Book Recommendation: Shanghai Girls

For one of my classes I needed to choose from a list of books that emulated “Communicating Across Cultures.”  Knowing very little of East Asian cultures, I chose Shanghai Girls by Lisa See.  To get to the main point:  I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read and a plethora of knowledge and philosophical questioning.

The book is about two sisters, Pearl and May Chin, who are sold into marriage to two sons of a Chinese man living in Los Angeles.  They must make a perilous journey to escape Shanghai after the Japanese invade and go to America, even after they tried to avoid leaving in the first place.  Once in America, there are many cultural issues that come up, particularly around raising Pearl’s daughter, Joy, and how Americans view the Chinese immigrants differently throughout time (the book is set from 1937-1957).

The most interesting part of the novel for me was the relationship between the two sisters.  The novel is narrated from Pearl’s point of view, and one can’t help but agree with her reasoning most of the time.  At the end, there are great revelations between the sisters about how they truly feel about their lives, their families, and each other.  Yet through it all, the sisters stick together to battle life.

I need to write a book report, as well, and one theme I found was the constant struggle the women face to keep their Chinese roots while embracing American culture.  Is it possible for them to have roots and wings?  This seems to be a central theme in the book, and a question that is never truly answered.  By extension, is it possible for anyone to have both roots in one culture but be able to embrace and succeed in another, completely different, culture?

Bottom line:  read this book.  It’s a truly great story and actually has a good deal of depth.

How Not To Be A Slacker

1.  Utilize iCal, Google Calendar, the planner you got for Christmas with the puppies on the cover – something – where you will write down every tiny thing that needs to get done:  writing the rent check, studying for an exam, buying groceries, calling your aunt for her birthday, etc.

2.  Actually look at that calendar once in while to make sure you’ve covered everything on your To-Do lists and you’ve made it to all of your meetings.

3.  Set up meetings with friends and/or professors to discuss your progress on a project or to go over a rough draft of a paper.  This forces you to have some part of it – hopefully even a pretty good working draft – done in advance of the due date.

4.  Set aside time each day to do anything you’d like:  read a book (for pleasure!), watch T.V., go for a walk, go shopping, blog, etc.  Surprisingly, this will prevent you from stalling when it’s “work time” because you can’t use the excuse “I haven’t had any me time.”

5.  Dress the part.  If you wear sweatpants 24/7 and rarely wash your hair, it won’t help your expectations for yourself.  Try sprucing up your outfit every once in a while.  It will honestly help you feel energized all day.

6.  Put your iPod in its charger and set it to play a long loop of music.  A short loop, and you’ll have an excuse to play with the music choices every half hour.  Play music from your computer and the temptation to sort through music is constantly at your fingertips.  You get the idea.

7.  Download JDarkRoom.  It’s free shareware that is excellent for writing papers and reports.  JDarkRoom is a minimalist word processing software that goes full-screen so that other parts of your screen aren’t distracting you as you try to focus on your writing task.  When you’re done, simply copy and paste into your word processor to proofread and format.

8.  Maybe you should sign off AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Gchat, and any other IM service you have open…

9.  Reward yourself for finishing something on time.  Eat a piece of chocolate, read another chapter in a fun book, or see a movie the next weekend.  You’ll have time to do those things because the work will be done!

10.  Don’t blog when you should be studying.

Still Waiting for France

I will go here someday...one day.

France.  I’ve wanted to go since I was 3 years old and saw Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  Growing up, it was my dream to learn French.  That dream was put on hold in high school, when I was forced to choose between Spanish and Italian (I went with Italian).  But now, at MIT, I’m learning French – I’m a French major, for Pete’s sake!

This semester, I have the opportunity to apply to travel to Lille, in the northeast of France, for a week to visit l’ENSAM de Lille.  But the flight leaves the same day my brother’s major a capella concert happens.  His group has gotten to the East Coast semi-finals, and it’s a concert I can’t miss.

Will I have another chance to go to France?  Of course!  I plan on working in Paris next summer, and hopefully I can go to Paris in January with a group of students.

It’s hard to keep waiting.  But I’ve been waiting for about 18 years now, and I can hold out a little longer.  But my brother’s concert better be a damn good one.

Bonjour!

Je m’appelle Christina.

My name is Christina.  Most call me Tina.  It doesn’t matter much what you call me, since I am the same person either way.

I’ve created a blog.  Marvelous.  What I shall use it for precisely, I cannot say.  I want to write.  I’ve heard it’s a wonderful stress-reliever, and since stress is prevalent in my life, a blog seems like a good idea right now.

As a French major, I may randomly decide to record my innermost secrets (viewable by the entire world) in French.  Feel free to correct the grammar – it is my second language, despite my love of it.

Alors, j’ai besoin d’aller à mon cours.  Alas, I need to go to my class now.

À bientot!