An Exhibition

On December 4Th, our whole class went to an exhibition with Ms. Hadley. We went to Nanjing University to see the exhibition of Wu Weishan. Wu Weishan is a very famous artist and makes a lot of great and meaningful sculptures. This exhibition is called "Cultural Figures sculpture". There were many interesting sculptures in it and they were all contemporary.

I saw a very wonderful work in the exhibition and it is called "Lao Zi". This artwork is made by himself. It is made in 2002. “Lao Zi” is very tall and big. The color of it is copper. It is made of mud and a little metal. This artwork is very special because it is empty inside. People can go inside the sculpture and it’s big enough to have several people in it. There are many words on the inside wall and people can not understand them because they are old words. Lao Zi has long beard and he is sticking up his index finger and pointing to the sky. He looks like an old man who wants to say something. Lao Zi is very muscular although he is very old. People can see the muscle clearly. Wu Weishan sculpted so carefully that the whole artwork looks very great.

Lao Zi makes me feel awestruck. It’s like I am standing in front of a great man and he is teaching me something. It does not mean I like this artwork but I think it has a deep meaning.

I know Lao Zi is a famous Chinese educator and philosopher. There are many people know him. So when he sticks up his index finger, I think he wants to say and think something because he is not smiling but frowning. Lao Zi is merciful with others. The work reminds me to be a good person and try my best to do everything. His motion also tells me to be honest and teaches us to forgive people. He is a symbol of education in the world. He is a good teacher too. Wu Weishan may want to tell people to be a person such as Lao Zi. This is the greatness of an artist.

I don’t like this artwork because it does not look good or beautiful. It is an old man so it is not good-looking although he is Lao Zi. It is meaningful but it is still very strange. I like people smiles but Lao Zi does not, so this is another reason. Though I don’t like it but I still esteem this. There is a brochure about the exhibition and it explains the meaning of “empty”. It says “empty” is the symbol of the whole universe. It’s a large space and it subsumes everything in the world. Wu Weishan made the inside of Lao Zi empty because he wants everybody knows that Lao Zi is a merciful man. Lao Zi can forgive others and many bad things. Wu Weishan also sculpted the muscle of Lao Zi because this would make people think that Lao Zi is a man with both strength and wisdom. This could change some people’s thoughts. Eastern people not only have knowledge but also have power. Lao Zi is both very wise and strong. Wu Weishan tells others that a person can have both of them.

This artwork is really wonderful. It has deep meaning that teaches people to have good qualities.

Italian Restaurant

On Dec.22Th, Monday. In the evening, I went to an Italian restaurant with my classmates and grade 12 mentors to have a dinner. We started at 6:00p.m. This restaurant is called “CIAO ITALIAN” and it is a true Italian restaurant. It is on ShuGu road 193. There are many foreigners having meal in it and the boss of this restaurant is an Italian.

The foods are much more expensive than other restaurants, but they are very delicious. There are different kinds of food, such as pizza, pasta, spaghetti, wine, etc. I ordered chili pasta because I love spicy food. My classmate Jennifer ordered spaghetti, Dennis ordered steak. Pasta is very yummy and I like it very much. The color of pasta is red and the chili is ground into powder. We also ate the bread in the beginning. It’s great and smells good. We drank apple juice and it is fresh. It cost me 62RMB in all.

It is luxurious. There are many pictures of Italian view hung on the wall. They are beautiful. Christmas decorations were all put on because Christmas is coming soon. We could also hear the soft music from the big sound box. The whole restaurant made me feel like I was in Italy. Although it was very cold outside I still felt comfortable because the air conditioner was turned on. It’s quiet and suitable for people to have a good meal. We asked the waitress to take photos for us. We chattered with grade 12 mentors and had a lot of fun.

I think this restaurant is awesome and I hope I can go there with my parents next time. Maybe I will ask my friends to go with me again.

The Taming of the Shrew

On Dec.19th, there had been a drama “The Taming of the Shrew” on the third floor of our school's cafeteria. It was performed by our school's drama club. I went to see it with my friends after supper. The reason why I came to see this drama was that I like William Shakespeare’s works. The actors and actresses are very professional. They did as well as the actors in the Hollywood. The main characters are Katharina (by Cherry), and Petruchio (by Fan). I know them and Cherry is one of the basketball team mates of me.

The plot is interesting. In the beginning, there is a drunk man Sly has a dream in an inn. His dream is very strange and he meets a lord and his pages that intend to play a trick on him. They perform a play for him and it’s about an intelligent, but grumpy shrew, Katharina, unwillingly married a nobleman, Petruchio. Afterwards, Petruchio “tamed” his wife into an obedient and gentle woman.

It is very funny and many people laughed while they were watching the play. I was impressed by their acting. They must have received many awards if they are famous actors and actresses. Cherry had the best acting. Katharina was a very difficult character to act because she changes dramatically in this story. The whole characteristics of her are opposite. Cherry acted differently.

The whole scenery was great, too. They must spend a lot of time on it. They switched the lights into many colors for the different scene of the drama. I think it was worth seeing because I learnt a lot of things from it. It helped us to know more about Shakespeare so that we won’t have too many cultural problems when we go abroad in the future. Anyway, I was surprised that we students could set up such an amazing show.

Mochou Lu Church

On the morning of Dec.14th, I went to a Church on Mochou Lu with my friend. There had been a performance because Christmas was coming. There were many foreigners and the whole seats were full. We sat to listen to their speeches. They talked a lot about the Bible and acted the part of how Jesus was born. The actors and actresses were very concentrated and excited. I watched and listened carefully because they spoke English.

They also asked us to follow them to sing the songs. They were Christmas songs like “O come, O Come Emmanuel”, “Silent Night”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, and “Joy to the World”. We tried our best to sing the songs. I could understand some of them and I think they were sacred. The whole situation was quiet and solemn. I could feel the environment of that moment. It was like God was just sitting beside us. The church was not big but formal. There were many decorations for the Christmas. It seemed they spent much time on preparing for the Christmas.

I was impressed by this service. It was great. On the other hand, Catholicism is a western religion but there were so many Chinese people. More and more people are affected by the Catholicism even in the eastern countries. This was good to us students that we could learn more about the western culture. It would help us to develop well in the western countries. We could at least know about it. It can also improve the relationships between us and other people.

GUEST ARTIST

On Dec.1st, a famous professional landscape architect ZhaoBing came to our school. The whole grade 10 came to the hall to listen to the artist's speech. ZhaoBing mainly talked about the Suzhou gardens. "Garden" comes from the Latin. He told us the history of the garden. It can be traced as far back as spring and autumn period. There was five styles of the gardens in the old China:

1.Royal garden

2.Private garden

3.religious garden

4.view garden

In the encyclopedia, garden is a living area with beautiful plants, stones, water, hills, etc. around. Gardens were designed for people not only to live but also to enjoy the life.
Many emperors of old China or Egypt made gardens as their graves. Gardens has different characteristics. It is very unique. It can not be very special without any of these four things: plants, stones, water, hills. It also needs great constructions and that will make it looks perfect. There was another famous artist described the stones of the Tai Lake. Just a second he thought of four words to describe the stones: thin, leak, thoroughly and wrinkle. This could embody how high his average is . He described so fitly that many people always praise him.

Suzhou garden is really great and very beautiful. If someone lives in the garden, he must be very comfortable and always has a good mood. The nice environment may make a person live longer and happier through all life.
I visited Suzhou garden when I was very young. At that time, I did not understand anything because of the young age . I just knew I came to a place like wonderland. I breathe the air greedily and watched the clean water and there were many fish in the pond. The buildings were also great. I even thought I was in the old China and enjoying the scene by walking in the garden. It made me feel fantasy. I hope I can have a garden like this.

ZhaoBing said many things about the garden. I learnt a lot from his speech. He studied the garden deeply. He is a really professional landscape architect, an artist.
This is a unforgettable experience about Suzhou garden with ZhaoBing. Maybe I can use it on many things in the future. This will help me a lot.

Today is a wonderful day.

American Restaurant

It is Nov.30Th today. I went to Jimmy's restaurant to eat lunch with teaches and friends. It is a American restaurant and it is on the 158 Han Zhong road in Nanjing.

The foods in Jimmy's are really great. We ate different kinds of pizza. They are very delicious and I like them very much because there was always a pizza suitable for a person. The Pizza had many tastes. There were spicy, salty, etc. There were a lot of vegetables and meat covered on the pizza. The restaurant does not only have pizza, but also has subs, pasta, burgers, hot dogs...

It is a very American-style restaurant. People can watch PE programs because there are two televisions in the restaurant. Programs were all from the foreign countries. We can also have a party and play poker all night. There are plenty of interesting games to play. I believe anyone could have fun there.

Today I saw many foreigners in the restaurant. They were drinking beer at the bar and chatting with each other happily. I think not only today but everyday there has lots of foreign people because the boss of this restaurant is an American, Jimmy. Jimmy's is near the road but it was not noisy at all because of the music. The music sounded good and very cool. There were rock, Jazz, pop, etc. Inside the Jimmy's, it was warm and harmony. It looked like an American house.

I will recommend my classmates to eat there. I will also ask my parents to go there for dinner again.