Despite the fact that I have been in Nantes for only a few weeks, I have already noticed lots of differences between the French and American cultures! Here are some of ones that interest me the most:
French people finish their food
I’m not sure exactly why Americans don’t do this, but it is a habit that I have noticed in my host family. Every piece of food on a plate get eaten. No exceptions. I didn’t know this when I first arrived and ended up being really full on the first night!
French people don’t talk to each other
This is very typically of the Loire Valley region. If you don’t know someone, you don’t talk to them. No friendly “hello!” on the subway, no making conversation in a store; nothing. It was a bit strange to go from the “Hope hello” culture to the culture in Nantes, but I’m getting used to it. How people meet new people is still somewhat of a mystery to me.
French people don’t have endless closets
French people don’t have 20 different shirts, jeans in every color, and a jacket to match every outfit. They tend to have a few neutral colored clothing that can be paired in many different combinations. What they do have is lots of fashion savvy, which leads me to my next point…
French people always look their best
Everyone, especially the women, is well-dressed and looks like they just stepped off the runway. I have not seen a single person wearing sweatpants. Black, the chicest color, is very prevalent, along with riding boots and scarves. As a fashionista, this is a dream come true for me.
French people don’t snack
There are only three meals in the day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Midnight snacks, or even snacking between meals, doesn’t happen. The petit dejeuner, or breakfast, is in fact very petit (example – a slice of bread), while the diner is the biggest meal of the day.
France definitely has a very distinct culture. I’m trying to adapt but still feel a bit like a tourist. I can’t wait for the day when I feel like a vraie francaise!
As some of you may know if you have read some of my earlier blogs, I am an Exercise Science major and hope to go to graduate school for physical therapy. Since I am on that path, I need quite a few observation hours before I can apply for school. Hope requires its students to have 150 observation hours in order to graduate and some of the people I have talked to that are in PT school right now say you should have around 300 hours in order to be competitive with other students. That’s a ton of hours, right? I really needed to get started on those as soon as possible.
Last May I had an internship through Hope and completed those 150 hours, which was a huge relief. However, I still needed more somehow. Therefore, I sought an internship at a place called SCAR (Sports Conditioning and Rehabilitation) back home in Tustin, CA. Although I was only around for a few weeks, I was able to get some hours there. It was especially nice because the sports clinic is a location I am most interested in working in, so shadowing there was really good. I managed to get to know most of the therapists and learned quite a bit from them. Although I am not licensed to work with the patients necessarily, I was able to administer laser therapy on them which is a technique like ultrasound that increases the amount of mitochondria in the affected region and speeds up the healing process by sending different currents of energy into the region. Regardless, I was able to do that as well as wipe down tables and help explain some simple exercises that they should be doing.
Something that I learned while there that I hadn’t been exposed to before was a method called Strain-Counterstrain. Basically, this is a technique where you elongate the muscles and have them relax by manipulating various pressure points of the body, which relieves pain. I’m not lying when I say this: more than a handful of people who had this treatment performed on them all called it a “miracle.” Being able to learn about that and be exposed to such a different type of therapy was really rewarding because it clearly was beneficial for everybody who had it done and is something would like to look further into.
In addition to just observing physical therapists, it’s also important to develop relationships with them so that you can possibly as for a letter of recommendation because you will need at least one from a licensed professional for graduate applications. Luckily, one of the therapists at SCAR said she would write me one, so I am super grateful for that because it’s a tough subject to bring up because there’s fear of rejection but sometimes you just have to ask because you will kick yourself in the butt later if you don’t try. At least that’s how I’m looking at it.
Overall, my experience at SCAR was very positive and I hope to return but it’s hard to tell with everything going on in regards to school and what summer brings. It was definitely great getting more experience, but it also made this Christmas break a lot more productive and useful. Best of luck this next week with classes and everything, but I’ll keep you all posted of stuff going on here on campus shortly!
Happy Wednesday to all! I made it to the halfway point of this week. I never thought this would happen assuming how cold it’s been. This week, West Michigan experienced a Polar Vortex thing. As I mentioned in my first #Snowpocalypse blog, Hope College cancelled class at noon last Friday because of deteriorating weather. From Friday until TODAY, WEDNESDAY, the weather is still awful. And let me clarify about this crazy weather. Not only did it happen in West Michigan, but it happened everywhere. Here is a NASA photo that The Grand Rapids Press posted on their website.
Snowpocalypse. I wasn’t exaggerating.
See? Saying snowpocalypse was an understatement. It should be more like, ICE AGE. Anyways, that weekend was fun because I got to spend a lot of time with Hannah and Divya. Let me update you on this week now. Surprisingly, Hope did not close school this past Monday and Tuesday. I mean, we’ve already had 2.5 snow days. BUT, all public schools, colleges, and universities around us closed down due to deteriorating weather. So, it was frustrating at times, yes, but I’m glad we had school – no make up work.
Transitioning to my classes: although Hope did not cancel school, my clinical on BOTH Monday and Tuesday were canceled because of the inclement weather. Taking a trek to Grand Rapids in THIS weather is merely not worth it, especially if it means risking your life. This week has been interesting to say the least. I had no clinical Monday and Tuesday, so I did SO much homework and studied for my exam tomorrow. I feel pretty good about it! Here is a random picture of me frozen due to Mother Nature.
I’m frozen and can’t feel my face.
I am happy I didn’t have to risk my life going to Grand Rapids, but this makes it so that we are not gaining our experience at our clinical site. But as always, safety first! So instead of the trek to Grand Rapids, I trekked to the library to study. We LITERALLY have 3 feet of snow on the ground. It is practically up to my waist. Want proof?
Look at the snow. P.S., 2 thumbs up for not having clinical!
Long story short, so much wind, so much snow, so much ice, and it won’t stop. I just can’t get a break, and this weather was fun at first. Now it’s just irritating. I feel bad for the people that live north of Grand Rapids. If you think we were hit hard, imagine that X 1,000,000,000 (1 billion)! My little brother has his 4th snow day today. I don’t think has ever happened! Anyway, there is my update on Mother Nature.
Random side note: This week, I’m going vegetarian just to see what it’s like. I already miss bacon, but this will be fun. Yesterday, I made tofu stir fry and fried rice. Let me tell you, it was one of the best things I’ve ever cooked. Here’s a pic!
I’m going veg!
If you all have any awesome suggestions for vegetarian meals, let me know! Today, I’ll be having salad for lunch, and spicy black bean burger for with fried rice for dinner! Ok folks, stay warm and safe out there! If you have suggestions for veggie meals, or just want to chat, you should probably follow me on twitter at @HopeMarvin15.
This week is so still so freezing. Many people said the campus should be shut down, but I think the college cannot do this too frequently because it seems this weather will last for a couple weeks. It is hard to go anywhere. This situation will not be strange if you are from Michigan, while this is a good chance for you to see the snow if you are from California.
At the weekend, I went to a gathering for the coming Chinese New Year, which is January 31st. This new year will also be celebrated by other Asian countries including Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and so on. Our Chinese new year has a very simple name in Chinese: the Spring Festival. This name implies that the new year always starts as the beginning of Spring. If it also works in America, then we will probably say bye to the annoying accumulated snow in one week 🙂
Dumplings are a traditional food we have in Chinese new year.
Chinese Dumplings
It looks tasty, and it tastes even better than it looks. However, like other Chinese food, dumplings are a not easy work to do. When I was in high school, my mom always have to wait till a free day to make it. There are many procedures to make it. The modern technology makes it possible to make dumplings in
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It was a great day. And for this coming Friday, we, some Hope students, decide to have a “party” in some Chinese restaurant around here to celebrate the new year. I am pretty hopeful to this event because we did not have much chance to meet each other since we are always busy.
On Saturday evening Hope College’s Student Activity Committee hosted Winter Fantasia, a dance that usually occurs at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids. However, due to the terrible road conditions this year it was hosted on campus at the Haworth Inn & Conference Center.
Even though the location was not as great as the hotel in Grand Rapids, the dance was still a lot of fun. They had great food and a photo booth for people to take pictures. A large group of students still showed up to the dance. Our house ate dinner together at the City Vu restaurant in downtown Holland. The food was great and we had an awesome conversation at dinner and shared some of our goals for the semester. It was fun all getting ready for dinner and the dance together. I always struggle with doing my own makeup but thankfully I live in a house of girls who can do hair and makeup. I’m a little worried about getting ready by myself after college because any time I have something that I need to look nice for my housemates always pick out my outfit and do my hair and makeup. Hopefully I will learn…
Once we arrived at the Haworth we danced for hours, and I was sore the next day from all of the dancing. It was just a fun night with a great group of people. Last year was my first year attending the dance, but I wish I would have gone all four years. I definitely recommend going to Winter Fantasia with a group of friends. Even if you don’t like dancing there were still plenty of people sitting at tables talking and eating. Plus, the food is always great :]
Well, many people have asked me what it feels like to still be at Hope without taking any classes. The answer I normally give is that it doesn’t feel extremely different yet. I still live in the same off-campus house, workout at the Dow, attend the Gathering, play intramurals, spend time at the coffee shops, attend sporting events, stay up way later than I should, and still blog for Hope. I do a lot of the same activities that I did first semester but now I don’t have classes. I am currently working at a church in Holland with middle school students before I start full-time with Edward Jones in June. This semester so far has been a complete blast. I thought I would run out of things to do, but I have found plenty of things to keep me busy. It is nice not having to stress about about completing homework, although I do miss attending classes with friends.
My jobs are keeping me busy, but it is nice to come home in the evening and spend time with my friends and not worry about completing homework or studying for exams. I think this will be a nice semester to transition into my full time job starting in the summer. And speaking of summer, this winter has been nuts! SO MUCH SNOW! I have never seen a winter like this. It has been freezing and flurrying nonstop, but the snow is absolutely beautiful. Thankfully next weekend I will be in Florida with some sunshine to look forward to.
So you’re debating whether the Hope College Campus life is for you…. Not really sure if you should live on campus, off campus, commuter??? WELL. Do I have some good pointers for you. Here are the top reasons I LOVE living on campus and why I will for ALL FOUR YEARS of my undergrad education
Top reason:
1. My financial aid stays nice and happy like I like it. 🙂
Other reasons:
I don’t have to buy toilet paper. It’s always provided.
The physical plant man fixes all my problems like broken stove clocks and burnt out lightbulbs, and even helps me push my car out of a snowbank!!
I don’t pay for electricity or heat (ok you could debate that I do but really I would prefer to think that I don’t).
My driveway gets plowed whenever I want it to!!!!
I am 1.5 blocks away from all my classes (but sometimes that seems really far on Hope’s campus).
I can keep my 7+ meal plan so that I don’t starve!
When I need money, I can walk to an ATM in Dewitt Student Center (disclaimer: this money is not free. It comes from your account…I know…it was sad when I realized that too).
When it’s a snow day, I can still walk to the lab 😉
I literally never have to drive if I don’t want to.
I can get up at 8:22 for my 8:30 class and be on time!!!!
The Hope shuttle that drives around from residence hall to residence hall has a bus stop right at my driveway (SUPER CONVENIENT in this winter arctic weather).
Constantly furnished everything!!!
Now perks of living in an apartment on Hope’s campus:
I have a kitchen to myself!!! And I can bake whenever I please.
I have a living room that is very quiet.
Nobody is allowed in except people I like (ok this is true anywhere I suppose).
I can workout in my living room!
Hope provides shovels and salt for scary winter conditions.
I can put a standup kickboxing bag with my roommates face on it in the living room and she just laughs.
I can have an exercise ball to roll around on.
We are a part of a Hope College neighborhood ( a web of supportive community alliances).
I have a driveway for my little car to park in.
I have a backdoor that leads to wildlife (squirrels, skunks, kittens….).
I have my own WASHER AND DRYER. holler.
I can sleep anywhere in my apartment if I so desire.
I can have late night romcom movie sobbing sessions and nobody will know.
I have every appliance known to man and my kitchen fits them all!!!! (toaster, coffeepot, keurig, blender, crockpot x 3, espresso machine, microwave, rice cooker)
I can leave my homework all over my couch and nobody complains.
I can hang artwork all over the walls.
If that doesn’t make you excited to come to college, I’m not sure what will!!!! Send your questions and comments to amanda.porter@hope.edu or tweet me @hopeamanda15!!
From frigid arctic air, ice, and ungodly amounts of snow, Hope College has endured so much already this semester. I’m pretty sure that this fine institution has made HISTORY. Why? 2½ snow days in ONE SEMESTER. This school never closes because of snow because we’re a residential college. Meaning, the majority of students live on-campus, and faculty/staff live in the greater Holland area. But, mother nature is no match for the Flying Dutch. She definitely stopped by West Michigan and left her mark.
Although she has left the majority of her mark, she’s still lingering, and it’s quite irritating. Nonetheless, that’s not stopping me from my fun! I want share with you all what happened during my extended weekend! So yeah, EXTENDED weekend! The campus closed down at noon, and my only class was at 1. Score. After walking back to my apartment, I did absolutely nothing. THEN, one of my bests, HANNAH, had the brilliant idea of going to Meijer for groceries, you know before we get trapped in the snow. Here’s an interesting quote she said, and it’s so true…
“Why do we always decide to get groceries whenever there’s a winter storm?”
Anyway, there was a bunch of snow on her car. And she was not having it. So, I cleaned it off, but then I realized I didn’t have my gloves on, so Hannah had to finish the snow removal. She was just a little frustrated with the snow.
She’s just not that happy about the snow.
By the way, if any of you need tours of our beautiful campus, Hannah is your girl! She is a tour guide at admissions, and let me tell you, she gives some GOOD tours!! Ok, so after our little Meijer adventure, we worked on some homework (yeah, it’s what we did during the majority of the snow day), then we treated ourselves to dinner, enjoyed a thriller movie called 911 with Halle Berry (SIDE NOTE: it’s really INTENSE), then went to sleep respectively.
Saturday came along, and the weather still has not changed one bit. So much wind, so much snow, and so much frigidness. Might I add, the Holland Road Commission and Hope College took a while to plow the roads, parking lots, and sidewalks because there was simply so. much. snow. Here is a picture on my way to back to Hannah’s apartment. The snow is merely endless.
Endless amount of snow.
My goal for this Saturday: get work done. I had some curriculum development I had to tend to, and some homework. But before I did any of that, I went to the Dow to workout with Hannah and Divya. We were literally working out for more than an hour. And let me tell you, I AM SORE. But it’s the good kind of sore! So, I had so much adrenaline after working out, I was motivated to accomplish everything on my “to-do” list. First on that list was to move my car to my apartment parking lot. Let me tell you, that was a hassle. I got my care out of my parking spot, but I could not get it out of the actual parking lot, so I called for some help. My good friend Austin had to come and help shovel me out. TWICE! Once in the parking lot where my car was, and one at my apartment’s parking lot. Crazy. But, I didn’t feel silly because I saw AT LEAST 10 people who were stuck and digging their cars out. In the midst of the frustration, I took a snowpocalypse selfie. Here ya go.
#Snowpocalypse #selfie
Eventually, I did my work and homework. It ended up being a pretty good day. After homework, I made myself some dinner, and went over to Hannah and Divya’s apartment to finish up some homework, and just hang out! On the way there, there was a huge snow pile. I had to take a picture.
But look at that snow pile.
All I wanted to do was to play in it, but I was not properly equipped. Anyways, after I arrived at their apartment, Hannah was making dinner for herself and Divya, and it looked so amazing, and it was DELICIOUS. Want a picture?
Made by Chef Hannah
Not only did her food look appetizing, it was very decadent. Anyways, after dinner, and just talking, we ended up watching another movie, End Of Watch. I’m currently in the midst of watching it, so I’m going to leave it here for now. I’ll post more tomorrow, make sure you are on the watch!
Our campus is shut down again. At the beginning of this semester, our college closed for two days. It happened again today. I was doing my lab report in CAD lab, and my friend Francisco just showed me the message from college that all classes were cancelled this afternoon. The CAD lab was an ebullition. I felt so glad that I do not need to take the two classes this afternoon because I did my engineering homework till 3 AM last night.
Campus Shutdown
This new semester is pretty short. Sometimes I cannot believe that it is 2014 now. In one week, February is coming. Same as the last semester, I am very busy with my studies this semester because I have two higher-level engineering courses. The two classes have two labs too. Lab is a very weird thing sometimes. It is usually with no credit or just one credit, but it will take you forever… I spent seven hours on my material lab report and I got a 100/100. Not mean to show off… The point is it will pay off.
I like my electronics lab better because of my passion and interest in electronics. You may wonder what we do. Well, here is the fact:
What you think electrical engineers do:
What I think we do:
What my mom thinks I can do:
What we actually do:
By the way, the professor in this picture is my electronics professor, Dr. Abrahantes, originally from Cuba. He is a very awesome professor because he has a different philosophy for education. He said we would be allowed to use anything, including laptop, textbook, notebook and cellphone in our exam. (Well, I assume the exams are not that easy based on this policy…..) And the deadline never means “dead” in his class.
Here is one snapshot in my lab. It looks cool, doesn’t it?
I moved to a new apartment this semester, which is College East Apartment. Here is really cool and I will have another post about this next week. You will also see my adorable roommates….
At the end of this post, I cannot help to share some pictures I took this week.
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If you have any question, please do not hesitate to drop me an email:
xiaodong.wu@hope.edu
Any follow me on Twitter bird: https://twitter.com/HopeXavier16
We are closing up on the third of week of this semester, and this semester finally slapped me in the face. My homework levels have skyrocketed, my extra-curriculars are finally up and running, and my clinical is in full swing. But before I say more, I NEED you to watch this YouTube clip. You’ll hate me for it, but it’s about time and it’s appropriate.
Ok, now that’s out of the way, this week has been a rough one in terms of academia. My classes are demanding, and I’m always busy. I do enjoy being busy, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes, I just need a break! My break is this weekend. I’m so RELIEVED it’s practically here. Anyways, on Monday and Tuesday, I had clinical. These two days are one of my busiest by far. But, I’m so glad they’re at the beginning of the week! On Wednesday, I also have a pretty long day. I go from 1:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. What can I say? Life of a college student.
On Wednesday, the Holland area literally got dumped on with snow. And so much of it. It was so pretty though. It really makes you appreciate this campus for sure. Here is a picture I took of Dimnent Chapel.
How can you not love this school?
But seriously, how can you not love this school? It’s just so majestic. Anyways, so we had a winter storm Wednesday. Thursday was a recovery day for the town. Our campus was (and still is) blanketed in this beautiful white sparkly stuff. Walking to class on Thursday was just so pleasant! BUT, now, we are under another winter storm warning until tomorrow. Honestly, I think this has been one of the worst winters ever. SO MUCH SNOW!
AND I JUST RECEIVED BREAKING NEWS. HOPE COLLEGE IS CLOSING DOWN AT NOON! That means no class for me today! Seriously though, Hope College is making history by canceling classes. And I think my point about this being the worst winter ever is true. I just want to share this photo.
SNOW DAY!
This is surreal. Like, what am I going to do with myself!? Probably stay inside, because if you’re outside for more than 30 minutes, you’ll probably get frostbite. NO JOKE. And by the way, it feels like -20 degrees outside. So, I guess that’s all I have for now. My week was pretty standard, but now here comes #SNOWPOCALYPSE. I’ll have so much to write about! If you haven’t already, make sure you follow me on DA TWITTER at @HopeMarvin15!
