Yao Li's Blog - Economics, Chinese Martial Arts and Yao (Amber)

 

  偶然看到这个视频，感觉这个做法值得推广。可以扩大内需，解决一部分司机的就业，最重要的是保证了孩子的交通安全。希望交通法规部门也能够跟上制定一些相应的有关校车优先的法规。

It is always nice to receive some (and more) E-mails like the following one :)

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Hi Amber,

 

I am pleased with my mark. Even though I did not meet my goal of a B, I still am ok with what I have received. It was wonderful being in your class as it was a great learning experience. You are also extremely helpful and go out of your way to help your students which is greatly appreciated. I wish you all the best with your PhD and a wonderful career ahead.

 

Thank you.

 

Best Regards,

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昨天晚上回家比平时早一些，到入睡前还有一段空闲。恰逢好天气，遂决定到室外锻炼一下。带上mat，走上五六分钟，就到了家对面的一个park，里面有一个停车场，晚上一辆车都没有，周围很多树，是锻炼的好地方。我和A一起去的，先练习太极，然后把练瑜伽的垫子铺开，躺在上面。突然发现天上好多颗星星，躺在那里，在夜风中看啊看，仿佛回到了很小的时候和家人在夏天一起出去乘凉的场景。原来夜空是这么美丽，我有多久没有静下心来看一看星空了？这真是绝好的练习meditation的场景。

决定以后只要是晴天并且不太冷的话，即使是练瑜伽也转移到室外去！

Light Years and Time Travel: An Exploration of Mankind's Enduring Fascination With Light: Brian Clegg

昨天是teaching evaluation，我还以为过几天就知道结果了呢。可是系里的coordinator告诉我说要等到秋季学期大概九月、十月的样子才知道，估计到那时候我都忘得差不多了。本来还想赶着新鲜劲看看学生都写了些啥comments。我想还是不要期望太高，总会有照顾不到的地方的，只要大多数学生满意就可以了。还是因为第一次所以比较新鲜啊，好像很迫切想知道学生的评价。估计以后教的多了就淡然了呵呵。已经是professor的各位可不要笑话我哦。

The first essay has not been published yet. So far it is just a working paper. Hence it is still early to make the judgment. Anyway, I was glad to receive such kind of E-mails since it demonstrated people seemed interested in my paper. I hope in the end I will find a good outlet for it.

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Dear Yao Li:

Your paper entitled, "Borders and Distance in Knowledge Spillovers: Dying over Time or Dying with Age? - Evidence from Patent Citations" was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for UERS: Analytical Models (Topic). To view the top ten list for the journal click on its name UERS: Analytical Models (Topic) Top Ten and to view all the papers in the journals click on these links link(s) UERS: Analytical Models (Topic) All Papers.

...

...

Sincerely, Michael C. Jensen
Chairman
Social Science Research Network


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下周是这门课的最后一周了，还真有点恋恋不舍。有些学生very smart，思路很活跃，常常问出些意想不到的问题，其实不在这门课的范围，但往往都是比较相关的课程，比方国际贸易等。还有的学生课后会来找你探讨当前的问题，比方中国的外汇储备、美联储这次应对金融危机的举措。有一个学生基本不来上课，考试成绩出来，却总是考的特别好。此人看名字像东欧或者俄罗斯的，开学时来了第一堂课，然后告诉我说，觉得这门课还不错，因为比较technical/mathematical。而我出题的风格在问答题部分基本都是计算、推导、画图分析，看来比较适合这一类学生。有的学生非常认真，决不得过且过，每次有问题不清楚，课后或者office hour必来。

活跃的学生数量不多，分为两类。一类是学习上活跃，体现在上课主动提问 （基本都是男生），或者积极回答问题 （有男生有女生）。一类是娱乐课堂气氛的活跃，一般体现在刚下课，课间休息，或开始上课前的时候在学生内部来一两句插科打诨 （男生为主）。

多数学生属于沉默的大多数。课堂上没有听很清楚，一般不会像活跃的学生那样立即提问，而是等到课后或者office hour再来。中国学生多数属于这一类 （无论男女）。另外，发现外国学生里的女生基本也属于这一类。学习很认真，且较少在课上打断老师。外国学生里的男生比较喜欢课堂提问。

另外发现多数学生每次都坐在基本固定的位置。而且有小群体。香港的和香港的坐一起，印度几个喜欢坐一起。多数大陆来的学生都分散坐，多数外国学生分散坐。不过也有“小白”每次都坐一起的，看来关系很好。

总体来说，学生们都很可爱。没有遇到调皮捣蛋的学生，比我预想的好很多呵呵。

时间好紧张啊，怎么感觉自己每天都在赶赶赶。。。感觉没上几天课就要考试了，考完了改完了再过几天又到下一次考试了，节奏好快。看来还是regular term的课程要好一些，一般一周两次课，现在summer term一周三次课。好忙。也许以后再教同样的一门就好多了。

嗯，已经上了三天的课了，来这里总结一下。

当prof的感觉真的很好啊，很exciting！终于可以在讲台上观察下面学生的反应了，很有意思。有些学生很认真记笔记，这种学生我喜欢，就像当年的我呵呵，认真记笔记的学生有中国的也有外国的；有的学生却一直看着你，每次我看他的时候他都在看我，奇怪，怎么不看slides呢？呵呵，说到slides，这里要感谢qiaoqiao、yuanzhi、keke的建议，我都照做啦。有几个学生一直在玩电脑，自娱自乐，这几个全是canadian。只要他们不发出噪音，我都随他们去啦。一般中国或亚非拉的同学们都很认真，基本没有开小差、玩电脑的。目前来问问题的同学也都是来自亚非拉（当然也可能是在这里出生的那就不知道了）的，看来发展中国家的同学们学习就是勤奋一些啊。

学生总体都很好，很守纪律。开学前有个学生跑来和我说，第一次midterm赶上他的family reunion在国外，机票定了，问能否补考。我查了查我们系的政策，这种情况不允许参加补考的，赶紧email告诉他。很快这个学生就回信说已经和父母谈过了，他家人已经把他的机票cancel了。还有个学生第一次课没赶上，还特意提前写了email说明不能来的原因，其实我是不介意的，因为这门课是不考察出勤的。

班上学生44人注册了，每次来听课的大概只有37人，不知道有的人是准备drop了，还是不到考试不露面的那种。班上的学生年级分布最多的是四年级本科生，占总人数47%，其次是三年级本科生，占总人数37%，然后2年级和5年级（？）的各占8%。

不好的消息是，才说了三天课，我就感觉嗓子有点隐隐发疼，是不是说的太废嗓子了？有没有什么办法既能保护嗓子又能声音宏亮啊？我感觉我的发声方法不对可能是原因，所以说的多了就觉得声带比较累。大家有没有什么办法啊？

不知道北大的校园，今日是何情景？

。。。

The graduate director is inviting grad students to his house this evening. Having dinner together and chatting with the short-term visitor, Jeff Smith, a former faculty member here, should be fun. However, I have to pass up this invitation since I need to teach a Taichi class every Thursday evening. I have taught this class since 2007. As a teacher, I have my commitment to students. I feel it's right to keep the class schedule and give up some personal time.

However, sometimes I feel that as a teacher, I don't have as much freedom as my students. My class is free, so those students don't have any financial incentive to keep up with the class schedule and they don't have to worry about wasting their money if they miss the classes. They just come when they want, even without any prior notification. Or sometimes they leave early in the mid of the class due to some other stuff.

Many times I imagine that one night with heavy snow and blowing wind, I trudge several miles to the teaching place and find nobody there. Fortunately it has never happened. Only once I got just one student. I was really happy that I didn't have to practice alone that night.

Overall, I feel that teaching requires more self-discipline than learning as a student. Being a good teacher is not easy, even in a Taichi class.

     

I was deeply touched by this movie.