Maybe I talked too long about "The Peach Blossom Spring". Later, I dreamt that I had become lost and at the end of a village discovered a nunnery. We search but in vain. Now at midlife and with long experience in the world, I am especially fond of the great poet Tao Yuanming. Like him, we live in a difficult environment characterized by nepotism and corrupt politics. Rulers surround themselves with flatterers, and habitually punish whomever they consider to be suspicious. Long did he feel as if confined by the bars of a cage. Then, one day, he abandoned captivity to come back home. "Life is not all about goals or achievements. It’s about living, right here in this moment, exactly where you are." Watching “Happy Life of Yang Guang”, buying left over vegetables with my parents or having Tofu brains at breakfast stands along the streets in the morning, they do matter.

Thank you, Jessalyn! Sorry, my internet was not working today, so I couldn’t shadow the lesson. Hope you have a nice week!

I had a lot of homework. I’ll do my best.

Ethiopia is a country located in the horn of Africa. It with more than 120 million peoples with different ethnic groups that have more than 80 ethnic languages. The official language is Amharic. Amharic is a language that has its own alphabetical writing system.

Sorry, I just realized that I replied your message at a wrong place. It was May 29. Prior to this, she skipped some lessons, sometimes she told me, sometimes she didn’t.

It is commonly believed that Japan is a homogeneous country. I somewhat agree that the cultural diversity level is low in Japan, in terms of language, geography and way of manner of thinking. First, Japanese is the only language spoken on a daily basis. Even unskilled jobs require basic Japanese skills which is quite a high standard for non-native people. Second, Japan is an island country. Divided by the seas from other countries, interacions with other ethnic groups have been rather limited historically. In addition, people in Japan have traditionally grown and accepted the sense of distinction between outside and inside. For example, foreigner is literally called "outsider" in Japanese. Third, people in Japan share the value system, enbodied by harmony. One of the oldest laws in Japan stipulated the respect for harmony in the seventh century. To this day, people have been respecting others and caring about how they are seen by others, which leads to the deciplined, polite community. However, there are several facts that should not be overlooked. Minorities, such as Chinese, Korean, Brazilian and Ainu, do exist. Moreover, shrinking working population is inviting more immigrants to Japan. Focusing on the language, Japanese is made of three types of letters, hiragana, kanji and katakana, which are, roughly speaking, used to describe something deriving from Japanese, Chinese and Western languages, respectively. In other words, Japanese is a classic example of cultural assimilation in Japan. In conclusion, while it has several aspects to be considered diverse, Japan deserves being viewed as a homogeneous society.

It's a beautiful day today. Dad wasn't feeling his best after staying up late and drinking like a fish last night. This meant some unexpected gaming time for me before he woke up. Math practice would have to wait. Lunch was canned soup. Mushroom ones are always a win, but the pumpkin flavor isn't really my thing. Unfortunately, after lunch, Dad still wasn't in the right shape to do our reading session together. Hopefully he feels better soon and can join me tomorrow.

Sorry, Sara, she doesn’t have time to study anymore. Please can we find a new learner? Thank you!