~.:Riana's Blog:.~

介紹堂堂...

My Taiwanese Family.... 在台中

介紹堂堂!~

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=MBiXnY7CAcc

他真可愛喔!!

posted by .:~Riana~:. @ 7:44 PM 0 Comments

Introducing.... a lappie that works!

OooOOOooOOo I'm so excited! I'll be getting a new lappie soon... so I can actually type properly with my w,s,p,d,e and other letters, lol. I went to the IT Show with Ryan, after both he and Misha told me that it was on. And I ended up choosing the hp pavillion dv2709... so pretty and pretty cool too! It'll last me for uni, work and AIESEC work :)

/HP_Pavilion_Notebook_dv2600_brochure.pdf

posted by .:~Riana~:. @ 9:34 PM 1 Comments

Freud Who?

I got to talking with my colleague today about Freudian theories... and whether anyone we knew was fixated on any one stage. It was fun, discussing these kinds of stuff in an amateurish way. But we all start off ignorant - it's only through discussion, research and contemplation they we learn and develop own own intellects! I think the most famous stage is the 'anal retentive' - although it's correct meaning has almost been lost in slanderous sayings... lol

We also talked about ourselves and whether we had fixated on any stage as a child. For me - it was the oral stage. I sucked my finger until I was quite old!! So where does that leave me in Freud's theories? Dependant? A smoker? Bulimic? haha... ah - the power knowledge can have on you. Well I don't think I'm any of those things... last time I checked anyway :P
We have the power to change ourselves and shape our behaviour into how we choose - if you want to allow something to influence you then it will. Did you fixate on anything as you developed and grew up? Hehe... I have included some interesting information on the stages below.

The oral stage lasts from birth to about 18 months. The focus of pleasure is, of course, the mouth. Sucking and biting are favorite activities.

The anal stage lasts from about 18 months to three or four years old. The focus of pleasure is the anus. Holding it in and letting it go are greatly enjoyed.

The phallic stage lasts from three or four to five, six, or seven years old. The focus of pleasure is the genitalia. Masturbation is common.

The latent stage lasts from five, six, or seven to puberty, that is, somewhere around 12 years old. During this stage, Freud believed that the sexual impulse was suppressed in the service of learning. I must note that, while most children seem to be fairly calm, sexually, during their grammar school years, perhaps up to a quarter of them are quite busy masturbating and playing "doctor." In Freud's repressive era, these children were, at least, quieter than their modern counterparts.

The genital stage begins at puberty, and represents the resurgence of the sex drive in adolescence, and the more specific focusing of pleasure in sexual intercourse. Freud felt that masturbation, oral sex, homosexuality, and many other things we find acceptable in adulthood today, were immature.

This is a true stage theory, meaning that Freudians believe that we all go through these stages, in this order, and pretty close to these ages.

Character

Your experiences as you grow up contribute to your personality, or character, as an adult. Freud felt that traumatic experiences had an especially strong effect. Of course, each specific trauma would have its own unique impact on a person, which can only be explored and understood on an individual basis. But traumas associated with stage development, since we all have to go through them, should have more consistency.

If you have difficulties in any of the tasks associated with the stages -- weaning, potty training, or finding your sexual identity -- you will tend to retain certain infantile or childish habits. This is called fixation. Fixation gives each problem at each stage a long-term effect in terms of our personality or character.

If you, in the first eight months of your life, are often frustrated in your need to suckle, perhaps because mother is uncomfortable or even rough with you, or tries to wean you too early, then you may develop an oral-passive character. An oral-passive personality tends to be rather dependent on others. They often retain an interest in "oral gratifications" such as eating, drinking, and smoking. It is as if they were seeking the pleasures they missed in infancy.

When we are between five and eight months old, we begin teething. One satisfying thing to do when you are teething is to bite on something, like mommy's nipple. If this causes a great deal of upset and precipitates an early weaning, you may develop an oral-aggressive personality. These people retain a life-long desire to bite on things, such as pencils, gum, and other people. They have a tendency to be verbally aggressive, argumentative, sarcastic, and so on.

These various phallic characters demonstrate an important point in Freudian characterology: Extremes lead to extremes. If you are frustrated in some way or overindulged in some way, you have problems. And, although each problem tends to lead to certain characteristics, these characteristics can also easily be reversed. So an anal retentive person may suddenly become exceedingly generous, or may have some part of their life where they are terribly messy. This is frustrating to scientists, but it may reflect the reality of personality!

from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html

posted by .:~Riana~:. @ 9:33 PM 1 Comments

9 Songs ~九歌~

Last night I saw "nine songs" (九歌) with 米粉 and her classmate... it was simply stunning! The dancers are so skilled, and extremely fit as they float and shake across the stage.
There was a real lily pond in front of the stage to match the main motif in the stage design, and at the end they created a fire river out of candles. It was beautiful to see set against the dark lighting!

Apparently the choreography and music is based from a set of 11 ancient Chinese poems (called 9 songs, as 九 in chinese is often used to signify 'many'). Although the original music and dances were lost, this highly acclaimed performance still bases its choreography on the 4 seasons and the many trials of human life - love, death, loneliness and hope.

Nine Songs
23 November 2007 - 29 December 2007 19:45 - 21:45 Every day Venue: National Theatre Hall, National Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Center (國立中正文化中心戲劇院) Group: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (雲門舞集)

Here is the review from the cultural site:


Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (雲門舞集) will open its fall season with Lin Hwai Min’s (林懷民) world renown masterpiece, Nine Songs (九歌), a full-length dance that reinterprets a cycle of ancient ritual songs as modern theater. This acclaimed work, heralded as “one of the most important dance works of our time” by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zietung, Germany, will be seen in an island-wide tour which will travel to Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi between 23 November to 29 December.

Nine Songs premiered in 1993 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cloud Gate. The piece was danced at the troupe’s debut at New York’s Next Wave Festival in 1995. During the 2000 Olympic Arts Festival in Sydney, Nine Songs was among the spotlights on a stage full of international performing groups.

Foreign press reviews of Nine Songs:

One of the most important dance works of our time

It has elevated Lin Hwai-min, unchallenged giant in Asia, to the ultimate level of the great choreographers of the 20th century.

A work of epic resonance and contemporary relevance. Lin Hwai-min has choreographed a striking pictorial spectacle, eye-filling and thought-provoking . . .
The New York Times

posted by .:~Riana~:. @ 9:22 PM 0 Comments

Shaking apartments!

Tonight I was talking with Jack when suddenly my apartment started shaking ~ so scary! Jack felt it too, and he's in another city! This was the first time I'd felt an earthquake here, and being on the top floor I don't really like my chances of survival...

posted by .:~Riana~:. @ 7:47 AM 2 Comments

Chinese Valentine's Day

Felicia told me that the Chinese Valentine's day is coming up on the 18th August. Like all Chinese celebrations, it comes with it's own story:

"There was this boy who was very kind and good. He always did great things for other people, and an angel always looked over him. She loved him for what he did and who he was, and decided to come down to earth and be with him. After a few months, they fell in love and decided to marry. Her father could not accept this, for she was an angel and the boy only human. However, he could see how great their love was for each other, and decided that they could be together one day of the year. And so he built a bridge between heaven and earth on this day."

It's such a beautiful story!

posted by .:~Riana~:. @ 3:29 AM 1 Comments

Dissecting the aussie brain

well, I've been having a rather interesting weekend. But the important thing is that I have come out of it knowing a few more things I need to be stricter with myself about.

It's funny how you can be so retrospective about yourself and your own behaviour. There's so many things that I want to achieve, and so many things that I want to do to make my friends and family's life so much richer.

with my friends, sometimes I wish I could be more deep with them. I think that I am the kind of person who easily can be happy, energetic and sincere with my friends. But still I find it hard to connect more deeply with people, especially quickly! So far I don't think I've had that kind of connection with people in Taiwan, except for perhaps Jack. Even in Australia.... there are only a few people who understand my moods and feelings... and reasons behind my actions without any kind of intent analysis or questions. To be truthful with myself, I find it hard to trust someone completely, and although at times I feel like I do... I always ending up realising that I don't.
Felicia and Eugene have both told me that they only ever see one of my "faces" - the happy one. Even in situations where they expect me to cry or have other emotions.. I just hide it so well. I guess this must make them feel a little strange. Eugene says I have no emotions, like some cold-blooded creature. Felicia says she worries because she can't tell what my feelings are and so she can't help me if I'm experiencing anything bad - like homesickness. :) She is such a sweet girl!

I just want to be the best person I can. I wish I knew how to help my sister with her life, and encourage her to reach for the stars. She is too ashamed to take simple leaps of faith, or to believe that she has so much potential in her. I see it whenever I talk with her, although she is almost as good at hiding her distrust in her own abilities as I am at hiding feelings. I don't know how to coax this inner child out of her... the child that is as sweet and endearing as any that have lived. we might be in a world that doesn't just hand you an oyster, but we sure can create our own happiness if you just believe strongly enough in your own self.

I think Tristan and I overcame many obstacles to become mature souls. He amazes me a lot, and although he might act one way among his friends (who doesn't, really?) he can easily solve problems or produce some idea. we both have strong morals and a sense of intuition. Although we can feel frustrated when the situation seems too impossible or that we cannot do something about it, I know that Trist will usually be patient until the solution materializes. I don't think we could have had any other life that would have shaped us better! Our development has made us highly independent, loyal and resistant.

And now I'm so happy and proud of him - he's at Curtin studying engineering and I can sense that his sense of self-esteem is increasing. I can see that things are going right for him now :) I have heard a few principles - that basically in your life, all the different sections like love, work, family etc need to be whole and fulfilled before you can achieve real happiness. If one part is not whole, then you will focus on this and it will become your one dissatisfaction. In life, people will try to use other areas to make them feel "whole", like finding a lover etc. But if you're not whole be yourself, this won't solve the problem. Only two whole people can have a successful relationship.

Felicia told me a story in Chinese about a circle missing a wedge and a triangle. The circle thinks that the triangle can make him whole and asks the triangle to help, so they can roll along together smoothly. So the triangle tries to make the circle whole, but does not that the curved edge to achieve this. They roll, but it's not the same. Eventually, they just roll alongside together and discover that they can roll along at the same speed, fulfilling each others' happiness.

The only person who I have managed to connect with so deeply is John - my best friend and soul mate. Before you ask, we are not lovers and will never be. we just see something in each other that I haven't seen in anyone else, besides Tristan. we have been through so much together that the trust has forged itself so deeply and unexpectedly...

I met John during our first year at high-school. Neither of us knew anybody in our SS classes, and so we ended up sitting at the same table by chance. He was very funny and loud, but I could never understand what he was feeling. I felt confused for a very long time, for I am usually very sensitive about people's moods and feelings - but he was the first person to completely baffle me. Perhaps a year later, by the time we were parting ways to attend other schools I understood him more and more. Although another chapter had closed, John was not merely another friend in my memory - he'd ascended above this and is now another reader of my life. The moments we have shared and the ties between us are so very strong, that to lose such a bright flame in my life would be worse than losing both arms.

I guess our experiences during our lives have taught us lessons that not very many in our society has ever had to learn, and its like we share this secret quality that makes us the same. He is the most considerate, sweet and kind person I have ever met. It's a shame that he hides his inner self away from others, and although to strip him of his carefree facade to be to render him vulnerable, it would be like removing the shades away from a bright light. It's just that his light is too bright for many people to handle.

Mostly, the way people see me is always different.
My family sees me as the responsible and energetic one. I like to organise things and achieve happy results for everything. Sometimes Tristan would say I'm too bossy... haha.

My friends generally say that I'm happy, loyal and that I have this sense of peace that always makes them feel calm with themselves. I'm the secret-keeper, the counselor of all problems, and the person who can lift one's spirits when they feel down.

Some of the qualities that I would love to have is just to be selfless and to be a quick decision maker. I want to be more sure of myself in some situations and to be able to concentrate on something long enough to see the fruit of it.
I also know that all of this is achievable in time with effort on my side... I just need to apply myself and not lose focus of my goals. Then I can come back to Australia, and say "I have achieved".

posted by .:~Riana~:. @ 1:10 AM 3 Comments