11-6 – Lee Moore – Journal
Entry 1
While I was down in the southern part of Nanjing, I decided to go to a temple, and there was a tourist market next to this temple. When I walked into the market, there was one woman in the center of the market yelling at another woman on the side of the market. The other woman was silent at first, but she soon started yelling back. Then the man standing by this other woman also started yelling. At some point in this donnybrook, the first woman called her husband and told him what had happened (I don’t actually know what happened, I got there a little too late).
Finally both the man and the woman walked over to the first woman and the yelling match got intense. The man got into the first woman’s face, and then the man’s wife came at her with a small wooden stool, swinging it at the first woman’s head. The first woman grabbed a larger chair and swung it at the second woman’s hair, with the man in between. At this point, the man quit arguing and tried to separate the women. He finally pulled his wife back to the place they had been standing when I first entered.
There was so more yelling, but no more fighting. The man had to keep his wife from charging the first woman. Finally, the first woman’s husband arrived, and he went to talk to the other man to try and resolve the problem.
I think that the problem was between the two women and the man only got involved for the sake of his wife. When the first woman’s husband arrived, he and the other man resolved the problem calmly, keeping the women separate. Like all problems in China, it had to be resolved through an intermediary.
The security guard was totally worthless. He stood behind me, afraid to get too close. The only people who stopped the fight were the second woman’s husband and other observers.
Entry 2
I had more library problems. Now, when I enter one of the reference rooms in the library, they make you scan your card. This is strange, because they make you scan your card just to get in the library. Why would they make you scan your card again, just to enter a room? What is strange is that none of the other rooms in the library do this. More strange is that they just started this in the middle of the semester. Two weeks they did not make you do this, but now they suddenly started doing it.
I asked the librarian about this. She said it was for statistics, for figuring out how many people come into that reference room and how many people from each department enter.
It is possible that her explanation is the real reason that they added this little rule, but I do not think that is really necessary. At first, I suspected it was just something invented to control people going into this room or a rule for the sake of having more rules.
But I guess I just have to take their explanation at face value. This is one library problem that I will just have to write off. It is not as problematic as some of the other things that I discussed.
Entry 3
One night, I left the library just as it was closing. There was a flood of other students leaving at the same time. I noticed that the library had posted something on a bulletin board, and almost every person stopped and carefully read it before they left.
Another night that same week, I was riding my bike to class. On one of the main arteries through campus, a notice had been posted on a bulletin board announcing the death of a professor. Almost all the passers-by stopped to read over the notice.
One thing I have noticed this year about Chinese people is that they find the posts on bulletins and other forms of writing in the public sphere. In America, important things are rarely posted on bulletin boards. Bulletin boards are for selling skateboards and finding a summer lease on an apartment. But here, important things are put on bulletin boards, and they are important.
When I asked, one of my teachers suggested that was because everything important in America is sent out as an email. I do not think this is a good explanation. I do not remember bulletin boards being that important when I was in elementary school. I think it has to do with the importance of writing in the public sphere for Chinese people, in the same way that Chinese often paint slogans on walls or hang red slogan banners across the road. I am still trying to figure it out though.
Entry 4
This weekend we went hiking at Huangshan. It was me, Gloria, Carl, Ryan, his wife, Cherise, and his two children, Mosiah and Nabahi. Mosiah is two and a half, and Nabahi is only nine months old. Nabahi has to be carried in a backpack specially made for babies. This draws a lot of attention, so whenever we were walking people would stare, and pull on their cheeks (without Cherise’s permission, of course). There was this guy who would not stop talking to us, and he commented on how everyone was very curious and enjoyed looking at the kids.
I commented, “Yea almost like they are animals at a zoo.” He got this, he got a little angry. “No, no, they are just curious, your comment was rude.” At this point, someone sat down on my other side and asked what was rude. In order to save face, the guy who before would not stop talking now said, “Oh he was just joking, just a joke, that is all.” Not much was said before he left.
I do feel the curiosity that many mainlander Chinese have towards foreigners is similar to the kind of curiosity that Southerners in movies have towards carnival sideshows (as a Southerner, I have not experienced this personally). It is not a polite curiosity, as the man above asserted. It is a gawking-curiosity. This is probably a topic for another article, but I also feel that it is the same kind of curiosity that they regard minorities with.
Entry 5
It has been hard penetrating the social sphere of my Chinese classmates. They have all known each other for at least a year, and all of their classes are the same. I think most of them also live in the same dorms, so they spend the whole day together.
That said, I’ve made some progress. In one of my classes, I got the phone number of several classmates, asking them if they meet outside of class to study. Of course, they do not study because there are no tests. That said, I did not want to study, I just wanted to get to know them better. A few weeks later, I heard them joking around about paying someone back. I jumped in and asked one of them to pay me back as well (it was funny in context).
At that point, I made a step into the social structure of the class. They invited me to go on a trip with them to Hangzhou. I had the HSK, so I could not accept the invitation, but it was nice to be invited. Since then the report between myself and my classmates has been less of an outsider and more of a classmate.
Entry 6
In one of my classes, the main requirement is to read a book and then give a thirty minute presentation on it. Two students read the same book, and each of them gets up for thirty minutes to speak about it. In the second hour of class, the teacher gives his thoughts on the class and asks the students who did not read the book to ask questions. I have already discussed how the students have problems with these presentations and handle these presentations quite differently than American students would.
But last week, I saw something that was quite funny. Apparently, the teacher really does not know how to deal with these presentations either. Last week, when one of the students was giving his presentation and monotonely reading off his slides, I looked over and notice the professor was nodding off. He slipped in and out of sleep, and then was asleep pretty much completely for about five minutes. I was not the only one to think this was funny; another student noticed it, and we both looked at each other, giggling under our breath.
In the US, I do not think that this would be acceptable. If this had happened to me, I think I would have either paniced, gotten angry or both. However, my Chinese classmate did not appear to notice.
Another aspect of this that I do not understand is why the teacher assigns these presentations if he does not value them enough to stay awake.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Journal - Library
Entry 1
One last thing concerning my experience with the television show that I wanted to talk about was nationalism and the sensitivity of the media. At our first meeting, we were told that we could not say anything concerning. I was not surprised at this.
What was surprising was the way they kept emphasizing it, and the level that they took this. Obviously, I knew when they were interviewing me, I couldn’t say something like, “Tibet should be a free country,” or “The communist party has more problems than a British person’s dental record.
However, on the day of the recording the tv show, they reminded us repeatedly. I thought that was a little excessive, but was not really surprised.
What was strange was extend that they carried this thing to. They asked me if I could sing any Chinese songs. “Umm, I know this song by a “台湾的各家,” and then I said the name of the song. They said, “Now, we cannot say that on the show remember, we can’t talk about politics or Taiwan or anything like that, at all. How about just saying, ‘I know this singer from China.’” We ended up not doing the song, which was good, because I was not going to say that.
They were asking a guy where he had been in China. Of course, his list included places like Xinjiang.
“No, no, don’t say Xinjiang.”
“But I’ve been there.”
“Well, don’t say it. Where else have you been in China? “
“Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong.”
“No, no don’t say Hong Kong either.” Apparently, Hong Kong, which had been returned to Chinese control over ten years ago, was still too big of a problem to even mention it (even to mention it as a part of China.)
Entry 2
In one of my classes, we have to give powerpoint presentations on books that we read. The teacher gave us twelve books to choose from, with two students doing a presentation on each of the books. These two students are each supposed to take thirty minutes to give their presentation. Then, in the second hour of class, the professor talks about his impression of the book for about thirty minutes. Afterwards, we, the students are supposed to discuss the book.
These presentations have brought some interesting insights into Chinese culture.
As far as the presentations are concerned, there have been two things I thought were strange. The first presentation was fifty three minutes, when it was only supposed to be thirty. The teacher was slightly angry and he said some things intended to cause a loss of face for the student.
Another issue was that one of the presentations was basically just the girl summarizing large portions of the book. Her powerpoint had lots of written material but no pictures, and she basically read her presentation out loud very fast. Not only was this a little difficult for me, but it was also not at all interesting. The teacher nodded off during the presentation, but he wasn’t at all critical of her presentation.
During the question and answer period, there are two things I have found interesting: no one volunteers themselves to answer questions, but the teacher has to call on people (although he insists he expects us to willingly participate). Based on what I know about Chinese culture, I expected this. It confirms what I know about Chinese culture.
The other interesting thing is that, after one student asks a questions and the other student answers it, the teacher inevitably adds his two cents. In the US, the student would be more of a guide for the conversation, not necessarily injecting his opinion after each person speaks. Despite the fact that he is encouraging students to express themselves. But no matter how he encourages the students to express their opinion, the teacher’s opinion is still important.
Entry 3
I am not sure if Dr. Christiansen is reading these or Justin. If not Dr. Christensen, I should probably give a little background. I have had several problems with getting books from libraries in China, so libraries are something that I really pay attention to, particularly how they relate to Chinese culture.
I’ve had some more library issues here. In the next couple of entries, I’ll discuss them one by one.
The main library requires a library card to even get in. It took a long time for them to get this card to us (over a month, more than one fourth of the semester). I was able to use my student card to get in at first. But after a while, I stopped caring and the security guard does not really care. Sometimes when I enter, I let him see my card, sometimes I don’t go to the effort. They haven’t stopped me yet.
The library has a big room full of English books. I knew I couldn’t check them out without a library card, but I thought I could once I got the library card. Nope. They were all ‘reference books’ which meant that they couldn’t be checked out (although they had a machine for checking them out). Most of these books were just regular English books, I couldn’t figure out why they were regarded as ‘reference books.’ I wanted to check out Fitzgerald’s “Tender is the Night’ as relaxing reading, but the copy they had, I couldn’t check out, and the other three copies were all in the English Department (which I can’t check out).
Entry 4
Another issue that I’ve had related to the library is something that I didn’t realize until recently: Every department (系) pretty much has its own library. The foreign language studies department also has its own library.
On the surface, I thought this would be a good idea. I could go to the library in the building where I had classes.
Of course, these separate libraries are really just a big pain in the glutumos maximus.
The department library in our building, like the other department libraries I will discuss, is only open from 8:30 to 11:30 and from 2:30 to 5:30. Most people have classes during that time, so that’s incredibly inconvenient. What I have trouble understanding is how they take off three hours for lunch. Most people in China get off two hours (12-2) for lunch and an afternoon nap. There are no classes from 12-2 at the University. This makes sense. But why do these guys think they are so special they can leave thirty minutes before everyone and get back thirty minutes after everyone.
Supposedly, these departmental libraries are supposed to be more convenient for students of that department, but I think it would be more convenient for them (and others) if they just put all the books in the main library, students could go whenever, during lunch or whenever they were out of class.
Entry 5
One of my classes requires me to read a book and give a presentation on it in front of the class. Surprisingly, ten of the twelve books were originally written by Americans in English. I picked one of the English books, one about the history of the Qing Dynasty, and found that book in the philosophy library. These departmental libraries are supposed to contain more specialized departments, and the philosophy department does certainly have some specialized materials, but it also has a lot of historical books, material unrelated to the department.
I have the same issues with this library as I do with the other department libraries. It’s hours are the same, meaning it’s difficult to get there. Also, if you are not a student in the philosophy department, you cannot check any of the books out, so that just means most of the students at the school can’t use the materials.
I will have to say, that I am glad that they let me read the book. The history department would not even let me into their library since I was not a student in their department (but I am in a history class).
Entry 6
I guess you can tell that I’ve been thinking about libraries a lot, maybe too much.
It’s not just because libraries are important for me, but it’s because I think the structure of libraries is particularly important to understanding Chinese culture and China’s future.
I think there is a tendency in Chinese culture to build something specifically for the purpose of denying it to others, and I think that is part of why every department has its own library.
I’ve already discussed some of the advantages that these departments are supposed to have. They make sure their departments students have books that they can check out, and they are supposedly more specialized, so they are supposed to be more convenient. I don’t think that they are really that much more convenient, but that is my opinion.
What is clear is that these deparment libraries are built in order to make sure your department can check out books and that other departments cannot check them out. I think that this tendency to divide up into little groups and specifically promote that group at the expense of all the other groups.
This tendency, specifically in academia, is a problem. Academia and related fields depend on the willingness to spread knowledge to others . This is what drives knowledge acquisition and technological innovation. I’ve been wondering if this tendency to limit peoples access to libraries will affect China’s ability to participate in the 21st Century even as its manufacturing economy grows at phenomenal rates.
I’ll probably consider this problem more in later entries.
One last thing concerning my experience with the television show that I wanted to talk about was nationalism and the sensitivity of the media. At our first meeting, we were told that we could not say anything concerning. I was not surprised at this.
What was surprising was the way they kept emphasizing it, and the level that they took this. Obviously, I knew when they were interviewing me, I couldn’t say something like, “Tibet should be a free country,” or “The communist party has more problems than a British person’s dental record.
However, on the day of the recording the tv show, they reminded us repeatedly. I thought that was a little excessive, but was not really surprised.
What was strange was extend that they carried this thing to. They asked me if I could sing any Chinese songs. “Umm, I know this song by a “台湾的各家,” and then I said the name of the song. They said, “Now, we cannot say that on the show remember, we can’t talk about politics or Taiwan or anything like that, at all. How about just saying, ‘I know this singer from China.’” We ended up not doing the song, which was good, because I was not going to say that.
They were asking a guy where he had been in China. Of course, his list included places like Xinjiang.
“No, no, don’t say Xinjiang.”
“But I’ve been there.”
“Well, don’t say it. Where else have you been in China? “
“Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong.”
“No, no don’t say Hong Kong either.” Apparently, Hong Kong, which had been returned to Chinese control over ten years ago, was still too big of a problem to even mention it (even to mention it as a part of China.)
Entry 2
In one of my classes, we have to give powerpoint presentations on books that we read. The teacher gave us twelve books to choose from, with two students doing a presentation on each of the books. These two students are each supposed to take thirty minutes to give their presentation. Then, in the second hour of class, the professor talks about his impression of the book for about thirty minutes. Afterwards, we, the students are supposed to discuss the book.
These presentations have brought some interesting insights into Chinese culture.
As far as the presentations are concerned, there have been two things I thought were strange. The first presentation was fifty three minutes, when it was only supposed to be thirty. The teacher was slightly angry and he said some things intended to cause a loss of face for the student.
Another issue was that one of the presentations was basically just the girl summarizing large portions of the book. Her powerpoint had lots of written material but no pictures, and she basically read her presentation out loud very fast. Not only was this a little difficult for me, but it was also not at all interesting. The teacher nodded off during the presentation, but he wasn’t at all critical of her presentation.
During the question and answer period, there are two things I have found interesting: no one volunteers themselves to answer questions, but the teacher has to call on people (although he insists he expects us to willingly participate). Based on what I know about Chinese culture, I expected this. It confirms what I know about Chinese culture.
The other interesting thing is that, after one student asks a questions and the other student answers it, the teacher inevitably adds his two cents. In the US, the student would be more of a guide for the conversation, not necessarily injecting his opinion after each person speaks. Despite the fact that he is encouraging students to express themselves. But no matter how he encourages the students to express their opinion, the teacher’s opinion is still important.
Entry 3
I am not sure if Dr. Christiansen is reading these or Justin. If not Dr. Christensen, I should probably give a little background. I have had several problems with getting books from libraries in China, so libraries are something that I really pay attention to, particularly how they relate to Chinese culture.
I’ve had some more library issues here. In the next couple of entries, I’ll discuss them one by one.
The main library requires a library card to even get in. It took a long time for them to get this card to us (over a month, more than one fourth of the semester). I was able to use my student card to get in at first. But after a while, I stopped caring and the security guard does not really care. Sometimes when I enter, I let him see my card, sometimes I don’t go to the effort. They haven’t stopped me yet.
The library has a big room full of English books. I knew I couldn’t check them out without a library card, but I thought I could once I got the library card. Nope. They were all ‘reference books’ which meant that they couldn’t be checked out (although they had a machine for checking them out). Most of these books were just regular English books, I couldn’t figure out why they were regarded as ‘reference books.’ I wanted to check out Fitzgerald’s “Tender is the Night’ as relaxing reading, but the copy they had, I couldn’t check out, and the other three copies were all in the English Department (which I can’t check out).
Entry 4
Another issue that I’ve had related to the library is something that I didn’t realize until recently: Every department (系) pretty much has its own library. The foreign language studies department also has its own library.
On the surface, I thought this would be a good idea. I could go to the library in the building where I had classes.
Of course, these separate libraries are really just a big pain in the glutumos maximus.
The department library in our building, like the other department libraries I will discuss, is only open from 8:30 to 11:30 and from 2:30 to 5:30. Most people have classes during that time, so that’s incredibly inconvenient. What I have trouble understanding is how they take off three hours for lunch. Most people in China get off two hours (12-2) for lunch and an afternoon nap. There are no classes from 12-2 at the University. This makes sense. But why do these guys think they are so special they can leave thirty minutes before everyone and get back thirty minutes after everyone.
Supposedly, these departmental libraries are supposed to be more convenient for students of that department, but I think it would be more convenient for them (and others) if they just put all the books in the main library, students could go whenever, during lunch or whenever they were out of class.
Entry 5
One of my classes requires me to read a book and give a presentation on it in front of the class. Surprisingly, ten of the twelve books were originally written by Americans in English. I picked one of the English books, one about the history of the Qing Dynasty, and found that book in the philosophy library. These departmental libraries are supposed to contain more specialized departments, and the philosophy department does certainly have some specialized materials, but it also has a lot of historical books, material unrelated to the department.
I have the same issues with this library as I do with the other department libraries. It’s hours are the same, meaning it’s difficult to get there. Also, if you are not a student in the philosophy department, you cannot check any of the books out, so that just means most of the students at the school can’t use the materials.
I will have to say, that I am glad that they let me read the book. The history department would not even let me into their library since I was not a student in their department (but I am in a history class).
Entry 6
I guess you can tell that I’ve been thinking about libraries a lot, maybe too much.
It’s not just because libraries are important for me, but it’s because I think the structure of libraries is particularly important to understanding Chinese culture and China’s future.
I think there is a tendency in Chinese culture to build something specifically for the purpose of denying it to others, and I think that is part of why every department has its own library.
I’ve already discussed some of the advantages that these departments are supposed to have. They make sure their departments students have books that they can check out, and they are supposedly more specialized, so they are supposed to be more convenient. I don’t think that they are really that much more convenient, but that is my opinion.
What is clear is that these deparment libraries are built in order to make sure your department can check out books and that other departments cannot check them out. I think that this tendency to divide up into little groups and specifically promote that group at the expense of all the other groups.
This tendency, specifically in academia, is a problem. Academia and related fields depend on the willingness to spread knowledge to others . This is what drives knowledge acquisition and technological innovation. I’ve been wondering if this tendency to limit peoples access to libraries will affect China’s ability to participate in the 21st Century even as its manufacturing economy grows at phenomenal rates.
I’ll probably consider this problem more in later entries.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Game Shows and Game Theories
Hey Yall,
Winter has come quickly. A two weeks ago the weather was in the sixties, and I was walking in a tshirt during the daytime. But on Monday came the earliest snow in a generation. The leaves on the trees were still green, but they became heavy and glazed in white with the southern snow. The streets became a cocktail of muddy slush and trash. Still, life goes on, class continues.
Another note, thanks to yall’s help (yall checked out my pictures which sent me up in the rankings on this website), I won second place in a contest on Mapvivo.com . My journeys for Nepal and Southeast Asia were selected at some of the best on the web site. Unfortunately, I did not get first place, a prize of $1000, and instead, I only get two travel books, but you take what you can get and keep going. If yall want to see the ‘prize-winning’ journeys and didn’t see them, go to these sites:
Nepal: http://mapvivo.com/journey/8588
Southeast Asia: http://mapvivo.com/journey/8746
Also, I have just added some of my pictures from Korea and Qingdao in journeys. Here are their sites:
South Korea: http://mapvivo.com/journey/10276
Qingdao: http://mapvivo.com/journey/10162
I don’t know if yall have been checking out the blog, but I have been putting some of those journal entries online. If yall want to read everything I love and hate about this country (mostly hate), check it out. I’ll add some of the journal entries to the end of this email.
Finally, I also participated in another TV show. The good news is that I hope to get a DVD of this show and the previous one, and bring it back to the US. The bad news is that it won’t air until December or so, so they haven’t put it online yet.
The show is basically the same as the one that I had participated in September. They have changed the name to “Happy Foreigners” and the changed the games around. This time everyone got to participate in a game, making it fairer than the last one.
For my game, I had to dress up in a crab suit with a friend and try and pop balloons in between us by hugging each other (without using our hands). To make it a little harder, they have a bungee cord attached to our backs and they had two people pulling on each of the bungee cords, trying to hold us back. We won this game easily, because the other contestant was deathly afraid of balloons popping.
It didn’t matter that I won. We had already rigged the entire gameshow before it started. You see, this game show took the six players and, through elimination, choose one player to play for a final prize of a thousand dollars. This final player did this through a high jump. So I convinced everyone that we would all be better off if we choose the person who could jump the highest and let him win, and afterwards we could split the money.
That’s exactly what we did. For those of yall who don’t know, this is a problem in Game Theory (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory ), and I’m listening to a podcast on Game Theory. Making sure everyone was going to buy into our rigging this game show was a little experiment in Game Theory. I thought it would be a little difficult, but it worked out in the end. Every one threw the games that they were supposed, and the guy who won was still willing to split the money.
We got to the end of the show, and the guy we had rigged to win did win. After the show was over, we all split the money and ended up with about US$240. Not a bad.
A little richer and a lot wiser.
Winter has come quickly. A two weeks ago the weather was in the sixties, and I was walking in a tshirt during the daytime. But on Monday came the earliest snow in a generation. The leaves on the trees were still green, but they became heavy and glazed in white with the southern snow. The streets became a cocktail of muddy slush and trash. Still, life goes on, class continues.
Another note, thanks to yall’s help (yall checked out my pictures which sent me up in the rankings on this website), I won second place in a contest on Mapvivo.com . My journeys for Nepal and Southeast Asia were selected at some of the best on the web site. Unfortunately, I did not get first place, a prize of $1000, and instead, I only get two travel books, but you take what you can get and keep going. If yall want to see the ‘prize-winning’ journeys and didn’t see them, go to these sites:
Nepal: http://mapvivo.com/journey/8588
Southeast Asia: http://mapvivo.com/journey/8746
Also, I have just added some of my pictures from Korea and Qingdao in journeys. Here are their sites:
South Korea: http://mapvivo.com/journey/10276
Qingdao: http://mapvivo.com/journey/10162
I don’t know if yall have been checking out the blog, but I have been putting some of those journal entries online. If yall want to read everything I love and hate about this country (mostly hate), check it out. I’ll add some of the journal entries to the end of this email.
Finally, I also participated in another TV show. The good news is that I hope to get a DVD of this show and the previous one, and bring it back to the US. The bad news is that it won’t air until December or so, so they haven’t put it online yet.
The show is basically the same as the one that I had participated in September. They have changed the name to “Happy Foreigners” and the changed the games around. This time everyone got to participate in a game, making it fairer than the last one.
For my game, I had to dress up in a crab suit with a friend and try and pop balloons in between us by hugging each other (without using our hands). To make it a little harder, they have a bungee cord attached to our backs and they had two people pulling on each of the bungee cords, trying to hold us back. We won this game easily, because the other contestant was deathly afraid of balloons popping.
It didn’t matter that I won. We had already rigged the entire gameshow before it started. You see, this game show took the six players and, through elimination, choose one player to play for a final prize of a thousand dollars. This final player did this through a high jump. So I convinced everyone that we would all be better off if we choose the person who could jump the highest and let him win, and afterwards we could split the money.
That’s exactly what we did. For those of yall who don’t know, this is a problem in Game Theory (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory ), and I’m listening to a podcast on Game Theory. Making sure everyone was going to buy into our rigging this game show was a little experiment in Game Theory. I thought it would be a little difficult, but it worked out in the end. Every one threw the games that they were supposed, and the guy who won was still willing to split the money.
We got to the end of the show, and the guy we had rigged to win did win. After the show was over, we all split the money and ended up with about US$240. Not a bad.
A little richer and a lot wiser.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Journal Entries - TV Show
Week 3 and 4
Journal Entry 1
For the last assignment, I talked a lot about the gap between when school starts and when most of my classes start. For these entries, I am going to focus on getting used to the classes and how I was received in the classes.
The one class that actually started during the first week was one called “Modern and Contemporary Chinese Political Systems and Thought Research.” I had wanted to go to this class and another class at the same time, but I talked with Lauren, a University of Oregon student, and she said she would go to the diplomacy class and I could go to the other class. We reported to each other on our classes after the end of each of them.
Earle came with me to the class. I think he was in over his head, but I kept treading water. This teacher was interesting, and he spoke clearly though quickly. He is talking about a different topic related to Chinese government every week, and our only assignment is to read a book and do an hour long presentation on it with another student. Ten out of the twelve books he gave us were originally written in English, so I just found a copy of one of them in the philosophy library in the original. Not too shabby.
Journal Entry 2
So, the next few entries will be on this experience with the television show.
We had just had some activity coordinated by the Flagship program. I had to meet up with some of my friends who had come from Germany, and my bike was messed up. I went to the bike repair guy at the University’s north gate. The guy was fixing my tire, and I was talking with this guy about China and how corrupt things were.
He first asked if Western media had something against Chinese people. I didn’t really think American media had anything against Chinese people, but they thought that the Chinese government was pretty cruel. He said that that was true, but it was also necessary to maintain a cruel government so that China’s problems, like corruption. I pointed out that China’s corruption was getting better and not worse since the 1970’s. He was surprised I realized this and thought that I was very clever to have seen this. I told him that I am not clever, and it is something that anyone could have known.
At this point of our conversation, it just so happened that two ladies from one of the Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation were driving by, and they saw me. They were looking for some foreigners to do a gameshow in next Sunday and I told them that I could do it.
Journal Entry 3
Later, I went to talk with some of the representatives about the meeting. I was waiting for them down in the lobby of the main building of the Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation. While I was waiting for them in the giant lobby, I noticed something that helped me understand the Chinese media. There were people moving about in the fairly empty lobby. There was a Starbucks, a fancy bakery and a bank all on the first floor of this building, surprising considering that people from outside did not generally come in. But, the most interesting thing was the way you had to get in the rest of the building. You had to walk through a small turnstile to get to the elevator. Next to that elevator was a PLA officer standing on a wide, circular metal stool. To me, he felt like he was out of place, but the other people moving in and out of the turnstile, women in pretty, knee-length skirts that looked like something out of the Sears catalogue and men in dry-cleaned suits, did not seem to think anything was strange.
I mentioned this experience to some Chinese people. They tried to offer other explanations, but no of them really seemed to hold water. One person said that may the PLA officer was perhaps the reason he had been placed there was to protect from a terrorist attack or some sort of robbery. Of course, it would be impossible for him to do anything in the event of a terrorist attack, since there was only one person and he only had a pistol.
I have concluded that the PLA officer was put there just to embody the Party’s control over the media, that he was an actual symbol of their power, stuck in the middle of this Westernized media operation and this lobby filled to the brim with the symbols of American capitalism like Starbucks to make sure the people walking through the turnstile never forgot who was really in charge.
Journal Entry 4
The day of the filming of the television show was Sunday. I had to show up at ten thirty in the morning to start preparing for the show at that evening at eight thirty. We meet in the VIP room and were talking about the content of the program. We had meet on the Wednesday to discuss these topics. I thought we had already worked this out. Why were we doing this again? Wednesday, they had asked me if I could do anything special like sing a Chinese song or do a Chinese tongue twister. I told them I can’t do English tongue twisters, much less Chinese, so we agreed to do a Chinese song, “我的中国心.”
But the day of the show, the director who had wanted me to do the tongue twister before asked me again if I could do it. I said know, but he asked me to say it out loud, just to see whether I could actually do it. Then, he said when the host was interviewing me he was going to ask me a question about what I liked about China. I was supposed to say that I liked Sichuan dishes, and then I was supposed to list them off. Finally the host was supposed to ask me what dish I could cook, and I was supposed to say “西红柿炒鸡蛋.” It was the directors idea of a joke. Not funny.
The host also didn’t find it funny, because he totally ignored him. But the host did ask me if I try and do a tongue twister. He said one line and I repeated it after him. That was fun.
I was left wondering whether this was like the production of an American television show and why they kept insisting I do a tongue twister. In the end, I realized that a lot of the stuff going on in this TV show was not something that was well planned out, but it happened more organically.
Journal Entry 5
After thinking about why they wanted me to say the Chinese tongue twister, I realized pretty quickly that it was about Chinese pumping themselves up about their own self image. At the start of the program, the host talked about the topic of how now a lot of foreigners were coming to China to study the Chinese in nationalistic terms, and how that was connected with the increasing importance of China in the world.
I think one of the reasons they insisted that I do the tongue twister because directors and the host wanted emphasize how foreigners are learning Chinese at a very high level, and that was supposed to show the audience that China (and Nanjing to a certain degree) has attained an important place in the world. I also think that it is related to the tributary system, where the importance of the emperor was confirmed by the amount of foreigners who would come to pay tribute to the emperor. The more foreigners you could bring and the more foreign they were, the more powerful you were. Discussions on the Tang Dynasty often emphasize who many foreigners were living in Chang’an. I think we were viewed by the Chinese in these terms, particularly since half of the players were black, particularly foreign to Chinese.
Journal Entry 6
As for classes, one of the most interesting (and frustrating) problems I have had since classes started is that one of my class’ schedules changed. Originally, my class on Chinese minorities was originally supposed to be taught by two different teachers, one teaching the first part of the semester and the other teaching in the second half of the smester, each teaching on Tuesday night.
But apparently, they changed the schedule after they printed out the schedule we have in the Flagship Office. Now, both teachers are teaching the class in the first half of the semester, one teaching it in the original Tuesday night time slot and the other taking a Monday night time slot. Fortunately, I did not have a class during that period, but it was kind of a pain that no one had told me. They had told the other American in the class when he signed up for classes (he’s a regular graduate student).
It’s not a big deal, but I was a little annoyed and surprised that they were just able to change the time. Of course, it makes sense, everybody in that class should all have the same classes. But then, I guess because they did not really know what I was doing there, what role I played in their class, so they did not really know that I was also supposed to come to that other part of the class.
Journal Entry 1
For the last assignment, I talked a lot about the gap between when school starts and when most of my classes start. For these entries, I am going to focus on getting used to the classes and how I was received in the classes.
The one class that actually started during the first week was one called “Modern and Contemporary Chinese Political Systems and Thought Research.” I had wanted to go to this class and another class at the same time, but I talked with Lauren, a University of Oregon student, and she said she would go to the diplomacy class and I could go to the other class. We reported to each other on our classes after the end of each of them.
Earle came with me to the class. I think he was in over his head, but I kept treading water. This teacher was interesting, and he spoke clearly though quickly. He is talking about a different topic related to Chinese government every week, and our only assignment is to read a book and do an hour long presentation on it with another student. Ten out of the twelve books he gave us were originally written in English, so I just found a copy of one of them in the philosophy library in the original. Not too shabby.
Journal Entry 2
So, the next few entries will be on this experience with the television show.
We had just had some activity coordinated by the Flagship program. I had to meet up with some of my friends who had come from Germany, and my bike was messed up. I went to the bike repair guy at the University’s north gate. The guy was fixing my tire, and I was talking with this guy about China and how corrupt things were.
He first asked if Western media had something against Chinese people. I didn’t really think American media had anything against Chinese people, but they thought that the Chinese government was pretty cruel. He said that that was true, but it was also necessary to maintain a cruel government so that China’s problems, like corruption. I pointed out that China’s corruption was getting better and not worse since the 1970’s. He was surprised I realized this and thought that I was very clever to have seen this. I told him that I am not clever, and it is something that anyone could have known.
At this point of our conversation, it just so happened that two ladies from one of the Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation were driving by, and they saw me. They were looking for some foreigners to do a gameshow in next Sunday and I told them that I could do it.
Journal Entry 3
Later, I went to talk with some of the representatives about the meeting. I was waiting for them down in the lobby of the main building of the Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation. While I was waiting for them in the giant lobby, I noticed something that helped me understand the Chinese media. There were people moving about in the fairly empty lobby. There was a Starbucks, a fancy bakery and a bank all on the first floor of this building, surprising considering that people from outside did not generally come in. But, the most interesting thing was the way you had to get in the rest of the building. You had to walk through a small turnstile to get to the elevator. Next to that elevator was a PLA officer standing on a wide, circular metal stool. To me, he felt like he was out of place, but the other people moving in and out of the turnstile, women in pretty, knee-length skirts that looked like something out of the Sears catalogue and men in dry-cleaned suits, did not seem to think anything was strange.
I mentioned this experience to some Chinese people. They tried to offer other explanations, but no of them really seemed to hold water. One person said that may the PLA officer was perhaps the reason he had been placed there was to protect from a terrorist attack or some sort of robbery. Of course, it would be impossible for him to do anything in the event of a terrorist attack, since there was only one person and he only had a pistol.
I have concluded that the PLA officer was put there just to embody the Party’s control over the media, that he was an actual symbol of their power, stuck in the middle of this Westernized media operation and this lobby filled to the brim with the symbols of American capitalism like Starbucks to make sure the people walking through the turnstile never forgot who was really in charge.
Journal Entry 4
The day of the filming of the television show was Sunday. I had to show up at ten thirty in the morning to start preparing for the show at that evening at eight thirty. We meet in the VIP room and were talking about the content of the program. We had meet on the Wednesday to discuss these topics. I thought we had already worked this out. Why were we doing this again? Wednesday, they had asked me if I could do anything special like sing a Chinese song or do a Chinese tongue twister. I told them I can’t do English tongue twisters, much less Chinese, so we agreed to do a Chinese song, “我的中国心.”
But the day of the show, the director who had wanted me to do the tongue twister before asked me again if I could do it. I said know, but he asked me to say it out loud, just to see whether I could actually do it. Then, he said when the host was interviewing me he was going to ask me a question about what I liked about China. I was supposed to say that I liked Sichuan dishes, and then I was supposed to list them off. Finally the host was supposed to ask me what dish I could cook, and I was supposed to say “西红柿炒鸡蛋.” It was the directors idea of a joke. Not funny.
The host also didn’t find it funny, because he totally ignored him. But the host did ask me if I try and do a tongue twister. He said one line and I repeated it after him. That was fun.
I was left wondering whether this was like the production of an American television show and why they kept insisting I do a tongue twister. In the end, I realized that a lot of the stuff going on in this TV show was not something that was well planned out, but it happened more organically.
Journal Entry 5
After thinking about why they wanted me to say the Chinese tongue twister, I realized pretty quickly that it was about Chinese pumping themselves up about their own self image. At the start of the program, the host talked about the topic of how now a lot of foreigners were coming to China to study the Chinese in nationalistic terms, and how that was connected with the increasing importance of China in the world.
I think one of the reasons they insisted that I do the tongue twister because directors and the host wanted emphasize how foreigners are learning Chinese at a very high level, and that was supposed to show the audience that China (and Nanjing to a certain degree) has attained an important place in the world. I also think that it is related to the tributary system, where the importance of the emperor was confirmed by the amount of foreigners who would come to pay tribute to the emperor. The more foreigners you could bring and the more foreign they were, the more powerful you were. Discussions on the Tang Dynasty often emphasize who many foreigners were living in Chang’an. I think we were viewed by the Chinese in these terms, particularly since half of the players were black, particularly foreign to Chinese.
Journal Entry 6
As for classes, one of the most interesting (and frustrating) problems I have had since classes started is that one of my class’ schedules changed. Originally, my class on Chinese minorities was originally supposed to be taught by two different teachers, one teaching the first part of the semester and the other teaching in the second half of the smester, each teaching on Tuesday night.
But apparently, they changed the schedule after they printed out the schedule we have in the Flagship Office. Now, both teachers are teaching the class in the first half of the semester, one teaching it in the original Tuesday night time slot and the other taking a Monday night time slot. Fortunately, I did not have a class during that period, but it was kind of a pain that no one had told me. They had told the other American in the class when he signed up for classes (he’s a regular graduate student).
It’s not a big deal, but I was a little annoyed and surprised that they were just able to change the time. Of course, it makes sense, everybody in that class should all have the same classes. But then, I guess because they did not really know what I was doing there, what role I played in their class, so they did not really know that I was also supposed to come to that other part of the class.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Journal Entry - Starting Classes
Week 1 and 2
Entry 1
I guess the first thing that I should talk about for one of these learning journals is probably the first two weeks of class and how we didn’t really have class for many of the classes that I was looking at taking or auditing. Dr. Christensen, I think you had mentioned something about this before in our internship preparation course, but I think yall should tell students about it a bit more in depth or let them read some of the previous journals so that they know exactly what they are getting into.
Its really not that complicated, but I do think it’s a little unnecessary. The first two weeks are for first year masters students, but for those who have already been here before, classes do not start until the third week. I’m not sure why they do this, and I don’t think its particularly necessary. However, in China’s defense, I was venting with my friend who finished his masters degree in India, and he said they do something similar. Maybe all crappy third-world education systems do this because they are based on the Soviet Model. Or maybe they actually have a good reason and I just haven’t figured it out.
Entry 2
I’m going to keep talking about the one week three week split, since it is the most interesting thing that has occurred over these past two weeks (since most of my classes didn’t start meeting until today).
This split is not as straight forward as it would seem though. It is not just first year classes meet week one and other classes meet week three. In the course catalog, they listed classes as 08级 and 09级, the first being those that started the first week and the latter being those that started during the third week. But almost all the classes that I wanted to take were in the level 8 or were unclear in how they were designated in the course catalog. So I just went to them.
The first one I went to was a success, which is strange because it was not a first year class. Huh? Everyone in the class knew each other, and the professor had taught them all before. But it meet on the first week? I’m really not sure what’s going on, and I don’t know that I will ever be able to now. But its been kind of interesting trying to learn.
Entry 3
I realize this must be boring for you to read three entries on the same topic, but it has been a study in Chinese culture, trying to figure this class thing out. The next few entries will probably be about this topic.
So today, I went to a class with Thomas, from BYU, and Lauren, a girl from the University of Oregon who I got to know at the OSU Qingdao Center. The class was on China’s political systems and it was listed not listed as an 08 or an 09 class. We got there a little early, talked with some of the students in the class. But the teacher didn’t show up. We waited for fifteen, then twenty minutes, and we started to wonder if they had a fifteen minute rule in Chinese Universities. No one else left, so we dared not leave either. But around the fifteen minute mark, some of the students got on their phones. They were calling friends to see who had the number of the teacher. Eventually they called enough people and found the teachers number. Once they talked with the teacher, he said, “Oh no, class doesn’t start until the third week.” I don’t know why everybody got it wrong except for him, but it made me feel a little bit better that I was not just a stupid foreigner.
Entry 4
The fourth day of my classes, I went to another class in the morning. The classroom was full of students who were sleeping on books, busy looking over some of their notes or surreptiously chating. I sat down at the front of the class, near the only electrical outlet so that I could plug my computer in. And then I waited. About fifteen minutes into when I thought the class was supposed to start, I looked around and realized that I was doing something wrong. Unlike the other class, no one seemed perplexed by the teacher’s tardiness. I leaned over and asked a girl in front of me if she knew when the teacher was coming. She had no idea what I was talking about. I asked again, rearrange my sentence hoping to make my question clearer.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t my bad Chinese that was the problem. She, along with most of the people in the classroom, were not students in the class I wanted to take. Fortunately, she turned out to be the daughter of a professor in the history department, the same department my class was in. I gave her my phone number, and she said she would call me with more information on the classes.
Entry 5
The next day, that girl sitting in front of me eventually called me back with the numbers of some students in the history department who could help me. I took down their numbers and thanked her, and started calling the numbers she gave me. The first was a number from a professor, and he did not answer. I am kind of glad that he did not answer because I would have felt awkward talking to a professor, asking him when some other professors class was supposed to start.
The next person I called was a student. She picked up and I immediately asked her if she knew when the class was going to start. This was a mistake. I could tell she was a little put off because I had not introduced myself really. Nevertheless, she gave me the number of another person who should probably know (she was a student of ancient Chinese history and the class was on Taiwan-mainland history, so she did not know).
Finally, I called the next girl, this time making sure to explain who I was and what my situation was. She seemed quite happy to tell me that the class would not be starting until the third week, and that it was a three hour class, not a two hour class.
Entry 6
For my final entry for this assignment, I’m going to talk about the final problem I had with classes starting. I went to a class that was supposed to start during the first week (like all the others), but I did not expect it to. It was difficult to find the building. No one had ever heard of the Center for the Study of Chinese Philosophers. It turned out to be squirreled away in a small house behind another building.
I went to that building. It was abandoned except for janitor/secretary in there. I mentioned the class, and she said that the teacher was in a meeting this week so it would not start until the second week, and that the time had been changed from Friday morning to Thursday afternoon. Really? Next week, I went to the class on Thursday afternoon and the teacher and another student were there, just as she had said. But the classes eight other students were not there. Just as I thought I had gotten the hang of it, I lost it, but, like the time we meet and the teacher was the only one who did not show up, this time it was not really might fault. Someone else had messed up too, a comforting thought for an American trying to figure this whole thing out.
Entry 1
I guess the first thing that I should talk about for one of these learning journals is probably the first two weeks of class and how we didn’t really have class for many of the classes that I was looking at taking or auditing. Dr. Christensen, I think you had mentioned something about this before in our internship preparation course, but I think yall should tell students about it a bit more in depth or let them read some of the previous journals so that they know exactly what they are getting into.
Its really not that complicated, but I do think it’s a little unnecessary. The first two weeks are for first year masters students, but for those who have already been here before, classes do not start until the third week. I’m not sure why they do this, and I don’t think its particularly necessary. However, in China’s defense, I was venting with my friend who finished his masters degree in India, and he said they do something similar. Maybe all crappy third-world education systems do this because they are based on the Soviet Model. Or maybe they actually have a good reason and I just haven’t figured it out.
Entry 2
I’m going to keep talking about the one week three week split, since it is the most interesting thing that has occurred over these past two weeks (since most of my classes didn’t start meeting until today).
This split is not as straight forward as it would seem though. It is not just first year classes meet week one and other classes meet week three. In the course catalog, they listed classes as 08级 and 09级, the first being those that started the first week and the latter being those that started during the third week. But almost all the classes that I wanted to take were in the level 8 or were unclear in how they were designated in the course catalog. So I just went to them.
The first one I went to was a success, which is strange because it was not a first year class. Huh? Everyone in the class knew each other, and the professor had taught them all before. But it meet on the first week? I’m really not sure what’s going on, and I don’t know that I will ever be able to now. But its been kind of interesting trying to learn.
Entry 3
I realize this must be boring for you to read three entries on the same topic, but it has been a study in Chinese culture, trying to figure this class thing out. The next few entries will probably be about this topic.
So today, I went to a class with Thomas, from BYU, and Lauren, a girl from the University of Oregon who I got to know at the OSU Qingdao Center. The class was on China’s political systems and it was listed not listed as an 08 or an 09 class. We got there a little early, talked with some of the students in the class. But the teacher didn’t show up. We waited for fifteen, then twenty minutes, and we started to wonder if they had a fifteen minute rule in Chinese Universities. No one else left, so we dared not leave either. But around the fifteen minute mark, some of the students got on their phones. They were calling friends to see who had the number of the teacher. Eventually they called enough people and found the teachers number. Once they talked with the teacher, he said, “Oh no, class doesn’t start until the third week.” I don’t know why everybody got it wrong except for him, but it made me feel a little bit better that I was not just a stupid foreigner.
Entry 4
The fourth day of my classes, I went to another class in the morning. The classroom was full of students who were sleeping on books, busy looking over some of their notes or surreptiously chating. I sat down at the front of the class, near the only electrical outlet so that I could plug my computer in. And then I waited. About fifteen minutes into when I thought the class was supposed to start, I looked around and realized that I was doing something wrong. Unlike the other class, no one seemed perplexed by the teacher’s tardiness. I leaned over and asked a girl in front of me if she knew when the teacher was coming. She had no idea what I was talking about. I asked again, rearrange my sentence hoping to make my question clearer.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t my bad Chinese that was the problem. She, along with most of the people in the classroom, were not students in the class I wanted to take. Fortunately, she turned out to be the daughter of a professor in the history department, the same department my class was in. I gave her my phone number, and she said she would call me with more information on the classes.
Entry 5
The next day, that girl sitting in front of me eventually called me back with the numbers of some students in the history department who could help me. I took down their numbers and thanked her, and started calling the numbers she gave me. The first was a number from a professor, and he did not answer. I am kind of glad that he did not answer because I would have felt awkward talking to a professor, asking him when some other professors class was supposed to start.
The next person I called was a student. She picked up and I immediately asked her if she knew when the class was going to start. This was a mistake. I could tell she was a little put off because I had not introduced myself really. Nevertheless, she gave me the number of another person who should probably know (she was a student of ancient Chinese history and the class was on Taiwan-mainland history, so she did not know).
Finally, I called the next girl, this time making sure to explain who I was and what my situation was. She seemed quite happy to tell me that the class would not be starting until the third week, and that it was a three hour class, not a two hour class.
Entry 6
For my final entry for this assignment, I’m going to talk about the final problem I had with classes starting. I went to a class that was supposed to start during the first week (like all the others), but I did not expect it to. It was difficult to find the building. No one had ever heard of the Center for the Study of Chinese Philosophers. It turned out to be squirreled away in a small house behind another building.
I went to that building. It was abandoned except for janitor/secretary in there. I mentioned the class, and she said that the teacher was in a meeting this week so it would not start until the second week, and that the time had been changed from Friday morning to Thursday afternoon. Really? Next week, I went to the class on Thursday afternoon and the teacher and another student were there, just as she had said. But the classes eight other students were not there. Just as I thought I had gotten the hang of it, I lost it, but, like the time we meet and the teacher was the only one who did not show up, this time it was not really might fault. Someone else had messed up too, a comforting thought for an American trying to figure this whole thing out.
Nanjing
First off, I haven’t been doing much with my blog up until now other than putting the stories from these emails on the blog. I’m going to change that some starting now. This semester, one of my assignments is to write a ‘journal entry’ about my experiences in China three times every week. These journal entries are all about issues that I’m having over here and what some of these experiences have taught me about China. So, I’m going to be putting every one of these assignments onto my blog, and I’ll tag some of them on to the end of these emails under the label “Assignments – Journal Entries.”
So if yall want to see more of these little tidbits about problems I’m having here in China, how I’m seeing Chinese culture, check out my blog at:
www.free-roaming.blogspot.com
Also, I don’t know how many of yall have been checking, but I have not updated my picture site much. The Chinese government had been working even harder than normal for a while to prevent me from getting access to those sorts of things, so for a while, it was difficult to upload pictures. Now, I’ve found a way around the “Great Firewall of China,” so I’ve updated my picture page. Check it out, there are a ton of new pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/agenbite.lee
For those concerned, I finally had to get a haircut. All of my mormon friends like the hair cut, which means I look like a good mormon missionary. So it’s a bad haircut. You can see the results on the above picture site, in the folder titled “Suzhou.”
And now for something completely different: This email is going to kind of be light on content. A lot has happened, but most of it may be even less interesting than my normal emails, so I’m not going to bother yall with it unless I get really desperate for stories. My parents are coming soon, so I thought it would be good for them and yall to get a little introduction into where I’m studying.
Nanjing is located just a few hours from Shanghai along the Yangze River. It’s an old city, considered one of the four ancient capitals of China. Unfortunately, everytime someone tries to build their capital here in Nanjing, they screw up, so it has become known as a kind of unlucky place to make your capital, with only short dynasties making their capital in Nanjing.
The most recent idiot to make his capital in Nanjing was Chiang Kai-Shek, the megalomaniac who ruled China from 1927 until 1949. He fought the Japanese and sat next to FDR and Churchhill in some of the conferences towards the end of World War II. But his regime was less than successful. He tried to eliminate the Communist all the while the Japanese empire of the 1930’s was expanding into China. In 1937, the Japanese invaded most of China, Chiang Kai-Shek’s government was forced to leave Nanjing and set up a government in exile in inner China, several thousand miles upriver on the Yangze. At this time, the Japanese entered Nanjing unopposed and slaughtered several hundred thousand innocent civilians, raping women and skewering infants on bayonets. This marked a low point in human history.
Before that, one of history’s bloodiest civil wars was focused on this area. A Chinese guy, Hong Xiuquan, read a pamphlet from a Christian missionary and studied the bible. He then had a vision that he was Jesus’ little brother and that he had to purge China of its demons. Long story short, he built up his own government, took over the southern half of China, and almost toppled the dynasty, leaving some twenty million dead in the wake of the conflict.
And there is a lot more history, but I’ll skip it I’ve been told that my emails can often become to “dissertation-like.” Now, Nanjing is no longer the capital of failed dynasties. Instead, Nanjing is the provincial capital of one of the country’s richest provinces, the breadbasket of China. It is also a center of education in the country, with only Beijing and Shanghai being able to challenge Nanjing with having more famous colleges in their city. And that’s where it comes to me; I’m at Nanjing University, one of the top five schools in the country, studying Chinese government and culture. The city has become a major center of commerce, my apartment sitting in the shadow of the seventh tallest building in the world, the Nanjing Greenland Financial Center.
So if yall want to see more of these little tidbits about problems I’m having here in China, how I’m seeing Chinese culture, check out my blog at:
www.free-roaming.blogspot.com
Also, I don’t know how many of yall have been checking, but I have not updated my picture site much. The Chinese government had been working even harder than normal for a while to prevent me from getting access to those sorts of things, so for a while, it was difficult to upload pictures. Now, I’ve found a way around the “Great Firewall of China,” so I’ve updated my picture page. Check it out, there are a ton of new pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/agenbite.lee
For those concerned, I finally had to get a haircut. All of my mormon friends like the hair cut, which means I look like a good mormon missionary. So it’s a bad haircut. You can see the results on the above picture site, in the folder titled “Suzhou.”
And now for something completely different: This email is going to kind of be light on content. A lot has happened, but most of it may be even less interesting than my normal emails, so I’m not going to bother yall with it unless I get really desperate for stories. My parents are coming soon, so I thought it would be good for them and yall to get a little introduction into where I’m studying.
Nanjing is located just a few hours from Shanghai along the Yangze River. It’s an old city, considered one of the four ancient capitals of China. Unfortunately, everytime someone tries to build their capital here in Nanjing, they screw up, so it has become known as a kind of unlucky place to make your capital, with only short dynasties making their capital in Nanjing.
The most recent idiot to make his capital in Nanjing was Chiang Kai-Shek, the megalomaniac who ruled China from 1927 until 1949. He fought the Japanese and sat next to FDR and Churchhill in some of the conferences towards the end of World War II. But his regime was less than successful. He tried to eliminate the Communist all the while the Japanese empire of the 1930’s was expanding into China. In 1937, the Japanese invaded most of China, Chiang Kai-Shek’s government was forced to leave Nanjing and set up a government in exile in inner China, several thousand miles upriver on the Yangze. At this time, the Japanese entered Nanjing unopposed and slaughtered several hundred thousand innocent civilians, raping women and skewering infants on bayonets. This marked a low point in human history.
Before that, one of history’s bloodiest civil wars was focused on this area. A Chinese guy, Hong Xiuquan, read a pamphlet from a Christian missionary and studied the bible. He then had a vision that he was Jesus’ little brother and that he had to purge China of its demons. Long story short, he built up his own government, took over the southern half of China, and almost toppled the dynasty, leaving some twenty million dead in the wake of the conflict.
And there is a lot more history, but I’ll skip it I’ve been told that my emails can often become to “dissertation-like.” Now, Nanjing is no longer the capital of failed dynasties. Instead, Nanjing is the provincial capital of one of the country’s richest provinces, the breadbasket of China. It is also a center of education in the country, with only Beijing and Shanghai being able to challenge Nanjing with having more famous colleges in their city. And that’s where it comes to me; I’m at Nanjing University, one of the top five schools in the country, studying Chinese government and culture. The city has become a major center of commerce, my apartment sitting in the shadow of the seventh tallest building in the world, the Nanjing Greenland Financial Center.
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