http://viaprograms.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/w-t-chan-fellow-talks-about-her-internship-at-via/

俺的在VIA blog上写的文章。因为wordpress被封了…所以贴个图证明一下

It was 2009 April. Right before I was going to fill out the application form of 2009 Asia-US Service-Learning Program of VIA, I got the exciting offer of W.T.Chan Fellowships Program. Later in June, as 09 Chan Fellow, I met Ms. Wang Qiushi, a participant from 2008 AUSL program in the 2th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning who talked about her exciting experience in the Bay Area. But it was until I received my internship placement did I realize the close connection between VIA, Chan Fellowships and my passion for service-learning.

I came to California with a simple goal: Learn more about service-learning and bring it back to China. Since former Fellows emphasized to us with good-intention that don't expect too much your work would contribute to your organization as a foreign student, this goal was the only thing I keep in mind. But the email from Ben Strong, the Stanford Program Director also my supervisor, with a draft work plan of my entire internship told me that this was a serious job and I was going to learn a lot. 

The first two weeks didn't seem serious at all. I followed the AUSL Program to visit a wild variety of public service organization in Bay Area, listen to leaders about what and why they do, join miscellaneous volunteer activities, discuss and reflect about everyday experience. The vigor and involvement of participants from Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong deeply impressed me. I kept wondering, what kind of program can mingle Asian students with different backgrounds and interests together the same time kindle their passion for public service?

The answers revealed themselves as I became part of VIA and VIA. There are several things make AUSL one and only. Service-learning focused, energetic college students, intercultural communication environment, peer leadership from Stanford and Asia Coordinators, and it is in one of the most liberal and civic engaging regions--Bay Area. In fact, you can find these components across VIA programs in various forms.

It is great learning experience to participants and no less for me. Everyday, I'm learning, laughing, getting lost in Stanford or jumping into the huge bean bag in SF office. I can't think of one reason why I don't like my internship in VIA.

我今天心情好，特意去看看自己大三一年的成绩烂到什么程度。这一年的我成绩排名大概是自己专业60%或者更后。大一大二大概是5%。哇咔咔。

不看不知道，一看哇一哇。其实没有很差嘛，排名烂只不过是因为大家很好而已。临考试前两天才去读课本的结果就是这样的啦，我痛痛快快地接受。

其实也就只有一门课奇烂嘛，而且那还是有原因的…

看到这里，觉得无限同情那些学工学理学医的同志们。我3.5，4.3的绩点，也就排全班个中间甚至靠后。我怀疑全部“语言人类学”都是4.4…我只上过三堂课。学文的老师就是有人文关怀。“亲属和社会组织”没有怎么上过，翘课去了听砚菲老师的“religion and society”。“跨文化”我完全不记得讲过什么，大概都在发呆或者看书。那本书倒是好书。我挺喜欢朱妈妈的，她介绍的书都挺好看的。“影视”是大家挺喜欢的课，但我个人不接受邓老的讲课方式。

一年下来，我有听课+笔记+读书的估计是…

Lectures on Ethnographic studies（上）（民族志导论）、佛教人类学、宗教学与宗教人类学（读书部分完全听从砚菲老师）、拉丁文和花鸟鱼虫。公民课也挺认真做事情的。老麦rocks~

其实都是好课，个人兴趣问题。

狂想：其实我以后能不能把我选修的成绩算上？四年下来选修比必修要好看很多，尤其是公选，4.0+一堆…除了我只上过一节课的“日本政治与中日关系”。

穿着睡衣对着电脑，和在PaloAlto的Ben，在东京的Ryuta聊新项目的传单设计。

旁边是妈子的小紫砂壶，里面是先涩后甘的单丛。

出门帮文超美女和自己还书。套上Britt的套头衫和Berkeley High校裤，头发甩一甩，和Meg来个眼神道别，出门。

心情很好，因为头发很蓬松。3.8大元的洗发水比什么都好用。

耳边是王菲98年欢快的声音唱着“执迷不悔”。

头发随着我的步子弹着跳着，阳光下的风，雨后很温柔。

中午的校园里总是熙熙攘攘，我耳朵继续塞着王菲，微笑着收下各色传单。年轻人。

过马路的时候大卡车小轿车都会停下，招个手示意您先走。

没有人认识我，我也不认识任何人。

老子我今天心情很好，虽然要写完学年论文。

Before the article, let’s hear a word from the founder

Rubicon National from Rubicon National on Vimeo.

http://rubiconnsi.blogspot.com/2009/08/summer-interns-thoughts-on-working-for.html

TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009

A Summer Intern’s Thoughts on Working for Rubicon National

Before I became an intern at Rubicon National Social Innovations, I had little idea of what social enterprise entailed. I received a summer fellowship from U Penn with funding provided by the Levy Social Impact Fund at the Wharton School. I was intrigued with the internship position because it focused on a feasibility study on the viability of a weatherization and energy efficiency retrofit social enterprise and I had similar previous coursework related to sustainable energy.

My knowledge of social enterprise was limited to the notion that social enterprise somehow uses business skills to try to solve injustices or economic inequities throughout the world. With the little experience I had from doing community service in my spare time, I honestly could not distinguish one non-profit from another in terms of their strategies and approaches to having social impact. After a phenomenal and memorable 2-month experience with RNSI, I am proud to say that I can now make that distinction (or at least I think I can).
One thing that I have questioned over the years while participating in numerous service activities is how effective those service organizations are. Although their direct services were beneficial to those they were helping, it never seemed like lasting change in people’s lives was being made. By no means are these organizations unnecessary or obsolete; it just seemed to me that their work was “patchwork,” -- only temporarily providing relief.

That’s partly why I have continually been impressed by the work that Rubicon National is doing. The approach to battling a vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty is deeply rooted in creating sustainable, long-lasting employment opportunities powerful enough to lift people up and out of their predicament. The social enterprise models that are developed are truly innovative, creating social enterprises relying on market forces (for financial stability) and operating on a national scale to maximize social impact. They clearly break away from the patchwork model of traditional charities and make a lasting social impact in the communities that need the most help.

What’s more is that their recognition that social change and environmental responsibility do not have to be mutually exclusive, a tenet to which I firmly adhere. During my time here at Rubicon National, we have been diligently developing an energy efficiency retrofit service as a social enterprise that would create green collar jobs and pathways out of poverty in cities around the United States. Because of the federal mandate for economic recovery and climate change mitigation, Rubicon National realizes that retrofitting homes with energy efficiency measures creates excellent opportunities for the hardest to employ, offering training services and career advancement possibilities in a growing industry.
By leveraging tremendous volunteer support, Rubicon National has made significant progress on the enterprise that would not otherwise have been achieved. It is incredible how much buy-in to the project Rubicon National has received from corporate, civic and professional groups, accelerating the development process exponentially. Not only have the volunteers shown their interest in energy efficiency retrofits, but also that they genuinely believe in the potential it has for making a lasting social impact.

As my internship comes to a close, I am proud to say that I contributed meaningfully to Rubicon National’s energy efficiency retrofit enterprise. As biased as this may seem, I believe that Rubicon National Social Innovations is one-of-a-kind, having unmatchable experience in the field of social enterprise and a proven track record of success. They may just be getting their footing as social enterprise modelers, but they truly are the “laboratory for scaling social enterprise” and deserve much recognition for their work.

POSTED BY RUBICON NATIONAL SOCIAL INNOVATIONSAT 11:35 AM

今天MK开车带我/Frances/Doris去了著名的美国国家公园Yosemite.

一日来回，当然无法深入探个究竟。不过总的来说，见不到黑熊的Yosemite没有川西延绵的山脉来得雄伟秀丽。比较符合美国风格的山景。不过作为国家公园，Yosemite有很好管理制度和游客设施。估计除非天降凶雷，不然都不会出人命。

中国的名山大川得以扬名，通常是因为文人骚客的应景抒情，流传千古，比如和Yosemite有兄弟关系的黄山。Yosemite之所以盛名远播，不得不归功于摄影史上十分重要的一位人物：Ansel Adams。这位仁兄长於三藩市（旧金山），1916年小小年纪第一进入Yosemite，惊为天人，一见倾情。亚当爸送给他第一部柯达相机。十几岁他就兼职做点摄影的活儿。直到这位未来摄影大师二十多岁时，他都认为自己以后会成为一个钢琴家。1927年他签了第一份摄影合约，从此开始了摄影师的生涯。他每年都要回Yosemite拍照，百拍不厌。他是一位摄影师，一位环境保护者，一位摄影教育家，一个热爱自然的人。

他的作品让人过目不忙。他利用“zone system”的曝光技术，赋予巨幅的黑白照片惊人的清晰度和景深。基本上，他是个光线玩家。

source：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams

最爱：

               Jeffrey Pine, Sentinel Dome, Yosemite                                                        Moonrise, Hernández,New Mexico

拖下拖下变两个月了… This supposed to be two weeks ago…

疯狂两星期。It has been crazy.

工作=坐车。When work means commute.

VIA在斯坦福大学有一个办公室。这周是关于斯坦福项目未来走向的讨论，还有春假的新项目设计问题，所以一定要到斯坦福的办公室去。我的时间是这样：7：30左右出门，搭上7：49 Berkeley—> Fremont 的BART（轻轨），然后8：30在Union City下去等8：46的DB 巴士，9：20左右到Palo Alto Transit Center，找到那免费的穿梭斯坦福巴士，9：33左右下车，步行到办公室。整整三个小时。问题是，我每次下车都迷路，每次迷路的方向都不一样…

It is fun to work in different places. But I definitely like it better when you don’t have to take 3hour commute to get to the other work site. Thanks to Suzan that she found the way to get down to Stanford by BART+AC Transit, which it’s way cheaper and nicer than CalTrain although there is no time difference. We have been working on the spring program this week, no solid result come out yet ahhhh.

            
View Larger Map

工作当然和学习挂钩。新项目是有关social innovation, social venture, social entrepreneurship。我连对应的中文都不太明白。只能边干边学，现学现卖。这周听了一个有意思的讲座。宏观的视角横向比较不同技术革新策略如何影响硅谷、中国、印度、日本等地的经济发展。

I don’t have that much knowledge about social innovation, social venture, social entrepreneurship, which are the theme of the new program. A lot of to catch up. Ben and I went to a leture on Thursday, very interesting to hear how the professor compares the technology strategies in Sillicon Valley and Asia from a very macro perspective. http://ceas.stanford.edu/events/technology_strategies_in_silicon_valley_and_asia_contrasting_patterns_of_open_innovation/

如果是下班的交通高峰期，三个小时的车程一般都变成四个小时。当坐了四个小时不同的交通工具加上步行之后，很棒很精彩的音乐会也只能使我勉强支撑两个小时。不过,温顿马萨利斯和爵士林肯中心的名声真的不是盖的!!!

Even it’s Wyton Marsalis, I was still dozing off for the whole time when it took me four hours to get back from Stanford. But truely, I love alive Jazz performance.

http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/presents/season/2009/jazz/wm_jlco.php#audio

我的美国姐姐星期一飞往危地马拉开始她6个月的异国工作。我好不伤心哪！不过，我还有美国妈妈Mary Kay，未来女婿Mickey和他们的朋友，现在也是我的朋友，Suraj。上周看了Mickey的舞剧，实在是惊呆了。本就知道Mickey身手敏捷，不同于一般的残障人士，但看到他拄着拐杖或是坐在轮椅上仍能表达出如此丰满的肢体语言，我还是非常讶异。这个舞剧是以现代舞来表达关于美籍日裔的身份迷失的主题，很是吸引。虽然最后舞蹈演员的衣服被脱光了…

I’m still SAD that Britt left for Guatemala last Mon. I miss my American sister!!! It makes me better that I can always hang out a lot with MK, Mickey and suraj. Last Sat we went to Mickey’s dance. I was told that the dance was weird and MK laughed the whole show last time she saw the performance. But this time is a dance play about Japanese American identity and I like it very much. It’s amazing to see how capable Mickey is when he dances. The way he expressed the dance on wheelchair or with crutches truly impressed me.

                  http://www.odcdance.org/performance.php?param=18

昨晚去了一个即兴的剧场演出。三个大男人站在台上，观众可以随便说一个词，比如“便便”，然后三个人马上即兴演出一台

以此为关键词的短剧。音乐，灯光都是即兴的。三个人互相之间也不知道对方会爆出什么台词。非常搞笑。其中一位演员是Mickey和Britt的轮椅篮球队教练。

I went to an improve show with Mickey and Suraj last night. One of the three actors is Mickey&Britt’s wheelchair basketball coach. He has been doing improvising since 1988. It was really funny. I kept laughing all the time even though sometimes I didn’t really get the lines. Their facial expressions are sooooo funny!!

http://www.3forall.com/

晚上在Mickey爸妈家，也就是他长大的地方过了一夜。他父亲是个兽医。家里有三条狗三只猫一只羊两匹马。乡村大房子。第二天Mickey载我一同去了Revolution。Revolution is a traditional fundraiser. It happens in every last Saturday of September in Trentadue Winery, Sonoma County.风景那个优美啊，豪华轿车一辆接一辆，肯定是来品酒的。

Mickey全家准备参加25mile，我伟大的老板，supervisor Ben 要骑100miles。100 miles=160.9km. 这是人做的事情吗…

                            借张官网图片用用。http://www.borp.org/revolution/index.php

                                                                                             酒庄

         key全家 很有型的单车        

I made dozens of phonecalls to Anjali making sure that Ben was still alive. 他骑他那辆小破车骑了7个半小时…7.5hours bikeride in 102F, Ben made it. He is crazy.有这样的老板不知道是不是好事。That's what he looks like after the 7.5 hours and 160KM.

周日和Frances去了Folsom Street Fair. 差点没笑爆。因为我迟到了大半个小时，打电话给Frances, 电话那头传来女高音：“ahhhhh，好核突啊！！！好多中年男人无着衫啊！！！”似乎这个Fair货真价实。

                                                                  someone behind me said: He should go to Broadway.

Below are photos by Frances, I forgot to charge mine…以下都是Frances拍的。

其他就不放上来了，省得被封。也不解释了，各位看官随便往狠处想。而且这类疯狂活动三藩市每周都有，任君选择。