April 2012 Issue

Editor's Note Staff

Editor's Note:

A Garden A little boy and a little girl are walking on their roads of life.

On a one a sunny morning, their parents lead them to a gate of a beautiful garden.

Although through the entrance, the boy and the girl cannot know what is inside, a strong force of that garden still holds them tightly. Looking at the approval but a little worried expression on the parents’ faces, for the first time of their life, the boy and the girl wave their parents goodbye, and walk into the garden by themselves.

Life is so wonderful inside the garden! The boy and the girl find a lot of new things that they have never seen in the small home. Gradually, they each find their own kinds of living style. The boy makes a bunch of good friends at school. They eat burgers together, play basketball together; only sometimes if they have a quarrel, they will punch on the others’ noses. The girl becomes one of the top students in her class. She also has some “sisters”. They go shopping in the weekend and share secrets with each other. But without knowing why, the girl always has a feeling of pressure in her heart.

The sunny, peaceful weather lasts for several years. Then suddenly, the storm comes. One day, the girl fails a very important test and is refused by her dream high school. She cries for days, not knowing where the direction of life is.

After a few days, the boy loses his way home after playing basketball with his brothers. He faints and falls down to the ground in the heavy rain. When he finally wakes up in a dark room, he finds the girl crying in the corner. In those days, both the boy and the girl begin to hate this garden.

They want to be children again, back to their parents’ side.

After that big storm, the boy and the girl learn that the childhood would never be back. So they get rid of the mud and tears 2 visionary monthly

on their faces, and start to live new lives.

The girl realizes that the boy begins to change. He is not naughty anymore; he learns to carry heavy bags for girls in the journey. Then she finds out that the boy begins dating. “He is no longer a boy. He is a man now.”

The boy also notices that the girl is changing. She never cries now and becomes more confidently talking with others. She is getting prettier, becoming the dream of many men. However, the girl keeps focusing on her goal and being herself, until one day, a gentleman finally grabs her heart……

On the day of their college graduation, the man and the woman get together with their family, each holding another person’s hand. They talk and laugh happily. The past pain is like a wind blowing through their hearts, which has gone forever.

Suddenly, the man and the woman notice that they have come to the exit of that garden. Walking out, they discover a wide, straight road, which points right to their future. Seeing this, the two couples smile to each other, step forward and start new periods of their lives.

Behind their back, the name of that garden reads: “Youth”.

If adulthood is a bright, wide and straight road, youth is a garden. Inside, you never know what will happen at the next turn, never see your future clearly. In that garden, there are beautiful views, and good life, but there are also heavy rains which make us fall. Success is like roses, attractive, but full of thorns.

Even after several decades, when the boy and the girl have already grown to old man and woman, when they retrospect their life, the garden is still like a diamond, shinning in their past, reminding them of those years they laugh, love and fight.

Editor-in-chief: Waiting Zhong

Editor Rowena Ouyang Langsi Lin Leo Wo Bright Ren Eingma Li Jackson Hong Arthur Yuan Louis He Harris Wang

Design Editor Vannessa Van Yimin Deng Chony Lu Sidonia Fang Molly Zheng

Market Department Christina Xu Jack Chen Anny Huang Susan Chen Vera Yu

Agents in Other Schools Zhang Xinyue Hu Yixin Wang Zihao

CONTENT Cover Story Youth, Beautiful as a Song Youth is a Gift Friendship Love Remains Looking Up at Love from a 45째 Angle The Direction of Clouds

16 19

6 8 10 12 13 14

Essay K창-lee Living Left in a Right Handed World

My Story 20

Different Childhood in the Same Way

Review Gossip Girl: Everything We Have Experienced Together The 54th Grammy Awards Those Years When Young You Are Not the Only Apple of My Eyes

38

24 28 32 34

Fashion Hot N' Cold in One Combined

Techology 40

The New iPad Youku Tudou Corporation Aviation Emmission Trade Scheme 3 April 2012

Cover Story

Proses

Youth by Samuel Ullman Youth,Beautiful as a Song Youth is a Gift

Novels

Looking Up at Love from a 45째 Angle

Love Remains The Direction of Clouds

Y

outh is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite for what’s next and the joy of the game of living.

In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you‘ve grown old, even at 20. But as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.

Time for enjoying reading...

Youth

Classical Essay

by Samuel Ullman

Cover Story

Youth,

Beautiful as a Song If you are in youth...

L

ooking back to my youth, I suddenly fall in deep thoughts. What was my youth like? It was passionate, yearning, dynamic, and, beautiful as a song. I think when older, everyone will think of his or her youth with smile, regardless of all the setbacks, failures, upset, or worry.

“If I were to go through my youth again”, my thought is going on, “what would I do?” I carefully think about this interesting question. If I had the chance to experience my youth again, it would be really great. I should try my best to learn more about the world, to look for my own hobbies and advantages, to develop good personalities, and to enjoy the beautiful time.

If you are in youth, be sure that you will do all you can to acquire as much knowledge about the world as possible and to take your time to learn useful skills and to train yourself to be ready for society. It is a special period of time in which you can make mistakes and learn from them. As the old Chinese saying goes, it is when you are using what you have learned from books that you wish you had read more. I didn’t know about the truth until I graduated from university and had a job. As time went by, I gradually learnt more deeply that every skill and piece of knowledge which was taught in school is pretty useful.

All that I learnt from school, including those seemed not necessary, is helping me through my job and my life now.

For instance, maths and physics, I deemed them as the most unnecessary and useless courses in middle school; at least I thought it hadn’t to be so tough for me, because I decided to pick up arts as my major in university, I could have nothing to do with those equations, mathematical justifications, geometric calculations, formulas, or analysis of forces in my future life. While now, I get to realize that maths and physics not only tell you how to calculate, but also train your logical thinking, which is really important and necessary in your job and daily life. So take your time and make your best of school courses to attain all the knowledge and skills you need.

If you are in youth, just go and find your own hobbies and advantages over others. To foster hobbies like sports, reading, music, art, travelling and so on is helpful for your physical and mental development. In the course of trying and fostering hobbies, you will find yourself good at something, which may be a guideline for your future ca-

6 visionary monthly

reer or inspirations for your future development. I attended a summer camp in Zhejiang and Jiangsu in my middle school. It was my first time out of the province I lived, traveling without my parents, and seeing the well-known West Lake. “Traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books.” “Seeing is believing.” I was consumed with all those Chinese proverbs and found myself loved travelling. Benefiting from this travel, I learnt about the local customs and practices, widened my horizon, and improved my independence. Apart from travelling, I love sports such as badminton, swimming, dancing, etc., which also were picked up in my youth. A wide range of interests and hobbies have helped me maintain my physical and mental health, enabled me to make a lot of friends and given me a happy and fulfilling life.

If you are in youth, please be aware of the importance of building good character. A diligent, positive, outgoing, polite, and knowledgeable person is always easy to make friends and welcomed by others anywhere. Youth is a good time to shape a nice character and temperament.

First you may ask yourself what good character is. Then you can write it down on a piece of paper. Finally you could make efforts to achieve it by correcting your existing shortcomings. Here particularly I would like to suggest to those who are the only child at home, that you should take opportunities to deal with people more, in which way you would learn how to communicate with people and become a considerate and reasonable person. By the way, I have to remind you that schoolmate friendship is the most pure and long-lasting kind of friendship which is worth cherished and will benefit you during your whole life. In addition, I would like to suggest you to develop good living habits, such as keeping early hours, doing some sports every day, alternating study with rest, learning to do some housework, etc. Good living habits will make you healthy, positive and optimistic, and diligent.

Youth is the most beautiful period of time in life. Cherish time and enjoy this wonderful time of energy, imagination, romance and venture. I assure that you will never regret it.

Peggy Wang

7 April 2012

Cover Story

8 visionary monthly

Yvonne Zhang

Youth Is a Gift If youth is coming…

T

ime stands still for no man. It’s incredibly true. It was like I was a kid yesterday, and tomorrow I will start my life as an adult. But today I am a 16-year-old teenager. This might be one of the few times in my life that I feel everything I do and will do is completely right. This is making me feel like flying everyday.

The elders always say this is the best time of our life because we have youth. I totally agree. I am more sensitive and independent than I was in my childhood time, but still more curious and energetic than I might be when I grow up. It is also a time to be filled with love, joy, laughter, pain and anger, strong emotions I may not have so often at other time of my life. I appreciate what life gives me as a teenager, the ability to feel, discover and love.

I am so lucky to be with friends who all have an open mind and the same interests to share. My interests of entertainment cross fields, from Gone with the Wind to Matrix, from Westlife to Katy Perry, from Sherlock to Gossip Girls, from Megan Fox to Emma Watson. We can cheer for a football or tennis game together, we can wait for the newest comic book of Conan together, we can comment on the dress Kate Middleton wore last week together. We are influenced by each other, so our interests change all the time. Besides entertainment, we debate on the positive and negative effects of the Internet, we discuss the election of USA and The Republic of China, we talk about our relationships and the happiness. At the class meeting, we share our dreams; our minds fly to the future where we all lead an unusual life.

Now at our age, we can laugh and be proud of our ambitions, but I don’t really know what we’ll think of them after ten years, twenty years, thirty years, or maybe fifty years.

Will we still believe in what we believe in when we are in our teens? Will we have the time or energy to do what we want to do when we are young and vital?

Youth is a gift .With youth we can do almost anything we want, to travel, to start a club, to protest for something, or to love someone. The movie You Are the Apple of My Eye not only impressed the young people, but also touched the heart of the adults. It reminded them of the old days of youth when they can love without any considerations.

When the time passed, the boys and girls turned into men and women, they have been hurt too many times to love with completely no reasons. So I wish the students who have already fallen in love good luck. There won’t be many chances of being so ‘childish’ after we move forward. Just

like what Taylor Swift’s song Fifteen says, ‘Cause when you’re fifteen, somebody tells you they love you, you gonna believe them.

And when you’re fifteen, feeling like there’s nothing to figure out.

But count to ten, take it in. This is life before you know who you’re gonna be.

Fifteen.’

Our friendship is also a bitter chocolate. We laugh and cry with our best friends. They are with us anytime we need them, and they always offer their shoulders to us if we need comfort. Though there may sometimes be disagreements, the happy memories are in the majority. When we get older, we may not be familiar with each other, or even recognize each other, but the memories will still be deep in our hearts.

However, the best thing of youth is to learn, learn without the pushes of the teachers, without the aim for the Entrance Examinations, learn from the nature, from the people around you, from you heart. That’s why we read books besides textbooks, essays besides the reading materials, newspapers besides the Learning English stuff. I laugh for the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I cry for the tragedy of Tess. I think for the deep gap between the white the colored showed in the book the Help. I sigh for the shortcomings of humans exposed by Hamlet. When I read, I am talking to the authors, and I am deeply engaged in the stories. History, poems, speeches, and all kinds of reading I do bring me into a world so enchanting. Francis Bacon said, ‘Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.’ Books and knowledge add value to my life.

Now that I am rushing forward to become an adult, I am taking care of my time of being a teenager. Getting ready for my university life, I tried to learn as much as I can. I want to study Sociology, which means I need to keep an eye out for the society at the same time. It can be hard, but with passion and dream I can manage to find a balance.

The door is wide open before all of us. Though the world outside might be much different from that we are used to live in, we will face it without fear or hesitation.

Youth is a gift. We love. We are loved. We are on the way.

9 April 2012

Cover Story

Mondo:

Friendship Everyday I take the train back and forth from work.

It takes around an hour and 15 minutes. Unlike most people, I get a lot done. I grade your papers! What, you never wondered why my writing was so sloppy? Well, more than usual?

Well yesterday I was grading some of your China Story essays (remember those?) when I witnessed something wonderful. Yup, it was so cool I had to write about it.

No doom or gloom on this one, no siree! On the contrary, it’s about the heart! Romance! Yes, on a train! OK, now clear your dirty minds, not that kind. So here goes.

As I sat there reading one of your doomed young couple fighting demons, spirits, curses or parents story, ( I must say, falling in love in ancient China was an ordeal!) I noticed a young teenage couple sitting across from me.

Nothing out of the ordinary, but something caught my eye. The girl and her look. She was totally fascinated with the boy next to her. Not just a look, but one of true, deep love.

Yes, I realize she is no older than most of you, but the look! There was absolutely no doubt about it. She was in love. In deep, love with him. My words will not do her justice, but the best analogy I can use was she was staring and sitting next to the man of her dreams. However, 10 visionary monthly

there’s a catch.

She sat next to him holding his arm and looking at him like he was a god, while he sat there reading a book!

At first glance. I noticed his eyes were nervous and didn’t want to make eye contact with her. Yeah, he was overwhelmed, didn’t know how to respond, or just plain shy. To his credit, he remained cool and collective, but how long could he keep it up? He just kept reading his book.

For several more stops he kept reading. ( in my opinion I DO NOT see how he could have possibly been focused on what he was reading) then she gets up. She kisses him on the cheek. He is totally surprised. She hurries away. The look on her face told a very sad tale. She was disappointed and heart broken by his disinterest in her.

Tears were swelling up her eyes. Yeah, she was hurt.

Very hurt.

Great, another doomed couple this time live and in person, but no demons or parents making trouble. Now all these stories you gave me made sense. Love brings sorrow and pain. Romance is doomed in China and always has been. Something or someone will always ruin it. Thanks, a somber reminder that life sucks. Oh well.

So I stopped reading, resigned to this dreadful thought.

A pity.

Mondo

Her emotions were so strong they left a lasting impression of very deep disappointment and sorrow. The type of pain you know no one can help alleviate, no matter how much one may try. A long, lonely evening awaited her. Unless...

In my mind I was screaming for him to get up and follow her. Damn you, don’t let her go like that, not now.

Not ever. Go. Go now! For the love of God, go now!!

All the good it did. He sat there: numb and frozen with indecision. Then he looked at me. I moved laser fast. I motioned to the door. Nothing obvious, just a nudge of my head to the door she had went through. That and my very intense stare with my eyes, which I am positive said, “GO!”. He snatched his book bag and leapt out of his seat in a single motion, he just got out!

he will never, ever forget. Well played, Sir! Well done!

God speed to both of you!

As for the girl next to me, she had witnessed everything I had seen. She had to have had. Why else was she looking out the window and smiling like I was? Regardless, we both sat back down. No way I could read about anymore doomed couple stories. I sat there smiling and feeling happy for them. Then in broken English, she simply said, “That was cute!” I just nodded. Yes, it was. It certainly was.

Luckily for him the going home crowd was in full force, so by the time he got out, she was still there waiting to get on the escalator. How do I know this? I got up and looked out the window!

I had to see this through! Strange, the girl next to me did as well!

Well he fights his way through the crowd and goes up behind her. She turns. All I saw before the train went into the tunnel was the life and joy back in her eyes and a hug 11 April 2012

Cover Story

Love Remains F

iber’s father, the old Harrison, was a fisherman who, mainly due to the low salary and subsidies, was considered abject during the period of fad of capitalism. However, he did love his work on the beach.

He always described himself as a ‘fishman’ that must breathe seawater, which meant that he could not live without the sea and the fish. He used to spend so much staying with the sea that he even could not get along well with his son. But now, in the hospital, staying in the bed, Harrison suddenly felt himself like a beached fish, without the oxygen hidden in the seawater. He could clearly remember what had happened on the day on which his disease was discovered.

On that day, when he was just working on the fisher ship with his cormorants, he was phoned up and apprised that his regular health report was released. He then procrastinated his work and hurried to the hospital to get the report. After arriving at the hospital, he realized something strange because all his relatives, except for his son, Fiber, kept quiet when they saw him come. Harrison immediately asked what was going on; one of his nephews answered with rue. Harrison was checked to have a heart disease which was almost irretrievable.

Soon, after that, Harrison began to live in hospital in order to get better treatment. At first, his attending physician said that his disease was fair and then he said stable and then serious. The friends continued to visit Harrison every day and condoled him with encouraging words.

Seemly, Harrison pretended to express positive will, but in fact he knew better than anyone else that his days were numbered. At this time, he was dying to see his son, Fiber who had been away from home since 10 years ago because of the conflicts between them. Indeed, he missed him.

When Fiber was still a teenager, Harrison always took him to the pier and forced him to help the work related to the sea, even if Fiber kept saying expletives. Every time when Fiber said that he was bored with the live near the pier, Harrison would be surprised and said, ‘What?

It is not good enough for you? You are my son, certainly you like seas and oceans. Come on, don’t play with me!’

When Fiber asked him which job he should after high school, Harrison answered with absolute attitude, ‘To be a fisherman! Just follow me!’ Then Fiber laughed and went out of his home, saying to buy some food.

But, then he never came back. Lying in the bed, Harrison kept thinking if he was wrong to manage his son’ future.

Then, his tears tare his face.

Parents rarely let go of their children, and children seldom let go of their parents. So, they move on and live on. But the diverges and the gaps between them invoke bitterly conflicts which make them more and more apart

12 visionary monthly

from each other. And on one day, one side of them has to make compunctions, to be subservient or to fight back.

And as a result, another one of them will be sacrificed.

When told that his father was nearly dead, Fiber was working in a restaurant. At first he thought that it was just an egregious joke made by someone. When it was confirmed that Harrison was in danger, Fiber got into deep despair. He stopped his work, standing without any movements. He suddenly recalled all the yore that he and his father shared together.

They, together, watched the sunset from the light tower near the beach. They, together, ate the delicious food in a seafood restaurant. They, together, viewed all the fascinating sceneries throughout the small village. They, together, learnt to recognize the names of all kinds of fishes. They, together, did a lot of things that still remained in Fiber memory as illusions.

Fiber finally got to know that he still loved his father even though he told himself that he had nothing to do with ‘the Harrison’ for many times. Harrison, the name of his father, still occupied a large seat in his heart even if he himself denied it. Realizing it, Fiber immediately abandoned his job as a dishwasher in the restaurant and bought a train ticket as soon as possible. He now was eager to see his father. He prayed all the way to his hometown.

Time! Please pass slowly! Let me see my father!

Finally, he arrived at the hospital and then hurried to the room in which his father was. Fiber walked into the room slowly, without saying a word. He looked at the face which he used to hate deeply. This face now was lack of the strength even to try to say to Fiber. Fiber cried out, shouting his father’s name. But he got no answers.

All the things he could hear were the lackluster clock sounds.

Fiber was forced to admit his father’s death. The clouds of doldrums surrounded him eternally and completely.

The nurse, the doctor and other relatives came in the room. Mary, Fiber’s mother said with indignation,’ don’t cry, my boy. He is the toughest man I’ve ever seen.’

At the funeral of Harrison, Fiber made up of his mind to inherit the job of his father. He decided to be a fisherman like his father.

After a long period of fighting, betraying, leaving, here he was, doing the job.

Mary seemed hard to believe that her husband was dead.

For every meal, she prepared three bowls on the table.

One was for Fiber; one was for herself and one for Harrison. Mary could not stand the fact and the heavy mishaps, so in her mind, Harrison never left her and her son.

He was with them forever. Sometimes, she would talk to the void just like she was talking to someone. Some-

Zemirah Zhou times, she would shout out, ‘Come on! Harrison, my dear! Today is your birthday. Congratulations!’ Sometimes, she would ask Fiber when Harrison would get of his work and come back. Every time Fiber heard this, his heart suffered a lot from the regret.

Fiber thought as a son, he was obliged to make his mother face the music and recover from the doldrums of losing the dear.

At one night, when Mary prepared three bowls as usual, Fiber approached her quietly. He then said,’Oh, mum, don’t do that. My father will not have it.’ Mary turned

to Fiber, and said, ‘My boy! I know you are in trouble with your father. You don’t like him. But in fact, he is our folk, my husband, your father. I have to give him a nice meal!’ Fiber pretended to be cruel and said with cold voice, trying to persuade his mother ‘But mother, face the reality! He’s gone!’

Mary stopped every movement. She then asked: ‘Gone where?’ with a very soft voice.

Looking Up at Love from a 45° Angle H e is a normal white-collar in the steel-like city, working routinely, living regularly, clothing formally, handsome and serene. He is like a dainty flower put in a greenhouse, no one can find out a blemish on him.

She is a guide who always hurries to depart; likes wearing jeans and a pair of broken sneaker. As a daisy grown in the mountain, she passes by the steel-like city, waiting for her own love.

They are neighbors, always brushing past each other in the street. When he goes to work, she just comes back with heavy luggage; when he returns, she goes for another trip at rush. When meeting, they just smile, nod and then pass by without any hesitation. They are like thousands of strangers in the city, with no intersection in their life.

Once reading Carman, he thought of her .He thought she was like the gypsy girl who is enchantingly pretty, naturally free and attractively passionate. He noticed she didn’t have a ring in her delicate third finger. He wondered which type of men could get her love. But it must not be him. She was a birch, needed another birch to match. However he has been a pruned sycamore already, decently, without any deficiency. Every day he sits in his office, looking into the leaden sky out of the window, immovable as an idol.

By accident she saw he smoke under their flat, looking straightly in a daze. Suddenly her heart started to thump.

He is the type she loves, tall and straight, she thought.

He was obviously well-educated. She guessed he might have a girlfriend who also was a white color worker, wearing Armani jacket, with Lancome perfume, and own the sachet of the latest LV. But she was only a tour

guide. They were two parallel lines, won’t have one day to meet together.

Then he moved out and married with another girl, lived a kind of indeed ordinary and tedious life. Sometimes her sprightly figure appears in his mind, freely, lovely, like a bird flying far away toward the distant horizon sky.

On his vacation, he went out for a trip. To his surprise, she is his tour guide. She was still the same, still had no ring in her finger. They looked at each other, but they all dodged the other’s view as quickly as getting a shock. At that time, they suddenly understood that whereas love has come, but neither of them stretched out hand to catch it. They thought that the he or she was the star in the sky that was too far to catch, looking up at one another from 45 degree so that they missed the opportunity to meet mutual love.

In the coach, she lightly said that the meeting of people was so difficult in the vast anonymous mass of the population of the city, and love was even harder. So if you fell in love with someone, please say to him or her bravely.

For this courage, let’s sing a song.

Every one in the coach considered that the guide was making delight atmosphere, expect him who seemed to hear the sound of heart-rending. Looking up at her, he dug an uncrossable river for themselves. Suddenly, he thought a poem: The furthest distance in the world , is not between life and death. But when I stand in front of you, yet you don’t know that I love you.

Love, love, he sighed quietly. He lit a cigarette, looking into the leaden sky straightly in a daze. The chilly starlight sprinkled on his face, like a solidified marble statue.

13 April 2012

Cover Story

The Direction of Clouds D

ialogue

‘Do you know where the floating clouds are going to?’

‘I do not know. Who knows?’

‘But I know where they are longing to be. They are in the direction towards the origin of winds.’

‘Really?’

‘Of course. The clouds are chasing their homes and their futures.’

‘I have never heard about it. But if so, it is really great!’

‘And I want to watch the clouds in this way, now and forever. What do you think? Will you be with me?’ ‘……’

The dialogue had been taken with the winds. No one could hear the answer.

Origins J was a small boy who just graduated from his primary school, a school surrounded by mountains, covered with green trees in every season. He used to climb one of them after class and just sit down on the grass. Staring at the blue sky which was like the background of a play in the stage, J always thought about the white, floating clouds. What made them all moved in the only one direction? What were they looking for? Where did they try to go? As a result, looking at the clouds became one of J’s hobbies.

And for this, as soon as J got into Junior School, he attended the group of atmosphere, just to observe the clouds better. But he was soon disappointed because there were almost no outside-observations in the group and all day what they did was having lectures and doing papers. J felt uncomfortable and wanted to watch the real clouds. So, on one Saturday afternoon, he walked into the office of groups and applied to get rid of the atmosphere group. Teacher approved and put J’s application form on the top of a pile of documents. Just on that occasion, J found that there was another quitting application paper of atmosphere group on the pile, but he did not care about it too much. He was just planning to watch

14 visionary monthly

the clouds on the mountains near his mother school later.

J walked out. It was a sunny day, a good time for watching clouds.

The grass of mountains was vividly green, dyeing the air nearby. The babbles of the birds flew frequently as if there was a river of sounds in these invisible gases. J lied down on the grass ground and opened his eyes to catch every trace of clouds. The winds flew over his face. It seemed that everything was peaceful.

J nearly got asleep in such a good environment.

‘What are you doing here? Are you watching the clouds?’ a voice hit J’s ears. He looked up at the approacher.

It was a girl who was smiling with a little wonder, wearing the same school uniform as J. J said, ’Oh, yes. I am watching them. I did this every day when I was in primary school. They are my friends somehow.’

The girl kept smiling, and said, ‘So, how much do you think you know about the clouds?’

‘Everything. I have watched them for a thousand times since I got into primary school.’

The girl then asked, ‘Do you know the destination of the clouds?’

‘Well, about this, I do not know. I am just interested in the fascinating shapes and hues of those clouds. Don’t ask such stupid questions.’

The girl put up her hands and said with a little sarcasm, ‘They are getting into the origins.’

J was shocked in a way. Just when he wanted to ask the girl about the meaning of ‘origins’, the girl said, ‘So, my name is Q. I am in the same grade as you. Wish we be good friends. But now I have to go, bye.’

J wanted to hold her back, but failed. Q walked away in the way the rain drips penetrated the clouds, impossible to be stopped.

And now, just J stood in the grass ground. Everything seemed unchanged.

Yore J arrived at the classroom just before the bell rang. And he then saw the smiling face of Q as usual. J felt less up-

Bright Ren

set and walked to his seat which was not far away from Q’s.

J sat on his chair and looked out of the window and kept thinking.

He was a high school student now. Five years ago, he met Q at the mountain near his primary school. And then he found that Q had the same hobby as his---that was watching clouds. So soon, they always went out together to somewhere that could provide a nice sight of the sky.

Together they visited the village inside big chains of mountains. Together they got to the bay located in the southern part of the city. Together they watched all kind of clouds. And every time when Q saw these clouds, she would say something that was difficult for J to understand. But J did not mind. It was Q who taught him that watching clouds was not a thing that should be done alone. J first felt the joy of sharing the views because of Q. Two years ago, both J and Q succeeded in getting to the best local high school.

After the math class, Q gave J a small note which told him to go to the playground after school. She had something to say.

Soon after school, J arrived at the playground punctually.

He saw Q standing over there, near a basketball court.

‘Hi! What do you want to do? You told me to be here.’ J asked in his way as usual.

Q did not say anything.

‘What happened to you? You are so quiet.’ J asked once again.

Q did not say anything.

‘Tell me! What happened?’ J observed the abnormal of Q, and asked with worry.

‘I have to leave here tomorrow.’ Finally, Q answered.

“Why?” “My family decided to live in S city, which my parents think is better for me. We have already bought the tickets to S city tomorrow.’

‘Are you joking?’ J asked with self-adolescence.

‘I am not joking, J. I have decided to go with my family.

So today may be the last time we see each other.’

‘Then what about our promises? Haven’t we promised to

see the clouds together forever?’ J cried out.

‘Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. J. It is all I can say.’ Q answered with woe. Tears suddenly tare her face.

In the sky, a bird made it wounded.

The winds flew stronger, putting the clouds to the unknown future.

Destination Time was an arrow with an inevitable speed. It had been ten years since J and Q had been separated.

During the period they were away from each other, they insisted on communicating by handwritten letters.

And one day, J got a mission from his boss and went on business to the S city.

On his way towards the office in the S city, he passed across a railway.

Q went to buy some vegetables for her family.

On her way towards her home, she passed across a railway.

J and Q walked near each other and got to the opposite side of the railway.

Both of them decided to turn back to check if the suddenly feeling of familiarity was true.

Just before their sights met, a train passed, incising the interaction.

J stood there, waiting for the train to pass.

Train moved away with big sounds.

And J saw no one standing on the opposite side.

Q had left the railway when J was waiting the train.

J smiled with ease, and walked away.

The clouds finally went into two different directions, held by different winds.

And it left nothing in the sky, neither in the memories.

15 April 2012

Essay

Essay K창-lee living Left in A Right Handed World

16 visionary monthly

Visionary

Kâ-lee Kâ-lee is curry. Maybe you have never heard of this word, but you sure have already tasted it.

K

â-lee didn’t capture my stomach until one day I was exhausted from my post, as I went to a domestic IT company to help them as a part-time translator in Singapore for just one day. The translation of the company’s website cost me the whole eight-hour working time without any lunch break or tea-time. Without any further thinking, I dragged my out-of-controlled skins and fleshes and bones to the nearest MRT station where a McDonald’s restaurant was located, which seemed not so wise in rush hour.

I was then proven as one of the stupidest men on the island while I stepped in the station and nearly got suffocated.

The Orchard MRT station was full of Hindu tourists, who dressed with colourful Indian-style clothes and the thick layers of choking perfumes. What made the smelling more intolerable was the tropical weather in Singapore – hot and humid. Everyone there kept sweating and sweating and sweating until the clothes were not able to absorb any more sweat. With the mixture of those smelling, even the most exhausting bloke could not swallow any Big Mac or chips. No way.

‘Strange Indians.’ I stepped out the station as fast as I could and tucked my thought into my heart. At that day, under that particular circumstance, I felt something strange with all of those friendly-looking dark people.

They were indeed speaking English, but that sounded like another kind of language in South-East Asia, they even called curry as ‘kâ-lee’, in a special Indian style stress and tone. They reminded me back in Hong Kong, my father sometimes told me Chungking Mansions, where mostly occupied by South Asians, especially Indians, was a place full of weeds, cocaine and prostitutes. ‘A complicated

place,’ my father said, ‘full of bunches illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. They annoy our Chinese hardworking style society.’

‘Maybe my old man was right,’ I thought as I walked, ‘maybe they were just a bunch of annoying blokes.’

Then a signboard just across the road appeared in my sight. It was Kopitiam, a famous chain restaurant on the island that provides food from many countries and cultures like a food court. ‘Curry, kâ-lee, such an interesting pronunciation.’ I repeated the Indian accent as an idiot when my feet swung automatically to the stall ‘Mr Prata’, as it is the nearest stall to the gate. To my surprise, Mr Prata sold nothing but curry and curry set, what I mocked at a minute ago. This situation could be described by nothing but a Chinese saying ‘Yuan Jia Lu Zhai (The road is narrow for enemies)’, so, whatever it was, let me move on to eat something.

The stall was not a luxury place, but it was not a cowshed either. Since it was set in the well-sanitary air-conditioned Kopitiam, everything looked tidy and clean. They even achieved Level A plate on the wall, which indicated the stall was recognised as one of the best food providers in Singapore. There was nothing like crystal pendant on the ceiling, but a hang-up menu right in front of me. Two local Indians are browsing the menu while my stomach made some noise to protest that it wasn’t filled during the previous lunch time. ‘Ku-lulululululu-lu.’ It was five o’clock, and there weren’t much people in the restaurant, so the sound was loud enough to attract the fellows’ sight, and they turned around to see me – a Chinese boy in shirt and jeans in a school day of Singapore. They talked to me.

17 April 2012

Essay

‘Hey buddy, don you need go school today? How can you so hungry?’

I told them something about my parttime job rather briefly, and they were obviously not so happy with my manager.

‘Oh man, that was no fair. No fair. You first lah, you so hungry. Kâ-lee in this store is the best in Singapore! We still wait, no big deal.’ Their dark faces was dragged wider because of smiling, that made them more lovely. One of them gave way to me to the front of the counter. Through the strong perfume smelling of these nice guys, I could detect the best scent I have ever smelled. The mixture of spices – pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, aniseed, and the most important kâlee powder – gave the whole stall an impressive odour. That was something I had never, never experienced. It wasn’t ‘curry’ in the school canteen, which were just some unknown liquid with some yellow powder. They were absolutely nonsense and degraded the name of curry.

Kâ-lee, that wonderful combination of spices, should be the thing that introduced to all over China, not a bowl of yellow water provided in the canteen. They should not carry the heavy mission of promoting Indianstyle food to China, cetera paribus, nor should the guys in Chungking Mansions represent all of the Indians.

Maybe some of the Indian blokes in Chungking Mansions do take drugs, but other Indian people are so nice, so nice that they are always carrying their smiling face behind their counters, inside the lifts, and up to every floor.

I chewed the kâ-lee with naan, smiling like an Indian and kept eating with my hand. All men created equal, no problem. Speak like an Indian, smell like an Indian, SMILE like Indian, what big deal? Come on, dude, chew kâ-lee with your Indian brothers, life is wonderful.

18 visionary monthly

Nancy Lin

Living Left in a Right Handed World I

was lingering in the city’s largest musical instrument store when a question suddenly came across my mind. “Do you have any guitar for lefties?” I asked the clerk. The burly guy shrugged, “We don’t.”

The same scenario happened again in Daddy’s Junky Music Store in Boston. I was luckier this time. I found a couple of left-handed guitars among piles of acoustic guitars, but I was totally shocked to see the $950 on the price tag, considering the fact that those guitars’ quality was far from fine. That was just an experiment.

As a righty, such problem never occurs to me. I’m comfortably using the computer mouse, shaking hands with other people and crossing the street, never bothered by what seem to annoy the left hand users.

Until recently, the occurrence in the guitar store invokes my consciousness. Lefties not only have fewer choices of guitars, but also encounter a lot more inconvenience in their lives. They can never use the same tennis racket or scissors as we do. They have to purchase a “specialordered” golf club at a striking price. Left-handed soldiers would have to use a certain kind of rifles in war. People do not call this discrimination because they don’t consider the problem serious. If we ever get in the shoes of left-handed people, we will certainly be willing to change the imbalance. We, the majority, always have tolerance of inequality. Yet tolerance is just another name for indifference. We do not care about inequality until a problem occurs to ourselves. Our nonchalance will only worsen the bias.

Someday in 8th grade, a newly transferred student asked me, “How many lefties do we have in our class?”

We started counting, and I was astonished to see the number. It was ZERO. According to the statistics, approximately 12% of the world’s population is lefthanded. If this was the case, there should be 4 left-

handers out of 40 students theoretically. Deep down, I knew something is not right. Some of my friends often recall their childhood memory of their parents forcing them to write with their right hands, even if they are left-handed by nature. In kindergarten, I witnessed the teacher slapping other kids’ left hands before they could pick up the pen with their left hands. The transferred student, who spent half of his life living in Auckland and London, was confused. “Why, isn’t it genetic?”

In Asia, forced switching is very common due to social and cultural pressures. A large number of Indian children are forced to change from left-handedness to right-handedness, because their left hands are for “personal hygiene” and are considered unclean. In other parts of the world, it’s impolite to point or gesture with left hands. Even though the Western world is generally regarded as more developed, people also attempt to change their children’s handedness. Jesus sits on the right side of God, while God’s left hand is for judgment, and might be referred to Satanism. In medieval Europe, people call the sinister homosexuals “the left-handed.”

Thus, in some catholic schools, students get punished if they use their left hands. In the supposedly civilized modern world of 21st century, such bias still haunts people. Cultures vary, but bias towards left-handed people is surprisingly parallel.

It is important to note that we cannot possibly end prejudice, for it is intrinsic in us all, even if we might not be aware of it. The society defends majority, but that doesn’t mean the majority is allowed to discriminate against majority. I expect the day when the Statue of Liberty is no longer holding the torch in her dominant right hand. I believe that day will come.

19 April 2012

My Story

MY STORY

Different Childhood in the Same Way

20 visionary monthly

Arthur Yuan

I also wept a tear for her.

And how about mine?

I will trade it, with all capacity in my lifetime.

W

hen Lily was in the 4th grade, she transplanted in Tibet with her father, an assigned commandeer to build railway in the marvelous chilly plateau.

The landscape here was simple and monotony in winter, no trees, no people and even no creatures in thousands of arcs except their own encampment. There was frozen.

If you had few water-drop remain on you bare hand and stayed in the chilly roaring wind outdoor, in one minute, your hand would chap and the water and you blood clot to solid cover on your scars. In Tibet, the winter wind could freeze everything. When you breathe out, the warm, wet air from your lungs turns so white in the air as if the little droplets all freeze to ice and then they fly up and down as the snow.

Every day, on Lily's way home, she could see the marvelous, magnificent and sacred snow mountains standing on the edge of the grassland and the sapphire sky in serene. On the weekend, Lily was playing with classmates. During the hide-and-seek, Lily sat under a groove of one huge stone. She stared at the mountains.

Breeze blew and brought her a whim that why we hadn't tried to get close to those sovereign guardians of the sincere highland?

Some original residents had not seen any tree all among their lifetime even the old ones. Trees never existed here.

Green, for Tibet, is a luxury and precious color. Lily’s eyesight turned bad after one year since they moved to Tibet for the air here was so thin the sun shined so harshly. All the stuff was white for half a year. Lily's mother hung a green picture on her window, utterly green. She heard that green was salutary to children's eyes.

The mountains seemed not far away, no more than 10 km now.

I live in Shenzhen since I was born. This Southern city is so hot in the summer and sometime you can see the air above the pavement is burning and oscillating and twisting your sight forward. If you think that the hottest condition is that the sun burns crazily right above your head, nope, you haven't have class in our elementary school in those summer day. Under the frying sunshine you can sweat and sweat very hard. At least it cools you in a way. But in the muggy, fevering, stuffy classroom, the sweat poured out from your pores and just remained on your cheek, on your neck, on your chest, on everywhere. The classroom was a big steamer and we were smoldering in it.

In addition, I complained a lot about why the city had so few amusement parks. The Happy Valley, the Window of the World and......and no more. I had already been acquired to both of the parks so much. In summer vacation I stayed indoors and played the video game for weeks and then realized how vacuous my vacation was.

But life was not always so muggy.

Lily set out with two classmates with few carryon; the huge mountain seemed not far away, no more than 10 km. They hiked for hours and the grass on the ground, in the stone turned rarer and rarer. The sore from their feet and the hunger from their belly reminded them that a long time had passed.

They persisted but the fear was growing as the sore became more and more apparent, the sapphire sky turned more and more blurry and the landscape became misty.

The fiercest predator in Tibet is not wolf or leopard. It is the coldness, drearily but fatal coldness. Every day, there were lives which were taken away by the frigid on the bald grassland. The kids started to cry, but it was buried by the rage of the rotating, chilly wind. Lily was frozen to the marrow. A faint light threaded through the misty air. It was a truck!

Lily and her mates were saved by the loaded truck of the military. Of course, she was blamed by parents extremely sharply.

When I was 6th grade, our school took a field trip to outskirt, a village which was very poor but has the river that was pure as transparent jelly and the mountain that was as soft as breasts. After a picnic on the mountain, we entered the village on the proximity. We were stunning.

The road here was just grooves on the mug and the excreta of the cow lay on the middle of the road. There were crevices twisting on the wall of the cabin;the roofs were crooked. Some of them seemed that they would collapse at any moment.

21 April 2012

My Story

We were stupefied again when we pass one of the scruffiest cabins. There were some haws on the ground and pigs lay on them casually and a wooden ladder connected the second floor. We could see there were also some haws on the floor as well and the family lay on them of the same gesture and right above the odorous pigs with dirty and shabby cloth.

Our teacher took out her purse and an one hundred-Yuan note. She napped on the angel of the note and extended her arm as far as she could; maybe her arm hated the awesome odor of the pigs' or, maybe, the family's. The head man of the family accepted the note as silently as they accepted those pain and hardships in their life. They knew they didn't have choice to make. They had to suffer.

They had to accept. Students all started to take money out their wallets, but I didn't and my teacher discovered that.

However, she didn't say anything, she shake her heard maybe as I didn't dare to look at her directly so I was not sure. I stared at the crooked cabin, the dirty pigs, the filthy haws, the half-broken ladder and the family.

This was not the way to help them. Charity in such aptitude was meaningless. The things they lack most was not money but hope. They lay there, right above the pigs, with helpless eyesight, not because of their short of strength to struggle, but because of the way for them to strive. The bureau took their fields, their river, and their mountain to rear as the place for visitors. I thought.

"It's not the way it should be. I will change it in my way.

I will trade their pain with my whole life" I said as my voice turned down.

"Bullshit, you are stingy. Don't try to justify yourself in such a stupid way." some of my dear and generous classmates yelled.

People dispersed and left.

I signed lightly. I invoked another wave of exclusive comment, naturally. After all, that was no so practical.

"I trust you." a hand tapped on my shoulder. It was the boy sat behind me in the classroom, not shine in common day at all. But that time I thought he was my God, my Lord, shining warm beam to my heart.

He saved me in a way, in a spiritual way. I still remembered his name, Zhang Jiawei, so clearly after separating for 4 years.

After the 6 years long lighthearted happiness in the Tibet, Lily migrated back to her hometown, Yueyang, a small city in province Hunan. In the worst middle school in such a small town far from the adjective "advanced"(No school accepted such a child from Tibet at that time); Lily was mocked and derided a lot. Her grade was very, very

22 visionary monthly

bad as a student from Tibet. She knew that the only way to prove herself and to win and gain her future is to strive for academic.

For me, all the same, I was very lighthearted in 7th and 8th grade and my study was all neglected. I was 200th out of 700 students in our middle school which meant that I had to go to the worst high school in the packed city. My promise was buried by the time until I reminded it someday after my 15th birthday. I knew that academic was the only way for me, for us to prove it.

Since then, Lily's and my life seemed to turn to counterparts. Staying up to finish exercises, reciting context during the 10-minutes break, discussing the vary solution for a mathematic plaza and refusing to hang out with mates and so on.

Fortunately, it was not too late.

Lily entered the teacher-training school for it was free of charge as the top students at that time, her home was not rich at all and she had 3 brothers and sisters.

And I entered the Shenzhong as I wished.

In 2008, my mom went to the Tibet again to recollect the reminiscence. In 1976, my mom immigrated to Tibet as my grandfather was an officer in the railway-building army and the Party tried to build the Tibet railway. After 6 years, 1982, the whole railway project failed and thousands of soldiers' lives were engulfed by the sacred and uncanny plateau. In that year, my mom withdrew with the army and her father back to Hunan. She entered a very bad middle school and then passed into the teachertraining school with free tuition in order to reduce the huge living pressure of the family. The experience that my mom liked to talk is that she once lost in a typical night heading for the snow mountain, the most sovereign one.

My mom was almost frozen in the transport truck but she didn't cry as her mates, instead, she still murmured about the mountain. But, as staying in the army, she could not act as she wanted and after that, adventure happened. My grandmother guard her tightly so for 6 years, she even hadn't seen the mountain closely, incredible. Yes, you must have gotten it now that my mom's name is Lily.

She was so happy to see the mountain finally in 2008. And in that year, the railway was built successfully. She visited Tibet through the railway that with my grandfather's sweat and blood. When she saw the mountain, hot tears whirled in her eyes.

I also wept a tear for her.

And how about mine?

I will trade it, with all capacity in my lifetime.

Arthur Yuan

23 April 2012

Review

REVIEW

And who am I? That’s a secret I’ll never tell. You know you love me.

24 visionary monthly

xoxo Gossip Girl

Waiting Zhong

F

Gossip girl: Everything we have experienced together

or those students who began watching Gossip Girl from the first season in 2007, this TV series must have taken a not-negligible part of their hearts. In the autumn of 2007, we have just become middle school students. Standing on the playground of our new schools, we expected to meet our new life as soon as possible, but actually at that time, we only know so little about the true world and true society.

Gossip Girl stepped into our lives at that very moment.

Beautiful clothes, wonderful allusive sentences, parties, friendships and loves…… it brought us so many things that we seldom see in our own lives. Maybe because of this reason, we fell for Gossip Girl the first sight we saw it. As we stepped into middle school, and began a new experience, Gossip Girl also began to open a heavy door of another world, a world in the other hemisphere.

Time flies. Five years passed all in a sudden. Those used-to-be naive children have already grown up to mature high school students. We each walk forward on our own roads in this fives years. When we buried ourselves in homework, when we laughed with classmates, when we ran at our highest speed in the race, we became more mature. The world is now clear to us. We now know how to plan our future and work toward it. Also in this five years’ time, all the characters in the world of Gossip Girl, Serena, Blair, Nate, Chuck, Dan……they all changed. Sometimes when I retrospect the paths they’ve walked through, I still feel shocked

about how time can change people. In the series, everyone, like us, is also trying to live the life they want; they chase their dream just like we do, only in a braver and bolder way.

Love Is Gossip Girl a TV series about love?

A ft er w at chi ng t he first season, I think most audience will say yes. American’s love, although shortlived and severe (which is why they are not accepted by some elder people), are still heart-warming and romantic.

Watching the characters sacrifice all their leisure time to find the most-needed gift for each other, seeing them comforting each other when bad things happen, a warm and gentle wind, which makes me forget the dark side, begins to blow in my heart. Even though the city is full of materialism, full of events we don’t want to see, there are still true love exists.

However, everything began to change in the second season. The characters in love began to feel untrustworthy of each other. Form then on, beautiful loves are like colorful bubbles in the air, when we have just given them a hope, they broke unexpectedly. As time goes by, everyone switch girlfriends or boyfriends over and over. True love seems to have disappeared.

As time goes by, everyone switch girlfriends or boyfriends over and over.

True love seems to have disappeared.

25 April 2012

Review

POWER?

Maybe many GG fans used to curved the playwright for giving us such a struggling plot, but after a second thought, I figured our that this is the real life. No real love will be so romantic forever; no one will keep waiting for you when you turn your back to him/her.

The characters in Gossip Girl, unlike those in Eastern TV series, do not hold any unrealistic opinion about love. No matter they fall in love or break apart, they face the fact very quickly; even if the couple find out they still have feelings for each other after breaking apart, they will just keep living their own life, waiting for the love to burst again at some time or fade away.

Five year passed. All periods of love which used to make us laugh or cry so severely seem so unimportant now. After all, love is not the main theme in Gossip Girl. When the tense has gone, what left to us is peace.

Control and power Gossip Girl is a show about a group of students scrambling for power, especially among girls. In order to get the crown of “Queen Bee” in high school, those girls stated tens of big or small “cat fights”. Serena, our queen S, usually does not really care about all the gossips among schoolmates. She handles her family and social relationships much more carefully than her life at school. However, although she is only a mysterious person to others, we can feel her influence whenever she appears.

Actually, Serena does not want to be“Queen Bee” at all; she just wants to live a successful, happy and noble life. However, it is exactly this quality, plus her beauty and the way she deals with problems, that make everyone respect her power.

Amazingly, Serena’s best friend, Blair, our queen B, has completely different opinion toward power. I believe that every GG fan remembers one scene: In a beautiful afternoon, Blair and some of her “friends” are sitting on the stairs of the school square, eating yogurt. Blair tries to defend her power everywhere,

26 visionary monthly

especially in school. No matter in classes or parties, she is always with some followers. If one person sits on the stair that is higher that hers, yogurt or ice cream will drop directly on that one’s head. Among schoolmates, she grabs the crown of “Queen Bee” so tightly, that sometimes she even suspects her best friend for taking things form her. At home, she tries to behave like a docile little daughter, in order to get more power from her parents. She is a powerful woman, everyone agree with that. However, when she finally meets her destiny, her power is not enough to control her life.

Waiting Zhong

If two people are mean to be together,finally they will find their way back.

I don’t want to judge whether different powers bring good to the characters. I am only shocked by one small detail.

In Gossip Girl, no matter how bad, how confusing, how miserable, how disordered their life was, nobody had ever given up. Although in this modern society, there are so many ways to be an ostrich, to bury our heads in the sand, to run away, no one in Gossip Girl had even surrendered.

In five years, they are always trying their best to solve all kind of problems, to use and enlarge their power and force, to reach their goal and chase their dreams. Even for this aspect, we should respect every character in GG, respect their attitude toward life.

They have grown up, so have we. Almost unconsciously, we walked past a beautiful period, called “youth”. Life is just like a TV show, we and the characters all seem to have experienced so much, but when we look back, nothing really changed the way we are going. Maybe that is the true meaning of youth. Even if there is nothing left, as long as we have lived, we have tried, we should have no regrets about what we experienced together.

I don’t want to judge whether different powers bring good

to the characters. I am only shocked by one small detail.

In Gossip Girl, no matter how bad, how confusing, how miserable, how disordered their life was, nobody had ever given up. Although in this modern society, there are so many ways to be an ostrich, to bury our heads in the sand, to run away, no one in Gossip Girl had even surrendered.

In five years, they are always trying their best to solve all kind of problems, to use and enlarge their power and force, to reach their goal and chase their dreams. Even for this aspect, we should respect every character in GG, respect their attitude toward life.

They have grown up, so have we. Almost unconsciously, we walked past a beautiful period, called “youth”. Life is just like a TV show, we and the characters all seem to have experienced so much, but when we look back, nothing really changed the way we are going. Maybe that is the true meaning of youth. Even if there is nothing left, as long as we have lived, we have tried, we should have no regrets about what we experienced together.

27 April 2012

Review

The Queen Comes,

Adele

The 54th Grammy Awards

28 visionary monthly

Visionary I think that those people who love American pop music still remembered that in the 52th Grammy Awards, 2010, Beyonce became the winner with 6 awards included the Best Female Artist. But this year, a new queen was born, also got 6 wins in all. Her name is Adele.

1

The Queen Comes to Grammy “Welcome to be back, Adele!” The host said excitedly. After all, it was the first time that Adele had come back to the stage again after the operation on her throat.

On that evening, Adele made a great success, with 6 awards like Album of the Year and Song of the year. On the stage, she cried happily, saying “Thank you!” to her company, studio and her doctor.

“I never thought that I would be so excited like this. I can sing again tonight! I must thank my doctor because he brought me my voice!” Adele, the young girl who comes from London, Britain, shared her joy with the audience and her fans.

At first, a lot of people cared about whether she could sing like she used to or not as the result of her operation. But after she performed her No.1 single on Billboard, Rolling in the Deep, everybody gave their applauses to the excellent singer. Stars like Rihanna also ran to the stage to kiss her!

There is also some other news about the 54th Grammy Awards this year.

2

The Beauty was Also Happy Many people said that she is the most beautiful female singer in America and her voice is so sweet. Yes, she is Taylor Swift! At that night, she also cried with happiness like Adele. The Best Country Solo Performance and the Best Country Song belonged to her. She used to get many Grammy Awards. And this year, the number of her awards is also increasing. Despite that some people complained that she should win more, she is very good. Congratulations to you again, Taylor Swift.

29 April 2012

Review

3

Don’t Forget! Some Singers were Sad!

4

I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston!

Bruno Mars, the one who had 6 nominations before, did not win any of them. Maybe the reason is that he had 5 same nominations with Adele. What’s more, other two famous singers, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry went back with nothing. Lady Gaga was always the winner in any music awards. For example, she took 8 awards in 2010 Video MTV Awards and 4 awards in 2011 European MTV Awards. But she failed for the first time. After the ceremony, she told Little Monsters (her fans):” I enjoyed tonight and you cannot win them all the time.”

For Katy Perry, her luck was worse. She came to music world for more than 3 years. Till now, she hasn’t had any award from Grammy.

But there was a well-know proverb: Each coin has two sides. Katy performed her new single Part of Me on the ceremony. As a result, this single occupied the position of No.1 on Billboard Hot 100 in the first week. In other words, Katy made her 7th No.1 single by means of performing on Grammy.

ust two days before the Grammy of this year began, Whitney Houston had been dead! Most of the famous singers and actors around the world showed their respects and mourned for the queen of music. There is no doubt that she is one of the greatest singers in the music history. This year, the open show of Grammy was mourning for Whitney. The host asked all the people to bless her without any words. Then, he played the video of Whitney singing her single I Will Always Love You in 1994. After that, all of the singers and audience stand up to show their respects.

Nobody is able to escape from death, but what he or she did will always be remembered by others. Love you, my dear Whitney!

30 visionary monthly

Visionary

Part of the Award Winning List Record of the Year: Adele---Rolling in the Deep Album of the Year: Adele---21 Song of the Year: Adele---Rolling in the Deep Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: Adele---21 Best Pop Vocal Album: Adele---21 Best Country Solo Performance: Taylor Swift---Mean Best Country Song: Taylor Swift---Mean Best New Artist: Bon Iver Best Pop Performance by A Duo Or A Group with Vocals: Tony Bennett & Amy Whitehouse Best Rock Song: Foo Fighters---Walk Best Rock Album: Foo Fighters---Wasting Light Best Rap Song: Kanye West feat. Rihanna, Fergie and Kid Cudi---All of the Lights

31 April 2012

Review

Those Years When

YOUNG

Time never returns. Even if we do not realize, but we are growing, definitely. We are losing the naive personality.

We are losing all the memories and reminiscence that we shave promised never to forget. But the movie is an art that can hold on time. Maybe, when a lonely night comes, both you and I can sit quietly, reminding the passage of time and those things, those people.

32 visionary monthly

Rowena Ouyang

H

ow many times, we don’t intend to watch the plots in movies, instead, to touch the meaning of them, to appeal to our pathos, to pick up the debris of our memories.

Starry Starry Night, for example, is a movie for our past.

When my friends said they would like to rush to the cinema and watch this movie after finishing the tests, I was astounded. “What’s fun of apprehending the love, or indistinct relationship of two little friends of just thirteen?”

But one of them laughed and shrugged her shoulders: “Just one more time to be a little girl.” Well, I was convinced that maybe I should relax myself, or just like she said, back to my thirteen for a while.

Honestly saying, the movie was not captivating or interesting. Slow beat, daily school things, and relationships between classmates and family.

However, there were still some impressing scenes.

Obviously we grew older and began to judge the world.

Sadly, we lost childish perspective, which sometimes is cute and worth appreciating. so brave that they left their parents in anger and went into the mountain together, in order to finding the house of the girl’s grandfather. They took a fantasy train, ate one stranger’s watermelons while sitting on his car, determined the road to continue, and even met a heavy downpour. The firm and courageous expression in girl’s eyes let me laugh at myself. When five year old or around, I left home as well. I didn’t remember why I vexed my mother so much that she yelled and endeavored to beat me. Frightened and sad, I hided behind my grandpa. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t escape from the fate of taking the result of my fault. No one could help me anymore. I chose leaving, running outside my home and hiding myself in the corner of the stairs, of course, several levels of stairs below my home.

Tears rushed out. I quivered in the corner and brainstormed what I could do. I could stay on a bridge and asked for charges from passers; I could go to my cousin’s home and took a bus to school everyday; or I could back to my hometown and live with my maternal grandmother. Nevertheless, no way could keep my away from my mother forever; I had to face the deadlock. At last, I went home, even without walking outside the building. Every time I thought about this experience I laughed. What a weak girl, wasn’t she?

The boy was gone. But her life went on.

Her life had to go on.

After the girl and the boy accomplishing their task of changing paper to lively animals, they walked home, accompanied with those cute animals. There were keenly flying birds, adorable rabbits, a tall giraffe, and many other creatures that usually live in forests.

The lonely kids were not lonely any more.

They passed through bridges, through busy streets, through the cold and cruel city, but with love and happiness. Especially romantic was the sunset, which was observed quietly by seating boy and girl. The golden sunlight immersed the world and their hearts were immersed in tranquility. No more afraid of the changing society; no more afraid of the exacerbating relationship of their parents.

The sunset reminded me of a foolish trip of mine, with my friends. When in six grade, determined to observe the sunrise on the bank of our community, we four girls promised to meet each other at twenty to six at the gate.

However, when I opened my eyes at nearly five thirty, the sky had already been lightened. Without cell phones to notice each other and avoiding disturbing our parents, we had to still arrive at the same time. When we gathered we all laughed. Laughed for the earlier getting up sun, for we dream to see the splendid sunrise. We didn’t give up. Another day, we met each other at a quarter past five and walked to the bank together. We chatted and waited.

Nevertheless, while the world around us became brighter and brighter, we never saw the sun come up. Finally when we caught it, it had already hung above the buildings.

What a tricky sun! With the second failure, we were a bit disappointed, but still enjoyed the fresh morning. Pleasant air, serene sky, and those running people with smile all contributed to a wonderland. We ran back and had breakfast together, even played cards while eating. The parents, who knew that we couldn’t finish our hope, didn’t prevent us from carrying this childish plan. They just let us follow it. Too young to comprehend the subtle aspect of the world were we: we simply thought we could see the sunrise, just because it will rise. How infantile but pure the thought was! A few years later, my classmates planned to watch the sunset on the beach, while someone said the direction was not right and the sun wouldn’t fall at the side of the sea. Then our excitement was poured down.

Stupid things often happened when we were young.

(Although we are not very old now, but we all have younger days.)We just concerned about ourselves and never considered about how things would change because of our action, or what consequences would occur. With the rash heart, we simply acted as what we thought of at the first time. It seems foolish and imprudent. Actually, maybe sometimes we need such boldness. Every time people hear about guys travel around the world in their tiny car or just by bicycles, they admire and even envy those who have already appreciated the wonderful scenes all around the world. They complain that why they have to take a day to day role in work, why they need to handle with so much tangled problems, why they live in a life which only regards home as start and the company as the end.

However, like a couple who have gone sightseeing for the whole Europe with their little daughter said: “To go travel is such an easy thing. Just pack up your necessities now and start off tomorrow.” For us students, maybe it’s a good choice when feel tired and fretful to climb a mountain or go to the beach with people we treasure.

The last a few scenes of the little girl impressed me. She happily enjoyed snacks with her classmates. The sun was shining. Slow shots gave those ordinary events a special feeling. The boy was gone. But her life went on. Her life had to go on.

Those years when young never came back. Those silly actions never appeared. Those simplistic perspectives toward the world were replaced.

Yet, life goes on.

33 April 2012

Review

You are not

the Only Apple of My Eyes

---After

thoughts of "You are the Apple of My Eyes"

*Note that the essay has strong emotional bias from a girl’s perspective.

Is it ok for you, as a boy, to love more than one person at a time?

I mean, sure YOU are ok, what about the girls?

Were you to say words like “you are not the only one, but you are the one”, I would say ewww and never speak to you again. I believe you would do the same.

So, people care faithfulness.

Then why, as the earthquake happened, Shen Jiayi was so worried about Ke Jingteng’s safety, while holding another man’s arm, tightly?

Ke Jingteng may be the right one, but not the only one.

34 visionary monthly

Isabel

“Breaking up doesn’t need both sides to say yes. Being together does.”

I know the movie is mostly about the second sentence, but I want to talk about the former first. One of the reasons I don’t like this story that much is it makes losing so easy and so light. So let’s talk about losing.

They say losing is a beautiful thing; the philosophies are like “it implies that you will meet someone better” and “it’s him losing you and you deserve better”. No, these are so mistaken. Losing is never a beautiful thing.

Imagine. You, two of you, once did everything together, reading, eating, laughing; you shared every single detail in life with each other; you knew he would be there, whenever you need him; you knew whenever you looked up, he was already staring; you’ve planned where you would go if you are to travel together, Paris and Tokyo? Where you would set your house, mountainside or seaside? What color you would choose to paint your room, blue or pink?

And all of these, all the plans and promises, however, are now labeled “not any more”. The one who has been so close to you, emotionally and physically, the one who has promised that he would love you, till the end of time, and the one who you think, naively, that you know him better than yourself, is now gone. How will that feel when the one, whose very presence makes your life complete, breaks you harshly and leave you in pieces. You lost him, you lost everything, and that everything includes yourself.

It’s hard.

You are trapped and you have no way out.

It feels like you are in so great a pain that you fail to hold yourself together.

So, no, losing is not beautiful. People saying that are those who have already met someone else, not necessarily someone better, someone else, and that “someone else” may make losing beautiful. Losing itself is never ever beautiful.

35 April 2012

Review

“Thank you, that you adored me.”

“Sure, I adore that guy who adored you.”

Words of consolation never soothe the pain. Time does. The only reason the two of them chatting with easiness together, is it has been long enough, long enough for the girl to move on and long enough for the boy to get over his stubbornness and exalt his love to another altitude. Even Tom takes over a year to get over Summer and meet Autumn. (From the movie 500 days of Summer) When Shen Jiayi and Ke Jingteng are saying those words, they treat each other as ex-girl/boyfriends no more. I am sure that few years ago when they shouted at each other in the wild rain, when they cried like children, when they turned around and never looked back, they would never expect that one day they could speak to each other serenely like that.

After breaking up with Rosaline, Romeo was heartbroken, locked himself in the room and claimed his life shall have no more brightness, while at the night he met Juliet, he forgot Rosaline right away; the pain vanished entirely.

Maybe we, most of us, are not as fickle as Romeo. No matter what, we are more fickle than we assume we are.

(You know, data shown that people winning $240,000 lottery and people with paraplegia are equally happy one year later.)

You will always regret the accident—both physically and as a reminder of how life could have been—but its influence will not be as vivid or as incessant as you originally thought it would be. “Time heals all wounds” does make sense, because, over time, we will adapt to the state of our world, with him and without him. I can’t tell how long it might be, but one thing to be sure, it is coming.

36 visionary monthly

Isabel

“Teenage girls are generally more mature than those boys in the same age.”

This sentence impressed me the most as I watched the movie, with my beastie in dorm, on the day we finished quarter test. (Pretty lame place and not the right person, huh?

Shen Jiayi has been in love with Ke Jingteng since a long time ago, whereas Ke Jingteng never knows the truth; Shen Jiayi was too mature to tell her feelings, and Ke Jingteng was too immature to guess her feelings.

When a girl is used to being with you, when a girl reveals her vulnerability in front of you, when a girl cries on your shoulder… all these details indicate she has feelings to you. When a girl cares about your safety more than anything, when a girl grows a habit to talk to you periodically, waiting for you to call, when a girl remembers everything you’ve been through… all these trivial but essential things demonstrate that she has irrevocably unconditionally fall in love with you.

But boys never know.

After those people who are lucky enough to become couples, they tend to ask the same question: “when did you start to like me”; it’s hard to answer, because most of us were in the middle of love at the time we realized it. So don’t you blame girls for not telling you anything about her feelings, sometimes they don’t even know what it is in their minds.

You boys think too little and blame we girls think too much and always necessarily, and call we girls “too simple, sometimes naïve”, while you are the ones holding one corner of the world map and convince yourselves that this is the whole world; you boys never get the idea that “one and only” is so damn important. Girls hate you spending time on anything else other more than being with them, no matter who she is, your ex, your desk mate or your classmate. Even if she says she doesn’t care, she cares anyway. It’s not persuading you never ever talk to other girls when you are in a relationship; it’s more like, telling her you will be absent physically but never mentally, and you love her anyway.

You are exclusive to each other.

But you never know.

So you end up in totally different life from you expected. Then you say: it’s not a coincident. It’s fate.

No, it’s not fate. It’s your immaturity’s fault.

“I love you. Always have. Always will.”

Sorry that I end with words not from Shen Jiayi or Ke Jingteng, but from Blair, in Gossip Girl.

Elena and Stefan. Blair and Chuck. Shen Jiayi and Ke Jingteng. Me and my ex. You and your ex.

They may not end up together, but each of them save a position for each other, deep inside and irreplaceable. It is entirely acceptable. For the most of time we can’t control ourselves emotionally.

Sure we can keep ourselves from doing stupid things, but we can’t force Blair to be with Chuck, we can’t force Shen Jiayi to marry Ke Jingteng. Her heart belongs to someone else now, but she can still, deeply, unconditionally be in love with you.

It’s not a paradox; it’s not a philosophy; it’s a fact.

All else being equal, I want the one more handsome; all else being equal, I want the one more smart; all else being equal, I want the one more attentive. Since when we’ve started doing qualitative measure like this?

Since the adolescence ended.

Remember the beginning of the movie 500 days with Summer? It goes: “This is a story of a boy meets a girl, but you should know up front. This is NOT a love story.”

So here goes my ending: a girl may meet a Mr. Right in her entire life, one and only, whereas she gotta take care of the rest of her life, and sharing it with Mr. Wrongs turns out to be a not bad option, isn’t it?

37 April 2012

Leo Woo

Hot N’ Cold in One Combined The Pure Essence of Fashion in My Eyes

T

his time I’m going to talk about something about fashion in my eyes. But first, I just want to show you two famous brands I like---D&G and Christina Louboutin.

I like D&G just because of its special style. My feeling to this Italian brand is always extremely complex. Every time when I see the clothes of it, I am deeply shocked.

Louis Vuitton is too simple and fusty. Gucci and Prada show dignity, but they make me feel depressive when I see their black suits and dresses. Channel is never out of date but lack of the feeling of relaxation. The coats of Burberry are too classical. It just seems to belong to royal people in England. I am that kind of people who like wild style. Despite that, I can’t say I like Fendi because sometimes it is more exaggerated than it should be. Versace has the same problem. No matter its watches, clothes, furniture and even packaging of the perfumes and lipsticks. Armani often uses lace and leather to make their clothes. These things look so sexy, but the color of them is black or white.

I think D&G gives the most integrated explanation of fashion. It makes “hot and cold in one combined” come true. On the one hand, its products show wildness and look sexy and popular. On the other hand, they are all demure. D&G just uses the changes of colors and various shapes to express its own style instead of designing naked clothes.

Christina Louboutin has this feature in common with D&G. Maybe I can say that the red bottom is the “landmark” of its high heel shoes. These pairs of shoes are not only seductively charming, but also graceful. I don’t the reason why they make red bottom. But in this way, they look much more charming than the whole red shoes. It is not easy for passages to find out. That’s why I like it. Fashion is not the thing flaunted to others. It is just an inside temperament.

38 visionary monthly

Now after introducing you these two brands, I would like to ask a question: What is fashion?

American singer Christina Aguilera said:”Fashion is a life style. It’s a choice.” You have the rights to choose it or give it up. It’s all up to you. But if you regard it as one of the favorite things, you should not show you wealth with it. It is a simple life style, the one you like and you choose. It doesn’t have to be very strong in your mind, but lasts forever. I never agree with those people who think fashion needs amount of money. With some money, you can also be fashionable if you want.

There are millions of people around the world love fashion. They try their best to make themselves look modern. I’m sure that their purposes are quite different.

Some people like me love fashion from the bottom of heart, so it is not necessary for us to be well-dressed only if there are many people around us. We can also dress whatever we like even when we are alone at home. Also, it is cannot be denied that there are truly a group of people who pretend to love fashion. They may dress like a star in order to attract more people as a result of their vanities.

Madonna released the song Vogue in 1990. It became a No.1 single of Madonna. People love it because of its tune and meanings. This song talked about something about fashion. I think some parts of the lyrics are meaningful.

“All you need is your own imagination, so use it. That’s what it’s for. Go inside for your finest inspiration. Your dreams will open the doors. It makes no differences if you’re black or white, if you’re a boy or a girl.”

Yes, that’s true. This is the pure essence of fashion.

39 April 2012

Technology

NEW COLUMN

TECHNOLOGY

1

THE NEW IPAD The most influential technology news is that The new iPad has been unveiled on 8th March and is going to enter the market in the middle of March. The essential promotion of The new iPad is it's resolution. It's equipped with Retina display which has already been used on The iPhone 4 and The iPhone 4s. Although the effect may not as great as that of The iPhone 4 and The iPhone 4s, it can makes everything look crisper and more lifelike. In order to make The new iPad, after equipped with Retina display, run as smooth as before, Apple uses their newest chip The A5X for it. The A5X chip owns quad-core graphics four times the pixel of iPad 2(qoute from www.apple.com) yet it delivers the same smoothness and fluidity iPad is known for. The author thinks The new iPad will be more like a game device due to the powerful CPU and the high resolution display. When the time iPad2 was released, many people wished it could have a high definition camera but the resolution of iPad2's camera was much lower than that was anticipated by most people. Compare to iPad2, The new iPad’s 130 million pixel camera can record HD video in full 1080p. Also the advanced hybrid infrared filter keeps out harmful IR light, so people will see more accurate and uniform colors.

On the same day, APPLE also released the ios 5.1 .It added support of Japanese of the siri so siri had already learnt 4 languages including Japanese. Many fans of APPLE are eager to see the day that siri can speak Chinese. The day after APPLE published its new ios 5.1 iPhone dev team updated its Redsn0w. The update meant that ios 5.1 already could be cracked in a not perfect way.

40 visionary monthly

Visionary

2

YOUKU TUDOU CORPORATION

Another shocking news was reported in the 12th March that two of the biggest video websites Tudou and YouKu will be merged. After merging the new corporation will be called YouKu Tudou corporation.

The stockholder of YouKu will own 71.5% stocks and the rest are owned by the stockholder of Tudou. The merging may last to the third quarter. The author thinks after the merger of the two companies, the competition between these two companies will stop. YouKu has fight with Tudou so many years and the last lawsuit was ended in January 2012. After they stop their competition we may have a better condition of watching video online.

3

AVIATION EMMISSION TRADE SCHEME

Now let me show you a piece of news on aviation. Seven European aviation firms have written to governments complaining about the inclusion of airlines in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).The signatories, including Airbus, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, argue that the move threatens jobs. They are concerning about trade retaliation by countries not complying with the ETS, which puts a cost on carbon emissions beyond set limits. “China has blocked purchases of Airbus planes by Chinese firms in reaction to a disputed European carbon tax.” The head of Airbus's parent company, EADS, has said. EADS’ chief executive Louis Gallois said that Airbus is being subjected to "retaliation measures" by China. The EU imposed a carbon tax on airlines which took effect on 1 January. China has not commented, and it is not clear whether it is an official policy or a negotiating ploy, analysts say.

41 April 2012

美国文化节上，哈佛学子带领我院同学跳美国恰恰舞

Shenzhen International Foundation College

“AP”--Advanced Placement- 4- year American High School 1. Entry Level - Students who have finished junior 2 or above.

2. About the Program: The program is based on the US high school style, and is designed for students who have strong interests to study in the US. This program runs for four academic years (September to June) 3. Core units: Academic English, General English, Physics, Mathematics, AP Microeconomics, AP macroeconomics, AP calculus AB, AP Physics B, AP Physics C mechanics, AP American History , SAT, TOEFL, college entrance guidance, research study and all high school compulsory subjects.

4. Entry Requirements: English Level: · All students must attend our English，physics and math examination.

Contact us: Address: No.3 Zhijiao Street, Qiaocheng Dong Road, Futian District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong, China,518040 Tel: +86 755 26534780 26732100 82950526 83140970 Web: www.sifc.net.cn

我院美国高中学子美国暑期游学照片