How are you? Are you enjoying your weekend right now? I hope you are.

Today is the 54th day that I am in the US. After attending the 5th closed examination Friday afternoon, I was excited and I could not help singing and dancing when a girl classmate came to visit me, so that she thought that I was crazy. Yes, I was, because I will not have the other examination before December.

Can you imagine? Within the past 10 days, I attended 3 closed examinations. Most of time I worked until 2:30 am and I worked until 4:20 am on Wednesday. Many times, I wanted to sleep so much. But, I told myself that you could not get asleep and you must keep for a while, after Friday, you would be free. The hard feeling was just like the time that I was sent to take part in the job to found a newspaper office by my bosses of Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1993. We had nothing except our minds, hands, and a little investment by our shareholders and People’s Daily. Every day we worked for over 15 hours, sometimes I continuously worked for 48 hours for I was the one to stand the duty to create and found our data pages and the information and data department for the newspaper office. I often felt that I could sleep at any time anywhere, even though on the street. Then, the happiest thing and the biggest wish of mine was to have a sleep for 3 days.

Since we started our second lesson ? Marketing Management Oct 30, I have been feeling it is much more difficult than the first lesson ? IT project management indeed.

When I was learning the first lesson, my feeling was like that to recall and summary a part of my work.. It often made me think of something good or bad in our company’s project management, gave me a lot inspirations, felt excited to meet and to know many wonderful theories, helpful methods and advanced experiences that we can use on our future work. Even though I could not master something at this time, I have known where I can find help after I come back to China with the hints that the lesson has offered me.

When I was learning marketing management, my feeling was fresh and familiar. To feel fresh because I did not work in this field directly in my management career, most of time, my work was finished when a new product or a new service was delivered to the clients or the other managers before it was put into the market. To feel familiar because I have been working in the industry of mediums, as a reporter, editor and manager in some magazine office, newspaper office, Network Company, multimedia Information Company that works on print, web sites, TV, database, mobile phones, mini-computers and stock exchange system…

I respect the work of the marketing departments and marketing people. I had no time, energy and duty to care for it when I was a department manager. After I was promoted on some higher management position, I have been focusing on business itself and I thought it is scientific and knowledgeable much more. So, in my daily meeting with our department managers, I always required the managers of news, TV, web site, printing, technology, design and database attend, I did not very care for whether the marketing managers came or not. I paid more attention on the news points, database and technology supporting; I did not make marketing management into my daily work. I was even proud of myself to be familiar with almost all of our business except marketing and accounting.

However, within the short 24 days’ marketing management lesson, I did feel something wrong in my mind and it has reminded me to see my own weaknesses. First of all, it made me realize that what ignorant I was! As a senior manager who is ignoring the marketing management, is really a bad and a dangerous thing. Secondly, I have realized that not understand something on marketing management is a quite big lack of my knowledge structure. That is not a pride, but a shame! So, after experiencing my “Waterloo” in the first closed examination and the second no-ideal one, by the kind help of the professor Steve Parker, I have found back my confidence about this lesson. Now I am feeling good for the studying in the US has offered me an uncommon opportunity to reinforce my knowledge lacks. The third is that the 5 closed examinations within the 54 days and the 3 closed examinations within 10 days have made me know something about the stricter and higher requirement of the American education.

Except the lessons themselves, a strong feeling is the diversification of the teaching methods here. If I said that Dr. Meinart's project management lesson full of the logicality with the style of the deduction; then, Dr. Parker’s marketing management lesson is full of the visualization with the style of induction. If I said that Dr. Meinart’s lesson makes me have more confidence with myself as a manager while to study something new in this field now and in the future, then, Dr. Porker’s lesson made me see a wider management scope and know that my ability is not equal to my wishes. If I said that Mr. Meinart's lesson as drawing a big tree from its root to its branches, students could find more branches and to add its leaves according to the hints we have learned; then, Dr. Parker’s lesson with much more jumped colors or brush works to paint the leaves and branches at the first, students have to connect the different points, colors and branches together, to outline the big tree with our own understanding. The textbook is not enough; the teaching material is not enough. We have to find, to collect and to fix the knowledge points from Internet or somewhere else to combine them and to build the frame of the knowledge by ourselves. When I am facing this kind of teaching styles in my second language, I felt quick difficult to catch Dr. Parker’s thoughts and schedule. Meanwhile, I enjoy the challenge to learn something protean with many theories, methods and experiences with a harder, alive and dynamic perspectives. A big pity is that the lesson time is really too short, there are many good things that have no time to read, to learn and to think.

Besides, the second lesson has made me realize a big fact. I will meet the other more difficult lessons and bigger pressure: Financial management, Accounting and Quantitative Methods. They are also something not in my former work ring and some blank points in my knowledge structure. I am afraid of them; I feel lucky that I will have some good opportunity to enhance myself. So, as soon as the examination has past Friday evening, I wrote to the third professor for help. I would really like to preview the textbooks of Advanced Financial Management in my Thanksgiving Holiday. Even though I also wanted to visit somewhere to learn American culture as the other classmates, I know more that my colleagues, bosses and American cooperators are working hard to develop our business in China, so that I have been feeling guilty for I left for the US at the key time that our cooperated products would be put into the market. Since I was the main executed I manager on China side since 2006, since I will go back to work on my position in 311 days again, I have no reason to enjoy my own holiday in the US when the others are working hard in China. I do have some duty and responsibility to do my best to learn as much as possible, to bring the advanced management theories, methods and experiences back to my company and motherland, to repay them with a better work level and ability. As far as visiting America, I will have many the other opportunities certainly.

How about you? If you were me, would you choose to work in your holiday? Do you think I am foolish person or not?
I am just a learner on that 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 little bit things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be an Electronic Bridge of Culture Exchange, Language Learning & Friendship. To help the others while to improve myself.

I appreciate your understanding, directions and supports. I do hope to get your friendly help...

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you are welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com, or to publish your opinions in the forum.

Shirley Yiping Zhang
Sun, Nov 23, 2008 From USA