Blog for zhum3

Life in America --2

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:52:24 +0000

Before I came to America, I was very excited about the coming trip. We did a large amount of preparing work during the semester, filled out countless forms. We even spent the whole afternoon at the airport to go though the security check and wait to aboard the plane before it took off. To conclude, it was really difficult to come to US. At the airport, we met our interns the first time, and started talking in English. I found myself often tongue twisted and couldn’t understand all of what they were talking. Actually I still have this problem until now, but it is not so bad, as long as we can communicate rather smoothly. Life was new and strange to me at beginning and I had a complicated feeling at that time, excited and also a little afraid about the new life. I took a couple of days to shift the shift the hours and adapt to the new circumstance. The most difficult problem was that it’s not easy to find suitable food to eat, with moderate price and good taste. I even felt a little homesick at the beginning but things got better gradually. Now I’ve got used to the new life. Richmond gave me an impression of quiet and harmony. The pace of life is very slowly, and people here are very friendly. On the street lots of strangers will say hello to you with kind smile, even when they are driving a car. The traffic is extremely light compare to Beijing. I heard from our intern that the traffic conditions in New York is totally different from here, it’s really a hard problem for large cities. During these three weeks I encountered cultural shocks, language barriers, but I also gained a better understanding of globalization. I think culture diversity is not a big problems for communication, and different nations can get along well with each other. Tomorrow we’ll depart for New York, we are expecting it for a log time. Hope it will be a wonderful trip ^_^

Life in America --1

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:36:43 +0000

Time slipped by without my notice. I’m very surprised that I have been in US for nearly three weeks and only have two days left living in VCU and GRC. Maybe three weeks is not a long period of time at all, but I learned a lot and changed lot during my visit here. I met a lot of people, not only those lovely and nice interns in VCU, but also students from Fudan University, and our BFSU students whom I never met in our campus. I was great to make those new friends, and I really appreciate our friendship. During my life here my friends give me a lot of help, and we enjoy great fun together. Especially those interns, I used to think that when we in America whom we stay with or talk to would be Chinese students as we were in China, so we couldn’t get chances to experience a real American life. But the interns all devoted lots of efforts to this program, they planned activities for us almost every day and spent most of the time with us. This gave us a great opportunity to get access to American life and gain better understanding of American culture. I really appreciate it. Besides meeting a lot of people, I also got chance to attend many wonderful lectures from which I learned a lot. The lectures covered the topic of history, politics, business, literature, and also arts and acting ^^ So we were able to get familiar with America from all aspects. Although we couldn’t go deeply in these issues in such a short time, we gained a broad view and experience a new style of teaching in America, questions and comments~ ^_^ In addition, I also had a good time playing here. We’ve been to historical places like Williamsburg and Monticello, natural travel attractions such as VA beach. We went to amusement park, went shopping, canoeing, went to bars, movies, concerts and parties, went swimming and climbing mountains, nearly all kinds of activities. They were both great experiences in my school years and in my whole life. Some day in the future if I have the opportunity to study at graduate school in America, I will definitely back to Richmond to recollect those beautiful memories.

Jazz

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:57:13 +0000

Last night we attend special lecture. Tony Garcia and three other guys gave us an excellent lecture and presentation on Jazz. I’m not very familiar with jazz music. I know it’s a significant part of American culture but I’ve never heard it before. Last night was my second time to listen to jazz music. The fist time was also happened during this program, when Mitch and Brian brought us to a jazz concert. I can figure out that most of our interns enjoy jazz music very much, they show a lot of interests and knowledge concerning with it. But to me, this kind of music seems a little strange, because I can’t figure out the melody in it, maybe it’s because I seldom listened to it. >_< However, from that class I get more familiar and learned appreciate more of this kind of music. Professor Garcia showed us lots of aspects of jazz music, the theme, direction, tune, register etc. And after the class I also surf on net and got more information on jazz. Jazz has roots in the combination of West African and Western music traditions, including spirituals, blues and ragtime, stemming from West Africa, western Sahel, and New England's religious hymns, hillbilly music, and European military band music. Jazz was originated in the beginning of the 20th century and spread in the 1920s. The origins of the word jazz are uncertain. The word is rooted in American slang, and various derivations have been suggested. Jazz was not applied to jazz music until about 1915, when jazz musicians in Chicago began calling their music jazz. Earl Hines, born in 1903 and later to become a celebrated "jazz" musician, used to claim that he was "playing piano before the word "Jazz" was even invented". The instruments used in marching bands and dance band music at the turn of century became the basic instruments of jazz: brass, reeds, and drums, using the Western 12-tone scale, but generally there’s no restriction on what kinds of instruments can in used in playing jazz. Jazz has developed a lot and diversified in different regions, but it is still embed in the root of American culture, especially African- American culture. In the class I also learned a lot of famous people who are very good at jazz. I can’t remember all of them but I really think that jazz is a kind of musical language, it can be used as a tool to get a better understanding of American culture and society. Maybe what we interested in is a different kind of music, but we can learn some thing about jazz and then we can better communicate with more people ^^

Monticello

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:00:40 +0000

Monticello is the plantation of Thomas Jefferson. It is a working plantation, also a home to both the Jefferson family and an extended community of workers, black and white, enslaved and free. Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of independence, the third president of the United States, and the founder of University of Virginia. He was not only an politician, a philosopher, but also a good architect. Monticello was his design. He the estate from his father, and began building when he was 26 years old. It was as many as 130 enslaved African Americans raised crops and tended livestock, made nails and barrels, cloth and carriages in Monticello. They helped to build the house, crafted many of its furnishings, and cultivated the gardens. I was very impressed by the dedicated features designed by Jefferson, for example the clock in the entrance hall. The clock has both an interior and exterior face inside the building and out. On the outside wall, the clock has only an hour hand, which Jefferson believed was accurate enough for outdoor laborers. The inside face of the clock reveals much greater precision by offering not only hour and minute hands, but also a smaller dial for a second hand. The seven-day clock is driven by two sets of cannonball-like weights, which hang on both sides of the front doors. On Sundays the clock is wound with the help of a folding ladder, and the weights are raised to the ceiling. Throughout the week, the top ball on the right-hand set of weights reveals the day with Sunday at the top and Saturday at the bottom. I think it must be a very advanced facility to keep track of the days at that time. Besides the clock, there are lots of features in the house that shows the dedicated and ingenious design. It is impossible to list all of them here, but I really saw a lot and learned a lot by visiting Monticello. It was a worthwhile trip ^^

"Hiking"

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:46:28 +0000

On sunday we went a small hiking around Sherando Lake. I know that many Americans enjoy hiking very much. When I was traveling in Yunan after graduating from high school, I spent a long time there. And during the trip, I saw a considerable number of Americans who was hiking there, with big bags on theire back, wlking along the road in mountain areas. They seemed very energetic. And I can also find out this characteristic from our interns ^^ I believe mostof the Chinese people do not like hiking very much, just like me. I preper to travel in a more relaxing way, enjoy beutiful seceneries without being too tried, thus hiking was too exhausting a working for me. Any way the trip around the lake can not be described as hiking at all, we were only climbing mountain. But I still felt tried >_< So maybe I should do more physical exercises in future ^^ p.s. Thanks very much toMitch, he drove us a long way to the lake and back, but we were all very tied and fell asleep on his car >_<

Home Visit~

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 05:43:58 +0000

On Saturday night Lisa and me, as well as two boys from Fudan University went to Mitchell’s home. That was an wonderful experience, except that Mitch was 25 minutes late to pick us up >_< We took a considerable long way to his home. The house was a very traditional one, located in the suburb, has a beautiful yard, and was surrounded by a lot of large oak trees. Many Americans live in the suburb. This is quite different from China. In China, suburb areas are usually used for farming, or only reach people will buy villas there and live there only on the vacation. Mitchell’s parents were very kind. They prepared a lot of delicious foods for us. But for the rain, we would have a BBQ outside. However, the meal was still wonderful, very different from the Chinese. Maybe it was a kind of traditional American meal. Before eating the family member prayed and showed their appreciation to God. I was very curious about that but I kept quite, in case I would make some mistake. During and after the meal we had lots of conversations with the family member, talking about culture difference, and exchanging ideas about certain issue. I found them very interested in Chinese foods and medicine. We told them a lot about some special items that probably only existing in china. We tried very hard to describe them in English and I don’t know whether it made sense, but I felt very good to let them get more familiar with Chinese culture. I really hope that some day in future they will go to China and I will give them a traditional Chinese meal. ^_^ By the way, Mitchell’s dog is very lovely, she’s always exited about squirrels. ^o^

Globalization

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:35:56 +0000

Today Dr. Van Wood gave us a wonderful lecture about the influence of Globalization on international business. To some extent, gigantic corporations reduce the difference among life styles in different nations. It is even observed that these companies are actually defining the live of people worldwide. Disney, Mc Donals, and Hollywood have been integrated into every nation’s culture system. For example, when a person talks about Harry Potter, he or she might find chatters around with the same interest, and their conversations would proceed smoothly. However, the differences between nations are far from being extinct. Some giant enterprises had not removed the regional differences, instead, their products and ideas had in fact reinforced the cultural diversity. Some corporations succeed in the marketing not by adapting the local markets to their products but by fit their products to local customs. For instance, after succeeding in Chinese market with its chickens, KFC then featured several items of local tastes, and these products are quite merited by Chinese consumers. And when consumers found the tendency of being dominated by multinational companies, they would respond with efforts to maintain the cultural identities. Sometimes people bolstering national industries, and sometimes they embed cultural symbols into people’s minds. To summarize, I think although the power of multinational corporations reduce the regional difference, it is not strong enough to diminish the variety among different cultures, because many cultures have their own immune system against culture invasions.

A busy Day

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:22:23 +0000

Yesterday was an extremely busy day. We had so many activities that I even found no time to have dinner. Immediately after the lecture we went to the gym to have a ping-pong match. I’m not good at it so I loose in the first round. But it doesn’t matter because it was just for fun^_^ A lot of Chinese students is excel at ping-pong game, after all its our tradition game. As for our interns, the way they hold their rackets is a little strange, but I believe they also have the potential to become a good ping-pong player. After the game we went to a Bar with Brian and Mathew, where we all expected to go for a long time. The bar was different in my imagination. I used to think bars as dark places, in which a lot of people are drinking, getting drunk, and talking to strangers, but it turned to be more like a restaurant. Luckily I have just had my 21st birthday in last month so I can choose to have beers, but unfortunately that my face turned red immediately after only half glass of it, which made me very embarrassed. >_< It’s very kind of Brian to invite us to his friend’s home to watch the movie. We make the room like a small theatre. It was very pleasant to met the friendly host of the house, and the two lovely cats ^o^ Now I have already been to American family twice since I have been here. Last time I went to a party of Mitchell’s friend’s. Both of the visiting gave me a deep impression of American life style. I just wonder why people say that American people are lonely when they have so many activities to do with their friends. This weekend I will have another chance of home visit, I’m just looking forward to it. Anyway, although I didn’t finish the movie, and failed to have dinner, it was a joyful night. p.s. Sorry for disturbing Mathew’s dating with his girlfriend, we were not intent to do it. ^_^

The relationship between Government and business

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:56:30 +0000

Every businessman has the commonsense that once he earns profit, he has to hand in the government part of it in the form of tax. Some people therefore view it a burden. However, this burden is the necessary cost that any business has to pay. First of all, government guarantees a secure environment for business. The thriving of business are always accompanied with the power of government in maintaining the stability across its territory. Government assures the safety in transportation. I can’t imagine if the commodities of a company are exposed to robbery any time along the way of transportation, how long the profitable business would last. Yet in most country today, a wholesaler or factory owner does not worry about the goods he consigns to railway or airline deliveries. This is the foundation of trade. Meanwhile, government maintains a monetary system, though some banks are privately possessed. Many businesses today are bonding to bank system. One of the most important aspects is that bank system oversees credit records, thus forces businessman to be honest, which in turn help create a fairly competitive business environment. Secondly, government plays a vital role in helping enterprises to explore the global market. Without a government of clear strategy and diplomatic philosophy, the trade barrier of other countries’ can not be lowered. Without political ally, it will be difficult for huge companies from different countries to set up mutual-trust strategic cooperation. Actually, the function of government is crucial to almost every aspects of business. The so called “burden” is a necessity to my point of view.

The Weekend

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 04:11:17 +0000

The first weekend in American was perhaps the most busy one, we traveled a lot during these three days. Our first stop is at Busch Garden, a large amusement park which has a lot of rides in it. We spent a splendid day with many interns, Brian, Mitchell, Mathew and his girl friend, and Hernan ^_^ In China the amusement parks usually have less rides, but more small games, this is a slight difference. Our interns seemed all fond of exciting games, they constantly took us to the rides>_

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:56:40 +0000

Last Friday’s lecture on advertisement was very inspiring, it made me think of the issue of “advertisements intrusion” which is very controversial. Living in an age of information, many people in our time have been accustomed to the ways and pace of information transmission. Therefore controversies over the soundness of advertisements on TV often arise. Although I ‘m often bothered by the Advertisements on TV, I support the right of those organizations to fulfill their goals in such ways. Though often blamed of interrupting programs, TV ads have not ruined any TV series or talk show. Actually, TV ads offer audience the very time for rest, and some of them are often informative to meet people’s needs. And the most importantly, the right for organizations to contact their potential customers by ads is an essential factor for a wholesome marketed economy. First, telephone ad and mail ad are the most favorable ways for new businesses to sell their now products. In a marker dominated by monopolies, the chance for new business to sell their ideas and products exits mostly in the communications promoted by ads. Meanwhile, in respect to a society, only by increased competition can industries greatly leap forward. If the established orders and hierarchies exclude the opportunities for new product promoting, the whole economy would be prevailed with a conservative atmosphere, it would have no energy to grow up. So despite the harassment brought by ads, both consumers and society need these helpful ways of information transmission.

About Freedom

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:19:29 +0000

Yesterday we finished all the lectures of American History. Reviewing from the colonial time to the present day, I found that one of the essential themes in American people’s value system is “liberty”, or “freedom”. We can see such kind of though from the proposition that all men are created equal, from the famous speech “Give me liberty or give me death”, and from those movements fight for human rights during the American history. The Americans emphasis on freedom, but I think the real freedom must be confined in some discipline. I remember a text I’ve learned in my university which talks about drug problems in America. There are some people and scholars in America who advocates drug legalization, or they are somewhat guilty about violate the human rights when they talking about prohibit drug use. They believe that very person has the right to choose their own life, to do what they want unless it will interfere with others’ welfare, even they choose to commit suicides. But in fact, legalize drugs will cause a lot of problems, such as the health care, the loss of labors and thus the impact on economy and social stability. It can’t be just a personal affair, and the drug use should be strictly prohibited in my opinion. I also remember the campus shot happened recently in the state of Virginia, it was really a great pity. I wonder why the American government approves the citizens to have guns, if guns weren’t permitted, such tragedies like this wouldn’t happen, and the guy who want commit suicide wouldn’t harm other people. Living in the society, we’re inevitably linking with others and our affairs will certainly affect others to some degree. So I think we just couldn’t emphasis too much on individualism, and some disciplines are necessary, or rather, essential to promote others’ and the whole society’s freedom.

Brainstorm ^_^

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:51:59 +0000

Today we began our classes at VCU.I thought it would be boring but actually it turned out to be satisfying. We attend two lecture concerning with American history. Professors in American are slightly different from Chinese professors, they are more humorous and less serious. This is the first time I attend a lecture totally in English, not as difficult as I thought, although the professor occasionally used some big words that we can’t understand. Luckily I used to be an art student in high school so as to not totally confused by the content of the lecture  The most interesting part of the day was the brain storm in the writing class. Actually it can be better described as a Game Show. The three instructors are all very cute and the atmosphere was relaxing and inspiring. We used to have brainstorms in our oral English classes in China, but it was more formal. Usually we have to do presentations after the discussion that feared us. I believe the brainstorm is not only beneficial to students at class, but also to organizations when they are making decisions, except one aspect that it will waste a lot of times. Anyway, the “game” was inspiring and helped me to come upon many ideas, but I’m still a little worried about my four-page paper T_T

Fantastic day

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:59:14 +0000

My second day here began with the fire alarm. We all ran out in hurry but luckily there were nothing happened. The rest of the day was very busy and fantastic. We’ve gone to the bus tour of Richmond. The city is smaller than I’ve imagined, and cars are far fewer than in Beijing. Richmond is the capital city of Virginia and has a long history from the colonial period until now. Although it’s a very short period of time compared with Chinese history, it’s really a long period for Americans. I guess that students who major in history in America have a lighter study load than Chinese students who are studying history ^_^ Several presidents came from the stated of Virginia, such as Thomas Jefferson. I didn’t know he was such an excellent architect until I visit the Virginia Capitol. The building has a classical design and looks very noble from distance. Visiting inside the building I have learned a lot of American history by the pictures on the wall, the statues, and of course the excellent interpretation of the tourguide, which reminds me of a lot of things that I’ve learned in high school. I also visited the senate chamber and house of delegated chamber, which I have heard a thousand of times from the “American culture and society” class when I was a freshman, this was a very special experience.^_^ I’ve also saw the James River and known how does the name of “Richmond” came from. During the trip I have noted that a lot of ideas of those designers are inspired from other countries, maybe it’s because America is a young country^_^ The barbecue at dusk was also special, especially the beef, tastes very delicious. But the poor interns seemed having failed to have something to eat >_< Tomorrow we’ll start our classes, hope it will be as interesting as the trips. And hope I’ll not feel uncomfortable after eating so much meat.

First Day at VCU

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:00:06 +0000

I’m very excited to come to the United States although the flight trip was very boring and tiring. I was also very happy to meet our interns at airport and VCU campus, all of them are very nice and hospitable. After a short sleep of only three hours, I started my first trip in the campus with my intern. The campus of universities in America is a bit different from our country’s, for it has no bounding wall. A lot of restaurants, entertainment centers are all mixed with teaching buildings, making the campus more like a community. I really appreciated such a harmonious atmosphere. One of the problems is that my sense of direction is very poor, so I still can’t remember the ways in the campus. But I have a deep impression of the Church I have visited. This is the fist time I have enter a Catholic Church in person, listening to their praying and singing. Although I couldn’t make out what they were speaking and singing, I was touched by their piety. The church is not large but very beautiful and noble, with religious paintings on the wall. Actually I’m not familiar with religious but yesterday’s experience has inspired my curiosity. I believe that as same as our Chinese culture, such western cultures are also profound and well worth studying.