Where to ski in or near Minnesota?
Some of you might have known that my son has enrolled in the Ski School this winter and gets to go skiing at different ski terrain parks each week for the entire day. He is having a lot of fun skiing. Here are the ski terrain parks that he went to for the past few weekends. If you happen to be in Minnesota in the winter, you may want to check out those ski terrain parks.
Do Asians tend to be smarter than any other race or is it just a misconception? It would be extremely hard to prove that theory that some races are genetically smarter than the others in the State of Minnesota where only 3.8% of the population in Minnesota is Asian, 4.7% is Black, and 4.3% is Hispanic; where else Caucasians is at a whopping 84.8%. According to study, Minnesota Asian students are way below the national average in NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) score. The high percentage of Hmong refugees living in poverty might contribute to the low NAEP score. About 27% of Asians living in Minnesota is Hmong, 12% is Vietnamese, 7% is Laotian, 4% is Cambodian, 11% is Chinese from Mainland China, 12% is Asian India, 9% is Korean, and 6% is Filipino. The percentage of Taiwanese living in Minnesota is too insignificant to be documented.
Why such a low percentage of Asians living in Minnesota? I thought that the weather is a huge contributing factor. However, my husband thought that the low NAEP score might be the reason. So, I did a research to find out how low our NAEP score stands among the nation. Judging from the results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Minnesota eighth graders ranked second in the nation, trailing first-place Massachusetts by 5 points, 294 to 299, and fourth graders came in third, trailing Massachusetts and New Hampshire by 2 points and 1 point, respectively. As for reading, eighth grade reading scores stayed at 270, eight points above the national average of 262, trailing behind three states; while fourth grade scores stayed at 223, three points above the national average of 220, trailing behind six states. I thought that these are quite impressive results. I argued with my husband on his statement. It turns out that my husband meant the ranking of Minnesota high schools in the Nation. Oh well, they aren’t among the top 100 best high schools. According to US News & World Report, Minnesota ranked 31st out of 47 States and only 13 Minnesota high schools received a silver medalist, ranking among the top 2 percent of high schools in the nation. I was extremely surprised to learn that our high school in one of the best school districts isn’t one of them. I always question the criteria of those rankings. Out of the 13 Minnesota high schools, only 2 are from the best school districts in Minnesota and the other 11 high schools are in school districts which we have never heard of. That is quite odd. Anyway, if you are interested in the data, these are the links. http://www.parentsunited.org/09120914.html http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/sections/education/high-schools/
Regarding your questions to me
In the past, I have been answering your questions without asking. After discussing with my husband, I felt that wasn’t a good approach. I might be confusing you even more by introducing too complicated a concept to you if your English proficiency is moderate. I believe in providing guidance, stimulation and feedback, so I don’t always answer your questions directly. However, this approach might trouble some whose English ability is mediocre.
Be careful, you might be next if you continue copying others' articles as your own, reposting other's articles without the authors' consent or sharing any song or media not written by you online.
I get to learn about this news by reading a friend's blog today. Though the penalty sounded extreme, a crime is still a crime no matter whether it is a felony or just a misdemeanor. http://www.myce.com/news/what-is-a-fair-penalty-for-illegal-file-sharing-or-piracy-36230/
Over the years, people have asked me what it is like to live in Minnesota. I usually tell them that it is a boring and extremely cold state. Most Taiwanese are used to the metropolitan lifestyle and tropical to subtropical weather to be able to imagine living in a state with winter as long as 7 months and downtown activity that dies down around 5pm.
If you truly like winter and winter sports such as downhill skiing, cross country skiing, snow-sledding, snow-tubing, snow-shoeing, snowmobiling, ice-fishing, ice-skating, snow-sculpting, dog-sledding, glacier walking, playing ice hockey, sleigh riding, building snow forts or snowmen, and making snow angels, or if you always want to have a white Christmas, you might find Minnesota a paradise like my son. My son, who was born in winter, wishes that it snows every day. He is a true winter boy. His mom sure picks the right place for him to live. Minnesota winters are tedious and cold. However, nothing shuts down even when snow storms strike. Temperatures well below freezing are just run-of-the-mill. You may see snow as early as in October and as late as in April. If you cannot endure 7 months of winter, the below zero degree temperature with windchill factor and the constant snow storms, Minnesota is not the place for you. I don’t think that you can stand hibernating for over half of the year.
It was about a month ago on Veteran’s Day that I read the stories of some disabled Veterans which prompted me to write this article. I have been thinking of writing this since then but have had trouble finding time to frame my thoughts. I have the utmost respect to the soldiers who felled in defense of freedom, risking their lives to save the lives of others. It is so sad to read the stories of those who sacrificed their lives to protect us and to provide a better living for others. It is also so unbearable to hear about the war trauma they experienced, the disabilities they developed and the difficulties they faced returning to civilian life and reentering into their previous rhythm of life.
Can you guess what awaits us this weekend? Can you imagine a foot (30.48 centimeters) of snow dumped in a day? Starting from Friday midnight, we will see an inch-and-a half snow falling per hour throughout the night. In addition to the snow, there will be gusty wind whipping flakes all around, making it a white-out condition, creating near zero visibility. We will also see temperatures falling to as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit. With the gusty wind, it feels more like -39 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 °C) counting the windchill factor. Can you imagine ice crystals glittering on your eyelashes and nostrils frozen from breathing in the cold air that you can't stop coughing?
I often felt that I should do more but I didn’t. How could I make the world a better world? How could I be a better mentor to the young students? What life experience can I provide to them? What career guidance could I provide to the fresh graduate? What could I do to advocate Taiwan’s sovereignty and autonomy?
So, what is stopping me from accomplishing all of them? In fact, there is nothing. It is so easy to just sit there, doing nothing but thinking. What I need to do more is to get up and do it.
What prompted me to write today was a Facebook friend invitation that I received recently. Mostly, I am indifferent to accepting cyber friends. Who are they exactly? I don’t think that I truly want to know or care to know. It is extremely hard for me to warm up to people. To tell you the truth, I still struggle to understand the purpose of having a Facebook account. One day, I received an email from a cyber friend. He informed me that he had stopped blogging and started interacting with others via Facebook. He gave me his Facebook account information. In order to view someone’s Facebook information, you have to sign up for a Facebook account and that was how I got a Facebook account. I suppose that I am somewhat old-fashioned and out-dated. Am I alone? Not really. I can’t seem to find any of my real world friends having a Facebook account.
So far, we have had four snowfalls this winter. I thought that maybe it is time to write a snow poem.
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