Outsider Looking In (6)

It is a drizzly late Friday afternoon. I just returned from working all day and was going to go to the gym, but instead I decided to work on my Public Finance and Budgeting assignment. We are calculating lots of various figures from the federal government's annual budgets. Then we have to analyze it. Did you know that NASA always gets the short end of the stick? Every year, their budget gets less and less and less... Poor astronauts.

I have no idea where my whole week went. I have barely been in my apartment except for sleeping. There's just so many things to do! Most of them are fun, but a lot of them aren't. Such as my budgeting homework. But at least it's somewhat interesting, and I'm feeling a bit smarter. :)

Yesterday was a particularly awesome day. I worked, went to classes, worked on a small group project with an Indian and South Korean, encouraged a fellow classmate who is a Kenyan believer, talked with a Chinese classmate who is interested in studying the Word, had a great conversation on the bus with my Thai neighbor, and went to a Bible study with grad students and professors. I was gone from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Whew! But the Father's presence was noticeable, and I was thankful for all the opportunities to talk about Him and love others.

So quite a bit of time is spent in class, although I'm in class a lot less than when I was teaching in the classroom at Blue Sky. That brings me to the uniqueness of the American classroom.

6.) American classes

I'm almost as perplexed at classes in America as many of my fellow international classmates (who happen to be extremely intelligent, and were often sent from the top departments of their respective governments).

First of all, the rooms are quite different from those in China. There are a lot fewer students crammed into each room in America, and the rooms themselves tend to be a lot nicer than in China. No dead rats or whitewashed concrete walls here. And the professors here use PowerPoint projectors and fancy equipment. You can't smell the bathroom in the class, and you can't hear people chanting from other classes.

The class atmosphere and interaction are probably more noticeable here, though. Students in America are expected to participate, question, and share opinions--all rather vigorously and energetically. My Asian classmates were really taken aback by the very informal and casual atmosphere.

Overall, I'm just amazed at how many opinions students have, and how much they like to share them. Americans are confident to the nth degree. Yes, dear fellow classmates, I realize you worked at the White House and had a GRE score of eight million, but sometimes I think you could pipe down a bit... :)

Another strange things is the limitless opportunities to join organizations and interact with people outside the classroom. Most of my students in China would just hang out in their dorms after class or pay badminton. There weren't many chances to be active, because there weren't any organizations. But here, there's a club for every interest. It's a little overwhelming, because I want to do everything! And I also have to study... a lot.

Have a wonderfully blessed weekend!