My name is Barney

    My name is Barney and I am a type of dog known as Great Dane. I am so huge that my owner and his sister enjoy riding on me like I was a house. Strangely for a dog, I am keen on cheese. One time, in a hurry to go out, my owner left a block of cheese on the kitchen counter. I couldn’t resist the temptation and in no time at all, I had eaten the whole block. When my owner got back, I saw him searching high and low for the cheese. Finally, my teeth gave me away. As I was yawning, he found the red skin of the cheese stuck between my teeth. I was grounded to my doghouse for the theft, and worse than that. I had diarrhea from the cheese for three days. Once bitten, twice shy. Now I am terrified of that yellow chunk with the red skin. And my owner has never left cheese out of the fridge since then, either.

I was brought up my grandmother

    I was brought up my grandmother in a small village in Taidung. I remember I was in great pain when I first came to Taipei to study six year ago. I cried myself to sleep every missed the trees, the river, and my happy playmates there. In Taipei, people are not as friendly and they are such bores. All they do is watch TV and study. My classmates here do not know the pleasure of running around barefoot. They called me “wild kid”when I played with crickets and climbed trees. I can’t even find anybody to go bicycling with. It has been six years now, but I am still not used to life here. I have set my mind on attending a university back in Taidung. I am looking forward to seeing green trees, spacious grounds and singing birds again

when I had just turned 12

The most difficult moment in life happened when I had just turned 12. That year I transferred to a new school because my family moved to Taipei. I had trouble adapting to the new environment there. In order not to be alienated, I hung out with a certain bunch of classmates. Without realizing it, I started to cut classes, smoke, and even steal. Very soon, my parents found out I was keeping bad company because my grades went from bad to worse, and my teacher informed them of my frequent absences from school. My father started to keep an eye on me. He drove me to school and picked me up after classes. It was tough in the beginning, but my gang eventually realized that it was too much trouble having me in their group. They gave up on me, which was a blessing in disguise. Thinking back, I am very grateful to my parents for coming to my aid at that critical moment.

On impulse I stole my father’s watch

    On impulse I stole my father’s watch. I was punished and learned my lesson. However, a few months later when my father found two thousand dollars missing from his wallet, I was the first one he questioned. No matter how I tried to defend myself, my father would not believe me. That was the most painful moment in my life. I realized that my father would never trust me again. Fortunately, my mother was there for me. She told me that this was the price I had to pay for having stolen my father’s watch. So I hung in there waiting for the truth to come out. Three weeks later, my father apologized to me, saying that he found the money in his offices drawer. I had finally regained my father’s trust.

Christmas

     My family do not celebrate Christmas because we are Buddhists, but most of my friends do. I was once invited to a party on Christmas Eve. It took place at a priest’s house. We enjoyed homemade fruitcake, pudding, gingerbread and other goodies. Then, we sang Christmas carols by warm, gleaming candlelight. The sparkling decorations on the Christmas tree amazed me. The highlight of the party was when the priest told us Christmas stories. What matters to me most about Christmas is not Jesus being worshipped as the Son of God, but the mercy and love he had for His people. However, Christmas these days had become too commercialized. People with no idea of the Christmas religion get caught up in feverish gift buying. Rather than thinking about what Christmas really means, they go on a shopping spree. I hope we can all eventually wake up again to the true meaning of Christmas.

My Regret

    When we are angry, we usually say things we don’t mean. But the person on the receiving end is very likely to remember it. This is true of most fights I’ve had with my brother. I regret calling my brother names when we fought last month. Out of anger, I called him an idiot and other nasty names, and he was shocked by the terrible words that came out of my mouth. Not only did I feel bad about using this filthy language, but I was also convinced that it was all my fault when I heard him using the very same words to his classmate on the phone a few days later. I wanted to tell him it’s not good to call people names, but I was in on position to do so. I wish there were something I could do to take back what I had said.

When I was 10

    When I was 10, I was chosen to join a speech contest. I had no idea why my classmates chose me. I would stutter from fear even when I spoke in front of my classmate. I went to the teacher and told him I would rather not do it. For my benefit, I suppose, the teacher encouraged me to give it a try. He said that I would have to conquer my stage fright sooner or later. I turned to my father for help, and he said exactly the same thing. On the day of the contest, I sat in the audience waiting my turn. I could hear my heart beating like a drum while the person before me was speaking. Then I decided I couldn’t bear it any more and rushed out of the place. That was a total failure for me. I was defeated even before I went into battle!