I've had a bit of bad luck in the past couple weeks so I've been a little distracted--in the past two weeks I've lost my camera and my room keys. I left my camera in a cab and another day my keys fell out of my purse and I didn't notice. And to top it off, someone stole my bike...
Luckily I was able to buy a new camera (which is now malfunctioning) and get new room keys, but it's just been one thing after another. I've tried to keep my head up though. Tomorrow I am going to try and bring back my camera and exchange it.
This is the last week of classes and exams start next week. Today was our last day of Chinese culture class and we turned in our final reports and my group gave a presentation on Chinese vs. American culture. I wrote my final report on Chinese education, I've found the differences between Chinese and American education to be very interesting. I've posted our powerpoint below and if you're interested you can access my final report here.
I realized I haven't really talked much about my classes here, only our trips. Classes here are pretty different from UM. The Chinese students begin to arrive about 20-30 minutes before class starts in order to get front row seats. I should take a picture of our circuits class, it's a sea of heads of black hair and then our group from UM. The class is actually pretty noisy while the professor is speaking; I've been told that it is because the students do not understand English all that well so they verify what he is saying with their neighbors. Also, they hardly ever ask questions in class and wait until after class or during the break. The professor always has a crowd around him during those times.
Chinese language is pretty laid-back, like culture. Language usually consists of practicing a few key phrases, and weekly vocab quizzes.
I want to include a few pictures from our trips the past couple weeks, all of them are up on my picassa though. Two weekends ago we went to Zhujijiao, which is considered the 'Venice' of China. There was a stream that ran down the main road of the town, with lots of pretty gardens. We had a tour guide who referred to our group almost 50 times as his "dear friends." Someone needed to tell him how to properly get a group's attention.
This is the bridge you first come to upon entering the city. The trees are growing out of the rocks of the bridge, no one really understands how they stay alive without any soil.
This is a sign at KFC, I'm not sure if you can really read it but it says "Food Safety Inspection Notification"... they recieved a fair (not excellent or fail). Haha.
The lab component of the class is taught in Chinese; we have translators that help us complete the labs. I've found the labs to be not very useful and I can't say I've learned a whole lot. The schedule of the labs does not line up well with what we are learning in class so I don't always understand what we are doing. I've been told though that the lab component is significantly easier here than at UM, which I am greatful for. I've had two exams for circuits already and I've done fairly well... my final for circuits is next Tuesday and Chinese language is Monday so this Sunday is going to be dedicated to studying!
Chinese language is pretty laid-back, like culture. Language usually consists of practicing a few key phrases, and weekly vocab quizzes.
I want to include a few pictures from our trips the past couple weeks, all of them are up on my picassa though. Two weekends ago we went to Zhujijiao, which is considered the 'Venice' of China. There was a stream that ran down the main road of the town, with lots of pretty gardens. We had a tour guide who referred to our group almost 50 times as his "dear friends." Someone needed to tell him how to properly get a group's attention.
This is the bridge you first come to upon entering the city. The trees are growing out of the rocks of the bridge, no one really understands how they stay alive without any soil.
We went on a boat ride through one of the canals.
This is a sign at KFC, I'm not sure if you can really read it but it says "Food Safety Inspection Notification"... they recieved a fair (not excellent or fail). Haha.We had our farewell party this afternoon. I never really realized how much I missed American food--they had fries with ketchup, burgers, coleslaw... it was the best thing I've eaten in a long time and we all pigged out. They had a slide show with a bunch of pictures from the trip and watching it really made me realize how much fun I've had these past couple weeks despite my recent loses. I almost teared up during it thinking about leaving in a week and a half. I'm torn in how I feel about going home. On one hand I'm excited to see my friends and family from home and go to the beach. Living in St. Joe really makes me take the beach for granted; it doesn't seem like summer yet because I haven't been to the beach. On the other hand I will miss my friends here, the cheap prices, going out on the weekends, and all the new experiences.
I'll write again before I leave next Tuesday. Check back.
I'll write again before I leave next Tuesday. Check back.
Katie
P.S. I apologize if the formatting of this is a little messed up... apparently blogging is a threat to the Chinese government. I have to use a proxy to access this site so sometimes the formatting of the blog isn't right.
P.S. I apologize if the formatting of this is a little messed up... apparently blogging is a threat to the Chinese government. I have to use a proxy to access this site so sometimes the formatting of the blog isn't right.
Sounds like you have run into some bad luck. Good luck on your exams. I enjoyed your powerpoint. I hope you had most of your pictures already saved to your Picaso it would be a shame to lose them as well as the camera. Have a great last part of your stay.
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