Mythology about Nian

Chinese New Year is called as Spring Festival too. Spring Festival features wearing new clothing, eating dumplings, having reunion dinner, posting spring scrolls on windows and doors etc. Some picture posted on door is called door-god, which is very fearful. Why do people like to post an ugly picture on door?  There is a tale about Nian. Nian means year. For example I had studied four years in Jiangsu province. But there is another meaning. According to tales and legends, Nian is a mythical beast. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the colour red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. 

Christmas gift

Christmas gift

                        A Puppy and Her Doghouse

The Puppy in Her Doghouse

My daughter received some Christmas gifts. She was very happy and appreciated her gifts. Her favorite gift is a fluffy puppy with a doghouse which is a bag. There is a picture of the puppy's body on one side of the bag. The picture is made from fluff which is the same material as the dog. If the puppy's body is put in the bag and the toy puppy's head is out of the bag, you will see a whole puppy. It looks like that the bag is transparent. It is very interesting. I think the factory might make large sums of money from this kind of toys and a profitable product may stem from a simple idea. Some people say that an idea can make a company revive, and some people believe the technique is more important. In my opinion, good idea is important but the idea could not be realized without technique, so technique is most important for a company, and technique of company depends on talents and years accumulation.

The Concert Trip

The Concert Trip

On Tuesday, I went to Roy Thomson Hall for a noontime concert. This is my second time to downtown and I am not familiar with Roy Thomson Hall and how to get there. Following the teacher’s suggestion, I arrived at Don Mills subway station before 10:00Am, and I met my classmate there. We transferred at Sheppard-Yonge Station, and got at St Adrew station. In the train, I listened carefully the announcer who gave out the arrival station and nest station, looked the sign on the wall and referred the map, in order to know where we were. But I did not get some words such as Wellesley, Dundas from the announcer. I thought if I had not taken a map and miss the sign on the wall, I would have lost!

Before 10:00 we arrived at the Roy Thomson Hall, which is a really beautiful and special building. In front of the Hall, we met Joseph, and he led us walk around the block, and he told us some story about constructions of downtown. One of them is the famous CN tower. Standing among these buildings, I felt that I were so small. In the heart of Toronto, we saw a different Toronto from North York, and felt the modernity, bustling, beauty and crowding, of course.

The concert was start at 12:00 Am. So I thought that is why it was called as noontime concert. When the mass choir appeared, every one in the hall gave them a round of applause. The concert lasted about one hour. If I read more things about Gospel, I would enjoy it.

After the concert ended, I left the Hall alone. It was easy to find the subway station. I think everyone got something form the trip and the concert. “Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles” as the saying goes.

Some Pictures of Concert Trip

About Tramps

Homeless People and Tramps

I read an article about the homeless in Candada yesterday. It has been said that the homeless in Canada has grown in size and complexity in recent years. Women and children are growing in homeless population. The homeless are not only the crisis of city, but also the number of homeless in the suburbs are increasing. There are between 30,000 and 40,000 homeless people in Toronto (2004), and the city has not enough shelters for them. Even worse, there are over 106,000 people in GTA who spend more than half of their income on rent, and they are at risk of becoming homeless people.

Tramps are a kind of homeless people. According to Wikipedia, a tramp is a long-term homeless person. Some people say that tramps are different from beggars. They choose to lead their lives because of freedom and  it is convenient for them to hike because they have few possession. They live in simple way and are free from care. They are closer to nature because they have to sleep in the open. Yes, sometimes we may feel a little envious of their simple way of lives, but I think their freedom is the result of without skills to get enough income, and they sleep in the open  because they have not houses. Who will be homeless if he has enough money or has enough skill to get a job? Everyone has right to get shelter and food. So the city should have considered more about homelessness and poverty. Who will be the next homeless people?

Reading from Charts on the Toronto Real Estate Market

According this chart, I think the number of sales for December 2011 will be about 5,000. From the whole year's trend of sales, the number will decrease and from the recent three year's trend the number will be greater then that of Dec. 2010 and less than that of Dec. 2009.

I guess that the number of new listings this month will be about 5,000, and it may be a little higher than the number of the same month in the previous three years.

The number of Sales-to-New Listings Ratio for Dec. 2011 will be less then 1, and it will be higher than that of other months, but less then that of previous two years. 

 From the chart, the share of average household income used for mortgage principal and interest will be 32% this year and it will go up.

About Daylight Saving Time

If you are interested in DST, you can access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time.
The article may help you to know something about DST. Some facts are very interesting, such as what is DST, why we have DST, whether DST really saves electricity, etc.