What I Am Thankful For... ( Journal#27 )

First, I am thankful for the opportunity to come to the USA and study here, because I have met a lot of wonderful people here: my friends, my teachers and my home stay mom. In addition, I have tried new cuisines and I have visited some awesome places. In general, it is an amazing novel experience.

Second, I am thankful for my family and friends who are in my home country; because I love them very much and they let me know that they love me too.

Third, I am thankful for every day I live, because every day is special and it will never repeat again.

Beshbarmak ( Journal#26 )

Beshbarmak is perhaps the most typical Kyrgyz dish. The dish is meant to be eaten with the hands, not with a knife and fork! "Besh" means five, and "barmak", finger. Beshbarmak is served when guests arrive and at almost any festive gathering. There is quite a ritual involved in preparing the meal. The simple version of the dish consists of noodles, which are mixed with boiled meat cut into tiny pieces and served with a medium spicy sauce. Bouillon is then poured over the mixture.

Generally, a sheep is slaughtered, butchered and boiled in a large “kazan” (a large round pot) for a couple of hours. The bones with the meat still on them are then distributed to the assembled gathering. The oldest people and honored guests are presented with the choicest bones first of all. The guest of honor is presented with the head – and by tradition should have the sheep's eyes. To the “Alksakals” – old men – go the thigh bone (“jambash”) – to the older women goes the fat tail (“kuiruk”). The legs and shoulders are distributed to the young adults present – and the smaller bones are reserved for the daughter in law of the household. Some meat is diced and mixed with boiled noodles.

Besh Barmak (Kyrgyz national dish)
Ingredients:
1 medium sheep or 3 kilograms of mutton or beef

1 kilogram onions

4 cups of flour

1 egg
Directions:

Put the meat in a large pot along with onions and boil for two hours. While the meat is cooking prepare the noodles (store bought noodles can be substituted).

Noodles: make a pile with the flour. Beat the egg and add it to the flour, then mix in warm salt water (1-2 teaspoon salt) until it holds together but it is not so sticky. Knead well and then let stand for 10 minutes. Roll out the pastry into a thin “pancake” and cut it into thin stripes. When meat is done and removed from the water, the noodles are then boiled in the same water to give the noodles a meaty flavor; noodles need to cook for 5 minutes or less.

Sauce: chop onions, add salt, black pepper and beef broth. In individual soup bowls, combine the noodles, onions and meat, pour the broth over each serving. Serve very hot.

What Was It? ( Journal#24 )

I want to tell you the story which happened to my uncle’s neighbor. The guy’s name was Temir. He was shy and unsociable. All his brothers were tall, broad shouldered and muscular because of a hard physical work. They were farmers. However, in comparison with them, Temir was thin and stooping. He seemed to be out of this family. Temir usually didn’t express his emotions and thoughts; he did what he was asked to do. He lived in his own world where other people didn’t exist. And one day something terrible happened to him. It was ordinary day, and as usually in the evening the whole family gathered to have dinner. Nevertheless Temir hadn’t yet come back from the field. It was dark outside and it was unusual for him to be late. The mother began to worry, but one of the brothers said as a joke: “Come on, mom. He is an adult guy. May be he has finally found a girlfriend?!” Suddenly they heard a noise in the yard. They rushed out and saw Temir with a hammer in his hands. He was trying to break the windshield of his father’s car. The whole family was struck by his behavior. They didn’t know how to react to his actions. Temir looked at them and told with hate: “I will make all people respect me!” His brothers realized at once that it was not his voice. Something or somebody grasped his soul and controlled him. They captured Temir and tried to bring him into the house. They were surprised that he was strong enough to resist. Finally, three brothers made him enter the house and tied him to the bed. Temir yelled: “Let me go! I will kill all of you!” The family was frightened and they sent for a priest. When the priest came he asked Temir: “Who are you?” The answer was: “I am Captain Yung Wong.” The priest continued: “What do you need?” The answer was: “I need his body and soul.” The priest said: “We can’t allow you take him. If you don’t leave him, I will start to read prayers.” The captain replied: “Don’t do it. Open the door and I will leave.” They did as he asked them to do. They didn’t hear anything; they felt a cold wind passing them. When Temir came to his mind he didn’t remember anything.

PS: A long time ago, there was a huge Chinese fortress on the place of this village. A lot of people died there and soldiers buried dead bodies into the walls of the fortress. Nowadays only few ruins remind about that terrible days, but people still see inexplicable things there.

Lost in Translation ( Journal#23 )

When people go to foreign countries, they usually bring their culture with them. However, there are always many differences in the way of life. For example, the first few weeks, it was difficult for me to calculate the final sum for groceries in the supermarkets, because 7.75% tax has to be added to the sum. In my country, you see the price on the counters, you pay the same price. Another big problem for me here is transportation; I should arrange my time according to bus schedule. It frames my freedom. Another thing which pursuits me all the time is currency exchange rate. When I buy something I always think how much it is in my home currency. I still can’t get rid of this habit. I can’t say anything about differences between people here and people in my home country, because I think It doesn’t matter from what country you are, the most important thing what a person you are. We can meet good and bad people in every country. Last few months I have met many students from different countries, and I didn’t notice tendency that all people from one country are the same. Of course students from the same country try to find each other and to keep close relationships, because it is the only way to speak their native language which is definitely easier to use than English language.

California Fires ( Journal#22 )

As any natural disasters, fire is a very “destroying weapon”. It ruins everything on its way; no matter it is a live creature or a building. I have never seen mass fires before I came here. The air was so dry sometimes it was difficult to breathe. The wind was hot and strong. The air was filled with smoke and ashes. As a result, the sun was red during the dawn and during the sunset. It was so weird. The fire might begin as a result of a small spark. The squall helped to spread fire very quickly. I understand when fire starts because of an accident. Sometimes such thing happens and we can’t avoid it. But I can’t understand people who start fires intentionally. There must be some logical reasons like envy, revenge, mental illness or something else. Why did they do it? The consequences of fires were terrible. A lot of people lost their homes. Many houses were burgled after people had been evacuated.

Time Tips

1. Count all your time as time to be used and make every attempt to get satisfaction out of every moment.
2. Find something to enjoy in whatever you do.
3. Try to be an optimist and seek out the good in your life.
4. Find ways to build on your successes.
5. Stop regretting your failures and start learning from your mistakes.
6. Remind yourself, "There is always enough time for the important things." If it is important, you should be able to make time to do it.
7. Continually look at ways of freeing up your time.
8. Examine your old habits and search for ways to change or eliminate them.
9. Try to use waiting time-review notes or do practice problems.
10. Keep paper or a calendar with you to jot down the things you have to do or notes to yourself.
11. Examine and revise your lifetime goals on a monthly basis and be sure to include progress towards those goals on a daily basis.
12. Put up reminders in your home or office about your goals.
13. Always keep those long term goals in mind.
14. Plan your day each morning or the night before and set priorities for yourself.
15. Maintain and develop a list of specific things to be done each day, set your priorities and the get the most important ones done as soon in the day as you can. Evaluate your progress at the end of the day briefly.
16. Look ahead in your month and try and anticipate what is going to happen so you can better schedule your time.
17. Try rewarding yourself when you get things done as you had planned, especially the important ones.
18. Do first things first.
19. Have confidence in yourself and in your judgment of priorities and stick to them no matter what.
20. When you catch yourself procrastinating-ask yourself, "What am I avoiding?"
21. Start with the most difficult parts of projects, then either the worst is done or you may find you don't have to do all the other small tasks.
22. Catch yourself when you are involved in unproductive projects and stop as soon as you can.
23. Find time to concentrate on high priority items or activities.
24. Concentrate on one thing at a time.
25. Put your efforts in areas that provide long term benefits.
26. Push yourself and be persistent, especially when you know you are doing well.
27. Think on paper when possible-it makes it easier to review and revise.
28. Be sure and set deadlines for yourself whenever possible.
29. Delegate responsibilities whenever possible.
30. Ask for advice when needed.

Adapted from A. Lakein. How to Get Control of Your Time And Your Life
ÓAcademic Skills Center, Dartmouth College 2001

Time Management ( Journal#21 )

Sometimes we don’t notice that time runs very quickly, we can’t stop it, but we tend to spend our time as efficiently as possible. Time management helps us to organize our tasks and actions within a certain period of time. If people follow their schedules, people will become more organized. It is very important to be always on time: when you turn in your homework, research paper, documents and so on, when you have an appointment or a class, and when you have to do something before a deadline. When I try to organize my time I usually use following tips:

Prioritize assignments - you can begin with the most difficult or with the most important or with the most urgent subject. It is up to you. For example, if you have project assignment and the deadline is next week (Group Survey Project), it is better for you to begin with this subject.

Try to split your homework during the weekends. Don’t think that Sunday is an endless day and you can finish all your homework within one day. Usually it doesn’t work.

Write down things you have to do, and decide what you have to do now and what you can postpone for a later time period.