Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
ENGR 103 is Baller
engr103 last blog assignment
In this class we went through engineering cultures in different countries. In the future, we may apply this knowledge when we work in foreign countries and collaborate with people from different cultures. Also, the community gives an opportunity to make friends faster. I have three same classes with students who are also involved in the community. In other word, I meet them eight hours a week. Another thing I liked in this class was GELC activity arranged by instructors. I almost attended every event that we had so far. At the beginning, I was doing it just for earning extra credits. Then I started to like it. We had interesting times playing bowling and billiard, having free pizzas.
I am not planning to study after finishing Purdue. But I would like to take some foreign languages. I prefer to take German. One of the main reasons of that, German engineering has a great reputation.
The dead week.
Have plans of studying abroad!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
thanksgiving break 2011
I had four more days of break than others. I had only one ENGR 103 class on Monday morning, but I didn’t go there (overslept). That day I went to Wabash Landing movies to “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1”. This was boring, except the last scene, when Bella turns into a vampire. Then I went to “Happy Feet Two”. I was expecting it to be enthralling, but it did not meet my expectations. The first movie was better.
On Tuesday (or on Wednesday) three friends went to Aurora shopping mall. I was looking for a jacket, but I could not find anything I liked. The only thing I bought was a hat from GAP.
At Black Friday I went to Chicago with the same guys. We went through Michigan Avenue; I bought a jacket at Columbia and two sweaters at Banana Republic. After shopping we drove to the Millenium Park. Then we took pictures with Marilyn Monroe sculpture.
On Saturday I went to play soccer. On Sunday evening I eventually was able to start writing an essay and finished it by 5 am. (I got extension for this assignment).
Study Abroad
Dead Week
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Cross-cultural situations
Since I came to the U.S. I noticed several cross-cultural differences between the U.S. and my home country, Kazakhstan.
1) Most people here tend to smile when I look at them. At first, it seemed strange, then started to like it.
2) Students in American universities study hard, not like in my country. Here I see crowd of student in libraries, even at the weekends. In Kazakhstan, students “enjoy their lives”. They start to study just at the end of semester, when finals are approaching.
3)People in Kazakhstan usually eat hot meals. Here, as I noticed, people prefer fast food. In restaurants they order pizzas and hamburgers. Also, Kazakhs almost always have meat in their meals.
4)The next difference I noticed is about grass. In Kazakhstan usually there is prohibited to step on grass in public spaces. You may be fined or caught by police. Here I see students lying, sitting and playing on grass.
5) I was surprised when I first saw group of four-five people running in the street. In my country you won’t encounter this.
6) Bikes, skateboards… Here you may hit by biker in a campus. In Kazakhstan very few people ride bikes in the street, so they look unusual.
The black friday!
I returned back to may dorm at 9 in the morning. It was so much fun. Shopping for 12 hours. wow!
Hope you guys also had a great thanksgiving with your families. :)
Saturday, November 26, 2011
A cross cultural situation observed!
I have seen several such differences in terms of religion and body language too. If one isn't aware about them, they surely lead to misunderstandings and to avoid them one should be aware of the trend of every culture.
Shoes Off
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Classes, Part 1. Calc 2 and Physics.
At the beginning of this semester these two classes were the easiest classes. I even tested out Calc 1 after the first week, then I started to Calc2 which also seemed not difficult. I was thinking to get “A” in these courses. Even both these classes were time consuming because of homework (less time than engr131 though), I handled them with ease. I got almost 100% in the first midterm exams. But it was just the beginning… Topics started to get more difficult. Second exams were worse, third ones … I don’t know their results yet.
In physics I am trying not to lose points in homework, recitations, labs, lecture iclickers, because each point counts. I felt disappointed once I was late to a lecture and missed one iclicker question. Then I was more upset when I and my teammate cannot get all the checkpoints in a recitation. In Calc 2 things are even worse. I completely failed my last midterm (expecting about 50). But I still have two finals, in which I will do my best. Will try.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Problems in Africa
I still imagine Africa as savannahs and jungles with abundant wild animal population. But when it comes to engineering in Africa, I have no idea what it is like in this continent. It seems Africa has natural resources, but nobody utilize them. The main reason of this is poverty. According to UN, 34 of 50 poorest nations in the world are located in Africa. In my opinion, being so poor, governments of these countries do not think about utilizing their natural resources.
Even if the African countries receive investments from the West, this money is not spent properly by governments. Due to wars in countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, governments buy weapons. Another reason might be dictators who do not care about country’s welfare.
Some engineering solution that work in the West, does not apply in Africa. The reason might be unique climate and landscape of Africa. These two have negative effect on constructions.