General Discussion Thread

[Eris]

University starts tomorrow! :O

Pro: I only have one class tomorrow! 8D
Con: It goes for 3 hours, and the students are kinda intimidating with their passion for design. They're like an antagonistic anime sports team level of intense. But with design instead of sport and team spirit. o__o (It's final year so I don't blame them)

Pro: It starts at 10am, so I'll have time to have a cup of tea (technically stolen shhh) before I walk, and won't have to rush. Which means I can buy a sketchbook before class!
Con: I still have to get up at 6am, and if I had known that Thursday morning was going to be my last opportunity to sleep in past 6... my gosh... I would've taken it and slept all day. Ah, hindsight. -///-

Goal: Pay attention in class, don't suck, make friends.
Maybe.
(Bonus goals: drink tea, buy sketchbook, catch bus to main campus and buy Eng Lit textbook and do the homework for tomorrow's first class. Also don't cry but that shouldn't happen.... >_>)

Good luck! We are all rooting for you! -cheers!-

[Sunflower]

Congratulations, Fen Shen!  If 1.0 is the best possible score, you must have done pretty darn well!
May we ask what your thesis was about?

I can totally sympathize with your feelings re: the balance between opportunity and security in your next job.  In the U.S. you're always supposed to want to be an entrepreneur and not just somebody's employee... but I like regular paychecks, health insurance, etc., and knowing someone else is handling all the paperwork for me.  Plus, I'm actually OK with working with people... mostly... (and journalism does entail dealing with all kinds of people).

Good luck!

Sunflower (a former journalist)

Yesterday I got the official confirmation that my master thesis was accepted (I got 1,3 on a range from 1,0 to 4,0, so I'm quite happy), so now I have finished my studies! I still haven't realised it yet. It felt so good to be a student... 

But I'm also looking forward to my working life, although I don't know yet how it will look like. Currently, I have three options:
- junior researcher (the job interview was great, I'm waiting nervously for their decision)
- public relations assistant (job interview in 2 weeks)
- freelance journalist with a part-time job as assistant of a public relations manager (that's more or less what I'm already doing).
I like each of these options, although I'd prefer not to start my working life as freelancer because I want to have something steady first. It's a really exciting time for me.

I could never work as an artist - firstly because I lack any artistic talent, secondly because I have a big need for (financial and social) security. But I'm hoping I never have to work in a restaurant or a shop etc. either, because... people. Every day. 

[mithrysc]

University starts tomorrow! :O

Pro: I only have one class tomorrow! 8D
Con: It goes for 3 hours, and the students are kinda intimidating with their passion for design. They're like an antagonistic anime sports team level of intense. But with design instead of sport and team spirit. o__o (It's final year so I don't blame them)

Pro: It starts at 10am, so I'll have time to have a cup of tea (technically stolen shhh) before I walk, and won't have to rush. Which means I can buy a sketchbook before class!
Con: I still have to get up at 6am, and if I had known that Thursday morning was going to be my last opportunity to sleep in past 6... my gosh... I would've taken it and slept all day. Ah, hindsight. -///-

Goal: Pay attention in class, don't suck, make friends.
Maybe.
(Bonus goals: drink tea, buy sketchbook, catch bus to main campus and buy Eng Lit textbook and do the homework for tomorrow's first class. Also don't cry but that shouldn't happen.... >_>)

You can do it! (Or maybe you've already started. Time zones, yay. If so...you can finish your goals!)

[OrigamiOwl]

We got our first brief of the year: branding again XD I don't mind branding.

We've gotta create a company/business that's sole concern is happiness and well being. I kinda want to do a cake shop, a cat cafe or a nature walk maybe. Because I like those things. But the teacher thinks that it would be a cooler idea to brand the family farm, as some sort of relaxing tourist place........which I'm not keen on, and don't really understand...? Hmmm. Do people want to visit farms....? O__o is that even a thing??
Mysteries.

Should I go with her idea, (I'd get good marks probably) or be rebellious and do something else?

[Fenris]

Agritourism is a fairly big industry. People paying to stay on a farm and work, basically, or visit and watch animals and the like.

[OrigamiOwl]

Agritourism is a fairly big industry. People paying to stay on a farm and work, basically, or visit and watch animals and the like.

Ah. Ok. I guess people might like to visit cows and such...
Would blossom also be a selling point? I know people like cherry blossoms, but what about apple blossoms? They're not really as exciting :/

[mithrysc]

Ah. Ok. I guess people might like to visit cows and such...
Would blossom also be a selling point? I know people like cherry blossoms, but what about apple blossoms? They're not really as exciting :/

But they're so preeeetty! ...I'm all for any kinds of flowering trees. That could just be me, though.

I also kinda like your other ideas better, but it's up to you anyway.

[OrigamiOwl]

Hahaha today I found out that it's quite challenging to carry an A1 sketch pad across the city during a 30°C thunderstorm..... And my arms were too short to tuck it under one arm, so carrying it was rather awkward -___-
I'm pretty sure my handbag also weighs about 10kg ;_; *collapses and dies*

But still a good day~

[Sunflower]

We got our first brief of the year: branding again XD I don't mind branding.

We've gotta create a company/business that's sole concern is happiness and well being. I kinda want to do a cake shop, a cat cafe or a nature walk maybe. Because I like those things. But the teacher thinks that it would be a cooler idea to brand the family farm, as some sort of relaxing tourist place........which I'm not keen on, and don't really understand...? Hmmm. Do people want to visit farms....? O__o is that even a thing??
Mysteries.

Should I go with her idea, (I'd get good marks probably) or be rebellious and do something else?

Visiting farms is absolutely a thing.  In my former career as a newspaper reporter out on the edge of the S.F. Bay Area, I used to write a fair amount about agriculture (before actual apricot orchards got replaced by Apricot Orchard Villas, A Planned Community  ).  Agritourism was how the area's struggling family farmers were able to keep their operations profitable in the face of competition from big industrial growers. 

http://www.goblossomtrail.com/  A tourist attraction:  the Blossom Trail in central California
Pick-your-own-fruit farms (a/k/a "U-pick") and farmstands:  http://harvest4you.com/
California Agricultural Tourism directory (under the aegis of the "aggie" branch of the University of California):  http://www.calagtour.org/

I get various "foodie" magazines with articles about individual farms, ranches, etc.  If you'd like a couple of examples, I could dig them up for you.

...oops, I guess this means I'm implicitly going along with the proposition "do what the prof likes rather than what really speaks to you," and I didn't mean it to come out that way. 

In case you want to know more about cat cafes, which combine adoption with customer service:
One in Oakland (my area):  http://cattownoakland.org/cat-town-cafe/
Washington, D.C. (in which the owner is shown cuddling an Angora rabbit -- that's what I'd pay to do!)  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/02/06/meet-the-woman-who-left-her-consulting-job-to-open-d-c-s-first-cat-cafe/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/going-out-guide/wp/2014/11/20/so-how-would-a-cafe-crawling-with-adorable-kittens-pass-a-d-c-health-inspection/

Good luck!  Keep us posted! 

[Koeshi]

Speaking of driving lessons, I'm going to have to take them soon and I am terrified at the thought. I am so irrationally scared of driving and I don't know why. Every time I think about sitting behind a steering wheel I get really freaked out and am unable to think about anything else. I'm um, gonna need to get over this. Fast.Oh, and I agree with this completely.

It is scary at first, but trust me you can get over it and the freedom from not needing to rely on public transport or other people to go places is brilliant (especially if you live somewhere like I do where public transport does not exist).

(not really the history or ESL stuff, though. Ya have to know a second language to teach one.)

While most programs do require you to know a second language, not all do.  It does however help a lot.

For those still in uni or just starting, enjoy it as much as you can while you can.  Join societies that share your interests and enjoy the freedom you have, you won't realise how good it is till you leave.  Working full time leaves you with very little free time for things you took for granted at uni.

And for those terrified of working in the public sector.  Yeah it sucks, but it pays and you do not have to get chummy with customers to do your job.  For a long time waiting and bartending was all the work that I could get, and although I prefer to avoid human interaction I managed just fine.

[Fen Shen]

Congratulations, Fen Shen!  If 1.0 is the best possible score, you must have done pretty darn well! May we ask what your thesis was about?

Thank you! The title was "Opinion leaders on climate change - what they know and how they use the media". One of the key results is that people who influence others' opinions on climate change don't necessarily know much about it. 

For those still in uni or just starting, enjoy it as much as you can while you can. Join societies that share your interests and enjoy the freedom you have, you won't realise how good it is till you leave.  Working full time leaves you with very little free time for things you took for granted at uni.

I fully second that.

[Eris]

-cheers for Fen Shen-

[FrogEater]

cheers 2 for Fen Shen! Is the text available in line?

[Fen Shen]

Not yet, and I'm not sure if it will be. And the current version is German only. One of my professors indicated he might be interested in helping me publish a shortened version in a journal, but that's only musing at the moment.
Thanks for all the cheers

[Nimphy]

Sooo, it appears our theatre group is going to Milan this year, yay! Since we'll be adapting Narcissus and Echo, we did some work today on both. I apparently made for a good Echo - and that meant I did far more running that I even do in the PE lesson -_-. "act out your life. No using words or miming. Just invent a core-choreograp-- er, you get it!" Most of the people were moving their hands around, curling up, and other very expressive gestures -- then there was me, running around and giggling (then sitting down and crying - which the director mistook for giggling since I was covering my face) and this other guy who was opening his arms and looking very proud and stomping around and stuff... So all the girls had to learn one of the basic co--cho... that stuff, all the boys had to learn that guy's little sequence, while I was the only one who had to keep running around, then fall down and giggle (then hug the guy who had invented the sequence, who was basically Narcissus).

We also had moments of self-celebration ("Real men are distinguished by vith spathe heve between veir ffont teef!" "I am so good at self-celebration!" "I AM THE MOST POWERFUL MAGE IN ALL OF SILVERMOON, BARNABAS!") and some really nice interpretations of "Narcissus' mirror" (which was the only thing the director told us. When we asked for an explanation, he refused to give it and told us to interpret it as we liked) and well, the play should be ready in two months and we don't have a script or roles yet. Yay.

Also, on other unrelated news, we started an ebook project in class where all of us have to write a short story. Common theme is food. Seems like I'm the only unsociable one who writes by themselves, but I prefer it like this. And since I'm original, I'll be writing about a post-apocalyptic world where genetical modification in food (so see, I did respect the theme) led to humanity being modified themselves and thus creating trol... er, monsters. And the protagonists, in a very typical scenario, are trying to reach a safe heaven. ( Whaddya mean inspired from SSSS?) Oh, and we learned strategy!  We were watching a documentary about the Greek-Persian wars, and most of it was made of describing military tactics employed. I loved it so much

/random rambling