My second Christmas in USA.

This is the second Christmas I had in the USA. Although my family doesn’t celebrate a lot before, but Christmas is still one of my favorite festivals. This is a special year for my family, because this year is the first time we got the whole family together. So we had a big dinner at my grandma’s place. We ate a lot of good foods and watched TV together.  My cousin introduced her boyfriend to us that night, it was good to know her funny boyfriend.  I knew the tradition here for Christmas is people exchange presents, but our family didn’t do that. I think the most important thing is we can get together and spend time together instead of the presents. But I am still happy that I got  presents from my friends . It was a great Christmas for me .

                                                                                                                                    -----12/25/2011

Lake Tahoe Trip

After the trip last week, I just made time to sit down and write in my diaries.  I want to share something about the trip to Lake Tahoe. It was an unforgettable time spent with my friends. We went to ice skiing at the second day we been there. That was so exciting even though we fell down so many times. After that, we went to visit Tahoe. Tahoe  was a small city but a very beautiful one, it has some special things that a big city will never has. It was peaceful and quiet. Once my friends and I went to a new place, we bought a post card and wrote down our feelings, then send it to ourselves and our friends. Also, we took a lot of pictures during the trip. Time past so fast, we went back to SF three days after. I hope I can got another trip soon. Over all, it was a nice trip for me and my friends.   

Internship Readiness

    The qualities of someone who is internship ready are acting professionally, working hard and having a positive attitude.  First, we should keep doing what we are doing in the program which includes being on time, having material ready, dressing professionally, using appropriate language, staying awake, being respectful and accountable. Secondly, we should try our best to finish all the work our managers give us within the time limit. And also, we should do it in an efficient way to achieve a better result. Third, having a positive attitude is the most important thing we should bring into the internship. Different attitudes determine what you can do. We can’t do anything well in the internship without a positive attitude.

    In module 3, I will keep my strengths that I have in the first two modules. After a deep evaluation for myself, I think my grow area is speaking more in the class. I’ll try being more active both in class and group work by briefly asking my questions and my opinion.  Also, knowing that public speaking is an important skill that we should have here, I’ll spend more time to practice in order to get improvement in my presentation assignments. Preparing more, practicing it ahead of time, speaking loudly and write down some key points I have to say while my presentation are the things that I’ll try to do to improve my public speaking skill.

     I would like to change my organizational methods in module 3. I think I should get separate folders for BC class and Tech class so that I can separate the huge amount of handouts between the two classes, and there will be no need for me to worry about missing any important data I need.  

Temporary Job but Permanent Experience.

   The only one job experience I have in USA was work as a cashier in a super market. That was the first time I was a cashier. Everything was hard in the beginning. It took me about one week to get used of my job. 
   As a cashier, the first and most important responsibility was take good care of the money in the cash box. Every day before I left, I had to count the total income of the day and passed it to my supervisor. If I couldn't say the right total money amount of the day, I had to do it over. So it was so important to being awake and careful when working with a lot of customers at the day. In my workplace, if cashiers miss money of the day, we have to pay for the missing part of the money. That’s why I wouldn't talk too much with neither my co-workers nor my customers. I was afraid I would make mistake when I was talking. I was trying hard to make as fewer mistakes as possible so that I could get the full check at the end of the month. 
   As time passed, I worked more and more practical and fast with my job, and I talked more with my customers when I was working. Another responsibility of my job was helping my customers to find what they wanted when they asked me for help. The supermarket I was working for is not a big one but it still has a lot of goods there. My supervisor told me that I had to remember most of the goods that their exact position in the store. That required me to have a good memorize.
    And at the same time helping customers, I was actually improving my customer service skills. A good worker should be helpful and friendly. Helping my customers to get what they need and leaving a good impression on them is an important skill I should develop during my internship. And also, in order to be a good employee in my workplace, it was important to know time management.   Because the super market has two working shifts in a day, I had to make sure I would be there ahead of my work time and got ready to take over my co-worker.  But if I really couldn't make it on time, I had to call my supervisor ahead of time so that she could let somebody else subs my shift. It showed that I am responsible for my job and my co-workers, and that’s exactly what I need to bring into my internship.
   The last important thing that I think I learned from the cashier job was how to get along well with my co-workers.  Most of co-workers there were Chinese and Mexican, and they were all very nice to me when I first came there. We loved to help each other out no matter in the workplace or outside the workplace. But I think the two most important reasons why we sould build a good relationship between us were I putted my real heart into my job and always could be responsible.  And for sure, I will bring all I learned from my cashier job into my upcoming internship even in my future career.

snacks caused a wind wave.

The Sacramento Bee posted a news story this morning about a professor of Sacramento state university who was stopped from requiring snacks from his students during class by the dean of that university. Sources say that the professor had been doing that over 39 years. (http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/23/4074957/sac-state-students-dont-have-to.html#disqus_thread)

When I first time saw this news, I didn't feel surprise because it happens in USA. I agree that professor's view on his behavior is way of encouraging students to work collectively, among other things. I feel comfortable sharing snacks with my instructors and colleagues during class when it doesn't interrupt the formal class. I have heard that some successful companies such as Yahoo, Google, etc.  have their snacks serve area for their employees in the workplace, and I think that's a good way to cheer up the employees. Only working in the workplace seems boring for the employees nowadays. Personally, I hope that I can have a professional work environment but at the same time can have fun and a good relationship with my co-workers. Sometimes, even a snack can break the ice when you are not so familiar with some new people. In this case, a little snack has huge power.

On the other hand,I don't agree with the professor's behavior that he force his students to bring snacks and left the classroom during class when his students didn't meet his snack requirements. Everybody should feel comfortable when you share something with others. If not, then that's not sharing. In the professor's case, that's not sharing. Students were forced to bring snacks to the class, and the professor should let the students feel free to do so, so that the students can learn something from that.

I found this news in the education column. I think it's weird, but I also think it's really a serious problem for us to think about.

my inspiration.

I heard a little story before: a girl misses his boyfriend very much but they are far away from each other. One day the girl pray for herself, she whispers:" dear god please sent me to where have someone who loves me the most in the world. The miracle really happens to the girl. She saw a men standing there cooking dinner, when the men turn over, he saw the girl with a surprise look and said: “daughter? Why you are here?" the girl didn't say anything, tears filled with her eyes. The story is fake, but it did really impress me a lot. And it remind me my what's the meaning of  father's love for me and my sisters. My father was always there whenever i need him. He is the person who inspires me the most in my life. My father born in a starveling age, people at that time all suffered poverty. That’s why my father has to earn his living at his 11-year-old. It’s not easy to imagine how hard my father had experienced in his childhood. My father, a low educated person but he knows how important a good education for his children's life. I can’t say I know my father’s love at all, sometimes I do something hurt his feeling. But I know, every time whatever I did he will be there for me and our family. My father and I love each other a lot, but we never show that to people, we keep it in our heart. Nobody will wait for me the whole night at home but my father; nobody will give me a lot of chances but my father. He taught me everything so that I can be who I am today. My father will be my inspiration of my whole life. He is the men I love the most in the world.

I am one of them!

          When I think of community, I will say I am in the US TV series community.  Technically, I think I am one of that community since I was seventeen years old and I watched an American drama on TV for the first time. The one called "Prison Break" got my attention and made me fall in love with the US TV series. When the series "Prison Break" ended, I started to watch the other good US TV series from then on. And later as I grew up day by day and began using the internet, I knew there were a lot of people who love US TV series like me. Some of them built some different web pages, blogs or forums that let all of us free to share, make comments and discuss anything you want about any US TV series online. And all we need to do is just click on the website and leave anything we want. I love this community. All of us have the same hobby watching US TV series and we are from all over the world. We always interact with each other through the internet, but I know some of our people  know each  other more in the real world, but  not  me. I won't meet people that I just talk to  online. I mean, at least not now. Mostly, we talk about the US TV series that we like, but sometimes we also share something about our own things with these familiar strangers. To be honest, I always get support from them and I feel freer to tell them about my troubles in my life because they don't know me in some ways. On the contrary, I am not stingy in giving my support to these people who need it and I feel good about that. You can't deny that it's another way to help people. But all of that happens because we like the same thing.The US TV series  bring us get together.

          You can say that it’s a big community because it includes people around the world and everybody can join us as long as they want, but it can be small also because we have only one thing in common with everybody here and we all are not forced to be a part of this community.  People here can be young, old, male, female, good people or even bad people.

Puls and delta of myself in module 1.

In class, I always stay awake and listen to the instructors and my colleagues carefully, learn from them for anything that good for myself. I am proud of myself that I know how to write a formal e-mail which is helpful for my future business, and I think my English is having a great improvement .I glad that when I talking to my English speaker friends who are outside the program, they said my English is being better than before. And after class, I stay in the site almost every day to finish my homework and ask for help at something I don't understand. Although sometimes I still cannot finish my homework on time, but I have to say I take all of my homework seriously, I will carry on it and I will try to improve the quality of my homework in Module 2. Another delta of myself in module 1 is I have not enough engagement in the class, I have to talk more, I need more confident to express my thoughts and my work. And this is also the most important things I am looking forward in the Module 2. Also, I know a 90 minutes’ class is not enough to understand all the things taught in class, it need more time to understand it after class. I think I didn’t do well on this. Sometimes I always forget to follow up the points or questions I don’t understand in class ,I should take it mores seriously in this module so that I can get more progress.

My neighborhood.

 
I live in Excelsior District, which is located along Mission Street. Living in Excelsior for almost a year, i found out that the majority of the residents here are Latino and Chinese .Someone thought it was a good idea to name all the streets here after the places in Europe, and that's one of the reasons why i like living here. Excelsior keep on going after it skirts Bernal Heights, and any attempt at gentrification is abandoned. It’s replaced by liquors Laundromats, and a few dining establishments with seriously unpretentious character. Latino culture can see anywhere in Excelsior ,while there are also a lot of Chines living here in the lately year. I know Latino culture after I moved in San Francisco, living next to Latino gave me a chance to know another different culture besides Chinese culture and also let others know more about Chinese. I like eating Mexican food because there is a lot of Mexican cuisine here near my house. I like living here also because the convenient of transportation , there are different lines of bus and also Bart station near my house.
I am who I am because of the neighborhood I live in. I like most of the people who live here, they are nice to me. As I said earlier, there are a lot of Chinese people living in my neighborhood. It feels like I am in my hometown. It also it gives me a chance to learn another country's culture. Another thing I have to mention is my landlord; who is a Chinese couple. They’ve lived here in Excelsior over 40 years and own three houses which they worked very hard for in their early ages. They said they love this place. They like to talk to their renters. Occasionally, when I run into them up in public places, they stop and chat with me. They make me feel as if I am talking to my family or friends instead of my landlord. I don’t think I will ever forget their kindness, even after I move out of here in the future.

The Poverty Business

The companies who profit from low-wage earners are making the opportunity divide worse by providing working poor financing programs that they can’t even afford. But even though these companies know the truth, the working poor cannot afford that much money for cars, computers, credit card payments or houses, these are things that low-income people want and need in their lives. The salesmen don’t explain the terms that their clients have to know clearly before they sign any documents. As a result, the working poor keep spending their money on payments every month instead of saving their money to improve their lives. Once they can’t improve their lives with their low income, they will not get out of poverty. It means they will stay in this vicious cycle and cannot make any change for themselves.

 I don’t think the responsibility should be held by a single person. It should be the responsibility of all the people who engage in this activity, including corporations, government, and individuals. The corporations shouldn’t just look at their own profit. They have a  responsibility to close the opportunity divide by making some financing plans for the working poor that really fit their needs instead of only making money from the poor. And the companies should also let their salesmen know the importance of explaining the contracts specifically enough to their clients who aren’t familiar enough with the financing plan. For the government, they should make some laws that can protect the people from being cheated by the corporations,and for individuals, they are the key people in the activity. They should also take responsibility for understanding the documents they are not familiar with before they sign. They should understand what the budget is for them every month and they should not spend more than that.

The specific contract content should be given clearly to the clients. They should have a copy of any documents they need in their native language. Another resource is the contact list with all the information of the staff that can help them when the clients have something they don’t know or they want to know more of. The government should provide some documents that tell the people what they should do when they are mistreated by the companies.  

who is Bella ?

 My name is Bella, a 21 years old girl who come from China. I grew up in China,I moved to San Francisco in November 2010,and I love my new city. I finished my high school and attending college in china before I came to USA  with my whole family .China  isn’t a English  speaking world, so I have to admit that it’s hard for me to live in this new English speaking city at the beginning  when I came here.To be honest, I like English more than any other else languages beside my native language, so I am trying my best to access the world of English, I hope I can speak English fluently and feel more comfortable while talking with English speakers as soon as possible, and I know I will make it one day as long as I am keep going on it.I read English books, listen English radio, make English friends, and whatever I can do in order to know more about English culture. I worked as a cashier before for a half of year until I know about the program called YEARUP from my one of my friends. Without any doubts, I quit  my current job and chose to apply to be a student in the program because I love to work in the field of I.T and I know clearly that the program will provide me a great chance to get what I want. Finally I found my goal about the future and I will not going to stop. Before I step in the site in the first day, I knew that I will be a  different one between the class because I can’t speak a standard English as my classmates and instructors  do, but I still want to do it. Anyone have their fears, so do I .I afraid that  I can’t catch up other students, I afraid people can’t not understand me at all, but the more I fear, the more I want to face it and make it to the right way. I want challenges, because I think that’s the important factors for me to access the way  to success.

my high school !

 

I spent my high school time in china, now i am going to tell you something about my high school that is totally different from unite state. The name of my high school is "Long Shan High”, and it located in my hometown---Guangdong province, city of Zhongshan. It's a public school, compare to other high schools in my city , it's a small one only 3100 students there. But although it's not so large-scale, people in our city all know about my high school because of it's long history. “Long Shan high “built in BC 1758,it means there are already 252 years old since then, some historical buildings and trees still remained integrally until now .The one is the most historic school in our city, even in our province, that’s one of reasons i love it and feel proud of it always.

  Next, I will tell you something about entrance exam of our school. All junior high school students will take a an exam on the same day every year, the scores you finally got will decide what kind of high school you will be accepted .the best high schools require the highest scores. If you want to go to a good school, you have to have a high score. The last year students  in the school have to prepare for their further study in college, for students do better in their score, school require students there back to school from 6am in the morning until 10pm at night. If students are not satisfied with their grades in the final exam to access to the college they like, they can have one chance to stay in the school for one more year and then take the exam one more time in the same day on next year.

  For me, there was really a hard time in my high school, but I think that’s the power make me more brave today. And in the same time, the time I was in high school was also a period of unforgettable time for me, I would like to keep it in my memory forever, it always remind me how hard I can overcome, how great I can be!