No Internet

Oh man oh man… I think I’m an Internet junkie.

It’s been two weeks now without Internet. Fortunately, there is this nice little café at the corner with free WLAN. So, we have been going there almost everyday to check mail, surf, shop, etc.

It’s great, our home is finally coming into shape. Only the bathroom and the hallway is still in a mess. Basically, we need to wait for Ben (the ex-resident) to come over and clear up the basement so that we can store our stuffs and boxes there. Tomorrow we are going to rent a small van and go to IKEA and Höffner to pick up the stuffs that we need. I told Christian before that I don’t want to depend on the other people to give us transport to go and buy stuffs and so on. A van cost only €3,- per hour to rent and I think we can still afford that.

I’m also a little stressed about my thesis. I need to work hard and fast. I’m still worried that my thesis is too short. From the way I’m writing it, it seems that it’s only approximately 100 pages excluding references and table of content. *sigh…

OMG!!! Christian just “hacked” into the café’s network!!! He’s so mean… I thought that he would be thankful that we have free Internet here!!! I’m not going to talk to him for the rest of the hour.

Small Organization

To implement the Six Sigma methodology in a small organization is not easy. But it is also not more difficult than a large manufacturing plant.

With a manufacturing plant, one need to search for data and that would involve the resistance of employees providing the right information. On average, human beings are selfish. What most people care most about their job is their personal reputation. When an investigator request for information on a certain procedure or product, the responsible person would always double check if there are any personal mistakes before submitting the data, and this would lead to skewness of the actual fact.

In small organizations however, it’s always the improving phase that is difficult as the resistance to change is higher. About the resistance to change, it will be further explained in the observation chapter.

Nevertheless, the fact of a small organization is that it does not have much statistics and straight-on facts. An investigator would normally require to penetrate into the organization and work as an employee to understand the facts. Furthermore, an investigator  is required to judge the data based on ones expertise and group discussions. It requires some thinking and brainstorming out of the Six Sigma methodology to search for data that could be useful and hidden.

Somehow, A highly communicative investigator stands an advantage in a small organization as one can discuss about the problems faced at anytime during or away from work. An absolute work-oriented investigator may work better in a large organization as most employees are not bonded as close to each other as in a small organization. An investigator that seems too professional may be seen as a threat in a small organization and thus may receive a rather hostile treatment instead.

Stressed

Again, I have been too busy to update my blog.

We are in the midst of moving into our new flat and at the same time having our academic learning. He has his classes (although he had to skip some due to the painting and cleaning of the new place) and I have my thesis to work with the hostel.

There were some bumps and holes with the hostel at first but then now it’s all going fine and smoothly. The only thing is just that I have to work on the practical side before the theory because my contact counterpart is only around until the end of December. But yeah, I’m working on it and hard enough. I believe that all will get better and better after we move as the hostel is situated pretty near the new flat.

Last week was pretty rough on me as I had a really bad flu and had to clean and paint the new place while shuffling with my work at the hostel.

It is also pretty tough to move without a proper transportation – at least a car. We feel lazy in the morning and the weather is encouraging it too.  Formally, we are planning to move on Sunday and hopefully all goes well and by the end of next week we are living at our new home.

Well, I need to inform some friends about the moving and check out if they can help out a little.

Why Many Asian Women Prefer White Men

My dad used to wonder very much why so many Asian women choose white men over their own colour. Well, wonder no more my father. Below is my point of view.

Beforehand I have a small argument with my dad about being pregnant. My sister is currently 6 months pregnant and she has been hit by the hormones and is a little sad and depressed. This is due to the fact that my brother-in-law now “takes over” the friendship of my sister and her friends. He hang out with their friends often and remained his recreation hobby every Sunday. She quitted smoking because she’s pregnant and is very jealous that he still can smoke. She feels that she has lost her freedom and he is not being supportive enough to share the “lost-of-freedom”.

That was just a simple example. My dad believes that since you are born as the female species, it’s not your choice to pick who is responsible for the baby. He has an opinion that women MUST be responsible to bear the 9 months (Chinese believe 10 months) of pregnancy while the man can remain his normal lifestyle.

I disagreed with him. I feel that this is totally unfair. Both of them wanted a child and since she has not choice but to bear it (because he can’t bear the baby, duh!), she also deserve some understanding and support.

My dad feels that the man brings back the dough and the woman shall bear the baby. Not true! For the past 20 years, women have revolutionized and bring home some dough too. So, how do you want to compare that? Would you (as a man) prefer to bear the baby instead? Let’s say that the pressure from work is the same as the pressure from pregnancy and baby and kids. But the woman also work 24 hours – to feed, clean, nurture, etc.

So, now – the white man’s view. This is a conclusion I made after a discussion with my German fiancé. He believes that woman also need to work. It’s only fair that she also bring home some dough. He believes that the man should also take turn to feed the baby (with a bottle of course!), clean, nurture, etc. Also, he says that a man should also understand the pressure the mom is having. This is also one of the reasons whereby a man is able to take 1 year off work to take care of the baby so that the mom can go back to work and not fall behind in the social level.  Oh thank god I chose the right one!

The other thing. My dad feels that confrontation is bad. It causes troubles. I think otherwise. I think that honesty is the best policy. Whenever I or my fiancé is not satisfied with anything, we say it out. Yes, sometimes we disagree and get into an argument. But in the end, we compromise and determine the best approach or solution.

So, I will not compare the two types side by side, but I guess after reading this, you should know what I’m saying.

Engaged

A newsbreak for all!

I’m engaged! He popped the question on last Thursday during a surprise dinner and I said YES. Okay, at first I was soooo shock and blank in the head until I didn’t know what to say. I went mute for about 2 minutes.

He was actually worse. The evening started when we left our place to have a so-called romantic and relaxing dinner. His hands were really cold – which is not normal. Normally, I am the one having cold hands. Then I thought that he wasn’t feeling well but we still went for the dinner.

The table had 3 candles lit on a nice candle stand. It was a little weird because the drinks were served before we ordered anything. I thought, “hmm… okay… very sweet…”. And then came a big plate of salad. It WAS really big, enough as starters for at least 4 people. Then came more food – a grill platter. I was like woah, it enough to feed a whole village in Cambodia. Hmm… we ate and ate and ate… until we can’t stuff in more food into the mouth.

After the really-full meal, I wanted a carbonated water. On second thoughts, a Coke is better for the stomach. No, I made up my mind with a small espresso, it’s less watered. Without ordering, there came the espressos. Okay… sweet, he knew what I want. Then he told me that I should go to the toilet because we are leaving soon and so I did.

After I came back from the toilet, there were two glasses of Sekt (German champagne) on the table. And then he starting talking. He was speaking about us being together, how he enjoyed the time, how he remembered that we had our first dinner at the exact table, etc. I was a little nervous. There’s a common Chinese saying 回光返照. It describes that the sky is the brightest before dusk. I was starting to feel scared. I stopped what he is saying and asked if he was going to leave me.

Then he said no and distracted me to the wall by saying something about the wall. When I turned my head back, he took out a small blue box. He opened it and ask if I would marry him. I was so shock I was muted for some minutes. Then he was even more nervous and demanded for an answer. Of course I said yes.

So, that is the end of the story and there it begins my new life as a fiancé.