Just read about the 11-year sentence of Liu Xiaobo, a human rights activist in China who last year wrote Charter 08, a manifesto calling for greater freedom of expression and democratic reforms.
Out of curiosity, I baidu-ed his name and pulled up some Chinese forums. It seems like Chinese netizens are upset, but in a more resigned way... Most comments said the government is corrupt or poked fun at the idea of "he xie", which means peace and harmony but is also a homophone for river crabs. Some people didn't know who Liu Xiaobo was. But what was most interesting was that some people thought he was a traitor and anti-Chinese. I guess these people make up the 愤青, or angry nationalist youth of China.
I then looked up Charter 08 (but this time in English) and found out that over 8,600 signatures have been gathered in support. While any petition would be happy to get that many participants in the US, 8,600 out of 1.3 billion? Of course, no reasonable Chinese person would be willing to put his/her name down in writing in support of "subverting the Party".
This reminded me of a conversation I had with my media teacher a few days ago. He talked about how Nanjing University's school forum used to be a renowned platform for debating intellectual and political ideas. The reason this was possible was because anonymity was allowed on the forum and many graduates and people from overseas participated. However in 2005, the entire forum was shut down and a new one set up, this one only allowing students. Any posts would be made under your name. That effectively shut down any more political debate. Now the forum is a place to get advice on dating, download movies, and help cheating on exams. The same things happened to Tsinghua and Peking University BBS's.
Sometimes I forget that I live in a repressed society.
"现在这年代，应该是允许有不同的声音和意见，河蟹社会吧！"
12/26/2009
Christmas
I never am in the "holiday spirit", no matter which holiday it is, but I do like getting together with family and friends. We had a potluck at my place last night.
I made eggnog, garlic soy sauce chicken, and ratatouille, all of which I was very satisfied with. Everyone else brought good food, though most of it was Chinese. I meant to take pictures of everything, but it wasn't until we ate everything on the table that I remembered my camera.
We just all sat around in the living/dining room and talked while drinking wine, beer, or mint-jasmine-green tea. It wasn't a very Christmas-y night, but I think everyone had fun.
I think it's funny how Chinese people have adopted Christmas here as purely a commercial event. Me, Miles, Andre, and Tiffany were at Fu Zi Miao on the 24th and saw Christmas sales and decorations everywhere. No Salvation Army Santas though.
I made eggnog, garlic soy sauce chicken, and ratatouille, all of which I was very satisfied with. Everyone else brought good food, though most of it was Chinese. I meant to take pictures of everything, but it wasn't until we ate everything on the table that I remembered my camera.
We just all sat around in the living/dining room and talked while drinking wine, beer, or mint-jasmine-green tea. It wasn't a very Christmas-y night, but I think everyone had fun.
I think it's funny how Chinese people have adopted Christmas here as purely a commercial event. Me, Miles, Andre, and Tiffany were at Fu Zi Miao on the 24th and saw Christmas sales and decorations everywhere. No Salvation Army Santas though.
12/24/2009
2% of my life has now been spent in China
I’ve been here almost six months now. I get along fine most of the time, but occasionally melancholy hits hard and the people I’d normally call up to chat with are on the other side of the world. So I end up wasting large amounts of time on my computer because I can’t summon the energy to do real work, which of course only comes back to bite me in the ass later. I have three end of the term papers to write within three weeks, which normally wouldn’t faze me in English, but in Chinese, my cognitive and writing abilities are reduced to that of a Chinese fourth grader. Or maybe a really good third grader.
No word from any employers or Jian laoshi about internships. If I get stuck with a lame internship where I don’t even get to draft but just make copies then… I don’t know. I've wasted that 2%.
No word from any employers or Jian laoshi about internships. If I get stuck with a lame internship where I don’t even get to draft but just make copies then… I don’t know. I've wasted that 2%.
12/22/2009
Search for internships
Jian laoshi came last week to update everyone on their internships and pretty much everyone has theirs figured out, either from him and his connections or the students finding the internship themselves. But for me... he has nothing.
Architecture students generally graduate first before doing an internship. Typical pay is a few hundred kuai a month--if you're lucky to get paid at all, that is. If students intern while getting their undergrad, oftentimes it is through the school and the school pays the company to take them in. Those internships usually last maybe a month or two and you can imagine what kind of tedious tasks they have.
This is all very bad news for me, because 1) I don't have a degree, 2) I'm looking for a salary where I can actually live off of, and 3) I am from the US. Jian laoshi talked with a few employers and they were all uncertain about my abilities, especially since I don't have a degree. Miles always says my skill levels make my Nanjing classmates look like 5 year olds trying to scrawl with crayons... of course he's exaggerating, but I do feel that I know just as much if not more than my classmates--and I've only had 3 studios to their 10.
Spent half a day looking up and applying for internships. It’s a tedious process and every job posting I look at wants people with degrees and work experience. I sent off my resumes and work samples to several companies though--hopefully they reply.
Architecture students generally graduate first before doing an internship. Typical pay is a few hundred kuai a month--if you're lucky to get paid at all, that is. If students intern while getting their undergrad, oftentimes it is through the school and the school pays the company to take them in. Those internships usually last maybe a month or two and you can imagine what kind of tedious tasks they have.
This is all very bad news for me, because 1) I don't have a degree, 2) I'm looking for a salary where I can actually live off of, and 3) I am from the US. Jian laoshi talked with a few employers and they were all uncertain about my abilities, especially since I don't have a degree. Miles always says my skill levels make my Nanjing classmates look like 5 year olds trying to scrawl with crayons... of course he's exaggerating, but I do feel that I know just as much if not more than my classmates--and I've only had 3 studios to their 10.
Spent half a day looking up and applying for internships. It’s a tedious process and every job posting I look at wants people with degrees and work experience. I sent off my resumes and work samples to several companies though--hopefully they reply.
12/21/2009
Sushi and sake
Been writing a lot about food lately.
Saturday night was an exercise in gluttony. There is a teppanyaki place at the 1912 district where you pay 150 RMB for all you can handle sushi, teppanyaki, and alcohol. Rob and some of the Europeans went last week, and they ate and drank for a good three hours, so we were looking forward to stuffing ourselves.
We originally had a large group of people interested in going, but in the end it was me, Andre, Tiffany, Miles, Lee and Susan. We showed up at 6:00 and were told we’d have to finish by 8:00 because we didn’t have a reservation and a large group was coming later. A little despondent at the time limit, we sat down and quickly began looking at the menu in order to not waste time. Drinks first—Asahi and warm sake for me—and then between the six of us, we ordered probably 75% of what was on the extensive menu. I was disappointed that there actually wasn’t a lot of sushi options, but there was plenty of sashimi and pages and pages of things that could be grilled. No reason to complain.
I think we had four rounds of food and I can’t even remember exactly all of what I ate (probably due to the waitresses being so prompt with the beer and sake…) I do remember everything being delicious. A few things that stood out: buttery yellowfish sashimi, beef sashimi marinated in something awesome, juicy cubes of steak, grilled mushrooms, and flambéed bananas with strawberry ice cream. The latter was so good we ordered it twice; plus, we really liked seeing the chef light the 5-foot high fire.
At some point, André befriended large group of Greeks across from us and dragged Miles and I over to meet them. I ended up being totally creeped out by an older guy named Socrates…thankfully we were leaving as it was almost 11:00. Seriously, 4 hours of eating and hanging out! I think the establishment was glad to be rid of us. André had stated at the beginning that the goal was not to eat 150 kuai of menu items, but to eat that much in ingredient costs. I don’t know if we accomplished that...but we for sure had a great time.
That night, Jitin was DJ-ing at Don Quixote, just a 5 minute walk away, so we stumbled over there. Walked into a funky mix of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and had fun on the dance floor with friends. I sent André home early though because he was feeling terrible, and then later had to wrestle an inebriated Miles away from a xiaomaibu and take him home.
I lost my scarf at some point during the night, and nearly lost my coat (don’t ask) but it was the most fun I’ve had in weeks. Now it’s time to finish up some design sketches.
Saturday night was an exercise in gluttony. There is a teppanyaki place at the 1912 district where you pay 150 RMB for all you can handle sushi, teppanyaki, and alcohol. Rob and some of the Europeans went last week, and they ate and drank for a good three hours, so we were looking forward to stuffing ourselves.
We originally had a large group of people interested in going, but in the end it was me, Andre, Tiffany, Miles, Lee and Susan. We showed up at 6:00 and were told we’d have to finish by 8:00 because we didn’t have a reservation and a large group was coming later. A little despondent at the time limit, we sat down and quickly began looking at the menu in order to not waste time. Drinks first—Asahi and warm sake for me—and then between the six of us, we ordered probably 75% of what was on the extensive menu. I was disappointed that there actually wasn’t a lot of sushi options, but there was plenty of sashimi and pages and pages of things that could be grilled. No reason to complain.
I think we had four rounds of food and I can’t even remember exactly all of what I ate (probably due to the waitresses being so prompt with the beer and sake…) I do remember everything being delicious. A few things that stood out: buttery yellowfish sashimi, beef sashimi marinated in something awesome, juicy cubes of steak, grilled mushrooms, and flambéed bananas with strawberry ice cream. The latter was so good we ordered it twice; plus, we really liked seeing the chef light the 5-foot high fire.
At some point, André befriended large group of Greeks across from us and dragged Miles and I over to meet them. I ended up being totally creeped out by an older guy named Socrates…thankfully we were leaving as it was almost 11:00. Seriously, 4 hours of eating and hanging out! I think the establishment was glad to be rid of us. André had stated at the beginning that the goal was not to eat 150 kuai of menu items, but to eat that much in ingredient costs. I don’t know if we accomplished that...but we for sure had a great time.
That night, Jitin was DJ-ing at Don Quixote, just a 5 minute walk away, so we stumbled over there. Walked into a funky mix of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and had fun on the dance floor with friends. I sent André home early though because he was feeling terrible, and then later had to wrestle an inebriated Miles away from a xiaomaibu and take him home.
I lost my scarf at some point during the night, and nearly lost my coat (don’t ask) but it was the most fun I’ve had in weeks. Now it’s time to finish up some design sketches.
12/17/2009
Eating habits here
I don’t cook as much as I’d like here. Part of the reason is my kitchen is tiny and freezing cold and I really don’t like washing up with icy water. I also haven’t had time to go to the grocery store lately, as I leave school after the vegetable markets and supermarkets close. I eat out quite a bit, and recently, Korean food has been my staple.
Often right after class, a bunch of us head to food street to get some Korean for lunch. We’ve already figured out the good places to go. Squid fried rice student special on Tuesdays, other days spicy, steaming tofu soup with sticky rice. If I’m around the architecture building, stone bowl bibimbap for just 10 kuai. And banchan—kimchee, quail eggs, candied potatoes, pickled radish… Really, I could eat Korean for every meal. It’s pricier than Chinese food, but much cheaper than Himalayan/Indian food. I recently found out the Himalayan restaurant is just a 5 minute walk from my place, but unfortunately I do not have 60 kuai to spend on a meal all the time. But maybe that’s a good thing, because I suspect the paneer mutter curry is quite fattening.
I do make vegetarian "pasta" a lot. Basically I just chop up whatever is in my fridge (last week it was onions, mushrooms, eggplant, and green peppers), sautee with tons of garlic, and then stew it into a chunky sauce I pour over Chinese noodles. Highly unorthodox, and I think both Chinese and Italians would throw a fit, but it's a good way to cook several healthy meals for less than 15 kuai.
My mealtimes have also become highly irregular due to my schedule. My dad would be so angry...
Often right after class, a bunch of us head to food street to get some Korean for lunch. We’ve already figured out the good places to go. Squid fried rice student special on Tuesdays, other days spicy, steaming tofu soup with sticky rice. If I’m around the architecture building, stone bowl bibimbap for just 10 kuai. And banchan—kimchee, quail eggs, candied potatoes, pickled radish… Really, I could eat Korean for every meal. It’s pricier than Chinese food, but much cheaper than Himalayan/Indian food. I recently found out the Himalayan restaurant is just a 5 minute walk from my place, but unfortunately I do not have 60 kuai to spend on a meal all the time. But maybe that’s a good thing, because I suspect the paneer mutter curry is quite fattening.
I do make vegetarian "pasta" a lot. Basically I just chop up whatever is in my fridge (last week it was onions, mushrooms, eggplant, and green peppers), sautee with tons of garlic, and then stew it into a chunky sauce I pour over Chinese noodles. Highly unorthodox, and I think both Chinese and Italians would throw a fit, but it's a good way to cook several healthy meals for less than 15 kuai.
My mealtimes have also become highly irregular due to my schedule. My dad would be so angry...
12/12/2009
Studio stuff
We have to make an exhibition space, composed of a single, self-supporting unit that can also be dynamic. Our group decided (or more like I did) to go with origami-inspired folded plate structure.
Experimenting with removing material but maintaining structural stability.
My two partners on my left and right. The girl behind me is in my class but I still don't know her name...or 95% of the other students'.
Feels more like an origami arts and crafts class than studio...
11/28/2009
Making friends?
Finally starting to warm up to all my studio classmates... or more like they are starting to warm up to me. We've had classes together for four months, but no one really talks to the student who speaks broken Chinese--oh wait she's American. But now people will come up and chat and joke around, which makes me really happy! That makes sounds a little pathetic... but it's very difficult breaking into Chinese social circles.
Students have all the same classes with each other and all live together for all years of school. After spending so much time with their class, they even see students from other classes but of another teacher as outsiders. This exclusivity and tightknit bonds are why my dad still keeps in touch with his college and even high school classmates. Some other flagship students were in classes with second and third year grad students, which was probably more difficult than my situation. My class is first year graduate students, but they still had locked down their clique pretty quickly in the beginning of the year... Even though I knew and anticipated this difficulty, it was still discouraging to be that outsider, despite my best efforts to talk to people during studio.
I guess starting relationships takes some time, but Chinese people are actually very 热情, or warm and friendly when that relationship does start.
Anyway, I knew I was accepted when I was invited to go shopping with some of the girls. Was busy that day, but it was a nice gesture.
Students have all the same classes with each other and all live together for all years of school. After spending so much time with their class, they even see students from other classes but of another teacher as outsiders. This exclusivity and tightknit bonds are why my dad still keeps in touch with his college and even high school classmates. Some other flagship students were in classes with second and third year grad students, which was probably more difficult than my situation. My class is first year graduate students, but they still had locked down their clique pretty quickly in the beginning of the year... Even though I knew and anticipated this difficulty, it was still discouraging to be that outsider, despite my best efforts to talk to people during studio.
I guess starting relationships takes some time, but Chinese people are actually very 热情, or warm and friendly when that relationship does start.
Anyway, I knew I was accepted when I was invited to go shopping with some of the girls. Was busy that day, but it was a nice gesture.
11/26/2009
Decided to start a blog, mostly for myself. I've kept a journal for 10 years now, but recently haven't had the time or motivation to write in it. Blogging is probably easier and faster, and anyone who is interested enough in my life could read this instead of me emailing (the weird time warp phenomenom due to the International Date Line results in me replying to emails....2 weeks late.)
China has been...alright. I have fun with friends, but also get stressed out and frustrated by school and society. I think if I spoke less Chinese and cared less about working here, I would enjoy it more. As it is, I'm learning how to deal with the oftentimes uncomfortable position of an ABC who understands both cultures.
China has been...alright. I have fun with friends, but also get stressed out and frustrated by school and society. I think if I spoke less Chinese and cared less about working here, I would enjoy it more. As it is, I'm learning how to deal with the oftentimes uncomfortable position of an ABC who understands both cultures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
