Letter23 Every Goodbye Makes The Next Hello Closer

It's been a few week since the last time we have met, and unfortunately, this letter might be the last one ever since we are going to prepare for our university enrolling test ESAT. In fact, during this period of time,things have changed so rapidly that I don’t even know if it is true. Our class presentation, the end of English Honor Program, the leaving of Aubrey…… sometimes I have so many complicated feelings. Despite this, I still want to my life with you.
I know you must be questioned about the thing that we haven't responded to your Newsletter recently. And the reason is that we have to do a performance presentation to show to the public what we have learned in these two years. To be honest, it is really uneasy for a class made up of eighteen students to arrange for such a big event. During the process, we've changed our scripts so many times and conducted the discussion again and again. Also, there is no doubt that we really had some quarrel between each other. Even though I didn't participate in the drama performance, I was extremely exhausted just like everyone did because I took in charge of sound effect. I really didn't know playing sound effect would be such a tough task, and couldn't remember how many times I was blamed by everyone for my terrible performance. Sometimes, I doubted that if there was no presentation, then wouldn't it be better? However, I knew that I was wrong when I found that everyone's performance received deafening clapping and continual laughter. Yes, it is just the spirit of EHP Family: when we get together and nothing can stop us!
Another reason why our presentation becomes so special is that there will be no EHP freshman after us. Hence, we invited all of our EHP’s senior schoolmates to join in and watch our drama. There are three parts in our show: the first one is our part called Untold Truth, a drama adapted from the script The Flying Doctor; the second one is performed by our twelveth grader in EHP called Pupa; the last one is alumni’s part called Every Goodbye Makes The Next Hello Closer. Each one has its unique meaning, and I believe no one won't be deeply moved when seeing these dramas. Hope the spirit of Zhong Zheng EHP will still go on forever and thank you, Tim, for your companion in these two years.

Letter 22: Newsletter, vol. 8, no. 35 29 April 2018

Hello, Tim. Today I will respond to your questions mentioned  in your latest article.

1. What did Liam do to be put on “house arrest”?
Liam was put on “house arrest because he gave the bug lady a nip on her ankle. As far as I could see, even though Liam and his just wanna protect their owners, that injury could be very painful.

2. What could happen to a dog if it’s a “serious” bite?
If a dog commits a “serious” bite, he could face death penalty. I think this kind of laws really go to extreme. I don't suppose that killing a dog could decrease the risk of being bitten.
3. Why was Liam excused from a more serious punishment?
Liam was excused from a more serious punishment because the bug lady entered the house without permission, and it was the very first time Liam attacked human.
6. What was the only thing that was disappointing about the seats? The stadium didn't provide a wide range of food selections. He was hoping for some nachos with cheese, and  some ice cream.I totally agree with you because a sport game without tasty foods is just like a hamburger without cheese and meat.

Letter 21 Nestle “Pure Life ” Bottled Water

In today's letter, I'm gonna respond to your article about bottled water, which I as well found very horrible. I have to say I totally agree with your remark. I think I have the same opinion like you. Actually, not only in America, but the whole world has been conceived by the lies of bottled water. In Taiwan, similar phenomena also happen in everywhere. Because of convenience, lots of people often buy bottled water instead of drinking water, and it often comes in a wide range of variations. Some with fashionable apperance are painted with vibrant colors , some feature in high water quality acquired from the  wilderness, and some even claim that their water contains special substances which are beneficial to our body. I believe that you must have heard of a bottled water brand name called “Evian”. Certainly, their unique commercials is something that everyone could never forget. I still remember one of their advertisements is that one day some pedestrians casually walk on the street, and surprisingly, they discover their adult figures turn into children in the mirrors. They feel so exciting as to dance and try lots of ridiculous moves. Although there isn't a bottle of Evian water in this story, it do really change our imagination：drinking Evian bottled water can make you younger and more dynamic. The endorsement is really fascinating, but doesn't the sink water has the same effect, too? In addition, the process of manufacturing bottled water is really not environmental-friendly to the earth. Overall, “bottled water” this kind of products are just wasting our resources, from every aspect.

Letter 20: ZZSH’s School Volleyball Competition

Hello, Tim. Today I want to tell you what happened in my life during this week. There was an important activity held recently: our school volleyball competition. Frankly, it was not until went to high school that I began to play volleyball. In my opinion, playing volleyball is such a tough task, and I really don't know how control the ball properly. Every time when I try to contact the ball, it will either bounce off ouiside the court or just pass through my sight.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that I'm totally not good at volley ball, I still had to participate in the game because we had just six boys in the class, which were equal to the number of volleyball players on on the court. In contrast, our girl group had enough members to recrew their group. Even though we've decided the members, we still didn't know how to play volleyball. To prepare for the game, Angela proposed to practice volleyball every morning,and absolutely, she was our great team leader.Being a bit reluctant, I still went to school earlier every day because I wanted to do something for my classmates, and meanwhile saved my volleyball skills.
Truly, I had lots of feelings when playing volleyball. Sometimes the training was not so interesting, but because of the company of teammates, I would still keep going. At the same time, volleyball also taught me what is team work. Volleyball is a kind of team sport, we always had to communicate with others so we could work smoothly. One thing I have admit is that probably I was the worst player in the team, all the other members were better than I. William was former team leader in school volleyball team. Patrick and Jack were somehow good at volleyball. Hugo, the most impressive one, who was really hard working and had good performance. It is needless to say our boy group lost the game, but surprisingly girl won their game and could still compete with other classes. Hope our girl group will bring the triumph back!

Letter 19: My Tomb Sweeping Day Vacation

Hello, Tim. Reading your article is so interesting. I'm so surprised to know there is also boat racing in Arizona! But, instead of responding to your question, today I would like to tell you what I did during Quingming Festival: I and my family set out for the trip to Seoul, Korea.
It was really exciting to visit another country I have never seen. I don't if you know about Korean culture a lot, but to me, Korea is like a paradise I've been dreaming. Korea is really a amazing place: range from Kpop music to ancient palaces, it has so many things to offer. I could still remember the moment when I took on the plane, and this is the first time I felt the fascination of Korea. Those flight attendants from Korea had perfect appearance as though they came out from Korean dramas. It was so strange to be surrounded by Hangul.
After arriving at the airport, we began our first day route. In my opinion,even though China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea are all yellow people, there are still a lot of cultural differences. In contrast to other country, Korea is a society where people really care about their appearance. They have so many cosmetic and garment brands, and because of this, we had lots fun shopping in Myeongdong. By the way, if you have the chance to travel to Korea, then choosing their socks as some souvenirs is something you must do, since they are at low price, come in a variety of patterns, and all made in Korea. In addition, not only their fashionable clothes, they are also for their traditional food like kimchi, seaweed, deuk bog gi, and some snacks like spicy fast noodles. I have to alert you do not eat too much Kimchi because you may feel your butt burning like me.
During the second day and third day, we went to Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, two of most famous palaces in Korea, with elegant traditional Korean dresses Hanbok. Those architectures are so classic and ancient so that we kept capturing these excellent landscapes. Also, we went to Bukchon, a special section for Korean buildings. It is said it is still a residential area. If I'm a Korean, I want to live in that kind of house.
At the last day, we went to jamsil, a place almost occupied by Lotte, one of most influential company in Korea. Originally we just went there to kill time, but unexpectedly, there is a park where cherry are in full bloom. I haven't seen so much blossoming cherry in my life. I even don't know what is real flower rain. This experience is so touching!
In the end, we went to Incheon Airport and flier back to Taiwan, hoping some day we will go to that beautiful place again!

Letter18：Grand Canyon

Happy to see you have a wonderful journey. Truly, most people in Taiwan doesn't really know clearly what is canyon. We only know mountain since there are full of mountains in Taiwan. Speaking to Grand Canyon, my mind flashes back to a American family driving a huge wagon for thousands of miles,and that is a big thing to them. I'm a bit surprised when you tell me you went to Grand Canyon by train, and there are lots of hotels and various kinds of stores. This totally does not make sense! I thought Grand Canyon should be a bleak and wild section and no one is there, but it really doesn't present as what I think. There is no doubt that the journey to Grand Canyon takes a long period of time. If I were you, I would be reluctant to go to a place like that since it is extremely boring to see the same landscape all the way down. In my opinion, Grand Canyon is a beautiful place but we should never visit by ourselves because it's really exhausted and not worth to set out for the trip in order to watch some odd rocks. It will be better to search for pictures taken by professional photographer or aerial camera since this kind of terrain can only be captured perfectly by them. Normal landscape is really monotonous. No matter what, listening to your journey is really fun!

Letter17: St. Patrick’s Day

           
It's really special to listen to the inspirational history behind St. Patrick’s Day. I have to say, people in Taiwan realize Christmas and Thanksgiving very well,but few of them can describe St. Patrick Day in detail . This kind of holiday might only appear in English textbooks. In fact, I didn’t know what's the differences between England and Ireland until at the age of 15 I learned about Europe geography. If you didn't tell me this story, I might thought St. Patrick Day is an English holiday. Much to my interest, many sections around the world seem to be similar, but actually they are totally different from each other. For instance, Taiwan and China, North and South Korea, Spain and Catalonia……people will get confused if they don't inspect them further. I have never knew in fact Irish are forced to become a part of the United Kingdom, their patriotism really touch me, and they never gave up being independent from England. I have no idea what's going on between England and Ireland, but after I google something about it, I found the modern celebration of St. Patrick Day really attract me. These day, not only in Ireland but England, Canada and America celebrate St. Patrick Day. I think Boston may be one of the city highly related to St. Patrick Day the most. Their local NBA team even features the green clover. According to the Internet,people will wear green clothes, hats and shoes, drink green beer, and parade on the road. The pictures of St. Patrick Day look so great. Hope some day I will go to Ireland.