South Korean Mud Festival

South Korean Mud Festival

for more festival videos, visit this web http://www.5min.com/Tag/festival/page2?CategoryID=0

Orange Festival, a Festival of Spectacular Orange Masterpieces

At anytime of the year, a lot of festivals are celebrated all over the world. They bring participants many different feelings, such as: funny with Cheese Rolling in England, a little bit dirty but exciting with Mud Festival in South Korea, or enthusiastic with Tomato Battle in Spain. However, you will surely be surprised if you have a chance to pay a visit to the Orange Festival in Netherlands, a festival of spectacular orange masterpieces.

After more than fifty years, the Orange Festival, now, becomes one of the most famous annual festivals in Dutch. Each year, it attracts over 700 thousand visitors worldwide, especially European visitors. The festival which is also known as the Queen’s day is originally celebrated to commemorate the national unity in Netherlands. Nowadays, the festival often falls on 30th April, the birthday of late Queen Juliana. In festival’s time, Amsterdam city where the festival takes place is covered with the bright orange color. Amsterdam, indeed, becomes a joyful party area bursting particularly around Dam, Rokin and Damrak.

Although, the festival is just in a day’s time, its preparation starts a month before. During this time, a large number of the best oranges are shipped in from neighboring countries like Spain, France, and the islands in the Mediterranean. Then numerous talented artists everywhere in Holland are invited to come and create extraordinary works of art, such as: giant castles, magnificent windmill houses, famous cartoons, and local charming people in different sizes and colors of fresh fruits. All of them are marvelously displayed throughout Amsterdam city, waiting for the amazing moment of the opening ceremony.

In the festival day, a lot of activities occur around the city. However, the celebrating has actually begun the night before (the Queen’s night). Clubs and bars are opened for playing, drinking, and dancing until morning. In the next day, the first impression is that everything is radiant with the orange color. The local people as well as foreign visitors wear orange clothes, the symbol of Royal family. They heartily dance and sing traditional Dutch songs. Visitors can take pictures of impressive orange sculptures, drink cold tasty orange juice served freely.

Banners and flags are flown with the same color, even some of fountains have a pigment added to the water. As time goes by, the crowd on the street makes the atmosphere more likely and enjoyable. For the bargain shoppers, a free market is also held for trading something you no longer need for. The stalls are filled up with a huge variety of antiques like clocks, vases, pictures, even swords.

After immersing into these exhilarating activities, it will be a miss not to not join the breathtaking outdoor rock concert in late morning. The strong voices together with jubilant melodies will leave you an unforgettable experience.

In fact, the concert is not only a farewell but also an invitation for the next year festival. If you are one of the people who considers Amsterdam as one of Europe’s best party cities, then the Orange Festival, April 30th, will help you to confirm your ideas.

Dear all students

Here are some exercises for you to do so that you can write the process essays better. Click to download. Do your best!

"Writing is not simply with Hand but with Head and Heart"

Diwali Festival


Monkey Festival

Festivals around the World

Watch this short video clip and decide which is the most impressive festival to you.



Look for some information about that festival online, including texts, pictures, as well as videos.

Write down your first draft about that festival.

Love is Like Life but Longer

Watch this short video clip and write a story based on it


Note: You can also write another one based on a good film or short film you have just recently watched.

The Greatest Teacher Is Your Life

The Greatest Teacher Is Your Life

Composed by an 08 student

Getting confused with my writing assignment: the most influential person in your life, I don’t know what to do because of the fact that I haven’t been influenced by anyone up to now. Perhaps no one believes that, but it took me more than one week to think of any influence I got from people around me, and the result is no one. My family, my teachers, even my best friend, none of them appears in my influential people list. Someone said “the greatest teacher is your life”, and I totally agree with that point of view. All of my experience, my changes, and even my wounds come from my life. Twenty years living this complex life, I have learned the way to be stronger, I have known how to accept unacceptable things, and also I have been taught how to enjoy such a complex life.

As being mature enough, the first thing I realize is that I must be stronger and stronger to gain whatever I want. There is a certain unwritten law that the stronger person will be the winner. Years ago, as a little girl, I was “a girl of tears”. It means that whenever I encountered any unhappy thing, the only way I chose to respond was crying all time. I cried to clear away all sadness, to show to everyone that I was in a bad mood in order to call for care from them. Actually, I did the wrong thing, totally. The only thing I received was their indifference. They just pitied me as a sensitive girl, but no one asked me what happened. Since then, I have found out that no one but I could pull me out of these messes. I force myself to stand high in front of any obstacles; also never I give up until I can’t try any more. Hesitating at nothing, I just simply do what I want. Maybe the result won’t be as good as I expected, but at least I won’t regret any missed opportunities. As a result, a strong-minded girl becomes my image whenever someone talks about me.

However, it’s not a pink life to everyone, and I’m not a kind of lucky person who always succeeds. Like others, I have to learn how to accept unacceptable failures although I tried my best to change the situation. Formerly, I couldn’t stand any failures even nearly went mad when it was out of my control to ameliorate the problems. Nevertheless, I soon recognize that it’s really just a waste of time to sit there and keep blaming myself for these failures. My best friend said that “if your life kicks you, don’t let that break you down but forward”. Moreover, I’m just a human being, and no one is perfect. Thus, whenever doing something, I always do my best in order not to regret if the result is a failure. That failure will be my motivation for me to go on with new plans and gain new successes then. It’s the way how my life taught me to accept unavoidable failures.

Last but not least, it’s no one but my life that taught me how to enjoy such a complex life. Since I was a child, simply I just thought that there was nothing more interesting than lessons in schools. I used to spend all of my time learning without games, music, or extra activities. Consequently, I soon got tired with my busy schedule. I was so bored that I just wanted to give up all. No one could help me until the day I look back upon my life and realized that I didn’t have time for myself. Since then, I have changed my life for a better one. I learned how to balance between learning and playing. Additionally, I took part in more social activities to find pleasure form the world outside. I had more time to take care of myself as well as everyone around me. My former life has taught me that it’s necessary to have a positive attitude towards everything. And now, I am really satisfied because I finally find the best way to enjoy myself.

In short, I am pleased with my current image: a strong – minded, positive, and relaxed girl. All of my changes come from no one but my life. It’s my life that taught me so many lessons to become better and better. It’s my life that brought me lots of experience to make me more and more mature.

My Love was a Red Red Rose

My Love was a Red Red Rose

Composed by Linh

When I was young, fairy tales told me love was a beautiful red rose. Among ocean of people, destiny leaded two strange people to meet and love each other. Together they overcame all difficulties and enjoyed wonderful moments. They were willing to scarify oneself for the other’s sakes. Now I knew love was not simply a beautiful red rose but love was a red red rose. It was so miraculous to change a clumsy, reserved girl into a clever and social girl. It was also so wonderful for me to love and to be loved, to care and to be cared. And it was really hurt to know my lover love another girl, too.

Like a romantic Korean film, the main actor and actress met each other in a slight rainy afternoon in the fall. While seeking shelter from the rain, I was so impressed by a handsome boy who fluently spoke English in another corner of the classroom that I stopped to listen to his beautiful voice. I waited until he finished talking to his partner to break the eyes. Surprisingly, we came from the same town and we studied in the same faculty, too. For some very first days, helping me improve English speaking skill was a very good excuse for us to meet each other regularly. Being a clumsy girl, I learned to make myself look prettier and to cook tastier to win over his heart. Being a shy girl, I became more sociable to join many exciting activities organized by his friends. A reserved girl tried to carefully listen to and deeply sympathy with others as well as openly share her thoughts and feelings. Moreover, having observed their wonderful friendship, a tough girl was taught to behave kindly toward his friends and others, too. Since he came, very much my lifestyle has positively changed.

Those were the days I was taken care like a little girl. Indeed, having always stood on the direction which fast flows of cars were rushing forward, he held my hand and took me across the street. Whenever I asked, he was willing to ride me to buy stuffs in the supermarket. 10 minutes before meal time, often he sent a message reminding me to have meals and drink milk on time. It may be because I was not as healthy as others and I often got sick or even felt faint. Every time I felt tired or stressful, it was him who strolled me around for fresh air and carefully listened to every of my words. It was also him who rode a long way to buy me something for late dinner when I felt hungry. Particularly, hardly did he go to the market to buy things and cook soup or prepare fruit juice for himself, yet he did for me when I got sick. Then meticulously he fed me his self-cooked soup and fresh fruit juice. Moreover, as a naughty girl, I sometimes got angry or made him sad but usually he tolerated me to protect our good relationship. Although I knew many kind men, hardly I could find such a gentle man who loved and cared me that much.

2 years went by perfectly with many unforgettable experiences although sometimes we did not understand or made the other sad. We did believe that we were born to be the breath of life to each other. And together we did dream of a happy ending after graduating. However, everything dramatically changed since he changed to his new rent room as well as he got his first job. We had less time to share with and care about each other, yet more often small argues appeared. Sometimes we were side by side or in arms of each other, we could not find the passionate feeling as we did before. We could not openly share our thoughts and feeling with each other. No longer did he stay up until 00:00 AM to wish me best wishes on special days. No longer did he send many sweet messages to remind me of having meals on time. No longer did he meticulously take cares of me even when I felt faint. We both were really tired.

Both of us were busy so we met each other once a week on Sunday evening only. Strangely, we sometimes had nothing to share with each other but our work. We did find some differences in ideal of life, way of thinking but this time these differences become clearer than ever. Coming from a poor family, I was an ambitious girl who always tried hard for a bright future while he wanted to lead a life which he could live, work and play not very hard but comfortably. In addition, it was an unspoken agreement that we went out together every Sunday evening. However, that was the first time he asked me for a date off because of another girl. I awfully guessed she was his new colleague about whom he sometimes told me that they together prepared the lesson plans as trainee teachers. It was really hurt to know that my lover now loved another girl. Painfully, I was the person who suggested separating. On that day, we both were crying a lot for our beautiful love which finally came to an unhappy-ending.

How could I forget a person who was always beside, loved and took cares of me during the last 2 year? I was used to having him beside to share with me everything. I could not stand living on my own from now on. Whatever I did, wherever I went, sweet memories of our love clearly lived in my mind. Nothing I did could stop me from missing him and crying for him. Being a highly self-respecting girl, but because of 2 years’ heartfelt love, it was also me who tried to persuade him to heal our faded love. I could not remember how many times I messaged him for his stay and then cried on my own for being disappointed. He knew I still very much loved him, but we were too different to forward on the same road, he said. None of my efforts could hold him back. Despite of limitless regret and pain, I agreed to let him go.

My love was a red red rose. Thank God for bringing him into my life. I would never forget Kathy, who came to change my life, who loved and took cares of me the most, with whom I experienced sweetest memories and who engraved beautiful wounds in my heart. Although we could not together come to the end of the road of love, I wished him always safe and sound, optimistic and happy. Forever our sweet memories lived in the bottom of my heart.

First Class

Dear all beloved students,

You have come to class and known what I expect from you "Writing is something not simply with your HAND but your HEAD and HEART". Now I would like to listen to your opinion about the first class and about your own expectations for the coming course. Please do not hesitate to leave your frank comments.
The more you let me know my weaknesses, the more I can help you to write better.

This is one website for you. Go there and enjoy wonderful writing. Do not simply read but learn and write the better ones based on what the authors have written.
http://palc.sd40.bc.ca/palc/index.htm

Quote of the Week: "Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their TECHNIQUE, they are great because of their PASSION. "— Martha Graham 

How about your writing skills?