Some Fascinating Differences between Men & Women

Afnan Khadawurdi

Certainly they are different, the minds of men and women. I think though this doesn’t depend on the brain in men being bigger than women.

I read in one study about whether the minds of men and women are different or similar? The answer was of course different. Because the mind in men is like boxes for example. A box for the house, a box for work, a box for children, a box for watching and a box for a waif and so on. And if he went into one of these boxes, he couldn’t move to another one very fast because every one is autonomous. For example one day I was sick and my husband offered to look after my daughter and also, cook the dinner. After one hour I woke up because my daughter had cried, and the phone was ringing and also the room wasn’t tidy but he achieved one job. He could cook the dinner. Whereas, actually a woman’s brain is like a net such as the Internet which has a lot of connections between different situations. This thing makes women use communication perfectly and able to do multiple things at one time.

Also, one study showed women talk a lot rather than listen, yet on the other hand men prefer to listen than talk and they calculated how many words men and women talk per a day. It was found women use12,000 words and men use 8,000 words. Also, the teachers at school noticed girls speak faster than boys. Also, women’s dreams have a lot of details whereas some men don’t often dream and if they have dreams they will be very simple. I noticed that my father dreams very rarely and I have a lot of dreams every day.

Finally, one study said that men prefer to express their feeling by fighting or something like that but women prefer to use talk.

Accordingly, I believe that God gives different things to men and women, and women have been created to give more than take.

How Can We Explain the Differences Between Male & Female Salaries?

Jingyi Zheng

Female MBA graduates not only earn significantly less than their male colleagues, but the gap is growing over time, according to a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The authors tracked the earnings of 1,600 MBAs who graduated from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business between 1990 and 2006; they attribute the differences to choice of subjects (women took fewer finance courses), that women’s careers were subject to more interruptions, and that the women worked fewer hours than the men. Why? Maybe some women MBAs had children, and many cut back on hours, but these factors are unlikely to have played much of a role in the pay gap.
The most important reason is gender gaps on the brain. At the University of California at Irvine, psychologist Richard Haire's findings show striking differences in the way male and female brains work.
Men have more grey matter, they use it to solve the problems. But in women' heads, the white matter connecting different parts of the brain does most of the work. By the age of 12, the geometry area of girl's brain looks like an eight-year-old boy's brain-- They're four years behind. So,this is why girls usually don't like subjects like economics and mathematics. And girls' spatial abilities are worse than boys .So they also don't like sports and architectonics. Because of these reasons it is difficult for women to find jobs. So it leads to the gap in earnings.

However these factors don't determine that boys are more excellent than girls.Because the language area of a boy's brain is three-to-four years behind the language area of a girl's brain. So most girls are good at writing ,speaking and analyzing information.More interestingly, girls' emotion is richer than boys'. It is very important, because if girls didn't have rich emotion, what would the world become?
Although people all have brains, the different functions make for a colorful world, they make our life richer and richer.

Sex Vs. Gender

Yuko Iwata

When we think about “the mind” we need to distinguish sex and gender. Sometimes we confuse them. Sex is innate and gender is acquired. Males and females are different from each other when they are born. And both sexes have different biological roles. Thus, physical equity is not perfect for us.

Of course, there are some exceptions: A girl who is very tall and good at playing football, and on the other hand, a boy who is good at cooking but weak at math. It’s possible. We don’t have to feel strange. So, the most important matter is that we shouldn’t write them down as male or female. Also we shouldn’t close down possibilities.

By the way, when I talk about the gender gap, I was interested in an experiment with toddlers. It revealed that male and female are quite different from each other when they are such a young age.

Now I will tell you about my daughter. When she was only 1 and half years old and she still had a diaper, my aunt took her to the toy shop and said, “You can choose anything what you want. I’ll give it to you.” There were many big and expensive toys, but my daughter chose a cheap small box with play jewelry. My aunt, who has two sons, was surprised and said, “My boys would never choose such a box. She is a lady already!”

Finding the boundary between innate and acquired is difficult. But we are the same human beings and if we want to make society comfortable, we shouldn’t have “gender bias” and we should be “gender free”.

Gender & the Mind: Reflections Based On Observing My Parents

Mustafa Al Saeed

The mind consists of two sides (the right and the left) and each side consists of billions of small cells. I have been told there are differences between women’s minds and men’s minds.

I remember my mother could do cooking, call my school, listen to the radio and looked after my brother, and those days when she taught me and my sisters and my brother, she could organize her time very sharply.

On the other hand my father can work very hard and he had worked in the biggest government oil company in the world and every weekend he took us to the sea. It is very hard work. The ordeal is not the sailing, but the weather, because the temperature in Saudi Arabia in the summer is more than 50 degrees and we could go there but my mother and my sisters could not go with us because it is very hard work for women. That is using the mind also because sometimes the boat’s engine stopped working while we were in the middle of the sea, and my father could fix it very easily while my mother could not understand how it works, and every time my father wanted to teach my mother something of mechanics, she could not understand perfectly as my father, and every time my mother taught him how he could take care of their baby he could not do that while listing to the radio.

The men use a left side of their minds more than a right side, and the opposite is true for women.

I believe women use their right side because it is more important than the left for them. Also men use their left side because it is more important than the right for them. Men and women are created different and thus they have different minds.

Wannabe Boy Racers

Mohammed Al Munsef

It happened when I was teenager of 16 years old. I was driving my car slowly on street at midnight and my uncle was with me. His name is Ali. He is the same age as me. We were listening to pop music and we put the volume higher, so that every one could hear it, even from far away.

After a while a sports car passed me, and my cousin said to me this car could not pass us. When he finished talking I told him to put on his seatbelt. I changed the speed from 80 K.M to 190 K.M an hour to catch the sports car. We were nearly catching him, when the driver who drove the sports car saw us coming fast. He turned on his signal light, which meant he wanted to race with me.

At that time, we stopped at the traffic light to start the race to the end of the street. When the traffic light went green we drove very fast and we were at the same speed and I drove my car like a racing car but my car was not a racing car. That's when the accident happened.

I stopped to check the people who had the accident to see if they were fine or not. They were good but were a little dizzy because they hit the steering wheel. We took them to hospital for a checkup. The doctor said they were fine and just needed a rest.

Unfortunately, the hospital called the police. When the police came to ask us about what happened. We almost said every thing. They said we should have to go to the police station. They just gave us a fine. It cost $300. They said do not do it again or we will take your cars and put you into jail for one month.

Was almost lost our lives in this race and other people who did not do anything at all could have lost their lives because of us. We were like crazy boys. We did not actually know what we were doing at that time.

The Story of a Morning

Hussain (Sayed) Al Sadah

When I was a final year student at my high school I remember that I had to do a presentation to be ready for university in the future and to be fluent. When you do a presentation in advance.

One day my teacher asked me to do a presentation about advice for any one who will study at university. In that time I was thinking of giving my classmates some advice about how to deal with the lecturer and your university classmates.

The second part of my presentation was ‘being late is a serious problem and there are no excuses for that’.

As I remember I was ready for that because I already knew someone who was a student at university so he helped me in my subject from his experience and I found everything was ok.

Three days before the due date of the presentation I practiced my presentation in front of my sister and brother four times so I was just waiting for the presentation due day to do it in front of my teacher an my classmates.

On the due date I was so happy and ready for my presentation at the same time and as usual I had to drop my younger sister and brother in front of their school before going to my school but something happened by coincidence. My young brother had left his bag at home and he realized that when he was ready to go out of the car to go to his school then he noticed that he was light, which is unusual for him when he goes to school.

He asked me to go back home with him and pick up his bag and that was what I did. In the same time my mother saw his bag in the living room and realized that her son had forgotten his bag so she called a taxi to go to his school and that was at the same time I was going back home and she took the taxi before I arrived. My brother got out of the car to go and look for his bag and he spent a long time searching for his bag and he was screaming for my mother to ask her about the bag but there was on answer. I decided to drop him back at his school again without his bag. When I arrived there I saw my mother holding his bag and ready to jump in to the taxi to go back home. By good fortune she saw me and came to give my brother his bag.

I went to my school 15 minutes late and all my classmates were waiting for me to do my presentation, that is talking about there is on excuses for being late at all. So all the people who were listening to me thought that I was hypocrite.

Don't Trust Cows

Araceli Munoz

I like travelling very much. Sometimes, in my trips, I enjoy a lot, but sometimes I have had some mishaps. In these circumstances, I have felt uncomfortable, sad, angry, tired, exhausted and even desperate. But when I remember them I think about them only as a part of my travels. It’s very strange but sometimes we forget bad moments and even sometimes we explain them like a fun thing.

Twelve years ago I travelled around North India with my husband. India is a wonderful and amazing country. Their people are very nice and pleasant and you can feel them very close. A particular spice smell covers their places and the colours of their saris cover their towns. Their culture contrasts with European culture, and I saw everything like I had opened my eyes for the first time.

After a month visiting Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh we visited the city of Agra. Then, we decided to go on a trip to a natural reserve that was a few hours from the city. We departed at 9 a.m in a very old car without an air conditioner. The weather was extremely hot, maybe it was to 45 º C, and the humidity stuck to the skin of our bodies like a fine silk. We travelled all the time with the windows opened and I felt in my face the heat and the dust that went through it. Our guide and driver drove the white car while he listened to a cassette of Indian music. He only had two cassettes, so we listened to the same music once and again during the month and a half that our travel lasted.

After three hours in the way, we arrived at the natural reserve. In the entry of the reserve we rented two old and heavy bicycles and we began to pedal. There weren’t signs in the way and we didn’t have a road map of the natural park (or the fantastic GPS that we bought some years later), so we decided to go straight and to remember the forks that we crossed. We only needed one hour to get lost. Along the way, we could only see cows and monkeys. The heat was so stifling and the air was so hot that we found it hard to breathe. The day before it had been raining and the track was full of mud. The mud stuck in the wheels and chains of the bicycles and pedalling was very difficult. I felt that with mud the bicycles were much heavier than when we rented them.

I said to my husband: “We should accept that we are lost”, and he answered me: “Ok. We should follow the cows, because cow never get lost”. We followed the cows about one hour, but at the end we were more lost than before. Sweat covered all my body and I was exhausted and desperate. Then, I threw the bicycle on the ground and I began to swear aloud (only cows and monkeys could hear me anyway). I was annoyed and I said all the swear-words that I knew. My ears were smoking and my eyes were on the verge of tears. I said to my husband: “I am leaving the bicycle and I continue on foot”. He answered me: “Please, hold on a bit longer. You will see how we will soon find the right way. Tomorrow you will remember this and you will laugh when you explain it”.

We continued to walk carrying our bicycles. One hour later, we arrived at a research centre building situated in the middle of the natural reserve. We could drink a cola (I don’t like cola a lot but that day it tasted like heaven) and the people from the centre explained to us how we could go back to the exit of the reserve. Next week, we explained this story to our friends and, as my husband predicted, we laughed a lot.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Li Weimin (Wayne)

If you want to know my mishap, I will tell you there are lots of mishaps I have had. As a matter of fact, I am a careless boy. I remember the worst mishap while I was a second school student.

The story happened this way. First of all, I should start this story back in the afternoon of that day. I was going to have a break after lunch as usual. That day, my mom was too busy so she couldn’t go back home for lunch and she had been working until 7 PM. Unfortunately, I forgot to set my alarm clock when I had a break. Therefore, you know, I was late for school almost 1hour. Besides, my head teacher gave me a lesson strictly. I was so depression and unhappy during class.

After school, I was going back home. But, it gave me a shock, I had no bus card in my pocket when I got on the bus. What’s worse, I also did not have any coins. So, the bus driver couldn’t let me on. In the end, I had to go home on foot. The length of going home is nearly 7 km. It’s too long so as to make me exhausted and thirsty. Finally, I arrived home and I felt so happy because of having a rest and cup of water in the house.

But, I could not find my keys when I wanted to open the door. You know what a bad luck. I felt down a lot. I complained how careless you are and hated myself. I watched the time that’s 5:50 pm. I tried to phone my mom, but she couldn’t leave early. So, I had to sit in front of my door waiting my mom for over one hour.

Drama In The Garden

Fatmah Al Naser

One year ago I visited my grandmother with my children. She lives in Jeddah which is a main city in Saudi Arabia, the city where my mother was born. She has a big beautiful house with a huge garden and a lovely view in a beach. Her garden has many kinds of followers and many colors of trees. It is an amazing place. She always spends a long time playing with my children and they love her very much.

When we arrived in Jeddah she had prepared a B.Q party in her garden. The weather was very nice that day and the kids enjoyed, they were happy.

During this time my grandmother took my sons and she started to play with a ball with them. After that my son threw the ball strongly to her then she fell down and she could not stand up because she is an elderly woman. She has asthma and high blood pressure so she could not breathe and my children tried to carry her, but they could not and she shouted "help me.. help me!" But no body heard her. After five minutes my son came to me and told me that my grandmother needs help. After that I ran with my son to see her on the ground, and she could not speak. I called the ambulance and I tried to carry her but she is very heavy. I was very panicked and my children were crying and afraid. I could not do any thing for her, then I cried with my children.

Finally, the ambulance arrived and took her to a hospital. She spent three days at the hospital. Now she is fine and I miss her very much.

I learned from this situation to stay with elderly people all the time and look after them especially if they have health problems.

What Happens When A Benz Hits A Pedicab?

Jingyi Zheng

Everybody has experienced some mishaps,including me.Although the mishaps have passed for a long time,we can't forget them.We have deep impressions of them.

Now, following ever-increasing Chinese people's living standards and ever-growing Chinese economy. Traffic is more and more developed.But it is not good thing for me,because every time when I get on the cars, I feel very vertiginous.So I usually take something just like a bicycle,they only have three wheels,but they are well ventilated.We called them pedicabs.But my habit changed when I was 9 years old.That day,I got a fever.My mother took me to the hospital.It was a snowy day,there was thick ice on the road.When we began to return to home,my mother wanted to take a taxi,because it was too cold and I was sick.But I did not agree.So my mother took a pedicab.When we got to a fork in a road,the traffic light became green, so we continued.But when we got in the middle of the road, suddenly a Benz drove to us.I felt the pedicab slip on the ice for a few seconds,then began to dip,my mother hugged me closely,finally the pedicab stopped slipping.The glass of the pedicab's windows were broken.The window which was near me broke completely.One piece of the glass stood up and hurt the skin of my face.Then the policeman came and researched the accident.They said that the driver of the Benz drank too much then drove the Benz,so led to the accident. Finally the driver of the Benz had his driver's licence endorsed.

From then on, I don't take pedicabs.I will choose to take buses or walk to some place.Although mishaps are not good things for us,they are really a part of our life.They are unforgetable experiences.

Accidents Do Happen

Yuko Iwata

The accident happened on Saturday morning. On the day, some of my friends were supposed to come to my place for lunch, so I had been very busy since the morning. After cleaning the room, I found that I needed to go shopping to the supermarket. Then I went out from my house in a rush. There were two cars in front of my house and all of the doors were opened widely. A few boys who looked University students seemed to be moving. I said, “Hello” and jumped into the car, but after a 10 meter drive, soon I noticed that I didn’t have my purse. I drove back but I couldn’t pull my car over to near my garage because of their cars. I had to park in the corner on the small grassland by the roadside. I took my purse and started my car again. Suddenly, I heard a big strange noise. It sounded like a snapping on a branch. I stopped the car and got out. There was a small but thick wooden stake in the grass. The left hand side of the front door of my car was crushed and dented. I hadn’t recognized there was a stake in the grass until that time. Oh My God! My car, a new TOYOTA, I had driven for only 2 months.

The boys flocked around my car. One of them was very kind and coached me how to release the car from the stake. He also told me where I should bring the car for repair. Anyway, I said, “Thank you” He said, “It’s OK. Have a nice weekend.” I answered in a small voice “It’s impossible……” But, to tell the truth, I wanted to say, “If you hadn’t parked your cars in front of my house, I wouldn’t have had such a mishap! “

Glass In the Swimming Pool!

Afnan Khadawurdi

A mishap occurred fifteen years ago when I was studying at primary school. Every holiday in the summer we used to spend with my family, aunts and cousins. We often went to another city near my city. Called Jeddah. It is on the red sea cost and it has a beautiful beach. One holiday as usual we went to Jeddah with my family and my cousins. We spent around seven or six days in a nice house. By the way every day from the morning we swam in the sea then we took a rest in the afternoon. After that we completed the swimming in the swimming pool.

One day in the afternoon when we were swimming in a swimming pool one of my cousins who was 3 or 4 years old was drinking a juice. After he finished he threw it into swimming pool and as a result it broke. My cousin didn’t know about the bottle and she walked on it.

I was swimming beside her and I saw the color of water change to red around her. I asked her what is this color around you? I thought it was the color of the juice. Then she told me that she felt a pain in her foot. I told her to get out of the pool. After we got out I saw the scariest picture I have ever had. Her right foot was bleeding and had a very big cut maybe 8 or 10 centimeters. She cried and I went to call my father and my uncle. I was very afraid.

Then they took her to a hospital and put 15 stitches in her foot and she couldn’t walk on it for one month. I don’t like remembering this mishap. It is the worst experience in my life.

A Mishap on the Road to Mecca

Mustafa Al Saeed

Two years ago, I decided to go Mecca in the summer, because it was cheap and it has good conditions. Mecca is in the west of Saudi Arabia and my city is on the east of it. There is about a thousand and three hundred kilometers between my city and Mecca. It was everything good in first.

I got the bus that I should go by, and then we stopped in the middle of the trip. A driver told us you have an hour and half to finished praying and eating dinner. In fact I prayed and ate my dinner and then I needed the bathroom. I was late going more than 10 minutes. I went out, and no bus. Then I asked some people who work in that station about the bus, and just one of them said it was gone. I asked about if I could get a taxi or something like that, also they said no, because this is a place very way a far from cities. They said you could go with any bus that is not full, but we don’t want you go with any one of them, because some of the drivers are criminals. So I decided to brainstorm to solve this problem. I called my brother and I asked him if he could give me the phone number for that bus company which I traveled with, and he gave me the phone number. Than I called the tourist group, and I told them about what had happened.

After an hour the bus came to me and the driver was blaming, so I asked him why did you go without check a people whom are with you. He said no I told you all about you had to come after an hour and a half.

I told my family and my friends about this story they said, yeah it was not good luck but you should relax if you face something not good, because your mind doesn’t work while you are worried.

So you think you know what's good for you?

Mohammed Al Munsef

It is a truth that there are a lot of things you can do to become well. For example, playing sport, running, walking and eating fruit everyday. However, others things can be bad for us like smoking, watching television for a long time and also not doing exercise. In my opinion, if you care about your health, you are going to do the right things to be well.

These days, I usually do not do a lot of sports. I always walk for 15 minutes every day before I go to school. Also on the weekend, I do some activities with my friends. Sometimes, we go to the gym to play basketball or go for a walk for two hours along St Kida beach in the morning. We have walked up Signal Hill for 4 hours, and then went down.

In Saudi Arabia, I played football with my friends every day but now I do not play it. Sometimes if the weather is bad I do not exercise outside. I do a little at home like working out.

What do we actually eat in our lives? It is important for us to know what we eat? Is it good or bad for our health? It is most important to have breakfast in the morning because breakfast gives you a chance to start each day healthily. It also lays the foundation for lifelong health benefits. Nowadays, I often eat breakfast. When we eat breakfast, we are likely to get vitamins and minerals and also have better concentration and productivity throughout the morning. It keeps our brain working all day.

There are many diets and the general consensus is that the following food types are good for our health: Fruit and Vegetables, Raw foods or food that is cooked as little as possible, Complex carbohydrates, Essential Fatty Acids (Fish, Nuts, Seeds) and Protein, These foods are considered by most experts to be bad for you: Refined carbohydrates (White Bread, White Rice, White Pasta), Sugar and Saturated Fat.

So it should be as simple as eating more from the first list and less from the second and we are well on the way to healthy eating. But of course it is not that simple because we want to enjoy our food and feel full after we eat.

What is good for you?

Afnan Khadawurdi

These days our life has changed because life has already changed to be faster and modern. And we have to fulfill responsibilities such as at school, home and work. Sometimes we feel exhausted and very bored. This is bad for our health and our life. So, we must think about things to make our life very interesting and happy.

Currently, every person is looking for things that are good for him. Personally, I have a lot of things are good for me and make me happy. For example, doing gentle exercises is very good for my body and I feel energetic because I want to be slim and healthy. I also, can breathe clean air. Sleeping is very important in my life. When I sleep enough time at night I will be active in the morning and I want do difficult work but sometimes I’m not able to sleep very well because my daughter often wakes up several times at night. Eating fruit and vegetables is good for my health because they contain a lot of vitamins. I like eating chocolate very much. I don't think it is healthy but I read in one study I will feel happy. Reading books, magazines and stories is very interesting as I can find more useful information about plenty of countries, cultures and fashion. Nowadays I prefer to read English stories to improve my skills in reading. I find it very exciting and enjoyable.

Travelling is also thrilling and I can explore a lot of cities and learn more traditional culture like food, clothes and society.

I recommend giving up smoking, going to bed early and waking up early, drinking a lot of water and less coffee. Finally, leave every thing, which makes you feel depressed and bored. Rather, just have fun.

What's Good For Us

Weimin Li (Wayne)

In my opinion, I think the most important thing that’s good for us is doing exercise. The reason why I think that’s important namely is no matter who, you can’t refuse doing exercise, otherwise you will get sick easily. To do daily exercise will enhance your immune system, keeping viruses away from you and prolonging your life. And behold, we don’t need to do exercise like someone who is professional, but we must keep doing exercise at least one hour each day. Such as going jogging, walking, biking, or playing sports games and so on. If you keep doing it every day, I bet you will be the healthiest guy in the world, won’t you?
Next, eating healthy food, which makes sure you have a good body, meanwhile, is fairly important, just the same as doing exercise. It is the key to prolong your wellbeing. For example, eat vegetables with your meal every day, because everyone needs some substances from vegetables which are essential for our health, like vitamin C and protein. Importantly, to keep fit doesn’t mean you just eat vegetables. You also need to eat meat, fruit and rice … so that you can balance your diet healthier.
What is good for you is not only physical fitness, but it’s also based on spiritual matters. I mean that to keep a positive mood all the time is so important to you. However, how do we do that? For example, when somebody feels sad, they will often lock themselves alone in a room and cry over what happened at them. It’s a bad action when you feel upset. On the contrary, what we should do is to think in a positive way and not care about our grievances too much. And we can also share our troubles with friends and parents. They will try their best to help us.
So I think that’s all that will be good for us. Do you agree?

Neither Too Much, Nor Too Little: Use Common Sense

Araceli Munoz

Defining what things or practices are healthy or unhealthy is very important in our life: it establishes what we have to eat and to do, how we should live and how our lifestyle has to be and even our sleep position.

Everybody knows that a donut and a fizzy drink is less healthy than a plate of vegetables and a glass of milk. As in everything, you can eat them but moderately. We know that a lot of foods and drinks contain a set of products which we shouldn’t abuse, but, as it has been demonstrated through this century, people won’t stop drinking or eating them until their harmful effects are demonstrated. A similar discussion took place in the 60s regarding tobacco. And although, nowadays, everybody knows that tobacco can cause cancer, big state advertising campaigns have been necessary in order for people to realize its risks.

We pass through life looking for a magic brew not to have to make an effort to achieve our goals, or to justify our preferences, pleasures, lifestyle or just our slackness. Sweets not fatting, machines to lose weight without making an effort … they are more attractive perspectives that eating an insipid leaf of lettuce or running four kilometres.

We need scientific conclusions in order to certify or to deny things that common sense says to us, and everyday life confirms to us. In science we can find technical proofs and justifications for all the options that we wish.

But also, currently, we ask what is or isn’t healthy about things or situations that some years ago we had raised. Ideas about what things or social practices are healthy or unhealthy have changed as time goes by and in different cultures, but we speak like they are unique and universal.

Years ago, people said that sugar wasn’t healthy and a lot of people changed to saccharine. Nowadays, scientists say that sugar is more healthy than other sweeteners. The same things occur with sleeping position: Is it better sleeping on our back or on our stomach? Maybe scientists now say something but they can change their opinion in the future.

Moreover, the culture of the aesthetics, body and health has been changing over time and in different cultures too. In the same way, the association of body with health and illness has changed a lot. The time is long gone when a fat body was seen as healthy and a thin body was seen as sickly.

A few centuries ago, painters painted elegant women with many curves, large and with cellulite. Who would have said to them that the feminine model in the 21st century might be a woman with muscles and underweight. But also it’s true that habits and customs have changed too. Diets are much richer in proteins, fat and carbohydrates than in the past and people tend to move less and have more static habits.

As in most issues, it is necessary to use more common sense. In sport and in diet, neither too much nor too little: it doesn’t have to turn into an obsession but nor is it necessary to look for excuses that serve as justification for those who do not want to do exercise or eat less. Moderately, sport and a healthy diet can be a great help to improve our life’s quality.

Travel, Music & Movies

Jingyi Zheng

Everything has two sides. One is good,another is bad. I really like travelling, listening to music and watching movies. Maybe some people think these things are bad for them, because they have no value and waste time and money. But these are really good for me.
At first, I like to go to natural beauties. When I watch the clear water and soak up the beautiful sunshine I feel very pleased. Travelling helps me to broaden my mind and identify myself with the natural. Besides, it can broaden my view. This makes my life rich and colorful. And when I travel somewhere, I need to walk, climb the mountains or do other things. It's a really good practice.
Second, listening to music can relax me completely, particularly after the whole day's study. Sitting down and listening to wonderful melodies, that is fantastic.

Lastly, watching movies is a kind of visual enjoyment, because there are a lot of pretty faces. And if we watch some situation comedy, we will feel interested and happy.Keeping a nice feeling is good for us.
I don't mean keeping relaxed all the time is good for us.Sometimes we need a little pressure. If we have pressure, we will work hard. This will reinforce our life. And through our hard work,we will achieve our goals. Then we will have a sense of success. So we will be quite satisfied. That is a happy thing too,isn't it!

What’s Good For Me?

Yuko Iwata

I think being in good relationships is good for me. We can’t live alone. Family, friends, teachers, colleagues, neighbors, I need everyone and they are important for me. When I want to get along with them, I’ll try not to expect too much though. We are not the same, and of course my feelings are different from other people. So we should not force someone to have the same emotions or the same opinions.

I like traveling, I like chatting, I like eating out, but I can’t enjoy everything without company.

If I can be honest, I think taking it easy is the best way to enjoy our life. Time is most important for me, so I don’t want to spend my valuable time with someone or something that I don’t really like.

I believe that our feeling of happiness depends on self-satisfaction. We should not expect others to do something. For example, when I treat my friend with all my might but he doesn’t notice my effort or he doesn’t say “Thank you”, I should not feel bad or decide that he is impolite. Because I did it for me and maybe I wanted to treat him. If I think so, my life will be peaceful.

I would like to have happy laughing time as much as I can. If I can laugh a lot of times in my life, I will be very happy and I can say “my life is successful.” We should remember when we feel good. We had better forget something unhappy.

Also I agree with this proverb “A sound mind in a sound body.” So eating healthy breakfasts, doing proper exercises, forgetting unhappy matters and remembering happy memories is advisable. Such an approach is simple but very useful. Anyway I will make every effort to keep this way for my body and mind’s health.

Some Things That Are Good For Me

Mustafa Al Saeed

I will describe some things that I think are good for me that I do every day, and I would like to recommend all these to my friends.

I think doing sport every week is very good because it makes me healthy and I will be able to do something hard when I am more than 50 years old.

It extremely likely that one of the best ways to improve my English is changing my computer and my cell phone to English language, because that will expose me to a lot of vocabulary while I use them every day, and then I will know vocabulary using the easiest way. What's more, when I read some news online if I don't know a word, I translate it and write it on a card.

Sleeping early and waking up early are very good things to do. They allow me to enjoy my days or to do good things. I don't like staying awake at night, however if I have something very important to do, I do to bed late.

Eating three meals every day is good for my health too, I can focus on everything then.

Brushing my teeth is a good way to keep my teeth clean and white. Dental pain is one of the greatest pains for anybody, so I clean my teeth every night to protect them for the future.

Walking every day from 1 to 2 km will make my body better than before, because it will burn the excess fat my body doesn’t need. I used to walk 5 km every day, so I want to do it these days.

Another point of advice, do not rely on anyone performing your business. Sometimes it is very hard but you will know it a good experience. I like to do all my work by myself and if I don’t know how to do it, I Google it or ask my friends to just tell me how I can do it.

I would like to share these ideas with you, and also I would like to know your ideas.

So You Think You Know What Is Good For You?

Fatmah Al Naser

Everyone nowadays is able to decide what is good or bad for himself. In this post I will describe what is good and important for me like exercise, healthy food and high self-esteem.

Firstly, many of us know the benefits of physical exercise. I strongly believe that doing exercise three times a week is useful for my health. I usually do gentle exercise such as walking or cycling. I spend 30 minutes walking around my garden. That helps me to keep my body slim and fit. Also doing regular exercises helps me avoid a lot of diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. Sometime cleaning the home and washing laundry are a kind of gentle exercise as well.

Secondly, I am trying as much I can to eat healthy food. When I was in my country I used to eat salty food, but when I arrived in New Zealand I started to eat a lot of sweet food to keep my body warm because the weather in Dunedin is very cold. The sweet food is the food that I want to give up because a lot of sugar causes diabetes, and I will try to be vegetarian. Also a vegetarian does not need to go on a diet to lose weight because he is already slim. Every meal should contain vitamins, calcium, protein and a little fat. We can get vitamins from fruit and vegetables and we can get calcium from milk, cheese and from some kinds of fruit like bananas. The best way to get protein is from vegetables because they contain little fat. In special cases where people are sensitive to kinds of vegetables, they can ask their doctor to give them advice.

Thirdly, most people don’t know themselves very well and they have bad feelings about themselves. Such wrong constant criticism to the self is enough to damage the health. I believe that I should appreciate myself and try to understand myself clearly because this will reflect on my health. Psychological health is important for a body. Also I am avoiding depression and try to be happy most of the time.

In conclusion I would like to say that exercise, healthy food and high self-esteem are useful for me to keep me healthier. However everyone knows exactly what is beneficial for him or her.

The Life of Brian

Jian Yang (Brian)

Looking forward to receiving your post, Brian

Talking About Wei Wang

Wei Wang

Looking forward to receiving your post, Wei.

Motivated by the Love of a Mother

Hussain Al Sadah

My name is Hussain Al-Sadah but everyone at the Language Center calls me Sayed.

I look a little bit older than what I am so some students think I’m 25 years old and others think I’m even older than 25. However that is because sometimes I have a really big moustache and most people can recognize me once they see my moustache. However I am just 23 years old.

Sometimes I wear rings on my fingers so people think I’m married, but I’m not.

One of the remarkable things about me is I’m the longest-standing student at the Otago Language Center; I have been studying here since 2006. I stopped studying at the Language Center for one year in 2007. I did that because my mother was sick and I had to go back to my country which is Saudi Arabia and help my mother until she got better. However, she is okay now.

If she had not gotten better I would have been with her to help her all the time for good, not because she is my mother but because she is the one who influenced me and taught me from her experiences of life. So being with my mother is kind of giving back some of the courtesy I have received from her.

My inspirations of her can’t be written in a few pages. I really love her and thirst to see her once I get the chance to go back to my country. The reason why I’m far away from her is I want to have a good degree in my major, computer science, at the University of Otago.

It is really hard to be far away from your parents but I want all my classmates to know that your parents will be more happy for you when are far away from them and making a good success in your life rather than being with them in the same place without any success in your life. So work hard in your study and make your parents happy, to be happy too.

Introducing Myself

Fatmah Al Naser

Before we start studying together, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself briefly to you, to let you know why I am here at the UOLC and tell you what my goals and my expectations are.

I was born in Riyadh, which is the capital city of Saudi Arabia. It is a big town and has a large population. I am married and I have children. I have a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a postgraduate diploma in education. Also I have work experience in teaching and in management. I have completed many short courses in different subjects.

When I was a high school student, I met a great teacher who changed my thinking about everything and lead me to think in a different way. She always told me if you systematically think about a solution, then your problems will be solved. She made a difference in my life.

In my free time, I read short fiction stories and spend time with my husband, my son who is four years old and my little boy who is only two years old.

Now I am here at the UOLC to study and increase my knowledge of the English language, and I understand that learning another language is not always easy. For the next two years I am going to study for a Master’s at University of Otago.

Finally, I would like to say to my classmates, enjoy learning the English language and you are lucky because you are here at the UOLC and this is your chance to make your life better. Also, focus on studying the English language and use all the facilities in this building to help you to learn new skills and practice what you learn in class.

Thank you

Fatmah Al-Naser November 4 2009

The Past & Present of Me

Li Weimin (Wayne)

I am Wayne.This is the 19^th year since I was born in a small city, which is located in the middle of China. It has a population of about 200,000. It is not a big city, but it is fairly beautiful.

About me, I like to listen to rock music and watch cartoons during my leisure time. Actually, I have not thought of what I will be in future yet. It will remain to be seen. I just graduated from high school. And then, I flew here for studying English and am going to study at the university of Otago. Of my past I think it has variety of clips that I cannot forget. First of all, my father is a great father to me. He teaches me plenty of useful skills and knowledge. At the same time, my mother is important as well. She keeps me grown up and took care of me a lot. And some of my friends, they are really good and often give me a favour in my study. We study together and overcome tough tasks. We have experiences that are worth remembering. In a word, all of them are really important to me. If I did not have them, I would not be who I am now.

Currently, I live and study here. The reason why I came here is I want to study English well so that I can go to university. I hope I will complete my studies successfully and work in a field that I am keen to.

I am happy studying with all you guys. I believe you will be happy all the time and achieve your goals.

Past Experiences & Present Hopes

Jingyi Zheng

My name is Jingyi Zheng. I was born in 1990. I come from Tang Shan which is in the northeast of China. Though Tang Shan has a history of over hundreds of years,it is a huge and modern city.

I am interested in traveling. I always visit other cities in China on my holidays, it is brilliant to go to another place quite different from the place where I live. I can learn many things through travelling. I can learn the local accents, customs, history and other language. Meanwhile, I can buy some craft work, souvenirs and so on.Among the places I have been to, Hainan Island impresses me most. It is warm all the time, so it is a good place to escape from the winter cold. The beach is very beautiful. Nice white sand, blue sky and clear water can be found here. We spent our days sunbathing and in the evenings enjoyed sea food. It is worth visiting.

In addition, I really like listening to music, because listening to music can make me relaxed. Particularly, after a whole day's study, sitting down and listening to wonderful music is fantastic.

My major is accounting, because I want to work for the Bank of China,which is the most reputable bank in China with hundreds of staff in the head office. I want to be a personal banker there. This is why I am studying at the University of Otago. I am sure the high quality education of Otago will help me with my major.

Finally, I want to say it is a great pleasure to meet my classmates and teachers.Although we come from the different countries and maybe we will say goodbye to each other, we are all friends forever