David says that York University visiting Mathematics Professor Alip Mohammed looks a lot like the great writer Lu Xun (1881-1936), founder of modern bai hua literature in Chinese and the author of The True Story of Ah Q (1922). What do you think?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Royal Ontario Museum
Hi, everyone, I’m Jing. Today I would like to share my experience of visiting the Royal Ontario Museum with you. On Sunday, May 8, 2008, I went to the Royal Ontario Museum with my friends Johnson and Jason. Actually, we went to there at 5:00 pm on May 6; however, the manager of the museum said that the museum had to close before 5:40 pm that day because they had a very important activity. Therefore, we went back home and went to the museum again on May 8, 2008. The Royal Ontario Museum is one of the world’s great museums and the fifth largest museum in North America, and it contains more than six million items. The Royal Ontario Museum totally has five floors that include two major kinds of galleries, which are the Natural History galleries and the World Culture galleries.
The Natural History gallery includes three galleries, which are the Gallery of Birds, the Gallery of Insects, and the Gallery of Mammals, and all of these galleries are on the second floor of the museum. I think the most interesting gallery of the Natural History galleries is the mammal’s gallery, which has many models of mammals, such as tiger, wolf, lion, etc. (but I didn’t take any pictures there because my camera didn’t have enough electricity.)
However, Johnson and Jason liked the bird’s gallery because there were many fossils and models of different kinds of dinosaurs that Johnson and Jason are really interested in. The gallery of birds displays many specimens of different kinds of birds, as you can see from the picture.
The gallery of insects contains both live and dead insects, such as toads and cockroaches.
The World Culture galleries include the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Canadian, Indian, and Egyptian galleries. The Chinese, Japanese, and Korean galleries are located on the first floor. I think the Chinese gallery is the most interesting one because it has many ancient Chinese sculptures, models of Chinese famous buildings, and some other Chinese cultural relics that I have never seen before.
The Canadian, Indian, and Egyptian galleries are on the third floor of the museum. The Canadian gallery contains many examples of early 19th and 20th century artifacts, which are from the indigenous cultures of the Plains, Eastern Woodlands, Northwest Coast, and Arctic regions. This gallery also has some famous artworks and paintings (as you can see from the picture).
The Egyptian galley contains a wide range of artifacts, which are agricultural implements, jewelry, cosmetics, and more. There are also a number of mummy cases, including the gilded and painted coffin of Djedmaatesankh, who was a famous female musician in Egypt, and the mummy of Antjau, who was a wealthy landowner.
We spent almost three and half hours visiting the museum because it is so big and knowledgeable. I think visiting the Royal Ontario Museum was an unforgettable and pleasant experience for me because I could see and learn about many histories and cultures of different countries from the museum.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Architecture of the Imagination
On Wednesday, June 11 we went to the Accolade East Building to see an event made by the AGYU, York University, and a public school in Toronto, at Jane and Finch, called Brookview Middle School. At this event, we found out that there was a big project during the year at the middle school. A professor of drama, Kathy Lundy, and AGYU curators from York like Allyson Adley, teachers from the school, a poet (Michael St. George), an artist (Bruno Billio), a filmmaker (Sarah Sharkey Pearce) and a video editor (Aleesa Cohene) from Toronto helped a group of about 26 grade 8 students write and design and make their own movies. The title of the movie was "Architecture of the Imagination." We asked the drama professor what she did with the students, and she said she helped them learn how to act with their voices.
When we arrived, there was a big reception in the CIBC lobby, on the ground floor of the Building. Accolade East is on the York central common, where the buses come in, but on the opposite side from York Lanes and the York Bookstore. It’s next to the Schulich building. They had a lot of free food: sandwiches, fresh vegetables, water, pop, and coffee, and fresh fruit – but when the grade 8 kids arrived they went straight to the table with the fresh fruit and ate it all in about 10 minutes. At the reception there were the students and teachers, the York and Toronto artists and professors, and also the parents of the students. We noticed immediately that the students and their parents all come from different countries. Some of them looked like they were from Africa, some of them were muslims (a lot of the girls were wearing head coverings), and others were from Vietnam.
We also met there a bunch of students from a different program at YUELI. They were a group of 40 middle school teachers from China, from different cities in Jiangsu province. Their teacher at YUELI is Shira. They came to see the movies, too. We asked them if they would do a program like this at home, and they said, “we hope so.”
At 6:45 the whole crowd went into the Price Family Cinema, a movie theatre they have in Accolade East. It's also on the ground floor, just next to the CIBC lobby. It’s a full-sized movie theatre, with a full-sized screen, and the crowd almost filled it up. There must have been about 400 people there. But before we could see the movies, we had to listen to speeches by a lot of people, including the Dean of Education at York and the Principle of Brookview Middle School (who went to York for her degree). Everyone was proud of the students – especially their parents. Finally, two students gave the last speech, and we saw the movies.
There were eight movies, all of them animated, with students doing the voices. The stories were written by students, and they were about subjects like parents, bullying at school, stereotyping of students, and also pirates and voyages into space. They looked very professional.
It’s amazing, what they can do in Toronto to be really multicultural. Everyone there was different, but they all had pride and they all knew how to be successful. It was certainly something worth celebrating!
When we arrived, there was a big reception in the CIBC lobby, on the ground floor of the Building. Accolade East is on the York central common, where the buses come in, but on the opposite side from York Lanes and the York Bookstore. It’s next to the Schulich building. They had a lot of free food: sandwiches, fresh vegetables, water, pop, and coffee, and fresh fruit – but when the grade 8 kids arrived they went straight to the table with the fresh fruit and ate it all in about 10 minutes. At the reception there were the students and teachers, the York and Toronto artists and professors, and also the parents of the students. We noticed immediately that the students and their parents all come from different countries. Some of them looked like they were from Africa, some of them were muslims (a lot of the girls were wearing head coverings), and others were from Vietnam.
We also met there a bunch of students from a different program at YUELI. They were a group of 40 middle school teachers from China, from different cities in Jiangsu province. Their teacher at YUELI is Shira. They came to see the movies, too. We asked them if they would do a program like this at home, and they said, “we hope so.”
At 6:45 the whole crowd went into the Price Family Cinema, a movie theatre they have in Accolade East. It's also on the ground floor, just next to the CIBC lobby. It’s a full-sized movie theatre, with a full-sized screen, and the crowd almost filled it up. There must have been about 400 people there. But before we could see the movies, we had to listen to speeches by a lot of people, including the Dean of Education at York and the Principle of Brookview Middle School (who went to York for her degree). Everyone was proud of the students – especially their parents. Finally, two students gave the last speech, and we saw the movies.
There were eight movies, all of them animated, with students doing the voices. The stories were written by students, and they were about subjects like parents, bullying at school, stereotyping of students, and also pirates and voyages into space. They looked very professional.
It’s amazing, what they can do in Toronto to be really multicultural. Everyone there was different, but they all had pride and they all knew how to be successful. It was certainly something worth celebrating!
Yuri and Sina
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Speak Your Mind
On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, we went to see an event at the Art Gallery of York University. It was called “Speak Your Mind,” and it was a performance by a group of poets, dub poets, and hip-hop artists, but only with their voices and some drums. When we arrived, we found that they had free food at the front desk – well, a platter of fruit, a platter of fresh vegetables, and a bowl with bottles of water and soft drinks. The performers were all there, talking with each other and eating. They were dressed very cool: one guy had dredlocks; one girl had jeans, very short hair and thick glasses. We didn’t know who they were until later, but they were very friendly.
We talked to Nancy Kamalanathan, who was the organizer of the event, and she told us that she is a high school student, in 11th grade, and that besides organizing this event, she took a course at York for credit as part of the ACE program (Advanced Credit Experience), which she said was supposed to give her an advanced idea “about university life.” Her course was Philosophy 1100, “The Meaning of Life,” and she said it was “difficult, but it makes you think a lot.”
The Art Gallery is empty for the summer, so when we went in, behind the front desk, we saw only a few big empty rooms. The show was in the last room, and they had chairs, a microphone, and a video camera in the back of the room. Lots of people were taking pictures. Jing and Dohee sat in the first row, and Allison Adley, who works at the AGYU, took their picture. I wonder if it will be published!
There were a lot of performers. d’bi young is from Kingston, Jamaica. Nancy Kamalanathan is from Toronto, and she is Tamil. Michael St George is from Kingston, Jamaica: he has the dredlocks, and he told us he is a teacher at Brock University. Adebe D.A. is a York student and also Toronto’s Junior Poet Laureate. Andrew Hewitt is another high school student, but he already has a job as a journalist (a column about environmental fashion) – before he goes to Carlton University in Ottawa to study journalism. He has also founded an anti-bullying organization at his school. Blakka Ellis is from Jamaica. “Motion” is from Toronto, but her parents are from Barbados and Antigua. Mohammed Mohsen is Palestinain and an art students at OCAD. “Truth is” has won the Toronto Poetry Slam competition several times.
It wasn’t easy to understand everything that they were saying. Most of them had strong accents from their places. But it was easy to understand their spirit. They spoke with strong voices, sometimes singing, sometimes like actors on stage, about the things you need to do in life to respect and defend yourself, and about political situations in the world. It was especially interesting to see how much high schools students in Canada can do to be part of their communities outside of school: they get involved and live like grownups while they are still studying!
We talked to Nancy Kamalanathan, who was the organizer of the event, and she told us that she is a high school student, in 11th grade, and that besides organizing this event, she took a course at York for credit as part of the ACE program (Advanced Credit Experience), which she said was supposed to give her an advanced idea “about university life.” Her course was Philosophy 1100, “The Meaning of Life,” and she said it was “difficult, but it makes you think a lot.”
The Art Gallery is empty for the summer, so when we went in, behind the front desk, we saw only a few big empty rooms. The show was in the last room, and they had chairs, a microphone, and a video camera in the back of the room. Lots of people were taking pictures. Jing and Dohee sat in the first row, and Allison Adley, who works at the AGYU, took their picture. I wonder if it will be published!
There were a lot of performers. d’bi young is from Kingston, Jamaica. Nancy Kamalanathan is from Toronto, and she is Tamil. Michael St George is from Kingston, Jamaica: he has the dredlocks, and he told us he is a teacher at Brock University. Adebe D.A. is a York student and also Toronto’s Junior Poet Laureate. Andrew Hewitt is another high school student, but he already has a job as a journalist (a column about environmental fashion) – before he goes to Carlton University in Ottawa to study journalism. He has also founded an anti-bullying organization at his school. Blakka Ellis is from Jamaica. “Motion” is from Toronto, but her parents are from Barbados and Antigua. Mohammed Mohsen is Palestinain and an art students at OCAD. “Truth is” has won the Toronto Poetry Slam competition several times.
It wasn’t easy to understand everything that they were saying. Most of them had strong accents from their places. But it was easy to understand their spirit. They spoke with strong voices, sometimes singing, sometimes like actors on stage, about the things you need to do in life to respect and defend yourself, and about political situations in the world. It was especially interesting to see how much high schools students in Canada can do to be part of their communities outside of school: they get involved and live like grownups while they are still studying!
posted by Dohee and Jing
stuff that we know about
Abaya
Aleph
Ba Wong Dragon, Ma Men Xi, San Jiao
Bai Wu Chang and Hei Wu Chang
Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, Ni Ni
Blini
Bon, Hallowe’en, and el Dia de los Muertos
Bubble Tea
Chahar Shanbe-Suri
Chang'e
Chun jie
“Double happiness”
Eid al-Fitr, "Eid Mubarak!"
Frederick Taylor, Principles of Scientific Management (1911)
Fu (upside down)
Gozira, Gamara, Mosura
Groucho Marx
Guan Yu
Haji Firuz
Hong Bao
Hummus
Isle Royal, Isle Saint Joseph, and Devil's Island
Jane and Finch
Kenting
Kourou
Loon
Mamdouh Shoukri
Masala, mole poblano, wasabi
Matroyshka
Mother, hemp, horse, admonish, “?”
Ni Hao, Kai-lan!
naver and daum
Nowruz
Paddle
Pelmini, empanadas, perogies, ravioli, calzones, pasties, mantou
Qi Lin , Gryffon, Quetzalcoatl
Qin Shi Huang
Riyadh
Sarafan
Soju
Tianchi and Loch Ness
Xiangqi
Xiangsheng
White Day
Zheng He
Aleph
Ba Wong Dragon, Ma Men Xi, San Jiao
Bai Wu Chang and Hei Wu Chang
Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, Ni Ni
Blini
Bon, Hallowe’en, and el Dia de los Muertos
Bubble Tea
Chahar Shanbe-Suri
Chang'e
Chun jie
“Double happiness”
Eid al-Fitr, "Eid Mubarak!"
Frederick Taylor, Principles of Scientific Management (1911)
Fu (upside down)
Gozira, Gamara, Mosura
Groucho Marx
Guan Yu
Haji Firuz
Hong Bao
Hummus
Isle Royal, Isle Saint Joseph, and Devil's Island
Jane and Finch
Kenting
Kourou
Loon
Mamdouh Shoukri
Masala, mole poblano, wasabi
Matroyshka
Mother, hemp, horse, admonish, “?”
Ni Hao, Kai-lan!
naver and daum
Nowruz
Paddle
Pelmini, empanadas, perogies, ravioli, calzones, pasties, mantou
Qi Lin , Gryffon, Quetzalcoatl
Qin Shi Huang
Riyadh
Sarafan
Soju
Tianchi and Loch Ness
Xiangqi
Xiangsheng
White Day
Zheng He
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