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this class is making me so depressed and sad and its too late to drop it fml. there is literally more assignments than all of my other four classes combined. sinces there is so many assignments there is a shit ton of instructions too. they make no fucking sense! i am so sad. i am about to start crying in class-.- this is literally the hardest class i am taking and i am a science major....this is more complicated than physics.
Geoffrey is massaging me rn so class is a little better:D excited to have our first skype tonight! stay tuned for the blog and possible video....

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here is the first contact by email from my penpal, Geoffrey:
"Hi,

I am Yenjye you can call me Geoffrey as well, nice to having you for this project.

Firstly, briefly introduce myself, i am senior student in Wenzao Ursline University of Languages , studying in Translation and Interpreting department.
Secondly, I can't find your Skype, so maybe you can add me. This is my Skype: jeffrey941207.

Lastly, we have to arrange a time for our first Skype talk. When are you available? Let me know.  Thank you.

Have a nice day,

Geoffrey"

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i am a believer of confucius and his teachings confucianism is china's "moral standard". like in the chapter, Confucius' philosophies on society and government showed us that the foundation of moral society was family. i like how each member in a family have certain eloquent relationships with one another, the young owed elders respect while the elders would provide protection (filial piety).  i feel like being punished by the law if you fail to respect your elders would not be such a bad way of living. there are a lot of crazy people in this world,  i was wondering if there were any circumstances in which one could get away with disrespecting there elders?

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i am a believer of confucius and his teachings confucianism is china's "moral standard". like in the chapter, Confucius' philosophies on society and government showed us that the foundation of moral society was family. i like how each member in a family have certain eloquent relationships with one another, the young owed elders respect while the elders would provide protection (filial piety).  i feel like being punished by the law if you fail to respect your elders would not be such a bad way of living. there are a lot of crazy people in this world,  i was wondering if there were any circumstances in which one could get away with disrespecting there elders?

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i missed class because i am sick:(  But i did read the chapter on traditional chinese virtues. i did some more intense  research about the influences and historical background and found out some pretty cool stuff. i think this chapter is the most interesting chapter so far.
I love my grandparents and respect them so much. my grandma is one of my best friends and i would die for her. i cannot imagine being disrespectful to the elderly. i know today in america this is a big issue and i have seen the reality of it. as a kid growing up in america i have had my faze of disrespectful situations with the elderly. looking back i am very ashamed of the period in my adolescent but i know i was wild and did not think about it as it happened. i was raised in a christian household, though my parents were young and reckless when they had me it turned out to be more of my grandparents trying to teach me the religious way and raise me. which mite be why i disrespected them as a child. now as an adult i can not even imagine a world without my grandparents. I lost my first grandparent this last summer and it was one of the most heart breaking things i have ever experince i respect the chinese culture for

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today we talked about celebrations in different countries and how in chinese new year they watch the Galla performance. this saturday morning is this years galla. we watched a video about the 24 solar terms and how they identified each. the soar calendar is the calendar chinese use which is different then america, that's cool. august 15 there is a festival for the full moon when it is the fullest and brightest. the lantern festival seems like something truly amazing. *bruce lee* :D

NOTES:
-professor and her family cooks a "special" pancake during the first day of spring.
-        24 solar terms= there relation to the natural world. 5 greatest invention of china, evidence of cultural diversity of humanity,
- one year birthday ceremony
- white is not allowed in weddings
- they dont tell people if there gonna die because there spirits

I did some research on the moon festival here is a video i found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sxRRIxC1GE

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with geofrey being 8,000 miles away it is very hard to communicate properly, playing tag over skype we have finally set up our first skype (this thursday). i have done some background research on his school and area. here is a picture of Geoffreys university, the school of english and international studies. this is where i assume geoffrey studies but not 100% sure i will ask him during our first skype. i am both excited and nervous for thursday only because i am not sure how good his english is and i do not know anything about him other than what he sent in the email.

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today in class we learned about children of chinese culture learning to speak and how they comprehend poems. i did not write a post for the last weeks two classes. tuesday was very stressful and i was so tired. the classes voted to have class later on thursdays-.- i have class from 9am and the last thing i want to do is sit in this class longer than necessary. thursday i was unclear on what time we were meeting at....our professor is unclear and does not send out information talked about in lecture and i was so annoyed by tuesday's class i said fuck it and skipped (do not regret it at all) and slept. this class is alot of unnecessary work....sometimes this class is so time consuming start to wish china never existed-.- but this is just my tired mind talking.....i was in the library til 2am studying for an exam i had at 11am today. this will be my negative horrible thoughts on this class post because i need to relive some stress so if you really like this class dont read the next part......
i hate this class so much i want to cry every time i am here. it is so boring and long and i am hungry and tired i want to scream. i got to class early and had to listen to students scratch chairs across the floor for about 5minutes straight. this class is so unorganized and irrelevant to my major it is so frustrating. apparently there is a presentation due... and i refuse to get up in front of these people and pretend to be passionate about a subject i could not give two shits about right now. i honestly can only make out about 66% of words our teacher says, which sucks because i dont know what we are doing in here half the time....were watching some weird music videos in chinese....am i supposed to know what they are saying? this is such of waste of time oh-my-gawd. "which songs do you like best" i like the third one because its very folky and "poppy". i am done for this rant for now...stay tuned for another in the near future...i have a lot of built up anger at 7pm at night-.-
ps. i understand the class is a good learning experience and my negativity is really bad but in the end i am happy to be in the class because i am learning alot about the amazing culture.

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Kathleen = 凯瑟琳

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finally figured out (but not really) what this class is and what i am doing here. i am currently sitting in class un entertained trying to fill this space with words. all i can think about is laying in my bed. today professor is discussing the traditions of the chinese culture like chinese new year is in preparation. she talked about the different roles of each member in a chinese household/family. i found this article about the chinese new years because i think that it is a very extraordinary tradition. "a sixth of the world will observe the tradition"

NOTES:
- Fish= good luck

-        Chinese new year preparation begins.

-        Roles of members in family

-        “Law in china about not giving your parents money every month”

-        Next chapter about traditions on elderly and respecting them how is it different from the western countries?

-        What does my name mean in Chinese?

-        Lunar calender”

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Chinese communities around the globe are preparing to launch their new year celebrations, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar.

Starting from 28 January, the colourful celebrations to welcome in the year of the rooster will continue for around two weeks, ending on 2 February.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2017 Chinese New Year:

What is Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is the longest national holiday in China and New Year's day is the most important date in the Chinese calendar.

Although China has used the Gregorian calendar since 1912, Chinese New Year is based on the ancient Chinese lunar calendar, falling on the second new moon after winter solstice - meaning it changes each year.

It is pronounced "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in Mandarin and "Gong Hey Fat Choy" in Cantonese, although both are written the same way.

Roughly a sixth of the world will observe Chinese New Year, with celebrations in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, along with other countries with significant Chinese populations.

London and San Francisco both claim to host the largest celebrations outside of Asia.

How is it celebrated?

Many celebrations take place, including parades, dragon dances, reunions and elaborate dinners.

Red clothing is considered essential, as it is said to scare off the mythical monster Nian.

Children are traditionally given red envelopes with money inside which they sleep with under their pillows, which is said to bring them good fortune and happiness.

Cleaning the house on the twentieth day of the second lunar month before the New Year, and subsequent house decorating, are both major rituals in the run up to New Year.

Each day has its own celebration: while on Day 2 it is traditional to visit friends and relatives, on Day 3 people tend to stay at home as it is not seen as auspicious to socialise.

The final day, Day 15, sees the Lantern Festival, where red Chinese lanterns are released into the sky.

What does the year of the rooster mean?

2017 is the year of the tenth Chinese zodiac, the rooster.

The year's of the rooster include 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993 and 2005.

However, this is the year of the fire rooster.

Those born in 1957 or 2017 are fire roosters, and are considered trustworthy, with a strong sense of timekeeping and responsibility at work.

They are also thought to be talkative, popular in a crowd and loyal.

Their lucky numbers are thought to be five, seven and eight, and their lucky colours gold, brown and yellow.

Fire roosters are recommended to avoid the colour red and their unlucky numbers: one, three and nine.

The rooster will be followed by the dog in 2018 and the pig in 2019.

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This is how and when Chinese New Year is celebrated

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Chinese communities around the globe are preparing to launch their new year celebrations, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. Starting from 28 January, the colourful celebrations to welcome in the year of the rooster will continue for around two weeks, ending on 2 February.

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got into this class last minute because it was the only course open. missed the first class and the second class was the most stressful 2hours of my life. teacher is nice but there is a lot of random websites and extra stuff she is making us do like this blog. do not really care for chinese culture "tbh".
After reading chapter one I gained a new insight on Chinese traditions and the culture. I read about the influences and religions that shape the culture. I really enjoyed learning about the different holidays and marriage rituals the culture par take in. A person’s name is an very important part of what makes you. It was interesting to read about how in the Chinese culture they use different genders to distinguish names. I really enjoyed this chapter and can not wait for the next!