maladyrancor's Xanga

Moving to www.joycemeng.com

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:55:04 GMT

My Readers,

Having used Xanga faithfully since 2005, I have many fond memories of this service. Going forward, however, I will no longer be updating this journal, save for a few periodic announcements from time to time.

My web-site can be found here: www.joycemeng.com

My journal can be found here: www.joycemeng.com/journal

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Joyce

Education Without Borders 2009

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:55:44 GMT

I am back from Dubai, albeit briefly for only one day before heading out early tomorrow morning to Rome, Italy. In short, the Education Without Borders conference exceeded all my expectations by light years. Who would have imagined that I would be staying at a five-star hotel (Media Rotana), meeting over 1,000+ delegates from 120 countries, eating at some of the most fancy restaurants in Dubai (including a gala dinner at Atlantis, the underwater hotel), and speaking with eminent guests from the Minister of Education of Colombia and former US Secretary of Education to the former President of India and the first female private space explorer and founder of the Ansari X prize. To give you a sense of the grandeur of the event, for the cultural performances during the gala dinner, the conference hired Riverdance to perform, along with Dudana Mazmanishvili, Diana Yukawa, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Raageshwari, Susan Cowsill, Jumana: Secret of the Desert, Princesses of Violin, State Dance Ensemble of Armenia, Anna Phoebe, Rhythmscape: Fusion Band of Bickram Ghosh, and Sivamani! Each of these performers could have made the entire evening program by themselves! Last year, they had Placido Domingo sing in the desert in celebration of the conference. In general, the event was just completely over the top and incredibly lavish. Dubai is truly an extraordinary city, still very much under construction. From the indoor ski slope in the Mall of the Emriates to the spices and exotic jewelry sold in the Gold Souk, Dubai is a mixture of modernity and tradition, east and west.

I’ve collected the e-mail addresses of useful leaders in politics, business, philanthropy, technology, and education, which would be useful for Givology, but also the contact information of so many students across the world who expressed interest in helping out. My presentation on Givology was very well-received –the message resonated with the audience, and so many people came up to me afterward feeling very inspired and eager to contribute. For me, the amount of enthusiasm and support we received was the most rewarding experience of the conference. The chance to share our concept and model with hundreds of students from across the world with a similar global vision was unparalelled.

The conference mainly highlighted the work of students - there were a total of 36 paper presenters, chosen out of more than 1,000 submissions. My paper was entitled "Online Marketplace for Education: Leveraging the Internet for Creative Microphilanthropy Solutions".

End of Hillary Term

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:37:18 GMT

An update is long overdue – so much has happened over the past few months in my volunteer work, extracurricular activities, and my school life. Life only seems to become increasingly busy. In no particular order, I’ve listed them below:

1. YouthBank’s Pitch for Idea Idol (http://www.oxfordentrepreneurs.co.uk/events/idea-idol/): The auditorium was packed – I estimate about 400 people showed up for the final event! I did the best I could to present YouthBank’s concept, model, and impact in a short 2-minute pitch and 5-minute Q&A session. We ended up winning the People’s Choice Award by a wide margin, although the judges ended up opting for the pure-profit, technology-driven ideas in the allocation of the grand prize money. Although five hundred pounds of prize money isn’t significant from a financial perspective, the amount of positive feedback, support, and interest that I received for YouthBank exceeded all my expectations. I truly enjoyed presenting our concept; the energy and enthusiasm of the audience is something I will remember for a long time. Regardless, we’re set to launch our first full center this summer, with new board members, team members, and grant money buoying our efforts. Photos of the event can be found here: http://www.oxfordentrepreneurs.co.uk/media/photos/album/idea-idol-2009/

2. Givology Featured in Knowledge@ Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2159): Catherine and Danielle got us an amazing amount of press coverage and interest through their podcast on Knowledge@Wharton. After the printing of this article, so many prospective partners and volunteers contacted me, and we witnessed a surge in donor registrations and amount of money donated. Most recently, we got a large batch of student profiles from the Peace Nursery and Primary School in Uganda (https://www.givology.org/~peaceprimary/), which provides boarding and schooling to AIDS and civil war orphans. We’re in the process of building a campaign around this school to raise funding for worthy projects and student scholarships. Our initiative to get chapters started is slowly paying off – so many fundraisers are on the horizon at Penn, and I’m slowly making progress on getting a chapter registered at Oxford.

3. Oxbridge Debate on the Relevance of the Asian Tigers at Cambridge – Having never been to Cambridge before, I jumped on the opportunity to debate at the Cambridge University Asia Law & Business Association annual conference. The 3 vs. 3 Parliamentary style debate was on the topic of the economic relevance of the Asian Tigers in light of the growth of China and the financial crisis. We won the debate; my finance and economics background proved to be useful especially in light of our limited preparation! I realized during the event how much I truly miss the excitement and intensity of debate and public speaking; I wish there was some way for me to continue competing in an alternative style to Parliamentary. Afterwards, we went punting, where I discovered the beauty of Cambridge (I must admit, I found it much more picturesque than Oxford).

4. Education Without Borders Conference (Dubai) – I will be going to Dubai to present a critical analysis paper I submitted to the Education Without Borders conference on “Online Marketplace for Education: Leveraging the Internet for Creative Microphilanthropy Solutions” (Case Study on Givology). The paper can be found here: https://www.givology.org/multimedia/. I’m really looking forward to being a panelist – there’s no better way to get students and key opinion leaders in education excited about Givology and to share our mission and vision. I expect we’ll make lots of useful contacts

5. Gordon Brown’s Romanes Lecture at the Sheldonian Theatre (http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/090227_1.html) – I had a chance to hear the Prime Minister of the UK speak last Friday on “Science and our Economic Future”. Overall, I found the talk very enjoyable, though not particularly insightful. (From the talk, I gathered the general sentiment that anyone who pursues science contributes the future of innovation and progress in Britain, while any professional association with finance automatically casts you as a pariah…) I found Brown very eloquent, humorous, and engaging; in my opinion, the most important insight was the necessity of promoting better quality science education. In countries such as China and India more than 80% of college students major in the sciences. In the US and UK, however, only approximately 18% pursue a science degree. Without the “importation” of scientists from abroad, the US economy, known for its dynamism and comparative advantage in human capital, would certainly suffer a drop in innovation and productivity! Alas, perhaps concentrating in the liberal arts is in effect a “luxury” available only to certain social strata given that its main payoff is in the expansion of the mind, not some tangible production of a good. I found the talk particularly ironic, especially set at Oxford, where the ivory tower extends formidably to the sky, irreverent of the passage of time.

6. Swan Lake @ New Theatre – If only Grace arrived one day earlier, then we would have seen Swan Lake Together! I know the music by heart, having watched an anime version of Swan Lake, released in 1978, at least hundreds of times while growing up (http://cbl.orcein.net/swanprincess/misc1/anime.htm). I suppose I am doomed to like anime for the rest of my life; even as a child, not cognizant of the existence of the genre, I found myself gravitating to Hakucho no Mizumi.

7. Varsity Ice Hockey Game – Although we trained very hard in preparation for the game against Cambridge in Peterborough, we lost quite badly. I never realized how big of a deal one game can possibly be, or how pumped and inspired people get. In general, I was quite astounded by the pomp and ceremony of the event, from the ceremonial puck drop the ice cuts in between periods. Nevertheless, given that the game culminates the season and represents the apex of all our efforts, it’s a rather disappointing outcome. A lot of different factors contributed to our loss. I wish I could have made a greater difference; in the end, even though I worked hard every shift, I didn’t play very smart hockey.

8. Grace’s Visit – Gracie is here! I’ve waited for this day for the past three months! I’ve made a list of things of everything we need to do, from dinner at Christ Church, evensong at New College, a concert at the Sheldonian, and a trip to Blenheim Palace, among other things. Oh, my darling little sister, I promise you the best experience ever! (And I suppose given that next week is the last week of term, skipping *a few* classes won’t set me back too far)

Update from Oxford!

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:12:21 GMT

It’s been a while since I last updated – so much has happened in the interim period! I’m really enjoying Hillary term; it’s unbelievable that five weeks have passed. Instead of covering general economic theory, we get to take different development modules, taught by leading experts in the field. From a module on health and human development to capital flows to developing countries, I’ve been reading and learning so many interesting concepts. In particular, I’m really excited about the Institutions and Development module taught by Paul Collier and Pedro Vicente for this upcoming half of term. Unlike last term, I’m much more settled in – so many speakers come, the college atmosphere is unparalleled, and the student community is very vibrant.

My volunteer work is going very well - I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to apply the theory of program evaluation to actual microfinance projects in Africa. From analyzing data to designing survey instruments and sampling methodologies, I have a chance to put what I learn in my courses into practice.

Ice hockey is also going well – even though we lose consistently and practices run very late into the night, I’m having tons of fun. We have a game against Peterborough this upcoming weekend – perhaps our first chance of victory this entire season! Regardless, as I’ve learned, no game really matters other than Varsity, the final match against Cambridge. Unfortunately, debate isn’t going as well as I envisioned. I had very high expectations for this semester, but logistically, the committee isn’t pulling together. I admit my own failings in not fully being on top of things, but I’ve been so preoccupied with Givology and YouthBank. As for my portfolio trading team, we’re now fully invested across sectors – let’s see whether we can beat the FTSE (the payoff of 1,000 GBP for every 1% over the index is highly attractive). With markets as crazy as they are, who knows how we’ll fare by the end of next year – there are so many unprecedented, cheap valuations of great companies, but a one-year time horizon is still too short and we don’t have the capacity to short. But since we only have to beat the benchmark, the task is much easier.

As for project updates, YouthBank is going well. Most notably, YouthBank was selected to be a finalist (top 6) in the Idea Idol competition (http://www.oxfordentrepreneurs.co.uk/events/idea-idol/), the flagship business ideas competition run by Oxford Entrepreneurs. All finalists get to pitch their idea to potential investors, receive substantial media coverage, benefit from training and mentorship, and most excitingly, the winner gets £10,000. From what I understand, over 350+ people will be attending the final competition at Said Business School on March 5^th, where the business idea will be presented to a panel of distinguished judges.

Likewise, Givology (www.givology.org) has had a tremendous week. When Nicholas Kristof came to Penn last Monday, we had a chance to share with him our idea. During his keynote speech, he mentioned Givology, and then later, posted a blog post about us! (http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/do-it-yourself-foreign-aid/?scp=1&sq=%22University%20of%20Pennsylvania%22&st=cse). As nearly the entire Givology team are avid readers of his column, we are continually inspired by his work and humbled by his experiences and insights in combating injustice in the world through journalism – we feel really grateful for his support. His blog post has helped us generate a substantial amount of press and attention! As a result, we have raised approximately $700 this week, leading us to a total of $3,280. Also, our grant application for Light for Learning, a project sponsored by AHEAD Energy and the Peace Nursery and Primary School, was nominated as a finalist for the Projects for Peace competition, making us eligible for $10,000. Likewise, Givology has been featured at conferences throughout the world. Jenn Q represented Givology at the NYC Young Women’s Social Entrepreneurs and Columbia University’s Multicultural Business Association panel on the topic of “Different Faces of Socially Responsible Investing”. In addition, I had a chance to present Givology and our model of Internet microphilanthropy at the Oxford Forum for International Development, where I had a chance to connect and engage with many students who are eager to help. For the Education Without Borders call for papers, I wrote an analysis of online giving marketplaces and microphilanthropy - if you are interested, please let me know and I can send this paper to you; it really does encapsulate our vision and our business strategy.

Since we’re at a critical growth phase, any comments and suggestions on our site would be absolutely wonderful! We’re very much looking to improve our functionality, as well as engage donors by building out our community and emphasizing donor-student relations. I’m working on getting an Oxford Givology Chapter started (along with an ASAP chapter), but we definitely need more students throughout the world to take initiative and do the same in their own schools and local communities. For more information about starting a chapter, please visit: https://www.givology.org/startachapter/.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:52:10 GMT

Please visit: www.givology.org

We've all been working extremely hard at Givology! With a redesigned site, new field partners, additional students and projects to sponsor, new board members to offer support, and tons of new content (photojournals, project and student updates, multimedia, giving teams, etc.), we've started 2009 very strongly. Our target is $20,000 this year!

Please help us reach this goal by visiting our site and supporting us!

Starting afresh

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:20:27 GMT

A moment of clarity – as my dad revives his study of the Ancient Greeks, I am once again filled with the overwhelming motivation to do my own equivalent. What is more important than the pursuit of knowledge? In this world, everything is transient – good food, good company, good times – eventually everything ends. As each day passes, we slowly erode our ability to find that child-like wonder in simple things. Why do some studies show that the rich are less happy? Perhaps because the activities that used to bring much happiness become commonplace – over time, something special loses significance in repetition.

No, I won’t let that happen to me. Learning something new each day is the best way to stave off this exhaustion with the world. My mother used to tell me that people can take away your possessions and time takes away beauty and health, but no one can ever take away the knowledge and experience you accumulate in your head!

Reflecting back on my first term at Oxford, I realize that perhaps, I didn’t do enough. Sure, I finished all my problem sets and essays, kept up with the pace of the lectures, and managed to do a substantial amount of work in preparation for collections. But did I really internalize the value of what I learned? No, I admit my own failing. Perhaps I was too overwhelmed with adjusting, or kept on looking back to more familiar times.

No regrets, no looking back! That has been my core philosophy, and I intend to follow through wholeheartedly. For me, this new semester – this New Year – will reflect a marked change.

I study because I enjoy studying. I read because I enjoy reading. I go to lecture because I enjoy going to lecture. I won’t merely go through the motions because it is the expected behavior of a student, but rather, beneath it all, I fundamentally want to. No, I refuse to make studying a chore. I refuse to fall into the easy pattern of complaining and worrying.

It’s too easy to forget our original motivations when routine and obligations kick in. When I’m filling out forms and dealing with logistics for Givology, the original mission may feel sometimes obscured. But just by keeping my commitment fresh in my mind, these issues can be resolved.

After all, we are in essence what we believe.

London and Paris - A Brief Recap

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:02:45 GMT

Since my arrival to Oxford, I looked forward to my family’s visit. When they finally arrived on Boxing Day, I was absolutely overjoyed! Christmas had passed very quietly with minimal celebratory flair – my holiday, in effect, was put on hiatus. So much has happened over the past two weeks; I now feel rejuvenated and refreshed, ready to start Hillary term and focus on my academics.

Sending Grace off to the airport was very distressing because it served as a reminder that all good things must eventually come to an end. Happiness is transient and fragile –with the passage of time, all that remains is nothing but a shadow of a memory. I have listed below some of the main events and highlights of my family’s trip as a record. By documenting, I at least have something tangible to hold on to.

Oxford

DAY 1 (December 26, 2008): Settling in

· Trading of Presents – I was finally able to give the presents I bought for my family in Florence, Venice, and Rome – I always enjoy giving presents! My parents managed to find the same exact Swiss Army pocket knife that the airport security guard in Chicago had confiscated from me last February. The gift made me very happy, especially since I missed my original knife very much

· Guided walking tour of campus – We passed by the Bodleian Library complex, the Bridge of Sighs, New College exterior and the Old City Walls, High Street, Queen’s College, All Soul’s College, among other sights. Given that most colleges and attractions were closed on Boxing Day, the tour was less exciting than usual, but at least it gave my parents a good sense of the history of the city

· Trinity College

· Hans Christian Anderson’s Magical Tales at the Mirror Tent – Utilizing an opulent ancient traveling tent built in 1908 in Belgium, the Creation Theatre Company of Oxford put on a very dramatic Christmas spectacle featuring Anderson’s stories. I’ve never seen a production like this before – with no backdrop, the actors relied only on costumes, odd props, puppets, and trapdoors to stage an intriguing show. The stories were woven into a very complex central storyline; I found the overall experience really engaging and…very odd. Walking to the BMW Tent in the frigid weather was also quite an experience – alas, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

DAY 2 (December 27, 2008): Tour of Oxford Colleges

· Magdalene College – In my opinion, Magdalene College is the most beautiful at Oxford with its majestic buildings and open fields. My little sister loved the deer and my mother enjoyed posing for dozens of photos!

· Christ Church Meadows – Very beautiful, the sky was extraordinarily blue

· Christ Church College – Grace and Carrie were very excited by the Dining Hall, especially since both girls are major Harry Potter fans. My dad liked the symmetry of the imposing central quad.

· St. John’s College

· Tour of Oxford downtown

· Museum of Oxford History

London

DAY 1 (December 28, 2008): An orientation to London

· Horse Guards – Alas, we did the touristy thing and took photos with the guards, which mom seemed to especially enjoy (it must be an awful job to stand there perfectly still on a horse and (try) to ignore all the gawking tourists)

· Downing Street

· National Gallery – Given my dad’s short patience with museums, we only spent about an hour and a half at this enormous museum, but we were able to see the highlights, including Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Seurat’s Bathers at Asnières, Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, George Stubbs’s Whistlejacket (Grace liked this one!), Velasquez’s Rokeby Venus, Monet’s Bathers at La Grenouillère (Mom likes impressionism, so she was very glad to see this one!), among many others

· Trafalgar’s Square - It was particularly crowded today, but with such clear skies, we took many good photos. Mom desperately wanted to climb onto the statue, but I am very glad that we managed to dissuade her

· Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey (façade)

· Leicester Square – Good food in Chinatown served to restore everyone’s health and energy for a long trek towards Buckingham Palace

· Buckingham Palace

· Regent’s Street – With all the Christmas lights in place, Regent’s Street was transformed into a magical, sparkling spectacle. Grace enjoyed Hamley’s toy shop a lot.

· Piccadilly Circus

· Notable Food: Perhaps the best lamb and chicken pita sandwiches I’ve ever eaten at kebab shop near our hotel

DAY 2 (December 29, 2008): A trip to Windsor Castle

· Windsor Castle – Since we arrived very early, we were able to enter the palace without delay. The opulence of Windsor Castle (and later on, Versailles) reminds me of the writings of Edmund Burke, who claimed that the public requires a monarchy, the supreme embodiment of history and tradition, in order to define identity. I don’t agree with this statement, as many of the institutions of monarchy and nobility seem rather socially divisive and unjustly deterministic (Why should there be even further divide among people by cause of birth, not merit? Or, why should public tax dollars be used to indulge the frivolities of the privileged?), but I understand the feeling of awe and great admiration when visiting such a splendid castle

· Changing of the Guard – I had a perfect view of this ceremony, complete with band and parade. Alas, despite the authoritative presence of the guards, the only real threat to the castle are over-enthusiastic tourists….

· St. George’s Chapel

· Eton College – Slight anti-climatic, as it looked like a dingier version of the College of William and Mary, but nice nevertheless

· Notable Food: A banquet-style dinner in Chinatown

DAY 3 (December 30, 2008): A delightful trip to Bath

· Roman Baths and Pump Room – Truly amazing! After visiting Rome, I am even more interested in Roman history. Before that, I enjoyed Asterix and Obelisk comics, of which, one of my favorite adventures involved a visit to the Roman Baths. I enjoyed the guided tour – gave me plenty of opportunity to ask all my questions!

· Bath Abbey

· Royal Crescent and the Circus

· Jane Austen’s Gravel Walk – I’m not a very big Jane Austen fan, but for enthusiasts, Bath must have an even more special aura because many of the scenes in Austen’s novels are inspired by her own experiences living in the town

· Pultney Bridge – Very pretty, I could definitely see that it was modeled after Florence

· 2-Hour Guided Walking Tour of the City – What an amazing tour! The tour guide was a local who knew so much random history and facts, from intriguing explanations of architectural delights to gossipy anecdotes about the lives of the famous figures who resided in Bath, such as Beau Nash (the King of Bath). For example, who knew that Cheerio was derived from “Chair Ho”, the request for a sedan chair after a long night of partying?

· Notable Food: Cream tea at Sally Lunn’s, Fish and Chips at one of the best “Chippies” in Bath. It was also really fun to meet with my roommate from Cumberland Lodge, who attends the University of Bath

DAY 4 (December 31, 2008): New Year’s Eve!

· St. Paul’s Cathedral – Ascending to the Whispering Gallery and then to the Stone Gallery was a lot of fun. In many ways, the dome was quite similar to the Sheldonian Theatre, no surprise given that both were designed by Christopher Wren. Most of the tombs and monuments were dedicated to great war heroes and conquerors, though we did see the tomb of Florence Nightingale in the crypt. It’s always interesting to analyze who is remembered in history compared to those who are forgotten, even though the contribution may be the same.

· British Museum – Too many people crowded the Egypt exhibit, but we enjoyed ourselves greatly nevertheless. My father truly enjoyed the exhibits on ancient Greece and the Elgin marbles, sparking an interesting debate on the legality and benefit of their removal. Grace took lots of pictures of the mummies.

· Covent Garden

· Fireworks at Parliament Square – Absolutely amazing! Grace, Carrie, and I stood on the base of the statue of Nelson Mandela so we had a wonderful view of the fireworks, as well as the crowded square, teeming with people of varying levels of inebriation. What a wonderful way to commemorate the end of 2008 and the start of 2009, a year of limitless possibility.

DAY 5 (January 1, 2008): Exploring the Museums of London

· Natural History Museum – Grace was fascinated by the mechanical T-Rex; she must have taken more than twenty photos

· Victoria and Albert Museum – I adore this museum because it spans such a huge range of interesting decorative items, from fashion and jewelry to stained glass and sculpture! We saw Tipu’s tiger, the Ardabil Carpet, and countless treasures of Asia. In particular, the jewelry and gems exhibit was overwhelming, with finest pieces by Cartier, Peter Carl Fabergé and Lalique, among other pieces from more than centuries (let alone millennium) ago.

· Harrods – Ah, a tribute to our consumer culture. I was rather amused by the “pets” section, where you could buy a variety of outfits for your dog and gourmet dog cookies, chocolates, and other treats. A testament to the notion of a market, supply will exist wherever demand calls for it (no matter how odd).

· Hyde Park

· Notable Food: A savory lunch at a local Indian restaurant in South Kensington

DAY 6 (January 2, 2008): A Majestic Tour of Westminster

· Westminster Abbey – My father was particularly impressed by the tombs of Newton and Darwin, while Grace was enthralled by the tombs of the great writers. I very much admire the spirit of Westminster Abbey, which, similar to the Panthéon, commemorates great men and women on the basis of social contribution, not only on the level of piety

· Notable Food: A splendidly authentic and filling meal at a Lebanese restaurant near Earl’s Court for lunch

After lunch, my parents departed. Grace and I returned to Oxford for a weekend of rest and recovery before our next adventure to Paris! During these two days, I had a chance to show her my daily life at Oxford. We visited the Museum of Natural History and also saw Twilight, the movie (obsessive teenage romance = great business opportunity). In general, it was a lot of fun to wander around campus and enjoy a relaxing reprieve before our trip to Paris.

Paris

DAY 1 (January 5, 2008): An Orientation to the City

· Paris was snowing when we arrived. At first, it seemed as if nothing could possibly go right. Our train was delayed by an hour because another train had broken down on the track ahead. Then, we were greeted by a very rude metro attendant who refused to give change (even though change was available and highly visible in the hand of her colleague). Our hotel lost our hotel reservation, and then we had trouble finding a place to eat lunch. But, as always, these nuisances resolved themselves – by getting our bad luck out of the way early on, we had a wonderful Paris trip! This day was filled with lots of walking and monument visitation – it was so much fun just to get oriented to Paris. I was particularly surprised by how wide the streets war; Grace informed me that Napoleon had all the streets widened to prevent the blockades that were very common during the Revolution, an interesting tactic to reduce the incidence of uprising

· Arc de Triomphe – Very majestic! It’s interesting – the French love Napoleon for the glory he brought to France, but all the great figures adored by other European countries are those who successfully defeated Bonaparte’s campaign, yet another reminder of the subjectivity of history

· Champs-Élysées

· Place de la Concorde

· Jardin des Tuileries – The statues and hedges covered in snow made for a postcard perfect scene

· Louvre (Façade)

· Notre Dame - The façade was very dramatic, and the interior filled with light and decorative splendor. Grace and I even caught the tail end of a choir / organ performance.

· Sainte-Chapelle et Palais de Justice

· Tour Eiffel – Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, we couldn’t ascend the Tower, but the lights were beautiful

· Basilique du Sacré-Cœur – We didn’t know that we should stay away from Anvers at night (oops), but we enjoyed the climb up the Basilique

· Notable Food: Authentic lunch at the Café des Fleur (calamari and faux fillet), baguette sandwiches at a local boulangerie for dinner

Day 2 (January 6, 2008): Trip to Versailles

· Château de Versailles – Versailles was only an hour away, making for a convenient day trip. The splendor is unparalleled, especially the Hall of Mirrors. The sheer lavishness is unparalleled – not a single panel remained undecorated. Louis the 14^th was a very popular king, but I still don’t understand why the public was willing to let him indulge in the decoration of Versailles (he burned the bill so that no one knew how much it cost), especially since the majority of citizens lived in abject poverty

· Les Invalides – Napoleon’s grave majestically sits at the heart of this building, along with the graves of his elder and younger brother, and his most loyal adjutants. I enjoyed learning about the symbolic significance decorations surrounding his tomb. The artillery exhibit was also tremendous – what an amazing collection of armory, swords, and weapons!

· Place de la Bastille et Colonne de Julliet – Not much of the Bastille remains, but a column stands there, commemorating all the lives lost

· Place des Vouges et Maison de Victor Hugo

· Notable Food: Lunch at a café near Les Invalides (great deserts!), very authentic dinner at Chez Paula (we were courageous – we ended up eating pig’s snout and very fishy herring in addition to duck and whole roasted trout)

Day 3 (January 7, 2008): Paris Museum Day

· Musée d'Orsay – This was truly an amazing museum! We arrived very early, so we had the impressionist’s galleries nearly all to ourselves. We saw famous works by Van Gogh, Seurat, Gaugin, Degas, Monet, Manet, Cézanne, among many others. The quality and quantity of masterpieces was overwhelming.

· Louvre – The guide book said that it was impossible to see everything in the Louvre in one day, but somehow, I think Grace and I managed to cover every gallery (albeit somewhat superficially) in a little over six hours. From Egyptian antiquities and the treasures and sculptures of Assyria, Rome, and Greece to French Paintings in the 19^th century and Italian Renaissance paintings, we saw it all! And of course, we visited the Mona Lisa, which was crowded by an enthusiastic throng of photo-happy tourists. The Borghese Gladiator, Michalangelo’s Dying Slave, Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, Venus de Milo, Hammurabi’s Code, Wings of Triumph, Gericault’s The Raft of the Medusa , Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, Veronese’s Marriage of Cana…we saw all of these, among many others.

· Notable Food: Crepes at a Creperie Fillibustre near Gare de Montparnasse, carvate (sweet chocolate bread, tastes absolutely amazing!) at a local patisserie, chicken and goat cheese Panini and a full baguette for dinner

Day 4 (January 8, 2008): Exploring the Latin Quarter

· Panthéon – We woke up early to go to the Panthéon, where we saw Foucault’s pendulum, the first dynamic experiment to prove the rotation of the Earth. We also visited the crypt, where we saw the tombs of Marie Curie, Alexander Dumas, Louis Braille, Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Lagrange (to my father’s delight), among many others!

· Place de Saint Michel

· Quartier Latin

· Eglise Saint-Séverin – Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris is buried here, famous for diverting the army of Attila the Hun to Orleans

· Notable Food: An amazing meal at Chez René, a very traditional and well reviewed restauraunt, consisting of coq au vin and boef Boeuf Bourgogne, sweet crepes on rue Saint Severin

As you can tell from this entry, I was very scanty with the detail, but it only captures a bit of all that we were able to see! In London, I had a chance to show my dear family the exciting sights that I had raved to them about over the phone. In contrast, in Paris, I was very much a happy mute – Grace had the opportunity to practice her French and visit the monuments and museums that she studied in school, while I enjoyed the ease of being a passive beneficiary of her knowledge.

Photos are available at my site: www.joycemeng.com/photos

Off to Italy!

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:16:59 GMT

The convenience of traveling Europe is extraordinary. For approximately 60 Euros, I have a round trip ticket to Italy. Although traveling through different states in the US is also fun, frankly, each state more or less feels the same (with some exceptions). Not the case here! France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Portugal…although the overall geographic area of Western Europe is not substantial, the cultural diversity is unparalleled.

I’m leaving tonight at 2 AM, and will return on December 17^th – first stop: Venice, followed by Florence and Rome. One of my traveling companions is a Classics major at Oxford – I expect to learn a lot by diffusion!

Overall, the past week has been very quiet. I spent a relaxing weekend catching up on all the sleep I’ve missed over the past two weeks. I believe on Sunday, I slept more than 14 hours total, including naps. On Monday, my flat mates celebrated with a festive Christmas meal. I also had a supervision with Dr. Albert Park about my extended essay topic, which I have chosen on a theme related to my work with Givology and Opportunity International (see note below). If you can provide feedback on my topic, please e-mail me! There are severe problems with endogeniety that I have consider given that I’m looking at attitudes and differences in expectations, but I’m hoping to work around the issues (we’ll see whether I succeed…). Later that day I formed a new partnership for Givology with AHEAD Energy and the Peace Primary and Nursery School in Uganda. I am extremely excited about this project – it’s very innovative and expands our network to Africa.

Today, I worked on a service project with the Opportunity International team. We painted the house of an elderly woman who lives alone in Headington, and who has recently had her life uprooted with the death of her mother and a forced move away from her childhood house. Hopefully, her new Magnolia walls and glossy white detail finishes will make her feel more comfortable in her new surroundings!

Extended Essay Topic Proposal: Academic achievement and aspirations of children: The effect of parental attitude about education

Introduction: The vast majority of studies have analyzed the direct positive influence of parental income and education level, especially that of the mother, on child achievement. The mechanisms for understanding this influence, however, have been less well studied. In particular, few studies have attempted to link parental beliefs on education expectations and the efficacy on education itself on children’s achievement outcomes and aspirations for the future. In addition, important studies in this area, such as that of Davis-Kean (2005), Halle, et al (1997) and Alexander, et al (1994) have focused on parental expectations and influences of different socioeconomic and racial groups in the United States.

Fugligni ‘s (1997) analysis of academic achievement of adolescents in immigrant families showed that educational emphasis by parents was a more significant correlate on achievement than socioeconomic status. Likewise, a study by Alexander, et al (1994) illustrated that poor families tended to have high expectations and performance beliefs that did not correlate well with children’s actual school performance. The authors then suggest that the ability of parents to form accurate beliefs and expectations regarding children’s performance is essential in structuring the home and educational environment so that children can excel in post-schooling endeavors.

Proposal: To study the effect of parental attitudes on education (belief in the efficacy of education, prioritization of education in comparison other needs, expectations for the child’s education, expectations for the child’s future career options) on the academic achievement and aspirations of children. It would also be very interesting to analyze the accuracy of parental beliefs of their children performance and aspirations, and then to consider the impacts of potential divergence.

Week 8, End of Michealmas Term

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:49:23 GMT

Today, I officially finished with Michaelmas term. Overall, this past week has been absolutely crazy in terms of workload timing. I had a macroeconomics problem set, microeconomics problem set, econometrics computer exercise, paper on the Nigerian economy, and group presentation on the aforementioned paper (not to mention the responsibility of defining my extended essay topic in preparation for a supervision this coming Monday). Despite this workload, I seem to continue to find time to pursue my extracurricular indulgences, for better or for worse.

On Tuesday, I heard Muhammad Yunus speak at the Sheldonian Theatre. Since his work with the Grameen Bank has inspired a lot of my own pursuits over the past six years, I was so excited to finally hear him in person. As expected, the speech was a general call to action, but I enjoyed hearing about Dr. Yunus’s vision of the world. He spoke about the importance of developing social businesses and social stock exchanges for sustainability in comparison to traditional corporate social responsibility, the potential of leveraging technology to alleviate poverty, and the overall plight of the poor. His actions speak louder than his words – his quiet presence contrasts sharply with his celebrity status as a champion of microfinance and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Afterwards, I went to Christmas Dinner at St. Hugh’s, which was a very elaborate and festive affair! I feasted on a traditional Christmas foods, from roast turkey and sausage to mince pies and Christmas pudding.

Next term, I will be co-president of the Hive, an alternative debating society at Oxford and the main competitor of the Oxford Union. Having done debate for eight years, I truly miss the intensity of debate tournaments and engaging in intellectual clash. Although the Hive doesn’t actually send students to debate competitions at other Universities (only the Oxford Union does this and spaces are rather limited and allocated in an opaque manner), the Hive organizes debates on campus, in which speakers engage with students in a dialogue about controversial issues, spanning all subject fields. Given my scanty knowledge of Oxford bureaucracy, I figure this opportunity will entail a crash course in figuring out the system and the logistics of event planning in a decentralized institution. Moreover, I will look into the possibility of using the Hive as a channel for sending students to debate competitions who otherwise would not have a chance.

Yesterday, despite mountains of work, I worked as usual at Opportunity International, represented my academic program at the Graduate Council Meeting for the Economics department (I serve as our class representative), attended a Christmas Party at St. John’s MCR for our class of American Rhodes Scholars (tons of food, lots of fun, Secret Santa Exchange!), and then went to ice hockey practice at midnight, where we combined two ice sessions in an extended scrimmage against the Men’s B team. In short, my day started at 8 AM and ended at 3:30 AM.

The macroeconomic presentations started bright and early today at 8:30 AM. Surprisingly, I did not feel too tired, and enjoyed hearing the issues and countries that other groups had selected. Tonight was Balliol’s Nepotist Carols event – a classic tradition of the college (no idea why the event was named as such). Basically, we all piled into Hall, was handed a large sheet of Christmas carol lyrics, and proceeded to sing, while accompanied by an organ. To compliment the festive cheer, there were large quantities of minced pies and mulled wine to enjoy! As attendance probably exceeded 200 people in different states of post-term celebratory inebriation, the Hall was very crammed and the singing of carols reflected enormous exuberance and enthusiasm, but questionable quality. Afterwards, in accordance with tradition, everyone exited and lined up against Trinity’s gates (our rival college) to chant a rather *impolite* speech (if you’re curious about the lyrics, you can find them here. What an end to an exhausting week!

Holiday Season at Oxford

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:05:24 GMT

In 22 years, I have missed coming home for Thanksgiving a total of twice – in 2006 when I was in Madrid and most recently, this year. Nevertheless, I had a chance to celebrate with Balliol’s MCR (Middle Common Room), which organized a dramatic feast. One of the graduate students was a professional chef – he prepared six very juicy turkeys, mounds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes, buckets of corn, broccoli, and cranberry sauce, and piles of fresh bread. To top off the feast, there were more than twenty pumpkin pies, apple pies, and brownies. Although everyone ate as much as they could, so much food remained. Afterwards, everyone piled into the TV room to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” – a holiday classic. Thanksgiving is always one of the most exciting times of the year because of the budding anticipation of the holiday season!

For many reasons, I believe that this Christmas season will be one of the most memorable and dramatic for me. There seems to be so many different celebrations on campus, from Christmas dinners and holiday socials to theatre, musical extravaganzas, decorations and lights, and overall cheer! Since undergraduates officially leave campus on December 5^th, all the colleges and clubs are packing in holiday socials. Looking at my calendar, I will have a festive Christmas dinner or social event nearly every day for the next two weeks! In addition, since I’ll be in Italy (Rome, Venice, and Florence) from December 10^th to 17^thand the Commonwealth and International Student Christmas Weekend on December 22^nd at Windsor Castle (Cumberland Lodge), I’ll certainly gain more holiday cheer. Then, I look forward to a wonderful holiday celebration with my family on December 26^th (I’ve already booked theatre tickets to Hans Christian Andersen’s Magical Tales at the Creation Theatre in Oxford), New Year’s Eve in London, and then Paris with Grace from January 5^th to 8^th! Ah, a major benefit of studying at Oxford is that traveling to other European countries is so easy!

Last Friday, I went to the Oxford Winter Light Festival (http://www.oxfordinspires.org/news/documents/WinterLight_map_leaflet.pdf), in which the town dramatically switched on all its Christmas Lights, arranged for many street performances, and organized a dramatic pyrotechnic display of the solar system at the town center, right outside of Balliol’s main site. All the museums at Oxford were open late and featured special performances and exhibits – I had a chance to visit the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Architecture (the oldest museum in the UK with so many splendid treasures), Oxford Castle, the Museum of Oxford History, the Museum of History of Science, and most notably, the Museum of Natural History, the inspiration for various settings in Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The dinosaur collection at the Museum of Natural History is very good, and visitors are encouraged to touch the collection of preserved animals, including a cheetah, owl, and fox, among others (morbid, perhaps, but I enjoyed it a lot).

Life at Oxford has been extraordinarily busy. For me, academic work has taken a temporarily secondary role to many new opportunities and activities. My work at Opportunity International continues to be very rewarding and playing ice hockey is “good fun” (a common phrase here), despite the practices spanning from midnight to 2 AM. I’ve joined the Hive, an alternative debating society, and a portfolio trading team sponsored by ORBIS (as a team of seven, we earn 1000 GBP for each percentage point we beat the FTSE), as well as work on Givology and YouthBank in my spare time. Through Oxford Entrepreneurs, I’ll be coordinating a SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) project team for YouthBank team in preparation for our full scale launch in March 2009.

It’s been a while since I last updated, such that I am probably omitting a lot of interesting events and activities. Three weeks ago, I went to London to visit Adam. Tackling six museums (National Art Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, British Museum, Tate Modern), national landmarks (parks, Buckingham palace, Oxford street), and a theatre performance (Avenue Q) in a span of 24 hours was perhaps too ambitious, but it gave me a taste of the excitement and wonder of London! The following weekend, I had a chance to play “guide” to Oxford – good practice for when my family comes. Last weekend, I went to London's Alexander Palace to play in an ice hockey challenge game against Cambridge. We won 12-5, but the entire experience was a fiasco and escapade in its own right (a very long story...).

Most notably, Givology is progressing very nicely. Since coming to Oxford, I’ve been able to form so many new partnerships! In general, the community of students and scholars are very involved with international development to a degree unheard of at Penn. In just a week, we’ve been contacted by various grassroots education organizations in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Over the past month, I’ve formed a partnership with TECC, Global Peace Exchange, Free the Children, and am in the process of coordinating the formation of many other partnerships, such as with Oaktree UK, Dream Corps, among many others.

More to come, but I have to leave soon since Muhammad Yunus is coming to speak at the Sheldonian tonight.