How are you? Is everything well with you?

Today is the 171st day that I am in the US. I finished my paper of the course -- Organizational Management by Dr Rozell at 4:00 am Saturday and handed it at 7:55 am Monday. Then, I attended the first lesson of my 6th course -- International Marketing by Dr. Hermens.

Can you imagine? In the past 24 days, except the lessons and 3 examinations, Dr.Rozell organized 5 presentations, one social investigation and required us to write a paper, too. Three managers from a local insurance company, chamber of commerce, the university's Small Business & Technology Development Center and two professors introduced something about employees motivation, cross-culture businesses and many interesting topics, an owner of a successful chocolate factory introduced his business model and practice. In fact, our lesson would be really finished until our last social investigation April 1.

I have deeply involved myself into the studying of the lesson. The more I learned it, the more I enjoyed it.

First of all, it has touched my soul and made me realize my own weakness as a manager and tried to adjust and improve myself consciously.

Secondly, it will help my work in China directly. What I have learned on the individuals's personalities, human being’s moods, emotions, physical characteristics; motivation theories, behaviors of individual, group and organization and the communication’s channels, directions, styles and tendency… often gave me some inspirations and made me think of some new idea to improve my work in China. A little example, now I have known that 3:00 pm is the time that a person’s positive emotion highest of a day and Friday is the time that a person’s positive emotion highest of a week, then I know when I should talk the most important to my bosses and to my subordinators and I will also not surprise when I meet an angry boss or an unhappy subordinate at some negative emotion highest time. I am thinking maybe we can make a flexibility work schedule according to employee's psychology and physical characters?.

Thirdly, this lesson has opened my eyeshot so much. Besides about 50 management theories, the deepest feeling is from my paper writing. With a very serious and responsible work attitude, Dr. Rosell checked every student’s target paper -- an academic paper that had been published in some formal journals and we had to comment it, then to write our own papers basic the comments. Twice, what I had chosen to be denied by her. That meant that I had to re-work on reading many new papers, and also meant that what I had written changed nothing. Just with the job to find a new paper, I touched so many newest papers from Finland, England, Germany, US, Australia, and Malaysia, my topic also changed from work design, flexible work schedule to communication ? Intranet, Extranet and Internet…Even though the work was quite hard indeed, I did feel good for I have felt some enjoyment during the process, after all, I was reading something most advanced and newest in a border less academic world, so that a classmate was so surprised when she found that I was still smiling there…

With a delight heart, I did something you can not imagine. I have given up an opportunity to make an art exhibition in the some university in the US. Also I did not take part in the Chinese tutor competition with 67 Chinese classmates for the one position; I had wanted to be a volunteer, but not a formal job. I would like to focus on the rest of my 6 months in the US on my studies and English language. Because, I can continue to learn art and music in China, I will not have the English environment there. So, since I have no time to learn English specifically right now, I would like to improve my English while I am learning my professional lessons. So, I have read aloud all of the chapters and the handouts by Dr. Rozell. Then, I was so surprised to find the third examination has changed so easy and the reports of CNN have changed so clear, too.

Along with the process, I have discovered a good fact -- I feel it seems like I have come back to the times as an undergraduate student more than 20 years ago, my memory is still very well. I can remember so many conceptions in English and English new words very quickly. Even, I wrote out 4 factors and 18 points easily to answer last of the question that Dr. Rozell required us to answer with at least 10 points. I am thinking that maybe someday I will grow a new tooth as a teenager?

How do you think of my new discover? Do you believe that a person will be younger along with time?

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 improving myself.

I will 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
Monday, March 17, 2009 From USA