I burst into tears when I saw the Academy Film Festival gave the best foreign language award to an Iranian movie called “A separation.”

I do not know why I cried so much. Maybe because I felt we are really forgotten. No one sees us even in the weather forecast of the International news. The meteorologist usually skips over Iran. Not so many people know us. To my surprise, when I took my Canadian citizenship oath, the citizenship officer asked me where Iran is. “Is it Iraq?”

Moreover, when I show some of my Iranian landscape photos to my Canadian friends, they usually say: “Oh, you do have mountains and trees?! I thought you only have deserts and Iran is arid.” Once, I got angry and said: “Do you think we ride camels too?!”

In addition to that, no one knows how difficult it is to make a movie. You can’t make a movie about every subject you want since some subjects must always be ignored. Now, some directors, actors and actresses are in prison. So, making a movie means that you must be cautious and accept its horrible consequences.

All in all, all these wounds and scars in my heart turned into tears when I heard the name of “Iran” on the Oscar. Finally, someone saw us and we are not forgotten. We are not forgotten as long as we believe we can make a change. Finally, someone believed in his power!

You can watch it here: A Separation wins the Oscar!

An Interview with the director of the movie in English language:
An Interview with the director

Have you ever got lost at a street? What a terrible feeling! You have no idea where to go or whom you ask for help. People at the street may or may not be able to help you. You are all alone sitting on the curb thinking: “Can I get to my destination?”

As a first year student in Toronto University, I had so many ups and downs. This may give you some idea how studying looks like in U of T.

When everything goes wrong!

As a computer science student, for the first semester, I had calculus, Mathematical Proofs, computer programming and an elective course. Mathematical Proofs was extremely difficult. Since I hadn’t study math for a long time, simple calculations was a hassle. Then, the subject itself was really complicated. Every day, I was going to “Math Help” room_ where you can ask for help from math teaching assistants _ to ask about my problems. Every week, we had to do some assignments and prepare ourselves for the quiz in the next coming week. This was too much work. The TAs and professors were so peaky to grade the quizzes and assignments. One tiny mistake results in losing half of the mark. I was up until 1 or 3 at night to solve only 1 or 2 questions.

The computer programming course was even worse. Not only the subject was super complicated but I also could not understand what my professor was talking about. I had to look up each technical term to realize what the topic is about. This was also time-consuming in addition to practicing all the taught materials. Therefore, I could not keep up with the pace of the class. Finally, one day, I was about to cry in front of my professor.

_“Professor! What should I do?”

_“Don’t be disappointed. Programming takes time. Only work on that”, he kindly responded.

I was almost always at his office to ask questions. The funny thing was I could not understand his explanations either. Later, I realized this is not only my problem. Other students had the same problem not understanding the materials in the class.

The first quiz was really intimidating!

A big digital clock was on the wall showing how much time left. The clock was giving me a bad feeling. First, it was really big covering the whole wall. Second, the monstrous digits were changing so fast putting me under pressure. In thirty minutes, I had to finish the questions. My brain didn’t function very well.

The lecture hall had the capacity for almost 356 students making you feel how small you are.

_ “Put your pen down! Time is over! Don’t move until all sheets are collected.”

I got number one!

October came so fast. It was time for midterm exams. The first exam was computer programming consisting of 16 questions each worth 1 mark. I read the first questions many times to understand what I am supposed to do. Then, writing a code took a lot of time. I couldn’t answer some of the questions and finally got one out of 16! Yes! I am number one!

How my classmates look like:

Each class contains almost 300 students. Sometimes, you don’t even know whom your classmates are. Students don’t have time to talk. They are busy studying all the time. Since the first week of September when the university began, library was packed with students. No seat after 10 o’clock in the morning. Sometimes, they sit on the floor in the middle of the library’s corridor or among expandable library shelves. Chit-chatting would be just for a short period of time before the professor came to the class. Students are mostly shy. They barely talk. In the math class a slim short friendly girl sat beside me. She was smiling all the time. I liked to talk to her. Two brunette girls in the front row believed we were cousins.

_”Oh! You think we are cousins?! I barely know her!”

 _”yes, you look alike. Maybe you have something in common.”

_”Maybe!”

Finally, I realized what we have in common. Her father is Iranian, but she brought up in Canada. I told her about two important cities in Iran and how universities look like there. She is studying chemistry and physics. Her bag pack is always heavy filled with books, different pens and highlighters in its net pocket. She studies even when she is walking. To block any disturbing noise, she wears ear plugs while walking! One day she told me: “Finally everything is going to be fine. It is supposed to be like this!” She is really inspiring and motivating!

Embarrassing moment!

I had a math quiz again. Before the quiz, students must put their bag pack and jackets on the floor, in the front area of the lecture hall. Cell phones must be turned off and placed in the bag. Placing a cell phone even in the pocket is an academic offence and has serious punishment.

I put my cell phone in my bag pack, but forgot to turn it off. I was solving one of my quiz problems that I heard my cell phone ringing. Jumped up, one of the teaching assistants was looking for the noise.

_”Where does the noise come from?”

_”Maybe, it’s in this bag.”

_”oh! No! It’s not from here. It must be there. Yes!”

I put my head down and hid myself. They couldn’t see me even if I didn’t do so, but I was so embarrassed that I wanted planet earth to swallow me and bury me underground. I didn’t look at them while they were looking for my bag.

After finishing the quiz, I found a bag exactly look like mine. However, due to boredom, I didn’t realize it’s not my bag. I put my pencil case inside it, but my cell phone wasn’t there. I thought maybe they took my phone. I asked the TA who was looking for my bag.

_”Excuse me! Where is my cell phone? It was MY cell phone.”

_”I don’t know. It is in the bag. I didn’t touch it. I just put your bag in the room.”

Suddenly, I looked at the bag in my hand. I thought to myself, “Whose bag is it then? “The color of the bag was exactly like mine. No wonder when I opened the bag, it seemed pretty strange to me. But, I was so tired I didn’t realize it’s not mine. Finally, I found both my bag and cell phone. They put my bag in a separate room. But, when I got home, I realized I do not have any pen or pencils to write with. I wrongfully left them in the bag that wasn’t mine!

“OHHH! Nooooo! Godddd! My poor nice pencils and pens!!!!

After that, one of my important jobs was to see whose bag looks like mine. Maybe I could find the owner of the bag in which I put my pencil case. I was looking at all my classmates’ bags. Finally, one day, I saw a tall thin boy whose bag was exactly like mine. I didn’t ask him whether he has found a pencil case in his bag or not!

Study Tips suggested by my professors:

• Know what kind of learner you are. This way you can adopt your own way of learning based on how you learn effectively. There are three categories of learner. 1-Audio learners: learn mostly by listening 2-Visual learners: learn by looking at a picture, figure, chart, illustration, etc. 3-Kinestheic learners: learn mostly by moving their body or hands. 4-Some use the combination of all mentioned ways to learn.
• Most students believe they should study their books once. However, this is not true at all. Your study books should be read more than once to be understood well. The first time, just skim through the book, looking at the titles, headlines, bold lines and “summary” parts. This helps you to get a whole picture of the content. It also sticks to your memory way better. Then, read the whole context. Try to find new English words. Some English words that you know may have completely different meaning in the context. Be aware of those words. Check them on the glossary located usually in the back of the book. Learn them and try to use them by summarizing what you read. Have a different notebook that you can write your summary there.
• try to use mind maps, doodles, stickers or any tools and methods that can help you learn effectively.
• Prepare yourself since the first day of school. Don’t put your assignments or essay till the last minute. You won’t be able to keep up with the class.  If you have any problems, ask!

Making a big decision:

Marks weren’t so good and I was making progress very slowly. I wouldn’t be so good at programming by the end of December when it’s time for the final exams. Thus, I dropped my computer course which meant I was not in any program. I had to find another program for myself, which made me feel I totally wasted my money and time during these three months. Moreover, I didn’t know what programs I like or what interests me. How do I know I am in love with one particular program? How can I be so sure? What should I do? I felt I got lost since all my dreams flew away and I had no idea what to do or where to begin.

What I learned:

Nothing better than this quote below can describe the lesson I learned from the first semester. I got this quote from my friend, Martin. It says: “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But, whatever you do, you have to keep moving.”

I got the worst marks and had tough time. But, I tried to keep moving and doing my best each time I faced a problem. I tried to think positively and just to do what I was able to do. My dedicated professors and friends helped me so much. Therefore, I don’t have anything to regret.

However, I haven’t decided for sure what I am going to study. How do you know what you are interested in? How can you be so sure your major fits your personality and you like your future job?

Hi,

My dear friends,

Christmas and New Year are coming and it's time to count my blessings in 2011. 2011 was a great year for me. First, I found new friends on MYEC and old friendship grew stronger. Thanks a lot to all my amazing friends who were with me in happiness and sadness, who accepted me and encouraged me and didn't judge me. I wrote many blogs only because of you and became a better person. Thank you all!

Thanks to my super teachers, dear Josef and dear Tara for their support and guidance. I hope God bless their life with his light and love! 

And, thanks to all my curious friends who always post their nice questions on MYEC Forum. MyEC Forum is growing every day because of you! Thank you! Thank you!

I wish you all a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year hoping that all your dreams come true!

God bless you all!

With love,

Nafis

http://vocaroo.com/?media=vx3DZ8CT1IPCajJL5

To listen to the audio version of the text, please click above link.

I had a terrible manager few years back. However, I learned so many things from him that I really thank him.

He taught me:

1-Don't use your power:

If you have so much power, it does not mean that you have to use it against people. For example, if you  have power not to pay someone's salary, do not use that power. Instead, try to be humble and treat everybody with respect and dignity.

2-Be humble:

People always look for some ways to be attractive. They buy good clothes, nice cars and homes,trying to have a good job with great salary,etc. However, one trait that makes everybody attractive is humbleness. I learned from my boss showing off my skills and knowledge is a wrong way to prove who I am. 

3-You get what you think:

If you like to have a brave, smart kid, you should tell him how much he is brave or smart. On the contrary, if you want him to be miserable and weak ,tell him every day how miserable and weak he is. He finally would turn out miserable and weak.  

My boss was also suspicious about his colleagues. He thought all were planning a conspiracy plot to stab him in the back. The funny thing was his colleagues acted suspiciously to tease him. They all made fun of him how suspicious he was and laughed at him. However, he did not know they were just trying to tease him and took everything so seriously that made him finally get fired.

4-Be on time.

If you are a boss, it does not mean that you can come to the office whenever you like. On the contrary, you should be more careful about what you are doing. People usually do not say anything to your face but they all know when you come and when you leave. As a boss, you will lose your authority and charisma if you have delay all the time. After a while, no one would listen to you any more. Thus, be on time if you want to manage your section!

5-Honesty is the best policy:

If you make any mistakes at your work, let's say, publishing a wrong name on the magazine. Simply apologize for what you did wrong instead of hiding it and pretending nothing has happened. Do not fool yourself by not accepting the truth. Everybody knows what you did except you! Hence, be honest.  

Have you ever written a letter to yourself? Last week, on Sep 17th, my university asked me to write a letter to myself. The office of the Registrar would then keep the letter in a box confidentially for four years when I am supposed to finish my program. Then, after graduation, they would give the letter back to me. So, I could write inspirational letter or could mention my goals and dreams. I found this idea very fascinating.

The reason that I love this idea is, in fact, I wrote a contract with myself. And, I have to be loyal to what I wrote. I emphasized the importance of what I am doing right now to my mind. And, this is really important for manifesting the dreams. If you tell your mind what is important to you, you more likely to follow your dreams and get what you want according to psychologists. 

The first time I noticed the importance of writing about my goals was when I was studying for Testing English as a second Language (you can see my post here). I remember my super teacher, dear Tara, asked all test takers to write their goals for TOEFL on TOEFL group on MYEC. That time, I did not know how effective it is, however, I trusted dear Tara and wrote my goals there. When I was so down, remembering my goals and dreams were a driving force to overcome my difficulties. 

So, have you ever written a letter to yourself? Believe me or not, it really helps dreams come true. 

Monday, Aug.22th, 2011.
I learned a very important point in the "Problem Solving" class. According to the professor, if you can not solve a problem, it means you don't have enough information to solve it. So, he emphasized that we had to add more information instead of saying, "I am dumb."

As I thought about it, I found two examples of two scientists that had a great impact on our society. One of them was a Persian physician, Ibn-Sina. Once he could not understand a medical book. He tried to read it forty times and still couldn't get it. On the way home, he suddenly saw a merchant selling some books, then, he bought the same medical book written by different author. He took the book and read it again. Everything became clear after forty one attempts.

Another example is Einstein, he had an illness that could see the letters of a word dancing all over the book. So, He was not to be able to get high marks in the school. However, he could be one of the greatest scientists in the world.
Conclusion: I am not dumb! I don't only have enough information!

Tuesday, Aug 23th, 2011.
I was assigned to write a paragraph in the "How authors develop their own style of writing" class. I was not so sure if I understood the question and was totally confused what I had to do with these five sentences taken from a newspaper. Anyway, I had to write something. I did it ,but I told the professor that I was not so sure about what I had written. He said: "There is no ONE true answer. Try it anyway."

Wednesday Aug 24th, 2011.
I learned that life is a miracle because the night before, a severe thunderstorm passed through the city and an earthquake stroke Virginia and shook Toronto. I was sitting on a second floor of a building and had no idea what was going on. However, I am still alive and can write my blog! What a miracle! How lucky I am!

Thursday Aug 25th, 2011.
I learned I should pray for what I have not what I want. I saw this was carved on a piece of metal.

I got the picture from here.

Hello,

My dear friends,

I think I need your help! My dear friend, Martin, has graduated from the university recently and I want to surprise him. However, I cannot do it without you all. So, I would like to ask you to leave your messages here for him. Let's congratulate him together! I think he will be so surprised to see all the messages here. I indeed appreciate your kindness in advance!

All the best,

Nafis

*****************************************************************************

Dear Martin,

Congratulations! I'm so proud of you. I put these two videos for you. J.K Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, gave a speech in Harvard university. I hope you like it!

I received an E-mail that I found it very useful to share it with you. So, here is the E-mail:

BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS

1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2 . Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
This causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6 . Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.

Thursday Aug 11th, 2011.

 
Fifth- floor University of Toronto library is where I had to go. I wrote down the call number of my math book one day ago. This number on the back of the book facilitates to find it among so many other books. Book shelves are organized based on the alphabetical order. Books from A to M are located on the third floor and the rest on the fourth. While passing through each aisle to find the book, I could hear a sound like this “zzzzzzzz”. First, I got worried. “Am I doing something wrong? Is alarm going to ring? I hope not!”

I looked up and saw so many surveillance cameras. However, I kept going until I found my aisle, the one that contained my book. I couldn’t pick the book up because the aisle was surrounded by two other aisles at the right and left side. “How can I get my book?” Suddenly, I saw an instruction written on the wall. It was describing how I could move the aisles. Frankly, I didn’t get it. I could understand the instruction, but I had no idea how this mobile shelf was going to move, right? Left? Front? Back? And, I was afraid if for any reason, the alarm would ring. How humiliating!

I saw a thin line on the bottom of the instruction,“ If you need any assistance, ask front desk.” So, I went downstairs and asked a young boy to help me. He came and pressed a button installed on the shelf. Abruptly, the shelf moved to the right. Wide-eyed boy asked:” Did you press this button?!”

Related post:

1-Cross the Box in the Dream Checklist

- In the past, I divided my university courses into important and unimportant ones. Then, I worked hard towards mandatory courses and ignored the unimportant ones. So, I end up getting very good marks for my mandatory courses, but very low mark for easy ones. As such, my Grade Point Average came down.
Lesson: There are no important or unimportant courses. All of them are significant! Work hard no matter what kind of course you have!

- I did not ask questions in some classes because I was afraid of looking stupid. So, I pretended I knew the answers or I got the information so quickly!
Lesson: Ask as much questions as you can! It’s more shameful not to know about your field than not asking! And, please be yourself!

- I did not communicate so much with my classmates or some other students from different fields. I could have learned so much from them, but I simply missed the chance.
Lesson: Each and everyone have something great to give! Just open up your heart and let everything comes to you!

- I was just studying for a long hours without paying attention to my interests and likes. So, I end up being very depressed and sad at the end. I got very good marks, but I was not happy with my life at all.
Lesson: It is very crucial and vital to pay attention to what makes you delightful.

- I was so nervous whenever an obstacle came along.
Lesson: Life has ups and downs and you would face them at some point. You have failed so many times and you would again. So, prepare yourself instead of being worried. And, remember! When you work hard, you can overcome every obstacle. They come only to teach you a lesson!

"Being is more important than doing"  ((Ekhart Tolle))

 This time I didn't have enough time to practice the song, "Our last summer" suggested by ABRIL, my dear friend.But, I like to take part in the contest since I had so much fun singing Lilly and helped me so much to learn about intonation in English. So, I really apologize for not "BEING GOOD ENOUGH" and hope you can bear my singing! 

Here is my recording:

According to the challenge, contestants are supposed to sing "Lilly", so, here is my recording:

((The videos and the pictures are filmed and taken by me, Jul 1, 2011))

“Happyyyyy Biiiirthday tooooo youuuuu
Happy Biiiirthayyyyy toooo Youuuuu
Happy Birthday dear Canadaaaaaaa
Happyyyy Biiiiiirthdayyyy toooo youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

"Yeahhhhhhh", shouted the people.


This was what Canadian citizens and I sang on Friday, July 1, to celebrate Canada Day. In the beginning, Canada wasn’t a united country. Instead, it was consisted of different and separated provinces. In 1867, all the provinces became united and formed a federal government. Since then, this day has been called Canada Day or Dominion Day and has been celebrated across Canada. I also went to  downtown Mississauga, 45 km to Toronto, to show my sense of patriotism.


All people assembled in downtown near Square One, one of the very big North American malls. Some brought their own camping chair and sat on the lawn or on the brick floor. It was so crowded that some could not find any place to sit on and as a result, they just stayed in their own car.

All over the sitting area, the smell coming from the food stands stimulated taste buds. However, buying roasted corns, hamburgers, hot dogs and Greek foods was a torture because of long line-ups. In the middle of the designated area, a big screen decorated with a banner of “Canada Day” and a big fat beaver and a moose, symbols of Canada, was broadcasting the show in that open space.

Red is a national color for Canada and therefore, to show the sense of patriotism, people wear red T-shirts or dresses, a red hat with a maple leaf on it or they somehow show this color in their own outfit. Since my red T-shirt was not clean, I put two red rose pins on my hair with a red handcrafted Iranian backpack and a pair of red socks.

The celebration had begun at 1 pm and finished at 10:30 at night. First, a young girl sang some songs. Unfortunately, when I got there, she was singing and therefore, I missed knowing her name. Then, a Canadian actor and singer named Shawn Desman sang “Night like this.” You can listen to this song on his website.




I got this from here.



Finally, we watched fireworks which were enlightening clear Canadian sky. So, Happy Birthday Canada!

"But better die than live mechanically a life that is a repetition of repetitions. "
                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                  << David Herbert Lawrence>>

Even though repitition in some area of life, such as learning a new word, is useful, it's not so appealing on MYEC forum. Repetition on MYEC Forum drains energy and vitality and makes it difficult for members to find their favorite questions. Therefore, repetitive topics end up being deleted.

So far, the popular topics have been about "How teachers can motivate students?", "Why do we learn English?", "Is studying English grammar useful ?", "How can we speak fluently?", "How can an English learner be a star member on MYEC?","How can English classrooms be interesting?" and "What is love?"

 As David Herbert states in the aforementioned quote, better die than live a repetitive life, it's better escape from a boring forum. So, I highly appreciate if you post new topics other than current themes.

My family and I head to Fin Garden in Kashan, located in the center part of Iran, not far from the capital city. It only takes two hours to get there from Tehran. Fin Garden is one of the historical and important places in Kashan.

Cypress trees, various pools and fountains and a public bathroom have constructed Fin Garden. The fountains are very special because no pumps are used to bring the water into them. So, how is it possible that water comes to the fountains? There is a spring behind the garden, and the water pressure is so much that without using any pumps, it comes to the pools and fountains. There are only some holes on the floor of the pools to let water comes in.

Almost three hundred years ago, bathrooms didn’t exist inside the homes in Iran. So, the people had to go to public bathrooms. I think Fin bathroom was used by very important persons like the king, the ministers and the royal family. Maybe they were talking about the important issues in this bathroom!

Another reason that Fin bathroom has been very popular among other public bathrooms is that the chief minister to Naser Aldin Shah (The king of Iran in 1849) was murdered in this place.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t visit the bathroom since there was a long line up at the entrance door and it was already late, 7 at night. We had to go to Tehran. So, I just took some photos of the pools and fountains.

Related posts:

1-I'll take you with me wherever I go

2-The Capital City at Night

3-Come with Me to the West Part of Tehran

4-Due to North

5-The Village as OLd as the Hills

I hope you’ll excuse me if my words hurt you. My main goal is not to insult anyone who chats or to condemn the act of chatting. However, I would like to share my personal experience in the chat room, which wasn’t pleasant at all.

The first thing that deeply hurts me to the core is to see my friends fight over a different opinion. Imagine, different members from different social class with different background are in the chat room. As such, they may have various opinions about religion, race, language, culture, etc.

It doesn’t matter that you think differently. In fact, it adds more color into this world. Different opinions make the chat room interesting. If everyone agrees over a matter, it won’t take place any discussions or chatting.

I witnessed once such a situation in the chat room. A member had a different idea over religion. Other members attacked him and insulted him. Even if someone is wrong and says nonsense, the right way of discussion is to talk politely and calmly. This made me think about the rules of chatting. Won’t I be bored if someone agrees with me all the time? Don’t I think that person isn’t authentic? Can he be true to himself? I don’t let him to share his true feelings because I would be hurt by his different opinion. Moreover, what kind of friend I am when I can't even tolerate my friend's different opinion? Therefore, what is the benefit of chatting? I chat to exchange ideas and to know other cultures. And, finally, do I really enjoy chatting under this restricted condition?

 
We all like freedom and we love to be free but we do not simply care about others’ freedom of expression in the chat room. We beat to death those who have different ideas to prove that we are totally right and our idea is superior. We also use abusive language to make our points.

 
This truly and deeply has hurt me that I swore to myself that I wouldn’t come to the chat room any more. So, I simply chat with whom I got to know them through blogging or taking part on MYEC English challenges. I found this a very safe and useful way to deal with chatting.

I read a blog post, “Disaster Tolerance”, written by Seth. In the blog, he mentions that there are two truths about disasters. First, most disasters are not avoidable. Second, they are not so destructive as they seem.

Then, he explains that the acceptance of aforementioned truths creates a positive attitude towards risk-taking. Next, he defines “Disaster Tolerance” as concentrating on the bright side of the outcome rather than being frightened by the probable horrible results. According to him, when you focus on the negative side, negativity will more probably come true. So, by “Disaster tolerance”, you are just focusing on the positive aspects, and as it is said “You reap what you sow”, you cultivate positive outcomes.

Source: Disaster Tolerance, Seth Godin's blog, http://sethgodin.typepad.com/.

                      Toronto University, Main Entrance. Photos are taken by me. I didn'y know if I am allowed to take photos of inside the building.

                      This was the first day I went to see the university ,so, I wasn't familiar with the campus at all. This is a main building. There was a squirrel playing up on the hill which is shown like a brown dot in the photo. Can you find it?

                      This is university's yard. It is very beautiful and there is a pond in the middle. However, I couldn't take a photo of the pond because it wasn't clear at all. The pond is surrounded by so much tall grass that makes it difficult to be seen. There were no students since universities are closed.

It is not easy at all that a dream come true. But, finally my dream came true and I got admitted to Toronto University. To give you a big picture how you can get the admission, I have to say that, in Canada, each university has its own admission requirements. By reading the website of a specific university, you can find the necessary information regarding the admission requirements.

For me that my first language is not English, I had to pass an exam called TOEFL (Testing English as a Foreign Language). To get accepted in good universities, it's necessary to have high TOEFL scores. On TOEFL, they test all the English skills including reading, listening, speaking and writing.

However, sometimes even good English scores do not guarantee the acceptence. In that case, some universities consider other qualities of applicants like high school or university performance (if you have already a degree), work experience, skills learned such as playing musics or painting , etc.

After you get admission, the university sends a letter congradulating and describing the terms and conditions of one's admission. The letter I recieved means a world to me since I had been working so hard for so many years for recieving that mail. They wrote to me:" We are delighted to offer you a place at the university of Toronto. Your record of achievements has distinguished you in a pool of highly accomplished applicants and you have been selected for admission to the University of Toronto. Congradulations!"

In the end, my achievement wouldn't be possible without the help of dear Josef, dear Tara and all my EC friends. Indians believe that there are three grace that make someone succesful. First, God's grace. Second, teachers' grace and finally, books' grace. I got to know dedicated teachers on MYEC and also used priceless study materials especially for my speaking and writing section of my TOEFL test. So, this success belongs to my EC teachers and friends who supported and encouraged me when I was down. Thanks a million times! God bless all of you!  

Please click on the play button to hear my voice.

Please click on the play button to hear my voice.

On the way to the village, we listened to different Iranian musics. One of which was an Iranian-Turkish song that my father loves it so much. Therefore, the audioplayer played it so many times. You can listen to the music while seeing the attached photos (Please click on the following link to see the photos). On the way to Abyaneh

Please click on the following link to see the related photos for this part: It's a lunch time!

After two hours, we packed everything and head to the village. There was no spot in the parking lot so we had to park the car way down the street and walk from there to the village. The valleys were full of visitors walking close to each other that you have to be careful not hitting anyone while walking. I saw the mosque, houses and unfortunately, I was exhausted to see the Fire Temple.

Please click the following link to see the photos of the village: Going to the oldest village in Iran!

Abyaneh is close to a very important city called Kashan which has so many interesting sightseeing. Moreover, prominent historical events happened there which I ‘ll tell you later. So, I asked my father to go to the city. In the evening, at 5 o’clock, we head to Kashan. It took almost one hour to get there. Let’s sing along until we get there...

Please click on the link to see the last part of this section: Next stop is Kashan near Abyaneh.

Previous related posts:

1-I'll take you with me wherever I go

2-The capital city at night

3-Come with me to the west part of Tehran

4-Due to North!

Hello,

My dear friends,

First, I have to thank greatly to all my kind and caring friends who sent me warm messages, nice cards and photos ( Nadira, Narendra, Lucy, Anele, Halima, Addel, Nadiyah, Expector, Notears, Valentine, Manuela, Martin, Marcos , Grace, Zahra, Sami and Nazie). Your messages mean a lot to me and have given me so much hope, motivation and inspiration. 

Moreover, I am so sorry for keep you waiting for the further posts about Iran. I am just back to Canada. And, I could not have blogged in the last week of my stay in Iran since I didn't have access to the Internet. The Internet connection was also so slow and got disconnected after 20 minutes. Thus, I thought it would be better if I post my blogs when I get to Canada. However, I was thinking about  you when I was there and got so many photos and gathered some true stories to tell you. I really appreciate your patience. You have had the patience of a saint! However, please wait a little more for coming blogs regarding my journey in Iran.

Thanks again to all of you,

Your friend,

Nafis