How are you? I do hope everything is good with you and you have had a good weekend.

Today is the 320th day that I have been in the US. I attended the first examination of the course MKT750 Supply Chain Management Seminar by Dr. Carlo Smith and Dr. John Kent Friday morning and I guess I should have passed it.

In the past several lectures, my strong feeling was two words "Communication" and "Cooperation", especially when I was listening to the lessons about "the Bullwhip Effect" and "Supply Chain Strategy".

I am thinking, since the third technology revolution has made the world as an electronic village, since to satisfy customers is the final objective of a company, any little demand changing of customers will affect whole of the supply chain. The more far away distance, the more big fluctuate... then, how to make every one on the supply chain to get the exact information, how to find the other's value on the supply chain and to make the best cooperation relationship, maybe is one of the most important management thing that we have to think seriously...

After the examination, Dr. Meinert -- the Associate Dean of College of Business Administration, and the “Angel Guarder” of our Chinese students -- Ms. Anna Brashers came into our classroom and they wished us to help the new Chinese students for MBA...

I am happy to see that the cooperation between America and China is doing so well in Missouri State University and another more than 30 Chinese students will reach here within the coming 1 week...

Even though I am quite busy and work for 17 to 18 hours each day on my professional study, art exhibition that will be opened on September 4, music and language learning… I still raised my hand to join the team to pick up and help new students, to stand the responsibility to drive them to go shopping, visit the campus, open cell phone or bank account, know book store and so on... Because, I still remember how those "old" students helped us, how Dr. Meinert carried my luggage in person, how Ms. Anna drove me to see a dentist, how Mr. Gong Xiao helped me to open a cell phone, buy a car and became my tutor, how Ms. Li Xiao Ming to buy me the first text book… how warm when we got a little bit help or just one word of caring for when we just landed on the land of the US, to spend the most difficult first week as a foreign student in a totally new life and language environment.

I am thinking, at this time, to put down some personal things and to help the others maybe something that I should do as a student for a MBA degree. Maybe to learn and keep an excellent personal quality is important more than to get a high score.

Then on Sunday, I did a "big" thing to send a birthday gift ? a painting that I created for our English teacher Ms. Lynne in a rainstorm.

Do you know? By the nice arrangement of the College of Business Administration, we are lucky enough to be offered English lesson free by a couple of wife and husband ? Mrs. Lynne and Mr. Joe since we came to the US last year. They have been keeping picking up our Chinese students before their lesson and sending us back after the lesson on the weekend. No matter in the wind, rain or in the snow, even on the icy weather, the two elder teachers have been keeping their lessons for us.

I still remember how both of them taught me itself some necessary knowledge of behaviors on the public occasions in the Western society -- how to eat, how to sit, how to use knife and fork, where I should put them during a meal and end my eating in the formal occasion...

So, after my classmates Kathy and Army told me that Sunday is Lynn’s birthday and they wished me to send her a Chinese painting on behalf of our Chinese Students Wednesday noon. I created a new picture with the title Warm for her Wednesday night. I would really like to thank her for the warm and the knowledge that she has brought our Chinese students, for the example that she has made for us, to express our Chinese students’ respect to her and husband. To make them as our model to learn and to remember the great friendship between American people and Chinese people, too.

Even though I painted until 2:00 am, then I drove for over 20 minutes in the rainstorm, and I was just staying on her birthday party for about 10 minutes, I felt she is deserved me to do these for her. After all, what she has done just like the rainbow after the rainstorm, has built a friendship bridge between local American people and our Chinese students...

I do hope Ms. Lynn would enjoy her birthday gift that I sent her and has had a happy birthday. I really hope both of Lynn and Joe happy, healthy and lucky forever...

How about you, have you had anything special in your life this week?

I am just a learner on art of painting, music, English and Chinese language, to work on the web site in my free time. I would really like to do a few things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be an Electronic Bridge of Culture Exchange, Chinese Language Learning & Friendship making. To help the others while to improve myself.

I would like to appreciate your understanding, directions, supports and hope to get your friendly direction and help.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you are welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or Yiping007@MissouriState.edu, or to publish your opinions in the forum.

Shirley Yiping Zhang
Sun, August 16, 2009 From USA