This is the first time my ducklings get in the pond.

They are scared at the first, but few minutes later, they are happy there! Now everyday they are expecting the time to swim in the pond. But the mess they made really scared the fish I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yvonne, a special friend of Chinese

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Yvonne, a special friend of Chinese

For Yvonne and Norval’s 50 years anniversary

Dreamer

I first met Yvonne in spring of 1996 in a boarding school in China.
At that time, Haikou Jingshan School was not like it is now. It was only a group of villas in the Bai Shui Tang area. At that time the School only had about 40 staff members, and Yvonne was one of the founders..

I was the only doctor there building the school clinic. Yvonne was the first American I actually got to know. In 1996, Haikou was not an open city, and foreigners were really rare. Her special beauty, warm heart, sincere friendship and understanding mind really brought a new culture and fresh air to the school and she became a friend of many teachers there.

I personally became her friend from the day I was asked to help the communication between her and the school’s chef since I spoke a little English. My English was very poor, but I could use my dictionary to simply communicate with her. After the first talk, I asked Yvonne to help me to practice and teach me English.

In China, when people build a school, the school needs to be running at the same time. At the beginning of the spring in 1996, there were already 200 students in the school (from kindergarten to high school), and the daily teaching and living was already started. As the school doctor, I was responsible for all the students and staff’s health 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I lived next to my office so that people could find me whenever they needed me.

When Yvonne and I started the English teaching and learning, it was already Autumn of 1996. The student house and the clinic were moved to the new building in the other end of the Bai Shui Tang, but Yvonne, teachers and the kitchen were still in the villa area which was 20 minutes away from the actual school campus. Because the villas were temporarily borrowed from a company, the owner felt there was no need to make the road nicer and even put some lights on the side of the road. So the 20 minutes walking was a challenge for most of the teachers, especially when it was dark.

The only free time I had was in the evening between 8:00 to 9:00 when students were in the classroom. So I could go to Yvonne’s house to learn English from her. We did this for a month, quite frequently, we were interrupted by the phone calls from the campus requiring me to come back to my office. Yvonne decided to come to my office to continue our teaching and learning, I felt bad that she had to walk through the difficult road in the dark to teach me! Because of her kindness, my English was getting better and better, and soon we overcame the difficulties of communication and also became close friends.

Every day after school when students were playing, there was a special picture of Haikou Jingshan school: An elegant beautiful American lady with gloves and cleaning basket in hands was picking up garbage on the road from villa area to campus. That was Yvonne. She was trying her best to make the environment better. At that time, school construction was still going, that road was out of campus, and the school did not pay any attention to clean it. Garbage was all over the road. Yvonne’s action embarrassed every Chinese who was working there. A couple of weeks later, the school started to organize students to do a weekly cleaning of the road. And Yvonne won a great respect from our Chinese people.

Yvonne taught elementary to high school during her first year working in Haikou Jingshan School. Many students’ English names came from her; this included my son. At that time, my son was in fifth grade. Yvonne taught one class a week, just for the one class and my son got his English name: Ben. Now, he is 20 and attending college in the United States, he is still using this name.

Yvonne brought new culture and new vision to Haikou Jingshan School. There were always lots of students and teachers around her. Many of them do not speak English, but still love to be with her because her sense of humor, her friendship, her understanding and her kindness. Sufang Liang, Dianne Feng were her buddies in teaching. The school chief, Cheng Li, Aiping Zhang, Liming Yang, Honghai Li, Yang Young and I were her friends. Many of us do not understand English and Yvonne does not speak Chinese. This friendship built from body language, facial expression and caring for each other, it is special, precious and lasting. It gave us so much pleasure in the stressful life in Hainan. This friendship kept Yvonne in China for years. She still cannot stop herself from going back to “home” to visit.

Yvonne’s experience in China not only brought her so many ordinary Chinese friends, but also won great deal of respect from the leaders of the school. Mr. Wu Wei Xong, the former chairman of the board of the school and the mayor of Haikou now is one of her good friend, and his only daughter is one of Yvonne’s Chinese daughters.

June first is Children’s day. Children all over the China celebrate the day every year. On the first of June in 1996 at Haikou Jingshan School there was a big celebration. Yvonne, as a special English teacher, of curse had to be pushed? to the front for school’s benefits by the principal. A Haikou Jingshan School’s edition of the sound of music was performed by Yvonne, Andy (the other American English teacher) and 5 students in Haikou theatre. When we were watching the performance, we could not believe the singer, dancer on the stage was Yvonne. She was so professional, so unforgettable! She was not Yvonne, she was Maria! That performance won a good name for the school and Yvonne herself got more respects from Chinese: for her capabilities, for her hard work and her love of Haikou Jingshan! I used to keep a copy of the performance of the celebration but when I moved to the US, I let a friend borrowed it. I can not find it anymore.

Yvonne’s friendship is so precious to us. Living in Haikou, for some reasons, life was stressful. Sometimes people got depressed by certain situations. Yvonne always could use her special view to help friends overcome the difficulties. I was one of them who used to get her help. Her home was the most happy place friends liked to be. We felt safe, warm and happy there. When we watch TV, there was popcorn, when we were there, there was dinner and beer waiting. Sometimes during holidays, we played music, singing and dancing there till midnight. Those unforgettable memories are so charming and romantic. I miss that…

I often think, as an American who has a happy warm family, a nice and convenient life in the US, how come Yvonne was so much in love with China? So much in love with Haikou Jingshan School? Probably, because of her beautiful mind, loving heart as a Christian, she loves to help people. Probably, it is this love that has made her gone back to serve Haikou Jingshan so many years and come back to China for many times. As one member of Haikou Jingshan School, I want to say: “Thank you, Yvonne!”

My ducklings are learning swiming!!

People need to be encouraged

Thursday, March 09, 2006

People need to be encouraged, so do I.

I am surprised how much joy I had when my instructor told me that I will be an exceptional nurse and all the instructors were impressed what I have done as a student. My heart was signing, my mind was dancing. I had to tell myself that was just a comparison with other students who didn’t know anything about medicine before so that I would not be so happy and forgot who am I.

Indeed, as a former medical doctor who was doing well in nursing school had nothing to be proud of: I already learned lots of things long time ago; and already practiced medicine before. Learning to become a nurse is not completely new for me. I should do well here. There is no excuse for me to not being a good student. So all the instructors should not give me the best commands. But I appreciate it though.

Even though, I am well educated in healthcare system, I am very well aware that I should not consider myself as a very beginner in nursing school, but I am still happy with what I got from instructors, nurses, coworkers and classmates. I am still happy with the nice commands I got from them. I still appreciate all the encouragement they gave to me. I think that is what I should give back to them in return: everyone needs encouragements.

I remembered that I wrote a little article about organization. I did that when I was up set with an instructor’s way manage the team’s time and affected all the team’s performance.
I didn’t let anyone read it except my husband. I did put it on my Chinese blog even it was an English article. That is the point: I had to express my anger without hurt any one. I knew there would be no one in school and work that would be interested in Chinese blog since they don’t know Chinese at all. But now, when I am experience my feelings of being encouraged, I still feel not good for doing so. I should change my word to encouragment from complaining.

It is true that no one is perfect, but only we ca learn is to be better. Treat people like what you like to be treated. Do what you want other people to do. Try your best to help others. That is what I will try to do. I put it here just as a reminder for myself.

Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong! Weng Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong!

Buddha blesses everyone. Buddha helps me to become a better person!

Thanks.

Essay for scholarship

Additional essay for scholarship:

(1) Describe your academic, career, and life goals. How will your academic program at Lane help you meet your goals?

My academic and career goal in America is to continue getting good grades in school and to become a nurse manager or a nursing instructor in the future; Using my cultural and language background to serve the nursing profession in the US.

I was born in China, and lived there for 38 years. I worked as a pediatrician there for 18 years. I understand Chinese culture and healthcare system well. I have been here in the US for 6 years now. I want to learn more about the American healthcare system and more about American culture. I am also fluent in both English and Chinese and willing to use my language skills to serve patients.

My personal goal is to start an English Language Nursing School in China to help the global shortage of the nursing professionals.

Studying in LCC nursing program definitely helps me to meet my goals. The LCC nursing program will help me to get my RN license. After graduating from LCC, I will continue working on my bachelor’s and master’s degrees so that I can teach in a nursing educational program. Also, I will strengthen my leadership skills in order to become a nurse manager in the clinical setting.

(2) How have you demonstrated leadership? (e.g., family, community, church, class projects, paid or volunteer employment).

When I was in Medical School in China, I was a leader of my class that contained 45 students. I was in charge of all the class activities for instance art performance, sports, and academic posters. It was a challenge to find enough time, but I enjoyed it. So I served as a president of the class for 3 years.

When I worked in Nanyang city’s hospital, I was a research leader in the pediatrics department. During the 15 years I worked there, I designed 11 research projects. I was a manager of a boarding school clinic during 1996-1999. I actually established the clinic and ran it for 3 years. I always got a bonus since there were no disease outbreaks, a low injury rate, and low cost and satisfied students.

I still like to do research. I have done some research of Ketogenic Diet in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy and wrote a report in both Chinese and English. I also organized a little group of Chinese to help each other. We meet few times a year to exchange information and help the people who need it. I will keep doing that for the rest of my life.

(3) What significant life challenges have you faced, and how did you handle them?
As a new immigrant, the most significant challenge in my life was trying to find a job in a country where the language is completely different from my native one. That is why I am still trying my best to help other new immigrants to find a job here in the US.

When I first came to the US, I spoke very little English. I even didn’t know how to shop in a grocery store, how to order food in restaurant, and how to use public transportation. I needed to find a job to feed myself.

To find a job, the first thing is to have a nice resume. With the help of my dictionary and the sample resume in the computer program, I composed one. Second, I needed to find the job opening in the paper. It took me a whole day to read the few pages of the paper and find some jobs I thought I could apply for. Because of the language barrier, I had to go to place by place to apply in person that was easier for me to communicate with them.

As an experienced medical doctor, I thought I could do lots of things in medical field. But after I failed many times on the job-hunting, I realized that without good English language skill and proper credentials in the US, there is almost no job that I could get.

Then I decided to go to college to study English and at the same time worked as a volunteer in the American Red Cross, while still trying to find a paid job for living. As my language improved, I found my first job as a support staff in a community service helping people with disabilities. It was completely different from the job I was doing in China, but it sure helped me to stand on my feet. I appreciate the opportunity and did my best on the job.

With the improving of my English skills, I have tried to go back to medical field. I worked as a phlebotomist, a medical assistant, and an ECG technician. And now I am in nursing school. I believe that if I work and study hard, in a dynamic country like the United States, I will have much more opportunities in the medical field and provide my best services to patients in the society.

Sunday's romance

 

 

Swimming in the winter.

I got couple pictures from a friend in China who swimming in the cold winter water every year. I really admire him. Here are the pictures taken couple days ago when he was swimming in the Winters river in China.

Should I be Happy?

Should I be Happy?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
It is a shame when people want to do something good for the human world; there always is someone there to destroy the hopefulness. I guess it is nature as a human being who wants to live better, wants to get promotion, and wants to be Important. And for this very purpose, to find any possible way to get what they want should not be criticized. That is why for being selfish in this point is becoming another part of human’s nature.
I wonder when people will eliminate the weakness of human nature. That way the world would be so much cleaner and happier.
At this moment, I am not happy. One and half years ago, I wrote a summarized article about The Ketogenic Diet Treatment in Pediatric Epilepsy in Chinese. The purpose of the article was to introduce the treatment to my colleagues in China.
I am a new Immigrant and work in the hospital In Eugene Oregon. The treatment caught my attention because one day at work during break, I was browsing around on the Intranet trying to learn more about American medical system. I was reading the pediatric policies and noted there is a protocol for Ketogenic diet. Working as a pediatrician In China for 18 years, I was believed not the ones who were behind the time of the knowledge. But I have never heard about such treatment. It got my curiosity. I decided to learn more about it.
Internet is my best resources of learning. I got online and read more about it. I liked it. It is a great altered way to treat epilepsy. I thought I was behind the time for this treatment because I left clinical site 3 years before I came to the US and now I am living in the US for 6 years and far away from pediatric practice. So I searched Chinese articles about the treatment and also talked to friend there about the treatment. Surprisingly, I only found few articles about the treatment in Chinese which came from Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The articles mainly reported information about the treatment in North America, Australia and England. No research done in China. And my MD friends in China know nothing about the treatment.
I decided to do some research and write a summarize of the treatment and send to Chinese medical journal to introduce the altered pediatric epilepsy treatment to my colleagues in China.
Writing a summarize article with all the references in English is not easy for a person like me using English as Second language. I spend over three months, read about 30 articles, research papers and a book of the treatment. Finally, I wrote an over 9000 words summarize both in Chinese and English. I sent the Chinese version to a medical journal in China and they said it is too long to use at the time. And I tend to forget about it since I was busy for work and school.
Last night, I was visiting a Chinese website and happily talking to the people there. I suddenly wanted to put my article there for people whoever was interested to read it. I only put an aberration there and thinking that I should check to see if anyone staled my work in China. So I check it online and unfortunately, I found a web posting just like what I wrote. The only different is the article was shorted and the author is someone I don’t know. My article really got stolen! That is a hospital website.
I was angry, up set and also confused. I don’t know what to do. I trust them too much to send them my article by printing, emailing, attachment and discs. I gave them anyway they wanted to. And than, there is an e-mail, telling me that they don’t have enough space for my article and then, there is one hospital practicing the treatment and there is someone published it online with their name…
At least there is some hospital trying this treatment, there is someone published the treatment online. I guess, the original point of writing this article is done. I probably should be happy with it. Should I?

Welcome to my blog!!

Hello!

This is my first English blog. I will put all my thoughts and dreams here. I will share everything here to friends and ...