There's always a time when you think things don't feel like how it should be going. Doesn't that just suck?
"What are they expecting of me? What should I do? Should I just shut up and listen to whatever they're saying?" if you ever thought those questions, well here's what you should do:
1. Stop thinking about these questions - just ask them. It might scare the person or it might make the person meaner. But it's all good! At least they how you feel.. a bit.
2. Don't shut up and listen. Sometimes it's good to give in your input - what if you don't like what that person is telling you to do? If they say go jump off the cliff? would you do it? I hope not. I really hope you do NOT jump off a cliff. I am not giving any suggestions for you to do so.. So don't!
3. If the person thinks that they're all that and that they should be the grand master of the plan, tell them it's a group effort and that they shouldn't be bossing people around. "There is no I in TEAM."
4. If anything fails, back it up. There's a reason why it's GROUP work - if one person falls, another person should be there to help..
I'm sorry if I rambled, but I've been told most of my school-life that, "Where ever you go in life, there's always a chance you'll be stuck in group presentations or group work".. something along those lines.
Now excuse me, as I go kill a mosquito that has been flying around my room for a while.
P.S. Eva says hi and she'll bake cookies for you if you Join CLP. Info on facebook.
C-Y-I! HUUUUH!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Opportunity!
Museum of Chinese in America’s
Docent Training Program with Voices of Young Chinese America
Throughout the 2008-2009 school year, MOCA will be bringing together a group of 10-
12 youth who will be trained to facilitate interactive, exhibition-based gallery programs
in the Museum and lead neighborhood walking tours for a wide range of audiences.
These youth will participate in an intensive training on Chinese American history and
culture, oral history, research, public speaking, group facilitation and museum education.
Upon completion of the training, participants will become part of the museum docent
team, where they will lead group tours and receive ongoing training.
I will post forms and deadlines later with more information, unless this post is deleted.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Chinatown Struggles with Gentrification
I was walking in Chinatown the other day, and a group of people yelling and waving banners drew my attention. As I listened closely to what the protesters were saying, I realized they were all screaming for adequate and affordable housing. The issue of gentrification has come up before, especially when you're a participant of Chinatown Youth Initiatives, which focuses on issues and events affecting and relating to Chinatown, but to see so many voicing their concerns for their lives and their community was sort of a shock to me.
Chinatown has always had a history of suffering and poverty, but it has always been an upward journey, however slow and unbearable. Now, as the city plans to redevelop the Lower East Side and launch a Business Improvement District (BID), tenants and families are forced back into one-room apartments and poor living conditions. Many in Chinatown already live below the poverty line, and as the BIDs require a three to five percent tax hike on private property and small businesses, the quality of life will only continue to deteriorate.
Recently, I had a discussion with a friend about the man-made waterfalls that now line the Lower East Side, and I was a bit disappointed to hear, "It's art. We just don't know how to appreciate them," as a response to my claims that they were a waste of $15.5 million. But while these waterfalls are a part of a plan for upscale high-rise development to attract more tourists, the property tax it entails would push small business owners out of Chinatown. I believe that such art, which does not benefit the community as a whole, does not deserve such appreciation.
Claims that the BID and redevelopment will only benefit Chinatown have been met with fierce opposition from the people whose lives revolve around the community. Chinatown is the hub of Chinese heritage and culture in New York City, and to redevelop and invade it is to erase our past and replace it with skyscrapers.
Chinatown has always had a history of suffering and poverty, but it has always been an upward journey, however slow and unbearable. Now, as the city plans to redevelop the Lower East Side and launch a Business Improvement District (BID), tenants and families are forced back into one-room apartments and poor living conditions. Many in Chinatown already live below the poverty line, and as the BIDs require a three to five percent tax hike on private property and small businesses, the quality of life will only continue to deteriorate.
Recently, I had a discussion with a friend about the man-made waterfalls that now line the Lower East Side, and I was a bit disappointed to hear, "It's art. We just don't know how to appreciate them," as a response to my claims that they were a waste of $15.5 million. But while these waterfalls are a part of a plan for upscale high-rise development to attract more tourists, the property tax it entails would push small business owners out of Chinatown. I believe that such art, which does not benefit the community as a whole, does not deserve such appreciation.
Claims that the BID and redevelopment will only benefit Chinatown have been met with fierce opposition from the people whose lives revolve around the community. Chinatown is the hub of Chinese heritage and culture in New York City, and to redevelop and invade it is to erase our past and replace it with skyscrapers.
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