Color and Style of Clothes...journal #28

Clothes can tell a lot about a person who is wearing it. That cannot be judged by science, but everyone can see that. As we know, everyone has some favorite colors, and they also have some their own styles in wearing clothes. The colors and styles of the clothes which they wear can tell us a lot about them.
First, let look at the colors of clothes which someone wear. If they usually wear some clothes with dark color I can tell that they want to hide something inside their body, or they don’t want to share some private things with other people. I can say that they live inside. On the other hand, when I look at someone always wear clothes with bright colors, I can tell that they want to show something, they want to be indicated by everyone and see them. They don’t want to hide everything. Moreover they want to share with a lot people. I can say that they live outside.
Second, let look at the styles of clothes which someone wear. When I see someone who usually wears formal and polite clothes, I can tell that that they have good organization in their life. They want something in order and clearly. On the other hand, when I see someone who always wears messy clothes, I can tell that they live no in order. They want something is messy, too. They want to follow any rule of society, and they have their own rules for their life. They don’t care about anyone who is living around them.
In short, color and style of clothes can tell us a lot about person who wear it. So, when we wear something with our favorite colors and styles, that mean we will show everyone something about us.

Thanks!.......Journal #27

If I have chance to say thankful sentences, my parents will be the first people who I want to say a thank-you. They made me here, and nobody else can do that. I mean I was born by them. They gave me all of their love. They always think about me even though I can say that I have old enough to take care myself. I really want to thank the love which they gave to me. In my mine, I never forget what they gave me. I also never forget their faces which make me happy. I hope that they can have a good health and a good life when I’m studying far away. Second one who I want to say a thank-you is my girlfriend. She always besides me and help me so much when I came to the US. She gives me delicious foods. She also is a person who I can belief and talk to her what I’m feeling when I live far from my family. She always motivates me to study and do good things when came with her. I really want to appreciate the love which she gave for me. Last but not least, I want to say thankful sentences to ALP teachers. They tried to help me so much. I love them. I know that I will get what I did before. So, one thing I need to do is that I have to work hard if I want to have a good score. Nobody can help me have good scores even God if I don’t study hard. At all, I really want to thank people who make me and everyone happy. Thanks!

My delicious Food, Banh Xeo ...Journal #26

Pho is a popular food in my country. However, I have one thing which is more special for me than Pho. It is Banh Xeo coming from the middle of my country. It's really good if we can eat in winter. It will take about 30 minutes to make the dinner with Banh Xeo for 4 people. To make Banh Xeo we need:
1/2 lb boneless pork loin
20 medium shrimp
10 fresh cilantro stems
10 fresh basil sprigs
10 fresh mint sprigs
2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup self-rising flour
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 green onion, chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

3 cups bean sprouts
5 tablespoons oil
nuoc cham sauce red leaf lettuce

And this is a Banh Xeo recipe from http://www.recipezaar.com/:

1. Place pork loin in a saucepan; cover with water and bring to a boil over medium heat; simmer until cooked through, about 20 minutes.
2. Allow pork to cool, then julienne into strips.
3. Shell and devein shrimp; slice each one in half lengthwise.
4. Rinse herbs and drain; set aside.
5. In a mixing bowl, prepare batter by mixing rice flour, self-rising flour, water, coconut milk, curry powder, sugar, salt, and green onion until smooth.
6. Divide pork, shrimp, onion, and bean sprouts into 5 separate little piles for easy access during cooking.
7. Heat 1 tbsp oil in non-stick frying pan until hot; cook pork shrimp and onion until it starts to sizzle; add 1/2 cup of batter and swirl to cover pan and get batter underneath.
8. Place one pile of bean sprouts towards the center of the crepe, then cover the pan tightly.
9. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes, then uncover and loosen edges of crepe and fold over with a spatula to form an omelette.
10. Transfer the crepe to a serving platter.
11. Repeat process with rest of batter.
12. Do not cover the cooked crepes or stack them (they will lose their crispness- they should remain light and airy).
13. To serve, place one crepe on a plate with some lettuce leaves, herbs also with a small bowl of nuoc cham.
14. The person cuts a portion of crepe, wraps it in a leaf of lettuce with some herbs, and dips it in the sauce.

Have a good try!

Extinct language...Journal #25

My group is researching an extinct language, Mozarabic. It was Southern Ibero-Romance language, and it was developed in those parts of Spain under Arab occupation from the early century until about 1300. It was the spoken language of the city-dwellers, who remained Christians while the peasants generally converted to Islam. In this time, there were about two millions of Moxarabic speakers.
We also knew that term Mozarabic was devired form the Arabic word Musta’rib and the term Ajami. It was the Romance language which was spoken by the Christians in the muslim possessions on the Iberian peninsula. Unlike most Romance languages, Mozarabic was written in the Ariabic alphabet rather than the Latin alphabet. This language died out soon after the Arabs were driven out of Spain at the end of the 15 century. However, it still used as a liturgical language in a few places in Spain and Morocco.

Boo….Look like … me???... Journal #24

It was a rainy night at countryside. A young man first time went back to his father land after fifteen years living in a big city. Before coming back here, he heard that there were a lot of horror stories on this land. The rain got lighter and then stopped. He realized that he was lost to a cemetery. He could feel goose bump along his body and behind his neck, but he had no choice. He had to find the way to go home. From far, he saw a light, seemed like a candle light. He ran toward that and met a young girl. She was wearing white with long black hair and had a voice like the wind whittling on ears. “Where are you going ?,” asked she. He replies “I am lost. Would you please show me the way to go home? It’s very scary around here”. The young girl smiled gently, “Oh, yes. There are many ghosts in this region. They look very scary… like… me…” She turned around and the young man saw a huge swollen bloody face. He yelled “Aaaaaaaaaa….” and ran with all the power he had. Luckily, he saw a policeman. He told the policeman about what he saw and how scary the ghost was. The policeman wrote down all he said and suddenly asked “Does she look like…. Me????” (No more word to say)

Should we hit our children??? Journal #23

In Vietnam and most of other Asian countries, hitting children is not an illegal action at home or at schools. Some people from other cultures such as American, European think that it is very cruel to hit children. They think that only parents who never love children hit their own ones. In our culture, it is not always right. Some parents love their children even more than themselves, but still punish them whenever they do something wrong. I know a story about a young man and his old mother. He was already an adult and still lived with his mom as our culture. He did something really bad and his mother used a big long stick to hit him with all of her strength. This man cried not just about what he did but about his mom. He felt that she could not hit him as hard as she could before. He realized that she was getting old and became weaker day by day because of pressure of life to raise him up. He promised to himself that he would never do bad things and would become the best person so that his mom could be proud of her son. At my point of view, hitting children is not the best way to teach them. However, it is not true that parents who hit their own children never love them. I got hit sometimes by my father when I was a kid trying to climb to the roof. Until now, I still remember that whipping. I saw tears in his eyes, tears of love and worriment.