Got My New Car, Began My New Life in America

 

     I got my new car 4 days ago, not showing up here, because basically nobody reads this blog since Hong went back to China, just for memorizing the first car forever in my life. It's a white Focus 2012. 

     I also got my new Mac from my adviser two weeks ago. I am using amazingly brand new things in my life and I hope I could achieve some amazingly new accomplishment in my life too, especially academically. I really have to work hard. I am preparing for the presentation for the conference in Vancouver next week, and I am writing some proposal to do a research project, hopefully, this will be going well. I have to resume my web programming study and my virtual organization project.

    

     I didn't feel very well yesterday, because I didn't feel very well physically, so I didn't work, and then I felt many other people are working harder than me, and many other people are happier than me, because they have family, and they cook very good food, but I am all alone, and have no good food to eat, or somebody doesn't agree that my food is delicious, I only have one fan of my food, that is my dear roommate Christen. I have this weird relationship with my Mr. Romantic Fantasy, which I don't know where to go and how to deal with. 

     Then I came back home, and read Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational". He says that human beings do not make decisions based on absolute values, all decisions are based on comparisons. Much of my unhappiness also comes from comparison. I am always so greedy. There are always people that are better than me who will make me unhappy. There will never be an end. For example, if I got a new car, I should feel happier than people who drive used cars, but NOT. Because I feel they are more diligent and save more money than me. They work hard, and they buy their car themselves, but I am a spoiled kid using my parents' money...sigh. 

    Now I think I should not compare so much, I am still young, why I keep comparing with people who are 4-6 years older than me, and think they have more experience, they work harder, they have family, and they are happy, but I am not? Even they can swim and I cannot, and they do exercise, and I am lazy, and fat. I will have all those 5 years later, and I have higher starting point than them. It is also because of this higher starting point, I think I have skipped too much experience, which makes me unhappy, but then when I compare with younger kids who start even higher than me, and think they start so early, and this also makes me unhappy, what's wrong with me? It feels so weird being in the middle. However, there is never the highest, and there is always middle. I guess I shouldn't care about everything, every trivial thing, the only thing is worth compare is academic achievement, all other things are nothing (神马都是浮云). Others are just a little bit sugar in life, and maybe make life more relax, but I can live without sugar, and I can still be happy, and be away from diabetes. Hard working is the only thing that will make me happier at this moment, so I should go for it!  

Coming Back to Work

It has been a long time I haven't written anything here. Last semester was a busy and a bit "ridiculous" (irrational) semester somehow. Then I went back to China and then I came back and went to New Orleans for vacation. Now I missed the life of eating delicious food everyday, watching speed-dating TV shows with my parents, going out with friends, listening to Jazz in New Orleans, living in a "free" luxurious hotel, etc. I was too spoiled for this month, and now I've come back, I feel kind of empty. I shouldn't make myself so spoiled and forget about working and studying. One thing was lucky that I finally finished reading Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother on the planes and at the airports. This book makes me feel very guilty about not working hard. Another good thing is I am really relaxed and refreshed now. At least my brain, if not my body because of all these travelling.

Now I've come back. I have to gradually phase into my working status, and not do too many "ridiculous" things anymore. I just have to be patient. To read, write, and listen. It will be my day someday :)

First Paper Draft Accepted

This is a pretty day, and I've got plenty of chocolate in my stomach, because of the ENE special reception during National Engineers Week. They've got all different kinds of cookies as usual, chocolate cake, cheese cake, strawberries and two chocolate fountains! What's more, they have wrappers of four different colors (orange,white,green,black-purple-gray), and I wanted to try every type! These are by no means healthy food, but since I got my new haircut, I am in a very good mood recently, and don't mind eating too much at all. I just want to enjoy my life now.

Although because my phone has opted out of texts, I kind of screwed a "date"...er..but it's okay, I shouldn't care too much. I had a very good conversation with my adviser instead, which is obviously more important at this moment than a "date". After the conversation then, I was reading some interesting papers about IQ tests and the Flynn effect (the secular increase of human intelligence during the second half of the twentieth century). Then my group-mates and I got the notice that our first paper draft *Weighted Social Tagging as a Research Methodology for Determining Systemic Trends in Engineering Education Research* got accepted by the ASEE (America Society of Engineering Education) Annual Conference ERM (Educational Research Method) Division. A conference is trivial in terms of my whole academic life, but this is my first one, in the first year of my PhD life and I am the first author! I generally hate people who like showing off, so I am posting here just for memorization, because I know at the moment, there are only a couple of people following this blog, so this does not count as showing off :)

Hope I have the good luck making it to Vancouver, Canada for the ASEE 118th annual conference & exposition this summer, and have a good time there!
   

My Parallel Computing Mind

I am reading some literature about millennial children and technologies. It is said that these children are typically very comfortable with using technologies and are usually super-multitasking. They claim that: listening to music while studying actually help me concentrate, but the parents simply don't understand us! So I began to re-think the whole notion of multitasking helping concentrate. I was paranoid about that my mind cannot concentrate, because it keeps getting distracted and wants to find some other things to do. Now I begin to realize that this probably is not a bad thing.

First, I don't think this is the result from using modern technologies, because I don't regard myself as a technology geek, I didn't grow up in a super-technological environment or play a lot of video games as the millennial children do. Nor do I feel completely comfortable with using technologies as they do. I feel my brain is naturally capable for multitasking, and if I restrain it, it will have extra energy that cannot be released, and will feel uncomfortable.This extra energy cannot be added to the single task I try to concentrate on, it is just extra and must be released through some other channels to keep my brain healthy. Second, if this empirical feeling is generalizable to people other than me, that is, most people's brain are naturally multi-tasking, there should be all kinds of channels to release the extra energy, but it also highly individual, certain people will feel more comfortable using certain ways than other people. I wasn't feeling comfortable working while listening to music, especially music with lyrics when I was in China,and was thinking in Chinese. Now since most of time I use English in my work and daily life, I feel listening to music with Chinese lyrics can help me concentrate on my English work. I feel my brain think in English and listen in Chinese, and well comprehend them both at the same time. Also since they are completely different languages, they won't interrupt each other. The Chinese songs make me feel at home and keep me calm, warm and awake. Consequently, this calm and secure feeling help me concentrate more in my English thinking. Third, based on my arguments above, the modern technologies actually provide the children more choice of channels to release their extra brain energy, as long as the children find the certain channels that they feel comfortable with, modern technologies have the great potential to help children more concentrate rather than distracted, and keep their brain healthy. Finally, my opinion here is purely empirical, and at this moment, I don't know any of the theories of human mind or linguistics that can support the arguments, but I think there should be some interesting things there if I look into, and I will keep an eye on them, and if any of my readers know something about relevant theories, please don't hesitate to give some advice. Anyway, I am so released that I found some excuse for my "distracted" mind and some effective ways (working bilingually) to help me concentrate.

By the way, today is Valenti's day. It's overall not a bad day, though I still do not have a boyfriend with whom I can celebrate this holiday. I got a call from China in the morning, I went out for dinner in a Japanese-Karen restaurant with a female friend and had a pleasant conversation. When I got home in the evening, I found a box of chocolate on my desk from my sweetheart dear roommate! So, happy Valenti's day, no matter whether you married, in a relationship, or still single! Enjoy the time being single, when you are still single!             

By the End of 2011, I will hate PC?

I am using a PC now, but my adviser will switch me to Mac soon. So I had a bet today with my friend Julia who has a Mac now. She said :"Mac is so beautiful, since you are so art, you will love Mac. I bet by the end of 2011, you will hate PC, if you begin to use Mac soon. I bet you for 5 dollars!" "Okay, I will treat you for dinner!" I said, and we shacked hands. I am just writing it down here as a reminder~ Since I like iPhone so much now, I hope Mac won't let me down :)