Agriculture Today

Good Treats, Eats and Reads

2012-01-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

Having heard so many references to my blog lately, I can’t help but feel compelled to… well… blog of course!

The MUST read for anyone spending much time in Ghana: The Imported Ghanaian by Alba Kunadu Sumprim.

Saturday I decided to explore a new part of Ghana, well to me anyways- Osu. It’s quite popular for shopping, dining and whatnot and while I wasn’t really in the shopping mood, I felt compelled to experience Accra while I had time left- don’t want to have any regrets once I return.

As I walked toward the main strip to catch a tro-tro (12-16+ passenger van that serves as public transport), I decided to stop and buy a bottle of water as I didn’t know how long this journey would take.

Ducking into a store to grab some water, I bumped into a woman who teaches at the American school that I have known since my first few weeks in Ghana. We chatted about my break to the US and her trip to Togo and when I was telling tales of my week, she suggested that I read ‘The Imported Ghanaian.’ Her rave reviews had me sold! She also showed me where to buy delicious juices and her favorite juice was back in stock now, no longer ‘finished.’

So naturally, I grabbed a small juice box and large, chilled water. As I got on the tro-tro, I elected to sit in the back to watch everything unravel and take it all in. As I sat there, I drank my juice box, feeling like an elementary student who just boarded the bus, headed for school.

There was a transfer of tro-tros and of course I went the wrong way! I started to head into the Military 37 (the stop was 37 Light) and asking guards and military personnel where the tro-tro was. They pointed me in the other direction and found a woman headed that way to match me up with. Maria was polite and made sure I safely crossed the street with her. She was a military nurse and ensured I arrived at my proper destination before letting me out of sight- such a sweet woman!

As we arrived to Osu, I got off at Koala Hotel, as also suggested by my friend at the store. I found the store she had talked about: Global Mama’s. They are a fair trade group with the cutest clothes that are quite transferable to wear in the US without much eyebrow raising at all! Without really planning on it, I spent most of my money in one spot, which was quite alright :) Of the three dresses I got, the main reason I purchased one, was because the labels have written on them the names of the women that sewed the garment and the dress I selected was sewn by Julia (a little conceited) and Adwoa (the name of one of my “boss’s” and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met). Having a dress that can also represent the deliverables Adwoa and I produce on a regular basis and benefit women with the same names, is kind of nice.

So three dresses and a necklace later, I do my duty to continue walking. Shortly, I stumble upon the sole, SOLE fastfood restaurant in Ghana. That’s right my friends, KFC. (FYI the most popular fastfood restaurant in China- KFC, why? It was the first! Smart, smart company, I see how they operate :) So I got some French fries (no mashed potatoes here) and two pieces of spicy chicken. Quite funny, as I was walking in, a “teenage” chick (not a baby but not a hen) was a bit lost a roaming around… outside of the KFC. So needless to say when the security man opened the door- I told him one got away! (That is so something my mother would say…)

Afterwards, I headed back on the street and passing a household goods stand saw the glow of the greatly wanted: adapter! Don’t get me wrong, the office had given me an adapter, but when the 3^rd prong broke (it’s made of plastic and basically flips the trigger that allows the other two ends to go in and transfer electricity) so for months, I had to carry an ink pen with me that I could use the lid to stick into the 3^rd prong (plastic of course, it was grounded anyways but not worth being risky over) and would have to slyly flip the trigger with the pen lid, push the other two ends in and get my hand out of the way in time for the trigger to be flipped and the two prongs to go in. When he quoted me 2 cedi (~$1.50) each, I bought two!

Walking a little more I decided it was time to go back. I finally caught a tro-tro and at one stop, a random man on the sidewalk stuck his head in the side back window and said “something something tro-tro.,” to me. Most of those in the vehicle turned to look at the man and then at me and I just sat there- while I think it might have been meant to offend, it’s hard to offend someone when they have no idea what you just said :)

Eventually I made it back, quite satisfied with my day out.

The next day I purchased “The Imported Ghanaian” and started to read it this evening drinking a Gulder beer as I waited for my Redred with fried plantain and goat meat to arrive. It is awesome! The author was born in Ghana but at a young age her parents moved to the UK, which greatly influenced her. Planning to return to Ghana and fit right in, her upbringing in the UK defies the easy transition but is extremely relatable to an American, even though I understand there are still differences in her experiences and mine. Every few pages I had a huge grin on my face and sometimes even laughed out loud- it is that good, that true, that believable and allows me a humorous release that no, it’s not just me. I can’t thank the woman who recommended it to me enough, but I bought both of the authors books on good faith and being quite satisfied will read it quickly and pass it on to another deserving and needing foreign volunteer like myself.

Relaxation through Visualization

2012-01-20T11:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, this is my first post since my return to Ghana. While this great revelation occurred before I left, it's been one of those weeks where I needed to draw upon visualization for relaxation.

I've heard that when you are stressed, it's good to visualize something to focus your mind and calm your nerves. This reminds me of meditation where one can repeat a mantra, focus on breathing or visualize something. While I hope to become better at drawing upon visualization as a way to manage stress, when it usually comes to me, I'm in great need and so far, it has worked each time I've tried.

After being halfway through my Friday after work beer and still feeling stressed, I wondered what it would take for me to finally relax and visualization dawned on me- and it worked again!

A few months ago, after a frustrating afternoon, all the little things were starting to get to me. As I sat in the truck driving from point A to point B, I was getting really worked up and didn't see an end to the stress in sight. Then, I saw a cow walking across a military shooting range.

In Ghana, shooting sports isn't like the U.S., so practice for accuracy and is viewed as a military activity. While no one was at the shooting range, I saw this cow walking from one side to another, as if it were walking in the line of fire of all the potential shooters. This struck me as odd and grabbed my attention. I've been to shooting ranges, but never saw a cow at one before, yet wasn't too surprising because cows, goats, sheep and swine often roam freely, fending for themselves where food is concerned.

All of a sudden, I imagined myself at a shooting range back in Missouri (no cows or other critters included).

When I need help relaxing because of STRESS and choose to visualize, my thoughts don't go to the beaches of Costa Rica, the Swiss Alps or even the coral reefs in Thailand, but instead, I go to a shooting range in Missouri.

Shooting requires one's full attention, concentration and body. Physically, you must control your form, grip, aim and breath. Mentally, you must concentrate on the target and outside factors. To pull the trigger, you need complete absorption into the activity.

A gun is a humbling piece of metal. It contains so much force and potential that knowing you are handling a tool like this in just your hands, leads to (what I hope is) an extreme appreciation and cautiousness when using.

In order to even think of pulling the trigger, one must be reassured that the gun is being properly handled from using the safety lock, to loading, pointing (whether loaded or not) and that everyone at the range is in consensus of when to move and when to stay put- safety is first.

Range shooting requires complete focus, both mentally and physically, all while remaining humble at the tool in your hand. When it's actually time to shoot, so many things have already gone through one's mind and the moment you are about to pull the trigger, knowing you are already in the proper stance, take a deep breath, aim the gun at the bulls eye of the target, slowly exhale and as your whole body is in sync, pull the trigger, already prepared for the recoil.

With that much concentration, it's not possible for me to hold on to all of the stresses and issues floating in the air above my head because I have just put my entire body, mind and humility into one single act. Just thinking about aiming at a little circle on a sheet of paper, and all of the focus required, has a calming effect, even if I am thousands of miles and months away from being on a range.

An Overdue Update

2011-12-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

*This post is dedicated to Tim White, who called me out on not posting for a month and a half :)

A lot has happened since Oct 25th and even before Oct 25th that I never shared- fail on my part!

Here is a list of what I have been up to and all are interesting enough to earn their own blog post, hopefully I'll squeeze a few in before leaving Ghana. (I thought this would be quick and easy but by the time I was done, I realized why I felt too busy to post blogs :)

*Oct 11-12th FAGRO 2011 Food and Agriculture Fair, we supported 6 actors to attend and I created posters for them and took photos of the event (subsequently made a movie of the event as a sample of a communications piece that could be put together)

*Oct 14th sat in on my first debrief of returning volunteers and worked with Elselot to have a manageable schedule

*Oct 21st attended a USAID communications meeting for various NGOs, really good experience and learned what other NGOs are doing- some pretty interesting items

*Oct 25th went to Tamale for first time, recorded a volunteer (as previously mentioned) and got to know two more volunteers, business planning volunteer Stephen and journalism volunteer Tim

*Oct 29-30th Had a great weekend traveling to Mole National Park with Tim

*Oct 31st Photographed Elselot presenting a record keeping session to nucleus farmers

*Nov 2nd recorded Tim's presentation to journalists then went to experience a village without electricity listening to the weekly agriculture show- one of the most amazing experiences I've had in Ghana!

*Nov 5-7th Traveled with Tim to Cape Coast and Elamina

*Nov 10th Attended, photographed and interviewed attendees of the Pre-Harvest Networking Event in Tamale with 268 value chain actors from across the country

*Nov 12th photographed vegetable volunteer Mark's presentation and field day demonstrations focusing on soil health and treating insects and diseases on plants

*Nov 13th spent most of the day in my room writing my Personal Statement for graduate school applications. Once finished, I realized I had ringworm and visited the pharmacist for a cream and 'plasters' (aka band-aids)

*Nov16-17th Presented the writing and photo workshop to the Accra office

*Nov 21-22nd Presented the writing and photo workshop to the Techiman office

*Nov 23rd met with a radio station in Sunyani wanting a website

*Nov 24th went with staff to the Pru District for a stakeholder meeting, got dizzy with upset stomach after snacks, went to hospital, diagnosed with malaria and received a shot and medicines- drove back to Techiman for the night

*Nov 25th Slept and watched 'Dances with Wolves' as an ode to Thanksgiving, sadly had no chicken soup :(

*Nov 29-30th Presented writing and photo workshop to Tamale office

*Dec 1-2nd went with USAID Communications Specialist and Photographer to take photos of our actors harvesting, buying seed, at National Farmer's Day (Friday Dec 2nd), etc.

*Dec 2nd got back to the hotel and messaging a friend on Facebook, was logged out and told my account had been disabled because I was not 'an authentic person' and FB refuses to reinstate my page- there went 5 years and 20 countries worth of friends in the blink of an eye. I started a new account that was disabled within 12 hours because I was adding too many people in too little time, therefore indicating that I was a spammer in the FB world. Nothing screams good times like having 3 FB accounts in 24 hours. Luckily, the gender volunteer Mona was able to take me out for a much needed drink after my original account was disabled.

*Dec 3-4th slept in and enjoyed a much needed relaxing weekend

*Dec 6-7th presented the writing and photo workshop to the Bolga office

*Dec 8th back in Tamale I met with the Tamale Implement Factory to help them create a brochure, price list and advise on marketing their products

*Dec 9th flew back to Accra and met a volunteer at the end of his debrief, we had lunch, went souvenir shopping (90% of my shopping done in 1 hour, talk about relief!), came back to the office and finished up tasks for various people and made it out a little after 6 p.m. (the usual in Accra)

~Tomorrow, Dec 10th I'm going fabric shopping and looking for a seamstress to make more Christmas presents :)

~This weekend: editing articles for quarterly newsletter, editing grad school essays, pack my bag to stay at hotel in Accra when I go back to US (packing my clothes and shampoo back and forth isn't necessary), create internet templates from volunteer reports to share on ACDI/VOCA website, other wonderful ideas that come to mind if I have time :)

~Tuesday I am leaving with the Accra office to head to Cape Coast for the company retreat! I've never been on a retreat but think it will be quite interesting. Must take photos! :) It will be good to see all of my new friends from the workshops in Cape Coast. Head back to Accra from retreat Friday morning.

~Saturday evening fly back to the U.S. for Christmas!

~Jan 7th fly back to Ghana for 3 more months. I'm already excited to continue my work- I only have the Wa office left to give my workshop too and then start tying up loose ends (which could take 3 months in itself, and wrongly insinuates more events/projects won't come up!) Working in another country as been a really good experience. The positives far outweigh the negatives and even the 'negatives' provide a great opportunity for reflection and growth.

~April 5th currently plane ticket back to the U.S. (extendable a few weeks???)

*Fun side note: After sharing many stories with a 'kicker' to Mona, I decided to write a book (or at least a word document) of the random escapades I've had around the world. The title: 'SNAFUs of a Young Female Traveler' If all else, I should at least start a list of the different stories that I would include!

My First Day in Tamale

2011-10-25T02:26:00.001-07:00

After I typed my title I thought myself a poet (Tamale rhymes with day FYI). Also, this is one of the first ‘here’s my day’ posts in a while. Sadly, the last post on my flight to Tamale was going to be my first day post but that was a long post for the first 5 hours!

Once we left the airport, we drove to the ACDI/VOCA office. The paved road from the airport was SO smooth- I was in awe! We got to the office and I met David, the Engineers Without Borders Canada, and saw Tim again (Tim’s an ag editor from Ohio and is here to work with journalists to write about agricultural topics- my original job :) The volunteer coordinator wasn’t in so they took me to the hotel to drop my luggage off.

We get to the hotel and I’m excited to see that it’s the one the other two volunteers are staying at. But man was it tiny! Well, we get in and no reservations were ever made and all six of the hotel rooms were booked- yes, there were only six rooms total- I said it was small! I was irritated and the lady was very apologetic but I told her it wasn’t her fault so no worries. She said to send me to a sister hotel that started with an M and another Westerner came out of her room (aka we had been on the same place and she had that last room) and mentioned another really nice hotel that starts with an M. So where does the driver take me? The Silver Rose! Whatever.

I get there, it’s hot and I just want to get to it and start taping the workshop. I love seeing things from start to finish so already missing the first quarter of the workshop was bothering me. I agreed on the room, looked fine to me, grabbed my tripod out of my suitcase and since everything else was in my backpack- I headed back out front. The driver hadn’t left yet and was like- you’re ready already? I said ya, I’ve got things to do, I’m ready to get started. Lol I don’t think they’re used to someone being on such a mission when they hit the ground :)

He had to pick someone else up so called another driver and I waited in the main area. The hotel people were super nice. They weren’t in the main area because it was so hot with the sun coming through all the windows. They guy offered me the seat in front of the fan but I was fine and then a girl offered to move the fan but I didn’t mind so they let it go. They were really nice though. I was impressed at the young guys eagerness for customer happiness and the girls outgoing nature to introduce herself and chat for a bit. It was really nice. Part of me was initially wanting to bail on this place for something cheaper but I didn’t want to leave the nice people.

I saw the driver coming so I met him outside and jumped in the vehicle then he went inside the hotel and came back out- I have no idea why but I wasn’t a fan of not understanding, especially when it was obviously about me- guess who was feeling sleepy?

They take me back to the office and the main volunteer coordinator is back from being at the workshop so we head there. We get there, I set up my camera within 5 minutes (shocked the trainer a bit, he kenw I was coming but I don’t think he was quite ready for me to be that quick about things). I enjoyed the day of taping the training.

At 1 p.m. we went for a lunch break. I went with them and the meal was like a rice and white bean rice dish and they put a sauce on top, served with a piece of meat or fish and some salad. Sadly, the salad looked amazing but that’s not a safe food for Westerners. They piled the plate high and I wasn’t even hungry due to the heat and can’t eat that much when I’m super hungry anways! I put a dent in it and didn’t feel too bad when I noticed only one person ‘cleaned their plate,’ (interesting that I just realized that was an idiom). It was spicy and I was mainly shocked that while edible, I wasn’t a fan. This was the first dish I came across that I didn’t like, but this is being coupled with me eating spicy food while sweating, their beef cattle are also their milk cows and grassfed so the meat wasn’t the tastey, tender meat we raise in the U.S.

After lunch, we went back to the workshop and at 3 p.m. took a five minute break to have a soda (I grabbed another Sprite) and they served a package of cookies, which I really liked :) Once the session ended, I road back with Gary to the hotels. On the way, he had the driver stop so he could buy a papaya- a delicisou tropical fruit hard to get in the U.S. (and expensive). We bought medium sized papayas for 2 cedi ($1.50). I ended up eating half for supper and will eat the other half tomorrow- dinner for $0.75 isn’t bad! Granted, I can’t eat skin and didn’t have a knife or anything but I was able to use my fingers to halve it and then cleaned the seeds out (after taking a picture because they reminded me of fish eggs, eww). I wasn’t sure how to eat it because even though I rinsed it off, there’s still no eating the skin. So I ended up grabbing the cap off my water bottle and using that as a spoon. I figured I would quit eating more out of losing interest from gutting it with a water bottle cap but I actually at as much of it as was ripe!

By the time I got back, I had been told about eating at Laurie’s “There will be a bunch of white people sitting outside” according to the driver. I guess it’s Western. By that time, my neck was killing me, I had a headache, was hot and tired- never a good combination.

I got to the room and had the guy show me how to turn on the A/C and he explained that they were doing work on the pipes so for like three hours there would be no running water for a shower but he could get me a bucket of water. It was 5 p.m. so I could wait to shower (especially sine they have a water heater as well) but he was eager to please so he brought me a big bucket of water. I liked washing my hands at the end of the day, but could have waited nonetheless.

I bought a big bottle of water from the hotel and drank that in the A/C. I noticed that I have four TV stations- a local Ghanaian channel, GTV, CNN and Discovery Channel. I watched Discovery Channel all night!

Finally, after a long weekend I had internet access so I answered a few emails until the connection was lost. The electricity went out once and everything shut down but my laptop was still going, therefore so did I since I wasn’t online.

I charged the batteries that died during training (there is no spare batter for the video camera- I <3 spare batteries) so had to spend the last 30 minutes recording with my digital point and click.

When I realized I didn’t need to wake up until 7 a.m., I decided to type this blog (and the flight post) so as not to get too much sleep. I ended up showering around 9 p.m. There’s an installed showerhead, but it order to get warm water, you have to use the bath knobs and use a handheld shower head. I was happy to have warm water and since it’s so much larger than the water heater at the other hotel, I had more hot water than I knew what to do with. Although, it took awhile for me to realize that there were nighttime bugs around. The occasional one would attach to my laptop but it started to get worse. Then I realized the slated windows in the bathroom were open, letting in the bugs that were making their way to the bedroom. There were a lot more bugs there than in my room so I closed the slates and have kept the bathroom door shut to keep them away from me. That has helped. But a ton had stuck to the bright white tub so I used the handheld showerhead to spray then down the drain- kinda like spraying a trailer with animal poo in it! Only slightly though :)

Also, once I noticed I only had a sheet to sleep under I realized it was chilly (FYI my new room temperature is 80 degrees and that’s too “chilly” for bed! I really don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it when I arrive back to Missouri… in December!

My Flight to Tamale

2011-10-25T02:25:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning at 5:45 a.m. to finish packing (aka put away the pj’s I was wearing and pack my laptop I let charge overnight). I got down to the lobby around 6:20 a.m. and kicked myself when I remembered breakfast starts at 6 a.m. so had I woken up at 5:30 a.m. I could have had one last omelet.

They ushered me to the van that took me to the airport. My flight didn’t depart until 9 a.m. and in Ghana, they advice you to be there “30 minutes before your flight departs!” That’s nothing like the U.S. But, we had to leave early because of the traffic. The driver seemed to know a few short cuts that would shave off some traffic time. The wildest part was this one intersection where a side road joins a large, major road and we’re turning left into three lanes. So guess how many lanes the side road creates to get into three lanes before the light changes? I counted 10! Talk about a jaw dropper- 10 self-made lanes of traffic trying to get into three lanes- craziness! No worries, I made it to the airport alive!

We got to the airport and he dropped me off and as I started to go in, I saw a sign that said international flights and checked with someone else and then walked the street awhile to get to national flights- just because I’m packing heavy doesn’t mean I’m not just going for a two week trip! I get into the airport and this is what I saw:

There are large double doors but aren’t automatic so you have to push your way through- luckily someone was in front of me that held it open. As you enter, there are about 100 (so I did the math and know there are about 96) chairs for people waiting to sit. There are the doors to two restrooms and then when the room opens up, there are about eight luggages check-in areas. They have portable signs and put out the sign of your destination so you know when to bring your luggage up.

While waiting, I got hungry and went to the one little food stand and bought a meat filled pastery to eat- it was pretty good. I also noticed that about half of the passengers for all the flights I saw go out, were Wersterners. It was also freezing cold because they have so many stand up air conditioners that the go everywhere and are cold! They start accepting luggage about 45 minutes before departing. When the time comes, they call your flight to board. You get in line to walk over to the one security/metal detector. All you have to pull out is your laptop- you can take as much liquid as you want and you can keep your shoes on. Once you get on the other side, regardless of the beeps, you are patted down by someone of your gender.

You can grab your bags and go sit in another cold waiting area. I noticed that the only thing being confiscated at check in were aresol cans- which aren’t meant to fly anyways. I thought they take them and whatever but then I noticed they checked to confirm who owned what cans (three men’s shaving creams and one hair spray). I’m not sure why they did that or what ever happened to the cans but the flight staff seemed very accommodating.

When they say it’s time to flight, everyone piles into a van that drives you to the plane. The plane is sitting on the runway and is unlike any puddle jumper I’ve ever been in. It was small but had open propellers(?)/blades instead of wind turbines with the blades enclosed. Once we loaded the plane (oh at no point in time did they ask for my id nor are we assigned seats- you sit wherever lol). Also, my luggage was overweight (not surprised) and the lady told me and I couldn’t do anything about it so she said it was supposed to cost $50 but she would charge me $10 (I thought it started to seem more like a bribe but a cheap one). Then the lady sitting beside her said something and she said nevermind, next time they would charge me. I had my wallet out ready to pay but okay!

We boarded and after we take off, they come around with refreshments. Each passenger got an adult size juice box, a small bottle of water and a sandwich (they said chicken, I call it bologna). I was shocked! The U.S. would give you half a coke and maybe a packet of pretzels for a 1.5 hour flight!

We hit some turbulence and the guy next to me grabbed by arm- I don’t think he likes turbulence, I thought it was entertaining. So once we land (pretty good landing) the plane drives until it stops and everyone was taking their seatbelts and getting up before it was completely turned off- one of the only people I saw wait until the pilot turned off the seatbelt sign (besides myself) was the flight attendant! Then you walk down stairs and walk to the smallest airport I’ve ever seen. For those with reference, it’s maybe half the side of the big red barn on the south side of my parent’s house. For those who can’t relate to that, I’ll try to take a photo when I fly back to Accra Nov 4th.

Then I watched as some guy put all of the luggage on the luggage line by hand. Real kicker- it wasn’t an electrical belt- it was just metal rods side-by-side and the luggage man would have to hand-push the luggage down since it was too heavy to go on its own. Some guy stopped me to confirm I was ADVANCE and then we loaded in the vehicle and headed to the office. Literally when you walk into the airport, you walk straight to where you pick up your luggage and then there are two restrooms and an open door that goes outside. Wam, bam, thank you ma’am! I was so sad my camera was buried in my backpack!

Culture Shock: Prices and Laundry Rant

2011-10-25T02:24:00.001-07:00

In developing countries, items tend to be cheaper, especially compared to the U.S. It’s pretty easy when traveling around Ghana to get a hotel for 15-20 cedi (actually less but I’m willing to pay $10-15).

Food is cheaper- a plate of food that holds twice as much as I can eat, starts at 6 cedi ($4) and of course goes up from there but the average restaurant is about $10. Street vendor food is of course cheaper but nothing I’ve had yet. Although there was one day I bought 2 bags of plantain chips (a little larger than snack size chip bags in the U.S.) for 1 cedi ($0.75). I had an orange on the side of the road for 20 pesewas ($0.15). So those items are pretty cheap. This is in Accra though, and I hear it just gets cheaper when you leave the capital city.

But some things have a similar cost. A latter here is comparable to a Starbucks latte.

The main idea- if you buy it off the side of the road, it will be much cheaper than if you buy it in a restaurant or shopping store.

My biggest shock today was the cost of laundry services at my hotel. It was made to seem like having my laundry done at a hotel was not a big deal, my daily allowance will cover it, no big deal. I turned in the clothes I’ve been wearing for the past 3 weeks (I only brought 9 pants and 10 work shirts in total). I turned in my shirts, t’s, delicates, etc. Total cost of washing: 241 cedi ($150)!!! I was outraged! And said I wasn’t paying and I’m not. That is a ridiculous cost. I bought two tailored two-piece suits in Thailand made from scratch for less than $150. There is no telling me it costs that much to wash them!! Needless to say, I’m appalled. My host pays for my hotel and I told the hotel to likewise charge them for the laundry services.

The other part that makes this situation so stressful is that I am given a monthly allowance since I am here for so long. I leave tomorrow for Tamale where I will have to pay for everything myself and since we didn’t get around to getting my November allowance, I’m on limited funds and have to pay for my hotel and daily expenses, whereas here in Accra, the host pays for the hotel.

Now, I’m concerned that I may not have enough cash for the hotel and daily expenses but things are cheaper outside of Accra AND a volunteer gave me the number and information on other hotels in Tamale that cost 15-22 cedi so I have a back up if the hotel the Tamale office suggests is too expensive. I’m glad I was given that information; it makes me feel a lot better and less stressed but man! $150 for laundry! Not sure I’ll get over that one. Needless to say, I don’t plan on ever using the laundry services here again!

Culture Shock: Extreme Privacy

2011-10-25T02:23:00.000-07:00

I was watching a TV show and dealing with the plot line (a married couple having issues having children) the wife asked her husband how much money he made at work (he was working late now and it concerned her he was cheating) and he refused to tell her because he said it was none of her business. I was truly shocked at this. (This is actually what spurred this post).

I know that when volunteers work with various individuals here, it can sometimes be challenging because they don’t want to share their numbers with others. As a volunteer put it, it wasn’t that long ago in the U.S. that farmers didn’t want to share how many acres they had because figuring out your income could be pretty easy. The same seems to be here and I thought I was aware of privacy, but it is pumped up here.

We were at a meeting the other day and someone made a comment about something happening in 1986. I said, “I wasn’t even born then.” And my colleague was like, “Oh, don’t say that.” My colleague’s comment in that situation seemed to be a concern that I was sharing too much information. Something I found interesting because I obviously didn’t mind but I guess age is among those things that just aren’t talked about.

On the flip side, thinking this, the church I’ve been attending is preparing the congregation to pay their dues (Leviticus 27) and how much those “dues” are and for one family he even spelled out the total amount they would end up giving (when services last 3.5+ hours you have time to go through the family and numbers). I was shocked he was making it so open how much that one family would be expected to pay (FYI the church is only half built so I think this is a type of fundraiser). Also, when the bible says “30 silver coins” and the pastor has interpreted that as US$30 or 45 cedis lol I think he does that to get a little more money- but that’s just my thoughts.

"Culture Shock"

2011-10-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

(So I wrote a blog post on the various areas that were surprising me to find out I was explaing each in too much detail so I will just mention those “shockers” and most will get their own, subsequent blog post to prevent this from being forever long :)

Travelers are warned of culture shock when going abroad. This can take many forms and varies from person to person. Going along with this, one may experience want looks like a roller coaster ride on paper. The roller coaster looks like this:

You arrive in a country and are feeling very elated and happy at the new culture and its novelties. Next you take a dive, feeling upset that things aren’t the way in this country as they are in your own. After a bit, you go back up again, having gotten over those issues and happy. This repeats and usually you are excited when you leave to get back to friends and family but when you return home, after a bit you go back down because you miss aspects of the culture you just left before returning to normal.

So far, I haven’t been too amazed or low. I wonder if this is because working has altered the way I would normally be submersed into a culture- maybe it’s a gentler submersion or more American feeling and therefore it doesn’t seem so novel?

What I mean by culture shock in this post is those areas of culture I’ve been exposed to that have “shocked” me as opposed to the roller coaster ride just explained. Ironically, some of these shocks have been from watching the local stations Ghana TV. And some have been from first-hand experiences, but first hand experiences are often harder to notice than observing those on TV, it’s like being too ‘in-the-middle’ of an issue to notice its different components. For example, who hasn’t been able to give great relationship advice but when it comes to your own, it’s never THAT easy? :)

*Note: as always, these are my assumptions and my attempt to try to figure things out so these aren’t definite, just guesses.

My culture shocks so far:

Marriage Proposals - I’ve already blogged on this so won’t go into more detail.

Extreme Privacy

Prices and Laundry Rant – speaking of roller coaster ride, the laundry sent me a little downhill but I've bounced back!

What Do I Do?

2011-10-25T02:21:00.001-07:00

*Warning, this is very long but very informative if you’re into that kind of thing :)

Another great question: What do you do at work?

To the many people that asked me what I would be doing in Ghana before I left, all I had to go off of were six bullet points so I would give a general and vague answer “teach them how to take photos, videos and make a website.” That’s what my bullet points said so that’s what I knew.

My first week I had a lot of projects thrown my way. While I am technically supposed to work on one assignment for the first half (Farmer-to-Farmer) and another on the second half (ADVANCE) both wanted to give me my assignment when I arrived and since there is some overlap and both need special help in November, it makes sense to work on them at the same time. Plus, I rather like knowing what all is expected from me in 6 months so I can start to pace myself and plan things according to how much time they will take. So far it’s working!

For example, I am creating a training for the staff in the five Ghana offices on writing better stories; taking better, more professional photos; taking video; collecting audio; oh and did I mention all the staff also needs to be taught how to edit these pieces?? It took me years of classes at MU to learn all of these things and some I learned through side projects and not even a class! I was thinking I could do it in a week but visiting field offices, they are busy so my boss offered me two days and I bargained for three :)

Well it has turned out that the offices only want to keep the staff in the office for training for two days but my boss has also decided that I can teach writing and photos now and video and audio later, which is so much better on so many levels.
1st I don’t have to stress on trying to squeeze everything into two 5.5-hour days
2nd This won’t be nearly as much information overload for those I’m training
3rd Writing and photography are the foundations of audio and video respectively.

This is what the trainings look like: I have already created on online survey to assess what there current skills/needs are and then I will go to each office and train for two days (one office is only wanting to give me one day- I said I’d settle for a day and a half). After I train on a Monday and Tuesday, I will then go with my trainees into their daily field assignments to have some one-on-one time with them on incorporating what was learned into their work.

So the first few days will be theoretical and with the last few being practical. Also, due to the time constraints, I will give them ‘homework’ where I will give them written and photo projects due to me Friday morning and I will pick winners for various categories to add incentive to doing well on the projects and I can give them an edit to show them how they can improve.

I’m really excited! I love helping others and conducting fun trainings (my time as a National Collegiate Ag Ambassador really helped improve my workshop skills). Plus, field training is fun but a GREAT excuse for me to get into their field myself, where the farmers are and where I really want to be ☺

Granted this is just the explanation of one project, it is the most intensive I have right now and will use the dozen smaller tasks as fillers for when I only have a few, unplanned days a week. I tried typing my schedule but that got bulky quickly, so here is an outline of the rest of my time from now until December. (I’ve been busy but goodness it all came into place these last few days!)

Monday Oct 24-25: Fly to Tamale and take video of volunteer training
Wednesday Oct 26-28: visit farmers in the north to prepare them for the USAID visit (talk with them and learn about their operation to help them know what information USAID would like to hear in order to make this more worthwhile for all involved)
Monday Oct 31- Nov 4: take video of volunteer training on record keeping for farmers
Nov 4-7: come back to Accra for a weekend and to watch Tim White’s debrief on working with Ghanaian newspapers to cover ag topics
Nov 8th: Fly to Tamale to prepare for a Ghana Grains Council partnership and networking event
Nov 14: join the USAID for their visit to take photos of their visit
Nov 21st: begin training the offices on writing and photography. This gives me just enough time (five weeks) to visit each office for a week each.
Dec 20th: Fly back to the U.S. to freeze my bum off :)

Between these events, a few weeks will allot me a few days here and there to finish my writing and photography training material, as well as continue to work on the website and other miscellaneous tasks as they arise. Never a dull moment in Ghana!

I don’t do much on the weekend, primarily because what do you do? Go shopping? If I buy stuff I have to tote it around! I plan on waiting until my last week in Ghana to go Christmas shopping :) Having spoken with others, I already have a good handle on what to get so it’s just going to be a matter of going out and getting those items. Plus, this is the first weekend where I haven’t had an extra side assignment to be working on from the office here- maybe I can visit a museum today. I hear it only takes like an hour so that could be a nice, small outing- I just have to figure out how to get there ;)

An Average Day at Work

2011-10-25T02:20:00.001-07:00

I’ve had some friends ask me great questions via Facebook and thought that answering those questions would make good posts!

A few days ago, I was asked: What is an average day like?

Anyone who has worked in communications knows that no two weeks are alike- one of the joys to communications! But generally this is what my day looks like:

Wake up around 7 a.m., watch the news (Aljazeera) and get ready, take allergy medicine

8 a.m. head down to the hotel restaurant for my (amazing) breakfast

8:15 a.m. walk from the hotel to the office. It takes about 15 minutes and gives me a chance to have that time between ‘home’ and work, I get to have a little exercise and see other Ghanaians. I liked the morning when a small girl with her mom shouted ‘Abruni! Abruni!’ (Abruni – white person) and she gave me a big smile and wave :) Too cute!

8:30 a.m. arrive to the office and settle in by checking my email, Facebook and lately, the score for the Cardinal’s game! Go Cards!!

9:00 a.m. get started working if I haven’t already! This can mean working on the website outline, continue gathering information and outlining my writing and photo training, editing audio/video/photos. Usually I finally break when I’m getting brain fried for concentrating so hard for so long lol

2 p.m. Go out to lunch, generally within the A&C Shopping area. There is a mini shopping center, the ACDI/VOCA office, other offices, a money exchange, bank, restaurants, gym, etc. The restaurant located under the office is Koffee- it’s a coffee shop and… Chinese restaurant! It doesn’t taste like Chinese (American Chinese or China Chinese) but is still pretty good. There is another restaurant in our sub area of the center called Temptation Café I think that serves a variety of food including Indian and is a little more pricier but good as well. The gym has a pool and a poolside restaurant, which serves a lot of Ghanaian food and is really good and well priced but sitting is tricky since it’s bar seating only BUT they played country music- talk about a shocker!

I usually take a notepad with me to lunch to jot down notes on work items that come to mind because I tend to forget my afternoon plan by the time I get done with lunch if I don’t :)

3 p.m. Return from lunch- it can take awhile to get your food and then to get the check. At the office I have a large Milka caramel chocolate bar (German) that I can break a piece from like a Hershey’s bar and then it has a built in re-sealer! What can I say? I like that chocolate :)

Once I’m back, I pick up where I left off on the guides; search the USAID or ACDI/VOCA websites on templates or outlines for writing, photography requirements (since those are our primary media audiences/distributors); or go around asking people in the office questions on my task that I came up with during the morning but would rather ask questions when I’m getting back into things for guidance when restarting after lunch.

4:50 p.m. I fill my water bottle in the kitchen from the Culligan-esque water coolers for water in the hotel. I generally drink two-three bottles of water while at work and my bottle holds 1 liter or 34+ ounces. I’m staying hydrated :) I start to unplug my laptop charger and get papers together, especially if I’m taking work home or it’s a weekend (or in the case of this past Friday, I’m leaving for two weeks!!). And check email and play around on Facebook for a while.

5:30 p.m. I leave work. I like to wait until this time because the sun has started going down and it’s cooler outside, making for a more enjoyable walk and by this time some of the 5 p.m. crowd has cleared out so it’s not as crowded which can be tricky when you’re walking on the side of the road and meet someone because the vehicles are only a few feet away and drive fast and a tad crazy when possible and there seems to be a sense of vehicles instead of pedestrians having the right of way. (I say that but I’ve had vehicles coming off side roads stop for me to cross the road on my to and from work so it really depends on the drivers).

5:45 p.m. Get back to the hotel, get my room key from the front desk and crash in my room. Relax for a bit and watch the news.

Depending of if I’m hungry, I’ll go to supper at the hotel restaurant anywhere from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. When I return, I take my malaria pill. It’s definitely something you have to take with food. I learned that lesson the first time I took the pill, but then I found out so did many others so instead of taking it at breakfast like normal, I followed the suggestion of another volunteers doctor to take it after dinner. I don’t go out too often for supper but partly because it’s dark by 6:30 p.m. and I don’t feel like walking around after dark by myself. I spend my evening watching news and playing on my laptop, doing any work if I brought it home, working out occasionally, listening to podcasts, etc.

9 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. I go to bed, this leaves a pretty large window but I’ll go to bed earlier if I have to wake up sooner and try to stay up if not to prevent from getting too much sleep.

This is what the average day looks like. If volunteers are around, I will eat supper with them around 6 or 7 p.m. and we will talk until 10 p.m. or later. Most Thursdays I go to Paluma, another hotel in Accra that has a “Quiz” night (British) otherwise known to Americans as trivia night! I love trivia nights, even if I’m not that good at it. I went the first time with some volunteers who were at the hotel and had been before but now can go by myself since you take a taxi and almost everyone there is a Westerner and pretty welcoming so I make new friends :)

That my friends, is what an average day looks like!

Amazing Breakfast!

2011-10-25T02:17:00.000-07:00

The hotel I am staying at in Accra, the Royal Richester, includes a free “American continental breakfast.” It’s slightly American, but more European. Monday-Friday there are two covered hot pans with eggs and some sort of sausage links in one and mushroom, pork and beans and a spicy type spaghetti in the other. The staff always seems surprised/confused when I don’t want beans for breakfast :)

Next there is a plate of cut pineapple and pears or papaya, a tray of bread for making toast, a few trays of pastries and a few trays with a slice of ham accented with a red pepper, a slice of cheese with a tomato on it and other such plates. At the end is a huge line of about a dozen condiments (ketchup, Tabasco and maple syrup are the ones I remember).

Then there is a hot water pitcher to make instant coffee or tea with and warmed milk, two large bowls of cereal- cornflakes and something else with cold milk. Upon request they will make you a Spanish omelet (two eggs, green peppers, red peppers, onions) and a pancake that is more like a sweet crepe than the American pancake- but I prefer the sweet crepe, I just add a bit of maple syrup out of habit and to add a little moisture but can enjoy one without syrup since it already has a sweet flavor.

Monday through Friday I pretty much eat the provided egg, sausage and toast with some pineapple or watermelon juice and a coffee or two. Saturday and Sunday, I eat strategically. I go all out and have them make me an omelet (2 eggs), pancakes (okay, 2 crepes), five sausage links, a piece of toast, coffee and pineapple juice. I can never finish it all but usually only allow myself to leave a few bites of anything. Today I literally left a bite of omelet, sausage and toast- it would have made a delicious bite had there been any room left for it! This is my favorite breakfast and in all reality, gives Country Kitchen or Denny’s a run for their money. (Fresh pineapple juice is pretty amazing!)

Now that I’m stuffed at 10 a.m., I won’t eat again until 4 or 5 p.m. and call it quits for the day. This way I can spend time doing things rather than having to worry about where I can and can’t eat.

It’s kind of funny the thing that got to me, in a sense. I’ve had stomach issues for a week now so am trying to eat tummy-friendly foods and that means no street vendors, which I haven’t had here anyways. If I didn’t have any stomach problems for a few weeks I might have tried the street food (it was so good in Thailand- best ever!) but since I’ve gotten sick somehow while erring on the side of caution I know I shouldn’t go there. But that’s what annoyed me. Like a 5-year-old I thought, “How come the locals get to eat street food and I don’t? This is so unfair. Why do we have to have such sanitary food in the U.S. that prevents me from being immune to any of these things?” I know the thought was completely ridiculous and childish, but the street vendor food looks so good, so local and so cheap! Someday maybe, but for now, I’ll stick to the safe stuff.

Informal Learning: Meeting Other Volunteers

2011-10-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Last spring I interned with MBS Textbooks, Xplana division, and did some blogging for them titled Informal Learning and they touched on a variety of areas where informal learning takes place.

Ironically, that idea of learning in situations in which no one really expects you to learn is where you gain the most knowledge sometimes. Last Friday, two Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers returned from the field to deliver their presentation on their experience and suggestions before flying back to the U.S. While there were about 10 people present for at least parts of the presentations, the two that stayed the longest were the two long-term volunteers in Accra- a one-year volunteer from the Netherlands and myself. We talked with the two after the rest had left for at least an hour and the other volunteer stayed even later. (I mainly had to leave to charge my computer in order to collect photos from the volunteers.)

During that time was a great opportunity for us to discuss their experiences and what our work is and how to make it all happen. So Friday I spoke with the volunteers, Scott and Deborah, after their presentations, we had lunch with Scott and I had dinner with Deborah at the hotel. On Saturday I had a book exchange with Deborah where we traded books we've already read and I spoke with both Scott and Deborah before they departed. In total, I probably spent around 10-12 hours speaking with each/both of the volunteers over the past two days. I am sad to see them go but have learned a considerable amount from both.

I flew into Ghana with Scott so was excited for him to return so we could talk about his experience but Deborah was welcomed surprise, but I believe she arrived one week before I did so I wasn't aware she was in country.

Broadly, I was able to learn more about international development, pull out more similarities between Ghana and the U.S. and the general things needed to help your Ghanaian hosts. More specifically, I got some great tips on how to construct the website I was asked to build and what to include, as well as some names and numbers of places to visit while working in Tamale and vacationing in Cape Coast.

Information overload, maybe :) But I have thoroughly enjoyed the conversations, lessons learned from others experiences and meeting Gladys, an orange and tomato trader that Scott worked with the last time he was here. Gladys sells to Nigerian and Benin markets and wants to take me to her farmer groups. I am no Scott, nor do I have his wealth of experiences as an ag economist, but being able to meet and work with farmers would be a great experience! I've already thought of ways I can work with Gladys's farmers to help me do some of my volunteer work, such as helping them to tell their story when they have U.S. visitors on their farms to better tell their story in a way that helps provide each side with the information they find most interesting.

I realize that this post has been vague but when you're talking ~12 hours of volunteer intake in two days, not including my regular (and weekend) work, daily experiences and battling my first serious case of diarrhea, I think this post was bound to be less specific in order to not reach novel lengths :) More to come later but for now I'm off to bed so I can make it to another ~3 hour church service tomorrow and finish my weekend work. Congrats on the win MU!

Reactions and Marriage Proposals

2011-10-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

*Sorry I wrote this two days ago and am just now publishing.

I enjoy watching people’s reactions when I tell them about my weekend. Take going to the church service for example. As I left the hotel and told the desk attendant that I would be going to church, she had a surprised look on her face- “you’re going to a church service?” Maybe most hotel guests don’t go (or mention they’re going?).

Then today when I went to work I told a young Australian company that’s working with a partner organization of ACDI/VOCA that I had gone and they were both surprised as well- I guess they didn’t think to go.

When I told the driver who takes me from the hotel to work and back, he thought that was great, figured out which one and said he would invite me to his church service sometime.

At work, the Ghanaian workers I told were surprised, as were the non-Ghanaian workers. I was surprised how no one thought that sounded normal or legitimate. I guess you think of touring, shopping and sight seeing but not so much a 3+ hour church service.

I did tell one of my bosses, an American who has lived in Ghana for many years, and he mentioned that there are some major Christian churches- Presbyterian, Methodist, Apostolic, etc.- and then there were the evangelical churches which could be a lot of moving and shaking. Well that helped me to determine that I had attended an evangelical service! :)

Jumping ship to a reaction on advice:

After having three strangers confess their love for me, two marriage proposals and two invites to a concert (the Ghanaians are famous for their marriage proposals), I decided to ask someone at work what to do/how to say no. I wasn’t sure if there were cultural issues, if I should try to save-face, etc. I saw the Australian girl, but being married she had an easy out. Granted I told the taxi driver that I was married (his response: is he Ghanaian? I said No, he’s from the U.S. and then he pipes up “What do you have against Ghanaian’s” My response, “Nothing, I’ve only been here 7 days” lol).

So I asked a European in the office if she gets marriage proposals and with a nod and eye-roll, I knew I wasn’t alone in my annoyance with the “big” question. I asked what to do, how to respond and she was quick in answering!

‘Tell them your married. Tell them your married and you have kids. Don’t worry about being nice. Tell them and walk away.’

So based on her advice and learning from my experiences, the tricks are:

-To not smile (okay I laughed, a marriage proposal was kinda funny when you’re not expecting it)

-Be sure and mention the husband and it sounds like kids too (I did find out saying ‘I have a boyfriend and we are very much in love’ means nothing!)

-Be blunt (I remember once holding out my hands to signal ‘time out’ and was like here’s the deal and you need to leave now- I wasn’t finished with my dinner so he had to be the one to leave, not me)

-Walk away (when possible)

But all of this is really making me wonder if Ghanaians just go up to any person and ask them to marry or if that’s reserved for abruni’s (white women)? Maybe I can ask Cornelia, a Ghanaian, at work and if so, how does she say no? :)

(Although since writing this, I mentioned to a car of Ghanaian co-workers the proposals and they erupted in laughter- but they all have such a great sense of humor that the laughter didn't answer too many questions other than it obviously happens)

Going to church in Ghana

2011-10-09T14:17:00.004-07:00

Disclaimer: Sorry for not posting the past few days- It was really upsetting the first two days when I was having internet trouble in the hotel then yesterday I tried to upload photos and 2 hours later without the photos uploading I had lost interest :) So I'll add photos while I have good internet connection at work.

So skipping the past few days, which were action packed as always, today I went to church in Ghana. I picked this church because it's close and on the way to work so I've seen it everyday. It doesn't have walls and looks to be under construction but there are chairs on the floor level and a sign that says 'God Reigns.' Light blue and orange cloth is draped around the 'room' and twisted around the posts- adding some great color.

It's a 5 minute walk from the hotel but the first 30 minutes of the sermon I was sweating like crazy- it made me wonder if this was what it was like for that person in a particular church saying ;) I walked up, hearing the music long before I could see it. I saw another girl walking in so I followed her. We were greeted by a man that wanted me to sit toward the front. My initial thought was 'I don't need to sit in the front' but it made sense when he ended up sitting me next to two other abruni's (white women). It was nice to follow their lead.

The sign outside said services were from 10:30-12:30 so I knew it would be lengthier than usual. So when I got there they were playing music and singing. I was impressed with their drum set, tribal drums, electric base guitar, keyboard and trumpet! It was intense. There was a lot of singing, I think I knew a total of 30 seconds and would occasionally catch on that I was supposed to follow along :) Then they got really exciting with their music and people started dancing. You went up to the front area where there was some space and you danced in the name of the lord. It was really interesting, especially since as a Presbyterian (a.k.a. the 'frozen chosen'), we didn't even raise our hands much during service. There was a lot of this music. Then a lady, who they referred to as the prophecy, her husband was something as well- got up and talked about her son about to marry a girl she didn't like then she did a prophetic prayer and he met a good woman.

Her son ended up leading some of the songs. After a few songs, a lady and a man in blue (later I find out to be the preacher) said really long, eloquent passages from the bible- a type of scripture reading that was really amazing and soulful. At one point they took offering and I heard the lady say this was the first offering so I had a feeling more were to come. I skipped the first one but the other white ladies went up. It was brought out later in the service with only a few people going up and at the very end the prophetic lady said she sensed a few people in the room that didn't know where their next meal was going to come from. A young man with an injured finger and a girl came up- the prophetic lady prayed for them and took up an offering for them and I and the other white ladies as well as many other gave then as well.

Then after awhile they put some olive oil in a dish and prophetic lady stuck her hand in it and put her hand on her head- a sort of self anointment. I'm all for trying other practices but the amount of me that wanted to put olive oil in my hair was pretty slim. She had a heavenly moment and almost fell over and was in deep reverence(?) for like 30 minutes but the sermon went on without her. They passed the olive oil dish around and I saw I could just dip my fingers in it and put it on my forehead so I was okay with that- especially after watching the two white ladies do it :)

*Sorry if this isn't in order, it lasted for 3 hours

Then there was the sermon. It was a passage in Leviticus about a church tax your supposed to pay according to age and gender and ability (the two ladies later explained they think the church is trying to prepare the congregation to collect more funds to continue building the church :) It was funny because in the bible it is put in a form of currency I'm not familiar with, but the preacher said it in dollars (US) and we had to convert it for him into Ghanaian cedi currency lol Then there was a whole segment on how God will give you more and more and more and more. And how God will make you great, great in all that you do (repetition helps for remembering these things). But the kicker was when talking about being great, he talked about being great from birth, from when your head comes out of your mother and then we got a whole talk on how sperm swims and fertilizes the egg. I'm not sure how the sperm ties in but he went there!

It was interesting because it was also being translated into Twi so the preacher would say 'You will be great in your work' and the translator would have 5 seconds before the preacher would say 'You will be great in your family' and so on. I felt for that poor translator!

Oh! I almost forgot- there was communion! So I was thinking they would pass around baskets with loaves, we'd dip it in something and go for it. But when the time came the head guy (I would say preacher but there were like 5 people taking turns leading the congregation so who knows) explained that we were doing communion a little differently. A lot of people get sick from communion so to be safe, we were handed a sealed, clear container, very similar to a small liquid creamer container. It was filled with something red (grape juice I later found out) and it had an extra flap on top with a cracker- kinda like the extra sprinkles container hidden in cake icing containers. I was like 'huh.' This is nothing I had ever really thought of and would have taken communion without a thought but it sounds like that's not the most sanitary route. Then the prophetic lady, who was out of reverence by now, got up and told people to take it and not save it to show people lol I did take mine but had to keep it to take a picture and share! It was so interesting. She said that taking it to show your friends wouldn't do any good, you needed to take it to remember Jesus and God- I'm glad I wasn't the only person in the room that wanted to take it to show others :)

Okay, so I know there's more but this is getting lengthy lol That in a nutshell my friends is what to expect at a Ghanaian church service! Any questions- feel free to post or email juliashuck@gmail.com if you want to ask me anything about my work, Ghana, etc.

So much to say!!!

2011-10-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

There is so much I want to share but then I wouldn't be keeping my goal of short blog posts that way :( I want to talk about food, my day... okay so I could have sworn the list was longer but nope, everything I want to say comes down to those two categories... food and my day- story of my life! (Seriously, ask a former roommate, I bet they could vouch for that one :)

But in an effort to keep it short, and as usual I'm not sure if this will be interesting to anyone but me, here's just a snipit.

Tuesday Dec. 2, 2008,I had 31 viewers on my blog! Best part, my most commented on blog didn't come out until Dec. 4th! What came out on Dec. 1st though was a blog title 'Help!!! I've Been Robbed!!" I was entering a scholarship contest by writing a blog that dealt with identity theft! I have NO idea why it got so much attention, maybe the scholarship committee? But I feel like that's a sad way to get viewers- especially since that was the least genuine thing I posted. Don't get me wrong, I really was robbed (aka by car window was broken out and brand new purse with the tags still on was stolen while I was at work) but it's not like it came out of the moment lol.

But that was topped yesterday with a whopping 38 views. Even though it really seems like it about now, I really don't care how many people check out my blog. If someone wants to great- glad I could provide some entertainment! But I'm not trying to increase my readership and become famous by any means. I remembered earlier today that I hadn't seen my google analytics, which gives you stats on your blog, in a really long time. So I got on and saw that people are checking it out and they come from 3 places: the U.S. (16 states), Canada and Ghana. So much for thinking just my mom was reading (I'm not even sure of that one. If she reads my blog as much as she gets on Facebook it would amount to 3-4 times per year :) Granted most years that's all I've blogged!

So that's my (lame) snipit. I'm really struggling not to go off on a tangent right now... I think I'll post again on another topic. There problem solved!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-10-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today was very productive, among other things. At breakfast I talked to a waiter I had met the other day and we practiced some Twi. He speaks Twi, Dagboni, Hausa (all Ghanaian languages), a Nigerian language I forgot the name of, English and he dabbles in Portuguese or French, I can't remember which. We talked about the different fruits and vegetables in the U.S. and Ghana. They have a lot of tropical fruits I enjoyed in Costa Rica and Thailand but they don't grow peaches or apples, which I thought was interesting. He told a story how it was odd eating a new fruit in Europe (peaches) and it reminded me of eating mangoes in Thailand because trying a new fruit is a really odd food experience.

Sidenote, as I was writing my blog my computer made a ding. So I looked for the chat in Skype, then Facebook and finally found it in gmail! I'm feeling pretty connected right now!

After breakfast, an ACDI/VOCA driver, David, picked me up for work. I got to work and realized I forgot my charger so within an hour my laptop died. I went through my assignment expectations and started to make notes and went through the Business and Financial Times to make sure my thoughts on creating press releases were the same in Ghana as in the U.S. I went back to the hotel and grabbed the chargers then helped my boss download Dropbox to send me files and she really likes it. I do to because it's fast and everything she sends me is in one spot, which is really nice.

After getting files from here, I created one of the five posters needed for Friday. That was a lot of PhotoShop and InDesign but I was done at 2 p.m. and at that point wasn't hungry so decided to forgo lunch (granted breakfast was huge because the two servers kept bringing me food from the buffet- toast and watermelon). I met the lead for the ADVANCE program and received my job duties from the Northern Outreach Coordinator. My boss, Adwoa, explained that she is internal communications and the Northern Coordinator, Collins, is external communications- I'm getting a wide variety of activities- which I love!

Then Tom, the lead for ADVANCE, realized I was around for six months so he's brainstorming on things to give me as well (not that Adwoa and Collins don't already have more than four pages of assignment combined!) We were asked to gather and send information to a high up in the U.S. to include in a speech so we had meetings about that. We discussed what to provide and while the others were getting the information together, I read up on previous speeches to make it what we're going to send sound similar. We were given the deadline 'tomorrow by the end of the business day' and it seemed really tight. Then I realized, we're five hours ahead so when we end our business day, they're going out to lunch so we have most of the day to finalize it, which is nice to have the opportunity to look more carefully at what we will be submitting.

Also, I learned four new phrases today, even though my goal was one!!! MaChi is good morning, MaHa is good afternoon, MaJo is good evening and thank you is Ma Dsay. I should know good night but that didn't start with Ma and I didn't want to take in too much in one day :) I entertained so many people today by saying MaChi and MaDsay! I pronounced it right, probably just made them happy someone was attempting to speak Twi, one of 44 languages in Ghana! Granted it's the most widely spoken, English is their official language (granted not the first language for most) so most English speakers can get my without having to try really.

So my goal is to write shorter blogs but it was a long day! I came back from work, slept for 30 minutes, woke up, ate supper and came back to relax. Although, the channel that was Aljazeera has changed to BBC, I hope it's a rotating thing though because I preferred Aljazeera and they have an evening line up of shows- granted they're very newsy, they're series nontheless. Which reminds me, I should google some TV shows... I wonder if I'll be able to keep up with Gray's Anatomy...

Also, on the way to work I noticed a Christian church on the side of the road and think I might stop by Sunday. I'm not sure if it will be in English, Twi or something else but it's gotta be interesting!

1st day on the job and in a new country :)

2011-10-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned to a few of my coworkers, the first day of a new job is always interesting but the first day at a new job AND your first day in a new country is something else!

This morning, another volunteer, Allen from Alaska, met me at breakfast and we left with our ride from the hotel to the office (about a 5 min ride). It looks like an interesting walk so after a few weeks of getting the route down, I will try it in the morning/after work. I asked Olaf, the regional director of West Africa who has been here for several years and he said that this was a safe area and I should have no problem so I am excited to give it a whirl.

So when I arrived to work at around 9 a.m. I first met with Cornelia, and she gave me the rundown. Then my direct boss and I met after one of her meetings and she gave me the run down of what she wanted me to do during my time. Likewise, Frank from the Northern Region will send me a similar document. So here is what I will do in a nutshell:

-Help create posters for six ag presenters they are sponsoring to a conference in Accra
-Critique their brand new newsletter
-Give presentations at the three Northern ACDI/VOCA offices on taking quality photos and videos
-Teach regional office leaders on speaking with the media and getting more media attention
-Help the offices feel more comfortable discussing how they fulfill the goals of Feed the Future, a USAID project
-Among other projects

Since January, the more I have learned about my assignment, the more excited I have been and can't wait to start these various tasks. Today I began creating guides for taking photos, videos, writing good success stories and offering advice on their newsletter.

Once I had finished my meeting with my boss, I was introduced to Belinda and she took me around the office to meet everyone. It was nice getting a brief introduction of everyone and a feel for the office. During this tour I was shown my desk!!! This was a very exciting moment- usually there are desks for volunteers as they do their paperwork at the end of their short term assignments but since I'll be here for so long, I get to call it my own :) It was very exciting to have my own desk because I haven't really had that yet and let's face it, while in college my desk was piled too high to use so I'm not sure if that even counts as having/using a desk :)

They helped me exchange some U.S. dollars into Ghanaian cedi's (apx $1 is 1.5c). Afterwards, I went to the restaurant under the office. Once there I saw Allen and we ate together. They had and AMAZING cafe latte and oddly served Chinese-type food so I ate the Ghanaian take on shrimp fried rice :) It was good but didn't take much to fill me up so I felt a little bad leaving about half my plate still full but knew when it was served that I wasn't going to be able to eat it all. It was nice getting to have lunch with Allen and he had some great advice. I liked his thoughts on having a diary of sorts so I thought I could keep my blog to keep everyone updated but also have a diary to remember some of the more detailed items about my projects and whatnot. After returning to the office, I took the diary advice in a sense and created a volunteer document where I can keep track of all the other volunteers I meet and what I learn from them. So far, both Scott and Allen have traveled and done international projects for years all over the world but come from different places and have different perspectives, which I find really interesting.

In addition, we did some trouble shooting to get the internet up and going on my laptop. I took a number and waited for 50 minutes at the bank near our office to get my travel advance- the money allotted to me for my first month here so I don't have to pay it all myself up front. It was interesting because signing my check also meant putting down my address, phone number and the date cashed.

My driver back to the hotel was David and seeing the action on the side of the streets really made me want to take a camera out on the weekend/on my way to and from work to capture daily life in Accra, Ghana. While I am by no means an expert, I think it would be really neat to capture the daily experiences of Ghanaians to share with others. I will ask Cornelia in the office tomorrow to see if this is a good idea or not and what things I might want to consider when asking the small hut businesses on the side of the street if I can photograph/take video of them.

I found out today that while I will be traveling, they have changed the reservation at the hotel and booked my room for the entire month of October so I will be in Accra for my first 30 days :) This works well for me because I like the idea of spending some time at head quarters (HQ) to get a feel for the type of work they want me to do and prepare my field presentations as well as learn more about the culture.

So far so good. It was a very lovely first full day- working and in Ghana. Like any other time abroad, I enjoy not having a million things to do but just getting to work on my assigned task. So I'm watching Aljazeera (an international news tv station in English, which is awesome to keep up with the news!!) and will probably go grab some dinner in the hotel shortly. Last night I had Okra Stew with goat meat with fufu (a cassava based food that has the texture of raw bread dough). It was good but tricky to eat, I understand why most Ghanians skip the silverware and just use their hand to eat.

After hearing all of the great stories about being in the field from Scott and Allen, I can't wait to go out myself to get this other aspect of Ghanian life. I'm really happy and relaxed after my first day and am interested to see how the rest of my week goes. While the other volunteers are amazed at the length of my assignment (almost 6 months) and didn't even know assignments could last this long, they think it's great. I can tell the office isn't used to long-term volunteers either but they are really excited to have me here for so long and as with any other communications department, I understand always wanting to do things a little better, wanting another set of eyes and wanting to take more on but need the additional support to make this happen. Okay, I'm getting hungry now so I'll go grab some supper and have a relaxing evening :) Even though it's a Costa Rican saying, I want to sign off with a term that literally translates as 'pure life' but means 'everything has a way of working itself out,' 'it's all good,' and 'no worries,' among other things and encapsulates how I'm feeling: pura vida!

I'm in Ghana!

2011-10-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

After months of excitement, weeks of packing and an 11 hour plane ride- I have made it to Accra, Ghana! I was glued to my window like a 5-year-old as we descended and although extremely jet lagged, I couldn't help but notice the infrastructure. Other than a few very large, paved roads, all of the streets are red dirt roads. From the aerial view, I could see patches of farm land and noticed that there was a lot of farm land but it seemed to be small patches and a variety of crops planted next to one another- I'm interested in learning more.

At the airport, I was greeted by the driver for ACDI/VOCA and met up with another volunteer, Scott. Scott is a rancher from New Mexico that focuses on ag economics and has been on several volunteer assignments with ACDI/VOCA over the past year- he briefly mentioned the assignment he was on last month in another African country. It sounds like this guy is very active in the Farmer-to-Farmer program! It was really nice to ride with him from the airport to our hotel because he has been here before and knows the ropes, which never hurts when I only managed 3-4 hours of sleep on the plane!

The drive to the hotel was really interesting. Scott let my ride up front and there tons of vendors on the side of the street and one of the first vendors I saw was selling cocoanuts like in Thailand and Costa Rica where they machete the top and you can drink the cocoanut milk with a straw :) I'm excited!!!

I also saw this large building that was all glass windows and a really interesting architecture style being built. I was told by Scott and many in the U.S. that Ghanians are extremely nice- I can't wait to actually start meeting some people.

While this isn't my first time abroad, I am still interested by so many things that I see. Even something as small as seeing some chickens running around the street outside our hotel, a place you wouldn't normally expect them. It's funny because I feel sometimes I come off as green or naive because of the little things that I still find interesting; while I know my stuff, I don't think I really come off as an 'experienced world traveler.' :)

Uniquely though, I can already sense that this is the most underdeveloped country I've been to. The roads from the plane were a giveaway yes, but traveling around and seeing more vendors than actual stores was a cue as well. I know the next few weeks will bring a lot of great experiences- culturally, professionally and personally.

This evening I am meeting with Scott for dinner since he seems to have a good grasp on the hotel area and I can ask him some more questions as long as the jet lag waits to kick in too bad :) The hotel has wireless internet (music to my ears :) and my room is really nice- with a personal air conditioner, refridgerator with freezer and a small electric stove. I'm really pleased with the hotel so far. Sorry if this post is a little scattered, or more all-over-the-place than usual, blame it on the jet lag :)

Internship Blog #2: Informal Learning: My Favorite Part of Class

2010-11-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

Check it out at The Xplanation.

(Julia Shuck is a student intern at The Xplanation, writing a regular column on education and working behind the scenes in our research department.)

I get to class and, like my peers, sit in my usual spot- humans are creatures of habit. This is my favorite part of class, the five to ten minutes before it actually starts- sometimes. It just depends on the atmosphere that the teacher has created.

My favorite classes are those where the class is open to interaction with peers and the professor, which hinges on if the professor has created a relaxed atmosphere. The best class examples I can think of this semester are Gender and Communication and Major World Religions.

The Gender and Comm class has about 20 students but because the lecture includes a lot of dialogue and we are often asked our opinions, there is a need for an open and relaxed atmosphere. Now, before class we may chat about a test someone is studying for, someone may come in and talk about their bad morning or we might ask for an update, like how’s Terry’s baby doing.

The ability of the professor to set the atmosphere so that we are comfortable chatting before and after class with those we may not know so well helps in the class dialogue because we are more comfortable offering our opinions and ideas. I believe this started when the teacher would come in at the beginning of the year and for the few minutes before class, would talk about her latest internet dating escapades. By breaking down barriers and being open with us, it helped us in turn to be more open with her as well as our peers. I’m not asking that every professor talk about their date nights, but offering some personal information helps students to connect and enjoy the class more.

My Major World Religions class is its own animal. This is a lecture class of about 120 students ranging from freshmen to senior. I love the atmosphere at the different parts of the room. I have come in late to find the back of the room working on their laptops or checking out Facebook, where being relaxed and social (although not neseccarily with those arund you) in the norm, while the students in front pay attention. Normally, I sit in the front of the class, coincidently with an old friend and students in my class discussion lab. The atmosphere in the front is 180 degrees from the back. As we come into class we chat (with each other) about the latest homework assignment or new theory. At the end of class we talk about what we’re going to do for our term paper and help each other. In the middle of class, my old friend and I discuss the lecture and our reactions.

My favorite day was when we had a few minutes before class and I asked about the professor’s baby. He has missed an entire week of class and never mentioned the newborn; it was just a side note from his Teaching Assistant. He asked if we wanted to see pictures and was surprised when we said yes. I believe the loudest “ahhs” came from the middle of the room as we saw pictures of his newborn and then his other tatertots- we had thought this was his first child! While it didn’t seem to occur to him to share the excitement of his newborn, it was what we as student connected with. While I don’t expect full disclosure from any professor, showing us a bit of their personal side or what happens outside of class helps build rapport and credibility, professionally and as an individual.

My advice to professors: don’t waste the few minutes before class starts. If you want students to feel like they can come to your office hours, maintain focus during class or feel like they can speak up, break down the barrier of professor v. student and show us your human-side.

Xplana: Informal Learning: Tailgating

2010-11-16T06:43:00.000-08:00

Also available at thexplanation, this is the first blog post I created for my internship!

The blog is also pasted below- enjoy!

(Julia Shuck is a student intern at The Xplanation, writing a regular column on education and working behind the scenes in our research department.)

Informal learning. It’s something I do as a university student everyday but never imagined it had an actual name until I heard Michael Feldstein, member of the Sakai Foundation, speak at our annual Xplana event. Feldstein’s presentation focused on the importance of informal learning at the secondary education level and the need for these institutions to tap into informal learning opportunities. The problem is that there aren’t many examples of how to blend the two and universities don’t know where to start. So, I’m going to do it; I’m going to be the snitch that talks about how college students learn informally. (No worries, I’m the youngest child so I’m good at snitching.)

Before embarking, I think it’s best to make sure we’re on the same page. According towww.mariaconner.com, learning happens on a spectrum with four areas:

Formal learning- taking classes or attending work meetings
Intentional learning- reading, studying
Unexpected learning- social media, internet surfing
Informal learning- from friends and family, joining a sports team

The universities have formal and intentional learning figured out, but there’s a disconnect when it comes to unexpected and informal learning. How, where and what do we, as college students, learn outside of the lecture hall?

Use Case #1: Tailgating

Saturday was my last football home game. As the last home game of my undergraduate career, tailgating was not an option. After arriving to our end destination, the pirate flag, we started to mix and mingle. In the midst of the chatter, I met someone in my college and it was instant bonding. There are some things you can’t explain, you just have to experience it and a college with a small town atmosphere is no different. While I didn’t intend to, I was learning more about another degree in my college and as an ambassador, it’s my job to recruit high school students and be informed about our different degree programs. I learned more about the Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT) degree during half time of the football game than I had the previous four years. And it was more fun and memorable learning about the degree this way as opposed to reading the PRT info sheet.

Once the cold became too much to handle we headed downtown to watch the game on TV. We bumped into another group of long lost friends. While texting a roommate I was asked which photography professor I knew- Katie is taking a photo class next semester. Lo and behold, Joe will be Katie’s professor next semester. Being friends with Joe instead of a student, I started to tell her what makes him tick. I didn’t tell her what it was like to be his student, I told her what it was like for him to teach a class of students that are constantly texting and think this is going to be an easy class so they don’t put forth much effort. While the cell phone comment gave her a stunned look, she was ready to give it her all and explain to him that she was in this for the long haul. Not only did she get “backstage” information but on the spot she determined how she would handle the situations as they came her way.

Could attending game day be a more informal way of learning? Better yet, could it be a more unexpected? The day ended at a bar where everyone had their game players and bounced back and forth between trivia on the big screen and word games on the handheld devices. Who is Ronny Cox anyways? (He’s an actor, singer-songwriter, thank you smartphone!)

Xplana: Next is Now

2010-11-16T06:37:00.000-08:00

Check out this youtube video: Next is Now.

This was my first project at my internship with MSB Textbooks, the largest buy back and resale textbook company in the U.S. based in Columbia, Mo. I helped to conceive the idea of what the video would look like and then researched statistics to include in the video.

Personal inspirations for the video: girleffect.org

Geared toward higher education institutions and their administrators, this was a great chance to target an audience I've never thought to target.

I hope you enjoy!

Getting to Samara, Costa Rica...

2010-06-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Liberia, Costa Rica was very interesting! The “airport” was comparable to the sheep pavilion at the Missouri State Fair. There was no wall between the tarmac and the pavilion where customs was. There were walls on the sides and a large exit at the doorway. The top few feet around the building had openings for a breeze. There was a small conveyor belt for luggage to the right and a information desk and restroom to the left.

I grabbed a taxi and began the 2+ hour drive to Playa Samara. I was a little nervous driving through the medium and small sized towns, but had a great chance to speak Spanish with my taxi driver for the first time in more than a year. He got me to feel more comfortable about my Spanish and would correct me every now and then.

We got to town and by then I was more excited than nervous, I think the few hour ride and Hubert really helped. I was just going to have him drop me off in town, but he was very adamant about making sure I made it to where I was staying. He let me use his phone and I called Barbara to get directions. It took a little bit of calling back and forth but he finally got me to where I was staying and he was very excited for me because it ended up being on a farm. JWe had a lot to talk about because I like seeing how agriculture varies from country to country and Costa Rica’s is quite different from the U.S.. Also, the taxi driver, Hubert, and I were both raised on farms so we had stories and words to share. (Finca is Spanish for Farm). We got along really well and he was great! I was taking pictures with my Nikon and he would slow down or pull over whenever he saw me taking photos, which wasn’t necessary but nice. It was really neat because an hour into the drive he pulled over on a really pretty landscape and we got out and took some good photos, which was fun. A few times we got out to look at the wild monkeys! He also stopped in Nacoya, the largest town on the way to Samara to help me find a SIM card for my cell phone, he asked around and we went to a few stores, but all were closed so he told me when I could get them in Samara.

Hubert gave me his number and told me to call him a day in advance when I was ready to go back to the airport and he could pick me up from wherever because he enjoyed driving me to Samara.

I spent the rest of the day meeting my roommates and relaxing and getting some to-go food from a local restaurant. It was a very calm night, which was very nice!

Jean, Lolita and Beans!

2010-06-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 13

I woke up on my first Sunday around 8:30 a.m and when I left my room, I met Jean who moved in earlier that morning and was doing the TEFL course too! We went grocery shopping at The Iguana. We then came back and tried to make rice and beans. Lesson of the day: you’re supposed to soak your beans for a day or two before trying to cook them. You live and learn! They never did get that soft but were still okay.

We ended up having rice and beans, and I made way too much rice so it’s possibly enough to last me another week!

Also while we were trying to cook, Lolita, a parrot kept bothering us. We had been told my the other girls staying in our house that she would bite your toes so we were kind of afraid of her. We kept trying to shoo her away but she was pretty adamant about hanging around. Eventually, Cristina gave us a broom and Lolita really hates the broom.

The Cristina’s son, Estaphon, drove us to the beach, which was really nice. We walked around the beach for a bit. We saw our roommates and I got a surrong to use as a beach towel since I

only brought one towel with me. We went to an internet café for a bit and checked e-mails and then sat on the beach and chatted for awhile. We went in the ocean and played in the waves, which was a lot of fun.

Sitting on the beach we saw other girls that Jean had met that were also taking the TEFL course. We made plans and met up with the girls to go out for dinner. We went to a restaurant on the beach and it was amazing!

I ended up getting a cheeseburger because I had a headache and wasn’t hungry but knew I needed to eat something and it was fantastic! The flavor of the cheese exploded in my mouth and was so good. We then stopped at Super Samara, the grocery store and went back to the girl’s house and chatted for the rest of the evening. Jean and I left around 11 p.m. We were really tired early since the sun goes down at 6:30 p.m. but were determined not to go to bed at 9 p.m.!

DHA link

2009-06-30T08:04:00.001-07:00

I am preparing to post some of my school work in the evenings during my internship but I didn't want to wait to post this website.

I am currently working on writing an informative article on DHA (it's an Omega-3 fatty acid) and its importance to human health. I was looking through the information I was given and ran across this website: http://www.lifesdha.com/brainindex/Default.aspx
and found it to be pretty interesting and I enjoyed the brain quiz as well. I thought I would pass it along so you could test your brain health too! :)

Thanks and Have Fun!

A little info on DHA. There are 3 main Omega-3 fatty acids: DHA, ALA and EPA. They all help your heart and ALA and EPA do some with anti-inflamatory but DHA is the main one that helps brain and eye tisssue and also helps you lose weight because it gives you a full feeling! Some of the foods we eat have ALA or EPA but then in our body they convert to DHA and it much smaller quantities so if you can get fish or foods fortified with DHA then you get more DHA, which is really what your body is after all along. I know I kept this short- I am still figuring out exactly how it works but hopefully by the end of the week I will be a DHA expert! :)

Figuring it out, one conversation at a time

2009-05-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

So it happened again...

When I was a freshman in high school I came to Mizzou during FFA Week and job shadowed Greg Horstmeier, an agricultural journalist at the time. I was given the grand tour around campus and even got to sit in on a class. It was a gorgeous fall day and I fell in love with Mizzou and knew where I was going after high school. Catch-22, I was ready to be in college, right then and there- it made the next three and half years a bit of a struggle because I knew I was just doing what I had to in order to get through high school and make it to where I really wanted to be, college. I was ready to be in classes that I enrolled it, with professors who loved their topics and others who were in class because they wanted to be, not because the law makes them.

This past January, I went on a trip to Brussels, Belgium to study the European Union and the Common Agriculture Policy. Myself along with another undergraduate student went on the trip with seven graduate students earning their master's degrees in public policy and agricultural economics. It was an intense four day trip bouncing from one EU building to another listening to speakers. I was really able to learn more opportunities for international agriculture and had a great international experience.

This evening, we met for the second time since returning. The firs time we got together and chatted over Shakespeare's pizza. This time we discussed our trip and the one-page papers we typed up for each place we visited in Brussels. We were there for three and a half hours, having a great conversation on the EU, what happened while we were there, projects and papers we have been working on upon returning, and hypothesis of the EU now and in the future. Just like a freshman in high school when it hit me that I was meant to go to MU and I had the desire and ambition to do whatever it would take to get there, I got that same feeling after having hours of conversation about the EU trip and what we learned and took from the trip. I rarely, if ever, get to have such an in depth, serious and intelligent conversation in my undergraduate classes, but talking with the group of graduate students and ag economist professor, I now know exactly where I'm supposed to be after my undergrad.

I don't just plan on going to grad school but I WANT to go. I want to be surrounded by others who are studying something they feel passionately about, something they want to do for the rest of their lives. I have been sparked again with that passion and ambition to know where I am and where I want to go. It's a really good feeling to know where I am headed and that it's something that I truly want deep down inside with no hesitations or reservations. It's always a relief to know where I am heading in life- especially when it comes to the end of the school year! :)

Dinner with Leonard Gianessi

2009-04-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

I don't want to bog this down with introduction information but at the end of this post, I have pasted Mr. Gianessi's profile he sends out and offers the information I knew about him before supper this evening.

I was invited to dinner this evening by the CAFNR Career Services Director Stephanie Chipman because of my strong interest in international agriculture and how they relates to the articles Mr. Gianessi has published. I had no idea what I was getting into but it was a great experience!

When I said yes I thought I was signing up for a simple meal (take out from Olive Garden maybe) in a room with a handful of other undergraduate students. I found out in a confirmation e-mail that the meal was at the Reynolds Alumni Center on campus- which is a very nice restaurant I had never been to before but walked passed on several occasions. I also noticed that I was the only undergraduate student, the rest attending were administration, campus researchers/professors and doctorate students. There were only eight people (counting myself) at the dinner table.

By the end of the night I had experienced a spectacular five-course meal and three solid hours of discussion on topics ranging anywhere from Mr. Gianessi's topic of increasing herbicide use to educating the general public on why agriculture is the way that it is to talking about hometowns and personal histories.

I really liked how Mr. Gianessi described himself, I feel we have much in common in this area. He works with scientists and researchers in the crop production field (entomologists, weed scientists, soil scientists, etc) and they are 1 inch wide but 5 miles deep- they generally have a very focused knowledge base, but they know their topic very in-depth. Mr. Gianessi sees himself as being 1 inch deep but 5 miles wide. He knows about a lot of different areas in agriculture and understands the lingo used in the different fields of study, but he also understands that he doesn't know nearly as much about any given topic than those who are chest deep.

This reminded me of growing up and running anything I heard by mom because she went to college. I thought that when you went to college you gained an infinite amount of knowledge and thus knew everything! Imagine how I felt when I found out that you don't get to learn about EVERYTHING but only a lot about a certain topic! I had aspired to be a walking encyclopedia- my dreams were crushed! But with that, I stumbled across my passions in life- who would have thought a farm girl from a town of 668 people would fall in love with international agriculture? I am still trying to figure out what general path I want to take to be involved in that area. While I still try to go to various lectures and events to expand that encyclopedia in my mind, I find that I am strongly drawn to international agriculture topics and even when I am listening to a lecture or seminar on some very different topic, I find myself wondering what their ag situation is like and how this all connects to information I have gained from others and if the opinions are different because of the angles each are coming at, and so on and so forth. In high school, I would role my eyes at the thought of a "theory." Now, theories make it all possible to comprehend a certain idea and use it in different areas. I know this may seem obvious, but to truly appreciate something for what it is instead of just accepting it and taking it as it is given to you, but adding personal meaning and significance to an area, really makes it that much more exciting. (I promise I had decaf coffee with dessert!)

Coming back around, ;), I had a great evening. The best part was being able to feel comfortable in the group and easily add to the conversation, even though I was truly the youngest. I never felt inadequate, even when there were conversations about spores and arachnids going on with lingo I had never heard before. Even though I didn't know exactly what they were discussing, I've received enough science in high school and college to follow the conversation and understand the bigger meaning. Now I could not write an article on the conversation based solely on what I heard, I would need much more clarification for that, but I could certainly blog about the experience. :)

I was thoroughly engaged throughout the evening and was surprised when I got up to go to the restroom how stiff my legs and muscles were. I had not realized that I had been sitting there for over two and a half hours. You know the conversation is good and interesting if you don't feel your legs getting stiff. The people I met were fantastic and practically did the networking for me. I received a handful of invitations to various lectures and networking events that I never expected so that was a pleasant surprise as well.

This is getting lengthy (typical Julia) so I will finish with the information Mr. Gianessi has provided for his lecture I will be attending Friday and/or Saturday. It should be very interesting- he was quite an insightful man who should have a great perspective to offer.

Leonard Gianessi

Director, Crop Protection Research Institute

CropLife Foundation

Food production problems in Africa are once again front page news. African crop yields average one-third that of the rest of the world’s harvest. As food shortages loom, public institutions, developmental groups, and government agencies are assessing technologies and policies that have the potential to significantly increase food production in Africa.

One of the most serious threats to African food production- the problem of weeds competing with crops-is not being addressed in the ongoing assessments. And yet, solving the weed problem in Africa is critical if farmers are to attain optimal yields and gain the full value of additional use of fertilizer, irrigation and improved seeds. Currently, African farmers lose 20-100% of their potential crop production due to uncontrolled

weeds. The primary method of weed control by smallholder farmers in Africa is hand weeding with short-handled tools. Weeding is backbreaking work done primarily by women. Because of labor cost and shortage and other demands on farmers time, not enough weeding is being done or is being done too late to prevent serious yield losses. Farmers are reluctant to apply fertilizer because weeds would be further stimulated and even more hand weeding would be required.

In this presentation, Leonard Gianessi makes the case for increased use of herbicides by smallholder farmers as a solution for Africa’s weed control problems. Research has shown that, if smallholders used herbicides, hand weeding time could be virtually eliminated. Farmers would have significant time availability to plant additional crops, apply fertilizers, and harvest more crops.

A Briefing on Brussels

2009-01-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

It's time for another semester. I recently came back from Brussels, Belgium where I spent four days meeting with different European Union dignitaries to learn first hand about the EU and especially Agriculture Policy. The EU's equivalent to the Farm Bill in the US is the Common Agriculture Policy, which is an area of public debate, much like the US Farm Bill. I wish I could have stayed longer and met with more people associated with the EU but in all it was a great experience.

I went with six students from the Truman School of Public Affairs at MU, as well as an undergrad and grad student, both majoring in Ag Econ. It was a great way for me to see some possible career paths that would allow me to be involved in international agriculture development. It is experiences like these that give me clear examples and open many other doors so that I can pursue a career in international agriculture. I am starting to understand the unlimited possibilities, which just three years ago I knew nothing about but was sure I could find something.

I especially enjoyed that one grad student was from Kosovo and another was from Spain. It was always interesting hearing their perspectives and the questions they asked about the EU because they came from such different stances that most of us. We found out while in Brussels that most Europeans don't really understand the EU. While it is very complicated and even professors don't feel they thoroughly understand the EU, our group is now among a small percentage of people who have a good understanding of the EU, especially the Common Agriculture Policy! (Most of our lectures were on this topic so we were able to learn about it from different positions within the EU, now know more than I ever expected and sadly can say that I know Europe's agriculture policy better than the US's).

In conjunction with the trip I am taking a class with Dr. Willi Meyers on EU Enlargement, which is a great way to help me make sense of everything I saw and heard as well as add to the experience. I love learning by doing and having buildings, faces and speakers abroad help me make the connection with what I am reading in a book and the people and places affected.

One of the best parts of the trip was staying with MU grads Joe and Kelly Stange. Kelly graduated with a masters in Ag Econ and Joe has a degree from the School of Journalism. Both were great examples of working internationally. Joe has recently written a book on the 80 best beers in Brussels and Kelly is working at the U.S. Mission in Brussels. Our group visited the U.S. Mission where Kelly works and Joe led us on a tour of the only Lambic brewery left in Brussels. Some of my best memories in Brussels was coming in after a long day and getting to try a new and unique beer from Joe's cellar and then play Rock Band! It was a little bit of Brussels and a little bit of home but a great mix of the two. I always find it interesting how big of a role beer can play in a culture, especially when there is a large variety that is high quality. It also surprised me how many Irish Pubs were near the EU Commission, it was kind of funny watching people drink Guinness in Brussels.

I am away from my notebook right now, but home to be able to share more about those that spoke with us and what things stood out. I am assigned to write a page for each place we visited, including what I found interesting, what I didn't understand or have questions about and my comments or thoughts. I will hopefully publish those here and in the mean time I can't wait to meet with the other grad students and talk about the trip- we had a great group of students and it will be good to see everyone again.

Cross Cultural Psychology: Media Analysis Paper: Perspectives of Animal Agriculture Welfare

2008-12-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

In the order of my papers for my cross-cultural psychology class this paper came second, the paper on my trip to the animal rights activist meeting was the third and final in the class. As you can tell this is an issue that I find interesting because I made it two of my three papers. This is a media analysis paper and I took a different perspective, how a certain media group infiltrates the media and that's how stereotypes are formed. I am by no means saying that this only happens in animal agriculture, this happens in every corner. My classes in PR and journalism have taught me everyone wants to get their 15 minutes of fame- this is just one example that I chose to take that and expand upon. Enjoy!

Media has the ability to form and perpetuate stereotypes within a society. But the media is not one entity that stands alone. It is made of many different sources and outlets. While news media’s goal is to achieve objectiveness this is often close to impossible since it is human nature to form opinions and journalists are not robots. Another weakness in news media is its susceptibility to being used or manipulated. Often times a certain group will try to make something as newsworthy as possible so that it can be presented to a large audience for free. The interception of news media, newspaper, television broadcast and Internet, also have the ability to form and perpetuate stereotypes, especially if only one side of the story is being told. As a major in agriculture journalism, I have gained knowledge about journalism and news media; growing up on a diversified crop and livestock farm I have the perspective of a farmer and attend numerous speeches and lectures every year that discuss the issue of the public’s lack of faith in the agriculture industry. I have seen what the agriculture industry has been going through and what animal rights activists see as the solution, but I think the real solution lies on the path that has yet to be walked down.

On November 4, 2008, 63% of Californians voted yes on proposition 2, the Standard for Confing Farm Animals. This proposition eliminated cage confinement for egg laying hens, gestation crates for sows, and veal crates (Smart Voter: League of Women Voters). In the 1920’s the Great Deal included a program that paid farmers not to farm or produce more crops or animals because there was a huge surplus, at the time. The government began using subsidies, which guarantees a base price on their commodity and the difference between the market price and base price is what the government pays out. In order to make the most money, one needs to have as many crops/animals produced as possible. Hence the rise of the ‘factory farms,’ a phrase coined by animal rights activists. Now most agriculture producers are on the large scale because smaller farmers have gone out of business and now work elsewhere.

A majority of egg production comes from California; the ugly part is actually for the consumer. Unless the factories move to other states, the cost of eggs will go up, along with the price of pork (gestation crates are used so sows don’t roll over and squash their piglets. For farmers, cattle prices will decrease because similar to the horse ban, there will be no market for veal so they will become worthless and no one wants to buy a worthless product. Issues such as proposition 2 that are having a huge impact on the agriculture industry are stemming from the infiltration of media and the stereotypes being conveyed by specific interest groups. One organization that has been successful at manipulating the media and using it to gain mass support for the issues is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

This HSUS is not associated with local humane societies, but instead is a non-governmental organization that boasts as being “the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection organization- backed by 10 million Americans, or one if every 30” (HSUS). Their annual budget received through donations was “$103 million, more than double the 1996 annual budget of $42 million” (HSUS).

Stereotypes concerning animal welfare include animals being confined to spaces so small that they are physically unwell and animals are treated roughly, being abused physically and mentally. Often times the situations that make it to the media, even if they are the exception to the rule and not how every confinement plant treats their animals. For example, the Hallmark case where downer cows were being slaughtered for meat consumption made headlines but no one showed a balance to the negative, such as a confinement plant that follows correct, humane procedures. A story much have a high degree of newsworthiness to be published and often agriculture is not seen as newsworthy because only a few percent of the entire population feel they are involved in the agriculture industry, even though most jobs have something to do with the food and fiber industry. When something as alarming as the Hallmark case occurs and only one side is shown, the consumers are ignorant since they have not been provided balanced information and don’t have reason to assume there are differences between confinement operations. This is an example of how the media has accepted the stereotypes of confinement operations and report nothing different. Also, people view animal welfare differently based on the degree to which they are in contact with animals.

A 2008 study by Velde, Aarts and Woerkum about animal welfare perceptions of farmers and consumers found that farmers view animal welfare as having enough food, water and space to be productive in growth, while consumers think that animal welfare means that an animal feels good mentally as well as physically and is happy. Both groups are charged with “functional ignorance” because neither side is attempting to learn more about animal welfare, often because they are not aware of solutions to problems that may arise. As a conclusion, the authors view that a domestic contract does exist and that the question should change from, ““Is there a domestic contract?” to “On the basis of whose values and norms should the contract be formulated?”… A public debate could enhance the development of norms and what I acceptable and what is not.”

One of the main social issues with animal welfare is that each side treats the issue as a win-lose rather than a compromise. If the different sides start to communicate and share with one another their perspective then I believe a solution could be made that is acceptable to society, farmers and consumers alike.

According to a 2004 study by Winders and Nibert, “As a result [of overproduction of crops], farms organizations and the state promoted “meat” production and consumption as a way to alleviate surplus. To handle this expansion, intensive and industrial methods reshaped “meat” production, resulting in more oppressive living conditions for animals raised as “meat.”(76)” This study linked market demand and government policies as the cause for animal oppression. While valid points are made throughout the article, it is in a very slanted tone that is concerned with animal welfare. Again, it is the slanted tone that can form people’s opinions for them without providing them balanced information in an even tone that allows the consumer to form their own opinion. While this article is well researched, it is often easy to find research and information that matches our own opinions, while ignoring opposing positions. This shows that not only does a conversation about animal welfare needs to take place, but both sides need to be willing to truly listen to one another to create a compromise. It may be difficult for each side to respect and fully understand what the other is saying, but it is imperative if the issue is ever going to be resolved.

References

The Humane Society of the United stae and Doris Day Animal League Announce Merger and Join Forces to Enhance Work for Animals / The Humane Society of the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2008, from http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases /hsus_doris_day_animal_league_merger.html.

Proposition 2: Standards for Confining Farm Animals- California State Government. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2008, from http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/state/prop/2/.

Velde, H., Aarts, N., Woerkum, C. (2002). Dealing with Ambivalence: Farmers’ and Consuemrs’ Perceptions of animal welfare in livestock breeding. Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Ethics, 15, 203-219. Retrieved October 20, 2008, from the PsychInfo database.

Winders, B., & Nibert, D. (2004). Consuming the Surplus: Expaning “Meat” Consumption and Animal Oppression. The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 24(9), 76. Retrieved November 13, 2008, from the ProQuest database.

Help! I've Been Robbed!!!

2008-12-01T08:43:00.001-08:00

After working an 8 hour shift waitressing, I head to my car to go home- only to find out that my drivers window is missing and so is my purse.

Here are some fast and easy ways to prepare for the worst:

*Make photocopies of the front and back of all credit and debit cards, social security card, drivers license, checks and any other important cards or information you carry in your purse, car or wallet. Have a copy at your house and a backup with a parent.

*Save the emergency number on the back of all credit cards in your cell phone so if stolen, the card or account can be shut down quickly. Hopefully before the thief tries to use the information

*Check your credit for free once a year. At http://www.ftc.gov/freereports there is a link to get your free annual credit report. Check credit once a year regardless of whether or not you suspect anything- it is always nice to see what the car dealership or bank see when they run your credit.

These are tips that I have both heard about and learned the hard way. I got my purse stolen last winter from my car. I was parked underneath a street light in a restaurant parking lot surrounded by other cars and my driver’s window was busted out. The policeman who responded to the call told me that a few other purses had been stolen from cars that night at other near by restaurants. I had copies of all of my cards from when I had been abroad so I called my parents and we each began to call the 1-800 numbers and either close or put a freeze on all of my accounts. The banks track whenever someone tries to use a card and about a week later none of my cards or checks had been used. I was mainly irritated that my brand new purse was stolen but I had absolutely no cash in that purse, not even a penny. I was able to laugh in the end when I knew my credit wasn’t in danger and the burglar got nothing. If there is a next time, I might not be that lucky.

To learn more about credit/identity theft check out these helpful websites:

http://www.fightidentitytheft.com/

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

Dining Etiquette

2008-11-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to a CAFNR Dining Etiquette session and was served a four course meal. Every one was wearing business professional outfits as we were taught how to act in a formal dinner setting.

Over the years I have been to many dinner etiquette sessions but I always learn something new at each one. For the first time I learned how a host in a formal dining experience should act, which was really nice because no one has ever discussed that with me before and I feel that is something I will use in the future.

For our Southwestern themed four courses we started with a thick soup that was delicious and had a hint of taco seasoning, although I am sure they didn't use spices out of a packet. Our second course, a salad served with a corner of taco shell included small diced, seasoned tomatoes, spiced corn and black beans. For the main course we were served a scoop of purple tinted mashed potatoes with slices of steak on top of the potatoes forming a teepee shape and topped with long green beans with a steak seasoning sauce on the bottom. Our final course was a dessert; a small apple dumpling served with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream.

The event was sponsored by Helena Chemical Company so I was able to save $10 on my meal and only had to pay $12.50, which fit into my budget quite nicely!

The night was fun because or main speaker, Chef Jett, was full of great tips and random stories. Chef Jett had a lot of great stories to tell when it came to serving military officials all over the world while he served in the Navy. About six or seven of the tips we learned were accompanied with tales of losing his bread plate to a higher ranking officer and serving a tissue to a Korean officer on a plate, among others. He also had the occasional fact about skunks: did you know a skunk can spray with accuracy up to 10 feet? It can spray up to 16 feet but only in a general direction! (He claimed he had some time in the dessert and Wikipedia became a great way to kill time.)

Chef Jett had a great sense of humor and has been all around the world, with it all starting on the dairy farm where he grew up, in the middle of nowhere. I have been to several dinner etiquette sessions over the years but this was by far one of the most entertaining. I also think that always smiling or laughing and the fun side stories will help me to remember some of the information he gave our group.

One final fun fact learned from Chef Jett: Tips (what you leave a server after paying for the meal) stands for: To Insure Prompt Service. There is still a debate between the French and English who created the tradition, but it started when someone had extra coins and left them on the small plate their tea sat on, the waiter came to understand that money was for him or her and would fill their drink more promptly than the other guests. That was a fun fact of the day!

A little action for my blog :)

2008-10-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a hectic semester to say the least! I thought things would slow down when September ended; I can't believe I lied to myself like that. While things just now are looking like they might ease up a bit, I now know to have my doubts.

I haven't had much of a chance to blog since the beginning of the semester so I went ahead and put up a few papers I have done for some of my classes.

The Science article is from attending Saturday Morning Science for extra credit in my BioChemistry class. It is supposed to be one page on what you found interesting and what was confusing.

The other two pieces are articles I wrote for my Agriculture Journalism Field Experience class. We went to Northwest Missouri for a weekend and toured a coal plant, ethanol plant, wind farm, CRP farmland, a 100-year family farm and edible white corn farm among other locations. We turned in our final papers Tuesday and had a "Overly Mellow Dramatic" awards ceremony. Award ranged anywhere from a rubber chicken to Cheetos. I received the best gift of everyone- duck tape! Let's just say when in is the firs destination of the morning and you won't be getting back to the hotel until late that evening and you have an unexpected rip, it never hurts to have a little duck tape! It made me smile, especially the part where it was party used- that made it even better! :)

As preparation for the trip we learned to write science based stories that could be very complicated and put them in easy to understand newspaper format. It was a great learn-to-do-by-doing experience and I learned a lot from it. The electricity path and switchgrass articles were both done before we went on our big three day trip, 6am Friday - 8pm Sunday. I did my final story on CRP and will have that posted in the next few weeks. I am really happy with how the paper turned out and excited about adding it to my portfolio.

Hope you enjoy me stories. Have Fun!

Crouching Tiger Beetles, Hidden Dragon Flies: Reflections on How Insects Use Color, Tom Schultz, Denison University

2008-10-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

After listening to Mr. Tom Schultz talk about how we see color and how certain use colors to their advantage, I found many things to be interesting. One of my favorites would be the limitation of our ability to see color. While some organisms can only see whether there is light or no light, others can see shades of gray, humans can see an array of colors, and some insects and most birds can see an even greater range of colors than humans. The fact that birds can see ultra violet rays is interesting and not something I would have ever thought about. It was neat learning that damselfly dragonfly have iridescent wings that to us look white but other damselfly dragonflies see ultra violet colors.

I found the concept of wavelength to be a bit confusing, but it kind of cleared up as he went along. The concept that light produces different colors at different wavelengths was hard for me to wrap my head around- the fact that lighting and cell thickness can determine the color of a plant or insect only makes so much sense. I think I am getting confused because I keep trying to relate the idea of wavelength and thickness to other things such as my shirt and I am not sure if the idea transfers over to non-organisms.

Grass in Gas Tanks

2008-10-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

A waist high sea of switchgrass, Indian grass, bluegrass, forages and legumes with small yellow flowers in full bloom ripples like waves from the cool breeze with colors jumping out from the bright sun; a great day to be outdoors at the University of Missouri Bradford Farm looking at future biofuels.

Tim Reinbott, superintendent of the MU Bradford Research and Extension Center, is spearheading a research project on the long-term effects growing various plants for biofuels has on soil quality and content. Reinbott is comparing monocultures plots with only one plant species, like corn, to diverse cultured plots that have three, ten or 18 different legumes, forages and grasses. The idea for this project arose when talk of cellulosic ethanol started to spread. Cellulosic ethanol is made from the dry matter of plants such as switchgrass, Indian grass, bluegrass, forages, legumes and wood.

The popularity of using these warm season grasses is because they are native to the Midwest and easy to grow. Switchgrass is popular because it establishes quickest, one year, and needs less help, while Indian grass produces more dry matter and therefore more ethanol.

“That’s a really good legume,” Reinbott noted as he picked the yellow flowering plant from the ground and inspected its nitrogen producing knolled roots. By not having to add nitrogen to the soil this lowers production costs and also makes the process “more carbon friendly” because fertilizers are made from petroleum. “When looking at the whole carbon footprint that’s tremendous. We don’t want to design anything with more carbon than before.”

“If you wait until after October to harvest [switchgrass] you won’t lose as many nutrients,” said Reinbott. When switchgrass dies for the winter, all if its nutrients go to the soil through the roots, which have a large underground system. Corn ethanol is going in the other direction. Ethanol plants are starting to make ethanol out of corn stover including the stalk and leaves, which is that much less nutrients being returned to the soil.

Miscanthus, an ornamental hybrid cross grass, is similar to switchgrass in that its nutrients go to its roots for winter. It has greater growth and therefore biomass potential and would require 1/3 less land than switchgrass. Switchgrass produces four tons of dry mass per acre while Miscanthus produces twelve tons per acre. The downside, being grown in a monoculture miscanthus is not as wildlife friendly as switchgrass.

“After three years we hope to see a difference in soil properties” said Reinbott, who expects to see a difference in the soil every year afterwards. The time is now. Reinbott’s three-year-old plot will be harvested for the first time this October, giving him data to compare the different types of crops for fuels like ethanol and biofuels and the impact on soil properties over time

“The seeds are just ideal,” said Reinbott as he picks a foxtail from a highly diverse plot. “We’re on the up and front on this wild life aspect. By looking at wildlife we’re staying ahead of the game. We don’t want that to blow up in our face.” Reinbott is working closely with the MU Conservation Department to see which types of plots attract which types and how much wild life. The Conservation Department is concerned about the monoculture plots, which often don’t provide wildlife with the food or shelter they need to thrive. “Ideally we want to produce as much biofuels as possible but with a more favorable base for wildlife.” By predicting and fixing problems before they occur, Reinbott hopes to have a smooth transition in biomass production for Cellulosic ethanol.

“It’s going to be very intense,” said Reinbott who sees the future of biofuels in the technology rather than new plant sources. Reinbott believes power analysis, which uses a system of heat and pressure to break down biomass to its basic elements, is going to be break through technology in the next five years. Currently, scientists are able to produce 70 gallons of ethanol for every ton of switchgrass, nowhere close to the theoretical 200 gallons per ton.

Another issue researchers are working on is storage. Forages are fluffier than corn and take up more space to store. Reinbott’s next research question, “In October what happens if fuel is stored in the field?” If storage isn’t an issue and little biomass is lost while in the field then farmers can take harvested biomass straight to the ethanol plant.

Electricity: From the Power Plant to the House

2008-10-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

From the power plant or wind turbines to the kitchen light bulb, is the path electricity takes as easy as going from point A to point B? Matt Lucas, a technician at Boone Electric Cooperative, explains the process is a little more complicated.

The electricity used in Missouri either starts in a power plant, wind farm or water dam. Missouri’s two power plants create electricity by burning coal, which heats water to steam. The steam turns turbines and magnets to create electricity. On wind farms the turbines are turned by the wind to produce electricity. Similarly, hydroelectric dams release water that flows through turbines.

Once the electricity is created it goes to a step-up substation. Missouri has one located in Springfield, which also serves parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. Here, transformers take the energy, or voltage, and sends it long distances through high voltage transmitters, which can handle the 500,000 volts. Large insulators are used, preventing energy from going to the ground or structure. “They have helicopters and people hanging from ropes maintaining these [high voltage insulters],” said Lucas.

Energy is lost as electricity flows through the large high voltage poles on their way to a transmission sub-station. At the station, lines from the large poles drop into the transformers where voltage is reduced to 34,500 to 115,000 volts, making it suitable for local use. The voltage is sent out on local use poles. This process will repeat at another transmission sub-station where energy will be reduced to 7,200 to 13,200 volts.

The next step is residential electric delivery. The electricity reaches a transformer on a pole, ground box, or side of the house. At this local consumer level the meter measures kilowatts per hour used by the house.

“We have to pay for amount of energy we will possibly use,” explains Lucas. Once a year the electric company will project and provide the power plant with their ‘power potential,’ the amount of energy the electric company may possible need. The power plants run non stop and produce the amount of energy outlined in the contract. The electric company is being charged for the electricity that is being produced and on the lines, even if it the electricity not being used.

Missouri currently has three commercial wind farms, all located in Northwest part of the state. Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm, located in Gentry County, has 27 turbines on 10,000 acres. On average, the farm produces 2.1 megawatts per turbine. Three of those turbines could produce enough energy for 45,000 houses or half the size of Columbia.

The Cow Branch Wind Energy Project, in Atchison County, has 24 turbines covering 7,000 acres with 35 landowners. Each landowner receives supplemental cash, equaling $5,000 per turbine on their property.

Nodaway County’s Conception Wind Energy Project, financed by John Deere Wind Energy, consists of 24 turbines on 7,000 acre with 28 landowners.

There is currently an energy scare among the electric companies. Demand for electricity has increased but sources for energy hasn’t. Electric providers are trying to get consumers to cut back and be more conservative with electric use since there is an energy scare in the state. While they are in the business to make money, they are also wary of the possible energy threat.

“We’ll have to cut back or create new energy because usage is going through the roof,” said Lucas who compared the current energy situation to balancing a checkbook. We either need cut back on our spending (usage) or find a new source of income (energy). In preparation for the possible future energy shortage in Missouri a new cal-burning power plant is being planned for Southern Missouri. A coal plant is being discussed because we have the technology for that. Right now, wind energy is a good idea, according to Lucas, but the technology to lower prices has yet to occur. “When technology catches up, prices drop.” Until that technology is able to catch up with the energy demand in Missouri, coal-burning plants will continue to produce a majority of our electricity.

I'm Back! :)

2008-09-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

It's great to be back in the land of the free. Classes are going great and I am having a wonderful fall semester so far. I hope to publish more posts later on all the great things I have been involved in- needless to say television is a treat and even then it is usually to watch a movie for a class. But I wouldn't trade the experiences for anything- I love staying busy. I have surprised myself how much I can get done in an hour these days! I hope everyone had a great summer and more to come later on Fall 2008.

Pessimistic or Realistic?

2008-09-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

A good friend sent me this article knowing my view of the United States' eventual title loss as the top global power. I want to pass this along to others who may be interested. I have received similar lectures in a few lectures on Political Science and it's going to be quite the roller coaster ride over the next few decades. So tighten your seat belt and let the globalization game begin.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903302.html?wpisrc=newsletter

One of the best day at the Olympics...

2008-08-20T03:46:00.000-07:00

Today was the Gala and yes- it is all it is made out to be. Plus I am kind of famous. Beth and I did end up leading the athletes to their apparatus so I got to lead the way for athletes such as Nastia Liukin (USA), Jonathan Horton (USA), the oldest female gymnast and 5 time Olympian, currently from Germany but previously from Russia, Oskana C., a rhythmic dancer from a country that was formerly with the USSR, and Deferr, a Spanish male gymnast. I hope to write more on the experience later- but it was a blast! I was told that the MU people who were sitting in the stands yelled my name when they saw me leading some of the athletes- I guess I'm famous now! :)

It was great to rub elbows with them and get a picture with a few before the job started. It was a little stressful in the beginning but got easier as we went along- although I never was quite sure where to stand, but I did figure out to move for the photographers! One of the Chinese managers was in such awe over Nastia Liukin that he stepped right in front of photographers who were taking shots like crazy over her, especially when she was doing her tumbling. The photographers were yelling at him and he didn't have a clue so I had to tap him on the shoulder- I don't think he liked being told to move, but I don't like him getting in other people's way, especially when they are trying to do a job.

My favorite was Jonathan Horton, although I have collected quotes from him previously. He has given some great quotes and is a wonderful person to be around. Some of the other athletes only wanted to talk to other athletes, their coaches, or no one- making them seem a little stuck up, but I can't blame them- the Chinese workers and volunteers were constantly hounding them for pictures and autographs so it must have been bothersome, especially whey they were about to perform in front of a packed arena that holds 18,000 people. My favorite was talking with Shawn Johnson (USA) when she was talking about how crazy it was with everyone trying to get photos- it made going anywhere that much more difficult. She was also a really sweet girl to work with, always smiling and eager to start up a conversation.

The experience has left me a little tired, but I am so happy I had the opportunity. I was even able to meet some very important people along the way, including the announcer for the evening and one of my favorites, Frank, an Australian worker who managed the technical equipment for the venue. He had a great sense of humor and was always good for a few laughs whenever we bumped into him.

It was absolutely crazy when the show ended. Volunteers and athletes alike came onto the stage to take pictures and even after the athletes had left, the volunteers were able to look at a few of the apparatus' which was a treat in its own. It was nice to finally get a perspective of what the athletes had been performing on after having watched closely for more than 13 days. It was also a sad departure at the end of the day. We all met back at the ONS office to say good bye to our international managers. Even though we will all continue to work, we will be in different venues now. Sally (Australia), John (USA), Carlyle (India) and Denyse (Canada) were all wonderful people to work for and I hope to meet, or even work with, them in the future. We said farewell to our Chinese counterparts and are all headed out to night for a little celebration now that our work is 'done.' (About half of the group volunteered to continue working at the National Indoor Stadium venue during Handball finals, myself included).

I hope to add pictures sooner than later- my memory chip filled up about 30 minutes before we left the venue but hopefully I can get the photos somehow! :)

I hope everyone back home had a great summer- I am actually starting to miss home, even though I am having a blast here. Can't wait to see everyone, I hope you didn't forget me! :)

Gymnastics Gala

2008-08-19T08:24:00.001-07:00

Started in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympic Games, the Gymnastics Gala is the third most sold out even of the Olympics, after opening and closing ceremonies respectively. It combines talent with entertainment, featuring gymnasts that medalled, dancers, rhythmic gymnastics and Chinese pop stars this year. Working in the venue, we get the option of attending the Gala tomorrow.

My good friend Beth is fluent in French and translated some papers from French to English for the commentator. To show his gratitude, he offered her two seats to sit with him at the Gala. Quite a treat- the best seats in the house. Beth offered me her second seat so we met with the man today to iron out the details about tomorrow (Wednesday 20th). I saw the seats he was offering us- right on the floor, where judges would sit! We then talked to his boss who is basically running the show and gets the last say. She offered us the job of leading the athletes from the warm-up hall to their correct podium. The lights will be dimmed so most likely we won't be seen on TV, but having never seen a Gala and not being 100% sure what is going to happen- I am crossing my fingers that someone back home will see me! :) So we were bumped from the best seats in the house to escorting the gymnastics medallists! Beth didn't even know who she was translating for when she was offered the task! Crazy how things work out- but I am super excited and am going to bed now so that I can be well rested for tomorrow- I can only imagine the excitement!

The National...

2008-08-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Completely random, but fun- I enjoy visiting different countries and hearing about their National...

The National drink of Morocco is Green Tea- they always serve it to guests as a sign of hospitality and you can tell if it is quality Green Tea depending on if it has bubbles, which is a good sign. It is also sweet and served hot.

The National plant (possibly flower?) of Scotland is the thistle- and yes I remember seeing some there.

The National sport of China is Table Tennis- and they are hard core. I remember that in the first few weeks of training at our venue there were a couple of tennis tables set up so the Chinese workers could play during their lunch break after they had eaten.

These make me wonder what the U.S. has dubbed its own. We are normally familiar with the motto, tree, or bird of a state but what about the country as a whole? I am aware that the National bird is the bald eagle- but what other objects embody our culture? I think that by knowing a country's national whatever helps you to better understand that country, its history and what is specific to its culture. I also believe that, if you scratch a little deeper than the surface, you can make discoveries by connecting dots with other information you are aware of. For example, the National sport of China is Table Tennis. Without really knowing the history of the sport I can hypothesize that maybe it is easier for everyone to play, regardless of age, gender or socio-economic standing. Also, I have noticed, especially being at the Olympics, that certain ethnicities are better at certain sports and certain countries are good as well. The fastest runners tend to be black people from developing countries, where as those good at hurdles are black people from developed countries. The best swimmers are white and from more developed countries where they can afford the proper training equipment. Asian cultures dominate at, what may seem to an American, the most random sports: shooting, table tennis, badminton. This is just scratching the surface myself and going off of what I have seen, heard and experienced. I haven't done any research but am interested in the idea of different nationalities or ethnicities being stronger in certain areas due to their genetics and environment (money, mountains, etc). Possibly, what strengths a certain group may have compared to another and why.

It's kind of funny how in life we go from curious 5-year-olds always asking 'Why?' to young adults who, after years of being told without asking, begin to ask 'Why?' again. Only this time we want answers and if they mean that much to us, we can go out and do the research to find the answers ourselves.

I can see already this topic has strayed- but I do believe that a lot can be inferred from a National ___. The eagle is very symbolic to Americans and Moroccans have shown me some of the best hospitality ever- I think the green tea represents their hospitable culture more than their love of tea. What else can we learn about a country and what they dub to be National? I hope that I remember this subject and am able to learn more about it. It almost has the feel for a good outline for a speech!

Today's Posts

2008-08-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

The following are a few blogs from a few weeks ago. Things have gotten a little crazy with the Olympics starting but I found this that hadn't been posted on the net. Sorry for the delay but here's what I have...

Hey all- I'm getting behind some more. It's harder to blog when pictures won't upload- makes things a little bland. But as you will read, I am having a great time and keeping super busy. Things are about to get crazy. We got special stickers so gymnastics reporters get to be on the Olympic Green during opening ceremonies, watch the show on a big screen and see the fireworks up close. Today is my last day of rest. I have a professor dinner tonight- I will be eating a traditional Chinese meal with a professor from Renmin University. Tomorrow is opening ceremonies and I start work on the 9th (men's qualifications!!!) and 10th (women's qualifications!!!). We have a day off on the 11th and then start again. I turn 21 on Saturday. I work that day and get to interview the US men's team so that is really exciting- no doubt I will have an amazing birthday. Seeing how China has no drinking age I guess I can go out for a drink in American tradition but back to work on the 10th where I get to interview the female gymnast from Poland and other English speaking female gymnasts. This is going to be an intense few weeks and I couldn't be happier. This is what I came to do and am having a blast. I have already signed up to volunteer at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada!

Also, several of the posts are ones that I wrote yesterday during slower times at training so if I am talking in first person it is because I was there. Watching podium practice was amazing!

Podium Training

2008-08-18T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today (yesterday) was the last day of training and the first taste of the real thing. I haven't been on an emotional roller coaster that intense since the last speech I gave in April.

I heard rumor yesterday that today was going to be a podium practice, where the athletes are all here and run through the motiosn of the big day. This includes walking through the mix zone where we get quotes. Knowing this I made sure I had time to do my hari and make up this morning! We got to work and the rumor became reality. The day was divided into 3 sections, just like the real event. My 1st job was to collect quotes from the U.S. Men's Team, who weren't expected to talk until a press conference in the afternoon. After an early lunch our group watched the 1st set of teams practice from the stands. Then went down to the Press Mixed Zone to get quotes. We got a little lost and darn the luck got stuck on an elevator with 3 French gymnasts who were practicing in the afternoon. Every face in the elevator turned red and all the French phrases we knew went out the door, except those of the French gymnasts!

Once we got to the Mixed Zone we waited around. My nerves hit to roof at the beginning of practice and sky rocketed while waiting for the athletes to walk through. I felt like a 5-year-old waiting for Christmas. Me and Danielle were supposed to work together. She was nervous they would stop and talk and I was nervous they wouldn't! There was a miscommunication at teh higher up level and only three teams ended up walking through. One of them was the U.S. and of course their PR rep shut us down quick and hard but I tried to talk to a straggler into a "small" quote. I didn't end up getting any words but I did get a smile- at that point I was happy to have gotten that much from both a personal coach and the U.S. Team Captain. I had accomplished my mission- to get a quote and if all else a smile. I want this to be fun for everyone. After that my adrenaline took a downward spiral and it took all I had not to cry in the middle of the Mixed Zone. That was my only chance to get quotes that day, the rest was to be copytaking- typing the quotes that others took. But I am stronger than that, plus I wanted to show my ONS Managers that I could handle anything and I think I did that. I wasn't upset that I didn't get the quote, I knew the whole time I probably wouldn't get one, but I was upset because that was my only chance to interview someone- kind of a catch 22.

The second round I was more relaxed and by the third round at 8 pm I was getting tired and it was going to take a lot to shake me. My copytaking skills improved a lot during the second round, from my first set of quotes to my third I learned a lot and fixed the mistakes I had made the first time around. The third round I did pretty good, but it was a little more challenging because I was copy-taking quotes from the Chinese students and they had interview an English speaker- wrote the quote down in Chinese and had to translate back into English. Plus they had issues with getting incomplete or no quotes at all and the quotes they did get sometimes had words confused like fit instead of faith. It was harder to get what they were saying. I typed what they said and went back later to check. One of the ONS Managers had been around and had heard so he helped me fix the quotes but there were instances where they had not used the right tense as in had instead of have, which made a difference in the quotes they had taken. It was an extra challenge, but what do you do? I should now be a better copytaker knowing how to deal with the different students and how they take quotes. I can learn to ask more questions to make sure the quotes are being published in the same context it was said- which overall is more important that getting the quote verbatim.

Overall, Podium practice was a great experience. The 14 hours flew by quickly and I wish I could have done it today- but they didn't need the extra help, they just wanted me to get rested up. I am starting to really catch the Olympic fever. Choosing this internship came with some give and take and I am so happy I took this opportunity- there is no way this is going to be a negative experience. I am learning so much, and know that I will continue to learn from this experience for the rest of my life. I have been blessed.

I spy with my little eye...

2008-08-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

I saw the perfect body today- in almost 100 different ways! It still amazes me at the physique of a gymnast. On average, they are shorter and pure muscle. Of all the tricks, maneuvers, and physical capabilities of a gymnast, flexibility is by far the most impressive to me.

I have trouble keeping my legs perfectly straight and touch my toes. These boys can lift their leg above their chest at any given moment, do flits and twirls in the air then catch themselves hanging from only a bar, and the biggest shock to me- they can do more than a complete split, where their legs end up slightly behind their waist! I hurt for them.

I will admit, since the first time I watched an Olympic training session, I have been doing daily stretches. I will never be as flexible as an Olympian but to improve my current abilities a little will make me happy. :)

I will add though that I prefer training practice to podium practice because the boys don't wear shirts! :p It's like watching a Leonardo Da Vinci sketch come to life. I have nothing but the utmost respect for anyone who can take a GOD given body and get it to reach its maximum potential without using drugs like steroids. I can't even imagine the time and effort that goes into getting a physique like that, it's not something I will ever accomplish (partly because the height of a female gymnasts career is when she is 16 so I am past my maximum potential age) so I have even more respect for the person who dedicated countless hours and sweat and the inevitable injuries to reach that point. They are Olympians and deserve the title and respect that comes with it.

Medal Count Perspective

2008-08-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

The Olympic medal count has been a topic of conversation since August 9th when medals started being won. The official Beijing Olympic newspaper claims everyday that China is leading the medal count, while they have more golds, the U.S. has more medals. There have been side comments of bribery or thoughts of training athletes rigorously for some years- China has known they would host the Olympics for seven years- enough to train athletes in even the most random sports. The Chinese national pride bubble is getting bigger and more flashy with each passing day and Chinese win where their national anthem can be heard.

This morning I was searching for a medal count when I came across an interactive map that adds a lot of perspective to Olympic hosts and their medal count. It tracks each countries medal count since the 1896 Athens games. (This can also serve as a great history and geography lesson). I quickly discovered a trend- China has been moving higher in the ranks of medal contender for some time now, and more eye-opening than anything else, it has been a trend for 11 out of the 26 Olympics (excluding the current Beijing 2008) that the host country receives the most medals. So for China to win the most medals or be in the top 3 is no phenomenon or a bribing scandal, but most likely, it is history repeating itself.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html?scp=1&sq=medal%20count&st=cse

Mizzou in Beijing

2008-08-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hey all- I have plans on adding to my blog this evening. I am now getting ready to eat some delicious french toast which I discovered a little over a week ago and, on my day off, am going into work anyways so that I can watch the Women's (Girls- they are too young to be women) Individual All-Around Finals. Yesterday I was able to watch Yang Wei from China take gold as was expected, the surprise silver medalist Uchimura from Japan, and the most unexpected, Caranabe from France who randomly hit all of his marks with one solid routine after another earning him the bronze when no one was even looking for France to medal.

Now that I have seen the boys it is time for the girls- which generally catches more attention than their male counterparts.

I hope to blog more later this afternoon about working at the Olympics and being in China. I am also wanting to work on a story for the Ralls County Herald Enterprise and other local newspapers.

If you are interested in following more about Mizzou in Beijing I highly recommend a visit to

http://mojobeijing.wordpress.com

This website was created by our professors here and has had tremendous success. There are also links from that page to the individual blogs of others in our group. It is definitely worth checking out. Have Fun!!

Monday 11th in review

2008-08-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

I will expand on this blog later but to give everyone a rough over view of what I have been doing I decided to post a little something.

The past two days of have been hectic and sleep is... well I forget what sleep is because I get so little of it. Yesterday I spent my entire day at the Gymnastics venue watching the Women's Qualifications. It was amazing- there is nothing like seeing teenage women perform very difficult routines on Uneven Bars, Vault, Balance Beam and Floor Routine. Much more to come on that. My shift wasn't until the afternoon but with permission went early to watch because the 1st group included China and Romania, the second had the US team and the third included Russia. My group included Brazil and France, both of which made the finals but were not talked about as much- I was also very tired by the time that fourth round came.

Getting only 5 hours of sleep last night, I woke up this morning to watch Beach Volleyball- BOCOG had given us free tickets to the event. Of the entire Mizzou group, I was the only person who willingly stayed the entire time until 3pm. Most left around 1pm and some left just after the first match, which started at 9am, ended. I really wanted to stay because when will I get a chance to go to an Olympics again and watch sporting events? I take what I can when I can and can handle sacraficing sleep for Olympics- I can take naps and not go out a few nights.

After the matches I went to lunch at 3pm with my friend Beth. We ate a 1,000 and one nights- a Middle Easter restaurant that serves great lamb! We then met Ted, Ashley and Laura at the train station and headed on over to The Today Show. It was a great experience- my signs got on TV, I got autographs from the entire Today Show crew of reporters and TV personalities. The best part was getting insight from Ann Curry when she talked with our MU group during commercial break. Her words of wisdom were noted by our group and will not soon be forgotten. My shining moment is that in the last few minutes of the show one of my signs, "Hello Perry MO" is shown in the middle of the screen- I had to give a shout out to everyone back home. We then got McDonald's and pin trading was a part of my whole day.

I had an amazing day and have so many great memories from just a short period of time. I have to work tomorrow Publish Post morning so I am going to bed now but can't wait to elaborate on my day more.

Beijing: Different Aspects from Different Angles

2008-08-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hey all- in case you wanted to look at some other blogs here are some from people on our trip who I know are doing a great job- more to come later this is just a starter list:

Ted is a great friend and amazing professional- no doubt he will go far.

www.beijingexperience2008.blogspot.com

I finally turned 21!!!!!

2008-08-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over a week since my last blog and go figure I would finally get the chance to blog on my 21st birthday! But don't worry mom- I have some good friends who surprised me with a cake and took me out. They were smart and we went out a few days before everyone had to start working at their venue. My pictures have not been wanting to upload to the internet lately so hopefully I can figure something out in the next few days- blogging is just more fun with pictures.

I have known for more than three years now that I would turn 21 on a Saturday- crazy how that doesn't seem to matter in the end. I spent the evening of the 8th at the Olympic Green and while I was not inside the bird's nest for the Opening Ceremonies, I was right outside of it. By far my favorite part was hanging out with the people who came to watch the ceremonies. Decorated people from all of the world (that almost seems like an understatement) covered the Olympic Green. We got pictures with or of people who were decked out in their nations shirts, flags, face paints, hats and so much more. Meeting those people was so much fun. I also 'worked' so that I could get pictures of the National Indoor Stadium filled with athletes preparing to walk in the Ceremonies. My job consisted of sitting with reporters! We then spent the rest of the evening outside meeting people, watching fireworks and the athletes as they walked from one stadium to the next. It was a great experience and at midnight, I turned 21 on a subway where my friends proceeded to sing happy birthday very loudly!

I woke up today tired but excited. I ate french toast for breakfast (the best ever, it's not served with syrup but doesn't need it!) and headed to the Olympics. Once I got there my nerves went crazy. Today was the Men's Gymnastics Qualifications. I got to see 98 male gymnasts and my job was to interview the US team which was in the first group. I talked with the US team captain Kevin Tan, which was like Fuwa on my birthday cake. Who interviews an olympian on their 21st birthday? Who is at the Olympics on their 21st birthday or even in China for that matter? I was star struck by my own dumb luck for a good portion of the morning. My job lasted from 10am to 1pm but I had had such an amazing experience that I wanted to watch the second round of mens qualifications (there were three divisions).

I ended up staying at the National Indoor Stadium until 10pm, having McDonald's for supper, and watching the qualifications to the end. Some people would watch the competition from the office but why watch on television what you get to see in real life? I can always watch the Olympics on t.v. but I can't always watch them in real life- that is a once in a life time opportunity. I find it funny that going to an Olympics was never a dream of mine, mainly because I thought it was impossible and I wanted to wish for possible things- it's crazy how the impossible becomes possible when you don't even try. I got to see the key athletes and watch some smile without regret and others cry with broken dreams. Talk about culture- no two people had the same experience today- even as spectators we were from different countries, were different ages and had different expectations. I know what today meant for me, I can only imagine what it may mean to a French pre-teen, Brandon O'Neile who watched his dreams quickly fade, Yang Wei who performed amazingly in front of his home crowd, the Chinese volunteers who wouldn't let us sit in the good seats that were completely empty the whole day, David Durante who watched as all of the US Men's Teams alternates competed, the YMCA group from St. Louis, MO, or the chunky little boy who was bouncing around and screaming. Oh to see the world through the eyes of another.

I am getting ready to go to bed now. I texted my manager and she said I could come in early tomorrow! I really want to see all of the 'Women's' Qualifications (I don't know if barely 16 counts as a woman) and get a good feel for what is going on. Sure I could sleep but everyone has Monday off while gymnastics takes a break before finals so I can sleep then. I had originally planned to get a long massage today and eat some American food and just relax but who cares? My birthday happens every year, the Beijing Olympics don't. The most entertaining one-liner I have, "I turned 21... and China has no drinking age."

I am going to try and catch up on some much needed rest so I can be bright eyed tomorrow. There's a good chance I could have a 13 hour day tomorrow- and I couldn't be more excited!

Today's Posts

2008-07-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

The blogs I am posting today are general. I took a little different approach to these. I picked a topic and discussed it. The events aren't in any special chronological order but there are topics that I want to tell everyone about so here goes. I hope you enjoy! Have Fun!

Sorry blogspot is not working very well today- it's not letting me add pictures, but I promise- they are on their way, I'm just not sure when they will make it on here.

Taxi!

2008-07-28T20:41:00.001-07:00

Taxi’s in China are something special. The base price is 10 RMB (7 RMB = $1 USD) and then it costs 2 RMB for every kilometer. The most expensive ride I have ever had was when I was leaving the Ya Show market or Bodhi, which cost almost 45 RMB ($7) and that is across town. My favorite taxi experience was actually the first time I rode in one in Beijing. Me and Molly and Erin were riding in a taxi heading to the closest subway station that was open (this was before all of the lines had become available for public use). The drivers phone goes off, he answers it, chats for a bit then hands the phone to me- his friend wanted to practice his English so we talked until I noticed the driver acting really funny and poking a bunch of buttons. I handed him the cell phone back and within 3 minutes the cab coasted to a stop on a overpass bridge- it had died and he pointed to us to walk back from where we came. Now we have a great taxi story and some pictures to go with it! We hailed another cab and it got us there- kind of, we tried pronouncing our destination in Chinese, which was a no-no because it got us in a totally different location but was still close to a subway station and got us closer to our final destination so wasn’t such a bad deal. But that’s one for the blog!

I will also never forget the nicest taxi I rode in. I was heading to Bodhi and the taxi was super new- the only cab I had ever seen with a sun roof and the driver was amazing- he got me right to the door, which is more than I can say for any other driver. I tipped him a few RMB (like 30 cents) and we were both happy.

I also enjoy the crappy, sketchy taxis. Most are like regular cars with the outside painted differently but my favorite was getting one where the driver had completely caged himself in- from the people behind him and the person sitting in the passenger seat- it was kind of sketchy but whatever. It’s always an adventure to see what the taxi is going to end up smelling like or whether the driver is going to even know where you want to go. I haven’t had too many problems getting anywhere by taxi since I bought a map at a tourist help station. If they don’t know where our University is by the card we were told to hand them- I can always point to it on my map. One of these days I will ride a taxi in the U.S., but I’m not sure when. I have ridden a cab in New Zealand, Prague and China, but never the U.S. so I don’t have to worry about comparing, for the most part there is nothing to compare it to, but in general- the taxis seem to be about the same regardless of the continent I’m on.

Guardian Angels

2008-07-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

While I know there are hundreds looking after me, (thanks for the prayers, we all know I can be a bit oblivious at times) there are a few that have stuck out in my mind.

Rodney and Alex were my first helpers. Right after leaving the U.S. Grains Council I was supposed to meet the girls to go shopping and I didn’t have a map of Beijing or the subway station at this time. I saw a Westerner and started to chat with him- mainly asking directions on how to get to the Silk market. We ended up chatting for quite some time, he is an outsourcing consultant, businesses in the U.S. will tell him a product they want manufactured and he matches them up with the right factory in the Beijing area. After a bit his friend, a Chinese guy probably two years older than me showed up and I headed into the subway station and was planning on going to the stop they thought was the right one, they weren’t quite sure though. I went into the subway and after waiting a few minutes Alex and Rodney came down and said they wanted to know where this Silk market was too so they were going to help me find it. We stopped where Rodney thought he was supposed to and Alex would ask around in Chinese if we were in the right place, but typical China, no one knew where anything was at. Finally, Rodney called his wife who knew exactly what subway stop to take and even which exit to use to come up right inside of the building. Rodney said he had been there a few times before but had always been with his wife and just followed her so he never had to know exactly what to do, he just did what she said. We came up into the market and we parted- I went to meet my friends and they left. It was a true pleasure getting to meet both of them and they definitely went out of their way to help me, so that was nice.

My second guardian angel is my favorite of all so far. On a drizzling day in Beijing, I was off on my own- looking to get a massage and visit the Ya Show market for a bit. My taxi cab driver dropped me off in a location I had never been before and the map I had didn’t have the street I was on labeled so I couldn’t figure out where I was. I would ask for help occasionally and some would point me in a direction and knowing where I was going- nothing looked familiar. My favorite was when I stuck my head in a shop and the girl didn’t even attempt to help me or try to understand. I even had directions in Madrin Chinese but she still gave me this clueless look. I was getting kind of irritated at this point, people weren’t even trying to help.

I have picked up on how Chinese give directions, they point into a general direction. You are supposed to follow that direction and then ask when you think you’re getting closer and have people keep pointing in general directions until you stumble across it- as opposed to drawing a map with names or landmarks you get a pointing finger. After over an hour of traipsing around lost and clueless as to where I was a few Chinese guards stopped me to try and help- I think, I’m not actually for sure but I don’t think anyone was really going to mess with a disgruntled, wet Julia at that point in time, I’m pretty sure I was wearing my emotions on my sleeve at this point in time. I didn’t have much faith in their help but didn’t have a lot of options. Then out of nowhere a British man asked if he could help me. I told him the market I wanted to go to and he said follow me. It was only a block away but it was such a relief to meet someone who spoke English and understood my situation.

“I just can’t stand to see people lost,” he told me as we began to walk down the street. I found out he worked in the British embassy in Beijing and knew very little Madrin, he had translators so he never really had to learn. We chatted and he was a great person to vent to. He was the one who explained to me that not all Taxi drivers could read and that the city was developing so quickly that he couldn’t recognize a street he had been on 5 months early because development had happened so quickly, which helped me to understand why I could be a block and a half straight shot from the China Trade Center and an English speaker in a bank couldn’t tell me where I was supposed to be going without having to ask her coworkers if they knew about the building. While my faith in the Chinese wasn’t completely restored, talking to him helped me to understand the culture and people better so that when I am in frustrating situations I know why things might be working the way they are. He pointed me in the right direction and I couldn’t help but look back at the man as he walked away in the opposite direction; where would I be and in what kind of mood if he hadn’t stopped by? I have no doubt he was a guardian angel- someone’s got to be looking after me in those situations. I had been on the brink of giving up ( and doing what I don’t know, but giving up) when he came and fixed everything within a matter of 10 minutes, I don’t know his name and doubt I will ever see him again, but I also doubt I will ever forget him.

Ouch!

2008-07-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

I suffered from the worst blisters I have ever had the first few weeks we were in Beijing. I got my first blisters in between my toes from my thong sandals but that only bothered me for a few days- I started to wear tennis shoes so that fixed that. But the day I went to meet with the U.S. Grains Council to discuss agriculture and the Council’s role in China, I wore my cute and comfy dress shoes. Hindsight bias is 20/20 and I realized the morning I was preparing to leave that I always wear pantyhose with the shoes, but didn’t have any and ASSumed everything would be okay.

That day I learned that taxi cab drivers don’t know where much of anything is at. I have learned that Beijing has been rapidly developing and to keep up with the growth is impossible and even if you have a paper with an address written in Chinese for taxi cab drivers, there is a possibility that they are illiterate. While he did get me on the correct street, he dropped me off over three city blocks from the building I needed to be at- which I thought would be obvious, the China Trade Center, but I was wrong. By the time I got there my feet were all torn up and I had to call a friend I was going shopping with after my meeting to bring me flip flops- I would have rather dealt with the blisters between my toes than the blisters and both sides of my toes. I had one really bad blister on the inside of my left foot. I got the blister on Wednesday the 9^th and now, on the 29^th, it is still healing. Even wearing tennis shoes was painful for the following week, but I totally forgot about my blisters while I was on the great wall less than a week later- mind over matter.

I now have a ‘mom’ purse. It has band-aids, triple antibiotic, crackers for a snack or to feed friends that are picky eaters and don’t like the food, Advil, water, a camera for catching those Kodak moments, pens, pencils and paper, wet wipes for sticky situations, and an ipod to block out the craziness! Past that it holds extra batteries, memory chips, a map, sunglasses, my wallet and Chap Stick. Okay- so now I’m wondering if I am like a prepared mom or a messy kid who needs band-aids. If only they were cool looking, maybe Sponge Bob or Disney Princesses instead of ugly brown…

Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!

2008-07-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Even though the US dollar is become weaker as time passes, comparatively China is still a much cheaper country to buy goods and services. Among my favorites are the transportation, food and especially the massages. For the first time in my life I got a massage and it was nice. I have been going to Bodhi for weekly massages and even though it is an up scale spa with professionals and an impressive list of treatments, a 60 minutes massage is only 95 RMB Monday through Thursday before 5pm (95 RMB is apx. $14). I know that I’m not going to be getting professional massages at spas when I get back home and have at least 4 years of school left so it’s going to be awhile before I can afford weekly massages again so I am going to do enjoy the good life while it fits into my budget.

So far I have been to Bodhi four times and have enjoyed it each and every time. China is a very different culture than what I am accustomed to and can cause a lot of tension. This is by far the hardest country I have ever had to assimilate to and that in its self causes a lot of stress. I think that is a good excuse to get a massage and even if it isn’t, it’s the reasoning I’m using. Plus, my 21^st birthday is during the first week of the Olympics so it’s like a present to myself with a little extra since I will not get a chance to celebrate my birthday until I get back to school and that’s only after I get caught up with classes, internships, clubs, work and life. By this point I have thoroughly convinced myself to continue getting weekly massages and I hope you agree.

My favorite part so far has been the older lady who gives me my massages when I go by myself. She is the sweetest little lady and reminds me of a picturesque grandmother figure. Everyone is so nice and it is an amazing escape from the busy city that is always pushing and never looking back- plus I get complimentary drinks and I have discovered my love for hot tea this summer. If you’re ever planning a trip to Beijing, you must stop here- it will be your saving grace!

Delightfully tacky and absolutely delicious!

2008-07-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

I now not only believe but use the phrase, “I go for the chicken wings,” whenever I head to Hooters. So far I have been there three times and that was only in the first two weeks. Nothing satisfies a craving for American food like a spicy buffalo chicken sandwich and curly fries with cheese. It is such a treat for my taste buds to have a positive familiar seasoning and being able to gauge and understand feeling full makes my tummy so happy! I never will forget the time I was eating a bowl of rice with some very sweet and not so sour pork. I stopped eating when I started to feel full but I had eaten too much rice and I could barely stand up straight after it had expanded in my stomach. I could feel my stomach stretching and it did not feel good- I had eaten less than half of the food I was served and it left me miserably full. Since then I have limited my rice intake and attempt to cut back on eating it as well as all sodas except the occasional Sprite.

Another saving grace and my new best friends are Cold Stone Creamery and Subway sandwiches. Subway is much cheaper here, the average turkey combo meal cost $5 and on Tuesdays in only $3! So you know where I’m eating tomorrow! I never thought I would crave a poor boy sandwich so bad in my life as I did before I went to Subway for the first time. I know get my substantial meal fix and knowing that when I feel full, the food is not going to expand is an equally amazing and comforting experience. Cold Stone is my dairy provider. Diary is not popular in Beijing, this includes milk, cheese and butter. There are times when I get intense cravings for theater style popcorn and I have realized it is because I am craving the butter, they don’t even cook with it here. The popcorn served here tastes a lot like microwavable kettle corn. It is sweet and even then they don’t serve very much. I never thought about living without dairy but I am really missing my daily glass of chocolate milk. In the end, I’m not a hard person to please. As long as I have some lunchmeat, bread and milk I can survive! I have become quite the fan of peanut butter sandwiches though, and that’s not something I eat a lot of back home. But please don’t get me wrong, I will have more postings about Chinese food and it isn’t all bad- I am actual a fan of it for the most part, but after so many Chinese meals, I just want something that is familiar and reminds me of a home. God bless America.

It’s not where you go but whom you meet

2008-07-28T18:34:00.002-07:00

Aussies! A friend and I had just gotten done eating supper one night and some Australians ended up sitting next to us and we began talking. From that evening I acquired my motto for life, “No worries mate, she’ll be alright.” For the most part I am a fairly flexible person so these few words describe my personality. There are times in life when I do stress unnecessarily though and that is when this quotes steps in. It symbolizes who I am and want to be- I don’t like to worry, it takes to much necessary and lets face it, “she’ll be alright.”

Somewhat along those lines and somewhat completely unrelated, my theme song is “Life is a Highway”. I remember watching Miss America in high school and she was asked and question she never did answer, “What song best describes you and why?” I thought that was the hardest question ever and never could come up with an answer. One week later I was asked that exact question during an interview for an Area FFA Officer and had to go with the first song that came to my mind and was kind of lame. After that I gave it some time and thought and am secure in my final decision.

I guess the point is: isn’t crazy what we learn about ourselves from others, strangers who we just met, and from random experiences that may seem trivial in several aspects? I have always enjoyed the challenge that traveling has delivered and I accept it willingly. It’s easier to learn more about yourself when your boundaries and limits are being pushed to the max- physically, mentally and emotionally. Going farther and doing better than you have ever done is one of the best feelings ever and I hope to never lose the eagerness to take on a challenge. I am optimistic and naïve, which helps me to live a happy and entertaining life. Being clueless has its perks- when I discover or learn of something new it totally amazes me and I hope to always have that awe and excitement when I learn something. Life is so fun when it all it takes are the little things to completely amaze me. I love the feeling and excitement of realization, it’s just one of the many spices of life.

And mom said I didn’t pay attention to detail…

2008-07-28T18:34:00.001-07:00

So far I have helped to find 3 errors in the INFO system at the Olympics. The first was a team effort; there was no biography for Paul or Morgan Hamm. The two hadn’t been put into the system correctly so this information source for journalist didn’t offer any background on Paul Hamm, who won Men’s Individual All Around at the 2004 Olympics in Athens or his twin brother Morgan Hamm. The second was a minor spelling error in which the system wasn’t being consistent. My biggest discovery ocured while I was copying down information to study later. I realized that the same document was published for the record for Men’s Horizontal bar and Men’s Parallel bar. My ONS manager from Australia, Sally, was really impressed with my find, it was nice to be praised for my attention to detail (ß mom). I spent a good deal of my afternoon using the INFO system to look up information. Even though we had five computers, I was the only person who was consistently researching, but I guess it’s because I know that I’m not good at organizing a study time and since the time had already been set aside for me, I did what I was supposed to, plus it just helps to pass the time. That was my gold star moment for the day- I want to do really good at this Olympics so that I can continue to volunteer for future Olympics, so this was a good moment for me- I just hope I can continue to keep the good work up!

Evening Activities

2008-07-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

In Prague, nights were filled with friends and partying. In Beijing, nights are filled with good friends, snacks, cards, chatting and movies. I don’t know if I am getting over the party scene or if Beijing just makes me want to stay inside and hide from the smog and language barrier. I think one of the factors is that I am not hanging around the ‘party’ crowd, but I am making some great friendships this way. I have met some wonderful people and made some friendships that I know will last for years to come. Some of the best nights have been spent ordering in pizza and trying to squeeze nine people around a laptop to watch a movie.

Other great memories have been made room hopping and just talking with different people about different things throughout the night. Sure the rock star party hard nights can be fun, but I am also enjoying my nights in with some good friends, good conversations and good laughs. Some of the most relaxing nights have also been those where I hang out in my room alone, listening to my itunes, playing on my computer and watching episodes of Family Guy on my laptop.

I think one of the greatest factors for staying in is that going out in Beijing is such work, especially with the language barrier. Traveling is also a pain, to walk anywhere is a minimum 20 minutes and that could sometimes just be getting to a subway station. Earlier a few girls and me were craving ice cream but knew that going to Cold Stone meant committing over an hour of our time in traveling too and from. Also, lets not forget that we are in the dog days of summer and this is our ‘vacation’ so that also helps me from feeling guilty about not doing a lot. It is super humid, hot and polluted outside so going out is an effort. I am just now getting back into the mood of sight seeing. This is still a bit of a hassle because I have not quite assimilated with the culture, nor do I plan to- there are just some differences that are too different from my way of life to do. I will post more on the Chinese culture later, which will add insight to what I am saying. But in case you were wondering- the beer is cheap and good when served cold and while mixed drinks aren’t that cheap they are the strongest I have ever had.

Prince Gong Mansion

2008-07-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Our last stop of the day was the Prince Gong Mansion, owned by the brother of Emperor Gong. Beside his property he had a building made that was 160 meters long to keep all of his treasure inside. This also showed how much wealth he wanted to obtain. The mansion with a huge outdoor garden landscape was decorated using feng shui. The first thing you see at the entrance is a rock that looks like a fish, which is the symbol for treasure so he kept it to help him acquire more. Also, if you look at the rock from a different angle it looks like a woman holding a baby. After the prince went to visit his brother the emperor he saw the rock and at the time was having troubles having a son, all of his wives had only had daughters. He made his servants carry the stone all the way back to his mansion and the next year he had a son.

The garden was so gorgeous and fun to just walk around in. I wish we had had more time to look around. It was ancient China like you envision it from the movies. There was a large building with a lot of outdoors and gardens and shade and archways and beauty.

A pleasant surprise was when we got to stop and have a ceremonial tea pouring. We sat on furniture that was original to the property and tried four types of tea that was brewed in tealeaves in front of us. The tea lady was very nice and spoke excellent English. The group favorite was the last tea, which was made of dried cherries, peaches and rose petals. I used my digital camera to take a video of the experience and hope to get it on youtube at some point in time so you can see it too.

I got it! I got it!

2008-07-25T07:39:00.002-07:00

Alright everybody- I know I dropped the ball for a few weeks but, as the Australian’s we met say, ‘No worries Mate, she’ll be alright.’ I am picking the ball back up! I am feeling better about China now; I had hit a rough patch for a bit but am feeling better now. Chinese cultural has some significant differences- that I will continue to sprinkle throughout my blog. We received our training and Olympic work schedules yesterday and things are going to be better now. One of the hardest parts of adjusting to the culture was constantly flying by the seat of our pants. I consider myself to be a flexible person, but even I was craving some sort of a routine.

I am excited about our schedules- we now train for one day and have two days off. This time off will help me to catch up on my blog as well as continue to do some sightseeing. I am going to try to hang out at the venues as much as possible once the games start, but until then I have learned from experience that it is not necessary or effective for us to train 8 hours a day without any days off, especially since we only do about four hours of work a day and sit around the rest. Details to come later but I am excited to be blogging again- I hope I didn’t disappoint too many people with my three week break (or slacking)! Thanks and Have Fun!

P.S. Don’t worry- I have been keeping a running list of what we have been doing everyday so my blog should be fairly complete even though the information may seem a little out-dated.

“My English name is …”

2008-07-25T07:39:00.001-07:00

While not every Chinese person we have met has an English name, most do. It’s always interesting to learn where they got their name from, since they get to choose them themselves. I met only boy who got his name Mike from the show ‘Growing Pains’ and there are others who chose an English word they liked, such as Eleven, Shadow, and probably my favorite is Scrip, on ONS Manager who is earning is PhD in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in Robotics.

Once Upon a Time…

2008-07-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Anything in parenthesis is completely fictional and made up by others or myself in my group for entertaining. I wanted to keep this as informative as possible but wanted to have a little fun too so I hope that clears up any confusion.

Over 3,000 years ago in a land far, far away there was a small town that was rapidly developing. Years later it was conquered by Ye and became the capital of the state and named ‘The Capital of Yen’. Today, one of Beijing’s most popular beer is named after this conqueror. Long after the Yen state ended, the city remained one of the most important in Northern China. Since the 11^th Century, five dynasties elected the city as the imperial capital, which was renamed by each dynasty. The last two dynasties, the Ming and Xing Dynasties, named the city Beijing. During this time, 1400s to 1911 Beijing had great economic development and grew in size.

In 1911, a revolution broke out and the country entered into a republic era. From 1911 to 1949, the government officials were weakened by greed and laziness. The Republic of China was overthrown by the Red Party, which was led by the famous, (and sexy), Mao (hence the phrase Moa-chica-woaw-woaw). The People’s Republic of China is the current ruling party. Beijing is once again the capital city, is a modern metropolis, a political and cultural center that continues to rapidly develop physically and economically to this day. The cities’ goal is to host one of the most successful Olympics in history and surprise the world. (I heard this statement before I began training and now view this completely different; my perception has definitely changed.)

(To be continued… because the story of China will never really end) How about that? For as long winded as I am, I just squeezed over 3,000 years of history into less than 200 words- a personal record if I do say so myself!

China Rush Hour (PIC: bus with TV, traffic sings)

2008-07-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

Traffic in Beijing is probably what you would expect from a city with 3million vehicles. They rush hours last from 7 to 9am and again from 5-7pm.

During the Olympics to cut down on air pollution and traffic the government has passed a law that between July 20^th and September 20^th there will be an “Odd-Even Number System”. Vehicles with a license plate ending in a even number can only drive on even numbered days and vehicles with odd numbers can only drive on odd numbered days. This should cut traffic down by half but it has been quested about whether the air quality will really be affected. There has been speculation that a lot of Beijing’s pollution is from industrial cities to the West and regardless of what Beijing does, the pollution will not be that easy to fix.

My favorite part about the roads, besides the signs that have a giraffe to emphasize an upcoming height limit, is the street intersection signs. I learned from Steve that the signs actually change colors so you can see what upcoming and side road traffic looks like- red means a traffic jam, yellow is slow moving and green means you’re good to go. I was surprised to learn that these signs are computer automated but I was even more amused that about 80% of the public transportation buses in Beijing have TVs with news and Olympic coverage.

Communism vs. Democratic

2008-07-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

Through conversation, I found out that China is a ‘Democracy’ at present. They have officials who get to ‘vote’ on issues, but votes are usually cast in the recommended (dictated) direction. Even though this is a democratic country, I now feel I understand what a communistic government is like.

When I studied abroad the summer of ’07 in Prague, I learned from a professor why Czech citizens act and respond they do. According to their history, they don’t want to move for work because they have been on the family land for hundreds of years and are currently dealing with two generations that were under a Communist government. In fall of ’07 I took International Relations 1400 and learned that historically, U.S. citizens have never felt a major loss. We were granted our freedom from Britain because they had to decide to keep India or the US and chose India so as we were growing and developing we were overlooked as inferior to the rest of the world. We entered WWII just before it ended and came up on top. As history repeats itself, the US is about to encounter a leveling where our International power goes from absolute control to shared international control- the mighty Roman Empire fell and U.S. will eventually lose it’s place as the hegemonic country.

I am coming to the conclusion that the Chinese act and have government they do because of their history. For over 3,000 years the nation has used a feudal system which did not end until 1911 and only became democratic in 1949. This country does not have the mind set or background to really know what democracy is and even in the U.S. democracy is only what we have made it. This is a major change for the Chinese government and way of life and I don’t see this as being quickly changed in 50 years, this is going to take hundreds of years. By then, who knows what this world is going to look like then? Will be all still be headed towards ‘democratic’ governments? A definition is what your personal history and cultural perception have led it to be. Different people and cultures will view democracy very differently so using the one word can mean different things to different people. I know this is a lot, especially since I just threw in the Language Convergence Meaning Divergence theory I learned from my Conflict and Communication 3525 class from the Spring of ’08. It’s a lot of concepts and I hope I explained it clearly here but I am very secure in what I am suggesting and if anyone would like some further explanation or me to make my explanation more clear, please ask- I would love to go into greater detail on this. I bet you got more out of this blog posting than you were expecting, I know I did!

Sun 5th: Early to Bed, Early to Rise

2008-07-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

By the time we got in that evening I was exhausted. I passed up on a chance to go out- I was just fine with a peanut butter sandwich (I hear everyone was about ready fall over themselves they were so tired). I finished watching ‘No Reservations’ and fell asleep about an hour into ’50 First Dates’ at approximately 8pm. I woke up at 9pm and shut my computer off and got in bed. I was wondering at one point if my roommate had ever come in the night before- I never heard here come in, shower, skype or anything- but I wouldn’t, I’m kind of a rock star at sleeping like I’m in a coma. But as I’m sure you would guess I woke up the next morning at 5:30am and had to wait around for 4.5 hours for everyone else to wake up before we went… shopping! Me, Erin, Laura, Danielle, and Molly went to the nearest mall, had some Starbucks, did some window shopping and decided to go to a market, the kind where you negotiate to get cheap clothes, purses and shoes.

As we left the mall we had to get a taxi and since there can only be four people in a cab at once we split up two and three. Me and Laura and Molly were riding on the taxi and I was in the front because I am good at acting like I know what I am doing and we didn’t want the driver to take advantage of us by charging too much. I was sitting in the front and the driver answered his cell phone then handed it to me- it was his friend who wanted to practice his English- I guess? Then all of a sudden the driver started to act funny and I gave him the phone back- he started to poke buttons and the car proceeded to die on the middle of a bridge. He pointed for us to walk back that way we had come so we started trotting down the middle of a four-lane highway!

The next taxi cab didn’t understand our poor Chinese pronunciations correctly and took us farther than we wanted him to but since we were just trying to get to a subway stop he got us in an area that had one and once we got our bearings about us, we started our subway experience.

It took us long enough to figure out the subway ticketing system and then after getting directions we started on our way. It was very nice and shiny new. We took some fun pictures and the fun stop when we got to the train station- finding the other two girls. I found out that the subway is right under the Poly Theatre where they have Chinese Opera. Once we found the girls we bumped into some Americans wearing Iowa shirts. They are working for the Olympics too. We exchanged numbers and talked for about 20 minutes. We then headed off for a 30-minute walk to the market.

Just some randomness

2008-07-08T06:42:00.001-07:00

I got sidetracked blogging about my experiences and just had to throw so thoughts out there.

I find it interesting to see what words spell check doesn’t like. Such as blog, which is a popular form of communication, texted, which refers to something we do on our cell phones in the past tense, and podcast, a downloaded audio clip. These are just a few of my favorites. We have been given the word netizens several times by Chinese news outlets. This word was new to me but very self explanatory- a citizen who gets their news from the internet- internet being one of those words that spell check thinks needs to be capitalized, even though it is a plain noun and used so at this point instead of a proper noun like a person or city.

“Are you the official note taker?”

2008-07-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

I thought it was my journalistic side, but since I am one of only a few others and take notes to a greater extent than anyone else I guess I am a record keeper. I just know that I am going to be told and learn a lot of interesting things that I will inevitably forget or only partially remember. This was I can refer to my notes when I want to mention an interesting fact in a story or article and be accurate. I hate telling information incorrectly and this helps prevent that. I was the same way on the I-CAL trip- I have learned from past experiences that I will retain more of what I write down and thanks to Andrea’s idea, I now type my notes up- this way I can actually use them because they will be organized and legible!

When we were at the People’s China Daily website office I was asked by a reporter if I was the official note taker, and while I am not I gave her my name and address and blog so she can refer to it or I can do some posting for her if she would like. Both publications we visited today are very interested in our experiences. A large part of their coverage is about people like us, the volunteers so it’s a win-win for both of us, they get a US volunteer perspective and as journalists we get to be published in print or on the Internet.

One thing I find very interesting and has been noted by many, is how important the Internet is for social development in China. The news industry has been a forerunner in taking advantage of this. The People’s Daily provides news via print, Internet and cell phones. Readers can subscribe to news that will be texted to their cell phones or access news via the Internet that is cell phone friendly.

Beijing Youth Daily

2008-07-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

Our second tour of the day was the Beijing Youth Daily, established in 1949. Mizzou has had a long time relationship with the BYD, their staff has given guest lectures at MU and our faculty has visited China and given their staff training. They have four newspapers, ten magazines and two websites, with a total distribution of more than 600,000 copies every day. Their different magazines target different audiences including middle school students, low-level readers, high-end consumers, mainstream consumers, elementary age students, and young professionals. During out tour we were given

I’m kind of glad that I waited so long to blog about our visit to the newspapers because today I heard the third lecture about the history of Chinese Journalism. Why? During our tour of People’s Daily we were given water, a company notepad and an ink pen that has a calendar rolled in it. At Beijing Youth Daily we were given water, magazines, and a small backpack with a mouse- it is the year of the rat here in China- they really do go by the years, it’s not just an ancient idea that looks good on a placemat in America! I got a used feeling from the Beijing Youth Daily; they really want us to work for them by sending them articles and such. But it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it and the deliverance is what tipped me off, even after losing meaning from translation I still heard the undertone loud and clear. I felt like the bags were a bribe and today during the third lecture I found out that bribes are the cultural norm here in China. It is a very common practice for reporters here to accept money, trips, food, and so on from those they interview- this is just one of the moral issues China is dealing with in its news industry. Others include making news, telling interviewees what to say, using people unnecessarily, etc. So now I don’t feel so disgusted, I just got to fully experience the culture of Chinese journalism.

People’s Daily

2008-07-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

Friday July 4^th

Our first stop of the day was to see the website department of the People’s Daily publication, which has been operating since 1997. It was a very modern looking building and when we entered there was a screen on the wall that said ‘Welcome to us’ written in characters. They first took us into a hall lined with pictures. On the left side were important Chinese dignitaries that had visited and to the right were important international economists, politicians and athletes. All were pictures of people that had visited the People’s Daily website office and had interviews.

Their main bragging point was the interaction they have with netizens- Chinese citizens on the Internet. National and International dignitaries visit the office and have open forums with netizens. Sometimes the interview is taped and posted on the Internet, other times netizens can send questions or comments in instant messages and talk with the guest speaker. Many speakers, especially government officials, like getting to talk with the netizens and hearing what they have to say. The People’s Daily is the only newspaper that invites the president, who had said People’s Daily is his favorite media, to communicate with netizens.

Besides the forum, www.people.com.cn has all 20 newspapers and magazines published by People’s Daily where articles can be easily accessed for free. Viewers are also able to post comments about news articles and there is a special forum where they can send in their own news as well. People’s Daily has changed dramatically in the past 11 years and focuses on journalism and information. They currently have 724 news platforms and 80 different sections, reporting news 24/7. On average, they have 9,000 posts a day, receiving 13 million viewers. They have kept up with the times by being on the cutting edge of convergence technology using audio, forums, animation, and broadcast. As well as combining mediums, People’s Daily website is also innovative in spreading information whether by internet cell phones, text messages, videos, podcasts, blogs and of course, print stories. The news is available in seven languages: Chinese, English, Italian, Russian, French, Arabic, and Japanese. Other than Chinese, English is the most viewed language.

The recent earthquake was a great test on the People’s Daily and their news reporting abilities. To date the website has had over 600,000 stories, including 30,000 pictures and 2,000 videos with audio. More than 60 million people have viewed the coverage in some form with more than one million posting comments and about 500,000 posts in the public forum. In preparation for the Olympic Games the website has a staff of 100 reporters.

Afterwards we were given a chance to ask questions that ranged anywhere from how Chinese journalist are viewed by society as a whole to what kind of international traffic the website experiences to where employees come from.

Our 1st Friday night in Beijing and what do we do…

2008-07-08T05:20:00.000-07:00

After a day of touring newspapers I was wiped out but decided I wanted to go with my roommate and others to a shopping center to get some basic items like a USB memory chip adapter and orange juice and lotion. When I was buying lotion I noticed there were two types- I assumed that meant flavors. I was with someone who was from China and studied at MU and she told me the difference was that one was for moisturizing and the other for whitening! So opposite of America where we have tanning lotions they have whitening lotions! They also have whitening face wash and sun block. That is definitely a cultural difference, although wanting to be white is probably healthier- less skin cancer anyways.

It started raining big time on our way back and after 20 minutes we were pretty soaked! We all changed, ordered Pizza Hut cheese pizzas, not that tuna pizza didn’t sound good or anything, and watched the first half of no reservations on a laptop. It was a nice way to wind down from a crazy day while still coping with jet lag- 13 hours is a major adjustment!

What's for lunch?

2008-07-08T05:19:00.000-07:00

(Picture of squid, ice cream and bathroom)

I have a feeling that I am going to have a lot of blogs about food- but probably because it is the one thing that is consistently unique in this country and so far no two eating experiences have been the same.

On the day we were touring newspapers we ate at a very expensive ‘Western’ buffet that cost us each 100 Yuan ($15); because of the size of our group we were given a 50% discount. It was a very fancy hotel restaurant with chefs and everything. Western buffet just means that it is a buffet, I think Chinese buffet is what we experienced the day we were sightseeing where they serve food family style- setting out large dishes in front of everyone to serve themselves. The Western buffet was very interesting. Overall, the food was not that good and definitely overpriced. Although I was glad I got to try a cold squid salad. For dessert they had ice cream: vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, green tea and carrot. I tried the latter of the three and was pleasantly surprised with the green tea ice cream- not so much with the purple carrot ice cream.

The Chinese buffet was really good- we had fried rice, kung pow chicken, fried corn and a variety of 4 or 5 other dishes. The most interesting part of eating at the Chinese buffet restaurant was the bathroom- the base of the sinks were the backsides, legs included, of women with different underwear or like one with none at all! Also, from the bathroom there is a one-way mirror so you can watch the crowd but they can’t see you while you use the restroom. What a shame I didn’t need to use it!

Day 1: Thursday July 3rd

2008-07-08T05:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning my roommate, Aja, and I woke up and went to Water Stone for breakfast. I had a pork flake roll. I ate everything but the pork in the middle- it was just a little awkward. We chatted with a few of the grad students, Kelly and Laura. We then headed to class where we started the morning off with a group photo. After we got situated we heard a few opening remarks from Renmin University’s Vice Chancellor and then Michelle from BOCOG, The Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games. She introduced us to the different supervisors and some media reporters. We received our letters of acceptance and cell phones before signing our lives away. I was in shock and awe when they called my named, the Chinese woman pronounced my name perfectly- a feat most Americans can’t manage. Julia was super easy and Shuck sounded the way it should- I was quite possibly the only person who had their name pronounced correctly.

We then got to try on our shirts- that ran small, pants- that run big, and shoes- that ran REALLY small. We got a chance to meet our advisors. Gymnastics is the biggest group but should be the most fun, we get a few extra perks but I am still a little confused on the exact details so I will wait to report on that until the Olympics! We were given our schedules and staring July 15^th we have training 7 days a week, 8 hours a day- more than any other group. It’s going to be more intense, but that just means I am going to get more out of it.

We were then taken to a canteen (dining hall) where it resembled a mad house. People were everywhere and some lines were quite long, but you got to see the food and point to what you wanted. I really liked getting to see and choose my food it makes life so much easier to just have to point and not wait for a surprise.

H'ors deurves

2008-07-08T04:16:00.000-07:00

After class we had a few hours to get ready for the reception that night. I was bad and after blogging took a nap; it wasn’t the power nap I was looking for. Once at the reception I snacked a little, trying rice pudding and a few other items, but wasn’t really hungry so I mainly stood around and ‘talked’ with the others (when I’m tired I don’t really talk, I just kind of absorb my surroundings- unless I’m slap happy!). Towards the end of the reception Prof. Gao Gang presented us with a stone that had our name in English and Chinese- I think it is supposed to be a stamp. It is a really nice gift and everyone on the trip was happy with it, which surprises me because pleasing 60 people at once is not an easy feat.

A Productive Rainy Day

2008-07-07T23:16:00.000-07:00

After today's lecture, our third and final, we went outside to learn it was raining quite steadily. Me and a few friends ran to lunch where we had pizza- in case you didn't know Hawaiian pizza is topped with pineapple, canadian bacon, corn, black olives and beans. It was a little bland but no complaints here. I especially liked my mocha slushy! After lunch we ran back to the hotel and I am getting ready to start blogging again, making up for lost time. I was planning on blogging anyways, but knowing that I am not missing a sunny* day makes staying in and listening to itunes that much better. Several people in the group have either had to cancel or alter their plans due to the weather- but I did my shopping yesterday so I am more than ready to start some work.

(*sunny- take this word for what it is worth here in Beijing, I had put beautiful but sunny was a better word even though it portrays an image that is better than what it is actually like.)

A few quick notes:

Here is a link to one of the newspapers we toured the other day. They wrote an article about our group if you would like to read it. I would like to thank Sarah French, Broadcast Journalism major, for e-mail the link to our group- heaven knows I never would have found it myself. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2008-07/04/content_6818182.htm

Also, I was skimming a few websites for international news and found a BBC article about Beijing's pollution- so that you can get a perspective from someone other than myself. I think the smog is such a big deal for me because I have never seen anything like it; I thought Hannibal, MO had pollution because in the winter time the snow would turn black because of car exhaust! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7494656.stm

Hope everyone is having a good nights rest back home as I type this, feel free to comment on any of my blogs- I would love some feedback.

Lecture #1: The Development of Chinese Media Industry and its Impact on Social Change

2008-07-05T17:19:00.001-07:00

Thursday July 3^rd we had our first of only three Renmin University lectures. Our lecture started with an introduction from the Vice Chancellor and Chancellor of Renmin University, who has the best journalism school in China. The university has 11,000 grad and undergrad students with 1,600 international students. As an assignment, we had to write a summary and three interesting facts about the lecture; I am posting the summary so you can get an idea of what the lecture was like. Pictured in the Chancellor shaking hands with MU Journalism Study Abroad Coordinator, Fritz Cropp.

The Three Most Interesting Facts

MU has had a long history with Renmin University, dating back to 1914
Technology is changing daily life in China
As journalist, we need to report the truth to eliminate misunderstandings

Professor Gao Gang began his lecture, The Development of Chinese Media Industry and its Impact on the Social Change, with a background of the relationship between the University of Missouri and Renmin University, which dates back to 1914. Prof. Gang then gave the statistics of Chinese media: 1,935 newspapers, 9,386 magazines, 282 radio stations, 314 TV stations, and 1.5 million websites. The lecture then moved into how technologies such as the Internet and cell phones are impacting society and the news media. As of June 2008 there were 221 million Chinese Internet users, with that number increasing by 200,000 people every day- a majority of those people being from rural areas. News medias have effectively infiltrated the Internet and in 2004 began to enter the market of getting news to citizens via cell phones, a technology which has been advanced for easy access for PDA’s. In addition to the technology craze, there are 4,000 magazines that are offered solely in electronic form.

With technological advances there have been trends leading towards media convergence. As a whole, Prof. Gang sees media convergence as something positive; a dynamic process that optimizes traditional media and helps to meet citizens personalized information demands. The five main driving forces of media technology are the desire for information, opportunity for expression, supervision of government officials by ordinary citizens, participation in society and adjustment of information between media outlets to find out for oneself the real truth.

There are a lot of changes being made by the Chinese government when it comes to suppressing the media, especially reporters. From experience the government has learned that when reporters are not allowed to see and report on a major event personally, they are more likely to report information incorrectly which perpetuates a misunderstandings of other cultures. These misunderstandings cause stereotypes and give China, especially the government, a negative image internationally. Prof. Gang’s final message here was that we as reporters must be as honest and truthful as possible and visit other places to find commonalities between cultures to eliminate misunderstandings. The lecture ended with Walter William’s mission statement to, “promote international good will and cementing world comradeships is a journalism of humanity, of and for today’s world.”

FYI- Future Improvements

2008-07-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

Hey all- I just wanted to apologize for the lack of photos so far- I forgot to bring my USB cord that connects my digital camera to my laptop but hopefully I can borrow one from another MU student. Sorry it looks so boring right now but don't worry- I'm working on getting some eye candy for you.

It's been a long day- right now it is 8:15am for you guys and 9:15pm for us- we are 13 hours ahead. I know that it sounds like it's early but I am still coping with a little jet lag so I think I'm going to hit the bed- as hard as it may be. I hope everyone back home is having and fun and save summer, especially as you are all preparing for the 4th of July.

Just a note- As of July 1st I am no longer a minor; China has no drinking age and since I turn 21 while I am here, I will be legal to drink when I get back home. Sounds like we will be celebrating my birthday the traditional American way weeks into my 21st year but hey- better late than never. And crazy enough but The Junction should be up and running by the time I get back and catch up with classes so I might actually get to drink there- as opposed to cleaning up on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Dirty Talk

2008-07-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

I know what you’re all wondering… what are the bathrooms like? It is pretty and has a toilet! The shower is really interesting though because it doesn’t close. There is a hand held water head as well as a showerhead that sprays straight down. Each room has its own water heater and you don’t get to choose the temperature of your water- just however it comes out of the heater is how you get it. My roommate Aja and I are lucky- it feels just right and both water heads work. It is interesting though because the shower floor is just like the bathroom floor and it is half enclosed by a glass wall- the other half is just open, there is no door. There is a drain directly under the showerhead, but it can’t keep up with all of the water coming out so it flows behind the glass wall where there is an intentional crack between it and the wall. The water flows out, around the toilet and to another drain. This means that for at least an hour there is standing water covering the bathroom floor. There are shoe sandals provided which are a saving grace because that floor gets slick when it’s wet.

Also, my favorite is the toilet paper because it is just like decoration streamers- I kind of want to decorate something with it now! It is even rolled like a streamer, so even though there is a toilet paper dispenser, the roll just has to sit on top because there is no way that a toilet paper holder can fit in the middle of the roll.

I already miss that fresh country air

2008-07-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

For the first time today, I saw blue sky and clouds- but just for a little while in the afternoon. I have always heard about the pollution in Beijing but could never truly grasp what it meant. The pollution looks like a thin fog everywhere and all the time. The first day was the hardest- having rarely been around smog and never to this extent adjusting was not an easy task. I can only imagine the health risks it has on the people of Beijing. I know that there has been a lot of talk about outdoor athletes being wary of the breathing conditions and while I feel the Olympics will still go on, I wonder if any world records will be broken, and if so to the same extent if the event was held in a less polluted area.

High quality H2O

2008-07-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

Right now my biggest concern is staying hydrated. I normally drink a gallon of water a day but between the plane ride (which I learned dehydrates people), the humidity coupled with walking, and not having access to as much water as I would like make me that much more concerned. We have been instructed not to drink the tap water and have been provided with Culligan-like jugs in each room for drinking- which has been a lifesaver I’m sure. Today I bought a reusable water bottle so that I can carry water around with me, unlike before when I crossed my fingers and hoped they would provide us with water at some point in time.

Chinese food- The real deal

2008-07-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

All those trips to HuHot paid off- it may have taken me longer to eat but learning how to use chopsticks before I came to China makes life so much easier. The only other eating utensil I have seen is a large spoon used for soups. The food has been very interesting and I have no doubt that if I was determined, I could go the next two months without eating the same meal twice. I have remembered to take pictures of each meal to this point and hope I continue to do so. In my opinion, the food tastes good but different. My first meal was pork and rice, my second was fish, rice and garlic stalks- which was surprisingly delicious, even though it wasn’t the green beans I was expecting. On average our meals have cost around $1.50 US. A serving of rice costs $0.04- so when I am given a serving and feel full after just half of my plate, it doesn’t bother me as much when I put it in the perspective that I only wasted $0.02 of food.

We have noted the irony of how much the Chinese are able to eat, but yet they are thin. We have yet to see an obese person and they are able to finish a plate of food that is twice as large as ours and we can only eat half of what we are served. I have a feeling I will be losing weight

The cafeteria was an interesting experience. There were 14 windows, each with four different items. It seemed hectic and chaotic at first, but after being in a few lines the system becomes clear. While waiting in line with another MU student I learned that Cola is the second most commonly known word throughout the world, with the first being okay.

I have arrived!

2008-07-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

After a 13 hour uneventful plane ride (thankfully) our group arrived in Beijing. Pictures do not do the airport justice! The new Beijing airport is so shiny and modern. Everything flows so smoothly, from exiting the plane terminal, to the subway, to pickup where our luggage arrived quicker than we did. I was surprised how quiet the airport was, even with hundreds of people waiting to get through customs, there was a very calm, relaxed atmosphere. So far, that has been my most exciting moment- probably because I have been too zoned out from jet lag the rest of the time to be too surprised. Anyone interested in architecture would probably like the airport through; I was in awe of its structure, something which I rarely notice.

Got Buffalo Milk?

2008-06-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

This was my favorite buffalo calve. In Egypt, buffalo milk is very popular and important to the Egyptian diet. It is 97% fat, which is what the people need since they cannot afford a lot of food, they need to get fat in their diet any way possible.

Egyptians are just now starting to produce milk like we do in the US- before each farmer would have two or three cows and they would milk them for their family. While this still continues today, there are hopes that this will change for matters of efficiency. Also, a cultural mind-set that serves as an obstacle is that traditionally you give milk away as a gift if you have too much and to have to sell milk is shameful. While this practice isn't in full service, and the buffalo are still a little wild, there are hopes that changes will occur.

Rolling down the Suez

2008-06-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

After we toured the Grains Inspection Lab in Port Said, Egypt, we were taken on a boat ride on the Suez Canal. For me riding a boat between Africa and Asia and between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea was more exciting than seeing the Pyramids. This was a great chance for our group to meet some of the Egyptians and we were able to ask whatever questions we had.

A Life Lesson

2008-06-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

This is my most memorable moment. Granted I was sick and running to the bathroom every 30 minutes that day, I will never forget the hospitality these women showed us. Living off of less than $1 a day, the women are involved in a cooperative where they are given seven goats that they bred for milk, meat and to sell for money. Their husbands can only find seasonal work so now the women, who only have a 30% literacy rate in Morocco can help to earn money as well.

Part of Morocco's literacy and poverty problems come from the previous Moroccan King who didn't want farmers to move to the cities because they made the cities look bad. He said that, 'In Morocco there are the rich and then there are the less rich.' He did not acknowledge the countries problems. The new king on the other hand sees the importance of education and is now helping every child to learn to read and write, even if it means employing nomadic teachers to follow the sheepherder families to educate their children.

The biggest surprise here was how much heart the women possessed. I was taken back when it was translated for me that one woman was giving me her blessings and wishing me the best of luck in my future. It amazed me how much these women wanted for me, a person who already had more than they could ever imagine. Their excitement to see our group will stick with me forever- I hope to someday help them in a way that allows them to continue to help themselves.

There's no such thing as a free lunch

2008-06-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken during a break from our meal at the berber tent. We were first served an appetizer of fire roasted lamb liver- which tasted delicious, even to the picky eaters who were not told until afterwards what they had eaten. We were also served flat bread and the national drink of Morocco, hot green tea. I enjoyed the tea a great deal- which is good because it was served to us everywhere we went!

During our break we visited the farm owners field close by where workers were harvesting wheat by hand. The field was small and on a steep incline- which is probably why I saw the tractor in the barn and not in use.

Pictures from Morocco

2008-06-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

The second picture is of me with an International Harvester that came out of France. Knowing that I would be working for the Red Power Round Up- where all the International Harvester collectors bring their tractors for a little show and tell- I had to get a picture with an ole Red. first picture is when we are a traditional Moroccan meal in a berber tent- the food was delicious and it was fun and relaxing to lie on carpet and pillows, eat until you couldn't eat anymore and look out at the rolling country side.

The third picture is of Muhammad, a sheepherder since the age of 14, who we stopped and visited. We were able to ask him any questions we had about his nomadic job, lifestyle or whatever else we may want to know. He was really nice and keeping with the Moroccan characteristics, he was a humorous man who joked saying, "I will come work for you. I have my papers and ID I can leave right now and go to the US and herd your flock of sheep!"

I was taken aback by the hospitality and sense of humor that the Moroccans possessed. I also saw these character traits of ours hosts in Egypt. So far I have a very positive image of North African and Arabic people. They seem very kind and excited to see visitors as well as those who may someday help them improve their agriculture situation.

Why go to the Olympics?

2008-06-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

'If you're ag journalism why do you want to go to the Olympics?'

This question never ceases to surprise me. If you had the opportunity to intern at the Beijing Olympics, or any Olympics for that fact, wouldn't you? While I have studied abroad a couple of times studying agriculture, I have never had a real internship or been abroad for journalism, which is the other half of my major. Besides taking advantage of an amazing opportunity, I also feel that there is a lot I can gain from working at the Olympics. Now I will get to be trained and test my skills in communicating and interviewing different cultures. People from all over the world, from all walks of life, will be at the Olympics- I am preparing myself the best I can for the inevitable culture shock of it all. I love different cultures and people, traveling and communicating. While I will not really get much information about agriculture, that is okay- I am still feeding my passions of international travel and communication. What better way could you think of to practice cross-cultural journalism than entering yourself into a room with hundreds of different cultures and given a special badge and the chore of interviewing athletes when they are done competing?

While I have no doubt that I will be star struck at some point in time, I keep reminding myself that these Olympians are about the same age as me- we have just taken different paths in life and will be playing different roles at the Olympics. I'm sure all of us there, regardless of if we are Olympian, reporter, volunteer or spectator, will be nervous, excited and awestruck all at the same time.

So to answer the question, in short, the Olympic internship is giving me the opportunity to practice cross-cultural journalism in an international setting. I will gain experiences that I will carry with me throughout my life and far into my career.

God has presented me with a wonderful opportunity- I would have been foolish to ignore it or doubt myself. If God can lead you to it, He can lead you through it. I don't expect this to be easy- but nothing good in life is; I want to have to work hard, so that at the end of the day I know that I truly accomplished something.

I'm back!! And preparing to leave again!

2008-06-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

I got back from I-CAL (Intercollegiate Agriculture Leadership) a few weeks ago. We spent two weeks looking at the agriculture in Egypt and Morocco. The program was partly funded by the Untied States Grain Council so we were able to see how they have impacted international agriculture- I hope to post more on my experience later- it was amazing. Of all the countries I have ever been to, Egypt and Morocco had some of the friendliest people in the world, with New Zealand close behind. I have never seen such hospitality- it ran deep, regardless of whether we were speaking with Egypt's minister of agriculture or if we were at a women's cooperative in Morocco that were living off of less than $1 a day. Pictures and stories to come later!

I also just finished up a long weekend, June 11-14th at the Boone County fairgrounds where I worked with Kyle Spradely, an Ag Journalism Senior, taking pictures for the annual Red Power Round Up. I have never seen so many International Harvester tractors in my life! We took pictures of restored tractors from all over the country and attendees from all over the world- including New Zealand and Japan! It felt like I was back home- surrounded by tractors and people wanting to talk about their farming equipment. It was a great experience and I will be working on the show book for that here shortly once we have a meeting and the pictures are ready. Hopefully this will turn out to be a nice piece for both mine and Kyle's portfolios.

Not being one to sit still- I am preparing to leave for Beijing, China for the 2008 Summer Olympics the first of July. I have started to pack now so that when the time comes, I can spend my last few days in the states working on the Red Power Round Up book. I have also been working on catching up on some readings to prepare myself to interview gymnastics athletes once they are done competing. This should prove to be a great journalism internship. I did find out the other day that the exact translation of trampoline- which is an official olympic sport- from Chinese to english is "bed bouncing"! How's that for fact of the day? But I need to get back to typing notes from I-CAL, just wanted to share what all I was up to- I can't even imagine how next summer can compete with this one! Each summer in college gets better and better, at some point in time there has to be a plateau- unless someone sends me to Iceland...

2008 Senior Capstone

2008-05-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight I rode with Bill Allen and his wife Debbie to watch the agriculture journalism capstone juniors and seniors present their capstone at the Missouri Department of Agriculture in Jefferson City. It was neat getting to watch the 11 different videos and audio slide shows done by fellow Ag J'ers. Most of the videos focused on Missouri's forest industry, with a few about farmers markets. The clips will be given to the MDA, who will post the clips on the internet.

I learned a lot about forestry in Missouri, an area I am unfamiliar with but know feel I have some background on. Also, the MDA provided refreshments of Missouri grown foods, which was an added bonus. Attending the screening included those who had been interviewed for the videos, as well as the Ag J professors, Ag J alums, a handful of MDA staff, as well as a few faculty from Mizzou. It was a nice group with a good turn out to support Mizzou Ag J students.

When the clips become available on the internet, hopefully I will have link to the following:

Katie Allen, AgriMissouri Program and Missouri Farmers' Markets

Sarah Jackson, Missouri Forest Products Association

Laura Chapuis, Midwest Veneer Company

Rachel Smeda, WW Cedar

Brooke Tacker, Gastineau Log Homes

Tyne Morgan, Freedom Products Company Inc.

Taryn Dameron, East Perry Lumber

Alice Roach, NeCo Seed Farms

Allyssa Berry, Premium Ag Products

Christine Tew, Missouri Consulting Foresters Association

Reception at the Chancellor's Residence

2008-05-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

MU Chancellor Brady Deaton invited the journalism students preparing to go to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics for internships to his residences for supper. The dinner was catered by Hoss's who served tacos as well as meat and vegetable trays.

I had fun getting to really meet and mingle with other Beijing participants. We were all amused how we knew each others' faces but no names. My favorite part was getting to sit on the old-time furniture, beautifully upholstered, like something I've seen in a European castle. I was also entertained that the podium in the residence is the same one that Mark Twain gave an acceptance speech at when he received an award from the University. The house was built in 1867 and is full of history.

It was a fun experience and I didn't realize how much of an honor it was until I overheard a few professors who have been around for quite some time who had never been to the Residence before. I was amused when I went to sign the guest book that there is a pamphlet on The Residence, but in journalistic fashion (or pack rat, one of the two) I put one in my purse- proof I have been there.

Mrs. Anne Deaton is a very nice hostess, and I was able to have a good conversation with her about the Peace Corps. This is something that I really want to do and both her husband and son have done. Overall it was a fun experience and one to put in the book of college experiences.

2008 ICA/NASULGC

2008-04-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

I was able to attend the 2008 ICA/NASULGC Conference thanks to the invitation by the Dean of CAFNR, Dr. Vaughn. It was a great experience getting to meet and talk with other students and Deans from agriculture and life science colleges and universities from across the nation and the world. It was exciting listening to presentations and the current status of these colleges and their possible futures. I was able to think critically about situations I hadn't thought of before and hear the perspective of other states and countries at the same time.

I have created a blog for the conference and hopefully I will be able to put down some information and pictures. Schools is hectic right now so no promises but I am trying to set some short term obtainable goals to track all of the good times I am having- especially in the midst of projects, homework and tests!

2008-02-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

This is AgEd 2220's 1st post ever!

Switzerland!!!!!

2008-02-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

While I studied abroad in Prague, I knew that I would have a four day weekend to go somewhere. I bought a plane ticket and, for the first time in my life, flew internationaly with no set agenda and all by myself. I had the time of my life! Switzerland is my favorite country that I have ever been to and I can't wait to return. Here I am Jungfraujoch, known as the top of Europe because it has the highest altitude where anyone can stand. I know I was moving my camera fast when I shot this video but if you look carefully you can see that I am ABOVE the clouds!!! If you ever get the opportunity to go to Switzerland- DO IT!!! You won't regret it.

Dickinson Scholars

2008-01-16T11:38:00.001-08:00

University of Missouri- Columbia, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources had their annual Dickinson Scholars Program. I was one of seventeen college sophomores and juniors who attended the six day conference held January 6-11 in Kansas City. Participants were selected through an application process.

The program is funded by Dickinson Financial and Bank Midwest in honor of the late Mr. Dickinson. Mr. Dickinson was a MU alum from Chillicothe, Missouri. In the 80s Mr. Dickinson had to sell back his farm because he wasn't able to make his loan payments. He took a huge risk and bought a handful of small banks that he combined to create a huge banking system in Missouri and surrounding states. Mr. Dickinson became wealthy when he contracted with the U.S. government to have his banks at military bases. After Gary Dickinson was involved in a fatal car accident on his way to work in Kansas City one foggy morning, his wife Ann became a chairman of Dickinson Financial. Ann Dickinson, a proud MU alum, wanted to honor her late husband. Mrs. Dickinson funded the new Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house at MU- Gary himself had been a member of the fraternity, as well as the Dickinson Student Success Center at CAFNR and the Dickinson Scholars Program which is in its twelfth year.

The following posts are an overview of the events that took place during the six day conference, which started Sunday January 11th with a five star dinner the the New Theatre Restaurant, which I was unable to attend due to car troubles. Over the next few days participants toured agribusinesses in Kansas City as well as heard speakers ranging from entrepreneurs to a reporter carrying on the 80-year-old family business.