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Uncategorized | Comment (0)Waiting to Wait in Line
Today I experienced a first. After receiving a letter to go and present certain items to the Foreigner’s Office in Nuremburg, I found myself in the waiting area a little confused. One of those signs hung from the ceiling that indicates which number is now invited to which room to receive assistance with their issue. What I didn’t see was one of those machines where you can press a button and get a number. Instead, there was a red/green light sign hanging next to a door, on which another sign with the word “Wartemarken” hung. “Wartemarken” is the German word for those waiting slips you get with a number on them.
So, in this waiting room, where people were seated randomly around the room, you are supposed to keep track of the order you arrived in, so that you can enter the room when the light turned green in this order to get a waiting slip. And actually, you don’t really need to keep track, because all the other people will give you dirty looks and complain if you attempt to go in before them. Afterwards, with waiting slip in hand, you can return to the waiting room and wait for your number to show up on the sign.
Waiting to wait in line. Brilliant concept. 
Favorite AI2009 Contestants
Favorite Contenders
#1: Adam Lambert — killer vocals during group performance
#2: Daniel Gokey — great audition, great vibe, great personality
#3: Felicia Barton — good vibe, potentially great voice.
#4: Matt Breitzke — good heart, great tone
#5: Matt Giraud — nice tone, great group performance
Wildcard Favorites
#1: Anoop Desai — because it’s about time than an Asian American with some soul, humor and intelligence (and a great voice) got into the top 10.
Should Have Been Included in the Top 36
#1: Jamar Rogers — cool vibe, great vocals
#2: Deanne Brown — well-poised, crazy voice.
Casualties (Cut from the show)
India Morrison — fun & talented
Cody Sheldon — surprising but soulful, good song choice
Lenesha Young — original, fresh talent.
Asa Barnes — great attitude, very respectable MJ cover.
Ryan Johnson — good vibe, has potential to wow
Update #1:
No more additions to this list following the San Francisco auditions. None of the showcased singers were really inspiring, except for the guy who was on Wicked and sang “Bohemian Rhapsody”. But…it’s hard to tell if he would sell me on a different song. Let’s see.
Update #2:
Added a few people from Louisville and re-ranked my list.
Update #3:
Changed list based on Hollywood cuts and group performances.
Update #4:
After first live round and votes; have not added new people though that were not previously featured on the show. Will get around to that eventually.
Television | Comment (0)New Year Eve’s Menu
So for New Year’s this year, Andre and I are hanging out in a ski cabin for 14. We’re there for 8 days, and each evening, 2 or 3 people are responsible for preparing dinner. New Year’s Eve dinner will be Raclette (Swiss table grill…lots of fun…but very filling)!
But anyway, the point of this post is not only to take a break from working but also to share the menu that Andre and I are preparing when for our dinner.
This was, needless to say, more my idea than Andre’s:
- Rucola Salad with Pinenuts and Honey Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
- Beef Satay (but we might not do skewers or grilling)
- Risotto with vegetables
- Ice cream with chocolate chili sauce and possibly fried bananas
The test run went well…although we marinated the meat too long. (Yes, I’m still a vegetarian, but Andre’s not…so he gets to take care of the meat.) I plan to burn enough calories with skiing that I will actually need to eat everything in order not to lose weight.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year’s!!
flickr Side Effect
So the neat thing about flickr is not just that I get to share my photos with friends and family but many other strangers as well. Okay that might sound a little creepy…but in this case, it turned out to be very cool…because at least one of my photos turned out to have some value to the Schmap Guides. Schmap chose one of my photos for their Vienna guide, and recently, they published their guides for the iPhone and informed us about it. Pretty cool flickr side effect in my opinion.
Yay Obama!! :) :) :) :)
Oh my god! I didn’t want to expect it, because if McCain won, I would have been extermely disappointed. But I think I’ve never been so proud of my country…and young voters as I am now. Today is just an amazing day for the US. I wish I could be there to celebrate. Where is my red-white-and-blue facepaint????? AAAHHHH!!! :) :) :) :)
SYTYCD Season 5
So, the winner has been revealed, and although I think his journey on the show was possibly one of the most inspiring, my vote would have been for Katee Shean. As stated previously by one of the judges, there hasn’t been one dance, in which she’s performed, that was not worth watching (although I admit that the Broadway number with Katee and Courtney in the finale done by Tyce wasn’t his best).
Twitch and Joshua were both fun to watch and had more entertaining solos, but Katee was still the BEST DANCER for me. I think her solos will only get better as she continues to dance. Most contemporary dancers don’t have the best solos though. Last season, Danny was so great b/c his solos were spectacular, and he is clearly a phenomenal dancer.
Anyway, just want to give Katie a shoutout b/c she made this season really worth watching for me. I also think Chelsie deserved a spot in the final four instead of Courtney, but for me Katee was still my favorite.
…Katee’s Best Dances…
Hip-hop with Joshua (Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown - "No Air")
Samba with Joshua (Angela Via - "Baila Baila")
Contemporary with Joshua (Adele - "Hometown Glory")
Viennese Waltz with Joshua (Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris")
Bollywood with Joshua (Om Shanti Om soundtrack - "Dhoom Taana")
Pas de deux with Will (Dave Archuletta - "Imagine")
Lyrical with Joshua (John Mayer - "Slow Dancing in A Burning Room")
Contemporary with Joshua (Celine Dion - "All By Myself")
Contemporary with Twitch (Duffy - "Mercy")
Television | Comment (0)Girls and Boys in Sciences & Engineering
So, a recent publication in the Science journal seems to have caused many media outlets to declare that girls are no longer underperforming boys in math, now that the number of girls taking advanced math classes has increased. One such example is this NY Times article entitled "Math Scores Show No Gap for Girls, Study Finds".
Of course, the prejudice that boys are better at math still seems to prevail in our societies.
When I was taking Computer Science at University of Michigan from 1999 to 2003, I think there was clearly a highly warped male:female ratio that favored the males. In my current Masters in Germany, the ratio is a little more evened out.
However my main comment regarding this "news" is that I don’t think the issue is girls being better or worse at math. I think we are just as capable as guys at learning advanced math. The problem, in my opinion, is more the teaching.
Oftentimes, teachers and classmates in science & engineering programs are not the most socially adept. It makes for a non-welcoming learning environment, and presents an early warning of what their future workplace might be like. I started in Computer Science with 3 other girlfriends of mine, and one-by-one, they all dropped out. Actually, I did like several of my professors at Umich, but in general, I can definitely attest to the amazing ability for some to bore you during lectures and then overload you with assignments and tests or teaching assistants who could not explain things in an understandable or audible way.
Take programming, for instance. No one ever sat us down and took us through the process of programming anything during my educational experiences. They simply give you a tutorial or some lecture slides or links to resources online and then have you complete assignments. Although I’m not against self-learning, I think this is a wasted opportunity for educators to work together with students and pass on their own experience and knowledge when it comes to programming. Presenting slides on theoretical structures is not really directly useful to most students…those are the first things to go out the window. Students just try to achieve the final deliverable, whether or not their method or code is correct.
Going back to the girl and boy aspect…I think that girls are generally more sociable and interested in working in areas where they have regular and non-awkward interactions with other people. Boys tend to be more closed off and content working on their own. These are at least my views based on my 27 years of observations. So, it’s not a surprise to me that more girls would be turned off by the often antisocial awkward learning process in most science & enginerring programs and opt for a different career.
I’ll probably get a lot of flack/flak for my own male/female stereotypes, but whatever. Everyone has a right to their own opinion. :) Also, I should mention that I did have a few great experiences in group projects and with certain professors, but I had to stick it out through lesser experiences first. And the girls that I knew who had dropped out of the CS program didn’t want to stick around.
Current Affairs | Comment (0)Litte People
Little people - otherwise known as toddlers - have to be some of the most interesting creatures on Earth. They inadvertently teach you about who you are and they help you rediscover the simplest joys in life. Disclaimer: they are also quite needy and prone to tantrums at the most inconvenient times. :)
After two weeks back in the US, I’ve gotten to know one little person, my newly-1-year-old niece, and her antics somewhat well. Perhaps because I’m not yet in the motherly phase, I actually find her antics highly amusing. Like when she starts crying and fussing right before mealtime because she’s hungry but her meal is still being prepared…and then immediately changes to a calm, focused eating machine when the food "magically" appears before her. Or when she went with her parents to Toys R’ Us for her special birthday gifts, a birthday crown and a helium balloon, and well, she doesn’t like things placed on her head and she was scared of the balloon.
Like my niece, many children are given room to express their fears and take their own time and path towards overcoming them and acquiring new knowledge and skills. It’s usually between childhood and adulthood that we become more inhibited and less forgiving of ourselves. Spending time with my niece and being in the position of an aunt and a role model for her is a great self reflection opportunity, in which I find myself questioning my own beliefs (on how to raise a child) and what kind of behaviors to pass on to her.
Oh, yeah…back to simple joys in life. It brings me great joy to see my little person’s face light up with a smile or wide-open grin or a tickled-silly laugh. Her greatest joys at this time are:
1) Peekaboo (or simply hiding/revealing yourself behind any object while keeping eye contact with her)
2) Ahhh-chooo (the sound itself or sometimes actual sneezing)
3) Chasing people or discovering people (around corners or in new rooms) during assisted walking/running (while holding on to a set of adult hands)
4) Lively conversation (seemingly when someone else has smiled or laughed)
5) Looking at pictures (of people we know) in a slideshow
6) Placing objects (like stuffed animals) on top of your head and then tipping your head so that they drop to the floor (sometimes placing the object on top of your head is by itself funny enough)
7) Dogs (especially when they’re barking but not when they come up and lick her)
Lively music (she’s quite the dancer)
9) Those Hard Rock Cafe bears that I collected over the years
10) She is also quite happy to see her mommy, her daddy, her grandma and, depending on her mood, me. Grandpa was only here for 1 week, but she warmed up to playing with him after the first day or two of stranger anxiety.
I may link some photos to this blog at a later time, but as of yet, I haven’t flickr-posted the pics that I have in mind.
Personal | Comment (0)Why Smokers Suck
Apologies first of all to the few smoker friends that I have…
…this is not meant to be a personal attack, but in general, I fully believe that smokers are less considerate people than non-smokers, and today is a perfect example of why.
Today, I came to my favorite coffee spot in Bonn, Germany to do some work. It’s my favorite place because there’s free WLAN, and I usually need it. Since it was raining today, I figured there would be more smokers sitting inside than usual. So, I was very happy to find a spot in the non-smoking section. It’s the non-smoking section, because it’s away from the main areas of the coffee shop, and there are signs on the tables that read "At these tables, please do not smoke". These signs are in German.
After a short while, three girls arrived and sat down across from me. Unfortunately, I noticed that one girl had brought an ashtray with her drinks and food. Sure enough, after a few sips of their coffee and bites of their food, two of the girls lit up. They also began conversing in German. Some of the staff walked by and didn’t do anything.
You know, they have the whole entire other parts of the cafe to smoke in…and they walk into the non-smoking section…ignore the signs…and light up in the small non-smoking section. Awesome!!!!! And the staff patronizes them by doing nothing about it. How lovely that the burden of enforcing the non-smoking rules falls on a non-smoker who’s just trying to get some work done.
So, I play over the scenario in my head…what would be some possible reactions if I mentioned to the girls that this area is non-smoking…even though they’ve demonstrated that they’re capable of understanding German and presumably reading simple German text. But really, given their blatant act of inconsiderateness, what are the chances that they would actually respond politely to such a comment.
Instead, I move myself over to a seat by the doorway, where the cold but fresh air supplies temporary relief from the smoking masses. Really, now. If smoke-laced coffee and smoke-flavored pastries tasted good, coffee shops would be selling those flavors in a heartbeat.
So my conclusion is that smokers smell bad and are less considerate than non-smokers…simply because they presume that everyone will enjoy breathing their second-hand smoke…and they assume that just because they want to increase their chances of developing cancer, that everyone around them also wants to do so.
Blech! Yuck! I absolutely cannot wait until it becomes illegal to smoke in coffee shops in Germany.
Current Affairs | Comment (1)