See, Play, Learn

Any people surely have their own favorite places that they want to go. Their purposes and choices of destination are varied from one to another such as shopping in Paris, France; scuba-diving around Great Barrier Reef, Australia; praying in Agra, India; walking along The Great Wall of China; surfing at Bali’s Dreamland Beach, Indonesia; and so on. In my case, my favorite places are all located in the United States of America, and I have my own purposes to visit these public places.

The American Museum of Natural History, Manhattan, New York City

The first public place that I want to visit is the American Museum of Natural History, Manhattan, New York City. It is considered as one of the largest museum in the world. One of the founders of the museum was Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., the father of Theodore Roosevelt, one of the most famous presidents in the United States. The museum was also used as the setting for one of my favorite movies, Night at The Museum. Because of watching that movie, I really want to go sight-seeing in that museum and look at the massive collections. I also want to look closely at the rare and unique artifacts that are displayed there.

Disneyland, Anaheim, California

The second place that I want to go is Disneyland, Anaheim, California. Disneyland is an amusement park that is built as the legacy of Walt Disney, a famous cartoonist that created Mickey Mouse and friends. However, the real reason why I want to go there is not because I want to admire the legacy, but because I want to play! I heard that Disneyland is the most exciting place I the world. Therefore, I am really eager to visit the amusement park. I want to play every single game in there, especially the roller-coaster.

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The third place that I want to go is Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard is the oldest university in the United States, and it is one of the top universities in the world. The fact that Harvard is one of the finest higher institutions makes me eager to feel the experience of studying there, to feel the atmosphere of the environment around the campus. I wonder how it would be like if I can join the university and study in that elite institution.

As a conclusion, the American Museum of Natural History, Disneyland, and Harvard University are the public places in the United States that I favor and want to visit. The purposes why I want to go to those places are because I want to see the collections in the museum, play the games in the amusement park, and learn in the university as I stated in the title: See, Play, Learn. What about you? What are your favorite places that you wish to go? ^^     

The National Examination

Every year, the students of third grade of senior high school face their worst nightmare in their academic career: The National Examination. The graduation on this examination will be the mark for students that finally finish their school and are able to continue to college.

The implementation of National Examination in Indonesia has been a controversy. The raising standard and the difficulty of the test have made some students terrified of this examination. Their anxiety is, of course, reasonable since their whole-year of education is determined by the exam. Some people said that The National Examination is necessary to measure the students’ knowledge and the national education systems’ achievement. Some people, however, said that it should be erased, and there are two reasons for that.

National Examination Answer Sheet

The first reason is that National Examination still has faults in its procedure. The procedure of National Examination requires the students to fill the answer sheet by full-blackening each circle of each number with a 2B pencil. Then the answer sheet will be processed using the computers. Nevertheless, there are some possibilities that technical errors may happen. For example, a student was doing great in the examination, but he or she did not pass because he or she did not use a 2B pencil or did not fully blacken the circles. These possibilities can be overcome by giving instructions of how to blacken the circles to the students or supplying a fair amount of 2B pencils for the students. But the worst possibility that cannot be dealt with is the computer errors in checking the answer sheets. The computers are programmed tools and they almost rarely make mistakes. However, there are always some chances of having errors. 

The second reason is that National Examination only reflects the academic qualities of the students. Each student has different qualities from each other. Some have intelligence in school subject, and the other some have talents in other fields. The National Examination is considered not fair because there are so many individual qualities that cannot be measured using this system. For instance, a girl had a talent in dancing traditional dances and she had won several competitions. But because she was not good in math, she failed the examination. This example shows that there is something outside the academic subjects that needs to be considered as well such as talent, creativity, skills, and so on. 

As a conclusion, the implementation of National Examination should be erased for good. Not only because the system still lacks of accuracy and effectiveness, but also because it does not covered individual talents and qualities.  

The Magic of Laughing

Yup! Laughing is indeed magical. Curious? Here are three facts about laughing. Prepare to burst out, ladies and gentlemen!

The first fact is that laughing makes you healthy. When you laugh, you absorb more oxygen, so you would feel fresher. Based on the research, laughing for one minute equals to ten-minute cycling. That means laughing can stimulate heart and blood circulation perfectly. Moreover, the T-cells, cells which fight infection, work more active when you laugh. Laughing also increases the cells that build your immunity.

The second fact is that laughing makes you look attractive. Laughing helps you flexing your muscles of the face and improving your facial expression. When you laugh, your face usually becomes redder because you have enough blood supply for your face. The result is you will look younger and more attractive.

The third fact is that laughing makes you feel relaxed. Laughing is the best way for the relaxation of muscles, and laughing can decrease stress hormone such as epinephrine and cortisol. It is also good for you who worry a lot, have depression, or suffer insomnia.

In conclusion, laughing is good and useful. It can make you healthy, attractive, and relaxed at the same time. So, quit puckering, guys, and start laughing! ^^

Shopping SOS

Are you an extravagant shopper? Do you go to the department store to buy some daily needs, but you end up coming out of the place with branded stuffs, the latest electronic gadgets, or other expensive things? If the answer is yes, then you have a shopping problem. If you don’t find a way to manage your extravagant behavior in shopping, you will find your wallet empty and your credit cards blown up. Surely, you don’t want that, do you? It’s time for you to do smart shopping, and these tips below might be useful to help you.

List, List, and List

Before you go shopping, make sure to write down a list of stuffs that you want to buy. You might find this action troublesome, but it would help you out. The list would prevent you from buying things that you don’t need.

Budget is Everything

After you have finished with the list, write down the estimated price of each thing. Calculate them all to determine your budget and the amount of money that you would bring along with you, so you don’t need to bring too much money and waste it on useless things.

Cash, please!

Before you go, check your wallet. Do you have enough cash? If not, stop by at the nearest bank to withdraw some. Perhaps you’ll ask “Why? We have cards,” and the answer is because shopping with cash is easier and more beneficial than swapping your credit or debit cards.

 Beware of Credit Cards!

Credit cards are convenient to use. However, if you have the urge to use one, use it wisely because the payment is usually added with interest. Furthermore, if you don’t pay in time, the amount of debt will keep increasing slowly until it reaches the amount that you can no longer handle. So, be wise! You certainly don’t want to have stacking bills at the front of your door, do you?

Need It or Want It?

If you become so interested in one thing that is not in your shopping list, ask yourself “Do I really need this or I only want this?” This question can bring you to think thoroughly for a while. If you need the stuff, then take it with you to the cashier. If not, put it back and get the other things on your list. By doing that, you can save yourselves from having your money wasted on unimportant things.

These tips might be just some feeble things, but hopefully, you find them useful. Hope they will help you in your shopping! ^^

Chinese Cultural Events

China has been considered as one of the oldest countries in the world. Its history has traveled back to five centuries ago. A very long time, isn’t it? As the time went by, the Chinese has developed many cultures and traditions. One of them is traditional events. The most common events that people in whole world recognize are Chinese New Year, Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.

Lion Dance (Barongsai)

Red-colored Decoration

Chinese New Year is one of the Chinese traditional events. It is celebrated every first day of first Lunar month, and its purpose is to welcome spring after months of winter. When the day comes near, people will start cleaning their house and decorating it with red-colored decoration, New Year couplets and cherry trees. At the night before the day, the whole family will gather around, and they will have a big feast together. Afterwards, when the clock strikes midnight, they congratulate each other and wish them luck, prosperity, health, longevity, and so on. The next day, people will visit their relatives, and as a part of the custom, the elders will give the younger generations red envelopes filled with money. After visiting session, some people usually go to the town center to watch the Dragon Dance (Liong) or Lion Dance (Barongsai). The event continues until fifteen days later, and when that day comes, people will serve and eat stuffed rice dumpling. After this day is over, Chinese New Year is considered to come to an end that year.

A Woman in Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival is also one of the Chinese traditional events. It is celebrated every fifth day of fourth Lunar month, and its purpose is to honor the ancestors. In this day, people would visit their ancestors’ grave and clean them. Then they will put some food, fruits, flowers, or snacks upon the tombstones and burn some incense to give respect to their deceased ancestors. After the ritual, people will go strolling to enjoy spring air, or they will have picnic with their family. Some people will climb the mountain and after they reach the top, they will admire the view below and reflect on themselves. Other activities that are usually conducted on this day are flying kites, playing swings, or kicking footballs.

Mooncakes

The Moon in Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival, or more commonly called Moon Festival is another Chinese traditional event. It is celebrated every fifteenth day of eighth Lunar month. This day is the most perfect day to view the moon since the moon will reach its biggest, fullest and brightest state. On this day, family and friends will gather together and have a leisure talk while enjoying the moon. Eating mooncakes is also a part of tradition in celebrating this festival. Afterwards, some people will lit some lanterns and float them to the sky, or they will go to the town center and watch the performance of Fire Dragon Dance.

These three events are among numerous Chinese traditional events. These events are as old as the China itself, and there are many important meanings in each event. The Chinese always enjoy celebrating these traditional events because these events are a part of their tradition.