My tentative flight is this Sunday, so I have tons to do before I go. One task is to find out which courses I need for the Fall semester. I register July 12… I have to register even if I plan on working in the Fall, its like a contingency plan.
That said, I think I will go back to school and postpone my work semester till January 2005. There are a few courses I will need to take because it is offered only once a year and they happen to be prerequisite for the more advanced courses. So I think the smarter choice is to finish these courses and then go to work… rather than go to work and when I come back in January, I find myself not being able to take courses because I don’t have the prerequisites.
For my minor I will be taking:
ASC 102 – Intro to Asian Studies I
ASC 200 – Intro to Chinese Culture
My geography major:
Geog 215 – Biogeography
Geog 255 – Geographic Information Science
REM 356 – Institutional Arrangements for Sustainable Environmental Management
I can already see the research papers piled up on my lap… working sounds a lot more attractive now. One big bonus going back to school is being able to see Alya more often since she's taking the same courses... I'll try not to make my decision based on a girl... =) Definately gonna miss talking to her when I go away.
看起来我妈， 小弟还有我都会下个新期天回台湾！我妈前几天有打电话去问飞机空位，他们是说新期天是有空位，可是新期五还是要再问一次，这样那时候才能肯定的。 多麻烦啊。
这最后几天妈妈帮小弟买他去玩需要的东西：背包，凉鞋，裤子，还有一些衣服。 妈妈说我在花太多钱了，我的业余爱好太贵的。
I'm 95% percent sure this will be my final plan for the summer... I will try to keep this short without the details.
Mexico is a no go now. Because the project is under contract with Community Economic Development and funded by CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency), the government (CIDA) is not willing to have me, a non-paid participant, come aboard on the project for legal and ethical reasons. I was disappointed to hear this days after I was told I could go... but oh well. Instead, my TA told me he will be working on his own projects in China/Vietnam later this year, and Cuba for 4 months next February... he said I could definately work on these projects with him. Because the Cuba project is 4 months, I can turn it into a co-op job.... this will have to be arranged later this year so we are keeping this option open. Nothing is for sure yet.
So because Mexico is not gonna work out... I've decided to go see Ankor Wat in Cambodia. So here's my plan: fly to Thailand from Taiwan for 2-3 days, bus to Cambodia to see Ankor Wat and the capital city, Penom Penh, for about 2 weeks, then cross over to Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City since it is so close. I will then explore Ho Chi Minh City for a few days and fly back to Taiwan from there. This South East Asia trip will be about 3 weeks and Joey will be coming along with me.
Joey, my 14 year old bro, is also curious about other countries and cultures... so one reason to do this trip is to get him exposed to backpacking. If he enjoys it then he can have his own adventures when he turns 18 or 19. By then he will alrady have some experience and knows what to expect. I will be leaving or Asia sometime in the first week of July... and yes, I cancelled the Japan trip... too bloody expensive.
我在过大概一个新期就会去台湾了。 我打算去台湾几天然后我和下第就往泰国走。 我们在泰国不会待很久， 只有待两天到三天，然后就往去高棉走了。 我们只要去看高棉名胜地方，去欣赏欣赏， 所以会在高棉待差不多两道三个新期。 高棉看完的时候，就往越南去。 在越南只待几天而已。 我们去越南因为是要从越南坐飞机回到台湾，如果要从泰国回台湾的话，要从高棉座太久的车的。回台湾的时候就大概是八月一日，我就这时候跟小弟去苗栗看你们和我妈。 我妈因该还会在台湾的。
我以前有说要去墨西哥的，已经不去了。 我的老师是要我一起跟他去，可是他在那边做的事是跟政府有关的。 如果我去的话，我是被当成外边的人，所以政府说我不能去跟我老师参加。
Now that I'm done with school and not working much... this gives me a lot of time to resume watching Alias. I dont know.... I think I really want to be a spy now. Lots of travelling and learning new languages. Well, you have to know the language before you go but whatever.
I wonder if CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) hires co-op students... or maybe even the CIA!
我妈和我现在在看个间谍节目。是个美国节目， 很好看的。 这节目是在DVD上，所以有中国字，这样我妈也可以陪我一起看的。
当个间谍有多好啊！ 这个工作需要你一直出国，我也想当个间谍。 当间谍的人身活太好了。 我因该在大学看能不能找这种工作。
因为我现在放假了，也没有上很多班，我有多花点时间在读中文了， 有时候我感觉我永远不会学好的。 前几个星期说要去墨西哥的时候，我也想说我的西班牙语有完全记得的。 我以前在美国有学两年的西班牙语，现在忘得很多。 会说三个口语有多好呢！
Jen, I couldn't understand all of the Spanish you wrote (or Renee wrote)... mind telling me what you said? You have fueled my ambition to be fluent in 3 languages.... como se dice: I can only dream!
I had my interview today... man was it brutal. First of all, I thought there was only gonna be Wendy that did the interviewing, after she sat me down she said there was someone else coming... I thought "oh great..." The guy, Martin, who specialized in air quality was wonderful... very nice guy. Second, I really had a hard time with the first 3 questions... I think that was me being nervous, especially when they told me there was 14 questions total.... I thought "oh s***." Yes, the whole experience was intimidating. There were a few questions I felt was unfair.... for example: If you were to host the BC Union Municipality, what actions would you take to organize it and how would your presentations go? FIRST, what is the BC Union Municipality. I need to know my audience right??? SECOND, I need to know my objective of the whole event... I know I wanna persuade them to reduce emissions... but that's too broad, I needed a clearer direction and objective. I ended up saying "I'm sorry, I can't answer that question.... need more information" and went on from there. I did, however, ask them who and what the BC Union Municipality was.
In the end, I got the impression that they were not interested. Well, throughout the whole interview they were really easy going, telling me not to be nervous, which they can understand and can relate. At the end told me because this is for co-op students... we should treasure these interviews and learn as much as we can from it, because this wont be the last interview you'll do. So does that mean they're not interested?? (they did say they tell all candidates this) Lastly, they told me that I made it this far... meaning that they dont interview every application. I was short listed.... so does that mean they not interested and that I should be thankful I made it this far???
Interviews will go on till Monday (6 candidates total)... I should know the results sometime next week. I also have to go talk to my coordinator to discuss this experience and see what I learned from it so I can prepare for future interviews... I keep thinking what the coordinator said, it usually take 3-4 interviews before new co-op students are placed in a job..... Oh well, I'm off to Asia till August. Worry about that when I get back. Not going to Mexico now, will explain next time.
我今天的面谈终于完了，昨天晚上紧张的都没有睡觉呢！
跟政府的面谈我感觉不是说得很好。 他们知道这是我第一个面谈，所以我有点紧张。 总共有两个人问我问题。 这些问题也不是说跟我学习的有关，他们是要看我有没有他们需要的技术。 那这些技术是要看我以前的工作又没有拿到。 我们在理么按中共说谈了一个小时。
舅舅，我妈看你写的话，她说你是还以为我是要今年毕业呢，所以才找工作的。 不是的！ 这边的大学会帮你找工作，这样你一个学期在上课，那下个学期你去上班。 上班的时候，就不要上课呢。 这样的话，还样没有毕业的时候，学生会有很多的经验。 那上班要多久呢？ 中共要四个学期，那就是十六个月（一个学期是有四个月的）。
那我今年是要找工作，从九月份上到十二月。 这个政府工作如果不要我的话，还有很多别的机会，工作多得很。
这几天我爸又到电话来，告诉我们飞机的情况。 他说七月五好看起来有空位。 现在还不能决定说那一天回台湾（我们的飞机票很难得决定那一天飞）。 你就常常着看我这个日记，我妈跟我要回台湾的时候我会马上在这跟你讲。
舅妈和妹妹他们都还好吗？
So it looks like I got a job interview for that government position with Environment Canada!! Wendy, the interviewer, chose the final 3 students from SFU (including myself) and some from UBC. I'm not too thrilled about the idea of competing with UBC students... the university is intimidating.
The interview is on June 18th at 11am. It will take place in their downtown Vancouver office. I will be doing some preparation with my coordinator... all part of his job description. Must be fun for him.
记不记得我要的政府工作？ 这星期我的老师跟我说我被政府选到了，要去面谈。在我的大学，总共选了三个学生，所以我会跟别两个学生比。 工作的人也有在北士大学找学生，所以我也会跟别的大学比。 我们都需要去面谈，面谈完的时候，她才会选人。 我好紧张哦！
面谈这一天是六月十八号，早上十一点。
Hola amigos... voy ir a la Mexico!!! I'm not sure if I wrote that correctly, excuse me for my poor and forgotten Spanish. How cool would it be if I could update this in English, Chinese, and Espanol.
Anyways, so it looks like I am going to Mexico. It all started about 2 weeks ago. I was approached by the international co-op director, Caroline, to see if I was interested in working overseas. I said sure..... so yesterday I attended the "Looking for international work" workshop. Was told to talk to our professors, email professors and foundations in foreign countries to look for possible internships.
Right after the workshop was my tutorial class.... taughted by my TA, Bob, whose doing his Ph.D. He has years of experiences in Latin America, like Mexico, Costa Rica, etc. So I went and talked to him about possible ideas, who to talk to about working in overseas. Told him I was interested doing sustainable development in developing countries. So he said sure.... go to this and that....... He also said he is doing some work in Mexico and Cuba this summer, then China and Vietnam in November...
Then today in class as I was sitting in lecture (by the way, today was the last day of classes!!!), I thought to myself, what if I go to Mexico with Bob as a volunteer, to see if this community development was really my gig. Get the experience and see if I truely wanted to pursue this as a career...... so I asked him and he said sure. Then he asked me in Spanish to the affect of "do you understand what I'm saying?" or "do you speak this language?" If he asked me "hables espanol?" then I could understand that. Whatever he said, I replied "si..." That did the trick.... I am off to Mexico to do development work!!!!
So I will be going sometime mid or late July and returning mid August. As for co-op for the Fall...... most jobs come in at early September so I still have a chance to look for work when I return. This is assuming I don't get the Environment Canada job... which I wont know till next 2 weeks. I will be doing a lot of praying.... hoping to secure this job that way I dont have to come back in a hurry and still worry about finding work.
I spoke to my coordinator and he highly encouraged me to go.... as I will get volunteer experience and resaerch skills. He also emphasized the fact that since this is my first semester co-op, I might not find any jobs till next year..... so might as well go. That's just something I'd like to hear eh?
So lots of stuff happening from now till Mexico trip. I still have to go Taiwan and Japan for about 2 weeks.... will be going late June.
Now back to the paper..... my last obstacle before travelling.
我今天上完了暑假课。 课上完的时候我在跟我的老师谈话，我发现他要去墨四哥。 他是要去做六个星期学数研究。 我就问他我可不可以一起去，我帮他的忙。这也跟我有兴趣的工作。 主要是拿经验，跟地理系有关的。
那么我不再写了，写汉语花太多时间。 我还有个很大的报告要写呢。
舅舅，我大概是六月底回台湾。 到台湾的时候，我会跟你打个电话。
I finally sent all the necessary documents to the employer on co-op's
job database PlacePro. That includes transcripts, resume, cover letter, and student information sheet. Sunday, June 6th is the deadline.
So what's gonna happen now is my coordinator, Paul, will look over everything to make sure all the necessary documents are there, and then send it to the employer. If the employer is interested, he/she will let Paul know and Paul would be the guy that would inform me. An interview would be arranged and if the employer wants to hire me, or whoever, Paul would be the guy to know first and then informing me. So everything is done through him.
I spent a week thinking about that cover letter and spent 2 days writing it. I am glad it is finally done. Its funny how when you first set out to write a paper, you ask yourself "crap, what am I gonna write?!?!?!" By the time you're done, its longer than it should be. I just want to thank Robert and Sue for looking over that for me!
Now that's out of the way, time to write a 2 page paper for Tuesday and a 10 page paper due in a week. This is for my agriculture & environment class..... JOY!!! Crap... what am I gonna write now.................. Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a week. I will be in my cave.
It's times like this that I feel like a complete American. 3 reasons. One... still dont understand celcius, have to convert it to farenheit to know how hot it is now. Second, I'm driving and the speed signs dont mean anything to me cause its in kilometers, not miles. The fact that my van's spedometer is in miles don't help at all!! And lastly, the Canadian election. Why are we having an election? I have no clue (well, better idea now after talking to my friend)
So the current prime minister Paul Martin of the Liberal party inherited the position after his predecessor stepped down as the PM. So naturally Paul Martin, given that he's in the same party, automatically became the PM. With this power, the idiot calls for an election, with a good possibility of losing his seat.
Now we have 3 main parties in the election.... the Conservatives, Liberals, and the New Democratic Party (NDP). There's a party from Quebec but no one cares about them cause they're always angry and bitter (because tthey're French!!).
So who should I vote for? Paul Martin from the Liberals looks like a good candidate. A man that could lead a country into war because its only inevitable that Canada be dragged into another war with our American neighbours. Then there's Stephen Harper from the Conservatives. Good ideas, a strong possibility. Well then you got Jack Laydan from the NDP. Funny looking man. Looks like Jack from Jack in the Box because of his bald head and big nose. Can't vote for him!!
So again, why are we having an election? I don't know.... I am so disconnected with Canadian politics. But politic is politic. I remember the time when I was in Laos standing outside a government building. It was the Ministry of Information, meaning propaganda... Well, perhaps these 3 candidates should have a label on their forehead saying "Propganda Machine" because we all know they will not keep their campaign promises. Politicians are politicians. And yes, I am being obnoxious and cynical. =)
Alright, one more week of school left so I better get started on my research paper..... >.<
By the way, I went on a fieldtrip to Abbotsford and visited a greenhouse operation, BC Ministry of Agriculture, McLennan Creek (Organic) Dairy, Fort Wine Company (bought a bottle of wine myself), and Nathan Creek Organic Farm. I've got quite a few pics of the trip posted... lots of animal pictures.
舅舅，我妈说他大概是七月份的第一个新期会去台湾。 那我什么时候会台湾就不知道了。 现在我不能离开大学太久应为我正在等工作机会。我本来想说这个月就可以拿到工作可是教授说应为我是要九月份上班，工作机会要等到八月份，除非现在有很多工作。 现在我有找到了一个工作跟政府，再过一两个星期才会知道他们要不要我。 不要的话，我就要在等别的工作了。
如果说要等到八月份的话，那我就七月的第一个星期回台湾到我小弟去日本玩三到五天然后回台湾。 那带在台湾多久就不知道了。 需要看飞机情况。 我也不能带太久。 大概只能几天而已。 如果这工作要我的话，那回台湾带久就没有问题。
我解释得懂吗？ 我得国语还不是说很好所以大概会说得不清楚。
除了回台湾的事，我现在只有生一个星期的课。 这就后一个星期要写个报告，总共要十张长。 这星期会很忙的。
还有，上个星期三我跟我的学校去了Abbotsford, 离无根华一个小时。 我有些照片。 如果你想看的话， 你需要在上网中间的Photo Gallery, 那绝后是我的照片。 到了时候找Abbotsford, 进去就有几个照片。 有很多动物。
如果找不到的话跟我讲。