Once upon a time

In a good or bad way does social media affect human?

Recently, I kept thinking, only based on my experiences, whether technology benefits me or not. Of course, there are countless advantages, such as connect anyone anytime anywhere. People love grouping, and social media helps achieve that. I do use FB, LINE, and so on, but I fall into serious pondering about if this is really good for me. Normally, I ended up spending too much time on them, causing short-sighted eyes, aching back and shoulders, wasting time, and procrastinating schedule. Even worse, I was fully defeated or overwhelmed by others' successful stories, and fell into depression because I felt envious, jealous, and aggressive. They encouraged me to move up but also shortened me and made myself look not as good as they did.

Holiday season's around the corner and I believe everyone does love it. This year is a special year because I spent Christmas and New year at US. Fortunately, my friend is coming to town from Asia and we, or I'll say I, planned the trip for about a month. I can feel amused and excited in every my nerves until today... I found that he hasn't done much research and doesn't even look at my plan at all. At first, I thought he might want to have a leisurely trip without following certain rules. However, he talked to me about planning all his 8 days stay and hoped we can plan it together to in case of getting lost.  When planning the trip together, I can barely feel he was truly paying attention on this, which upsets me because this is mostly his trip not mine. Anyways, my reflections from this incidence are...     1) Traveling with your partner can make you know your partner well because it reveals all his/her good and bad habits and the way he/she handles problems and emergency.     2) Some people never say thank you and always take everything you did for granted. It's sad and impolite.     3) Even for really intimate friends or family members, you should always show respects and understandings.

The line between public and private has blurred in the past decade, both online and in real life, and Alessandro Acquisti is here to explain what this means and why it matters. In this thought-provoking, slightly chilling talk, he shares details of recent and ongoing research -- including a project that shows how easy it is to match a photograph of a stranger with their sensitive personal information.

Privacy is, in a way, is both the means and the price to pay for freedom. The more free stuffs we got, the more personal information we give away freely. Namely, when we are happy with the free apps, we are telling the companies what we prefer.  So, next time, when you are enjoying any free contents, stuff, or resources, think twice!

Love-shaped kiwi from farmer's market! After watching 'the stolen years', I started to think what are the best things you can do for both people you love and those who love you. The answer is simple but, I'll say, knowing is one thing and doing is another.

In the film, the leading character is dying for strange disease. To stay with the one she loves the most, she decided to accept the surgery with a thread of hope of survival. However, she failed and became vegetative. And her lover felt really painful to swallow the fact.

Therefore, from my perspective, being healthy is not for only yourself but those who love you from the their depth of hearts, making healthy your crucial responsibility.

The first two Icebreaker games I have played in the US

Back in the time I was a college student, I was responsible for planning events for a HS camp. At that time, we also had icebreakers to make everyone feel comfortable when they got to an unfamiliar environment. That's the most common reason for icebreakers. Here are what I experienced:

1. One lie and two truths

    To know more about your team members, you need to create something in common first. This way, you guys can talk on and on.     HOW: you need to provide three things about yourself and two of them are true, the other one is a lie. Next, let the rest of people guess which one is a lie. But remember, don't be panic when they yell out the lie, just pretend you are clam.

2. Thrones and roses

This one, I'll say, is an update for every team members. People should tell one bad and one good thing about your recent life in turn. Usually, other persons will feel up and down with you. So, you may get warm comments from them,  thus creating topics for further discussions.

Today is Columbus day, an official holiday but also a holiday that no-one really celebrate. Most people regard it as  another happy shopping day since many stores are on big sale, and so do I. With a bit curiosity, I looked up the history of Columbus day. And I found that American people do love their country from their deep heart. That’s my reflaction as well. US government created this holiday chiefly for commemorating Christopher Columbus first discovered American continent on 12th Oct. Therefore, the 2nd Monday in October will be Columbus day. From my perspective, still many people observed this holiday in that they all were induced to purchase by the discounts. Or maybe you can say they tried to flourish the US economy.

Somehow, I finally felt like everyone deserves a second chance in western culture compared to the concept of only winners survive in Asian culture. In USA, whatever occupation is yours, nobody ever judges, complains, or discriminates. If you fail, there will be someone to welcome you to start over or guide you.

Do you know 1 in 10 APLs has chronic hepatitis B, and 1 in 4 people with chronic hepatitis b will die?

Usually, most people who have Hepatitis B DO NOT know they have because Hepatitis B has no symptoms. Therefore, even if you feel like healthy and energetic, still, you possibly have chronic Hepatitis B.

Misconception: Hepatitis B will transmitted by foods or water.

Actually, Hepatitis B ONLY transmitted through--

Mother-to-child: NEWBORNs whose mothers have Hepatitis B have high chances to get, too.

Unprotected sex.

blood-borne infection.

Please urge every of your friends and family to get tested before it is too late...

Women in Leadership

Last weekend, I attended a lecture at MONTE JADE WEST's event. There were totally three panels that day and the third panel impressed me the most. As usual, the moderater hosted the panel discussion and four top-notch business women were invited to talk about women leadership nowadays and their leadership philosophy. 

I found it really informative and inspiring, especially when Erica mentioned Asian female leaders. These are few reflections about what they mentioned.

Everyone can definitely do and accomplish something depending on what do you want.

For example, Susan said she once worked in a top company that the tasks are dispersed elaborately, which means she was doing almost the same things and has no right to adjust the system. Although the job may be stable and competitively paid, she wanted to do something meaningful and worked in a startup with the risks of close-down. She could choose to be safe and sound and work at the company for her lifetime, but she didn't. Instead, she decided to take risks and she has never regretted about the decision.

Learn to pretend. Fake it until you make it.

Go push yourself, because when you do that way, you are much possible to succeed. Erica said, sometimes, people should push oneself to a zone where they don't feel comfortable with. Everyone feels panic when they are somewhere they are not familiar with, just do it and adapt it.

Always be open-minded to receive feedback.

Ask others to provide opinions of what you did, and revise it at a time, this way, you will know if you are right or not. However, most asian people are afraid of doing this because, in asian culture, people are not taught to do that. Btw, Erica also shared her example of asian culture. Asian people tend to use "we" a lot unconsciously, but in the United States, people are taught to be individual, so, they used "I" as a beginning of a sentence.

At last, I like a saying goes that "All dots connected together to create who you are." No matter what you did in the past, it seems like what you did will connect to shape your behaviors, mindsets, and future.

Lake Tahoe- the most beautiful lake. This is the largest lake I have seen ever. Most people can stay here for over three days in that there are so many things to do. For example, people can enjoy swimming, camping and just laying at the beach. Moreover, the facilities here are absolutely sufficient for campers. And I always want to try BBQ here especially with the beautiful scenes. What's more, there are so many markets, restaurants, and unique stores that you can buy almost everything. It's so convenient!!!!!

In summer, the weather is so cooling and comfortable that I wish I could stay here for the whole summer!!!!! People look so relaxing and easy. Here is definitely one of the greatest resort in California.

During winter time, you can also go skiing and enjoy the whole mountain view from the top of the mountain or the from the cable carts.

Listen and Write - Language Dictation

Again!!! I found this website interesting and useful, especially for those who are keen for training a pair of English-sensitive ear, just like natives.

Even though I consider the style and layout of the website to be kind of busy and lack of well-designed, I will say simple instead, it certainly benefits people who want to learn different language. 

There are numerous songs, newspaper clips, or videos of part of movies that you can listen and watch, but at the same time, you need to type what you hear. And the score depends on how fast and how many times you try to make it right. That is, if you type very quick and correct, you are easier to get higher scores.

HOW:

Take level test first

define which level how sensitive your ears are so as to find which materials are suitable for you to practice. The only advantage, or you can say disadvantage, is that until you type the exact words, you can move on to next sentence.

Practice the tasks at your level and then move on

Btw, there are also language other than English.

American sweetheart-- Taylor Swift

I hardly believe she is only 23 year-old although she looks young indeed.

Strangely, some of her pictures looks just not like her I don't know why.

And in my opinion, she looks awesome and fantastic with Scarlet lipstick and more charming when she is singing because her voice is comfortable and powerful.

Although it is kind of out-dated, I really recommend this online educational website and its great founder, Salman Khan.

The link is the record that he addressed a speech at TED in 2011.

Salman Khan is definitely one of most creative, thoughtful and erudite educator. He originally tried to solve his nephew's math problems remotely, and it ended up his nephew likes the video more than in person.

Accordingly, we can tell from this video that the way people gain knowledge has changed a lot from books and lectures to video and online courses. From my point of view, it is such a wonderful thing that we feel ease to learn anytime anywhere. No matter where you live, poor or rich, once you get the internet access, you can enjoy learning without geographic restrictions. That's completely amazing!!! And I am looking forward to more and more people's getting well education whatever tool they use.

Btw, there is another online learning website, called Coursera, and I recently signed up for the classes.