It is exhausting to anticipate finals week, because it means you have to begin your projects, prepare presentations, finish group works and study for exams. One way to energize yourself during finals is to eat the right food. American teachers know this much better than Chinese teachers. Food is an encouragement, and reward has an [...]
Bridging the Gap: Titanic and censorship
April 23, 2012 By
Director James Cameron’s film Titanic sailed across the Pacific Ocean and met quite a few problems in China’s film market. Titanic was first released in China in March 1998; this old version was complete without any shots missing. However, Titanic in 3D was published in China in April 2012 and lost two camera lenses: one when [...]
Couch Talk: A Clique Label in Motion Tends to Stay in Motion
April 15, 2012 By
Sir Isaac Newton stated in 1687, “Everybody persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.” In other words, an object that is at rest will stay at rest unless an outside force acts on it. Newton [...]
Bridging the Gap: Conversations
April 15, 2012 By
Language barriers can create funny stories. If you make new friends who are from non-English speaking countries, remember to avoid using negative questions. As for international students, the only function of negative questions is to make matters more confusing. When my friend went to Canada, his landlady saw him in the living room and asked: [...]
Bridging the Gap: snacks
April 9, 2012 By
Recently, I was sitting on a bench before class, feeling exhausted. My best American friend walked by and sat next to me. She was worried: “Do you want some carrots? I bought several bags.” I was confused: “Carrots?” She said: “Yeah, you look so tired. Carrots have sugar.”
I’ve noticed since then that many of my [...]
Couch Talk: Understanding our four-legged companions
April 3, 2012 By
The similarities between humans and animals are striking. We look back at our ancestors’ journey as hunters and gatherers where we traveled in packs, similar to the way in which wolves travel. Humans and wolves both tended to travel with their families, were interdependent and were wary of outsiders. Other parallels lie in their ability [...]
Bridging the Gap: education
April 2, 2012 By
Many people outside of the United States think American students live a relaxed life with little homework and pressure. The fact is, education systems are entirely different. The Chinese education system focuses on accumulated knowledge while the American system is emphasized on application of knowledge. For example, the momentum formula “P=MV”, which explains linear momentum [...]
Couch Talk: our four-legged friends
April 2, 2012 By
Understanding Our Four-Legged Companions
By Emily Appleton
The similarities between humans and animals are striking. We look back at our ancestors’ journeys as hunters and gatherers where we traveled in packs, similar to the way in which wolves travel. Humans and wolves both tended to travel with their families, were interdependent and wary of outsiders. Other parallels [...]
Bridging the Gap: Dating
April 1, 2012 By
Do you remember your first date? I doubt your teachers interfered and your parents (if you told them), supported you and tried to be positive influences in your dating life. But in China, dating before 18-years-old is regarded as taboo; young Chinese students should not even think about it.
As far as I know, many American children [...]
Bridging the gap: to be public or private?
March 26, 2012 By
When your teachers hand back your exams, would you or would you not want others to know your grade? Of course, it is the individual’s choice. Transcripts are treated in two very different ways between the United States and China. It is an embodiment of privacy for American students and a public competition for Chinese [...]
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