Disturbing News

Leah C.

April 26, 2010 - 12:00 PM

I am in total disbelief that someone would want to take over our club and bring down the entire committee team. Honestly, I want to find this person and confront him, but I must not overreact. I know better, and it is this specific person who has crossed the line, not me. I and the committee team, which I am very much proud of, is now faced with someone who has chosen to act immaturely. Though some may see this as a minor situation, I feel strongly threatened, and will take steps to protect my position and the status of my members.

 

I am hurt to have found out that this specific person, who was once an exec officer, and whom I had never met before, has decided that he will take over the University of Oregon's H_ong K_ong S_tudent A_ssociation. Acting in such a low way as to create a false Facebook identity and friending some of our members to "stalk us." How do I know this? I have several sources that have pointed me to this conclusion, one being that the profile picture was stolen from someone else's Facebook page to create this false identity. Further investigations have concluded that this person has been using this identity with a Facebook application to gather news feeds of our member's messages, group announcements, photos and events that has anything to do with the word "H_K_S_A." I just discovered this application which deeply disturbs me.... From this Facebook application, I saw all the recent messages between my friends, and the group fan page. Facebook really has become a stalking tool, so I would like to take this time to warn everyone to be aware of this application. I was told that this person is gathering information in order to take over the current club which he has deliberately chose not to be apart of.

 

If this person wishes to be apart of H_K_S_A, and has a passion to make changes for the club, I welcome him to join and share his opinions. We value anyone who has a passion to meet new people, to celebrate with us, and to learn more about the Hong Kong culture. Unfortunately this person's intensions are conflicting with mine. It seems that they wish to make this club exclusively for Hong Kong students only. No "American born Chinese" to be exact. I feel threaten by this and would like to address that most of the committee members do have ties to Hong Kong, and have just as much passion and enthusiasm to share our culture with the student body, and maybe even more.

 

Our members do not only consists of Hong Kong students, but every University of Oregon student who has an interest in learning about the culture. Now that the school year is slowly closing, I have seen this club flourish with all the efforts the committee members and I have put in. Our organization has well over 40 dedicated members, with many more who are just discovering us. I have strived to bring more to H_K_S_A as one of the Presidents, and I am happy to say I love each and every member for making this club a success. I wanted to make this group a second home away from home, a place where we can all be one big family. It is safe to say that we have achieved this in some respect. Only those who do not share the same passion as I will try to stand in the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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70 degrees in Eugene

Leah C.

April 19, 2010 - 1:00 AM

I don't know when the next warm sunny day will come, but I hope it does soon! Maybe it's just Oregon, but please don't question us when the sun breaks through the clouds and people start wearing shorts, tanks and summer dresses. I'm one of them and am proud of it. Oregonians can handle it! We were conditioned to dress for the weather. Or maybe under the weather? When it's raining, a true Oregonian doesn't mind a little water. We're all ducks of course right? I've lived in Oregon all my life and I don't think I've ever owned rain boots or a rain coat. Actually I remember a light blue one when I was little, but that was all!

 

When the sunshines, students are out sunbathing on the lawns, or near the river by Autzen Stadium. Today was 70 degrees, partly cloudy, and I saw many people in bathing suits trying to get a tan. According to Oregon standards, that's hot weather, especially during the spring. From the EMU lawn where I sat reading for Chinese Literature, I saw people playing frisbee, volleyball, studying, socializing, and even a medieval style battle with foam weapons was formed. There was also this one balancing sport that I am interested in trying. It's kind of like a tree tight rope act, where they tie a bungee cord strap between two trees. One would then try to walk from one end to the other, balancing 2 feet from the ground. I doubt I would be able to walk on it let alone even stand on it, but it looks a lot of fun.

 

There is so much I would like to do when the weather is nice! I really love hiking, and taking walks near the river. Regardless of my work load, I will definitely make room to get some sunshine, even if it means I'm doing homework outside. There are so many places to explore in and around Eugene and I hope to see them all during my years here. Last night a friend told me that he and his girl friend just google-mapped Eugene and decided to hike to a lake they found. Being active or exploring the outdoors, is a favorite pass time for most students at the University of Oregon. I am always surprised by the beauty of this city.

 

 

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International Night

Leah C.

April 18, 2010 - 10:51 PM

Tonight I attended International Night, hosted by the International Student Association. If I were to compare this culture show to Hong Kong Night, I-night was more diverse in their food and performance since ISA represented a variety of groups from around the world. From India, Africa, Spain and many more, tonight's show shone a spotlight onto a diverse group of performances.

 

The food for I-night was plentiful and was served before the show. A buffet style dinner was set in the EMU Fish Bowl where a dozen or so dishes from around the world were served. I had so much piled onto my plate that I forgot what was what. I remembered eating Japanese curry, African Peanut Sauce...with beef (?), Hawaiian coconut pudding and a bunch of other random stuff. Random in a good way since everything was delicious. A small pamphlet was handed out while we waited in line for food. Each dish included the name, country and recipe. I kept it folded in my pocket the whole night, but sadly I misplaced it! I really like the coconut pudding and had plans to make a batch of my own. It reminded me of a childhood dessert I had a long time ago. It was very light and yummy dessert!
After two hours at the Fish Bowl, everyone was escorted up to the ballroom where we were welcomed with a giant mural of hand drawn characters, people and scenes from around the world. Stepping inside, I took a seat with some of my friends near the back row. Instead of round tables like we had at Hong Kong Night, chairs were placed in rows facing the front. There were three mc's hosting the show, starting with the UO Jam squad. In regards to what culture they represented, it was American style hip hop! Following the hip hop performance, there were many more traditional performances provided by different organizations in the Eugene community. I watched several dances performed by the Eugene Chinese School. Little kids pranced around in bright costumes holding decorative firecracker props and red Chinese knots. After that there was a Tai chi performance performed along side the Guzheng. The Guzheng is a Chinese instrument that is played by plucking the strings. Following that there was Taiko Drumming, and a variety of different dances.

 

Unfortunately I left before the event ended. I had too much work to do and it was already 9 o'clock. ISA is a really large student group, a home for all the international students and anyone interested in learning about different cultures. They also host coffee hour every Friday with free food and drinks for the student body. I am fortunate to have gotten to know a few ISA members this year and I must say they've done a great job putting the night together. I really can't wait to go to next year's performance!

 

 

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Warm Fuzzies on the Lawn

Leah C.

April 15, 2010 - 10:30 PM

Today was such a gorgeous day. Many students can be seen lying in the sun, throwing frisbees and reading under the shade. Karen and I both thought it would be great to hold a meeting today, just to recap and thank the committee team for all their hard work for Hong Kong Night and what better place to relax and talk than outside! I planned the meeting at 6 on the EMU lawn. Laying the ground with two giant towels, we prepared a platter full of strawberries, apple, cookies and lemon bars.

 

It was a very casual meeting. Karen and I both said our words, and addressed a few important notes regarding the culture show. We couldn't have been more proud of this years committee. Everyone did a spectacular job and we really wanted to show our appreciation. Karen introduced us to warm fuzzies, a little game where you turn to your neighbor and say something nice or thank them for something they've done. After that, I hosted a little charades game where two teams tried to act and answer the name on a piece of paper. I wrote out all the committee members names, including volunteers who I thought should be known for their contributions to HKSA.

 

We all had a few laughs, and shivered as the sun set. I hoped everyone walked a way feeling better about themselves and their position in HKSA. We definitely had some stressful moments during the past few weeks and today was just a good day to thank everyone for their hard work.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hong Kong Night 2010

Leah C.

April 14, 2010 - 6:00 PM

As we finished the last chorus of the committee song. I couldn't help but smile. Two terms of planning and hard work finally came to an end. We had nearly 300+ guests, family members, friends and the public all there to witness our accomplishment.

 

As we finished our song, a committee member called all the performers and volunteers on stage, and we all gave our last farewell and bowed. It was both a huge relief and sadness for a lot of us. There were a lot of ups and downs during the planning process, but we definitely had a lot of fun overall.

 

I was really stressed Sunday morning. We had so much decorations and setup to do and not enough volunteers to help. While I was picking up on all the volunteer work, I had an 30 minute slide show that still needed to be completed. I ended up getting the slide show done 15 minutes before the doors opened followed by a few technical difficulties in hooking up my computer to the projector. I Incorporated all the photos I took of all the volunteer and performers, and together I produced a 400 photo slide show to play before the show started.

 

Everything before the culture show was all a blur. People kept calling my name, asking me if this balloon arch should go here, or how should the table setup look like, etc. I was running up and down from the office to the ballroom, non stop until I had to change into my formal wear for the show. I took 5 minutes to clear my mind and breathed before heading back to the ballroom to spot check the tables and touch base with all the performers and food people.

 

I really couldn't have done it without the help of everyone. Karen the other CO-President did so much for me. Without her, I cannot dream how the night would've turn out. She took care of all the meetings and paper work to host the event, stuff that I would have no idea where to start. Together we made the night a success and with the help of our committee members and the support of our volunteers. Our attendance was more than last year. All the tables were filled except for a few in the very back. We had people that came last year who were not even part of the U of O campus which was really great! A father who brought his kids even sported a Hk Night 2009 T-shirt which made me really happy! I would never had thought people would be so interested in our culture show. We always give it our 110% and this just proves how much of an impact we make to our audience.

 

This years culture show was by far the best I've seen, at least during my years at the University of Oregon. We spent a lot of time in planning a live skit, inviting performers such as LDT, the UO Wushu team, and a Shaolin Martial artist who chopped cabbage on his chest. A lot of our improvement where based on what we have learned last year. Such as the shortage of food, organization, practice, etc. Such difference can be seen in the HKSA member dance, ( it was put together much earlier), and the transitions in between each show were much smoother and interesting. I must say there were a few mistakes that we will address for next year. We had a few technical difficulties with the mikes, and props and equipment were misplaced. By looking at these flaws we can plan ahead and prevent them from occurring next year.

 

Apart from the minor flaws, this year was a huge success. Many people that I had talked to said it was a lot of fun, and their was plenty of food. Last year we started out with a few committee members with no experience in running the show. This year we had the help of our dedicated members as well as an experienced team. I can't wait for next year's culture show, April 10th 2011. HKSA is growing and I am so thankful to be apart of this family.

 

*Special thanks to the ASUO and the UO Chinese Department for helping us fund the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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