Adventure on the (Relatively) High Seas

Yesterday (for me; you're still in my yesterday) Professor Sodini came to visit all the MIT students in Beijing and to talk with companies about 6a. At Microsoft he talked with me and Kat, and our mentors and the University Relations personnel. The meetings went well and people exchanged little gifts, because that's what you do in China. Kat and I got him a fancy set of chopsticks. Microsoft got him something significantly more expensive, or so it looked from the box. Afterwards, Prof. Sodini wanted to meet with some friends for dinner, so used my phone to call out... but the line was busy. So we chatted and Kat and I showed him our 'kitchen' and we all listened to and watched the suddenly arrived thunderstorm. There was no sign of rain in the morning, and Beijing is not a place known for heavy rain.

Funny story told to us by Professor Sodini at this point. He was traveling in the islands near Fiji. The way it worked is he would stay with someone, and then be given a note explaining his presence and sent to the next person. Eventually he got as far out as you can get, as evidenced by the following conversation he had upon arriving.

'So, you're from the United States? Whereabouts?'

'California.'

'Oh, we had someone from there about five years ago. His name is Bill; do you know him?'

Of course, for the Olympics, the city is trying to increase its number of 'blue sky days.' Part of the problem is pollution, and they're taking measures to cut down on the number of cars and factories and burnt coal and the like. But part of the reason that the sky isn't clear has nothing to do with pollution... it's just a very dusty place. As Donald Morrison wrote for the New York Times,

"Beijing lies downwind of the Gobi Desert, and every year, that dusty ocean
advances by a few more li or chi or something toward the gates of the city, if
those gates hadn’t been demolished by Mao and other visionaries. Beijing is
built on dust. It seeps and creeps and glides and slides across the floor, under
the door and all around the walls. My wife says it’s like living in a beach
house, nowhere near the ocean, as she sweeps up her daily dustpan of grit. The
caulking around our plumbing fixtures has blackened. My shirt collars go brown
after a few hours’ wear. My bicycle wears a powdery coat every morning."

(excerpted from http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/travel/01globe.html?em&ex=1212811200&en=a2480785ebe680b4&ei=5087%0A)

As part of their attempts to improve the weather, Beijing officials have started to send up rockets to 'seed the clouds' at night, so that if it is supposed to rain the next day the rain can be moved up to a time when everyone is conveniently asleep. Speculation yesterday was that they were experimenting with dosages and went way, way too high. The rain was torrential, and the drainage system completely inadequate. Professor Sodini and I were going to share a cab (since I was on my way to the same side of town,) but they were all taken, stuck, or both.

We decided to brave the subway. First I ran to my hotel, rolling my dress pants up above my knees and wading through two feet of water on some parts of the street, and grabbed my raincoat and spare umbrella (noting as I was there the lack of electricity). Then Professor Sodini rolled his pants legs up too, and we went out to try to take the subway. On the way we saw people on motorbikes with fully half their tires submerged. Once we arrived, this is what we found:

See the bubbling font by the bicycles? That would be the sewer system working in reverse. People were crowding into the subway even as officials and police were pushing them out and saying that it wasn't safe to ride on the subway. We were inside getting information about when the next train would be (not until tomorrow) when they began to barricade the doors. Many people were trying to crowd in, presumably to shelter for the night if they couldn't get anywhere else. We got out just in time to avoid being locked in the subway station. Then we walked a couple of blocks to places which were less waterlogged and began to try for a cab.

(Note: you might ask why we didn't give up and go back to Microsoft. Well, Professor Sodini really wanted to meet his friends, since he had to leave town the next day. And I thought that running around a flooded Beijing on an epic quest to get to Sarah's apartment sounded like a fun way to spend a Friday night.)

So after a bit of work we eventually got a cab, and had to go a bit out of our way to avoid the water, and I took my socks off and squeezed lots of water out onto the street which we were riding on the 4th ring road, and we had a great conversation. And then after dropping him off with his friends, the cabbie and I got only the teeniest little bit lost as we found Sarah's apartment.

So, Sarah's got this apartment with 3 other people, but 2 are moving out... I have the chance to move in and have this be my bedroom. In the second picture you can see what would be my desk and porch.

I'm strongly considering moving in, because it's more of a commute, but not more money, and it's this really awesome 15-room place that feels a bit more like a home instead just a place to put my stuff down and sleep.

Then Sarah and I went out with a friend of hers and ate here:

The went salsa dancing afterwards, but I was tired. I took a cab since the subway still wasn't fully functional. When I got back around 11:30 pm I saw lots of flashing lights, fire trucks, sewage system trucks, and police cars. Many city workers were working through the night to repair the subway and the street below it (which had become a little sea of mud.) There were also dozens of people just hanging out and leaning over the railings watching.

I got home, washed my legs off, and slept. Then I woke and played on the internet.

And now I'm going to go out to a KTV place. How exciting! Other coming attractions include more reading and The Summer Palace. ("I hear the place is so gorgeous that French soldiers stopped intheir tracks and forgot their orders when they saw it during the BoxerRebellion. Or maybe it was just that they were French, nobody is sure." -- Erik Fogg)

Ok, time to go! Write me comments!