The Penguin and The Dragon

I know, I know....

2008-11-11T03:32:00.002+08:00

I didn't finish blogging about China. This note is just to let you know that I do intend to do it, sometime, but I shouldn't do it now because I'm supposed to be studying for 3 tests... although ignoring them is quite tempting. Anyways, I do blog semi-regularly these days on this website: http://www.mitadmissions.org/ , since it's sortof my job now. So, until sometime later, at least a week from now, that'll have to do. Thanks for following the blog!

Kim

Busy, busy, busy...

2008-08-15T16:35:00.003+08:00

I'm going to be pretty busy today wrapping things up at the office. Tomorrow will be my last full day in Beijing, and should be nice and relaxing. And then I fly out on Sunday for Boston via New York! I'll post something here when I make it, and then probably keep posting for a while after that, since I haven't had a chance to tell you about some other things I've done recently... like my trip to watch Olympic Soccer in Tianjin. So keep checking back here if you're interested in a few more pictures and stories. The blog will likely wind down by the end of the month, though, since school will be starting again. Thanks for reading!

Meeting Them XII

2008-08-14T23:40:00.000+08:00

A dozen thousand minutes of life spent on this trip; what was its worth?

Well, I met Them. Or at least some of Them; a decent size group of Them. Who are They, you ask? They're loosely defined, both verbs and nouns (person, place, thing, quality or idea -- for some reason I remember chanting this definition in a sing-song voice in 6th grade or so) that I encountered in the course of my explorations. I liked some of Them, disliked others. And that is a reasonable reason to travel.

Granted, I already had preconceived notions about many of Them. But meeting Them in new contexts, at greater concentration than previously, on a trip where I had a lot of time for reflection made a difference. I am now more sure of my kanfa (way of seeing things) with respect to some of Them.

I love photography, of nature, of people as they are, of photography. Yes I knew that; as I said, in many cases prior preferences became sharper. My camera is one of the few essentials I carry with me whenever possible. When I went to Hangzhou, I actually didn't have time to return to Carson's flat as intended, so went with only the clothes on my back and my purse. Luckily my purse contained all essentials: tissues (for public bathrooms), money, camera, cell phone, nail file (so handy), pen and small notebook. I think I actually enjoyed the trip more than I would have if I had gone and packed a bunch of other stuff.

I like big grand cities that make people look like ants (how many can you count?) I like mirrors and glass.
I like bubble tea.
Besides that, I love the way this bubble tea was prepared for me. It was so efficient. The bottom plastic cup was filled quickly with all relevant ingredients, either added by machine or from buckets perfectly positioned for the worker's convenience. The worker then covered it with a specially designed cap and shaken, and set in a machine that heat-sealed the top on. A straw popped in and voilà. I wish I had time it. It was cool to watch. As I walked down the street drinking my bubble tea, I noticed a sparse mesh net a guy was using to carry his basketball that was very cool in a similar way.

I like being in nature. I didn't realize how much I had missed it until I was in it again.
Before sidetracking this post into one about how beautiful nature is (and moonlight!), I suppose I could mention some of the things I realized I really don't like.

Unnecessarily Angry Shouting.

This is a periodic reminder not to take up space in this train ticket-buying hall in Xi'an if you're not buying a ticket.

It also reminds me of something I do like though, since it was shortly after that I met the girls who took me in and let me hang out with them. I like people who consider this sort of unusual occurrence as a possible positive outcome of a chance meeting.

Another mode of behavior towards foreigners, which I encountered more than ever before in Xi'an, is high on my list of dislikes. Treating them like exotic but dumb animals in a zoo, to be talked about, stared at, and posed with on a whim.

While I was waiting for a train, sitting and eating my dinner in peace, I gathered a crowd of maybe 20 people, watching.

I was actually in the middle of figuring out my camera situation at Bingmayong, checking memory sticks to see if they worked, when a guy asked for a picture with me. I said, sure, when I've finished with this. Less than a minute later, while I was still clearly trying to work on my camera situation, he reminded me and asked if I was ready for the picture, though I clearly wasn't. I'm still not finished buying this; we can take a picture when I finish I told him. He was annoyed and told me that he'd been waiting, as though I was obligated to take a picture with him in the first place.

Another similarly annoying thing people, especially guys, do is yell "hello" at me, as though this is a very clever thing to say and needs to be said very loudly, either because I'm hard of hearing or others need to be impressed by their impressiveness.

It was odd to me that people should be this way in Xi'an, a large city, but not in Dangjiacun, the tiny town.

Xi'an was also where I realized how extremely uninterested I am in hanging out with people whose hobbies are drinking and/or smoking heavily. Also in pollution and cars with unusable seatbelts.

Such a long chunk of text! Here, have a tree, older than the USA: I should rest. So to wrap up this wrap-up, a final 3 things I enjoy: impromptu traveling, physical exertion, and quail eggs. Though that last is not one of these more-deeply-realized things, but rather a pleasant surprise from a hot-pot place in Xi'an.

Life, The Temple of Heaven

2008-08-12T21:00:00.000+08:00

:) Now that I'm nearly finished telling you about July, I can tell you all about August... but not really. Because I've only got a week left and I'm sooo busy. Work has really picked up; I like this.
Once I get a little more sleep in me I'll try to say something summary about my week-long trip. For now I'm going to tell you about going to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. First I got drawn into the wonderful shopping experience that is Wangfujin. Unfortunately the other Rich Westerners have started to find the place as they arrive for the Olympics, but knowing Chinese is still a plus when it comes to bargaining, as is being a student.
The weather was amazing and people were out enjoying it at the Temple of Heaven. Following a bit of prodding from the woman next to me, I danced too.
See how busy I am? I have no time to rotate this picture for you.
Of all the kids who've had their picture taken with me this summer, this one was the cutest. In case you're interested, second place goes to one of the two girl at the top of the JinMao tower in Shanghai. Also, this area was great. Wandering about, I came upon a group with folding stands making music together. I got there by taking an imperial shortcut that was invented for a 66-year-old emperor.
I suppose this picture is important to include as well. The emperor used to come to this place twice a year to communicate with the gods and make sure good crops were in order. If he wasn't good at this people got kindof annoyed. This is the central temple part, and there are all sorts of other halls around; the music hall, the echo wall, the sacrificing building, etc etc.
The weather today was lovely as well, by the way. And I finally got my Beijing Kaoya. And now I'm going to wrap things up at the office and go rest a bit.

Meeting Them XI

2008-08-11T06:00:00.000+08:00

Arriving at BingMaYong, the site of the Terracotta Warriors, the traveler faces an terrible problem. Every stick of memory is full; there will be no pictures here. Unless...! A stand sells memory cards. Buying one, she tests her camera. Which fails to recognize the card. Cards upon cards fail. She requests her money. "No, no! It works in our camera!" What good is that?
Enough. The traveler leaves five minutes later with a spiffier version of her own camera -- including a touchscreen! -- and a receipt that will enable her to regain her bankbook, keys, phone, and passport upon the expensive camera's safe return. What could go wrong?

She hires a guide and speedily gets to poking around History.
Commanders gather in Pit 3 to strategize before riding forth on golden chariots.

A Kneeling Archer from Pit 2, moderately curled shoes indicating a moderate rank:
Everything made to the highest standards, so that the Emperor would have the greatest chance of successful rule in the hereafter. Even bricks were better then; poorly made bricks meant death to their makers.
Zooming out a bit (and moving to the other end of Pit 1) we see the troops.
Duly impressed by BingMaYong, the traveler parts with her guide and exchanges camera for valuables. Apparently nothing could go wrong.

Returning to Xi'an, she is persuaded to take a quick look-see around the city walls,
then picks up her belongings from the room she's been not-staying in for the last couple of nights, and returns to the train station.

Where she eats an ... interesting ... meal and fascinates many rural Chinese travelers with her very (foreign) presence.
The journey ends simply: boarding a train, lifting self and possessions to a top bunk, and falling irresistibly into a deep, deep sleep.

Meeting Them X

2008-08-10T06:00:00.000+08:00

Sleeping lightly, waking to readjust the sarong or pull it closer, to shift positions on the rock, to shiver. After a couple of hours the cold is stronger than the the need for further sleep, and the traveler wakes. Shivering, looks around. More people have arrived over the last couple of hours, a surprising number in matching coats. Thick coats. Looking around, she finds the source. A man with a small shack rents them out! Well worth ¥20 ($3) plus deposit. Snuggling into a big warm Russian coat, her head wrapped in a sarong-turned-babushka, she curls into the rock and sleeps once more.

The sky lightens.
A shout! The sun is coming! The traveler wakes. People rush the edge of the cliff, jostle for position. Needlessly. "Calm down, settle back," a man says. It's still half an hour away. Woken by the false alarm, the traveler looks about. A handful of foreigners are among the growing crowd, recently emerged from their lodgings. The light grows.
Slipping under the chain, the traveler gains a spot in front. Sitting between a cyclist from Lithuania and a young Chinese couple, she awaits the sun.

It comes up, fiery red, beyond fiery -- fluorescent red. An unbelievable red. No picture would do it justice, and this one doesn't come close.
The crowd watches the progress of the bright sun through the clouds, tries in vain to capture its image, dissipates.

The sun risen, light spreads over the mountains. The white rock which glowed under the moon is lit by the sunlight. The morning air is crisp.
Leaving East Peak, the traveler now heads towards the highest peak, South Peak, shedding clothing along the way.
Ancient trees balance on the rock.
Upon attaining the South Peak, the traveler is warm once more.
A look down from near South Peak.
There is not much time to enjoy the scenery, if the traveler is to make Bingmayong before leaving Xi'an this evening. She moves quickly, running when paths permit.
Passing many, many chains with locks thick on them like so many barnacles. She flies down the mountain.
From the North Peak, she takes the most direct way down possible. With a cable car to herself, she has a great vantage point from which to appreciate the beautiful mountainsides one last time.

Meeting Them IX

2008-08-09T08:00:00.002+08:00

A crowd of Chinese and one American push violently for space on a bus which can only escort half of them to the mountain. An unusually competent bus driver conveys the lucky half towards their destination. As they approach, the air of anticipation grows. When the bus arrives in the town at the mountain's base, the passengers are directed to a store. Inside, a man barks warnings and thwacks a large map with his old radio antenna. On the side, the shop sells gear for the unprepared. The traveler buys a map, a flashlight, spare food, and a cheap backpack.

Many hikers will choose to rest in the shop for several hours, delaying their departure until midnight. With an estimated hiking time of 6 hours to East Peak, they should arrive in time to see the sunrise. The traveler eats a meal of Mapo Doufu, rice and tea and sets off.
Walking through what seems the main street of town, the street sloping steadily upward, the traveler comes along people selling white gloves for ¥1. They look quite useful and are accordingly acquired. She also comes along another flashlight, not as bright as the first but with a head-strap, and bargains it down to ¥10 from ¥15.

How to begin climbing? There's a plaza in the way, and a group of buildings. Perhaps this creature is lost too. He certainly looks distressed.
Heading Up as a rule of thumb works out well. The traveler claims student discount entrance and proceeds as night falls.
Solitude, stars, and a stream. Silence, save for a few insects' hums.
Most foreign tourists have gone up during the day and settled into their relatively expensive rooms on the mountain, planning to wake in time to see the sunrise. Most of those without the means to buy rooms will leave several hours later to tackle the climb as a group. With an elevation of around 2200 meters (higher than the highest peak of the Appalachians), nighttime temperatures dip near to freezing, even in the middle of the summer.

The traveler, cooped up on trains for so long, takes to the paths at high speed. The movement and exertion feels heavenly. When the edge has been taken off the store of pent up energy, she falls in with a group of 3 moving more steadily, young workers from a nearby city on a weekend adventure together. They are good, though easily winded, company. While the four stop together to rest, they explain the meaning of the white gloves. Their primary use is in gaining a better grip on the metal chains used along the stairs. Using these chains becomes more important as the paths become steeper, and enables one to ascend steeper paths. They are also nice to wear as the air cools. Resting stands lining the path at frequent intervals sell increasingly expensive food and drink. The group stops and eats some small round seeds. The traveler makes yet another friend.
Hairy Woman Cave. As it is said that a lady of Qin Dynasty, in order to avoid being buried with the dead escaped to Mount Hua, eat conifers leaf, drank spring water for a long time, grew green hair, so was called as 'Hairy Woman' the rock cave where she dwelled was called as 'Hairy Woman Cave'.
When Chinese part with each other, a polite thing to say is, 慢走, walk slowly. This group uses the phrase a lot, as in 'take it easy.' Eventually the traveler begins to feel cool due to lack of movement. Coming to a fortuitous splitting of the path, the traveler strikes out alone along the steeper option. Moving alone and quickly once more, she climbs upward, eventually coming to The Immortals' Gathering Plain.
She climbs on and on, following the chains up the mountain, using long exposures to try to capture the beauty around. The mountains' sides shine pure white, soft and chalky in the light of the rising moon. The path steepens, moves through rock.
The North Peak is attained. There is a hostel here, but the traveler moves on. The night is young, and there are paths to explore.
Heavenly Queen Palace, Immortality-Pill Making Furnace, Flying Fish Ridge. This last walk in the dark is the loneliest, shared only with spiders and something that howls. A sign cautions that in this place, there is, "no watching while walking. While walking no watching." The traveler stops walking and watches. The drop is impressive. Moving on through dark woods. Five Clouds Peak and Ox Grinding Stone.

While navigating tangled paths, alone in the dark, the traveler is glad of her map. Eventually she returns to something nearer to a main path. A pack of climbers is rushing past, those in back always urging those in front forward. Faster! Go Faster! All tired, none willing to be slowest. The traveler joins in and they sweep up the path. Taking a brief break, the rest pant as she sips from a bottle of water. Then, onward!

Couples' locks and ribbons cover paths' chains and hang down walls. (Only chains in more remote areas such as Flying Fish Ridge and chains along the steep runs are not adorned with these locks.)
In the dark, the adventurous path is missed, and the first of the pack starts up a set of stairs. Then the traveler's headlamp discovers it; holds cut in rock, a path cutting vertically, past vertically. At places the rock bulges out, making the chains on either side essential. They scale the cliff.

The East Peak is not far now, and the distance quickly covered in their exhilaration. There they settle on cold rock, hours before sunrise, to sleep if they can, and wait for the sun and its warmth. Many others have already arrived; it is Friday night, and the destination is popular among Chinese tourists, even if they cannot afford a hotel room at the top. The traveler wears pants over shorts and wraps a sarong around her shoulders. Using her backpack and the remainder of its contents for a pillow, she sleeps.

3 Lius, 3 Lives

2008-08-08T16:08:00.007+08:00

I thought it was interesting that 3 of the Chinese that are most in the news lately (though in the news of different countries) are all surnamed Liu. Their last name seems to be about all they have in common though. Meet Liu Huan, Liu Shaokun, and Liu Xiang.

Liu Huan is China's King of Pop. He'll be singing in just a few hours now at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. He and Sarah Brightman perform a new song that's been on the radio here lately: Beijing Huanying Ni (Beijing Welcomes You)

Liu Shaokun is a teacher. As you may know, there was a terrible earthquake in May in the Sichuan region of China. Many schools collapsed -- too easily, some said. Liu Shaokun posted pictures of the schools online.

"He was detained late last month by people from national security bureau for deliberately inciting families of victims to petition and disseminating anti-government rumors. They searched his home and found evidence," said the official, who refused to give his name. (source)

His punishment for disrupting the social order, passed by law enforcement and not subject to judicial review, is a year of 'Reeducation Through Labor', possibly in a place like this one. The spotty information online says that people in these camps often work twelve-hour days creating steel brushes, textiles, and chopsticks. (source)

Liu Xiang is an interesting case. He won gold in Athens four years ago as a hurdler, signaling a new era. Asians could win games besides pingpong and the time had come to "unleash a yellow tornado on the world". Now, he is arguably the most famous athlete in China. He's everyone's hero and every company wants to make endorsement deals with him.

Then again, he was selected for the sport by Chinese scouts who screen children, use bone scans to predict success in various events, and isolate the most promising for training. The pressure on him to repeat his victory on behalf of the Chinese people this month is absolutely huge; disappointing 1.3 billion people would not be so much fun, and disappointing the government, who wants to top the medal count this year, would also be less than fun. They think it will be easy, but Liu's been dealing with an injury (hamstring) and 3 recent false starts. He lives in the same apartment complex as his coach.

“I go home, and I go to the training facility,” Liu said, describing his routine. “Two places. And those two places are the safest for me.” (source)

Then again, he is proud of himself and what he's done. His goal, so he says, is "to prove to the whole world that Asians can run very fast." (source)

Speaking of the Olympics, I will be out of town tomorrow watching some soccer in Tianjin. But I'll be back soon, and you'll hear from me sooner, thanks to Blogger letting me set post dates in the future. And I'll be back in the States quite soon as well. It's kindof neat that I remember when Erik was on his 10-day countdown and now I'm on mine... can't wait to see you all!

Meeting them VIII

2008-08-08T09:31:00.000+08:00

卖猪的, 卖猪的！ The day dawned bright and early to a periodic bellowing of MaiZhuDe! The host leads a curious traveler to the street where a massive pig lays splayed on thin, ripped plastic in a truck bed. The seller stands by, loudly proclaiming his presence. Locals choose hunks of meat, and the seller judges their weight, holding a simple balance by a cord. The host buys a few pounds of meat (for ¥60), and the pair return inside for breakfast.
Breakfast is fried triangles of dough, stuffed with vegetables, and a cold salad. The hostess urges more food on the traveler, but eventually relents. The traveler's bill for dinner, a bed, and breakfast? ¥38.
A Hancheng policeman is in town, and stops for breakfast, then takes the traveler back to Hancheng, to The Confucius Temple.

"Hancheng is a place propitious for giving birth to great men. People are honest and unspoiled. A saying that half of the court officials were from Shaanxi, and half of Shaanxi officials were from Hancheng was very popular among the people. Xue Guoguang and Wang Jie, the most famous scholars, were promoted as the Prime Minister of Ming and Qing dynasties." So says a sign in the mini-museum found within. A later sign informs us that a citizen of Hancheng was Mao Zedong's Russian translator.

For ¥30 (on top of the ¥15 entrance fee) one can have a personal tour of the Temple and museum displays. Without this tour, one might pass by this old pillow unawares. (Well, who would have guessed? It's made of stone.)
The traveler struggles to read Confucian anecdotes, with much help from the guide. Passing over the bridge between the half moon pools and three courtyards flanked by monks' former clothes-changing building, eating hall, living quarters and libraries the pair approach the building of scrolls.
The traveler poses in white shorts, annoyingly beltless.

After seeing the Temple, the traveler wanders the market.
Food, Nails...
Medical care... (Zhen Suo)
A man selling bags of concrete tells the traveler how to flag a passing minibus to the bus station, where she gets on a fast bus back to Xi'an. The scenery is rather fascinating.
Welcome back to Xi'an!
The traveler returns to Xi'an, but only long enough to change clothes. Mount Hua beckons!

Really Ridiculously Random

2008-08-07T15:41:00.004+08:00

So here I am, sitting at my desk, waiting for my computer to run a script. A group of people approach, stop. And basically pluck me up... for a photo shoot? For Cosmopolitan? I was so confused? Katie laughs... until they grab her too.

I guess Cosmo China is doing a feature on best lounge spaces, and so they wanted Katie and me to drink coffee and converse while they photographed us. In the kitchen, because they liked the lighting there better than in the actual lounge. They're taking lots of pictures, so our probability of being in the magazine's not that great... but then again, we're a very... um... biracial? pair, and both quite cute. So perhaps we'll be chosen. And if not it was a fun break from work. Speaking of which... got to go!

Meeting Them VII

2008-08-06T20:10:00.000+08:00

The train pulls out of the South Station, far from the citycenter but shiny nonetheless.What curious nourishment is this Nutri-Express? >= 30% Milk... Thick and sweet.
Upon arrival in Hangzhou, the traveler visits the famed West-Lake. Chinese tourists stroll and take pictures -- bonus points for one with a white person! The traveler finds a few young residents, tags along as they hang out by the lake.
The traveler wonders that the lake is still the main attraction, being a bit murky.
Along the way, an important lesson is learned about squatting toilets. They are so far preferred in public places that women stand in line to use them rather than using the free western toilet.
Please, please can we take a picture?! The most excitable co-poser.

A famous bridge... time to find something prettier. First, to inquire at The Jingsheng Youth Hostel (sign in English as well as Chinese). "Nope, we can't take foreigners, just can't." Moving on, she climbs hills, reaches a ridge. Chats with Googlers. Then, a call from a friend! Yun has arrived from Shanghai. Back to the lake for a rendezvous.
After a walk comes a delicious dinner at a famous restaurant on the lake, beginning with Lotus Roots from the lake.
Then, to Yun's grandmother's for relaxation. The grandmother spends her days praying and being sweet, it seems.
She serves breakfast in the morning, and sends the leftovers along with the traveler setting off for Dreaming of the Tiger Spring.

Conversation at the dinner table in Dangjiacun turns to other foreigners who've visited. French, Japanese. Eventually dinner draws to a close and the traveler retires to her room. (Look how neat my stuff is! All packed into one little bag.) After writing in a journal, there is still time before sleep will come. Two more cheerful visitors arrive for a later dinner, and she joins them. The night deepens, the visitors leave, and the traveler finds sleep.

Whilst My Code Runs, A Letter of Venting

2008-08-06T08:26:00.007+08:00

Dear The West,

I miss you very much and am glad to be returning soon. BUT we need to talk. All I hear from your news about the Olympics is "Pollution, Oh No!" and "Security Measures, Oh No!" Really. I swear, the old people 'patrolling' on the streets are not actually the new "Red Guard." They are the same harmless old people who sit there all the time chatting with each other and relaxing. They're friendly and give good directions, at least in Chinese (though half the time you have to poke them first because they're napping). The only difference between two weeks ago and today is that they're wearing Olympic Volunteer T-shirts because they want to show their support for the Olympics.

Yes, there are problems in China. But Western Media leaps to assume that everything is a problem and that all Chinese must be unhappy and longing for freedom. Yun, an MIT student I stayed with in Hangzhou, recently wrote about her 'most memorable' recommendation letter to college, from her high school counselor. "He painted me as an exemplary student, a wonderful addition to any college campus, and alluded to my family's 'escape' from Communist China so I could attain greater liberties and opportunities in America. Upon reading what my counselor believed to be a brilliant conclusion to his masterpiece, I couldn't refrain from correcting him: my dad went to Sweden to study, not en route an escape to the Land of the Free."

Yes, there are problems in China. But there are more than two! You could at least be a teensy bit creative about the negative stories you write. Write about bus drivers who honk at imaginary obstacles, or the lack of decent running shoes, or how your Cold Stone ice cream tastes funny. Tell me why there are no dryers in China. I'd really like to know.

You know... there are also cool things going on in China. You could try covering those. Some are there for the Olympics, like the shiny new subway lines. But some are very much part of China's identity, like the old people doing TaiChi in the parks and plazas without regard for how they look or who's watching.

No, I won't stay mad at you, The West. But just try to come up with something original, please? You have the whole internet at your disposal. See you in under two weeks.

Kim

It seems I'm not the only one tired with the Western media's unimaginative coverage. I just read a wonderfully refreshing piece called, "Forbidden Clichés: A guide for visiting journalists" in The Beijinger, an expat's monthly 'City Life Magazine.' It's so dead-on, it made me laugh out loud. Read it! Really!

This month's The Beijinger did what I consider to be a great job with their Olympic features. They have profiles on top competitors from lots of countries and the futuristic equipment many are wearing/using to get ahead. They have information about ticketed and non-ticketed events. They have predictions about who will come out ahead in medals. Real Chinese were interviewed about the Olympics. There's even amusing advice for tourists, such as, "You're leaving in a month. We live here! Don't tip, for the love of God! You'll screw up this whole thing we've got going here!"

Mmm... Writing this and reading the Beijinger have largely taken care of my ire, and I'm going to go grab some cheap Chinese food to finish it off. Ttfn!

Meeting Them VI

2008-08-05T14:10:00.000+08:00

The traveler, hungry, returns to a simple home. Dinner consists of bread similar to the sort found in the Czech Republic. (No, really! Look about 3/5 of the way down this page.) This bread, in vegetables covered, makes for a good meal. The night long, relaxed. Advice on farming plays on a local television station. The hostess sits and chats. Conversation turns to travels past. Only a few days ago, the traveler arrived in Shanghai...
Modern Shanghai! The city which launches a thousand ships (per 5 wks)! Our traveler arrived on a early Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon to leave. How could she see Shanghai so quickly?
A hero, from among a sea of travelers, emerges!
The pair sets out, meandering to, then through, the Museum of Urban Planning, photographing architecture.
Blues and greens!
Buildings in a matched set!
The Shanghai World Financial Center and JinMao rise to the sky.
The friends follow. On the 88th floor, meeting children, seeing Shanghai fade into the distance.
Gazing in awe down one of the highest, most beautiful atriums in the world.
Walking along the crowded Bund at night, all out enjoying the warm night air and watching the skyline lights over the river (and through the smog).
Nightlife beckons to no avail; the pair heads home for a Date with Mystery Science Theater.
In the morning, a chocolate and icecream breakfast, a quick Xiaolongbao break, a dash through the train station.
The traveler settles into the middle seat of a short-distance train, rests.

Meeting Them V

2008-08-03T10:35:00.014+08:00

First to HanCheng the quest leads. On the crowded bus ride, the lucky traveler for simple things is thankful. A seat, food.
Luckier still, conversation. Two members of the National Guard of China and a Chinese Electrical Engineer join in conversation.
Outside, rain falls. Seeing the traveler about to alight, it obligingly stops.
Another, smaller bus, brings her farther. Finally, no more buses run. The last 2 kilometer she begins on foot. A small roadside stand provides peaches. One bought, one a gift. Unable to store an extra peach, the traveler to a family at their door regifts it.
Pig stalls reminiscent of Honduras'. Walking along the road, alone save occasional motorbikes and trucks passing.
Caves!
Corn!
And finally, 党家村, Dangjiacun, a 14th century timber and farming village.
The traveler through the interlocked buildings wanders, villagers sit outside talking, children play in the street.
And as evening falls, tiny amounts of money change hands at the nightly mahjong competitions. The traveler, given a seat at the table, watches old acquaintances play, largely focused on their game, occasionally chatting with her and with each other, enjoying the warm evening.

Meeting Them IV

2008-08-03T10:35:00.012+08:00

The Traveler wakes rested to mountains and wispy clouds running by outside the window.
A Lady in Pink tells the traveler of dangerous mountains and fertile lands, of tomatoes and corn and 30 years of a more diverse diet.
Peach juice, too delicious for words!
On arriving in Xi'an, the traveler descends into the smoky depths of an internet café. Her planned hosts unreachable by phone or net, she surfaces.
On a Wednesday morning, so many people buying train tickets! Long waiting, a voice barking, finally a departure ticket procured. But with nowhere to lay down a heavy bag, where can a traveler go?
Where luck leads, the traveler follows; to thick, sweet noodles with friendly college students. The brown shirt quite appropriate for the situation, reads, 'How exciting! The unknown world's coming to us!!'

Following an amusing call to a third roommate, the trio homeward proceeds. ('We picked someone up at the train station, it's no big deal. It's no big deal! Yes, of course it's a girl. Ok, see you later.')
Majoring in English, the girls learn difficult vocabulary, yet refuse to speak. Rested, all venture forth, briefly for a shoe fix pausing.
Roommates, at another internet café, reunite. A hostel is found, a bus located. Then, a phonecall! Original hosts found, the group changes direction.
The traveler enters, rests her bag ... cautiously. The room given her with weapons stocked, the bed with piled clothes and snotty sheets -- the outcome of a failed tissue search -- covered.
In many ways more foreign than China, an expat household based around drinking, smoking, and sloth greets the traveler. After a night of raucous KTV, the traveler returns to sleep. Hours later, hosts stumble in still singing, sprawl on couches, are still. The traveller writes a note, slips away to explore. Destination: 党家村。

I'm Impressed

2008-08-01T07:30:00.003+08:00

I can see the clock tower! The air feels much nicer now. And with the sacrifices Beijingers are making, it had better. You can now drive only on even days if your license plate number is even, odds if it's odd. My building has to cut 600 Kilowatts of electricity use, according to an email I got yesterday, and we'll be raising our thermostats accordingly.

Really, though, Beijing is coming through on their air quality promises. They've also done an impressively through job preparing for the Olympics, to the point of recruiting over a thousand volunteer blood doners to be on call during the games. They made sure to get plenty of Rh- donors, a difficult task since only 0.3% of the Han ethnic group is Rh-.

On a different note, XiaoLin's girlfriend is amazing!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Epic Poem...

Meeting Them III

2008-07-31T08:30:00.004+08:00

Shanghai! Forest of soaring buildings, of stone, glass, and pearls! City also of pushy subways, pleading beggars, and transient waves of pollution. The traveler a peaceful, successful night spends with an old friend. Magnum ice cream for breakfast, clear skies, and a destination not for tourists, but for youth in the morning a Fine day make.
The friends travel outwards, from the city but not the beauty distancing themselves.
Building expressing purpose. Within the Museum of Science and Technology, escalators' innards shielded by glass alone!

Children play, learn, create, compete.

The friends through exhibits wander and at 4D movies wonder. Seats blasted back by cannon fire, pirates spitting, a sea breeze! Children in the audience squeal and giggle. The two largest for a photo pose.
Time at the museum flies, save for time spent in the Texatron Balancer, which spins! Either way, it too quickly passes. The traveler of her friend takes leave, a meal of street food consumes, a train enters.
Roaming about the train, she observes the 'hard seats,' often not seats at all, rather permission to wedge and jam in with hundreds of others into a car. Towards the rear of the train she ventures through increasingly thick crowds; walking through aisles, wading through people , finally halted at the 15th car by the sheer density of people. Back to car 3 she journeys, to the 3rd tier bunk climbs, and in relative luxury falls into a deep sleep.

Meeting Them II

2008-07-29T19:06:00.007+08:00

Dragons the happy traveler greet. 'Such music can be heard but in celestial spheres. How many times has it been played for human ears?' In the Good Luck Garden typical southern string and bamboo folk music is for mere mortals played.

Entrance to this scene of peace and beauty is not lightly granted. One must first the gods of music please. '好,' spake the traveler, '请你来八宝茶和开心果。' (Ok, please bring me Eight Treasures Tea and pistachios.) Appeased, the musicians play on, the experience by sipping the tea, worthy of its name, enhanced.

The traveler wanders throughout a park of human arts and nature.

A woman beautiful watery calligraphy, for the eyes of few, creates; her work behind her dries. She heeds viewers not, absorbed in her craft.

The traveler comes upon much bamboo, of species rare and beautiful, square and purple.
All this, though, was unexpected. Arriving at the destination, open-air opera in traditional style, the traveler is less moved. The journey, once again, has greater than the destination proven. The singers' wails do not please the traveler, and their subject matter seems to the traveler argumentative and repetitive.

This art belongs to another generation. They sit in a flock, enjoying the familiar music and communing with each other, long flapping fans in constant motion.

The traveler with interest notes the costumes, particularly the footwear, high styled platforms, worn by the performers. And then, having seen, moves on.

A train to Shanghai awaits.

Meeting Them I

2008-07-26T19:59:00.009+08:00

A student’s poor, yet earnest, attempt at a Poem in the Epic style follows hereafter. The content by a week’s travels through China, the style by the first book of Paradise Lost – past which the author has unfortunately yet to read – inspired. Of the attempted use of the Epic style, the reader may note that as in classical epics, the story is in media res begun, with earlier events eventually over food related. The lack of rhyme in the Poem, as in Paradise lost, is no fault, rhyme, by Milton’s estimation, being naught but the ‘Invention of a barbarous Age’ and adding no true value. This attempt at a Poem to the Lady Yi-Hsin, fair beyond compare, is with remembrance of past helps proffered. Adventures and delicious food, rest assured, are to be found within. The beautiful park of Hupao, Dreaming of the Tiger Spring, through the mist of time (on the order of days) past arises before our eyes.

Hupao, beautiful gem of nature set in Hangzhou! Long praised by multitudes, longer as a sanctuary known. In the 14th year of the Yuanhe reign in the Tang Dynasty legendary Xingkong, the monk, journeyed to Hupao. No spring ran there, how could any man settle? Then came to him in a dream, and Immortal, bringing news of hope. A nearby spring would be moved, and two tigers sent to dig it out. Lo! in the morning two tigers digging raised the water. The spring gushing forth, Xingkong was content and settled in lush woods.
Renowned monks, emperors, poets parade through as ages march past, pausing to be at peace, ever after joining the choir singing Hupao's praises. Over one thousand years since the spring is dug, and still souls come to find peace.

From long travels in great cities a traveler arrives, finding peace in the midst of the woods, peace so thick she might touch it, so welcome she might embrace it.
Her body nourished with juicy baozi, gift of a grandmother.
Her soul nourished by nature. Blue sky, sun, and clouds.
Springs murmur, birds sing. Into the music of nature slides music, soft and unobtrusive. Perhaps it is a violin. It sings a Song As Old As Time. The paths slope gently upward.
Halls and Dagobas display the history of Hupao, telling stories of artists and teachers, people whose being has, 'glorified the world.'
Along a side path, hidden horses, covered not in grime but in green life.
Bi Xi, Ba Xia, Gui Fu. By whichever name they go, these sons of dragons bring luck and longevity.
Refreshed, the traveler departs. The road winds, the bush lurches, stomachs churn. The beautiful peace, though, will not so easily be shaken. The multitudinous choir singing the glories of Hupao to the ages sings on, one voice greater.

Aladdin : )

2008-07-25T11:34:00.003+08:00

Yesterday at the gym I found a tv station called Kaku with Aladdin in Chinese, a bunch of Chinese guys dancing to music from High School Musical 2, and some random Anime-esque show about some people playing tennis. The Ayi told me that it was for kids and I should watch something else, but I insisted that this was what I wanted. It was great :D

Smushed

2008-07-25T09:58:00.002+08:00

The rush hour subway usage of line 10 (going toward the Olympic Village) was crazy! People trying to wedge themselves into the cars, some giving up and many having to wait for the next one. When you get in, a constant feeling of compression. Intense!

Wii...

2008-07-24T07:55:00.005+08:00

I went over and ate lunch at Google yesterday (with about 4 deserts... perhaps not wise, but delicious!) and then got to try the interns' Wii. eh. it was ok. Accelerometers are cool. But tennis where motion on one side of your body translates game actions on either side is very strange and unnatural. I didn't like the lack of control over where my character was going to move or how they would face. (Microsoft interns, of course, are given an Xbox instead of a Wii. We've also got billiards and foosball, about which some interns are quite passionate.)

We also went on a bit of a tour of the facilities. I'd say that Google Beijing ranks ahead of MSRA on their gym's quality (but not size), complimentary massage (real people, not just chairs!), snacks (mmm), and full-time working space. I'd give MSRA the win on intern office space though (also on yogurt). We at least are only in masses of about 10; they've got over 50 interns packed in a room coding. One of our intern friends from MSRA who is still in university just started his new internship at Google, and says that his work is harder but there is less of it. The same guy actually set both Google and Microsoft Beijing up, so I hear.

Last night I went to eat at a Tapas place with Sarah, Katie, and Tomas. Who knew honey-friend goat cheese and onions could be so delicious?

Some articles about Beijing that were recently passed along to me:
About Smoking, and the Prevalence Thereof
Old Neighborhoods in Beijing and Their Fate

Because I think it's cool:
Open-source Science

And thanks for the comment yesterday! It makes me happy!

Sarah's Last Day at Work

2008-07-23T10:04:00.003+08:00

No, I still haven't finished writing about last week. I'll tell you all about it before Monday, promise.

It's Sarah's last day today, then she has a week of travel and returns to the states. She's going to miss being here a lot. Last night we had a couple of prospective roommates over to look at the apartment. It was really amusing to watch them try to out-do each other and show that they would be the better roommate.

On Monday I went and saw Red Cliff, the first of 2 movies coming out in China based on a famous Chinese historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It was great, and I have no idea how they'll condense it into just one film for the international release. There was some good cinematography and a lot of clever tricks (which Erik assures me are in the book as well.) I'm not doing it justice in this paragraph, I'm afraid, but I'm a little distracted by needing to go work. Oh well, ask if you're interested. Or Comment! Jeez, guys, why are you so quiet? No pictures for you today.

Oh yeah, and I found a Dairy Queen! It was amazing!

Good morning!

2008-07-22T08:32:00.004+08:00

Back in Beijing again on Sunday morning after my trip, I journeyed out to the Marco Polo Bridge with Lorette and Erik.
It's the site (surprisingly enough) of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, near the start of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (China's label).
At the nearby museum (with free admission!) we saw, among other things,
A Russian tank:
A Japanese spider:
A Chinese monument:
Ok, back to work for me. Tomorrow perhaps you'll hear of the movie I saw last night, which --imho-- was awesome.

Oh yeah...

2008-07-21T11:52:00.002+08:00

I forgot about some of the other changes in Beijing for the Olympics. My friends and roommates are warning me that a lot of the clubs and markets are shutting down. Who wants the foreigners to be able to have fun partying and buying cheap knockoffs? Not the Olympic Committee, apparently. Sunny Gold market will be gone after Friday, which means I have Wednesday and possibly Friday to get there again, because Tuesdays and Thursdays are Chinese glass in the early evening, and tonight I'm going to go see an excellent movie. And then probably spending the rest of the night at the office, because I have to do my recordings in top-secret. Or, you know, when it isn't noisy. Anyhow, if anyone wants Olympic merchandise, you'd better tell me now, because after this week I might have to pay the actual outrageous prices for it.

Olympic Fervor

2008-07-21T09:07:00.004+08:00

Hi guys,

I know you want to hear all about my super-awesome trip... but it's going to have to wait a little bit. I haven't even finished rotating all my pictures into the correct orientation, and I have a bunch of stuff to do at work... So for now I'll just comment on Beijing's Olympic Preparations.
A bunch has changed in the week I was away. As I rode a bus back to Haidian Qu (the district where I work) yesterday, the tv switched from news about the Olympics to cartoons of the Five Friendlies (the adorable Olympic mascots, seen above). Next I noticed volunteers on the street corners with little placards holding back the flocks of bicycles so that people can walk with increased safety across the streets. I went to the subway station and saw a table with an Olympic volunteer ready to answer questions. The new subway line, number 10, is letting people ride after a month of testing, and the ticketing process all over has been made smoother. There are more workers near the trains around keeping an eye on people so that they queue up to get onto the subway instead of shoving their way in. Gardeners are making Olympic-themed arrangements in front of hotels. Even the weather is magically nice again, with a light blue sky and some wispy clouds up there. Wow.

Happy Moon Day

2008-07-20T09:40:00.005+08:00

I returned to Beijing via train this morning. Stories to come later. For now, look! I'm training to be an astronaut! (Up is to the left; I don't know how to rotate a video, but for this one it doesn't make much difference ;) And just in time to celebrate the 39th anniversary of that "giant leap for mankind".

Breakin' Free?

2008-07-11T09:51:00.004+08:00

Ok, this is just silly. If you look at the larger version of this picture (click to see), you'll be able to see the clocktower. But in the smaller version, it's all but invisible in the smog.Luckily for me ... I get to take a trip! My plans are to go to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and the Xi'an area. (Although I've been told by some I should trade Nanjing for Xi'an... I'll think about it.) I have a whole week off from work, and adventure awaits! Also, I've got a super-awesome Osprey pack lent to me by Lorette that fits like a hug. When I wore it home yesterday a Chinese guy asked me if I was moving :) I'll stock it up with water and crackers before I go, as well as clothing and my book of Chinese fairy tales.

Be warned... I'm not expecting to blog for the next week or so. Don't worry though, I'll be fine! I've got at least one contact in each of the three cities I mentioned. And for those of you who know Carson, he'll be waiting for me at the train station in Shanghai.
Yay!

A day

2008-07-10T07:25:00.006+08:00

On Wednesday I finally mastered the art of ordering a la carte in the cafeteria at Microsoft, therefore making a meal more delicious than usual. Show here: a huge hunk of watermelon, two heaping scoops of broccoli and cauliflower, and part of a chicken. Price: 16 yuan (less than $2.50).

At 4pm Kat, Katie, Xiaolin and I secured a tour of the part of the building where the make the Microsoft Surface. We spent about an hour with the team charged with creating games for it, being shown its current functionality and asked for our brilliant ideas.

After that, I headed out with Lorette to lavish myself with pearls. It was nice not to be the only person wearing a tuberculosis-grade facemask in the subway. Trust me, it's necessary. There's this great hall you have to cross when you transfer from line 13 to line 2 at Xizhimen. It's gotten worse while I've been here. As you approach from either side the aroma of -- is it aerosol? -- grows stronger and stronger. The air in the hall itself is thick with dust and chemicals. It's a terribly unhealthy-looking mix. When we pass through, Katie, Lorette and I wear facemasks, run, or both. We're getting over feeling silly about it. But enough about toxic subway stations...

Ok guys, next time you're in Beijing, go to the Fanghua store at the Hongqiao Pearl Market. It's absolutely fabulous. They seem to be the hands down favorite of visiting Heads of State and celebrities for good reason. The selection, the prices, and the service were wonderful. And Lorette, who has been teaching me about buying pearls (we visited twice to look before today) was proud of my skillful selection.

Then Lorette and I met up with Erik to continue the Quest. The Quest being, of course, to find DDR.

So, we failed at finding DDR. We found knock-offs with the pads in the corners. We were eventually successful at finding some 'real food,' and later, a sit-down Häagen Dazs.

Thus ended Wednesday.

Sorry

2008-07-09T07:05:00.002+08:00

I wonder if they report this in the US?

The BBC has an article up right now about The White House's apology to Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy. They recently distributed a briefing to reporters ahead of G8 describing him as being "hated by many" and his country as being "known for governmental corruption and vice." Berlusconi wasn't too happy about it, especially since he and Bust agreed just last month what good friends they are.

Also, Russia is upset about the US signing a deal in Prague about missile defense in the Czech Republic and warns that "If a US strategic anti-missile shield starts to be deployed near our borders, we will be forced to react not in a diplomatic fashion but with military-technical means."

Sigh. Maybe the sun will come out next week.

Wonder of Wonders!

2008-07-08T16:43:00.002+08:00

While I was running at the gym today, someone else came and ran beside me! It made running the last couple miles so much more enjoyable. He also told me a story that made me glad I was running in the gym. "This morning I saw my friend, drinking a bowl of soup and asked how she was. 'Sick,' she replied. 'Oh, what's wrong?' I asked. 'I went running outside last night, and now I don't feel so well.'" Yikes...

Oh, China

2008-07-08T14:54:00.002+08:00

I've told some of you that, in China, some churches require a foreign passport to enter. This is because they aren't censored; I've heard that Chinese churches can't preach resurrection. So I was rather confused when I came across this article.

If you think that Chinese Olympic Bibles sound interesting, check it out in the New York Times:

http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/in-china-olympic-bibles-by-the-thousands/

In other news, I bought a ticket to Shanghai! I leave Friday evening.

Lots of Shopping, and some Wandering

2008-07-07T10:08:00.004+08:00

The 'monsoon' came Friday night, but wasn't as bad as the first one. It kept up from our French café for the evening, but not from Salsa Caribe. I went with Sarah, Katie, and Tomas. We were later joined by Max. The boys proved useful, twirling us away from creepy guys we didn't want to dance with. We girls also employed what I think of as the Triceratops' method of defense, closing a tight protective circle and watching each others' backs.

We got home at 4 am and proceeded to sleep away the morning. After we all woke and sat, we went shopping at a several-story mass of stall-style shopping, then for massages, manicures, and pedicures, although I skipped out on the last two to go back to the apartment and skype with Kevin. I'm sure I'll have many chances for $5 manicures and pedicures before I leave. I'll have to stop shopping anyways, to conserve suitcase space. So I can just spend all my money on pampering.

Of course, there does seem to be some intersection between shopping and pampering here.On Sunday I (surprise) went shopping again, though this time at a more upscale place, with Lepac. The ladies in the above picture were helping me try on jewelry that cost tens of thousands of dollars (that's an opal) and admiring the purse I bought earlier in another store.

We also found dogs. They're very well behaved. Lepac says this is one way in which Beijing has changed in the last 10 years; now people have pets.
We also found and walked through a beautiful, peaceful area of the city.
And these workers.
And Wangfujing, a big area with malls, shops, restaurants... even DDR, as I hear it.
Then we headed for home. I had a quiet evening, started reading a new book, talked with Aviv and Kevin, and rewatched Kung Fu Panda, this time with my roommates. Sarah and Katie liked Kung Fu Panda much less than their usual fare of Sex and the City, Gossip Girls, Big Love, Sex and Lucia, and the like. But Tomas and I enjoyed it. Oh, I also went for a walk and found a nearby aquaduct with a handful of old women hanging out and chatting. I may go back to this place.

A brief update (and happy 4th!)

2008-07-04T17:27:00.005+08:00

French café tonight.

Messy monsoon advances.

Contrast in Beijing.

Phase II

2008-07-03T08:41:00.001+08:00

Katie and I are settling into our new home; we even had houseguests last night. The two girls who will replace us when we move out came over with a lot of stuff to store in the spare room. So we got to carry a projector, a dresser, a huge mirror, and various boxes upstairs. Then we made dinner. The pasta sauce was a bit of an experiment, but actually decent.

My rent seems to cover a family/social life as well as a room. Sarah tells me to come home when she thinks I'm at work too late. She and Tomas have little friendly arguments, and Katie and I laugh at them. We three girls cook together, and we all sit around and talk after dinner.

Kat's moving out of the hotel as well, to stay with at an apartment with several people, including Jason from our Chinese class. Erik has 'Vanquished' June (so says his blog). My work seems to have become more demanding and interesting. I might be getting a bicycle this weekend. All in all, we Americans seem to be moving into a second, more settled phase of life in Beijing.

Aww

2008-07-02T09:25:00.002+08:00

A Happy Birthday

2008-07-01T08:18:00.004+08:00

Aww! People at work surprised me with a cake for my birthday! I've never had a surprise party before! These are all interns. Besides that, some of the University Relations people left me a nice note and a nifty pencil holder with a mirror and a picture frame in it, and another intern who couldn't make it to the surprise part left me a note as well!

We had lots of fun eating the fluffy cake, using tissues for napkins and hands for forks!

Later that evening, Katie and I moved into our new apartment. Sarah made us french toast with a fruit sauce and bought tarts (strawberry and lemon, with little bits of chocolate) to celebrate :)

And here's my beautiful new room! It's nice to have so much space to arrange my things, and to be able to leave them where I want without a cleaning ayi moving them :)

Look! Biometrics!

THANKS to everyone who wished me happy birthday on facebook!

I love the world!

Quiet Day, What's Popular

2008-06-29T22:53:00.005+08:00

I haven't done much today, largely because I didn't wake up until 2pm.

I lazed around the hotel for awhile. Since finishing The Opposite of Fate a couple days ago I haven't had anything to read. So I tried my hand at poetry. Eventually I got up and checked my email before going to the gym. It seems to be just as popular on Sundays as it is during the week...

I've compiled a short list of the songs I've heard most often this summer.

中国话 (Chinese language) by S.H.E
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=5IXO3vv4tvE
朋友 (Friends)
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ydingPIMWsg
青花瓷（Flower Design on Porcelain) by 周杰伦 (Jay Chou)
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjc2NjU2NjA=.html
童话 (Fairy Tale)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rsa1GhsGUHA&feature=related

And also of other media I've looked at in the last 24 hours.

Amusing page by guy selling ex's wedding dress: http://nomarriage.com/ebay_wedding_dress.html
Build vocabulary while donating food: http://www.freerice.com/index.php
Lily Tomlin Sketch: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ajflqMwLMmw
Chinese Mob Over Girl's Death, Coverup: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7479810.stm
Visa Policies Hurting Olympic Tourism? (thx Aviv): http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/business/worldbusiness/24visa.html?_r=2&ei=5087&em=&en=242b06ef020b0134&ex=1214452800&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1214753564-CWUCAuQBWdkxz0mtsm5y3A

Enjoy!

Dance Like No One's Watching

2008-06-29T01:16:00.003+08:00

Kat, Katie and I spent most of Saturday shopping. Come nightfall, we wanted to go out dancing in our fabulous new clothes (and to celebrate the impending anniversary of my birth). But how could three beautiful girls feel safe in a club among so many guys? Strike that, Katie's sick; how could two beautiful girls feel safe in a club among so many guys? Well, we (primarily me) had a flash of brilliant inspiration, of course! It's simple: you head to a popular club packed full of (mostly) men... none of whom are interested in you, because it's a gay club! We had a great time, secure in the knowledge that the vast majority of people there didn't care one bit how we looked or danced. I don't know if it would work in the US, but here it worked like a charm. And now that I'm (almost) old, I can't stay up so late, so I'm heading to bed. (I used a lot of parentheses in this post; what's up with that?)

The Floor, and Dinner

2008-06-27T16:36:00.002+08:00

I took this picture of the floor the other day while I was waiting in the lobby. I like it. I also like my Chinese classes more than I used to. I feel more productive when we are doing some writing. The teacher also forces Kat and I to struggle through reading things. Sometimes she tells us neat cultural things. For instance, there's a fairly straightforward way to talk to someone in a store which Kat and I can handle. But when my teacher's parents were in their 20s, you absolutely had to use this phrase which means something like, "For the sake of the people, could you bring me..." when you were interested in buying something. Anyways, that's enough ado. Here's the floor. Two nights ago I went out to dinner with Kat, her mentor, and his girlfriend. The cab got stuck in traffic so we walked the last leg through a hutong (quaint alleyway). That's Darren (the mentor) in the China shirt, followed by Kat.
We came to this little tucked-away restaurant with delicious food and German lounge music... that sortof confused me. Emily joined us there. She and Darren go out to eat all the time and know lots of neat places to eat. They also gave us tips on markets and clubs. And they have cute little spats where they use words like 'rubbish,' because they're British.
After a delicous dinner, including mango salad, mashed potatoes, kebabs, tofu, and fruit bathed in rice wine, we took the obligatory group photo.
Then we wandered along a nicer hutong with a lot of shops, stopped for rum of various flavors (mine was honey-banana) in a neat little lounge with a second level, and relaxed. We got the coolest seats; we had to walk over a bit of a gangway to get to them.

Work is going forward, with its ups and downs. A big batch of interns is leaving and being replaced by another big batch. I wrote an article for the intern newsletter about the trip to the amusement park and was rewarded with a t-shirt, probably to be featured in a picture on the blog shortly, since I'm running out of clean clothes.

A Delicious Monday

2008-06-25T07:00:00.000+08:00

Mmm... Monday. For lunch Kat and I were taken out by Dr. Jian Wang to his favorite place. He's the Assistant Managing Director and also interviewed us last fall. His driver picked us up at MSRA and took us past the Technology Institute so we could see its library, and then to a nice relaxing lunch. We had all sorts of delicious foods. Sometime people would come out to finish the preparation in front of us or explain how to eat the food. In one case, a guy explained the food and a woman translated from his regional dialect to Mandarin. After which, of course, Dr. Wang relayed the information to us in English. We also had a nice conversation and got some ideas about nifty places to visit in China if we get the chance. I was slightly confused when the conversation suddenly shifted to "Bill," but caught on...
And here we are after lunch. Aww, we're so cute.

Then for dinner Kat and I met up with Eric Chang, also listed as Assistant Managing Director online, though I think he's recently changed to Technology Director or something like that, and he treated us to Japanese food. Which was also quite nummy. We talked about MIT and course 6 and Microsoft and putting children through Chinese public school versus International school.

Several of you have asked, 'What about the actual work you're supposed to be doing, Kim?' Well, it's progressing. I'm under a fairly strict nondisclosure agreement, so I can't talk much about work. As I said before, I'm working in the speech group on Text To Speech. It's interesting, but I've also been exploring other options. Today I found something that might work well for me. I'd be working under someone nicknamed Crazy Bird, so how could this be anything but an excellent idea?

The Great Wall of China

2008-06-23T22:08:00.006+08:00

Hi guys! Look Mom and Abby, that purse really comes in handy :) It can hold a book, my camera, my (small amount of) money, AND 3 bottles of water. Speaking of books: I finished the Lord of the Rings last night! It didn't take me quite 5 years...

So on Sunday morning I set out from my apartment after a whopping 3 hours of sleep. I managed to get myself on the subway in the right direction and change lines when necessary. Then came the trickier part. I had to find the bus station. Once there I had to differentiate between the buses, all labeled 919, which were headed on different trips, several of which were the Wall. I was going with 7 other people, and for a while I was afraid I wouldn't find them because the meeting location chosen was, as usual, too vague. Also, my pre-paid cell phone had run out of money the night before, so I couldn't contact anyone. (Grumble grumble. When I bought it they told me it would last me the summer.) Eventually we all found each other, and there was great rejoicing.

Well, sortof. So many groups I join seem to contain at least one easily annoyed person. Sigh. There was widespread but not unanimous rejoicing. Anyways! Who we were: 8 current or recently graduated MIT students, some working in Beijing, some just passing though on their graduation victory trip. Our Chinese skills ranged from completely fluent to absolutely none. Our opinions on what to do about transportation were varied, but after much commotion we all got on a 919 bus to the Ju Yong Guan pass of the Long Wall (as the Chinese literally translates.)

(Speaking of 9s and 1s. The emergency number here is 119 instead of 911. Odd.)

And we learned what it was to take a Chinese tourist bus. First a guy talked on the loudspeaker (just loudly and piercingly enough that it ruled out sleep and reading.) Granted, it was an interesting and sometimes amusing speech about the history of the wall and such. But it was difficult to understand and long. Then we stopped at 'the reststop' which was actually a jade factory. They took us on a really cool museum tour of jade, hosted in a nifty cave-like area. Then we got to see people on the other side of glass windows working with the jade. Then I wandered away from a sales pitch. And then we had the opportunity to buy a bunch of jade. There were also supplies of snacks, water, and toilet paper to buy. (The provided toilets didn't have paper. Finally the pack of tissues in the bottom of my purse comes in handy.) Later in the day, when we were returning from the Wall, we would stop at a supermarket known to the operators of the bus line. Apparantly planning these unannounced and relatively involved stops on bus trips is a relatively common Chinese thing.

Anyways, we arrived at the wall. Half of us stayed near the bottom for the guided temple tour and the other half headed up. The first thing we saw was a long chain with many locks.

Couples put these locks on when they get married. In many cases their names and the date are engraved on the lock. The tradition seems to have caught on with tourists; the couple of locks I looked at featured distinctly non-Chinese names.

This is the best-maintained portion of the Wall. If I get the chance, I might go to another section later in the summer. Perhaps because this section is so well-restored, many people on both extremes of the age spectrum were about. Of course, as we climbed higher people of all ages became less dense. We lost Sarah partway up to a threatening migraine. A stranger later gave her some sort of herbal Chinese medicine smelling of eucalyptus.

As you can see below, there were a bunch of towers along the length of the wall.

Getting up to them was fun. The stairs were very steep, and in some cases worn away except on the sides. These particular stairs shown below weren't terribly worn, just steep. Of course, being a walking tourist attraction, I had to take a few pictures with random strangers. (I don't know him. \/ )
Eventually we achieved the highest peak. The wall led up to here (this picture's taken from the last tower), then retraced its steps and went off in another direction. But there wasn't time for that. We headed back down the way we came and found the other 5 MIT students (including Sarah) at a plateau maybe 1/3 of the way up. Then, on the bus ride back, we stopped at aforementioned supermarket.

And I bought corn flavored ice cream. Which was sweet and corny and strange.

And then I went home and took half a cold shower, finished The Lord of the Rings, contemplated life (but did not omphaloskepsize), and fell asleep early.

Saturday: An Overview

2008-06-23T11:17:00.001+08:00

On Saturday morning I wandered through Beijing with Lepac. We found some old buttresses.

And pomegranites.

Later we went pearl and clothing shopping.

Then I huried back to MSRA using the newly opened subway line 5.
I met Kat and Fei, and we went to Peking University. Fei showed us around the campus and told us a bit about its history. Here's the water tower, which is well-known.

As is the lake, which we walked around as the sun set. There were lots of recent graduates happily taking pictures with each other and their parents.

The students aren't allowed to cook in their rooms. Nonetheless, we went and had some delicious homemade hotpot with Fei and watched Kung Fu Panda. Several of his friends/dormmates stopped by and we did some karaoke and talked about MIT (many people's 'dream school.') I also taught them the cup clapping game, because they saw it in Random's rush video and thought it was cool. They learned quickly :D

And now I've got to go; it's a busy day at work!

Happy Valley

2008-06-22T00:11:00.011+08:00

On Friday I walked with fellow MSRA interns through Atlantis on our way to Shangri-La. Later we passed by the Aegean Harbor, the land of the Lost Maya, the Ant Kingdom, and a Wild Fjord. So, I'd give the day about a 9/10 ;)

At least for now, I'll just highlight three of the best rides of the day.

This coaster, Golden Wings in Snowfield, was absolutely amazing. I rode in the front row :D There was a nice suspenseful (but not boring) rise to the first height, and after that plenty of time upside down as well as right-side up and corkscrews. The corkscrews were this ride's specialty, with some that were straight corkscrews and others that happened more gradually as you changed orientation. The coaster had excellent speed and a nice smooth ride. And the line wasn't even too long, maybe half an hour's wait!

I've always liked the swings, and these were well done. The machine got a nice high angle of tilt while it was swinging them, the music worked well, and the height and speed were both great.

This was pretty awesome. It was called the Trojan Horse, with the outer head and rear being decorative wood and the ride part as the stomach. Most of my group was afraid to go on it, so I went alone the first time and some of them joined me for a second ride. Also in this ride's favor is that it doesn't run the same pattern every time. Just watch the video clip! I especially like the part starting at about 12 seconds in...

Τα λέμε σύντομα!

Land, land, everywhere, nor any place to sit

2008-06-21T10:55:00.004+08:00

The Tuesday trip to KTV Karaoke was fun, with a dozen people besides myself. We went to a bigger place than last time. I think the overall voice talent was down, but there were a handful of people who were good to listen too. And it was also fun when the whole room would sing to a popular song. There's this one song, 朋友, 'Friends,' that everyone likes a lot, and it's easy enough that I can sing too. It's set to a video of a team of rugby players fighting it out together. Everyone always sings the chorus loudly about always being together and sharing one cup of wine. There was lots of food again, and Kat, Katie and I tried to teach some of them to dance to songs like Shakira's 'Hips Don't Lie. Here I am on White Flag (I got applause!)

On Wednesday, Kat and I went to Wudaokou, a shopping area nearby, and bought a bunch of individual pieces of baked goods and fruit (and even though we each got about 6 things, both of us spent less than $1 US :) Then we tried to find somewhere to sit. We sat at an empty table at an outdoor food place which wasn't very busy. But a waiter came and told us to leave. We mischeviously pretended that we couldn't speak Chinese! But he wouldn't stop pestering us, so we gathered all our little bags of food and left. Next we walked past the outdoor basketball-arcade-game and went to sit on some grass. I ate an absolutely delicious plum.

And then a security guard came and told us to leave. Now, the sign on the grass forbid skateboarding and pets, but said nothing about peacefully eating some food. So in English we complained to him, 'First we tried to sit at the empty tables and he wouldn't let us, and now we can't sit here! Where can we sit to eat the food that we've bought!' His response was much funnier than the first guy's. He squatted down to indicate sitting and eating, and then moved his arms past each other in a 'not allowed' gesture, and repeated it a couple of times for us. So we got up and moved on. We had been mostly finished eating anyways. We walked away, and then back, since we were waiting for friends. When we came back the spot we saw another guy sitting where we had been, smoking. As we watched, the guard came to him... and started chatting! They seemed to be friends. We thought about complaining to the guard in Chinese, but then of course he'd be annoyed at us for pretending not to be able to.

Then Erik and Lepac arrived. We went to check out the nightmarket but couldn't find it. So we wandered on past Wudaokou, talking and walking Lepac towards her place. Kat got tired and Erik carried her. Later the three of us returned and found a small amount of the nightmarket. The police were around, so the nightmarket vendors would pull up and hide as they approached and set back down as the coast cleared. It's kindof neat how quickly they can disappear. Many lay their wares on what I assumed on the first night were normal blankets. But there are strings embedded in the edges blankets, so with a quick pull the blanket and everything on it becomes a nice bundle to run away with. Erik found some Cultural Revolution posters he liked, and we headed out. Oh, and there were cute puppies for sale!

I go to enjoy my Saturday...

Pictures to My Heart's Content

2008-06-17T23:48:00.009+08:00

Welcome, friends. When last I left you (save those filler quotes) I was on my way to KTV, the Chinese version of karaoke. I went with 5 others to the most upscale KTV joint in town, the 'Money Cabinet' / 'Party World.' The reception and waiting area looks like a cross between the lobby of a Hilton and an ipod store. This picture is poor; apologies.

It being Saturday night, we had to hang out in the lobby for a bit, then proceed to the 5th (of 6) floors. We walked down shining hallway, passing tons of food (which I assumed would be expensive. On the contrary, much was free, and the rest could be gotten in semi-limited amounts by using tokens that come with use of the room.) As we continued down the hallway, we passed many doors, and as I got close to each one I could hear bits of music. Eventually we got to our room (537) and went in. A few people went and got some food, then we proceeded to hang out there for 3 hours, eating, drinking, singing, and generally being merry. Two of the guys we went with were really good. Not pictured below are Kat (who's taking the picture) and the flatscreen TV and computer setup for playing songs. Watching lyrics as people sang in Chinese was a great way to 'study.' Kat and I sang some old American songs (think Tearin' Up My Heart by N'Sync) and the Chinese kid sang some older American songs (think My Way by Frank Sinatra.) Many songs were set to largely unrelated video clips of Chinese dancers and/or orchestras. It was a great time, and each of us paid about US $7 for everything!

So I had a pretty awesome Saturday. Who would have guessed that I would also have an awesome Sunday! It started out at Reasonable O'Clock in the morning (11:30) at the Wudaokou subway stop. First, I got a picture of those brooms I've seen people sweeping in the street with. (As shown just below this paragraph.) Then I didn't die because Erik heroically gestured at me to move out of the way of the large pole about to hit my head. (Also shown in imminently appearing photograph.) Well, actually, I was too focused on the broom and didn't notice Erik. But I got out of the way of this train crossing pole in time anyways. And then many people waited for the *single engine* to cross. These barricades were really really ghetto by the way. Also, Kat taught the Chinese guys at work the work "ghetto" recently, and they took the fact that (espec. when it comes to slang) their dictionaries are not always correct the hard way. Oh! And today I learned the expression, 'er bai wu.' Literally: 250. In common usage, for inexplicable reasons: a bad-impulsive-careless person.
Eventually we proceeded to get in some cabs and arrive at the Summer Palace, located in the North of Beijing at higher elevation than much of the city. 'We' by the time we entered the grounds had become a group of 6; 3 MIT students, 2 Beijingers, and 1 Lepac. Lepac is, among other things, Erik's former boss. Having her along improved the trip by an order of magnitude. She began by telling us about why old Chinese bronze urns are so intriguing and often impossible to replicate with today's methods.

Then we learned about the Taihu rock, and about the flora. Especially the flora; botany is Lepac's specialty. I'm sorry that I don't remember the name of this one; a Standing something-or-other... I do remember that it's 200 years old...

Eventually I realized that asking Lepac the, "Do you know anything about _________," question was a waste of time. The answer was always some variant of yes for such diverse topics as Designer Jewelry, Architecture, History, Science Fiction, Wilderness Survival, Pearls, Fitness Routines, Practical Engineering, and especially Botany.

This is a really neat corridor. One side is windowed and the other screened; it's designed such that you get best results looking out one side in the morning and the other in the evening (because of the position of the sun.) The windowed side has four windows of different shapes and with different paintings on them and angles on the outside garden. Looking through each gives you a different 'feel.' On the painted decoration about the windows, the blue paint has faded more than the red or green because of its composition. Thanks Lepac! Seen in the corridor below, from Right to Left are Erik, the hand of Lepac, Linda, two random tourists, Callie, and Callie's friend.

We climbed up worn stone steps lined with mosaics of stone with characters of good fortune depicted. As we reached a peak, we paused on these rocks and asked one of the nice elderly couples if they would take our picture. Left to right: Me, Linda, Erik, Lepac, Callie, Callie's friend.

From that height we were able to see a misty image the 17-arch bridge and many boats on the lake. Descending a again, we found bamboo groves as well as a marble boat built by the Extravagant Empress Dowager Cixi.

Those of you who've read my last summer's blog may recall that I enjoy autotimer races; that is, setting my camera up with a view of something nifty, giving myself ten seconds, and racing into position. Here are the results of this Sunday's autotimer races. I actually got each of these in one take, in contrast to the one on the slippery rocky hill on Helgoland last summer!After we ceased to be amused by the Summer Palace, we moved on to... Yuanmingyuan! Ok, that likely doesn't mean anything to you :) It's this nearby ruins of an imperial garden, and it was Absolutely Gorgeous! We visited some ruins (blame/thank the French as you will) and a maze (of course we walked through it.)I think I could have spent all day sitting by the water lillies and trying to take pictures of them.

Lucky water lillies (so say I because of the abundance of what appears to be four-leaf clover beneath them.)

Water lillies with drops of water on them shining in the sun.
Water lillies under a willow.
Water lillies being blocked by me... Well, it's my blog; I have to show up sometimes.
So that more or less wraps up the weekend's adventuring. There's been some minor adventuring this week, particularly on Tuesday night. But that can be written later, since it is already the increasingly-less-wee hours of Wednesday morning for me. Tomorrow evening after work I plan to go out with coworkers for 6 hours of KTV, to send off a bunch who are finishing their internships this week. And so, 21 pictures (well, 22 if you add in the thousand+ words as well) later, we've come back to where we started :) 再见!

ps. If you want anything from China, let me know asap so I can look around...

Context Not Included

2008-06-16T17:20:00.004+08:00

"I'm an ordinary person. I like to eat ordinary food."
My Chinese Teacher

"I'm also a very mild person. Guangdong's food is very mild."
My Chinese Teacher Again

"I am talking, not of reality, but of Mr. Caldwell's point of view. "
Mr. Fogg

"Engineering evolved from one of the first groups created in Microsoft Research Asia..."
Promotional Booklet

"Squee!"
me

Adventure on the (Relatively) High Seas

2008-06-14T09:57:00.010+08:00

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!

My Ayi and Bill Emmott

2008-06-11T22:51:00.010+08:00

Today at work was great, because I've been asking both my new and old managers for more work to do, and today they both delivered. So I felt more useful than I have since I came, which was good. Besides that there are two stories I'd like to tell.

One is about my Ayi. She's this squat Chinese woman who works at the gym in the basement. she's very well meaning and treats me as though I'm about 4. When I go to the gym, I turn in my card and get a key to a locker, where I put my things. Also in the locker are this teeny little red plastic shower shoes to wear when you shower off afterwards. Today I got into the shower and was mostly done showering, when I realized I'd forgotten to wear the shoes! When Ayi showed me around she was very specific about wearing the shoes and then putting them in a bucket for her to wash afterwards. Not many people use the gym... there's no way she wouldn't notice that my shoes weren't in the bucket if they weren't, but then again putting clean shoes in the bucket would just be silly. Oh well, it's not a big deal, I think to myself. I finish my shower and go to dry my hair. Ayi and another employee are in the locker room talking. Then Ayi sees my feet. (Note that she only speaks Chinese, and I'm going to take a rather literal translation.) 'Where are your shoes?'
'I forgot them!'
'Do you want your feet to get sick on this floor? Put your shoes on.'
'What?' (Since I was already finished showering.)
'Put your shoes on.' (She puts them on the floor in front of me.)
'Ok.' (I put on the shoes and go on drying my hair.)
'Now go shower again to clean your feet.'
'What?'
'Go shower again with the shoes, so your feet don't get sick.'
There's no arguing with her, especially in Chinese. So I go and shower again. The other lady reminds me that Ayi just doesn't want me to get sick as they leave the room. I wait until they leave to laugh.

Story 2: An adventure!
There was a talk I wanted to go to this morning by this guy called Bill Emmott, about economic competition between China, Japan, and India. But, I couldn't make it to the talk this morning, which was conveniently located at Microsoft and included breakfast. However, the talk was given again tonight, across town at a place called The Bookworm. So, I set off after work to get there. Despite leaving fully an hour early, I only had 10 minutes to spare when I got off the subway, and I didn't know where the bus I needed left from. As I was talking with a couple of old Chinese people to get directions, someone came up and asked me if I knew how to get to the Bookworm. '我刚在问他们。。。 I mean, I was just asking them where the bus station was...' It was confusing, since I'd been speaking Chinese, and she looked Chinese, but addressed me in English, and I wasn't sure if she'd used that because I was white or because she really didn't know Chinese... Anyways, her name is Hinia, she's Brazilian-raised-Chinese, and she can get along quite well in both Chinese and English (as well as Cantonese, which her parents speak, Brazilian, and Spanish.) We decided that since we didn't have much time we'd split the cost of a cab... less than a dollar each since we were so close.

We got there before the talk began. Unfortunately, as the nice British woman told us, the room had been packed full for fully half an hour, so we'd have to listen over the speaker in the back. The two of us snagged the last single chair and took turns on it. Afterwards I asked the lady at the door how many ｐｅｏｐｌｅ had come. 110 in the rooms, 50 out in back, and 40 out in front. Wow! Many people stood or sat on the floor. The talk was interesting, mostly an overview of the main points of the book. One person during the Q&A afterwards commented that he was relieved by a parallel drawn between Japan in the 60s and 70s and China today. At that point Japan was the terrible polluter of the world, so maybe Beijingers can have hope. Another audience member asked when Asia would have one currency, like Europe, and Emmott led that into a joke about the fact that, while it would be before the British used the Euro, it wouldn't be anywhere in the forseeable future.

There were so many Europeans in the audience, and Americans... I haven't seen so many white people in one place since the plane ride to Beijing. The atmosphere in the place was great. They had food, and a libary (the room used for the speech,) and shelves and shelves of books for sale. Books of all sorts! Books by American political candidates, travel guides for places all over the world, the Harry Potter series, books about the culture and history of China, collections of Chinese propaganda...

After the talk was over Emmott did a book signing... but his book (Titled 'Conflict' or 'The Three Kingdoms' depending where -- well, in which language -- you buy it) was expensive and I'm running low on cash. But I wanted to meet him anyways. So I asked him to sign a book about a different conflict... The Lord of the Rings. He did, too, and gave me his 'Best Wishes.' He was great at the book signing... despite the long line of people, he looked everyone in the eye, smiled, and took the time to talk to them individually as well as signing their books.

Afterwards Hinia and I walked back to the subway. She's a pretty impressive person. She started studying English by herself with tapes when she was 15, and now she has a job translating Chinese into English. On the way to the talk she said to me, 'I'll just go and see what I can learn,' and that seems to sum up her approach to life to a large extent. She's come to China to work for two years because she won tickets in a lottery and wanted to see what she'd find here. We plan to get together and do a bit of a language exchange. I 'll critique her English and she'll tutor me in my choice of Chinese, Spanish, Cantonese and Portugese, with her preference being to the last two since she knows them best. What do you guys think I should chooｓｅ？　Ｌｅｔ　ｍｅ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｏｍｍｅｎｔｓ！！

Lazy Day

2008-06-09T20:41:00.003+08:00

After all the travel and adventuring of yesterday, I took today to rest. Coming to internet is the first I've left my hotel. I spent time sleeping, reading, and munching on leftover snacks from the trip. And now I don't want to see another prepackaged strawberry cake for a while :-) I finished book 3 of the Lord of the Rings, and feel well rested again.
I called one of the vehicles we got around in yesterday a 'relic.' You start it with a crank. There's no side mirror, no odometer, not even a gas gauge. We passengers rode in the back, in a cage of metal that rattled and shook loudly with the motor. Seven of us sat in back, and one up front with the driver. But judge for yourself; here it is, in all its three-wheeled glory ... what do you think?
Erik had his doubts. This is him asking me telling me that I'm crazy (or something like that.)
But, it turned out to be a fun ride (and he said so, once we were underway.) Besides, we didn't have many options. Sarah had to work today, and so we needed to get back to Beijing. From the lonely mountain we couldn't get a ride back to where we'd come from, and the buses our van driver promised in Qidu weren't enough for the many people wanting to get to Beijing that way. So we joined with a few others and convinced the driver of that vehicle to take us back to Zhangfang where the buses were more frequent. As we were waiting to see if a bus would come in Qidu, this particularly shrewd lady walked around selling refreshments and trinkets.
And, just because this is my blog, here's another picture of me. (As I fall to my doom.)

Journey To The Lonely Mountain

2008-06-08T22:45:00.011+08:00

Today began early. I woke at 4:30, got a taxi ride to a bus stop, and directed Erik and Sarah to the bus stop (since their cab failed to get them all the way there.) We grabbed some quick baozi and red-bean sesame balls off the street for breakfast. Then it was time for a long (~2 hours) ride on bus 917 to Zhangfang. The bus was packed, with as many people as possible standing in the aisle, but Sarah, Erik and I managed to squeeze into some seats above the wheel hub.
When we arrived in Zhangfang, the entire little town attempted to get us to go in their car. It seems, especially in light of later experience, that they often take (Chinese) tourists to our destination, The Lonely Mountain. But Erik and Sarah were a bit sketched out by them, and so we kept walking until we found a less pushy lady, who ended up getting us up there in a little bus with a semi-official sign in its window, for free! And so we came out of smoggy gray Beijing to foggy, great Gushanzhai.
It seems to be quite the Chinese tourist destination. In the bottom left of the above picture, you can see a big inflatable plastic ball with openings on the side. Children crawl into them and then run like hamsters on the water. The entrance ticket was 60 rmb, which is high for China. After buying tickets, we headed over the 200 meter long rope bridge:

It was a beautiful area. The lower part had a lot of tourists, but it cleared out some as we climbed higher. I took many, many pictures.
My favorite spot by far: Chinese Petra! (Well, I don't know if anyone else has ever called it that, but...) It was cool inside this canyon, and parts of the walls were wet. You can see that it wasn't too wide. The Chinese name translates to "One Line of Sky."
We climbed out onto a nice ledge and had some lunch before heading down. After that, Sarah felt sick, whether from sun, the red bean buns, or dehydration... Whatever the case, we rested in the shade for a couple of hours. I spent my time sketching, which was surprisingly fun.
After visiting the park, we had quite an adventure getting back. After much uncertainty, we took a van to Qidu, a crank-driven relic to Zhangfang, and a bus to Beijing. I may post a picture of what I call the 'relic' in a later post. Then Erik and I walked around lost for a while before taking the a bus plus subway lines (3 of them for me, 2 for him) home.

And now, I am tired. So I rest.

Shopping, Nightmarket, Forbidden City

2008-06-07T22:08:00.005+08:00

Last night, Kat and I went shopping at a shopping center, ate some pizza (my first western food here), and then found a nightmarket! The nightmarket was a lot of fun, with lots of people set up on the sidewalks with their goods spread out on blankets. We had fun bargaining.

This morning dawned hot and smoggy.

We spent a long time figuring out travel, and eventually met Sarah and Erik at the *North* gate of The Forbidden City. We had a lot of fun exploring that. We learned a bit about the system of concubines that existed, and how some (like the Dowager Empress CiXi) rose through the ranks. We saw a chart detailing the food alloted to each of them... being higher ranking seems to get you more food. Most of the buildings had trim like this:

Here we all are as a group (Me, Kat, and Sarah in front, Erik in back).

I had a talk with some art (a concubine enjoying her tea.)

After a while we came to a series of courtyards:

Then we went and hung around Tiananmen square, had a snack, took a picture with some Chinese people (upon request, as usual), and headed off for some food. We got into some lively discussion of politics and ideology, had some hot soup, did some shopping, and experienced the most delicious tea ever.

Tomorrow morning we leave for an epic adventure!

I like being a princess

2008-06-06T00:44:00.000+08:00

Last night (Wednesday night) I went in a group of 17 people, mostly interns, for hot pot. Not just any hot pot, the best in Beijing, they assured me. Well, the wait was probably the longest I've had for a dinner... and it was wonderful! There are an outer room and porch just devoted to waiting due to the restaurant's popularity. While in the waiting room, you can sit at tables constantly supplied with watermelon, some sort of seed, tea, and some sort of fresh light cousin of bread. These tables also have cards on them, which some people played until the second cab arrived. Then, we had a couple of large games of mafia. We played with a dozen people, 3 each of mafia and police and 6 citizens. There was a nice structure to it, with the beginning of each waking round requiring everyone to make a statement about their opinion of the situation. And it was all in Chinese, until a Japanese girl (Yuki) joined who didn't speak Chinese. So, it was great for improving my Chinese... it seems that this group plays together a lot, so I'll probably get to play with them again. Also, in the corner of the room were women doing customers' nails while they waited for food, and as a result my nails are much sparklier than they used to be. Anyways, our private room was eventually ready, and we moved on. There was a large table with 4 basins of boiling water, and a couple of waitstaff continually adding plates of raw meat, dough, and vegetables to the table. Some we dumped in the hot water and fished out, others we just needed to dip in. We got to wear aprons to guard against splashes :) Sometimes it's better not to ask what some of the food is... stomachs and magic fish :) At one point near the end of the long, noisy and cheerful meal a new server came in. He did a show with dough, holding two ends of a small piece and flipping it in and out to lengthen it. Then he started to snap it at faces, mostly mine since I was close and he seemed to think he could make me flinch... but he couldn't, not even when he touched my nose with the dough! He had good precision with that stuff. When it was worked thin enough he quickly folded it and tore the creases apart, then dumped it in the hot pots for us. He also let Yuki have a try twirling the dough. I'm going to try to embed a video someone took of that here:

After we were all quite full, we played more games. A lot of it involved passing around cards, one per person, and putting the card face out on your forehead, such that you could see everyone's but your own. Everyone looked around quickly to deduce whether or not they'd drawn a King. Then the 2 who had gotten the Kings would have to do some sort of feat or dare for the general amusement.

Today after work I went to the Beihai/Houhai area of Beijing again to look for the lady to teach me fan dancing. She wasn't around, but I got to walk around some nice lakes and see lots of tourists, including what seemed to be a Senior Citizens' outing to Beijing. I wandered around a hutong again ... I'm beginning to be more comfortable moving about in them.

I really love how, in Beijing, you can be waiting at a bus stop and see some people playing badminton on the sidewalk, or walk by a parking lot and see several people gathered around a game of go. Or see a couple hundred people gathered at the base of a park, doing classical dances to music coming from a speaker system on the back of a bicycle. This guy brings music every night, and for 5 Yuan a month (less than one US dollar) you can come and dance for a month. Not only can you dance, you can be taught... there was a group of 20 or so people off to the side being given a lesson. If only that area wasn't so far (an hour or 2) from where I live, I would definitely have given them the 5 Yuan then and there. Some of those dancers were really good!

I made a new friend while I was watching the dancers, a masseuse from Hebei, Pei WANG. Capitalizing the family name when you're referring to someone in a mixed Chinese/English environment is a really useful convention that seems to be semi-standard here. Then my friend Julia showed up. After a while we went to a restaurant along Qianhai that I'd been eyeing.

And we sat in the window! Not just any window. This window was a huge recessed window. It had beautiful drapes which hung down enough to give a little privacy, but were open enough to let people walking past notice the occupants of the window room. The inside was red and a rich yellow, with a large painting on the back wall and a pair of couches separated by a small round table. The couches were covered in silk pillows of varying sizes and were quite comfortable. Julia and I got some fruit (for me) and whiskey (for her) and lounged about chatting about travel, boys, and the future.

Eventually we left our luxurious perch and went off exploring the neighborhood. We found a hutong where people were filming a movie, and wandered through some little shops. There are these jars of whitish stuff that are commonly sold on the street, but neither of us knew what they were, so we stopped at a small store to find out. Julia asked what they were and got the result "nai3," meaning milk. "nu3 nai3 ma?" she asked, causing much commotion. Now, what she meant to ask was, "niu3 nai3 ma?" which means "cow's milk?" What she actually asked was, "women's milk?" After we sorted that out (it was cow milk), we found out that it wasn't milk itself, it was actually yogurt.

At that point it was late, and I headed back to my homebase, having a lovely conversation along the way with the taxi driver, whose sister lives in Michigan, along the way. Did you know that cabs are supposed to turn the light on top off when they're full? I didn't because they don't actually do it in the US... but they do here! It's useful!

Oh, and one final thing I like about living here: having a roommate who calls to check on me when I'm out wandering late at night. Thanks Kat :-)

Bei Hai Park

2008-06-05T14:38:00.000+08:00

I <3 Beihai! 1000-year old Imperial Gardens, open for the public's enjoyment. I made this my goal on Sunday morning. After learning a bit more about the bus system and discovering hutongs, the national library, and a humongous police station, I arrived at the Western Entrance. The park was filled with people exercising, strolling, conversing, and generally enjoying the beautiful day.
Picture 1: Woman With Sword

Picture 2: Shows part of a dancing group of couples. Many groups seem to have just shown up with their own boombox and were enjoying the nice day. This picture also shows (if you look at the woman in the green dress) the masks you see people wearing, even on nice days. The masks/scarves I've seen vary from purely functional to fashionable. They're more commonly seen on cyclists.

3: Just a conversation I passed by...

4: FansI sat for a while watching these people practicing with their fans. First they were all doing different things, warming up I suppose. Then I turned to watch an aerobics class... suddenly there was a loud WHACK. I looked back over and they were doing a coordinated routine, including suddling flicking their fans open which was the source of the noise. After a while watching, I mustered up my best Chinese language skills and went to ask if I could learn. They said I could, and one of them went with me to buy a fan, and then took me back to her place to practice a little bit. I'm supposed to go back to her place and practice more when I have the time. We'll see how it goes... using the fan is harder than it looks :-)

Your Daily Dose of Pictures

2008-06-03T21:27:00.000+08:00

My place of employment:

A family that wanted to take their picture with me between Tiananmen and the Forbidden City:

Lion! Isn't she cute? (You can tell it's a she because she's playing with a cub. The male lions have their paw on a big sphere.) At Tiananmen:

This totally awesome lake of full of lily pads at MSRA's family day. There were all these different bridges to the island. The one the girl in pink is on looks easier than it is; at the ends it's constrained to be flattish, but as you walk in the middle it pretty much folds in half and is much less stable.

The Lama Temple (YongHeGong)

2008-06-03T21:05:00.000+08:00

On Saturday Erik, Sarah and I visited the Lama Temple in Beijing. It's Tibetan, and contains a 26-meter high Buddha carved from a single tree. The building which houses it had to be built up around it. It' s large and impressive and a tiny bit dusty. No pictures allowed inside the buildings, though. But there were plenty of neat pictures to take outside, of people offering incense and the nifty architecture. Erik explained the major characteristics of the Mahayana, Theravada and Zen Buddhist belief systems.

Beijing: Night, Day, and Subway

2008-06-03T18:19:00.000+08:00

This is in the area of Beijing where Sarah lives. She, Erik and I went to eat there last week. In front of every restaurant people ask you to come in. If you don't plan to go in, don't hesitate. They'll only become more insistent. We had a nice dinner, although Sarah spent a while trying to figure out how to get some soy sauce, since we couldn't remember the word. Also, Erik either had an allergic reaction (his version of events) or is sensitive to spicy food (Sarah's version of events).

Taken from a pedestrian overpass on one of our nice days. The first two days I was here were muggy and the sky was full of yellow dust. Then it cleared up and I could even see stars at night last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. After that it began to feel like rain, and for the last couple of days it's been raining on and off. The sky is white but featureless. Anyways, in this picture the sky was beautiful. I also love how wide the roads are and how open it makes the city feel. It reminds me of the width of the streets in Paris. Not only are the streets wide; the bicycle paths and sidewalks are also quite generous.

The subways are nicely decorated. I think this is on line 1, near Tiananmen (on the wall.)

One of my favorite posters. This one's all over the subways. It's one of a set (each featuring a different sport) of ads by Adidas. The tagline is "Impossible is Nothing," and they all show the Chinese people supporting their athletes. The woman is Sui Feifei. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_Feifei)

Beijing: Buildings

2008-06-03T17:56:00.000+08:00

Taken on my way back from buying a cord to upload photos from my camera:

This is one of my favorites. I really like the color. Taken while transferring between lines 13 and 2 of the subway:

At night by XiDan, while with XiaoLin, Kat, Erik, and Julia (the bright thing is a shopping mall):

Taken somewhere in the northern part of the city, as we bussed to Family Day last Friday:

People and Places

2008-06-03T17:25:00.000+08:00

This is my roommate, Kat. She's also an MIT student and interning at Microsoft (as am I.) I took this picture last Friday at Microsoft Research Asia's Family Day/Tenth Anniversary Celebration.
We have about 300 fellow interns, most of whom seem to want to kill us, as evidenced by the second picture, also from last Friday. We played what they called "a CS game." As far as I could tell, it what what I'd heard called Laser Tag in the US, though I've never played so I don't know if it was the same.
In the third picture, you can see Kat accessing our lovely abode (it even comes with mood lighting!) The inside of the room is really nicely lit in the morning since the window faces east, so we can wake with the sun.
The fourth picture shows two more of our small community of MIT-expats in Beijing, Sarah and Erik. They live about 45 minutes from Kat and me by subway. They're interning at the UN and a consulting firm.

The North Pole

2008-06-03T17:12:00.000+08:00

I'll post some photos in sets, chronologically, since I haven't found a way to publish more than 4 in a single post. It must be possible though, I think I've seen it in other Blogger blogs. If anyone knows how, let me know!
These are some shots taken out the window of the plane on the flight to Beijing. Even from around 40 thousand feet up you can see a lot of cracks in the ice (look at the third picture especially.) It's only been about 6 years since it was politically and technically possible for commercial airliners to fly routes over the North Pole (see http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/06/19/polar000619.html as well as the other link mentioned in the next clause of this sentence), but even in that time pilots have have noticed a lot of widening of cracks (see http://www.eastbayri.com/story/304534092544220.php).
The strange pattern you see in the sky in the second picture (if you look closely) is my camera reflected in the window. I sort of like it when that happens in my pictures... sometimes I do it intentionally to subtly include myself in them. This time it was just because of the window constraint though. I took lots of pictures as we flew over these areas It was really bright because of all the sunlight reflecting off of snow and ice.

The Past

2008-06-01T17:35:00.000+08:00

Before I settled on running a blog, this is the email I send out recapping my first week.

Hi, So, this summer I haven't set up a blog, so I'll try to do a periodic email update. If you'd rather not get these emails, or if you know someone who'd like to but isn't on the list, let me know. I'm likely to write quite a lot, so don't feel bad if you just skim the emails, or check that they keep coming so you know I'm alive :-)

Sunday: I spent most of the day flying from Boston to New York to somewhere over the North Pole. On the first flight, I was sitting in front of two really cute Chinese kids. On the second, I was sitting behind a huge choir group w/ parents and kids. A stewardess complained to me that the kids were better behaved than the parents (b/c at the beginning of the flight the parents didn't sit down right away and so it took us longer for everyone else to find seats, so we were a little late leaving.) The same stewardess also tried to steal my stuffed Tiger and hold him for ransom. There was a large crew... about 16 I think. Continental Airlines rocks. They not only still give you real meals, they even give you silverware. And they've got a very new set of planes, with lots of nifty things. For instance, touch-screens on the back of the seat in front of you that let you watch movies, tv, and short programs, listen to music, see information about the flight statues, etc. And numerous and well-designed bathrooms, providing free pads and tampons :) As I said, we flew over the north pole in the middle of the night (based on original time zone). It was really beautiful. At first during the flight, before the north pole, all I could see was brilliantly white clouds out the window. Over the north pole the view was also brilliantly white, but with bumps and noncontinuous lines indicating drifting snow and cracked ice (or frozen snow). Eventually the stewardess who had been talking to me originally asked me to put my shade down, because she said that it made the passengers less anxious and excitable when the lighting was dimmer. There really was a lot of sun reflecting up off the snow. I was extremely lucky and somehow managed not to have anyone sitting next to me, despite the fact that the flight was declared 'full.' So, I curled up on the seats and read some, slept some.

Monday: Much of Monday (by Beijing time) was also spent on the plane. It was quite enjoyable. I watched some Kimpossible, as well as giving half my attention to the movies Juno and Enchanted (well, just the first 10ish minutes of that one; enough to sate my curiosity) I finished going over the first book of the 6 in the Lord of the Rings. From time to time I would be fed or sleep. Eventually we got to Beijing and went through security, changed money, and collected luggage. I got a map from an info desk which has proved quite useful since. I also helped a bmx racer from Texas whose name I forget get around. He sort of showed up at the info desk seeming lost. Seeing that the info desk guy didn't speak much English, and I was talking to him about how to get to my hotel in Chinese, the guy seemed to decide that I was more useful than the info desk. :-) I took a taxi to the hotel, which was about an hour's drive across the city, and rather uneventful. On the way I saw a person riding a bike with a heavy cloth scarf over their mouth, which I had heard of but not really expected. It's very dusty and smoggy in Beijing. Of course, the vast majority of the multitude of bikers weren't wearing scarves. I also saw several women carring umbrellas, presumably to keep their skin from the sun? I would think carrying an umbrella around constantly would get annoying pretty quickly. The taxi driver and I had basic conversation about the hot and muggy weather, and how we both prefer hot weather to cold. He didn't know the place I needed to go, so we stopped a couple of times to look at the map and ask directions. Cabs in Beijing are pretty well organized. They say how much they cost per unit distance (plus an initial fee, which is slightly higher at nighttime) on the outside, with the more expensive cabs being generally nicer cars. I had a cheap cab, but it still had air conditioning. We eventually found my hotel, and I checked in (which required showing my passport and visa) and was taken to my room on the 4th floor, with the owner of the hotel carrying my suitcase for me. It was a fairly standard double hotel room, smelling slightly of smoke (that cleared up after a day or so). I put my stuff down and walked over Microsoft to check in. Check-in was fairly standard. I filled out an NDA and my Contract and stuff like that, was given a book about Beijing, a t-shirt and a badge holder, and taken to my workstation. Which at that point consisted of only a monitor :) That was fixed by the next morning. I met my supervisor and some of the other interns who sit near to me. I sent out an 'I'm alive' email from Yin's computer. Then he went with me to dinner at the Chinese place in the basement (which also has several other foods, including Japanese, and some European and American stuff, as well as a cafeteria and a gym w/ a pool). After that he walked me back to my hotel. I was really tired, and decided to quickly shower and then sleep. I was unfortunately surprised to find that the shower temperature ranged from luke cold to very cold. I cut my shower quite short and went to bed. Tuesday: I woke up only 6 hours later (I didn't know what time it was, but I turned my clock on before going to sleep, so know time relative to then). I suppose it was maybe 2 or 3 am. I tried and failed to withstand the cold shower again. Then I spent some time sleeping, some time reading my books (Beijing guide and LOTR) and sleeping when I was able, until it was light out and the birds were chirping. I eventually found the time by flipping through tv channels. At work on Tuesday I set things up and settled in. My new email address is v-kidiet@microsoft.com , if you'd like to send something to me there. I now have office supplies and am able to access the printer and use the copy machine and know where to get snacks and all those good things. I went to a talk by Yin. I met with my supervisor to talk about projects, and then he arranged for me to meet someone else to talk about working as part of his group. After work I went out to a hot and spicy Cantonese restaurant w/ my advisor and several other interns. We each ordered a dish, and they were put onto a glass circle in the middle of the table which is free to spin so that everyone can take from all the dishes. I've seen these turn-tables before, but this one moved more smoothly than I've seen before. The food was indeed quite spicy, so spicy it left my lips numb and tingling. After the restuarant, I went to Tiananmen square. I was supposed to meet Sarah Proehl there, but since the dinner went later than I expected I didn't get there until 8 minutes after she'd left (as we figured out the next day). There were a lot of people out, at the Gate, (mostly Chinese) some to look at it for the first time but many just to enjoy the warm night. There were vendors selling souveniers and toys, and a ridiculously cute little Chinese boy dragging around a toy fish. The subway system that I used to get to and from Tiananmen was extremely clean and efficient, and had announcements in English as well as Chinese, presumably in preparation for the Olympics. Also cheap: only 2 yuan for a ticket, which is the equivalent of thirty cents.

Wednesday:Went to work again, met with the guy whose project I might work on again, but didn't have much to do yet. Watched some lectures online. After work checked out the gym in the basement. There was a really nice ayi-like attendant in the changing room. The changing room had squat toilets, which really confused me because my office's toilets are western, and these weren't cheap squatting toilets, they were high-quality materials, and besides, it's Microsoft. What makes it really funny is that I had had a conversation with Aviv about an hour before I left work about squatting toilets (Since he saw them in Singapore), in which I told him I hadn't seen any yet in China and didn't expect to. So, I take it back Aviv. The gym was pretty nice, smallish but with a lot of specialty stuff, eg a rowing machine. Also, there's a basketball court and a swimming pool (so I hear). After the gym I went to a small smoky restaurant. The waitress helped me choose something off the menu, and brought me water without me asking. Hot water, of course, which is what's served everywhere... at the hot and spicy restaurant, even at water coolers -- they have a hot and a 'cold' output, where cold really means lukewarm. I've discovered a water heating device in my hotel, which I use to boil tap water before I drink it. There was a table of 10ish very drunk guys in the smoky back of the restaurant with piles of Tsingtao beer bottles around, which the waitress would occasionally carry away handfulls of. Their cheeks were all pink, and they still kept egging each other on to drink another round and buy more beer. Then I got mildly lost in the dark for a bit on the way back to my hotel, since I had used the back exit of Microsoft and gone off to the restaurant. But I found the hotel again fairly quickly, and had a brief shower before bed. I still can't bring myself to use the full force of the water.

Thursday:The sky is blue today! For the first time since I've been here! There was also a nice breeze as I walked to work. I talked to Kevin for awhile, then I went to another talk this morning, by a guy from the UK who's got really superb Chinese. Then I went to lunch, which was good, because I starving. I had a conversation with a guy who really wants to choose an English name for himself but doesn't want it to be too common. Apparently in their English classes in school the teachers just randomly dole out common names: Bill, Tom, Fred, etc. He's thinking about 'Richard' for himself. Change of topic: I got accepted into the speech group! I'm going to be working on tts (text to speech) stuff. And that's about all I can say about that. At our 3pm fruit break today there was this really strange cross between a kiwi and a watermelon. And somthing white. This thing had the shape of a watermelon, but the rind was bright bright pink, and the flesh was white. The seeds were spaced as they would be in a watermelon, but shaped and sized like those of kiwis. The taste also most closely resembled that of kiwis, although the water content seemed higher. Tonight I'm going to meet Sarah (aforementioned) and Erik Fogg (another MIT student) for dinner and exploration on Beijing.

Friday:Yes, I know this hasn't happened yet. :P Buut, I thought I'd tell you that it's a company holiday and Microsoft's anniversary, so I'm going to go to what promises to be the coolest company picnic ever! No, really. There are go-carts. And something that seems as though it will resemble laser-tag, or something. And a long list of other things, such as parenting classes and a rummage sale and many many arts and crafts. Saturday:I'm sure it will be awesome :-) Ok, so that's my week. What about yours? (No really, keep me posted on what you guys are up to too!) Kim