Fireworks on July 4th, 2011

Commencement

I attended the university commencement at the Husky Stadium on June 11 with the hope that this will be my last academic degree.


At Red Square


In front of Suzzallo library


Wearing my UW PhD cap and gown in front of Drumheller Fountain


Walking in to the Husky Stadium


Overview of the commencement


Sitting down and waiting for the ceremony


Walking to the stage


Got my diploma and walking down the stage

Innovation

Chinese government wants to change manufacturing type of economic to innovation type of economic.

Singapore has wanted to do similar things as well. However, I heard it was not very successful. I'm not surprised, as Singaporean government is almost like an authoritarian government that regulars nearly every aspect of people's life with an education system using engineering like teaching for every subject. In addition, critical thinking is not encouraged.

China is familiar like Singapore, and maybe more severe in certain aspects. Chinese government even regulars what kinds of dramas televisions can broadcast. Being critical is strictly restricted. I don't know how successful China could be either. I speculate that China is and will still be very good at manufacturing and improving products. Total innovation will be very rare in China.

A lesson learned

On certain thing, I was about 10 years behind than most of the people.

By chance, I finally did it this year.

I knew this would happen. A lesson learned.

UW Kendo

Saturday was UW Kendo taikai. I forgot to sign up. Thanks for drop outs, I was still able to participate in 1-3kyu matches, even though I don't have any rank. I won one match and lost the second one to the person who won the first place. It was fun to play and watch.

I have to confess: Kendo helped me finish my dissertation!

Salt, sold out!

Talked to my mother on the phone tonight. She told me that salt was sold out in Zhongshan, China where my parents currently reside. This surprised me and also makes me concerns. Salt is one of the most common things for daily life. If it could be sold out, anything could happen. I have bad feeling about this.

Thanks to facebook and MSN messenger, friends informed me that people are stocking up and buying lots of salt now to avoid buying the new batches of salt which could be contaminated from radiation due to Japan's nuclear meltdown.

Another Decade

I was signing up for a Kendo taikai last night,
I found that
I am a decade older than most of the participants!

Chinese New Year 2011

I don't think the new year starts until the Chinese New Year. I really miss the Chinese New Year celebration in China. I haven't experienced it for almost 10 years since I moved to the US in 2001. I miss my family and relatives, the lucky money, the food, the flower and the flower market, and of course the fireworks and firecrackers. Besides, we celebrate the new year for 15 days!

This year, the Chinese New Year is on February 3rd. I hope everyone

一帆风顺 (Smooth)
二龙腾飞
三羊开泰
四季平安 (safe)
五福临门 (blessing)
六六大顺 (smooth)
七星高照
八方来财
九九同心
十全十美
百事亨通
千事吉祥
万事如意！

(Each greeting starts with a number, including one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, hundred, thousand, and ten thousand. However, I don't know how to translate all these Chinese New Year greetings.)

I hope I have a new start in the new year, travel to new places (Tibet, Xinjiang, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shaolin Temple), and eat authentic Chinese food such as 钟水饺, 夫妻肺片, Sichuan hotpot, Hainan chicken, 冬瓜烫，汤包，etc.

SWAT were Outside My Building

Last night around 10:20pm, I heard outside someone shout "Police" and "Search Warrant". Then, I heard someone break into a door nearby. I peeped outside my window and saw a SWAT staying on the top floor of the next building with a gun pointing down towards my apartment building. I was terrified, left the window immediately and stayed inside my apartment. Outside, I could still hear people shouting. Around 10:50pm, it calmed down. When I peeped outside the window again, I saw some of my neighbors staying outside talking. When I opened my door, I saw some of my neighbors gathering outside and a few policemen walking towards their cars. It seemed like one of my neighbors was taken away by the police.

This morning, I saw the building manager. She told me Sam, my neighbor, was taken away. The police found robbery items in his apartment. He might stay in the jail for a while. He looked like a nice person! He lived in that apartment before I moved to the building.

I like watching detective dramas. All the actions on TV are exciting. However, when it happens in the real life, it is terrifying!