My family — My childhood

Before I was a primary school student, I lived in a large family. There was my grandfather, my grandmother, my father, my mother, my aunt and me. I had a wonderful life during my childhood. Because in China, most similar aged children like me (born after 1980), their home was only father, mother and one child, that meant the child was a bit lonely.
My grandfather loved me the best. He was a supervisor who worked for the government. When he worked in the office, he was strict with everything, but out of work, he was kind with every person. Also, he was a good ping-pong player. He liked telling stories to me, most of the plots I have never forgotten. He often had many parties to join in, and he liked to take me with him if it was possible. It was not a bad idea for me to go around and gain experience, and also I could eat much delicious food.
My grandmother did accounting work in a shop near my home. A lot of goods were sold in her workplace. It was extremely convenient for my family to eat the freshest fruit and vegetables. She was a sprinter when she was at school, and she kept taking exercise every evening after dinner. Also she played sports with me. She retired when I was four years old and a half, she did much more housework. Every day she took me to preschool and saw me back.
My father wore glasses. Every morning he read newspapers and every night before he went to bed he read books. The book near his pillow changed fast, like history books, biographies, novels etc. Father had been called “A Quiet Man” for the reason of he liked reading. He was an engineer. The higher degree he had the more money he earned. So he worked hard and often took the exam to gain the higher level. In my memory father often went on business trips and when he came back, all the family members would get a gift from him.
The beautiful person in my family was my mother. She had a great temperament, and a good figure. She sang well. When she coaxed me to sleep, she sang children’s song to me. And when she played with her friends, they all liked to hear of her songs. Mother did office work and she was always busy. But once she had spare time, she cooked for me and also took me on outings. The fish tasted especially well by my mother’s cooking and all my family liked it very much. Pink was my mother’s favorite colors. She liked buying the pink skirts for me and dressing me like a princess.
The most essential person in the family was me. When I was happy, everybody laughed and when I was unhappy, everybody became more nervous. I liked balloons very much when I was young. Every times I was taken to the park, I asked for a hydrogen balloon. But as soon as I got it in hands after my mother paid for it, I let it fly. Then I watched it rising higher and higher, until I could not see it. Mother could not understand what I was doing. But that was my dream when I was a little girl. I believed one day I could fly just like a balloon. I liked milk very much, but it was hard for me to get sleep. So mother gave a bottle of milk every night before I slept. That became a habit for me till now. And it was good for health, lots of articles advise people to drink milk before bed.
Every public holiday, each of my family members had a rest. Sometimes, my grandfather took us on a short trip and sometimes we got together to make dumplings. My uncle and aunt took their family to join us too. Every person shared interesting things, and also complained of hard work or workmates. Other numbers gave ideas and suggested better solutions to the problem. The same as the dumplings, every member made different shapes which gave a lot of fun to the eating. I liked my family very much. I liked the family culture of China. Family means warmth and strength. I was very lucky that my father was the first child of my grandfather and grandmother, because in old China, parents only lived with the oldest male child.

About me

My name is Wang Dong Yang. I am from China. “Wang” is my family name and “Dong Yang” is my given name. In Chinese, my first name “Dong” means “winter” and my second name “Yang” means “sun”. So my E-mail address is wintersun83@live.cn. Before I was working in AIA Beijing China, colleagues called English names each other. That was because AIA is a subsidiary of AIG (American International Group). So my English name “Dora” came from. It’s pronunciation just similar with my given name in Chinese.
On the end of this month I’ll have been Sydney for exactly three months. It is quite a fast time. I joined AMEP class in order to improve my English. I enjoyed myself during the two months study. And also I met a lot of friends there. For me, I like being a student. Studying makes me feel very full. So when the holiday comes, I felt a little lose.
Australia is rich in natural resources. I like its blue sky, fresh air and Fertile Beach. But it is hard for me to stay at home during the night (between 5:00pm to 9:00pm). Before I came here, I like having dinner with my friends in the restaurant after work then going shopping. But Sydney has no “night-life”, shopping centre closed after 5:30pm. So what a pity!

My holiday

Last Easter Monday, my husband and I went outing. We got up early in the morning and ate some bread and milk. Then we left home at 7:30am and went to Circular Quay. We wanted to get to Manly by ferry from there.
After we got to Circular Quay harbor, we saw luxury liners stopping at the port. How big was the boat! Travelling around the world by luxury cruise ship is my dream, and I am sure that it will come true one day. My husband took many pictures for the boat. When we came back home we searched more information about it on the Internet. We knew it belonged to Norway and the first time it traveled was in 1997. It had a beautiful name called Rhapsody of the seas.

During the 30 minutes from Circular Quay to Manly by boat, we saw Sydney Bridge and Sydney Opera House. It was my first time to saw them. I felt they were more spectacular than the TV sighting. After we landed on Manly, we walked around the beach where we saw a few rocks. In the coastal waters three ships were stopped. An hour later we returned to Circular Quay.

Our second stop was Olympic Park. We went there by ferry and then by bus. Thousands of people from all over the world came to the Olympic Park to visit the Easter Show. We saw five modern trucks on showed when we entered the gate. I tried to drive but it wouldn’t move. Then we came to visit the animals. We saw sheep, horses, pigs and cows. My husband touched some of them but I had no courage. The Dairy Farmers Company showed how the milk comes out but we missed the view up time. Then we ate some fruit while we watched a horsemanship display. There was also a very interesting show about Hercules cutting wood.

In the afternoon we went to visit the exhibitions. We saw many vegetables and fruits. We tasted special delicious food. There were many articles, photos, and pictures on display. Especially the Chinese characters on showed which gave us a big surprised.

About 4:30pm, it started to rain. So we decided to back home. Before we got home, my husband took me to dinner. It was really good Chinese food. And I found that you have to pay more in restaurant on public holiday.
We both enjoyed the excursion very much even though it was a very busy day.

Bundeena and the Royal national Park

Bundeena and the Royal national Park

History:
Bundeena takes its name from an Aboriginal word meaning "noise like thunder" and has a distinct history. You will find traces of the original inhabitants, the Dharawal people, in rock carvings and middens (seafood shell piles). In addition to its famous artists and tranquil setting, Bundeena is known as the gateway to the 26 km Coast Walk through the Royal National Park to Otford.
Getting There:
For a relaxed trip on a vintage ferry boat, visitors will enjoy a scenic 20 minute ride across Port Hacking between Cronulla and Bundeena. Ferries depart on the half hour from the public wharf at Gunnamatta Bay, located a short five minute walk from the Cronulla Train Station.
A Walk with Nature:
Stroll the first part of the well marked Coast Track from Bundeena for breathtaking views north to the city, or south to the Sea Cliff Bridge, an engineering marvel near Stanwell Park. Continue on the Track for about an hour south to the secluded Marley Beaches, accessible only by foot. Another two hours on the track will bring you to Wattamolla Beach.
Tasty Treats:
There is a range of options to feed the hungry masses with tempting treats at the local cafes. If you feel like dining alfresco, there is always the option to have a picnic in the park or on the beach. The local shops can provide all the yummy essentials.
Visit Royal Maps:

Traditional Roles

What is your opinion of Men’s jobs and Women’s jobs

In China, if you asked a more than 50 years-old man “Who did housework in your family when you were a child?” The answer would be “My mother.” And you continued your question “How about the situation now, in your own family?” Maybe the answer has changed into “My wife does more and I do a little.” But when you asked the same question to a 15 years-old child, he may give the answer “Mother and father do housework together.” Then the 25 years-old man who has just married may answer “We share housework on Saturday and Sunday.” And you hear “I do much more housework than my wife.” which would not be strange.
People of different ages gave different answers, showed different times of China. That gave us three points of view:
1. Men and women are become more equal in the area of housework.
2. Women have begin to do paid work now.
3. Women are as busy as men during the weekdays.
That is because, after 1978, the Chinese government didn’t allow families to have more children in order to control the large population increase. Also a law called “Population And Family Plannig Law” was published. One family one child, firstly, that gave the whole family enough time to do other work especially for mother. In the old times, mothers were housewives. There were more than 3 children in one family and took up of a mother’s time. When it became only one child, the mother had much more time of herself. Some of them tried to do paid work. Secondly, when the child grew up, either boy or girl, who was the only hope of the family, they were gaven the best education. So we could see many women got bachelor’s degree, even masters or the doctor’s degree. They did most paid work as well as men. It is hard to say what jobs women can’t do.
But there are also much more differences between women and man, such as physiological characteristics. Men are taller and stronger than women. Then can do hand work and kept their strength longer. So just like carpenters, mechanics, butchers etc are men’s jobs. But women are more careful, patient and easy to get along well with, they are very good teachers, nurses, and secretaries. There are also some careers that women and men do together. For example, you can see women doctors and men doctors, women lawyers and men lawyers and so on. It’s hard to say, why more and more women go into politics, but women politicians are very rare. In my opinion, that is the problem left over by history, maybe.
And what is your opinion of men’s jobs and women’s jobs?

My first job

I started my first job when I was 23. I did claims in the biggest health insurance company in China. It was located in the Finance St in Beijing. The whole building named ”PING AN LARGE BUILDING” was owned by my company. My office was on the 13th floors. There were many finance companies around, such as banks and other insurance companies and very convenient for us.
Before I started I felt very excited. That was my first job when I graduated and I could earn by myself. My subject in the university was medical insurance. I knew much knowledge in the books and I had to practice by working. My job was to answer the phone, liaise with my customers, go to the hospital to do some investigation, give the result and pay money for the applicant.
At first I made a few mistakes but after a while I felt more confident. My workmates were very friendly and we often went out to lunch together. We also played badminton every Monday evening after work. My boss was a middle-aged man but looked very young. He was handsome and humorous. He took us on an outing once a month and organized a dinner party to celebrate every public holiday.
My best experience was that we worked hard together to get more information from the hospital and police station. We found we could not pay money for the customer because of his lying.
I liked this job because I met a lot of people that were all older than me and they gave me a lot of help for my work and life. The atmosphere at work was pretty good.

Happy Mother’s Day

The second Sunday in May is Mother’s Day. It had been celebrated all over the world. Young children away from home go back and give their mother gifts.

It’s hard to say when the Mother’s Day began to spread in China. Since the reform and opening up in 1980, China has also gradually to celebrate Mother's Day. Both big shopping markets and Mini Convenience Stores will be to launch some special items before Mother's Day. Flower shop will also be time for Mother's Day coming up publicity efforts, a sales representative of Mother's Day flowers - carnations. It has been recorded that on May 14, 1989, Hangzhou, China held the first "Mother's Day" celebrations.

For me, I had bought pink carnations for my mother from the beginning I was a high school student. Also on every Mother’s Day, I had done all the housework which made my mother very gratified. My best experience that was in 2002, I had entered the university for ten months. My family and my University were in two different cities. On Mother’s Day morning, I back home that took me a whole night on the train. I also brought the pink carnations to my mother. At the same time mother open the door, I said to her “Happy Mother’s Day! And today I must stay with you.” My mother was very surprised to see me and with tears of joy, she enfolded me in her arms.

But this year, I just gave my greeting to her on the VOD. My cousin asked me if he could help me to sent flowers to my mother. That was very kind of him. And I told him to buy pink carnations, that because carnations were for Mother’s Day and pink was my mother favorite color.

One of my best friends is six months pregnant now. I gave her an E-mail this Mother’s Day. I wrote in my letter: Congratulations to mother-to-be! Maybe the next Mother’s Day, your lovely baby can celebrate to you! That will be the happiest thing!