ML and Ukrainian Women.

[Gator]

I googled it, and got a Filipino romantic drama film from 2011.

[Boethius]

inthenameoflovedoc.com/

[Brillynt]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405043/

If this the correct one.

[ML]

Here is the trailer from Boe's reference: 

http://inthenameoflovedoc.com/trailer.php

[ML]

http://www.elenaroche.com/#!bio/aboutPage

Here is webpage of one of the gals.

The AM who married her wrote he wanted to find a gal to have a lot of kids.   They have 5 !!!

[Muzh]

I love the part where the guy spent three hours 'talking' to Svetlana; a "thinking woman" while the message superimposed says "Svetlana does not speak English."

[Brillynt]

I love the part where the guy spent three hours 'talking' to Svetlana; a "thinking woman" while the message superimposed says "Svetlana does not speak English."

I was laughing when I saw that as well.  I was trying to picture this in my head, with the $15 an hour translator at the expensive cafe.   

[ML]

Great times here. 

This week we went to a concert performance of a national touring  'Elvis Tribute Group.'  4 singers covered the different stages of his evolving music.

Last week, we went to a performance of a touring group from Sweden who were 'ABBA Tribute Performers.'

In both cases the performers were excellent, and the costumes quite fantastic and seemingly accurate.

My Gal (and I) enjoyed both immensely and said she recognized almost all of the songs.

Great trips down memory lane.  I highly recommend.

Afterward, (based on some comments the stage group said) I was intrigued enough to look up some info on the original ABBA group, particularly the dark haired gal whose mother was Norwegian and impregnated by a German soldier.  Mother and daughter moved to Sweden to get away from being outcast at home.

[ML]

My Gal goes to University classes with mostly mid to late 20s guys and gals.

She has been picking up more and more slang from them.
For the past month or so I have been jotting down some items.

Freaked out, no big deal, chill out, hang out, jacked up, don't sweat it, ace the test, hit the books, biggie, screw up, rip off, fender bender, luck out, and dick head.

I told her not to be repeating the last one, and gave her a little explanation.

[Ranetka]

My Gal goes to University classes with mostly mid to late 20s guys and gals.

She has been picking up more and more slang from them.
For the past month or so I have been jotting down some items.

..... and dick head.

I told her not to be repeating the last one, and gave her a little explanation.

Hmmm With your reported sex life I thought she'd know what it mean...

[ML]

Hmmm With your reported sex life I thought she'd know what it mean...

We use one of the alternative names . . .

[GoodOlBoy]

....... and dick head.

We use one of the alternative names . . .

Dildo head ??   
 
GOB

[Brillynt]

Dildo head ??   
 
GOB

Richard Cranium  ??

[ML]

The Visa Lottery winners were chosen in early May.
I had forgotten to check until last night.
My Gal did not win a slot.

I haven't told her yet because she is deep into studying for finals with a lot of stress, and doesn't need to hear it.  Of course, she wasn't at all counting on being chosen, but still no need to hear disappointing  news at this time.

She has had a much harder time this second semester in the graduate math program compared to last fall when she got all A's without  too much trouble.

This semester she and most all students got C's or lower on the midterm for Real Analysis.  There are only 7 students in the class.
So the professor gave a 'make-up take-home' test, and then averaged the scores.  She got an A on that test, so has a B going into final.
So she could end up with A, B, or C depending on how the final goes.

The other two courses, Abstract Algebra and Linear Algebra, she has pretty much a solid A going into final.  But she has put in a lot of work to be in this position, and has been studying virtually non-stop for the last week or so for finals; and regularly tells me how it is just too much material to keep in her head. 

Final exam on each of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; then has to help grade final exams for undergraduate Differential Equations on Thursday and Friday.

She has kept up making good meals during this stressful period . . . but then she pretty much disappears back to her study room.  I have even taken up washing the dishes which previously she would not let me do.

[GoodOlBoy]

For some reason  , I thought of you ML when I saw this video:
 
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8bf_1211407603
 
GOB

[ML]

What a week.  Gal finished her own exams and then keeping busy for two days on grading exams for professors.  57 tests for one section of Differential Equations for one professor and 98 tests for two sections of same course for another.

I got  the job of adding up all the points given for each of the individual questions and posting to grade sheets.

And I got to give back and shoulder rubs every 2 hours or so.

I am starting to be concerned about her desires to be a teacher because I see this mad dash periodically going on forever.  Quite stressful for teachers and their helpers.

Before grading started, one professor told her to not be too 'harsh' in grading.  This was a reflection of her grading on previous exams.  Quite bothersome because it is just another indication of the declining standards throughout all of education.

Professors are under pressure from students, parents and administrators to keep watering down the material and standards.  Previously this pressure was at high school level and has now moved up to university undergraduate level.  Hopefully it will take a few more decades to reach graduate level.

And administrators under pressure to keep enrollment up and growing to bring in dollars to pay for it all.

Not good; and I don't agree with the push across America to have a higher percentage of persons receive a college education.  It has just lead to the situation that a bachelors degree now is not much different than a high school degree for previous generations.

And, if you look at what universities are spending money on; it is quite alarming  that  an ever growing percentage of budget is spent on things having nothing to do with classroom teaching.  I am not criticizing the research part . . . but rather the fluff that is required to meet the current and growing regulations at all levels for reporting, etc.  Tons of money spent to make sure all students 'feel good' and feel that someone cares about them, and report all incidences where someone looks cross eyed at someone, and all incidences where someone is 'offended' by something.

The average student knows nothing about all of this (and cares less) that is going on for their supposed benefit;  yet there are staffs numbering in the hundreds at major schools who are paid to do this and have meetings with other staff to discuss what they are doing, issue reports, send reports to various government agencies, etc.

[Larry1]

it is just another indication of the declining standards throughout all of education.

Professors are under pressure from students, parents and administrators to keep watering down the material and standards.  Previously this pressure was at high school level and has now moved up to university undergraduate level.  Hopefully it will take a few more decades to reach graduate level.

ML,

I've seen this worrisome phenomenon coming:

Report: Chinese Third-Graders Falling Behind U.S. High School Students in Math, Science
NEWS • High School • ISSUE 49•09 • Feb 27, 2013

 CHESTNUT HILL, MA—According to an alarming new report published Wednesday by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, third-graders in China are beginning to lag behind U.S. high school students in math and science.

The study, based on exam scores from thousands of students in 63 participating countries, confirmed that in mathematical and scientific literacy, American students from the ages of 14 to 18 have now actually pulled slightly ahead of their 8-year-old Chinese counterparts.

“This is certainly a wake-up call for China,” said Dr. Michael Fornasier, an IEA senior fellow and coauthor of the report. “The test results unfortunately indicate that education standards in China have slipped to the extent that pre-teens are struggling to rank among even the average American high school student.”

“Simply put, how can these third-graders be expected to eventually compete in the global marketplace if they’re only receiving the equivalent of a U.S. high school education?” Fornasier added.

Fornasier stressed that while the gap is not yet dramatically sizable, it has widened over the past two years after American high schoolers tested marginally higher in algebra, biology, and chemistry than, shockingly, most of China’s 8- and 9-year-olds.

Fortunately, this was from The Onion, but still...

http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-chinese-thirdgraders-falling-behind-us-high,31464/

[ML]

Spring semester course grades just posted online.

She got A plus in two courses and A in the third course.

This for a gal who told me a few times during the semester that she might flunk out.

But man . . . what a lot of work she put in . . . and worry it caused me also.

She was shaking and turned a bit white after seeing the grades.  Couldn't believe them.  She said, "I couldn't get A plus because I know I made one mistake on a question for final."  But probably she still did very good compared to other students.

We just now spent a couple of hours coming up with proposed schedule for her to take for Fall 2013 and Spring 2014.  Sent via email to the Director of Graduate Program, and he may require her to come in for a talk before he approves.  But with her great grades, I think they will see she knows what to take, etc.

[Hammer2722]

Spring semester course grades just posted online.

She got A plus in two courses and A in the third course.

This for a gal who told me a few times during the semester that she might flunk out.

But man . . . what a lot of work she put in . . . and worry it caused me also.

She was shaking and turned a bit white after seeing the grades.  Couldn't believe them.  She said, "I couldn't get A plus because I know I made one mistake on a question for final."  But probably she still did very good compared to other students.

We just now spent a couple of hours coming up with proposed schedule for her to take for Fall 2013 and Spring 2014.  Sent via email to the Director of Graduate Program, and he may require her to come in for a talk before he approves.  But with her great grades, I think they will see she knows what to take, etc.

With all the stress off her shoulders I would hope you will reward her with a nice dinner out or something.....

[Boethius]

Congrats to Lady ML.  That is an outstanding achievement.   

[GQBlues]

Spring semester course grades just posted online.

She got A plus in two courses and A in the third course.

This for a gal who told me a few times during the semester that she might flunk out.

But man . . . what a lot of work she put in . . . and worry it caused me also.

She was shaking and turned a bit white after seeing the grades.  Couldn't believe them.  She said, "I couldn't get A plus because I know I made one mistake on a question for final."  But probably she still did very good compared to other students.

We just now spent a couple of hours coming up with proposed schedule for her to take for Fall 2013 and Spring 2014.  Sent via email to the Director of Graduate Program, and he may require her to come in for a talk before he approves.  But with her great grades, I think they will see she knows what to take, etc.

Congratulations on that good news, ML.
 
I have seen the same flair with my wife in terms of studying and ensuing achievements. Wifey studied and took all 4 CPA exams only once and got her certification on her first attempts. Whereas, a lot of folks had to take the exams numerous times before 'passing' each, much less all 4. Matter of fact, she just received a corporate letter marking her as *employee with high potential* and had her company scheduling her to a slew of seminars, conferences, programs, etc...to elevate her status in the company. She was in Vegas not too long ago for a couple of days, will be going to Chicago, then to NY, etc...for these shindigs.
 
Anyway, the point being is, I wondered before if this trait was still alive and well with newly arriving immigrants with a thirst for opportunities with their new-found lives in the good ol' USA. Apparently so.
 

[ML]

With all the stress off her shoulders I would hope you will reward her with a nice dinner out or something.....

Yes, there will be a lot of good times in the next week or so . . . until she goes back to Ukraine for a month.

Several dinners out.

I prepared her Fed and State tax returns where she got virtually all of her withholdings back.  Just came into her bank account last few days.

So she tells me . . . I will treat you to a dinner at restaurant!   

She thinks I had to do something special to get these refunds for her.
I told her I just filled out standard forms; but she thinks I must have had some special connections.

[ML]

Congrats to Lady ML.  That is an outstanding achievement.

I have passed your words on  to her.  She is appreciative of all who congratulate her.

She is still sort of in a daze today about these grades.

Now . . . if I can just get her to not spend so much time studying next semester.

[Hammer2722]

She thinks I had to do something special to get these refunds for her.
I told her I just filled out standard forms; but she thinks I must have had some special connections.

Well nothing wrong with letting her think you are her clever man!!! 

[ML]

Anyway, the point being is, I wondered before if this trait was still alive and well with newly arriving immigrants with a thirst for opportunities with their new-found lives in the good ol' USA. Apparently so.

A combination of things I think.

Best opportunities here; but also 'most' of the immigrants and those on student visas are the cream of the crop from their various countries.

It is well documented that foreign persons dominate in receiving doctoral degrees from USA universities in science and engineering.
And I recall reading that foreigners receive more USA patents than USA citizens.

But none of this means that the average person in foreign countries is smarter than average USA citizen.  We just happen to get mostly above average foreigners to immigrate to USA.