Reflective Account of Child GSA

Reflective Account of Child GSA Recently in our house in the month of May this year a young boy has joined as a day student. I will refer to him as Jake in this reflective account (this is not his real name and all relevant information/personal data regarding exact time of the movement has been changed in order to comply with the CSA Confidentiality Policy). When Jake first came to the house he of course came as a trial period and he has been accompanied by two other care workers from his former placement/school who knew him very well. This was a transition for him and also for us. His placement with our house was a two day a week. These two days were spread apart into Mondays and Fridays. In order to assess his needs I believe it is required intensive observation. The information provided from his previous school, parents and care workers/social worker it is very important but I believe that working hands on with him will allow a better understanding and I could make a proper evaluation of his needs according to the new environment and settings that he is currently surrounded by. When a new student enters our house, everyones vigilance/attention and my own it is much higher in order to understand his needs, to assess him and fully understand him as an individual. I believe that everyone it is unique in their own way and to fully assess someone it takes a lot of care, understanding and information in order to take the right decisions for that person and provide the best care /therapeutic program so that they can grow and develop furthermore. Jake is a very outspoken young man, knows what he wants and has grown a lot in the last months in independence and is more able to deal with changes than when he has first arrived to our house. As an initial assessment it has been taking into consideration all the information gathered from his previous care plans, statements from care workers, discussion with his parents and most importantly by talking to Jake and finding out what he thinks and wants to do. CSA uses a series of therapies and therapeutic activities and they are as follows: therapeutic art, music, speech, movement, riding, play, massage, foot bath and counselling. Every child and young adult that is attending school or it is part of a placement with CSA has the available support to benefit from all these activities. These therapeutic activities happen as a one to one situation unless stated otherwise in the child or young persons care plan. CSA has also a range of workshops available to every student that is in the community. They are as follows: metal, pottery, candle, weaver, felting, green woodwork and garden workshop. These workshops help with the increase of creativity, independence and self esteem which gives the students an incredible sense of achieving once they hold their creations into their own hands and not only also during the creative process. Discussing with Jake, I quickly found out that he likes video games and that he is very technological. Jake is also a very good communicator which helped me understand quicker what and how I should approach a development care plan and properly assess his needs. Also by reading and asking about him from multiple sources provided but not only, especially through daily observation and working with Jake has been equally important. At the beginning like I said his trial period consisted in showing him around the house, estate, programmes and workshops. He got to know everyone else from the house residents, day students and co-workers. He has been accompanied for the first month by other two staff members from his previous school and by me. The input from his parents, the information from his school, reading his previous care plan and the information from previous staff who has worked with Jake has helped me assess and better understand Jakes needs. Jake though has been the one who helped the most in order for us to provide the best care plan and fulfil his needs. After each day that Jake spends with us it has been recorded in a diary which has helped me make his care plan and his individual risk assessment. They are all kept in the office in his personal file. After his arrival to the house there are 28 days in which I have to provide his care plan and the intended approach. Working with my colleagues, the craft masters, parents, former care workers from his previous school and with Jakes input I was able to make his care plan. Speaking with everyone involved gives me a better understanding of the whole situation and gives me the opportunity to take the best decisions. After doing so I made sure that everyone from the house who was involved in his care was aware, read, understood and that we all stand together on a common ground and take the same approach. These have been done through multiple meetings regarding Jake with all the personal that was involved in his care. All observations, assessments and reviews are recorded in his personal file and it is kept in the office of the house and the main office of CSA. Each time he was with us has been documented and recorded his progress in his personal diary which is up to date. His personal file also includes a few incident reports. The first few times that Jake was with us, actually the first two he was outgoing and very communicative. In order to asses a childs needs according to the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 under section 24 it is primordial that it is looked upon at the child needs and it is equally important that it is looked at also at the ability of the carer in order to provide the care. Both parties are actually being assessed by the Council in order to provide the best care and the most relevant support that it is needed. Meeting this need for Jake, gives us great responsibility in order to bring his development further. When his transition started with the CSA and the house for Jake it has been done through the proper channels. For example: Permission from his family in order to gather information that will allow us to understand and create a plan in order to meet up his needs, the discussions in the meetings regarding the assessment and most importantly a one to one get to know the child in a safe environment and space are the basic approach that gave us an insight. After all this a copy of the assessment it is handed over to the family once all this is finalized. As a general background Jake is a 7*(not his real age) year old young man and he has been struggling with accessing his education since nursery. He has been diagnosis with ASD and ADHD. When he feels that he is under pressure he has a tendency to present aggressive and violent behaviour. He is also a very chatty young man. After a period of trial which consisted of Jake being in our house on Mondays and Fridays there has been a review concerning Jakes updates which was all about his adaptability to the new settings and if we were going on the right track regarding his development and needs. Clearly something needed to be changed if I wanted that this process to work out. Asking my colleagues and the craft masters about what and how I should best support his needs. An idea came that if these would have to work the space between Mondays to Friday should change. The decision was consulted with his parents and with all staff of our house that Jake will attend every day of the week for a shorter period of time in order to make a difference. I find this method to be very efficient and it has been proven with another student of our house and clearly worked. Less time during the day but on a scale that will include the whole week. Also during this review because of all the disturbing behaviour he was engaging when he was picked up by the taxi and his previous care workers, I decided that this will stop and he should be picked up by his mum or different taxi driver and staff. His mum agreed. After all this changes Jake has shown a lot of more calm and ease to be with us. He started to engage more in the house and with his co-workers and he started to attend more and more workshops that he has dismissed previously. He had at the beginning a two to one co-worker and now after six months he has progressed to a one to one co-worker. There are times still when he acts out but he has also learned to have a time out or a break when he needs it. The staff is focusing on the positive behaviour rather than the bad one and once Jake was calm and ready to listen everything has been explained to him. Everyone from the co-workers does the same thing and we all stand together on a common ground in order to help Jake. Once the plan is set out, everyone is to care it out accordingly. When a set of practice are respected and applicable by everyone in the team as an united front this has proven to give tremendous results in the care of the child/young persons needs. As positive child behaviour methods and techniques CSA, uses a series of behavioural techniques which have been specified on page A of this paper. Through art, baking and always teaching them to ask nicely and to say thank you when they expect something to happen. Counselling and trying to make them understand is also a method that CSA uses which has been very effective with Jake. And lastly the consequences for example when they have less than a great day has been proven to be as equally effective when used as a united front. At home it has been agreed that they should use similar techniques when Jake becomes a little bit less aware/unsettled. For example to keep his bedroom tidy, no video games after 10 and so on. In order to keep and maintain a positive outcome but most importantly a positive behaviour Jake has agreed that he when overwhelmed will take a break/time out in order to collect his thoughts where he will not feel pressure from staff in order to attend the next activity for example. In our weekly meeting we discuss and evaluate all sides. Everyone gets the chance to speak and to offer an opinion, support for the work. Once things are discussed especially on improvements and how to best support that positive behaviour within the program I take the decision to sustain or to cancel something that it is less than that. For example Jake didnt want to have snack with everyone else so instead was offered to have a picnic outside together with 2 other co-workers and another student which seemed to make Jake very happy. This has been later integrated in his program because of the positive impact it had on Jake.

Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers

EDGAR ALLEN POE BIOGRAPHY Edgar Allen Poe was born in 1809 in Boston. His stories were about love and sadness. He died when he was 40 years old in 1849. People said that they found him unconscious and believed him drunk. He was an excellent writer that kept people fascinated with stories. He died as he lived all his life was miserable and with out hope. It believed that he uses a drug named opium that helped him use his imagination and he uses alcohol. Those were his inspirations and his story's that were so fabulous come from there. These things were making him crazy and took him out of control. A thing that made him even more crazy is that everyone he had ever met or loved always semmed to have died from a disease called tuberculosis. This made him very depressive also. He was born to very poor family. His father was an actor that barley buy meat to eat. He was a little boy when his father abandoned him and their brothers. After that his mother got sick and few months later she died. He went to live with wealthy rich people but his father didn't want to adopt him. His father was a businessman and decided to move to England there he went to school to Manner House School. In 1820 he returned to Virginia but he couldn't afford it and decide left school. He fall in love with a neighbor her name was Elmira, but her father didn't want to accept their relationship. His stepfather criticized him about his story saying that they were workless and he decided to leave his house. He went to a military service but he realized that he like more poems than to be in the military service. He often wrote letters to Elmira unknowing that her father received the letters. She married a rich man and become a rich woman. He became heart broken and he began to write love poems. He was living with his real father, sister, muddy and her daughter. After that he married muddy's daughter at the age of 27 she was 13 years old. She became sick of tuberculosis and died at the age of 24. He didn't know how to support the family because the poems didn't give him enough money.

Faust Essay -- essays research papers

The legend of Faust was a legend that occurred in the 1500’s in Europe. Over time, as the story was told and passed on through generations, many different ideas on what happened were brought up, but the main idea of the story is the same in most cases. One of the most interesting things about this legend is the fact that though this story is more than four hundred years old, it is still told in some contemporary films to this day. All though it is not always as direct as a deal with the actual devil, the same basis of the story can be seen in present day films. In one of the most successful movies of the year 2000, The Matrix, a Faustian theme is evident. The Matrix is a science fiction movie directed by the Wachowski brothers. The old legend of Faust is, in short, about a young scholar who made a deal with Mephistopheles, the devil. Faust was seeking ultimate knowledge and in the deal the devil said he would grant Faust ultimate knowledge in return for his soul. Faust agrees to the deal and after a certain time period of possessing ultimate knowledge Faust suddenly dies. There are many different versions of the story as to exactly how he died, and some versions of the story go into more detail than others. As time passed, Faustian legends were being told in many different stories, many different ways. To have a Faust story, four basic elements should be present: a Faust figure, a devil figure, some sort of temptation, and a price.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Matrix is about a man, called Neo, who was living an average life, and was heavily into computer hacking. One day he receives messages appearing on his computer leading him towards a meeting with a powerful man named Morphius. Morphius alerts Neo that the reason that the reason that all of federal agents were chasing him and all of these other things were happening to him because he was â€Å"the one†. He was searches for a greater truth in the world than what was just there in his face, and Morphius says that he could show Neo that truth. Morphius then holds two pills in his hands, one pill would lead him to the truth, the other would just take him back to his regular life as if nothing ever happened. Neo wanted the truth about the world so Morphius explained it. He said that the perception is that our day-in, day-out world is real; in reality, that world is a hoax, an elaborate deception spun by al... ...ant to make Faust a hero of some sort.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If someone could go back in time and show this film to people that know of the Faust legend back in around the 1700’s, it would make absolutely no sense. It would seem like a whole lot of unrealistic garbage to those people, but in present times, though the Matrix is very futuristic, it almost seems as if it could be possible. The whole idea of the movie plot seems brilliant and makes people question themselves to whether or not this concept could actually be possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The links between the Matrix and the Faust legend can be seen throughout the entire film. Even though the storyline of the legend has gone through a number of changes over time, it is truly amazing how a story that probably is not even true still comes into use in society today. The Faust legend is used in other situations besides just films, stories, or plays; it is also seen in everyday situations for people. There are many ways in which a Faustian theme can come into play in everyday life. For example, any one who has ever sold themselves out for something, gambled, or done drugs has been in a Faustian situation.

Math Project

Name: Math Manisa No. : 10740 Project 2 Regression Line The following table shows (for the years 1965 to 2000 and for people 18 and over) the total percentage of cigarette smokers, the percentage of males who are smokers, and the percentage of females who are smokers. Percentage of Smokers _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Year Total Population All Males All Females _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 965 42. 4 51. 9 33. 9 1974 37. 1 43. 1 32. 1 1979 33. 5 37. 5 29. 9 1983 32. 35. 1 29. 5 1985 30. 1 32. 6 27. 9 1987 28. 8 31. 2 26. 5 1990 25. 5 28. 22. 8 1992 26. 5 28. 6 24. 6 1993 25. 0 27. 7 22. 5 1995 24. 7 27. 22. 6 2000 23. 3 25. 7 21. 0 Part one 1)Using Excel, draw a Scatter Plot and generate a regression line for the percentages of males who are smokers versus time. Part two 1) The Regression Line for the Percentage of Males who are smokers is (just copy the equation from your Excel spread sheet ) Y= -0. 7766X+1575 2).By the model in 1), the percentage of Males who are smokers in the year 2002 is: 20. 85=21% 2) Using Excel, draw a Scatter Plot and generate a regression line for the percentages of females who are smokers versus time. [pic] Part Two 3). The Regression Line for the Percentage of Females who are smokers is (just copy the equation from your Excel spread sheet ) Y= -0. 4134x+847. 64 4) By the model in 3), the percentage of Females who are smokers in 2002 is: 20. 01=20% ———————– [pic]

Dorian Gray and the Theme of Beauty

Commonly deformity is symbolic†¦ whether it represents the good and purity in someone or the corruption in their very soul is a different story. In the book, â€Å"Dorian Gray† by Oscar Wilde, deformity is used to symbolize the corruption and degradation of Dorian’s soul. Dorian’s own beauty could be considered a deformity and this deformity destroyed Dorian’s life. He has an unnatural, surreal beauty and it’s this beauty that causes him to become so evil and corrupted. It’s the reason behind his madness. He actually traded his soul to keep his youth and beauty; â€Å"†¦If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that- for that- I would give everything! I would give my soul for that! † His beauty was so symbolic because it was pure, innocent and divine at the beginning of the novel yet it ended up causing the decay and destruction of a young man’s life. Though his looks should have been a gift it became a curse that corrupted his soul and destroyed his life. He became too obsessed with his looks and thus lost his soul. When Dorian saw the portrait painted he soon begins to loath it because â€Å"I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day in June†¦ I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. † He in turn wishes that he was to stay young and beautiful and the portrait was to show all the signs of aging and sin. This is the beginning of Dorian’s troubles. He goes through his life looking young and innocent but all the sins he commits shows on the canvas, â€Å"The terrible portrait whose changing features show him the real degradation of his life†¦He had a secret pleasure of the misshapen shadow that had to bear the burden that should’ve been his own. Any time Dorian does something sinful, selfish, cruel, or falls to temptation it all shows up on the canvas to mar his idyllic beauty. â€Å"A sense of infinite pity, not for himself, but for the painted image of himself, came over him. It has altered already and would alter more. For every sin he committed, a stain would fleck and wreck its fairness. † Dorian knew that his soul was being corrupted because he could see it on the painting, but he took no notice. Since the signs of sin don’t show up on him (but rather the painting) he participates in immoral temptations, He uses the painting as an outlet for all his desires. One example of his corruption is when he is cruel to Sibyl Vane; that is the first act of evil he commits and it’s when the first sign of deformity shows on the painting. Dorian only loved Sibyl for her acting and when she acted badly in Romeo and Juliet, even though she did it because she loved Dorian enough to learn that true love isn’t what she had been acting, he completely abandons her and breaks her heart. He said that, â€Å"There is always something ridiculous about the emotion of people whom one has ceased to love. Sibyl Vane seemed to him to be absurdly melodramatic. Her tears and sobs annoyed him. As soon as Dorian got home he first noticed that the portrait changed, it revealed his cruelty. It was described that â€Å"The face appeared to him to be a little changed. The expression looked different. One would have said that there was a touch of cruelty in the mouth. This was the beginning of the corruption of Dorian’s soul, the corruption of the painting. He was unnecessarily cruel to Sibyl Vane and his soul was changed as a result; the deformity of the mouth on the painting was a visual resemblance to Dorian’s soul and the corruption it was beginning to feel. Dorian Gray was the definition of beauty; he was pure, innocent and stunning but he had a soul as corrupt as the seven deadly sins. He traded his soul to stay young forever but in turn a portrait of himself was a visual representation of his soul. Over time it grew deformed and hideous and this showed that Dorian’s own soul was also becoming deformed, corrupted and hideous. The degradation of the painting shows that corruption of the soul is a type of deformity.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 40

Mad Nipper When I wake, the rain has stopped, but I am shivering. I sit up, and my whole body hurts. My overcoat is gone. My leather loafers are gone. All the money I had in my pocket is gone. My leather belt is gone. The new watch my mother gave me for Christmas is gone. I touch my fingers to my face, and they turn red. Looking around, I see that I am on a narrow street full of parked cars. Row houses on either side. Some are boarded up, many of the porches and steps attached to the fronts are in need of repair, and the streetlights above are not on – maybe smashed by rocks – making the whole world look dark. I am not in a good neighborhood, with no money, shoes, or any idea where I am. Part of me wants to lie on the sidewalk forever, but I'm afraid those bad people might come back to finish me off, and before I can really think about anything, I'm on my feet, limping down the block. My right thigh muscle feels locked in place, and I cannot bend my right knee very well. One house on the block is decorated for Christmas. On the porch is a manger scene with a plastic Mary and Joseph – both black. I limp toward Baby Jesus, thinking that people celebrating the holiday are more likely to help me than people without Christmas decorations, because – in the Bible – Jesus says we should help shoeless people who have been mugged. When I finally get to the decorated row house, a funny thing happens. Instead of knocking on the door, I limp over to the black Mary and Joseph because I want to look into the manger and see if Baby Jesus is black too. My cramped leg screams with pain and gives out just as I reach the Nativity scene. On my hands and one knee, between His parents, I see that Baby Jesus is really black and plugged in – his dark face glows like amber, and a stream of white light blasts up through His little baby chest. Squinting, taking in the light of Baby Jesus, I instantly realize that I was mugged because I cursed God, so I pray and say I'm sorry and I understand what God is telling me – that I need to work on my character some more before I will be allowed to find apart time's end. My pulse is pounding so hard in my ears that I do not even hear the front door open, nor do I hear a man walk out onto the porch. â€Å"What you doin' to Aunt Jasmine's Nativity scene?† the man says. And when I turn my head, God lets me know He has accepted my apology. When they first brought Danny to the bad place, he wouldn't talk. Like me and everyone else, he had a scar, but his was much larger and on the back of his head, making a bright pink line in his Afro. For a month or so, he just sort of sat in a chair by the window of his room as speech therapists visited and left frustrated. Me and the boys would stop in and say hello, but Danny only looked out the window when we talked to him, so we thought he was one of the people whose brain trauma was so bad he was most likely going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life – sort of like my roommate, Jackie. But after a month or so, Danny started taking his meals in the cafeteria with the rest of us, attending music and group therapy sessions, and even going on a few group excursions to the shops by the harbor and the Orioles games down at Camden Yards. It was obvious that he understood words and even was pretty normal – he just wouldn't talk. I don't remember how long it took, but after a time, Danny started talking again, and I happened to be the first person he spoke to. A girl from some fancy college in Baltimore came in to provide what we were told were â€Å"non-traditional treatments.† We had to volunteer for the sessions, as this girl was not a real therapist yet. We were skeptical at first, but when she came to promote the program, we were soon persuaded by her girlish figure and cute, innocent-looking face. She was very nice and quite attractive, so we all did whatever she said, hoping to keep her around – especially since there were no women patients in the bad place and the nurses were extremely ugly. For the first week, our college student had us look into mirrors a lot as she encouraged us to really get to know ourselves, which was pretty out-there. She'd say things like, â€Å"Study your nose. Look at it until you really know it. Watch how it moves when you breathe in deeply. Appreciate the miracle of respiration. Now look at your tongue. Not just the top, but underneath. Study it. Contemplate the miracles of taste and speech.† But then one day she paired us randomly, had us sit facing each other, and told us to stare into our partner's eyes. She had us do this for a long time, and it was quite weird because the room was completely silent, and men do not usually look into each other's eyes for long periods of time. Then she started telling us to imagine that our partner was someone we missed, or someone we had hurt in the past, or a family member we hadn't seen for many years. She told us to see this person through our partner's eyes, until that person was in front of us. Looking into another person's eyes for an extended period of time proved to be a powerful thing. And if you don't believe me, try it yourself. Of course I began to see Nikki, which was strange because I was staring into Danny's eyes, and Danny is a six-foot-three black man who looks nothing like my ex-wife. Even still, as my pupils remained locked on Danny's, it was as if I were looking directly into Nikki's eyes. I was the first one to start crying, but others followed. Our college girl came over, said I was brave, and then hugged me, which was nice. Danny said nothing. That night I woke up to the sound of Jackie's grunting. When I opened my eyes, it took a few seconds for my pupils to adjust, but when they did, I saw Danny standing over me. â€Å"Danny?† I said. â€Å"My name's not Danny.† His voice scared me because I was not expecting him to speak, especially since he had not spoken to anyone since he arrived. â€Å"The name's Mad Nipper.† â€Å"What do you want?† I asked him. â€Å"Why are you in our room?† â€Å"I only wanted to tell you my street name, so we could be boys. But we're not on the streets right now, so you can keep calling me Danny.† And then Danny walked out of my room and Jackie quit grunting. Everyone in the bad place was pretty shocked when Danny began speaking regularly the next day. The doctors said he was experiencing a breakthrough, but it wasn't like that. Danny just decided to talk. We really did become boys and did just about everything together in the bad place, including our exercise routine. And little by little I found out Danny's story. As Mad Nipper he was a rising gansta rapper from North Philadelphia who had signed on with a small record label in NYC called Tougher Trade. He was playing a club in Baltimore when some beef broke loose, and somehow – Danny often changed the details of his story, so I can't say what happened for certain – he was struck in the back of the head with a tire iron, driven to the harbor, and thrown in. Most of the time Danny claimed that a Baltimore rap group – one that was scheduled to perform before Mad Nipper – asked him to smoke up in an alleyway behind the club, but when he went outside with these other rappers, they started giving him some shit about headlining in their neighborhood. When he brought up his superior record sales, the lights went out, and he woke up dead, which is actually true, as his file says he was dead for a few minutes before the EMTs managed to revive him. Lucky for Danny, somebody heard the splash Mad Nipper made when he entered the harbor, and this person fished him out and yelled for help right after the other rappers left. Danny claims that the salt in the water kept his brain alive, but I don't understand how that could be, especially since he was thrown into the filthy harbor and not the ocean. After an operation that removed tiny parts of his skull from his brain, and a lengthy stay at the hospital, Danny was brought to the bad place. The worst part was that he lost his ability to rap – he just couldn't make his mouth rap anymore, at least not as fast as he used to – so he took a vow of silence, which he broke only after looking into my eyes for a very long period of time. Once, I asked Danny who he saw when he looked into my eyes, and he told me he saw his aunt Jasmine. When I asked him why he saw his aunt Jasmine, he told me she was the woman who had raised him up until he became a man. â€Å"Danny?† I say, kneeling before the manger. â€Å"Who are you?† â€Å"It's Pat Peoples.† â€Å"White Pat from Baltimore?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"How?† â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"You're bloody. What happened?† â€Å"God punished me, but then He led me here.† â€Å"What you do to make God angry?† â€Å"I cursed Him, but I said I was sorry.† â€Å"If you really Pat People, what's my name?† â€Å"Mad Nipper, a.k.a. Danny.† â€Å"You eat Christmas dinner yet?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"You like ham?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"You wanna eat with me and Aunt Jasmine?† â€Å"Okay.† Danny helps me stand, and when I limp into Aunt Jasmine's home, it smells of pine needles and baked ham and pineapple sauce. A small Christmas tree is decorated with popcorn strings and colorful blinking lights, two green-and-red stockings are hung on a fake fireplace mantel, and on the television the Eagles are playing the Cowboys. â€Å"Sit down,† Danny says. â€Å"Make yourself at home.† â€Å"I don't want to get blood on your couch.† â€Å"It's got a plastic cover, see?† I look, and the couch is really covered with plastic, so I sit down and see that the Eagles are winning, which surprises me, since Dallas was favored. â€Å"I've missed you,† Danny says after he sits down next to me. â€Å"You didn't even say goddamn goodbye when you left.† â€Å"Mom came and got me when you were in music relaxation class. When did you get out of the bad place?† â€Å"Just yesterday. Out on good behavior.† I look at my friend's face and see that he is serious. â€Å"So you get out of the bad place yesterday, and I just happen to run to your neighborhood and get mugged on your street and find you here?† â€Å"Guess so,† Danny says. â€Å"It sort of seems like a miracle, doesn't it?† â€Å"Miracles happen on Christmas, Pat. Everybody knows that shit.† But before we can say more, a petite, serious-looking woman – who is wearing huge black-rimmed glasses – walks into the living room and starts screaming, â€Å"Oh, my Lord! Oh, Jesus!† I try to convince Aunt Jasmine I'm okay, but she calls 911, and then I am in an ambulance being driven to Germantown Hospital. When I arrive at the emergency room, Aunt Jasmine prays for me and yells at a lot of people until I am taken to a private room, where my clothes are removed and my wounds are cleaned. I am given an IV while I tell a police officer what happened. After X-rays, the doctors tell me that my leg is really messed up; my mother, Caitlin, and Jake arrive, and then my leg is put in a white cast that starts at my heel and ends just below my hip. I want to apologize to Danny and Aunt Jasmine for ruining their Christmas dinner, but my mother tells me that they left soon after she arrived, which makes me really sad for some reason. When I am finally released from the hospital, a nurse puts a purple sock over my bare toes and gives me a pair of crutches, but Jake pushes me in a wheelchair to his BMW. I have to sit sideways in the backseat, with my feet on Mom's lap, because of the cast. We drive through North Philadelphia in silence, but when we pull out onto the Schuylkill Expressway, Caitlin says, â€Å"Well, at least we'll never forget this Christmas.† She means it as a joke, but nobody laughs. â€Å"Why isn't anyone asking me how I ended up in North Philadelphia?† I ask. After a long pause, my mother says, â€Å"Tiffany called us from a pay phone and told us everything. We were driving around North Philadelphia looking for you when the hospital called your father. He called Jake's cell phone, and here we are.† â€Å"So I ruined everyone's Christmas?† â€Å"That crazy bitch ruined our Christmas.† â€Å"Jake,† Mom says. â€Å"Please.† â€Å"Did the Eagles win?† I ask Jake, because I remember that they were winning and am hoping my father will be in a decent mood when I get home. â€Å"Yeah,† Jake says in a clipped way that lets me know he is upset with me. The Eagles beat T.O. and Dallas – in Dallas – on Christmas Day, locking up a play-off spot, and Jake, who has not missed a game since he was in elementary school, misses perhaps the best game of the season because he was searching all of North Philadelphia for his mentally deranged brother. And now I realize why my father is not with the search team – there was no way he'd miss such an important Eagles game, especially against Dallas. I can't help feeling guilty, as it probably would have been a really nice Christmas, especially since my father would have been in a phenomenal mood, and I am sure my mother prepared food, and Caitlin is even wearing an Eagles jersey, and I keep messing up everyone's lives, and maybe it would have been better if the muggers had killed me, and †¦ I start to cry, but quietly, so that my mom won't be upset. â€Å"I'm sorry I made you miss the game, Jake,† I manage to say, but the words make me cry even harder, and soon I am sobbing into my hands again, like a baby. My mother pats my unbroken leg, but no one says anything. We ride the rest of the way home in silence.

Chinese Traditions Essay

Values for one society may seem strange to another society, but nonetheless, they are important to that society. For instance, the painful and debilitating Chinese tradition of foot binding, as bizarre as it may seem to our culture, to the Chinese people, it was the esoteric essence of pure beauty and signified status within the family structure, allowing young women with lotus feet better opportunities for marriage with well-to-do families. Traditional Chinese courtyard life – in existence until the early 1900’s, was a unique lifestyle where Chinese families and neighbours lived in very close quarters – sharing a common courtyard and everyone knowing everyone else’s business. Special rules applied for who occupied which space in certain directions Chinese Courtyards Chinese courtyards are the traditional folk house of China. Courtyards reportedly date back to the Han Dynasty, however none remain from that time period. The oldest among the surviving courtyards are from the Ming Dynasty, while the majority still found today are from the Qing Dynasty. Chinese Chopsticks – born of necessity in the earliest times, highly influenced the eating and cooking traditions still followed today in China. Chinese Knots – One of the most popular knots is double happiness, which in Chinese tradition is given to newlyweds, signifying a wish for their luck and happiness to double. Chinese family names – Xing, Shi and Ming are the most common. There are only 22 ancient Chinese surnames still in use today. The family name indicated a blood tie within the Chinese social structure and was a symbol of class. In ancient China, 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, women were the clan leaders and marriages were only allowed among certain classes. Chinese Festivals Chinese New Year/Spring Festival Gong Xi Fa Cai! Is the greeting that wishes you great prosperity. You’ll hear it constantly during Spring Festival, better known as the Lunar New Year. This is a time when everyone tries to get back to their ancestral home to celebrate with their families, perhaps visit the local temple, pay off debts, buy new clothes, drive off evil spirits with firecrackers and start off the new year with a great feast. Qing Ming Festival Qing Ming is the time when the Chinese honour their ancestors. They visit the family graves to clean them and share a picnic with the spirits of the dead. (12th day of the 3rd moon) Dragon Boat Festival Over 2000 years ago, Qu Yuan, a righteous mandarin, threw himself into a river to protest against the corruption and mismanagement of the government. His friends took to the water in boats, thrashing at the fish that would devour his body. Today he is remembered with the Dragon Boat Festival, which features races by long skiffs bearing dragon heads and tails. (5th day of the fifth moon) Qi Xi Festival. A special Chinese Valentine’s Day. Qixi is the Chinese version of Valentine’s Day. It’s celebrated on the seventh night of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Usually that happens sometime in August on our calendar. And that’s why it’s also called the Double Seven festival. Mid-Autumn Moon Festival The Mid-Autumn moon is the biggest and best of the year, so the Chinese try to watch it from the vantage point of hills or open fields. At the same time they eat moon cakes in memory of an uprising against the Mongols, which was secretly coordinated by messages hidden in the cakes. (15th day of the eighth moon) October 1st – Founding of the People’s Republic October 1st is the day when China celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic. It has been a week of holiday time when many travel as tourists to other parts of China or Asia – or make their way back to their hometowns for a family holiday. Other Ethnic Minority Chinese Festivals Throughout China, minority peoples have their own ancestral festivals when they dress in traditional costumes and celebrate. In Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan, the Dai minority (cousins to the Thai) welcome the Lunar New Year with the Water Splashing Festival. For 3 days in mid-April, everyone can expect to have water thrown over them. There are also parades, fireworks and dragon boat races. The Tibetan New Year is celebrated with a week of horse races, archery contests, carnivals and temple rituals, in all the major towns. In the wild west of Xinjiang, the Kazhakh communities have their own Chinese festivals that celebrate the life of the grasslands. There are breathtaking displays of horsemanship, including shooting contests on horseback and buzgashi, a form of polo, plus huge feats that include whole roast sheep and fermented mare’s milk. Beijing Opera. Beijing Opera is the most widely known Chinese theatrical style with over 200 years of history. Although the art form started in China’s Yangtze River Yan’an region, it only became fully developed in Beijing, and that is how it’s name came to be. The form employs song and dance with exaggerated movements that leave a strong impression on viewers. While this Chinese style opera is a comprehensive art form utilizing diverse elements such as drama, acting, music, song, props, make-up and costume, it is distinguished from western performance art by its use of such elements for symbolic and suggestive purposes, rather than realism. Performers must adhere to a variety of stylistic conventions and rules. They must master songs, acting and their lines, in addition to dance. The art form uniquely combines traditional song, music, narration, dance, circus and martial arts, contrary to the western tradition that separates song, dance and theatre. Chinese Shadow Puppetry Is an ancient form of storytelling which was popular during the Song Dynasty during the holiday season. The stories of the shadow puppets told of events that had happened elsewhere in the country and stories with a Buddhist background. Chinese Culture Chinese Culture – Special 10th Birthday On the day a child turns 10, most families will hold a party for the child. It is common to have this party in a hotel and invite everyone you know – which could be more than 100 people. There is a western style birthday cake served – and all the guests are invited to a meal. Each guest is subtly expected to make a donation of about $20 and before leaving, each guest receives a small gift. The one birthday party I attended in 2000, I received a box of facial tissue. Others in attendance received rolls of toilet paper – and the gifts were happily received and highly appreciated. Chinese Culture – Common Greetings Ni hao – is the common greeting for â€Å"hello† (sounds like KNEE-HOW) There are some terms for good morning(zao- sounds like ZOW), good afternoon (xia wu hao), good evening (wan shang hao), but most often you will hear just ni hao. Good–bye is zaijian. Mintian jia – is also very common – â€Å"see you tomorrow†. Chinese Culture – Children are Pension Plan With the one child policy enforced in China, most families will rely on that one child to support them in their old age. All the money the family can afford is spent on the best education that they can buy for their child – in hopes that their child will make it into a good university and have a good paying job in the future – thereby, being able to support his own family and his parents. This puts an extreme amount of pressure on the child to perform well amidst tremendous competition for a place in a prestigious university. If a child does not do well in school, he is scorned by his parents and family and loses face. Those parents lucky enough to have a government party job will enjoy a small pension when they retire. But most Chinese have no social support to look forward to as they age – so they must rely on their family. It is common for families to live together. The older parents will take care of the house, the cooking and any grandchildren, while their child and his spouse go out to work each day. Chinese Culture – Chinese Men Carrying Handbags You will see Chinese men carrying two different types of handbags. They might carry a small personal bag – like the French men do – or you may see them carrying their girlfriends handbag – as they walk or shop together. I found this quite amusing – and even more so after I married my Chinese husband . . . as before we would go out – he would choose for me which handbag I should carry –so that his things could fit inside too – and of course, he would carry it for me! It is almost like a sign of affection – like a boy carrying a girls schoolbooks for her. Chinese Culture – Best Chinese Hangover Cure If you’ve had too much to drink with your friends – don’t be surprised if you end up in a restaurant and are served pig intestine soup – sworn to be the best cure for a hangover. Chinese Culture – One Child Policy Most families in China have adhered to the one child policy. In the autonomous provinces, where Beijing does not have absolute control over the ethnic groups, they don’t have to adhere to the one child policy. However, if you have the money, or if your family is connected to the right people – for a price – you can pay a fee to have a second child. The one child policy has caused a lot of female babies to be abandoned – so that the mother could have another chance to try to have a boy baby. A large part of the Chinese population still believe it is better to have a boy than a girl – because a boy is more likely able to support his family in later life, than a girl. There are a lot of Chinese baby girls up for adoption – and North American families are scooping them up. This one child policy, however, is creating a new problem. There is becoming a shortage of Chinese females in the population. Already, there have been kidnappings of women – to make them into wives in mountain villages. The situation is predicted to grow worse in the future – with many young men unable to find a woman to marry. Chinese Dress: Qipao * The one-piece dress featured a high neck and straight skirt. It covered all of a woman’s body except for her head, hands, and toes. The qipao was traditionally made of silk and featured intricate embroidery. * The qipao worn today are modeled after ones made in Shanghai in the 1920s. The modern qipao is a one-piece, formfitting, floor length dress that has a high slit on one or both sides. Modern variations may have bell sleeves or be sleeveless and are made out of a variety of fabrics. Sports Martial arts. * China is one of the main birth places of Eastern martial arts. Chinese martial arts are collectively given the name Kung Fu ((gong) â€Å"achievement† or â€Å"merit†, and (fu) â€Å"man†, thus â€Å"human achievement†) or (previously and in some modern contexts) Wushu (â€Å"martial arts† or â€Å"military arts†). China also includes the home to the well-respected Shaolin Monastery and Wudang Mountains. The first generation of art started more for the purpose of survival and warfare than art. Over time, some art forms have branched off, while others have retained a distinct Chinese flavor. Regardless, China has produced some of the most renowned martial artists including Wong Fei Hung and many others. The arts have also co-existed with a variety of weapons including the more standard 18 arms. Legendary and controversial moves like Dim Mak are also praised and talked about within the culture. Tai Ji Quan Tai Ji Quan, which is also known as Chinese shadow boxing, is a major division of Chinese martial art. Tai Ji Quan means â€Å"supreme ultimate fist†, and is a kind of Chinese boxing, combining control of breath, mind and body. It emphasizes body movement, following mind movements, tempering toughness with gentleness and graceful carriage. The traditional legend goes that the wise man, Zhang Sanfeng of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), created Tai Ji Quan after he witnessed a fight between a sparrow and a snake. Most people agreed that the modern Tai Ji Quan originated from Chen style Tai Ji Quan, which first appeared during the 19th century in the Daoguang Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Chinese Wedding Traditions Welcoming the Bride: * The Chinese wedding ritual begins with the groom going to the bride’s home. Younger brides often have a few girlfriends at the home who will tease the groom before handing over the bride. The girls will barter with the groom who must beg and bribe the girls with small gifts or red envelopes stuffed with money are handed over in exchange for the bride. * Before leaving her home, the bride and groom bow before the bride’s parents. Then, they head to the groom’s home. In the past, the bride was picked up from her home and taken to the groom’s home in a sedan chair with trumpets blaring to announce her arrival. Today, most brides arrive in a car. Bowing to Heaven and Earth: * Once at the groom’s home, the bride and groom bow to heaven and earth in front of the groom’s family’s home altar or at a local temple. Then, the couple bows before the groom’s parents before bowing to each other. Traditional Tea Ceremony: * At the groom’s home, the couple offers tea to their elders including the groom’s parents. Acceptance of the tea is confirmation that the family has welcomed the bride into the groom’s family. Auspicious Days The Chinese still rely on fortune tellers to predict the most auspicious days (and years) to marry. Many couples will postpone their wedding plans until the right day or right year that promises success. In some provinces, you will find very large groups of couples getting married the same day – because they believe in the luck of that day – for most success in their marriage. In China, it is common for many young couples live together the year before they are actually married and start on the paperwork process. The most common time to celebrate a marriage is at Chinese New Year or on auspicious days. Chinese Cuisine. The history of Chinese cuisine can be traced back to primitive societies and their use of fire. Cuisine was invented some 400,000 years ago. Some other accounts of the history of Chinese cuisine takes the beginning to the Chinese stone age, when the cultivation of rice and the production of noodles, both typical representations of Chinese cuisine as we have known today, are understood from archaeological findings. Over the centuries, as new food sources and techniques were invented, the Chinese cuisine as we know it gradually evolved. Chopsticks, which are made from all sorts of materials and which are one of the hallmarks of Chinese cuisine, have been used as eating utensils at least as far back as the Zhou Dynasty. Stir-fried dishes became popular during the Tang Dynasty. The stir-fry method of cooking was invented out of necessity, in order to conserve expensive and scarce fuel. As early as the 7th century B. C. Chinese cuisine began to be separated as Southern and Northern cuisines. In general, the southern dishes emphasize freshness and tenderness. Northern dishes, due to its colder climate, have more fat and garlic which is offset with vinegar. During the period of the Tang (618-907 A. D. ) and the Song (960-1279 A. D. ) dynasties, people went in a great deal for nutritional medical value of different plants: fungus (mushrooms), herbs, vegetables. At this time â€Å"medicinal food† for prevention and cure of diseases, for overall health became important. Cantonese/Guangdong Cuisine Guangdong cuisine is characterized by their cooking methods of mostly steaming, boiling, saute and stir-frying with thick gravy. Dishes are lightly cooked and not as spicy and hot as the other 3 groups. Due to the long duration of summer, they prefer light and refreshing foods and seafood. Only in the winter do they eat fatty foods and strongly flavoured foods. Shandong Cuisine The third major Chinese cuisine is Shandong cuisine – also known as Lu cuisine. It has a long history and wide popularity and was developed from the Qi and Lu culture of ancient China. It is said to have traces of palatial cuisine. Dishes are strongly flavoured and made of costly ingredients such as shark fin, abalone, sea cucumber, deer meat, white fungus and others. Due to the long duration of the cold winter in north China and a shortage of vegetables, Shandong cooks are skilled at making high-calorie and high-protein dishes. Sichuan Cuisine The second major Chinese cuisine is Sichuan. World famous Chan cuisine traces back to the ancient Ba Kingdom (modern day Chongqing) and Shu Kingdom (modern day Chengdu) and is known for it’s oily, hot and spicy taste. The uniquely hot, pungent flavour is created with a mixture of red pepper, garlic and ginger. Su Cuisine. The forth major Chinese cuisine originated from Shuzhou, Yangzhou and Hangzhou area and is known as Su cuisine. It is an exchange of northern and southern cuisines, dating back to the time the region was the home of Emperors during the Six Dynasties and the Southern Song Dynasty. It is a combination of high-heat and high-protein dishes, plenty of lake fish and seafood, and exquisite refreshments and snacks such as pine nut crystalline meat sweet cake, crab yellow soup bun, crab yellow steamed dumpling and Ningbo dumpling, all of which are famous throughout China.