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Lately, I’ve been sleeping in the afternoon and then I wake up at night to start writing until it’s time to get ready to go to class. It’s too noisy during the day. Right now, it’s almost 4 a.m and even if I’m tired, it feels good working when it’s so quiet. There’s one week left until thesis submission deadline (which can be extended a couple more days apparently but I’m not counting on it) and I’m wondering if I’ll be able to make it. People who know me keep telling me that I can do it but lately, I’ve been losing faith in myself. Argh.
Back to my thesis now…and my book. I have an exam in a couple of hours.

I’m dog-sitting today. Desmond went on a trip out of Shanghai and his flatmates are out somewhere too. Since there’s no one at his place today, I’m taking care of Sushi while working on my thesis. (which is not coming along very well right now.. )

photo of Sushi,sticking her tongue out. (at me?? hmm.. hopefully not. )
She always manages to put a smile on my face.

related entries:
Sleeping puppy
My little darling

Note: Entry edited to add the links to survey 1,2 and 3.

Please let me know if you did the survey or forwarded the links to other people. I want to know so that I know where to send my thanks to.

-Surveys-
1. Are you a Chinese language teacher who is currently teaching in Mauritius? (of Mauritian nationality or others, as long as you are teaching in Mauritius) (duration doesn’t matter)
>>Click here<<

2. Are you currently studying the Chinese language in Mauritius? (duration doesn’t matter)
>>Click here<<

3. Have you ever studied the Chinese language in Mauritius before? (duration doesn’t matter)
>>Click here<<

4. Are you a Mauritian who is now in mainland China or Hong Kong or Taiwan (studying or working) and who has studied the Chinese language there? (duration doesn’t matter)
>>Click here<< <- Link down for the time being. Contact me directly if it is still not up when you try to take the survey.
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5. Do you know anyone (of any ethnic group in Mauritius, not only the sino-Mauritians)who fit into any of the above 4 categories?

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Like I’ve mentioned in my entry dated 10 March 2008, I’m looking for people to fill in questionnaires/surveys. It will only take you a couple of minutes and the results of the surveys will help me to complete my thesis. Some people (unfortunately, only a few) have already filled in my surveys and I’m so grateful to them. Still, I need to find more people! I’m running out of time.

If you’ve replied Yes to 1 ,2 ,3 or 4 and would like to help me by taking my questionnaire/survey, please contact me in the comment form below or by using the contact form found here. ( <- Click the word here) If you already know my hotmail or gmail address, you can also email me directly.

If you’ve replied Yes to 5, do you mind forwarding the link to my surveys or the link to this entry to those persons? (From primary school students to adults, anyone, as long as they correspond to any of the 4 categories.)
Please contact me in the comment form below or by using the contact form found here. ( <- Click the word here) If you already know my hotmail or gmail address, you can also email me directly.

I’m finding it hard to find primary school students to fill in the survey. I’m aware that primary school students might have trouble understanding all the words in the survey and maybe don’t even use the computer. Parents/brothers/sisters/cousins please help them. Please think. Do you have neighbours with kids studying the Chinese language? Do you have little brothers/sisters/cousins who are studying the Chinese language? Or what about your friend’s little brother/sister/cousin?

All the 4 different surveys are available in paper or online version. The ‘intro’ page of both versions gives some explanation about my survey. All the surveys are in English and the one for the teachers is also available in Chinese. (Link available on request)

The online versions will be more convenient for a lot of people (as well as me)…. As for the paper versions, they are only available to people who are in Mauritius right now and who really can’t do the online surveys. My family lives in Port-Louis. My sister can meet up with people to give them the paper surveys but I don’t want to trouble her unless really necessary.
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Please help me. Thank you!

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Thank you Morinn, Kevin, Karina, Karen Y, Wendy, Tracy,Rosemary, Joanne, Clive, Pat, those 50+ years old people & the secondary students I don’t know but who took the survey, the 15 teachers who took the survey so far,the anonymous persons who took the survey, Kevin T & Oliver for the info and of course my family, especially my sis Cel who had to go many places for me. List will be updated accordingly.
You will all (if you’ve left your email address or if I know it ) get a Thank you email from me as soon as this is all over.
I’ll be your free guide if you come to Shanghai when I’m still here. Or if I’m not around, I’ll link you up with my friends in Shanghai or other parts of China. It mght sound unbelievable to those people who don’t know me but I’ve done it a couple of times already when people contacted me to let me know that they are coming. Else, see you all in Mauritius(in a couple of months) or in SG or Msia or CA (the countries on my GO TO list so far)
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It is almost 5:30 a.m now and I’m still up. I’ll probably go to sleep at around noon. I’ve still got loads to do. Arghhhh
Many thanks to those who left me a comment/email concerning my survey. I’ll be sending you the link pretty soon. (in a couple of hours before I go to bed or after I wake up)
I’ve had many food cravings these past few weeks. I suppose that I’m too stressed about my thesis. Anyone who knows me would think that I’d love eating chocolate right now but strangely, I’ve had few chocolate cravings.
There’s a bar of Snickers on my table. Only a couple of minutes ago, I had torn open the wrapper, only to put the chocolate back on the table, untouched. I don’t want chocolate right now, I want onion rings!
Since I can’t possibly get onion rings at this time, I went through my folders on my computer just to find a photo of onion rings. The lack of sleep must be getting to me….

Pic of onion rings taken at Burger King.
If I remember correctly, I took this pic the first time I went to Burger King in Shanghai.

And here’s a black and white photo of Rosemary with the onion rings. This photo was in the same folder as the photo of onion rings. I can’t help smiling when I look at it. It reminds me of the good times I’ve had when Rosemary was still in Shanghai.