An Acupuncture Experience! I had got better over the weekend since the Friday 'sneezing tragedy'. However, I was still suffering a pinch pain around my lower back and any movement could accidently stretch the injured part and made me go ‘ouch!’ Yesterday I went to the nearest Chinese medicine clinic and had a wonderful acupuncture treatment. The doctor let me lie face down on the bed and placed a few needles on some certain points of my back. I don't remember how many needles he applied on me because he was so skillful and fast that I didn't feel much when needles inserted. After all needles have been placed, he connected the needles to an electrical device via small cables. The device can provide a pulsating electrical current to the needles to stimulate the acupuncture points. The doctor also turned on an infrared heat lamp above me to heat my back. After all of these setup, he left the treatment room and let me enjoy the treatment alone for half hour. Once the time's up, a nurse came in with a trolley of ball-shaped glass cups. I didn't expect that there would be a fire cupping service included as well. Cool! She removed my acupuncture needles and applied eight cups on the stiff muscles. I couldn't see how she did it, but she did very well - the cups sealed firmly but not extremely painful. She is also able to move a cup across the skin without air leak. Now the eight red round cupping marks still remain on my back. This was a very impressive experience.

Anyone can recommend some popular forum websites in US, UK or Australia? I'm looking for some interesting forum sites in English speaking countries which not for English learners studying the language, but for local people discussing news, fashion, gossip, hobbies and their daily life issues. I think this could be a good way to see how people use English in really life. Any idea?A bit more explanation: Sometimes I go to IMDB to read other people's reviews and discussions on the movies I saw, and I can always learn some new words and clever sentences there. I also like reading posts on an Australian internet and technology discussion forum site to find solutions of IT problems, and I learned some technical terms in English as well. Well, I guess it would be more useful if I could be addictive to a English forum rather than spending a couple of hours a day on reading Chinese forums (I'm a big web addict anyway -_-|||)

what's the difference between 'deferral' and 'deferment'? I'm writting to the university to defer my graduation to 2011 ceremony. I'm just wondering which word is more proper? Thanks~~

Hurt My Back While Sneezing -_-b I strained my back yesterday, oddly enough while sneezing really hard. I might sound silly but I am now having a really hard time - can't stand up straight, bend down, twist, …even basically moving. :( Fortunately I can sit and type so I tried to search online for solution. I learned a lot on back pain. I also found that people can get their back hurt so easy and in so many dramatic ways! Look this - "You might have slipped a disk in your back. My sister slipped a disk while pooping too hard". Lol~ It has been progressively getting better throughout the day. This evening, I'll apply a plaster my flatmate bought from a Chinese shop. I wish I can go to see my GP next week, if I would be able to walk that far. Wait, if I can walk well, do I still need to see her? What a paradox...