 days is enough to travel around there. I am especially looking for going NY. I heard that NY city is the largest city in the world. However, I've never been there and I just know there on TV or the Internet ,so I'd like to go there and go sight seeing. I like this proverb "Seeing is believing", so I want to see them with my won eyes. Although I need to save money, I guess that I may spend a lot of money on vacation, so I have to care about it.

I'm really excited, because I think these trips are going to be a great experiences for me.
I hope that everyone can spend a good vacation!!!

Smoking (AMAL)

By: AMAL

Smoking

     Smoking is a dangerous bad habit.it contains nicotine. Most of the people have the bad habit of smoking.

They say that smoking helps them think and forget their problems .Also, Most of the people are addicted it by someone ,specially our teenagers are affect by their friends. Every year the number of people are death for this reason and sometimes they are avoided their family, which really shock-able. They also say that they can’t stop it.

Everyone who smokes should be asked to stop this bad habit.

     Smoking has a lot of disadvantage .it causes different diseases such as cancer of different part of the body and brain stoke which makes Para lashed our body. First of fall someone addicted by others and after some days they become chain smoker which really unthinkable. Our young generation are involved day by day but they do not know about the effect of smoking. They couldn't understand how many diseases and naturally they fall in death.

     There are some diseases that are exposed smoker :

Heart disease: smoking leads to coronary heart disease and stroke and the number of annual deaths from heart disease, more than half a million people Smoking causes 25% of them.

Respiratory diseases: Smoking causes chronic cough, mucus secretion, inflammation of the chest.

Cancer: lung cancer associated particularly cigarette smoking and oxidized carbon is one of the most leading causes of various types of cancers.

      This is the (tobacco) within the material leading to addiction so you should consider it very seriously and respond as we face other kinds of addiction, especially since researchers emphasize the role of smoking a starter or the entrance of addiction to other substances such as drugs and alcohol

from the religious point of view it is prohibited .it is clearly shown our holy Quran ,if someone waste their valuable body parts with out excuse than they will be destroy in future.

it harmful not only smoker but also non smoker, if someone smoke infornt of their family member than each member get nicotine by smoke. That harms both side

     On the other hand it has no advantage but some one think that it gives relaxation and our young stars think that it becomes smart .

      So I think that smoking is a really harmful to mankind and it waste our valuable life and valuable many thing like property and so many on.so everyone should conscious about the bad effect of smoking and our government should try to increase awareness .

lastlyI would like to say if we want to get good health and wealth than we should avoid it.

Choosing My Next Destination

By: Abdulaziz Aldyaf

          Without a doubt, moving to a new city is a difficult decision. Over the past couple of weeks, I couldn't help but think about my next destination. Clearly there are several factors to consider that are related to the city itself and the university where I will be studying to get my master’s degree.

          Moving from Saudi Arabia to the USA is an important experience for us. Naturally, we want to get the most out of this experience. As a result, choosing what city we will live in is an important decision. There are several factors to consider. To begin with, we need to decide on what kind of city we want to live in. personally, I prefer urban cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. On the other hand, it seems that my wife have fallen in love with the suburban life style and would like to live in a small quite town. In addition, we need to consider how much it would cost to live in a certain city before making any decision. Even though I prefer to live in a big city, however it might not be a good decision to move to an expensive city such as New York or Los Angeles. Furthermore, before moving to a new city, we need to find out whether or not the new city is suitable to raise a child since we have a 9-months old daughter. Moreover, it’s really important to know what the weather is like all year long since we have no tolerance for cold cities, since we came here from a very warm city. In addition, we like to have fun, so we need to know what kind of activities are there to do since we don’t like boring cities.

          Choosing the right university is not an easy decision. Perhaps the most important factor is getting accepted, which is actually not in our hands. Another important factor to consider is whether or not the desired university has a good language institute since my wife is planning to take a long ESL program. Another important factor is that any university that I want to enroll into needs to be included in my employer’s list of approved universities. Finally, I need to find out if the university provides special programs to get professional certificates in my field - Information Security.

          Obviously there are several factors to consider but luckily we still have plenty of time before making any decision. Even though it might seem a difficult decision to make, however I’m sure that as soon as we find the answers to our questions it would get much easier.

Brad Paisley's concert

by: Misa

I went to the concert of Brad Paisley. Do you know him? I didn't know him. His name is Brad Douglas Paisley. He is famous American singer song writer and musician and was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia in the U.S. His music style is a cross between traditional country music and Southern rock. His songs are often added the pop culture and humor.

I went to the concert with my friends and my friend's homestay family. My friend's homestay mother had some extra tickets, so they invited us.  We had never heard all his song, but his songs are very nice and I like him and his songs now. I want to know more about his songs. It was a little bit different from Japanese concert. I was especially surprised that everyone was drinking and dancing while he was singing. Everyone who came the concert really got lively. I've never gone to an American concert, so it became great experience for me. I had so much fun weekend!!

Visit Mecca ( AMAL)

BY: AMAL

Visit Mecca

           No one can cast a shadow of doubt on the fact that every religion in the world has a well

know city. There are many cities in the world where people can practice their religions, and they are

 called “ Holy Cities”. As an illustrious exemplification, Mecca, Rome, Cologne, Venice, Lisbon,

Tiwanaku which is now a religious center of many ceremonies, and Cuzco,

,Charleston which is located in South Carolina.

 

The Holy Mosque in Mecca

 

 

 

          Islamic people visit Mecca for many reasons, but we can consider the religious reason as a significant one. In the first place, Mecca, which has a population of 2 million, is a city in Saudi

Arabia and it is the holiest city in the religion of Islam, which is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion. To demonstrate, Islam, which is the second largest religion, represents the religion of 24% of earth’s population. Besides, the city is 70 km, which equals to 44 mi, away from Jeddah, which is the final destination for pilgrims. Mecca has a height of 277 m on the top of sea level. To emphasize, the pilgrimage to Mecca attracts millions of Muslims from all over the world. Pilgrims, who are travelling to a holy place, visit Mecca during al Haj period every year. Dhu al-Hijjah, when the pilgrims come to Mecca, is the twelfth Muslim lunar month. In regards to architecture, Mecca has lost many old buildings and famous sites because Mecca has expansions in size and infrastructure by Saudi government. Moreover, Mecca is the place of Prophet Mohammed, who was a leader to unify Arabia to a single religious situation under Islam. Regarding the landscapes, Mecca, which is containing many highlands, has difficult infrastructure. Eventually, Mecca has warm temperature in winter, which can be from 20 °C (68 °F) at night to 40 °C (104 °F) in the afternoon. The temperatures of summer are considered extremely hot and go beyond the 50 °C (122 °F) recorded in the afternoon and 30 °C (86 ° F) in the evening. Between November and January, there are rainfalls.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First 3 days in California (Risa)

By Risa

 This is my first time to go California. I choose to come here, because I have a little dream to go here. And, I like to study English. In the first day in California, I was arrived at Los Angeles airport, and I spend in the hotel in down town. Police, and fire fighter are always running their car, and it was very scary. Next day, I meet with my friend in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. I spend three days with them, and it was very fun. I went to Venice, Santa Monica, Holly wood, Universal studio and some shopping malls. I was all new for me, and it was great 3 days. In Venice, there was a broad sea, and clean sand, and water. There are many people playing with skate board. It was surprising for me. There are few people doing skate boards in Japan, but there are 80% of people having those. I was surprised. In Santa Monica, we went shopping to have some closes. I thought California is very hot, but it isn’t. Morning and night was freezing, so I chose to have warm closes. Then in the night, we watched the sunset in Santa Monica. It was great and beautiful. Also, I was surprised that sun will set in eight o’clock. In Japan, sun will set in six. In the winter, it gets earlier. Next day, we went to see Holly hood for a little while, and we went to universal studio. It was totally different from Japanese one. I like the transformer one, even I never seen the movie. I was always screaming. It was very fun. So, I brought an annual pass to go there. I will be in here for 1 year, so I bought it. On the last day, because I have only 3 hours, we went to Globe to eat breakfast. There are many American things, like chocolate courting apple, big pizza, and big drinks. I love there! I was sad that I only have 3 days to have fun in there. I like to go there, if I took a driver license. Also, it was sad that Americans will be an adult from 21 years old. In Japan, we will be adult from 20 years old. So, I am allowed to drink, rent car, and smoke. Even we can smoke from 18 years old here I don’t smoke, so I am very sad that I can’t do anything for that. However, I am very happy to be in here, so I will do my best for study, and making friends!!!

Facebook "selfies" can harm relationships

  A study from the U.K. indicates that people who post too many "selfies" (photos of themselves) on Facebook and similar social networks risk damaging their real-life relationships. Wikipedia says a selfie is "a genre of self-portrait photograph...typically taken either with a camera held at arm's length or in a mirror." The report, from Birmingham University, analysed the impact of these photos on the relationships of 508 participants. The study found that excessive photo sharting and sharing certain types of photos makes almost everyone like you less. Head researcher Dr.David Houghton said: "People, other than very close friends and relatives, don't seem to relate wiell to those who constantly share photos of themselves."

  Wikipedia explains the rise in popularity of selfies. It says: "In December 2012, Time magazine noted that selfie was among its top 10 buzzwords of 2012." Celebrities such as singers Rihanna and Justin Bieber are famous for uploading hundreds of pics of themselves. Many people who post selfies will be surprised, perhaps shocked, by the Birmingham research. Wikipedia explains: "The appeal of selfies  comes from...the control they give self-photographers over how they present themselves. Many selfies are intended to present a flattering image of the person, especially to friends whom the photographer expects to be suppotive. The research may suggest the exact opposite is true.

Link : http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1308/130818-selfies.html

self introduction -Risa

by Risa

 My name is Risa Yokochi. I'm from Japan, Shizuoka prefecture. Shizuoka has beautiful view, clean ocean, green mountains and clear air. My parent house is on the top of the mountain, so we can see the wonderful ocean views. I have 4 people and 1 dog in my house. There are father, mother, little brother and me. And my dog's name is Leo. He is a Japanese dog called Shiba-ken. He has white hair, and small body. My parent house is in Shizuoka, but now I am living in Hyogo prefecture. It is near Osaka and Kobe. I am now a university student in Hyogo. I am doing a share house, which means I am living with 4 people in one house. We are all in good relationship. We go out to eat dinner, cook dinner and talk every time. We are all university student, and all in same university.

 I am learning English since I was in elementally school. I was in a kind of international school, and I was learning English with English, Math, Science and everything except Japanese and music in English until I graduate elementary school. In junior high school, I did 'middle years program' and it was like as same as elementally school. I did all in English, except Japanese and physical education. And when I graduated 'MYP', I did an 'international baccalaureate' program. I studied everything in English, except Japanese and Chinese. Finally, I took the diplomat of 'IB'. I think this score is for people who will go to university in English county. But because I like to be in Japan, like, I am not brave enough to go aboard for 4 and more years, so I went to university in Japan. However, my little dream for my life was to go a little while in America, and learn English. So I choose to learn international studies for my major, and I came here to learn English. For my future, I am not thinking yet, but I wish I can use English, Japanese and little of Chinese. I like to be in Japan or America, because I like here!

 I have many hobbies so I can't decide. I like to go shopping, go out with my friends, doing sports, cooking and sleep all day. I like to live slowly and don’t like to rush. I wish I can spend a great and super days in here, and I love to go many famous place in America!

About Me ( Yasser )

I was born in 1986. I lived in Mecca, It’s a big city in Saudi Arabia. My favorite sports are Soccer and running. I finished Diploma in 2008. After that I went to University to complete the Bachelor in Computer Engineering. When I finished my Bachelor, I get a scholarship to U.S. It was my dream when I was a kid. However, I am learning English in UCR EXTENSION now. I will study a master in Computer Network. Before I go to University, I need to pass Ilets exam. Because, this’s one of requirements for University, and also there is GRE exam, I should pass it. In fact, I want to become one of the best engineers In Networking. Actually, I like the challenge. SO, inside myself there are many dreams and goals. I hope to Achieve them. In the future I would like to work in a big or a famous company.

Finally, I hope for all People a great success and a happy life!

My Favorite Things ( Yasser )

Everyone has favorite things. Everyone has different favorite things. There are those who like a book, places, food, teachers. I will write about my favorite things, my favorite things are computer maintenance, processing networks, and I like traveling. When I was a kid, I liked Computers. I think it’s amazing when you like it. Also a Computer provides the world. It’s consist of two parts (hardware, software). Actually, I am interested when I work on a computer.

In addition, I have another favorite thing. Another favorite thing is travel. I like traveling. In fact, I visited Indonesia. It’s really an amazing place. Also, another favorite place is Dubai. Dubai has the largest tower in the world, and has a fountain dancer. Finally, when you have many favorite things in your life, you will be an interesting person.

Self-Introduction- Hsin Tzu (Grace)

by Hsin Tzu

My Chinese name is Hsin Tzu Tsai. Everyone call me Grace. The city I live is located at the south of Taiwan. It is hot there and everyone like to drive cars and motorcycles instead of taking the MRT. There are four members in my family. My parents are still working in Taiwan, and my brother and I are now studying in the US.
I have graduated from a vocational high school in June. I was major in advertisement design. During the high school, my teacher taught us lots of skills of painting and drawing and also the basic skills of computer graphic. I think those skills are very useful to me.
My hobby is drawing and I wish I could become a great designer in the future.

Elena's New Apartment (Rawan)

By: Rawan

      Two months ago, My friend Elena was accepted in a great job in Los Angeles. It was her dream job, so she decided to move there. She asked our friend Abby, who lives in LA, to help her find a good apartment there by the next month. Abby began to look for an apartment for Elena near to her new job office. After 3 days, Abby called Elena to tell her about some apartments that she found. She recommended her to come to Los Angeles and see some of them. Elena agreed to come, and planned to go there on the weekend. Then, she booked a flight to Los Angeles. By Saturday morning, Elena arrived in Los Angeles Airport (LAX), and told Abby to pick her up from the airport. After a while, Abby arrived and picked her up. Then, they started to see the apartments. After several hours, they found one which matches Elena's requirements, so Abby suggested renting it immediately. Moreover, it had a nice view on the golf court, and it was near to her new job office, so it was a great apartment. However, Elena wanted to live in an apartment which allows her to have her pet, but she didn't find any apartment that can matches all of her needs like this one. The only problem that she had was her cat. This apartment didn't allow the residents to have pets. As a result, she spent a lot of hours thinking what would she do with her cat? Then, she discussed having her cat with the property manager. In the beginning, he didn't let her have the cat in the apartment with her, but when she offered to pay more money for that, he agreed. Finally, Elena was so happy and satisfied because she liked this apartment so much, and decided to rent it.