⛄White X’mas

❅It is the X’mas season and it is snowing again this morning!

❅The sparkling snow is falling on the quiet forest all around, where the scenery reminds me of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’.

❅When I walk into the Narnia-like perimeter, geese emerge from the woods and frozen lakes, tiny snowflakes drift down from the sky.

❅Unlike the plot of Narnia that the White Witch put a curse on everything and used ice to freeze living beings. Here, animal tracks are often more common than footprints.

 ❅And today, I left my tracks here.

❅白色聖誕節

這是聖誕季節，今天早上再次下雪！波光粼粼的雪花落在四周寧靜的森林裡，那裡的景色讓我想起了“納尼亞傳奇”。

當我走進納尼亞般的外圍時，鵝群從樹林和冰凍的湖泊中冒出來，小小的雪花從天而降。

與納尼亞的情節—白女巫對所有事物施加了詛咒，並用冰來凍結生物—不同的是，在這裡，動物的痕跡通常比腳印更常見。 而今天我把我的足跡留在這裡。

Merry Christmas!🎄

🎄As Christmas is approaching, York Christmas market is offering many gadgets for decorating the house.

🎄The high street is dotted with lights & boughs with different kinds of Christmas trees have been displayed in stores and the square.

🎄Festive chalets are selling delicious scents of the season, such as warm milled wine and sweets and gingerbread Man.

🎄Last week, I was in York Minster to listen the popular Christmas Carol. Through the music, people are blessed with the hope of a better year: less refugees and more wise political leaders. 

🎅Merry Christmas to everyone!

🎄隨著聖誕節的到來，約克聖誕市場提供了許多小玩意以裝飾房子。

🎄主街點綴著燈光和樹枝，商店和廣場上擺放著不同造型的聖誕樹。

🎄歡樂小屋正賣著本季的美味氣味，如溫暖的磨碎的葡萄酒及薑餅人。

🎄上週，我在約克大教堂音樂會聽聖誕頌歌。透過音樂，人們被祝福並希望擁有更美好的一年:少一點難民,多一些有智慧的領導者。

🎅祝每個人聖誕節快樂！

2017 UOY Dance Competition - 💃Hot Hot Hot!!!

After the snow, days get shorter and temperatures gradually drop. Sometimes the body and neck are stiff. To keep my soul and body warm, I decided to go to watch the 2017 dance competition on 3 December.

The 2017 UOY Dance competition is held by York Dance Society. This diverse dance competition includes Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, Street individual and group dancers coming from different universities.

What makes it more exciting and expecting for me is the selected music, ranging from classic music to modern pop music, to serve as visual and vocal entertainment.

All the participants are divided into novice and advanced levels. Throughout the year, they have taken part in different inter-university competitions; therefore, some of them are as good as experienced dancers.

From 10 am to 4 pm, with themed music, designed costumes, and body rhythms, I really gained a warm fuzzy feeling from these in the chilly day.

this is the final special show

Those great dancers are students from: UNIVERSITY OF YORK,UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD,CARDIFF UNIVERSITY,GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY, LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD,TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY, and YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY. They are so Hot!!!

下了雪之後，白天變短了，氣溫逐漸下降。有時身體和脖子都很僵硬。為了在冬天保持身體溫暖我決家去看12月3日約克舞蹈協會舉辦的2017年舞蹈比賽。
這個多元化的舞蹈比賽包括來自不同大學的芭蕾舞者，當代，爵士，踼踏舞，街頭個人和團體舞者。令人興奮和期待的是選定的音樂，從古典音樂到現代流行音樂，作為視覺和聲樂娛樂。

所有參與者分為初階和高階。他們全年參加過不同的校際比賽，因此，他們一些人和經驗豐富的舞者一樣優秀。

從上午10點到下午4點，以主題音樂，設計服飾和身體節奏為特色，我真的從中得到溫暖的感受。這8所大學的學生舞者真的很辣啊!💃💃💃!!

November Snapshots (11月生活剪影)

3 Nov.  Enjoy a traditional British meal in a British family 

I was invited to a British family to have a meal. The graceful hostess — Mrs. Gates, nicely picked me up to their house which are located in the suburbs of York. The wooden-warm colour in décor and the authentic fireplace in the living room add a cozy and friendly ambiance. Before eating dinner, we have some drinks and crisps with a welcoming chat. We shared a big hand-made shepherd’s pie (filling with a lot of vegetable stuff inside) -- a simple British family supper and after that, we enjoyed a large lemon cake topped with ice cream and seedless grapes. As I focused on the food and interesting conversations too much; I did not take many photos . Most of all, this wonderful couple share their growing-up and love stories with me and another two guests , making all the memory become more lovely and memorable. It is my first time but won't be the last time to eat such a cake in this way, yummy! Thank you for the invitation!!

5 Nov Bonfire Night

Known as Guy Fawkes Night, the British national event can be dated back to the autumn of 1605. At that time, Guy Fawkes was founded in the basement of Westminster Palace in the early hours on 5 Nov and he was trying to blow up Britain’s parliament by gunpowder. Surprisingly, he was born and educated in York! Some may want to know what could happen if he succeeded in this dangerous plot (he was really a terrorist!!)? I will say, noting big will be changed, the British will ‘keep calm and carry on.’ As London's quasi-terrorism attacks never change the glory of the great city. However, I have to find a time slot to see the legendary birthplace of Guy Fawkes—now has been reconstructed as Guy Fawkes Inn. Now, British people celebrate his unsuccessful plot with sparkler and fireworks. 

we gathered outside the church to celebrate the bonefire night!

30 Nov. Saint Andrew's Day Special

30 Nov is Saint Andrew's Day which is a Scotland's official national day. When it comes to Scotland, local people are proud of their own two products—as BBC news reports, "Scotland is now home to the UK's biggest drink export in Scotch whisky and the biggest food export in Scottish salmon. They continue to lead the way." Therefore, I  registered a whisky—Saint Andrew’s Day Special—for this day to know more about it. Seriously, I am currently a bit dizzy after tasting five different kinds of whisky from light to strong favours. However, now I have learnt how to taste and choose whisky with my meal from Mr. Simon who origins from Norway (He is a chef, too). The framework of tasting whisky begins with nose, palate and ends up with finish. Food and whisky should match with the same tone, for example, spicy meat with spicy whisky. OK, Time to go to bed…

(Mr. Simon has worked abroad since he was 12, this photo is provided by Wentworth College) 

 

(NOTICE: the right one: Jameson has bad quality and is not suggested to buy!!)

By the way, today it is snowing—the first snow of the winter in York. The X’mas is approaching soon.

十一月

11月3日 在英國家庭享用傳統的英式餐點

我被邀請到一個英國家庭吃飯。優雅的女主人 - 蓋茨夫人，很好心地載我到他們位於York郊區的房子。木製暖色調的裝飾以及客廳真正的壁爐增添了一個舒適，友善的氣氛。餐前,我們享用一些飲品和薯片，然後開始我們的晚餐。我們分享一個簡單的英國家庭晚餐，大手工製作的牧羊人的餡餅（裡面裝滿了很多蔬菜），然後我們享用了冰淇淋和無核葡萄的大檸檬蛋糕。因為我太專注於桌子上的食物和有趣的談話。所以沒多拍照。最重要的是，這對美好的伴侶與我及其他2位客人分享他們的成長和愛情故事，讓所有的記憶變得更加美好及難忘。這是我第一次以這樣的方式吃蛋糕，美味也~絕對不會是我最後一次！感謝你的邀請！！

11月5日篝火之夜

被譽為蓋伊·福克斯之夜的英國國家事件可以追溯到1605年的秋天。當時，蓋伊·福克斯在威斯敏斯特宮的地下室被逮捕，他正試圖用火藥炸毀英國的議會。令人驚訝的是，他在YORK出生和受教育！有些人可能想知道如果他成功達成這個陰謀會發生什麼？我會說，沒什麼大不了的事會改變，英國人會“保持冷靜，繼續下去”。如同倫敦的類恐怖襲擊從未改變大城市的榮耀。不管怎樣，我必須找到一個時間點來看看Guy Fawkes傳奇的出生地 - 現在已經被重建為Guy Fawkes 旅館。今日，英國人用煙火和焰火來慶祝他失敗的陰謀。

11月30日聖安德魯日特別節目

11月30日聖安德魯節是蘇格蘭正式國慶日。就蘇格蘭而言，當地人以兩件事情為榮：就像BBC的新聞報導，“蘇格蘭現在是英國最大的蘇格蘭威士忌出口飲料出口國和蘇格蘭鮭魚最大的食品出口國，他們繼續引領潮流”。所以我就去報名了威士忌 - 聖安德魯日特選活動 – 以便了解更多。在品嚐從淡到濃的五種不同的威士忌後，我現在有點頭暈。不過，我也很興奮，現在我學會如何選擇威士忌。從開始到結束用分段式品酒:nose(聞味), palate(味覺) finish(喝後)…是時候去睡覺了…

順便說一下，今天正在下雪 - York冬天的第一場雪。 聖誕快要到了。

Halloween in the UK: ‘Treat-no-Trick’

Some like it hot and some like it…spooky!? Yes! Tonight is Halloween!

As I know and observ in the UK, although ‘Knock! Knock! Trick-or-treat’ is a Halloween custom for many children in many countries, it seems to be more popular in North America.

The British Halloween is ‘Treat-no-trick’ as in fact, their children don’t ask for treats from door to door.

However, there are still some common ways to have a blast night for a Halloween,

such as get dressed up to have fun in this theme party, carving pumpkins with horrid and ghastly styles, or strolling on the streets to see Halloween decorations. 

What I got tonight? Mr Stuart, a man looks like Dumbledore in Harry Potter,

(photo provided by friendsconnect.york)

explaining what is the history behind Halloween-- the evening before all Hallows/Saints (All Hallows Eve).

In other words, tomorrow: 1 Nov is ‘All Saints Day’, and this is the reason why people need to dress horribly in order to scare the ghosts and welcome the hallows coming in tomorrow.  However, that is just my own assumptions, according to Mr. Stuart, 'in the UK, Christian believers would not normally dress up in that way, but would rely on Jesus and the light he shines in the darkness, to give guidance and protection'.

  

只給糖不搗蛋

有些人喜歡很酷帥，有些人喜歡..古怪！是的!今晚就是萬聖節！

正如我在英國所知和觀察到的，雖然“不給糖就搗蛋”是許多國家的兒童過”萬聖節”的習俗，但是好像在北美比較普遍。 英國萬聖節是“只給糖不搗蛋”，事實上，他們的孩子們不會作挨家挨戶要糖果。

然而，仍然有一些共同的方式來為萬聖節舉辦1個火熱的夜晚，例如刻些有駭人和可怕風格的南瓜，或好好打扮開心參加主題派對。

看看我們今天晚上有什麼：Stuart先生，一個看起來像哈利·波特的鄧布利多的男人，解釋了萬聖節背後的歷史：所有聖人的前夕。 也就是說，明天：11月1日是“所有聖人的節日”，這就是為什麼人們要打扮的很可怕來嚇唬鬼，以歡迎聖人明天來到來。不過，那只是我個人臆測，Stuart先生說，英國信主的人通常不穿那樣，而是靠主耶穌及光引導。