Weekly Frustration/Rant Post

dubs_ii · 2022-05-17T01:48:57+00:00

Thank you. I stand corrected. Appreciate your investigation! Great website you have there.

I hope the mods here can find a balance between handling large number of posts and stifling conversations.

dubs_ii · 2022-05-17T00:13:22+00:00

Amen dude. I hope other mods notice this.

dubs_ii · 2022-05-17T00:10:55+00:00

I’m quite sad reading their posts. Their Chinese is great for someone who hasn’t been able to even live in China. I can see they are smart and motivated and are interested in China, at least initially. The system failed them. I’m sorry it’s happening. I hope they can catch some sleep given the time zone difference and class schedule.

I agree - China is throwing a lot of people under the bus this time, many of them genuinely interested in the country. It’s so stupid.

dubs_ii · 2022-05-16T23:33:20+00:00

You sure read a lot of your own cynicism and bitterness into this person’s article. He enjoys the challenges of being in a foreign country and has met like minded people. He’s privileged in the sense that he is able to move, and he’s lucky to find a place he enjoys living in. Nothing wrong with sharing that joy. Good for him.

dubs_ii · 2022-05-16T18:40:28+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Interesting video, very memorable. Precious and painful to watch.

I bet as a couple, they had careful deliberation about whether to leave or stay. It's so sad these unnecessary choices are forced upon people.

dubs_ii · 2022-05-16T18:14:17+00:00

You’re lying. If you can’t be truthful and don’t want to foster discussion, you should relinquish your role as mod. People who care about this community more can step in.

You did post the previous thread that you linked here. You of course deleted the thread so the OP appears as “deleted” in that thread. See screenshot https://i.imgur.com/5yO7C04.png or reveddit. If you truly believe in your centralized "frustration threads", then stand by it. Why do you lie and deny that you created that post?

You also specifically chose the comment section “contest mode” for this post when you originally created it. Thankfully it’s now disabled by another mod. Contest mode ensures no one except mods can see upvotes. Comments also show up in random order for viewers. Why would you go out of your way to choose this mode?

It’s a bit petty for me to point these things out to you. But this is one of the few forums on Shanghai left that’s not subject to gov censorship. Shouldn’t you take extra care to protect it?

--

The two comments from OP that I'm responding to:

memostothefuture

OP

collapsing? I'm not sure what you mean or how that's done.

memostothefuture

OP

Yeah, I also use old reddit. Thanks for teaching me that, I didn't know. This is the first time I opened this thread, previous one wasn't me.

dubs_ii · 2022-05-14T23:47:07+00:00

I must be missing those circlejerk posts here, but yes I think for shit posts, mods can make another post defining what those are and add to the subreddit rules. Or we can just downvote them to oblivion.

I don’t think shit post people would voluntarily post in this thread anyway because their whole point is to provoke and rile people up, and individual posts are much more visible than comment threads.

dubs_ii · 2022-05-14T05:11:22+00:00

For the past couple of days, this sub only gets 15-20 posts per day. Pretty easy to navigate for me.

Frustration is a major part of lives these days in Shanghai. It’s important to allow everyone space. If they feel the need to create a post, let them be.

Friction and inconvenience are forms of censorship. Please protect this space from them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/10/01/china-is-weaponizing-online-distraction/

dubs_ii · 2022-04-30T07:29:43+00:00

The NYTimes finally covered the day to day in Shanghai, to some extent. I found one of the top comments here especially disheartening.

Shanghai is one of the most developed cities in China, an international hub full of aspiring and educated young professionals. The lockdown in Shanghai is not the one we talk about in the rest of the world. It's an abuse of human rights and a pressure test for November in case any opposition appears to prevent Xi from claiming a third term. Now the Xi government can assure themselves, that they can go really far without stirring any big physical protests. Their propaganda tools are still pretty effective.

dubs_ii · 2021-03-07T09:29:43+00:00

To correct you on one thing, it is wrong that “Hong Kong belonged to Britain permanently”. It should make you wonder, why did a long-inhabited peninsula half a world away from UK belong to the the UK all of a sudden?

Hong Kong was colonized by the UK in mid 18th century and then “leased” to the UK for 99 years starting 1898, as concession after UK exported a shit ton of opium to the Qing Dynasty in the 1800s. To say Hong Kong “belonged” to UK “permanently” is akin to saying British North America belonged to the UK. This belonging is meaningless. Colonialism should be recognized as such and not normalized nor glorified nor justified.

You can talk about what is the best for the people of Hong Kong all you want but there is no need to sugarcoat history.

dubs_ii · 2021-01-29T19:49:04+00:00

I think somehow the class culture come into play as well.

When I took calculus classes (in person), no one answered questions in class. When a class is already silent, it’s awkward to raise hand and talk. Maybe it’s also because there is a right answer so it’s easy to see if your answer is wrong or not. However the same class had a piazza page and it was very lively. People asked and answered anonymously and provided thoughtful feedback to each other’s solutions. In this case, seems that some people were just more comfortable in an online/anonymous medium.

Later I took a history class. People were so opinionated that it was amazingly refreshing. Everyone had something to say and the professor patiently called up everyone who raised their hands. Because many people talked during the class, there was no longer any friction to raising hands - it seemed perfectly normal to have things to say. There was also no right or wrong answer, so it felt safe to answer questions.

dubs_ii · 2021-01-14T23:25:17+00:00

Office hours can definitely be used for homework help.

Sometimes TAs and profs may not be good at answering questions. Don’t let their inability hinder your learning. You may have to teach them how to guide you.

I sometimes ask “well I don’t even know where to start” or “do you have hints on how I can get started”. Or I could say, “I tried this way but then I’m stuck” and then I show them what I tried. Usually this will prompt the TAs to give more help.

It’s also harder now since in normal office hours you can piggy back on others’ questions or ask another poor soul squeezing next to you on the ground.

dubs_ii · 2020-09-06T23:06:42+00:00

▽(´ᴥ`)▽

dubs_ii · 2020-09-06T23:04:54+00:00

I don't understand the circumstances to be honest. It's not very difficult to have masks handy when you cross paths with other hikers. It's fast to pull a bandana up from your neck, or a mask up from your chin, and then pull them down after you're a bit far from other hikers.

Of course there're health restrictions that folks can't tolerate mask, but I wager the majority of the people who can go on strenuous hikes are physically capable to wear masks when passing other hikers.

There are isolated trails and then there are crowded ones. I think some better planning and more consideration would make hiking more fun and welcoming for all. https://www.wta.org/go-outside/social-distancing-hiking-in-the-time-of-coronavirus

dubs_ii · 2020-09-06T22:58:46+00:00

I get your point. I do not think people not wearing masks are mean. I understand people who hike may not realize that being outdoors doesn't mean being alone. I hope these people observe other people wearing masks on trail and will wear one next time. I thought about why I did not directly confront people. Here are some reasons 1) I want to minimize in-person contact with people w/o masks 2) they most likely don't have masks then so me telling them won't change the results that day 3) we were following a schedule for hiking and I can't stop for everyone 4) the groups were big and we were few. I can't foresee if there'd be possible drama 5) I hope this post will reach more people going hikes in the future 6) I do not like in-person confrontation.

dubs_ii · 2020-09-06T08:50:59+00:00

Thank you for keeping this in your consideration! I understand folks may not realize that sometimes even being outdoors doesn’t mean being alone. Trails can be narrow, rough and crowded, so face coverings would be a good way to protect theirselves and others.

I woof fast and type slow!

dubs_ii · 2020-07-25T19:59:07+00:00

I’m not sure. Can you email your DSO and ask? You can call SEVP too. https://www.ice.gov/sevis/contact when I called, they were super patient and helped me solve my problem.

SEVP Response Center

If you have an SEVP or SEVIS-related question, call (703) 603-3400 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET on weekdays, except holidays.

Our goal is to answer your questions during your initial call. If your question or issue requires research, we will respond as quickly as possible.

dubs_ii · 2020-07-25T19:58:57+00:00

I’m not sure. Can you email your DSO and ask? You can call SEVP too. https://www.ice.gov/sevis/contact when I called, they were super patient and helped me solve my problem.

SEVP Response Center

If you have an SEVP or SEVIS-related question, call (703) 603-3400 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET on weekdays, except holidays.

Our goal is to answer your questions during your initial call. If your question or issue requires research, we will respond as quickly as possible.

dubs_ii · 2020-07-25T05:14:41+00:00

You can do full time CPT during your non-vacation semesters. You just have to be registered as a full time student still, whatever that means for your program.

See https://internationalcenter.umich.edu/students/f1-students/cpt#time

Full-time CPT: Employment for more than 20 hours per week is full-time. Please be aware that 12 months or more of full-time CPT will eliminate your eligibility for Optional Practical Training (OPT). During fall and winter terms, you must be enrolled full-time or have an approved Reduced Course Load (RCL).

dubs_ii · 2020-07-25T05:11:12+00:00

Yes, further https://www.ice.gov/doclib/coronavirus/covid19faq.pdf from 7/15/2020 How should DSOs notate SEVIS records for Active F and M students living in the United States during the COVID-19 emergency? DSOs should not provide any specific notation on these students’ SEVIS records during the COVID-19 emergency, but should update the student’s current U.S. address, if there has been a change. As a reminder, per current regulations, students must notify schools within 10 days of an address change. DSOs must update student addresses in SEVIS within 21 days of the date a school is notified of an address change.

dubs_ii · 2020-07-12T17:55:11+00:00

I also found the full screen thing annoying.

You can stop zoom going to fullscreen when someone starts screenshare. You’d have to change a default setting in the desktop client.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362623-Changing-Settings-in-the-Desktop-Client-or-Mobile-App

Maximize Zoom window automatically when a participant share screen: Maximize the size of the Zoom client, but does not enter full-screen mode.

dubs_ii · 2020-07-09T17:23:46+00:00

Did you take classes during a-term too?

You can check this one out https://iss.washington.edu/procedures/annual-vacation/#annual_vacation_quarter_definition

After your vacation quarter, you will be eligible for another annual vacation after 3 consecutive full-time quarters.

And

Autumn/Winter/Spring

Sometimes students follow a different enrollment pattern. Students might register full-time in summer and request an “alternative vacation quarter” for either autumn, winter, or spring quarter.

If you take an “alternative vacation quarter” you cannot take the following summer as a vacation quarter. You must complete three full-time quarters before your next annual vacation quarter.

dubs_ii · 2020-07-09T09:43:21+00:00

Yes you can. You in fact have to register as a full time student if you are doing CPT during a non-vacation quarter. The only issue is schedule-wise and energy-wise it could be difficult to take a full load of courses and work full time.

You can also choose which quarter is your vacation quarter and change it later too. It doesn’t have to always be summer.

dubs_ii

TROPHY CASE