Human Race

Today, in my Communication class, we learned about stereotyping.

The professor asked us, students, that

"How many races are there?"

All of us started saying

"million" "too many to count" "three"

As we discussed how many races are out there,

The professor put his index finger (first finger / forefinger) up and quietly said

"one"

"human race"

All the students became very quiet. It was more like nobody could say anything and argue with that.

That's it. It grabbed my heart and caught everybody's attention. I had to write this down on my note, so that I can share with you... so that I can never forget what he said and how we reacted.

Then, he asked us

"There is a girl who is half Caucasian and half black.

What ethnicity is she? What is her race? MIXED? It's not a race. What is it?"

Nobody could answer this question.

One of the students shared his experience. He is a "Caucasian" who has grown up in the US and has never been to any other country. He doesn't speak any other language but English. However, he is partially Asian. 

So, people asks him "where are you from?"

He answers "US"

Then, they go "No, No, No.. Where are you really from?"

He shared with us how frustrating that is. He mentioned that everybody is mixed and nobody is from here except Native Americans, but many people ask him the same question.

It happens to me so many times, but I don't have any problems because I am actually born and raised in Japan. It was just very sad to hear that from him. It sounds like, to me, that.. people treat him like he doesn't belong to his own country. Can you imagine that? How would you answer to the question? How would you react to that?

There is no clear line to separate people.

So

Why do we still force ourselves to put people into categories?

I just loved the answer; "Human Race." That was such a great lecture!

I really wish all of us can be friends no matter what categories we belong to.

I wish all of us can share the great moments together, love one another, and smile happily from our heart.

For "Human Race"
smile!

:)

Hello 2014 !!

Happy New Year

2014

To Everyone

from Vivian and Garfy

Here is my lists of what I will do in 2014. It's very realistic for me. haha

This year, I will....

1. Graduate from University
2. Find a full time job
3. Eat less
4. Travel to at least one different country in the world
5. Get a different hair cut
6. Try to be ON TIME
7. Make "working out" as part of my daily routine
8. Write a new blog post once a week
9. Get a driver's licence
10. Get some licence or certificate
11. Do all the homework
12. Decorate my apartment well
13. Find a new hobby
14. Get a year older (haha)
15. ENJOY rest of the student life in the US

Hope I can complete all of them by end of 2014 :D Do you make lists like this? What is on your list?

Hope you had a happy new year's event

Smile

:)

Thanksgiving weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Thanksgiving is one of the family events in the US. Family get together and eat a huge and gorgeous dinner!!
FUN FUN FUN

oops this was a photo of Christmas! haha I am super super excited about Christmas soo much!

But for students around this time... it's just a stressful weekend. The final week / dead week is coming up very soon. Final exams and final projects are waiting for us. We have to do tons of extra credit works and possibly other missing work. Then, other school work must be keeping you very busy as well. Plus, we have stuff to do outside of the school!! I can totally understand those who are stressed out about stuff right now!

I am super stressed out because I am in between what I want to do and what I have to do.

For example,

I wanna go black friday shopping, but I should sleep or work on homework.

I wanna take a break. Oh then, why don't I work on making food for thanksgiving?

I want my stress to be gone. Okay, I got another one.

I wanna eat a lot, but being too full will makes me sleepy.

:(

I can feel you out there struggling with those stress!!

Cheer up!

Good luck, students!!

inhale & exhale 

Let's be thankful with what we have and who we are.

I am very thankful that I am alive right now. My family is alive and safe as well. I have food. I can go to school. I can learn so many stuff. I can read, write, speak, and so on. I could get this opportunity to be an international students. I have been able to meet so many wonderful people through this opportunity. I am also thankful that I have being able to share a part of my life with Garfy. Oh my I can go on forever!

I would love to be the one who can always be thankful to everything everyday.

How many things and people can you give "thanks"?

Can you say more than I did?

I would love to read about what you are thankful for.

Thank you all so much for supporting me and reading my blog!

Hope you had a great thanks giving day

smile

:)

Group Work : First REAL Fair

I have been taking a leadership class. This class requires us to help an organization. The good thing is that I am not alone; I am with my group members. BUT I'm not gonna lie. Group works are always not easy. There are many different types of people in the world. Of course, there will be problems and difficulties with them and also with myself. On top of that, we have to achieve the tasks and goals that professors and organizations expect us to do together. However, I always learn something very valuable and helpful for me and my future. We can easily apply materials that we are learning in the class. We can meet new people and get to know the different types of people. Because we need to go through many things in a short period of time, OUR time and work become very important and very memorable. There are many pros and cons. I, personally, like it even though it's not easy at all. It's definitely an effective way for me to learn things.

This term is just awesome.

We have been doing many things! Especially, some members are very motivated about what we do for the organization and the class. They do wonderful work!! I have been involving many wonderful opportunities and experiences because of that. We could have picked very simple and easy work, but we didn't. We do two fundraising, create first newsletter from nothing, make a power point, and create & host a huge event for this organization. Each member has their own tasks. I'm mainly working on newsletter, fundraising, and a part of the event. Seriously, those amount of work that we have to do for the organization... our trust for other members and communication between members are SUPER important. It is NOT easy to do that! but... oh my gosh! I just love this team. I don't know how many things I could learn from my team and these opportunities.

This is such a valuable experience.

So, we just finished a part of the projects for this organization. It was a huge part of the projects as well. The fair. It's not a small tiny scale; it was an entire school scale. Many organizations at school involved. Many faculty members and students helped us out. Many students were able to learn about those organizations. I am still overwhelmed. Although I should talk about specific things of what we did there, I honestly don't know what to tell you. It was a great opportunity!

If you want to be an international student in the US, "group work" is something that you have to do in school. I still have a hard time doing "group work" even though I have been an international student for long enough. What I do to motivate myself is to think "I can learn million things from group work." It's all depending on you. How you think about "group work" matters. If you are open to do things with your group and work hard with them, you will definitely learn many many many things and skills. You can't learn those things and apply them to your life if you are just sitting in the class and do nothing. Don't be shy! Ask for help if you need. Everyone will help you out. This will help you to create good connections and lead you to be successful as a team! This is actually what I learned this term from this group so far. hehe This term hasn't ended yet. I am very thrilled to learn many more!

Great work, everyone!

smile
:)