★British Newspapers★

If you were to find yourself sitting on a London tube train on a Monday morning,

you would be surrounded by people reading newspapers and you could tell a great deal about your fellow passengers just by the sort of newspaper he or she was reading.

There are 10 different daily national papers, that is, newspapers which are available throughout the country and cover issues of national importance.

The Sun (Front Page) is a tabloid paper.

The Sun (Back Page)

I usually choos entertainment section of news paper to read and I found the most attractive story of these days is Mia Wasikowska the ideal 'Alice' on 'The Sun'.

It is a film names Alice in Wonderland which directed by my favorite director Tim Burton.

It talks about Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure,

where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny - to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.

I would like to choose The Sun to read,

it is a daily tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland with the second highest circulation of any daily English-language newspaper in the world and the biggest circulation within the UK.

It relies heavily on stories and occasionally scandals involving celebrities and the entertainment industry,

contained in its general news pages as well as in sections such as pop music stories, gossip, television stories, concentrating on soaps and reality TV.

★Differences and similarities between British and Chinese education system★

British schools every year have final exams.
The scores of each student and how much the average marks is higher than last year should be posting.
In the UK, expressly provided for the amount of homework for each grade.
Grade 1 have to stay for half an hour of homework a day, gradually increasing the amount of higher grade.
And the amount of high school is similar with ours.

In Chinese class, teachers prelect more than students to think themselves,

and there also much more teaching reference books, more memorisation works,

but the relatively interaction between teachers and students is few, so the class atmosphere is dull.

In British class, there more opportunities for students' expression.
And teachers often encourage students to challenge themselves,
which gives students a dare to challenge the concept.
And British teachers never said to students:'You are wrong.'
And British teacher especially good at asking 'why' or 'how', but the Chinese teacher love to asked 'what'.
Chinese classroom is more like a performance of teachers,
and the British classroom is is a stage of students.

Chinese Education System and British Education System have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Chinese emphasizes foundational knowledge whereas British thinks highly of creativeness.
If it could join two systems together,
there is going be more success and more good for students.

★British food★

First of all, I am keen on British Afternoon Tea this habit. Probably because I like to eat small snacks and cakes.And having an Afternoon Tea with friends always gives me a feeling of happiness or ease :)

The origins of the well known British tradition of afternoon tea is make me find it interesting.

People always think that the originator of afternoon tea was the 7th Duchess of Bedford Anna.

In the early 1840's, traditionally dinner was not served until 8:30 or 9:00 in the evening and the Duchess often became hungry. Especially in the summer when dinner was served even later.

She ordered a small meal of bread, butter, and other niceties, such as cakes, tarts, and biscuits, to be brought secretly to her boudoir. When she was exposed she was not ridiculed, as she had feared, but her habit caught on and the concept of a small meal, of niceties and perhaps tea, became popular and eventually known as "afternoon tea".

Nowadays afternoon tea became more and more popular in the world. And to take tea in the middle of the afternoon became more and more elaborate with the use of elegant tea ware, lace and embroidered table linen, bone china tea services, cake stands, tea canisters and blending bowls. The ladies would dress for the occasion in long tea gowns and preside over the ornate silver teapots while making general conversation with their guests.

To compare with China, the British traditional of afternoon tea is similar to Chinese Yum Cha. It is a dining experience which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum dishes. Yum cha is Cantonese which literally means "drink tea". There also so many snacks while people Yum Cha. And they call the snacks ‘Dim Sum’. Dim Sum usually consists of a variety of dumplings, steamed dishes and other goodies. And today, Dim Sum is served throughout China.Such as jiaozi in Beijing, pearl balls in Shanghai and spicy wontons in Sichuan province. But I think that the best Dim Sum in China is found in Canton, with its wide assortment of sweet and savory dishes ranging from meatballs to sweet cakes.

Lastly, I fund some informations about British pubs.
The most common pub names in Britain are:

The Crown – this is representative of the King or Queen.
The Red Lion – this pub name became popular when James I ordered red lions to be displayed outside all public places.
Royal Oak – this only became popular after Charles II escaped during the English Civil War by hiding behind an Oak tree.
Swan – a symbol used commonly in the coat of arms. All swans [the birds] are owned by the Queen and protected by law.
White Hart – this was the heraldic symbol of King Richard II.
Duke of Buckingham – named after the Duke who was murdered in Old Portsmouth in 1628.

★Responsibilities of Prime Minister★

What the Prime Minister's responsibilities are？

The power of the Prime Minister depends on their individual leadership style and personality, but also on relationships with political problems and how they deal with difficulties within government. Over the years, a number of formal duties have evolved. The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for the allocation of functions among ministers and informs the Queen or King at regular meetings of the general business of the government. The Prime Minster's other responsibilities include recommending a number of appointments to the Queen. These include Church of England appointments, such as archbishops, bishops and so on, senior judges, Privy Councillors and Lord Lieutenants. Also, certain civil appointments such as Poet Laureate, Constable of the Tower, some university posts, and selections to various public boards and institutions, are chosen by the Prime Minister.

The British Prime Minister has the power to appoint, reshuffle or dismiss ministers, which is thought to be the Prime Minister's most important power. He also has the power to create peers, to make appointments, powers over ministerial conduct, powers relating to government business, powers over information, powers in international relations and power to terminate a Parliament or government.

★The Houses of Parliament★

The British Parliament is the British political center. It is built lie on the River Thames in London central. It is one of the most important Engish Gothic architectures of mid-19th century also. And it consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Lords has about 700 non-election of members, including England Archbishop or Lords Spiritual of 26 Churches, and more than 600 Lords Temporals. It different from the House of Commons is that it did not checks and balances on Prime Minister and its Government. Only the House of Commons could force the prime minister has resigned, or through a no-confidence vote in order to hold elections. The House of Lords on the Government's oversight is quite limited. Most Cabinet ministers are from the House of Commons, it is rather than the House of Lords. However, the House of Lords is still the source of new cabinet members.
The House of Commons is an organization generate from democratic election and it is the most influential one. It consists of 646members, known as Members Of Parliament. The members of the House of Commons were elected by 'first past the post' voting system. Each member is elected by voters from different constituency, and the member who was elected also on behalf of the constituency in Parliament. They can not assume longer than five years per period. Based on majority voting system is applied to elections of the House of Commons, the ruling party would most likely get a substantial majority, so that the ruling party will more reluctant to cooperate with other political parties.

★National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay★

We visited the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay on November 19th afternoon by school coach. Although it was continuous raining for a whole week, the weather was queit good that day.

This is the Welsh Assembly building names 'Senedd'. It opened in 2006 and became one of the most typical buildings of Wales. Its architectural style is very special.

It has an interesting wooden roof, shaped like the flow of waves. The staff who work in the assembly building introduce to us the reason for this design of the roof is used to collecting rainwater, and then re-used in the  pubilc conveniences. For example, the water we used in toilet of this building is the collected rain water. It is not only an innovative design, but also beneficial to environmental protection.

There are also a very environmentally design is the windows of Senedd. It made from strengthened and insulated glass.On the one hand, it has a very good light transmission, so it can save the energy from light. On the other hand, it will automatically open and close with temperature change. In summer it minimises the use of air conditioning and it helps the building retain heat in winter.

After visiting the building as a whole, staff take us into the conference hall. He told us the Assembly is made up of 60 assembly members who represnet different areas of Wales. Jane Davidson is one of the assembly members who represents Pontypridd where our place to live. And the assembly members meet every week to discuss issues of Wales and people, such as, Welsh people's health, transportation, education, medical care and so on. Luckily, we have met one of the 60 assembly members during the introduction names Christopher Franks. He is the regional members of South Wales Central. And he was very friendly and very patiently answered our questions. He also stated that they will continue to strive for well being life of people who live in Wales. I have a deeper acquaintance of the Welsh Aeembly after that day.

★History of Halloween and Bonfire Night★

Halloween Festival and Bonfire Night are the main festivals in Autumn. We can see many activities and relational productions during the days. Now, I'm going to present a brief history of the Halloween festival and Bonfire Night..

History of Halloween

Halloween festival's origin should retrospect to a Celtic festival called Samhain. The Celtic celebrated the beginning of the new year on November 1st. Then, in October 31st, Celtic believed that the ghosts of dead would return to the earth. And the ghost would to do damage to the crops and do some prank to them.So, on the night before November 1st, they would pretend the same kind of ghosts and dress in the scary costume, expected to drive away the fear.

History of Bonfire Night

People celebrate with the firework on November 5th to commemorate one person names Guy Fawkes.

Guy Fawkes and his group of Catholic rebels planned to ignite the barrels fill with gunpowder to blow up the Parliament and the King.Unfortunately, he was caught in the cellar of the Houses of Parliament on November 5th.After that, every November 5th, people have a great opportunity to get together and enjoy the fireworks party and campfire party.

Here is a traditional rhyme about the Bonfire Night:

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,

gunpowder, treason and plot.

We know no reason why gunpowder treason

should ever be forgot."

Here are some photograohies of my party on Halloween Night. :)

wow.. michael??

smile :)

so many 'ghosts'...

nice dress up

cheery with 'miss' red nails

In the end, wish everyone has a nice Bonfire Night!