Lots of swearing in this entry... those who get offended do not read further!!
--------------
--------------
--------------
I don't know what the fuck I was thinking, but taking history thinking you'll do well? STUPID MORON... there's reason why you dropped History as minor years ago.
Got my first paper back and the prof tore it apart with damn "?" marks all over the damn paper... gave me C+. And I freaking spent 5-6 hours writing and editing ONLY 2 damn pages... DOUBLE SPACED.
Need to raise GPA to 3.33 to be even considered to Masters at UBC & UVIC and a C+ is 2.33. Rest of the grades are based on research paper, 4 mini-papers and 20% participation.
I am screwed... sucks being academically challenged.
This is nuts... it is the start of week 3 and all my assignments are starting to come in. Week 1 - profs warming us up by dictating writing assignments due each week... I have 2-3 per week. And week 2 - they piled the research papers, presentations and discussion assignments on top of weekly assignments.
I'm looking at my calendar and I have 4-5 assignments due per week half the semester, while the easier half consists of 2 papers a week. By the end of the semester, I will have written 132 pages total.
Before I can even do these weekly assignments, I have to read a total of 200 pages before even knowing what to write. For next week I have to read 100 pages for geography.... that's only ONE class. Janet probably thinks SFU is Yale University, where she got her PhD. Love her class though... POLITICAL ECOLOGY on society and environment in China!!!
I'm not really complaining... so far it has been fun - all good courses. I like writing too... sometimes just wish it came more natural for me. My history course is a bitch though... so anal about articulation, grammar and composition... takes me twice the amount of time to write papers for that class. Also has the most reading.
By the end of September, I will have written 20 pages in total... and only 112 pages left for October & November. December is exam time, which I will have none... thank goodness.
I still pretty excited about the courses. Bring it on I say... I know I can get through this semester and master the art of skimming readings and writing. I'm sooo ready for my Masters.
After 20 months away... I am finally back in school! Today was my first day... so good to be back.
I tweaked my courses a little bit.
For Geography:
1) Geog 468 - Society and Environment in China
2) Geog/Hist 432 - Problems in Environmental History
For Asia-Canada minor:
3) Asia-Canada 300 - Asians and North Americans in Public Discourse
4) Humanities 340 - Great Cities in Their Time: Kyoto - The Heart of Japan
I have no mid-terms or exams at all. The catch is I have papers due every week... on top of that there's 4x 15 page research papers, book reviews and presentations. In spite of all that, I think I will really enjoy it. I can't think of another semester when I liked all the courses.
Also going to concentrate a bit more on Japan instead of China in my Asian studies. I want to do some consulting for the Japanese on international resource dispute resolution against China... piss off some Communists while I'm at it.
Last night Geoff, Mindy and I drove down to Bellingham, Washington for Jack in the Box. When I was ordering the lady, of Asian descent, asked me where I was from. I thought to myself "how the hell does she know I'm Canadian..."
I answered "I'm from Vancouver."
She said "China, Vietnam...?"
Immediately I knew it was one of those questions... Asians don't want to know your nationality... they want to know your ethnic background. (It was always like this when I travelled in Asia.) After a few seconds of resisting, I satisfied her curiosity and said "I'm from Taiwan." Really wanted to say again "CANADIAN damnit!" (For me, this is all too familiar and annoying). She is from Vietnam.
So Geoff, Mindy and I talked about it. Saying Taiwan, or Chinese is getting lame... how about something cool like "I'm from Mongolia"? Mongolia... home of Genghis Khan, a ruthless, bloodthirsty conquerer of Mongolia, China and to the Persian Empire. That's good enough for me.
But wait... Kazakhstan. People there still have Asian faces... I can be one of them. So I said Kazakhstan... Mindy thought it was halirious. I met a Vancouver girl at the International Affairs conference. She is of Kazakhstan descent and I was trying to emulate how she said it, without the North American accent. Kazakhstan sounds cool...
I am no longer Chinese, but Kazakhstanese... Kazakhstani... or is it Kazakh... whatever my people are called.