The march of penguin

在幾次call back面試都沒有贏得offer之後，我跑去career development office (CDO，就業中心)尋求指引。在我最後一個call back的前一天，那裡的consultant Stewart幫我安排了兩次模擬面試。

在第二次模擬面試之後，Stewart看著我說："You are not the strongest interviewer. But you don't have to be the strongest interviewer to get an offer." "You shouldn't have problem getting a job." "Maybe it's because...."頓了一陣子之後，她很小心的說："I don't see any personality." 她開玩笑的作敲門的手勢："Hello! Is there any personality in Michael?"

乍聽到這句話時並沒有感覺，但是回家後越想越沮喪。我有沒有personality？我知道我有。我的朋友、家人也知道我有。就算是外國人，認識我久了之後，也可以明白我的特色，也會知道我是一個值得交的朋友。但是語言的隔閡，以及面試時的緊張，使我忙於戰戰兢兢的回答問題 ("catch all the pitches")，沒有餘力表達自己的特色或魅力。在面試官的眼中，我不過是一個成績不錯、正襟危坐、方方正正的學生吧？

這句評語在某一刻，成為壓垮我的一根稻草。因為我突然了解到，即使我在這麼競爭的環境中那樣的努力，某些先天條件的差別總是會在某處跳出來提醒 我的限制。有的時候我看著班上的美國人，的確會覺得我就像其餘的亞洲人一樣，安靜、勤奮、善良，但是沒有臉孔。沒有personality。我追求在他們 的世界裡成功。於是我遵守他們的遊戲規則、用他們的方式達到他們的標準。然後他們告訴我，他們看不見我是誰。

把臉洗一洗了之後，告訴自己重新開始。最多錢的工作找不到，就找比較沒有錢的工作。事務所不給offer，就去專利局做幾年再找，其實還是找得 到。我永遠無法像美國人那樣隨時都很熱情的打招呼，但是做律師的確不應該太安靜。我了解再好的工作都比不上家人與身邊的人珍貴，因為她們使我有勇氣再次站 起來。我也想多了解我的朋友。我一直覺得留學至今最可惜的一件事，就是沒有機會好好認識優秀的同學(大概Karen例外)。

每次我的文章都會以許多"to do"做結。這大概也反應出我對自己事業的焦慮。 我不是那些一帆風順，進入Law Review拿到許多offer的人；或許我沒有他們努力；只是對我這種需要挫折才懂得反省的人來說，我相信這樣的磨練是有益的。

飛來飛去interview 沒有offer好鬱卒

2L除了課業之外，還多了找工作要煩。一般來說2L升3L的暑假實習攸關未來工作。如果實習表現得好，事務所就會offer學生畢業後回來工作。因此2L很大一部分時間都花在改履歷、丟履歷與interview上。

Interview通常分兩階段: screening interview與call back interview。在事務所收到履歷之後，如果事務所覺得妳帳面上的成績夠好，便會要求20-30分鐘的screening interview。通常screening interview 是在學校附近的旅館，每一間裡面坐一個事務所的律師，被選中參加screening interview的學生則輪流到房間裡與律師面試。面試時間20-30分鐘。於是妳會看到旅館的每層樓的走廊上，每個房間外面都或坐或站著一位西裝畢挺 或是套裝筆挺的男生或女生，等著被房間裡的律師面試(臨幸?)。

有些其他州的事務所沒有到本校進行面試，對那個事務所有興趣的學生就必須自費飛到那個城市去面試。我一個月之內便為了screening interview去了紐約、費城、舊金山與洛杉磯各一趟。

Interview本身跟法律一樣，十分中規中矩。法學院的interview不玩(商學院愛用的)花招，沒有什麼"如何在不碰觸到燈泡的情況 下檢查燈泡是否壞了"之類的腦筋急轉彎。大部分都是按著履歷問成績、經驗、寫作與口語能力等。要如何在20分鐘內讓面試官印象深刻，是我們這等成績中間的學生的 必修功課。

在screening interview之後，如果相談甚歡，事務所便會打電話來提出call-back interview。通常call-back歷時一個上午或一個下午，要面試事務所內4-6個律師，每一次約20-30分鐘。有些還會包括一頓中餐或晚 餐。事務所還會提供飛機票與旅館錢。如此大費周章，除了各事務所要在學生面前撐門面之外，也是因為事務所需要確定聘來的(昂貴的)新律師能夠適應事務所的 文化，與其他的律師合作愉快。

不幸的，雖然我迄今為止共有4個call-back，分別在紐約、華盛頓、Irvine跟舊金山，但只收到兩個rejection，還沒有收到 任何正式的offer。這還蠻挫折的，因為聽說call-back之後收到offer的機率是40~60%。除了口語能力的差別之外，或許我比較害羞的個性(???)也是原因之ㄧ。要與陌生人輕鬆的談笑，對我來說不是一件容易的事情。

不同的人給我不同的建議--Karen說："just go in and act like you don't give a shit" 這招只對像她這樣成績好的人有效。海燕學姐說："與加州人面試要把自己心情調的很high，像過動兒一樣給人印象比較深刻。" 我很難假裝過動兒耶。Aaron說："my problem is my personality is so wonderful! Everyone loves me after the interview!" 像這樣自戀的人應該面試無往不利吧。

幫我祈禱找到一個工作輕鬆、薪水普通、同事都充滿熱誠的offer吧！

Another letter to Bennington

Dear Mr. Edgar,


You entered apartment #1419 to repair the dryer today. You left a working order that states “check dryer. It is blowing hot air.” Indeed the dryer will always blow hot air when you first turn it on. But the hot air will not continue for more than 5 minutes. To see it yourself, I suggest you throw a wet towel in the dryer, turn it on, and then come back in 5 minutes. I guarantee you the dryer will be shut down when you return. A dryer that blows hot air for less than 5 minutes is as useful as a toilet that cannot flush.


I would appreciate you repair the dryer to its full condition. This has been the fifth times I file a repair request about the dryer. And every time, the maintenance persons seem to leave the property in a hurry when they feel the first breeze of hot air. Please stay a little longer. Do not leave until you witnessed the dryer function for more than 5 minutes. Feel free to drink the beverage in the refrigerator while you are waiting. I have no doubt the dryer will not perform any better when you are present than what I’ve seen in the past few months, that is, it will not work for more than 5 minutes. As unpleasant as the recent weather is, it is ironic that a continuous hot air could be found everywhere but the place that needed it most--my dryer.


And if you confirmed that the dryer could not function for more than 5 minutes; and you realized even with your expertise, the wicked dryer still refuse to be repaired, I appreciate you replace the dryer. Particularly, I prefer you replace it with a dryer that could work a full cycle.


Thank you for your work.



Sincerely,


麥可青蛙

An efficient routine (summer intern)

8:30 alarm ring

8:41 wake up

8:55 dry shirt, iron hair...no, wake up...dry hair, iron shirt

9:06 start car engine. Shakira on radio

9:35 arrive office

10:10 make a cup of tea

1:00 have lunch. not pizza again.

2:31 fall asleep

2:32 make a cup of coffee

4:21 look at the clock, check email

5:04 look at the clock, check email

5:06 look at the clock, check email....

6:00 print something, pretend to be busy

6:17 leave office. Shakira on radio

8:00 have dinner + CSI: Las Vegas

10:00 study for patent bar, apply for job

12:00 MSN

12:40 lay on bed. read a few pages

1:00 set up alarm. fall asleep

Law Review

Few days ago I learned that I did not make it to the Law Review. That is not surprising, since I never turned in my competition assignment.

Several classmates in (maybe half of) my small section class made it to one or the other law journals. Those classmates include Augustine, Karen, Laura, Kathy, etc. Congratulation to them! This is an achievement since GWU Law only has 5 journals. Other law school with similar or smaller class size has much more journals than GWU (ex. Georetown has 15 journals).

Although I never expected or seriously imagined myself joining the law review, I still feel somewhat lost when I heard the name list. Although it was a battle--a time-limited, massive-reading, smart English writing competition--that I knew I have little chance, I still felt defeated by the winners of the battle.

"That is not my game", I try to remind myself, "an English writing competition will never be my game." How I feel was vividly portraited in the book "One L," in which the main character described how he changed from not caring about the law review at all to suffering the depression when he learned that he failed to make the law review; how a high-achiever was encouraged and harmed by the competitive atmosphere of the school. I don't feel nearly as bad as he did. But "joining the law review would have been nice" I wonder.

Absence all the excuses, I do appreciate one precious reward from the competition experience--I know one more thing that I'm not good at. After doing poorly in guitar, jazz percussion, piano and singing (singing was really bad), I learned to focus on things that I'm better at and enjoy learning things that I'm still, well, learning.

Odyssey Banquest

The very generous firm that I'm interning right now hosted a banquest on Odyssey on a Friday night.

The purpose of the banquet was to establish relationship with foreign clients, who came to the firm to attend a 1 month training program. Summer interns, including me, were just lucky to take advantage of the event.

Odyssey is a flat ship that cruises along the Potomac river. It departs at 8PM and returns to the port at 11PM. On the deck of the ship one could enjoy the night of Washington DC. The food was ok, but the scenary was amazing. Washington Monument, Lincoln memorial hall, Thomas Jefferson memorial hall, Raegan airport, War College, etc.

There was dancing on the boat. Surprisingly most asian clients, those from Japan, Korea and Mainland China, really enjoyed dancing and refused to leave the boat when the ship returns. The Koreans had no problem emptying the bar. The tour ended at 12 PM, an hour later than expected.

The internship so far has been much more fun than I expected. Although a no-intern-only-vacation summer vacation would be much better. Alas, I guess the only chance I could ever have another summer vacation is to pursue an academic career......

Reflection

One day in May, when I checked in a hostel in Cambridge, UK, I met an Indian man.

Around 45 years old, he was lying on the lower level of a a dorm-like double bed when I entered the room. He was doing nothing but lying.

First I wondered what's wrong with him. Why would a person who traveled from so far away, to such a beautiful place on such a glamorous day, stayed at the hostel and lied on his bed?

Later I realized he was not just killing his time or idling. He wasn't spending his time for nothing. His eyes showed spirits. He was looking at the ceiling but his mind was searching somewhere inside. I learned that his name is Vikram and he came for a conference in Cambridge.

He told me that everyday, he finds an hour or two to do nothing. "Nothing?" I ask. He said nothing, is a misleading word. "I reflect on myself, and ask what I've done today."

"I do not ask what I've not done today. But ask what I've done but did not fully appreciate."

"My time goes by faster than you, Michael. I cannot rush by everyday blinded."

After meeting Vikram, the pace of my UK trip slowed down. I can travel anywhere, I think, because everyday is a trip.

I'm looking forward to a trip that offers spectacular landscapes, combined with space to reflect. I had the luxury to do that on my Amazon River trip, of which every night I sit on the deck of the boat, admiring the reflection of the moon on the Amazon River.

A trip to Tibet is also something I wish I could join. Yellow desert, starry night, the sound of Jeep's engine. One day I will visit Amazon again, and I will visit Tibet.

* * *

I started this article one and a half year ago. Never was I able to finish it until someone told me about Tibet.

雖敗猶榮 摔手套好MAN啊 之 看王建民記

6/18，酷夏。華盛頓DC，父親節，大家去看棒球。

等待了許久，王建民終於要到DC跟Nationals隊比賽了。

又恰逢週末，於是我們同學會的人前夜便合力做了許多海報出來。

包括"No. Wang Arm" "TaiWang" 還有沒做出來的"He is Wangderful"

比賽雖是下午一點開始，但我們十一點半便到球場看球員練球。

在路上我們所做的國旗、海報、跟臉上的彩繪都受到相當的矚目。

召集人Phil把他的紅襪隊T-shirt用白紙寫上40號跟Wang，引起許多紅襪隊球員的不滿，

經過時都拍拍他的肩，說:"That's wrong man. That's wrong."

也有許多外國人問我們關於王建民跟中華民國的事情。

球場上令人意外的，Yankees的fan非常多，幾乎跟Nationals的平分秋色。

而且球員球衣多半是Yankees的，Nationals似乎還沒有培養出太多球星出來，大部分都是Soriano。

陸陸續續也看到許多台灣其他的同學會出現，都各自做了許多海報標語。

看來這是大華府地區，繼馬英九訪問之後難得的盛事，大家都傾力想給王建民主場般的歡迎。

開場前20分鐘，王建民與Posada現身牛棚練投。

我們一群台灣學生在牛棚旁鬼叫半天，只換來王建民掀一下帽子致意。

看來我們帶給王的是尷尬甚於光榮? 沒辦法，這就是成為巨星必經的路程，要忍受球迷的追逐。

不過他倒是叫練投捕手送我們一顆球。

我們的活躍引來了東森新聞記者的採訪。

不過記者似乎是主跑華府新聞的，而不是體育線的，居然叫我們對著鏡頭大喊："阿扁加油"??

寫了這麼多，還沒寫到比賽。

不過比賽大家都看了，這裡只提一些小觀察。

Nationals回到DC的兩年以來，今天的票房破了紀錄。顯示棒球真的回到DC了。

雙方的投手表現都非常好，對方先發的球數、好球率其實跟王平分秋色。

節奏也因此打得非常快，看得出來王今天的狀況很好、信心滿滿。

王的球速大約是維持在91-94跟81-84這兩各區間。對方的球速則是72-74跟86-88之間。

其實今天的變速球(80幾mile的那種)投得非常有效果，幾乎都可以搶到好球數。

球賽的高潮始於八局下半。

從我的角度可以看到王在休息室哩，已經把外套披在肩上，準備離開休息室了。

忽然停在休息室的裡面一陣子，接著就看到王扛著球棒準備打擊。

我們幾個人都面面相覷: "不會吧? 他還要再投一局?" 畢竟上一局他的壞球數就開始增加了。

不過王的最後一次上場打擊，居然ㄠ到了兩好三壞。

我背後的Nats球迷就對著Nats的投手大喊：

"Damn it! He's a pitcher! An American League pitcher! Throw him strikes!"

接著當然王又上場投了第九局。結果大家都知道了。

第九局其實王投得節奏非常快、球速也催回94。

那依球投出之後，王看到球的行徑角度之後便轉身回休息室。

Nats的球員則衝出來歡迎打出全壘打的隊員，全場的Nats球迷也都跳起來鼓掌。

我們當然是矇著臉不敢相信。

我看到王筆直的走進休息室，脫下手套後用力的砸向牆壁。

接著坐在他習慣的角落，另一個人過來安慰他。

比賽結束，放完煙火，洋基隊離開，我們也去Stadium station搭metro。

一夥人除了精疲力進，被晒乾了之外，總是覺得有點意猶未盡。

路上許多人在討論戰績、Torre的調度，下週Nats跟Red Sox的比賽等等。

我聽到一個老先生，對一位中年婦女說: "Thank you for your gift. I had a great father's day."

(大概是Nats的球迷吧)

我想兩隊的球迷都會同意，即使這場球有輸有贏，仍然是一個精采的下午。

即使王敗投了，我仍然可以清楚看見王更上一層樓的企圖心，與更上一層樓的潛力。

週一也可以重新拾起衝勁上班去。

下學期的教授們

這是飛機上打的.....



一直想寫一下我1L的幾個各有風格的教授。1L一共有八門課，正好是八個不同教授。
1L的課程是法學院的門面所在。由於1L的課程都是必修，而且分數對學生的就業特別重要，因此法學院對1L的教學要求特別高。教授的教學品質、課程是否充實、分數的分配、競爭的激烈程度等等，都是各校之間的比較重點。因此學校通常會排正在爭取終身職的年輕教授，或是對教學很有熱忱的名牌教授教1L。



不過，並不是所有的教授都能達到學生的期望。有些年輕教授缺乏教學經驗，有些快退休的教授缺乏熱忱，這種教授在期末都會被學生的教學評鑑批得很慘。

以下教授排名依照學分數多寡排列；



Contracts II (3)--Sch.



Contracts I 是由K.教的。這是我迄今最喜歡的教授，不過好像已經寫過了。他教完這一學期後，被布希找去當Federal Trade Committee的Commissioner，因此這一學期就改由Sch.接棒。



Sch.是一個話很多的教授。真的話很多。他的課的前10分鐘通常與契約法無關。他會先閒聊他的兩個兒子、老婆、遊艇、NCAA，布希的愚蠢或美國的外債問題。接下來10分鐘他會重覆上一堂課已經交過的東西。最後30分鐘才討論下一個case。這倒不是因為他在偷懶，而是因為他太過於熱愛教導學生，因此無法抑制說話的慾望。



他的話多也反映在他的考題之中。大約3頁的案情(fact patterns)中可能有1頁半與考試無關，只
是在介紹案情主角的身分背景。對美國學生來說也許會覺得這種胡扯很有趣，對我來說則是嚴重浪費我寶貴的答題時間。



不過Sch.很能跟學生打成一遍，甚受學生歡迎。學期一開始的時候他會辦一次全班的溜冰活動。其他學校的大小活動也都可以看到他牽著兩個小男孩的身影。不是看到他在主持義賣，就是看到他在園遊會幫忙賣冰棒。由於本校在government contract (政府契約)領域算是第一把交椅，而他又是這方面的全職教授之一，所以他對本校十分驕傲。他也是少數週末可以在法學院遇見的教授。



即使Sch.的學生緣這麼好，但因為他是接K.的班，兩相比較之下他的教學便遜色不少。兩位教授其實都不太在乎要教完課本內容，而比較要求學生學習『律師的思考方式』。K.重視的是契約法在政策面的影響，Sch.則比較重視律師在審查契約時的技術性的考量。



舉例而言，假設今天某一州的契約法規定業主沒有義務(除非契約中另有規定)在建築完成之前付任何的工程款；K.重視的是這樣的法律會造成業主與建築商之間怎樣的權力重分配(如建築商必須負擔較大的周轉壓力，業主會有較大誘因片面終止契約等)，而Sch.則重視當你是建築商或是業主的律師時，該如何在契約中計畫風險(如該如何安排每一次的分期付款，又哪一些款項是如果合約終止可以追討的)。



就實務來講，Sch.的教學內容比較實用，畢竟只有少數的學生畢業後會從事政策或是法律學術的工作。但對一群年輕且充滿求知欲的學生來說，K.的視野比較寬廣，也比較有挑戰性。這與K.在FTC任職許久，而Sch.則是律師事務所出身的背景有關。



Civil Procedure II 民事訴訟程序法 (3)—Sm.



題外話，我統計了一下，我1L的8個教授中有6個猶太人。難怪大家說猶太人掌握了美國幕後的權力中樞—法律界與銀行界。



Sm.很符合我心目中典型的猶太人形象：腦筋好又快，整本Federal Rules of Civil Procedure都背在腦中。上課嚴格遵照預定進度，對學生嚴格且公平。雖然年紀還很輕，在他的大鼻子上卻戴著大大的老花眼鏡。



不知道是不是因為民事訴訟程序法本身內容太多，Sm.跟上一學期的Ty.上課內容都十分充實。不但上課前要唸的內容最多，而且上課時全班也是埋著頭敲鍵盤記老師的上課內容，很少人有空上課收email或是MSN(跟Sch.的課相反)。每次一上完Sm.的課，我都有一種暈車想吐的感覺，其他人也會互相對望，眼中露出被雷打到的『花生瞎瞇歹記』的表情。



這種『飽到吐』的感覺在期末考時達到高峰。Sm.的另一個特色是他花很多時間幫大家復習課程。他自願安排了兩次的複習時段，同時把他所有的考古題都放在網路上，甚至他還標出哪一些是一定會考的範圍(當然，他不說也大概猜得出來)。換句話說，所有人都被拉到同一個起跑線上，所有人都有相同的資訊。再加上Civ Pro考試內容最多，卻是最後一科考試，因此準備時間最短。所有人在考前都處於一種飽到不能再飽的狀況。



這也是為什麼上一篇中，當我考完最後一科時，心中有嚴重的失落。這就好像把人丟到雲霄飛車上轉到頭暈目眩之後，再叫他躺在公園涼椅上看浮雲；當然你會很慶幸終於可以休息一下，但心底深處你還是有一絲渴望被折磨的感覺。



Constitutional Law (3)—Ma.



相反的，Ma.則是公園裡的浮雲。



Ma.大概是本校最受學生歡迎的教授。他同時也是去年四月，我參加Preview Day時，學校排出來讓學生旁聽的教授(換句話說，Ma.是派來吸引新生的王牌)。



聽Ma.上課就好像看Discovery 頻道一樣，輕鬆愉快、充滿娛樂性但又讓你覺得有些收穫。Ma.上課很有親和力又很能以簡馭繁。他總是在上課前把大綱寫在黑板上，準時(不差一秒)的開始上課，並在每堂課的最後一分鐘講完最後一條大綱。據說這種準時的要求來自他在軍中的訓練。



Ma. 另一個優點是他很能掌握班上討論：即使學生回答的再爛，他都有辦法把主題導回他想講的內容。大家都覺得Ma. 如果想要的話，應該可以成為一個很優秀的 辯護律師，因為他實在太有親和力了、太容易博取別人的信任了。但現實中Ma.除了是法學院教授之外，另外則是DC的聯邦法院的Magistrate judge（推事法官，通常負責監督與促進和解)。



相對於下一個介紹的教授，Ma.是屬於spoon-feeding的類型，也就是把一切教材準備的好好的，用銀湯匙端到學生面前。但上課太過輕鬆的結果，就是大家都不認真。由於Ma.叫人是on deck，也就是每一排從左到右依序點人；再加上他總是可以在課堂上把每一個案例的事實、思考邏輯與衍生的規則講得一清二楚，久而久之大家上課前都不先預習了。反而上課時許多人都在上網聊天，收email跟忙自己的事。



平心而論，Ma.可以教的那麼輕鬆，部份是因為Constitution I是比較好教的科目，因為它主要是討論三權分立、聯邦與州政府的權力分立，與政府組織等等。這些題材相關的案例都已經塵埃落定。不管是誰教或是用哪一本課本，大概都會用同樣幾個Case。而且很多案例的原則雖然已經不符合現實的應用，但因為歷史上的重要性，因此最高法院的後續判決必須要『閃開』這些里程碑的判決。因為這些主流的憲法原則都已經銅牆鐵壁一般，因此教學方法也很死，就是把這些原則搞清楚而已。



不過我這一學期兩次上課被問到呆掉都是在Ma.的課上。第一次他問我美國當初草創Cofederation時有哪十三州參加，第二次他問我柯林頓時期的法務部長是誰。顯然這些都是美國任何大學生都答得出來的常識問題，不幸問到我這個假美國人。



Property(4)—Ts.



Property (物權)據說是1L最抽象、最缺乏系統性的科目。本來Property是我這學期最期待的一堂課，因為它是所有財產權的基礎(如智慧財產權，遺產與信託等等)；但最後卻是我最討厭、甚至連翹一星期的課。



我目前修過課的兩位女教授，Ty. 跟Ts.，除了都是哈佛出身之外，恰巧是一個極端的對照。Ty. 是全身閃著Elite光環的明日之星，出身新英格蘭，老公是在哈佛認識的現任某大醫學院的教授，哈佛畢業後就進了最高法院做助理。Ty. 除了在大型律師事務所待過一陣子之外，同時是長跑健將，可以說是美國典型的成功人士。她總是穿著一襲黑色套裝，臉上有健康的曬傷，隨時都面帶笑容。



Ts.在保守的法學院則是另類的引人注目。她是東歐移民，因此英語有濃厚的東歐腔。留著長又捲的燙髮，骨瘦如柴，臉色蒼白且總是穿著黑暗的長裙與有補丁的燈籠戎夾克。照同學的講法，是一個標準的『咖啡因中毒東歐新共產主義份子』造型。雖然沒有親眼見過，但我很容易想像Ts.蹲在牆角喝酒抽菸的樣子。她從未進過事務所，婚姻據說是由第三者扶正。



兩個人上課方式也大異其趣。Ty.上課最喜歡討論複雜或是金額龐大的案子，例如她以前從事的是藥物的class action。她上課也是進度嚴謹，有條不紊。Ts.則最喜歡討論歷史與社會學的議題，討論窮人與富人的權力與地位。她上課則幾乎完全不照課本進度，叫一堆學生起來互相辯論，到最後變得像2100全民開講一樣。



第一堂課，Ts.閃著哈佛的光環驕傲的進入教室，開始炮火四射的問學生一堆哲學問題：什麼是物權？誰界定物權的界限？何謂擁有？我一開始對這種啟發式的教育方式很興奮，覺得終於碰到一個真正高等教育的教授了。



但很可惜的是，如此有野心要在教學中啟發學生思維的Ts.，最後卻是大家最討厭的教授。一方面是因為大班不適合這種自由討論的上課方式，另一方面是因為Ts.缺乏教學經驗、因此教授的內容變得很瑣碎。此外，Ts. 有限的英文能力也使她無法好好說清她的想法。她略帶憤世嫉俗的態度更使得她不願意全心教導學生(因為她認為法學院的教學是垃圾)。



就某方面來說，Ty.的樸素與故作親切是她遮掩自己菁英氣質的方式，而Tsuk的反傳統造型則是一種合理化她的格格不入的表現。一言以敝之，Ty.是資優生努力放下身段教同學，Ts.則是叛逆的轉學生努力掩飾自己對教育的不耐煩。

如果我猜的沒錯，在學生填完教學評鑑之後，Ts.大概會遭到跟上一學期Sir.教授同樣的命運：被逼辭退。



這 是這一學期的四個教授。上學期的四個教授好像都寫過了：單身生活很寂寞的Lew.、很像電視裡的辯護律師的Sir.、菁英中的菁英的Ty.、長得像狼人一樣的K.。

The end of 1L

Read and outline until 3 AM. Wake up at 8 AM and start practicing exams. At 11 AM, Drag my luggage bag that is packed with casebooks, supplemental materials and class notes through the metro to the classroom. Swallow lunch in 15 minutes. Find out the exam room on the blackboard. Setup the notebook and deep breath 3 times. Flip over the exam and begin.



mmmm….there are 3 issues in Question 1. Issue 1: this is the reason why A is right and B is wrong. However, B may argue this reason. But still, A should win because of that reason. Next issue. B should win because A failed to show this and that. However, if B could show that and this, B will win. But still, even if B show that and this, if A could point out this and that, B could not win….Next issue…



Exam end. Deep breath again. Go home and take a nap. Wake up at 8 PM and prepare for the next exam.



What? There is no next exam?



After I finished my Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法) exam at 5PM on May 4^th, 2006, my first year (1L) ended. After I submitted my exam electronically, in my heart I raised both my hands high. “YES! I’M DONE!” I shouted, again in my heart.



People say surviving the 1L is itself an achievement. But the atmosphere at school was not as high as the end of the first semester. As usual, the school threw a party at us at the night the last test ended. The school reserved a night club. I arrived at ten and found 200 drunk and crazy 1L busy hugging, kissing to congratulate each other and intoxicating themselves. Aaron, particularly, was so drunk that he had to lie on the road outside of the pub.



I arrived the pub late and left early because classmates I’m more familiar with had left, were drunk, or disappeared. I left to home driving with high spirits nevertheless. It was a relatively quiet end of 1L. And on my way driving to home, I was happy to put everything in the 1L out of my mind for a moment.

一點都不想念台灣

Apr. 18, 2006


縣道95騎機車

東海夜市的蜜汁炸雞

基隆廟口的泡泡冰

復興南路清粥小菜

全民大悶鍋的李敖

天母運動公園的小朋友

國父紀念館的溜冰小朋友

春水堂的大杯茉香奶茶

東海夜市的彎豆冰

烏來的公共溫泉

美而美的漢堡加蛋

漫畫王的沙發

誠品2F的奇幻小說區

西雅圖咖啡的非吸煙區

軍艦岩

墾丁潛水

京華城戲院 + 地下二樓滷味

中正紀念堂的風箏與扯鈴

真好味的蘋果日報

無國籍食堂的神奇椅子

研究院路胡椒餅

艾克米的蘭提

林伯伯家的狗

小小福的板凳

第五階的門鈴

八里的污水處理廠

伊洛瓦底的烏梅汁

士林夜市的棺材板

通化夜市的青木瓜沙拉

錢櫃的奶茶

摩斯漢堡的蜜汁烤雞堡

大安森林公園的斜坡

五角船板的鯉魚

陳綺貞的長裙

光華商場的監視器

糖朝的原木桶豆花

西門町的健身房

椰林泳池的深水區

7-11的熱狗滾輪

我家牛排的番茄醬

台科大的網球牆

Letters waiting in my mail box everyday

Dear Mr. Chou,

Thank you for your interest in our firm. However, our Summer Program, if it is decided to have one, has not traditionally been extended to first year law students. Please fell free to touch base with us again next year.

On behalf of the firm, we wish you the very best in all your future endeavors and continued success in law school. Thank you again for your interest in our firm.

Dear Mr. Chou,

Thank you for your recent communication concerning employment with F & S, L.L.P. Unfortunately, we have completed our recruiting efforts for this season and are therefore not in a position to consider you for the upcoming summer. Our inability to consider your application, now, however, is in no way a reflection on your qualifications.

Dear Mr. Chou,

Thank you for your interest in our student associate position at S & F, L.L.P. Our Recruitment Committee has considered the candidates who have applied with relation to our employment needs.

Although we are very impresses with your credentials, we have thoroughly reviewed our hiring needs and find we will be unable to offer you a position at this time. We are in the fortunate position of having received many outstanding applications and have thus had to make some very difficult choices.

Dear Mr. Chou,

Given our limited number of available 1L positions, I am sorry to report that we will not be able to consider you for a position in our summer program. With many outstanding candidates such as yourself, our decision was not easy.

Dear Mr. Chou,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding summer associate positions with our firm. Due to the success of our fall on-campus recruiting, we have determined that we will not be able to offer you employment at this time. However, we do encourage you to reapply in the fall of our 2007 summer program.

Dear Mr. Chou,

Thank you for your inquiry about possible summer employment with our firm following completion of your first year of law school. Unfortunately, we are unable to extend an invitation to interview with us at this time.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After the third rejection letter, I stopped feeling anything. Rejection is expected since I, as an 1L, have not built up any credential to demonstrate my capability. The lawyer market in America is like Major League Baseball--the toughest competition in the world.

A few weeks ago I attended the our school's moot court competition. The competition is basically an imitation of an appellate argument (上訴) in front of the higher courts, such as Circuit courts (高等法院) or the Supreme Court (最高法院). The issue in dispute is about whether one is protected by freedom of expression (言論自由) when he puts in a CD some inaudible insulting language (在CD中插入攻擊性的言論，但是必須要在快轉CD時才聽得見), which cannot be heard unless the CD was fast forwarded.

The argument was great fun. Both teams composed of 3L students performed well. The bench (法官席) constituted of the newly-elected Chief Justice (首席大法官) John Roberts, and two justices from the Second Circuit (第二巡迴高等法院). For those of you who are not familiar with the US government system, the status of Chief Justice in the judicial branch (司法系統 ) is similar to the President in the executive branch (行政系統).

What amazed me the most during the competition, however, was the awe the Chief Justice enjoyed. Everyone in the auditorium had to stand up when the justices enter the bench, and when they leave the court. You "explain" to the justice, but you never argue with the justice. When justice ask a question, you answer the question. What the justice decided is final, at least in a fairly long time. The justices' power, albeit sporadically checked by the higher court, is only limited by the justices' obedience to the law.

I envy that power, and hope one day I will possess that power. Not necessarily as a judge, but as some kind of legal professional. The competition reminded me that the reason I entered the law profession, is to obtain the power to significantly affect others' life; to witness and participate in the most intimate crisis in ones life; and to resolve and judge the crisis with the value that I believe in.

I get rejection letters everyday. But letters do not reject me.

Windstar 125 ﹝風神125﹞

My best friend in law school Karen asked me to put some Taiwan music on my blog. So here it is.

The song is called <Windstar 125>. Windstar 125 is a name of a 125 c.c. schooter. Just like "Camry" is a name of a car. This song is perfect for foreigh students and is currently my No. 1 favorite song.

It's actually not a Taiwanese song, but in Haka (客家話), written and played by Labor Exchange Band (交工樂隊). The lyrics is about a young man's journey. He grew up in the country side of Taiwan, but was never satisfied with his farming life. Instead, he dreamed of living big, shiny and glorious in a big city. One day, he secretly left school and his family and took a train in Taipei (the capital of Taiwan).

After several years of struggle, he failed and was frustrated. He missed the land and smell and sunrise of his home, but he was too embarassed to return without achievements. He missed his parents and his old grandmother. One night, he finally took his Windstar 125, and rode towards home.

When he got close to his home county, he started to pray for the moon to hide, for the gods to turn the lights of the roads off, so he can quietly return without notice. He saw the door of his home, saw his parents in the farm, saw the sunrise. And he left.

The song I put on here is a bad recording (don't know how to put on the album version). It was recorded in Jan 2001 at NTU student center, a live performance that I attended. I still remember my thrill when I first heard the suona horn (a windwood instrument, 嗩吶) raised. It penetrated my heart like John Coltrane's solo. It washed my soul.

To me, that suona is the sound of Taiwan, the sound of home.

低潮

聖誕節之後，就一直過得渾渾噩噩。

一連串的變化與打擊，使我突然失去了目標，也失去了熱情。

對上課與競爭都失去了興趣，對自己的人際關係也失去信心。

表面上看來沒有異狀，裡面卻是空的。

但是學校課業的壓力還是一直一直來，所以就像空的鐵鍋在爐子上燒一樣。

壓力一大的時候，就會發現自己許多缺點。

不是那種一條一條條列式的缺點。雖然那一種也不少。

比如說唸書缺乏自律，做事情沒有條理，常常分心或是很難與人深交。

在該專心的時候分心，在不該擔心的時候擔心。

唸書的時候想著玩樂，玩樂的時候又擔心課業。

唉聲歎氣的，也顯示抗壓性很低。

可是最根本的問題是自己腦筋不好。

不是那種題目做不出來或是書看不懂的不好，雖然那一種也有。

而是一種『硬碰硬』的性格。

腦筋好的人，懂得遇到困難的時候，用自己最擅長最輕鬆的方式面對。

這種人總是可以有不錯的表現。

腦筋不好的人，總是挑最困難的方式去面對，然後碰個頭暈臉黑。

比如說，這一學期五門課，四門傳統法學課程，一門寫作課。

傳統課程成績從A到C都有。

寫作課功課最多，成積卻只分三種，High pass，pass跟not pass。

全班13個人只有兩個人兩個人可以拿high pass，其他人通常都拿pass。

一個腦筋好的人，會懂得要分配時間。

因為得到high pass的機會太小，他會把大部分時間花在傳統課程上，而只要寫作課保持有pass就好。

一個腦筋不好的人，例如我，就不懂得分配時間。

每一科都想要唸很多書，寫作課要交報告時就翹傳統課寫作業；

一個只佔15%的演講測驗，別人花1個小時準備我卻花4個小時；

最後兩頭落空。傳統課程成績也不好，寫作課還是只得了一個pass。

每個人都有不同的讀書方法跟心理狀態。

有人說：﹝就努力催眠自己對這個科目很有興趣，唸久了就真的有興趣了。﹞

也有人說：﹝遇到挫折我會想，別人的成功是別人過去努力的累積，我未來的成功也是來自我現在努力的累積。﹞

我覺得都說得很棒。

習慣以『埋頭苦讀』來面對挑戰的我，直到現在才開始慢慢摸索最適合自己的成功之路。

希望從這一篇文章開始，揮別之前的渾渾噩噩。

回到專一為課業、事業全心奉獻的生活。

My little office

My summer internship is in a patent boutique firm in Falls Church, VA.

The firm is known for "wine and dine"--they usually have good food and party.

The people were also kind and welcoming.

In fact, I was surprised how easy-going the people are. I was expecting a more harsh, people-as-slave working environment. But the hours are reasonable, and people seem to have normal lives.

Last weekend the firm had a 3 day trip to Rocky Gap, MD.

The place is a resort, with a golf course, a lake, some biking tracks and a pool.

I went bass fishing (got 6 fish) and paint ball shooting (漆彈射擊) both were new to me and interesting.

All and all I'm quite happy with my summer internship.

My schedule of this semester

當2L與3L不斷恐嚇我們1L第一學期會有多忙多忙時，她們都隱瞞了另一個更大的壞消息--第二學期會比第一學期忙很多！

除了照例有15個學分 (大約每週需K書30小時)，這學期還要申請暑假實習 (約丟出上百封履歷，被reject 99次)。

第一項功課是一次練習oral argument (一週後，演說三分鐘，資料20頁)，另外有兩個書面brief。一個是motion brief (兩週內，4000字)，一個appellate brief (再兩週內，字數不詳)。

每一個brief至少需引用15個case，因此大約要讀30個case。

每一個brief交出去之後就是口頭辯論。Motion brief之後是課堂辯論(在DC的地方法院，由三位法官評審)，Appellate brief之後是1L的全校辯論賽("Moot court")。

Moot court 共三輪，最後約10%的學生會被選進Moot Court Board。

春假前開始journal competition。每個人發一個包裹。根據包裹裡的資料，四天內寫出一篇motion brief。基本上這四天不用睡覺。

根據你的寫作能力，再加權學業成績，大約有10%的人會被選進學校的五個期刊board。最優秀的進Law Review。

春假，想去佛羅里達Disney World。Anyone?

春假後就是期末考了。期末考什麼狀況請參照 The end of first semester.

以上的所有比賽，包括課堂成績，都是跟約四百個同學競爭。

除此之外，當然還要排時間參加舞會、clubbing、跟事務所面試等等有的沒的事 (別人啦)。

我覺得我們學校今天可以爬到TOP 20的位置，以及它的學生出去有一定的口碑，課程的挑戰性

功不可沒。我相信絕對沒有一個本校學生，畢業後會說自己什麼都沒學到。

當然前提是先撐到畢業。

The anticipation of grades

Today, at 5PM, is perhaps the most important moment of my entire law school career.

It's the time the first-semester grades are announced.

The anxiousness flew in the air. Professors after professors gave their "prep talk" at the end of each class, emphasizing how unimportant the grades are and how students with unsatisfactory grades should not lose their faith in law school. They would share their little stories, about how worried they were before the grades were published, but how insignificant the grades became after they look back many years later.

But of course we all know, the more they play down the importance of grades, the more important the grades actually are.

Apparently not too long ago, the school used to publish the grades, at once, on the wall of records office, AKA "the whaling wall." Students would crowd in front of the whaling walls and stand tall and long to find their grades. Students would look for their grades as anticipated as wives and kids comparing the numbers of whales their husbands have killed.

Nowadays they send grades online, which greatly diminishes the excitement.

Because of my Taiwanese education, which focuses mostly on one big test and cares little on GPA, I'm usually not a grade-sensitive person. In fact, I almost care too little about my grades. But after all the professors gave us those "cheer up" talks, I'm starting to feel the stress.....

Now, in about six minutes, I'll be able to see the value of my semester-long effort, and the value of myself in the prospective legal market.

Five minutes.....

Four minutes.....

備忘錄

本學期目標

1. 課業成績在班上前半段

2. Apply for summer internship。最好是有薪水的。

3. 完成寫作課滿意的motion brief跟appellate brief。

4. 參加Journal competition。不求Law Review，只求增進寫作經驗。

5. Mock trial報名已經截止，要參加Moot court competition嗎？

6. 春假--Florida 或 Spring internship?

本學期中心德目

1. 睡覺

2. 運動

3. 放輕鬆. Relax, Relax.

Another complaint to Bennington ﹝給房東的一封抱怨信(2)﹞

Dear Amy,


Unfortunately I had to complain to you about relatively the same issue in such a short period of time. As I type this letter, I am again locked out of my door waiting for the locksmith.
It is midnight now, so I do understand you do not provide spare key during this period of time. That is not the issue here.


The fact is as below: yesterday I requested a repair of my dryer and the door light. The workers apparently efficiently finished the job today before I come home. Unfortunately, when they left, they locked both the upper lock and the lower lock. I only have the key to the lower lock since I moved in. Thus I am locked out now.


You may ask, if I didn’t have the key to the upper lock, why didn’t I request a key for the upper lock before this ridiculous accident happened? In fact I did request a key at the time when I first moved in. I (orally) requested a key from Hamid (the leasing manager), who walked through the apartment with me and promised to provide the missing keys to me (and my two other roommates) before he turned over the apartment. Those keys were never produced and I never bothered to re-request the key. Instead I only lock the lower lock ever since. Locking only the lower lock has never caused me any problem, until now, four days after the first time I called the locksmith.


If you (or Hamid) argue that I should have re-requested the keys and put the request into written documents, and if you argue that I have no proof that I’ve ever requested those missing keys, I would not be able to counter-argue because your statement is true. I do not have any evidence except the fact that none of the residents of Apt# 1419 ever received the key of the upper lock (therefore we couldn’t possibly locked the door from outside). I have no concrete support of my request of keys, except the common sense that residents would have requested all applicable keys before they move in.


You may find my recurring complaints annoying, or even suspicious. But I assure you that I do not enjoy being locked out of my apartment, at the midnight, waiting for the locksmith for almost an hour and a half by now. I do have personal business that I found more important than asserting frivolous claims. And I do hope you agree that the best way to prevent this kind of situation happening again (to any future resident) is not by holding the responsibility on the residents to relentlessly pressure the leasing office to generate the keys, but by holding the responsibility on the leasing office to spontaneously provide all keys before residents move in,.
Because I have never obtained the key to the lock locked by Bennington’s workers, I hereby request the reimbursement of the locksmith fee $160 (late night + difficult lock). Receipt and work order provided upon request.


I would also like to note that Shawn has been very friendly and helpful in this incidence. She could testify that I was indeed locked out of my door twice in 4 days, that I did not create these claims just to deduct my rent.


Sincerely,


麥可青蛙

Life is like a shit sandwich

When I was a child, I had an unconventional English teacher John. John likes to say: “life is like a shit sandwich. The more you eat, the less is left.” If life is a shit sandwich, then New York is the “Subway”—the biggest sandwich store on earth.


Lots of shit happened in my 5 days tour in NYC. To begin with, when I first arrived New York, I discovered my sublease room had a disgusting bathroom. It was a bathroom shared by three students but cared by none. There was grease on the floor, the shower curtain curls and sticks to anything that touches it (including human body).


The shit meter heightened when we started to use the metro. The smell and dirtiness of the underground system reminds me in which city I am. I’m always surprised how adventurous Americans can be to advance technologies and change business models, but at the same time be so careless to details and administrations. Americans can build the most complicated financial transaction system on the ground of lower Manhattan, but they can’t keep a safe and clean metro system under. Dust everywhere and the water never plumbs fluently. I used to be ashamed of the dirtiness of my own bathroom, but my pride was restored in New York. In comparison, my bathroom is not the dirtiest in the world.


The shit meter peaked at Time Square station. I need to change trains at Time Square Station so I walked to the elevator between the platforms. The elevator door opened. I stepped one foot in. And I stepped back and run. There was shit in the elevator. Human shit. Squeezed, already-stepped-on, aged human shit. The smell of the shit infiltrated the station, and pedestrians who were rushing to join the New Year count down at Time Square.
Of course there were good memories in New York. I even felt like Carie in Sex and the City as I type Carie-like lines: “Is it harder to find a New York metro station with a clean elevator? Or is it harder to find a New York man who can keep his shit in his bathroom?” New York is such a grand city that throws all kinds of pretty and ugly things into your face.


Perhaps the most memorable stop was at where World Trade Centers once stood. The place is now called Ground Zero. Where skyscrapers used to stand is now hallow. But memories prevailed and new meanings implanted. Looking at the now-empty scene behind the fence, I couldn’t help reexamining the purpose and priority of my life. And I thought that was the perfect way to start my new year.


As the new year begins, I hope everyone can start from Ground Zero, and step out of any old shit. I would also revise John’s favorite line: “Life is like a sandwich. If you eat enough, eventually you’ll enjoy it.”

Poor Bennington Management﹝寫給房東的抱怨信(1)﹞

過去一星期內兩次被鎖在門外，花了我$170元大洋開鎖。非常痛心。

話說我剛從紐約回到DC時，在房間門口才赫然發現房間門被由內往外鎖了。這十分懸疑，因為房間門沒有鑰匙，所以我出門時從不關房間門，更不會鎖 房間門。在一陣敲敲打打之後，由於已近半夜，Bennington(我的公寓)沒有工人在，只好找鎖匠開門。鎖匠花了兩秒鐘開門，要價$85。

這就算了。不管為什麼我的房間門會被鎖起來，至少這不是Bennington的責任。

星期六我出門忘了帶公寓鑰匙，回家時已是PM 4:40分。我跟Front desk要我家的備用鑰匙，那個死女人居然不給我備用鑰匙！她說因為已經過了PM 4:30，manager都已經下班了，她不能給我鑰匙。我氣得手腳發抖。不幸兩位室友一在波士頓一在台灣，最後只好又找鎖匠。又是$85元大洋。

回到家看當初簽的契約，也沒看到哪裏寫 office hour之後就不能拿鑰匙了。話說回來，備用鑰匙不就是在office hour之後，大家想回家的時候用的嗎？哪有人會在office hour回家的？總之又讓我不禁對美國管理的低素質低效率大聲罵一次幹。

* * * *

以下是我的complaint letter:

To whom it may concern,

I am a resident of Bennington apartment. This is a complaint of the poor service of the front desk. Yesterday, 2006/01/07, at roughly PM 4:40, I asked the front desk to provide me the spare key of my apartment. I had used the spare key once before. The lady at the front desk, whose name I don't know, refused. She told me that there is a policy that after office hour (which ends at PM 4:30 on Saturdays), when the managers are off-duty, she cannot give me the spare key. Eventually the only thing the lady can do is to give me numbers of the locksmith. I had to call the locksmith to enter my apartment, at the cost of $85 (receipt provided upon request).

First, I failed to find that policy on my contract. The only relevant agreement I found was on p.4 of the Resident Service Directory "Who hasn't found themselves locked out of their apartment, usually with six bags of groceries in hand and a phone ringing inside? If it happens to you, we'll be glad to give you a key, though we'll need to see some proper identification first...." The language suggests a strong willingness to provide the spare key. In fact, the language suggests a scene NOT during office hours. Nothing in the text mentioned that the spare key is only provided during office hours.

Second, assuming such policy does exist, then what's the point of having a spare key? Residents usually do not need a spare key until AFTER office hours. They need to WORK during office hours. They usually go home AFTER office hours. The front desk is supposed to exist to serve residents to their convenience. But the purpose of the assumed policy provides convenience only to the administration, not to the residents. I doubt how many residents expect that they can only get their spare keys during office hours.

Assuming such internal policy exists, I would withdraw my complaint to the lady at the front desk, who was merely strictly obeying the policy, and not doing anything else.

Unless there is any evidence that shows the "office hours" policy was agreed upon, I request a reimbursement of my $85 payment. Reciept provided upon request.

麥可青蛙