Future/China Stuff

[exhilaration]

So... plane tickets are finalized. We are leaving from New York City on Friday, April 30th at 4:35 in the afternoon. Arriving in Shanghai on Saturday, May 1st, at 7:30 at night. And yes, this is a thirteen hour flight. Tickets were originally $700. This has now escalated to almost $1100. But this is preferable to losing them entirely, so... whatever. I still hold the belief that I am going to die during this flight. That is thirteen hours of sitting in one place. I don't even stay still for one hour. Part of this is just me being antsy, but when it comes to hour after hour after hour... my body begins to physically protest. So... fucking yay. I think this was the right choice, though, finding a direct flight. Because otherwise... like Jason and Minh did on their way here... it'd be upwards of a thirty hour experience, changing planes and airports and countries and so on. And it would still involve a massively long flight. Six or seven hours on a plane is long enough to kick my ass just as well, and this is not a guess, this I know from experience. And then on top of that there'd be hours of waiting in airports, too. So I still think the direct flight was the best choice.

And we're going to stay in Shanghai for one week, and already have a hotel booked (as of, um, yesterday) and then the rest of the original plane tickets will take us to Beijing, and, still, Jason has friends in Beijing we're supposed to hook up with, and since we'll be there in May (not September/October) it might be possible for either him or Minh (or both of them) to meet us there. Which would be awesome. And by June we should be in Wuhan/Tonghen, but nothing is concrete there yet. Still hoping to go to Hanoi. Still no solid plans about that either. Which is fine.

And... registration for fall classes is fast approaching. Also if I really want to apply for school housing (and I think I'd better) I need to do that, like, right around now as well. So I need to make my kinda-sorta plan into an actual plan. Still not certain I'm doing the right thing here. I know it's good to go to school. I know it's good for me to be in school, but I really, really want to make sure that I'll be doing something I can actually complete and not only that, but something I can actually use when I finish it.

Also I do need to make some kind of decision about the Fourth Class situation. I do need to be a full time student. I have to be full time to use school housing, for one thing. Besides that, if I'm full time, I can get health insurance from the school. This is a big one. I have insurance through my job right now, but of course I won't have that job anymore once I move. Honestly... I don't work that much anymore now that I'm getting rent money from the houses. But I do still need health insurance, so I still work there.

Because I have already completed my core/gen ed requirements at this school, um, I can really only take three classes at a time in my major, because of how sequential the classes are and how they have prerequisites and stuff. Maybe after the first year it will be a little different, but for next year, I have to add a fourth class each semester to boost myself to full time status. So... I can take something random and hopefully interesting, or I can try to minor in something... like Chinese. Since I'm already a third of the way into that. On the one hand, it seems like a shame to put so much effort into learning a language and then not continue with it or have anything to show for it. But on the other hand... not sure what good a certificate in Chinese would do me. Except for perhaps, in the end, make me look really smart, since I'll have one in Spanish too :P

Chinese class is going really well, too. I enjoy it, although I find the listening lab stuff to be particularly difficult. I don't know, it's sort of like talking on the phone, it's a voice with no context, no face, no person, no expressions... nothing. I'm so much better at comprehension in class, or even watching something on TV (I can go watch Chinese news broadcasts in the language library at school which is freakin' awesome! Also I can read a newspaper from something like twenty-five different countries if I want to. I can't read a Chinese newspaper but I can read an Italian one! This leads me to believe that newspapers must be written at an extremely low reading level, lol, cause I can't read a book in Italian for shit. I've about had it up to here with Spanish so I have not so much as picked up one of the various Spanish-language papers...)

I spoke to the same dude from Chinese class who talked to me about Crazy Anime Girl/Cape Cadet the day she wasn't there. She walked right up to me as I was leaving class and I was beginning the mental debate, which takes less energy here, tell her something to make her go away (today) like I have to go to the language center, I have to write a paper, I have to meet someone for lunch, etc, or just let her go ahead and follow me around until one (Chinese ends at 10:50, she has another class at one) because I don't want do deal with sending her away... and this guy was like, sorry, hey, I need to borrow you for a second, please, this is really important, and then he says to her, hey, it has to do with class, it's really complicated, sorry, I need to talk to her for a while, and it's all about Chinese stuff, sorry, this is going to take a while.

AND SO SHE WENT AWAY, LOL. And I was like, I do not need you to make shit up for me, you know. She's my problem, I can handle her (although, honestly, I have been doing a pretty shitty job of "handling" the situation, haven't I?) and he was like, well, that's nice, but actually, I do need to talk to you, I need to ask you a huge favor, and you can say no if you don't want to, but please just hear me out.

And I was like... o...kay... shoot. What is it?

And he's like, please do this assignment with me. Just one. Or study with me. Just one time, anything. I need to see what you're doing. Because I am so lost in this class, and you, out of everyone in it, seem to know what you're doing the most. I'm an Asian Studies major and I do not want to have to repeat this class (I think if it's in your major, you have to have at least a B- for it to count) and I do not want to switch to Japanese or Korean or Vietnamese. If you can just give me a couple hours of your time, I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong and why I'm not getting this and what you're doing to get so good!

And I was like, lol, I'm flattered, but first I must confess my secret - I have already taken this class. So if I seem like I'm a step ahead of everyone else, it's because I am. I do not have spectacular study skills by far, so you will not learn a thing from me. And he was like, no, no, that's perfect, because if you've already taken the class, then you can tell me how it's supposed to go and what's gonna be on the final and everything! And I was just like... I don't know what's going to be on this final. I didn't take the class with this teacher, I assume all the finals are different.

And then he was like, look, if you want me to go away, if you want me to stop bothering you, just say so, but if you can help me out at all, please, please do!

And so I said fine. Come grab lunch with me, my next class is at two, and you and I can do Monday's assignment together. And he was like, score! I will buy you lunch! And I was like, you had better buy me lunch. Which... of course meant I had to eat like a normal person. Not a coffee and a cigarette. Not a protein cookie, and not a jello cup and a granola bar. So I ate... a fruit salad and a piece of whole grain toast... and a purple yogurt drink with a sunshine on it. I thought it was going to be blueberry but in fact it was weirdberry and I am so never buying that drink again. It was supposed to give me energy and vitamin C, too. I noticed no energy boost.

The whole... social clustering phenomenon at school has totally shifted at school, too, in January, even though it was January and winter and all that, students still hung around outside a good amount. Now with all the disgusting snow all over the place (and it was snowing Friday morning, too, not like a snowstorm, but it was snowing for several hours at least) everyone goes inside and holes up I guess. So we ate in one of the student cafes and it was full of people. And this guy must live on the campus cause he paid with his student ID card.

And indeed we did do Monday's assignment, and we did it pretty quickly, too. I don't think he's as behind as he thinks he is, I think he's just paranoid about his grade in the class and he seems like kind of a perfectionist, so if he's not doing everything perfectly he thinks he sucks. I did take it as a huge compliment though that he picked me out as the VERY BEST in the class, I think because I talk a lot in class. And I think probably my conversation skills are a little better than most of the class and I have Jason and Minh to thank for that, totally. I didn't do anything special - it's just that me and B try to watch Chinese movies whenever we can, I try to catch the Chinese news broadcasts in the language library, and then we spend the whole time in Disney World either speaking Chinese or listening to it, so, yeah, I'm sure I've got great conversational skills.

Well, that, and, when it comes to foreign languages, anyway, I'm not a perfectionist. Understanding most of what someone says is good enough for me to respond to them, and I respond quickly because I'm not too hung up on making sure my grammar is 100%. I just want to be understood. So this makes me look like hot shit in class, like when we go around giving responses to pre-set questions and I spout off some whole weird paragraph instead of a three-word sentence... but it doesn't translate that well to an actual test, written or spoken. So I think most of this is just a front anyway :P

And I also ended up spilling that not only did I spend quite a bit of time with fluent Chinese-speakers (although it isn't either of their native languages) I'm also going to China soon, and that's the whole reason I'm in the class in the first place.

HEY GUYS, IM GOING TO CHINA SOON.

Also, I think I can count this as my first normal social interaction with someone from school. I can't count Cheryl cause she's someone I already knew. So... that counts for something, right?

Comments

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

RE: flight to china

Yay! Tickets! I'm not sure if I should be happy for you that it's non-stop or not. The longest I've done non-stop is 9.5 hours, that's Seattle to Europe. Usually It's a pretty quiet flight, as most people are asleep for most of the trip each way. Imagine with 4 more hours in the air, there will be a lot more time that people are awake on the plane. At least you won't be as likely to loose your luggage. On my first trip, I made it to Rome, my bags made to Amsterdam. It took 2 more years before I got to make it to The Netherlands :)

Lets see, If you are flying JFK to Shanghai, that means China Eastern right? Humm, that means an Airbus A340. Not too bad of a plane. Really couldn't tell that much of a difference between it and a 777. But that was in business class. In coach, I don't know, it really depends on the carrier. It looks like the planes are fairly new though with individual entertainment at each seat, although seatguru.com seems to think that there are only monitors in the isles. Dunno what to say about staying comfortable on the trip, other than get up and move about(if possible, dunno) - I've never had to fly longer than 6 hours in the back of the plane.

I do need to make some kind of decision about the Fourth Class situation.

If you were wondering if you should take a fourth class? well from what you've said, then yeah you should, all the signs point to it. As to what to take? Umm yeah, you could take something and try and get a minor in it, but aren't you the person who was claiming you didn't even know what you wanted to do once you got your degree? Why lock yourself into a minor you may or may not want to do anything related to anyway. I vote for taking something else. Don't take something "random and hopefully interesting", take something you know will be interesting, easy, and/or useful. Ask Mr. Chinese class dude for an opinion. Hopefully he(and others) can direct you away from any classes that have an interesting title but have a horrible professor. I obviously don't have a clue what you've taken so far as electives or whatever that aren't related to languages, but have you thought about any science classes? My school had a very easy and popular astronomy class. It seemed like every Lib Arts major in school had taken it. My sister-in-law got her undergrad degree in English, but she took "intro to programming I and II" to fill her schedule her senior year, and ended up working at an ISP for 5 years. Really just ask around see what people say was easy/fun/might be useful.

RE: Language Labs

Yeah that does sound hard, actually I think I'd find it tedious trying to concentrate on something so unenageing.

newspapers must be written at an extremely low reading level

Yes, yes they are. I think I read that at least in the US they write for like a 3rd or 4th grade level. I can't imagine other countries would be that different. I know I could get the gist of the German papers even with only having 2 years of HS German. And fairly rusty HS German at that.

Sorry, but your comment of 4875 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300. Please try shortening it and then post again.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

Lets see, If you are flying JFK to Shanghai, that means China Eastern right?

Well done! And I must say, China Eastern has been nothing but lovely to me every single time I've had to call them. And yes, the fact that it's harder to lose your bags if your flight is direct was kind of another incentive to find a direct flight :P

Longest I've ever flown at one time is probably seven hours... and I'm good for about, oh, three or four. Just... everything about flying sucks. I think a big part of it has got to be in my head, too, which is kind of the worst part. I get bored, I get antsy, and then I start to get freaked out that the air I'm breathing has been recirculated one million times and I start to feel really claustrophobic... and then I know I should stand up like at least once an hour, really more often than that, but I hate doing that cause the plane moves... and the list goes on.

Well, whatever, even if the direct flight wasn't the best choice, it was still the cheapest, for one thing, and if it really would have been better to stop once or twice on the way there... I'll never know :P Really I expect it to suck either way, so shortest seemed best.

aren't you the person who was claiming you didn't even know what you wanted to do once you got your degree?

Sure am.

but have you thought about any science classes?

You know, that didn't even occur to me? I have taken so many classes in so many different areas, and yet I'm hesitant to minor in something because I don't want to deal with all the extra work involved, cause to finish the minor I'd have to take at least one upperclass course. And yet with all the stuff I've already taken, I've kind of shied away from any kind of science, mostly because I didn't really go to high school so I feel like I'd be totally unprepared in some way.

I took... let's see... ah, I took chemistry for non-majors, um, a long, long time ago, and I got really hung up on the fact that I needed to do some kind of math that I didn't recognize and didn't know. I was so lost in that class. It was logarithms, I want to say, but it's been so long that I'm not sure I remember what a logarithm really is or why it would come up in chemistry, so maybe I'm mixing some things up here.

So, yeah. Something that happened when I was seventeen has kept me away from any other kind of science class. Go me. But I can see how something like programming would be really, really useful and I can't imagine needing much background info to succeed in a class like that.

I think I'd find it tedious trying to concentrate on something so unenageing

it is, very.

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Have you taken a math class since then? maybe a math class is in order? Wait, I think that would probably not pass the interesting or easy requirements :) And yeah, logs would make sense for chemistry class, where one is dealing with very large and very small magnitudes of values.

The thing I always like is that in programming, everything was predictable. If it happened once, It would happen every time type of stuff. And all the rules were strictly followed. It reminded me of taking a language class but in some was was even better. If you took a verb(command), the dictionary(manual) would tell you exactly what nouns(variables) and adjectives(conditions) you could use with it. And in what order you had to use them, and what the response would be. All the computer did was let you do it repeatedly and faster.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

Have you taken a math class since then?

Uhhhhh. Since chemistry? I think I took a geometry class, which I liked but this was also so long ago I forgot most of it. And that... filled all my math requirements, and that was the end of that.

Kinda shows how screwy the system is, doesn't it? I mean, I know I have some serious gaps in my education - and I can graduate from college without this ever being an issue. I think. I mean, I almost did once. I don't expect it to be much of a problem this time around either.

And yet, even though I have a GED, I don't have anything near the equivalent of a real high school education. Everything I know about, oh, well, science, but also history, I either learned in middle school or from reading online. Actually, most of what I learned about world history I learned in relation to art, from my into art history classes. I'm pretty solid with language and literature stuff but only because I took a lot of that in community college.

So... really, programming is just logic. I like logic, it never changes :P

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

You apparently have too high of an opinion of what one needs to do to graduate from HS. I know the freshman year, I was in a geometry class with Sr's who were having no problem graduating. Really, what one needs to graduate HS was ridiculously low. Granted a lot of people take advantage of a lot of classes in HS, but a lot don't. The difference is what one wants to do when they get out. If I had tried to get a 2 year degree after HS, I couldn't have, because I would have been bored to tears, because most of those classes were geared towards those who skimped by in HS. And for comparison, I've never had world history. Wasn't even offered at my HS.

So yeah there may be some gaps in how our system works, but honestly, you aren't the typical GED holder. And I mean that in a good way :)

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

yes, well believe me, I was shocked and amazed at how easy the GED test was. I had been told by many different sources that it only tests you up to tenth grade knowledge but I still expected it to be hard...

I used to spend a lot of time contemplating what exactly the point of high school was supposed to be. Eventually I concluded that it teaches you to put up with things you don't like, so every time you get frustrated with something you don't storm off and have a little hissy fit. Um. Not that I ever did stuff like that. Continuously. All the time.

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

I think there is kinda a problem with how our HS are viewed. You have one group of people who use it to get the basic skills to get a job or maybe a tradeschool, and a group of people who are trying to use it for college prep. And they mix the people all together, and then teach to the lowest common denominator. Sometimes I think we'd be better to go to a system like they have in Germany where non-college bound students go to a Realschule or a Hauptschule, and the college bound students go to a Gymnasium. But then I see the problems that Germany has with that system, and think that maybe it's no so bad here. I dunno.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

your school must have been a lot different from mine. my middle school was tracked, like, very tracked, there was one section of kids that were super accelerated and did three years of school in two, there were two tracks below them that were like... sort of like the honors classes that did more work than everyone else, then there were a bunch of average-ish tracks, and then there were like three that were pretty much where all the problem kids got shifted into. So by the time the accelerated kids were juniors and seniors in high school they were taking all AP classes and then could start college with half their gen ed requirements already filled. Um, I know this cause that was kinda my plan before shit happened. I dunno what they other tracks had planned for them in high school but I know they kept the same basic tiers like we had in middle school and that it was pretty difficult to move between tracks. So they definitely weren't mixing everyone together.

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, nothing that looked like tracks here. Well first we had jr. high schools, not middle schools, and they were just grades 7 and 8. Everyone was pretty much required to take exactly the same classes, with like 1 or 2 electives. I think I had band as all of my electives.

Even in HS there wasn't much as far as tracks. I mean sure there was like advanced english, but really all it was was the same english classes that everyone took, just harder. But there wasn't any requirement that you stay in the class. I took advanced english my Sr year just to avoid the teacher who taught the bonehead class. There was an AP US history class, but you took it as "more" history, not as a replacement for regular history. I took it so I wouldn't have to take in college. Same with chemistry too. Math, well there was like a track there, but it was more like everyone one was on the same track, where you started and finished on it was more of a function of what class you tested into as a freshman. So, I was taking the geometry with the bonehead Sr's.

It was pretty darn hard to be an overachiever where I went to school. I know of one person who would qualify as that, he actually just skipped the entirety of the 6th grade all together, and even then was still one class ahead in math.

So, with tracks, was it like you were in the advanced track for all your classes or would they put you in the advanced classes for some and the regular ones for other? Also how big of a school did they need to support this? I mean I'm not sure how they would have been able to offer that many different classes at my school with the number of students that went there.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

So, with tracks, was it like you were in the advanced track for all your classes or would they put you in the advanced classes for some and the regular ones for other? Also how big of a school did they need to support this?

Well. There were 404 of us as of the first marking period of 9th grade. Not sure how many there were by the time graduation came 'round. And, uh, I keep trying to answer the rest of this but it keeps turning into this long and rambling list of scenarios. In middle school, no, we were accelerated through everything, all together. We had our own classes in high school, too, it wasn't like we just got thrown into science class with the 10th grade, we went right into the honors biology class. But by high school there was the option to drop down to a lower class by subject, if that's what we wanted. I think. I guess? I don't really know.

I just know I missed so much school it was impossible for me to catch up and it pissed me off so much I dropped out. I mean, there were other reasons too, but it was more or less just one big temper tantrum. Not one of my shining moments, although I sure thought I was hot shit at the time.

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Ah okay yeah, you went to quite large school then. For some reason I had it in my head that you grew up in a small town. My graduating class was 124 I think. Probably was closer to 140 at freshman year. I could see having that many classes with having like 3x the students. I'm still mixed on the entire idea of tracks in school. I don't know, in someways it feels like I got cheated because I didn't get the chance to really take all advanced classes. But then again why should I hold that against future generation. But then I also wonder what it would have been like if I actually were in that kind of system. I mean I was smart, just not the best student. You know, the whole "I never studied but still got B's" thing. I might not have been able to keep up anyway. Or maybe it would have helped me learn to study better before I flopped at college.

I worry about the whole socioeconomic class things to. I mean if someone comes in slightly behind(due to not having parents at home to teach them to read etc.) but smart, what chances do they have of being in the advanced track anyway. Are there appropriate provisions to make sure that those who really should be in that track make it there?

I can totally see how in the same situation I would have said F-it to school too. I don't know how much school you missed but assuming about a year, the reasonable choice from the "adult" point of view would be simply start where you left off just a year behind everyone else your age. But I'm sure to the teenage me that would not be an acceptable answer. I'd be frig'n PISSED.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

I do come from a small town. More than one town attended my HS. That's why we had so many kids. Some of them came on busses from farther away.

But then I also wonder what it would have been like if I actually were in that kind of system.

Oh, I hated it. I have a feeling I might have hated it no matter what I was doing, but... when you're a teenager school is like your entire life. And I really, really did not like being pulled away from all my friends - they all had class, if not together, with "normal" kids and I, I got shifted into this other class where we never interacted with the other students and every single one of those classmates of mine were stuck up and cliquish... in the two years that we all had every single class together, not only did I not make friends with any of them, I don't think I even had a conversation with any of them that wasn't some kind of "ok now everyone pick a partner now" situation. Oh, and there were 25 of us. That's an odd number, and yes, that was me always being the odd one out, and I'd go to the teacher and be like, I don't have a partner, and I'd be told, oh, just join another group... and then I'd be left staring at all these other kids who had paired up trying to choose who I was going to force myself upon... half the time I'd just see if I could get away with working by myself anyway...

I was not much of an overachiever. I was not particularly interested in academics, in getting ahead, in being the best... nor was I particularly interested in anything we were studying, ever. I really resented the fact that I could just be coasting by in some easier class but instead had all this work, that I didn't even care about, thrust upon me. And, at the time, to me it felt like I was being cornered at every possible opportunity and being told "you have so much potential, you really need to use it!" or something like that.

I never studied. Like, ever. EVER. I rarely did my homework, and unlike not studying, this was constantly landing me in trouble, not just because I'd get a zero for it but if I kept not doing it I'd get detention too, and if I kept getting detentions I'd end up in ISS... which was kind of comical, sitting there with all the really bad kids who had like started fights or vandalized property and when asked what I did the answer was always that I didn't do my homework. All marking period.

I knew I was a smart kid. Like, scarily smart. And I never understood why the solution to "omg this kid is too smart for school" was "let's give her so much work it's coming out her ears, she'll love that!" I also never understood why I seemed to be the only one who felt so indignant about the whole thing.


As for socioeconomics... well, interestingly enough, these kids in my class, well, part of the reason we just did not interact socially was cause they all lived in the same neighborhood (and rode the same busses, see?) and had all gone to the same elementary school and so already all knew each other... and of course they all lived in big gorgeous houses and their parents were all doctors or lawyers and whatever. At the time it had me wondering why being rich makes you smarter than everyone else...

Are there appropriate provisions to make sure that those who really should be in that track make it there?

I have no idea. I made it there, though, and my parents certainly didn't teach me to read, nor are either of them doctors or lawyers. Evidence seems to point to "no" on that one, though.

Yeah, looking back, as an adult I can say that maybe I should've just stayed in school, at least until I was eighteen, cause public school is free, if nothing else, and the stuff I did in community college is probably close to what I would have been doing in high school anyway. But... I just loved community so much when I got there, I thought it was so great that I could do whatever I wanted... never got in trouble cause all the stuff I used to get in trouble for was no longer against any kind of rule... and it was less work. NO WORKSHEETS IN COLLEGE. No busywork. Just actual work. I loved it.

Hmmm. Be glad you don't know me in real life. I'm sure I would never shut up :P

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Ah we had a small town with 2 jr. highs and 2 high schools. Actually I guess there was a third but it was mostly covered all the people who lived outside of town. Actually I kinda felt bad for them, some of them had 2 hour plus bus rides each way every day. Part of my confusion about small towns is that the limited traveling I've done back east is that every few miles you will get to another town. Here(well where I grew up), umm yeah 100 miles between gas stations isn't unheard of. You always filled the car before leaving town.

In elementary school I was in the "rich" group simply because my parents weren't out in a field every day, but really we were lower middle class. But I was inspired to be an achiever because I didn't want to be like all the people I saw all the time.

I moved across town the year before Jr. High though, and there, it was mostly middle class people. So, without the constant reminder of what it would be like if it went wrong, I kind slacked a bit. More of the opinion why try that hard, as long as I learn the material is what was important. And then maybe I'd be picked on less. At least the preppy type kids at my school were mostly raised well by their parents and on the whole didn't pick on people. The jock types, well yeah, there's a reason I feared PE.

My big issue with school was why I was doing what I was doing. I mean why did I have to do a million multiplication facts and why did I have to do them in less than five minutes. I mean I've already shown you I know them, why does it matter how fast I can show them to you over and over again? And you know, the reason I wasn't paying attention is social studies wasn't that it was boring, it's that I found it so interesting I was reading ahead in the book because the teach was going too slow. And reading class? way too basic, I mean I was reading like the hobbit and the lord of the rings in the third grade. So yes I did find those simple reading books horribly bad. Okay, end of rant about school.

I don't know, maybe lack of being inspired to achieve runs in the family, I mean my dad is quite smart, a very practical type of smart. Like the kind of guy you'd want with you if your car broke down in the middle of nowhere. He was 3 years into an engineering degree before deciding ehh, it just wasn't for him. I think I get a lot of my smarts and practical ability from him. Mom on the other hand I have a feeling was a bit more of a ditz when she was younger. Although she was persistent, she did finally get her masters in teaching the year before I graduate. I probably could have used some more of the persistence genes from her :) I know I got my emotionality from her.

Yeah, you'd never shut up because I'd never let you get a word in edgewise to start :P

Anyway I've got to get to the pool.

[ivy-poet.livejournal.com]

Having been in education classes, I have to tell you that as realistic as tracking is, it's VERY frowned upon. Kinda along the lines of "every child should get the same/highest education" ie, it's not fair to assume that some kids have what it takes to go to college and some don't. Which completely ignores the fact that some kids genuinely don't want to go to college and would sincerely prefer tradeschool or the equivalent.

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I always got that vibe that it was a non-starter in my home town too. Then again, it could have been the fact I grew up with a parent who was a teacher.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

depends on where you live. Philadelphia has magnet schools - that's some intense tracking right there, and no one bats an eye about it.

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Right, but I'm not sure how magnet schools work there (heck I'm not sure how they work here either), but if magnet schools aren't the only way, and the other ways aren't view as being lesser, into college then I'm okay with that. I'd rather not have the next piano virtuoso get beat up in PE, as long as everyone leaving the regular HS is viewed equally when applying to college.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

oh, the public school system in Philadelphia is quite messed up. if you don't go to a magnet school you're pretty much screwed - you're not going to learn anything, no one is gonna tell you when to apply for college or even to take your SATs or anything like that, and besides that, the neighborhood school you'll end up at will be like... dangerous. Like, teachers don't want to work there cause they're afraid they'll get shot. The magnet schools are really great, though, something like 92% of graduates go to college...

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

I am so glad I didn't grow up in a big city. Or at least that big city.

[ivy-poet.livejournal.com]

Yea, I was amazed at how easy the GED was too. And the secretary kept trying to get me to sign up for the prep course and I'm like, "If I don't pass the test, then I'll take the prep course." Glad I didn't waste my time.

I didn't know the GED only tested up to 10th grade, kinda screwy isn't it? But I've said for years that I could've passed the test in 10th grade. I wish I *had* taken it then, seeing as how much school I ended up missing for my surgeries anyway.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

well, I took the GED when I was 16, so this was almost ten years ago. I have heard that it is a little different now, but I don't really know what that means, whether it's harder or easier or covers more stuff or what.

It is sort of screwy... and it makes me wonder what exactly the point of high school is supposed to be, anyway. Of course, I also took education classes, and in my "history of" class we pretty much learned that the purpose of public school was to brainwash the newest generation... and I was just like I KNEW it!

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Lets see, If you are flying JFK to Shanghai, that means China Eastern right?

Well done!

Yeah, well you know, I have spent my share of time flying, that and you know, my employer is kinda involved in the whole air travel business :P

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

AND SO SHE WENT AWAY, LOL.

Kick-ASS :)

I do not have spectacular study skills by far, so you will not learn a thing from me.

I don't know how well you are doing otherwise in this class, but I used to love studying with other people. Why? even though I thought I knew the material, I'd have a hard time regurgitating it on command for the test. So, I'd go to where all the other people in my class were studying and help them with their questions. It was the act of helping them that actually helped me with the material. It's like I didn't really know it until I took it in once and spit it back out at least once. If I just tried to study it on my own, I'd be in trouble.

...and a cigarette.

Well, I'd encourage you to continue having lunch with him just to keep you from smoking if nothing else :)

purple yogurt drink .... give me energy and vitamin C, too.

You know I've never understood how a drink was supposed to give your more energy, unless it was like totally caffeine or speed or something.

I think because I talk a lot in class

Generally the best students do. Well that and the complete idiots who ask stupid questions all the time and annoy the prof. But we know you're not one of those.

And I also ended up spilling....

Why do you consider that spilling? I mean you were talking about Chinese, and you are both in a Chinese speaking class, that shouldn't be a spill, that should be a normal part of the conversation.

So... that counts for something, right?

It counts for a bunch :)

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd encourage you to continue having lunch with him just to keep you from smoking if nothing else :)

Actually, it was a nice time all around, and talking really is a good way to study. It sure beats just randomly talking out loud to myself, which is what I tend to do if I feel like I'm getting nowhere with my attempts to study. Kinda like playing checkers with yourself - takes up your time but is more or less pointless. Talking to an actual person is so much better.

You know I've never understood how a drink was supposed to give your more energy

Well I guess it's supposed to be like a vitamin. Vitamin C does give you energy, sort of like sugar but more even and long lasting but with no crash. I already take a vitamin C though, and more than the recommended amount doesn't really make a difference, so I really should have known better than to trust a drink with a sunshine on the label :)

Why do you consider that spilling?

Hm. You know, I don't really know. I think I'm afraid that when I meet a new person I'll be so happy to be actually talking to someone that I'll talk too much all about myself and freak them out, so instead I find myself more or less being extremely secretive without meaning to. I'm not too good at finding middle ground, I guess. Also I've had problems with people thinking I make shit up, and I really don't like that, so sometimes I just never bring certain things up. Which... probably does not help my case.

[zeegeek.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, that checkers analogy is great. :)

I think I'm afraid that when I meet a new person I'll be so happy to be actually talking to someone that I'll talk too much all about myself and freak them out, so instead I find myself more or less being extremely secretive without meaning to. I'm not too good at finding middle ground, I guess.

Ah yeah, I have that problem too. I find myself mentally going
"okay finish that thought, Pause, let the person interject if they want to. Related thought or opinion that requires comment. Wait for comment.Slightly probing but not too probing question. Wait for response and hope it is more than yes/no."
Seems like too much work for a conversation some times, but I'm too afraid of doing a social faux pas.

RE: making stuff up

Ah yeah, I remember having this conversation before. I think the point I made then still probably applies - people you don't know will take what you say as truth until you give them a reason to doubt you.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

yes, it seems that socially I have gone from "trying way too hard" to "trying really hard to not try at all."

Not sure which is worse, really. I just think about how I used to act and figure, well, at least I'm not like that anymore.

And you're right about people believing me unless I give them a reason not to. It's a hard habit to break, though.

[ivy-poet.livejournal.com]

YAY normal interaction! YAY getting rid of Crazy Anime Girl!

And dude, if Type A Student Guy doesn't mind getting rid of Crazy Anime Girl (and let's admit, he did it in a really nice way) then just let him.

YAY GOING TO CHINA!

About that 4th class, take a fluff class. Something you want to do like, I dunno, sketching or jewelry making or Photoshop 101.

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

I can never figure out what the fluff classes are. More than once I registered for something thinking it'd be my coast-along class only to work harder for it than anything else all semester (and not get that great of a grade besides)

[ivy-poet.livejournal.com]

ZeeGeek had a really good point (as usual :p ), you need insider info. I second the asking Type A Student Guy/Chinese Class Dude (we really need a better name for him, or at least an official one so we're not all using something different).

[ellisbell1848.livejournal.com]

dOOD YOU'RE GOING TO cHINA!! caps lock excitement got the better of me there ;-)