Spring Break in Puerto Rico (2)

Castillo San Felipe del Morro also known as Fort San Felipe del Morro or Morro Castle, is a 16th-century citadel located in San Juan.
It lies on the northwestern-most point of the islet of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Named in honor of King Philip II of Spain, the fortification, also referred to as el Morro or promontory, was designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the city of Old San Juan from seaborne enemies. In 1983, during the Reagan Administration, the castillo was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in conjunction with the San Juan National Historic Site. Over two million visitors a year explore the windswept ramparts and passageways making the castillo one of Puerto Rico's main visitor attractions. Facing the structure, on the opposite side of the bay, a smaller fortification known as El Cañuelo complemented the castillo's defense of the entrance to the bay. (from Wikipedia)

Old San Juan is a very beautiful place where you can't miss if you visit Puerto Rico.
Located on a small and narrow island which lies in the north coast, about 35 miles (56 km) from the east end of Puerto Rico, and is united to the mainland of Puerto Rico by the three bridges. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and to the south by San Juan Bay or "Bahia de San Juan" which lies between the city and the mainland. On a bluff about 100 feet (30 m) high at the west end of the island and commanding the entrance to the harbor rise the battlements of Fort San Felipe del Morro, in which there is a lighthouse.(from Wikipedia)
There are many good restaurants in Old San Juan, with various seafood and Puerto Rican style food which are fresh and delicious. There are many bars in the district too. It's better to take a walk both during the day and during the night. It gives your two different taste of Old San Juan.

Puerto Rico is also known as the factory for Bacardi. You can visit the Bacardi factory where you can get two free drinks and a tour around the factory. It's a lot of fun. You can also buy various products related to rum, like a rum cake, which by the way, is sooo yummy.

Spring Break in Puerto Rico (1)

I went to Puerto Rico this spring break and it was an awesome experience. I will share some picture with all of you in the following 2 posts and hope you will like them!

 This is Mofongo, a type of food that's common in Puerto Rico. It tastes like meshed potatoes. I personally don't really like it but many people are very fond of it. If you guys have any chance to go to Puerto Rico, you should try, after all it's very "Puerto Rican".

 The color of the sky is so beautiful, especially with the clouds.

 Near the beach

On the street of San Juan

The beaches in Puerto Rico is so beautiful, but pay attention to the sun or you will end up being burned, yes, not tanned, burned!

Flamenco Beach, Culebra
We have to take a ferry to go there. It is considered the second most beautiful beach in the world by Discover Channel and by far the most popular beach in Culebra. Its white sandy beach stretches along the entire bay.

Living at Sansom Place

Since lot of accepted students are asking about live at Sansom Place (the school apartment for graduate students), and since I happen to live at Sansom Place East, so I would like to write something I know about Sansom and hope it can provide some information for you.
What I like about Sansom is that it's quite convenient in many ways. Sansom Place East is at 3600 Chestnut Street and Sansom Place West is at 3650 Chestnut Street, both of the buildings are about 3 minutes' walk from GSE building, so it's really convenient to go to school everyday if you live at Sansom. And it's near the blue line (34th market, about 2 blocks away), which can take you to center city and Chinatown and many other major places in the city. There are WAWA and couple of restaurants downstairs and it's very near the food trucks, so it's easy to get various kinds of meals near Sansom. The rooms and beds in Sansom are small compared to rental houses and apartments, but it's quite convenient since the facilities are very complete and accessible.
I really enjoyed living at Sansom so far but i'm also willing to try off-campus housing since it will be quite different and I will have more freedom about the rooms.
Here are some basic facts about Sansom from the website:
Sansom Place East and Sansom Place West house graduate students (65%), undergraduates interested in a more independent lifestyle (30%), and special programs and University guests (5%). There are numerous opportunities to meet other residents through informal get-togethers, study breaks, and other activities. The diversity of residents, including many international students, creates an active and stimulating environment. These residences are convenient, private, and serve as an enhancement to your academic pursuits. For additional information about Sansom Place East and West, please see the Sansom Place Website. To see photos of sample rooms in Sansom Place East and West, please visit our Sansom Photo Gallery. Please note, these rooms are samples, and not all rooms in Sansom Place are exactly the same.

Style of Housing

Apartment-style housing
All units have private bath
Seasonally air-conditioned
Smoke-free
Pets not allowed
Primarily graduate student housing
Also houses approximately 300 undergraduates

Number of Residents (excluding staff)

592 Sansom East, 553 Sansom West

Room Types

Room types in Sansom Place East and West include single rooms, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Room diagrams can be found here. Standard furnishings are provided as listed below.

One-bedroom apartments

One Bedroom apartments accommodate one single student. A few are available to families without children, and these apartments have two twin, extra long beds. They include a kitchenette with breakfast bar, living area, and bathroom. A sofa is provided in addition to furnishings listed below.

Two-bedroom apartments

Two-bedroom apartments accommodate two single students. These units have a small kitchenette, dining area, and bathroom. A dining table and chairs are provided in addition to furnishings listed below. Note that there is no living room.

Single Rooms

Single rooms share a bathroom with one or two other rooms. These rooms do not have kitchenettes; however, residents may bring or rent small refrigerators. All appliances must comply with the specifications outlined in the Residential Handbook.

Sansom Facilities

All units in Sansom Place East and West are furnished and seasonally air-conditioned. Each occupant is provided with a twin, extra-long (36" x 80") bed, desk and chair, one chest of drawers, and wall-mounted bookshelves. Some lighting is provided, but residents may want to bring extra lamps. Walls are painted off-white. Residents are strongly discouraged from bringing their own furniture since the University-provided furnishings can not be stored or removed.
Public space is available for use by residents. In Sansom Place East there is an ATM for banking in the main lobby, a common area on the ground floor, and a lounge on floor 11. The common area provides study space, a social room, and a recreation room. In Sansom Place West, there are lounges on floors 3, 6, 11, 14 and in the basement, and a television in the main lobby and 14th floor.
Vending and change machines are located in the main lobby area of each building and on the ground floor of Sansom Place East. A laundry room is on the lower level of each building.

Number of each room type (excluding staff)

Type	Sansom East	Sansom West
Single	194	168
Single Apartment (1BR/LR/Kit)	128	53
Double (2BR/Kit)	116	82
Double (1BR/LR/Kit)	0	62 (Undergraduates Only)
Triple (3BR)	0	33

Room Furnishings

Furnishing Type	Available
Bed (twin extra-long 36x80x6)	Yes
Desk & Chair	Yes
Dresser	Yes
Sofa	Some units
Table & Chairs	Some units
Carpeting	Yes
Hardwood Floors	-
Tile Floors	-
Blinds	No
Curtains	Yes
Window screens	-

House Facilities

Room	Quantity
Common Kitchen	0
Laundry Room	2
Lounge	10
Piano Room	1

Linsanity!

Recently an Asian boy has come to the spotlight of attention and became the most popular topic among both Asians and Americans. His name is Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Shu-How Lin (born August 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and being undrafted out of college, the 2010 Harvard University graduate reached a partially guaranteed contract deal later that year with his hometown Golden State Warriors. In February 2012, he unexpectedly led a winning streak by New York while being promoted to the starting lineup. Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. (from Wikipedia).

From a Chinese perspective, Lin is the perfect example of outstanding and successful. He's smart, hardworking, and humble. He went to Harvard, which is the dream school for almost every one of Chinese students. He plays in NBA and had such a legendary performance. And yet, he's very low-key person, he never show off or be very satisfied with what he has achieved. He's also a very humorous guy. This video of him "how to get into Harvard" is viewed by thousands of people online.

I hope that he can keep playing well and create more legends as a Asian NBA player! I believe he will make us very proud!!! Go Lin!!!!

The Vagina Monologues

I went to watch the Vagina Monologues presented by Penn students at the Irvine Auditorium on Feb.10th and it was awesome. I have heard about this play for so many times and finally I got the chance to watch it myself.
The play was very thought-provoking, especially for me since I am taking the "language and gender" course this semester and I found so many connections between the scripts and what I have learned in the class. The play made me re-think about lots of issues in gender and enhanced my understanding towards topics regarding feminism, gender, and equality etc.
After watching the play, I began to notice a lot of ideologies underlying the gender issue. As I have learned from the class, gender is a social constructed attribute of a person. People do not behave in a certain way because of their biological gender, instead, people are shaped as certain identity because of their being. Therefore, how the society treats the issue of gender, especially women, in this case, can to a great extent reinforce the ideology and as a result, put women or other gender identities is a very vulnerable position.
I believe that the Vagina Monologues is a very innovative and brave action to advocate the equality of different gendered groups and it aroused awareness among people, no matter regarding males, females or other gender identities. It's a clever way to provoke reactions.
Some information about the Vagina Monologues from Wikipedia:
The Vagina Monologues is made up of a varying number of monologues read by a varying number of women (initially, Eve Ensler performed every monologue herself, with subsequent performances featuring three actresses, and more recent versions featuring a different actress for every role). Every monologue somehow relates to the vagina, be it through sex, love, rape, menstruation, female genital mutilation, masturbation, birth, orgasm, the variety of names for the vagina, or simply as a physical aspect of the body. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality. Some monologues include:

• I Was Twelve, My Mother Slapped Me: a chorus describing many young women's and girls' first menstrual period.
• My Angry Vagina, in which a woman humorously rants about injustices wrought against the vagina, such as tampons, douches, and the tools used by OB/GYNs.
• My Vagina Was My Village, a monologue compiled from the testimonies of Bosnian women subjected to rape camps.
• The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could, in which a woman recalls memories of traumatic sexual experiences in her childhood and a self-described "positive healing" sexual experience in her adolescent years with an older woman. In the original version, she is 13, but later versions would change her age to 16. It also originally included the line, "If it was rape, it was a good rape." This particular skit has sparked numerous controversies and criticisms due to its content (see below).
• Reclaiming Cunt, a piece narrated by a woman who illustrates that the word "cunt" itself is a lovely word despite its disconcerting connotations.
• The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy, in which a sex worker for women discusses the intriguing details of her career and her love of giving women pleasure. In several performances it often comes at the end of the play, literally climaxing with a vocal demonstration of a "triple orgasm."
• Because He Liked to Look At It, in which a woman describes how she had thought her vagina was ugly and had been embarrassed to even think about it, but changed her mind because of a sexual experience with a man named Bob who liked to spend hours looking at it.
• I Was There In The Room, a monologue in which Eve Ensler describes the birth of her granddaughter.

Courses for this semester

ALUMNI INTERVIEW PROGRAM:
Before I get to the meat of the blog, just wanted to let everyone know that February is the last month of the Alumni Interview Program.  If you're a prospective masters student and are interested in an alumni interview, fill out the request form and submit your application and we'll try to match you with an alum for an interview.  All your materials must be in by the end of the month to be considered. 

Events for Admitted Students:

Online Events for Admitted Students:

Our current students host a series of themed webchats, speed chats, and a virtual preview event to offer you an inside look into life at Penn GSE. You're welcome to join as many as you like!

More detailed information please go to: http://www.gse.upenn.edu/node/1790



Now comes to the blog of this week. There isn't many exciting news about life so I will just talk about the courses that I have taken this semester.
Language and Gender: This is a very interesting course focused on the linguistic issue of genders. It introduces many important theoretical issues and methodological concerns in the language and gender area. The topic throughout the classes are how gender ideologies shape and are shaped by language use. It's very exciting to look at the gender issue from an academic way and this course allows me to relate my personal real life experience to the academic researches.
Sociolinguistics: It's a required course for Educational Linguistics students. It's mainly designed to provide students with an awareness to sociolinguistics as it pertains to educational issues, and to language teaching and learning more generally. It's a very thought-provoking class, which made me think about many educational issues in sociology contexts.
Apart from the above classes, I also took two marketing courses at Wharton:
Marketing Strategy: It's a case-based course about marketing activities to some of the key strategic decision. As an ICC student, i find a lot of intercultural issues in this class as well. The cases are very helpful to get a sense of marketing and strategic planning.
Strategic Brand Management: It's also a case-based course about marketing, especially the branding issues. It introduces the basic strategies in building a strong brand, and some underlying theories. The course has involved many famous brands that everyone knows, which makes the class very interactive and interesting.

First Super Bowl ever!

Since football is not so popular in China, I haven't got chance to watch any football games before I came to U.S. I am not a sports fan but I feel that Super Bowl is conveyed with more than simply sports to Americans so I decide to watch it to be engaged more with the American culture.
Before the game, I studied a little bit about the rules of the football and the background information about the two teams that's going to compete. It's a little bit hard for me to watch a sports game if I'm not sure which team should I support. So I asked a few friends and searched online. It seems that football is sports game that's requiring a lot about the teamwork and cooperation, a lot more than basketball or soccer. The rules are complicated to me as a newcomer, but it's also fun to learn by watching.
Another thing that i have learned about the Super Bowl is that the Super Bowl is the most watched program in U.S. so the commercial ads during the Super Bowl is a great enjoyment other than the game itself. It's supposed to be the most expensive ads on TV. So I paid a lot of attention to the ads and I really enjoyed some of them, such as the Doritos and the Coke Cola ones and some trailers of the new movies. It's really interesting to look into the commercials because it's quite different from Chinese ones and there are a lot of intercultural issues in it.
The third thing that i really expected a lot before the game is the half-time show by Madonna. I'm not a big fan of her but the performance was awesome. It's hard to imagine a 50-year old woman to be so young and energetic. Also, I enjoyed the dance and performance by Nicki, Cee-lo as well.
It's the first time that I watch Super Bowl and I hope it's a good start to know more about American culture.