Jie's Beloit Life

Last day working

2008-04-29T20:07:00.001-05:00

It is the last day of my work today. Can’t believe the semester is almost over. This semester has been gone through really fast. I still feel kind of feel like at the beginning of this semester except it is not. Last week I finished a 32 page paper. It is the longest paper I ever wrote, but it is definitely worth it. I feel like learned a lot from that class, and I gave a presentation on that paper on monday.

So I am pretty much done with two of my classes; one I had a final last week, on is the 32 page paper one. I will have 3 finals and several (like 5) small papers to write. They are kind of all spread out so it is not that as bad as it sounds. And after that I am going home for the summer. I am really excited about that.

I enjoyed a lot writing my stories here on the blog, and I hope it gives you some idea of Beloit students’ life.

And enjoy SUMMER!

HAppy Happy

2008-04-08T18:33:00.002-05:00

I am in a pretty good mood today. First I finally finished my second round of all my 6 exams, and from the feedback I got A from my Money and Banking Class :-). Then I checked my mail box and found that I just got nominated and got the Roxie Alexander Memorial Award, which is an award acknowledge my academic achievements. I am really happy about that. Hard work pays off! And I will go receive it during the convocation on April 30^th. I am really looking forward to that and I am going to back to homework now! : -)

P.S. Also this Sunday I had lunch with all the international Moore Scholarship recipients as well as Ms. Moore who offers us scholarship. It is really fun to meet other scholarship recipients and talk to them. I don't have the pictures of this year yet, so here is the picture we took last year! :-)

2008-03-25T18:49:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, March 21^st, one day in spring in Beloit that couldn’t be more ordinary, it SNOWED!!! Everyone is like “it was spring (or even early summer) yesterday and now it is winter again”. I, however, kind of miss snow after the weather has been warm for a while, but I definitely don’t miss COLD at all. : -) But today, Tuesday, it is almost 52, which is wonderful. You can tell everyone is enjoying being brought back to spring; a lot of people were playing Frisbee in front of the Pearson; a group of artists were playing music at the wall; everyone is smiling when passing by. It is just GREAT!

Also the Disability Awareness hosted by LSSC(Learning Support Services Center) is coming up next week. This year they have a sight and hearing event, a movie called( You are gonna miss me) and a open mic event. I am really excited about it. The purpose of these events is to promote the awareness of disability on campus. The movie “ You are gonna miss me” is a documentary about rock n roll pioneer Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson who is struggling with schizophrenia, whose band the 13th Floor Elevators coined the term "psychedelic rock" in the 60's. The open mic means you can say whatever you want to. The topic this time is about the experience of disability.

Other than that there is also a CELEB dinner hosted by the CELEB center in downtown Beloit, which is an entrepreneurship incubator of Beloit College. We have a group of student entrepreneurs involved in art, broadcasting production, etc. I am the office assistant of CELEB and I am having a lot fun being involved in this group.

St. Patty's Day!

2008-03-20T19:13:00.002-05:00

Let me talk about last weekend first. ( I know it is almost another new weekend,ooops, sorry)

Well, last weekend is ST. PATRICK’s DAY. People all get very excited and wore green since last Saturday! And it lasted until Monday. Because apparently this year turned out to be a 3-day St. Patrick’s Day for some reason. And there was a St. Patrick’s Day Party on Saturday night hosted by AST, which is my sorority. So we all woke really early on Saturday and started cleaning up our living room for party. We moved everything in the room like couches and tables in the back room and then decorated the whole room with “green”! One of my sisters is really excited because she is pure redhead Irish!!! So that is also her “national” holiday! The party went really good and people all had fun.

On Sunday we woke up early again to clean the house and move stuff back, and surprisingly we found that one of the couches is actually a hiding bed. :-) That was kind of interesting.

Before-during-after spring Break!

2008-03-11T19:39:00.003-05:00

Spring break has been wonderful. Many of my friends went to Florida, as it is a “spring break” tradition. I, however, chose to live on campus. It was actually quite well. There were only 3 people live in the house rather than 10 people. Suddenly, it feels like a huge house and a lot space. We cleaned up the whole house. My sisters, Megan and Beth cleaned the whole closet in kitchen and the fridges. We also hanged up some paintings on the wall. It looks cozy and pretty!

Before spring break, I made all these big plans, like go work out everyday, finish all the homework or even get ahead of the class. But very little of these happened, but I did get a lot rest and recovered from the first half semester and seems ready for the next half part of this semester, which is very nice. I feel very energetic and excited after break.

So it is the second day after spring break. Everything seems perfect except I already have a ton load of homework waiting for me there. But whatever, I am still in the good “spring break” mood. Even the weather today is surprisingly good. It is really warm, probably around 40s. (I know people from warm places might think this is FREEZING, like me, but it is “warm” in Beloit) It is wonderful, so I found my skirt out of my closet and wore it to class. And I don’t feel cold at all! =) I like snow (at some point), but I do wish spring (or even summer) come soon!

Obama and Clinton in Beloit!

2008-02-19T18:28:00.002-06:00

So believe it or not, Barack Obama and Chelsea Clinton actually came to Beloit College campus yesterday for campaigning. It is really cool. I have already seen Obama last semester in person in Madison and we actually shook hands! And I can’t believe he is coming again in my college and so is Clinton. Although I am not American, and I don’t really vote, I am still excited about it.

But unfortunately I have classes when Chelsea Clinton was presenting the informal information session, and I have two mid-term exams today, so there is no way for me to go to the arena in sports center 5 hours in advance!

So today I found all the news I could online and the pictures!
Check it out!

http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/feb/19/chelsea-clinton-stumps-hillary-beloit-college/

http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/news/2008/feb/18_clinton_obama.php

http://www.wrex.com/News/index.php?ID=26505

Sorry shanna, I am stealing some of you pictures. :-p

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T18:50:00.003-06:00

So today is apparently Valentine’s Day and I am working in the admission office? Ha-ha, just joking. Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

It seems like a lot people on campus are dressing up for Valentine’s Day today, like bright pink or red. It is fun to see these bright colors active on campus especially when I am having 3 exams this week and 4 exams next week, stressful. And there are pink-redish chocolate everywhere on campus. Even at the mail center, everyone gets a little love note from the mail center staffs, it is lovely and fun.

Also I have to mention the annual Chinese spring fest and karaoke party in Commons yesterday, although the Chinese New Year was technically last week. It was a lot fun. Many students going up and start singing their songs; some even sang with their energetic dance steps. It was really fun and relaxing to have this kind of activity on campus, especially during this hellish midterm week. I wish they would have more karaoke events on campus!!!

2008-02-07T18:23:00.000-06:00

It is Thursday night, snowy and quiet. 21 °F / -6 °C, Light Snow. It has been snowing for 3 days and it is still going to. The whole campus is all covered by snow, white and pretty, but cold of course. It feels really good at night when I am staying in my room, have a dim light on, drinking hot chocolate and looking at the snowflakes flying outside. I feel like in the fairy stories. I am thinking about Snow white; I am thinking about the little girl who sells matches…

This afternoon, I was walking with my friend Ama from the academic side to our room. Usually we walk by the college street, which is the main street on campus. But today we chose a different route by the outter side of the campus houses. Everything looks so different and pretty. All the houses look like they have been just repainted. I am not sure if it s because they do have been repainted or actually it is the reflection of the snow and the sun. Just because of these houses with bright color, they made my day!

Just imagine how fun it is to look at houses covered by snow. They look like gingerbread houses covered by frosting, don’t they? :-)

Oh, and it is Chinese New Year today, so Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!

2008-02-05T19:05:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was really busy. There was a lot thing going on and also it was the presidential week. Many prospective students went to visit campus and had their interviews about the scholarship. For the weekend, there was a magician show brought by the Student Programming Board. After that there is the famous Voodoo Barbie Show. Also there was Chelonia going on the whole weekend. It was a really good and big dance show in Beloit.

However, I was being rather lazy this weekend. So I just stayed in the house and watched a bunch of movies. At about 11 on Saturday, I ordered Chinese food from Imperial Palace and enjoyed my meal. It was really a big meal. Usually it takes me at least 3 days to finish the whole thing. That night, however, I finished the whole dish. O_O I guess I was really hungry.

2008-01-29T18:57:00.000-06:00

It’s a new week again. I am excited about it. I am always excited about the new week, because everything is new and fresh and it feels good. Last weekend, it was relaxing. I didn’t have too much homework, just a little bit reading and writing. So I finally unpacked my entire luggage (Like 3 suitcases). I know it sounds crazy, but I didn’t have any time during the first busy week. Also I had jet lag during the first week. I didn’t even know what meal I should have (like lunch or dinner). But finally on the 2nd week, everything is back to routine and wonderful. I am taking 5 classes this semester which I thought would be a lot work. But after a week, I got used to it and feel that it is not that bad. And I love all my classes so it was fun.

Also on Saturday, my friends and I went on a road trip to Janesville. We went to Target and the mall, and then we had dinner at a country buffet. It was all wonderful. It is a lot fun in Beloit, but it is also fun to be outside and have a little trip too.

On my Art History class today, we talked about Stonehenge! It is really exciting. Everyone selected an article to read and we exchange what we read and discuss about it. There are so many new discoveries about the Stonehenge, but none of them has been proved true. :-(

Also Chelonia, the dance workshop is coming up this weekend. Can’t wait for that!

2008-01-24T18:30:00.000-06:00

It’s only the second week of this semester, but I already feel really busy. But I really like it. I like keep my self busy and I really love all the classes I am taking this semester. I am currently taking 3 econ classes, a French class and an art history class. It sounds like a lot and it actually is, but when you are doing something you really enjoy, you just never complain and feel tired. :-)

We went to the Logan Museum today for my art history class and we actually have a cave in the basement of the museum. I didn’t know that until today. The cave is actually a copy of the famous Lascaux Cave in France and all the sculpture and painting are actually done by the former Beloit College students. Here are some pictures of it.

(the famous bird-headed man)

In this Bird-Headed Figure Scene, there is a bird-headed man, a bison and a spear-thrower. The bird-headed man, as he is called, has a bird head and simplified body is lying on the ground with a spear-thrower whose outer is in the shape of a bird. By his body, there is a great bison looms over, aggressively. There is also a long diagonal line slanting across the bison’s hindquarter.This is a very interesting scene; it is the only scene in the Lascaux cave that seems to tell a story. It is abstract but detailed and it stimulates people’s imagination. For example, this man in the scene could be a hunter. He is wearing a bird mask and carrying a bird spear-thrower so that he could trap the bison and make the bison think he is a bird and go chase him. And he is probably pretending that he died (that explains he is lying on the ground) and trying to trap the bison go closer so he could kill the bison. Or he could be a shaman. And he is wearing the bird mask and having a bird-shape magic stick. Shamans are thought to be people who have special powers that they can communicate with animals. There might be other possible interpretation for this scene too. It could be just a random picture the ancestors drew, or it could be a history of their hero ancestors, or it’s a piece of art. I am not quite sure about this, but if there is no writing at that time, then this piece could be there original way of communicating and illustrating history.

2008-01-22T20:04:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first blog!

It is the second week of this semester. Thing has been great so far. I was a little worried about my jet lag at first, because I just got back from China last Monday( it is about 14 hours difference for the time!), but I am almost getting used to my new schedule already. I am taking 5 classes this semester; 3 econs, a french class and a art history class. It is a very interesting combination of classes. I am planning on studying abroad in France next year(exciting:-)), so I am also preparing my 2nd application for it.I am really looking forward to it and i think it will be a lot fun!