Colors of my life

My first computer typing skill

2010-10-16T13:15:00.001+02:00

Because today is Staturday, I don't need to go to University and stay at home. I read some ebooks, watched some movies and sometimes I chat with my friend. When I chat with my friends, they said my typing rate is very fast.

Yes, may be because I used to read some forums and enjoy the chat rooms. Your typing skill should be very good in chat rooms, otherwise your reply will be late. By this way, my typing rate become very fast.

Concerning with this, I just remember what I have thought about typing skill when I was young.

When I was at high school, there was a project from Ministry of Education that all the high schools in Myanmar must install the multimedia classrooms. As far as I 've known, the multimedia classrooms are teaching with computers. First of all, before the multimedia classrooms were started, the teachers and some students had to learn about computers.

I was at the eight standard when I have seen the computer for the first time. A teacher was writing something with computer. I went near by him and asked him, " Do you need to type each letter, such as c, a and t for cat?"

He said, " Yes, we have to type a letter by a letter."

At that moment, what I was thinking was, "Oh My God ! If somebody asked me to type like that, I can't do that. It will take so long to finish a paragraph for me."

Anyway, now, I am very fast in typing whether it is in English or in Myanmr. Oh ! I have never thought that I can do it one day. You may say that practice makes perfect. :)

P.S The photo is from the movie "Julie and Julia"

German-Turkish Football match and Samosas-chickpea salad

2010-10-14T17:27:00.001+02:00

It was 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008 that I was interested in football. Before that time, I didn't know about the football before and I never wanted to watch them. I didn't understand why people were so happy to watch football matches. Probably, I didn't have a good chance to watch them in my country. And, the time of almost matches were at late night according to our standard time.

Here, in Germany, I could watch them from TV channels easily. The time was also very suitable for me because it was in the evenings. There was a match that I was excited most during Euro 2008. It was German-Turkish match in Semi-finals. As you know, the population of Turkish is nearly half of the total population in Berlin and they have strong national spirit. At that day, we went to the public showing area to watch the football match but we were late and couldn't go there. Every road in Berlin was full of German and Turkish audiences.Then, we went to one of my friend's home where our friends could watch together.We were still on the way while the match was starting. Turkey was ahead after 22 minutes, but German equalised quickly at 27 minute. Among the crowed people, we could see only the flags to know which team was leading. Anyway, German won finally by 3-2.

Then, here comes about Samosas-chickpea salad. On that day, my friend (host) prepared the Samosas-chickpea salad for all of us. That salad is called "Ka Lar Gyi Thote" in Yangon. The ingredients for this salad are roughly chopped samosas, finely shreddded white cabbage, sliced (thinly lenghtway) shallots, some mint leaves, tamarind liquid and boiled chickpeas and boiled chickpea powders, boiled potatoes and some chillis if you like. If possible, you can add vada(Ba yar Kyaw) too. It’s an ideal salad for that time. We talked once again about the victory of football match while we were eating.

Now, the qualification matches for Euro 2012 has come again. On the day of German-Turkish match, coincidentally we were at the home of my friend who was the host 2 years ago. She prepared Smosa-chickpea salad for us too. And again, German won but not by 3-2 and by 3-0. Anyway, we have to wait and see again if this coincidence will happen again in German-Turkish match of Euro 2012. Or, we can create it for Germany to win Turkey because I am always at the side of Germany since that days onwards. :)

Change yourself first

2010-10-13T13:39:00.005+02:00

Once upon a time, there was a young woman in a small village. One day, she got married to a man who had a 5-year-old son. Although her husband was kind and took care of her, his son didn't like her. She tried many ways that little boy to love her but she could not do. He never obeyed her words, he always argued with her and never showed any kindness to her. So, she was unhappy about her stepson everyday.

Some days later, she went to an old woman who had many experiences in her village and asked her advices how to make her stepson love her. The old woman listened everything what she had told and then asked, " What do you want to be?"

"I want him love me. I want his respect and kindness to me", the young woman answered.

"Well... then, did you try to be kind and helpful to him? ", the old woman asked her again.

"Yes! Yes, of course. I loved him as my own son.", the young woman answered again too.

The old woman nodded her head and said the words slowly, " Daughter, if you want him to be changed, you have to change yourself too."

The young woman complained, "Oh! Grandma, this is not possible for me. I can't change my daily habits and attitudes only for him. I am very nice to him. Is it not enough for our relationship? How can I change myself to be?"

The old woman smiled and said, "Daughter, now you see you have something that can't be changed. And he will have too. You need not only the strength to change things but also the the serenity to accept the things you cannot change. Please let him be as he is."

The young woman replied, "Grandma, it is impossible to change by only one side. He also needs to change himself. He should know that. How can I do, Grandma?"

"Don't be worried about this, Daughter. Time will tell both of you. He is still a young child. He needs to learn many things in his life. Just try to change yourself first. Not try to be essential. Just try to be supportive for him. In a journey that both sides has to start, please start the first step from your side. He will come to you soon", the old woman told her.

The young woman had understood the ways how to improve the relationship with her stepson and went back her home happily by saying million of thanks to the old woman.

Tipps - Sometimes, we want someone to be changed for us but we forget to change ourselves. Before you try to change somebody, try to change yourself first.

P.S - Photo credits go to http://clipartheaven.com/

Diary of Digits

2010-10-11T14:09:00.003+02:00

Yesterday was 10th October, 2010 and you would see 10.10.10 (three 10s) if you wrote it down. It happens only once in 11 years. I have already passed three these interesting days in my life.

The first unforgettable one was 8.8.88 (8.8.1988) when I was only five years old. On August 8 of 1988, the largest demonstration, also known as 8888 uprising, took place in my country. The 8888 uprising was started by students in Yangon on August 8, 1988. Student protests spread throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of ochre-robed monks, young children, university students, housewives, and doctors demonstrated against the regime. The uprising ended on September 18, after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Thousands of deaths have been attributed to the military during this uprising, while authorities in Myanmar put the figure at around 350 people killed. (ref: wikipedia)

The second one was 9.9.99. I don't have so much memories for this day. But if you are interested in generating 4-digit decimal recurrences, you can try to divide 1234 by 9999 for an example. You will get interesting outcome too.

And, the third one was yesterday, 10.10.10. The time passed peacefully and silently as usual. If I have to say something, the weather was very nice. It was a very beutiful day.The sun was shining brightly over the colorful trees and the sky was totally blue. It was a lovely Sunday and we had a great time at home by watching movies, playing games and cooking some delicious foods except my beloved watered the flower plants with hot water.

Then, I am imagining about next 11 years. Where? What will happen ? How I will be ? We can't say anything. Okay.. Let's wait and see !

P.S - photo credits go to http://artrosengarten.wordpress.com/

Exclusion Method for the Right Choice

2010-10-09T13:55:00.003+02:00

Our daily circumstances are determined by both choices and chances. We have to choose almost everything in our daily life. Even if we would like to drink tea, we have to choose which tea we want to drink. Green tea? Black tea? with or without milk? much or less suger? We usually choose something which would be more beneficial to us. By thinking further out than our current wants and needs, we begin to see the benefit of making short-term sacrifices for the purpose of long-term gains. Thus, by improving our decisions, we make the outcome of our future less dependent on luck.

When we have to choose something, it would be easy if there is something we like most. However, we face the problem that we don't know what to choose or we don't like anything. At this time, the exclusion method is very useful for the right choice.

For example, if I go to the school canteen for lunch, let's say I can choose the vegetable menu or Spaghetti or beef roll with bacon and vegetable sauce. I like none of them but I have to choose one for my lunch. Then, first I exclude vegetable menu because I am sure I can't eat without any meat. Which one should I choose from Spaghetti and beef roll ? I don't like the smell of spices from beef roll. Then, I will choose Spaghetti.

I actually don't like Spaghetti too. But, it is the most suitable for me in the lists and I don't like more vegetable menu or beef roll than Spaghetti. This is the exclusion method I used.

Everybody may have some problems like that when you cannot decide what to choose. At that time, please don't forget the exclusion method and it will make you satisfied for your choice.

May everybody do the right choice in their daily life.

P.S- This idea was originally from one of my friends, Ko Icy from myanmarcupid.

Poem Rain

2010-10-07T19:27:00.000+02:00

Have you ever heard the poem rain ? I have never thought that the poems may fall from the sky like raining. Even if I heard about poem rain, it could not be in the real world, may be, in fantacy movies and stories. However, I have seen that it really happened.

At 8 pm on Saturday 28 August 2010 a shower of poetic rain fell on the Berlin Lustgarten. That day was "Long Night of Museums", that means you could visit every museum with a single ticket for the whole night. The regular fee was 15 euros and 10 euro for students. It was free for the children under 12 years old. There were many shuttle buses to save the time between the museums.

Fortunately,we were on the way to an another museum and so, we could have an oppotunity to see the poem rain. A helicopter circled over the Museum Island and for around half an hour let 100,000 bookmarks with poems by 80 poets from Germany and Chile flutter down on the square between the Berlin Dom, the Zeughaus and the Old Museum. The rain of poems was intended to make poetry accessible to a lot of people and sent out message of peace.

In the first poem I got, it is written a German poem which means "Happiness, good luck and success will come to you through the wind from the sky". I got 10 poems at that night.

This is my frist experiences about poem rain in my life. Now, you also have seen the poem rain and enjoy it.

The poems falling from the helicopter

People who were longing for the poems from the sky

Poems that I got at that night

A Coffee Cup

2010-10-06T23:07:00.002+02:00

I don't know when I had this habit of collecting coffee cups. However, when I have noticed myself, I have already many coffee cups in different styles and shapes. Some of them were bought by me from supermarkets and some of them were presents from my friends who know I drink coffee a lot. Then, I also have a habit to drink coffee with different cups in different times. For example,I drink coffee with a brown cup in a misty morning. In some sunny mornings, I prefer some cups with flowers or gardens. In the holidays, I love to drink coffee with a light-blue cup while I am reading. And I also have some coffee cups for hollowine or christmas or new year and so on.

There once, I had a cup I liked most. It is a wide-opened cup with my favorite color, light-blue. And, it is written outside with "I love you" in white. I have bought this cup from a supermarket. This is the last one I found there and I can't find such one everywhere until today. I kept this cup for someone who would be special to me. Some of my friends wanted to use this cup and borrowed from me. I always said "No, no ! this is not for you. This is for my someone special." But at that time, I didn't know who would be my someone special. Then, that "I love you" coffee cup was only for me for long time.

One day, I received an unexpected call from one of my old friend. We were friends in high school and didn't meet nor contact each other for five or six years. To say honestly, he was very nice and friendly and so, sometimes I remembered him and wished to meet him again. He met with my mother and got my phone number from her. He invited me to have dinner together on that day. I was very surprised and excited and so was he. We had talk everything about our studies, experiences, families etc for long time. We had dinner together at a restaurant which was colorful and romatic. It was a very delightful moment. On the way we went back home, it rained suddenly heavily. When I arrived to my home, I invited him to drink coffee for a while until the rain stopped. He also agreed my idea becaue he was totally wet and cold.

While I was making coffee, I had an idea to use my "I love you" cup. At that time, I thought and I was very sure he would be my someone special. I also knew that he might have that feeling too. Then, I chose my "I love you" cup for him. I was eager to see the feeling on his face.

When he saw the cup, he looked surprised and said to me " The cup is.. ".

I interrupted him " The cup is ? what ? is it not clean?"

He said, "No, no! I don't mean that. ahh.. I mean is.. ahh.. I want to know about this cup. Is there anything special with this one? "

He was so clever. He knew at once what I wanted to say. In fact, I should tell him that that cup was for my someone special but I was just a dreamer. I was not sure by myself. May be, I didn't believe myself that he might be my someone special. Although I could feel it, I couldn't prove it. That's why, I replied him " If you want to know more about this cup, please come back to me two or three days later. Then I will tell you."

He said , " okk. Sure ! I will come exactly becaue I want to know this".

From that day onwards, he never came back to me again. Probably, he didn't really want to know about it. Although I was angry to him at first, I forgot him and about that cup some times later. I also moved from one city to one city and that "I love you" cup was also broken during movement. I had no more "I love you" cup from that time onwards.

About five years later, I have received an email from him. In the email, he wrote about the night that he drank coffee at my home and he wanted to know about that cup. He didn't mention anything why he could not come to me again. He said he wanted to drink coffee with that cup again and wanted to listen my words about it. And he worte that he would like to come and visit to me.

I replied him only a short email. "It is too late to say like this. You should tell these words five years earlier. Anyway, you can come and visit to me. I would have chosen a coffee cup for you."

So, which color do you think ?

Just a white one for the purity and friendship.

Chicken curry with bamboo shoot

2010-10-04T20:21:00.000+02:00

Cooking ? Oh! No! It is not my hobby! When I was in my country, I never cook because I can't cook. When I was in high school, my mother and my grand mother always cook delicious currys for me. My father is also a good cook too. While I was attending the university, he made some foods for me and my friends in everyweek. And sometimes, my room mate cooked too. As for me, I bought some foods and never cook. At that time, I prefered to go to the restaurants and I could choose and buy every food I wanted.

When I arrived Germany, I had to try to get used to German foods. I like currybusts and breads. I like potato salads. However, when some months later, I have no more appetite on German foods. That means I can't eat German foods everyday. Then, I started to cook my traditional foods. Another point is I want to treat my boyfriend with the foods that I cooked. By this way, I am very addicted to cooking and I want to share the receips of our traditional foods.

For a tiring Monday evening, I decided to cook chicken curry with bamboo shoot. It is very easy and I don't need to look after it on the stove all the time. Let's start cooking !

What you may need_

a chicken (about 1 kg)

a package of bamboo shoot (about 500g)

2 onion

1 tomato

sunflower oil (2 table spoons)

salt (2 table spoons)

tumeric powder (1 tea spoon)

red perprika power (1 tea spoon) (This is for red color and you may leave it if you don't like.)

Firstly, clean the chicken and cut into some pieces as you want.

Then, knead with salt and tumeric powder in the cooking pot and keep it for 10-15 minutes.

During this time, chop onions and tomato or crush them with a blander.

Then, mix them together with the chicken and add some oil.

You should cook it first with a medium fire for 10 minutes.

Please don't open the lid and shake the pot not to stick the ingredients.

After some water has come out and dried, add some water enough over the chicken.

After about 20 minutes and the chicken become soft, you can add bamboo shoots that were rinsed and cut into pieces.

Add a glass of water also and when it boils, you can switch off the fire and after 5-10 minutes, you can serve the delicious curry with rice or bread.

Please and thank you : They're the magic words.

2010-10-04T15:10:00.002+02:00

During these days, I am wondering about saying "Please" and " Thank you". When all of us were children, we were taught to say "Please" and also "Thank you".

We're talking 'bout please and thank you,
They're called the magic words.
If you want nice things to happen,
They're the words that should be heard!

Remember please and thank you,
'Cause they're the magic words.
Use 'em in the morning, at noon, and night,
'Cause it's a great way to be polite!

Yet today, many people fail to use these most basic of courteous words. There are many reasons why we delay to say those words. One of them is propably "misunderstanding". Most people think that they don't need to say "Please" or "Thank you", especially to their close people, because they may have automatically known that. Actually, it is not true for all. Everybody knows that "Please do it." or "Can you please do it?" is more polite instead of saying "Do it".As for my own opinion, I don't like orders such as "Do this!" , "Do that!" etc. Therefore, if somebody asked me to do something for him and I assume "Must do", I never do that. Not only because I can't do that but because I feel that it is impolite.

How about saying "Thank you"? It is almost the same what I said above. As much as I know, most of Myanmar people delay to say "Thanks" to others especially to their relatives and close friends. I have seen such people among my friends. You rarely hear Myanmar people say "Thanks" to their parents for bringing them to the world. In fact, although they know the gratitude of their parents very well, they seldom speak out. You can see in Myanmar many poems, stories, movies about how we thank our parents but there are only a few people who say "Thanks" directly to their parents.

I think saying "Thank you" is a kind of acknowledgement. If we say "Thank you" for someone's deed, he/she will be delighted and pleased. And on the other hand, we also don't waste time and money for saying this word.

May be, we can all pitch in and help to make the world a better place! We might start by using those polite words we learned as children !

So, let's please start saying, "Please" and "Thank you" more often! Okay ?

Happy 20 years of German reunification

2010-10-04T11:27:00.001+02:00

Yesterday, October 3rd was the National German holiday, which was even more special this year, as it was the 20th anniversary of the reunion of Germany!

The biggest celebrations took place in Berlin, not only because it is the capital but also the Berlin Wall that separated 28 years east of the city from the west. Berlin is thus a symbol of German division and the Cold War has become. But outside the capital, there was a border that ran a 1,400 km between the western Federal Republic of Germany and the so-called German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Map showing the division of East and West Germany, with West Berlin in yellow.

A reunification treaty between West Germany and the GDR was negotiated in mid-1990, signed on 31 August of that year and finally approved by large majorities in the legislative chambers of both countries on 20 September 1990. After that last step Germany was officially united at 00:00 CET on 3 October 1990. (ref.wikipedia)

In the photo above from Berlin, the Reichstag, the meeting place of Germany's parliament, is illuminated in the colors of the German flag on Oct. 3 as part of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of reunification.

The Major Dahlia Show (Dahlianfeuer)

2010-10-03T10:35:00.001+02:00

Oct 2 is one of our special days. We celebrate something on the second day of every month. Yesterday, we planned to visit the Dahilen Show in the Britzer Garden. The weather was cloudy and cold as usual. We hoped to see the sunshine in the afternoon but nothing.

The Britzer garden was voted one of Germany's ten most beautiful gardens in 2002. The area is 90-hectare squares. It offers garden art, gastronomy, concerts, events, sports and health facilities, animals and a museum railway _above all, it offers beautifully manicured gardens and pristine nature.    From mid-April (depending on the weather) tulips bloom at the special show "Tulips in the Britzer Garden." Hundreds of thousands of magnificent tulips in a multitude of colours and shapes remain in full bloom until the end of April/beginning of May. In June and September the Rose Garden is a major attraction with hundreds of bed, shrub and climbing roses edged with neatly clipped box hedges.

Dahlias really come into their own in late summer and autumn. The “Major Dahlia Show“ takes place yearly in the Britzer Garden at the end of August/beginning of September and features over 10,000 dahlias in 200 varieties.

Here with, you can enjoy some photos from the Dahlia Show.

Funny Pictures

2010-10-01T16:16:00.000+02:00

As you all know, nowadays is the era of digital.

So, let's see what the chances and risks from digital era are, that the following pictures say.

In this photo, a student wrote down a note in his hand " Not to forget". That note is the addresses of the websites.

What is e-learning ? A student is trying to copy the documents directly from her laptop.

Don't panic in case of a computer breakdown ! Just follow the instructions below.

What is full of a brain of a student? Half is by Google.

P.S. All these pictures are scanned from a magazine of my universtiy.

Weather Conditions and me

2010-09-30T16:37:00.003+02:00

Today, it is cloudy and the temperature is only 11 degree celcius. That means that the autumn is aprroaching and the winter will come soon. How sad the lovely summer ends quickly !

Actually as I was from a tropical country, I love sunshine and the sky blue. I didn't know that before. I thought "The weather is fine " means " It is cloudy and a little bit cold" because the weather in my country is hot. When I have arrived Germany, I rarely see the sunny days. Most of the days are cloudy and dark. Even though it is sunny, I cannot feel the warmth as I had in my country. It still makes me chill.

There was a funny time in my first days in Germany. It was in August, in the middle of summer in Germany. Everybody were enjoying under sunshine and the temperature was around 20-25 degree celcius but I was with warm clothes. I asked my professor, " Is it now in winter ?". She laughed and answered, "No, no ! this is summer. Oh my God ! Why do you think, it is winter?" At that time, I was really afraid of winter. I couldn't think whether I could stand the cold which is under 0 degree.

I had bad experiences of winter in Germany. I didn't often bring my warm clothes to the institute and I was very cold in the evenings and one day, I borrowed the coat from my professor and came back home. As I haven't bought shoes at that time, my friends gave me their shoes. I didn't go to the institute when the temperature was 6 degree celcius. I always checked the temperature changes and that's why my boyfriend was always kidding me "Will you hang a thermometer on your nose?" I carried a big bag which was full with warm clothes, caps, gloves and scarfs everyday in winter.

I have never seen snow in my life before in Gemany. I have seen it only in the pictures and in movies. When I saw them for the fist time, I was so excited to see and touch them. But some days later, I was disappointed because I often slipped on the iced ground and the white snow became dirty. Anyway, two years later, I could know how to survive in winter and I could enjoy the snows at -20 degree celcius.

So, I become to love the winter and its snow after the summer ends.

2010-09-29T14:56:00.001+02:00

29 September 2010
I could start blogging.
At this moment, I have no idea what I can write.
But I feel that it looks like a white board and I could paint with my favorite colors.
Then, my memoirs in my life will be posted as my paintings and I hope everyone can enjoy it.