FSOT score breakdown

Job knowledge: 56.63
Biographic information: 58.85
English Expression: 57.59

Multiple Choice Total Score: 172.77

Your essay score was 8.

Space

One thing that has always kind of bothered me about Macau is the way that people here are really not aware of space. In most big cities, people go out of their way not to touch you, brush up against you, talk to you, make eye contact-- or just generally acknowledge the presence of others. It's interesting because it's so subconscious. Professionals can give full attention to their blackberries while navigating people and traffic with their peripheral vision. There's almost a code of personal space.

Not so in Macau.

Macau is one of the highest population densities on Earth. But still - people don't look when they step our from their homes or businesses onto the street. They stop suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk. They hang out with their friends, blocking the sidewalk in front of a crosswalk. They walk slowly, two or three abreast, down the very narrow sidewalk, making it nearly impossible to get by them. Even when I say, "excuse me" in Cantonese, they either don't notice or don't register that someone is trying to pass.

At first, I chalked it up to the typical casual/rude attitude of Cantonese people. (I know that is a huge generalization-- but you try getting on a bus in rush hour, ordering food from a restaurant, or renting an apartment. You will either be the target of or be extremely close to a woman yelling, ranting, screaming all the time). I read somewhere that 50% of Macau's population are relatively recent immigrants from the mainland. It makes sense now - this is why people in Macau don't act like city dwellers-- why they constantly bump into each other.

OK maybe I'm taking my armchair theories a bit far...but it makes sense to me.

Cool thing

Hi Holly,

I am Sammi(see you again).Now I have the other subject' s writting hw(American studies, I major in Translation C to E)


It is an essay (about 1000 to 1500 words) and i want to show you my outline first. pls give me some suggestions and correction.

The topic is African Americans in US society today‏

Sammy Vong


**************************************************************************

Hi Sammi,

It looks good. A couple of things that may be helpful:

1) While racism in the US today is not necessarily overt, some argue that it is 'institutional,' i.e. effectively created by subtle biased systems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States#Institutional_racism

2) I don't think that Obama is an example of racism; he's actually a counter-example. People like Obama, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Condoleeza Rice in politics or men like Stanley O'Neal in finance are examples of black people in America reaching the highest positions of power and leadership. The cultural importance of people like Tiger Woods (who succeeded in a very white, very upper-class sport) and Oprah (the world's wealthiest black person) should also not be ignored.

Overt racism in America has become (for the most part) socially unacceptable. This means that while people rarely make pejorative statements about blacks or other minorities in public or make openly discriminatory policies, this doesn't prevent them from racist thoughts and attitudes. To a certain extent, for most people,being 'anti-racist' just means being against racism in principle, and perhaps only superficially. This explains why companies choose minority of female CEOs, but other executive roles may only be 1 or 2% females or minorities. The real question for America right now is just how far we should go in correcting past injustices and the effects of institutional racism - which is why policies like affirmative action are so hotly debated.

Send me your draft when you are finished!

:)

Holly

Debate Workshop

We have a 4 day debate workshop in Macau now. It's nice because I get paid about half a months salary to attend. It is 9 am - 9 pm every day though. The downside is that I'm not actually doing anything. Actually, it's pretty depressing. The trainers aren't even getting paid.

I also am now pretty sure that the team won't be going to New Zealand or to the Philippines - there's plenty of money and enthusiasm from the students. The school is just too bureacratic, and the people in charge of the program are terrible at leading or organizing anything. I keep trying to push things, but I'm so junior that it's considered really rude and presumptuous. It makes a job that should be fun and rewarding really depressing.

I keep getting trapped into the cycle of feeling that it's my crappy attitude that is diminishing my experience. I looked at some photos from last summer, and realized that my summer was actually awesome, and I was really happy. I made the right choice by ending my contract early.

Gap Yah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU

Roommate Quotes

1) We could be the pied piper of alcoholics...

2) I'm not opposed to gold digging. Everyone has the right to be happy.

Hong Kong and Guilin

I went to Hong Kong for three days to go on a networking trip with the Robert Day Program at CMC, and then spent two lazy days in Guilin.

The Hong Kong part kind of reinforced how I already felt about the program. First interaction at Dinner:

Student: Macau! Do you gamble?
Me: No
Student: Oh, why are you there, then? What else is there to do?

or

Student: Does Macau have good nightlife?

Me: No

Student: Oh, so you come to Hong Kong to party.

Me: No

Student:

It's kind of funny that these people come so far...to go to a club. No experience or even awareness of local culture. (Although to be fair the trip was so structured that you really couldn't). It also made me realize two things about myself:

1) I was the only person to treat our ESL guides as individuals. Actually, this is really kind of bizarre: most Americans who aren't used to being around people who's mother tounge is not English as a kind of non-person. There was no attempt to interact with them on the part of the students.

2) I have become used to more service roles. I.e., at lunch, I won't pick up my trash in the cafeteria. HK has a more colonial/serivice mentality. When I first got here I would, and the employees would be PISSED because I was 'taking their job'. It's true, but depressing to realize that I've gotten used to it while my American counterparts have not.

Of course this is all very judgemental and probably more reflective on a few people (the undergraduates rather than the graduate students). I have been quite privileged to be living and working with girls who really do care about cultural interaction and helping our students. It will be a little sad to go back into an atmosphere where people are mainly focused on having fun and making money. It's something that I've gotten used to and probably have taken for granted.

Just to be hypocritical, I did go out in Wan Chai and Lan Kwai Fong, drank Long Islands and danced terribly in crappy clubs. And I had a great time.

Here is my new favorite person:

Bruce ('97 CMC) is a successful hedge fund manager in HK. He literally took a week off of work to party with students. And he drinks fruity drinks. This is my new role model.

I sprinted from Morgan Stanley in Kowloon back to central to pick up my passport, which was at the consulate to get new pages added. Arrived at 4:06, had to beg the guard to let me in to get it back. Sprint to Wan Chai to get my bags, change trains to get on the blue line to Lo Hu, run through the border crossing into Shenzhen, get lost on the metro, find the airport bus, just miss my flight, buy a first class one-way ticket to Guilin on another flight, meet Emily in a small hostel. Take a bamboo raft down the Li river (beautiful) and almost lose our bags, stay in a hostel in Yangshuo. Get lost on a bike in the countryside-- so happy and free feeling.