Yujian's Exchange In USA: Life is getting mundane

Hi all,
its me again... life's getting really mundane recently... Although I have only 4 courses, the number of hours per week totals up to 14 hours (which is only 1 hour short of 5 mods). The reason is because my spanish class happens for 1 hour everyday (i.e. 5 hours in the week). Nonetheless, i enjoy my spanish class and I think my spanish is improving.

Anyway, after almost 1 week of classes at UPENN, all i have to say is that people here are really vocal. Although there are no class participation scores, UPENN students have been constantly asking question so that they can understand their stuff better. Kudos! I think that's the spirit and not asking questions for class participation. I would be happy if class participation were to become a lesser part the final grade back in SMU. It has messed up some people's minds thinking that everyone out there is trying to talk for marks (although some are). Asking for knowledgei think is a very impt part of education. I was taught that "学问，学问" if you want to 学, then you must 问! Let's all remember that asking for knowledge is the underlying reason for class participation. Scores are an extrinsic motivation which should not change your underlying actions... remember that...

Anyway, back to the students in UPENN, i think the reason why they ask good questions is because they have good experience. I really don't want to go back and write a long paper about the perpetuating wealth of the rich or the congregation of the well-off. Nonetheless, I guess that's the fact in life. With the rich enrolled in the same school as the rich, the rich will only get smarter (due to the availability of exposure opportunities). I guess these people had more opportunities than the whole asia put together and that's the reason for intelligent questions in class.

Oh! I also want to mention that I'm really happy that I can read much faster now than before! I have completed 2 books while I am here at UPENN. 2 interesting books (1 x non-fiction and 1 x fiction). The first book is called liar's poker and i'm sure many finance students have read this. I strongly recommend this books to those who are interested in Sales and Trading and would like to know more about the origination of the Asset Bank Securities / mortgages bonds (which is also the problem leading to credit crunch now) and high yield debt. The 2nd book is called "Flowers for Algernon". Due to strong recommendation from May, i embarked on a journey to finish my FIRST-EVER fiction book, and OMG... its really damn nice... I was so touched I almost cried when i finish the book... Its really a nice book exploring things ranging from ethics to psychology and from sex to love... I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!

Anyway, for those who are worried that i might grow fat, i just want to assure you guys that i still exercise. For the past 5 days, i've exericsed 3 days (2 x swim of 30 x 50m and 1 x 5km run). I will continue to exercise so that i would not be putting on too much weight.

Nonetheless, i am still continuing to be ambitious with my cooking and here's some pictures to show you my recent meals:

Yam's Kitchen Menu:

Fried Beef with Eggs and Onion & Rice (When the Chicken meets the "Hen (ham)")