鷹揚空

After introducing how to make the Foot Shuttlecock, I teach you how to play it. There are many ways to play, but they can be classified into two broad categories: Static and dynamic plays. In static plays, only one foot is involved in kicking, and the other foot stays on the ground. This is the most basic way to play. In dynamic plays (also called jump-kick plays), both feet must jump up to the air to kick the shuttlecock. Static play and dynamic play can be combined. In addition to kick the shuttlecock up and down by feet, it is possible to use the shoulder, one or both hands, and even the chin and the forehead to kick the shuttlecock up and down. In addition to individual plays, shuttlecock can be played by a group – competition, and relay kicking. You can produce limitless ways to play the Foot Shuttlecock as long as you can imagine.

Last time I introduced the traditional toy, Foot Shuttlecock. It is a cheap, interesting and easy toy. Now I take the some pictures to show you how to make a Foot Shuttlecock.

A month ago, I became a tutor to teach a senior high school student chemistry. At first, I was so excited because its pay is high. In addition, to be a chemistry tutor is always my dream and I even want to be a chemistry teacher in the future. However, it seems that teaching chemistry turns into my nightmare now. I have to spend lots of time preparing lessons because I have forgot lots of theoretical knowledge of chemistry. Although my major subject is Chemical and Material Engineering, what I learn in college is different from that in senior high school. The college education trains me as an engineer, so I study how to find the reasonable solutions to solve lots of condition in a chemistry factory. In most case, I only need some physical concepts and basic calculation instead of chemistry knowledge to solve the problems in my study. That is, my college lessons mainly focus on applied chemistry rather than theoretical chemistry. As a result, it always costs me lots of time to prepare lesson which is mainly theoretical chemistry. Despite the fact that teaching chemistry is not a easy job for me, I think that it is a good opportunity to discipline me to be an excellent teacher. I would never give up because it is my dream!!

         What are your toys in your childhood? Are they just computer games? To be honest, computer game indeed plays an important role in most of our childhood in recent years. Can you imagine what children played fifty years ago when there were no computers? Looking back at the early years of Taiwan, children had the sharp observation power and simple but sincere creativity. They were well adapted to search their environment to find some discarded rubbish to design their toys. All these toys combined their vast imaginative power. For example, Foot Shuttlecock is an interesting traditional game. It is considered that Foot Shuttlecock was derived from an ancient Chinese soccer game called “Chu Ju”. People often bought live chicken from the market and killed it in the kitchen on traditional festivals during rural agrarian times. Children would not give up this opportunity to get some long feathers from the tail end to make a Foot Shuttlecock. It is not difficult to make a Foot Shuttlecock. However, if you think that it is troublesome to make the toy, you can spend only ten dollars to buy a Foot Shuttlecock. Foot shuttlecocks are played by kicking them up and down. It is an excellent device to train your body balance and eye-limb coordination. Does it sound interesting? Just give it a try!

Every time I read J.K.Rowling’s novel, I always wonder why Harry Potter books always go to number one in the best-seller list. I think that it is because that Harry Potter is a good fantasy book containing the usual elements such as magic, adventure, and wizardly creatures. In particular, it mixes the school with magic. Even though J.K.Rowling claims that she does not write the novels in view of children’s idea, it’s indeed that Harry Potter books appeal to children all over the world. Not just that though, but the books also contain issues that adults would face in real life such as death, problems with friends, troubles at school, rivalry and much more. As a result, it’s no wonder that the books have ended up appealing to a much wider audience.

In addition, J.K.Rowling uses lots of red herrings in the Harry Potter books. The red herring in the books always distracts readers from the original objective. However, I think it is also the reason why  Harry Potter books are so charming, for you can not guess the whole story in the beginning, and the ending is always interesting for a wonder.

There is an argumentative topic which has drawn my attention for several days. Should the medical students who studied in Poland take scholastic assessment tests before they becomes a doctor in Taiwan? It is said that these medical students in Poland got less disciplines to be doctors in comparison with the medical students in Taiwan. They spent only four years without any intern class to get the bachelor’s degree in Medicine. In addition, these medical students almost can not successfully admit to medical school in Taiwan, so they went abroad to study medical science in Poland, where they can admit to medical school more easily.

It is reported that most of these medical students are doctors’ children. One of these parents said that the courses that the medical students study in Poland are very difficult and this education can always enlighten their children. As a result, the government should not discriminate against their children and force them to take the scholastic assessment tests. However, some people said that what the parent said was not true. They found one of medical student’s articles from the internet and showed that it is impossible for these medical students to fail in any class because the examination paper is always the same every year. On the other hand, if what the parent said was true, they would not need to argue with the government for their children must have the capability of passing the scholastic assessment tests.

Last week I watched an impressive movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This film is a 2008 American fantasy drama film, based on the short story of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. F. Scott Fitzgerald states at the beginning of this story that it was inspired by a statement made by Mark Twain, that the best things in life happen at the beginning and the worst at the end.

In the film, the main character, Benjamin who looks like an old man when he is born. To his own amazement and delight, he grows progressively younger until he reaches the prime of his life and enjoys great happiness with marriage, children and a successful business. In the end of the film, he turns into a boy and lose all his memories. With his valentine’s accompany, he dies when his appearance is a baby.

I saw two special films last week. The first on is The Sea Inside, which based on the real-life story of Ramón Sampedro. Sampedro is a quadriplegic after a diving accident. He fought a 28-year campaign in support of euthanasia and his right to end his own life. He was not able to get the court to rule in his favor, but he did end his life by having drank cyanide. The second film is The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, which also based on the memoir of the same name by Jean-Dominique Bauby. These film depicts Bauby's life after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 43, which left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome. The condition paralyzed him, with the exception of his left eyelid, so that he could only communicate by blinking.

In my opinion, both the main characters in the two films are paralyzed, but they held different attitude toward their life. Sampedro thought being a quadriplegic made his life without dignity, and euthanasia is the only way to let him hold the last self-respect. However, Bauby didn’t give up his life, and he tried his best to write the memoir by blinking his left eye. Although they all died at the end of the film, the meaning are totally different. I don’t mean to comment which character’s choice was the better one, but I had been taught since I was a child that Bauby’s attitude was right. No matter what you thought, the lesson from the two films we can learn is that “different attitudes toward the same situation will cause different stories and our own life is the combination of our different choices”.