Today I read an Op-Ed on the New York Times web page written by the Nobel Committee justifying it's selection for this year. Specifically, they were responding to non-Chinese government criticism of the award, and said that something along the lines of, if we don't speak out, then governments will think it is okay to treat political speech like this. I see where they are coming from. It falls along with my personal beliefs, and the poem about "First they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist..." and everything which stemmed from that.
However in this case, there is an argument for the other side. As my Professor Tim Lang would put it, they are "thinking like Americans" or in this case, Westerners. Too often Westerners don't seem to consider the way that the political system works in China. While the government publicly announces policy decisions and seems to have a united front, there are always at least two sides to an issue, with the stronger faction winning the decision of what to say to the outside world or how to act. This was the case during the 1989 protests. The reformer faction led by Zhao Ziyang was overpowered by Li Peng's faction when the protests lasted too long and seemed to be threatening the government. The reformers had been in power for years and had been gradually implementing change, but outside pressure shifted the balance of power and after that there was a regression of political speech.
Also, because the government is a one party system which does not allow direct elections or protest, it needs to allow civil discontent in China to be released another way, such as against foreign insults or slights. There are frequent protests here against for example Japan which can flare up when provoked by outside comments or actions. When the public is not focused on Japan, Japanese-Chinese or Chinese-Taiwanese relations can be content with the status quo, leading to much safer geopolitical stability in the region. But when the chinese government feels like it has to save face from it's people, that's when it starts to act in aggressive and counter-intuitive ways.
Face is so incredibly important here it's hard for a westerner to wrap their head around it. Like me. Chinese people can be extraordinarily blunt, talking about weight or asking questions like "do you have a chinese boyfriend" (which I get asked all the time) but when it comes to embarrassing someone they'd rather die. And I've been finding that this concept extends from internal Chinese society to the political sphere as well. We're learning in our business class about how you cannot correct your boss because it will make him/her lose face. And I think some of foreign policy stems from this fear of losing face, or 丢人。
Due to the recent letter published by former heads of Party Newspaper mouthpieces and former politicians, it seems like there is a power struggle going on right now in the party. The Propoganda Department, headed by the number 5 man in the CCP (which makes the entire department immune to the orders of all but five people in the government) has been censoring more and more since 2008, when Charter '08 was first published. Their actions don't necessarily represent the views of the entire government body, there just isn't anyone powerful enough to make them stop. The outside critics of the Nobel acclamation are probably thinking that without international pressure uniting the CCP to save face to the Chinese people, there would continue to be such a power struggle, in which reformers could prevail, allowing a gradual increase in the amount of information people have access to or even leading to the people having an actual say in their government.
Chinese people more than anything fear chaos. Many now elderly chinese who were repressed during the Cultural Revolution by Mao Zedong's reforms still consider him a great leader, because he was both able to united China by ending a civil war which had gone on for decades and liberate china from the unfair treaty system with imperialistic powers such as the united states. This applies today too. The government uses the fear of "chaos from disorder" to legitimize it's rule, and the majority of the middle class is fully in accordance with this reasoning. As such, under the current system of startling economic growth, the only way reform could happen would be from gradual change as more worldly and educated individuals fill the ranks of the CCP leadership. We as westerners must remember that Mao Zedeng was a dictator, Deng XiaoPeng was a first among equals, and Jiang Zemen and Hu Jintao are now simply leaders of a coalition. The presidency does not have the same powers that the Presidency has in the United States (actually that position itself has no power at all, it is symbolically held by Hu because he has the position of General Party Secretary and Chair of the Central Military Commission, the real positions of power in the CCP). And it is factions within the party which have the inside influence to change the government's policy.
So the critics of the prize are probably thinking that the letter recently released would have had a much greater effect on policy towards speech if the government wasn't trying to save face from the recent Nobel disclosure.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thoughts on Beijing
So today I was walking to a cafe to work on a presentation for one of my classes and saw an old Chinese man sitting on a bench, just people watching. He reminded me a lot of Grandpa. So I figured I should write a blog post for people back home.
This language is hard. I've now been here two months and it's hard to feel like I'm not progressing at all. I can still only have simple conversations with people, although I've gotten very good at ordering food. Which is, I suppose, the most important part. The food here is really good too. And you don't have to tip people. They think it's rude if you tip here!
The big thing about China, of course, is how many people there are. EVERYWHERE. There's no such thing as traffic patterns, because there's probably not enough room for two cars to pass by each other, walkers walk where they can and bikers go every which way. You can't let people go, because chances are they'll run into you. You need to walk with a purpose so that they know how to walk the same speed around you and not run into you.
There are traffic jams in Beijing from 5:30 in the morning until 11 at night. I don't know why anyone in their right mind would want to drive in this city.
I'd say around fifty percent of the advertising here has white people in it. It's very strange. There's an odd sort of striving towards "white" beauty. Women here have commented on my "double eyelids" which I'd never even heard of before. A lot of the pictures have people who are blond, but I think are kind of ugly by American standards. There is a subway line with a stop right at Peking University, (line four) and Levi bought up all the adds at our station for about two months. The adds were really interesting. There were several pictures. One was of a Chinese guy with very western features (maybe half Chinese) by himself, one had an chinese guy playing a guitar on the subway with two white girls, a dark haired white guy and another chinese guy looking adoringly at him, and then the five of them running through the rain together. It's startling to see so many white people on the ads when there is such homogeneity around you.
The pollution here is not over exaggerated. It's been getting pretty bad the past couple of days. it looks like there's fog, but a little bit higher in the sky so only buildings are obscured. People walk around with face masks. I am afraid of going running outside on days like today. I did it once and my lungs burned afterward. Someone told me breathing the air here is sort of like smoking a certain amount of cigarettes a day (I think it was a pack, yeesh).
Around campus there are several small streets with lots of street vendors selling snacks, fruits, ect. which are really cheap and really delicious. Down the road in the WuDaoKou district there is a night market on the street side where you can buy books, clothes or puppies if you want to. The other day I walked by both and none of the vendors were there. Apparently there is a bureau in the government in charge of the image of Beijing, and they came through, confiscated stuff and told the people they couldn't sell it there anymore. The streets looked kind of lonely. But I walked by the alley near the school today, and there was one woman selling fruits again. The tenacity of the Chinese entrepreneur.
Greg is coming to visit! And the timing works out so that I am going to buy my plane ticket to India really soon. Gotta start reading up on India.
I think of a million other things to write down when I'm not in my room by a computer.
I miss and love everyone at home.
This language is hard. I've now been here two months and it's hard to feel like I'm not progressing at all. I can still only have simple conversations with people, although I've gotten very good at ordering food. Which is, I suppose, the most important part. The food here is really good too. And you don't have to tip people. They think it's rude if you tip here!
The big thing about China, of course, is how many people there are. EVERYWHERE. There's no such thing as traffic patterns, because there's probably not enough room for two cars to pass by each other, walkers walk where they can and bikers go every which way. You can't let people go, because chances are they'll run into you. You need to walk with a purpose so that they know how to walk the same speed around you and not run into you.
There are traffic jams in Beijing from 5:30 in the morning until 11 at night. I don't know why anyone in their right mind would want to drive in this city.
I'd say around fifty percent of the advertising here has white people in it. It's very strange. There's an odd sort of striving towards "white" beauty. Women here have commented on my "double eyelids" which I'd never even heard of before. A lot of the pictures have people who are blond, but I think are kind of ugly by American standards. There is a subway line with a stop right at Peking University, (line four) and Levi bought up all the adds at our station for about two months. The adds were really interesting. There were several pictures. One was of a Chinese guy with very western features (maybe half Chinese) by himself, one had an chinese guy playing a guitar on the subway with two white girls, a dark haired white guy and another chinese guy looking adoringly at him, and then the five of them running through the rain together. It's startling to see so many white people on the ads when there is such homogeneity around you.
The pollution here is not over exaggerated. It's been getting pretty bad the past couple of days. it looks like there's fog, but a little bit higher in the sky so only buildings are obscured. People walk around with face masks. I am afraid of going running outside on days like today. I did it once and my lungs burned afterward. Someone told me breathing the air here is sort of like smoking a certain amount of cigarettes a day (I think it was a pack, yeesh).
Around campus there are several small streets with lots of street vendors selling snacks, fruits, ect. which are really cheap and really delicious. Down the road in the WuDaoKou district there is a night market on the street side where you can buy books, clothes or puppies if you want to. The other day I walked by both and none of the vendors were there. Apparently there is a bureau in the government in charge of the image of Beijing, and they came through, confiscated stuff and told the people they couldn't sell it there anymore. The streets looked kind of lonely. But I walked by the alley near the school today, and there was one woman selling fruits again. The tenacity of the Chinese entrepreneur.
Greg is coming to visit! And the timing works out so that I am going to buy my plane ticket to India really soon. Gotta start reading up on India.
I think of a million other things to write down when I'm not in my room by a computer.
I miss and love everyone at home.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Autumn Festival Adventure
So starting Wednesday, all of China has about two weeks off because the Autumn Harvest Festival and National Day on October 1st (kind of like July 4th for us). We of course do not have all this time off, because they know none of us have every celebrated this before. We do have a trip to Chengdu planned for next week, but that's only three days off.
However, Eliza's friends do have the time off from school in Beijing. Tuesday they texted me, inviting me to hang out with them on the day that starts the Autumn festival. Shirley and Jane are so nice and although they don't know much english, they speak Chinese very clearly compared to most people in Beijing, which makes it much easier for me to understand their Chinese. So Wednesday after class I went to Hohai with them, and ended up only speaking (mostly) Chinese for the rest of the day! It's great to be forced into it, because if someone who's Chinese knows english, they will usually try to use English to make it easier for you, so this forced me to speak as much chinese as I could.
The first thing we did was rent a bike with three seats on it. Which was crazy in the first place, since riding a bike in China period seems hazardous. There are always so many people that it seems really easy to mistakenly crash into someone. We had a lot of trouble getting the bike to go. We kept falling over every three seconds, drawing a crowd, and some picture takers. It was really fun though. We finally got the hang of it, and were able to ride around the lake, which is gorgeous, with lots of willow trees and a particularly clear and sunny day (which I hadn't seen in a while).
We also went to a special snack place, where Shirley and I went in while Jane stayed with the bike. I got to try a bunch of traditional Beijing food which is not commonly eaten today. I tried cow's stomach, which was pretty good, a type of boiled liver, which I was not a fan of, and "Chinese cheese", which tasted like a custardy yogurt type of thing. Finally we got a treat which is hockenberry's on a stick with a sugar glaze. It is my new favorite thing in China. It's like a little apple with pits on it, and it resembles a less sugary candy apple. SOoo good.
After this Jane invited me to go home for homemade dumplings. We went to her apartment complex on the subway, then a bus (showing how big Beijing is). She lives more on the outskirts of the city, I think near the fifth ring road. The apartment complex was definitely in a farther part of town. There were six or seven buildings in the same area, I have no idea how all those people park their cars in that tiny lot. Each apartment building had 22 floors, she lived on the 14th, with only two elevators to get up there. The apartment itself was very nicely made up. The hallways were sparse, with only the cement that structured the building showing, and you needed to clap your hands to get the lights to go on. Her apartment was very bright and beautifully furnished. They only had a squat toilet, but I'm used to using them now. :) Jane had a sister which is unusual for China, and she said that their home was very modest because they have to pay lots of taxes in order to have more than one child.
Jane's friend Amy came over for dinner, (she spoke so fast I could not understand her) but she seemed very nice. We sat in the living room and had homemade dumplings, chicken wings, watermelon and homemade mooncakes. I LOVE the homemade mooncakes, they were shaped like a pancake but did not have a filling and were very very good compared to the store bought ones people gave us. Apparently even Chinese don't really like the store bought ones. Jane is an art student, and showed me some of her artwork, which is gorgeous (Ariel you would love her) and gave me a cd she had painted for a homework assignment, which is hanging in my room now. I mentioned to Amy that I loved Sichuan food at one point, so she brought me over to her apartment before we left and insisted that I take two bags of delicious homecooked sichuan food with me when I left. Jane and Amy came with me in the taxi and said goodbye to me at the station. I hope to hang out with them again soon. :)
However, Eliza's friends do have the time off from school in Beijing. Tuesday they texted me, inviting me to hang out with them on the day that starts the Autumn festival. Shirley and Jane are so nice and although they don't know much english, they speak Chinese very clearly compared to most people in Beijing, which makes it much easier for me to understand their Chinese. So Wednesday after class I went to Hohai with them, and ended up only speaking (mostly) Chinese for the rest of the day! It's great to be forced into it, because if someone who's Chinese knows english, they will usually try to use English to make it easier for you, so this forced me to speak as much chinese as I could.
The first thing we did was rent a bike with three seats on it. Which was crazy in the first place, since riding a bike in China period seems hazardous. There are always so many people that it seems really easy to mistakenly crash into someone. We had a lot of trouble getting the bike to go. We kept falling over every three seconds, drawing a crowd, and some picture takers. It was really fun though. We finally got the hang of it, and were able to ride around the lake, which is gorgeous, with lots of willow trees and a particularly clear and sunny day (which I hadn't seen in a while).
We also went to a special snack place, where Shirley and I went in while Jane stayed with the bike. I got to try a bunch of traditional Beijing food which is not commonly eaten today. I tried cow's stomach, which was pretty good, a type of boiled liver, which I was not a fan of, and "Chinese cheese", which tasted like a custardy yogurt type of thing. Finally we got a treat which is hockenberry's on a stick with a sugar glaze. It is my new favorite thing in China. It's like a little apple with pits on it, and it resembles a less sugary candy apple. SOoo good.
After this Jane invited me to go home for homemade dumplings. We went to her apartment complex on the subway, then a bus (showing how big Beijing is). She lives more on the outskirts of the city, I think near the fifth ring road. The apartment complex was definitely in a farther part of town. There were six or seven buildings in the same area, I have no idea how all those people park their cars in that tiny lot. Each apartment building had 22 floors, she lived on the 14th, with only two elevators to get up there. The apartment itself was very nicely made up. The hallways were sparse, with only the cement that structured the building showing, and you needed to clap your hands to get the lights to go on. Her apartment was very bright and beautifully furnished. They only had a squat toilet, but I'm used to using them now. :) Jane had a sister which is unusual for China, and she said that their home was very modest because they have to pay lots of taxes in order to have more than one child.
Jane's friend Amy came over for dinner, (she spoke so fast I could not understand her) but she seemed very nice. We sat in the living room and had homemade dumplings, chicken wings, watermelon and homemade mooncakes. I LOVE the homemade mooncakes, they were shaped like a pancake but did not have a filling and were very very good compared to the store bought ones people gave us. Apparently even Chinese don't really like the store bought ones. Jane is an art student, and showed me some of her artwork, which is gorgeous (Ariel you would love her) and gave me a cd she had painted for a homework assignment, which is hanging in my room now. I mentioned to Amy that I loved Sichuan food at one point, so she brought me over to her apartment before we left and insisted that I take two bags of delicious homecooked sichuan food with me when I left. Jane and Amy came with me in the taxi and said goodbye to me at the station. I hope to hang out with them again soon. :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ！
Ｉｔ＇ｓ ａｌｍｏｓｔ ｄｉｎｎｅｒｔｉｍｅ ａｔ Ｅｌｉｚａ＇ｓ ｈｏｕｓｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ Ｂｒｏｏｋｌｉｎ ａｒｅａ ｏｆ Beijing。Ｗｅ ａｒｒｉｖｅｄ ｉｎ Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ ｔｈｉｓ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ ｏｎ ａｎ ｏｖｅｒｎｉｇｈｔ ｔｒａｉｎ ｆｒｏｍ Ｓｈａｎｇｈａｉ． Ｔｈｅ ｔｒａｉｎ ｗａｓ ｃｏｍｆｙ， ａｎｄ ｗｅ ｈａｄ ｔｗｏ ｒｏｏｍｍａｔｅ ｂｕｎｋｓ， ｏｎｅ ｏｆ ｗｈｉｃｈ ｈｅｌｄ ａ ｍｏｔｈｅｒ ａｎｄ ｈｅｒ ａｄｏｒａｂｌｅ ｓｏｎ ｗｈｏ ｊｕｓｔ ｒｅｐｅａｔｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｄ ｆｏｒ ＂ｒｕｎ＂ ｏｖｅｒ ａｎｄ ｏｖｅｒ ａｇａｉｎ．
Ｔｈｅ ｐａｓｔ ｆｅｗ ｄａｙｓ ｉｎ Ｓｈａｎｇｈａｉ ｈａｖｅ ｂｅｅｎ ｅｘｃｉｔｉｎｇ． Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ Ｌｉｗｅｎ， Ｅｌｉｚａ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｗｅｎｔ ｔｏ ａ ｆａｍｏｕｓ ｓｈｏｐｐｉｎｇ ｄｉｓｔｒｉｃｔ ｗｉｔｈ ｌｏｔｓ ｏｆ ａｒｔ ｇａｌｌｅｒｉｅｓ ａｎｄ ｊｅｗｅｌｒｙ ｓｈｏｐｓ． Ｉｔ ｗａｓ ａ ｂｉｔ ｔｏｏ ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ ｆｏｒ ｍｙ ｔａｓｔｅ， ｗｅ ｃｏｕｌｄｎ＇ｔ ｆｉｎｄ ａｎｙｗｈｅｒｅ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ ｔｏ ｅａｔ ｌｕｎｃｈ． Ｗｅ ｌｅｆｔ ｔｈａｔ ａｒｅａ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ｌｕｎｃｈ ａｔ ａ ｒｅｓｔａｕｒａｎｔ ｗｈｉｃｈ ｈａｓ ｓｉｍｉｌａｒ ｔｏ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ－Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ ｆｏｏｄ ｂｕｔ ｉｓ ｒｕｎ ｂｙ ｓｏｍｅ Ｈｏｎｇ Ｋｏｎｇｅｓｅ． Ａｐｐａｒｅｎｔｌｙ ｗｈｅｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ ｈａｓ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓ ｗｉｔｈ Ｊａｐａｎ， ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ ｂｏｙｃｏｔｔｓ ｔｈｉｓ ｒｅｓｔａｕｒａｎｔ， ｓｉｎｃｅ ｉｔ ｓｅｅｍｓ ｌｉｋｅ ｉｔ＇ｓ ｏｗｎｅｄ ｂｙ Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ．
Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ ｎｉｇｈｔ ｗｅ ｗｅｎｔ ｂａｃｋ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｅｘｐｏ． Ｗｅ ｖｉｓｉｔｅｄ ｓｅｖｅｒａｌ ｐａｖｉｌｌｉｏｎｓ ｉｎｃｌｕｄｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ Ｆｒｅｎｃｈ ｏｎｅ． Ｍｙ ｏｎｌｙ ｄｅｓｃｒｉｐｔｉｏｎ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｉｓ ｏｎｅ ｗａｓ ｔｈａｔ ｉｔ ｗａｓ ｓｏｏｏｏ ＂Ｆｒｅｎｃｈ＂． Ｔｈｅｒｅ ｗａｓ ｂａｒｅｌｙ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｉｎ ｉｔ ａｔ ａｌｌ ｏｔｈｅｒ ｔｈａｎ ｗａｔｅｒ ｆｏｕｎｄｔａｉｎｓ ａｎｄ ａｄｓ ｆｏｒ Ｌｏｕｉｓ Ｖｕｉｔｔｏｎ． Ｐｉｃｔｕｒｅｓ ｏｆ Ｆｒｅｎｃｈ ｐｅｏｐｌｅ ｄｉｄ ｎｏｔ ｉｎｃｌｕｄｅ ｔｈｅ ａｒａｂ ３０ ｐｅｒｃｅｎｔ ｏｆ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｗａｓ ａ ｄｉｓａｐｐｏｉｎｔｉｎｇ ｂｕｔ ｃｏｎｓｔａｎｔ ｔｈｅｍｅ ｔｈｒｏｕｈｇｏｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｅｘｐｏ．Poland was really cool though. It had a pretty setup in addition to an art exibit of modern art which I actually liked. They had a six minute about poland film which acknowledged the Holocaust, which I thought was gutsy of them, especially since noone else acnowledged any of their problems.
Ｓｕｎｄａｙ ｗｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｏｎ Ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎ ｔｉｍｅ （ａｃｃｏｒｄｉｎｇ ｔｏ Ｅｌｉｚａ）ａｎｄ ｓｌｅｐｔ ｋｉｎｄ ｏｆ ｌａｔｅ． Ｗｅ ｔｏｏｋ ｔｈｅ ｓｕｂｗａｙ ｉｎｔｏ ｔｈｅ Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ＇ｓ Ｓｑｕａｒｅ ａｎｄ ｗａｌｋｅｄ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｗｈｉｌｅ． Ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ ｔｏ ａ ｍｏｖｉｅ ｃａｌｌｅｄ ａｆｔｅｒｓｈｏｃｋ， ｗｈｉｃｈ ｉｓ ａ ｂｅａｕｔｉｆｕｌｌｙ ｄｏｎｅ ｍｏｖｉｅ ａｂｏｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｌｉｖｅｓ ｏｆ ｓｕｒｖｉｖｏｒｓ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｔａｎｇａｎ ｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅ ｉｎ １９７４．Ｉｔ ｈａｓ ａ ｌｏｔ ｏｆ ｈｉｓｔｏｒｙ ｉｎ ｉｔ ａｓ ｗｅｌｌ， ｓｏ Ｉ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｄｅｆｉｎｉｔｅｌｙ ｒｅｃｏｍｍｅｎｄ ｉｔ ｔｏａｎｙｏｎｅ ａｔ ｈｏｍｅ． Ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｈｅｒｅ ｈａｓ Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ ｓｕｂｔｉｔｔｌｅｓ， ｉｔ＇ｓ ｖｅｒｙ ｃｏｎｖｅｎｉｅｎｔ．
Ａｔ ｎｉｇｈｔ ｗｅ ｗｅｎｔ ｂａｃｋ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｅｘｐｏ ａｎｄ ｖｉｖｉｓｉｔｅｄ Ｉｎｄｉａ， ｔｈｅ ｋｉｎｇｄｏｍ ｏｆ Ｍｏｒｏｃｃｏ， Ｌｅｂａｎｎｏｎ ａｎｄ Ｉｒａｎ． Ｉ ｒｅａｌｌｙ ｌｏｖｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｕｆｆ ａｔ ＩＮｄｉａ＇ｓ ｐａｖｉｌｌｉｏｎ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｈｏｐｅ Ｉ ｃａｎ ｔｒａｖｅｌ ｔｈｅｒｅ． Ｉ ｇｏｔ ｒｉｄｉｃｕｌｏｕｓ ｄｉｒｔｙ ｌｏｏｋｓ ａｔ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｅａｓｔｅｒｎ ｐａｖｉｌｉｏｎs ｆｏｒ ｌｏｏｋｉｎｇ ａｒａｂ ａｎｄ ｎｏｔ ｗｅａｒｉｎｇ ａ ｈｉｊａｂ．
Monday we went back to the expo for the last time. We saw Israel and Pakistan, both pretty good pavillions. At the Israel one I asked about a temple in Beijing for the high holy days, and I think I know where to find one now. We then went over to the Africa part of the Expo and saw a drum show. Inside of the Africa Pavillion we walked around for a bit before a man at the Mali station asked if I spoke french. Eliza does, so she spoke with him in her third language for a while. She said she understands now how I feel because her head hurt afterward.
Today we had lunch with her parents, who are both very nice, in addition to her cousin. They don't really speak english, so Eliza acts as interpreter and I try to speak as much as I can. It's exhausting. Tonight Eliza and I are going out to a Karaoke bar with her friends! It should be fun.
Dinner's ready, gotta go!
Love love
Wendy
Ｔｈｅ ｐａｓｔ ｆｅｗ ｄａｙｓ ｉｎ Ｓｈａｎｇｈａｉ ｈａｖｅ ｂｅｅｎ ｅｘｃｉｔｉｎｇ． Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ Ｌｉｗｅｎ， Ｅｌｉｚａ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｗｅｎｔ ｔｏ ａ ｆａｍｏｕｓ ｓｈｏｐｐｉｎｇ ｄｉｓｔｒｉｃｔ ｗｉｔｈ ｌｏｔｓ ｏｆ ａｒｔ ｇａｌｌｅｒｉｅｓ ａｎｄ ｊｅｗｅｌｒｙ ｓｈｏｐｓ． Ｉｔ ｗａｓ ａ ｂｉｔ ｔｏｏ ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ ｆｏｒ ｍｙ ｔａｓｔｅ， ｗｅ ｃｏｕｌｄｎ＇ｔ ｆｉｎｄ ａｎｙｗｈｅｒｅ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ ｔｏ ｅａｔ ｌｕｎｃｈ． Ｗｅ ｌｅｆｔ ｔｈａｔ ａｒｅａ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ｌｕｎｃｈ ａｔ ａ ｒｅｓｔａｕｒａｎｔ ｗｈｉｃｈ ｈａｓ ｓｉｍｉｌａｒ ｔｏ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ－Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ ｆｏｏｄ ｂｕｔ ｉｓ ｒｕｎ ｂｙ ｓｏｍｅ Ｈｏｎｇ Ｋｏｎｇｅｓｅ． Ａｐｐａｒｅｎｔｌｙ ｗｈｅｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ ｈａｓ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓ ｗｉｔｈ Ｊａｐａｎ， ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ ｂｏｙｃｏｔｔｓ ｔｈｉｓ ｒｅｓｔａｕｒａｎｔ， ｓｉｎｃｅ ｉｔ ｓｅｅｍｓ ｌｉｋｅ ｉｔ＇ｓ ｏｗｎｅｄ ｂｙ Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ．
Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ ｎｉｇｈｔ ｗｅ ｗｅｎｔ ｂａｃｋ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｅｘｐｏ． Ｗｅ ｖｉｓｉｔｅｄ ｓｅｖｅｒａｌ ｐａｖｉｌｌｉｏｎｓ ｉｎｃｌｕｄｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ Ｆｒｅｎｃｈ ｏｎｅ． Ｍｙ ｏｎｌｙ ｄｅｓｃｒｉｐｔｉｏｎ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｉｓ ｏｎｅ ｗａｓ ｔｈａｔ ｉｔ ｗａｓ ｓｏｏｏｏ ＂Ｆｒｅｎｃｈ＂． Ｔｈｅｒｅ ｗａｓ ｂａｒｅｌｙ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｉｎ ｉｔ ａｔ ａｌｌ ｏｔｈｅｒ ｔｈａｎ ｗａｔｅｒ ｆｏｕｎｄｔａｉｎｓ ａｎｄ ａｄｓ ｆｏｒ Ｌｏｕｉｓ Ｖｕｉｔｔｏｎ． Ｐｉｃｔｕｒｅｓ ｏｆ Ｆｒｅｎｃｈ ｐｅｏｐｌｅ ｄｉｄ ｎｏｔ ｉｎｃｌｕｄｅ ｔｈｅ ａｒａｂ ３０ ｐｅｒｃｅｎｔ ｏｆ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｗａｓ ａ ｄｉｓａｐｐｏｉｎｔｉｎｇ ｂｕｔ ｃｏｎｓｔａｎｔ ｔｈｅｍｅ ｔｈｒｏｕｈｇｏｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｅｘｐｏ．Poland was really cool though. It had a pretty setup in addition to an art exibit of modern art which I actually liked. They had a six minute about poland film which acknowledged the Holocaust, which I thought was gutsy of them, especially since noone else acnowledged any of their problems.
Ｓｕｎｄａｙ ｗｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｏｎ Ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎ ｔｉｍｅ （ａｃｃｏｒｄｉｎｇ ｔｏ Ｅｌｉｚａ）ａｎｄ ｓｌｅｐｔ ｋｉｎｄ ｏｆ ｌａｔｅ． Ｗｅ ｔｏｏｋ ｔｈｅ ｓｕｂｗａｙ ｉｎｔｏ ｔｈｅ Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ＇ｓ Ｓｑｕａｒｅ ａｎｄ ｗａｌｋｅｄ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｗｈｉｌｅ． Ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ ｔｏ ａ ｍｏｖｉｅ ｃａｌｌｅｄ ａｆｔｅｒｓｈｏｃｋ， ｗｈｉｃｈ ｉｓ ａ ｂｅａｕｔｉｆｕｌｌｙ ｄｏｎｅ ｍｏｖｉｅ ａｂｏｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｌｉｖｅｓ ｏｆ ｓｕｒｖｉｖｏｒｓ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｔａｎｇａｎ ｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅ ｉｎ １９７４．Ｉｔ ｈａｓ ａ ｌｏｔ ｏｆ ｈｉｓｔｏｒｙ ｉｎ ｉｔ ａｓ ｗｅｌｌ， ｓｏ Ｉ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｄｅｆｉｎｉｔｅｌｙ ｒｅｃｏｍｍｅｎｄ ｉｔ ｔｏａｎｙｏｎｅ ａｔ ｈｏｍｅ． Ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｈｅｒｅ ｈａｓ Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ ｓｕｂｔｉｔｔｌｅｓ， ｉｔ＇ｓ ｖｅｒｙ ｃｏｎｖｅｎｉｅｎｔ．
Ａｔ ｎｉｇｈｔ ｗｅ ｗｅｎｔ ｂａｃｋ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｅｘｐｏ ａｎｄ ｖｉｖｉｓｉｔｅｄ Ｉｎｄｉａ， ｔｈｅ ｋｉｎｇｄｏｍ ｏｆ Ｍｏｒｏｃｃｏ， Ｌｅｂａｎｎｏｎ ａｎｄ Ｉｒａｎ． Ｉ ｒｅａｌｌｙ ｌｏｖｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｕｆｆ ａｔ ＩＮｄｉａ＇ｓ ｐａｖｉｌｌｉｏｎ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｈｏｐｅ Ｉ ｃａｎ ｔｒａｖｅｌ ｔｈｅｒｅ． Ｉ ｇｏｔ ｒｉｄｉｃｕｌｏｕｓ ｄｉｒｔｙ ｌｏｏｋｓ ａｔ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｅａｓｔｅｒｎ ｐａｖｉｌｉｏｎs ｆｏｒ ｌｏｏｋｉｎｇ ａｒａｂ ａｎｄ ｎｏｔ ｗｅａｒｉｎｇ ａ ｈｉｊａｂ．
Monday we went back to the expo for the last time. We saw Israel and Pakistan, both pretty good pavillions. At the Israel one I asked about a temple in Beijing for the high holy days, and I think I know where to find one now. We then went over to the Africa part of the Expo and saw a drum show. Inside of the Africa Pavillion we walked around for a bit before a man at the Mali station asked if I spoke french. Eliza does, so she spoke with him in her third language for a while. She said she understands now how I feel because her head hurt afterward.
Today we had lunch with her parents, who are both very nice, in addition to her cousin. They don't really speak english, so Eliza acts as interpreter and I try to speak as much as I can. It's exhausting. Tonight Eliza and I are going out to a Karaoke bar with her friends! It should be fun.
Dinner's ready, gotta go!
Love love
Wendy
Hello all,
Ｉ ｄｉｄ ｎｏｔ ｈａｖｅ ａｃｃｅｓｓ ｔｏ ｔｈｉｓ ｂｌｏｇ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｐａｓｔ ｆｅｗ ｄａｙｓ ｓｏ ｔｈｉｓ ｐｏｓｔ ｉｓ ｄａｔｅｄ Ａｕｇｕｓｔ ２６ｔｈ．
I am safe and sound in Shanghai! I unfortunately do not have access to my blog while here, but Eliza can give me the software to get around that once I am in Beijing.
So here's my overview of the trip so far.
As soon as I said goodbye to mom, Laura and Greg, I made my first Chinese friend. The guy standing behind me heard me say I was going to China and asked about it. He was a Chinese student studying at a University in Italy and traveling around the U.S. for his summer break. On the flight to Detroit I sat next to a Japanese woman who clarified that the kanji Japanese characters have the same meanings as their Chinese character counterparts. The man sitting next to her was a Greek national visiting family in the U.S. I thought it was an interesting omen of things to come.
Immediately after I got off of my flight I was approached by a guy who asked if I went to UMass. I said yes, and he preceded to reveal that we had been in a Model UN conference committee together this previous November. He was going on the same flight to Shanghai and was going to teach English in Hanzhou for a year. On the long but uneventful flight I sat next to a Chinese man who had lived in the U.S. for 11 years with his wife and now two young american kids. He talked about how he wants to send his kids back to Chinese every once and a while so they don't forget his native language. He's having trouble with his younger daughter. It was a little sad. I spoke with an ex-Marine who was extraordinarily jaded with his life in China, and said that knowing a language will never help me get a job anywhere. Interesting view on the world, but very cynical.
So what I didn't realize about Pu Dong airport is that it is about a 2 hour drive from Shanghai. Luckily, Eliza's friend Zach lives in Shanghai, and his dad offered to come pick me up at the airport, then preceded to take me, Eliza, Felicia and Liwen out to my first Chinese meal of the year! The hostel is called the Blue Mountain Hostel and it's really nice.
Today Felicia, Liwen Eliza and I had breakfast together before Felicia left for a vacation to Hong Kong. Then we walked to the Expo! It was very hot, so it was a good thing I had my umbrella, something unnecessarily ridiculed by Americans. And good that I'm now used to the DC weather (thank you greg) so it wasn't unbearable, since it was only hot and not humid. We went to the Spain, Turkey, Finland and the UN pavillions. Spain was the best by far, with a huuuuuge baby robot which looked like a lifelike baby but fifteen million times the size which creepily blinked at you and opened its eyes. We only had to stand in line for an hour and a half for that one. Turkey, I was surprised to see, did not mention its populations affinity to Islam once. They based their exhibit on being the crossroads of civilization two thousand years ago. Finland had a bunch of high tech picture taking devices, and a picture of me awkwardly sticking my tongue out managed to appear on a big screen in front of everyone. The UN was small and uneventful. There was a room of statistics about different countries. I was not surprised to see that on the "amount of political freedom/openness" scale China was not listed as one of the countries which answered the survey.
Now I'm back at the hostel and am exhausted. Tomorrow we may get a foot massage for an hour for about five dollars. I'm greatly looking forward to it.
Love and miss you all!
Ｉ ｄｉｄ ｎｏｔ ｈａｖｅ ａｃｃｅｓｓ ｔｏ ｔｈｉｓ ｂｌｏｇ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｐａｓｔ ｆｅｗ ｄａｙｓ ｓｏ ｔｈｉｓ ｐｏｓｔ ｉｓ ｄａｔｅｄ Ａｕｇｕｓｔ ２６ｔｈ．
I am safe and sound in Shanghai! I unfortunately do not have access to my blog while here, but Eliza can give me the software to get around that once I am in Beijing.
So here's my overview of the trip so far.
As soon as I said goodbye to mom, Laura and Greg, I made my first Chinese friend. The guy standing behind me heard me say I was going to China and asked about it. He was a Chinese student studying at a University in Italy and traveling around the U.S. for his summer break. On the flight to Detroit I sat next to a Japanese woman who clarified that the kanji Japanese characters have the same meanings as their Chinese character counterparts. The man sitting next to her was a Greek national visiting family in the U.S. I thought it was an interesting omen of things to come.
Immediately after I got off of my flight I was approached by a guy who asked if I went to UMass. I said yes, and he preceded to reveal that we had been in a Model UN conference committee together this previous November. He was going on the same flight to Shanghai and was going to teach English in Hanzhou for a year. On the long but uneventful flight I sat next to a Chinese man who had lived in the U.S. for 11 years with his wife and now two young american kids. He talked about how he wants to send his kids back to Chinese every once and a while so they don't forget his native language. He's having trouble with his younger daughter. It was a little sad. I spoke with an ex-Marine who was extraordinarily jaded with his life in China, and said that knowing a language will never help me get a job anywhere. Interesting view on the world, but very cynical.
So what I didn't realize about Pu Dong airport is that it is about a 2 hour drive from Shanghai. Luckily, Eliza's friend Zach lives in Shanghai, and his dad offered to come pick me up at the airport, then preceded to take me, Eliza, Felicia and Liwen out to my first Chinese meal of the year! The hostel is called the Blue Mountain Hostel and it's really nice.
Today Felicia, Liwen Eliza and I had breakfast together before Felicia left for a vacation to Hong Kong. Then we walked to the Expo! It was very hot, so it was a good thing I had my umbrella, something unnecessarily ridiculed by Americans. And good that I'm now used to the DC weather (thank you greg) so it wasn't unbearable, since it was only hot and not humid. We went to the Spain, Turkey, Finland and the UN pavillions. Spain was the best by far, with a huuuuuge baby robot which looked like a lifelike baby but fifteen million times the size which creepily blinked at you and opened its eyes. We only had to stand in line for an hour and a half for that one. Turkey, I was surprised to see, did not mention its populations affinity to Islam once. They based their exhibit on being the crossroads of civilization two thousand years ago. Finland had a bunch of high tech picture taking devices, and a picture of me awkwardly sticking my tongue out managed to appear on a big screen in front of everyone. The UN was small and uneventful. There was a room of statistics about different countries. I was not surprised to see that on the "amount of political freedom/openness" scale China was not listed as one of the countries which answered the survey.
Now I'm back at the hostel and am exhausted. Tomorrow we may get a foot massage for an hour for about five dollars. I'm greatly looking forward to it.
Love and miss you all!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Leaving For China
Hello friends and family.
I started this blog in order to better record what I experience during my nine month study at Peking University in Beijing, China. As a disclaimer, I'm both new to blogging and bad at recording things that happen to me, so I will try to update as much as possible. I think once I become savy enough I can even post pictures here.
So I will be leaving Logan Airport at 12:33 this coming Wednesday August 25th. If experience proves me correct my plane will travel over the North Pole before landing at 7 a.m. in Shanghai, China (local time 7 p.m.). I'll then take a taxi to the Blue Mountain Youth Hostel to meet my friend Eliza. We'll be staying for about four days and going to see the Shanghai Expo and other sights around the city. After that I'll take an overnight train to Beijing, where I'll stay with Eliza and her family until September 2nd when my orientation starts.
I have a plane ticket booked to Boston for May 2, 2011. We'll see what happens in between.
I started this blog in order to better record what I experience during my nine month study at Peking University in Beijing, China. As a disclaimer, I'm both new to blogging and bad at recording things that happen to me, so I will try to update as much as possible. I think once I become savy enough I can even post pictures here.
So I will be leaving Logan Airport at 12:33 this coming Wednesday August 25th. If experience proves me correct my plane will travel over the North Pole before landing at 7 a.m. in Shanghai, China (local time 7 p.m.). I'll then take a taxi to the Blue Mountain Youth Hostel to meet my friend Eliza. We'll be staying for about four days and going to see the Shanghai Expo and other sights around the city. After that I'll take an overnight train to Beijing, where I'll stay with Eliza and her family until September 2nd when my orientation starts.
I have a plane ticket booked to Boston for May 2, 2011. We'll see what happens in between.
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