A joke: Philosophy of life

A philosophy professor stood before her class and had some items in front of her. When the class began, silently she picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks. She then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. She shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. She then asked the students again if the jar was full. They again agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. Now, said the professor, I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical check-ups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

But then... A student then took the jar which the other students and the professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a glass of beer. Of course the beer filled the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full.

The moral of this tale is that no matter how full your life is, there is always room for BEER.

Source: http://www.lotsofjokes.com

Where does Cambodia rank in the world?

In the world, there were 177 countries in the Report of the Human Development issued by the UNDP in 2005. What indicators experts used to measure the human development of countries in the world? In principles, THREE main indicators: INCOME (GDP per capita), HEALTH (life expectancy at birth), and EDUCATION (adult literacy and school enrollment). These three indicators are called Human Development Index (HDI) representing average achievement of each country.

Cambodia ranked 130 with the GDP per capita 2078 $ (international $: int’l $), a little bit better than Laos that ranked 133 among 177 countries. Norway ranked the top with the GDP per capita 37670$ ( int’l $), USA ranked 10 with GDP per capita 37562$ (int’l$). Last 25 countries from the bottom were African countries in which Niger was the last in the row among 177 countries. Click for Human Development Report 2005

Int’l $: is a way to compare standard of living across countries using conversion factor for GDP (PPP: purchasing power parity) to eliminate differences in national price level. The simple example to understand is that 1US$ in the US is different from 1 US$ in Cambodia or developing countries in terms of buying the same item.

Food of thoughts for the weekend!

Our communication Wireless Our business Cashless Our telephone Cordless
Our cooking Fireless Our youth Jobless Our religion Creedless
Our food Tasteless Our faith Godless Our labor Effortless
Our conduct Worthless Our relation Loveless Our attitude Careless
Our feelings Heartless Our politics Shameless Our education Valueless
Our arguments Baseless Our commitment Aimless Our lives Meaningless
Our bosses Hopeless Our salary Very Very Less!!!

Ms. Hanifa's note, CIH

Here, we mind about the daily weather!

In Cambodia, most of the time people never think of about the changes in weather in their daily lives. They always take it for granted since it always sunny and shiny, and the duration of night and day are not quite different even in summer or winter.

But here in Norway, we mind about the weather all the times especially in winter! I have to check weather forecast daily to see what will happend in the next day. Rain, shower, temperature are often changed in the week. You have to prepare for the weather chnages everyday. Now the winter is moving slowly toward the end. Each day, it is about 8 to 10 minutes widers in lenght of the day time! The dark winter here will end soon. Hehehe I like it.

It has been shown that dark and cold weather cause a lot of depression and need light therapy for some people. In the US, during my study in the University of Washington, Seattle in the winter, it was shown the decline in student performance in classes leading to low grades! hehhe- Seasonal Affective Syndrome (SAD).

A joke: A little boy's perspective toward politics!!

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What's politics?"

Dad says, " Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me Capitalism. Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs so we'll call you the People. The nanny, we'll consider her he Working Class. Now your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense."

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him, and he finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother fast asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to to his father, " I think I understand Politics now." The father replies, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think it is." The boy promptly answers, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is asleep, the People are being ignored, and the Future is in deep shit."

This joke was sent to me by a friend of mine.

My few favorite sayings

Nobody knows nothing AND nobody knows everything. (Anonymous)

A thousand miles of journey start from the first step. (Chinese)

No gain without pain. (Anonymous)

The first picture inseretd!

City I live is the city of rain! Bergen, but in the summer it is the most beautiful city I think.

With the assistance from a friend of mine, this first picture was inserted successfully! hha it is fun to learn how to work with the web.

The spring semester started! fasten your seatbelt haha

Now i am back to the school. No time for fun! I am told that by the end of two weeks of intensive experimental epidemiology, we all will be exhausted! hhhe, we'll see!

A winter break in Paris!

After the first semester was over, I left Bergen for a while to visit relatives in Paris. It was a great time there. It took about 2h 10 mn from Bergen to Paris. It is a great, a stylistic and a busy city comparing with Bergen, the city where I came from!

All relatives were warm and friendly to me though everyone had their own jobs to do. We were lucky enough to have the chrismas time in my relative's house in which all of her sons, daughters's families with children could come to enjoy. For adults, chrismas and new year were a nice time for familes's union but for children, it was a time for fun to get the chrismas gifts and other!

I visited few places during my stay there: Notre Dame, l'arc the Triomphe, Montre Matre, Eiffel Tower and the popular boulevard of Champ Elysse. For some people from Cambodia, Paris is a city of their dream! But for me, it was not a city of dream but just a place that makes me know more about another world!

I was back to Bergen on December 30, 2005. I was asked stay until new year in Paris but I could not make it due to my air ticket.