Cathy Sun: Problems of an Immigrant

When I immigrated to Canada, I faced a really hard time because I had to deal with numerous problems. I have had to find a house to settle down; I have had to buy a car to solve the transportation problem; I have had to deal with new language, new people and new circumstance. The main problem for me is Culture shock. I am trying to overcome this problem in two ways.

I am taking a language course to improve my English. Studying in class with a good teacher is a very effective method to help me in the new language. In this class, I have learned not only a lot of vocabulary, idoms, and grammars but also a lot of skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Also, the teacher has taught me how to learn English effectively in many ways. For instance, he has told me to write new vocabulary on pocket notebooks and review them everyday; he has told me to listen to English audio and repeat it every day; he even has told me to how to do the time management in English study. Furthermore, I could practice English more often when I had an English class.

In class, the teacher has maked serious and efficient plans of English teaching every day. He has been dedicated to teach us a lot of fresh knowledge everyday, covering academy, history, poems,and music among others, and has managed the class time efficiently for us to practice it in class. Moreover, after class, the teacher has given us homeworks to keep practicing English. For instance, he has requests us to read a novel; he has given us some gramma assignments; he has asked us to write essays almost every week. As a result, I can use English more fluently through such practices.

Joining social activities is another approach to conquer Culture shock. Firstly, it can help me to overcome my homesickness. I can make friends when I join social activities. Consequently, I won’t feel so lonely as before. Also, I have gotten used to the new life because I began to like Canadian life through such activities. In addition, I have gotten to know Canadian culture through joining social activities. I have knew Canadian holidays, customs, and lifestyle among others. Meanwhile, I also have knew the different outlook and thoughts of Canadians from my native country.

In conclusion, as an immigrant of Canada, my biggest problem is Culture shock. I am tyring to overcome this problem by taking an English course and joining social activities. After goiong through a period , I will know more about Canada and feel more comfortable with living in Canada.

                                   Cathy Sun

                           Feb 1, 2014

Myunghee Jung: Emotional Intelligence

Recently, I learned about EQ in English class. EQ could categorize with self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy, people skills.  I guess that some limited people should have a strong EQ at each part but many people are not. I am such a person who is not have strong EQ. What EQ skills do I need to improve on a personal level? I think I need to improve skills such as self-motivation and people skills.

First of all, I need to improve self-motivation.  Since I left my job, I have been beating around the bush without self-motivation. When somebody questioned about  my long- term goals, I cannot answer clearly. The end of last month, I met one counsellor for new immigrants. She asked me, “what are your goals?” I said to her that I would like to work in my previous field or I would like to study for graduate studies. Then, she gave me tons of papers which is I can search on the Internet easily. If I had a strong self-motivation, I probably would tell her the goal what I want to achieve and she might recommend more details which I really want to know.

 In addition, I also have to improve my people skills. Sometimes, I am thinking that I can live very well, even though I don’t have any close friends in Canada. In my personal analysis, I am feeling tired about making new friends and building new relationships. Because I worked in the IT industry, I usually communicated with computers not humans. Besides, I prefer e-mail, text messages than phone calls to reducing miscommunication. I guess if I worked on sales position, I might be well-developed people skills in my past but I have not met many people. So that is why I am not good enough for people skills. For better life, I have to improve EQ skills.

To improve self-motivation, I will narrow down my choices until end of June. To improve people skills, I will have communication in verbal with peoples as possible as I can. It is my minimal plan.; 

Shopping: Mihye Lee(Ann)

Nowadays, customers have a variety of ways to purchase goods such as online and in store. The style of shopping depends on individual preferences. Most people think that shopping online is better than going to shopping centers. However, others think that going to stores enhances the shopping experience and is more enjoyable. There are several advantages of shopping online and in stores.

There are two advantages of shopping online. First of all, it is more convenient than shopping in stores. People do not have to walk around malls all day to find what they are looking for. In addition, they do not have to wait in long lines to pay for their purchases and have the items delivered directly. Therefore, people are able to save time and energy. Secondly, it helps shoppers shop around for the best deals on many items. People can compare the prices of products and buy cheaper ones by shopping online. Moreover, it offers a wide variety of choices to purchaser. As a result, people are able to research for desired items anywhere and can choose the best one.

On the other hand, there are two advantages of shopping in stores. Firstly, customers are likely to receive good customer service. If a product has any problem after shopping in stores, customers can exchange them immediately for another one with taking the receipt and the item back to the store. For instance, when shoppers who buy a cosmetic item have any skin trouble after using it, they can receive full refund or store credit back easily. Secondly, customers in stores tend to be more satisfied than shopping online. They can choose a better quality item by touching and viewing it closely when they buy home furniture, kitchen gadgets, bedding among others. In addition, they are able to purchase clothes which are up-to-date design while they see the fashionable showroom in stores. Therefore, they feel comfortable by shopping in stores.

In conclusion, there are certain advantages of shopping online and in stores. The advantages of shopping online are more convenience and shopping around. On the other hand, the advantages of shopping in stores are good customer service and more satisfaction. In my opinion, shopping online not only is more convenient but also saves time and money. Therefore, the more people shop online, the more comfortable they will be.

Cindy Liu: Shopping Online Vs. In- store

Shopping is a very important part of our daily lives. Everyone has to do shopping almost everyday to keep life going normally. However, different people have different shopping habits. Some people prefer shopping online while others would like to shop in store. Both shopping online and shopping in store have certain advantages.

Some people think that shopping online provides many benefits for them. For one thing, online shopping gives people a lot of convenience. People can do shopping without going out, and they can buy things at home or in office only with a computer, a web and a credit card; furthermore, online stores are convenient, for they are open for 24 hours, and online shoppers can place orders anytime. In addition, people can get lower prices when they shop online. Usually, the costs of online business are low, so the sellers can offer some special online promotions to attract customers. For example, last week I bought a baby stroller online for half price. Finally, people can find a lot of information about online sales products. For example, there are some reviews of products written by people who have bought or used them; moreover, many products are accompanied with introduction videos. It is a good way to share information and show online shoppers how to use those products.

In-store shopping has certain advantages. Firstly, it is easy for buyer to make a decision to buy a product or not; people can touch the product and they can know the quality very well; also they select the right size easily after having a try. Secondly, people can receive the products that they want to buy immediately because in-store shopping has no delivery time. Finally, shopping in store is a form of entertainment. For example, I often ask my friends to go out for shopping on the weekend. It is a very good relaxing activity for us. We walk in the mall, talk a lot and share newest products information; when we feel tired, we go to a café and enjoy some drinks and desserts.

In conclusion, people can get benefits from both of those two different shopping styles. Therefore, I often comparison shop before I make up my mind, especially for some big items. However, I prefer shopping in store because it is easier for me to purchase products; I can know the quality, select the right size and receive directly.

Feng Shui: Daria

Feng shui is a Chineese philosophy about the relationship between humans and their environment. It is the way the environment and people connect.Based on laws of nature,its theories offer a way to understand environment. Feng shui theories came frome logical assumptions about natural causes and effects that endured through time. The idea of Feng shui offers some of the basic concepts that explain its principles.Feng shui has changed from superstitions to a knowledge in a new century and has caused many effects on different aspects of our lives.

Firstly,it has effects on structure of new buildings. For example,good feng shui in the kitchen is very important for obvious reasons. According to good Feng shui, it is the best not to have the kithen close to the front door or to the back door because the feng shui energy can easily escape. Also feng shui concerns staircases.The worst feng shui location of a staircase inside a home is when it is facing the front door for the feng shui energy rushes up quickly, thus leaving the main floor whithout feng shui energy nourishment.

The second effect of feng shui is on how we decorate the furniture. For instance, the biggest and more common feng shui challenge in a modern bedroom is placement of the mirror. According to feng shui , people should not put the mirror facing the bed, for it reflects their picture and causes a sense of panic during the night. Also people should not put the bed in line with any of the doorsin the bedroom. When one's feet are in line with the door, he/she loses their energy at night and their enrgy becomes weaker.

In conclusion,feng shui is a new science that helps people to improve their comfort.

 

The educational system in Canada offers to parents different kinds of education. They have the right to choose the most appropriate education for their children. There are public, private, religious and international schools. Homeschooling is allowed as well, but the regulations vary from province to province. The education of children is one of the responsibilities of parents, and they must think very carefully before they make a decision to withdraw their children from the social learning environment in public school and place them in a homeschool. 

Homeschooling has as many advantages as disadvantages. Speaking of homeschooling, there are certain odds for children and parents. One of the advantages is individual schedule that parents create for needs of their own child. A flexible schedule allows to put an emphasis on certain courses which children are more interested and most successful in. It also allows adding some courses in the home school curriculum. It means that children might study at different levels of the different types of subject. In addition, parents can create a weekly schedule that fits their needs and allows them to do things without the force of a traditional classroom schedule. Finally, many parents know the time of the day when their children may work and learn better. Some children learn best in the morning; some of them in the noon or evening. This fact gives possibility to parents to make the best individual schedule for their homeschooled children. Another advantage of homeschooling is ability to study any time. It helps homeschool families to continue their children’s education at any time. Homeschoolers can learn at home in a relaxed atmosphere, and even vacations might be educational for them. Furthermore, children who are homeschooled may learn out in their community resources such as museums, libraries, business, marines and other resources in order to acquire new skills and knowledge.

At the same time some disadvantages can be crucial for parents who decide to choose homeschooling education for their children. One of the disadvantages of homeschooling is huge amount of work. Firstly, if they want to give a child perfect education, they have to prepare each lesson very accurately and be able to explain new information very clearly and in a understandable manner, especially if the parent is not skilled in some subjects. Secondly, parents still have household duties and chores that usually take a lot of time. They should remember that homeschooling is a full time job. Thirdly, there is no time for parents’ job besides home. Parents have to devote all of their time for home education of their kids if they want to give them quality education. The second disadvantage is social communication of homeschooled children. All kids need to have friends and be around other children or classmates. Some homeschoolers can feel cut off from their peers, especially during the teen years when friendship is very important for children. Besides, children miss the opportunity to learn how to communicate with adults who are not the members of their families and how to build respectful relationship with them.

Parents who decide to teach their children at home have numerous reasons as motivations. They include religious reasons, family reasons, poor learning environment at the school, child’s disability or special needs. If you decided that homeschooling is the best option for your children, you need to do research by internet to know more advantages and disadvantages of that kind of education.

The Computer, Blessing or Curse? By Valentina Volynkina

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Nowadays, it is not possible to imagine our life without computers. People use them all the time and all places. Since the first computer was invented, our life has changed so much. The first computer could occupy whole room or a building and was very slow. Modern computers might perform many complex operations instantly. Anyway, it was a real digital revolution. In my opinion, the computers give people a number of benefits; at the same time, the users can have some health problems if they overuse the computers.

Since we had the opportunity to use the personal computer, we have obtained huge amount of benefits. Above all, the Internet is the best invention, which people can use through the computers. Needless to say, how many possibilities this amazing thing gives us. For instance, the users might search any necessary information by the Internet; they can connect with their relatives, friends or business partners by the Voice services and Social networks; people may share any information with each others: receive and send letters, photos, audio and video, books, documents and one another; besides, the students have capabilities to gain on-line education by using electronic media and information and communication technologies (ICT); shopping and many types of entertainments for different  kinds of customers  are available as well. If the computer users don’t have the Internet for some reasons, they still have other capabilities to do not use the personal computers. There are many useful programs including programs that were installed in the computer initially, and programs that we can install independently. In addition, there is big amount of devices, such as scanner and printer, digital and video cameras, microphone, projector and TV screen and other devices, which connect with the computer and help to perform various tasks and works.

At the same time, the usage of the computer can create some health problems. People who overuse the computer might have the most common challenges with their health that are met among the computer’s users. Firstly, people can develop very serious problems with their vision because the eyes become dry and they are pressured when we work with the computer for a long time. Secondly, the users of the computers may have issues with the muscles and joints. It happens due to inactive work. Most often, it presents in the back and shoulders pain and the stiff neck. What’s more, the electromagnetic radiation, which is created by the computer, can harm human heath, too. One can experience very severe diseases under the influence of electromagnetic radiation such as the bleeding disorders, hypotension and cancer. Not to mention, that the radiation has the greatest influence on the immune, nervous, endocrine and reproductive systems of human body.

No doubt, the computer and the Internet have more advantages than disadvantages. We can enumerate them infinitely. They facilitated our life greatly. Of course, there are some disadvantages and challenges, but if people use this intelligent equipment reasonably, it is not harmful to human health.