Saturday 22 December 2018

Are you celebrating Christmas? 🎄🎅

Christmas is approaching!🎄🎅
Why not go to the nearby church and listen to the beautiful Christmas Carols. I have decorated my windows with Christmas lights and fantastic beasts: a deer and a bulldog to greet this most beautiful season of the year.


I currently live nearby York Minister— one of the world's most magnificent cathedrals and has been at the centre of Christianity in the north of England; last Sunday evening, I have attended a special Christmas event that was arranged by ‘Friends International Centre’ leader in York—Mrs Helen Callow, to listen to a mixture of popular Christmas music.

The theme of this evening gathering is 'not to be selfish and caring more about others'. Everyone there seems to be quite touched with the ambience of Christmas and New year wishes, when I left, one man with his family members talked to the church staff, saying ‘there are a few moments I am crying’.

Some may argue that Christians should not ‘celebrate’ Christmas, as the Bible didn't mark the event and did not ask people to celebrate a birthday; therefore, the practice of making the birth of Jesus as a merry day on 25 December has considered as a pagan rite. (Read more on BBC)

🎄However, we all wish ‘Joy to the world!’

聖誕節快到了!

何不去附近的教堂,聽聽美麗的聖誕頌歌。我已用聖誕燈和夢幻般的野獸裝飾了我的窗戶:鹿和鬥牛犬迎接一年中最美麗的季節.

我目前居住在約克大教堂附近 - 世界上最宏偉的大教堂之一,並且一直是英格蘭北部的基督教中心,在上週日晚上, 我參加了由約克的“朋友國際中心”負責人 - 海倫·卡洛夫人安排的特別聖誕活動,聽流行的聖誕音樂組曲。

這次活動聚會的主題是“不要自私,要更關心他人”. 在那裡的每個人似乎都對聖誕節和新年願望的氛圍感動不已,當我離開時,一個男人和他的家人一起與教堂工作人員交談,“有些時刻我哭了”。

有些人可能會爭辯說,基督徒不應該“慶祝”聖誕節,因為聖經沒有標記這個事件,也沒有要求人們慶祝生日; 因此,在1225日慶祝耶穌誕生的做法被認為是一種異教徒的儀式。

無論如何, 我們期許'歡樂到世界'!

Saturday 15 December 2018

Winter in Vienna (Winterferien in Wien)

Some friends asked me where I am going to spend my Christmas? As I just returned to the UK this November and moved into the city centre, I would like to stay at my new home and keep warm during Christmas. Perhaps a white Christmas is best described as a Christmas season. Image snow falling on Christmas trees and Santa Claus's reindeer pull a sleigh through the night sky. Surely, there are some fun winter outdoor activities; however, facing a biting wind, this chilly weather could make a challenge to travel outdoor.

A picture in Wien Art Gallery

I have had some experiences of travelling in Europe in winter. Of which, the longest journey was in Vienna (German: Wien), Austria in 2015. I recalled that I stepped on snowy pavements, headed to the snowy mountain by taking a local car, and heard the church bells ringing around the city centre. It was freezing cold outside; therefore, visiting museums is a very good idea for a winter trip. 
(The following is the collection of naked trees in Wein city.)
With its glorious history, the Austrian Empire, many museums such as Belvedere Museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Sisi Museum are full of important cultural and historical collections. I especially like Sisi Museum—The Imperial Apartments—where houses numerous personal items that once belonged to Elisabeth, an empress of eternal youthfulness and beauty, and is home to a unique collection of the culture of courtly dining in its various forms.

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien


Quartier21 (exhibitions of contemporary applied arts) 


Belvedere Museum  collecting the famous painting "The Kiss" is my another recommended museum

Sisi Museum (including the following photos)







Although Vienna is an international city, it is a place only favours the German language.

However, the language barrier didn’t bother me anything, and the winter scenes have made the images of Vienna unforgettable.  



By the way, don’t miss Figlmüller-Schnitzel while your stay in Vienna.


冬遊奧地利

些朋友問我要在哪裡過聖誕節,因為我今年11月剛回到英國並搬到市中心,我決定留在新家,在聖誕節期間保暖。也許白色聖誕節是描述聖誕節的完美術語。想像著雪落在聖誕樹上以及聖誕老人的馴鹿拉雪橇穿過夜空. 當然,有一些有趣的冬季戶外活動; 然而,面對著刺骨寒風,這種天氣可能對戶外旅行而言是個挑戰.


我有一些冬天在歐洲旅行的經歷。其中玩最久1次旅程是2015年在奧地利維也納。我記得我踏上了白雪皚皚的人行道,乘坐當地的汽車前往白雪皚皚的山路,聽到教堂鐘聲響徹市中心。 外面很冷,因此,參觀博物館是冬季旅行的一個非常好的主意。

憑藉其輝煌的歷史--奧地利帝國--許多博物館,如Belvedere博物館,維也納藝術史博物館,Sisi博物館帝國的公寓--充滿了重要的文化和歷史收藏品。 我特別喜歡Sisi博物館,裡面有許多曾經屬於伊麗莎白的私人物品,這是一個永恆的青春和美麗的女皇,並且有各種形式的宮廷餐飲文化的獨特收藏品。


雖然維也納是一個國際城市,但它是一個只偏好用德語的地方。 然而,語言障礙並沒有給我帶來任何麻煩,而冬天的場景讓維也納的形象難以忘懷。


順便說一句,在維也納逗留期間,不要錯過維也納大肉排Figlmüller-Schnitzel。✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈

Friday 7 December 2018

After One-Shot at a Party Night

When I was searching for a new living place near downtown and the train station, I finally chose to live in Percy’s Lane in York. As the location is near St John University, some undergraduate students from there became my new neighbours. 

Basically, I like St John University, where has a beautiful main entrance with a romantic garden; a 24-hour modern and colourful library, which is called learning centre; stylish and relaxed students making you feel that competition and study pressure are not necessary at your campus life. By the way, staffs there are friendly and not so bureaucratic. (check my blog about St John University
Due to those factors, in fact, I have listed St John University as one of my recommended visiting place in York, it is small although. Another key reason for that is its main entrance is just opposite the most beautiful bird's eye view scenery from the city wall. Therefore, last time when a Taiwanese female PhD came to work in York, I led her to have a walk on the city wall and then we had a quick visit to St John University, where she got some beautiful photos that I took for her. 
A bird's eye view from York city wall


Autumn view 

Back to talk about my new neighbours. First, I have to say they are quite nice and friendly to me. as we know, with the end of the year coming up, many of us will be attending at least one party, at a restaurant, at home, or at a club. Yes, December is the beginning of school holidays, and the first thing for them to do is to wind down all school pressures, to have a celebration, and to go to the club. And before clubbling, they held a drinking party at home. However, when I got my invitation for these activities, it was just two hours ago. 

Why I got this invitation? When I first met my young St John neighbours, I told them how I love their school. And it is true, particularly when I found Taiwan is clearly pictured at a global cloth map displayed in their library, and multicultural elements are well desinged into children’s toys as part of teaching materials. I joyfully describe what I know about and how I like their school. As such, I guess this can explain why I have the invitation as I expressed my appreciations for something they might always take it for granted.


So, it was last Wednesday, I was invited to join their drinking party and go-clubbing. Clubbing on Wednesday night sounds exaggerating to me, making me feel guilty. Seriously, I do not prepare to have too much fun in the weekdays (Why not? --They responded). But I was glad and very excited to make some interesting new friends via drinking.

'Cheers''Bottom up', 'toast', People in Taiwan sometimes like to compete their drinking amount with each other while drinking together. In the UK, ‘one-shot’! also means ‘bottoms up’! The fact is that we had Vodka, Cactus Jack Apple Sour, beer, etc., sharing with six people, each bottle contains 15% and up to 50% alcohol. When the party ended, I was not badly drunk and still happily chatted with everyone. But when I returned to my place, afterwards, I vomited at midnight. And in the following days, I have to take care of my suffering stomach with some boring food.

Last time I vomited because of drinking alcohol was several years ago in Taiwan.  My frangible stomach has again reminded me of the necessity of self-control. 😭 ><

當我在市中心和火車站附近尋找新住處時,我最後選擇住在約克的Percy's Lane。由於位置靠近聖約翰大學,一些來自那裡的大學生成了我的新鄰居。

基本上,我喜歡聖約翰大學,那裡有一個美麗的主入口有著一個浪漫的花園;一個24小時的現代化多種色彩圖書館,稱為學習中心;時尚且輕鬆的學生讓您覺得校園生活中不需要競爭和學習壓力。還有,職員也很親切不會很官僚.

因為那些因素, 事實上,我已把聖約翰大學放到約克推薦的訪問地點之一,雖然它很小。另一個重要因素是這所學校的主要入口正面對著YORK城牆最美麗的鳥瞰景觀。因此,上次當一位台灣女博士來到約克工作時,我帶她到城牆,然後我們快速訪問聖約翰大學,在那裡她享受了我為她拍攝的一些漂亮的照片。

回頭談談我的新鄰居。 首先,我不得不說他們對我很友善。 我們知道,隨著年底的到來,我們之中的許多人將至少參加一個聚會,在餐廳,家裡或在俱樂部。 是的,12月是學校假期的開始,他們要做的第一件事就是抒解學校的壓力,舉行慶祝活動,還有去俱樂部(跳舞)。 在去俱樂部之前,他們還在家舉辦了一個酒趴。 但是,我是在兩小時之前才收到了這些活動的邀請。

為什麼我被邀請? 當我第一次見到我年輕的聖約翰鄰居時,我告訴他們我是如何愛他們的學校的。確實如此,特別是當我看到台灣在其圖書館展示的全球布料圖中清晰地描繪出來時,多元文化元素被設計成兒童玩具作為教材的一部分。我高興地描述我所知道的以及我有多喜歡他們的學校;我想這能說明我得到他們的邀請的原因,因為我對他們可能總是認為理所當然的事情表達了賞識。

所以,就在上週三,我被邀請參加他們的酒會和去俱樂部。星期三晚上去俱樂部對我而言太誇張了,讓我感到內疚,因為我不打算在平常日有太多的樂趣(為什麼不呢? - 他們的回應)。無論如何, 我很高興也很興奮透過飲酒結交新朋友,

乾杯''喝光''敬酒',台灣人有時喜歡在一起喝酒時互相競爭飲酒量。 在英國,'一飲而盡' 也意味著'乾杯' 事實上,我們有伏特加,仙人掌傑克蘋果酸,啤酒等,當晚與六人共用,每瓶含有15%和高達50%的酒精。 當派對結束時,我並沒有喝醉,仍然愉快地與大家聊天。 但是當我回到原處,之後,我在午夜時嘔吐。 在接下來的日子裡,我必須用一些無聊的食物例如米湯,照顧我的受苦的胃了。

上次我因飲酒而嘔吐幾年前在台灣。 我脆弱的胃再次讓我想起了自我控制的必要性。