school update
So. Yeah. Classes have been going for a few weeks so far, and I've come to understand a few things.
1. I dislike business. No -- watashi wa business ga daikirai de, nigate desu. Nigate = do poorly at and dislike. Wonderful word. I talked to the prof for Business Chinese, because yanno, no business background and I wanted to know how to better participate. I'm not sure if he really understood what I was getting at, cuz he was just saying "oh, no one has background in it, and you're understanding more, right? You'll participate in the coming weeks, so its all good." or something to that effect, anyway. it worries me, but hopefully, since i have broached the topic with him, i won't end up with bad grades because of lack of class participation.
Oh, wait, so this is the one place i haven't bitched about it yet. Yeah. Turns out Business Chinese is (at least starting out as) an International Business class. Taught in Chinese. Meh. I should just stick to the classical culture stuff, but... *sigh*
2. I do, however, like my Chinese Business course. Go figure. Business culture, how people interact and such, I like that. I think the other class would be a hell of a lot better if my grasp of language hasn't been slipping so much lately. *sigh* And if Ai were still teaching it. Oh, Ai-laoshi, why must you abandon us and only teach a one hour lecture?
3. Speaking of Ai, I need to talk to her about grad schools for East Asian studies. I... wow, I just realized that she's one of the few language teachers that I've cultivated enough of a relationship with that I'd go and get advice from. Odd, that. Or, well, not so odd, considering the complete lack of extra effort on my part. I'm a horrible student.
And looking at grad schools? Terrifying. Absolutely fucking terrifying.
4. I'm waffling. Sometimes I get enthusiastic about horticulture, and wow wouldn't it be cool to work on greenhouse and hydroponic projects, and maybe even in China??? (was talking to the prof of my current Greenhouse and Protected Agriculture, and he said there should be internships in China, if I was interested o.O) And then I think, mmm, culture... what if i did stuff like with museums and research and stuff on old musty Chinese artifacts? *has a DanielJackson moment* As stated above... currently looking at like, U of Chicago's grad program for all things east asian, and it both excites and depresses me (my qualifications and confidence are like, zero).
Plants, Chinese. Plants, Chinese. *sigh*. Chinese plants?
5. I don't care about Japanese so much anymore. Stupid language. I haven't been watching anime, or keeping up with anything Japanese (unless you count fanfiction and the old copies of Gackt and Miyavi music i have on my comp, which yanno, yeahno). The culture and sociohistorical bits still interest me, but I'm taking the language just to finish out the year, and unfortunately, that hasn't been enough to motivate me to, well, do much of anything for the class. I'm trying to get better, but... yeah.
6. I'm using the gold star method to motivate myself outside of class, in other news. I have a weekly calendar for the rest of term set up, with categories of Japanese, Chinese, Chinese Art, and Chinese History. This is all in an effort to make me feel less utterly incompetent, btw. (I want to get into an EALL prog, but I don't feel i have enough of a culture background. Meh.) In any case, if I get the reading I've assigned myself done in a category, it gets marked out. If I take full notes in addition, I put a star there. And guess what?
I got a gold star! yayz!
(I went over the first chap of the first year book and the current section of the second year book, and copied all the vocab, kanji and grammar points within. w00t.) I can't start on the Art section yet, as my textbook is still at home, but I'm giving myself until sunday to outline the highlights of the Xia dynasty and earlier, as well as take notes out of the third year chinese textbook.
So, now that I've finished my hw, and I need to get up at seven, and its friggin 2 in the morning (Damn you Maldoror, and your LeeGaara fanfic!), I should probably go to bed.
Night all, and dreams.
1. I dislike business. No -- watashi wa business ga daikirai de, nigate desu. Nigate = do poorly at and dislike. Wonderful word. I talked to the prof for Business Chinese, because yanno, no business background and I wanted to know how to better participate. I'm not sure if he really understood what I was getting at, cuz he was just saying "oh, no one has background in it, and you're understanding more, right? You'll participate in the coming weeks, so its all good." or something to that effect, anyway. it worries me, but hopefully, since i have broached the topic with him, i won't end up with bad grades because of lack of class participation.
Oh, wait, so this is the one place i haven't bitched about it yet. Yeah. Turns out Business Chinese is (at least starting out as) an International Business class. Taught in Chinese. Meh. I should just stick to the classical culture stuff, but... *sigh*
2. I do, however, like my Chinese Business course. Go figure. Business culture, how people interact and such, I like that. I think the other class would be a hell of a lot better if my grasp of language hasn't been slipping so much lately. *sigh* And if Ai were still teaching it. Oh, Ai-laoshi, why must you abandon us and only teach a one hour lecture?
3. Speaking of Ai, I need to talk to her about grad schools for East Asian studies. I... wow, I just realized that she's one of the few language teachers that I've cultivated enough of a relationship with that I'd go and get advice from. Odd, that. Or, well, not so odd, considering the complete lack of extra effort on my part. I'm a horrible student.
And looking at grad schools? Terrifying. Absolutely fucking terrifying.
4. I'm waffling. Sometimes I get enthusiastic about horticulture, and wow wouldn't it be cool to work on greenhouse and hydroponic projects, and maybe even in China??? (was talking to the prof of my current Greenhouse and Protected Agriculture, and he said there should be internships in China, if I was interested o.O) And then I think, mmm, culture... what if i did stuff like with museums and research and stuff on old musty Chinese artifacts? *has a DanielJackson moment* As stated above... currently looking at like, U of Chicago's grad program for all things east asian, and it both excites and depresses me (my qualifications and confidence are like, zero).
Plants, Chinese. Plants, Chinese. *sigh*. Chinese plants?
5. I don't care about Japanese so much anymore. Stupid language. I haven't been watching anime, or keeping up with anything Japanese (unless you count fanfiction and the old copies of Gackt and Miyavi music i have on my comp, which yanno, yeahno). The culture and sociohistorical bits still interest me, but I'm taking the language just to finish out the year, and unfortunately, that hasn't been enough to motivate me to, well, do much of anything for the class. I'm trying to get better, but... yeah.
6. I'm using the gold star method to motivate myself outside of class, in other news. I have a weekly calendar for the rest of term set up, with categories of Japanese, Chinese, Chinese Art, and Chinese History. This is all in an effort to make me feel less utterly incompetent, btw. (I want to get into an EALL prog, but I don't feel i have enough of a culture background. Meh.) In any case, if I get the reading I've assigned myself done in a category, it gets marked out. If I take full notes in addition, I put a star there. And guess what?
I got a gold star! yayz!
(I went over the first chap of the first year book and the current section of the second year book, and copied all the vocab, kanji and grammar points within. w00t.) I can't start on the Art section yet, as my textbook is still at home, but I'm giving myself until sunday to outline the highlights of the Xia dynasty and earlier, as well as take notes out of the third year chinese textbook.
So, now that I've finished my hw, and I need to get up at seven, and its friggin 2 in the morning (Damn you Maldoror, and your LeeGaara fanfic!), I should probably go to bed.
Night all, and dreams.