Fall Break

Fall Break

Thursday
The midway of autumn
Starts a road trip to the Pacific
Friday
Golden Gate Bridge
Yields a fisherman’s sanctuary
Saturday
Catch-up of old times
Spins a roller-coaster festivity
Sunday
Palm trees and Yellow Submarine
Paint a fall break filled with thundering plaudits

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

New Leaf

New Leaf

Thick air slashed by
A neon knife vertically
On a forked road
Green grass dyed with
Drops from a yellow palette
Fomented
My new leaf
A bright view
A great scheme
Both lie ahead
The eastern wind
Never look back
Don’t ever regret
Sow
Toil
And harvest

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

A Slow Morning

Well, it was a slow morning today, woke up around 10:00 am, replied some messages, cleaned up my desk, and got rid of the thought tugged at the back of my head from last night’s writing.

Still flabbergasted from the entry I penned down several hours ago, I just had some peculiar feeling writing about people with multiple personalities. Perhaps it’s from a conversation I had with friends yesterday; but I was actually amazed I could turn that thought into written words.

I might as well go out this afternoon, enjoying the warm weather outside.
If I want to see a movie, maybe it’s better to go earlier because in that way I can beat the crowd…

I really hate the rush hours in Taipei. As a fast walker, I can’t stand those who drag their steps, especially at MRT stations. Oh, well, I guess I am just not that fond of big cities a whole lot.

A slow morning, some slow thoughts, and even the music seems to be mellow. It’s going to be a cozy afternoon…

Colours of Kaleidoscope

“Psychotherapy? You’re kidding me, right? I’m not sick, okay?”
“No, I think you are sick, and you need to see a doctor…”
“Doctor, my foot! You ARE the one who should see one!”
“Okay, tell me why you scalped the neightbour’s cat and burnt the bloody, poor creature to death last night!!”
“What the freak are you talking about? I would never do such a cruel thing like that!”
“Yeah, right. The neighbours saw you doing that at midnight.”
“But…”
“No more buts, you God-damned psycho! Tell that psychopath to come out now!”
“What? I can’t summon him any time I want, you know that!”
“That’s why I said: Get the fuck out of your devilish shell, Mr. PSYCHOPATHIC Cannibal!”

“Haaaaa…You want some cannabis? Chill, my dear friend. Here I am, ain’t I or aren’t I or should I say AM I NOT? My grand, lovely, and knowledgeable master of grammarian!”
“Shut up, and stop using that sly and sarcastic tone! It gets on my nerves every time you do that!”
“Okay, then. What do you WANT me to do, BUTTHEAD! I can scalp your head and dig out your brain if that’s what you’re wishing … I’m also curious about how neurons work under a living creature’s skull. Don’t think you’re the only person who is so into neuroscience; I’m, too, very intrigued by the connections of synapses and how glutamates fire electrical chemicals…”


Why do you think I am ill
What you see is only part of me
There are various selves living
In this body
Just like our society
Lives all kinds of species
Some are veracious
Some are completely crazy
If the world lacks diversity
Where will you find the opposite
If Prada is only worn by the rich
Who will discover the devil can be
Someone who also wears it
Colours of kaleidoscope
Shine my other images
One lady
One boy
One baby
And one psychopath full of evildoing
Wait, that’s not finished
In fact
There are 666 personalities
Spreading in this walking human being…

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

Spiritual Inventory

Seclusion is bad? Maybe it’s because we’re gregarious beings and need to interact with others in order to progress. But spending some quality time alone is as important as being around with people. Sometimes we are impulsive to take action and then regret what we’ve done. If we can slow down and think twice, it will probably not be so doomful…

Things have slowed down a little bit; and I can do some personal inventory of spirituality. I realize how impatient I am at times. It seems dreadful to conjure up a brilliant idea or method in the project I’m implementing. Well, I reckon a nice walk is usually helpful to me.

On my way to teaching tonight, I swung by a French bookstore. Again I bought books… I got myself two books: Maupassant’s “La Petite Roque” and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les homes”. These are the books I always wanted to read in the past but never got a chance doing so. Now, I’m glad I can read them.

Recently, I’ve been able to locate some high school buddies. It’s really weird, not in a bad sense, but a great one. I haven’t seen those classmates for many years and of course every one leads a different life. I just thought: Wow, we’re no longer high school teens and what have I done to my life?

I remember P. used to tell me how she envied us being young and energetic. I just laughed over what she said and took what I got for granted. Yeah, time will never come back and the course of life has been set in many aspects. Fortunately, I know exactly what I want for my life and am enjoying myself very much.

My mother called me yesterday and said she is learning English now. I thought that was kewl! It’s never too late to learn something, is it? Well, at least motivation can help us acquire new things more efficiently. That’s why I want to keep learning new knowledge with a clear motive. To be candid, I don’t want to get Alzheimer’s disease when I get old and I want to be smarter as time moves on…

Today I learned archeologists in Peru found some mummified dogs, about 20 of them, in an excavation. They speculated dogs were actually well protected and people in that époque believed dogs also possessed a soul. How interesting it is! The breed seemed to be some kind of golden retriever. Archeologists are still working to find out whether those dogs were the unique breed in South America…So, what did you learn today?

Prefrontal Cortex

Only in recent decades prefrontal cortex was closely studied and regarded as an influential part in cognition. An individual suffers from prefrontal cortex damage will have difficulty in interacting with others according to social norms, which means he or she will not be able to take cues from others and thus commit minor or even obnoxious faux-pas.

When subjects are asked to focus on their inner states, and not pay attention to reality from outer world, their medial and lateral inferior prefrontal cortex will show signs of activity. (Elkhonon Goldberg, 2001)

This is really an interesting phenomenon because it indicates a close relationship between our cognitive perception and prefrontal cortex. Cognitive ability is always not easy to be accurately measured via empirical devices. Fortunately, neurologists and neuroscientists have discovered prefrontal cortex’s importance and come up with more advanced equipment to detect its activity in human’s brain.

My question is: since prefrontal cortex influences a person’s cognitive development, when undergoing impairment, it will affect the ability in interaction or other trivia things in life, does that mean it could cause certain hindrance in this person’s language acquisition? And how much impact will that bring?

What if we take a further study in people’s second language acquisition? Presumably, a person’s cognitive perception is damaged, he or she should also have similar intricacy in interacting properly in a second language. I wonder whether we can conduct experiments in this direction.

The question is-finding bilingual people that are subject to the experiment will not be an easy task. In addition, if a person struggles with second language acquisition and at the same time being diagnosed with prefrontal cortex impairment, how much will that change the person’s learning?

When observing certain adults’ struggling in language study, I wonder whether they are actually undergoing some severe prefrontal cortex degeneration. If that is the case, what can we do to better their learning? Is it likely to improve prefrontal cortex’s functionality and make it turn back to the normal track? And by what means can we accomplish that without drilling a hole on a person’s skull? Could nanotechnology do that? And how can it be done? Are there other methods that do not involve major surgeries?

I suppose there are many questions worth considering and finding the answers in the near future…

History

History

Pagoda
Sinks
Temple
Collapses
A forgotten fire drains
Wax of golden statuettes
Chinese zither drones
Choreography of dynasties
Parchment
Rises
Calligraphy
Launches
Cultural innovation
Or genomic evolution
Why should man study history
New ideas materialize from the old things
I read
I think
And I see

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

Collide

Collide

Petals of white orchid flow
On the surface of a green river
Evoking, splashing, and unveiling
The mysterious aborigines’ festivity
Wolf-like folk songs blow
Into every ear of visitors
Leaning, turning, and wondering
The miraculous legend of totem poles
When civilization and primitiveness collide
There should be no opposite waves
Tapping into your thoughts
Because life is supposed to touch
Every soul with everlasting love

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

Myanmar

Finally I’ve finished Amy Tan’s “Saving Fish From Drowning” two days ago. It was really a blast reading this novel, lots of imagination, amazing plots, and the perfect use of language. All were added with oriental flavors in lines. I admire Amy Tan’s talent in writing and her broad knowledge in other fields, such as medicine, history, and geography, etc.

Myanmar is a new name for Burma, but many westerners and Asians are still more inclined to use Burma in many occasions. I don’t know much about the country and actually have never been to that part of the world. What I was shocked from pursing the novel was many people had been victims of landmines in that region.

Man created myriads of inventions; yet many of them in return have turned into self-destructive weapons. Should we call this self-deserved consequence or fate? I guess man’s worst enemy is himself or herself in many aspects.

The novel also made me ruminate over how people react when being put in jeopardy and facing life-threatening predicaments. Why do we have to be forced to become altruistic and bury the hatchet? Why can’t we work with others in unison all the time? If we long for world peace, then the road is yet half-paved…

Reading the so-called “Karen” people in Amy Tan’s book somehow reminded me of my hometown on the east coast of Formosa. I happened to read some news about that familiar yet a bit vague of my birthplace. An elementary school principal tried all he could to ensure every student would have lunch. The cost of each meal was NT 30; yet many families couldn’t even pay for it. My heart sank when I read that.

The journalist reported that families in that area don’t have stable jobs; and parents seem to expect the government for more assistance. Well, we should teach people how to fish, not constantly feed them fish. However, I wonder how much our government has done for those remote villages when giving big chunks of money to other countries.

Is being poor really a sin? Whose fault is that? Who should we blame? If we are to tell the world Taiwan is a great nation, full of energy, high-tech advances, and other necessary criteria for developed countries, we should be ashamed letting so many poor children be deprived of their right in better education and other benefits enjoyed by pupils in big cities like Taipei…

Norwegian Forest

Getting off the train, I felt a sudden and poignant hit of chilly air. Yeah, it smelled like Switzerland, I reckoned. I looked up the sky, crystal-clear blue with tranquility only found in this northern nation. Lying in front of me was a dark, vast, and old pine tree. I realized immediately the forest was just a few feet away; it’s like walking into a gigantic no man’s land, full of primitive and exotic touches from the Nature…

Dinner appointment at 6 pm, I briskly glanced at my wristwatch: 5:34. Good, I had plenty of time hiking through the mysterious woods. Although it’s only beginning of autumn, I needed to wear a sweater and a windbreaker up here near the fjord. Fjord it was. The beauty of Norway deeply engraved an impressive mark on my mind’s eye.

Passing by a tiny wooden cabin, I noticed there was a wind chime dangling languidly in the façade. What caught me off guard was a fisherman’s half face emerged from the back of windowpanes. The blue bonnet embroidered with red elks stood out in the dim light; I thought I saw a… thanked goodness! It was a paper doll…

Liv told me I should join their “tur” in the forest one of those days. I laughed over it, thinking: Oh no, I would freeze my butt off if I were to stay a night outside in the cold Norwegian forest…

Here I was, walking toward a friend’s house for an unknown and supposedly delicious dinner. My mind raced like a space shuttle, yarning for an adventure. Nevertheless, the paradigm of verb conjugation still lay at the back of my heavy head. Not only must I finish the essay, but also a novel I scheduled to cross the midway. Oh well, the heck! Why couldn’t I just enjoy this giant forest?

6:49 pm just popped up; and I quickened my pace only to see a cherub flying by and the magic wand being held by a fairy giggling down the muddy trek… Wait, wasn’t that from my elementary school days?

Norwegian forest, a mixture of déjà vu and apprehension surreptitiously evoked the sleeping neurons in my exhausted brain. It was in the year of 2000; a year I flew away to embrace a childhood imagination.

Blog

This poem is dedicated to a good high school buddy who was also madly in love with English. Thanks to the prevalence of blog, I was able to locate him again…

Blog

Have you ever thought
I would walk
Accidentally
By your blog
Have you ever met
A long lost friend
Inadvertently
Via the Internet
Power of word
Or magic of cyberspace
Our living world
Has entered a new phase
Don’t think it’s only a personal stage
For many are out there to appreciate
A line of introspection
A paragraph of interchange
This link is drawing us
Into an unprecedented
And extraordinary state

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

Scrimp and Save

“When I was your age, I was already married…”
“So? Time is different now…”
“When I was your age, I had three kids…”
“Did you enjoy that?”
“When I was your age, I had my own house…”
“Does that mean you’re more successful?”

Chinese parents always try their best to offer children opportunities in education in hopes their children will get top-notch jobs or become what is perceived a great achievement in mainstream society. Many scrimp and save to send their kids to learn all sorts of talents after regular school hours. Yet, is that really necessary? Do children have an enjoyable childhood here?

I know parents should provide a resourceful environment to children in order to develop better neuronal connections and further obtain more skills for the future. But I also think a happy childhood is essential in terms of wholesome development of cognition and personality.

We have long noticed the influence of psychology on an individual in the process of establishing a healthy life, be physically or mentally. Positive criticism brings more significant outcome in assisting teenagers in their multi-layered life. I hope younger generation will learn from their own experience, which apparently shows the older generation’s way of raising kids is not suitable anymore.

Why are we afraid that our children have off-the-normal-track thoughts? Why can’t we let children ask any questions they want and guide them to search the best answers themselves? What’s wrong dreaming of becoming an artist? Why should only doctor, scientist, and businessman count as great professions?

Many years ago, I was asked by an elderly in my family that how much I got paid for teaching English. I said five hundred. Then this elderly quickly calculated and told me I would never get rich if I just wanted to be a teacher. I was still young and didn’t know how to defend myself, especially when facing elderly people like that in the family. But I recall I told myself: So, what? My passion is my job and I enjoy every minute and keep learning new things… I might not be as rich as you are, a billionaire, I still have my goals and I know life isn’t just about money and fame.

In addition, who doesn’t have teachers? No one can learn everything by himself. Without teachers’ teaching and stimulation and many others’ contribution to our present knowledge of world, who do you think you can really become? I wish I had some people who could’ve guided me to discovery my passionate pursuits earlier. Then I wouldn’t have spent so many years switching courses of careers. I know it’s not too late to give my all for the childhood dream; yet time will never come back again…

Scrimp and Save as did my parents for every one of us in the family. I will never forget that gracious offering and blessing. Tonight I find my reticent self in the rain picturing the night I had to wade through the river to get spring water for my grandmother’s funeral. I was so little and didn’t understand why I had to stay up so late and walk with my father in the rain. I didn’t realize grandmother’s suicide was the end of the spell on my mother and the beginning of my nostalgia from the old house I used to live for many years…And when the midnight falls, I sometimes find my mask peeling off bit by bit, revealing a childlike face…

Tiger Lily

To all my friends from Taitung...

Tiger Lily

Scattering magic
Like a velvet carpet
The bridal gown traces
On the mausoleum so green
A bunch of kids
Run here and there
It’s another day
For a great outing
One two three
A sweet sop tree
Sports enormous fruits
In a mist of golden beams
Four five six
A sea of tiger lily
Flops thousands of flowers
Framing my nostalgic mountain
Tai Ma Li…

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

Demagogue

Demagogue means one that attempts to mislead people, a politician who foments discontent among the masses so as to be voted into office. Yet, after being elected, the demagogue would use political power to further his own personal interest, ambition, or fortune.

Does that ring a bell? Doesn’t that sound like a description of our president? YES, and I think we should add an extra meaning to it: one that apparently has wrongdoings yet refuses to take full responsibility and step down.

In today’s news, I found two things appalling: the coup in Thailand and riot in Hungary. The obnoxious part is both PMs are not honest and they refused to step down too. Ironically, the similar situation happened in Taiwan. I wonder whether we will have a coup or riot to depose our president. The thing is most people hate our president and believe he has done something wrong in terms of corruption. What do we expect further from a political figure like Mr. Chen? Why do we need to keep diplomatic ties with those island countries? Will they help us gain a more dignified stand in international affairs? The answer is NO!! And Mr. Chen’s wife and son in-law allegedly have made big mistakes in “stealing” taxpayers’ money and insider trading. When will justice arrive? I hope it is not too late.

Are we really like the old saying implies- a plate of scattered sands? Can’t we unite ourselves as a great entity to fight for our own right? It is time for more profound thinking and reflection. With all those jittery participants in the sit-in protest, every one should calm down and ponder on how we want to make our country better. True democracy is not just a sensational outcry against an incompetent government; true democracy is every citizen has enough knowledge of democracy and can apply reasonable means to carry the nation a big step forward on the boulevard of peace, love, and wealth. If the conflict between the “Red” and “Green” continues, I bet the biggest beneficiary shall be Mainland China!

I'm willing to

I’m willing to

Your smile suddenly dived
Like a pure white waterfall
Fragrance you wore
Elegance you bore
On the trail to the spring full of gold

A blink of eye
A beat of vibe
I saw a burning fire in your mind
As soon as the sky caught some light
You would be ready to fly

Where was the destination
Could it lie within my soul’s sight
Thousands of butterflies
Millions of miles
All I wanted to hear
Was a simple reply
I’m willing to die
For another life…

Written by Jerski Bjorksen

Origami Lady

“She died! She died! Lady S died!” shouted hysterically the haggard sister of Lady S.
“Finally! Good for her. It’s a release for every one of us,” said Wise.
Every since S was born, every family member knew the day would arrive sooner or later…But is it too soon or too late?

Born with coronary impairments and without a corpus callosum, S had shown peculiar symptoms such as chest pain, epilepsy, and retardation in speech. She could not even button her own shirts until ten years old. Most of time, she seemed to be engaged in her own world, a mysterious one that was well-shielded with incomprehensible behaviors.

In order to cure her illness, S’s parents tried every possible way, traditional Chinese remedies, western medicine, and even singular religious beliefs; but none of them actually worked. After several years’ endeavors, the family eventually came to accept the fact S would not be a normal child and every one just had to do his best to make sure she was safe.

“Get out of my face! You dirty, filthy, and ugly pig!” S yelled at the top of her lung as she pushed her father away with a blow of sudden power.
“What the heck…” the father’s jaw dropped with eyes wide-opened as he slowly put down the bowl of mung bean soup. It was S’s first time to talk like a real kid, with emotion and intonation in words. It was a miracle to the father and the rest of the family!

…To Be Continued.

The Brain's Food

In “Inside The Brain” by Ronald Kotulak, there is a section that talks about stroke and spinal cord damage. And a paragraph goes like: “The suicide reaction—its scientific name is apoptosis-begins when a damaged or dying neuron releases massive amounts of a neurotransmitter called glutamate. Glutamate is normally one of the most import chemical messengers in the brain. But when too much glutamate is present, the NMDA receptors (“doors” on cell surfaces) are jammed open. Sodium floods in, causing the cell to swell. Calcium rushes in and smashes at the cell’s genetic controls, producing enzymes that eat away cell’s internal support structure and destructive molecules, called free radicals that chew away its membrane wall.”

Therefore, the cure to prevent cerebral damage is to develop drugs that block NMDA receptors being jammed open when stroke or spinal cord damage happens. However, it is not easy to let outside chemicals to wade through the brain-blood barrier, a self-protective way for the brain cells. Now neuroscientists and neurologists have come up some drugs that can “fool” neurons to let drugs go through their protective wall and further fix the damage.

I think it would be very interesting to find out whether an adult has some unknown impairment in the brain when learning a second language. The conventional thought is adults are not like children in terms of language acquisition. In some respects, it is proved that children learn a language differently from adults, especially in terms of cognitive development. However, I think adults might suffer some minor cereal impairments and are not aware of them. Therefore, rote memorization or repetition is not going to elevate an adult’s learning unless the problem is solved first in the brain.

I also love the phrase “The brain’s food is education”, which indicates everyone can train his or her brain and keep it in shape regardless of age. Learning new things can trigger new synapses between neurons and makes a person become smarter. Who wouldn’t want to be cleverer? There must be hope for all of us if we want to maintain a healthy brain, let alone acquiring a second language efficiently.

My preliminary approach is to monitor adults’ brain activities when being exposed to foreign language learning. The fMRI or PET scanning should reveal that perhaps there is something abnormal in the brain. Then we can precisely help subjects with the right methods to reinforce their neurons so as to acquire language more effectively, and not just learning via the conventional way without taking the cerebral problems into account.

Silkworm

“Okay, class, the next project will be raising silkworms and record their growth daily…” said the science teacher. “Yeah, that’s awesome! Dad has already bought me twenty baby silkworms last Friday,” thought Jake as he put his books into the backpack, rushing out of the classroom.

“Wait up for me! Carlos!” Jake shouted as he ran breathlessly.
“Hurry up! We don’t wanna be late for picking up mulberry leaves at grandpa Lee’s backyard.
“And the delicious spring rolls too…” said Jake with his angelic smile.

Going to the Lees’ after school had been a ritual for both Jake and Carlos since they first went to elementary school. And they really enjoyed themselves there because the Lees were a nice old couple that provided a secure and educational place for kids. They were retired from the local teachers’ college; Mr. Lee taught molecular biology while Mrs. Lee was a devoted English and German professor.

The enormous backyard of the Lees consisted of a green house, a swimming pool, and a beautiful garden. Since Mrs. Lee had a green thumb, there were all sorts of flowers according to the seasons. Her favorite flower was peony, the snow-white kind. At the back of the yard stood three old mulberry trees; and these were the food providers for Carlos’ and Jake’s experiments. They also bore large, juicy fruits for the Lees. Mrs. Lee loved using the fruits to make jam or tea. The neighbours all received their homemade gifts every year.

Behind the backyard was a small forest that spread out to the sapphire mountain. Sometimes Mr. and Mrs. Lees would take the kids to go hiking and have a bath of Pythoncidere. The zigzag trek was a challenge for children but a wonderful place to let them embrace the beauty of nature and exercise both body and brain because Mrs. Lee loved to put up some interesting mental exercises for those future leaders of the nation.

…To be continued.

Phlegmatic response

Finally R has contacted me and we had dinner last night. It was great seeing him after such a long time. I remember the time I was in the States and my visit to L.A. Boy, time really flies!

I called Da-Bei on Thursday, talking about his new school and his son. I miss that little kid. Oh, the time I had to take care of him and his mother and prepare meals for them. That was an unforgettable experience.

Incorrigible book-aholic me! I bought four books about neuroscience last night at Eslite. Giving the notion of brain’s plasticity, I believe I can do it in this new field and come up with some new methodology to help Asian students or other ones in general learn a second language more efficiently. I love the phrase, “Use it or lose it”, because it simply implies as long as we desire to learn, nothing is impossible!

As for the sit-in protest, I want Mr. Chen to step down as well; yet my response to whether I want to take part in the activity is phlegmatic. I think there is something more effective we can do to depose the president. Sit-in protest is just a passive way.

After dinner, R and I took a promenade around New York, New York. He told me that brought back lots of memory about his last stay in Taiwan. As for me, I didn’t feel anything. In fact, I never like Taipei; I always I feel I’m just a passerby, waiting for another destination…

Salinity Soars

Isostacy

Salinity soars
With an ancient past
Bonneville drained
As eons ago
Great Salt Lake roars
In a bi-direction sophisticated road
Flowing into a miraculous combination
Pink mirror with green floor
Extending a picturesque tempo
Why can’t anyone stop for a moment
Pondering on the wisdom of Nature
Melting glaciers evaporate
Sustaining forces dismiss
Causing enormous rebound
Like mankind
We all miss
The purity of love and a peaceful mind
Conflict will forever exist
If the support of charity subsides
Like isostacy
Leaving our offspring
Nothing to shore up

Written by Jerski Bjorksen