Rainy Days

I have been thinking what to write this blog post on, but throughout the weeks every idea I have come up with has seemed lacking so to speak. I thought about addressing issues I have with the educational philosophy of the university, the spending and monetary allocations of the university, the 30+ pages I have to write before the semester is over, and so on and so forth. Since this is a WT student blog those seem like logical topics to write on but as I said they all seemed more or less lacking. Before I started writing this, I was sitting on my front porch awed by the beauty of the falling rain and the low moving clouds that were being accompanied by the magnificent rolling claps of thunder and flashes of lighting that illuminated the sky in almost a supernatural way. A perfect orchestra directed by the hand of God that completely eradicates anything ever composed by John Williams. While sitting there watching the rain feeling the cool breeze, I had an epiphany, one I often have but often forgot.

A New Year of Culture Shock Part 2

Culture shock can be defined as a condition of disorientation affecting someone who is suddenly exposed to an unfamiliar culture or way of life or set of attitudes. If any of ya’ll have ever experienced culture shock then you most likely agree with this definition. In my last post I mentioned how, while in China, I experienced culture shock.

Although the city I was in had about two million people, the atmosphere was completely relaxed and calm. The pace of life, unlike the U.S., was slow, efficient, and effective. You either walked or took the bus, while sometimes taking a taxi. The stress of traffic, gas prices, and flat tires did not exist. If you wanted to go somewhere you just hopped on the bus, received the joy of meeting a stranger, and in a few minutes you were at your destination.

A New Year of Culture Shock

After witnessing twenty two New Years celebrations, I have decided that celebrating the New Year is pretty pointless. Why do we celebrate a new year but not a new month or week or day? Some might say, “You lived through another year, you should celebrate!” If that is the case should you not celebrate every morning when you wake up? God gave me another day to live, praise Him! Can I start the morning off with some champagne and fireworks…most likely not. Living by social norms is so boring isn’t it?

New years resolutions are probably the most annoying thing about all of it. I am pretty sure the tradition of a new year’s resolution was made so people could feel better about themselves. It’s a new year I am going on diet, I am going to start running, I am going to spend less money, or I am not going to watch as much T.V. That is great until month four rolls around and you are back to being a broke lazy glutton. I find it funny when someone makes a more or less life changing, or highly altering choice, just because some random day like January 1st rolls around. If you really want to start losing weight or stop being so lazy you will make that choice based on your own personal convictions on whatever day they tend to arise. People wonder why they always fail at keeping a new year’s resolution. Well maybe if you actually wanted to keep it in the first place, because you realized in your heart that there was something wrong that needed fixed, you would. And maybe it would help if you didn’t make a ridiculous resolution like, “I’m going to run five miles a day and only watch thirty minutes of T.V. a week, just because today in January 1st”. My friend Brea made a resolution, last year, not to eat French fries. She didn’t go on an all out diet or decided to exercise for ten hours a day. She decided to do something small and easy. I was with her when 2008 was officially over and she could eat French fries again, we were here:

Actually, we were in a McDonalds close to that, which is the Hong Kong harbor, but that is beside the point. The thing is, she accomplished her goal because it wasn’t something she did just because it was the New Year. Her choice in not eating French fries was not made to impress other people or just to feel good about knowing she made a new year’s resolution. To sum up 400 words, if you really want to do something don’t wait around, make the initiative to do it and get it done. Also, don’t make a new years resolution just because everyone else is and you think you might impress someone. You won’t.

For the first time, this Christmas break, I experienced culture shock. I was able to visit China for two weeks over the break and it was quite the experience. I’m sure when you think of China, you might think of the Olympics in Beijing, Yao Ming, and the Great Wall or you might think of the U.S. buying 321.5 billion dollars worth of imports from China, the communist revolution of 1945-49, or maybe the significance of the Han dynasty. Either way, everyone has preconceived notions and ideas of China, or anywhere or anything for that matter.

Before I went, I had my own preconceived notions and ideas of China as well. Little did I know, they would be blown out of the water and once again I would be forced to accept my ignorance of the world. In a “small” city roughly the size of Houston, you would expect sky scrapers, bustling crowds of pedestrians, and a constant excess of noise right? For about two weeks I was in a city that, on average, has about as much noise pollution as Canyon does. Looking out over the city you might see something like this:

Or if you look out from the window of the hotel room I stayed in you might see this:

Or of course, you might come into contact with a random mountain jutting out of the ground in the middle of a group of buildings, such as this:

Since there are eighteen college campuses in the city I went to, the majority of my time was spent on a college campus like this one:

Or this one:

We talked a couple times in a classroom but most of the time was spent just hanging out on campus meeting students. Whether it was playing ping pong outside in the thirty degree weather,

Watching badminton inside,

Or attending class with new Chinese friends

we were slowly immersed into Chinese culture and a very different way of life. Even though the food might be a little different

and the language is unspeakable as well as unreadable,

the friends I made in China are very much like the friends I have here in the state. It didn’t matter if I was playing Counter Strike with some guys in a LAN café

or sipping tea while looking over one of the four lakes in the city,

I realized no matter where you are in the world, people still have hopes, desires, ambitions, they still laugh, they still cry, they still feel joy, they still feel pain, and probably most important of all they have a life full of very different experiences that you can learn from if you stop thinking about yourself for five minutes and open your mind to a world outside of your own.

If you remember, earlier in this post, I mentioned how I experienced culture shock. The thing is, being in China did not bring about the culture shock. The irony is, the culture shock came when I left. Although that statement might be confusing, ill explain it in another post at another time so keep checking the blog to read more!

The End Is….Near?

The end is here….well almost….well I guess it really isn’t unless you are graduating…and I am not so I guess technically the end isn’t here. Of course it also depends on how you look at “the end” and what your definition of “the end” is. Even though “the end” might be here, there is still a week of finals to go through. Does that mean it is the beginning? I’m not sure, but I do know this next week will be full of late night study sessions, blue books, and lots of Tylenol. To those of you who that is true for, I offer you my sympathy and kind of laugh a little bit too.

Here is the deal. I only have one final and that is Thursday morning. Unfortunately it is in Spanish and it is going to absolutely ruin me. So instead of being responsible and studying for my test I am going to tell ya’ll some of the best ways to study for your finals and tests in general. These are just little hints I have picked up in my 15+ years of schooling so hopefully you can benefit from one or two things on my list.

 

1. When you study, actually concentrate and study…that means no facebook.

2. Some people must have it quiet to study, if that is you then I would suggest not staying at your house, dorm, apartment, or wherever you live. From my own experience, if I stay at my house to study, I always get distracted by the computer, tv, people, or just whatever. If you like quiet places I would recommend going to any of the coffee shops in Amarillo during the day. All the annoying high school kids that go at night are still stuck in school and everyone knows adults don’t get loud. Also, if the weather is good you could hit up the park, but since this is the Texas panhandle and its either 20 degrees, 50mph wind, or 110 degrees, the park might not be such a good idea.

3. The opposite of that are the people that like to study when it’s noisy. To that, I say stay at home, turn on the tv, invite people over, and turn up the music. In other words, don’t have a group study session, have a group study party. Obviously, invite people over that have to study as well.

4. Use flashcards. It is amazing how simple yet effective flashcards can be. Flashcards for an essay test? Not so much. Flashcards for terms or formulas? Basically, a 3X5 miracle. 

5. If you like coffee, drink it up, if you don’t like coffee….learn to love it. It will help you stay awake. I am a huge coffee fan so of course anytime I study I have a pot of coffee to keep me company. If you don’t really know what coffee to buy don’t go to Wal-Mart and get something like folders. Gross. Take a break from studying go to Starbucks, buy a pack of whole bean coffee and have them grind it for you. If you like strong dark coffee get the Sumatran blend. If you like the lighter stuff go for the breakfast blend. If you like a little extra flavor, you have to try the Coffee-Mate tiramisu or peppermint mocha coffee creamers. They are amazing.

6. Don’t wait to start studying the night before the test and then stay up until 4a.m. I have found out it is much more beneficial to start studying three or four days before the test and only spend about an hour or two each day. This way you actually remember the stuff for more than a week after the test, you have time to hang out with friends during the night, and most importantly you don’t take the test with only four or five hours of sleep.

7. Get a good night’s sleep and study during the day. You are already used to going to class during the day so why not continue in something you are already used to? Getting seven or eight hours of sleep and then studying when you are fully awake and not about to fall asleep is so much better than studying after you have been awake all day, you are tired, and you cant concentrate.  

 

To sum everything up find out how you best study, get some coffee, and don’t study very long at a time. 

Until next semester, have a great Christmas break and good luck!

Chinese Chucks and Sweet Tea

 

Tuesdays are a day that I wake up at 8am and don’t get done with my day until about 10:00 at night…if I’m lucky So basically, from the time I wake up Tuesday morning I want the day to be over. October 14th, 2008 was a different story though. Tuesday October 14th can only be described in one word. Epic. 

Every Tuesday afternoon from 2:30-3:45 I have a radio practicum class. This class is pretty much awesome. Niki Bryan and Andrew Brown teach it, how could it not be a party of learning? So around 2:20 Abbey Jo (fellow WT blogger) and I were in the HELC desperately trying to print something out for class and of course we couldn’t find what we needed. After thinking long and hard about what to do (maybe 30 seconds at the most) we decided radio practicum was cancelled that day.

The WT Monarchy

Once again, it is time for homecoming. What does that mean? Football, parades, parties, really ridiculously large fires, dances, decorations, and of course voting for homecoming king and queen , one of the most important events of all. This year the homecoming king and queen competition seems to be fueled with hope, persistence, desire, drive, passion, and of course lots of flyers, sidewalk chalk, and mustaches. Out of twenty candidates, each one demonstrates certain strenghts and advantages but only one king and one queen will rise to the top to be the peoples favorite. Who will it be? Thats for you to decide! With eleven people running for king and nine running for queen there are lots of people to vote for.

How do you vote? Starting on September 29th there will be a link on the WT homepage that you can click on and vote or you can go to any of the computer kiosks on campus and vote. The point is, this election is just as important as another one coming up in November so you should go vote and be a good student. Click to see a list of the candidates and for a mock poll.

And So It Begins….Again

Its fall 2008, two weeks in, one test down, and lots of missed sleep. Welcome back to college, time to stock up on the Starbucks coffee! After being in Canyon all summer it is great to have all my friends back, actually see people on campus, and literally be able to hang out with someone anytime I want. Already, my week is pretty much overflowing with class, work, and random BSM activities. I think for the first time in my college career classes take up the least amount of my time haha. In a way that is bad because my weekends consist of studying and doing all the coursework I neglected to do during the week. But hey it makes things interesting and that’s life right?