July 5, 2013

Today I went to the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Was I in some sort of trouble? No, I had a tour in the CIB. My grandfather, who had already passed away, was a policeman. One of his students, who still has contact with us, decided to give us a tour in the CIB. I am a big fan of Crime Scene Investigation television series, especially the part where the investigators analyze the DNA and bullets through the machines in the laboratory. I’ve always had an interest in detective stories and crime investigations. I was really excited when I heard that we are going to visit that place. First, we stopped at the floor where bullets are analyzed. The station has a tank of water. People shoot the bullets into the water in order to get a bullet sample with undamaged spiral. They would later compare the sample with a bullet found in the crime scene in order to determine the murder weapon. Later, our tour guide led us to the chemical room, where many drugs are analyzed. I saw scientists looking into the microscopes for answers. One of the scientists told us all about drugs: the types of drugs, all methods the dealers might use, and how easy it is to manufacture them. Later, we visited the interrogation room. My brother sat on the chair for demonstration. There were wires put around his chest in order to measure the change of breathing rate. There were also small balloon put on the chair in order to test for the shift of the center of gravity, which will indicate anxiety. Lastly, we were brought to his office. He had a helicopter drone in his office. He allowed me to examine the helicopter carefully. Although I wasn’t allow to actually fly it, I was satisfied.

June 29, 2013

My father decided to bring the family to Changhua County to visit one of his friends. On the way to Changhua County, I was asleep while dreaming about a beautiful city that will appear when I open my eyes at the destination. However, all I saw were a few small houses and endless fields of crops when I got off the car. Although many questions were still unanswered in my mind, I still followed my father and walked towards one of the small houses. My father’s friend came out and welcomed us. After a brief conversation in the house, he led us outside and showed us his farm. I was astonished by what I saw - a huge beautiful farm decorated with many diverse and colorful vegetables. There were tomatoes, cucumbers, papayas, dioscorea oppositas, pumpkins, watermelons, and even rice. The friend of my father told us many interesting facts about each type of vegetables he had on his farm. All grains of rice were white flowers before they were fertilized and became rice. In order to plant a dioscorea opposita, a farmer needs to dig a hole three meters deep. Unlike most plants, the male and female parts of papaya trees actually grow on two different trees. At last, my father’s friend brought us to the lychee yard. He allowed us to pick as many lychees as we wished. The pleasant smell of the lychee energized us. We ate many delicious and sweet lychee as we pulled branches and branches of lychee off the trees. I sat on a nearby rock and enjoyed my twentieth lychee.

June 13, 2013

This morning, I was surprisingly excited on my way to Kevin Yao's SAT class. After spending my entire first day of summer at home yesterday, I realized how mundane and boring my summer life has been. I began to miss the time when I was studying in school with friends. Spending time with friends in school sounds more captivating than doing nothing at home. However, when I arrived, the entire school was dark and filled with a toxic smell. My curiosity grew stronger with each step closer to the office. Do I really have class today? For a second, I was worried that I did not receive some sort of notification. In the office, I saw almost all the school officers. They told me that the electricity in school was burnt out due to a short circuit. The class today was cancelled and no other students would be here. With disappointment, I turned and walked listlessly out the school. When I called my mother to pick me up, she informed me that she already left the school and wanted me to take the bus home by myself. “What an unlucky day!” I said to myself on the way home.