England 1

Hi!!!
I am now currently in England and staying in Nana's house. Today we are going on the train to London to go to Harrod's shopping centre and tomorrow we are going to visit the Natural History Museum. We arrived at Heathrow Airport at 2:00 pm (9:00 pm Beijing Time) in the afternoon on Friday, 25th April. We went on business class sleeper seats on British Airways. Even though I had such a lovely seat, I didn't sleep a wink. Even though it was already near my bedtime, I still couldn't sleep because everytime someone opened the window, it was so bright outside. And when I did finally fell asleep, the lights were turned on and everyone woke up and so did I!!! After we 'escaped' the airport, we went to Uncle Jay and Aunty Sarah's house to visit their beautiful, new baby boy! His name is Daniel and was born on 8th April. We stayed at their house for one night and the next morning Aunty Vicky and Uncle Jim came with their dog Hugo to come and visit too. We went for a walk in a nearby woods and we went to have a pub lunch down the road. After that, we said goodbye to everyone and went on our way to Essex, Nana's house. We arrived at around three or four in the afternoon. I got a lovely present from Nana- a huge drawing book that gives you really cool things that you can try. And I was overjoyed to see our dogs Poppy and Reggie!!! Poppy was as lively as ever and I could hardly believe Reggie was 15 (105 in dog years)!!! In the evening, we went to see Marco and Martina and had some Italian dinner with them. Oh, the ravioli was just delicious!!! After a happy supper, we all came home tired but content. Yesterday we went to The Cottage Mashbury, my old home, and how it has changed! There is a new driveway, the playground has been moved, my garden which used to be covered in weeds is blooming with flowers and there are some people who have rented our house. There was a little boy named Douglas who was I think 10 who got on quite well with Ben and played football with him. There was also his mom who was very nice and talked a bit to Nana and Auntie Hsuan. It was very much enjoyed by everyone, especially the dogs that we took along. After a while, Marco, Guilia, Martina, Matilda and Robert and Ruth came to Mashbury to have a bit of fun. And I just loved the lunch. We went to the pub Pig and Whistle to have a huge Sunday Lunch. I overindulged myself in Yorkshire pudding and roast beef... I definitely am eating to much. Anyways, after we came back from lunch, Ben's grandpa came and I met an old friend of mine, Katie. We talked a lot and walked round and round the garden at Mashbury. Afterwards, everybody came to Nana's house for tea. It was really fun and we had a piano-playing competition-obviously Robert won because he is one of the best piano players I have ever known!!! It was a very enjoyable affair and everyone had a lot of fun!!!
Now I am going to finish packing my stuff to go to London!

Robert Swinhoe --- The Exhibit

Today I am at my mom's museum and before lunch today I went to an exhibit. It was about Robert Swinhoe, an English man who came to Taiwan and collected many different Taiwanese species. The exhibit is called 'Salute to Mr. Swinhoe' '以斯文豪為名'. Robert Swinhoe was an Englishman who grew up in India in the Victorian Age, about 150 years ago. At the age of 16, he left India and went to England, to study. At the age of 18, he graduated as a naturalist because he was so interested in nature and animals. He was the most interested in birds and mammals, and he collected many species. He went to Hong Kong and Macao, learning Minang and Chinese. At the age of 24, he came as an ambassador to Formosa(Taiwan). He was one of the very 'high' level ambassadors and was treated with respect. He was said to have stayed for 10 years, but because he and his people were not used to the climate, they were often ill. Swinhoe actually went back to the UK for a year or two to get western medical treatment. He first arrived in the south of Taiwan (Tainan). He spent most of his time there around the harbour-in a wood nearby or in a clearing. He never really went to the mountains, for it was unfamiliar land. Then he moved north to DamShui, where he heard that a new harbour had been built, and finally back down to Kaoshiung. He spent all his efforts observing Taiwanese species and collecting specimens. He categorized 227 avian species, nearly 40 mammals, 246 plant species, some 200 land snails and freshwater shellfish, some 400 insects and some amphibians, fish species and invertebrates. As a naturalist, Swinhoe recorded nature ro a certain extent, and what the island of Taiwan was 150 years ago. He was an important witness in the evolution of Taiwanese natural history. Swinhoe died at the age of 41, because of an illness. He had a great impact on specimen collections and many animals were named after him. Salute to Mr. Swinhoe!