Friday, May 16, 2008

Can't see my own blog; Little jobs; Earthquake donating


Ok, it seems impossible to find a blog I like that isn't blocked in China. I was able to sign up for this one, get it all prettied up, write this... I was so happy... but I CAN'T SEE IT. Correct. You just clicked on that link and you're seeing my blog, right? I can't do that. Well, not without being sneaky, I discovered. But I'll keep it because I like it, and continue being sneaky.

My Latest Mini-Job
I'm transcribing an hour and a half lecture on Advanced Energy Efficiency (in industry; by Amory Lovins). It's tough. It's taking me and my poor typing skills a LONG time. I realized (again) that our brains really do like patterns. When the guy says some layman-type sentences, I can remember a half or a whole sentence, pause the video, and type it out. When he uses big words like "axially mounted" and "therefore as in naval propulsion you can do what’s called virtual trail shafting".... well, a whole sentence takes a really long time to remember and type. I'm not going to admit how long it took me to transcribe 5 minutes about gas turbines. Yikes. This is not the career for me. (almost an hour)

I also recently did a little proofreading and will probably do more. They translate from Chinese to English, then I fix it up and make it sound comfortable rather than like a dictionary-robot.

I've been really good at everything I've been doing in this ... field? I hated English class in school, yet here I am proofreading it, transcribing it, teaching it, even helping with a study on it... no, English is not "my field", teaching is. If I know something, I can teach it. It's handy to know what you're good at and not good at. Me: good at teaching, seeing things, solving problems. Not good at math, typing, playing the xiao (vertical bamboo flute).



Earthquake Donating....
I donated blood about 1.5 months ago for no particular reason (I have "panda blood" they call it, the most rare, most wanted) and agreed to be put on a list for emergencies in the future, so I won't try again so soon; they'll call me if they need me. People with normal boring blood are being turned away. There are too many people donating; they're literally overflowing. (...? don't think about that too much, just go on...)


Some people said their companies are MAKING them donate money, and telling them how much to give. I don't think that's right. And I thought about it today as I donated at my very own apartment. If my boss told me I MUST donate 100 yuan, I'd feel.... well I wouldn't feel like I was donating, that's not really donating.


But at my apartment when I came home tonight, there were two big blackboards (every complex has them for notices) with lists of names on them and an amount next to each name. I figured out what it was right away, and chatted with the door guard, elevator lady, and a neighbor about it for a while. (pic above) They told me the other 2 foreigners' names and like a good student I searched the board and found one of them. Then they taught me some new words, which I already forgot.... (oh, I remember "donate" from giving blood) and it felt REALLY GOOD to write my name on that board with my neighbors' names. Really. It was all heartwarming, especially the way the old doorguard guy (in the picture) said "谢谢, 谢谢你, 谢谢" (thank you). In that situation, I felt GOOD giving, and would've felt bad not to. It was really nice.

See? You can pressure people leaving them resentful, or pressure them leaving them feeling good, and thinking it was their idea.

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