Today was the last day of this program in winter quarter. We all brought food that we made or food that we want to share to the classroom. I really like the fried rice that Rhiannon made by herself and the packaged egg roll that I do not know who brought them. The egg roll is the best that I ever had. Today was really relax and fun for all for us. I was just talking to people and having delicious food. We talked about our finals, our other classes and our plan for next quarter. I am very happy that I made friends in this program and some of them are also USP majors so we may will take class in the future and we can go to major-related event together. This program helped me learn a lot more about elder’s llife in San Diego. I also learnt a lot about healthy aging and the features of a age-friendly city and community. The book we read this quarter opened my mind about elders’ daily life and their struggles and happiness.
West Center gave me a very good first impression from our last visit so I was really looking forward to this event. The Casa de Manana dance was way beyond my expectation so I was hoping that the West Center Senior Prom will be successful too. That day was a raining and cold day. There were a few pedestrians on the way to the West Center. The theme that we decide for the West Center Senior Prom was Saint Patrick’s Day so we brought a lot of decoration that represent this theme, including little green plastic tie and hats, and a lot of glasses and hats for the photo booth. And we also brought the Oskar statues and raffle prizes to surprise them.
After we handed out all the cookie, chocolate, and fresh fruit we started the dance. Honestly, the dance only attracted few people to stand up and participate in this event and made me a little sad. But people tend to have more fun in the Photo Booth that day. It was interesting that at first they all very shy and hesitate to go to the photo booth. But after people started knowing that there was a photo booth there was even a line in front of the booth. My favorite moment in that night was the chatting with a lady. I asked her if she want to go the photo booth and she refused but kept smiling at me. She then asked where am I from and what is my major. After she known that my major is Urban Study and Planning, she smiled and say that I can help them built the street in front of the Senior Center more walkable. She is a really nice lady and smiled a lot. She made my day. On this Wednesday me and my group member presented the book written by Applewhite, This Chair Rocks. I really think this book rocks too! She brings up a lot of aspects of how people view aging that I never think before in the book. I actually learnt a lot from our group discussion, even more than the book itself. We talked about how she managed to structure her argument and how should we present the book in a way that can share very aspect of the book to the class. This book is a broad introduction of ageism and it includes a lots of day-to-day scene. She talked about ageism in a really interesting way and used her words to present us vivid scenes and examples.
This book talks about the aging industry in American of 21 Century. This book truly opened my mind to look at aging in another angle. According to the book, aging was treated as illness in order or merchant to create opportunities to make profit. This book provides a lot of data and examples. The presentation was also clear and organized. The book is like a research paper that is very well organized and detailed.
Today we all shared our presentation about our neighborhood. I think this is an awesome project because this project can help us really analyze what are important features of an age-friendly community. It also gave me a clearer view of if we need to design age-friendly city in the future, what are features that we need to look for and improve. I think the WHO Checklist is also extremely helpful. In the checklist, it talks about all aspects of a daily life, including Outdoor spaces and buildings, Transportation, Housing, Social participation, Respect and social inclusion, Civic participation and employment, Communication and information, Community and health services. I did not know this all contribute to aging-friendly city and now I start to think about the city as a whole and what part defines what. It is really interesting to listen other group’s project. They prepared really well and put a lot of pictures in the slide, which make me learn about their points efficiently. Each neighborhood has their special character and I was impressed by La Jolla’s high education rate. The streets in Barrio Logan are definitely so unique and colorful.
After this presentation, I start to realize that the life of elders in San Diego might be tougher than we think and also can be easier than we think in different neighborhood and to study healthy aging in community scale is important for us to actually know their daily life. This is the most memorable night for me in this program. We the decoration team got there earlier so I got the chance to see the original look of the room we used for the dance. The room is really large and has some classic design shown in the details. After we putted on stars and Oscar posters, the room start to look like a ball room.
There are a lot of people showed up. They looked really excited when all of us lined up greeting them and they even joked around. Everyone dressed very pretty. The band was really great and the atmosphere there was perfect. After the band started playing, I saw a lot of people began humming of the songs that they feel familiar. I never thought that the dance will go that well at that night. Few people started dancing in the begin and later more and more elders join the group and began dancing at the center of the room. They shake their body with the rhyme of the song playing. The most memorable moment for me was the time that all of us circled around and dancing together in the middle. I feel really really happy to have the opportunity to be part of the event. Everyone there looked really enjoy. It is nice to share a memory with them and I feel happy and proud seeing they liked the event and enjoy it. When I saw those elders dancing, I can kind of imagine the boys and girls they used to be and when they were our age. Casa de Manana is one of the place that impressed me the most among all the sites we visited. It is located in La Jolla Cove, a place that is perfect for tourist and resort. I bet the view from the windows inside those apartments will be awesome. Not like the Gary and Mary West Center we been to the week before, there are a lot of recreational space inside Casa de Manana. There are room for movie, room for recreation class, a library, and even a hair saloon inside. The Casa de Manana looks more like a resort rather than an elder center to me.
I was surprised about how high the rent actually is. Even the lowest rate will be above 1,500 dollars, not to mention those single houses which need more than 10,000 dollars. But after I saw the dinning area and swimming pools, I kind of get the reason why. The dinning room looks the same as t a fancy restaurant in San Diego. I like the fact that then provides foods that can be taken out and brought back to their room. I think this is sweet and perfect for someone want to eat their dinner watching TV shows and movies. People lived in Casa de Manana all seem to have very inspiring stories. Some of them one will never guess their age based on their appearance. They all look energetic and seem enjoying their life. I knew some of them better after we shared our personal stories and some of the stories are sad and some are sweet. I really thankful that I had the opportunity to chat with them and their stories encouraged me to become the person I want to be in the future. Today we talked about our HAPs in the Casa de Mañana and the West Center. We all talked about our vision for these two dances and what should we do in order to provides elders a great time in the event. We talked about the themes, what kinds of food that we need to provide, ruffle prizes and even the playlist that will arose their passion just like the old days.
Today we started our discussion about the NAP and what is Age-Friendly City. Age-Friendly city means an inclusive and accessible community environment that optimizes opportunities for health, participation and security for all people in order that quality of life and dignity are ensured as people age. Who also talked about how to achieve this kind of community. Professors introduced us to the WHO Checklist and I found that was extremely helpful when me and my group tried to make categories for out site analyze. According to the checklist, the eight key domains of urban life, health, and wellbeing are Outdoor spaces and buildings are Transportation, Housing, Respect and social inclusion, Civic participation and employment, Social participation, Community and health services and Communication and information. This checklist helped me learn more about what aspect that we need to look for.
I am really sorry that I missed the trip to the Bayside Center. I am looking forward to go there next quarter if I have chance!
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Danyi LiuArchives
June 2018
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