Hello all,
so i realized that i never posted my independent research project. yes, it is 30+pages. - i very seriously doubt any but maybe 1-2 of you are interested in reading it, but even if you just want to read a word or two to see what i spent so much time on..... and if you DO want to read SOME, i would suggest reading the table of contents first ;)
http://anitajohnson08irp.blogspot.com/
much <3 as always,
-anita
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
UCSD!!!!!! :-D
helllloooooo from sunny SD!!! (well, it JUST went behind a cloud but thats ok...)
so i know i was really bad at posting that i got back, but this thing called fast internet in my room really does wonders!
its actually been quite a journey down here.... as i might have mentioned, i didnt have a place to live down here until a few days before christmas, and i never received confirmation of this however.....
i drove down with my parents, arriving at UCSD just after dark on saturday, called the # to meet the RA, who first told me they couldnt find my folder. yikes, but ok... when i was able to meet her, i got a set of keys, but she told me not to unpack bc there wasnt ANYBODY's name on the room so i might have to move. blah. fine. after hanging with some cool peeps all night, but NOT meeting my roommates, i got to reunite with my newman center peeps at mass! By sunday night, i had met all 3 roommates, kim, sunny, and kelly, but my room was rapidly decomposing because i was still not unpacking, but had 4 classes on monday, 2 of which actually required work in advance! lame! ( aka, point #1 that i'm not in kansas anymore, toto....)
point #2: i dont know all the white people here. granted, i am sill most definitely a minority to all the asians, but it was definitely strange to drive around campus and stare at all the oburunis (white ppl/foreigners, who are no longer foreigners, i realize.... well, maybe they are, but ya....)...
point #3: campus is DANGEROUS!!! people walk so fast! and there are ppl on BIKES and SKATEBOARDS (ok, myself included for the first time this morning, but its been a few days) - totally almost got run over by a biker and jumped in fright at another one on monday!
point #4: 1st lecture, bio was a bit of a trip - the prof had a microphone, my seat was comfy, and he used a powerpoint. woa.
point #5: i had to do pre-lab work BEFORE lectures started.....whaaaaaaat? add that to the stress of not being able to move in and being asked a ton of questions on what activities i'm gonna get involved in this quarter....blaaaaaaaah!
point #6: i made a conscious decision to go print some papers for my lab at the library BEFORE i went to check about my room because i was SURE i was going to have to sit and wait for someone for way too long! nope! i just talked to one person, she said everything was fine with my room, and apologized a million times that i had to wait for less than 5 minutes. woooot!
but the whole unpacking thing took a while- i still ahve a box of kitchen stuff that hasnt made it downstairs yet, but i rearranged everything to my liking, and FINALLY today felt at home when i finally set up my speakers! woot! soooo excited
anyway, ive had a really really good week. i've been very social, catching up with people before the quarter eats up all of our time, and its been absolutely amazing. i'm so happy!!!! i'm actually still enjoying my classes, (ochem lab, analytical chem lab, intro to policy analysis (polisci), and 2 frosh courses, bio and physics) especially since the labs look to be much less hassle than the one i took last quarter, and we're finally able to use what we've learned in class, not just spew numbers! or maybe they're just so refreshingly interesting after all this history last quarter hehehehe....
i also really like my apt- its pretty much smack in the middle of campus, i can almost see 2 of my lectures from my room, and its only a 5-10 min walk from i-house! the kitchen and living rooms are less than half the size of last year, but not really tripping about that bc my cooking buddies are still in the beautiful i-house/erc apts...woot! everything's working out with the roommates, we dont really hang out, but that works too!
anyway, its been a really good week for transitions too - a lot of decisions, comparing my life in ghana to here, and what parts (incl personality traits) i want to keep or will be able to keep. i def have a different view on a lot of things, which i know, is like the reason for studying abroad, right? but i really wasnt expecting it, bc its not about my worldview, like i called european colonialists bad names before, was into the social justice and a more balanced learning of the world BEFORE i left. that hasnt changed much, but other than laughing more at people who whine, emo people, racial remarks, and people who watch youtube vidoes all day, (all of which might go away eventually), i think i have changed. i didnt have internet in my room til tuesday afternoon, and i didnt have my printer set up til yesterday, and i didnt freak out. i think i managed to become more patient and calm for the time being, but we'll see if those things continue throughout the quarter....and beyond!! heh. some of that i really hope so! but i could really use a less expensive meal around here, or a bit more downtime before classes go crazy on me heh, but its all good, right?
thanks for listening again! much <3, and since i'm not sure if i'll be posting more, please do email me at ajatucsd@gmail.com or my aim and skype names are both ajatucsd so please do let me know how things are going with you!
peace,
anita
so i know i was really bad at posting that i got back, but this thing called fast internet in my room really does wonders!
its actually been quite a journey down here.... as i might have mentioned, i didnt have a place to live down here until a few days before christmas, and i never received confirmation of this however.....
i drove down with my parents, arriving at UCSD just after dark on saturday, called the # to meet the RA, who first told me they couldnt find my folder. yikes, but ok... when i was able to meet her, i got a set of keys, but she told me not to unpack bc there wasnt ANYBODY's name on the room so i might have to move. blah. fine. after hanging with some cool peeps all night, but NOT meeting my roommates, i got to reunite with my newman center peeps at mass! By sunday night, i had met all 3 roommates, kim, sunny, and kelly, but my room was rapidly decomposing because i was still not unpacking, but had 4 classes on monday, 2 of which actually required work in advance! lame! ( aka, point #1 that i'm not in kansas anymore, toto....)
point #2: i dont know all the white people here. granted, i am sill most definitely a minority to all the asians, but it was definitely strange to drive around campus and stare at all the oburunis (white ppl/foreigners, who are no longer foreigners, i realize.... well, maybe they are, but ya....)...
point #3: campus is DANGEROUS!!! people walk so fast! and there are ppl on BIKES and SKATEBOARDS (ok, myself included for the first time this morning, but its been a few days) - totally almost got run over by a biker and jumped in fright at another one on monday!
point #4: 1st lecture, bio was a bit of a trip - the prof had a microphone, my seat was comfy, and he used a powerpoint. woa.
point #5: i had to do pre-lab work BEFORE lectures started.....whaaaaaaat? add that to the stress of not being able to move in and being asked a ton of questions on what activities i'm gonna get involved in this quarter....blaaaaaaaah!
point #6: i made a conscious decision to go print some papers for my lab at the library BEFORE i went to check about my room because i was SURE i was going to have to sit and wait for someone for way too long! nope! i just talked to one person, she said everything was fine with my room, and apologized a million times that i had to wait for less than 5 minutes. woooot!
but the whole unpacking thing took a while- i still ahve a box of kitchen stuff that hasnt made it downstairs yet, but i rearranged everything to my liking, and FINALLY today felt at home when i finally set up my speakers! woot! soooo excited
anyway, ive had a really really good week. i've been very social, catching up with people before the quarter eats up all of our time, and its been absolutely amazing. i'm so happy!!!! i'm actually still enjoying my classes, (ochem lab, analytical chem lab, intro to policy analysis (polisci), and 2 frosh courses, bio and physics) especially since the labs look to be much less hassle than the one i took last quarter, and we're finally able to use what we've learned in class, not just spew numbers! or maybe they're just so refreshingly interesting after all this history last quarter hehehehe....
i also really like my apt- its pretty much smack in the middle of campus, i can almost see 2 of my lectures from my room, and its only a 5-10 min walk from i-house! the kitchen and living rooms are less than half the size of last year, but not really tripping about that bc my cooking buddies are still in the beautiful i-house/erc apts...woot! everything's working out with the roommates, we dont really hang out, but that works too!
anyway, its been a really good week for transitions too - a lot of decisions, comparing my life in ghana to here, and what parts (incl personality traits) i want to keep or will be able to keep. i def have a different view on a lot of things, which i know, is like the reason for studying abroad, right? but i really wasnt expecting it, bc its not about my worldview, like i called european colonialists bad names before, was into the social justice and a more balanced learning of the world BEFORE i left. that hasnt changed much, but other than laughing more at people who whine, emo people, racial remarks, and people who watch youtube vidoes all day, (all of which might go away eventually), i think i have changed. i didnt have internet in my room til tuesday afternoon, and i didnt have my printer set up til yesterday, and i didnt freak out. i think i managed to become more patient and calm for the time being, but we'll see if those things continue throughout the quarter....and beyond!! heh. some of that i really hope so! but i could really use a less expensive meal around here, or a bit more downtime before classes go crazy on me heh, but its all good, right?
thanks for listening again! much <3, and since i'm not sure if i'll be posting more, please do email me at ajatucsd@gmail.com or my aim and skype names are both ajatucsd so please do let me know how things are going with you!
peace,
anita
Friday, January 2, 2009
Back on track?
Hey!
So i guess for lack of stories on CNN about american students going missing in ghana, you realized that i'm back in california, which is completely true! i got back without any problems, actually nice flights, considering one was overnight to london and the other was the very long journey from london to SFO.
culture shock has been ok, much better than i expected. first difficulty was the damn COLD! the first time i left the house after i got to modesto i literally changed my shirt 3 times because i couldnt figure out how to dress myself. the concept of wearing 2 layers of clothes took a while to get used to! in ghana, i pretty much trashed all my white clothes because i sweated in everything, but the white was less conspicuous!
i'm still scared of the speed of life but i've gotten over american driving a bit more. First meal was definitely a burrito, and i still cant get enough of them, but maybe i should stop because my stomach isnt adjusting as quickly as my appetite! I'm still on my malaria medication (for 30 days after i get back), which isnt difficult, but i definitely dont miss the mosquito nets or being itchy from the knees down all the time! exciting!
i leave for UCSD on saturday, which is really nice, i cant wait to get down there, but i'm still really scared of it! its been really nice to get to see all the family etc, but there's def more life waiting for me down there! i'm taking 2 labs which will be interesting, but i'm pretty scared of the workload. to be completely honest, academics in ghana were absolutely nothing in comparison with UCSD. i only spent 11 hrs/wk in class, had a only 2 papers (one 5 pages, one 2) and 3 tests before finals; this quarter, i'll spend at least twice as many hours/week in class (thanks, labs), and actually have to study! crazy how that works out!
another huge shock has been general sticker shock! lets just say i sometimes got 10 cedi (almost $10) bills from the atm, and couldnt exchange the dang things! i spent about $3.00/day on food; try paying for your $.50 bowl of fufu! angry ghanaian women! yikes! although i ate out at nice restaurants WAY too much in south africa, i think i only paid more than $5.00 for a meal MAYBE 5 times since orientation ended, and now i go to fast food and my $5 almost disapears! boo!
anyway, its all good down here, i just realized i hadnt sent out any updates in a while! oh and make sure you check out the bbc news website, africa section, to see what happens with the election! maybe i'll get into that later when i have fast internet instead of mom and dad's dialup.....!
hope your new year has gotten off to a great start, and hope to see you soon if i havent already!
-me!
So i guess for lack of stories on CNN about american students going missing in ghana, you realized that i'm back in california, which is completely true! i got back without any problems, actually nice flights, considering one was overnight to london and the other was the very long journey from london to SFO.
culture shock has been ok, much better than i expected. first difficulty was the damn COLD! the first time i left the house after i got to modesto i literally changed my shirt 3 times because i couldnt figure out how to dress myself. the concept of wearing 2 layers of clothes took a while to get used to! in ghana, i pretty much trashed all my white clothes because i sweated in everything, but the white was less conspicuous!
i'm still scared of the speed of life but i've gotten over american driving a bit more. First meal was definitely a burrito, and i still cant get enough of them, but maybe i should stop because my stomach isnt adjusting as quickly as my appetite! I'm still on my malaria medication (for 30 days after i get back), which isnt difficult, but i definitely dont miss the mosquito nets or being itchy from the knees down all the time! exciting!
i leave for UCSD on saturday, which is really nice, i cant wait to get down there, but i'm still really scared of it! its been really nice to get to see all the family etc, but there's def more life waiting for me down there! i'm taking 2 labs which will be interesting, but i'm pretty scared of the workload. to be completely honest, academics in ghana were absolutely nothing in comparison with UCSD. i only spent 11 hrs/wk in class, had a only 2 papers (one 5 pages, one 2) and 3 tests before finals; this quarter, i'll spend at least twice as many hours/week in class (thanks, labs), and actually have to study! crazy how that works out!
another huge shock has been general sticker shock! lets just say i sometimes got 10 cedi (almost $10) bills from the atm, and couldnt exchange the dang things! i spent about $3.00/day on food; try paying for your $.50 bowl of fufu! angry ghanaian women! yikes! although i ate out at nice restaurants WAY too much in south africa, i think i only paid more than $5.00 for a meal MAYBE 5 times since orientation ended, and now i go to fast food and my $5 almost disapears! boo!
anyway, its all good down here, i just realized i hadnt sent out any updates in a while! oh and make sure you check out the bbc news website, africa section, to see what happens with the election! maybe i'll get into that later when i have fast internet instead of mom and dad's dialup.....!
hope your new year has gotten off to a great start, and hope to see you soon if i havent already!
-me!
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