Life & English

LIFE IS A JOURNEY

Life is a journey

From days to days...

Can say yesterday.

Can say today.

Tomorrow! Who can say?

Days and days...

Let keep love in our hearts always.

Let our journey is happy days.

Quy Minh

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Every year, as usual, I decorate my Christmas tree early in December. At first, I hang a big star on the top of the tree then hang sparkling plastic candles, Santa figures and others. 

Special items place on my Christmas tree are four small pictures. Every small picture depicts an icon: peace, happiness, strength or wealth. These are my wishes for the new year. Then I hang colored lights on the tree and plug them in. Wow. Christmas tree sparkles beautifully in my home.

Christmas tree

In Vietnam, Vietnamese people have 2 new years: New Year’s and Lunar New Year. I usually decorate a Christmas tree for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Then before Lunar New Year, I decorate one more tree. It’s always a Peach blossom tree. The red flowers of the Peach blossom tree are nice wishes for a lucky and happy lunar new year.

Peach Blossom

Both trees, the Christmas tree and Peach blossom tree stay together in my home to welcome the New Year.

Anna Nguyen

Ảnh: 

LET DRINK OUR CUP OF TEA

One day... we know

Today is yesterday of tomorrow.

Time flow

Fast or slow

as it is.

Then every story

will become memory...

Why must quickly?

Let drink our cup of tea

leisurely...

as can be.

QM

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Sunny Isles Beach is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami, Florida, the United States. The city is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west. Sunny Isles Beach is an area of cultural diversity with stores lining Collins Avenue, the main thoroughfare through the city. Sunny Isles Beach are known as destination sites where tourists soak up the sun and enjoy the beach.

In the middle of Sunny Isles Beach, when I was walking and shopping, suddenly I saw Kalinka, Matryoshka and Samovar on signboards and of the shops. Kalinka is the name of a famous Russian song. Matryoshka is the traditional Russian puppet. Samovar is a traditional Russian kitchen device, too; it is a boiler used to prepare large amounts of tea for big parties and family gatherings. They are standing on display at the front of a store that offers an array of Russian products.

Kalinka shop in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.

The shopping plaza is a home of dozens of Russian-owned businesses. They include delis that serve traditional Russian food, real estate companies, tanning salons, pharmacies, cleaners, beauty salons and various restaurants offering everything from formal sit-down dinners to casual bar and lounge-type atmospheres. Russians have made a home for themselves in here in the past some years.

According to 2010 census data, Russians in Sunny Isles make up 7% of the population. In fact, on several tourist websites, Sunny Isles has been nicknamed “Little Moscow” in Florida.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

GO...

Seasons go

On the tree out window,

Green then yellow,

Then white snow...

Fast or slow,

Time is a flow.

Go...

Do you know?

This is my way to pronounce "o & ow"

- QM -

Ảnh: 

Little Havana is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, the United States. It is characterized by its street life, with restaurants, music and other cultural activities, mom and pop enterprises, political passion, and great warmth amongst its residents.

Many Cuban and immigrants from Central and South America are living in there. Miami now has a majority Latino community, with Spanish the predominant language in some parts of the city. Miami’s Cuban community is centred on the Little Havana and its main drag of Calle Ocho where visitors can discover great Latino food and music. Their festivals, including the Calle Ocho Festival, Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays, the Three Kings Parade and others, have been televised to millions of people every year on different continents.

Cultural Fridays (Viernes Culturales) is an artistic, cultural, and social arts and culture fair that takes place on the last Friday of each month. There are now organised tours of the quarter's famous culinary highlights, from fruit stalls to ice-cream vendors, but it's wise to determine the mom-and-pop restaurants from the tourist spots. The event consists of outdoor musical performances on a stage and along the sidewalks of Calle Ocho, art exhibits along the sidewalk and in plazas and open spaces, visits to art galleries and cultural centers, films, art exhibits, and educational programs at the historic Tower Theatre, and cuisine tasting at participating restaurants.

The Rooster statue in Little Havana

A special interesting point at the center of Little Havana is the very big rooster. It is the rooster statue, of course. The statue is colorful and lively like a real rooster. Many visitors took photos with this statue. What does the rooster want to say with visitors? We saw several other smaller rooster statues, too. They are dressed in different costumes. Our tour guide said that rooster was a special animal in Cuban folklore. Rooster statues create an unique interesting icon of Little Havana.

Little Havana welcomes visitors by music. Music is everywhere in Little Havana, spilling out of car windows and café radio. A warm welcome.

- Quy Minh -

Ảnh: 

Every winter, I usually go to the beach during the week or on holidays.

In winter, the beach is not nearly as busy as in summer. Even though it is too cold to swim, I enjoy the peace and quiet of the beach in winter. I can go to the beach with my friend or by myself. It is my favorite pastime.

Beach in winter

I like sitting on the beach, watching sea gulls and waves. I love walking barefoot in the sand and water. It is an easy feeling.

It is good time to review on the past year and to prepare for the new year.

This is why I really prefer going to the beach in winter instead of summer time.

Going to the beach in winter, so great.

A Sea Gull and waves

Anna Nguyen

Ảnh: 

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

The term Cyber Monday was created by marketing companies to persuade people to shop online. According to Scott Silverman, the head of Shop.org, the term was coined based on 2004 research showing "one of the biggest online shopping days of the year" was the Monday after Thanksgiving (12th-biggest day historically). Retailers also noted the biggest period was from 5 to 15 December. Retailers said that their sales increased substantially on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday.

In 2016, according to Adobe Digital Insights, Cyber Monday hit a new record with $3.45 billion, and which was the first time that online sales in one single day surpassed $3 billion in US history. The numbers went up 12.1% from the previous year.

In 2017, Cyber Monday online sales grew to a record $6.59 billion, compared with $2.98 billion in 2015, and $2.65 billion in 2014. However, the average order value was $128, down slightly from 2014's $160.

Cyber Monday has become the online equivalent to Black Friday and offers a way for smaller retail websites to compete with larger chains. Since its inception, Cyber Monday has become an international marketing term used by online retailers across the world.

Edit by Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday of November and the Black Friday is the four Friday of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but some states observe "The Day After Thanksgiving" as a holiday for state government employees. Many non-retail employees and schools have both Thanksgiving and the following Friday off, which, along with the following regular weekend, makes it a four-day weekend, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year . The earliest evidence of the phrase Black Friday applied to the day after Thanksgiving in a shopping context suggests that the term originated in Philadelphia, where it was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday weekend

Black Friday is a shopping day for a combination of reasons. As the first day after the last major holiday before Christmas, it marks the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Additionally, many employers give their employees the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Recent years have seen retailers extend beyond normal hours in order to maintain an edge or to simply keep up with the competition. Such hours may include opening as early as 12:00 am or remaining open overnight on Thanksgiving Day and beginning sale prices at midnight.

Now, online sale is developing. People can buy everything by online, therefore, many shops are not busy as before. Black Friday is an opportunity for online shopping, too.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

Washington D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as "Washington", "the District", or simply "D.C.", is the capital of the United States. Named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital.

Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

Washington had an estimated population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is the principal city, has a population of over 6 million, the sixth-largestmetropolitan statistical area in the country. All three branches of the federal government of the United States are centered in the District - the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to many national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations.

Washington State on the US map

Washington State or the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Named in honor of the President George Washington, too. Washington state is the 18th largest state with an area of 71,362 square miles (184,827 sq km) with over 7 million people. Approximately 60 percent of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry.

Seattle city

The state is the biggest producer of apples, hops, pears, red raspberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries, and ranks high in the production of apricots, asparagus, dry edible peas, grapes, lentils, peppermint oil, and potatoes. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, shipbuilding and other transportation equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals, and machinery.

The state is referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from Washington D.C., the capital of the U.S., which is often shortened to Washington.

Edit by Quy Minh

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