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