Julie and Julia

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching the movie "Julie and Julia" and I was very deeply impressed. It is a very long movie, lasting for a whopping 103 minutes (about an hour and 43 minutes). However, it is a very worthwhile 103 minutes, as every minute, every second of the film is precious and essential to the movie.
The story is about 2 women, Julia Child and Julie Powell. Julia Child is a spunky, lively woman who is perfectly portrayed by Meryl Streep, incorporating her extravagant, quirky character with her role. The role of Julie Powell is played by Hollywood newcomer Amy Adams, who as of yet has received only good comments from critics. Adams brought the true emotions of her character to the big screen, and her excellent acting made the audience truly believe she was Julie Powell. Aside from great actors, the story of Julie and Julia couldn't have been better.
Powell is a depressed government insurance worker, who spends her days in an office cubicle, answering phone calls from angry clients and listening to clients' tragic stories. Julie has always been a worshipper of the legendary Julia Child, and one day decides to brighten up her dull, colourless days by cooking every recipe in Child's cookbook within one year, documenting the process through an online blog. With the help of her devoted husband, Julie commences her plan, and goes on a culinary journey. Although the plot sounds simple, it depicts how Julie falls into ruts, and eventually pulls herself out.
This is also the case with Julia. She moves to Paris to be with her husband, full of hope. She has always been a food lover, and hopes to pursue a career in it, although she starts off only being an expert on eating, not cooking. She joins a French cooking school to kill time and pursue her own personal interest: food. She is the only woman in her class, and is at first looked down upon and scorned by her classmates and head of the school. However, she soon proves them wrong by putting in hours of daily practice, and eventually developing cooking skills miles better than her scornful peers. She befriends Frenchwomen Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, who together start a small cooking school and decide to collaborate on a French cookbook for American housewives. However, soon Julia and her husband are forced to move on to new places, as her husband is once again transferred. This does not stop Julia and her friends from continuing the book, and persevere through the odds. Moving from Paris to Connecticut, from Germany to Oslo, it takes Julia 8 years to painfully translate the French manuscript into English, only to be openly rejected by the publishing company. However, Julia keeps trying, and eventually finds a publisher who is more than willing to release the book. Again, this shows the true human spirit of "get up where you fell down".
This movie also highlights the importance of a loving, devoted partner by your side. Julie and Julia have wonderful husbands beside them at all times, there to pick them up where they fall and there to give support even when it is not needed. Julie and Julia both realise this at some point during the movie, and they understand the true meaning of love.
I really enjoyed watching this delightful movie, which is filled with humour and wit, romance and meaning. I hope the few readers of this blog can take my advice and watch this movie, because the 103 minutes of your life will not be wasted.

Mid-Term Swimming

It's Mid-Term Break this week for Chinese International School, and once again I'm busy as a bee. Every day at least 2 hours of lessons and tutoring are scheduled, not to mention the daily dose of literature, be it in English, Chinese, French or Spanish. We mustn't forget the daily exercise required for a growing girl, be it 30 laps of freestyle or a simple 2km run on the family treadmill. Many will think of this routine as torture, but my perspective proves to be different. I think such a routine is excellent, especially for a girl approaching adolescence. A person's idea of an adolescent is a reluctant, stubborn teenager who manages, somehow to drag themselves out of bed at 3 in the afternoon on weekends, and an oily, lazy lump who only opens their mouth to shovel food in, not to have a casual chat with their family. I think this routine can stimulate adolescents, children and even people approaching puberty to get into the habit of organizing their day, and always having something constructive to do. I think this is the perfect solution for the ever-growing "slob" population. This schedule doesn't leave even a minute for people to feel bored, and somehow provides enough time for people to relax, sit back and admire the view, whilst providing a constructive task for people to pass the time wisely. So take my advice- on a school holiday, be it a week long, a day long or even a month long, before you jump on the phone to organize playdates with friends, before you sit and wonder how you will possibly manage to kill a week's holiday time, before you consider passing the time with movie after movie, perhaps consider a more constructive holiday, one where your time is spent studying, being active and enjoying every minute of the opportunity.

The True Meaning of Blogging

After reading some other people's blogs, I finally realize the true meaning of "Blogging". It's to let others know what you're thinking, what you're experiencing, what you're feeling. It actually seems quite meaningful to me now. Blogging isn't like Twitter where you post short comments explaining what you are doing. I think it's deeper than that. Blogging is like opening a window into your world, letting others experience the vast labyrinth of emotions, thoughts and dreams that you have swirling around inside. I hope that my blog here can provide my followers with the above, to open a little window in my head to let the outside world know me, appreciate me and above all, understand me.

Followers

Despite knowing that all of my blogs go unseen day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I know I should still use the Internet to share the things I have experienced, learned and seen. But why have I no followers? Why is no one volunteering to see my posts, to experience the things I would like to share with the world? So here is my plea to the world of Bloggers out there- please take a chance on me, and follow me, so that I can take you on a journey to my world, where my life is your life, and my dreams are your dreams...

Swim Training

Whilst my classmates sleep peacefully in their warm beds, I am swimming, exhausted in the smelly pool at Chinese International School. I don't know why, but my swimming capabilities seem to be deteriorating, although they were already quite bad before. I just don't understand why we can't do training sometime after school, instead of having to be dragged out of a warm bed on a cold morning. It's very frustrating, and unhealthy for the sleep-deprived like me. On the rare occasion when I am fast at swimming, I feel good for the rest of the day. But most of the time, I am upset due to my poor and slow speed. My fastest time for 50meter freestyle is 40 something seconds, whereas my classmates and fellow swimmers have slowest times of 18. As I said, it's hard being the slowest and fattest girl on the team, because I am pushed even harder than the rest of the girls. I get tired after 50 meters of swimming, when my fellow swimmers can last at least 8 laps. It's very sad for me, and for them. When we do relay practices, I slow the whole team down, creating tension and hatred when we lose. I really hope I can either pull out, or magically increase my speed instead of clogging up the lane with my cellulite.