I had a little freak out over the possibility of being unemployed come graduation so I’ve really kicked things into high gear regarding my job search. I’ve even made a spreadsheet that tracks the dates of application deadlines, interviews, etc. This was mildly inspired by being reminded of the fact that a good friend of mine (who graduated in May 2011) applied to over 80 jobs before securing a position. This friend has a set of skills and a job experience history that puts mine to shame, so I figured a spreadsheet was the least I could do to keep track of everything rather than keep it all in my head.

I’m still a little terrified over the whole impending job search thing, but at least I feel like I can manage things now since I can easily keep track of what I’m applying to and when things are due and such. There are few feelings in this world that are worse than the one where you realized you just missed a deadline for a dream position or program.

But even amidst all this job search stuff, life goes on. Classes are going well, work is great as usual, the internship is turning out to be pretty great, friends are awesome, and all that good stuff. I’m quite pleased.

Based on the critical acclaim this book received, I had good expectations for Maisie Dobbs. Unfortunately, the book fell far short of what I had expected. In creative writing classes (or any writing class, really) the number one rule is to show, not tell. All Winspear seems to do is tell, not show; there are so many pages that talk about how brilliant Maisie is, how clever she is, how hardworking she is, etc., and nothing to really back it up besides the side characters expounding on Maisie’s virtues. Winspear does skillfully weave the story between post-Great War England, pre-Great War England, and France during the war, but the whole novel was too much explaining and not enough happening for my liking. Unfortunately, I won’t be continuing on with reading this series.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009)
Summary: Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone. Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken. Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own. Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed. In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women – mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends – view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t. (from Goodreads)

I read The Help because I’ve been dying to see the movie and I always try to read the book first. It’s a great book; Stockett creates a wonderfully uplifting yet heartbreaking story about “the help” in 1962 Mississippi. Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny are all great characters, each with a powerful, compelling story; Stockett does a great job with her characterization. I became so engrossed in this book that I read the majority of it in one sitting. This book is most definitely worth a read.

The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun (1921)
Summary: The story traces the “adventures” of Ah Q, a man from the rural peasant class with little education and no definite occupation. Ah Q is famous for “spiritual victories”, Lu Xun’s euphemism for self-talk and self-deception even when faced with extreme defeat or humiliation. Ah Q is a bully to the less fortunate but fearful of those who are above him in rank, strength, or power. He persuades himself mentally that he is spiritually “superior” to his oppressors even as he succumbs to their tyranny and suppression. Lu Xun exposes Ah Q’s extreme faults as symptomatic of the Chinese national character of his time. (from Wikipedia)

While I am fully aware that I need to be far more well-versed in Chinese history to fully understand Lu Xun’s critique and social commentary of Chinese society and culture, what satire I did recognize was sharply written. Ah Q is the embodiment of all of China’s faults and flaws prior to the Cultural Revolution, and Lu Xun writes it well. It’s kind of comical to read about Ah Q’s journey, and the end of the story makes it clear as to what Lu Xun’s feelings are about the state of Chinese national character at the time.

Last night, Bill Clinton came to speak at AU! He was a great speaker, although his speech was a little all over the place (unfortunately no one seemed to brief him on the fact that no one at AU cares about science – a big chunk of his speech involved talking physics-type stuff). Also, I think I now know what one of Bill’s favorite phrases is because he said it at least three times: “You can’t get blood out of a turnip.” I think my favorite part was when he was asked a question about politics and he started to say something about the Republicans, but then just kind of stopped, thought to himself for a moment, then chuckled.

I spent late Sunday afternoon and evening preparing dishes I was going to cook for the New Year. Dumplings were a given, of course; they represent wealth for the new year. I’ve never made 饺子 (dumplings) on my own before as my mom always made them when I was growing up, but they turned out really well and I was very pleased. I also made orange chicken, broccoli and chicken stir fry, and green scallion pancakes.

Come Monday (the first day of the New Year) I had some friends come over and we rang in the New Year together over good food and wonderful company. While nothing beats being in Hong Kong with my family for Chinese New Year, spending it with some of my “school family” is the next best thing.

Happy Year of the Water Dragon, everyone!

I start my internship on Monday, which I am very excited about. Monday is also the first day of Chinese New Year! Chinese New Year is my favorite holiday. I wish I could spend it in China or Hong Kong, but I’m still going to celebrate it in style in the US. Just not with fireworks, I suppose…

This past week, I also learned a lot about the power of friendships and the support of those that love you. Which I always knew about, but sometimes it’s good to be reminded of these things from time to time.

The Old Summer Palace is quite possibly my favorite location in all of Beijing. There’s just something about those ruins that is so poignantly exquisite.

Speaking of classes, my last first day of classes will be this coming Tuesday. I’ve been a good student and ordered all my textbooks so I feel semi-prepared for the start of the semester, although I’m still waiting on a couple syllabi from professors. I’m sure it will be a challenging semester, made no less challenging by my impending job search. Sigh, these are all things I’d really rather not think about right now…

It’s been a good week as my friends have slowly started coming back to DC, so it’s been really good to see all of them again. This will only continue next week, which gives me something to look forward to amidst all the upcoming schoolwork that is sure to be waiting for me!

I first heard of The Hunger Games from a friend who proclaimed he couldn’t put the book down once he had started reading it. This, combined with the movie hype, intrigued me; is the book really that good? The answer: yes, yes it is. In Katniss Everdeen, Suzanne Collins has crafted a heroine that is strong, resilient, and a good role model for girls (Stephenie Meyer, take note). The story reads easily, but that doesn’t make it any less good. It’s a novel that sucks you right in, and each of the characters are vivid and memorable. Not only that, but the world of Panem is well-crafted and sets the tone for the Games. It’s an excellent read, and I’m eager to continue the rest of the trilogy. (I wonder if the movie will be as good as the book?)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (2006)
Summary: Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey. (from Goodreads)

Reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close took me on an emotional roller coaster. I laughed, cried, and my heart ached over almost every page. Jonathan Safran Foer has crafted an incredibly unique and distinctive voice in that of Oskar Schell, who is one of the most lovable child characters I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The writing style is experimental, the prose markedly different from anything I’ve ever read. But that doesn’t mean that the themes aren’t universal: love, tragedy, and loss. What is most remarkable about this book is how Safran Foer takes these themes and, even though the narrator is a nine-year-old child, manages to not make this book sappy or a quivering mess of cliches. Rather, it’s sharp and clever and tugs at your heartstrings in a way that reminds you to always tell your loved ones you love them.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (2006)
Summary: Pratchett (of Discworld fame) and Gaiman (of Sandman fame) may seem an unlikely combination, but the topic (Armageddon) of this fast-paced novel is old hat to both. Pratchett’s wackiness collaborates with Gaiman’s morbid humor; the result is a humanist delight to be savored and reread again and again. You see, there was a bit of a mixup when the Antichrist was born, due in part to the machinations of Crowley, who did not so much fall as saunter downwards, and in part to the mysterious ways as manifested in the form of a part-time rare book dealer, an angel named Aziraphale. Like top agents everywhere, they’ve long had more in common with each other than the sides they represent, or the conflict they are nominally engaged in. The only person who knows how it will all end is Agnes Nutter, a witch whose prophecies all come true, if one can only manage to decipher them. The minor characters along the way (Famine makes an appearance as diet crazes, no-calorie food and anorexia epidemics) are as much fun as the story as a whole, which adds up to one of those rare books which is enormous fun to read the first time, and the second time, and the third time… (from Goodreads)

I’ve been recommended this book by friends for so long that I’ve forgotten when I was first told to read it. I’m so glad I read it as this is a really excellent, really funny book. It has a memorable cast of characters and the humor jumps off every page. It reads easily and quickly (I read this in a day and a half) but I almost wish it doesn’t so that the book would have lasted longer! There’s wackiness and unpredictability, and the fast-paced plot means there’s never a dull moment in the story. All in all, a great read. It’s my first time reading anything of Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett, so perhaps I will look into books by the two men in the future.

I don’t have an answer to that question. That’s a little terrifying, to be honest. I know what I want to do, but not what I’m going to do. I started looking at jobs today and now I am more terrified than ever of graduating in May. (I’m so not ready for the real world and having to be an adult!!)

If only “travel and explore the world endlessly” was a legitimate answer to my future employment.