2013 goals

Goals for 2013

(courtesy of disney)

This year, this over caffeinated graduate student proposes to:

1. Work to running a 5K and more

2. Read more French books

3. Improve my Russian

4. Translate 5 French documents for practice

5. Dance under the rain

6. My landlady has a library upstairs. Woo hoo! : Read all the fiction English and French books.

7. Walk home from work three times a week (instead of taking public transportation)

8. Learn 2 new piano pieces

9. Laugh more

10. FIND A JOB

because you can't resist blini (russian pankcakes)

Russian pancakes! So, who can resist those? I remember making these last year and loving them the moment I took my first bite.

I feel I like should be writing this in Russian, but I'm too darn tired to think in another language right now other than the ones I already have to think in. I'm also having a hard time finding time to do anything French related. It's more like hearing snatches of the French info radio in the morning before class and maybe squeeze in a little time to read the news or litterature at night.

Anyways, blini. We had about 8 students show up on Thursday night for the cooking. Russian conversations and Russian food makes for a great conversation. I definitely got a refresher on silverware words. Oh, and we sang. Another Russian teacher brought her harmonika..(I mean accordian) and played for us. I guess we're expected to sing for the talent show! Who knows, it could be fun.

Here are some pictures from Blini night! (Courtesy of Yulia)

Preparing the ingrediants

Teaching us Russian songs

Simon is having a great bromance time with his fellow classmate

Definitely a different atomsphere than last year but different could always be good. One month left of the program!

SILP activity of the week

Another movie to watch, another movie to enjoy. Today's movie differed from the other 2 that we watched. This one was more serious, rather than funny, but nicely done. It's called Brother (Брат) made in 1997 starring Sergei Bodrov as the main character of the movie.

And speaking of SILP -- I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE IN THE END OF THE 4TH WEEK ALREADY. Do you know what that means?! We're half-way into the program! I can't believe it, time just flew by. I keep thinking I need to try hard, except my professor tells me I'm already trying hard so I don't need to be too impatient with myself. HA, that's definitely a problem of mine. I have a great deal of patience for other people except when it comes to myself.

There's a person at my school who keeps making manga character expressions. Sometimes I want to yell at him and say " YOU ARE NOT A FREAKING MANGA CHARACTER." I think I will, the next time he does it.

Finally, to end Friday and this week on a happy note, my best friend got a job! I'm so happy, excited and proud of her! Congratulations, Andrea Mina! =]

SILP activity of the week

Another movie night for the Russian SILP program! Today, we watched another Soviet film called Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (Иван Васильевич меняет профессию)

Another comedy, this movie is actually available on youtube -- if anyone is interested in watching. It's pretty funny and they have songs that people today sing too!

An engineer in 1973 makes a time machine that brings Ivan the Terrible from his time period to the present and has hilarious adventures :)) 

And now, after being entertained, I must get back to studying since we have yet another test tomorrow! Oh the joys of being in an intensive language class. 

By the way, I really really want this: 

Or maybe I should just wait until I go back to France....(and plotting away).


Friday can't come any faster, then again it is Friday tomorrow. Thank goodness. I've never look so forward to the weekend in my life. 

1st SILP activity of the season

I just saw such a romantic Russian film this evening......


As if I need more reasons to be in love with the Russian language. Well ok, here's another reason! The film we watched today is called The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy your Bath! (In Russian: Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!)

It's a comedy/romantic film. I loved the acting in there and the plot.  Set in the Soviet Union 70s, a man gets sent to Leningrad by mistake and has his life totally changed in one night: New Year's Eve. 


I can't give a summary because I'll ruin the movie, so watch it! 

                                                

Here's an except. The man is one of the main characters, named Zhenya, who is singing a song called "Если у вас нету тети" (If you don't have an aunt). And if you understand French, you can read the subtitles :)


Great movie to start out our first Russian activity, and I'm looking forward to more movies to come. Happy Friday!

first week of SILP

It's Sunday. I weep at the passing of another rare and warm weekend.

First week of SILP is over! I just had 2 quizes, and will be having one just about every day. Oh the joys. It's actually starting to annoy me the fact that every time I mention I'm learning Russian, someone will say, "oh, did you know that the words for teacher and torturer are pretty similar?" Yes, I've been told that many times, I don't want to hear it again. 


Once again, time is just going by too fast. Between school and work, there are way too many other things to be done. However, I think I'm still enjoying myself despite the load I have. Friday was the meet and greet pizza party -- although this year, for some reason I wasn't as interested. Last year, having just came back from France, I was too curious to meet new people, speak different languages and whatnot. This year, I just don't have the time or energy. I'm already meeting lots of new people within work and other places that I miss time to myself. So when I come home, I like to stay in my room and work on my homework. Actually, I usually go out for a run first. I miss running by the trails and seeing the ocean when I run.

The last 2 weekends, I've been also on a bike ride with 2 undergrad interns at CNS. It's been a refreshing change and I enjoy the wind blowing in my face as we ride along the Pacific ocean.

At Lover's Point

View from Lover's Point

Riding to Asilomar beach

Part of the Asilomar state beach

See how clear the water is? (it was cold)

Because we love climbing rocks

At Asilomar Beach

Yesterday we rode for an hour and stopped by the arts and crafts fair near Portola hotel. It was a rare, hot day yesterday so it was pretty pleasant to be outside.

I was walking to school one day last week and suddenly thought about all the things that's happened so far. It finally hit me that I was fulfilling my goals. I got into grad school, I went to Beijing, I got a job at CNS (something I've been hoping for), and I'm studying Russian this summer. And I'm realizing that slowly but surely, I'm accomplishing my goals one by one. It's happening and I'm so glad it is. So yes, everything is going as planned.

Here's to the second week of SILP and many more to come!

it's over? yes!

Oh my gosh -- I'm done? I'm done with my first semester in grad school?! And not only am I done, but I survived! I'll say that most of the classes were enjoyable -- while less can be said about some particular class.

And that's exactly how I feel -- I don't want to move. I just want to stay in bed and sleep for.... the next 3 days. Except this weekend is not going to be like that. It's Friday, but I have to go make sure everything is perfect for my roommate's birthday and graduation! What's a little more sleep deprivation? As long as my roommate is happy, I suppose. I'm sure I can sleep for 12 days before the SILP program starts. But first, to my roommate -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY! AND CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING YOUR MASTER'S!

Speaking of the SILP program, I NEED TO START CRAMMING AND STUDYING FOR RUSSIAN LIKE NO OTHER. I'm actually pretty excited for this summer. Russian, work, books, an actual life? Oh and frequent trips to SF (if that's even possible of course). I really want to go listen to a concert! It's been awhile. I might have some fun this summer because in the fall semester, I'm really going to have no life.

I think this semester and last year took more effort for me to be optimistic and positive. But over all it was worth all the effort. It was also a learning process as well. This past year also required me to really step out of my comfort zone, which was a good exercise, but I also realized I need to speak up more in class.
To the top 10 things I've learned, I have to add these:

11. I have more good friends than I realized here, which makes me even appreciate them more

12. Not everyone is as great as you think they are --- either they're full of themselves, full of it, or just uses fancy words to make themselves look smart.

13. Happy is a relative word

14. There are too many pessimistic people on this campus

15. I seem to have fallen in love with the Russian language even more (and not to mention its politics)

16. Apparently, communication is a big problem for most people here (and I don't mean language barriers)

17. Again, some people are just nuts. Nuts.

18. I've learned that wine, cheese and bread is a prefect evening for relaxing.

19. Grades are relative

20. I can't wait to get away from Monterey.

And there you go -- I'm done with my first semester of grad school! 3 semesters to go!!!!

catching up part 1 October 23rd, 2011

Huge lunch party yesterday totally made me feel like I exploded from all the food. I think I had a massive food coma, which absolutely did not help my jet lag at all. I got home around 15h-ish. I believe I passed out on my bed around 17h-ish, waking up around 21-ish when my friend called telling me that we’re going shopping the next day. I stayed up for about another 2 hours just doing some stuff and reading before falling back asleep again. And this morning, I woke up around…4:30-5ish. I’m actually pretty surprised that I’m not dying from the lack of sleep at the moment (it’s 4:43pm). Good thing my friend invited me to dinner at 6pm. It gives me incentive to try to stay up and not sleep.

There were so many relatives yesterday that I absolutely do not remember at all. Most of them asked me, “ do you remember me” to which my response was “….no.” Or they’d exclaim to me, “oh my gosh! You’re so big now. I remember you were only up to here (gesturing).” To which my response was “….oh my gosh…” 

I really need to get back to running when I get back to the states, or else I feel like I’m going to explode soon from all this deliciousness.  To be fair, I am moving quite a bit, but I think I’m eating more than I’m moving.  That is definitely not the ideal situation for me. I’ve probably eaten more in 5 days than I have in a month.

And today…I went shopping today. I’m almost done buying the stuff on my list. But seriously I need to get back to studying. I haven’t really done any Russian stuff in awhile, except memorize cases. I’m done with the nouns, but I haven’t memorized the adjectives. Ideally, I’d like to memorize the adjectives by the time I leave China.  That way, I can get more learning done when I get back to the states. I’m sure my roommate would love to torture me with more Russian. Not that I mind, since Russian is like the only thing that can completely distract me from anything. I love it. Since I have that dinner tonight, perhaps I can get some studying done tonight, and hopefully, not fall asleep too early. I’m going to try super hard to get some studying done tonight.

In a week, I’m going to Beijing. Having not been there since 2006, I’m pretty excited to be getting there and seeing what Beijing has to offer. I’ll also be visiting my other relatives and staying with them. Those 3 days in Beijing will go by super fast, I know. So I’ll have to make the most of my time over there. I’d like to visit the Forbidden Palace again, and see Tiananmen Square.  I can’t wait to take some pictures over there.

Over the past few days, I’ve managed to talk to a few people, tax drivers, sales people and ask them 2 questions:

What do you think of China’s development, and whether or not you like it?

Do you think the wage you’re being paid can keep up with the inflation?

Most of the response I got was no, the wage can’t keep up with the rate of inflation. And on the subject of development, some said they think China is developing too fast, or too slow, or can’t tell. One person I asked graduated from middle school, but had no further education since then. Another person told me that he thought China is like Russia, and that Putin is doing a pretty good job managing the country. I was like….. wow. Seriously. Wow.  I mean, he did to some extent, but at what expense? I should ask more people about this later on.  

Last night, I was missing Lyon for no reason at all, and I was missing Lyon like crazy. Memories kept on running through my mind regarding the things I did, experienced and learned there. I can’t help but miss it.  It was my home for 9 months. 9 glorious months of dreams, wishes and hopes. I’d give anything to go back. I can’t stop thinking about the walks next to the Saone and Rhone rivers. I can’t stop thinking about the cobblestones in Vieux Lyon, and walking on it in 3-inch heels.  The tingling aroma of autumn, with a hint of coffee, while lingering past a café, is just a new sensation all together. Walking along the Saone River in the morning with the fresh farmer’s market, you could just smell the mixture of olives and cheese. The fresh smell of baguettes while walking past every boulangerie is to die for.  ARGH. I must stop thinking about this.

I have a week left to enjoy Shenyang. Let’s make the most of this.

ALL DAY, EVERYDAY

This jetlag will be the death of me. By the time I correct my jetlag here in China, I’ll be going back to the states. I have a feeling that the jetlag back in the states will be harder to get over. Last time it was, and I don’t really know why, but I just did. After blogging the last post, I went back to sleep for about an hour and half. My cousin kept inching her way over on my side, so that in the morning, she had ¾ of the bed, while I had ¼ of the bed.

After getting up, showering and eating breakfast, we set out to the Shenyang Royal Palace. It is situated in Zhong Jie, where some of the biggest shopping stores can be found. Overall, I thought it was a nice experience, though definitely not as big or fancy than the Forbidden palace in Beijing. But I really enjoyed the nice sceneries, the history (as I’m a huge history buff). They have a beautiful garden in there. My cousin said if she lived here, she’ll probably get so lost that she’ll lose her sanity. I said, you’d probably lose your sanity sooner if you lived in the Forbidden palace in Beijing. That would be a nightmare. I’d get lost left and right there, ALL DAY, EVERYDAY.

After that, I did some inline skating at the Indoor Garden in this huge mall next to the Palace. We ate cold noodles and went to do some more shopping. And later in the evening, I went to meet someone I found on couchsurfing! She’s a student at the Northeastern University here, so it’s super close to where I live. She speaks Russian :) I’m super happy. Haha.

I was going to come back and write all the post cards, except I fell asleep promptly around 8:30pm. Woke up once around 1am-ish and went back to sleep. It is by far the most amount of sleep I’ve gotten, which is probably a good thing.

Some pictures:

the toilets that the emperor Qianlong used

the garden in the back of the palace

chinglish, for your enjoyment. I'm sure the foot is forgiving

my cousin and I at the Phoenix hall

night view of a bridge in Shenyang

A colleague of my grandparents offered to speak Russian to me this coming week. I'm super excited for that. Today we're celebrating my grandfather's 80th birthday. More than half of the relatives coming, I don't even recognize. Oh gosh. It'll be excitng. Muahaha

unexpected surprises and more cake

I left you all with the end of my 23rd birthday on Wednesday. Except, I guess it wasn't the end of my birthday celebration.....

Thursday and Friday were spent going to language classes, and being totally stoked about starting Spring semester at MIIS. And Friday, I also cherish that one hour where I get to speak French regardless of how easy the class is. It's been a long, tiring, but good week. So by yesterday, I was pretty exhausted and just want to go home and lay down somewhere.

So Friday. I was walking back home with a person I met in French class. I saw my roommate on the way and we walked together, until that is, a few friends showed up out of nowhere, from Davis/Sac no less. Apparently, they came to kidnap me for another celebration of my birthday. It was a pretty epic surprise, not to mention an overload of ice cream cake, as I already had ice cream cake on Wednesday.

My roommate and me

(picture, courtesy of Andrea Mina)

Me and Andrea

Anyways, yesterday was definitely not the best day for pictures, as I was exhausted. But, it's good enough being in the state I was in yesterday. Wish I could look photogenic all the time, but sometimes it just doesn't happen like that.

Anyways, we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant at Lighthouse. There was a power outage over there, for whatever reason I know not of. But luckily, the restaurant we were eating in did have light and we were able to enjoy a good meal, conversation and laughter. After my friends left, I spent some time with my roommate, just talking and enjoying a cup of tea.

I am back in the bay area after waking up at 6am today, so I could get ready and have a mini Russian lesson this morning for cases:

Roommate: "Alright, hw, find all the adjectives in the poems you've been working on and find the intitial form. Then use that adjective and make a chart so that the adjective is correct in every case."

Me: "That's....going to take a long time and lots of paper. @_____@" Except my innerself was seriously like "!!!!! YEAH, LET'S DO THIS!"

Thanks to my roommate, I've got 2 wonderful looking charts of all the cases and their endings! I'm actually pretty excited to be memorizing them. Total nerd status...

I'm sure I'll be having so much fun when I'm at the airport waiting for my plane and sitting in the plane. Hehe.

I can't wait to leave for China on Monday morning. Although I never thought I would miss anyone from Monterey when I left. As I drove along the highway back to the bay area, I thought, I'm going to miss my roommate. @___@

2 more days! I haven't even packed yet -_- I will definitely get to that.

another year older, and hopefully wiser

Just another year older, and slowly.....getting older. Hopefully, wiser too, because I don't want to keep being immature while getting older in years. Life in these years has definitely been interesting. The last 3 birthdays I celebrated were all in different places. 2 years ago, I celebrated my 21st birthday in Davis. Last year, I celebrated my 22nd birthday in Lyon, France. And this year, I had the luck of celebrating my birthday in Monterey with my amazing roommate, Yulia. I feel so blessed and happy to have her as my tutor, friend and roommate. Hopefully, next birthday, I'll still be in Monterey, but God knows where I'll be? I'll just have to go wherever the wind goes. 

And speaking of getting older, I received an email from the Monterey Institute of International Studies saying that I'm admitted, just yesterday. I suppose it was an early birthday present for me! :) I'm super happy and excited. And I've already started looking at classes, the curriculum, and everything else. I have a feeling I'm going to love it here. 

So I suppose now I can relax a bit, but I realized that I can't relax at all because I need to prepare for grad school! I need to keep on studying like no other the languages, and doing everything I can to prepare myself for this school. I can't wait until Jan, when Spring Semester starts. I might just scream on the first day of school. Muahaha. 

And speaking of age, I was introduced to my roommate's friend on skype today. He asked me how old I am. This is what he said:

"How old is she? 17?" <---- to which I burst out laughing. 

"ur so young" <----- to which I responded by: what ahaha

"ur still a baby" <---- to which I responded with: what, no I'm not!

Ahahaha. I'm not objecting to the fact that people tell me I look young, but 17? That's... pretty far off. Hehe, at least it's better than being told you look 13, which someone did tell me last year. @___@

It has been a pretty epic week so far. First, thanks to Yulia who helped me with Russian, and I still give her credit for helping me get into this school (because of the Russian)  And second, this week has been filled with unexpected surprises and other wonderful things. 

4 more days until China!

can you say that again?

Remember how excited I was yesterday to be going to a Russian politics class? Well, I was excited, that is, until I stepped into the class. I mean the class was interesting overall....being that I only understood maybe..... 1/8 of the class. Apparently I didn't know the class was going to be conducted at a 400 level Russian. @___@ I had such a headache after class. My brain was about to explode once again into colorful pieces of paper. Luckily for me, the professor told me that there's a 300 level class next week, so I will be going to that as well. I mean, I think we've probably reached a little over 200 level during the summer session. So even a 300 level might be just a tad bit difficult for me. So yeah. I felt confused yesterday. Some stuff I understood, and others I understood based on my prior knowledge of Russian politics, thanks to Prof Andrews, of course :) I think the entire time, I was thinking,  "don't look at my confused face." The professor even gave me 2 packets of paper to read on Russian politics and culture. I was like....yeah, I'll get to it. 0.o I'll be sure to get to it when I actually am more capable of reading said material. Give me that text in French and I'll read it anyday.

I know what I'll be doing up until school starts again. STUDYING THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE. I'm envious of all those people in that class who can speak Russian. Currently, I'm memorizing a Russian poem, because I know it'll make my roommate super happy, and for my own benefit. Ahaha.

I just revamped my room. So now, at least it looks more home-y, and my back isn't facing the door. I always hated that, having the desk face the window and your back is to the door. So, now that's all changed. I still don't know how I managed to move my bed, a heavy chest of drawers and a heavy desk around. And I don't really know what to do with that second full size bed in my room. Guess whoever is coming to visit and wants to stay overnight can use that bed. For now, it'll be a sofa for those that don't want to sit on the carpet. I finally vacuumed my room, and took the liberty to vaccum the living room/kitchen as well.

So ends another week, this week being more interesting than most. Language classes start next week! Next week should be even more interesting. I can't wait.

Until the next coffee break

fun activities

Yesterday, our Russian coordinator Yulia planned a cooking night for us students. We made Russian pancakes and it was delicious! Today, we're also having conversation hour tonight....oh yes and a midterm tomorrow.





As if things could not be busier. Just when you think things can't get any busier, it does. To that, my reply is: О боже (Oh God)

Otherwise, things are going swimmingly. Being that this is a long weekend (4th of July), I am going back to the bay area.

I have exactly 6 or so weeks to figure out what I want to do for this coming September. Of course, I'd love to return to France. By all means, nothing is stopping me from returning...other than having money and a job there. So that means, I need to have some sort of Internship or job there for me to return. Or else...I don't even think I can get a visa to go back. The French consulate probably doesn't want someone going to France to be a hobo. haha.

I miss autumn in Lyon
I miss the leaves falling, and weather getting cooler
I miss the snow fall in Lyon

I miss walking along the river and crossing the bridge to Old Lyon
I miss my neighbors.
I miss going for a bike ride in Parc de la tete d'or.
I miss going to book markets and fresh food markets.

And....the list goes on and on. But life moves on no matter what. While I can miss life in Lyon, I can't look back and think about the past. I must move forward, and work to try to get back to France..or anywhere in Europe for that matter. It would be nice to live in Prague for a few years...and pick up some Czech =]=] Or...maybe Slovenia. Yes, that would be just as interesting as Prague...

Oh the endless possibilities. I believe whatever I set my heart to, I can achieve. Let's do it, and make it back to Europe. There's no such term as impossible.

Until the next lunch/coffee break

out and about in Monterey

I am so glad it's the weekend. Now that it's Sunday, though, I weep. Time is flying by too fast, as usual. I spent most of the weekend studying, and writing statement of purposes.

Yesterday, I went to see Midnight in Paris. I think I just died a little inside after watching the movie. Watching the movie, I remember exclaiming, "oh my gosh! I was there 2 weeks ago!" at every familiar place. I think I just fell in love with France all over again. This love affair I'm having with Europe is immensely strong. I think Europe is equally having a love affair with me, but alas, there's a great pond separating us. This is turning out to be like an asian drama. As the main character says, Paris is most beautiful in the rain. I can't agree more, and know that Lyon is equally beautiful in the rain. It's funny, but I have a feeling that the next time I go back to France, I might not come back to the states.

I also died a little inside at seeing the prices in the stores..like Safeway. I was dismayed at seeing avocados at 4 for 5 dollars, when I could go to the farmer's market in Lyon and get 5 avocados for 1.5 euros. Gone are the days where I could get a week's worth of veggies and fruits for less than 10 euros. Again, I weep inside.

Today, Nick visited me. And had coffee together (no surprises there)

I'm finally seeing Monterey for the first time, and not jogging or rushing somewhere.

I have a test and midterm this coming week. I also have an oral presentation this week. But on Wednesday, we're making Russian food. That should be fun.



This is what our Russian class did last week. We divded into 2 groups and drew our dream houses that was just hilarious. Then, we had to describe to the other group our house. My group is the blue marker one. Good times.

And, by the way. It's cold. It feels like February in Davis here.