Oh There's Cheng!

So as you can tell by the lovely title...I FOUND CHENG! We finally got to meet up one last time before the break.  I was so confused cause at first I thought he was in Costa Rica then I thought he was here then I thought he was in Costa Rica but he is still here til the 18th! So yay for coffee on Wednesday mornings with Cheng!

It was actually really funny cause we finally got each other's phone numbers (Digits, heyyy!) and we were texting about where and when we wanted to meet up.  It made me laugh because I was obviously taking finals and such so I was okay with getting up early (9 ish) to meet but when I suggested that he fired back sassily "how about 10?"  It made me laugh cause that is such a common thing between any college student around the world.  WE LOVE TO SLEEP.  I honestly feel like thats the biggest gift you can give someone in college.  A chance to sleep.  When I went to college people told me I would have to choose between sleep, social life and studying.  I choose to study and have friends so goodbye sleep.

We got to talking and naturally (because I'm slightly concerned about his trips) I asked him if he was looking forward to his trips to Costa Rica and New York.  He said yes and we talked a little bit about his plans for New York because that is by far one of my favorite places in the world.  I suggested seeing a show on Broadway, going to the HUGE M&M store in Time Square and visiting the statue of liberty.  He said he thought his friend had plans for them already but that he would definitely try to see a show or too.  He also said he loves M&M which I thought was cool that he knew of the brand.  In all my business classes we have been learning about brand recognition and its cool to see how even in China he knew about the company's products.

We talked a little bit more about his plans for the Spring and he is just going to continue to work on his English in the IEP program.  He plans on starting to work towards his business degree in the summer.  We bonded over this because he didn't realize all the ways you could go with business (marketing, accounting, finance, etc.) I suggested that he try out marketing cause he loves being creative and he loves art.  It seemed like a great way to combine work and a passion.

Lastly I was telling him that I had a huge test coming up the next day and I really needed to get started on it.  But before I left we talked about my finals and I showed him by Business Foundations book and he seemed completely overwhelmed.   I honestly can't even imagine if I saw a business book in Chinese.  I would have probably booked a plane home the next day (okay maybe thats a little dramatic but I would be overwhelmed thats for sure).  Like I say every time I write one of these I'm so amazed at what these students do.  I admire Cheng and his courage so much! Hopefully we will get to hang out more next semester!

Til Next Time,
Caroline

The Big Picture

So as I'm sitting here sitting (possibly procrastinating by writing this) I started to think back on what a stressful yet memorable semester this has been.  Starting off the first few months of the semester in 18 hours was a challenge and learning how to manage my time even more efficiently. This year I have learned a lot about myself and a lot about the world around me.  I know it sounds cheesy but truly all of my class have taught me something unique this semester and most of them even tie together. My grandma who was a professor at Louisiana State University for many years always told me that the point of college was to get the joke.  I honestly never knew what she meant by that until I got here and realized that college classes are there to give you a wider range of knowledge.  What she meant was that in order to not be the only one not laughing at the joke you have to learn a little bit about all different subjects.  Here is a little overview of my journey to getting the joke this semester:

Business Foundations:
The first thing I learned is that the business world is a scary place! You constantly have to be on top of everything, you have to be prepared at any moment to "tell someone about yourself" and you have to work with groups.  This was the first class I have ever been in where a semester long project was assigned AND you had to work with the same group all year.  Luckily, I got to form really great friendships with the girls in my group but unfortunately, the work doesn't always get evenly distributed. It made me realize the value that having a strong group of co workers in my future career.

Psychology of Men and Women:
Honestly, I probably know wayyyyy too much about what makes boys and girls different and what makes them alike. I'm pretty sure I overanalyze everything anyone says nowadays but I found the subject fascinating.  Sometimes people laugh when I tell them I am in this class because they are like "isn't it kind of self explanatory?"  However, I disagree with them.  There is a huge benefit to taking this class not just for entertainment but for the purpose of learning what essentially makes the opposite sex tick.  For me, the information I learned in this class is going to allow me to work with men for effectively in my future business career.  I have also learned why people react the way they do, why they say the things they do, and most importantly, how I can learn to break down those communication barriers.

Business Law:
Basically, I learned that you can get sued for just about anything.  A simple "nahh" rather than a flat out "no" can make you liable for someone else's actions. This semester for an extra credit assignment, my friend Kelli and I got to go visit the criminal justice center in downtown Fort Worth.  We attended a sexual assault cause involving a police officer and oddly enough, we both fell in love with the courtroom.  It was exciting and full of "juicy information".  What girl would love it?  This class has inspired me to go possibly go to law school one day...

Foundations of Leadership: 

This is my class for Next Gen this semester and I would say this class has allowed me to learn the most about myself.  I learned that although I may be an extroverted person, I tend to have an introverted thought process.  Sounds strange, right?  I thought so too but it basically just means that I like to take the time to think things through before presenting them or acting on them.  I also learned how to have an effective crucial conversation along with shifting my paradigms.  

Literature and Civilizations 2:

The most important thing I always take away from all of my honors classes is the ability to think critically.  For most of us, we rarely get to talk about our opinion on a book because we are usually just told what the author meant or what our professor thinks about the book.  It is nice to have class discussions that allow us to think outside the box and be creative.  I learned in depth how to analyze why something is funny to us and how to write a paper that makes people laugh.  

Overall, this semester has taught me a variety of lessons inside and outside of the classroom.  I look forward to seeing what is in my future for the next 2.5 years! 

Til next time, 

Caroline 

Worrying about Cheng

Although, I only got to meet with my conversation partner twice I did have the chance to learn a lot from him.  However, I was thinking about this today because he was done with classes on Friday.  He told me that he is going to Costa Rica and New York for the holidays.  My first reaction to this was that I was sad that he didn't get to go home and see his family for the holidays.  Then my second reaction was "wait...where in Costa Rica?" 

Over the summer, my family and I went on vacation to Costa Rica.  The area where we stayed was nice and for the most part pretty safe.  However, in the main city where the airport is there is a lot of crime.  People go around slashing the wheels of cars and making the drivers pool over and then robbing them.  Scary stuff to say the least! 

So when I asked him where he was going he told me that he was going to San Jose....and this is why I'm worried about him.  San Jose is the city I was talking about above.  I didn't know what to say to him because I knew that it wasn't a safe place to go but I knew he was going to go anyways.  

I'm extremely worried about his safety simply because he does speak Spanish and he is going alone.  Like I've said before I truly admire his courage to come travel the world and experience new things, but I'm not sure that this adventure was worth the risk.  

He is going to New York city afterwards and he said he had some friends to stay with there so at least they will know the city.  I know that most  of the international students travel just like Cheng over the winter break but I wonder if anyone is keeping an eye out for them?  Do they have to check in regularly with the program or are they just on their own? I would honestly love to know the answer so I know that he is going to be safe in his travels.  

Cheng is a brave soul, much braver than I will ever be.  I wish him the best in his endeavors to open his eyes to more cultures and I hope that he has safe travels. 

I think when he gets back we might go to the Modern Art museum because I found out that one of his hobbies is to paint.  He has a love for art so I think it would be a cool to show him all there is to do in "da fort" that has to do with art and our American culture. 

Cheng...2 months later.

So it has been a while since my last update from Cheng.  We had a minor lack of communication via email. But thankfully I finally got to get coffee with him on Friday.  We ended up having a great conversation about China (of course), his plans for winter break and Ninja Warriors.  Yes, Ninja Warriors.  I was wrong in my assumption that it was a Chinese game show.  It is actually Japanese according to Cheng.  He explained to me that they had a Chinese one that was similar but he thought it was stupid.  He said that he didn't find the humor in someone doing something on purpose to hurt themselves.  So basically, he doesn't really understand the appeal of slap stick humor.

After talking about this for a little while, I began to agree with him.  It really isn't that funny to me either.  It was so interesting to learn how universal humor is.  I mean of course I know everyone laughs and everyone finds entertainment in something but it was cool to bond over something like this.  It made me realize that around the world the one thing we all have in common is our emotions.

We also talked about some of his favorite TV shows.  He likes to watch Walking Dead and Breaking Bad.  Neither of which are funny or humorous.  I asked him if he ever watched Family Guy or South Park and he said no.  He also brought up an interesting point that his government blocks a lot of shows so he doesn't know much about those types of show.  It makes complete sense though.  Shows like Family Guy and South Park are offensive and racist and that is what people think is so hilarious.  It would make sense that a government that is trying to block their citizens from seeing their government in a  negative light by blocking shows like this.  This made me wonder if they would even think shows like that were funny since they haven't been exposed to them.

I really enjoyed talking with Cheng and getting to know more about his culture and his home. Talking with him always opens my eye and changes my perspective on his country and culture.

Funny Poems

A Word to Husbands

To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
Whenever you’re right, shut up.

Ogden Nash

Celery

Celery, raw
Develops the jaw,
But celery, stewed,
Is more quietly chewed.

Ogden Nash

New Girl

Recently, I have been addicted to the show New Girl.  Something about it just makes me laugh uncontrollably.  I can't decide if it's the random witty comments or the awkwardness of some of the situation.  Whatever it is, it's absolutely hilarious.  The plot behind the whole show is that a girl, Jess, moves into an apartment with three guys, Schmidt, Winston and Nick.  In the most recent episode, Jess is trying to get the principal at her school to give her money for transportation to take her students to the beach.  She calls it "Water Conservation Day" and she even makes a ridiculous t-shirt.  My roommate and I will watch New Girl episodes for hours on hours and just die laughing. 

 

In one episode, Winston finds a parking spot that has their apartment number on it.  They didnt know that they had a parking spot at all.  They all begin to fight for it claiming that each person's current parking spot is worse than the others.  Jess' car is parked on the street and a homeless man sleeps on it every night.  She has to bribe him with a coffee and sandwich to get him to get off each morning.  It was pretty hilarious.  When they are unable to convince each other they all go out to the parking spot and camp out.  The one that stays the longest gets the spot.  Eventually, they all give in and they start trying to run each other over with their cars.  It's a pretty hilarious scence.

 

I think the reason that this tv show makes me laugh out loud is because it is such an exageration of real life.  There are definitely times when you think about doing most of the things they actually do and this makes us all giggle.  I encourage you to watch an episode or two if you get the chance!

 

Til next time,

 

Caroline

Finding My Passion

This year has been one of those "milestone" kind of years.  I turned 20 ( I may or may not have freaked out about this) and I've started to learn a lot about myself.  One of the things that I have learned about is the need to find my passion in life. I've always said that I wanted to have a job that wasn't just about making money but more about doing something that I love.  While I'm still confused about what that "perfect" job might be I'm making baby steps in the right direction.

In high school, I was the girl that was involved in everything.  You could say I was an overachiever or you could just say that I tried too hard. Either way, I was always looking for a project to do or people to boss around ( sadly, this is the truth ).  I wasn't so much focused on what I had a passion for, I was always just focused on what I was naturally good at doing.  For example, I was a captain on my dance team, however everything I had to go to practice I dreaded it more than anything.  I probably would have chosen to go to Calculus over practice and that's saying something.   I didn't really realize until now that I wasn't doing what I was passionate about, I was just doing it because I thought I was supposed to.

Looking back makes me even more determined to find a job that I will love and look forward to going to work each morning.  I have learned that I have a love of people, solving problems and competing.  This made me feel like I was definitely in the right major.  Being a part of the "business world" will allow me to do all of these things on a regular basis. However, starting in 2nd grade I always thought I wanted to be a teacher.  Not necessarily in the literal sense, but I want to be able to be someone that can show others the way.  I've been thinking about how much fun it would be to go back to school after a couple of years in the corporate world and become a professor.

I've learned that I need to have a challenge everyday.  I can't go to work and do the same monotonous thing everyday. I love being challenged because it allows me to think outside the box and not just look for the obvious answers.  There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that you came up with something outside of the norm and it worked.   I'm excited to see where I will be in the next five years!

Til next time,
Caroline

The Difference between the X and the Y

       On Monday in class we talked about the differences between genders.  This had me thinking about all the things I have learned about the differences this year through readings, life experiences and my psychology of men and women class. Recently society has gotten frustrated with the studies of gender differences because they fear that the more we emphasis the differences, the wider the gap between us will become.  This could be true but I think that they more we know about the differences may allow us to create stronger more functional relationships with one another.  In my psychology class we learned all the differences starting from babies to grown ups.
       One of the huge differences between baby boys and baby girls are that baby boys don't tend to connect with their moms or the people holding them through eye contact.  The baby boys are more interested in the world around them and the girls are more interested in developing strong interpersonal relationships.   This is true as the child grows up.  Boys are always way more fascinated with how something works or how to put something together.  While young girls play with toys like barbie and baby dolls that all reflect their desire to have relationships with people.  Girls actually have more neurons that help them create and grow interpersonal relationships.  So this is not just a stereotype, it's biological.
      As the boys and girls grow up, the girls tend to learn how to read people emotions much better than the boys which I feel like shows a lot when they grow up.
       I talk about all these differences between boys and girls and I think it's interesting to look at what makes girls laugh and what makes boys laugh.  There is definitely a difference here because I remember going over to play with boys next door when I was younger.  They would always want to watch their favorite show.  I honestly can't remember what it was called but I remember being oh so confused about why anyone would waste their time watching it.  I didn't think it was funny at all.  It goes the other way too for girls.  Young boys don't necessarily find the humor in chick flicks or romantic comedies.  They can't relate so they just don't find the humor.
I even remember being in the back of my mom's car when I was younger with the boys I carpooled with.  They could laugh for ten minutes straight just from making farting noises from their armpits....like ewww! haha.  I'll have to admit sometimes I did laugh but only cause they just got so tickled over the dumbest thing.
        Boys and girls are different in so many ways but we all have something unique to offer (well most of us anyway...)

Til next time,
Caroline

And We Can't Stop...

 Three things you should know before I begin my story: 

 1) The class is at 8 am (aka everyone is half asleep) 

2) I hadn't slept much that week ( or any other week this semester)   

3) This is a class where we are all friends.  

So we were all sitting in class doing what we normally do...then IT happened.  I accidentally swiped my arm across the desk and it made a noise that sounded a lot like a...uhm...fart.  Haha.  So at this point you are probably thinking "you have got to be kidding me..." and "how old are you again?"  Yes.  I am fully aware that I recently turned 20.  But for some reason this was absolutely hilarious to my friend Kelli and I.  We just lost it.  We couldn't stop laughing no matter how hard we tried.  Our professor continued on with his lecture but kept looking back at us.  Unable to contain our laughter,  we eventually had multiple people in our class laughing with us.  Every time one of us would stop, someone would look at someone else and burst out laughing again.  It got to a point where we didn't even know why we were laughing anymore but we couldn't stop. After about 10 minutes of random outburst of laughter  we were able to contain ourselves for about 5 minutes.  At this point I had tears running down my face because I had been laughing so hard.  It was also extremely awkward because I was trying desperately to contain it.  Our poor professor was soooo confused about why we were laughing and frankly so were we.  

              In this situation, our laughter was obviously uncontrollable.  I don't think we were laughing uncontrollably at the actual sound made but more so at the situation.  If we had all been at a casual dinner and I had swiped my arm on the table causing it to make a weird noise I guarantee no one would have laughed. It was funny because of the situation. First off, it was a stupid immature thing to laugh at in the first place.  I think eventually we started laughing at the fact that 5 20 year-olds were dying laughing over a "farting" noise like a bunch of kindergartens.  That in itself is something to laugh about.  Secondly,  the fact that we weren't "allowed" to laugh made it even funnier.  We didn't want to offend our professor by laughing loudly and disturbing the class.  This caused us to have to suppress the emotion and we all know what happens when you bottle things up...it eventually explodes.  Also I think that fact that we weren't able to talk about what we thought was so funny made the situation even more ideal for hysterics.  It's funny to imagine what someone else is thinking about something especially if you can't get an exact answer.  

Based on what we have learned in class, I think that this incident was funny because of the cognitive shift.  None of us were expecting my arm to make that noise and when it did, it was a shock.  The noise didn't follow the pattern we had set in our mind. This made us laugh.  

I hope you found this story as humorous as we did!

Til next time,
Caroline
           
 

The Importance of Trust

The title of this post obviously ties back to the book we have discussed in class recently.  However, I don't intend to talk about the book. This semester I have learned a lot about the importance of trust.  I know it sounds a little bit juvenile but I feel like trust is something we take for granted very easily these days.

I'm a business major and a member of a business leadership program where we have discussed many topics that pertain to being an effective leader.  One of the most important skills we have learned about is trust.  Of course, it's not like this is a newly developed skill I have learned this year (that would be rather sad, to say the least). No no no.  The type of trust I am talking about is different.

There have been many ethical scandals in the professional world in the past couple of years.  For example, I just learned all about the Madoff scandal.  To keep you from falling asleep I break it down.  Basically, this man lied to people about where he was putting their money and eventually the whole thing fell through.  He got arrested and unfortunately many people lost a ton of money.  He clearly needed a lesson on being trustworthy and making ethical decisions.

As we get older, I've started to realize that we are transitioning from a state of being independent to interdependent.  This means sooner or later we are going to have work together with others to get the job done.  There comes a point in our lives were we have to work with others because we simply don't have the talent or experience to do what needs to be done. It's scary to think that my company's well being may rely on a supplier or on the way our CEO performs.  But I've learned that you just have to trust in people. 

I've also learned how important it is to become trustworthy myself.  To me being trustworthy means that people trust my word.  In order to build your trustworthiness, you have to keep commitments and honor your promises.  This is true for one's professional and personal life.  I've learned how hard it is to gain trust and how easily it can be lost. 

The lesson of trust may seem like a "no brainer" but I think it's important to remember how important it is to our relationships.  I truly believe its the foundation to all of them.  You can't have a relationship with anyone if you are always worried about what they might be doing behind your back.

I'm happy I'm learning how to be able to trust better and how to become more trustworthy.  George MacDonald once said, "To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved." This is a perfect reminder to always be honest and truthful.

Til next time,
Caroline

Just a little behind...

About 2 weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet with my conversation partner from China, Chen. He has only been here for a little while but his English was very good.  I only had to repeat myself a few times and that's my fault, I talk way too fast!

 Hannah went with me because her conversation partner hasn't emailed her back yet. For about 15 minutes we sat alone at a table at McAlisters. I kept telling Hannah "I don't think he's coming!" I had emailed him a couple days before and he had just said yes so I was nervous he wasn't going to show up. Little did we know Chen was sitting right behind us the whole time. We didn't realize this until we were the only 3 people in the place. This made for an awkward introduction as you can imagine.

However once we got the conversation going Hannah and I learned a lot about his life in China and his life here. The first thing that struck me as amazing was the fact that he came here all alone. He didn't know anyone coming to America! Now you tell me, would you be able to do that? Maybe I'm just a baby but I don't think I could. Especially to a country that didn't speak your native language. I was really impressed.

We learned about Chen and China. He told us that he along with most of his friends didn't have any siblings. He also told us that most of the families live in apartments in the city with their extended family.  Can you imagine? I love my grandparents but if I had to live with them in a tiny space, the relationships might be a whole lot different.

My favorite part was when we got to talk about food! I mean who doesn't love a good meal? I thought it was very interesting that his favorite meal so far has been BBQ. It just struck me as strange because BBQ is the complete opposite of Chinese food. When it comes to "American Chinese" food Chen told us that it didn't even come close to the food his parents made at home.

I really enjoyed talking to Chen and I look forward to our next conversation. I admire his courage to come here all alone and I admire his confidence in being able to hold a conversation with us!

Comic Relief

Hey there,

We have been reading the book, Comic Relief, by Robert Mankoff. So far I have been shocked at how many people "back in the day" thought of humor as an evil thing.  For example, John Chrysoston describes a scenario that started with humor and ended in murder.  It's a little bit dramatic if you ask me.  Yes, I agree that sometimes laughter comes from the faults of others but I don't agree that thats the only form of laughter.  Laughter can come from all sorts of things.  You can laugh at yourself, you can laugh at a joke, or you can just simply laugh at a situation.  Personally I believe that laughter is  the best medicine.  Having a good laugh with friends over dinner can 100% make my day.  I also believe that having the ability to laugh at yourself is one of the most endearing qualities of a person.  It shows that they don't take themselves or life too seriously and I admire that.

One of the most interesting things that I have learned so far is that humor developed as a "play signal".  It definitely clicked with me because if you take the time to think about it, we all do have a way of showing others that we are meaning something in a joking manner.  Like stated in the book, we start the story off with "have you heard the one about...?" We subconsciously send off cues that indicate to others that we are "just joking" as to not offend anyone.  I had never thought of it like this and I thought it was a very interesting point!

Til next time, 
Caroline

When humor goes, there goes civilization.
Erma Bombeck 

What is Humor?