Lily Rong Cong 丛榕

I grew up using the storey system in China and North America. So for a long time, I couldn’t think of any logic behind the European system. See illustration of the two systems below.

I had always thought since it is natural to count from 1, 1st floor must be the most accessible storey, not the one above it. However, it is not until recently when I thought more about it that I discovered that the European system is certainly superior when storeys below ground are involved.

If I walked 2 storeys up from 1st floor, I’d end up on 3rd floor no matter if I’m in Europe or North America. And I can calculate in this way: 1+2=3.

If I walked 2 storeys up from underground 1st floor (or negative 1st floor), I’d end up on 1st floor in Europe. And I can still calculate it in the same way as above: -1+2=1 . In North America, I’d end up on 2nd floor. But to calculate it, I’d have to add 1 to the sum to get to the right answer, in other words -1+2+1=2. Similarly when calculating the number of storeys between a floor below the ground and a floor above the ground in North America, one has to subtract 1 from the difference. All this adding-or-subtracting-one-business is caused by the lack of 0th floor in the North American storey system.

The non-existence of the 0th floor (ground floor) in the North American storey system can be compared to the non-existence of year 0 in our commonly used calendar system (the Anno Domini system). When calculating the number of years between a B.C. year and a A.D. year, we have to subtract 1 from the difference between the years. For example, the number of years from 10 B.C. (year -10) to 10 A.D. (year 10) is calculated as 10-(-10)-1=19.

Came across a neat site Goodreads, where I can track the books I have read, the ones I am reading, and the ones I would like to read. I can rate books and add friends and see their list of books. My favourite feature is comparing my ratings to friends’ ratings of the same books. This can generate some fun discussions next time we meet.

So much modern art is ugly for the sake of being ugly.
- Mike Adams, artist

Read twenty or so articles on a certain subject, pick out bits and pieces, and then glue them together. This is how we are expected to write mini-papers at teachers’ college. This past semester is the first time I have done this, and also the first time I fully understood what Robert Pirsig meant in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:

Schools teach you to imitate. If you don’t imitate as the teacher wants, you get a bad grade. Here in college, it was more sophisticated, of course; you were supposed to imitate the teacher in a way to convince the teacher you were not imitating, but taking the essence of the instruction and going ahead with it on your own. That got you A’s. Originality on the other hand, could get you anything – from A to F. The whole grading system cautioned against it.

Anyone still wonder why inspiring teachers are hard to come by?

Historical city with castles, churches, and stunning architecture, some dating back to the 12th century. Other features include strong wind, lots of bikers, and good pastries.

Rosenborg Castle, which houses most Danish royal treasures

Bikers at the square outside Christiansborg Castle

Reflection of National Museum

A 16th-century house in the historical town of Helsingør

Helsingør Castle

Little Mermaid by the sea

Copenhagen castles, churches, and rooftops

The Church of Our Saviour

I will mention only the two most important tips which helped me effectively learn two languages:

1. Listen and speak before reading: If the textbook comes with recording for example on a CD, listen attentively and repeat after each line or phrase as best as you can until there is no longer stress. Only then, open the book.

2. Don’t stress about remembering words: When encountering an unknown word, look it up, make a mental note of it, then move on. It is neither necessary to stress about not being able to remember a word after you have seen it seven or eight times nor painfully cram vocabulary.

This site offers many good tips.

A simple story about an ordinary person was told on the Norwegian national radio last month. Somehow I can’t keep my mind off it.

It is the end of June, and most Norwegians start to go on vacations, many travelling to other places. But some cannot travel due to physical constraints, for example the elderly people at nursing homes. So, a nurse who likes riding motorcycles came up with an idea – bundling a sidecar to his motorcycle and offering residents personalized trips, with comfort and fresh air.

It’s a beautiful day in June and it’s an elder lady’s turn to travel with the motorcycle nurse, Michael Raaberg. Michael is a strong man, and he lifts her up and puts her down in the sidecar like a child. During the ride, Michael asks how she does. She says, “Good, very good, never better!” with a youthful and cheerful voice. They drive through the Oslo city centre, they talk about different places they pass by, like old friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time.

The issue of safety, especially with residents with heart diseases, has popped up in the heads of the staff team once, but they decided that it’s much worse “locking up” the residents all year long. So far, there hasn’t been one single incident and the residents have never been happier.

Michael talks about himself. He was educated as a graphic designer and designed catelogues for Ikea. At the height of his career, he found his work lack of meaning and decided to become a nurse instead. Now he’s a happy nurse, bringing happiness into other people’s lives.

When people follow their hearts, they easily come up with simple and yet ingenious solutions to big problems, they naturally make a difference. I hope more and more people follow their hearts like him. I hope I become like him.