Nov.5

yesterday, Mario and I met Thomas in his dorm. His American roommates was not there, but his Chinese roommate was.
We sat with them for a while, and then headed to North Commons to have dinner. Thomas, right now seemed pretty used to have we around. For example, he talked with Jack instead of talking with us.
Then, after the dinner, Jack right went back to his dorm, and we followed Thomas to go to Thompson library. Thomas bought a coffee before he studying.
I took some video clips, and also some photos.

Nov.2

Yesterday, Mario and I went to Jiawei's apartment, and did an interview with Jiawei. In the interview, Jiawei talked a lot about his background, and also the reason he came to the United States.
He said, he would love to get a job in the United States. Also, he said what he felt sorry to his parents, because he spent his parents' money to come here.
I found because of the interview, I knew Jiawei better than before. In addition, I think I have bias about Jiawei, since I am also an international student. However, from now on, I will push myself to use objective perspective to observe Jiawei.
Tomorrow, we will meet Thomas.

Midterm multimedia part

Here is the written piece:

It is 9:15 am, and Thomas (Guanyin) Xu is one of the first six students to trickle into the lecture hall of Independence Hall for his 9:35am Sociology class. Thomas heads to a seat in the third row from the front. Thomas pulls out his Microsoft Surface computer and downloads the PowerPoint slides for his lecture. As students around Thomas pull out their phones, Thomas pulls out a voice recorder, turns it on, and sets it on top of his backpack. The professor begins his lecture, and Thomas’s hands fly across his computer keys. As Thomas types in English, red lines often appear under the words he types indicating misspellings, which he goes back to correct. His eyebrows knit together as he quickly glances down to make sure the red light is lit on his recorder to make sure it is recording. Thomas knows that he will have to listen to the recording later to understand what he has missed in lecture. The professor’s eyes scan the room as he asks questions to the class, but Thomas’s hand remains down. It is now 10:50, Thomas packs up his things and heads out to his next class.

It has been 70 days since Thomas has left his home in Beijing, China to come to America. Thomas, a first-year undergraduate student joins more than 6,000 international students at Ohio State that chose to leave everything they knew, in order to come to a place they know nothing about. Thomas must overcome language barriers, homesickness, and try to become familiar with American culture while also dealing with the stress of traditional college issues. How well can Thomas become integrated into American culture and Ohio State traditions, while also not losing a hold upon his own traditions and identity? This is a story of students embarking on a journey, leaving everything they know to come to the America to learn as much as they can.

It is 9 pm on a Friday night, as Jiawei Liu tightens his grip on his ping pong paddle and pulls his arm back to serve. An orange and blue striped polo, and blue sweats hang loosely off Jiawei’s slim 5’10 frame. The sound of shouts and groans mixes with the clacking sounds of bouncing ping pong balls and soft pop music playing on the second floor of the RPAC. Jiawei’s serve puts a spin on the ball as it travels over the net and hits the opposite side. His opponent moves quickly to return Jiawei’s serve. Jiawei’s movements are no slower than when he started playing two hours ago, as he quickly moves to return his friend Chris’s shot. Jiawei strikes the ball as soon as it bounces on the dark green table. His shot sails past his opponent’s side of the table.

“Oh yea,” said Chris, a smile breaking across his face.

“Nice shot,” Jiawei responds with a nod.

“I’ve gotten better since we last played,” Chris said.

“I’ve gotten worse,” Jiawei said and then laughs.

Jiawei, a first-year graduate student in electrical engineering has played table tennis once a week ever since he came to Ohio State from his home in Sichuan, China in August, 2014.

        It is 9:45 pm before both Jiawei and Chris decide to stop playing. Jiawei puts his ping pong paddle back in its black case, places it in his backpack, and heads home.

        More than a hundred international students from China fill the seats of the Browning Amphitheater at 5 pm on a Friday evening for the Chinese Student and Scholar Society Carnival. Conversations in Chinese mix with the splashing sounds of Mirror Lake, as the students wait for the performances to start. Thomas stands at the entrance and collects tickets from everyone as they head to their seats. An announcer walks on stage and his voice echoes throughout the amphitheater as he speaks excitedly in Chinese.

        A student dressed in a blue uniform steps forward and bows. The student moves fluidly across the stage as he strikes an imaginary opponent both with his feet and his sword in a Kung Fu martial arts style. Thomas pulls out his phone and takes pictures of the performance. The crowd’s cheers blend with the sound of the fast and upbeat music playing in the background. The student turns around and falls into a split and extends his arm after he hits the ground. Thomas joins the crowd in clapping as the student bows to end his performance. A smile breaks across Thomas’s face as he talks excitedly in Chinese with his friends around him. Thomas is a long way from China, but in this moment he feels like he is home.

      Thomas walks into his dorm room, slings his book bag off of his shoulders and starts talking with Jack, his roommate from China.

“你在学什么?” (What are you studying?) Thomas said.

“哦，我在预习呢,” Jack said. (Oh, I am studying for math class.)

Thomas nods, sits in his chair and opens his math textbook.

He studies for about ten minutes and then turns around asking Jack in Chinese,

“我有道题不会，你知道怎么做吗？

(I am stuck with this question. Do you know the answer?)”

Jack’s eyes never leave his math textbook and says, “你可以在Carmen上找到答案.

(You can find the answer on ‘Carmen’.)”

        There is a short silence, and then Thomas walks to Jack’s desk and points to the question.

“你就告诉我这道题怎么做吧!

(Please tell me how to do the question!)” Thomas said.

Jack looks at the question, and then explains the answer to Thomas, but Thomas does not seem to understand.

Jack said, “我实在不知道怎么解释啊,太复杂了，你问问老师吧。

（It is hard to explain, how about you ask the teacher.)”

        “Ok,” Thomas said as his eyebrows bunch together as he walks back to his desk to continue to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7z4ASRflAc&list=UUTntOfdSIGUVle9Og8mC65Q

Journal 12

Mario and I went to Jiawei's apartment at 5:00 p.m.
Jiawei just had his dinner, and was going to go 18th library doing his homework. We stayed at his apartment about ten minutes. I didn't take many photos, but it was nice to meet Jiawei's India roommate again. He was about cooking some India food. Additionally, we had small talk with Jiawei's India roommate. He also showed some food he brought from India, and told me, he does not like it, because it tastes bad comparing to the food he has in India.
Then, we went to 18th library with Jiawei. In there, we met Jiawei's friend. He is a guy that looks like from Middle East, but I am not for sure. For the time we stayed there, the only conversation they had is about the homework they're working on. However, I took some good shots. Hopefully, it will use for the midterm assignment.
Then, we will meet Thomas tomorrow also around 5 p.m., and it will be video taped.
Wish we can get some good clips.
2014_10_21

Oct. 15

I will meet Thomas today around 3p.m. until 7p.m.
Yesterday, I stayed with Thomas from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., but didn't get any photos or videos, because Thomas was in the class. hopefully, I can get something today.

Plan for Oct. 14

We are going to meet Thomas today, and plan to take some photos or videos. I will meet Thomas in today's afternoon, and Mario will meet Thomas in the morning.

Oct.8

I stayed with Thomas Jiang when he was in his dorm from 2:00 to 4:00. I felt like it is pretty good start to do the immersion reporting, because this time, I did not talk with them, and Thomas also his chinese roommate, Jack Tan feels comfortable when I was there.  It gives an different perspective when I stayed with them and no conversation between Thomas and I. For example, I can hear the voice from the outside of corridor. There're just a lot of details! It is absolutely amazing!
Then, when Thomas' American roommates came back from class, it was an different scenario. All of the details when there had only Thomas and Jack was changed. For example, TV turned on, and you heard the reporter in TV talking about sports. Therefore, I could no longer hear the sound of turning pages.
Then, I also took some pictures besides of observing.
I want to say, haha, I love it!

Here are a picture I took when I was in Thomas dorm.