參觀奈耶諾德大學:得荷蘭免費旅行機會 -補習


  奈耶諾德大學是一所位于荷蘭的領先商業學院,向國際留學生開放。校園周末活動指的是,有意到奈耶諾德大學就讀MBA的學生,到校園度過2天3個晚上。在此期間,體驗MBA課程:置身在13世紀遺址中、在古老的城堡中就餐、參加講座、研討會和其他活動。對很多人來說,這是首次游覽荷蘭,考察奈耶諾德大學是否是獲得MBA學位理想學校的機會。
  有意參加奈耶諾德大學MBA課程的優秀學生,奈耶諾德大學可以報銷機票。在1月和2月期間舉辦的校園周末活動中,來自50多個國家的學生到校園學習課程,從教職員工、現在的MBA學生和校友處了解MBA課程。奈耶諾德大學國際MBA課程的中國留學生Ms. Sophia Bai說選擇奈耶諾德大學的一個重要原因是與校友互動。“我的導師也是從這項課程畢業的,他有很強的領導能力,而且很成功。當時我正在幾個學校之間猶豫不決,他強烈建議我選擇奈耶諾德大學,因為他相信這所學校更適合我,會幫助我發揮我的潛能。”Ms. Bai說。
  奈耶諾德大學啟動這些特殊活動的原因是,覺得到校園與校友和學生交談,潛在留學學生可以獲得很多信息。國際和執行MBA課程的主管Ms. Désirée van Gorp說,目標是“讓盡可能多的有天賦的學生,感受一些奈耶諾德大學校園的MBA氛圍。”從開展校園周末活動開始,來自世界各地的約100名學生到荷蘭考察MBA學生的情況。一些學生,如中國國際MBA留學生Mr. Javen Chen,他們都參加了MBA課程。Mr. Chen說:“如果你想跳出舒適的環境,希望挑戰自己、改變自己,不久你就會發現自己到底可以多優秀。對我來說,在這里學習和體驗是前所未有的。很多中國人都不知道奈耶諾德大學,但是你來到這里,在校園生活之后,你就會愛上這里!”

陳金結:感恩民大 -補習



  屈指算來,時間已經過去整整四年了。記得那是在2007年4月20日,是星期日。我在理工大學參加了研究生入學考試,上午10點過后是一個空檔,我立即給民大的曾思奇教授打了電話,表明想要面見教授。下午2點,我們相約在民大的西門。此后,我便開始了跟隨曾老師研究我們阿美族民族語言南島語之路。
  2007年9月13日,我正式來中央民族大學少數民族語言文學系攻讀碩士研究生學位。年紀稍長于其他研究生的我,被分配到12號樓學生宿舍118房間。當時,宿舍里已經安排入住了4個同學。那一年,少數民族語言文學系共招收了32名碩士研究生,可男生只有我們2人。為了便于學習和交流,系里就找相關負責人想把我安排到118房間。這樣的話,就得把藏語系的次仁占堆同學調整到另外的房間。雖然已經在118房間安排妥當,但他還是很配合地搬到了其他房間。我就這樣在118房間里安頓了下來。從此,4名來自相同或不同院系、不同民族的同學相互學習、融洽相處。
  同學們都對我感到好奇,但問的最多的問題就是為什么都42歲了還會愿意繼續讀書?問我為什么會選擇民大?我總是簡短地回答說:讀書是為了阿美族語言的傳承而來;之所以選擇民大,乃是因為民大自建校之初到現在研究南島語已經50余年了,而且民大有各種民族語言學的專家學者,當然最主要的原因還是慕老師曾思奇教授的大名而來。
  三年的學習讓我更加確信,民大集結了全國的民族語言學專家,是民族語言的研究中心。我自認為這樣的語言研究環境,在中國是找不到第二個了。所以我感到特別幸運,能夠拜入了全世界最懂阿美語的學者門下,能夠擁有這么好的學習環境。
  在民大學習的這段時間里,民大的領導和老師對我的照顧真是無微不至,處處都讓我感到如同家般的溫暖。我把曾老師當成是我在這里的父親,曾老師也是把我當成是他的孩子一樣對待。他不只是關心我的學習,而且在生活的各個方面也很關心,所以一直讓我深受感動。港澳臺辦公室和系里的其他老師亦如家人一樣對我噓寒問暖。按照校領導的指示,相關部門還為我申請了獎學金,在攻讀碩士學位的三年里我共獲得了兩次獎學金;前不久,在我攻讀博士學位的第一年,在校領導和老師的鼓勵下,我又成功獲得由國家財政部、教育部特為在祖國內地高等院校及科研機構就讀的臺灣學生設立的“國家臺灣學生獎學金”。
  為了讓我們這些在民大學習的臺灣籍學生更快地適應在大陸的生活,更多地了解中國文化,學校特地為我們安排了許多到全國各地的參觀學習活動。我們把這些活動稱為“文化知識之旅”。因為不論是在北京郊區參觀,還是到廈門、成都、南京等外省市走訪,每到一處,不同區域的人文地理都讓我們的內心充滿了好奇與感恩,讓我們用實踐領會了“行萬里路勝讀萬卷書”的道理。  在民大的這些年,我深深體會到了以往在書中所感受不到的許多知識,也切實感到民大對我的非凡意義。不夸張地說,民大改變了我的命運,民大給了我們阿美族民族語言得以傳承的機會,而這就是民大給予我的寶貴財富。

長沙“擦鞋女孩”擺地攤掙生活費過假期 -補習


  新華網長沙10月7日專電“如果大地的每個角落都充滿了光明,誰還需要星星……”15歲小女孩楊婷蹲在地下通道的一側,大聲朗讀著手中的課本。一旁是她帶來的擦鞋工具——一張綠色小板凳、一塊缺了角紅磚、一把刷子和透著黑油的擦鞋布。這是6日早上8時,香港補習城在湖南長沙黃土嶺街道的一個地下通道里看到的一幕。
  不久,一位路過地下通道的先生招呼楊婷擦鞋。她馬上放下課本,麻利的往擦鞋布上噴了點水。盡管擦鞋中手臂有點不聽使喚,但不到5分鐘,楊婷就完成了清潔、上油、拋光三道工序。
  “好了,三塊錢”。這位先生給了楊婷5元,并告訴她不用找錢了。“叔叔,我這還有男士襪子和鞋墊,你需要嗎?”楊婷指向左邊鋪在藍色塑料布上的一些生活用品,并快速撿起一雙遞給顧客。“叔叔買一雙吧,兩塊錢,很便宜的。”楊婷生怕顧客放下手中的貨品,趕緊推銷起來。
  “小妹妹,你家人呢?”顧客問道,“我爸爸10年前死了,媽媽現在去廣州打工了,我來賺學費和生活費。”說這些話時,楊婷頭也不抬,只顧著找零。顧客走后,楊婷又拿起一本數學練習冊寫寫畫畫。地下通道人來人往,嘈雜的聲音絲毫沒有影響到她。
  國慶長假的第一天,香港補習城就注意到了這個在地下通道擦皮鞋、擺地攤的小女孩。一連6天,她都一個人拖著綁好的蛇皮袋,準時出現在這里。生意好時,楊婷一天可以擦十來雙皮鞋,賣出兩雙鞋墊。沒有顧客時,她就捧著課本細細地讀。11點多,小女孩開始吃自備的午餐。香港補習城趁機與她攀談,可楊婷卻放下筷子要求香港補習城教她幾道數學題。
  “每個學期六七百,要買學習資料、要搭車、還要吃飯,所以我基本上每天放學都會過來擦鞋。國慶這幾天街上人多,我就去批發了襪子、鞋墊、橡皮筋來賣。”楊婷告訴香港補習城,她就在離地下通道不遠的長沙市天心區一中上初三。6年前,楊婷從老家邵陽縣來到省城治療先天性心臟病時受到了當地媒體的關注,之后便轉學到了長沙的一所小學。然而父親早逝、母親貧病交加,這四五年來她都是靠擦鞋來支撐自己的求學之路。
  “不管刮風、下雨、甚至是落雪,她每天都在這里擦皮鞋,手里還拿本書,早上經常可以聽到她的讀書聲,這里好多居民都知道。”長沙這個地下通道周邊擺攤四五年的付老板說起楊婷滔滔不絕。“我看她看書好認真的,馬路對面有時候有一些做義工的大學生,楊婷就會跑過去問他們功課。”
  地下通道里,常會有小朋友拽著氫氣球,牽著父母的手走過,這時楊婷就會偷瞄一眼。在長沙求學6年,除了學校每年組織的秋游,楊婷再也沒有去過其他地方。“我才不羨慕他們放假可以去玩呢,等我讀書出來了,賺了錢,以后還有機會。”楊婷告訴香港補習城。
  每晚7點左右,楊婷便收攤了。由于手不靈活,她要費很大的力氣才能把蛇皮袋捆在小拖車上。擦鞋的小板凳則被她藏在地下通道外一家醫院的標志牌后。“你明天還來教我數學題可以嗎?我明天會早點來,早點賣完進的貨,就可以多點時間看書。”楊婷反復叮囑香港補習城不要忘了。

殘疾父母養出勵志兒 男生攬3份家教攢大學學費 -補習


  丈夫腦癱且多病,需要人照顧,自己自幼患有小兒麻痹癥,一直行動不便,為了謀生,付立輝以清掃開福區湘雅中學外的一間公共廁所為業。上個月,付立輝收到了兒子譚心想的大學錄取通知書,盡管全家盼這一天已經盼了十幾年,但是一家人卻無法高興起來。每年近一萬的學費,對這個靠低保來維持生活的家庭來說,如同天文數字。
  說起付立輝一家,湘雅路上的街坊鄰居腦子里總會浮現出一個場景,付立輝一瘸一拐地在清掃公共廁所,兒子擺張桌子在廁所外面學習、畫畫、寫字,丈夫譚偉誼坐在兒子身邊,靜靜地看著母子倆。從兒子譚心想3歲起,付立輝就在湘雅街道湘雅中學外的一個公共廁所干起了廁所保潔的工作。廁所內一間幾平米的小房間,就是他們生活的地方。由于丈夫多病,無法工作,全家只能靠付立輝每月300塊錢的工資和幾百元的低保支撐。維持日常生活和供兒子讀書外,這個家庭每年還要把一半的錢花在給譚偉誼治病上。丈夫除了腦癱,還患有心臟病和尿毒癥。
  “不管條件多差,我都要讓兒子讀書。”付立輝表示,生活在這樣一個特殊的家庭,兒子譚心想并沒有自卑,在鄰居心里兒子心想是一個特別懂事的孩子。譚心想自幼十分好學聰穎,琴棋書畫,樣樣精通,初中畢業以優異的成績考入了雅禮中學,在班上一直名列前茅。付立輝說:“家里沒錢買好一點的衣服鞋子,兒子就買最便宜的白T恤、白鞋子,自己在上面手繪。”除了校服外,譚心想沒有一條屬于自己的褲子。
  今年,譚心想以686分的成績被上海東華大學錄取,“沒收到通知書我急,收到了通知書我更急。”付立輝這樣描述自己當時的心情,每年光學費,就要花掉全部的工資及低保收入。譚心想為了能夠上大學,替家里減輕負擔,這個暑假他一口氣攬下了3份家教工作,早上6點多就出門,晚上11點才一個人回家。
  付立輝說,譚心想告訴她,在大學里他會爭取獎學金,自己賺生活費。眼看著開學的日子一天天逼近,而學費還遠遠不夠,開福區湘雅街道辦事處得知這一情況后,除了送去2000元助學金外,街道辦事處主任朱旭東還表示“每學期個人都會資助心想1000元,并發動親朋戚友一起資助他,直至大學畢業。”

不講文明將影響升高中 評價結果記入學生成長記錄袋 -補習



  會記入學生成長記錄袋
  商報濟南消息昨天,香港補習城從濟南市教育局未成年人思想道德建設測評工作動員會上獲悉,為迎接全國公共文明指數測評活動,全市中小學將全面推進陽光少年引領行動,同時增加學生在文明習慣等方面的評價力度,學生不講文明將影響升學。
  據了解,未成年人思想道德建設工作是文明城市建設工作的重中之重,中央將此項工作作為文明城市建設的前置條件,未成年人工作的測評結果占測評總額的50%,其結果直接影響到全市文明城市的成績。今年,分布于全市11個縣區和直屬的80多所中小學校將被抽測調查。評價結果一并記入學生成長記錄袋。“從去年開始,濟南市將初中學生基礎性發展目標評價成績作為學生畢業及高中階段學校招生的重要依據,該成績為C以上等級的學生可領取《義務教育證書》,并可報考普通高中學校。現在,我們又在評價體系中增加了文明習慣等內容,如學生不講文明,將直接影響考高中。”濟南市教育局副局長王春光對香港補習城說。
  

畢業生愛上租寢室 學弟學妹當“床東” -補習



  馬上又進入畢業季,大四學生汪熹銘和同學們陸續找到工作,當周圍的同學們都在忙著找房子時,汪熹銘卻一點也不急,她在工作單位附近一所高校找到了安身之所,租個床位重新開始過自己的“寢室生活”。但是她和新“室友”的相處并不愉快,近日,她向本報企業QQ講述了自己的煩惱。 
  每月120元租學妹寢室
  每天早上7點半,汪熹銘和“室友們”一起起床,搶衛生間,然后洗漱,一起出門了。不同的是,“室友們”帶著教材去上課,而她則匆匆走出校門,坐15分鐘公交車去單位上班。汪熹銘告訴香港補習城,之所以租住高校寢室,一是租金便宜,二是環境和治安好,很多準備考研的師兄師姐也是這樣選擇的。汪熹銘的“床東”是一個相熟的小師妹。“她為了復習考研,搬出去住了,空出一張床位租給了我。”汪熹銘說,寢室是四人間,熱水器、書桌和衣櫥等用品齊全,每月租金120元,水電開銷另算。 
  室友像防賊一樣防她
  剛搬進去的時候,汪熹銘非常滿意,但不到一個星期就覺得不自在了。“我越來越覺得,其他幾個女生離我越來越疏遠。”汪熹銘說,幾個“室友”每天一起出門上課、吃飯、逛街,顯然已經是小團體了,“她們行動之前從來不和我打招呼,好像我是透明的一樣”。汪熹銘說,很多次她買回零食招呼大家一起吃,或者想通過某個話題和“室友”聊天,但是得到的反應都很冷淡。對此,汪熹銘的“室友”向香港補習城抱怨說,汪在她們眼中只能算是陌生的校外人員,身份復雜,還是防備點好。
  調查
  現象:高校頻現出租床位廣告
  “本人現有×棟×舍一床位出租,限男生,租金150元每月。”香港補習城在我市幾所高校的通告欄里都發現了類似這樣的廣告。校內床位出租多分為兩種模式,一種是短租,即出租人寒暑假或黃金周回家,床位空出。這種適合假期實習或黃金周前來游玩的異地租客。另一種則是宿舍沒滿員,床位長期空出,出租時間可長達一年以上。求租者多為大學畢業生。
  回應:發現外人租住一律驅逐
  西南大學后勤負責人陳老師告訴香港補習城,根據《學生宿舍管理規定》,學生寢室的居住對象只能是在冊的該校學生。學生宿舍一般是按班級和專業來編排,為的就是讓同班同專業的學生住在一起,便于管理,學校嚴禁學生私下調換、轉讓和出租床鋪,并且學生也無權自由處置床鋪。不過,宿管人員無法辨別每一個住在宿舍樓的學生,所以可能會存在外來人員自由出入寢室樓的情況。目前主要是靠學生舉報,和輔導員寢室搜查,一旦發現外來人員,一律驅逐。  
  網友熱議:
  學生不該租床位 學校也有責
  彼岸:很多大學畢業生生起薪較低,校外的住房租金又高,否則誰會寄人籬下住別人的寢室?
  冷水泡茶:出租床位損人利己,為了蠅頭小利,讓校外人員住進來,給寢室造成不便甚至帶來治安問題。 
  謊言:看待這個問題不能一邊倒,很多學生因為實習等原因,無法住在寢室,但是學校方面,宿舍費用卻照收不誤,這樣一來,校方就相當于為學生出租床位提供了溫床。
  專家觀點
  學校應歸并閑置宿舍 供外來人員登記租住
  重慶協和心理咨詢所所長、首席心理咨詢師譚剛強表示,考研人數越來越多,畢業生就業、生存壓力越來越大,這些都是造成寢室床位出租風行的重要因素,同時,高校管理存在漏洞也促成了這種不良現象的發生。學校在禁止學生出租床鋪的同時,還應該將規定進一步細化。對于確實長期不在校住宿的學生,校方應該本著公平、合理的原則,對管理規定作出相應調整;對那些長期不在校居住的學生進行登記,學校可考慮退還或減免他們的住宿費用;對外來人員經嚴格核實并進行登記后,讓他們入住這些閑置的宿舍,力求使資源利用最大化。
  本組稿件由實習香港補習城 楊林 采寫

Just Back: Chris Isaak from Hawaii - hong kong concert


I was on the Big Island for a special concert. We played in a palm grove on the beach at night for the 100 people who won a contest through my TV show. BAD, BAD THING: The first time I came here was years ago, to shoot the "Wicked Game" video. People always thought all that smoke behind us was special effects, but it was really steam boiling up from lava pouring into the water. The next day we went back to get some more shots and the beach we'd been standing on was gone. Helena [Christensen] and I could have been encased in stone under the ocean. There are worse ways to go. BEACH BUM: When I'm in Hawaii, I usually swim all day long. One day I was in the ocean about six hours steady, just playing in the waves. People look at you like you're mental, but it's fun. ONLY THE LONELY: Another day, I was trying to visualize the words to a song, so I got a long stick and wrote all the lyrics in a line on the sand. Then I ran down to the other end to see what I'd written. I thought, If somebody walks down the beach . . . Lyrics are okay in a song, but when you read 'em — "You are my only one/My one and only one" — that looks psycho.

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Insider: World's Largest Cruise Ship - hong kong concert


First, let's get one thing straight: this is a really, really, really big ship. Fifty feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, too damn wide for the Panama Canal, capable of carrying three 747's and a space shuttle (hypothetically speaking, of course), the 2,600-passenger Grand Princess is an absolute beast. The original Love Boat could squeeze into the top-deck dining areas; a thousand harbor seals could dwell comfortably in the five swimming pools; a blue whale could curl up in the atrium; and I personally am convinced the thing's got wheels on the bottom so it can skip the buoyancy issue altogether and just troll along the ocean floor, though no one will confirm that.
This is a ship whose employees are known to complain about their morning commute.
I might also add that it has the largest casino afloat, the first wedding chapel at sea, and a wicked huge storage room containing, among other things, 800,000 folded paper towels and 50,000 swizzle sticks. (I counted them myself.)
Built by the Fincantieri company in Italy for $450 million—the highest price tag ever for a passenger vessel—the Grand Princess made its debut last year to raves from reviewers, all of whom struggled to find synonyms for "really, really, really big." The Grand is just the first of several new megaliners in the Princess fleet; it will be joined by two sister ships in 2001. Meanwhile, the race for superlatives is on: in November, Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas will up the ante to 3,100 passengers (and don't forget the climbing wall and the ice-skating rink).
But the new wave in cruising isn't just about scale—that would be too easy. The latest ships offer a level of personal service that belies their enormous size. After all, today's cruise ships are competing not only with one another but with beach and ski resorts, where service has become an obsession. Cruise lines are taking the hint. You want 24-hour dining?Sure. Golf clubs polished overnight?No problem. A butler in tails to serve tea and scones on your balcony?Fine—who cares if it's 90 degrees out?
These special touches are part of what Princess calls "Grand Class Cruising," which aims to make you—a tiny speck of a passenger inside this hulking giant—feel like You, the Only One Aboard. The Grand has a slightly higher crew-to-passenger ratio than the fleet's smaller ships, and though you won't see more than a quarter of the staff during your cruise, those you do encounter will often remember your name.
I joined the Grand Princess for a seven-day Caribbean cruise during which I saw almost none of the Caribbean, as I was usually belowdecks, hanging with the crew, opening unmarked doors, exploring rooms labeled DANGER or 21° BELOW CENTIGRADE. From what I heard, the Caribbean looked very nice that week. But I didn't care about sunsets and water polo. I wanted to learn what goes on behind the scenes, out of the passengers' view. For instance: How do they keep the bananas just this side of ripe, day after day at sea?Where do all those used swizzle sticks end up?Who carves the mermaid ice sculptures?Where does the crew go after work—is there even an "after work"?And what is it like to be employed on the world's biggest cruise ship?
In the Belly of the Whale
You see them at all hours, scurrying down corridors, going about their mysterious business. They disappear through hidden passages like so many White Rabbits, only to emerge with an armful of linens or a sack of volleyballs. Where are they going? you wonder. What's down there?
If the Grand's passenger areas seem overwhelming to you, consider what the crew must deal with: a tangle of stairwells and mazelike corridors twisting through decks you didn't know existed. I have no idea how they find everything—after a week of traipsing everywhere from the engine room to the meat lockers I still could never tell where the hell I was.
The only landmark I consistently recognized was a wide alleyway running through Deck 4 that the British officers call the M-1, after the motorway in England. You could race three forklifts down this thing (it's been done). Off-limits to passengers, Deck 4 is the functional heart of the ship, where the baggage is loaded, engines monitored, food stored and prepped, photos developed, bouquets arranged, menus printed, garbage burned, ice sculptures carved—all the important stuff.
I started my explorations at the Crew Office, smack on the M-1. (Outside was a bulletin board with a notice reading MOUNTAIN BIKE 4 SALE.) Serving 1,150 employees from 35 countries, the Crew Office has its hands full—handling payroll, booking flights home, exchanging currency, publishing the perky staff newsletter. Since the Grand's employees alone could fill a major Las Vegas hotel, a whole sub-crew of 50 is required just to clean their quarters and cook their meals. Then there's the task of keeping the staff entertained, or at least occupied, during their off-hours: for those bored with the crew TV channels (including one of all-Filipino programming), the ship arranges bingo games, movie screenings, blues and Latin nights in the employee disco, and midnight revues for the crew in the Princess Theater.
It's Not Just a Job, They're Indentured
Employees stay on the ship for four to 10 months, then take a month or two off without pay before renewing their contracts. They certainly earn the downtime: crew members work up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, though they'll sometimes get a free afternoon when the ship's in port and the restaurants and passenger services aren't so busy. Many work split shifts—busboys might cover breakfast and dinner on the same day—and have a few free hours in between; they mostly use the time to sleep.
What's a 70- to 90-hour week worth?Salaries vary dramatically, even within ranks and departments—the complex pay scale factors in everything from workers' past experience to the country in which they were hired, so that two galley cooks with identical jobs might earn different wages. Employees who rely on tips are barely paid at all by the ship. One waiter told me he earns a base wage of $83 a month, but averages $600 a week in tips. While some workers opt for payment by check or wire transfer to their home bank, many are paid in cash, which has its drawbacks: last year, when a Grand employee got off the ship in Fort Lauderdale carrying $20,000 in earnings—and neglected to declare the cash—U.S. Customs seized half of it.
A Tale of Two Cities
The entire fore of the ship—everything ahead of the bridge, up to Deck 14—is set aside for crew quarters and recreation areas: passengers aren't allowed here. Top-ranking officers are given single cabins or suites; the remaining 1,100 employees, mainly scattered across Decks 2, 3, and 4, share their quarters in groups of two or three. Sounds grim, yet the veteran workers I talked to say the Grand has relatively spacious crew cabins. If you've seen an Amtrak sleeper car you have an idea of what most are like (minus the windows, usually).
On the eighth and ninth decks, right at the prow, are the "crew rec areas," including an enviable sundeck, a 20-foot outdoor pool, a library, a gym, six slot machines, a disco, and a bar selling discounted drinks until 1 a.m. All meals, however, are served in the crew mess, all the way aft on Deck 5. A cabin steward told me few of his co-workers bother trudging up to the bar after dinner—it's almost a quarter-mile walk away.
One night I was invited to the crew disco to get jiggy with a group of waiters, who have a reputation as a partying crowd. For some reason a whole bunch are from Romania; there are also Filipinos, Czechs, Mexicans, Jamaicans, Italians, Portuguese. Despite this diversity every waiter or busboy I met had a name ending in o: Lubo, Claudio, Carmelo, Generoso, Rogerio, Jo?o. When I arrived at midnight 10 of them were clustered on the dance floor. At the opposite end of the room a few engineers stared sullenly at a Steven Seagal movie. (Scenes like this reminded me that the crew is 80 percent male.)
While longtime Princess employees approve of the swank crew areas aboard the Grand, some miss the tightly knit social scene on the older, smaller ships, where departments would easily intermingle. Here, Lubo told me, the waiters rarely hang out with the carpenters or the linen-keepers, to say nothing of the dancers and the acrobats.
So I asked Lubo what he thought of the ship as a whole. Though he'd been on the Grand for months, he confessed he hadn't really seen all of it. Waiters aren't allowed in passenger areas when off duty. "Deck privileges" are granted only to high-ranking employees and certain other staff; they can use the nicer passenger gym and jogging track during slow periods, sunbathe on the upper decks, shop at the boutiques, dine at the Italian trattoria (for a $3.50 fee). But most crew members are confined to their work spaces and cabins and the crew rec areas—some barely visit the top decks at all during their time on board.
How to be Nice, in 12 Easy Steps
Despite the long hours and the months of confinement, the staff seems the picture of levity. Ask a butler or an ice cream server how he's doing and the unvarying answer is "I'm fantastic, sir! How are you?" In fact the entire Grand crew was so smiley and friendly that I wondered if maybe they'd been brainwashed. To investigate the matter I got my hands on some employee training videos.
The dozen tapes follow two fictional passengers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, through every aspect of their cruise. Each episode contains six service mistakes for employees to identify: waiters serving from the right, bartenders neglecting to refill peanut bowls, and other unforgivable blunders. Each time someone screws up, a little bell goes off and a caption pops up to reveal the mistake. The ma?tre d' greets the couple at dinner by shaking Mr. Smith's hand. DING! Ma?tre d' should have acknowledged female passenger first!
A buffet cook whistles "Dixie" while dishing out scrambled eggs. DING! Food purveyors should not whistle around food areas!
Mrs. Smith asks her manicurist how long she's been on the ship. "Five long months now," the poor manicurist sighs. DING! Employees should not complain about the length of their contracts!

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Insider Guide to the Big Island - hong kong concert


Once the kitsch capital of the Pacific, Honolulu has grown into an urban paradise with a singular style-- a mélange of East, West, and Polynesia that is loosely defined as "local." But local need not be provincial. The city's restaurants are on the cutting edge of Pacific cuisine, and the arts scene has blossomed in the past two years, thanks to a burgeoning revival of Hawaiian culture. With a population of close to 900,000-- plus more than 35,000 tourists daily-- Honolulu has the critical mass for big-city moves, but retains a small-town feel. Insiders' tastes favor less-known places, with a few classics thrown in for good measure.
Linguists call it Hawaiian creole; islanders call it pidgin. Either way, Hawaii has a language all its own that mixes and matches Hawaiian, Chinese, and Japanese words with an English base. The cadence is a staccato singsong.
bambucha: very big
broke da mout': super-tasty
cockaroach: to steal or confiscate
geevum: go for it!
grinds: food, meal (to grind is to eat)
high mucka mucka: arrogant, elite
howzit: standard local greeting, meaning "How are you?"
make house: make yourself at home
manini: very small
nah: just kidding
sleepahs or zoris: thongs, Hawaii's number-one footwear
shahkbait: white-skinned or pale person
shaka: great, well done
Haute Culture
Contemporary Museum 2411 Makiki Heights Dr., 808/526-1322; and 999 Bishop St. Artwork from Hawaii and the mainland in two locations: a mountaintop gallery on terraced lawns overlooking the city, and a sleek marble building downtown.
Hawaii Theater Center 1130 Bethel St.; 808/528-5535. A gilded Neoclassical palace, staging performances by everything from the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra to Chinese acrobats.
Honolulu Academy of Arts 900 S. Beretania St.; 808/532-8700. This 1920's-era Spanish-style villa has Hawaii's biggest collection of Asian and Polynesian artifacts.
Sisu Gallery 1160A Nuuanu Ave.; 808/537-5880. Hip Asian art and wooden sculptures.
Waikiki Shell 2805 Monsarrat Ave.; 808/527-5424. An open-air amphitheater for big-ticket concerts.
Day Trip
A watery oasis amid ferns and ti leaves, Manoa Falls is an easy hike through a spectacular green valley rimmed by jagged peaks. For a more challenging outing, climb Olomana, a mystical peak rising above Kailua Bay, or go to the summit of Nuuanu Judd Trail for an unreal view of Honolulu.
Dining Out
Alan Wong's Restaurant 1857 S. King St.; 808/949-2526; dinner for two $80. Innovative dishes such as Kona lobster-mousse nori rolls. Try the opihi (limpet) shooters.
David Paul's Diamond Head Grill 2885 Kalakaua Ave.; 808/922-3734; dinner for two $80. Glitzy. New American menu like that of David Paul's Maui joint. Standby: Kona coffee rack of lamb.
Hoku's 5000 Kahala Ave.; 808/739-8777; dinner for two $80. By consensus, Honolulu's best, set in the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Try the five preparations of ahi.
Prince Court Restaurant Hawaii Prince Hotel, 100 Holomauna St.; 808/956-1111; chef's dinner for two $116. Tuesday and Wednesday nights, chef Gary Strehl cooks your scrumptious regional meal table-side, then offers a tour (and dessert) in the kitchen.
Rainbow Drive In 3308 Kanaina Ave.; 808/737-0177; dinner for two $12. Surfer hangout for after-session grinds. Known for their plate lunches (big and cheap, with an entrée of beef, fish, or pork, plus macaroni salad and rice).
Roy's 6600 Kalanianaole Hwy., Hawaii Kai; 808/396-7697; dinner for two $75. Chef-owner Roy Yamaguchi put Euro-Asian cuisine on the Hawaiian map. The steamed Hawaiian whitefish is great.
Singha Thai Cuisine 1910 Ala Moana Blvd., Waikiki; 808/941-2898; dinner for two $50. Thai with a Hawaiian twist. Be sure to order the Alaskan king crab cakes with island salsa.

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Hudson River School - hong kong concert


As of next month, a treasure trove of contemporary art—works by Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Bruce Nauman, Robert Ryman, Andy Warhol, and many others—will take up residence in a former Nabisco box factory in Beacon, New York. The pristinely restored, nearly 300,000-square-foot building is the latest outpost of the Dia Art Foundation, whose empire extends from its pioneering exhibition headquarters in New York City's Chelsea to such far-flung places as Utah's Great Salt Lake (on which Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty is built) and Quemado, New Mexico (where Walter de Maria's Lightning Field stretches across the high desert). Dia's permanent collection includes many works of massive scale, making the cost of housing it in Manhattan prohibitive. Still, what is this elite art institution doing in a city better known for post-industrial grime and economic retrenchment?
In the 19th century, Beacon was largely bypassed by the first wave of Hudson River valley artists (landscape painters Frederick Church, Thomas Cole, Jasper Cropsey), in order to promote their vision of idyllic nature. But the city's gritty patina and relative lack of quaintness—the residue of its hat- and brick-manufacturing past—are perfectly suited to the minimalist masterworks from the 1960's and 70's that form the core of Dia's collection. That's also the source of its appeal to a new generation. On Beacon's Main Street, abandoned storefronts and boarded-up Chinese restaurants are already giving way to galleries where opening nights draw hundreds of people, many recent arrivals from now well-established bohemian enclaves in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And the city's cultural awakening is part of a valley-wide revival. This spring, Minetta Brook, a New York-based nonprofit organization, is sponsoring "Watershed," 10 public art projects in 15 locations from Bear Mountain to Albany. And, in the placid hamlet of Annandale-on-Hudson, the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Frank Gehry on the campus of Bard College, is poised to become a major architectural destination, educational center, and performing arts venue—combining the charms of Juilliard, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Guggenheim's Bilbao branch. Will Manhattan soon be left behind?
"There's a benefit to being away," says Michael Govan, Dia's charismatic young director. "Walter de Maria knew that when he organized the Lightning Field in one of the most remote places possible. Donald Judd went to Marfa, Texas, where he could build his own environment to his particular specifications. These artists were always interested in somewhat isolated destinations because they were creating their own worlds."
Among the first pieces to have been installed at Dia:Beacon is North, East, South, West (1967-2002), by land artist Michael Heizer, four enormous, steel-sided abysses cut into the floor of a long, white gallery. "We're not going to let people view the Heizer unguided," Amy Weisser, Dia:Beacon's assistant director, tells me as I peer into an inverted cone with a distinctly destabilizing allure. Across a vast hall illuminated by north-facing skylights (a key element in the 1929 factory's Modernist design innovations) lies Richard Serra's Torqued Ellipses (1996-97)—three colossal vertical sheets of steel, curved as if by the hand of God, occupying a former railroad dock where biscuit boxes were once loaded for transport to Manhattan. I'd seen the pieces five years earlier, at Dia's Chelsea exhibition space; with them now was a fourth, a Torqued Spiral (2002), installed for the first time at Beacon. Here, in the fading western light reflected off the Hudson River, their red-rusted forms, at once hulking and weightless, seemed endowed with the majesty of the nearby Catskill Mountains.

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