Significant Moment draft

I opened my eyes, and it was already six o’clock. Where was I? I was still not getting used to where I lived that time. I started going to junior high school that time. That was the first time I went to a boarding school. After a month of school days and a seven days break, I started to have home sick.

It was just a normal day after the break. Octobers in Shanghai was always warm and peaceful. I would like the peaceful scene in normal time, but for the time that I had home sick, it just brought me irritation and anger. The leaves weren’t falling and seemed to be a little bit yellow; some small birds were on the branches. The soft winds blew to my face quietly. But none of these beautiful things can make me happy.

I started to complain in my mind. I did blame my parents who went to other cities because of work, I did blame my grandparents who left me and went to look after my little cousin, and I even blame my little cousin who took the love of my grandparents and make me to stay in a boarding school with home sick. It was a beautiful morning, but my mind cannot be as beautiful as that.

Actually the courses are not easy for me, and I didn’t really like everything in my new school, even my classmates. I didn’t found really good friends since I just went there for a month but my other classmates knew each other for many years. “Hi! Why are you staying here by yourself?” someone asked me. I looked up strangely, that’s one of my classmates. I had never talked to her before. I tried to smiled and answered, “Nothing, I’m just sitting here and waste the time.” Then we had breakfast together.

Since the relationships between people are so magical, we soon became good friends. She made me felt better and told me what she felt when she got homesick at the first year of boarding school. As a result, I get into the new condition that I lived. Lastly, I want to say it’s difficult to live by yourself in a new place, and it’s really great to be a independent person, but if people have a friend, that’s even better.

Common Grammar Mistakes

For a piece of writing, it’s really important for people to have the correct grammar. The correct grammar can make the writing seems formal and clear. However, there are still many kinds of grammar mistakes, which everybody would met and also really difficult to prevent. For example, the spelling mistakes, tenses problem and using the wrong articles are some typical grammar mistakes in essays, books and nearly all of writings.

Firstly, for the spelling mistakes, it always happens when people are typing. For example, when I wrote a book review for Persepolis, I wrote, “The story stars when Marjane was ten, when she used to believe her schoolteachers and believed the god selected the king”. I meant to write the story starts, but I typed really fast and I didn’t check it, so I just wrote the story stars, which wasn’t making any sense at all. For another kind of spelling mistakes, it’s always caused by the difficult and long world. Such as sometimes, I wanted to write unfortunately, and I usually write “unfortunatly”. But actually it’s difficult to fix people’s spelling problems if people really check their work carefully. Also, for many computers now can help people to fix with their terrible grammar mistakes. Also, if people find some words they are not sure, they can use the dictionary to help.

On the other hand, for tenses problem, which is the most common problem I usually have, mostly happens because of the messy tense using in a piece of writing. So, I mostly use the same tense in one essay. However, I still always got it wrong. When I wrote a letter for a character in a story that I really like, I said, “Even though you were really surprised, you can still stay and be a nice listener of her long story, which is even quite boring.” Since the events happened before, so I used past tense for this sentence. However, I should say you could still stay instead of you can stay. These things just happened in past time, so I cannot you any verbs or things in present tense, or my essay would be really messy with the mix of tenses. In my opinion, tenses problems can be fix by more practicing on writing and people can ask others to help them check the mistakes, which is easier than check by their selves.

After that, another important thing is the using of articles. Articles, such as a, the, and an, are using in all sentences all around people’s life. They are the most common using things. Usually, people use more than one article in a sentence. For example, I use an “a” in last sentence. Actually it’s not a really common mistake in my writing but I would still make it wrong sometime. Also for the letter to a character in a story, I wrote, “I’m just a simple person who has been motivated by silent and deep love.” I referred to the main character’s deep love the other, but I actually didn’t use “the” for silent and deep love. The sentence should be, “I’m just a simple person who has been motivated by the silent and deep love”. For making it better, I think people should even take care of it when they are speaking and try to change it even they find a mistake in speaking. Then it would be really better.

Lastly, I wish there would be less grammar mistakes in my writings. Also, I think it should be possible for me to avoid these common grammar mistakes.

A letter to Patrick - final

A letter to Patrick

Dear Patrick,

I’m really glad that I know your story and I’m really moved by your love to Joanna. I’m just a simple person who has been motivated by silent and deep love. I wrote this letter because I want to say thank you that your story told me there is a kind of love that is really stable and beautiful. I can never forget what I felt when you said, “She is a part of me.”

I wish I would also be dead-set when I faced with that kind of situation. When you asked if Joanna lived there, she said, “Yeah, with my daughter”. Even though you were really surprised, you can still stay and be a nice listener of her long story, which is even quite boring. I thought you would leave when she told you the love story between her and another guy, who’s left, but you didn’t. You just fell in love with someone you even don’t familiar with. It’s like you had a poison that called Joanna. "I can never forget that smile; I loved her with my whole life since the first second I saw her”, I can’t imagine how could someone love a girl that much.

You taught me that people should have courage to stay with the person that you really love. Many couples left each other because of tons of reasons, sometimes they still love each other, but they left because of really small problems. However, from your story, I knew that people should be responsible to their love of the life. It doesn’t matter if the person you love is young or old, or if he or she used have some other loved with. If people do love someone, at least they need to do something to get their love. You said, “Maybe I can stay...” It’s a good choice that you made yourself a life with no regret. I wish if I need to do this kind of decision one day, I would do the best decision that wouldn’t make me regret as well.

It’s so beautiful to become older and older with the person you loved. When people are old, with lot’s of wrinkles that shows their experience of life, the best thing is they still have their love on their left. So do you. “She liked to stay here with me and talked whatever appeared in her head”, you said this in you story. In your mind, there were all you and Joanna’s memory. You knew that she was sensitive at colors, she always missed her grand children, and you have her in your mind. You know her better than knowing yourself. Also, Joanna loved you also, and both of you had a peaceful and a lovely time with each other, so there’s nothing really regretful in your life that you already have what you want the most.

And lastly, even though she died, I know, I know you are not sad. You understand everything of her well, you can see her anywhere in your life, and in your mind she is still doing what she did everyday before. When you are painting, you would hear she argues with the color you use. When you are having lunch, you would find that she sits beside you and eats her favorite food with a satisfied smile. And when you are siting in the garden, you would notice that she wants you to help her plants the flowers.

After that, if it’s possible, if you don’t mind, I suggest to meet you on that island, on where you and Joanna spend your life. I wish I can really talk to you face by face, and I’m really glad to know more stories about you and Joanna.

As you said, “she is a part of me”, as I can really understand, you love her so much.

Sincerely,

Cherrie