Hi ! Teacher and classmates . How are you doing ? I 'm sorry that . I could 't come to the party on Friday . Because I had go to work . I wish , I could come and enjoy with you guys on that day . But I enjoy our class ' pictures on the blog . I think , the party was very fun . And I also thank the teacher about helping me hold my certificate when I wasn 't there . We are having a long holiday . So I 'm missing all of you very much . With best wishes to you for a merry Christmas and a happy NewYear . Our president , George Bush , has a younger sister . Her name is Doro Bush Koch . Last month , she published her first book . The book 's name is " My Father , My President : A Personal Account of the Life of George H . W . Bush " . That book is about the Bush family . It is a biography of both of the Presidents in the Bush family . The book reveals many silly facts about the Bushes . Doro spent 2 years writing this book . Doro is the first woman In US history to see her father and eldest brother become president . The book ranks as a bestseller . I 'm looking forward to buying her book . A hardcover copy of the book costs $ 15 . 00 on Amazon . com , but I don 't know if it is worth it . Hi , Class , How is it going ? I hope , everything is going good ! Did you miss me all this time ? ( ja , ja , ja , ja , I 'm just kidding , do not believe me . ) Well , I have been absent from school for a long time . It was not my intention , because , I like to go to school a lot . But , I had to leave it for a few weeks , and I became sad about it , because I did not see you guys for a long time . - ( First , I left the school on Thanksgiving Week . It was , because my son was on vacation from school , therefore , I had to stay with him the whole week . Second , I started volunteering at my son 's school for more days . For different reasons , I needed to be as near as possible to him and his classmates . Let me tell you that volunteering for any good cause is one of the best things that you can do . It is not just for your own benefit ( because you are practicing and improving your English , and you are getting some experience ) It is also for the satisfaction that you can feel from helping others that are in need . It does not matter if the time that you can dedicate in this labor is just a little bit . The most important is , that you must do it with all your heart . I was very busy , but now I am returning to my normal schedule . Some days , I woke up with a lot of desire to come to school . But , it was hard for me , because I had to choose between my duties with my son and my school . This Monday , I am returning to school . I hope to understand everything that the teacher Richard is teaching , because I lost a lot of lessons . O . K . Class , take care and be well : - ) Posted by When I arrvied to San Francisco airport . I was very nervous and worried , because I felt everything was difference with my country . I was upset and I would like to came back in my country , because everything I need to learned like a newborn baby . When I wanted to go somewhere , I needed to wait for my husband . I scared to people conversation with me , that why , I didn 't want to go anywhere . Because I didn 't mean what they are talk to me , and answered with them . After that , so I went to school to learn more English . I felt better than befor I came , I didn 't to be scared to takl with poeple . I tried to conversation and pratice with my classmate and teacher . When I went outside I to talk poeple , but sometime they didn 't understand and I tried to desribe to them . Right now , I can drive by myself and sometime I can go to do something by myself . My English not well , but at less I can understand and talk with poeple by the basic conversation , when I learned at school . I hope in the furture , my English will getting better and I can find a good job . When I was a little kid my father passed away . My mother worked very hard to support the family . She tried to raise me and give me a better life because I was the only child she had . She was a good mother and she was a good father , too . She had a small shop . She made salted tofu to sell to stores . We called it funhi then . The stores resold funhi to people who wanted it . She worked very hard day and night . Most of the time I stayed with my grandmother . She always forgot to buy me a toy , but I was still lucky . I had an aunt . She was not very rich , but she gave me whatever I wanted in that time . Sometimes when my aunt came to pick me up , she saw me cry and then she asked me what happened . I told her I saw the other kids had toys and I wanted a toy like them . She went to tell my mother and my mother didn 't know what toy I wanted . Then my aunt took me to buy a lot of toys . Several years later , I grew up , and our family situation was getting better . My mother hired a person to help her with the work . She had more time to stay with me . One day , she asked me what I wanted . I told her that I needed a motorcycle . Then she took me to buy a motorcycle . That was the first toy she bought for me . After I got that motorcycle , I liked to go out , because I had friends and I didn 't want to stay home all the time . I was playful at that time , but mother very much regretted buying me a motorcycle . She said that before she didn 't have time , but right now , when she had more time to stay with me , I went out on that motocycle day and night . She said it was hard for her to see me . When I got home , she was already asleep . Until now it is very hard for her to see my face , because I am here and she is still in my country . Everytime we want to meet , we just talk by telephone . I hope my mom will come here soon . When I was living in Viet Nam , my favorite holiday was the Viet Nam New Year . It was a lot of fun . One week before New Year , everyone was very busy . Some people needed to clean their houses and some enjoyed going to the flea market to buy some stuff that they needed to decorate their houses before New Year arrived . Anyway , I loved the flower flea market the most . It was very crowded with people . They sold many kinds of flowers for three nights . The customers never forgot to buy some red lucky envelopes that were special for the children . But now , that I am living in America , maybe Christmas is my favorite holiday . After Thanksgiving . everywhere you go you see stores selling stuff for Christmas and a lot of Christmas trees . Some people decorate their houses and their front yard with lights . It 's very beautiful . But in America , they don 't have any flea market at night and people are busy with their jobs . They just stay home with no where to go . Anyway , I still miss New Year in my country very much . Posted by Last Friday was the my day off . As usual , at 4 : 45 pm I was watching TV at home . The telephone rang . I turned off the TV and went to pick up the telephone , but when I heard the sound on the other end I was worried . I recognized the voice was my supervisor . I thought maybe I made a mistake last week and he was calling me to complain . When I talked to my supervisor , I found out that he just called to ask me to work overtime , not to complain about any mistake . I asked my supervisor , why he didn 't call me earlier . because it was 5 o ' clock , and I hadn 't eaten dinner yet . How could I get to work by 5 o ' clock ? Then my supervisor told me that one of my co - workers just called sick at 4 : 30 , and he hadn 't known my telephone number . He had to check in the computer , so he was a little late . And he told me not to worry about being late . I could come in at 6 o ' clock . I was very happy because this was the first conversation I had in English on the telephone and I could understand it one hurdered percent ! I hope I can understand all my conversations in English in the future . I know this is only my dream and goal . Hello , my wonderful class ! I am going to tell you a story about what is respectable and unrespectable . This story is about a passenger and a stewardess . I heard it on the radio . One day , a man was sitting in an economy - class seat of a plane and reading a newspaper . He looked very happy . A woman who was overweight sat next to him . She began eating and didn 't stop . The man looked very uncomfortable . His face turned purple because he was very angry . He thought , " Why is this ' elephant ' sitting here ? There are many seats around the plane . She makes me unhappy . I have to figure out a strategy to convince her not to sit here . " Then , he saw a stewaredess walking around the plane . So the man got out of his seat and went to talk to her . " Hi , young lady , I have some problems , " the passenger said . The stewardess smiled at him . " Yes , what can I do for you ? " she asked . The passenger said , " Hey , can 't you please ask the woman sitting next to me to move ? Before she sat there , I could look out of the window at the beautiful natural scenery , but now I just can see an elephant . " The stewardess still smiled at him . She said , " OK , I will check to see if we have another economy - class seat for you . Just a moment , please . " . So she began to check . The man was happy again . He looked at the fat woman and she was still eating her food . In a little while , the stewardess came back and told him , " Hmm . . . Unfortunately , we don 't have any vacant economy - class seats , but we have a first - class seat . " The man was very excited . He thought , " I just wanted to change to another economy - class seat , but now I can sit in a first - class seat . I 'm very lucky . " The stewardess talked to the woman while the man was thinking about his good fortune . The stewardess said " Hi , lady , we are offering a first - class seat to you now . " The woman was very surprised that she could sit in the first - class section . She followed the stewardess and smiled to the man . The man was puzzled . He wondered to himself , " Why did the stewardess offer that ' elephant ' " a fiPosted by In a large apartment building , there lived about 30 to 40 tenants . Among them lived two handicapped people . A blind man and a crippled man . And both of them lived alone and lived next door to each other . Every day the tenants who lived in this apartment went about their lives the same as all the other people who lived in the city . They went to work or to school . At night they stayed at home to watch TV or enjoy music . Their lives were simple and peaceful . One windy night in autumn , suddenly , someone in this apartment building shouted , " Fire ! Fire ! " The appartment really had caught on fire . Every tenant escaped from the apartment except the blind man and his crippled neighbor . No one went to help them . When the blind man and the crippled man were woken up by the noise , the cripple saw that the apartment was surounded by the fire and smoke . The blind man heard the sound of the fire and smelled the smoke . They were very surprised . They tried to call 911 for help , but the telephone had lost connection . They ran to the window , but there was only fire and smoke . No one knew that they were still stay inside the apartment building . While the blind man and the crippled man didn 't known how they could escape . Both of them ran to open the door , but of course , outside the door it was full of smoke . They ran into each other . So both of them and talked a while about how to escape . Then the blind carried the crippled man on his back . The crippled told the blind the safe way to escape . At last , both of them escaped safety from the fire . From this story , we can learn that when we meet something dangerous or difficult , if we keep calm and help each other , we can solve many problems easier than if we try to solve them by ourselves . A couple of weeks before my daughter was ten years old , she gave me a paper from her school . It said , " Your daughter 's eyes have a problem and she can 't see clearly , so you have to take her to the doctor to check her eyes . " One day later , my husband made an appointment for her on the next Friday . That Friday I was working , so my husband took her to Kaiser Hospital because our insurance was in there . My husband paid $ 30 for an appointment . A doctor checked my daughter 's eyes and he told my husband that my daughter needs to wear glasses , but we had to pay for the glasses because our insurance company didn 't cover that . My husband called and told me about that on the phone . I was very surprised to hear that , so I told him to go home and I would find another place . After two days , I found a glasses shop on International and 6th Avenue . I went and asked for some information and then I showed our insurance policy . The doctor told me that our insurance is very good . So the check up was free . Then the seller explained to me that if my daughter chose glasses worth less than $ 200 , they would be free . But my daughter chose glasses for $ 380 , so I paid $ 180 to the shop because it was over the coverage of our insurance company . The doctor also gave me some information . She said , " Your daughter can go to a check up every year for free but the glasses are just free every two years . " So we went home , and my daughter was very happy . Now I think the problem was with Kaiser . It was not our insurance company . I don 't like Kaiser but I have to go there sometimes . Posted by John Yau is a star and very famous in our Kung Fu school . He has been learning Kung Fu since 2003 . He is a young boy . He is just 9 years old , but he has won 9 medals in Kung Fu competition . Do you know who John 's mother is ? Let me tell you . She is our classmate ( Yue Ai ) . John practices very hard everyday so he improves very quickly . He went to his first tournament , in Berkeley , in 2004 . I still remember that day . He was very nervous . He cried and wanted to see his mom . I told him , " I am here . I can take care of you like your mother . " Then he listened to me . He did every thing very nice . He won three 3rd place medals in his first competition . We took pictures of all the students who went to the tournament . The next day , when John came into the training room , everyone saw 3 bronze medals hanging on his neck . He ran around inside the room like a bird . I thought , he was very happy and very proud of himself . The next year , was his second time at a tournament . He didn 't need anybody to help him . He knew every thing to do , and he could help other new students . He won 3 silver medals at that time . Last year he still won 3 medals , but not bronze and not silver . They are gold . He is a good boy . He is hard working and continues to practice every day . He doesn 't want to travel with his parents . He just wants to be the champion every time he competes . He wants to get a Black Belt . I was very happy . In one year he took a giant step . I enjoy our students ' successes . I feel my hard work is worthwhile . Today I was absent because I went to the DMV to take a driving test . Yesterday my father said , if I passed the test , he would make something special for me on my birthday , so it made me feel stress . When we got to the DMV , we saw the road and we got ready for the test . On the car in front of us , the back lights of the car were not working . My coach said , " If some lights are not working , the car can not go on the test road . You will be the next one , are you ready now ? " I said , " I feel very nervous . " He said , " Don 't be nervous . You will pass . " After that , the examiner came to my car and my coach had to get out of the car . The examiner asked me something about the car and he told me to drive where he told me to drive . About 20 minutes passed , we got back to the DMV . The examiner asked me to park the car . After I parked the car he said to me , " You have made some mistakes on turning the corner , although you make these mistakes you still pass . " When I heard this , I felt very excited . I made a phone call to my father and told him that I passed the test the first time I took it and I said , " Don 't forget what you promised me . " He said , " Ok . " After that , I made phone calls to my sister , mother , aunt and cousin and told them about that . The whole family are happy for me . When I got my first child , I was so exciting , so worrying , and I exciting . Because the new baby will bring me into the other new life , I worrying , because I will be bussy when the baby cry , and I need to learn how to take the baby . before one month the baby came my husband very excited to looking a name for the baby , it was a baby girl , my husband said however a girl look like , but a beautiful name is very important to a girl , so he tried looking a beautiful name for our first child , he kept looking and looking , but he didn 't find any name for our child . few weeks later , he told me , he decided to give the baby 's name is Yucca , I didn 't know what that mean , I asked him did anyone have this name , he told me , this is a special name only for our baby , no anyone have this name , this is a name of the plant with beautiful white flower , I hope our baby look like a flower beautiful forever . In the eariler , there were many people in my husband 's family against about the name of the baby , they want my husband change , but my husband didn 't want to change , and they said , the sound not nice , prounoun like yuc , then , my husband said ok , he change the pronoun like Spainish yuca , the writing of my daugther 's name still Yucca . He wanted keep the name until my daughter growing up , if she doen 't like then she change by herself . In October 1965 , after the " China Second Sports Meeting . " competition , about thirty outstanding Wushu players stayed in Beijing . We came from different cities . We were members of the national Chinese Wushu team , and were preparing to visit Indonesia . My friend , Guo Pei , and I lived in a room together for about six months . She was from Shanghai . I was from Jilin . We were the same age and same height . We became good friends . We are still friends . She has big eyes . She is strong willed , but very nice . She has been divorced for ten years . She and her daughter lived with her foster mother in Shanghai . One day , three years ago - in 2003 , she called me . She said that she had immigrated to the United States . I was so happy . She is living in Los Angeles now . We call each other almost once a week . I am very happy , I have a best friend in my life . My cousin lives in Cambodia . Her name is Rartny . She had a fiancé . She was going to get married in January , 2004 . Her fiancé lives in Phome Phan and he works in an Orphanage . He 's a nice person and handsome . One day he told his boss , " I 'm going to get married " and his boss said , " OK , but you and your wife must go to the hospital to check for HIV . If you don 't have the result of the blood test , I can 't let your wife to live in the Orphanage . " Her fiancé came to my cousin 's house and brought her to the hospital . After 5 hours they got the results . She has AIDS . She was very shocked . The doctor said , " She has been infected with AIDS for 4 years " and he explained to her that AIDS is contagious and that she could pass it on to someone . And then they came back home . My cousin told her family and they were very surprised . She never had a boy friend before her fiancé . How did she get AIDS ? . She always listened to her mother and followed traditions . Her fiancé really wanted to get married with her , but he couldn 't . He was very sad . Her wedding was a failure and she has been upset . Now she looks and feels like a leper . Today , I went to the school to pick my daughters up . I was late a few minutes . because I needed go home first to cook lunch for my daughters before they got home . On our way home , in front of the school , we had to wait for the traffic light until it changed to green . I saw a little girl in front of us . She already had stepped down to cross the street and she crossed to the other side . I wondered why she was going home by herself ! I looked back behind me and I didn 't see an adult . My daughter asked me , " Why is that girl walking by herself ? " The girl looked younger than my daughter . We didn 't say any thing more . I just kept my eyes on the little girl because she was walking on the other side of the street from us . But , she just walked and didn 't look carefully . Some streets don 't have much traffic there . Still , I was afraid for her . I watched her for more than three blocks until I turned to go to my home . The girl continued walking . I think , it was very dangerous for her . Posted by I came to America six years ago . I still miss Christmas in my home town . My home town is Ho Chi Minh City . There is a big church in District 1 that is the most famous church in town . At Christmas time , the church is crowded and busy . Some people are religious . Some are not religious , but they like to go to church . In another place , we call District 8 all the Christian families decorate their houses for people to visit and take pictures . And at this time , people like to buy something to prepare for the Vietnamese New Year which is coming soon . On the street , a lot of people make a market in the front yard of their house and we call it the free market . Any way , Christmas in my home town is not important like in America , but I still like my home town Christmas . Maybe , because I grew up there . This Thanksgiving , my husband had one week of vacation . My father - in law , mother - in - law , my husband , my daughter and I went to Los Angeles . During the trip to Los Angeles , we talked a lot . We enjoyed the view by looking out through the window of our car . When we arrived at Los Angeles , it was evening . We stayed in my sister - in - law 's house . We cooked and ate dinner together . On the first day in Los Angeles , we went around Chinatown and bought some groceries . Then we ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant . The next day , we went to the Little Saigon Plaza . It is a large supermarket . There are many small , different types of stores there . Some sell products that we use daily , but eighty percent of the stores sell diamonds , gold , clothes or DVD players . We enjoyed this happy holiday together . I hope we will have more holidays in the future . I went to my class in Room 101 this morning . My teacher called on me to go in front of the class and to talk about last weekend . What did I do ? I told about the Oakland Zoo , because I took my children went there last Saturday . I remembered the first time that I went to the Oakland Zoo was on Mothers day , because my friend told me that the zoo had a free ticket for mothers on Mothers day . I saw a lot of parents taking their children to the zoo . Outside the zoo there are some rides for children , and inside the zoo there is a sky ride . When you go on the ride it is very exciting because when you look down you can see all of the animals . When I went on the ride for the first time , I looked down and I saw a lion . I felt too scared . I thought that if I fell down in the lions place what would do I do . My daughter sat with my husband . She dropped one of her shoes by accident in the giraffe place and , until right now , she doesn 't want to go on the sky ride again . But she is so happy and interested in going on other rides . She likes to see the animals and she told me , " Mommy , I want go to the zoo again . I like it and I don 't like you to go shopping . I get so tired when we go shopping . " After I heard that , I suggested to my husband that we become members of the Oakland Zoo . Whenever we free time , we can go there because very it is very convenient for us to go there . If you have time , you can visit and if your children like the zoo and are happy there , you can join and become a member . The family plan ( 2 adults and 4 children ) costs $ 80 a year . I hope you will like it ! More than forty years ago , the winters were very cold in Jilin City in China . One day in the winter , when I was young girl about seven years old , I walked to school from my home . I saw big snow , and a strong wind swept my face . I felt very cold that day . I put my hands into the other side of my sleeves , I rolled my shoulders forward . I took small and slow steps . I didn 't want to go to school . I wanted to return back to my home . At that moment , a soldier stepped in my front of me . He said , " Little girl , relax your shoulders ; put your hands out from your sleeves , take deep breaths , step bigger and faster . You will feel better . " I felt much better , after I followed his advice . What he said , is engraved on my mind even now . A few weeks ago , I saw a movie on TV , that was called " Criminal . " It told about a little boy who just was 11 years old but he was a murderer . The police found that some kids in his village had been killed and all of the victims had been attacked in the same way . But the police couldn 't find who the murderer was . Then , after that , they asked for help from the F . B . I . Several days later , some FBI agents came , investigated and wrote a report . Finally , they suspected and arrested a man who lived in that village . He was a quiet man . For a few years , he had been separated from his wife , however , he was living with his son . When the FBI visited the man , his son was suddenly missing . The agents thought that he had killed his own son and even the other kids . Then the police came to search his house and they found some things that proved that his son was alive . The FBI thought that the man was covering up something . Finally , that man had to tell the truth . Although it hurt him very much , he said that his son became a sick boy when his parents separated . He was jealous of all the kids who had a happy family . He liked to play baseball . So , when he couldn 't control himself , he brought his friends to the wood to play and after that , he attacked them with the bat . All the victims were his friends . I remember , when the police arrested him , that he wasn 't afraid and his face was very angry . If you were his mother , how would you feel ? Posted by My eldest sister , her family has immigrated to Canada in 1989 . I immigrated to the USA in 2002 . We always keep talking by long distance telephone once or twice each month . But my elder sister 's family didn 't call me recent two months . I felt that this was an uncommon thing and I felt nervous , so I brought a telephone card to call my elder sister 's family . Unfortunately , I learned that my brother - in - law got sick from the call . He is 78 years old . He had treated in the hospital for about 20 days . The next day when he got better , he went home . But at that day , his youngest son got a serious appendicitis . When my nephew waited to see a doctor in the hospital , there were eight patients who had the same appendicitis but not serious were also waiting . May be the staffs of the hospital knew that my nephew is an Asian . They scheduled him to get his operation last , so he had waited for about 22 hours . Treating appendicitis requires a simple surgery . If a patient who has serious appendicitis doesn 't get surgery soon enough , it is very dangerous for him or her . During the surgery , my nephew 's appendix exploded . It was very dangerous , but my nephew was very lucky . His life was saved after about two months of treatment in the hospital . Do you think he was treated unfairly because he was an Asian ? Samantha and Julian are my new Kung Fu students . They were born twins . They are just 4 years old . Their mother told me ; Samantha is one minute older than Julian . The twin 's mother told me that they were very shy . Samantha is less shy , because she is learning ballet once a week . I said " You don 't have to worry , I am a patient teacher . They will become self - confident students . When the twins took the first a class , they were , as expected , very shy . They cried and cried . They didn 't want to leave their mother . I told them that they could practice with their mother . They held their mother 's hands to do all the movements . Every time after Julian finished doing his forms , he went back to his mom with his face to the wall . He used his hands to cover his eyes . He kneeled , and bent his body forward , and put his face on the rug . This made everyone laugh . The twins were very shy , but they very smart . Now , they have gotten much better . Their mother doesn 't come into our training room . I enjoy teaching them very much . I love them very much . Hi , teacher and class . I have been learning English with you for almost one year , but I haven 't written anything on the blog . I know that practicing writing and speaking are the only ways to improve my English . I only can say " sorry " , because I thought I didn 't know enough English and I didn 't have time to write an essay . Also , I don 't know how to use a computer . Everyday , during the class , I just understand about twenty to thirty percent of what teacher taught . I thought the level of this class was too high for me . Sometimes I wanted to quit it , but I told myself to try one more week . So I still study in this class . People of my town , tell about the Legend of Toscano . Toscano was a very rich land owner . He owned many haciendas near my town . . A hacienda is a big ranch . Toscano was a bad land owner . People say that he didn 't trust anyone and that he killed a lot of people . He never trusted the banks . That is why he burried all his money in different places in the mountains . After Toscano died , people said that he would appear in the night riding his black horse . He would cross the town and people could hear the steps of his horse . Some people saw him . They couldn 't see Toscano 's face . They also said that Toscano 's horses hooves never touched the ground . Outside my town , people found a big rock . On the rock there are the marks of horse prints from Toscano 's black horse . People think that Toscano appears because he tries to guard his treasures so that nobody can steal his money . Mom I want to tell you …… A lot of things have happened in my life lately . I have been sad and I have been happy . Everything shows me that I am not a child anymore . I must be more responsible . When I came back home from San Francisco , my mom asked me , “\ Would you like to find a part time job . " I said , " Sure , why do you ask that ? " " Oh , nothing ! " my mom replied . I didn 't think about why she had asked me that . In fact , I didn 't have any ideas about getting a part time job . Once when I went to bed late , I heard my parents talking about their salaries . My dad didn 't have a job because he didn 't have good heath . In my family , only my mom works . She doesn 't speak English well . Her boss is Chinese , and she gets paid about $ 1 , 000 per month . She has to pay rent and utilities . My brother pays for food . He gives my mom $ 500 every month . But now , my mom said our family does not have enough money to pay our bills . When I heard that , I was very sad , because I didn 't know that before . The next day I bought a Sing Tao newspaper and tried to get a job , but it is hard to find a part time job . I won 't give up . I will keep trying . I gave my mom $ 200 from my savings . She was amazed . " My daughter is an adult now , " my mom said . Mom , I want to tell you that I can help family , too . You have to take care of yourself . Don 't get sick . I will work hard in school . Don 't worry about me , because I am already an adult . Trust me ! Posted by I thought our teacher was an average cook . I was wrong . Our teacher is indeed a good cook ! Today our teacher brought a turkey to the class for our " Thanksgiving " party . He carved the turkey into many slices . I tried one slice of the turkey . Oh , it was delicious ! I couldn 't believe that our teacher seasoned the turkey so tastily . I liked it very much . Thanksgiving is the first holiday of the season , so everyone is very excited . Most families gather together to have turkey and some traditional foods . People enjoy eating and talking each other . Today our class had a big party for " Thanksgiving . " Everyone shared food in the class , so the tables were full of foods . Everybody enjoyed good food and each others company . We appreciate our teacher very much for staying up all night and cooking for us . We 'll always remember your tasty turkey . We hope our teacher will cook for students every ' Thanksgiving Day . I thought our teacher didn 't love his students , but he does . In the city of Los Reyes there are many beautiful places to visit . For example , " El Salto " is a big waterfall and another waterfall is " Los Chorros del Varal . " People go to the waterfalls to have a good time and enjoy nature . The city of Los Reyes is located in the west of the State of Michoacan , Mexico . When you have a vacation or free time to visit Mexico don 't forget tovisit these places and you will see beautiful scenery like this . Click here to view the news on Aljazeera . The video stream uses the Realaudio program . If it hasn 't yet been loaded on your computer , you can get it here . RealAudio is free . Be careful , however , because RealAudio also sells a " premium version " that is not free . Tonights lead story is about corruption and politics in Taiwan . The hummingbird is a bird that lives in America . They live from Alaska to the Tierra de Fuego at the tip of South America . The hummingbird is one of smallest birds in the world . They are only six centimeters tall . The majority of hummingbirds have a very eye - catching plumage . Their special feature is that they can fly flap their wings at a high frequency of 70 or 80 flaps per second . That permits them to fly backwards or to the side or even to stay static in the air . Another characteristic typical of hummingbirds is that they have eight pairs of ribs . Other birds have only six pairs of ribs . The hummingbird eats the nectar of flowers for energy . To get protein , they eat small insects . This food is rich in the energy that they need , because their method of flight is highly demanding . To wake up the interest of the female , the male performs a special dance . When the female is fertilized , she builds a small nest from spider webs and cotton . The nest is built in a small bush . The female lays two eggs in a period of two days . Then , they sit on the eggs for 14 to 19 days . A hummingbird feeds her children for 3 or 4 weeks . The female goes back and forth to the nest about 140 times a dayto feed her young . Natural enemies of the hummingbird are the matis , wildcats , and humans . Posted by I would like to share with you , my classmates , a little some jokes and short verses , which I heard in Brazil . " A woman should never cry for a man , because he could be drinking your tears in the mouth of another woman . ' ' ' ' Not all declarations of love are made by words , sometimes a simple look says all . ' ' ' ' What the eyes don 't see , the heart doesn 't feel . ' ' ' ' A daughter came back to her father 's house after her husband had hit her . Her father hit her also and sent her back to her husband with a message : ' ' If you think that you can hit my daughter , I will take revenge by hitting your wife ! ' ' ' ' A teacher called a mother to talk about her son 's behavior in class . The teacher said : ' ' Your son copied his friend 's answers during the test . ' ' The mother was surprised with the teacher 's statement and replied : ' ' How do you know that one that copied was my son and wasn 't the other boy ? ' ' The teacher responded : ' ' Because the boy , whom your son copied , wrote " I don 't know the answer to this question . " And your son wrote , " I don 't know , either . ' ' A young girl has been picking up garbage and recycling it to set up a scholarship to help poor children study . Her name is Fang Xin Qin . She is thirteen years old . She moved with her parents from Si Chuan to Zhe Jiang . Her parents worked hard . When Fang Xin Qin was only six years old , she got up early and took care of her young brother . She cooked breakfast for her family . She took her younger brother to kindergarten and then she went to primary school . After eight years , she was a middle school student . During those eight years , she picked up jars , cans and waste paper after school . She sold them and got money to help poor children study . Her actions touched other people . For example , some university students and singers donated money to her foundation to help poor children study . She is girl with a loving heart . We should learn from her ！ Meifang Guo This year Thanks giving day , I will be going to my friends home . My Kung Fu a student William 's mother was invited my husband , my son and me , going to their house to celebrate for " thanks giving . " I am so happy . Because , they are house looks at like park . I knew that from they were showed us are pictures . I want to see their house how beautifully . My birthday is November 7 , 1931 . When I was young , on my birthday , my mother boiled an egg for me on this special day . I was very happy . Now , last Tuesday , was my birthday . My children called me . They said , " Happy birthday , mom " . My granddaughter sent a birthday drawing card to me . In Oakland , my brothers , sisters and my husband went out to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate my birthday . We enjoyed ourselves at the party . Even though my sister has a kidney disease , she joined in the party . My other sister gave me shoes for my birthday . My classmate Nhu Thai gave me a special present . Nhu Thai planted the present herself . The present had tomatoes , persimmons , figs and apples . That day was my happy day ! Meifang Guo Posted by This spring I quit adult school and joined the Job Corp Center on Treasure Island . It changed my life . I had to do everything by myself . That was a challenge for me . I made friends over there . We studied together and helped each other . I harvested a lot from these experiences . I was living in the dorm and every weekend I went home because I had a part time job on the weekends . I shared a room with another person . We shared a bathroom with our next door corpmates . My roommate was an American named Vivian . She is a friendly person . I still remember the day I moved in , and she helped me to get bed sheets and wash them . She told me about the rules in the dorm . In the Job Corps Center , I took reading classes , accounting classes and high school courses . Accounting was not too hard but you had to type 45 wpm or more . You also had to be good at math and fast on the 10 key machine . I took the High School Exam last month . I am very sad because I didn 't pass the English , and I just passed the math . In the high school program , I studied math , science , history and English . Maybe some day I can take it again . Even though I have one diploma from China , I still want to try it . I raised my reading and writing skills . In the Job Corps Center we had to wear uniforms . It is a blue shirt and black pants . You know what ? The last time I washed my uniform in the dorm , somebody stole my uniform and next day I couldn 't wear it to school . I got a write up . A " write up " is like a parking ticket . You can a write up if you break the rules . I tried to explain to my teacher but he still wrote me up . He warned me to be more careful next time . There are a lot of Chinese students in the Job Corps . They come from many different cities . We often went out to Chinatown to eat Chinese food . The Job Corps is a government program . You don 't have to pay . Instead , you get paid when you are in the Job Corps . I got 40 dollars a month when I first came to the Job Corps Center . After several months , I got 80 dollars per month . We had field trips everPosted by ( Cookie mixture ) 3 - 3 / 4 cup all - purpose flour1 / 2 tsp . baking soda1 / 2 tsp . cream of tartar1 / 2 tsp . salt1 cup softened butter or margarine1 - 1 / 2 cup sugar2 eggs1 / 4 cup milk1 tsp . vanillawalnuts ( optional ) ( Cinnamon - Sugar mixture ) 3 tbsp . sugar1 tsp ground cinnamonPreheat oven to 375 degrees . 1 . Blend flour , cream of tartar , baking soda , and salt . 2 . In a separate bowl , mix butter , 1 - 1 / 2 cup sugar and eggs thoroughly . Add milk and vanilla and beat well . 3 . Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture ( butter , sugar , eggs , milk , vanilla ) , beating until well combined . 4 . Shape dough into 1 - inch balls . 5 . roll cookie dough balls into cinnamon - sugar mixture ( 3 tbsp . sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamond ) and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet . 6 . Bake 8 ~ 10 minutes or until golden brown . Makes about 66 cookies . Hi ! classmates , You and I are immigrants . We are from many different countries . We came to America to live . I don 't know how you felt , but for me those first days were very difficult . Seven years ago , I left Viet Nam . I came to America to live , because my husband was living in Oakland . He wanted to bring me and our three years old daughter to this city to live together . I remember the first few days when I came here . Everything was so strange to me . I couldn 't go to sleep because the time here is different than there . I stayed at home . I was very afraid to go out . That 's easy to understand because I didn 't know the way and my English was poor , too . I wanted to go to English school , but I had to take care of my daughter . I was very weary . At that time , I missed my parents and the rest of my family in Vietnam . I missed many things from my country . I would have gone back to my country if I had had a choice . Now , it 's a different story . My kids go to school . I have a little free time to go to English class . I also have a part time job , too . I 'm busy now . I don 't have time to think about coming back to my country or not . Posted by I took a plane from Beijing to Chang Chen , on October 28th of this year . I got onto a plane early . I found my seat in the middle of 3 seats in that row . After I sat down , a young woman came and sat in the seat on my right . Then a foreign man walked to our row and pointed to the empty seat next to me . My neighbor stood up to let him through . I hurriedly moved my legs so he could squeeze past . After he got his seat , l said " Hello ! Good morning . " He said " Hi ! Good morning . " I was curious and asked him several questions . " Where do you come from ? Why are you going to Chang Chen ? Do you like China ? What city have you been to ? " We talked a lot in English . He answered all my questions , I learned that he is German . He is married to a Chinese woman . He doesn 't speak Chinese . He has a 5 years old daughter . She is very smart , and she can speak Chinese , English and German . The man loves his daughter very much . He has a company in Su Zhou in China . He comes to his Chang Chun home once every 2 or 3 months . He just stays home for one week each time . He was surprised that I could speak English . He asked me , " Where did you learn English ? " " You speak English very well , " he said . I said , " Thank you ! But not so well , just a little . " After that , I told him that I live in the USA . and my job is Kung fu coach . He said " Oh ! You have to speak English . " The time passed very fast . Before long our plane arrived at the Chang Chen Airport . I said , " Nice to meet you . Thank you for speaking English with me . " He said " Me , too . " Then we said " Bye , bye ! " to each other . In 1993 , I lived in the State of Washington . I lived there from 1993 until 1994 . When I arrived , I felt sad because I thought that I wouldn 't find many friends there . My brother was there , too . He lived with his wife , and I went to live with them . They lived in a small village with only two streets and the only fun place was a bar . When I saw the village , I though that I would die of sadness . Well , for several days I only stayed in my room and only thought about how I would pass the days in the small village . One day my brother told me , " Come with me to look for a job for you . " Over there it was very hard to find a job because the activities are agriculture and cattle farming , and all the ranchers had already chosen their employees . You couldn 't find a job unless somebody was not there when the rancher needed them . I couldn 't find a job for one month . Finally , I found a job in the hop fields . This job is very hard . I will explain why . We work in group of eight workers . One drives a tractor , another drives a pick up with the wet string . Two workers tie the string on the wires that cover all the field . The other four tie the string to a bar to support the hop plants . I also picked apples , grapes , and killed moles . The pay was low . For this reason I came back to California . Here life is a little better than up there and the salary is better , too . Posted by In China , there lives a pair of twins . One is white and the other is black . They are 10 months old . When they go out on the street everybody stares at them because one of them is very pale and other is very dark skinned . People think that it is impossible that they are twins , but they are . Their mother said , " Our family is not mixed . We 're purely Chinese . Their father and I are 100 % Chinese and our ancestors are also Chinese . " Experts say that this is normal but very rare . Yesterday , I read a newspaper article that told about a girl with an unusual disease . She has eaten soil since she was seven years old and now she is 19 . Everyday , in addition to her normal meals , she also eats at least two pounds and at least four ounces of soil . If she doesn 't eat soil , she will feel uncomfortable and can 't sleep . It 's very addictive . According to the hospital , there is nothing wrong with her physically . However , she is still looking for treatment . I hope that she will find a cure . If I had known our teacher had a bunch of cards in his drawer , I would have asked him to let us practice conversation using the cards . I think it is very good to do this everyday . It is a good idea to change partners and tables in conversation every time . It makes our conversation practice more exciting . If we had started the conversation practice two months ago , we might have been very good by now . Hi , classmates ! I like to tell you about some thing happend in front of my house . Last Tursday , about 6pm , I was watching TV , I heared sound from outside . I didn 't surprised , bacuse my neightbourhood make a lot of noise all the time , I still watched my TV . One minute later , Renata asked and told me " did you heared something , I looked at outside , I saw a woman talking on the phone and saw something like blood on a sidewalk , that made me scared , I thought that sound was from gun " I said " yes I heared it , and I heared somebody scream , but I don 't know what 's going on " Then , we both looked at outside by a window , was much blood on the sidewalk , and many people talked . We found out somebody by shot , that made us scared again , bacuse on that time , only had both of us and my cousin at home . We called who live in my house , and told them came home later , somebody by shot in front of our home . After ten minutes , the police came and blockade the street almost three hours , the Ambulance took one person to the hospital . One police knocked door to asked us some information . I can 't belief that was happening in front of my house , my first time heared gun shot . I will try to write some sentences with " unless " , " as long as " , " provided " and " providing " . I hope our teacher and classmates will give me your valuable corrections . Thank you . I 'm going to play soccer tomorrow unless it rains . ( Looks good to me . ) I 'm going to play soccer tomorrow provided it is not raining . ( Still good ) The Fox team can win the champion as long as their team finishes the last competition . ( Not so good but we can fix it . The Fox racing team can win the championship for this year as long as their team wins the final race of the year . ) The Fox racing team will win this year 's championship unless they lose the last race of the season . ( OK ) Providing their team wins the final race of the season , they will win the championship this year . ( OK ) ( All the the rest are also OK . ) We 'll achieve our goals unless we are lazy . We 'll achieve our goals as long as we study according to the plan . We 're going to eat out tonight unless it rains . She can catch the bus as long as she leaves home early in the morning . They 'll arrive here on time provided the traffic is not too bad . He 'll go to the concert provided the ticket is free . Hello classmate . I want to talk about the place that I work . It is in San Francisco Ca . The name of the place that I work is " Art Institute of San Francisco . " It is a college of art , I have worked there about one year and half , I had a lot lucky to find this job . In all this time , I have worked confortable . All the staff is very friendly and help me a lot . When I was start in this job , I didn 't speak much English , but they said is o . k . But I said not is o . k . Because what happen when , I need to explain something about my job with my supervisor . I need to speak English because her speak English only . For this reason , I come to adult school to learn English , and reality study here in this school has helped me a lot . In my job I have a title of " Senior MaintenanceTechinican . " My duties are keep the building clean , repair furniture , fix lights , move furniture and set up , paint , plumber , repair the wall if are broken , help the staff if they need something that I can do . Is why I think my job is perfect to me because , it give me a time to study , and the opportunity to achieve my goals . In addition if I improve my English here . I can study in this college free and that is very good . As you know go to the college and study there is very expensive , is why I say I have lucky to have this job . If some day I can study in this college I 'll want study interior design or animation . Yesterday , I went to DMV to exam the driver 's license . When I came there , I took an examination immediattely . I didn 't have to wait because I appointed before I came . My examiner was a Black man . His name is Mike . He was really popular . He always had smile on his face so I didn ' feel nervous . I felt selt - confidence when I drove a car with him . He asked me : " who drove you here ? " I answered : " oh , my father . " But , you know , I lay to him . I drove to there by myself . Because I knew if I told him I drove a car by myself , he wouldn 't let me to exam the driver 's license . We drove a car five blocks from DMV and I began to do anything he said . First time , I had to stop on the red light . Second time , I had to turn right . Third time , I had to turn left . Four time , I had to drive back and parking . I just had three mistakes , when I stopped at stop side , I stoppde my car over the yellow line . But he said : " you passed " I was happy when I passed the driver 's license because I have to drive a car to work by myself . P . S : I lay to my examiner but I thought it didn 't make somebody hurt . So I thought it ok . Do you think so ? If somebody meet Mike , please , don 't tell him about that , ok ? Today I try to make the Coconut Milk Cake . It 's indeed successfull . I feel very happy . I 'm going to bring the cake in our class tomorrow . I let you guys try how the taste is . If you guys come in late tomorrow . The cake will be gone . Specially , Veronica , If you want to try my cake , you have to come to school tomorrow . If not we will eat all ! The name of my school is the " Neighborhood Centers Adult School . " My school has two branches , one is at the corner of International Blvd . and Eighth Avenue and the other one is nearby , just one block away . My school building is old but classical . There are many class - rooms in it . My school has many classes such as E S L , Computer , and G E D . There are three teaching shifts in my school : morning , afternoon , and evening . My school is always busy and crowded with students . All the teachers in my school are excellent . The teachers of my school are of many races . They are enthusiastic and hardworking teachers . All the pupils like them very much . The personnel who work in my school are sweet and efficient . When students need help , they are willing . There are many pupils that take two classes . Some students live in other cities . They like to come to this school to study because the teachers are interesting and the school is comfortable . Anyway , my school is the best place to learn English . I am indeed proud of my school . Posted by Last Friday , I was absent because I went to a hospital with my aunt in Berkerly . My aunt is pregnant now , but the doctor in Chinatown could not make sure whether the baby has heartbeat or not , so they asked my aunt to go to the big hospital in Berkerly . When we got there , it only took us 20 minutes to wait for the doctor . We got into the room , the doctor asked my aunt to lay on the bed and closed to her . My aunt 's English is not very well , so she said to the doctor , " Can you speak Chinese ? " The doctor said , " I can 't . " " Can you speak English ? " the doctor asked me . I said , " No . " Because we knew there is a Chinese staff there , and we thought if we said we could not speak English , the doctor would ask the Chinese staff to help us , but she didn 't do that . After that , she started to check the baby . I thought maybe she got mad because no smile on her face , and she didn 't say anything to us even one word during she checked the baby . I was afraid because I didn 't know whether she got mad or the baby was not very well . After she checked the baby . She walked out with a paper and said , " Wait for me here , I 'll be back . " We thought she was going to ask the Chinese staff to tell us something about the baby , but she came back alone . She looked at us and said , " I think the baby is ok , you can leave now . " After she said the baby is ok , we were very happy , because we love baby very much . We all look forward to this new baby born . Coconut Milk Cake is a teatime snack . It is an absolute favorite among all ages in Vietnam . It is usually served on occassions such as birthdays festivals . The following recipe makes 2 pans of the cake . These ingredients you can buy in an Asian supermarket : 14 oz of tapioca starch2 packets of 0 . 38 oz of baking powder ( about 5 teapoons ) 1 can of coconut milk2 cups of sugar8 eggsscrewpine flavored pasteMethods : 1 . Add a 14 oz package of tapioca starch , 2 packets of 0 . 38 oz of baking powder ( made by Bestfoods France ) , 1 can of coconut milk , 2 cups of sugar together into a large bowl and mix well . 2 . Add 8 eggs . The secret is stirring slowly with your hand . 3 . Then add a few drops of screwpine flavored paste so that all the material will become green . 4 . Next , pour the mixture into pans . 5 . Heat oven to 360 degrees and bake for 35 minutes . To test if it is done poke with a toothpick . If it is ready it will not be sticky . 6 . Finally , serve immediately , cut the cake and enjoy with your family or friends . The cake will smell of coconuts . When I went to the Job Fair , I had a pleasant surprise . A man sitting at one of the job fair tables was my neighbor . He called to me and I was confused because I didn 't know who he was . The first thing he said was , " We are neighbors . " Then he told me about my son and my cars . He was right on . That 's when I recognized him . He lives two houses down from me . We have seen each other often , but we have seldom spoken . I was surprised that he was at the Job Fair . I was also surprised to learn that he was the director of Mills College . Now when I see him , we say " Hello . " Last month , I had something pitiful to tell you . I got a parking ticket , it was 35 bucks . I was just absent minded for 5 minutes . I forgot to pay money to the parking meter . It was a pity . Thank you for your time . This is my story that I read to the class before , however , I wanted to put it on the blog for the teacher to correct . I learned an Idiom that fits into my life : kill two birds with one stone . I went to work by bike . I got exercise and saved on gas . This is the second time I wrote a story about my country , Laos , on the blog . In my country , on Sundays almost everybody is off work . People don 't have to be in a hurry . Sunday , November 5th , was a special holiday . In Laos we call it Mahathgan . It always is on a full moon day and it is a special day in my country . Almost everybody from the countryside , and the cities come to the special urn place . It is in the capital city , Vientiane . They honor the bones of ancestors who died for our country . On that day , everybody wakes up early at about 3 o ' clock or 4 o ' clock in the morning to prepare sticky rice , food , fruits and new money . After that they have to prepare themselves by wearing traditional clothes and going to the special urn place to offer sticky rice , food , fruits and new money to the monks . After that people buy food and eat together . In the afternoon , some men play games together and in the evening people walk around the urn three times with flowers and candles . In everything we do , we hope for prosperity in our life and we remember those who died for our country . Posted by Hi everyone , How are you guys doing ? I 'm doing very well . Today I 'm going to talk about " saudade " . I know that most of you guys don 't no what is that means , so let me explain : Saudade is when you miss somebody that you really like . In english , the perfect translation for " saudade " it 's " miss you " . Saudade can also be a felling when someone has passed away , maybe a very close parent or whatever . Here in the United States I can say tat I miss so much my family and a bunch of friends also . For me , being here means a big step ahead in my life , it 's more than learn english , it 's the best experience of my life . My plans are to go back to Brazil in february and for sure I 'll miss the U . S . , the good times that I spent here and the friends that I made and also the money thay I 've earned . It 'll be hard to switch back to Brazil 's reality , and see the true about unemployment and poverty there . But , this is another subject , maybe in another post I 'll write about that . Bye bye I asked my children if they wanted to go out to " Trick or treat " this year . They said , " No . " Perhaps , they think they are too old , so they don 't want to go out on Halloween now . Previously , when Halloween was coming , they were very excited . They insisted that I take out their costumes and Halloween buckets . They used to want me to prepare a costume for them , but this year my son didn 't ask me for anything . He didn 't want to wear the costume to his school this year . Last night , I asked my children again , " Don 't you want to go out on Halloween ? " They said " No ! " So I feel free tonight ! My country has a proverb , " No teacher no success . " So that , If we didn 't have Richard 's help , we wouldn 't be successful . Do you agree with me ? We are all hard working students . We should set a good example students in this school . For adult students , there is nothing happier than if we could speak and write English correctly . If we could write and speak English fluently , We would be on the top of the world ! If Richard help us , everyone in Room 101 would be a good writer and maybe like the author Shakespeare . A year ago , my family went to a flea market . We saw many kinds of pets there , but my oldest daughter picked two birds . She chose a blue bird and her sister chose a yellow bird , so I decided to buy a big bird cage and some bird food . We got out of there and my husband drove us home . My kids were very happy to have pets . Three months later , the yellow bird was sick . After a few days it died . My youngest daughter was very upset . She cried a little bit . The blue bird was very lonely and very quiet . I told my oldest daughter , " Maybe we should let it free . " She was sad but she agreed with me to let it go . We thought the blue bird should have friends , so we brought it to the front yard and we let it go free . It was very happy . As I was openning the cage , my daughters said bye - bye to the bird . " We hope you find some friends , " my daughter said , and then the bird flew away . Posted by I have read Cam 's essay which had been posted the day before yesterday . She said our teacher Richard Blum had promised to edit Cam 's essays continually . I think this is not only a great news for Cam but also for our classmates . That is right . If we study riding a bicycle , teacher can uphold the seat of the bicycle , pushes the bicycle and balances it behind us , and tells us how to steer for a certain time . We will get to the goal successfully . But when we just learn to understand balance , teacher lets go of his helping hands , we would fall down badly . We do not know what was wrong . And we would stop learning riding a bicycle forever . Constantly , I think our classmates start to study writing . We need more help from our teacher . I understand that teacher Richard Blum will spend more time , and works hard for editing our essays . I appreciate our teacher Richard Blum for this changing . Few years ago , a Sunday morning , my friend , Ron , went to San Francisco with his wife and their niece . Their niece was eleven years old . Ron had invited his friend to meet at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown . When Ron drove approaching Chinatown , he discovered many cars had parked along the road sides . He thought that it was no reasons to spend some money to park his car in a garage on Sunday . So he drove through several streets around Chinatown to find the park space . Certainly , he could only park his car on the road side far away from Chinatown . Before he left his car , he made sure that he had closed all windows and the doors of his car . The seats were very clear except his niece 's handbag . Her handbag was a toy . There was no money inside . After enjoyed a lunch , they returned to their car . Ron found some broken glasses appeared on the ground near his car . Then he looked up at the window . Oh ! left rear small window was broken . He checked the car inside . Only his niece 's handbag disappeared . He felt unlucky and sighed himself . This story tells us that do not leave anything in the car seat , especially the thing looks like worth . It may attract thieves ' interesting and will cause the meaningless loss . Hi , Classmates , I have enjoyed reading you guys ' essays for almost two months . I really like them and would like to share my essays with you from now on . I hope my writing is as good as yours . In fact , I didn 't want to write on the blog again , but our teacher wants me to write and he promises me to edit my essays , so , I might as well write to make him feel happy . As you know , we are very lucky to have a teacher like Richard . He always works hard on students ' essays . Richard is the one who always encourages students to get ahead with their English . I feel very happy that he is editting my essays again . Hi , Classmates , Do you know why I am nervous ? You know , in my country , Cambodia , I can drive a car by my self . I know how to drive and I studied about the traffic laws . I can 't compare whether it is easier to drive in Cambodia or Oakland , because sometimes I think Oakland is easier than Cambodia , and sometimes I think Cambodia is easier than Oakland . In my country the roads are smaller than here . Some roads have traffic lights and some roads don 't have traffic lights . In Cambodia about 40 % or 50 % of people don 't know about the traffic laws and don 't have a driver license . I told my husband , I thought Oakland was very different than my country . After I passed the reading test in Oakland , my husband asked me , " Can you drive now ? " I said that I didn 't feel comfortable driving because I saw that California drivers were always driving very fast . " I feel nervous , " I told my husband . He said , " I think you can do it . Take it easy . " Then I said , " I will try to drive here . " What do you think ? Can I or can 't I ? I think you said , " You can 't . " I can ! When I got in our car , my husband asked me , " Do you feel comfortable ? " I said , " No . " He said , " It 's okay . " I asked him , " Where do you want to go ? " He said , " It 's up to you . " I said , " I want to go to Sacramento , because I 've never gone there before . " My husband said , " Wow ! Can you drive on the freeway ? " I said , " I 'll try to do it . " You know , when I started to drive , I felt nervous I drove very slowly and I didn 't want to change lanes . My husband said , " You should increase the speed and practice changing lanes . I said , " It 's difficult for me . " After a while , he asked me again . I said , " I feel better and don 't worry about me . " I drove to Sacramento , however , it was difficult for me . I did it because I heard someone say that I couldn 't drive a car . When you want to drive , you should take a deep breath . Try not to be nervous . Take it easy . You must tell yourself , " I can do it ! " That 's my story . I hope that if you want to drive but yPosted by Hi , classmates ! I can not come to school for two weeks because I have to take care of my niece . My sister gave birth to a baby girl last Friday . This is her second baby girl . I have to take care of her first daughter . She is three years old . I have to cook for her and feed her . She is not a good eater . She puts the food in her mouth , but she doesn 't chew or swallow it . She just wants to run around and play when I try to feed her . When we have free time , we swim together . She really likes swimming with me . That is my job . I am a babysitter . On Wednesday afternoon , my mom was making a phone call to me while I was studying at school . She said , " I have a good news for you . " I said , " really . " She said , " Yes , I find a new job as a waitess in the restaurant . I only work four hours a day , but the money is less than the ex - job , but I can cook for the family and I can take care of the family . Do you agree ? " I said , " It 's up to you . If you don 't like to do your ex - job , you can have a try on your new job , but I heart , you have to work very hard in the restaurant , because it has a lot of works to do . If you think you can stand for it , just do it . " She said , " Ok , I want to have a try and now I want to make a phone call to you Dad . Good - bye . " I said , " Ok . Good - bye . " After that , I was very happy , because I don 't need to cook dinner any more , and I don 't have to think about what shall I cook today , tomorrow and the day after tomorrow . I think it was really a good news for me and my family . My husband , children and I are planning to go to Mexico at Christmas time . We have gone to Mexico in December for the last three years . We always had traveled to Mexico by plane . It is especially expensive to fly at Christmas time . The cost of the tickets can be double during the holiday season . This time we plan to go to Mexico by car . People who have traveled this way say that we can spend half of the money that we usually pay for airline tickets . There will be two weeks vacation at my children 's school , but we are thinking about asking for an extra week , so we could spend two weeks in Mexico . We can spend the extra week to get there and come back . We are very excited about our trip to Mexico . Last Sunday was my last day of work at the restaurant . I quit my job , because that area is not safe . Last Monday , one young guy was killed . Many police came to investigate and to make a report . I saw a lot of blood around the young guy 's body . I felt so scared . I decided to quit my job . Today in the afternoon , my father took me to the DMV to apply for a driver 's license . I only waited a few minutes in the DMV , because there were only a few other people waiting . After finishing my paper work , a DMV employee took a photo of me and then gave me the written examination . I only used a few minutes to finish the questions . When I gave the DMV employee the paper , she only looked at it for a few seconds and said , " You fail ! " I was very surprised . I asked her , " Why ? " She said , " It 's a joke . " Then we laughed . A few minutes later , she said to me , " You fail . " I knew the questions were very easy for me , so I said to her , " Are you joking ? " She laughed and said , " Congratulations ! You pass . " I was very happy to hear that . Then she gave me a temporary driver 's license , so I could drive a car with my father . I drove my father 's car to my grandmother 's home . That night , when we went home , I drove the car on the freeway with my dad . Quickly , we arrived home . What a happy day ! Last Sunday , I went to the park with my cousin , sister and brother . When we arrived there , we went to the basketball playground . We didn 't have a basketball . We only had a volleyball , so we decided to use the volleyball as a basketball . We tried to throw the volleyball into the basket . Sometimes it was easy to get it into the basket , but sometimes it was hard . My cousin asked us to stand a short distance in front of the basket and then to shoot the ball . If the ball didn 't go into the basket , he would help us to throw it into the basket . We started to play . I was the first one . I threw the ball , fortunately , the ball went into the basket . My cousin was very disappointed , because he could not do what he wanted to do . The second one was my sister . After she threw the ball , my cousin was very happy , because the ball did not go into the basket . He ran and caught the ball and then threw it , but the ball did not go into the basket . No matter how many times he tried , it was the same . He felt upset and angry . He held the ball in his hands and said , " I don 't want to play it again . It makes me crazy , I don 't like it . Let 's go home now . " After that , he walked home by himself , so we went home with him . On our way home , he said , " Let 's go to the park next Sunday . " I work at the Oakland Airport . One day my coworker asked me , " Jimmy , where do you live ? " I said , " I live in East Oakland . " He said , " Are you sure ? There are a lot of machine guns over there even in the daytime . It is a very dangerous area ! Be careful ! When you walk at night you should bring a baseball bat with you . " And then I asked him : " Are you joking ? " He said nothing , he only laughed . This Monday morning , I received my social security card . I 'm very happy . Now that I have this card , I can go to the DMV to apply for a driver 's license . My father decided to take me to the DMV on Thursday afternoon , because he is off duty on that day . I had been studying the driver 's handbook for several days , because if I wanted to get a driver 's license I have to pass the written examination first . Tomorrow is Thursday , wish me good luck , please . Thank you very much ! Posted by Hi , Class , Hi , I hope after you read this story , you will wish happiness to this family . Wednesday was a cheerful day . I was talking to my friends by computer , when I received email from my aunt 's boyfriend in China . He told me that he had good news for me . He said : " My girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl . I am very happy now ! " When I heard the news , I was excited . I told the news to my family . Everybody was happy to hear it . My aunt and my uncle have known each other for two years . They work together at the same factory . In March , my aunt learned that she was pregnant , but she couldn 't tell her mother about this and she didn 't tell my family , either . In China , if you have a baby before you get married , people will gossip . Someone did gossip . They told us that my aunt was pregnant . We all were worried about that . My aunt 's mother didn 't like my aunt 's boyfriend and didn 't want them to be together . Fortunately my aunt 's mother asked everybody for advise . She understood that her daughter was her own flesh and blood . Now , she doesn 't object that they 're together . My aunt 's mother is very happy . She is a grandmother now ! Congratulation ! Posted by