MY NAME - SELDA -

My name is Selda. This name was given me by my grandfather. He gave me that name because he liked a singer very much whose name is Selda. The meaning of my name is floating water. The root of my name is Sel that means flood. People in my village believe that water and floods bring good and worthy things to people. In addition, in the ancient times the most beautiful and rich villages were constructed near a river that means water is alive for all people. Finally, my name symbolizes water and life.

my name - vivian -

When i just came here my friends and i were thinking about my English name.
Actually I already thought about my name that was victoria. But my friends told me
that is too long and when they heard victoria they couldn't image me.
So my friend's wife, who is a writer, she gave this name to me. So It became my English name.
I love my name.

Boulder, Colorado 3

Now we are there, in Rocky Mountain National Park. The park was huge and endless, at lleast that was I felt. There were a lot of spots that people can have some nice views of the valleys and mountains. The little chipmunk wasn't scared of people at all becuase people feed them. That is not good for the wildlife but as we know, people are like that. Not that they are kind to the animal but they DON'T CARE if it's gonna hurt anybody. So there was not much snow. Just patches of snow all over the place maybe two or three inches. But that was more than enough to make me happy.










Then we drove back in the different direction and we got to see some elk. They were grazing the grass in the field on the hill. I like how big the antlers are. As you can see there are some dead trees. Those are pine trees. We first thought they were chinging color but as you know, pine trees are evergreen, that means those red ones we see are dead. And a lot of them died. I saw a lot of them died all over the place. That is sad. I hope it's just the way it is. Becuase I can see that about one fourth of the trees are dead. I really wish it was the way nature works. Somebody know about this tell me.

Boulder, Colorado 2

The next day was a fun day. We went to Rocky Mountain National Park, two hours from Boulder, to see SNOW, yes, snow in the mountains. We drove to Estes and drop by Estes park to relax and get some information about Rocky Mountain National Park. There is a lake at Estes Park, a amall lake in both sides of the road. From Estes, it doesn't take so long to go to Rocky Mountain National Park to see snow. So we did that. I was so excited to see snow becuase it was going to be my first time. The way to Rocky Mountain National Park was very scenic becuase the trees are chaging colors and getting ready for winter. And here are some pictures from when we were on the way there. Yes just on the way there.



The first picture is a park on the road side. The leaves were changing colors as you can see. The second picture was my first sight of snow. Real snow. The third is some birds who were trying to get some peanuts from the chipmunks. The fourth is the lake which I don't remember the name. It's in Estes Park. And the last one is a board walk on the road side. Look how pretty it is.

Boulder, Colorado 1

Hi everyone,

As you know, I went to Colorado on Thursday and I found it a very pretty place to live, especially in Boulder. The city is surrouded by big and high moutains. The weather when I was there was very beautiful. Boulder is pretty dry and high up. And it was clear, I mean I didn't realise how hazy it is in the Bay Area until I saw Boulder. On the first day I was there which was Friday I did a lot of hiking. ( I got there on Thursday evening so all I could do that night was going to a Thai restaurant in town so I don't count it as a day.) We went to a tea fatory called Celestial Seasonings. There was a tour that we can see the production of the tea. And here are some pictures from a mountain and the tea factory. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside.

I am not a big fan of tea but I was enjoying myself trying some sample and taking the tour. We got to be in a room where the mint is stored, oh my god, I will never forget that moment. It was very strong until you feel like you were soaking in the mint and it makes my eye watered. I love that room. The tour guide said if they leave that room open the whole area in miles radius will smell the mint. After that again I took another hike on the same range of mountain but different area. This time we could really the city of Boulder.

It rained the day before I got there but after that it was beautiful. I was so lucky to have the sun for the whole trip. But too bad that it wasn't snowing even though it snow two days before I got there. And also the weather forecast said this morning that it's going to be snowing later in this week. But I have to come back here. It was amazing how the flowers are still there in late summer and they still look in a good shape. Here in Berkeley the flowersand grass up Berkeley hills died months ago. In boulder, it rains all year long so the grass don die becuase of droughts but its own lifetime. I did see some deer when we were hiking close to the place where my boyfriend had a meeting. They were feeding themselves. Denver International Airport is something. I haven't seen any airport having that kind of roof before. The roof is like tent. It's nice to look at.

My Birthday!!

Yesterday was Wednesday, September 23 2009, my birthday. I woke up at the usual time, then I went to school. We were planning to attend a concert about Shakespearean songs at the Hertz Hall at UC Berkeley campus.

The lady who was a soprano had an awesome voice, she sang the songs without mic still very loud and clear. I had a great time there, thanks to my teacher Denise for bringing me there. That was a nice present for my birthday.

After the concert, we went home by ourselves. I didn't go home directly, I went to Telegraph for shopping. I wanted to have something to reward myself, because I had been studying hard for the last few months. Haha.... Finally, I bought 2 pairs of shoes. Both of them were Nike's shoes. How fun and nice!!

At the dinner, my sister and her mother-in-law gave me a present, and also my brother-in-law bought me a birthday cake. Thank you, you guys! And also thanks to my friends for giving me birthday wishes.

I liked listening to both the harpsichord and the harp because it's been a long time since I have attended a concert with either one of these instruments.
I didn't like the acting part, though. I think it didn't suited that kind of presentation. Maybe the singer should just have sung.

I am back.

Hello team.

I was away from blogging for about a decade because I had to work. Now I'm back. I have taken a lot of pictures like usual but haven't had time to post them until now.

These two pictures were taken in two different places. The California poppies are from Berkeley Marina. We went for a walk with two dogs there about a month ago I guess. The weather was perfect that day. And the other one is from the fire trail. It was very dry. But it must be much better now after the rain. That's a relief. :)

And these two are from the same place as the poppies. Can you see how nice the weather was? It was a little breezy but in a good way because it was quite a warm day and without the breeze it could have been too warm. You can really see the city. I still feel good just to think about it now. There were a lot of people out there and some bikers on the area that dogs can be off leash. My boyfriend really dislikes the idea that bikes are allowed even in the only area that dogs can be off leash especially when he has Nina with him because Nina doesn't like things with wheels except for cars.

Right next to the city are the clouds and the fog. How lucky we were on that day. Both East Bay and San Francisco.

Now, this is a caterpillar a boy found and he showed it to me. It scared me because even though I know that animal is pretty and harmless, still, I am scared of it. Poor thing had to put up with the boy for a while. I hoped he would let it go finally. I don't think the caterpillar was gonna make it to be a butterfly if the boy took it home with him. :( Poor guy.

I just took this today this morning. There was a pile dog poop in our front yard and therefore there were some flies on a bush just next to the stair in front of the house. They must have been doing something with the dog poop. But still, they looked so pretty. Who cares if they are dirty, they eat their food. Sorry if I have been so gross. Click to see the big picture of that one, it's pretty detailed.

I am always in love with this kind of flower. Now the season of them is coming. I like how luxurious they look. Really, they look kind of grand, classic, anyway, I like them.

diving brown pelicans

Hi everyone,

I went to Los Gatos to pick up some National Geographic magazines for us :) On the return trip I went to Half Moon Bay, a lovely white sand beach South of San Francisco. What really struck me were the diving brown pelicans. Apparently, they are here at the end of September, they have come from Mexico - then they migrate as far as British Columbia as they follow their food supply. As you know, I don't have a camera, so I posted a link to a short video I found on youtube of a diving pelican. I was fascinated by the speed of the dive!
See you on Monday - hope you are staying warm and dry - Denise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDlk1BOLTTg

Learning disability

The day before yesterday, I read an article about some people who have certain disabilities of learning, writing, reading, spelling and speaking. For all of these reasons, and because they have some abnormalities in their brain, it is hard for them to process and absorb information.

One disease of learning disability is called dyslexia, a dyslexia patient has normal vision and intelligence, but has difficulty reading because he reads the letters in words differently. He may see the letters backwards, upside down, or sideways.

Another learning disability is when someone has trouble translating what he thinks into writing. They can communicate very well by speaking, but when they try to write, they become blocked, then can't write at all, or they can only write very slowly. Their handwriting may look like that of a younger child.

These problems make them have trouble to keep up with their classmates. Fortunately, this disease can be treated. If not, these problems will become social problems.

Hi every one!!

Hi Denise, Jeff, Anatoly, Ismael, Kimika, Natasha, Sarah, Ugur(Is that right?,...) and Beril !
Wow It's too hard spell... Is that right?....
Nowadays I have been going to BCC since August 20th. It is funny!
Good class mates~ Good teachers, Good classes.. But I miss you guys TTTTTTT
We are very close.. but we didn't meet..
TTTT
How are you guys?
Everything is OK?