Happy New Year

By the way, I enjoy looking at this card very much, because it brings me serenity and satisfaction. Hope you will feel the same! :)

For my five years in manchester

The University of Manchester ------ My Red Brick university!



My graduation ceremony


Great Organ in the Whitworth Hall

A bit fun these days

------ donot know how, always missing the taste of crabs! Did someone say that "eating a crab is about appreciating a life attitude". Definitely agree!



------ The old year passed and the new year is coming! Time to take care of old goodies! Always a kind of difficult moment to decide how to do with them. Now a new solution: putting all the cards together, take a big picture, and publish it on my blog! So the nice memory can stay long!





------ Went to a friend's concert. It is Paris VS London. Guess which one is London? :P
......
Apart from that, spent hours and hours on filling app. forms. That is really, really time consuming!

She is back

Clinton Is Said to Accept Offer of Secretary of State Position

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/us/politics/22obama.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Historical, one after another

2008 the first black F1 Champion


2008 the first black USA president

Bond's movie

Quantum of Solace:

First view in Manchester!

http://www.myvue.com/cinemas/film_info_detail.asp?SessionID=2472E3D28ED444059838C8CFDC12EC6C&cn=1&ci=49&ln=1&fi=8001

By the way, I understand that Quantum is physics jargon, but what is Solace? Something to do with the solar system? No!

Solace: the source of comfort or consolation
Quantum of Solace:
Excerpt:
Daniel Craig admitted, "I was unsure at first. Bond is looking for his quantum of solace and that's what he wants, he wants his closure. Ian Fleming says that if you don't have a quantum of solace in your relationship then the relationship is over. It's that spark of niceness in a relationship that if you don't have you might as wejavascript:void(0)ll give up."[18] He said that "Bond doesn't have that because his girlfriend has been killed",[53] and therefore, "[Bond is] looking for revenge [...] to make himself happy with the world again."

Student's privileges

What should I write for this week? My mind seemed to be full. The corrections to be finished and sent out ASAP next week, one online test to be finished in four days, one trip back to Manchester, UBS company dinner on Tuesday night, one career event, one open day at E&Y, one application to be filled before the end of Oct., ......

Well, not many such privileges left for me ...... so I will try to enjoy them as much as I could :P

Scary

Application peak season!

My research

In academic words:
Requirements stage is the front-end stage in the development of a project. Requirements describe what stakeholders want a system to behave and function. When a number of stakeholders get involved in a project, requirements negotiation is proposed as a stage to resolve conflicts among requirements in requirements engineering. My research applies the rationale into requirements negotiation and intends to improve the efficiency of requirements negotiation. This aim is achieved by developing the theory and a methodology with four years' effort.

In layman's words:
Before we build anything, we should have an idea of what it should be like firstly. When more than one people want to build one same thing, they like to argue with each other and convince others of their own needs. Always arguing has the tendency of being violent and barbarian and it is not good; the peace should be sought after, but how? My research is all about bringing the peace and the civilisation to the involved people. To realise this glory aim, I worked step by step, year by year. Finally I made the way.

My Viva is coming

Well, I planned to write what my research is about long time ago and I am about to write it this time, but, but, last night the movie "Man on wire" changed my mind completely! Naked bodies, illegal scenes, and still many people crowded to watch it! What a world!
Highlights in the movie:
1) a young man walked on the wire, alone, without protection, from as high as 400 meters above the ground on the year of 1974.
2) a young man created his beautiful dream from nothing.
3) Quote "illegal but neither wicked nor mean", are you sure that it is funny?

Next week I've got to write about my research, because I want to do that! Surely it is predictable that it will be a boring post. :P

The residue of the War

Looking at the nice beach and sailing boats in the first picture, could you believe that, 50 years ago, it was once soldiers' bodies everywhere on the D-Day.
The second picture was taken at the second world war museum in Normandy. It shows the death toll during the war, which can only tell that the war must not come back.
(These two pictures were taken during my holiday in the August.)

Countryside walk

Yesterday on our walk with the friends, we came across a group playing polo. Polo is a team sports played outdoors on horsebacks. It is like football game, and is closer to Hockey game. Nowadays it seems more like a noble sport. Try to find a group of horses from the first picture taken there. The shirts worn by polo players evolved to popular polo shirts.

medal tally by polulation

http://simon.forsyth.net/olympics.html

The games without advertisements

From the beginning to the end, no advertisement at all, at every venue.

信源：法国《费加罗报》｜

谁是本届奥运会上最成功的国家？说起这一话题，人们自然都会把眼光转向奖牌榜，似乎有了这一评判标准，谁优谁劣，一眼间高下立判。然而事实上，国际奥委会并没有给出任何官方的国家排名，这也让各个国家出现了不同的排名系统，法国《费加罗报》就对这一现象给出了分析。
文中表示，在法国、英国和中国，人们遵循的依然是“金牌榜”。因此，目前获得金牌数几乎达到美国两倍的中国当仁不让的占据了老大的位置，美国只能屈居第二。而法国因为仅仅获得四枚金牌，在榜单上名列第十一位。

然而来到美国，一切都变了。根据CNN或是《纽约时报》的说法，目前的头名是美国，而中国，英国与法国分列二到四位。原因何在？因为美国人与全世界其他国家使用的排名统计系统有分歧，大多数国家运用了奥组委公布的“仅供信息参考”的金牌榜作为参照系统，尽管依据奥林匹克博爱和人道主义的精神，这并不是一个官方排名——体育不分国界。但在美国本土，总奖牌榜才是人们所关心的。

《费加罗》报指出，现代奥运会已经不仅仅是体育的竞争，更是一种区域政治力量之间的较量。每个国家都为自己的代表团定下了奖牌目标，体育对于国家实力的展现使这一竞争变得尤为引人关注。对于92年奥运会上无可争议的领头羊美国来说，他们发现自己的霸主地位在今年已经被中国运动员撼动。为了不让自己“降级”，他们改变了排名策略，开始使用总奖牌榜取代金牌榜，这使他们得以凭借 65块奖牌超越获得了61块奖牌的中国，也避免了将世界体育最强国的地位在本届奥运会上拱手让给中国的尴尬。

美国的ABC电视台还出台了一种更“新颖”的算法，他们将从1906年以来历史上获得过的所有奖牌数相加。如此一来，获得过897块金牌，共2197块奖牌的美国足可以高枕无忧了，要知道即使是第二位的前苏联也对这一纪录望尘莫及，他们仅仅获得过440块金牌，1122块奖牌。至于中国，在排名榜上仅列第13位，金牌总数和奖牌总数分别为112与286枚。

有意思的是美国人在这个问题上没与国际接轨，欧洲人也不服气，他们拿出了自己的解决办法——有网站将整个欧盟看作一个区域来统计。于是，到目前为止已经获得了51块的金牌，161块奖牌的“欧洲”终于可以长出一口气，笑傲世界体育之巅了。

（The news is in Chinese. Sorry for English readers.)

Enjoy the Nature

This small snail was found in the fridge. After his hibernation, it seemed very excited to be waken up! Hope he is now enjoying the new life with his many siblings in the garden downstairs.





The double rainbow appeared after the afternoon shower last weekend.

MICHAEL PHELPS' DIET

Michael Phelps: American Swimmer, won six gold medals so far


Breakfast:
Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee

Lunch:
Half-kilogramme (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks

Dinner:
Half-kilogramme of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks

Total calary intake: 12000 kcal (normally, one needs 2000 kcal)


My goodness! One Phelps is enough! Otherwise, who knows how high food price will soar up to?

The Games

I have to say that I am very excited for the Olympic Game this year. It is not only because I am a Chinese but also I have seen that how hard this country has worked for this day and how much pressure every people has experienced. This country really wants to cut itself off from the memory of that once being humiliated for years during the last century, in a peaceful way.

Westerners are impressed by the grandness of the Opening ceremony while Chinese consider it too lavish. I would say that, no matter what, it is a truthful ceremony. Good or bad, this is what it is like now.

Beautiful sadness

The first one:

I would like to thank you on behalf of everyone involved in the recruitment process for attending your recent interview at Accenture. Unfortunately, following careful consideration, we’re unable to progress to the next stage.

We would like to assure you that the standard of applicants was exceptionally high and the utmost care went into our final decision.

Should you wish to reapply to Accenture, we would be glad to hear from you again. We would ask, though, that you allow at least twelve months from the date of this communication before you apply again. We would also ask that you only apply to one Accenture operating country at any one time.

In the meantime, thank you for your interest and we wish you the very best of luck in your future career.

Yours sincerely,

Accenture


The second one:

Thank you very much for your recent application for a position with The Boston Consulting Group.

Your resume is clearly wide ranging and impressive, and you show capabilities of a very high order. However following the review of your application by each of your office preferences and after careful consideration I regret that our recruitment panel has decided not to take your application further.

Due to the number of applications we receive, we are not able to provide feedback on your application however we would like to wish you success in finding a challenging and rewarding position.

Yours sincerely

The BCG Recruiting Team

Colourful

Big kids on the block

The biggest names in the management consulting?
Check this out!

http://www.gettingdrunkinfirstclass.com/2007/02/26/big-kids-on-the-block/

What are you up to?

I was asked the question "what are you up to"? when I just met one colleague, before giving my presentation. Do you know its exact meaning and the proper response?

Fantasy

How much I want a biiiig hoooooooliday!

Back home

Coming back home finally! Missing everything in Manchester, eg. nice food with awesome price, movies with one fourth of the London price, a lot of talks, a lot of chats, except the barbecue, because that had to be the indoor one to escape the rainy day, which has yet been made up for with the outdoors barbecue at the side of the canal in the beautiful sunset tonight! So I have no pity left there.

Finally

Finally, going to hand my thesis out.

Butterfly Orchid ------ 蝴蝶兰

Seeing this fully blooming Orchid, would you believe that this small plant has bloomed from last July till now? Close to one year, but now it is like......

Orchid has many species. Because this orchid's flower has a shape of butterfly, so it is called “Butterfly orchid” (my mother's favourite). It likes the sunlight a lot. One reason I think my orchid had such long blooming time is that I arranged the flowers to face to the Sun.

Enjoy it!

Why Hillary failed?

I am the supporter of Hillary, not only because she is a woman and a strong woman, but also for a personal reason. I talked about her with a New Yorker. No doubt, she is for her. And now she is addicted to her shows. At that time, her winning chance is already very slim but this friend told me that she still had much hope because she thought, in the democratic party, at the end, they might do some black-box operations to make Hillary to be the candidate.

Such old but not good political term, in such highly advanced society, is still believed by many people. When everyone hates the dark side of the politics, can we hope the one voted by those who believe in these dark sides, to fight against it; or can we hope the one, won by taking advantage of these dark sides, is willing to overhaul them? That might explain how Obama got that magic power to win the young people's hearts in one night, just by declaring changes.

曲高和寡

昨天从一位朋友那听说iPhone 在国内大流行，当他知道我还在用我的pay as you go 三年还没换的手机时，大吃一惊。然后又说现在笔记本都是宽屏了，说了半天，我恍然大悟。最后他很理解的说：我刚从英国回来时，也觉得自己有些土。刹那间，我有种火山爆发的感觉，因为平日最恨没有头脑的跟风族。知道这种风气在国内最为盛行，到处都是风。看见别人用了，对自己有用没用先不说，就先跟上。看见别人走这条路，不管是不是一个方向，也要挤一条路。等到时候发现错了，也迟了。自己天生就不是追风族，因为也没有那种虚荣心；又加上实在恐惧这种风气之害，因此对fashion 总有保持距离的感觉。说到笔记本，前两天在会上时，Harvard, MIT, Stanford 的学生也没用宽屏呀，反而很多和我一样，用着IBM 的告别版。这么看来并不是我一个人不追风。朋友解释：其实追风挺好，这样很容易就知道现在流行什么；不像在英国，也有流行的，就是自己不知道。我想了想，说：那你还是适和在国内生活。

Business man and Engineers ------ Calming down, back from the conference

I never considered myself as a business people, that is why I tried very hard to switch to an engineering course, because I like engineers' down to earth, practical and realistic styles. When I talk with engineers, I like to trust their words. However, I still ended up in business schools, finally, after many years' struggle, which is the destine I have to face. The question is that do I have to get myself into the shape of a business man. Do I have to brag? Do I have to show off my money right in front of others' eyes? Do I have to pretend I like luxuries, even though it is definitely an environmental disaster? Do I have to say, always, I am a shark-killer ...... (anything more?)

Academic fan ／／／ 我也成了追星族

Last week I went to attend a three days conference at LBS and met other PhD colleagues from top 20 business schools in USA and Europe. I am very excited to be a member at such a prestigious conference. Apart from appreciating elites'presentations of their research and their unique styles, I hardly believe our keynote speaker, a professor from Havard, was that friendly, so that he came to me himself, introduced himself and shaked hands with me, until that moment I still have not realized that he is that one. We were offered the privilege to access the London eye with fast track. Very cool! The picture here was taken in the London eye.

The Fletcher Moss Garden in Manchester

Here are some pictures taken by the mobilephone.

Back from Manchester

That was a busy week. Catching up with old and good friends, colleagues; meeting with the supervisor in case he forgot what I am like; being seduced to do some shopping ( got several good spots!); having a taste of a newly open restaurant; spending a half day out in one most beautiful garden I have ever seen in UK; watching one movie; having a haircut; finally, doing some serious work (that was necessary, because, after all, it was not a holiday!)

The biggest surprise is that I met a Fresher PhD. After a talk, it ends up that he was once undergraduate classmates of my best friend back to many years ago. What a small world!

健康食谱 Healthy Diet

朋友让我注意身体。压力虽大，毕竟身体是革命的本钱麼。

我想着来这边这几年，饮食上是有不少区别。如果按照当地的饮食习惯，天天牛油芝士，煎烤并用，那我现在早已加入这边流行的减肥俱乐部了。凑合着吃，短期可以，长期就不行了。参考着老妈的意见，定了一个健康食谱，拿出来和大家共享，希望朋友们都能切实力行的，从根本上适应现代人的生活结奏。：）

健康食谱

1：每天摄入碳水化合物250-350克， 就是说每顿饭吃2两到四两大米，或者麦面（pasta, bread, noodle), 或potatoes.
2.每天摄入三到四份高蛋白食物，每份指：瘦肉1两，或鸡蛋1个，或豆腐2两，或鸡鸭2两，或鱼虾2两。以鱼类、豆类蛋白较好。（也就是说，每天最多吃8两鱼，或8两猪肉，或四两牛肉）
3.每天喝一袋牛奶（250ml) 或酸奶。
4.每天吃500克的新鲜蔬菜及水果。记住是一斤呦。（比如说，每天2个中号西红柿，半头生菜，一个苹果。）（还有，吃的蔬果里，最好一半是深色的；所以说要想多吃几样绿色蔬菜，还是需要去中国城。）
5.有粗有细(粗细粮搭配)（找不到粗粮，吃麦片。又有粗纤维。）不甜不咸（每日最佳摄盐量在6克至9克，超过十克就是大盐缸了。）（也就是说，如果按超市里的500克的一盐罐算，一年需要吃4罐盐。如果午饭在外吃，那就需要两罐盐。为什么要算得这么仔细，因为一个朋友说，盐吃的太少了，也不好。）

每天每人平均需要摄入2000大卡，所以说每顿饭应该保证在500大卡以上。一杯蜂蜜100大卡，一杯牛奶（250ml) 150大卡，一杯热巧300大卡。10克牛油70大卡，25克芝士平均75大卡。这样，也就知道，如果面前摆着一块牛油，应该吃多少了。免得一不小心，贪着牛油味好吃，就长了一个将军肚。

English version:

Healthy Diet:(per person)
1.Daily carbohydrate intake: 250 --- 350 gram
2.Daily protein intake: 200 gram red meat, or 300 gram to 400 gram pork/poultry/fish(including oily fish), or one to two eggs.
3.250 ml milk or yoghurt
4.500 gram vegs. and fruits ( half of it should be dark colour vegs/fruits, eg. green vegs., red fruits)
5.Daily salt intake: 6 gram to 9 gram ( by counting one 500 gram salt box bought in a supermarket, four boxes should be consumed when lunch is included. Excluding lunches, two boxes per person per year.)
6.Daily calorie intake: 2000 kcal per person. one mug of hot chocolate: 300 kcal, one mug of milk: 150 kcal, one mug of honey: 100 kcal, 10 gram butter: 75 kcal, 25 gram cheese: 75 kcal.

Olympic Torch Relay

Having seen most pictures in BBC record protesters and demonstrations. I took several pictures when I saw students, coming far, to support the relay. In the pictures, they were preparing flags before the torch passed. There is one lion ( it seems Tibet style Lion) in one picture. I could not tell it represented Pro-Tibet or not, because they played the lion well and seemed happy to me.

Although the voice of cheers and welcome overwhelmed the cracking sound from protesters, it still confused outsiders, those local people, and, inevitably, damaged the image. Thinking of those countless corruptions and those greedy officials, who can say that some people did not use this occasion as an outlet to give out their impressed anger and hatred, after all?

I am so surprised to see a lot of protesters are not Tibetans, but are those westerners with big noses and blue eyes. Strange!

A small holiday

Finished the second draft, put the abstract in, finally.

Have a breath, and treat myself a small holiday.

Tibet

These days Tibet has drawn the world's attention. At the Easter, I went to Canterbury, a historical town which is well known for its great Cathedral, the mother church of the Anglican churches, and the archbishop of Canterbury who crowns the British monarch. At such a place, ten thousands kilometers from Tibet, an anonymous person made a prayer: wish a peaceful Tibet.

Today in my emailbox, one friend appealed to the awareness of untruthful reports of Tibet revolt from western medias.

Want to know how faked their reports are?
Go to http://www.anti-cnn.com/

BBC websites unblocked in China

Finally, Chinese can read BBC news at home!

Remember the time when I was at uni. and wanted to hear BBC English, I had to go out on the early mornings, stood out in the open playground, and tuned my Toshiba walkman well, then I could listen to those noncontinuous news report.

Now it will not be like this anymore, only for those English readers, though.

Turbulent politics

Today when I talked with my Mom, she asked me how about China embassy in London now, because she learned from the news that Tibet revolt already spread worldwide and many embassies abroad were attacked. I am surprised that she knows the situation as clear as what I got from BBC.

These days, BBC are filled with news from far east. Tibet violence, the suspicion on Dalai Lama's involvement, now came Taiwan's election. Mom said something which is very serious with this election. Anyway, I am confused, because Taiwan politics always appeared to be a messy situation to me. I just hope the next leader will do good.

The subprime credit crisis, from down there

Since last July, the subprime credit crisis has been like a tornado, wiping out all the growth made during the big bull time, and shaking the world finance down to its foundations. It has not stopped yet. Seems what it brought about to the world is not only homeless Americans, derelict houses and the disappearance of at least two big players (UK Northern Rock, USA Bear Stearns) in the market, but also such wide and long term effect that several drops of rain fell in my reclusive student life.

Rain drop 1: someone earned the life in dollars and planned to buy a dream house with Euros this year ( because the house is in Europe). Now the dollar is so weak and the euro is so strong, his dollar reserve shrunk overnight and he has to put off the plan to ( who knows when?).

Rain drop 2: a newly wed couple just moved in a posh flat. While the freshness of a new life has not faded away yet, the landlord wanted to sell the flat because the housing market is taking the turn from the peak and if now is not the sell time, when would it be?

Rain drop 3: someone was selling softwares to banks. The bull market passed and the banks have to be less generous than before, so not their customers any more and no sales. To maintain a luxury life, he has to find another job to bring quick bucks in.

引他山之玉

世行高级副行长和首席经济学家，林毅夫说，不会利用职务之便给中国更多的贷款，中国目前需要的并不是资金，需要更多的是知识。“前两天听到温总理引用萧伯纳的一句名言，如果我有一个苹果，你有一个苹果，我们交换以后，我们都只有一个苹果，如果我有一个知识，你有一个知识，交换了之后，我们都有了两个知识。”

What is my life like?

Always want to share what my PhD life here is like with friends but have been busy ( a good excuse for being lazy) so that could not do it until I found someone with similar experience in an American uni. wrote it down. I cited them as a shortcut to fulfill my years' big goal.

Chinese section is cited and English comments are corrections to be more like my real daily life.)

我习惯于早上六点多起床，早餐通常是牛奶、鸡蛋加面包，简单而有营养。然后背着书包，带上头一天做的饭菜去赶公交。
(Ok, I didnot get up that early but I went to bed late.)

　　日子久了，你会发现公交车上都是熟悉的面孔，有穿着校服的高中生、西装革履的小职员……还有就是来自五湖四海的留学生。也许是不忍心打破清晨的宁静，大家都专注于自己的事情，或是埋头翻着小说，或是戴着耳机欣赏音乐，或是像我一样凝望着窗外的风光，尽管这一切对我而言已经很熟悉了。

　　学校没有校门，更没有围墙。博士生通常都有自己的办公桌，我和其他二十几位博士生合用一间大办公室，平时除了上课，这里就是主要的活动场所。办公室里有简易厨房和休息区，中午时分，大家喜欢围坐在一起吃午饭，用口音各异的英语讲述自己生活中的趣事，偶尔也聊一聊课程和研究。办公室经常是不熄灯的，因为经常有人在里面学习，有人习惯于白天，有人则喜欢通宵达旦。我倒是没有通宵加班的习惯，但忙起来的时候会从早到晚都待在办公室，早上来学校的时候天还蒙蒙亮，深夜回家的时候已经明月当空了，不时体会一下“与星星相伴”的生活也颇有情趣。
( An extremely International atmosphere. Culture difference could matter that much sometimes. When I donot need to do experiments, I preferring working in my room.)

　　对于习惯了国内教学模式的学生而言，这里的课程确实给人以新鲜感。课堂秩序比较随意，很少有教师会考核出勤情况，学生在课堂上尽可以做自己想做的事情，听音乐、抱着笔记本上网，只是不要影响到别人听课。美国大学的教学很注重实用性和框架性，从本科生到博士生的课程皆是如此，教师不会把所有细节都面面俱到，但一定会告诉你哪些是值得思考和研究的问题，哪些工具可以用来研究问题，以及去哪里寻找这些工具。这种做法的好处在于拓宽我们的思路，缺点是对于学习不主动的学生而言可能什么都学不到。( No courses here, but close to my Master life)

　　学习和科研之余的主要活动就是体育锻炼，学校里设施齐备，健身房、游泳池、各种球类一应俱全。有时候我也会约上几个朋友去旁边的生态公园跑步。美国人注重运动，很多人都有严格的锻炼计划。( My swimming has been greatly improved to 1 km level in non-leisure pools. Gym, jogging, rock climbing, hiking...... )

　　还有一项课余活动也颇为调节心情——做菜。刚到国外的中国学生聚在一起的时候，经常讨论的话题就是如何做菜，从蛋炒饭到煎饼果子，从鱼香茄子到糖醋排骨，再复杂一点的就是北京烤鸭或是水煮鱼。在海外学习工作过一段时间的人，厨艺通常都不差，至少糊弄自己完全没问题 ( From the beginning when I bought dark soy source for daily cooking, to recently I just home made Peking style roast duck, I am at the edge of a so-called chef.)

Interested in my research? A brief: The area is requirements engineering, and the topic is requirements negotiation. Something to do with resolving stakeholders' conflicts when a system is developed.

说几句春晚

新年的钟声算是敲过了，不论是西式的，还是中式的。正月十五也过了。前天去中国城买菜，还没忘买了元宵，以此冲淡些乡愁。其实睹物还思乡呢，吃到嘴里的时候，这乡愁不仅没减，反而又添了一层：因为再出名的牌子，也没有老妈在家做的好吃。不说也罢，漂泊之人，焉能多愁善感。忙里偷闲，看了春晚的几个小品。赵本山，宋丹丹演技是好，可是乡土气息太浓了。没有办法，农民兄弟一年忙到头，把城里的人养的肥肥的，成了富人阶级的代表，而他们绝对也应该出来透口气，表达一下心愿麼。只是见多了英格兰的看上去和白领没二样的农民，想着咱们的农民什么时候也能有点教授的风度。这个念头有点奇怪，不能再多说，以免又扣上了西化的大帽子。对我口味的小品是那个“梦幻家园”，郭达，蔡明演的。故事新，紧贴城市居民的生活；搞笑的也多，而且绝对的融讽刺教育于搞笑之中，没有三明治的感觉。音乐用的也恰到好处，郭达的雨伞，蔡明的funky dance, 简直一个更加搞笑版的Singing in the rain。一句口头禅“为什么呢”，留下一种曲尽而味无穷的感觉。只是我有些怀疑，这句话真的能成为今年的流行语吗?

春节快乐 万事大吉

春节真是一个世界性的节日了。除了纽约纳斯达克门口挂中国国旗外，今天楼下的porter, 一位地道的英式老大爷，祝我新年快乐(注： 用着一口英式粤语）。 好在我还算理解了，像是恭喜发财的意思。

选摘：过年的文化

中国今年的春节注定不平凡，那场席卷了大半个中国的超时、超量、超预期的特大风雪，让成万上亿回家过年的人吃足了苦头，受足了罪，付出了不小的代价。然而，从灾区各大车站、机场旅客拥挤、滞留而不退却的情况看，人们似乎要与这场特大的灾情比毅力。似乎很奇怪，绝大多数都无宗教信仰的中国人，就是要回家过年，就像宗教信徒那样一样执着。

　　在中国大地上，每年农历腊月底的短短10几天时间里，读书的，打工的，从政的，经商的人们，不顾交通工具涨价带来的成本提高，不顾人多可能造成的人身财产风险，不顾旅途的劳累和麻烦，数以亿计的人流在向一个方向为一个目的而涌动——回家过年。

　　如果你问这些忙碌涌动着的人：为什么非得要回家过年？绝大多数的人都会觉得茫然，觉得奇怪，难道回家过年还要带着什么目的吗？不为什么，不带任何其他目的，就是要回家过个年。这就是中国，这就是千百年来形成的文化。

　　其实，回家过年不是没有目的，只是固定的、习惯性的过年活动荒芜了人们的思考。中国人为什么非得要回家过年？其实是有着非常深刻的文化内涵。

　　第一，为了团圆要回家过年。中国是一个礼仪之邦，尤其注重亲人之间的礼仪。为人祖者，为人孙者，为人父母者，为人子女者，为人夫者，为人妻者，为人叔姑舅姨者，为人侄男甥女者，讲究个尊老爱幼乐融融，长幼有序尽人伦。为了生存，平日里亲人间可能天各一方，但经过12个月的分别，一定要相聚团圆一次。因此，回家过年就是要赶赴亲人之间其乐融融的团圆现场。在一定意义上，年文化就是团圆文化。

　　第二，为了休整要回家过年。说到底，人还是地球上的动物，可能永远也摆脱不掉动物那种弱肉强食的竞争属性。300多天是个不短的时间，竞斗过程中难免要受伤或者劳累过度。回家过年时亲人之间的爱慰过程，其实就是一个休整、养精蓄锐的过程。过年，就是一个有规定时间的各个战场全面停战的过程。在一定意义上，年文化就是修养文化。

　　第三，为了寻根要回家过年。家和家乡是生养人的土地，人就是这块土地上结出的果实。无论你漂泊流浪到了何方，你的根永远在家乡。他乡再好也是异域，没长新根的人就要定时回家吸取营养；就是在他乡长了新根的人也难免水土不服，回家疗养才是首选地方。过年就是要回家，回到的是那个生我养我的地方。在一定意义上，年文化就是寻根文化。

　　实际上，年文化是一个博大精深的文化聚合体，不是列几条就能理得清的。总的来说，过年发扬光大了文化，如食文化、酒文化、购物文化、服饰文化、戏曲文化、庙宇文化，等等。家乡的那种熟悉的文化氛围，也对人们回家过年产生一种驱动力。

有人说

一个无法输出自己文化价值观的国家，不能称为一个伟大的国度。

Cold and Movie

The weather is so changeable!

Yesterday was rainy and cloudy, minus 0 degree; today is Sunny and windy, 7 degree. So inevitably, I
got a bloody cold! That kind of cold did not bring me a blocking nose and high fevers, but only headache, cold and fatigue.

With my heavy head, I managed to watch Lust and Caution!

Some thoughts here:
It is a good movie, definitely as a milestone to some people.
It is a Chinese story in a Hollywood mode!
The movie gives a close reflection of the times and the society at that time.