Personal Sale!

I just realized that China did not participate in the past time of "garage sale" or "yard sale"! (Not like most places would have the space.)

I know that sound strange but this past weekend we had one and I was trying to get my mother to back out of the pricing part. Why? Because she made everything sand grain cheap!! I tried to persuade her to start the prices at a good price just below stores and then let people bargain, but low and behold some people in this country are so dirty they would say "how about $1."...

Are you serious? Even though we are in an economic crisis they had money to drive to our place and then the nerve to say "$5??!! Oh No!"
My mother let most people go and just sold the stuff, but the next time we have one, I will be the one calling the shots. It is not illegal to go trash digging so, those cheapos can just do that. and I will point them right into the direction of our garbage cans. (Bitter much? I just don't like people trying to make a fool of me or my family.)

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I have been job hunting like no tomorrow up until last week. I have already landed a position, that I still don't know, for an exhibition company. We start paid training next week and should officially open during August. I am in the third stage of working with a hotel on the strip that will open in December. I applied for guest services representative and let them know that I'm fluent in Japanese and Chinese. Last but not least I feel that the interview for an attorney's office went well.

It's mainly because of the first two that I've stopped hunting. Although I want to start working today, I realize that a company will mark me unfaithful if I only work with them until August. No worries though. The plan has not gone completely wrong. I have some temporary work throughout the summer because I work in convention services. I can always wait until August and work full time for the exhibition company. School will start on Aug. 24th and then I will cut down to part-time unless they're willing to work with my schedule.

The problem lies with my December job in the casino. (I'm being positive that I'll get it.) I didn't realize that it was full time and thought, "It starts in December! That means I'll have a job during Christmas break!!" What I didn't think of is :
1. I am officially hired already for one place. How can I balance the two schedules?
2. I start school in January. That means I need to balance 3 schedules.
3. Because of my work ethic and desire to be held in high esteem, I won't want to quit from either.
4. I am not in the position to quit a job because I need to pay off school as I go. I refuse to do the loan thing. (My personal choice.)
I sure do make my life a bit more difficult each year.

I was doing good in China! I found a job/jobs with ease and I balanced school accordingly. Maybe it's because I was forced to live alone and I had paid for the year pretty much all in advance...

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I'll finish this post off with school. Thank the Lord I passed Accounting and now I am less tempted to switch my major.
I went on a scholarship hunt specifically for my language skills. I realize now that if I want money for speaking these languages I should switch my major to Asian studies or one of the languages. The thing is my school doesn't have Chinese or Japanese majors. Therefore I would choose to go to ASU Arizona State University. I think I'll try to talk to someone in that major that goes there and see what they think.

I need a college networking site. I want to be able to contact the people in another university even if it's in another country.

I'm not asking for anyone to hand me a silver platter, I'm just asking where I can get one.

A Stressful Summer Session

So almost as soon as I came back from China I decided that it would be a good idea to catch up in the summer. I took 4 classes people. It was too hectic. Today is the last day for my managerial accounting and political science class.

I have no intentions of becoming an accountant but low and behold I got a teacher who wants to "make a man out of" us...ok not a man, but an accountant. He is a completely harsh grader. This is my second time taking his class. When I got a 68% D last time, I figured the problem lied in my studies. This time (I don't have my grade yet) it seems like I know my stuff but there are little things here and there (like showing my calculations) that he takes big points off for. My second to last test I had my statements right and he goes but you didn't show your work. So I got a 70% on that test. He decided to make the final 25 multiple choice questions worth 12 pts each. I think this is completely unfair because when you miss one, you miss 12.

My political science exam was an essay so I was happy because it is there that I can truly show off what I've learned. After coming back to the U.S. I became interested in politics. Mostly because I learned so much about China's.

I have a research project due tomorrow for my English class and then that is over. And last but not least, Math....... will still drag on for another 2wks.

I am an international business major but I feel like giving up if I can't pass the business classes withmore than a C. So far I have only taken Business 101 and Accounting 201 for my major but I could only pass with Cs. I feel like I'm failing at life.

For one; I have no money because of study abroad and I had to scrimp and pinch for this semester.
Two; I may not take anymore school until the spring[or ever] because scholarships hate me. My parents must also hate me because they just refuse to help me out and fill out FAFSA so that I can get government grants.
Three; I refuse to be tricked into loans. I have no way to pay them back, so I just won't sign up.
Four; I have no friends in my major. I learn so much better when I can converse about a subject with someone from my class. Or someone who's taken the class...
Five; I am having serious China withdrawals. I speak in Chinese when I'm stressed and yet there's no one to listen.

Ok I'll let this go for now. I was contemplating starting a whining blog...but believe it or not, I'd rather be positive.

Next Plan In Life

Hello all of my amazing readers.

I am going to study abroad in Japan. I am hunting for jobs and scholarships everyday but I have yet to find a non-temp job and scholarships? Those all take so much time and are very tricky to win. Trust me. Thankfully I have found a way to fund raise for myself so if you can ( or you know somebody who can) Please help me get what it takes to live in Japan for 12months.

The total is $33,300 and the program I will be using is CIEE Tokyo. I'm going to take classes with local Japanese students this time around. I think that will boost my skills faster. I will upload their site so you can see exactly what I'm getting into. I will also upload the site that should direct you to my fund raiser.

Thank you so much! I will definitely blog about Japan and I will try to make sure it's better than this one. (Talking about how I still haven't adequately updated the last few days in China and the reverse culture shock of being home.) But not to worry! I have a lot more time now and I will start back up tomorrow.

Love ya!


CIEE page:

http://www.ciee.org/program_search/program_detail.aspx?program_id=55&type=part


fundraiser:

http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2009-06-09.6216557616/groupaction_view?portal_status_message=Your%20changes%20have%20been%20saved



P.S. I have only read 3 blogs of past participants but none have been able to network with me a little to know more about the program, so if you are a past participant, please let me know if you can answer some of my questions. Thanks again.

Classes Beyond Due

I have been soooo busy lately it's not even funny. I was having quite some time situating things for summer school and fall semester. Then I began to worry about passing the japanese test for next year. I am going to study abroad again, but this time I want to be in class with people who speak my target language. This means I can actually integrate! But that's a whole different post.

While searching for blogs of past CIEE Tokyo participants I found exactly what I was looking for!! People who talked about the preparation and the classes they took and the school itself!
Most of the blogs are a few years old but one is for this year. The thing is while reading them and finding what I wanted, I realized that I forgot to describe those things here! I have reported too much culture and not enough info for people looking to use the USAC China programs!

So here goes:
This semester I took Advanced Chinese track 2. I liked that that class used a textbook that gave us articles to read. Real life stories or articles that real people have had published in books. It made me feel as if all of this learning was really paying off...No! I mean IS paying off haha We even started a "newspaper" textbook.
The only thing I didn't like was going over the passages line by line by the second half of the term. Then the homework was cut down because we did it in class! How do I know I improved if you do my work for me? You all know how this final went. Test and speech.

I also took Managing in a Global Economy Emphasis on China. That class was my favorite actually. Just because I was learning so much about the way things work in business. The homework was light but it was ok, we were also able to have class discussions about the real life cases that were related to the chapters we talked about. I didn't feel lost! There was one presentation, a final exam and an essay.

My second favorite class was U.S. China relations. Our teacher was very knowledgeable and most of the questions we had to ask got answered. The homework was reading different people's views on certain topics, and it was a lot of work, but wasn't graded. I feel kind of cheated by that because there is no way my teacher will ever know that I read those things!! and that I really did learn a lot while taking this class. The worst thing is the only grades we will have are 20% participation and 80% final paper that's 4-6pgs.
Most of you may think that's the easiest class ever but the problem is college professors NEVER like my papers!! I just don't understand why. Also if you were thinking I can show that I did my readings through my paper, think again. Our topics have to be unanswered questions. Something with little information on them.


I also liked taking China Phenomenon even though it was a complete lecture class. Only the teacher talked unless there was a random question. My teacher for this class was like a walking history of china book. I learned so much about china that I will never forget. I thank him.
For assignments we had 2 presentations, 2 500 word essays and a 2,000 word final essay. All on whatever topic you wanted that was covered in class.

TaiChi was a very nice class. It didn't go into the details of TaiChi but it sure was a great "fun" class. My teacher was so energetic and I just know that if a real fight broke out she would kick be-hind! haha Our final was us presenting the form and her recording it. Then we will do it one by one recorded.

I took these classes because they interested me. If you want some more details on the classes please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Overall they weren't as bad as some people complained. They had me thinking, "If you've already taken this class or already know so much, WHY ARE YOU HERE???"

Final Exam And No More Chinese

That's right. This morning I took my last chinese class.
This time it was more difficult. The writing part. We had to do the thing where we finish a sentence with a specific grammar point but those questions were so strange! All four of us were stuck on the same things for the 2hrs and then rushed the reading. (We can scan pretty well by now :p ) So the teacher ended up giving us hints as we were 15min over.

We waited while she graded them and you know what I got? 79% . I wanted to stick myself in a pot of depression but I need to wait until my parents send more money (Haagen Daz $) and the game show is over. My overall grade is 87% but I really take it hard when it comes to tests. It's supposed to show our knowledge but...

My friends and I went out for lunch before they all go on their magnificent trips outside of China for spring break. What? You think I'm bitter? I can be bitter towards myself! I should have worked another job so that I could have the extra cash. The school should have paid me my scholarship by now. But neither has happened.

After lunch I decided I could buy some cream puffs for 4.50 and then went home. The creams puffs did ok for a pick me up.

Innocence

Today I got up around 6:30am because I did not finish writing my homework lol I laid down and dreamt that I was writing. (Thank you Lord for the wake up call.) because my alarm is set for 7:30; just enough time for a snack, change of clothes and the bus.
I packed everything including some buns, an apple and milk. Then I hopped in the shower! This was crazy because I'd let the time drift to 7:35. I barely made it out the door at 8.

I passed the gate, greeted security, and only waited 3min for the bus. I got on and decided to take a seat so that I could read over the vocabulary again. It's funny how 3 drops of water are on a seat and people act like they can't sit down. I did. And sure enough the lady beside me says it's wet. I told her it was no big and proceeded to study.

I reached school around 8:50 and class started around 9:15. As my teacher read one line and then explained for each line of the passage. Exasperated, I read it myself and started a new one. Then I decided to rethink the situation.
Even though we only have four students total in class, it is highly possible, that not all of us are able to read and comprehend! [Gooonnng~] It's true! There must be someone who, even though all new words are defined in the book in English, just can't seem to comprehend. So. I stopped reading ahead and listened to the teacher explain and read each line.**** But then I got tired so I took out my electronic dictionary and "tested" myself on vocab ;p (hey, I tried.)

After class I waited 40min for the other classes to finish so that I could return a book to a friend. (Yes. That's how early we end.) It turned out that she hadn't gone to class so I gave it to a mutual friend and left school to buy Taro milk tea.

I walked to a bus stop that would take me home. While standing at the bus stop, a tiny tot and his grandpa sat on stone sculptures a little ways away. The tot looks at me and excitedly says something to his grandpa while pointing at me. I smile. He runs to him and gets his milk then looks at me and waves the milk as if to say, "I have a drink too!" So I wave mine and drink some too. This happened about 3 times. and then it started O.O:

Him: Puts up one hand in high five.
Me: return the five
Him: high ten!
Me: High 8...(I'm still holdin my drink. He gave his to grandpa)
Him: funny face with tongue out
Me: funny face with puffy cheeks
Him: heart above his head (His arms were so small I almost couldn't tell haha)
Me: heart
Him: kissy face
Me: blew a kiss
Him: bunny rabbit with ears
Me: short bunny
Him: monster
Me: dog wagging tail
Him: foot in air!
Me: dying of stink!
We laugh quite a while and with one last heart and a wave goodbye we part ways.

Mind you the bus stop was not empty. So yes. For the sake of that tots' laughter, I was being completely silly. Of course everyone commented on me "playing with the kid". Some man even let me on the bus first! (In this "me first" country)

I got off the bus at my connecting stop and while waiting for the bus I unconsciously look around and lo' and behold!
Two guys on a motorcycle are not even caring about the road, because they (I assume) stared at me the whole time and then finally yell out a hello! I quickly wave fearing their safety. By all means they should pay attention! There have been accidents.

(I've been in China too long. Since when did I ever need spell check? Or dictionary dot com?)

Much Irritation, But Not All Is Bad

I know I have kept you waiting long enough. I feel like I've been in Shanghai forever and school is just dragging away my...life! I've been irritated and itchy and tired and frustrated, but I've kept all of that inside. (This may be a long post to cover the week) It all boils down to this:

I am ready to leave Shanghai. I was told that when I was a toddler I couldn't stand dirtiness. With time, a little messy was ok. But Shanghai is one of the dirtiest places I've been in, and it rains on the mess! People seem to relentlessly spit all over the place and eat while throwing their plastic bags/bowls/uneaten food on the ground!? Do they really care nothing about their city? I wanna go home. And when I say home I mean Chengdu. Sure they are dirty too, but it's way more tolerable.
It's too bad. The people here are wonderful but I can't do this environment.

All right all right let's get started.

Monday 23

I went to classes and came home early. Just a normal day. It didn't rain. But I'm mad at myself because I spent 3hrs reading one chapter of my Managing Global Economy book. I guess it was the chapter because usually I am interested and time flies while I study it. Needless to say I put the book down and just read for U.S. China Relations.
[I'm trying to finish the last 5 chapters of MGE before spring break (April 6-10)]

Tuesday 24

This is the morning I was supposed to do more MGE but I didn't even touch the book. I studied Chinese instead. Then I decided to try and study right before the class [4pm] but I just left it in my bag and...I don't remember. But I know I didn't study it.

Wednesday 25

My Chinese teacher gave us a heads up on the next chapter we'd study and told us we would have dictation on Monday[30]. One of my classmates decided that studying 75 words was just too much for 5days. So the teacher cut out a lot. I hate that because half of the words are characters we already know how to write; easy things. Also our homeworks have been slim to none and our class time has been dramatically reduced! (It's been like this for 2 wks already but it's just now making the blog. I didn't want to post my complaints.)
Maybe I'm the class mate you don't like because I would rather use class time and have homework, but I prefer this because I pick classes that I want to use in life.

Anywho, later I finished copying my notes for US China and then went to that class (haha I had the notes highlighted in the readings, I just copied them to refresh. I wasn't lazy.)
In class I was told that my research topic had finally been approved and so even though I'm behind I'm still thankful. We talked about a lot during the class and 2 topics were things I wanted to share with you:

1* My teacher got on the subject of how Chinese girls don't talk about politics and don't know their history and such, and this caused a very offended response from my American counterparts. The thing is, even though I'm sure it's not everyone, the girls that I've hung out with haven't been very historical/political or anything. We always talk about pop culture and such. The guys I hang out with, on the other hand, happily mix those "important" issues into our conversations.

2* We talked about how Chinese people view Americans. The surveys we read proved that only the governments have a problem with each other. One girl expressed that she feels hated and gets dirty looks and gets talked about and stared at....
I'm sure I've covered this before, but let me explain again. Being foreign and black (which she is) you will get stared at hard and talked about!! If you learn the language like you are supposed to, (her choosing this specific program proves she wanted to learn right?) you would hear all of the adoring comments they are making out loud. Maybe one day I'll post a blog about all the things I've heard.

Thursday 26

I wanted to just stay in bed all day but I lured myself to China Phenomenon...late. After that class I wanted to study on campus but I didn't. I signed up to learn how to sing Beijing opera and do traditional dancing. Definitely up for putting myself in a position to understand culture. ;p

Friday 27~Saturday 28

I woke up late so I skipped breakfast and went on to Chinese!! This was the musical chapter so we read about the famous musician in our textbook and then listened to some of his folk songs. I want to get them.
Wang Luobin王洛宾- 在那遥远的地方In That Faraway Place
达坂城的姑娘 The Daban Cheng Girl
After we ended up listening to random songs that are popular nowadays.
Unfortunately (because I missed the first dance class), we had a make-up class right after it. We got our topics for our final speech and we present Wed. Can you believe I haven't started!!

This night was reserved for my friend that had to return to Japan. We karaoked and then hit a night club. I stayed the night at the dorms and in the morning bid her farewell. I'm sad because she was my only language partner. Sure there are other Japanese students at my school but they don't seem to like me much and I prefer her friendship to "strictly" language partner.
I went home and ate brunch and tried to catch up on some Anime. (I know. I know.) I watched the latest English subbed episode of Naruto Shippuden and tried to find more but of course they can only come out as the ones in Japan do. I did find that the Chinese youtube is one episode ahead but of course only with Chinese subs. I can't read that fast yet. Also subs don't work when you understand most of the spoken language. (Maybe I underestimate my Japanese. But I really want to understand every~ word~ o.o) Surprisingly I started another series on Chinese youtube because it wouldn't play on crunchyroll. Yet again, I battled the Chinese subtitles. [I think I'll do more of this to improve my reading.]
And then because of Friday night, I was knocked out hahahaha

Today!!!! Sunday!!!! 29!!!!

I was mad lol because I missed the Earth Hour thing. Even found out that this isn't the first year!! I am such an environmentalist and yet I don't even know these things.
Anywho, I studied and then decided it's better to study at school. Not that I wasn't doing well, but my favorite show came on and I wanted to avoid temptation.
As I walked out of my community's gate, the security guards gave their daily greetings. I really want to type today's in Chinese because it's funnier:

保安人员：你好！（热情地） Security guard: hello! (enthusiastically)
我：你好。（带着微笑） Me: hello. (slight smile)
员：你要去上学吗？ Guard: You going to school?
我：对上学。笑 Me: yep, goin to school. (giggle)
员：今天是星期日！你该休息~！Guard: Today is Sunday! You should relax!
我：我要学习~！ （都笑） Me: I want to study! ( all laugh)

Ok. Maybe it's not that funny. lol but xiuxi rhymes with xuexi so it was cute to me. Mind you there are about 3/4 guards talking to me. They bid me good bye and welcome me back everyday for the past week. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Welp, I have wasted your time enough. I need to study for tomorrow's dictation...again...

**(0.0) **

Touched By The Chinese

Today I was called out around 4pm to help a friend study English. She wants a perfected accent so that she can find a new job. She also wants to study at BYU. I took the bus and the metro in complete la-la land. Singin in my head and dancin as non-obviously as possible O.O We ate first and then started a battle with her TOEFL book haha

She actually decided to rip up the book in sections! Anyway we studied in a place called English First. This is really supposed to be a school where you pay and take some classes and join English clubs, but they have the place set up to where people from where ever can come study. I envy China for having these things...and I'll get a picture for you next time.
We spent about 2 hours going over an article in the text (while chatting with her friends in between). I think that if she keeps up her...will to learn and pace, she should be able to pass that test by the end of this summer!

I wish I could take the HSK test this year, but the test is in June or July and I leave in May...early May. I'm thinking that if I have to (want to) I'll come back next year just to take the test. (It'd be above my means to do it this summer.)****

On the metro ride home I decided to do my U.S.-Chinese relations reading. Then I switched to a bus that would lead me to the mcdonalds at the end of my street. (I was craving french fries only. I hate mcdonalds.) I was messing with the worker again, because usually people who work in these American fast foods will automatically throw out their English, but he was so shy, that 2dys ago when I first walked in he just looked at me. Shy smile with no words! Then I ordered in English!! (just to be difficult). All of his co-workers were like "You should help her out! Speak English!" whatever whatever.lol I decided to cut him some slack and throw out some Chinese. [Oh how quickly you relax when you hear your own language.] He confessed that he just can't bring himself to talk to foreigners in English. Oh well! Even though today he didn't say a word when I got there, I ordered in Chinese and only teased him a little. ;p

I decided to walk the 15min back to the house. (So I could scope out the night market. My clothes are getting holes in them. Not cool -_-) I ran from the bridge to the complex gate (it was a 1min run haha I don't like running). And to my surprise a security guard walked out and asked if i spoke Chinese.

I said yea as i kept walking. He says, "No! don't keep walking!!" It wasn't a command. It was a wish. I stopped and asked why. (being difficult again) He said he really wanted to talk.
We talked about working in America and here and schooling, etc. I was surprised at how much we'd covered in such a short time. I found out that I'm a year older than him and he wasn't going to enroll in college because he needs to work. 12hrs a day. No paid off days. As he put it "No work. No food."
I had asked him why he didn't learn a foreign language, since he likes to talk to foreigners. He said learning English is of no use to him. He won't ever work with enough foreigners. He will go to another city tomorrow to find a new job. I told him to spend some time doing self study and find his strengths and then change jobs. He expressed that I was better than him and that he just couldn't do it. I asked him what his dream job was. 'What do you want to be in life?' He didn't know.

[He was sooooo excited to just talk to me.]

I've had a few conversations like this with my Chinese peers and I can't help but feel bad. because I know it's going to be harder for them while they are here. There are just too many people to be considered 'exceptional'. In America we're told that it's ok to just figure out life when we are grown, but i seriously think you should think about it in at least middle school. Why so young? Because in a world that has already produced so many products, geniuses and ideas, it's only going to get more challenging. No matter what I must do something that helps my peers to be able to live comfortably. Our parents and grandparents and great grandparents have done what they were going to do. We also must do what we can do.

I would cry, but I'll pray instead. The lord is still on our side.

In Ancient Times

Sorry this really has nothing to do with me being in China but here is what I've been pondering over.

I have Chinese Phenomenon and Chinese-U.S. Relations class which both have made me more interested in reading about some of China's history. While reading about all kinds of political figures (from whatever country), or just people that were able to build empires for their own families, I realized something that separates us from past and now.

Nowadays everyone and their mom goes to college. In the past mostly the best went for higher learning. Granted there are always exceptions. (Since everyone has access to a library) I find that the past gave only a few people the opportunity to learn more than their peers. So whoever went, that wasn't rich, went to be somebody and become something great! They studied their hearts out, got involved and then made something!! They were able to request only the best when applying for jobs. They deserved it!

In this time of anyone enrolling and finishing college, I don't see many who study their field as if it's their only chance to get good and do something great. You can pass most classes with D's (From grade school up). There are certain majors that say at least a C... Is this what you went to college for? A D or C? Weren't you highly interested in your major?? Didn't you want to use that major to be the best thing since the internet???

I look at my own self and apologize to the person that really wanted to be in international business but can't because I'm in their spot. I only want to become an actress with the ability to speak multiple languages and I'd like to use interpreter as my backup. No I don't study business the way a major should. But I study these languages as if it's my only chance to get good and do something great.

From now on I challenge myself to be like those in the past that finished only college (because I rarely hear of them attending grad school) and ended up being remembered and living to the fullest. The way they planned the minute they decided that they would study above and beyond.

My Apologies For 'the wait'

ahaha ha-ha ha, boo hoo hoooo

I have not been online due to (like I thought) a really tough Chinese exam and a Chinese Phenomenon essay + presentation (still workin on the presentation) and my most demanding class (Chinese U.S. relations) has been requiring almost all of my time.

Ok good news. My director found me a home stay! I was surprised and convinced that they didn't want to bother helping us get them so I'd lost hope. Then bam! some family was interested in hosting a student. It seems like a good one because the parents both work (not sure that a house mom is a problem but my director thought so), the only son is also working (meaning I don't have to teach him English lol).

I feel kind of strange because I am not sure what I can give back to them (seeing as the things they are giving me are; house, culture, language improvement...) Oh well we'll see. I think they are good people though.

How it came to be:
I hear the son was just dying to host a student and so the parents (hoping to get a boy at least) agreed. The son met me and showed me a small video of the house, on his cell haha. Then asked me all kinds of questions some serious some stupid. (such as; do you close the door when using the bathroom?) He was talking so fast, in Chinese, but I knew how to answer everything and the jokes. That one just caught me off guard. He's 25 but sometimes acts younger than me. The next week (tues.) I checked out the house in person.

*****STOP***** This was mainly because I wanted to see the parents reaction to 1. Not only am I a girl 2. I'm black lol
Which hasn't been a problem for me here in China, but you never know how they'd feel about you living with them.
*****GO 'Head ;p

At the house they did not jump in fright after opening the door. Instead I was welcomed with smiles and asked to sit on the couch. My director went with me just in case, and gave them an introduction. While she did that the son gave me a house tour. I talked a little with the parents and I found the mother to be very cute and the father very laid back. They gave me some snacks and at the end we left.
My director informed me that they discussed the rent and the family decided that I only need to pay for utilities about 100 every month...since she's Chinese I'm assuming she means Yuan, but that leaves me breathless.

Dorm: 2,100 yuan rent + extra electricity used + 80 internet= 2,221 [$324.92 ](last month)
Home: 0 yuan rent + 100 flat rate utilities = 100 [$14.63 ]

Even if they charged me $100 [683.56yuan]. I was like....how about I clean for you? But they declined (haha thank goodness cause no one has carpet in China and I even clean my own dorm everyday. maybe a few times. hehe whew!)

Well my host brother being the great person he is took my stuff over yesterday for me so that I could study all night here lol So I move in myself today.(I can get back some of this month's rent and my deposit.) I'll update you if you're interested...;p

Pressure Of My Self

This morning I randomly awoke at 6:45AM...not cool. so I went back to sleep. I got up a couple of times more but decided to get out of bed at 8:50. I got ready in 2 minutes cause my class is on the first floor any way.

I get to Chinese at 9:00. (I have it at 9 MWF)
Again I am the only one in the classroom wondering why people never come to class on time. There are only 4 students total and one lives in the dorms with me...
Anywho, we did our presentations (2-3min every Fri.) and then the weekly newspaper article reading. I'm happy we have this kind of assignment because the more I understand the more accomplished I feel. The only thing is, even though I slept well, when the teacher started to explain every word she thought we didn't know or couldn't figure out, I started to drift off. It was sad. haha I don't know why teachers do that anyway. For one these particular assignments come from a Chinese newspaper textbook that picks out the "difficult" words and explains them in Chinese.(oh yeah!) Then the teacher provides an extra paper with the words translated in English. Therefore, there is no reason to explain all the words in the text again in class. (I'd rather work on my grammar skills)

After class I was so drowsy but I decided to eat out with my classmates. (How come none of them can read the menu??) When we got back a lady and a man who work with the foreign students department came to ask if I would like to join them at 8:20Am tomorrow to participate in Lantern Festival activities with the high school nearby....(no, that's too early. yes, i want to experience culture. -_-) I said sure and even allowed them to give me a wake up call. lol


Sadly today is my friends birthday and somehow he let a friend of his plan his party at an expensive all you can eat and drink restaurant...(180yuan=$26.34 ) Then they will go Karaoke or clubbing.

I need to be studying anyway. I have decided to become as close to fluent as native before I leave here in May. Plus I am jobless. No need to randomly spend money when jobless. and.. broke... hahahaha

***I already said I'd go so I will. I'll just be MIA until I feel I deserve to go out again ;p ***

Program Differences

I know that a lot of people want to leave the states and learn things in a foreign country. Here is something to remember:

Study abroad:
A situation that allows you to study in a foreign land without needing any language skills. You are here to study whatever you want. hard. You can enjoy the place you are in but learning the language is not the ultimate goal.

Foreign Exchange:
This is that beautiful program that allows you to become the world's greatest at the language of your choice country. Your focus can be the language and most likely you will be taught in the language.


sometimes the study abroad may be intensive language but...
Just know that this is based off of my experience and some companies may be different.


Also know that if you were looking for total immersion in china DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH at all costs. It is very much an English speaking country. Most people are shy of their skills so they will avoid you. The rest are hunting for someone to teach them English, even though they are fluent. Yes. Fluent.

Again with The dorms

So! Shanghai...上海。
I think I like Chengdu a lot better. I can get used to this place though. It's not as dirty for one. Of course as soon as I was past immigration I heard the Chinese spit. The airport was pretty empty for 7pm but it meant easy check out for me!
The airport is pretty simple I got a round easily and this time I even made it to campus on my own. (Last time I had a personal driver) I took the Maglev halfway and then took a taxi.

The Maglev is a bullet train so again I longed for Japan and the shinkansen.新幹線

My dorm room is pretty small because this time we're in a real dorm. on campus. by Chinese people.

Shanghai University's 上海大学campus is medium sized and good looking, but of course there is a new campus about an hour away that's bigger and better...(maybe i haven't seen it.)

Campus is near a little shopping area and a circus!!!!
I want to go to the Circus sooooo muuuuuch. I think the other students will think I'm childish so I'll wait until I have better friends.



And finally about those other students. I re-met with one of the black guys that I thought was a shame last semester but he has improved and so I'm proud of him. (He's black so even though we aren't here to bring up our race we certainly aren't here to let people look further down on us! I wanted him to be at least decent in Chinese and now he is.)
There are at least 5 black people here but only 2 of us are in the same program. One guy is even on the same level as me maybe even better! I was so proud of him too lol
He wondered if i was from a typical black family like African American and i told him that we are Jamaican. He laughed and said regular black families wouldn't study so hard. We laughed together.
They found out that I can speak Japanese so they introduced me to some Japanese guys and they introduced me to more. I was nervous again but they seemed impressed enough lol
(The past has not given me a lot of Japanese friends...even though I am married to that language.)

Well that's enough for today. I'm gonna go exercise before orientation cause then classes start....

Ethnic Groups of Tibet

(this is one of my three Tibet essays. i just find Tibet pretty interesting)

While taking this Tibetan culture class I have learned that they also include different ethnicities. Some well-known ethnic groups of Tibet are the Menba [门巴], Lhoba[洛巴]，and the Deng people [登人], but there are more. They are classified with Tibet because they share some of the same religious beliefs, culture, land and even the language is similar in some ways.

First I’ll start with the Menba [门巴]. They have related themselves to Tibetans through politics, economics and marriage. They had ruled over the Menyu area, as their name implies. The population is about 8,928 people. On the Tibetan Plateau they can be found mostly in Moinyu in Southern Tibet’s Autonomous region, though some do live in other places. They have their own language that belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family, but no written script, so they use the Tibetan language. Though their main source of food was agriculture, most of them are alcoholics. Clothing is based off of the Tibetan Chugba. They wear red wool robes or coats and black yak hair caps, and leather boots, but sometimes trousers can be worn. The men will wear skull caps with tassels or fringes. The women wear a warm jacket over a long sleeveless chemise. They often carry knives and wear gloves and of course earrings. Because it is cold in the winter, the roofs of the houses are made out of bamboo matting. As I said the Menba usually live off of agriculture but they do hunt for food or use game as barter. All animals can be hunted besides men and tigers. On a special day, one specific boy using only a jawbone with the teeth in it can hunt tigers. They believe this will give the power of guidance by the ancestral tigers to the boy. They enjoy making handcrafts, animal husbandry (breeding animals) and forestry (planting to make natural resources). They specifically make woodcarvings, weavings and carpets. Tibetan Buddhism of the Gulugpa sect has been their religion, but some still believe in primitive sorcery such as Animism (the belief that everything has a soul) and Bon; believing that the spirit of the Tiger protects them. For Buddhism they place water offerings and butter lamps around a Buddha statue. The main treatment of the dead is sending them on their way down a river, known as water burial. Still, they also bury them, leave them to the wild and burn them, known as ground, exposure burial and cremation..

Second are the Lhoba [洛巴]. The population is about 3000 people. They are also located in the south, in Lhoyu in Southeastern Tibet and no written form of their own language, in the Tibetan-Myanmese family. Actually, only a few can speak and/or write the Tibetan language. They did try to keep records of the past by notching wood or tying knots, and of course, just telling stories. They had strong belief in the ancestors and the Tiger but a lot have converted to Lamaism. They have celebrations for peace and prosperity, make a lot of bamboo crafts, and the women are excellent at weaving coats and skirts. Clothing within this ethnic group varies upon the level of sub-groups, but the men will wear long sleeveless black wool vests and helmet like hats made of bearskin sometimes with bamboo woven in. They carry arrows, swords and other tools used for hunting. Women wear blouses and short sheep’s wool skirts. They carry around lots of ornaments because the amount of ornaments worn symbolizes their wealth. Neither of them wears shoes. They can wear these things year round because they have warm subtropical weather. While agriculture is the main part of their diet, they are heavy smokers and drinkers. Because they didn’t have much salt in their diets and had poor lifestyles, a lot of them got endemic goiter diseases allowing most of them to be born deaf or mute. So they were kind of forced to marry outsiders. Before, they were really bullied by Tibetans, being considered wild people, and so some were cast out to live in the mountains or forests and marrying a Tibetan was forbidden. Women have no status and so they don’t get to inherit anything.

Finally I’ll discuss the Deng people [登人]. Also referred to as wild monkey people, they have about 1300 people. They live in Zanyu County in the Ningchi prefecture mainly in the southeast part of Tibet’s Autonomous region. They live in 2 story houses and are very short. They have no written part of their language, which comes from the Tibetan Burmese family. They believe in ghosts, which is just the Animism religion again. Men regularly wrap their hair and wear silver earrings with a knife in their belt. Women normally wear necklaces and pearl earrings. They also don’t wear shoes. They lived mostly off of agriculture. Women were big smoker but now they prefer to sing or dance to pass time.

Being of a lower class, all of these ethnic groups had less satisfying lifestyles, but nowadays as with the rest of the world the people have schools at which children and adults can be taught. The houses are more modern as well as the farming systems. They have been able to truly start over by having new land to farm in and even though this is all after 1951, I’m glad that they could get the help that have gotten so far. I hope that some of these cultures can stay with us for a while longer and experience the new day and age with us.

Being completely right

Today I can only say I told you so! (not really to anybody but still)

My teacher told my class that we are her best class yet. We remember the vocab, we finish our homework before class (mostly correct), we are able to do short presentations on the spot!

Her last group never remembered the vocab always needed help with the homework and can only finish on chapter when we finished 4!
(Here she is referring to our new book that gives about 55-60 new words per chapter.)

I think she is a great teacher by far, but now I'm starting to think that my study skills have completely improved! I cut out everything non-Chinese until the weekend. but that turned into only Chinese everyday! consequently my Chinese has been great.

of course i can't bear to lose my Japanese so i'm going to start using my mixi and buy a Chinese persons Japanese text book.

Self realizations

I am sorry about the time missed. I was in Beijing北京 and Xi'an西安. Of course I will tell you all about them but first my blurb for today.

I just got back so I decided to go and visit the friends that I talk to just about 6 days a week lol and dive right into my studies.

I went to talk to my friends and they were like "Oh I missed you so much!!" and I even introduced them to one of my friends (who finally wants to start immersing) and one guy was like, "I really like her. She seems sincere." This isn't the only time I feel like true feelings have come out. In America I learned that China was soooo conservative they don't really show emotions, etc. But after being here I realized that they show only the truest emotions I have ever known. Maybe they feel too quickly even. They aren't raunchy with affection like some cultures I know, and I feel truly honored to be around them. haha Maybe the reason they don't say 'I love you (我爱你)' is because we all know it. Just by the way we express our feelings about one another and how we aren't embarrassed to let someone know 'Hey I have been thinking about you.'
(I like how I've unconsciously put myself in their category. Maybe it means I have changed a bit.)


I also did one of my Tibetan Culture essays today. The teacher has told us to make our own topics. 3 pages double spaced due by the end of the semester.
In China textbooks are a rare thing so I could only go off of my notes from this fast paced class and the internet (Heeey!!) haha
I have made the decision to use this method for all of my essays now. I have been doing it wrong this whole time. My essay seems better when I use my own notes and my own personal research. I don't want to use another textbook again! Those authors explain everything in such an uninteresting way...

All right I'll stop here and start the vacation post marathon lol

Love ya!

Exams

I got a B (84) on my first exam. It's time to study some more. I've been having too much fun being the beautiful foreigner. I better start bein the student lol