Blog 02/05/09
Life here is normal and classes are beginning to test what we’ve learned to far. In Intelligence Writing and Briefing we have been assigned an account country to write and brief on a normal occasion. I was assigned the region of Tibet and Xinjiang Province. So every week in class we come with a briefing of what has been happening in the area throughout the past week. Dr. Jones reads our briefs out loud, corrects them and then sends them off to the “Eagle Eye” which is ERAU’s intelligence brief that gets sent to places like the CIA. My other classes are also beginning to be more interesting. In social psychology we are conducting experiments that test how the human mind makes decisions.
I’ll write in response to a question asked last week. Jesse asked me why I chose Chinese over Arabic. Well, this is the way I look at it; I plan on going all the way through my education to earn a Ph.D. So I figure I’ll be about 26 or 27 by the time I hit the work field. By that time China will be playing a huge part in the global community. Mandarin Chinese is also the most widely spoken language in the world, but there are not too many people in intelligence who have this particular skill. I hope that this answered your question.
This coming weekend we’re going to head off to Phoenix for their Chinatown New Year’s celebration for the Chinese New Year. A group of the lower level Chinese students will be going with Dr. Chen and those of us who are upper level will just be going on our own for fun. There is a lot of food, dancing and fun to be had on the Chinese New Year. Well, food and homework is calling so I’ll take my leave. If anybody else has question like Jesse’s, don’t hesitate to ask. It might take me a few days but I will reply.
Talk to you later,
Brett Watts