Rocky Balboa

The new Rocky movie or ...



A friend from Denmark edited this video

Pictures of Oriental Tower, Brother's Grad Ceremony, Central Park et al

Shanghai Haircut

OOOO000ooooh!


Cheque:



I've wanted to get footage of this for awhile, so finally I brought my camera along for the haircut. The "wash/massage/piece of heaven" takes about 3x longer than the actual haircut does(but I don't care, everybody knows getting your hair washed is the best part). The price of this adventure is only 10RMB, with my brother's discount card I get 50% off, in US dollars the total comes to: $1.28!

Life Markers

Life Markers -

Markers are something people in fields of editing use to mark something they wish to revisit at a later date. For example in video editing you can put markers in different parts of the "time line" to make note of something, or to remember exactly where it is that you want to come back to.


Life markers - is a concept that started when I was very little, although I never assigned a vocabulary to it 'till now. I've also never given it much thought, but now in retrospect, I think it's fascinating that the brain would do something like this.

What is a "Life Marker" ?

It's something that is consciously used to remember a specific moment in time where you're in the present thinking ahead about the future hindsight of the present. So you're using your foresight to mark a place in history that has not yet occurred for a future review of said event using hindsight.

I have many moments in my life where I can look back and remember looking forward. When I was a kid in the 6th grade I remember my bus pulling up my gravel road after school to drop me off, as we turned the corner I remember staring out the window thinking: "Wow time takes forever to go by, I've been in school forever and I'm only half way through, I want to remember this exact moment and I want to look back on it when I'm done with school. I can't wait until I graduate."

I remember being in the Dominican Republic sitting outside under a Carribean roof made of straw,enjoying freshly made juice, watching traffic go by and writing a letter to a friend, and in my nostoglia I longed for my friends and family back home. Even though I was perfectly content with where I was and with what I was doing in the Dom. Rep. I experienced a fleeting moment of anxiety in where I wanted my year to be up so I could be reunited with loved ones. And so in the moment I thought that moment would never arrive I said - "Erik remember this moment so you can look back on it".

The most recent marker in my "life time-line" rests on the month of May - I remember sitting on the newly carpeted floor of a house I was remodeling back in Oregon, thinking - "I can't wait until I'm in China".

Just now, as I was saying a short prayer before bed, all those marked memories came flooding into my mind right after I had prayed: "Lord help me to remember that I needn't worry about tomorrow because you are here to lead me, and remind me that you have the master plan of my life and are in control of everything that is and everything that will be." He reminded me of all the times I felt like time would not pass, the moments when what I was seeking seemed so out of my reach and impossible to achieve. He reminded me that He led me through them all.

Its amazing how life is one big accumulation of events. Who would've thought back in the 6th grade, let alone 6 months ago, I would be in China? Well I'm here, and even though I've made it, I still think back to those nights I prayed for Him to work it out so I could come to China, and it boggles the mind.

When I try and connect the dots on the series of events leading up to my present situation, I am left decidedly feeling that those suceeding events are a higly improbable set of events(as in they could've never happend by random chance), which leads me to arrive at the realization that He is always taking care of me and as a result I am left feeling blessed. When I contemplate how it has all worked out, or how any of the amazing things that have happend to me have come to pass, I realize that everything on my life's timeline has been a life marker made possible by the life maker.

Learning Languages Synonymous With Investing In Self?

"Ten years ago, people learned it only for culture," said Christina Yang, a Beijing native teaching Conversational Chinese at Brenau. "Now, it is a tool for their career development."

In talking to the Hall County school board, Li said the brain processes used in learning Chinese are the same as learning math. They require structure and logic. For that reason, Li adds, Chinese children often have less trouble with math than American children.

Li said he sees another benefit beyond academics of learning a language, Chinese or otherwise.

"Through language, you learn more about culture. Through culture, the more you learn about people, and hopefully that (type of education) will reduce conflicts wherever they exist."

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20061022/localnews/132520.shtml
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"Some argue that all future jobs are somehow related to international, so it's a global marketplace and our kids need to be players in that global marketplace," said Dr. Dan Lumley with Lee's Summit Schools.

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/education/10149665/detail.html
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A student said:"It's much easier for graduates with Chinese language skills to find a job, especially at a time when China's economy is booming."

Some students in the Chinese Department have found part-time jobs related to their major. And almost everyone in the program gets snatched up by the job market, well before graduation.

Noting the Chinese fever in America and many parts of Europe, it might seem surprising the language is just catching on in neighboring Vietnam. But given the two countries' shared history and culture, the trend, once started, is very likely to stay on.

http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20061115/100755.shtml
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In the world of foreign languages, Spanish and French are now taking a back seat to Chinese, Japanese and Arabic as schools rush to meet demands set by world leaders and business executives.

Recently the College Board began offering Advanced Placement tests in Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Russian.

District administrators looked at adding Chinese last school year to mirror trends in business and growth in various industries, said John Favero, the district's director of curriculum.

Carmel Unified students may be able to start studying Chinese as early as September.

Administrators have been talking about adding an Asian language for about a year.

"We're not looking (to add) so much in the Romance languages in terms of the future," said Mary Bull, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Carmel Unified. "We're looking at what American students will need to know in terms of their future."

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/16000034.htm
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The importance of being able to transcend language barriers cannot be understated in fostering good will, not to mention good trade relations between nations. For too long, the United States has been slow to grasp this reality.

Spoiled by prosperity, and isolated by vast oceans, we've adopted a national attitude that anyone who wants to do business with us can learn our language for themselves. Even American citizens who struggle with English as a second language are often treated with contempt. Being monolingual is not seen as a disadvantage, but as a source of pride for far too many Americans.

Even here at the University, the College of Liberal Arts language requirement is often thought of as only that: a requirement that must be filled in order to graduate, instead of giving us the valuable opportunity to engage people of other cultures in their own language.

In today's global marketplace, the ability to speak another language is more important than ever before. Doors open for those who can communicate in more than just their native tongue.

In China, 200 million students are studying English, while in America only 24,000 are studying Chinese. It's about time we start putting forth some effort to remedy this, and the state's initiative is a great way to start.

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/10/05/69268
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Invest.

English Festival

My Chinese host brother invited me and some friends to his old university to watch their "English Festival". Its an annual event organized by the students studying English at the university. Last year my host brother was in charge of putting it all together, now it was his turn to sit back and enjoy. Everybody from students to professors seemed to know my host brother, he's still quite famous from his days as a big fraternity president.

Towards the end of the 2nd clip my friend Christi and I both get called onto stage to participate in some random game.

Heritage Speakers

Who are 'heritage speakers'?


The term 'heritage speaker' refers to a person who comes from a home where a language other than English is spoken, who speaks or understands the home language, and who is more or less bilingual in English and the home language.

Immigration has made America more linguistically diverse than it has ever been. Data from the 2000 U.S. census shows that over 26% of Californians were born outside of the U.S., and that more than one language is spoken in 40% of California households. Nationwide, one in five children enters school speaking a language other than English.

Unfortunately, these children lose most of their native language in the process of learning English. Heritage languages typically die out within three generations. American schools generally ignore or even suppress the languages immigrant children bring with them. Giving up one's native language often is seen as a natural result of assimilation.

http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/USlanguages.html


Am I a "heritage speaker"?

面条儿 Noodles!

Check these out:

Two Month Anniversery

How am I celebrating?

With the "Avian Flu"! No, not really, I just have the regular one. It was really bad yesterday/all lastnight, however I'm feeling better thanks to Mama Wang's "eastern medicine", she keeps telling me xiyao shi bu hao(western medicine is no good). She made me drink all kinds of nasty stuff last night, I don't know what their names are in Chinese but I think the English translation would be something like this: Chinese Exlax 5000. Did your lightbulb go off? You get the idea.


The positive thing in all of this is that I spent a lot of "bonding time" with Mama Wang. At 4 AM this morning she was with me asking questions about every picture that flashed across my laptop's screensaver, and I would explain them all. It made me think back to when I got Typhoid Fever in the Dominican Republic, and my Dominican mom stayed by my side though it all. It really shows a persons true unselfish kindess when they put you first and stick by you even when you're at your worst.


Mama Wang is mixing my next dosage, I'd better go figure out how say "your eastern medicine makes me spend too much time on your eastern toilet".

DVDWATCH!

...SKSK

Pictures

"Fortress America"

"Rosenberg's plan, which was discussed Thursday during a federal hearing in Orlando on the future of higher education in America, includes creating a virtual language institute, increasing the number of foreign students studying in Florida, and possibly requiring university students to attend at least one study-abroad program before graduation."

"The idea of fortress America doesn't work anymore and our students need to have a better understanding of that," said Rosenberg, who is fluent in Spanish, and can read and speak some Portuguese and French.


-If the rest of the world is learning more about us than we are learning about them, then they are able to make greater inroads into our economy and we cannot do the same with theirs," Rhodd said.

Full Article


- "Fortress America" what a great label for the persons in big government who still endorse outdated concepts and ideals about foreign policy.

America behind in learning about the rest of the world? Definitely. It still amazes me that I'm the only American in my program here. About 75% of my fellow cohorts are from European countries and speak on average 3 languages.

Make studying abroad a prerequisite for graduation? Excellent idea! Imagine the perspective America would gain as a whole. Fresh graduates coming back and working in big business with a broad view and a mentality of how to help America stay globally sucessful.


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A DIFFERENT LOOK

Gabriel Muller, 15, is enrolled in Chinese II at Coral Glades. He started to say that learning the characters is like learning every word in the English dictionary but stopped.

''No, it's not. Because every word in the dictionary is made up of 26 letters. Every Chinese word looks completely different,'' he said.

George Cheng, a junior at Robert Morgan who has studied several languages, said the amount of memorization makes Chinese a little more difficult.

''But it's just like memorizing streets,'' said George, 16. ``Once you start driving, you just know where the streets are.''

Brehm now believes signing up was the right decision.

''As you write more, everything becomes a lot easier and you don't really need to use your eraser that much,'' she said.

Full Article

- My ability to write characters that I've learned are becoming less and less a distant third and more close to a second natured ability, at times it feels as natural as jotting down 'A' 'B' and 'C' on a paper.