EAP (education aboard program)

 

The first time I ever heard of EAP was a few weeks ago at the career fair. At that time I but had a vague understanding towards what it is. However today we came straight to their office and I came to know more about it. They have such a variety of choices, including Germany, France, Japan, etc. I, personally, have interest in Japan, England, and Germany. So I got a good opportunity to check them out.

As an international student who just came from China last month, it seems very weird for me to think about going to yet another country, while it seems to be very exciting for those who have never stepped out of United State.

However it would be a great adventure if I ever decide to actually do it. Think about it, having the opportunity to go to college in two different country other than where I come from, who can have that experience? And there will be an academic diversity that I can certainly benefit from if I truly decide to go.

I have always been amazed by the industry in Germany. If I am majoring in engineering, I would definitely choose Germany because their engineering major is the best. But language is the major problem, I will have to crack this down before I go.

But now, I’m econ & math major, which I can hardly find any program to fit in, and it makes my final answer very likely to be a no. That being said, I am still very interested in the program itself, and I can never know what I will think in the future.  

 

Macbeth

 

This is the first time I ever watched an authentic play and I watched attentively and it was a fabulous experience. There’s literally no distance between the actors and the audience and I was overwhelmed by their emotional outburst. When they yell and strike the ground and cry, I could smell the emotion of the characters they were representing, that’s something one can never experience through electronic media.

However, to be honest, I don’t like the play.

First of all, I don’t like that many male characters were performed by female actors. Since they all use black costumes I find it really hard to recognize certain main male characters and no matter how emotionally they yell, the masculine features of these characters are missing. It kind of gave me a false impression of the real image of characters in Macbeth.

Secondly, the background of the story is in Scotland and the play should be presented with British accent to make it more authentic. American accent was all over the play and it’s absolutely weird when the actors used it with old English.

But I did appreciate the performance, for the actors were doing their best to present the play which was written a long time ago and they did devote their compassion to such a state that the audience could feel the emotion. I hope that in the future I will be able to appreciate more plays and better plays presented by our fellow students and maybe I will be part of them.

 

hike to ellwood

 

I didn’t know that there’s such a wonderful hiking route near Santa Barbara (but I certainly can expect that there are wonderful places here, after all, it’s Santa Barbara). We started from San Nicolas Hall, and together we walked to the bluffs of campus point. I’m very familiar with this path for I’m a big fan of UCSB’s beach and I go to the beach whenever I feel like to. But that’s all, I had never ventured further into north of our beach. When we passed the cliff, we reached the other part of our beach where I had never set foot on and few people were there. That part of the beach has a broader view of the ocean and when I was there I felt like I was completely embraced by the ocean.

Nearly by the end of the beach, we walked to DP through a metal stair connecting the beach and DP. I thought that was the end and I got bored, but I kept going with the group. The place where we eventually arrived proved that all our walking was worth it. By the end of DP, where I usually wouldn’t go in normal days, we entered a small entrance into a mud path leading to somewhere I didn’t know. And so we kept walking. What eventually unveiled to me was yet another beach which leads to a forest like height. Unlike the cliff besides UCSB beach, where we arrived was a higher ground, where we can have a grander view of the ocean and the other side of the beach.

However for some personal reasons I couldn’t go on with the group to unveil the final destination, Ellwood. But I happened to be a gloomy day and the sunshine is not perfect, it gave me reason to come back later in the future and see for myself what is in there that gives it the reputation of butterfly reserve.  

 

fireside chat

The faculty who was hosting the fireside chat was Professor John S.W. Park, who is Chair and Professor of Asian American Studies and an affiliated faculty member in Sociology. I am glad that I participated in that fireside chat because Professor John Park will be teaching me Asian American Study 2 in the upcoming fall and it certainly was a perfect opportunity to know more about my professor. I was relieved to know that he is a pretty kind person, with a mild smile hanging on his face all the time. He speaks gently, with a modest tone willing to face reasonable criticism, without even a slightest trace of condescendence. I like him.

At first he talked about UC Santa Barbara and himself. From that I had a better and deeper understanding towards what one can get out of this university and under what kind of situation one will make a decision to choose UCSB to continue one’s career.

What surprised me from his talking is that Professor John Park is one of the few persons I know that is truly dedicated to pursue his academic interest. In another words, he belongs here. To true scholars like Professor John Park, doing research is probably the most exciting thing in the world and they will definitely choose to stay in university to pursue their academic interest rather than take a vacation and relax. Their true love for research amazed me.

Then he talked about his own experience as a student and his advice for us. To truly enjoy our time in university and open up our eyes to embrace the unlimited possibilities and think about who you really are and what you really want to do. What he said definitely gave me some ideas towards my plan during the next four years.

I’m really looking forward to be his student in fall.

 

IV Food Co-Op organic vs. non-organic tasting meets

 

I didn’t really know about this field trip until I saw people getting together in front of San Nicolas Hall and my friends told me that it was a field trip to IV for something they don’t remember. So I thought, why not? I have no schedule in the afternoon anyway. I was still in DLG having lunch by then and the group had stayed there for more than fifteen minutes.

I didn’t know where we were heading to, save for the understanding that it’s in IV. We walked straight to IV, and stopped in front of a shop. It was not until then that I realized we were visiting this very place. Then the owner came out for introduction of the place. That is an organic food co-op and it has quite a long history in Santa Barbara. The owner is UCSB alumni. She was once an employee of that place and through the years (I don’t remember what she said exactly) she became an owner.

Organic food and non-organic food were served after that for us to taste to see if we could tell the difference between them. Regrettably, because too many people were getting food, I didn’t get much. However I did go into the co-op. It is an amazing place with all kinds of organic product, from fruits to spices. What excited me most was that they have organic tea bags because I love tea. It’s like a treasure vault of food ingredients. However I am not much of a fan of cooking so I can just be excited about the variety they have.

I know where to find good food ingredients now.

Healthy Eating at UCSB

 

I’m completely not interested in this topic but in order to kill my time I did go anyway. But the lecturer was funny and straight forward when she explained her concepts; that made me less boring during the time.

I never pay much attention to my eating style and I never care about my weight in my whole life. I eat whatever I want but I just don’t gain much weight. That makes me proud when I see so many people are struggling to control their weight (I respect them though). May be it’s because I work out a lot and I consume my energy unintentionally.

Ever since I came to America I feel a strong distaste towards desert here except for ice cream because I couldn’t bear the repulsively strong sweet taste. That’s some sort of cultural eating difference I guess. This distaste greatly reduce my consumption of sugar which most easily make people gain weight.

The sarcastic part is, those “dangerous” food that are allegedly delicious and fattening don’t even seem appealing to me and they are never in my food list.

However as a matter of fact I can actually feel that I’m gaining weight during these past weeks. Despite the fact that I don’t like American style food at all, I do eat a lot in DLG; not for the food’s taste, but to compensate the loss that I cannot get my favorite food no more, I guess.

Pizza, cookie, cakes, etc. are all food I don’t like but most others love.

I will eat quite healthily for the rest of my stay I guess.