A nice conversation of a scorching day

11 August, 2014

Today’s weather is so stifling, I had a good day, though. 3pm, after a long struggle, I finally made up my mind to go to the center just to receive the mock test’s results; by the way, it’s not too bad but frankly speaking, I don’t believe it. On my way home, I decided to stop for a while, walking around Hoan Kiem Lake for the purpose of getting some foreigner to talk with. After some  time, I saw a guy sitting alone on a bench and I, a timid girl, took all courage to start the conversation. Fortunately, he is a friendly person and we quickly got a little bit mutual undersstanding. He is a French, at the age of 30, exactly 10 years older than me but still looks so young and handsome as well. We talked excitingly about miscellaneous things, say, school, tourist attractions in Vietnam,  marriage and especially a lot on politics. Well, he seems to be so in favor of  capitalism and at the same time, criticized communism for poverty and corruption. He took interesting examples of the North Korea, the country isolating itself from the rest of the world and Mao Zedong with the wrong economic policies causing thousands of deaths  from starvation to prove the stupidty of communism. Then he astonished me by asking that whether Vietnam followed capitalism. It turns out that plenty of Europeans think of  communism as a society in which peasants are forced into agricultural co-operatives, working together and then distributing products equally regarless of contribution. Well, it’s true whereas this is the story of the past. This guy felt kind of stunned when I said that Vietnam’s political regime has remained Socialism under the Communist Party as he saw things here far different from his imagination of a communist society and considered Vienam much more like capitalistic other than socialistic. This is because he noticed private businesses are prevalent and citizens can easily have access to the Internet unlike the case of the North Korea where people can only see state TV channels and be prevented from using the Internet. Actually, there were hardly disputes between us for I’m in favor of  neiher of them and just curious about foreigners’ pesppectives of my country. Eventualy, we guessed that perhaps a combination of both would be better. Oooops, shame on me but I forgot to ask his name…. 

Tuesday, 5 August
Today’s so amazing for me as I had some subsequent accidental meetings on my way home. First, I met a classmate in the primary school who I’ve not talked for ages. He’s actually changed so much from a chubby little boy to a slender, good-looking and mature sophomore that I nearly didn’t recognize him. We gossiped away merrily about eveyday businesses and then he intended to treat me with his university’s specialty called “ Bach Khoa self-catering sweet soup” but ironically, the food stall had not been opened by the time we got there. We had no other choice than waiting for another bus to get Long Bien terminal and so surprisingly, I came across a high school girl friend who would be in the same university as me now if she had not changed her mind in the last minute. She’s still cute and sweet like before and we shot the breeze and reminisced old memories happily while standing in a crowded and noisy bus. After that, whilst getting off the bus, I stumbled into a secondary friend who possesses two lovely “bunny teeth” , used to be a close fellow of mine and is gonna be a primary teacher down the road. From this conversation, I’m “updated” with information about other mates. It seems that most of them are falling in love, I find them so admirable and well, to tell the truth, I feel a lttle bit jealous. Finally, I saw an old buddy taking her cute little nephew to the shop to have a new haircut. After some jokes, we seperated in peals of laughters. Well, today properly should be named “the day of remiscences”. A song for these feelings: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6SznSfibbQ

IELTS: Describe a school event you enjoyed
Well, I need to kick off with the point that I used to attend plenty of school activities, however the one I find most memorable is the welcome party of my English club when I was an eighth grader. That occasion for me, a new recruit (a new comer/member) was so speacial and meant a lot as I could have a chance to meet and talk with other members so I would feel more familiar and comfortable in subsequent meetings. People were so friendly, open and humourous so I could chat chit and shoot the breeze freely (gossip over) over things in school and therefore I was able to get better mutual understanding. As well as that, the decorations of the party were so great and elaborate. There was a long banner saying the slogan of our club "Sharing to get more" and colorful balloons, ribbons and confetti. Another thing I should mention is that the ambience there was so cozy, feel like a family and also exicting and electric. People sang, danced in round with a big cake in the middle. I was particularly fond of drinks, fruits and cakes, all of which were so tasty. We also played some games, say, the King and the Queen, Picture Guessing and so on. Another thing I should not to forget is that on this occasion, I could meet and talk with the president of the club, a tall, bright guy who is so proficient at English and has a great sense of humor. To be honest, it was enchanting to meet him that day.
That's all I can say about my event.

28 July 2014

Today is quite good, generally speaking. I got up from my bed in the early morning (actually 6am, though). Then, after some monotonous household chores, I had my breakfast with some rice, soup and fish. As a rule, I drank a cup of coffee to feel fresh and ready for study. I tried many times before finishing 2 official recordings to send to my teacher by email. Well, to tell the truth, I feel like there was a different person other than me speaking from the media player; it seems much like a man's voice.*feel ashamed*. After that, not until 9am that I submitted my recordings to the teacher and I felt so guity of my laziness as in fact, I had 2 days to do homework but I completely ignored it and watched a Chinese film instead. :((. I don't know why but I'm always tempted by good-for-nothing movies, kind of like about prince and princess, Cinderella. I feel myself like a day dreamer and I hate myself in this way so much, but however I try to stay away from temptations, I every now and then, find myself buried with such films. Once again, I promise to be more hard-working and try my best not to be distracted from my work. Well, coming back to today's stuff, after enjoying my lunch, I cycled to the bus stop as a rule. Ironically, neither the bus stop nor the parking lot has been operated today. As a consequence, I had to leave my bicycle into my uncle's house and then walked for almost 15 minutes to get the new bus stop. :(. For this reason, it was no suprise that I was 20 minutes late for the class. Today's lesson was about describing flows, diagrams and something else I don't remember right now. :v. Oh my goodness, it's so complicated but kind of interesting as I found out some infrequently used words for a non-native speaker like me, let's say, moth (sau tam, sau buom), cocoon (ken), mulberry leaves (la tam), silkworm (con tam), feces (to) etc. After class, I made up my mind to hang around the Hoan Kiem Lake with the purpose of catching some foreigners to talk with. Well, I had a chance to meet and shoot the breeze with two German girls who were twins. They're so lovely, open and have a sense of humor so the conversation went quite smoothly and merrily. They said that they're so keen on "Pho" that they eat this dish everyday and I said I'm also addicted to it as well. :v. Another thing I should not forget is that either of them smoke. :v. To tell the truth, I don't like people who smoke; however today I don't know why I felt this ok. I guess part of the reason is that they're so cute.:)). Well, today I also met a girl at my age named Thao, a sophomore from a private university, actually not very prestigious. We got acquainted quite quickly and got on with each other very well. I guess the reason has something to do with the fact that we're both passionate about English. To be frank, she is not as good as me but I still felt so cheerful because I can find out someone with the same passion. This reminds me of a guy who is my old classmate, called Khai. He's fond of English, too. Nevertheless, he doesn't seem to want to practice with me. It's just my feeling. Is he shy? Oh my goodness!! :)). By the way, tonight, I texted him that he'll probably remain a "BACHELOR" or stated differently, he'll on the shelf all his life if he's still overconfident that he's attractive. :v. Well, that's enough for today, my dear diary. :)

IELTS: Describe an area you like

Topic 5: DESCRIBE A COUNTRYSIDE AREA YOU LIKE

Well, I’m living in the suburbs and I’m so keen on all what belong here. However, I could start off by saying that of all rural sights I’ve ever known, the field is perhaps the one I like best. I suppose the reason has something to do with the fact that it is a typical image of any countryside in Vietnam. The field looks so immense, estimating up to hundreds of hectares. Villagers work in the field all the year, they rotate various crops say, rice, flowers, potatoes, vegetables and so on. For this reason, I can have chance to contemplate the field in different clothes. For instance, in spring, the field looks like a huge carpet with a range of colors of flowers. In summer, it is embroidered with golden rice, extending to the horizon. Another point I should add is that there is a complex irrigation system with a network of canals which provides water into plots of land. It can be said that this construction is one of the determining factors of bumper crops. For me, in particular, the field has become a part of me as sweet childhood memories when I sneaked out to the field with my friends to fly kites, catch crickets, pick flowers.

IELTS: Describe your hometown

Topic 4: DESCRIBE YOUR HOMETOWN

Well, I could start off by saying that my hometown, Hanoi, is renowned for its cuisine. It has a wide range of specialties say, Pho, spring roll, sweet soup and so on. Besides, it is well-known for a lot of tourist attractions such as Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, Restored Sword Lake, West Lake, Van Phuc Silk Village, The Old Quarter, The Huc Bridge, Temple of Literature, Bat Trang Pottery Village ect. Another feature I should add is that Hanoi is the centre of economics, politics, diplomacy and culture as well. For this reason, many important places are located here, for instance, headquarters of various countries, the National Convention Centre, Opera House, Hanoi Cathedral and so forth. Another point worth mentioning is that the locals are kind of friendly, hospitable and helpful. If you get lost here, people are always ready to help. Nevertheless, something else I need to comment on is that the traffic here is totally chaotic. Citizens are not very traffic-conscious (or the traffic consciousness of people here is not very high) and vehicles on the roads are not in any order. As a matter of fact, road accident is one of the primary causes of death (mortality) in my country. To make matters worse, the ever increasing use of cars and motorbikes results in serious air pollution. The situation is so bad that almost every citizen must wear a face mask when they need to go out. As well as that, there still exist many social evils like gambling, prostitution, drug use, motor racing which affect residents adversely.

Actually, I’m living on the outskirts of town (or in the suburbs or in the suburban area), which is located in the north of Hanoi, approximately 30 km away from the center. Generally speaking, it is typical of Vietnam countryside with banyan tree, bamboo, community house, Red river, lotus pond, pagoda, rice field and so on. Most of the locals are genuine farmers, working in the field all the year. Nevertheless, my hometown has changed dramatically from the past. The most prominent distinction is that motorbikes now dominate the roads instead of bicycles like before. Another feature I should mention is that different from low, small houses in the past, there are a large number of high buildings, villas as well as factories at present. In regard to residents, in recent times, they tend to do a wide range of jobs say, workers, merchants, craftsmen…other than just farming. And I should not forget to mention the fact that villagers nowadays are much more education-conscious than previous generations. Parents pay close attention to the study of their children at very early stage of life. To be more precise, they send their little kids to English centers to get early preparation for studying abroad.

IELTS: Describe your favourite cartoon character

Topic 3: DESCRIBE YOUR FAVORITE CARTOON CHARACTER

Well, to be frank, I’m a huge fan of cartoons in spite of the fact that I’m no longer a kid and of all characters I’ve ever seen, Tom, which is the name of a male cat in a cartoon series named “Tom and Jerry” is the one I like best. I could start off by saying that Tom is perhaps the most pitiful cat ever existed because he always ends up with ironic situations say being burnt alive, being bullied by a dog, breaking up with the girl he’s interested in and so on. All of these unhappy endings are caused by a cunning mouse called Jerry, who always plays tricks on Tom. Tom is all the time the loser because of his greed and ignorance. Well, while most children seem to detest the cat and be in favor of the mouse, I, however, feel so sympathetic for Tom. In my view, Tom is merely a cat and a cat has the instinct to chase mice; therefore, we can’t blame him for that. And something else I need to comment on is that sometimes Tom is fairly pretty lovely and even kind-hearted when he voluntarily takes care of an abandoned duck instead of eats it up. This really touched me deep inside. All in all, cat Tom is a part of my childhood, made me laugh so much and in some sense, he is my close friend. That’s all I can say about my cool cartoon character.