this is the class that had the most of activities ever. we learnt how to face problems and started with the straw game: all members in a group must use one finger each to bring a straw down and then raise it up. the game ended quite fast after Tom thought about the "crossing finger method" (that's how I call it) and ask people t oget their fingers touch others' which would make the straw laid stably and then we could low it down and raised it up very easily.

then we came to the puzzle game. the striking point was even when we finished the puzzle, Mrs Suma still said we didn't complete it yet. we tried many times until we figured out that all groups still have to put their parts together in order to make a square. think outside of the box it was!

blending work with other, even in other groups, is hard enough to create problem, isnt it?

we firstly made a quiz or better call it a list of questions about ourselves, about what we agree, our point of views about a firm's different tasks, work and progress. despite almost all of questions are about theoretic thinking, there were some funny questions indeed. one of them is about what I would want to write on my grave stone and i chose "My life for Aiur, i long for combat". it was VERY hard to explain to other about what it really means to me, even Mrs Suma didn't get the idea. well it was taken from the game i like the most and it was the sentence when an unit in that game prepared to go for battles. the sentence meant his life was dedicated to Aiur (his hometown - a peaceful planet) but he will sacrifice himself in combat and he can fight non-stop for that place.

to do a harsh thing for a peaceful place, to do a cruel thing for the belief, to do the wrong thing for the right thing.

that's how I always behave at least. sound kind of zealotic i know but I dont feel anything wrong with that, everybody also lives up for what they believe, so do I.

then we were given a subject to write about and it is also a very special topic: sexual harassment. Lisa - the girl we have to write the script about had faced some cases of sexual harassment before in her life. we have to put ourself in her play and write about her reactions, her words, etc.

I personally like this kind of homework, especially when this time it's about a sexual problem. I have been irritated by sexism and hopefully via the script I can somewhat point the right for women, even if it's only in words.

we focused on individual's role this lesson. firstly we were asked to chose a role (or a motto?) that is the most right for us. 4 papers were laid on the tables, each of them pointed out 1 important thing: relationship/ strategy / right thing / artistic

without hesitate i chose strategy , a real strategy is already a masterpiece of all, maintain relationship, stick to the right step and make the whole concept smooth, or at least that's what i have thought, so i chose strategy. we were asked again to write down some words, points to describe a strategist.

then we went to the lab and started to do a quiz to see whether the role we chose was actually the right we are. the result came to me was kind of surprising. i was actually an Idealist . personally i have never thought about myself as a good strategic but at least that was what I had always aimed for, so the role I got indeed was out of my imagination somewhat. it's true that I have always want to be good in strategies, but what I always admire is usually what I am not.

i got the result for my negotiation test and scored 15. i guess it was part of Ardra's effort also, since she did support me during the test. though Mrs Suma said we settled the problem a bit too fast, I still feel that it was an improvement of mine when i did try to manage to not mess my own words up again.


then we came to the emotional "test". we paired a group 2 people and one would have to tell the other one secret that may shock the other. I tried very hard to think about what i should have tell Jessica (it was not a big secret by the way, but it's offensive to some people so I don't feel like telling it). and when she reacted as she was shocked and asked me why, I started to regret that I chose it to tell.

though later it came out that her reaction was somewhat an act, I still could not get rid of the worry feeling. as for Mrs Suma said, the reaction towards your words will many times make you scared/regret/worried/upset/down. to me, that was a double sides lesson, that every words I say may hurt others and that the truth I tell may get another reaction if I can learn how to make it sound acceptable.

out of the studying a bit, but I guess now I can understand why people say the cold of English was an effect of the Rose Wars long ago. they tend to not talk much, since even a very small wrong word can lead to an awful consequence.

it was the first lecture that we took in Dhouby Ghaut and we welcomed Linda, our ECU lecturer. a bit out side of studying, but i was actually impressed by Linda's blonde hair and wonder whether if it was her true hair colour or not. well simply I'm just interested in light thing, and right when she stepped to the classroom, her appearance caught me. although the most important thing is not about how a person looks, it is still true that the appearance will give the first impression about you to people.

Linda explained to us more about negotiation and asked us to separate to different groups to explain different methods in negotiation to other groups. we already read and were lectured about it, but it was kind of new to know what other classmates think and understand about it, hence I found out that different people don't have the same opinions, neither got to think about one definition in the same way.

Various perceptions' issue appeared clearer when we came to play the birthday game. we had to line up in order due to our birth days but we were not allowed to open our mouths but use body languages to make people understand it. we indeed finished pretty fast, not to mention some small tricks, but it had much fun to know how it would happen when you lose your easiest way to communication (i wondered how deaf and mute people could deal with it though). surprisingly to know Ayyub was born in October too, so we were teamed up together with Singil.

we came to train more in negotiation skills, started with being a problem between employee and employer. i was the employer and i had to ask Singil to change his attitude while he didnt't want to. my biggest weakness appeared clearly in that, especially when i had to do it with Singil - the calm type of person. when it comes to serious things, I'm always too straightforward, hence make the communication unfriendly. therefore, the longer I negotiated, the messier my words became. just as the same time when i tried to negotiate with Ayyub and Sya, things ended up as I was the one nearly lost

Isn't it hard, to be able to keep yourself calm and cool always?

The manner of Botticelli is easy to recognise because of the hair styles among others. And he used to paint "a tempera" (a mix of pigments, water and egg), it was not oil-painted. At this time, oil wasn't discovered (it was by Van Eyck in the first half of the 15th century). The paintings a tempera have a special look, quite thin, quite delicate but less luminous than oil. Botticelli has a very recognisable style so if you see strong resemblances between the two pictures, it should be Botticelli. There may be an other possibility though, Botticelli had a student, Filippino Lippi, that took a lot of his specially soft style.

We can also say Botticelli is recognizable by his really precise line, as he is part of the Florentine school that was very based on the line (in comparison to the Venetian school that was more into colour for example). We could say much more on the subject I guess but the goal is not to make everyone sleep, so... Take what you want...


----taken from Maxence Raffi
since the day i knew him, i started to believe that there are people who live for art

Self awareness is the first component of emotional intelligence which all leaders have. People with it are able to work with a demanding client and understand the client’s impact on her moods and the deeper reasons for their frustration and will be recognized by their self-confidence.

People with self-regulation are in control of their feelings and impulses, therefore will create an environment of trust and fairness. People who have mastered their emotions are able to roll with the changes and deal with change and news. However, people like that are sometimes seen as lack of passion.

As for Motivation, people with leadership potential are motivated by a deeply embedded desire to achieve for the sake of achievement. Those with high motivation also remain optimistic even when the score is against them and they can overcome failure with the combination of self-regulation. They also often feel committed to the organizations.

Although seems unbusinesslike, empathy is understood as thoughtfully considering employees’ feelings – along with other factors – in the process of making intelligent decisions. It is particularly important today as a component of leadership for at least three reasons: the increasing use of teams, the rapid pace of globalization and the growing need to retain talent.

Social skill is friendliness with a purpose: moving people in the direction you desire. It is the culmination of the other dimensions of emotional intelligence. Socially skilled people are adept at managing teams. Therefore social skill is considered a key leadership capability, no leader is an island.