Two down, one to go!

I am so pleased with myself, quantity wise, not quality though.... I have never read and write sooooooooo much in my life! In two weeks, I read over 40 articles, wrote 60 pages of materials, and now, still 15 articles to go, and most likely another 30 pages of writing!! I hope practice makes my writing skills better, and also in 4 years time, I can write quality, scholarly articles... :D  That's the aim!

YLE News 31 May 2012

Ha ha! My photo was broadcasted in the local news last night! HAPPY!

Tips for reading academic articles

I have never read soooooooooooooooooo many articles before in my life, especially within a very concentrated period of 20 days! So far, I have covered over 50 articles. It started with much difficulties because the style of writing, structure, contents are very alien to my style from the practical background. I am used to reading corporate reports, accounting and financial statements, newspapers, magazines and to aggravate the challenges more, I read a lot of non-work materials in Chinese.

However, the process gets easier, and the speed becomes faster as I read more and more. I start to see the 'patterns' of their writing, the academia languages, vocabulary and style used.... and as I reflect, I start to apply the same logic, vocabulary and style.

So, my advice is, don't get put off by the first few attempts. It is very frustrating, and challenging. However, it will get easier, so be patient, and persistence.

Strawberry fun!

Kids and hubby preparing the ground for growing new strawberry plants. The soil was fertilized, the plastic cover was positioned, and now waiting for the baby plants to arrive!

A taste of success

Boy and his mate, snapped first prize in the agricultural quiz organized by 4H club in Hyrynsalmi yesterday! Well done!

Children's spring performance 2012

Despite my extremely heavy load to cope with all kinds of writings and assignments, children's performance is still an important part of my activities. Regardless how busy, such performance comes only once, and soon, as the girl step across the basic school, there will no longer be such 'childish' performances (so called). It is a pity, because it is so lovely to see them participating in such activities, and enjoy their talents which come naturally. It is a pity when people start stretching into adulthood, there are no longer creativity and time for such kind of activities... and we lost such skills along the way. Nonetheless, whilst there are still possibilities to be entertained, I should not miss the opportunity to do so.

1.       Puppet show http://youtu.be/V2il77LeSHw

2.       Photos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eTDmuIjWWk   

3.       Performance 1 http://youtu.be/tMh-V4Bqmb8

4.       Performance 2 http://youtu.be/KjeTh5s9Aic

Cranes crossing road!

This was a sight for me! A flock of cranes crossing the road behind our home... they are so beautiful, but noisy bunch. When they are around, they will make sure their 'presence' is felt by making loud sounds :) I used to chase them around the field for photo shoots, but now, they were just few metres away in our backyard, ha ha!

Mum and kids

A nice pic with kids... they are growing at super speed, soon, I would be sitting on their lap instead :P

More birdy visitors

Beautiful visitors from nature.... signs of Spring and summer!!

Recovered scar

Few weeks back, B had a deep long card just by the right eye lid. Thank god no major injuries to his eyes, and now, the scar is gradually healing and lightening up.

Article Review #3: Introduction to the special issue on aesthetics, images and vision

Article 5: Introduction to the special issue on aesthetics, images and vision by Jonathan Schroeder

This short article raised interesting considerations of the impact of aesthetics, images and vision in the experience economy. Although they are indirectly related to the topic of my research, however they are directly related to the industry I am researching – mobile games, and placement of marketing communication in mobile environment. Some of the topics that raised my eyebrows include the legal and ethical implications of image representation to consumers (misrepresentation? ethical?), cultural influence in aesthetic values (does it matter in the virtual world or must they be cultural sensitive like in physical world?). In addition, the topic also raised other thoughts in my research area – in the virtual world, do gamers (consumers) view aesthetics, images and vision in the same way as they see / interpret in the physical world? Do these elements influence their consumption or buying behavior in the virtual and/or real world? Does the choice of aesthetic and images affect the gamers’ (i.e. consumers) perception to that firm and its brand? These may be interesting questions to be answered in the research phase where I will work with a company, its marketer and a team of game developers to experiment the impact of in-game advertisement on the gamers’ consumer behavior.

Article Review #2: Methodological challenges in using practice theory in consumption research

Article 2: Methodological challenges in using practice theory in consumption research by Bente Halkier and Iben Jensen

In this article, the authors discussed the usefulness of using moderate social constructivist practice theory to address the challenges of analytical translations between practice theory and empirical research methods in consumption research. They based their arguments on Warde (2005) and Reckwitz (2002) where practice is seen as a routinized behavior which consists of three elements – understandings, procedures and engagements, and consumption activities are seen as the result of performing practices. In their arguments, they presented two analytical affordances for empirical research in consumption using their interpretation of practice theory: a) the flows of happenings and processes of carrying out activities that are both productive and conditioned thus the consumer’s daily manoeuvring between plurality of practices can be studied (situational based practices); b) understand the relational accomplishments and interpretation of the consumer’s continuous construction of social definition (e.g. healthy food, low-fat diet) which will indirectly influence the practices of consumptions over time. At this point, I am not certain how to apply the method in this article to my own research. However, it did open up new perspective for me to ponder, if the elements of routinized behaviors should be considered when I am designing my research to study the consumer behaviors of my subjects (i.e. routine games playing, repetitive images of product brands, and gamers’ behaviors in consumption). Another aspect for reflection is regarding statistical generalization vs. analytical generalization. I will apply mixed methods (qualitative follow by quantitative), this cautioned me with my ‘generalization’ approach, and how should I triangularize the data to be collected from both approaches

Article Review #1: Videography in marketing and consumer research

Article 1: Videography in marketing and consumer research by Russell W. Belk and Robert V. Kozinets

This paper looked at the different types of videographic research methods in marketing and consumption, the problems and opportunities presented, both on data collection aspect and also distribution methods. Videograph is a more comprehensive method than audio taping because body language, proxemics, kinesics and other kinetic forms of body expression can also be captured. The article offered good food for thought about this technique which was one of my research methods. I intend to run 10 groups of focus group discussions as my preliminary study. I also intend to conduct 20-30 interviews. The articles provided some good advice regarding what should be avoided and how to overcome some of the challenges. For example, we should have fuller view of the speaker and not just the ‘talking head’, the method may be obstructive and unnatural, thus we should arrange the video camera e.g. using a tripod from a distance, and be open to the interviewee of the video arrangement to eliminate any negative emotions. Other usages such as collaborative videographic research, hidden cameras or combination self-ethnography and semi unobstrusive methods in the research are useful information, though not directly relevant at this point to my research. Also, the post production and distribution sections are informative considerations but not relevant to my approach where the videos filmed from the focus group discussions will be used in their raw form.

Helatorstai (A day off!)

A much needed break after last week's intensive course, and this week's hectic catch up. However, the day off is just a breather to organize my papers and prepare for more assignments that should be submitted over next two weeks.

So, now finally, my papers are organised.. and must start chewing up the 70 articles given before the next two courses. Hard days to come, enjoy the sunny helatorstai for now :)

Three difficult months ahead!

I just downloaded all the reading materials today for the forthcoming assignment, and precourse reading... Believe it or not, I measured after printing. It is exactly 6 inches thick (15cm)!!! I have about two weeks to at least browsed through quickly because I should finalize one article for submission to fulfil last week's course assignment (about 20 pages), then I should write reflection summary (2 pages per article) for total of 60 articles! These must be accomplished by end of May! How on earth am I going to finish with my slow reading speed (very slow because I would like to enjoy and understand what I read, and think about how the contents could be applied to my research.) It felt like a mission impossible. Tonight, I started with the first one, 20 pages.. after 1 hour, I am not even half way through. There are many good references, which I checked out in the interent, and that led to more useful and interesting references... and I can go on this way for ages! How I wish I can get some useful, effective tips from another academia who has been through this path before. Please... God send me someone who can shed some lights, and help me go through this painful process, a little painless!

Mother's Day 2012

Once a year, all three mothers will get-together to celebrate this auspicious day... Mum-in-law, sis-in-law and myself. This is the 'group pic' of the mums, and coincidentally, we are in some tones of red :)  Well, great minds think the same, ha ha.

It was a simple, but cosy and warm celebration... as always, we enjoyed each other's company to the fullest!

Heading south!

Heading south to attend my first seminar course in Helsinki. We will leave to Lahti today, and I will commute from there daily. It is not very far, approx. 50mins train ride, but the tix price is less than half of hotel price in Helsinki, so it is worth the arrangement :D Most importantly, staying in own apartment is better than in a tiny hotel, that's the double bonus for the small amount of travel time. Hope everything will work out well.

Ice Hockey World Championship

Kicks off in Helsink today and will last for two plus weeks. Last year Finland grabbed the title, this year, in Helsinki, hopefully they will be able to defend their cup. Although I have not watched ice hockey before arriving Finland, but I am thrilled by the dynamic, speed and excitement of the game. Most importantly, there is a very interesting Finnish commentator, Antero... it is so fun to hear him announcing during the match!


http://yle.fi/uutiset/ice_hockey_world_championships_kicking_off/6081649

Half way through!

It has been a challenging 4 months, but having completed 25 credits, just made me feel GREAT despite the hardwork. Now, I am all charged up to go for phase 2, another 16 credits in 2.5 months! This means sacrificins summer holidays, but it also means, I will be 3/4 way through my study requirements... thereafter, I can put full concentration in preparing and implementing my research! Though it seems like impossible to strive for a 2 years completion, but I am still going to aim this as my Mission Impossible! God, please give me strength and motivation to complete this goal!

Packing for first study seminar

Time flies, the long awaited study seminar will finally take place next week. Earlier, the plan was I will stay in a hotel in Helsinki, but some changes happened. We decided to take back our own apartment in Lahti for self-use. As a result, I can live in our own apartment from now on when travelling south. It is still 99km from Helsinki but with the advancement of transportation, the distance only require 54mins train ride which is nothing in relation to the distance. If I will rent a room in Helsinki, it is not so cosy, in addition, the price is expensive even for a simple room... now I have a 64m2 apartment to myself, so, no complains, but filled with excitement and joy. In the next trip, I could even have family along, killing two birds with one stone... holiday + study, ha ha!

Marking exam papers

Time of the year again, with bundles of handwritten exam papers to mark. This can be a painful and time consuming process. In order to be fair to the examinees, I tried to read their badly written handwriting, try to understand where they are coming from, and whether what they explained to some extend is similar to what I am expecting. In some cases, each sentence must be read at least 2 or 3 times to finally determine if the contents are worth any points.... As a result, my own study assignments and seminar preparation is now at halt until all these work obligations are cleared from my plate.

Nature's beauty!

This was amazingly beautiful... a lucky sighting! Blessing of God's grace!

 

Dinner tonight

I love Finnish sausage! We eat this during mid-summer night, when we have the bonfire, but other times, if we are warming up the fireplace, we can also grilled it there. It is not the healthiest food on earth, but hack it, life is about living to eat, and occasional pamper of sinful food is a must to make us live to the fullest :D

May Day, May Day!

It is a quite public holiday at home, but outside, a totally different world of celebration in Finland. Teens get dead drunk overnight on this day. They are not drinking the traditional cider, Sima, but buckets and buckets of beers!

I was out shopping with kids yesterday, there were many people in the store, and whilst queueing, I noticed, EVERY one on the Q, except us, have at least 12 to 24 cans of beers... the one with biggest load, was 2 x 24 cans!

No wonder, there were so many drunken people on the street last night to keep police busy all night!

I have been a teen before, but I wonder what is the thrill to drink so much, and get totally drunken!? I thought it was a torture and never wanted to get myself to that state, so I have been 'sober' my whole life thus far. May be one day in future, before I died, I should get myself drunk and feel how is it like to be a crazy teen... till then, I still treasure my sober mind :D

More: http://yle.fi/uutiset/drunk_teens_keep_police_busy/6077833