Applause for changes only when they do not change us 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' is a highly-rated movie, and it deserves its credit. The story talks about a lawbreaker, McMurphy, who is moved to a mental institution. Although not actually mentally ill, he hopes to escape working in a labour camp. Long story short, he inspires and leads other patients to break the institution's rules and rebel the strict Nurse Ratched's order. It came as no surprise that most of the movie commenters praised McMurphy's actions, describing him as a man with a free will, and a symbol of anti-bureaucracy. It is true that his carefree and uninhibited characteristics are charming, which help his patient friends overcoming the obstacles in their minds. He is undoubtedly the hero in that building, but also he can only be a hero within that building. When McMurphy breaches the rules of the institution, we cheer and admire him. But when he violates the laws of society, we spit and despise him. Fragmenting hospital's windows is an unforgettable win. Breaking ours is an unforgivable sin. Our society has no room for a man that perpetually hankers after freedom. We pay our tributes to changemakers only when they are far away from us -- such as when they are in a movie. - Rephrase any sentence if you think they are not natural/ native enough. Cheers! - I wonder do I need to add 'to' before 'rebel the strict Nurse Ratched's order' in the first paragraph?

New Year Eve I watched a television programme, in which a pupil asks the passers-by 'what is life'. Their answers are different, yet their first reaction hearing the question unanimous: What a difficult question! Of all the questions on earth, it is such a bizarre phenomenon that people do not spend some time contemplating the purpose of life. Unsurprisingly, I am one of the unquestioning people. With a two-minute deep thought, I regard that life is bitter. Although we seem to have the rights to make choices, it is not always easy to act following our own wills. We are constrained by our environment and, just like many answers in the programme go, 'you rarely get what you want'. That said, I believe that the scarce happiness is worth the pursuit. We do not need to question the meaning of existing but most of us carry on living. Perhaps deep in our mind, we have a secret faith that happiness is always in a reachable distance, and that we can grab it if we work hard enough. 2016 has finally come to the end. Although I expect 2017 to be a sweat-drowning year to me, the hope of happiness will help me overcome all the bumps in the road.

The Brits Before I came to England for studying, the British people left me with an impression of polite, urbane, yet a bit of hypocritical people. Now I've been studying here for two years, and with my daily observations and the media content I consumed, I found some intriguing differences. The Brits are, at least in where I live, generally very polite. Unlike Hong Kong, where people would never thank bus drivers for their service, saying 'cheers' before you get off seems to be a basic courtesy, or a sort of ritual. When someone bumps into them, the Brits' knee-jerk reaction is to say sorry, even obviously you have nothing to be sorry for. This might sound surreal, but what is even more so is that this is contagious. If you spend two weeks here, the magic word pops out of your mouth before you know it. They might be civilised when they are sober, but not too polite after a couple pints of lager and bitter, or when you are not supporting their favourite football team. People having no interest in football or clubbing like me could have a big trouble building up a strong bond with the British men. I quite like the Brits because they always express their opinion in a subtle way (or perhaps it's just how they speak when you're not their acquaintances). This is my hope that I'll one day be able to translate everything in my mind to English smoothly, and will be able to discuss issues with them in depth. (It'd be great if you can let me know when the sentences don't look natural/native enough, even if it might be grammatically correct. Thank you!)

Boxing day sales To me, Boxing day means a week of sales. Tomorrow I'm going to London, and will probably spend my whole day shopping in Oxford Street or Harrods. Call me a slave of capitalism if you wish, but I'll own my Dr. Martens in half price. I just watched a Japanese comedian TV programme, which was hilarious but, at the same time, inspiring. The crew set up a fake free food sampling booth, displaying two types of rice. One expensive; another one three times cheaper. However, the fact was that they were the same cheap type of rice. In the end, ten out of fourteen's people who tried both rice said that the expensive one had a far nicer taste. This showed how easy people could be led, or fooled. We all seem to be level-headed people who are living in an era that we are free from controls; that we can make choices rationally without any form of manipulation -- are we really? Or in fact, with capitalists' summon, we've already unconsciously let loose of our desire to shop, buy, and consume? I sound like I've thought it through, but I'm still determined to go for that pair of half-priced Dr. Martens behind the display window. How ironic!