Starting tomorrow, I will not have class for 8 days. This is because tomorrow is National Holiday. It is the equivalent of the Fourth of July for China. This is the 60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China, so it is considered to be a big one.
Ben and I are travelling. We leave Shanghai tomorrow for Beijing. We will watch the festivities and the crazy amount of crowds in Beijing during their National Holiday night. We are then spending the next 5 days there, touring about. It is expected to be extremely crowded and chaotic due to the festivities, but it should make for a fun trip.
We are then headed straight to Xi'An to see the terracotta warriors and the Ancient sites of the city.
Finally, we will be taking the train back to Shanghai. I will not have computer access until I get back. Good luck to W&J XC this weekend at SRU. Run fast.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Pictures!! At Last
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2392810013/a=107468652_107468652/
That link should take you to my Snapfish page. Email me if it isn't working properly.
I just uploaded everything. Even the crappy ones.
That link should take you to my Snapfish page. Email me if it isn't working properly.
I just uploaded everything. Even the crappy ones.
Friday, September 25, 2009
W&J VPN
Great News!!
I finally got access to W&J's VPN service! This allows me to bypass China's blocks on websites.
Pictures will be posted tomorrow and horray for time wasters like Youtube and Facebook!!
I finally got access to W&J's VPN service! This allows me to bypass China's blocks on websites.
Pictures will be posted tomorrow and horray for time wasters like Youtube and Facebook!!
My Birthday and Some Other Stuff
Alright. So. I haven’t updated in a little while. I have a lot of readings for classes. I’ve been doing my best to keep up.
Dannie texted me and told me that there was an event at the volleyball courts in which every club would have a table. I rode my bike through the rain for 10 minutes to find out that they cancelled due to rain. Sweet.
The next day I went back. Fortunately, they were actually there that time. Instantly I was bombarded with people shoving flyers in my hand and yelling “Welcome to (insert random name) Club!!!” Within moments I had over 25 pieces of paper in my hand. After a little struggling, I found a few clubs of interest.
I signed up for “Language Partner.” This is where some random Chinese student is assigned to hang out with me and practice English for half the time and Chinese for the other half of our appointments. I haven’t had one scheduled yet, but it should prove to be one awkward and lame (but necessary) blind-date-ish situation.
I also signed up for Running Club!! Basically some people meet at the track every night and go for an easy run. They also have races occasionally. Saturday they had a 3,000 competition involving over 100 people from around the city. I was ceded in the fastest heat. Although my best time is 9:25, because of my injury and lack of hard training lately I only signed up as a 10 flat. I then struggled in the heat and sucked up the track. I finished third overall (first for the college students) with a time so appallingly terrible that I will not write it here. Anyway, my Achilles felt fine so I’m easing back into training.
After the race, a few of us went to some professor’s apartment and had tea. (Drinking tea is the way that everyone hangs out here, I guess haha). Most of them can’t speak English well, but they all try. I honestly don’t want them to try, though. If they could just simplify their Chinese and speak slower I would be much happier because I’d at least be learning while I am left out of the conversation.
The president of the running club whose English name is Angeline has invited me to go running with her a few times since then. She is pretty slow, but I haven’t been flying around lately anyway.
The running club was the best idea ever because I’ve met a bunch of locals who call me to hang out. We played cards the other night, which is perfect because I practice numbers and colors haha. I feel like a kindergartener. They all speak really fast.
HEY! It was my birthday the other day! Thanks to everyone who sent me messages! Unfortunately I can’t reply on Facebook, but rumor has it that the PRC will unblock it in October! We’ll see.
So I’m 21 now. Holy crap... old. Everyone has some crazy stories about their 21st birthday. I can tell people that on my 21st my friends took me to a Mexican restaurant in Shanghai, China. They all bought me my meal and some drinks. Subsequently, I ended up dancing to loud music virtually by myself while my friends watched and took pictures. Pretty cool haha.
I’m still trying to schedule a trip to Beijing and Xi’an. My understanding is that during the National Day holiday Beijing will be cracking down on foreign visitors because they don’t want any terrorist activity. What that means is that getting a hotel may be really hard.
The Communism here is becoming more and more apparent to me. I was walking home late from running club and had to stop to have the police check my ID at 2 different gate checkpoints. They are friendly about it, but it still really bothers us Americans to have to “check in” with the government if we want to go somewhere after dark.
Also, I saw a weasel jump out of a garbage can last night.
Dannie texted me and told me that there was an event at the volleyball courts in which every club would have a table. I rode my bike through the rain for 10 minutes to find out that they cancelled due to rain. Sweet.
The next day I went back. Fortunately, they were actually there that time. Instantly I was bombarded with people shoving flyers in my hand and yelling “Welcome to (insert random name) Club!!!” Within moments I had over 25 pieces of paper in my hand. After a little struggling, I found a few clubs of interest.
I signed up for “Language Partner.” This is where some random Chinese student is assigned to hang out with me and practice English for half the time and Chinese for the other half of our appointments. I haven’t had one scheduled yet, but it should prove to be one awkward and lame (but necessary) blind-date-ish situation.
I also signed up for Running Club!! Basically some people meet at the track every night and go for an easy run. They also have races occasionally. Saturday they had a 3,000 competition involving over 100 people from around the city. I was ceded in the fastest heat. Although my best time is 9:25, because of my injury and lack of hard training lately I only signed up as a 10 flat. I then struggled in the heat and sucked up the track. I finished third overall (first for the college students) with a time so appallingly terrible that I will not write it here. Anyway, my Achilles felt fine so I’m easing back into training.
After the race, a few of us went to some professor’s apartment and had tea. (Drinking tea is the way that everyone hangs out here, I guess haha). Most of them can’t speak English well, but they all try. I honestly don’t want them to try, though. If they could just simplify their Chinese and speak slower I would be much happier because I’d at least be learning while I am left out of the conversation.
The president of the running club whose English name is Angeline has invited me to go running with her a few times since then. She is pretty slow, but I haven’t been flying around lately anyway.
The running club was the best idea ever because I’ve met a bunch of locals who call me to hang out. We played cards the other night, which is perfect because I practice numbers and colors haha. I feel like a kindergartener. They all speak really fast.
HEY! It was my birthday the other day! Thanks to everyone who sent me messages! Unfortunately I can’t reply on Facebook, but rumor has it that the PRC will unblock it in October! We’ll see.
So I’m 21 now. Holy crap... old. Everyone has some crazy stories about their 21st birthday. I can tell people that on my 21st my friends took me to a Mexican restaurant in Shanghai, China. They all bought me my meal and some drinks. Subsequently, I ended up dancing to loud music virtually by myself while my friends watched and took pictures. Pretty cool haha.
I’m still trying to schedule a trip to Beijing and Xi’an. My understanding is that during the National Day holiday Beijing will be cracking down on foreign visitors because they don’t want any terrorist activity. What that means is that getting a hotel may be really hard.
The Communism here is becoming more and more apparent to me. I was walking home late from running club and had to stop to have the police check my ID at 2 different gate checkpoints. They are friendly about it, but it still really bothers us Americans to have to “check in” with the government if we want to go somewhere after dark.
Also, I saw a weasel jump out of a garbage can last night.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Huangzhou
This Saturday morning a group of 28 students took the 2 hour train-ride to Huangzhou. We stayed there in a hotel until Sunday evening.
The train was really nice. It is sort of lame that the U.S. doesn’t use passenger trains more often. It is a relatively cheap, fast, and environmentally friendly form of transportation. I know that there are a lot of arguments as to why it isn’t particularly feasible for the States, but it sure would be nice.
We arrived in Huangzhou, and after a bit of struggling with herding 28 people around and deciding where to stay, we finally decided to follow some local to a hotel. The hotel required that we all fill out a bunch of passport info and crap, but after much adieu, we finally got to our rooms. Subsequently we toured the area.
Huangzhou is famous for its massive and ornate pagodas, temples, and natural surroundings. I’d elaborate on the coolness of the Buddhist temple that I visited, the water show on the lake, the boats and other Chinese style activities, or the way that the giant pagodas looked, but I’ll leave that to the pictures that I will eventually post.
Until the pictures arrive, I will tell you a few short stories that are harder to tell through pictures:
Ben was swarmed by Chinese people obsessed with hearing a blonde, white, American speak English.
A group of about 4 of us jumped into a picture of Chinese students, and ended up the center of a long series of photographs.
I decided it would be an awesome idea to join the hoards of old women in some elaborate line-dancing. A few of the UC students joined me after they saw that I was picking up the moves. I wish there was a video of our sweet moves, the old ladies laughing at us, or the other old ladies looking at us like we were ruining their culture. It was fun as hell, though.
Sunday morning we rode rented bikes around the giant lake. It was exactly what I felt like China should be. I even saw some stereotypical Chinese drifter (clad in rags, a walking stick, and giant fumanchu) being forcibly removed from the area by some PRC cops. Heaven forbid there be poverty in a tourist area... the western people might see!
Anyway, it was a super fun trip. Ben and I plan on visiting Beijing over the National Day holiday. It should be crazy, particularly since it is the PRC’s 60th birthday.
Oh! I bought a bike. It was pretty gay with butterfly stickers on it, which I promptly removed to find a pretty cool silver bike. I bought it for relatively cheap, and it cut 25 minutes off of my trip to class in the morning. Fudan is significantly bigger than W&J.
Today was Chang’s birthday. Chang is a friend of mine from UC. About 17 of us went to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant to celebrate. It proved to be the most expensive meal since I arrived: about 15 USD. Allow me to rub this in everyone’s face: Things barely cost any money here.
Tonight I was told: “Holy crap, Andy! I just realized how white you are!” Was this because I was doing the Carlton Banks dance to some songs on the Scrubs soundtrack? Maybe. But it still surprised me to look around and realize that I am in the extreme minority. By “still” I mean that I feel like I should be used to it by now. It isn’t that it bothers me: I consider it a really awesome experience. But even after this time I still look around and go “Holy crap haha I AM the minority... SWEET”
In this entry I was planning on doing a shout-out to Slepsky: What up, Sleppers. I hope you are still sane.
I thought of Sleperton today because I was wearing a super sweet vintage Batman teeshirt he gave me before departure. (fyi, Sleprock- everyone digs it... well I don’t know that, but I do)
I will also give a shout-out to Katie Mulvaney on account of I just received an e-mail from her: Hey. Keep the vow alive. I have been much regretting my failure to do so. (If you don’t know what that is about, you aren’t meant to)
Ok. Well that is all I have to say for now. I am not proofreading this entry, on account of the fact that it is 2:30 am here. (Coincidentally, that is precisely the reason why I SHOULD proof read it, but eh, whatever)
More to come.
The train was really nice. It is sort of lame that the U.S. doesn’t use passenger trains more often. It is a relatively cheap, fast, and environmentally friendly form of transportation. I know that there are a lot of arguments as to why it isn’t particularly feasible for the States, but it sure would be nice.
We arrived in Huangzhou, and after a bit of struggling with herding 28 people around and deciding where to stay, we finally decided to follow some local to a hotel. The hotel required that we all fill out a bunch of passport info and crap, but after much adieu, we finally got to our rooms. Subsequently we toured the area.
Huangzhou is famous for its massive and ornate pagodas, temples, and natural surroundings. I’d elaborate on the coolness of the Buddhist temple that I visited, the water show on the lake, the boats and other Chinese style activities, or the way that the giant pagodas looked, but I’ll leave that to the pictures that I will eventually post.
Until the pictures arrive, I will tell you a few short stories that are harder to tell through pictures:
Ben was swarmed by Chinese people obsessed with hearing a blonde, white, American speak English.
A group of about 4 of us jumped into a picture of Chinese students, and ended up the center of a long series of photographs.
I decided it would be an awesome idea to join the hoards of old women in some elaborate line-dancing. A few of the UC students joined me after they saw that I was picking up the moves. I wish there was a video of our sweet moves, the old ladies laughing at us, or the other old ladies looking at us like we were ruining their culture. It was fun as hell, though.
Sunday morning we rode rented bikes around the giant lake. It was exactly what I felt like China should be. I even saw some stereotypical Chinese drifter (clad in rags, a walking stick, and giant fumanchu) being forcibly removed from the area by some PRC cops. Heaven forbid there be poverty in a tourist area... the western people might see!
Anyway, it was a super fun trip. Ben and I plan on visiting Beijing over the National Day holiday. It should be crazy, particularly since it is the PRC’s 60th birthday.
Oh! I bought a bike. It was pretty gay with butterfly stickers on it, which I promptly removed to find a pretty cool silver bike. I bought it for relatively cheap, and it cut 25 minutes off of my trip to class in the morning. Fudan is significantly bigger than W&J.
Today was Chang’s birthday. Chang is a friend of mine from UC. About 17 of us went to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant to celebrate. It proved to be the most expensive meal since I arrived: about 15 USD. Allow me to rub this in everyone’s face: Things barely cost any money here.
Tonight I was told: “Holy crap, Andy! I just realized how white you are!” Was this because I was doing the Carlton Banks dance to some songs on the Scrubs soundtrack? Maybe. But it still surprised me to look around and realize that I am in the extreme minority. By “still” I mean that I feel like I should be used to it by now. It isn’t that it bothers me: I consider it a really awesome experience. But even after this time I still look around and go “Holy crap haha I AM the minority... SWEET”
In this entry I was planning on doing a shout-out to Slepsky: What up, Sleppers. I hope you are still sane.
I thought of Sleperton today because I was wearing a super sweet vintage Batman teeshirt he gave me before departure. (fyi, Sleprock- everyone digs it... well I don’t know that, but I do)
I will also give a shout-out to Katie Mulvaney on account of I just received an e-mail from her: Hey. Keep the vow alive. I have been much regretting my failure to do so. (If you don’t know what that is about, you aren’t meant to)
Ok. Well that is all I have to say for now. I am not proofreading this entry, on account of the fact that it is 2:30 am here. (Coincidentally, that is precisely the reason why I SHOULD proof read it, but eh, whatever)
More to come.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Friday Night
Hey! So I have been to all of my classes. Two of them turned out to not work. I will be dropping my two Thursday courses (Scenario of East Asia; Public Policy) and replacing it with a Wednesday class (Debating Globalization). Public Policy was really a class for people who are trying to learn English, so even the professor can barely speak English. Scenario of East Asia is mostly for students from Spanish speaking countries, and I don't speak Spanish, so that is useless. Hanner would probably have been running around jumping for joy in that class though with all the Spaniards and Mexicans.
I really want to talk about my International Organizations class. It was (and will likely continue to be) one of the most interesting classes in which I have ever been. It is contains about 40 students. There is one South Korean, two Russians, a person from Singapore (is that a Singaporean?) and one first generation Chinese American. The remainder of the students are Fudan University students who can speak enough English to take a course. My professor is an Irishman. He spent the first class asking us each loaded questions (in part to check our English skills) such as: "Is America the most important country in the world?" "What is the biggest problem the Chinese have caused?" "What is the biggest problem that the Chinese have?" etc. The course is about what you would imagine- international organizations. However, it evaluates them on a philosophical level as well as a historical level (typical poli sci class). The hook is that I will see first hand the opinions of students other than myself. I will be defending (or condemning) American foreign policy in a room full of non-Americans. I am most excited because I am tired of hearing the same off-the-rack patriotic answers in American poli-sci classes. I want to hear what other people think: people brainwashed by other governments and cultures.
Tomorrow morning a group of about 30 of us are travelling to Hangzhou. Hangzhou (about a 2 hour trainride from Shanghai) is famous for its lake, natural surroundings, and large pagodas. We are staying there Saturday night in a hostel or hotel (we have yet to decide). It should be a fun excursion. I know I haven't uploaded pictures yet. For some reason the proxy sites that I use to access this site doesn't allow me to upload pictures. I WILL figure something out eventually though. I'll keep you updated.
Good luck racing this weekend W&J XC!!
I really want to talk about my International Organizations class. It was (and will likely continue to be) one of the most interesting classes in which I have ever been. It is contains about 40 students. There is one South Korean, two Russians, a person from Singapore (is that a Singaporean?) and one first generation Chinese American. The remainder of the students are Fudan University students who can speak enough English to take a course. My professor is an Irishman. He spent the first class asking us each loaded questions (in part to check our English skills) such as: "Is America the most important country in the world?" "What is the biggest problem the Chinese have caused?" "What is the biggest problem that the Chinese have?" etc. The course is about what you would imagine- international organizations. However, it evaluates them on a philosophical level as well as a historical level (typical poli sci class). The hook is that I will see first hand the opinions of students other than myself. I will be defending (or condemning) American foreign policy in a room full of non-Americans. I am most excited because I am tired of hearing the same off-the-rack patriotic answers in American poli-sci classes. I want to hear what other people think: people brainwashed by other governments and cultures.
Tomorrow morning a group of about 30 of us are travelling to Hangzhou. Hangzhou (about a 2 hour trainride from Shanghai) is famous for its lake, natural surroundings, and large pagodas. We are staying there Saturday night in a hostel or hotel (we have yet to decide). It should be a fun excursion. I know I haven't uploaded pictures yet. For some reason the proxy sites that I use to access this site doesn't allow me to upload pictures. I WILL figure something out eventually though. I'll keep you updated.
Good luck racing this weekend W&J XC!!
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