Dear Lord

O Dear Lord,

I will not ask you for an eternal life, but a rich being.

I will not ask you for wonderful weather, but the good mood.

I will not ask you for a beautiful appearance, but a cheerful smile. 

I beg you,

Let me be the one who will control myself, not the one who will master others.

Let me be the one who will use today well, not the one who will fancy tomorrow impractically.

Let me be the one who will do my best in each thing, not the one who will gain in everything. 

After all these things are mine, I pray, the health for my family, the happiness for my friends, and the peace for the world. 

I, Alice, your child, will sing your glory and lie under it. 

Amen9.13.07

Alice’s diary of the new sememster

September 18^th

 It has been the third week since I am in the second year of me life in the senior high school. On the first day of the new semester, there were four exchange students. I can’t remember all their names, but I just remember which class they stay this year. Drew is in 201, a cute and shy boy, David who lives in Quebec is in 203, a girl who can speak German is in 207, and Kelsey is in our class, 202.

Kelsey is an exchange student from America this year, she told us her hometown is Arizona, a place where is full of desert. She came to Taiwan in order to learn the culture and language of Chinese. She is kind of shy while facing a lot of people, for example, she said she is nervous on the first day of this new school, because she has to introduce of herself in front of a group of students that she doesn’t know before.

On the first English class in Taiwan, she was excited. She said “It’s the only subject I can do well here” after she said, I laughed. Of course, she did well and had fun in the English class. And because of her, we learned a lot not only the curriculum, but also something interesting around us; I guess so did Kelsey learn a lot.

These three weeks, everything seems new for her, Not only the food, but also the classmates, teachers……etc. Lately, we brought her to taste something new for her, like moon cake, sun cake, and “Dou hua”. (I don’t know how to say it in English, but we described to her) And guess what? She loves them!

In addition, I wondered whether she can learn Chinese well in this year or not. Since we try so hard to speak English to let her understand us, she loses the opportunities to learn Chinese. This question bothers me for a long time, and one day I can’t help asking her which one she likes us to speak best. And she said she hopes we can speak both. Speak in Chinese at the first and speak English after it. This way can help her realize what we are talking about and also help us improve the skills of conversation.

And today is the first typhoon for Kelsey in Taiwan. I wondered how she feels in this experience. Scared? Excited? I will ask her tomorrow……