Good Quote

I just want to remind myself one good ending quote from a recent movie i saw. It goes: "The highest ultimate achievement for any human being is to love God, yourself, and others." It inspires me in that learning how to love oneself is, not more important, but the first step before learning how to love other. Treating yourself well let you know how to treat others well and how other feel about your actions. Loving is really life-long lesson that requires constant practice.

Surviving Hardship

I just watch the movie "Juno" tonight. It's about a 16 year-old teenage girl going through the full cycle of pregnancy. In the midst of this chaos, she was able to grow up and learn what is in life. There was one line the girl says to her dad that really struck me. She jokingly comments: "i was handling something that was way beyond my maturity level".

It's not easy to make this kind of movie, and it's certainly not any easier to live as a pregnant teenage. What was important was to find focus in precious things in life. It would be very easy to say "i give up", lose faith and throw away everything. The song "Anyone Else But You" was very touching (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOe9y82qq0s&feature=related).

"....I don't see what anyone can see .......in anyone else .......but you......"

The lyric is a little hard to understand, but very touched.

Study of Tongues

How many Chinese Words are there?

Well, a common chinese dictionary has somewhere around 13,500 words. The Qing Dynasty made a comprehensive collection of 46,500. A elementary schooler knows an average of 1,500 to 2,000 (depends how often that kid hits the books). A more educated person knows about 6,000 words. English has over 6 M words. Very impressive.

How many languages are there?

By 1911, there were 1,000 known. Since then, the number has been raising. By 1997, the Bible were translated in 2,197 diff. languages. http://www.ethnologue.com (an authoritative source) gathered 7,299.

What is a language made of?

At the core, it is made up of symbols. These symbols are linked together by grammar, a structural relationship. Symbols are mapped to meaning and sound arbitrarily. They are merely agreed upon.

Where did language come from, and why do we need it?

Language is often coupled tightly with reason. And reason has been argued as part of the human nature (T. Hobbes & J. Locke).

Language is a tool in the communication between two autonomous beings. It requires one's delibrate expression of intent and the other's understanding. Thoughtless words cannot bring out a person's true intention, while careless listening misinterprets what is said. Thus, even well-expressed words may not be well-received. There are many places the communication channel can be broken, or compromised by noise. Learning and using language is a diligent task for us to constantly observe and control.

How and When is language used?

To teach, encourage, .....

In a classroom, signal instructions, .... a hard question to answer thoroughly.


Something cool to know:

Linguistics divides into grammarical and semantic study. Grammarical study furthers branches to morphology (formation and composition of words), syntax (rules that determine how words combine), and phonology (sound). Applied linguistics attempts to put linguistic theories into practice through areas like translation, stylistics, literary criticism and theory, discourse analysis, speech therapy, speech pathology and foreign language teaching.

There is the notion of dead and modern (living) language.

Sociolinguistics studies how the interaction of social groups fuse their languages. The concept of language continuum is used to described the merging or undefinable boundaries between a certain languages or dialects.

A woman uses about 20,000 words per day while a man uses about 7,000 (this has been found a problematic result). The latest findings show men and women spent about the same amount of words per day.

BMW World, Munich (Oct 4)

Here we are, outside of the BMW World building. I figured that it's designed to look like the cylinders in the a car engine. Very creative i have to say. Anyhow, that's only the admin building. I will actually go in to the exhibition building, which is the one next to it (lower right). In case you didn't know, the sky-view look downward would show you a giant BMW logo on the ceiling of this building.

Looks like crazy graffiti on a expensive car, doesn't it? You can get this car for only 79.99 Euros + tax. It's only a toy model that is size of your palm. I thought it looks good, so i took a picture to show you (plus the fact that i can't afford to buy it). Don't worry, I'll show you some real cars next.

What do you know! BMW headquarter is in Munich, Germany. Benz headquarter is just another city nearby. This means i get to see many many cars. Cars-Cars-Cars~~ BMW really try to make the visit fun. There were many interactive exhibitions including new technologies like hydrogen combustion, very ancient and never-released conceptual BMW models, history of car making and production process. By the end of the day, it was a bit overwhelming. Let's just say a little too much car for me in one day.

Any Bonds fan here? I watched almost every Bonds movie up til the 80s. I guess i count at least half of one.

Very first BMW model ever produced. It's in 1933, right between the world wars. 

Can you believe this guy generate up to 930 HP?

Here's a exhaustive list of all BMV released models, ranking by year. A nice overall view of the company production.

Of course, Europe is known for tiny cars. Even though i am not so fond of the "smallness" in car design, i photoed this one for its delicate design. Compact, one-door. Trunk big enough to fit one person's baggage. Perfect road companion for any loners, or people who just need their personal space. Insurance should also be not a big problem. I am sure this car always costs more expensive to fix than to buy new. (Yes, i own a Beetle, i know). Anyway, it's a nice car to have in a exhibition hall.

Good Times in Munich

Me drinking beer with friends at the PUMA kickoff meeting. Not PUMA the sportswear brand~ It's a new research doctorial program at TUM, Technical University of Munich. I'll show more photos of it. TUM is the school that invited and sponsored me for this visit. Thanks Professor Knoll and TUM=). We had a hiking trip as a extracurricular activity. We stopped by for a beer at almost the top of the mountain. Good place for a drink=). It's very enjoyable, and i got a chance to experience a European lifestyle.

This is TUM. Can you believe this? The glass ceiling and wall make it look more like shopping center or exhibition hall than a school. Wait til i show you the inside.

The inside is even more unbelievable. TUM has two giant slides from the third floor. You can use matresses to slide down. Very convenient for those last-minute-rush-to-class or have-no-patient-for-elevator students. It's an attraction for students to come study at TUM, especially for those risk lover. At the end of the slide, there is a board that keeps track of the name of people and their fastest sliding times. I wonder what admin were thinking when they approve this. This is where i feel school is most successful: letting people explore their freedom with the support of the authority. In conclusion, TUM really tries to make schooling fun for students, literally. 

This is a government building in the city center. I saw similar architecture at Budapest. It's actually more rare to find this kind of medieval buildings in Germany. Most of the city were ruined by the world wars.