Chinese New Year's Day

Chinese New Year's Day is one of the important days for Chinese. Celebrated on the first day of the first month in Chinese's calendar, it is a time for Chinese to show their feeling of gratitude to God. Usually, on the Chinese New Year's Day, Chinese gather with their families and they eat delicious meals together. In Chinese's tradition, the younger people at home must great the older ones (such as parents and other older relatives) by lumping their hands(the left covers the right hand) and saying "Gong Xi Fa Chai" or "Happy New Year". Then, the older ones will say "Gong Xi Fa Chai", too and give the special red envelopes which is filled with money (the Chinese usually call it "Angpau") to the younger people. After that, they visit their neighbors one by one to solidify the ties of friendship among them. They also invite people from different religions to come to their houses in order to solidify the ties of friendship in the society where they live. The atmosphere is very crowded, especially with the presence of Barongsai (A superhero creature in Chines History whose the body is dog's but the head is lion's). Barongsai usually visits the Chinese's houses one by one and you know what? The Chinese are happy for that. For them, it is a gift and their houses will be blessed for that year. That's why the Chinese always wait for that moment. They give the Barongsai "Angpau" to show their gratitude and the Barongsai will bow it's body to respect the owner of the house.
Because Chinese New Year's Day is an important day for Chinese, there's no doubt that they must do the preparations for it. Well, to welcome that Big Day, Chinese usually clean and repaint their houses every year. These are as symbols that they are ready to live in a new year with clean and new heart, new hope and expectation for a better life in a new year. About several days before the Big Day, they made a traditional cake named "Kue Keranjang(Basket Cake)". The cakes are made from glutinous rice powder, palm-sugar and sugar. So, the cakes are sweet in taste.
However, the most important thing moment is not the Chinese New Year's itself, but a day before it. A day before Chinese New Year's Day, Chinese always do the homage to God. They present some meals, such as meats, rice, cakes, fruits, and drinks. This to show their feeling of gratitude to God for what they have received for a year. Actually, this tradition is derived from the habit of farmers in China. After the harvest, they presented some meals as their presences to God. And they prayed and hoped for better harvest in the following years. And at night, they fired the fireworks. A day after they pray, they celebrated the harvest. They held parties and had fun. They visited and congratulated each other for the result of the harvest. They ate meals and drank the drinks. The point is, they enjoyed the day. The atmosphere was very crowded.
Once, the leader of Chinese Dynasty saw the farmers' habit. So, one day, he ascertained the harvest praying day as the end of the year and the party day as the beginning of a new year.Well, this is the history of the Chinese New Year's Day and it's celebration.
And, on January 26th,2008, Chinese will celebrate Chinese New Year's Day. Em, this year is the first time for me to celebrate this Big Day far from my home. So, I hope that the atmosphere will be as merry as i've experienced at home. I hope I can have fun and enjoy it. And I hope God always gives a better life and other best things to my family.

A Leading and Outstanding University

Set in the Northen Bandung, Indonesia University of Education (UPI) is one of the biggest universities in Indonesia. This leading and outstanding university is well-known with the quality and ability of it's graduates. So, no wonder if this famous university has the students from all over Indonesia and even from other countries.
Indonesia University of Education has a main campus and 6 regional campuses. The main campus is located on 229th Dr. Setiabudi Street, Bandung. It is 615.766 metre square (about 61 ha) in large and now is being enlarged to the western. The regional campuses are located in cibiru, tasikmalaya, Sumedang, Purwakarta, and serang. The main campus has 6 faculties. They are The Faculty of Education(FIP), The Faculty of Social Study(FPIPs), The Faculty of Math and Science(FPMIPA), The Faculty of Language and Art(FPBS), The Faculty of Technology and Vocational Study(FPTK), and The Faculty of Medical and Physical Education(FPOK).
UPI has many facilities, such as a library, a Language hall, Science and language laboratories, sport fields, a big mosque(ITC), UPInet, and so on. And to support the learnign process, UPI also has some luxurious, modern, and representative buildings complete with the facilities.
Besides that, to imrove the ability and talent of the students, UPI has Student Activity Units(UKM). Those Student Activity Units have their own fields. Some of them have good achievements in intramural, regional, and even in national levels. With the religious and educational campus' life, UPI has an aim to be a leader university in Indonesia.
Indonesia University of education has many interesting things to offer to you. So, if you seriously study in UPI, you will never regret to join UPI.

My Coffee Milk Feelings Room

Hello,guys!!! Here we meet again on my second writing! Well, as I wrote on my previous writing that I don't come from Bandung but I come from bangka Island. So, I don't live in my parent's house for a while, but I rent an apartment. My apartment is a rectangular room. It is 3 times 2,7 metres in size. So, it is a small room for me. And like a room usually, my apartment has 4 sides of wall, the front, the left, the right, and the back wall. The colour of the walls are same, brigth yellow. My room also has a small terrace where I usully take my sandals and shoes off.
Now, let's get into my apartment! There is a door and a window at the front wall of my apartment. The colour of the door is brown and so is the window's. The window has 2 layers of curtain. The first layer is white and the second one is brown.Besides that, there is a dispenser, a plate-shelf complete with the plates, glasses, and other dinning equipments, a multifunction table, a calendar and my special hat on the front wall.
On the right side, there is a plastic cupboard, 2 book-shelfs, 2 pails complete with the covers, a mirror, 2 brooms, a pink plastic dump site and other small stuffs. And there are my cosmetics and a small mirror on the plastic cupboard.
On the left wall, there is a clothes-peg where I usually hang my towels and clothes.
Last, on the back wall of my apartment, there are some pictures of my favourite actors. So, if I get bored, I can see them to make me happy again.
Besides that, my apartment also has other daily equipments, such as a bed, 2 pillows, some colorful carpets (green, pink, blue, grey and red)and other small stuffs.
Well, I put my stuffs on those locations because I think those locations are the right positions for them. But honestly, I have no choice about it because as I've told you before that my apartment is small. So, I must use every centimetres of my apartment well. As the old saying says, "The right man on the right position", but for me, it's gonna be," The right stuff on the right position"
Honestly, I don't really like this room. There are some reasons for that. First, because of the size of the apartment. It is not as big as my bedroom at home. The second reason is because of the location. There is a parking area for motorcycle in front of my apartment. And when the owners of the motorcycles warm up theirs in the morning, it is very noisy! You know, it really bothers me!!!
And the last one is because of what the former hirer told me. She told me that in the rainy season, the room wouyld be very cold and the floor and the walls would be moist. And now, i've seen that she was right. Ough, what a niusance!!!
You know? Sometimes I think it would be better for me to find a new apartment. But, then I realize that I must be patient, because I've rented this apartment for a year. Untill now, I've stayed for 3 months here. And, for the next 9 months, this apartment is gonna be the place where I do most my activities. I think 9 months is not a long time. So, what I must do is just to be patient.

My Profile

Hello!!!!!!!! My name's Tia Martiana. I'm 18 years old. I was born in Koba, on March 28, 1990. Now I live in Bandung. I'm a college student of Indonesia University of Education. I study English literature. I love traveling to new places. Besides, I like listening to the music and watching cartoons.
Well, I come from a small family. We consist of four persons, me, my dad, my mom, and my brother. My mom is a housewife. My dad is contract labor. My brother is a student of 1 Koba Senior High School. He is on grade first now. I live in a very happy family. I love my family so much.
I'm very interested in learning English. I have some nice experiences about English. When I was on grade second of Junior High School, I took a part in a speech contest in my province. The winner of the contest would represent my province in national level. I was the runner-up. I was a little bit disappointed because I was defeated only by a point. Then, on grade second of Senior High School, I took a part in English Debating Contest in province level. I was the fourth. Again! I was fail to compete in national level. Although I never competed in national level, English has given me some nicest experiences I ever had. I thank God for that.