退电视、买靴子Return TV, buy boots

Dec 30,2011 阴转雨
中午出门发现门外白茫茫才知道多伦多下了第二场雪，比第一场来得更正式些，到晚上也没有化完。阴天，风小，体感温度不太冷。我们出去换电视，使用日票乘公交车。

    到商店门口工作人员看见我们抬电视，指点我们到里面去。刚进门就有一个接待桌专门接待退货的，看来店家很有经验。的确有很多人来退货，退货的人拿着大大小小的商品。接待员简单问了下电视的毛病，检查了电视机，问我们要退还是换，我们说换。然后他在我的收银条上划拉两下让，我们去里面电视机区域要一台新的。

    我们到了电视区域，找到那天推荐三星的售货员，他哇啦哇啦说了一堆，我也听不太懂，然后他要了我的收银条就走了，过一会他回来说三星电视可能没有了，又不知哪里找到一个本子上面可能有各种型号电视的纪录，他说确定没有三星同型号电视机了。我们本来就打算好，如果没有三星可换，我们就要一个夏普的，价格一样，而且我们本来就倾向于买夏普。最终我们退了有毛病的三星，新买了同价格的夏普。

    恶心的是，第一次买电视被推荐了一个坏的，那好吧店员也不知道哪个有毛病。来换货竟然给我们一个拆封过的，当时他让我们等在退货台，说去帮我们拿新电视。电视买好了，等我们到了公交车站，公交来了我才注意到，这个电视是开封过的，因为能看到封装胶带下面有旧的被划开过的胶带。真是让人不痛快，已经麻烦一次了，换的又给我们一个开封过的。目前为止没发现电视本身有什么毛病，总算是欣慰一点。

    换完电视赶紧去沃尔玛买厚棉鞋。乘公交到镇中心，我已经没有什么力气了，因为身体还没完全恢复，我们出门前也只吃了稀粥和咸菜。进了超市赶紧挑选棉鞋，满货架黑乎乎的颜色，样式也不讲究了，没有什么好看的，只要舒服暖和就好了。我和先生每人挑了棉靴以后出来已经快虚脱了，遇到卖女装的商店，还是进去买了一件大毛衣。出来赶紧到tim horton买了俩三明治和一杯咖啡，其间因为我反应慢听不懂他们说的话被接咖啡的服务员翻了白眼。吃了点东西才有力气回家。

    到家把东西放下，赶紧出门去买菜。因为病了两天，家里蔬菜早就没有了。到华人超市，买了一堆蔬菜水果和肉以及各种中式调料，反正也乘车回来，就多买点。从超市出来天开始下雨了。没想到到家已经十一点了，真是忙活了一大天。赶紧做了米饭和一个汤就吃饭了。可能因为病了两天没怎么吃饭，晚上很饿，我就吃的很快，结果吃多了，有反胃的感觉，还好我吃的稀粥，过一会就消化了。

Dec 31, 2011
终于在年末最后一天我们感觉好了，做了肉段吃，胃肠也没有什么不良反应。Food basics买的鸡蛋和土豆我们都不敢再吃。在冷藏室的鸡蛋我打算要退回去了，剩下半盒我打算扔掉。因为不能确定鸡蛋是安全的。一袋子土豆虽然也很有嫌疑，可是已经开封了，没有办法退，再议吧。

Serious illness

Anyone got ill after having the eggs bought from Food Basics supermarket?

On Christmas Eve we went to Food Basics nearby to buy some food. A kind of eggs is on sale for 1.88/package, so we bought two packs.
On christmas, I made a plate of scrambled egg with them. He ate more than I did. On Christmas evening, I cooked rice with scrambled eggs.
The next morning, my honey said that he had a serious bellyache, and after boxing day shopping, he got a high fever without any strength on the whole body, together with muscle ache on two legs. We thought he might have caught a cold. The evening of boxing day, I made pancakes with egg and onion, he felt nauseated on the smell of pancake. So he just had some porridge. I had some pancake though I felt a little sick of them too.
On December 27, his fever went away. I made simple pancake without onion and applied less vegetable oil, which made the flavor very light. Then he had a little pancake. I thought he was better since he could eat pancake. I had a lot of pancakes.
On December 28, I made light pancakes again. He ate a piece of that and felt bellyache again. I ate more than him. In the evening, I felt sick and didn't have any appetite, which I thought was caused by hunger. I bit some pancake before meal. Then I felt very nauseated when having meal. Immediately after I had a boiled potatoes I suffered from Vomiting and Diarrhea.

At that time, we realized that we could have got Food poisoning. Then we carefully remembered the foods we had had. Probably, the eggs are the poisoning food, which is the only food we continuously had these days.

Anybody has suffered from similar illness with food basics eggs?

The information from the egg package: Burnbrae Farms, best before Feb 04

PS: the food we had before illness
1. eggs, Burnbrae Farms, best before Feb 04, from food basics
2. potatos, yellow fleshed, 10lb in paper bag.ONTARIO potato dist.(Alliston) Inc., from food basics
3. pancakes, Selection all-purpose flour, 10lb, from food basics
4. onion, as seasoning in the eggs, potatos and pancakes, from food basics

Among these, eggs and potatos are the main suspects.

我用过的护肤品My skin care products review

我们来加拿大是轻装上阵，什么都要新买，其中最先要买的当然是日用品。到超市逛逛，满眼的产品写的都是英文，晕了，牌子也没几个见过的。可着认识的品牌来吧。因我是干性皮肤稍微有些敏感，护肤品都买适合干皮肤和敏感皮肤的类型。

洗面奶：卡尼尔 GARNIER Moisture Rescue(Fresh cleansing foam) 200ml
心得：第一次用我感觉买错了，因为太油了感觉洗不干净，泡沫不太丰富。后来掌握了它的特点用得稍微好一点。使用这款洗面奶不能用冷水，否则不起泡沫，洗不净皮肤。这点可以想象一下在冷水里用洗洁精清洗一个装过肉满是油的盘子，很难洗净。
合适的用法是，用温水将面部润湿，将洗面奶在掌心打出泡沫后按摩面部。之后用温水洗净面部泡沫，再用冷水清洗一遍。
适合类型：干皮肤
评价（5分满）：3.5分，香气很淡这点OK，洗完脸不干这点OK，不足是感觉油腻，洗不太干净。不推荐。

爽肤水：妮维娅粉水 NIVEA Visage Gentle Toner(dry to sensitive skin) 200ml
心得：这款水在国内用过好几瓶了，挺好用，平价。
适合皮肤：干/敏感皮肤
评价（5分满）：4.5分，淡淡香气不错，擦完以后脸较润，接着用其他润肤品感觉挺好。大众产品，对得起它的价格。值得推荐。

护肤霜：旁氏干肤霜 POND'S dry skin cream(extra rich hydrating skin cream) 190ml
心得：这款产品用的非常好，也很平价，买的时候合人民币大约三十块钱。用手指挖一点乳霜，看起来像奶油那样细腻，均匀涂抹按摩脸部，非常滋润好吸收。刚到多伦多的时候天冷起来了，风大，空气比较干燥，擦了这个以后出门吹风回来脸部摸起来还是很柔软。
不像在国内我买过的美加净银耳珍珠霜，网上那么多人在推荐说适合干皮肤，其实这个产品一无是处，擦脸上油腻透了，全浮在皮肤上不吸收。无奈用来擦手，结果连擦手都不透气，不吸收，真是谁用谁知道。
适合皮肤：干皮肤
评价（5分满）：5分，香气浓，小时候雪花膏的味道，擦完后脸非常润。性价比高，绝对推荐。

护手霜：隆力奇 蛇油护手霜 50g
心得：因为我的手一干就粗糙的很，因此随时需要护手霜。这款是小包装，不占地方，从国内买的带来，平时常用，尤其是干燥的季节。滋润，不过对于我这种超级干的双手，在北方的冬天用还不够滋润，并且擦完感觉有点油腻，要过一会才能吸收好。目前还没有用到更加滋润好用的手霜，并且这里好像没有卖这个的。这管快用完了，亟需在寻找替代品。
适合皮肤：干皮肤
评价（5分满）：4.3分，香气浓烈，有的人可能不喜欢，如果是在办公室一个人涂了这个，满屋子都是香味儿。价格不贵，性价比较好，可以推荐。

Recipe for Chinese style pancake

My honey is better than yesterday. He had a hight fever after shopping and didn't want any food yesterday. This morning, he had a little porridge with pickles. In the afternoon, the fever is away and he looks better.  I know currently he can eat nothing but light food, so we decide to have porridge for dinner as well. Since he is better, with his permission, I made pancakes for him. He loved the pancakes and ate two of them with some porridge and pickles. I am so happy that he ate pancakes which indicates that he is much better.

Pancake is very easy to make, and is popular among Chinese families as breakfast. Below recipe is a simpler Chinese style soft pancake for my honey with bad appetite.

Ingredients:
1 cup of all-purpose flour,
1 egg,
water,
a spinkle of salt,
vegetable oil,
 a sprinkle of the Chinese five-spices

Directions:
1, put all indigredients including a little vegetable oil into a large bowl and whisk them into very smooth fluid batter
2, let stand for 10-20minutes
3, heat a clean non-stick skillet over medium heat, brush lightly with vegetable oil
4, pour some batter into the hot pan and swirl the pan quickly to form a thin even round pancake
5, turn the pancake over carefully when the top becomes dry(the color turns to beautiful light yellow), and the bottom becomes light golden
6, heat the second side for about 20 seconds and one pancake is done
7, repeat with remaining batter

Acturally, in a typical Chinese style pancake ingredients, there must be green Chinese onion as one important flavour sources. Nowadays, people sometimes replace the green onion,salt and spices with sugar and milk to make sweet pancakes .

Typical Ingredients:
1 cup of all-purpose flour,
1 egg,
1 tbsp minced green Chinese onion
water,
a spinkle of salt,
vegetable oil,
a sprinkle of the Chinese five-spices

节礼日购物Boxing Day shopping

我们需要添置电子产品，因此每周都关注打折信息。一次在沃尔玛看见特价的爱普生液晶电视，虽然我们知道爱普生品牌是因为它的打印机，最后还是因为著名企业生产，就搬回家了。用了两个星期，先生在发现电视屏幕出现几秒黑屏，然后恢复正常。于是，我上网查这个问题，发现很多类似的和更加严重的问题。只能退掉。

终于等到圣诞节，比对各商店价格，决定节礼日去采购。不想圣诞节夜里先生坏肚子，早上整个人都没力气。闹钟五点半准时响起，先生说出发吧。怕他太难过，建议不要去了，再有特价再买。先生不肯，因为这是等了好久的活动，执意要去，就出发了。乘公交车路上需要倒车，第一辆车很快就将我们送到换乘站，下车的时候天飘起了轻雪。因为天还没亮，很冷，先生说有点恶心，但是仍坚持等车。大概因为假日期间，这辆公交车等了足有半小时以上。期间车站等这辆车的还有几位男士，拿着打折广告，不停聊天。第二辆公交车上的人多一些，我们上车后的第二站，忽然上来很多人，把公交车添满了。到了商店那一站，大多数人都下车了，我们也下车直奔目的商店。

此时，天才微亮，店门口人来人往，已经看到有人带着商品出门了。来得真早啊！我们赶紧进店搜索要的东西，进门先拿一个打折广告再说。先生直奔笔记本专区，我向工作人员问怎么买电脑，他用手一指：＂那里排队。＂队伍挺长，我先排队，先生又去看东西。过一会回来在我的广告上圈了几个笔记本电脑型号，告诉我计划买的型号排名。期间听见有人问路过店员是否有相关型号，店员说已经卖光了，那人马上离开了队伍，估计是去看新的目标。我也问一下是否还有我首选的型号，店员说有。事实上，直到我排了半天队以后我还是买到了我们首选的型号。接着付款、刷卡，一个目标搞定。

下一个是液晶电视，先生说不用着急，电视多着呢。我们在三十二寸液晶电视之间看来看去，看花了眼。最后决定在夏普和三星之间选一个。我一直觉得日本货比韩国货好，倾向于夏普。后来看买三星的人很多，店员也推荐三星说画质会更好一点。最终买了三星。刷卡付款，又一个目标搞定。

拿着不轻的两台机器出门，天已经亮了。在商店门口简单拍照留念就乘车返回。到家大约八点半，我非常饿因为早起直接出发什么也没吃，只喝一口水。我马上煮了白粥，煎了蛋饼。先生这时已经开始发烧了，饭也吃不下，吃一点葡萄就睡觉了。我草草吃点也睡觉了，起的太早了，困乏。

下午醒来，先生未见好转就开始装系统，又将电脑分区。然后又打开电视调试。这时我最不希望的情况发生了，电视屏幕左中部有一个红色发亮的坏点！我是特别嫌麻烦的人，上次退电视就觉得好麻烦，那么重的电视上车下车的搬来搬去。这次又碰上有毛病的。难道打折电视都是残次品吗？还是只有我们碰上? 麻烦费钱费力，来回公交谁给报呢？真是的：（

事实上，我们觉得圣诞节后特价日也不比平时特价便宜几快钱，不过这种购物的过程还是挺好玩的。相当于实地考察民俗了。很多商店都在广告上写了＂挤破门的顾客Doorcrasher＂才能买到。其实多数商品都数量充足，根本不需要太早去挤门，哈哈。现在的顾客都比较理性，没发现有什么东西被抢购一空的。

所购物品：笔记本电脑15.6"Acer Aspire5733

液晶电视32" Samsung LCD 32C350D

Ad brochure is interesting and useful

I have studied a brochure about olive oil lately. It is a free brochure displayed by the olive bottles on the shelf for customers to take and read, in which certain olive oil is introduced along with a few related recipes. From the brochure, I have learned not only a kind of oil but also new words that I didn't know before. Besides, I can learn about the sentence structures, therefore improve English writing skills. Ad brochure is interesting and helpful to me.

买了一袋面粉Bought a bag of flour

Food basics十千克普通面粉(all-purpose flour)特价七点九九刀乐，比原价便宜两刀。价签上写的特价22日到期，傍晚去买了一袋。准备用来烙蛋饼和蒸馒头。关于怎么做这两样面食我早已看了一些方子，尤其是关于电饭锅蒸馒头的方子，因为我们目前只有电饭锅带一个很小的蒸格可以蒸东西。不过我想好好利用的话应该可以蒸不少花样出来。总之，买了一袋面粉很开心也很期待能做出好吃的面食。

Update:12月23日第一次用电饭锅蒸馒头失败。面是发了，可是馒头不松软。我是按照网上二次发酵的方子做的，可是不成功，有点受挫。以前在上海做过两次发面，第一次失败因为面团发过头，第二次成功了可是我忘记怎么做的了，实在是太久的事情了。不过以前好像是一次发酵就做的。还得继续摸索。

Borrow books from Toronto Public Library

It's been my long time hope to read books as many as possible in spare time. Today I can realize my idea now that Toronto has a very well-known library to serve the public. I borrowed three books from Toronto Public Library the day before yesterday. The self-service procedure is very simple-just follow the instruction shown in the screen on the library counter, simply sweep the library card, then put books you want to borrow on a platform to be automatically recorded, wait a second for your receipt. Then you can take the books away to read. The librarian was very kind to tell me that the books could be returned at any other branches other than the certain library where I borrowed books. The library is very near from my residence,which allows me to borrow books easily. So I should try to read more books since books are the best friends of humans.

My hope of reading started in college time. I love library as soon as I entered college a dozen years ago. Back to college times, my school was quite a small institute covering a limited area with several buildings, among which I love library building the best. The library was the best and largest building on our campus, which had a large collection of books and publications. That time, I could spend a whole afternoon in the reading room when I have no class to attend.  I was interested in reading different magazines and books. Sometimes, I borrowed several books from the library and read them in the dormitory. I often intended to read more books but it turned to be missions impossible all the time. College life was not very busy, and not very easy either. When you wanted to do something interesting, you found that you had to attend classes or attend school activities. The institute boost into a large college by mergence with another school shortly after my graduation, and then moved to a new campus in rural area very far away from the old campus. And the old campus field was sold to a building company to build condos for sale. Sometimes, I think of the library on the old campus, but it lives only in memory and history. I feel pity about the school mergence, but that is the same story for many schools in that land. Fortunately, I graduated before school mergence, which allowed me to use library conveniently.

It's great I am no longer a college student any more. So I have more time to read books. I think public library will be one of my useful and free schools from now on.

信用卡和银行效率Credit card and Banking efficiency

来加以后申请信用卡是每个人要做的事情。至于信用卡的好处，反正大家都说以后如果要申请贷款买房买车的话，都要看个人信用，这个信用记录是需要你使用信用卡花钱，然后还钱给信用卡公司，然后信用记录就建立起来了。

信用卡申请之前只能花现金。加元纸币有一百元、五十元、二十元、十元，最小面额是五块的。再小面值的钱要用各种硬币组合起来，硬币包括两元、一元、二十五分、十分、五分、一分。刚刚来的时候买东西找零总要看半天，因为硬币种类花色大小好几种，真是不太好认。再有每天口袋里面一堆硬币也是很重的，不方便。

总之，我们在开户的银行申请了人生第一张信用卡，每个申请人的额度是一千块每月。第一张信用卡来的比较容易，目前为止用的也算方便。去超市购物带张卡就可以了，不像国内每天要算计口袋里面有几张钞票，够不够买东西。不过，这纯属入乡随俗。在国内时，各种银行业务员常常到公室推销信用卡，不管有什么新客户礼物，我们从来不上当。信用卡对消费习惯培养来说不是什么好东西，这是众所周知的。

之后，第一张卡使用后不久，我们想申请一张美金信用卡，经过网上搜索比较信息，蒙特利尔银行的美金卡年费比较便宜，如果一年消费一千块，可以减免年费。这样我们就直接去了就近的蒙特利尔银行。说明来意后，前台小姐帮我们介绍了另一位年轻Lady帮我们申请信用卡。我们不算太稀里糊涂的人，就直接询问申请这张卡对申请人有什么要求或者说条件，这位Lady说没有，任何人都可以申请，并拿出申请表，说填写完毕后她会帮助寄出去，然后就是等信用卡中心的决定，大概两个星期后会有回复。我们也理解加国办事，什么都要邮寄，那就等吧。

我们等着，一直等了十七天，我们去问有没有什么回复。对方说可能是信用卡中心没收到申请信，她再帮助发送电子申请。过了三天，这位Lady打电话过来，说核对一下申请人的基本信息，以便帮助发送电子申请。也就是说，这三天的时间她都没帮我们发送申请。好吧，核对信息以后再等。又过了整整半个月，我们再去银行，对方给信用卡中心打电话，然后告诉我们，信用卡中心才受理申请，还没决定，说明天她再打电话过去问问结果，说会打电话给我们。我们回去又等了整整一个星期，又去银行问。她说，我今天刚刚想打电话给你们，可是有客户来了，我就没打过去。说信用卡中心需要申请人的收入证明，问我们也没有工作以便证明收入。OMG，第一次去就告诉她，我们是新来的，没有工作，特地问她有没有对申请人的要求，她都说没有。现在让我们等了整整一个月十一天，然后告诉我们没有工作就不能发卡。一开始告诉我们就可以了，何必让我们去银行那么多次，每天看信箱等这么久。再说，后面几次我们去银行之前都有打电话给她，每次接线员都说对方在接待客户。即便这样我们留言以后也不至于一直没有时间回电话吧，还必须我们等太久以后到银行再亲自去问她。

加拿大的银行效率都是这样吗？没有时间观念，对客户没有负责的心态。这就是要定义优质客户体验的猛吹银行，这真是一个令人无语的客户体验。我想近期我们都不会去蒙特利尔银行开什么浪费时间的业务了。

A hairstylist-to-be

I have bought a set of haircut scissors in China, planning to trim hair for my sir in future. The other day after landing, he said his hair was long enough to have a cut. I had known nothing about haircut before, so I said that I needed to learn first. And he found out a haircut video for me to study. Then his first haircut in Canada was done by me.

I began cutting his hair after watching the vidoe. When I didn't know how to go on with it, I stopped and turned to video. Time past, only the hair on the top had been trimed. Suddendly, we heard the sound of neighbour opening door. Then we stopped the haircut since we were in the common area. Then I studied the video for times afterwards and was more confident with haircut. I asked my sir to complete the haircut later, but he refused because he thought I was  working too slow.

He is wearing an incomplete hairstyle now. Fortunately, I didn't ruin the hair, so he can wear the uncomplete hair out. I am sure that I can trim his hair better next time, and I will be a good hairstylist for my sir.

借用吸尘器Landlord's got new vacuum cleaner

多年前就职的公司办公室是铺地毯的，那时同事们轮流打扫过卫生，用过吸尘器。后来公司搬家，办公室是瓷砖地面，不再需要吸尘器了。我们租住过的屋子要么是地板要么是瓷砖，都没有铺地毯的。因此我使用吸尘器的经验很少。

来多伦多租住的房屋是地毯地面，必须要用吸尘器来清理。其实我不喜欢地毯地面，因为不好收拾，平时也必须多加很多小心。可是初来乍到的住在旅馆里面费用高，而我们不能因为一点点不喜欢就等下去，总要综合评估先住下再打算。这间屋子和房东让我们感觉都可以。

住下一段时间后，根据房东问的建议，按照他告诉的吸尘器使用方法我把地毯吸了一遍。一切看来都挺好，打扫以后我把吸尘器放到了房东指定的地方。今天碰到房东，向他再借用吸尘器，他说我上次用过以后吸尘器就坏了，也不知道为什么，所以他重新买了一个。我连连表示不好意思，心里也有点郁闷，明明上次用的时候是好好的。说不清的事情总是让人有点尴尬。为什么我用一次就坏了，这种机器很容易坏吗？我是长发，比较容易掉发。上次吸尘器用完后灰盒里集了一些头发。吸尘器吸头发会坏掉吗？不解。

这次用吸尘器前先扫了一遍，把头发基本都扫起来了。不过我家先生嘲笑说扫过还吸什么呢？呵呵，总比吸尘器当掉好。扫完基本看不到什么碎屑了，以最快的速度吸了几下地面草草了事就完璧归赵了。先生说你还东西当面打开开关让人家检查一下。呵呵，哪能那样呢，那样岂不是面子上太不好看了。过了一会儿，我听见吸尘器工作的声音，这样就可以放心了。

目前为止，房东和租客相处的挺好，互不影响。希望不要再有吸尘器坏掉这样令双方都尴尬的事情发生。

Cola is expensive

My sir loves soda water. When we were in Shanghai he used to drink a lot of soda water each day, especially during summer. Among them, his favorite is Fanta, the second Sprite, Cola comes last. So he drank Fanta a lot. In fact, I don't want him drink so much soda water, cause having too much sweet is bad for health. But he is too stubborn to persuade. Then I suggested that colorless drink was better than Fanta which contains not only sweet but also coloring materials. Then he turned to Sprite.

That time soda water was very cheap-a little more than six Yuan RMB per 2.5L bottle, equals to one dollar CAD. Soda drinks are very well sold in China these days. People tend to love sweet flavor, and people like acceptable prices too. In Toronto, the soda water is sold at about two dollars per 2L bottle in supermarket, much more expensive than that in China. Is it for health concerns that cola is sold much more expensive here?

每天一杯牛奶A glass of milk every day

在国内的时候我们很少喝牛奶，即使在著名的三聚氰氨事件出现之前也几乎不喝，主要是出于食品安全的考虑，其次不太喜欢牛奶的味道，再次喝牛奶常常引起胃部不舒服。来到多伦多以后室内很温暖，胃就比较舒服，以前不敢吃的香蕉经常吃也不会让胃疼或引起胃酸过多。我们开始每天喝一杯牛奶。目前我们只吃过百分之二脂肪的袋装牛奶，这个牛奶味道很淡，喝起来与国内买的雀巢奶粉味道差不多。脂肪含量在百分之二及以下的牛奶比较平价，百分之三点二五的贵一刀乐以上每袋。脂肪含量再高的就不是饮用的，而是用来调味的，比如制作各种点心。盒装牛奶普遍比袋装的贵。

多伦多的牛奶用塑料袋包装。第一次在超市看见这种奶让人感觉很奇怪，想不出怎么吃。回家以后查网络，才明白吃袋装牛奶的方法。第一次买牛奶是在吃完一桶四升装那不勒斯冰淇淋之后的事情，因为吃加拿大袋装牛奶是需要一个牛奶桶的。这里一大塑料袋牛奶四升装，内里包含三小袋，每袋可以倒出大约六杯。剪开一角的一袋牛奶吃不完怎么办呢？只能放桶里用夹子夹好，放在冰箱冷藏室下次再吃。据说只有加拿大的牛奶用塑料袋装，真的很奇怪。到底有什么好处呢？

话说回来，每天晚上喝一杯热牛奶就一点点全麦皮塔饼真好；）。

Listening to CBC radio

I am listening to the CBC radio online lately. Though it is hard to understand what the guys are talking about at the first times, I can catch some words and phrases shortly after I get used to their pace of speaking. When I can get some words and phrases, I try to catch the unfamiliar ones and check them with online dictionary.
Benefits I am getting: 1. adapting to different accents  2.enhancing vocabulary

不重视健康的人是对家庭不负责任

先生最近常常下半夜还在上网不睡觉还埋直气壮地认为自己很对虽然有适应环境的原因但是主观上对健康漠视还不听劝告很愚昧对自己不负责任对家人也不负责任。希望他正确对待问题从善如流不仅仅在口才上。

Olive oil and Honey- health beliefs

I have been curious and keen on olive oil for quite a long time ever since I heard about this oil and it's benefits. Olive oil is much more famous than before in recent China, since it's rare, foreign made, expensive, healthy, tasteful, good for skin, etc., which really appeal to the wealthier Chinese.

On the internet, with the olive oil introduction in Chinese, there are a lot of benefits followed after the article. You are always crowded by too many beneficial describtions to hold yourself from expecting for one bottle to have a try. In Chinese, olive oil embodies not only healthy food, somehow, it is given a label of luxury and modern life and more.

Due to economic consideration, I have not tried it yet, so the curiosity still lives in my heart. But is olive oil that much better than other edible oils? Is the cost performance better than other oils? I am not sure. I believe olive oil is a healthy oil. And I believe other oils are healthy too, like soy oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil.

The other day, I bought a bottle of billy bee honey from foodbasics. Most people in China consider honey not only a source of sugar, but a very healthy food, though the reason why it is healthy is always not easy to tell clearly. The most common way to have honey is to add it to some cool water and drink it. People believe drink some honey water every day is very good for health. Sometimes, people dip food with it, but this is not a common way of having honey in China to my knowledge.

I don't know how local people in Canada have honey. I guess most people use it in bakery, or dip food with it according to local cooking style. In the view of Chinese people, heat will break some healthy substances in the honey. So honey in bakery has hever been a Chinese way.

It's really different that people treat food. And it's funny.

倒过头的时差time difference

时差是一个我们都熟悉的词,可是只有你亲身经历才知道它的力量。那天刚下飞机的时候并没有感觉，第二天中午我们才知道时差让人一到下午就非常困倦，只能睡觉。我们用了大约一周到十天左右就感觉下午不再困倦，时差差不多倒过来了。

落地不到两个月，最近常常上网查阅各种资料以便更好的适应新生活。夜深了我们也不觉困倦，以至于连续几天凌晨两点后才关灯休息。更受不了的是入睡困难，常常三点多还没睡着，而醒来已经是中午十二点多了。我曾前一天晚上下定决心第二天早点起床，可是第二天即便八九点钟醒来，心里清楚的想起床，眼睛却好像被胶水封住了，怎么也睁不开。我就对先生说一定是时差倒过头了。

看来，人是一台复杂的机器，对环境的适应是需要时间的。

超市宣传单节约购物时间-shopping according to flyers

将近两个月的时间里，对附近日常购物的地方逐渐了解。多伦多的东西从绝对价格上来讲，比来之前上海的价格要贵。当然上海的物价一直处于上涨的态势，现在是什么水平也不知道了。因此，拿着以前上班的工资在加拿大买东西，价格换算都是至少要乘以六的。网上搜索了几个打折网站的地址，每到星期五就可以查看新一周的打折信息，按图索骥，记下要买的东西和价格，到了超市直奔目的商品，比盲目闲逛节约不少时间。不过，这些网上公布的电子传单信息也不是完全准确的，有时候宣传的打折商品，到超市发现根本没有打折。今天就碰到这种情况，他们宣传打折的肉并没有打折，就只买了其他计划要买的菜。
没有工作的日子，看什么都贵啊，这种情况只有赚钱能解决。如果有收入，这里的东西就变便宜多了。

今天接到两通莫名其妙的推销电话，听力和应答都有问题，反应不过来对方说的是什么。如果找工作，这种听力水平恐怕很难得到机会。
最近也一直在想怎么提高听力，找了几个在线Radio，才听过两次，希望能听下去并有助于提高英文。
加油啦，快点提高语言能力！

Rainy days

Yesterday is rainy so we cannot go to supermarket for shopping since we live a little far from the supermarket and we don't have a car. It takes about 30-40minutes on foot from our residence. It is ok to walk if the weather is fine. Today is rainy too. It is reported to be rainy tomorrow. So we cannot go shopping these days. Really inconvenient!

We picked up a chair yesterday evening on public lawn nearby, which is much more comfortable than the one provided by the landlord. I cleaned the chair carefully and it could serve us immediately. My husband is very happy with the old chair. I am happy to have the gift too.

We made an important decision yesterday evening that we would begin to find labour jobs cause we need dollars to live. The idea turned out to be difficult to realize today. We made a few calls but there were no suitable positions for us. Someone online said that recently most factories are planning for christmas and no more workers needed. I prefer to try more times to seek a chance.

Today I wrote a simple resume and maybe I can shoot it out later.

New life begins in Canada

We've been in Canada for one and a half months, me and my husband.

Toronto is a beautiful city. We arrived at night, so we saw no urban views on the way to family hotel. The following days were always cloudly, so every day appeared dim especially in the hotel room. We struggled to adjust ourselves to the local time. When we went out for shopping, though it was still cloudy, the overall environment made us so excited. There were full of grass and trees in my eyes. The trees were wearing different color of leaves. It was just what had seen in the films and pictures. The wind is strong but we appreciate the air here, it is clear.

Mood changed in a short time. Couple of days later, on the way we were getting back to hotel from outside, he felt lonely and upset in the evening darkness. We were on foot cause we had no driving licence, so neither a car. Though he consider himself a single hero in Shanghai, he felt lonely in the new environment with much fewer people. Though the new environment did not beat me, I could fully understand his feeling. Sometimes, in some aspect, I appears stronger than my beloved him.

People are nice here. Nearly everyone we meet here gave our great encourage, including the family hotel host, the bank manager, even a stranger... Everything in the family hotel is good, clean and tidy, warm and comfortable, except the room rates. Dozens of dollars per day is a big expense for us. And we went out to see rooms for rent. At a bus stop, when we checked the bus route, a stranger gave us a TTC map and told us how to transfer within Ontario public transportation system. We were very thankful to this strange friend! Your kindness is really a support to us.

There are Few chances to talk with people in English. The general living is so simple that you don't even need speak much while shopping or taking public transportation. Before arriving, I often think of learning some English. But now, being in Canada, I have no mood to read the English text book. Maybe I need some more time to adapt to the life here.

Life isn't easy in a new country as I had known before from other people's experiences shared online. But it cannot be worse than the very beginning--now, right?