April 5, 2003
I went into the restroom today at work. It gives a sense of the kind of customers that Borders bookstores attract to examine the key-scratched graffiti on the toilet paper dispensers. Hey, at least they stay current.
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April 6, 2003
Kartik is in town for spring break so we went out for coffee this morning.
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April 12, 2003
Just finished the Foreign Service Exam; I'm sitting in a library on the UCI campus, so I'm going to record my thoughts in the aftermath. First off was the Job Information test, the basic test of history, politics, economics, management and computer knowledge. I was excited to get two China questions right off the bat, and a grand total of three questions for the whole exam. The computer questions were easy: as long as you knew what a browser is, what a CPU is not, and what a "bookmark" is on the Web, it was fine. I got stumped on a couple of history questions. That is definitely the subject I need to brush up on for next time.
Next up was the Essay—it was nothing you could prepare for subject-wise, I believe it's just a test of the exam-taker's spelling and grammar. Mostly grammar. All three were general controversial subjects, in which you were asked to take a position and support it with facts and logical argument. As for myself, I write slowly, so I churned out a page and a half in the allotted 65 minutes.
After the Essay, we were allowed a fifteen minute break. This was from approximately noon to 12:15 PM. We had entered the room at 8 AM and started testing half an hour later, but it didn't feel like that much time had passed. After the break, we went on to the personal information section. In this section, you fill out a questionnaire about your previous job experience in terms of projects, leadership, volunteer work and ability to handle stress and multiple projects at once. This was a major killer for me, because I don't have much experience working in team environments. I did write down all the Japanese dramas I've been watching for the "How many foreign films have you seen in the last year?" question. Was that honest? I think so.
Finally, the English grammar section. This section requires you to read passages, and choose alternate constructions for underlined phrases. This section was a cinch, I pretty much nailed all but three or four questions.
Overall, it wasn't a hard test. Results are e-mailed out in late July.
Now I'm off to the Irvine Spectrum to catch an early showing of Better Luck Tomorrow.
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April 16, 2003
I promised I would explain why I would never like to teach Junior High, but I didn't come up with a satisfactory answer. Elementary school kids are excited about school, and high school students are intelligent, educated and occasionally either interested in their studies, or have an interesting hobby or life outside of school. Junior high students are none of this. It's a very chaotic and cruel time of life, making me glad I got out of the country for that period and determined to do the same for my children.
Today I taught seventh grade English. Well, taught would be hyperbole. The schedule went something like this: silent reading for twenty minutes, write about it in their reading logs, watch the movie Babe for almost an hour, then write a 15 line summary of what they had seen so far. What did the students read during silent reading? One girl was reading Holes, several kids were reading books from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The book they are reading this week is about some Japanese puppeteers. I must say, the Japanese-American community has been very succesful in promoting their culture to the American mainstream—most likely because of our close post-WW2 relationship. Not only is the junior high reading books about Japanese puppeteers, they also have a Japanese class to get students ready for the high school Japanese curriculum. The Chinese American community needs to do a little promoting of their own. For goodness sakes, there are about seven or eight ABCs for every one Japanese American student in the class, but the high school doesn't even have Chinese language courses.
I'll be subbing at the high school tomorrow, thank goodness.
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April 17, 2003
Today I subbed for Mr Maeda, the ESL teacher at BOHS. There were three notable things about today. First off, I knew a lot of these kids from Monday and Wednesday tutoring. It was a lot of fun talking with them, and I'm happy that I get to practice speaking Spanish. ESL kids are a lot better behaved than other low-level kids. Second, some of the students are stuck in the ESL room for the first three periods of the day: for a two-period ESL class, and then for "Study Skills", a class for kids who aren't doing well gradewise. Couldn't they send these kids down to shop, or another skills-based class where you don't need a lot of words to learn? Or make them office aides? Or give them a soccer ball and send them down to the field? They aren't learning much, except that school is boring.
Third, ESL 3 has a Korean TA. ESL 3 is the third level of ESL classes, for kids whose English is decent but not native. Most of the day I spent translating between English and Spanish, but this class was about one third kids of Korean descent. So the school had a Korean student TA to help out. I thought that was an incredibly sensitive thing to do. I wonder if Mr Maeda thought of it.
On Another Note...
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April 19, 2003
If I open a bookstore, it's gonna be like this:
Wedged into the tiny fissure of 43 Carmine Street, cheek by jowl with a restaurant and a deli on a typical Village commercial block, Rockit Scientist is in its sixth year of existence. A stack of milk crates near the entrance hold $2 bargain CD's. A forlorn houseplant looks for sun in the corner. An array of magazines, ranging from Q to Ugly Things, is spread across the counter. A sign advertises: "Established Manhattan-based British Invasion band needs 35+ bassist. No Egos!" No more than two customers can stand comfortably abreast.
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April 22, 2003
I'm not sure I've outlined this in public before, but I've sketched out a rough plan for my life.
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Study and earn MS (PhD?) from University of Michigan in Chinese studies, with a focus on Chinese art, history and language.
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Become an itinerant freelance translator for backwater museums in China, whose English signage is generally lacking.
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Settle down in Beijing and open a multi-lingual bookstore catering to the diplomatic, expat and intellectual communities.
But as they say in Yiddish, Mann tracht und Gott lacht
.
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April 23, 2003
I did the rounds of the sinoblogs and found the following highlights: Peking Duck entry on the Chinese gov't and social harmony, anything by Peter McDermott, a couple posts on SARS at Addicted to Life, and some good stories at Wayne Cabradilla's site.
It's fun to be able to read SARS warnings in the original language. More at 非典 SARS weblog. I like this picture. On the other hand, this one is a little scary. (source: Hangzhou T-Salon).
Since I'm in a SARS kind of mood, I added a couple of related terms (非典 and 口罩) to the China Buzzwords list.
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April 25, 2003
I'm really enjoying reading the 非典 SARS weblog. Today they even linked to Wangjianshuo's site. And I enjoy their positive attitude. In a very rough translation, this is their analysis of the silver lining of the SARS epidemic:
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People are watching their personal hygiene like never before; new habits like the washing of hands are finally being learned.
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Because people are taking care of themeselves, typical springtime illnesses like fevers are down this year.
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The quality of medicine has increased, and old stock has been completely sold out.
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(Something about the production of lots of face masks and medicines)
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The social status of medical personnel increased.
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The hygiene of previously neglected public areas has been improved.
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Privacy is more respected; people don't visit unless they have specific business.
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Wild animals are protected because nobody wants to eat them. (SARS saved the pandas! -ed)
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Lots of work units went on vacation, so people could finally take that big holiday.
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With less people on the street, the social atmosphere improved.
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People are more willing to give up their seats on the bus—just give a little cough. (LOL -ed)
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The telecommunications industry is prospering, as people hole themselves up in their rooms and only speak on the telephone.
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(Something about people being friendly at home.)
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Men are getting better at cooking; since they're not doing anything they might as well help in the kitchen.
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Reading books is fun again, because there are less entertainment options.
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Nobody plays majiang or gambles with friends because they're afraid of getting infected.
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TV gets watched more often, so advertisers get more for their money.
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Internet usage is up, computer viruses are more frequent, so anti-virus software makers prosper.
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People are afraid to take the bus, so bicycle sales are up.
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Snack sales are up, so grocers are happy.
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Law and order has improved, 'cause who goes into anybody else's home?
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Business is slow for the ladies of the night, so AIDS transmission has slowed markedly.
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The traffic situation has improved, and air pollution has fallen.
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People who wouldn't consent to open the windows are now willing to ventilate the room, so it isn't as stuffy indoors.
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Relatives won't visit, new parents put off having kids, the population crisis is slightly relieved.
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People learn to value health and life, and to stop fighting, bickering, being jealous and thinking of suicide.
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