My life these days seems to be separated into two halves, like ying and yang. One half involves me attending nursing school at a local community college, as I strive to obtain my nursing license and start my career as a registered nurse. The other half involves me working from a small office answering phone calls when I can, doing LiveChat on the China Study Abroad website, answering emails, and processing payments and applications. I am a student and a program advisor all at the same time. It gets quite hectic, as one can imagine. Nursing school is difficult enough by itself; the teaching staff suggests that students do not work while going through nursing school due to the large time commitment and the hours of study needed to pass the courses. Even though I am a fast reader and can absorb material like a sponge, I still need to put in hours of note-taking and studying in order to do well. Meanwhile, in the back of my mind, I am thinking about what emails I need to answer and what I need to tell my fellow program advisor and the staff in Beijing. I have even brought the company phone to school with me when I need to stay at school to study and answered calls right outside the library. Nursing school occupies my morning and afternoon hours on the weekdays. My nights are spent in the front of the computer, alt-tabbing between multiple windows as I try to organize all the information.

It is a busy life for me, but I am actually glad I am handling the situation. This is a good experience for me, as nursing is one of the most hectic jobs. Being able to balance my “private” life and my school life will serve me well in the future.

- Feng-Wei Hu, CSA Program Advisor

Today CSA was lucky enough to attend a talk at the Beijing American Chamber of Commerce with T. Boone Pickens, the world’s 369th richest man. His current net worth is estimated at 2.7 billion US dollars. Recently, he has been an advocate of alternative energy sources on a global scale, which of course brought him to Beijing. The students of CSA were lucky enough to be invited to this important talk, and we were also treated to a delicious American style breakfast. It’s hard to find bacon and hash browns around here!
Mr. Pickens’ talk, which was informative, sage-like, and even rather hilarious at times,
was much appreciated by all of us. He peppered his message about the global importance of alternative energies with various anecdotes ranging from his childhood to life as an executive. Whether or not we agreed with his political and ideological views, his perspective was greatly valued. More than anything, Mr. Pickens emphasized that the new global economy would be one in which the free market dictates that clean energy must happen.
During the question and answer session, our own student Alberto asked a great question about the viability of lower gasoline consumption in the U.S. because everyone needs a car. Mr. Pickens announced to the rest of the businessmen in the room that Alberto was the smartest guy in the room! In total, it was an edifying experience for all of us, and it seems that Mr. Pickens learned something from one of our students as well. We look forward to including more events at the American Chamber of Commerce for our CSA students in our regular itinerary of cultural, social and business events.

- Jason Coe, CSA Program Director
(Note: I wrote this in a blog from 2007 but I wanted to share the experience!)

平实却多事的一天

不知道为什么，每到周末瞌睡虫就是多。10个小时夜眠后，我爬上了MSN。电话突然响起，造访人JIM告诉我，不能上网。奇怪怎么一大早成了女的了，可能昨晚睡得也不好吧。我自己也没有充钱呢。唉，说真的，睡眼朦胧，穿着睡裤去密瓜也不是第一次了，只是那个保安会多看你一眼罢了，呵呵！！

I don’t know why, but I get the sleeping bug during the weekend. After 10 hours of sleep, I signed into MSN messenger. Suddenly my phone rang. It was Jim calling me to tell me that his internet credit had run out. It’s strange how this morning I feel as though I’ve become a little girl, maybe last night I didn’t sleep well. I don’t even have enough money to buy more internet credit for Jim. Wow, even my eyes are still blurry, and while it’s not the first time I’ve worn my pajamas while going to Melon, the downstairs liquor store, the security guards always avert their eyes when they see me, haha.

A也在线，美美的聊了好一会，真的很享受。看着窗外一片风和日丽，最主要是今天没风，让已逐渐明朗的心情更加荡漾起来，我决定出行，好好收拾一周下来沉闷的心情。

A is on the line, and we chatted for a while, and it was really enjoyable. Looking out the window I see a beautiful view of the sun and, more importantly, it isn’t windy, and already the mood of the light is gradually rising. I decided to go out and pick up the pieces of my week and overcome the oppressive mood it had cast.

说好中午聚餐，小周可是要出血了。他们肯定没吃早饭。我呢，还是照例吃着我的早餐呗。该出发 了，可是突然外面刮起来沙尘，狂风大作，乱成一片。正在犹豫我该穿五分还是仔裤，天哪，我迟到了。还是轻装吧，偏要和它做对，看他能把我刮到哪，如果是太平洋的对岸才好呢。

I had agreed with Sophia to eat Lunch, and she had promised to pay so of course no one ate breakfast so that they could eat even more for lunch. But as a rule I always eat breakfast. We were supposed to leave, but suddenly a sand storm began to blow, and the angry wind blew throwing everything into disarray. Right as I’m deciding between trousers and jeans, my god, I realize I’m running late. I guess it’s best to travel light. I have to do as the wind dictates because he can blow me away, hopefully all the way across the Pacific.

在密瓜拐角处，我几近被强势的它压倒，一个踉跄，两个，咳…!!!. 多吃点，增肥吧，要不冬天就不好说了…….!! 一路颠簸,终于到了。还不错，人不是很多，也是新装修的，最美的是他们换了新的碟子，新装修。这年头就要这个。我们选了一张六人桌，够我们在一个小时之内长几斤的空间喽，哈哈！！！
Right as I turn around the corner of Melon, the wind blows me back! I stutter forward, once, twice, argh!!! I should eat more and gain some weight, if it were winter I wouldn’t stand a chance against this mighty wind! The whole way on the road, I get bumped and tossed but I finally get to the restaurant. Not bad, there aren’t that many people, and it was recently renovated, and they even bought pretty little new plates. This is what I want for the new year. We picked a table for six, enough for us to add more people to our gang within an hour, haha!

两分钟之后，我们开杀界了，桌上堆满了秀色，谁要他49自助呢。这要在西部或是小地方，那才叫壮观了。2分钟后电话响起，哈哈，一个大头居然把自己锁外面了。不知道是不是“定论”了–凡是生意场上的佼佼者，最不会照顾自己，没有办法，我的量不能和他们媲美，狼吞几口后，坐上CAB绝尘而去。

Two minutes later, we dug in, the table was stacked with a beautiful sight, who wouldn’t want 49 yuan self-service? If this were in the western or remote part of China, it would be called magnificent! After two more minutes, the phone rang again, haha, the big guy unexpectedly locked himself out. I don’t know if it’s the final verdict – in every business the ones with the most talent are the ones that are most unable to look after themselves. There was no way around it, my capacity for food consumption couldn’t rival theirs; I wolfed down a few bites and jumped in a cab to go.

哦，MY！我的钥匙丢在那个袋子里了，没办法，只好舍近求远去了华清。杰真是好心情，看上去真的很利落。还真是， 这种天气，这种时段还堵车，20块就扔了。好不容易到了文成，在进B座拐角的时候，风着实的大，我真的摔倒了，单腿脆下来，我挣扎着站起来，风啊，你真的让我敬佩，你的大手又顺势把我推倒
了。

Oh my! My key was lost in the bag, no alternative but to go far afield to Tsinghua. J really was in a good mood, and looked settled in as well. But still, in this type of weather and period of time traffic was backed up, 20 kuai thrown away. It’s wasn’t easy after getting to Wen Cheng, as I turned the corner at building B, the wind came up strong and I actually fell down, a fragile leg giving out. I struggled to stand up. Wind! I admire you, your big hand yet again took the opportunity to push me right over.

好不容易，电梯带我到了18层，看见学生那张温存的脸，我也顿时烟消云散。他的公寓也不是很FANCY的那种，可是真的亮堂。哦，不好，又一个电话来了，我已经迟到了，一路乐着小跑回到了富润，有人还等我送海外寄来的化妆品呢。她模式般的微笑让我的心情有点沉，为什么有些人可以把笑训练到这种境地，不明白？？？

It’s difficult, the elevator took me up to the 18th floor, seeing the student’s kind face, I suddenly melted away. His apartment isn’t one of those fancy types, but is quite bright and spacious. Oh, not good, another call came in, I’m already late. Through an enjoyable run I returned to Fu Run. Someone’s waiting on me to hand over makeup products sent in from overseas. Her model smile made my mood sink a little, why can some people condition their smile even to this circumstance? I don’t understand.

电话响起，哈，R说自己可以找到下埸的宾馆，多好啊，他太好了喔！！！爱死你！！！和友人走在华灯初霓的大街，心情真的靓，风也嘎然放慢了脚步，在这个没有车流的周六，仿佛一切都变得温柔了。北京深秋的夜晚，有多少故事在上演，有多少温情在传递，还有多少像我这种在都市中寻觅，流淌的边缘人呢…..？？

The phone rang, hah, R said he could find a hotel for the night himself, so easy, he’s too great! I love you to death! Walking with friends on a street lighted by lanterns and a neon glow, the feeling was beautiful, the wind slowing our footsteps. On this Saturday without the flow of traffic, it seemed as if everything had become more gentle. On these evenings of Beijing’s deep autumn, how many stories are being played out, how many tender feelings are being shared, how many people are there like myself – here in the capital seeking and flowing on the margins?

夜幕中，柔和的风，熠熠的灯光，乍寒还暖的空气，人们缓缓的步伐让我想起了PGT尖刻却极具礼貌的一番措词，是那么的自以为是，高高在上，遥不可攀……! 风感谢你带走人们的悲情, 请把他们永远的带走，不要把他们匿影藏形。漫步，徘徊。吱嗄，一个争刹车，打断了我的思绪……!!

In the veil of night, the wind is subdued, glittering lights glow, and the air is still warm in the early winter. People’s slow footsteps make me remember P’s sarcastic but polite word choice, always considering himself to be right, setting himself above the rest, too distant to reach. Wind, thank you for taking away people’s sadness, please take it far far away, don’t hide it away. Slow steps, hovering here. Screech! Ah, a quick breaking car cut off my train of thought!!

~ 小谢
~ Jessica (translated very poorly by Laura and Jason)