Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Learn to be an Excellent Teacher; Act as an Exemplary Person

The Story of You, Part 2.

Jay K.






Ep.36 Learn to be an Excellent Teacher; Act as an Exemplary Person

It’s been a while since I wrote the last episode (or letter). I’ve been busy lately. I am taking five courses this semester; two from the school of government and other three from the language school. I’m also taking a HSK prep school on weekends. It takes a whole weekend because the class starts at 10am and ends at 5pm for both Saturday and Sunday. I am so glad that the four weeks program will be over this weekend, but I will be still busy on weekends for different reasons.

I am not actually busy because of these classes. I am busy meeting people. I am happy that I made lots of friend last semester so that I have so many friends to meet this semester, but I have to say that it is tiring sometimes. The only problem is that sometimes I don’t have time to go to the gym or to study because of meeting people. So I decided not to make more friends this semester and just try to keep friendships that I found last semester. Of course I am not going to reject people…


[I went to this park in Chaoyang District last Saturday]










Another thing keeps me busy these days, which is also my topic for this episode. I started to tutor a friend who is a year younger than me. I got to know her in my political science class. She is a Korean international student at PKU. We meet three times a week for 2 hours. This is only the second week that I started tutoring her. Actually, I was supposed to tutor her tonight, but she canceled it because she got sick. It pays me pretty well, but not because price/hour is high but because I do 6 hours a week. I tutor her English.

I am also tutoring another friend but not getting paid for it. I might also tutor another friend on weekends when my HSK prep school’s over. I don’t know why I started to tutor so many people all of sudden. I just want to help friends who want to learn English and I personally like to teach. Moreover, I believe as teaching English to them, I think I will better my English too.

I am not a native speaker, so things I can teach are limited. Nonetheless, I think myself is adequate enough for teaching them, because first their English level is not that high and second I also have experience learning English as a second language so I know what difficulties they have.

The tutoring is going fine actually; sometimes I have hard time explaining some stuff and I sometimes don’t know some words, but for the most time I am doing well. Tutoring my students English actually reminds me of my own tutors.








[This is a luxurious outside shopping mall in China]



“学为人师、行为世范” was the precept of Beijing Normal University where I took a summer school last summer. It means in English: “Learn to be an Excellent Teacher; Act as an Exemplary Person”. Beijing Normal University was used to be a specialized college for training teachers. I’m sure in every country there is an old saying that stresses the importance of having a good teacher. I am actually lucky having awesome tutors in my life.

If you are a junior high or high school student, it is very common to get a tutor or go to a cram school in Korea. I didn’t go to any cram school when I was in Korea, but had few tutors. I had an English tutor right before I was coming to the States. Then, I didn’t know that I would come to the States. I just studied high school English with my tutor. I wasn’t really interested in studying English at that time because it wasn’t any fun. Before I didn’t know why I need to learn how much an American quarter worth.

If I look back, I actually learned a lot from that tutor. She taught me basic pronunciations and grammars that were so useful once I started to live in the States. Because I learned so much during the first year of studying in the States, I often overlook the importance of what I learned before I came to the States. Perhaps I could learn fast in the States because of her, my tutor. She was a truly good tutor. I regret that I lost a contact with her as I was leaving Korea. I really want to meet her again and show her how much better my English is now.





The tutor I met in the States was also an excellent tutor. His name is Ronald, and he is a Chinese American. Ron was preparing for a med-school and he is actually in med-school right now. He is a really nice person. He taught me not only English, but also many life lessons. I had hard time when I first came to the States. I had some tough family problems that first year, and he helped me through many ways. Of course, he was paid to tutor me, but he wasn’t paid to take me to the museums, restaurants and so on. In other words, he wasn’t paid to be my friend.

Ron was not a tutor—he was a mentor for me. The first year in the States, what I needed was not only learning English, but also finding mental peace. I don’t know how to thank for this and how to express how much I owe him. He also helped me a lot academically. He helped me with homework and writing college applications. If it wasn’t him, I am sure I could’ve not got into Cal. I was really lucky to have him as my tutor.






I don’t even want to bother mentioning other school teachers who helped me a lot during the first year. It will take forever to thank them all through this essay.

I also met a good tutor here. Her name is Sandy. She is really nice, but only problem is that she doesn’t want to study. She just wants to hang out with me, which is also fine. I am sure I don’t know what I’m learning right know from her, but later I will realize later.

Being a tutor myself, now I understand my tutors a bit. I hope that I also become like my tutors. My student will study abroad in New Zealand later (that’s why she is learning English from me). I hope when she goes there she remembers what I taught her and thanks me. But I know that I am still not good enough in many aspects to be a good tutor. I guess I still need to learn to be “an excellent teacher”!




Thursday, March 12, 2009

Dear Cindy pt.2

The Story of You, Part 2.

Jay K.


Ep.35 Dear Cindy pt.2


[Welcome to the PKU's night!]

Dear Cindy

Hey there. I am writing this letter in this café in Beijing. This café is very westernized; so many westerners come here, drink coffee, chat or study here. I also love to come here, but it’s just too expensive. One meal at the school cafeteria is about 5~10 RMB, but a cup of coffee costs more than 20 RMB here. It’s almost American price. I actually miss many good cafes in Berkeley. I love to write in café. It is such a good atmosphere to write.

You might think, “Oh Jay, you wrote that super long letter, and you still have more to say?” Yes, I do. I hope you don’t get sick of reading my letter. I hope it entertains you and helps you.

I want to tell you more about “recognizing challenges and facing them”. I am not clear about what you meant by “recognizing” challenges, but I will tell you my story anyway. Since I’ve moved to the States, I love to challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone. Taking challenges: That’s how I got into Berkeley and could improve my English faster than others. That’s also why I am here. I know it’s a good thing. It really gives you more opportunities and makes you better. That’s what I learned from challenging myself for last four years.






[Going home after playing basketball]
Of course, taking challenges also brings many failures and disappointments. I experienced many bitter failures and they made me to challenge more and push myself further. Many people ask how I can take regular Chinese polisci classes in Chinese. They think my Chinese is really good, but actually I am not that good. I am just challenging myself again, because I know if I do this, my Chinese will get better in the end.

I regretted a lot this winter break: “why did I decide to come to China?” I could have so much fun in Berkeley. Why did I come here for a whole year? I asked myself that a lot and the answer was simple: to be better.

Actually, I don’t know. Sometimes I’m tired of me challenging myself. I just want to stay back in my comfort zone and never come out. I will tell you a story. I started a diet last semester and I lost almost 22 pounds. You know how much I love eating. But during that diet, I ate a piece of cucumber for whole day and didn’t eat anything else. I did that for 2,3 days and ate a little and repeated it again for 2,3 days. Of course, I also went to the gym almost every day. I called it the “to be or not to be” diet for myself. I was a bit disgusted at myself, being able to push myself that further.


[The dormitory]


It was just because of “proud”. I can do this. I cannot forgive myself giving up. I should keep challenging myself. Trying what you think you can’t do is a good thing, but doing what you can’t do and you don’t want to do is not a good thing. I don’t know what I am doing is right. Sometimes I want to step back, but at the same time, I think it is still not enough. I am still on that diet but because my ankle is hurting, I stopped going to the gym for last few days. I actually feel anxious now.

Maybe it isn’t really related to what you meant by “facing challenges”, but I just want to share my thoughts.

Lastly, I want to tell you my life in China. I am doing fine here and you know you can check my blog for more stories. Adapting to a new culture is something that I am good at. I really didn’t like China when I first came, and I really hated living here. I slowly started to like here and now I got used to many things here, but I don’t see myself living here more than 1 or 2 years. Some people really love China. They really enjoy being here and want to live here forever. I don’t like it that much. No.


[My Awesome Bike]











I think you also can do it. You also did a study abroad in France! I don’t know what kind of stereotypes you have on Chinese people. I am pretty sure stereotypes you have actually exist and are mostly true. The stereotypes I had before coming are all found to be true. People spit on the streets. There is no order or anything of that sort. People are really influenced (or brainwashed) by the government. Many of freedoms that you believe to be basic are restricted. However, what I also found out was that my understanding of China and its people was very minimal and limited before I was coming to China.

That was actually true about the States too. I didn’t know much about the States before I was coming to the States. Meeting so many different people, I realized that not all Americans are arrogant and support Iraq War (actually I didn’t believe it in the first place anyway). Anyhow, what I want to say here is that there are so many different types of people that your stereotype does not apply to the whole body of the people. If I go back to the States, people will ask me about China and its people. I know I will try to generalize them, but it will be hard.

I don’t know whether you are thinking about coming to China or not in future. If you are, I will say you should come and try. I am sure you can get some interesting jobs here. It’s just a suggestion; you might not like here.


[The West Gate]
I think it is all I have to say for now. You are welcome to write back or not. Oh, I just want to know if you are graduating this semester because I want to send you a graduation gift but it won’t be any good if you decided to take one more semester or something. The same applies to Kathy and Tranee but I will ask them later.

It’s interesting that your new roommate is from HK. I already have some stereotypes in my mind about HK people. I visited there once and met some HK people here. I want to visit Tyler, but it’s too far south. I hope he visits Beijing one day. And I am really jealous you guys went to Disneyland together. It’s ok. I went to Disney’s Ice City in Haerbin during the winter break. I wish I can hang out with you guys when I get back. Please update me with your life when you get a chance.



PS. Sorry again for this ridiculously long letter
Best,
Jay K.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dear Cindy pt.1

The Story of You, Part 2.

Jay K.

[Everything was white when I looked out the window that morning]
Ep.34 Dear Cindy pt.1
Dear Cindy
Thank you for the card, Cindy! I really didn’t expect to get it in the morning, and it just totally made my day. I read it during my Chinese class and it made me smile through the whole class. I love the card; it is actually very cute, a bit random though.

It was snowing crazy last two days here in Beijing. I woke up in the morning and saw the beautifully white campus through my window and just ran out with my camera—you know me. It was really nice for the first day, but it kept snowing and I slowly realized how annoying these white stuffs are. I heard this snow was actually artificial, which means almighty CCP controlled the weather and made it to snow because there was serious drought in northern China—just how they made it to rain before the Olympics so it could clean out the air. Seriously, anything can happen in China.

You told me it is a semester of tremendous change for you. I bet it is, because it is the last semester for you. I still remember when I was talking to you in your dorm room one evening. If I remember it correctly, I think it was the first time that we had a “deep” conversation. I remember you were debating with yourself about your major and what you wanted to do in future. Your parents wanted you to do business and you didn’t like that so much. I as an ignorant freshman gave you an advice: do whatever you wanna do. Time goes so fast, it is already your last semester and you will graduate soon. I don’t know the last three years and half went just how you imagined and wanted them to be.


[The White World]
I don’t know what kind of challenges you are facing right now. I really want to have a talk with you like how we did that evening in your room, but I know we can’t, so I am writing this long letter. You know I just write how I speak, so there won’t be much difference. I assume that challenges you mentioned in the letter are related to your future, precisely after you graduate.
I’m sure you have many promising options in front of you and you don’t know what to choose. What I want to tell you is the same as what I told you that evening: do whatever you wanna do. Don’t think about challenging yourself or anything. Also, take your time. You still have lots of time to consider and think. You will graduate in May (or might not), but that’s not the end of the time. Life will still go on after you graduate and you have more time to think about it. As you said, it’s different from going to high school after middle school; you don’t have to make a decision right away, you can take a time as long as you want. Graduation is not an end, it’s just a beginning!






[The West Gate]


As for me, I am also afraid of graduating and moving into the “real world” as people say. But I have plans and I will tell you my plans for the future; it might help you. So I guess I will graduate in May of 2010. I will go back to Korea and take a test to join the armed force as an interpreter officer in November of 2010. I don’t know I can pass the test because it is pretty competitive. I preferably want to become a Navy interpreter officer, because it is more prestigious than an Army officer and also because it is easier than to become an Air Force officer.
I will serve my country as an officer for 2 or 3 years depending on which force I will join. Let’s say it will be 2 years. I will finish my service in January of 2013. I will then start to study for the diplomat test. I think I told you about it. It is extremely hard to pass the test because they only select 14, 5 people in the whole country every year. I will study for the test for about 2 years (hopefully I will pass this in 2 years). Then I will become a diplomat in 2015 or 16. After that I will finally start to make some money. After I become a diplomat, I will move around the world. I might work in some random African country or luckily in European country for another 2, 3 years.

Then I want to continue my study in the States and my country will pay me to study! My dream school for now is the Kennedy School of Gov’t, but I think any decent graduate school is fine. Maybe I will be back to the bay area. I plan to get my Master’s but I am also interested in getting Ph.D or J.D. When I finish my school, it will be around 2020 and I will be in my mid thirties (that’s depressing). I don’t know my ultimate career goal now. It can be a professional politician, professor, or writer.






[The guy is throwing salts on the ground to melt snow]
It might sound ridiculously specific and idealistic. I think so too. I don’t have any backup plan yet, I should make some. I am not telling you this to persuade you to make a super detailed plan for your future. I’m just telling you what I’m thinking right now. I made these plans to convince my dad and myself. I have to convince my dad that I have “plans” for my future and I won’t be a jobless person. I also need to convince myself who is afraid of his own future. I am just like you. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, so I make these plans.

You mentioned “the capacity for failure”. I guess no one is free of that. I am still debating whether I need to study for the diplomat test or not because I am afraid that I won’t pass the test. I am also scared of failure. I don’t want to waste 2 years of my life or more for nothing. You might be thinking something similar.

Let me tell you a story about my senior year. I worked at Panda Express in my second semester of the senior year when I was waiting for accepting letters from the colleges. I got off from the work around 10 or 11pm and I had to walk back to my house, because I couldn’t drive and there was no bus running that time. I think about lots of things every night as I was walking back from the work. At that time, I worried about two things for the most: one was regarding college apps and the other was senior prom. I worried what if I don’t get into Georgetown, my dream school. My fear became a reality in the end. When I got a rejection letter from GT, I was really depressed for many days but it wasn’t the end of my life. I luckily got into Cal and I also got my prom date.



[As I was looking for beautiful spots to take pics, I coincidently discovered this: "An American Friend of the Chinese People". He is a famous American journalist who travelled throughout China during the Red Revolution. I read his book before I came here. His last name is Snow]


[Hey there]

What I want to tell you through this stupid anecdote is that don’t be afraid of failure. It is always better to try and fail than to not try and not fail. If you try, at least you won’t regret. I am really afraid of not passing that diplomat test and wasting my time, but I will probably take it because I don’t want to regret it later.

I will tell you one more boring anecdote. It is about my dad. He went to Michigan Law School and met my mom there. But he didn’t like law, so he became a CPA. He wasn’t also very happy with working as a CPA, so he went to MBA school and now he is working at a nice American firm where he gets paid loads of money. He really likes his job now. He started to realize in his thirties what he wanted to do. He tried many different things and finally found the right one. That actually applies to his marriage too. He didn’t get along with his first wife, my mom, and now he lives happily with his 2nd wife. So, I am not afraid of wasting few years in my twenties trying different things.

I don’t know these stories work for you. Hopefully they do. This letter’s getting too long. I want to apologize for that. The funny thing is that I don’t remember anything about academic schedule of Berkeley. What’s going on there now? I don’t know whether you are in amid midterms or not, but I know you are in school right now. I hope this long letter doesn’t distract you from studying. I will send the second letter shortly; actually I am going to write it right now.
Best,
Jay