I spent the last few days studying for my Chinese final, which I finished today, ending the semester except for a two week long study trip that we set out on tomorrow. As I labored over page after page of grammar and flashcard after flashcard of vocab, it was gratifyingly evident how far I had come in a very short time. It was also painfully evident how much I had learned for just a day or a week and then immediately forgotten.
In my experience, this is bound to happen in language learning. To use an analogy you Americans still working on Thanksgiving leftovers might appreciate, imagine throwing all the food that graced your table last Thursday at a wall. Some, like the mashed potatoes and the pumpkin pie, will really stick, like the vocab and grammar that easily stays in the mind because it interests you or because you use it daily or because it is similar to English. On the other hand, the turkey and stuffing and ham are going to hold on for just a moment before falling to the floor, just like a large portion of vocabulary and grammar that slides to the floor unnoticed and unused.
It is that grammar and vocab that I was really focusing on as I studied yesterday, attempting to give it a good coating of cranberry sauce or gravy before again throwing it at the heavily loaded wall. Again, some slid down the wall just moments after finishing my final, but more and more get entrenched in mashed potatoes or crystallized in cranberry sauce.
I'm done, but I am also well prepared for next semester and more Chinese.
I apologize if that analogy was a bit much for you, and especially if you, like me, have no leftovers (or even recent memory of a Thanksgiving meal) to sate the hankering for Thanksgiving food that you just got.
I will leave tomorrow evening for a trip going to Luoyang, Xi'an, Xi'ning, Lhasa (Tibet), and Chengdu. We will see a number of monasteries (including the famous Shaolin Temple), ride on the highest railroad in the world (from Xi'ning to Lhasa), and see an incredibly large Buddha among other things. I will be unable to post anything during that time without my computer with its newly repaired VPN, but I assume I will have many photos and experiences to share when I return.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
First candidate on the left
American election, Chinese style. This morning, as election night began in the US, my friends and I began election morning and afternoon in China. We got our teachers' permissions to skip the first class of the day, and went to a cafe in Wudaokou, where they had the election results coming in on a projector. As results came in, the diverse, (and very liberal) crowd of Americans, Germans, Chinese, and more clapped and whooped as states were called for Obama, and hissed when Romney or the Republicans made gains. We anxiously and, at least on my part, mostly ineffectively studied Chinese as we waited for polls to close and the final result to come in. When Obama was projected to win the election with a projected win in Ohio, the crowd cheered and clapped as a few organizers for overseas Democrats thanked people for coming and invited everyone to have a beer on them. We waited for Obama's speech and then went to class.
Meanwhile, as we listened to election results from the US, China began its own process of choosing its leaders for the next decade. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party began its incredibly opaque process today in Beijing, bringing with it heightened security measures noticeable everywhere from the internet (incredibly slow and unstable) to Chinese activists (forced to leave the city until the end of the Congress) to the Beida campus (ID cards checked on arrival with about four times the usual number of guards at entrances) to taxis (window cranks had to be removed) to shops (knives are not allowed to be sold) to all things flying (no balloons, kites, or pigeons can be flown).
Certainly somewhat different than the American method for choosing its next leader.
Meanwhile, as we listened to election results from the US, China began its own process of choosing its leaders for the next decade. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party began its incredibly opaque process today in Beijing, bringing with it heightened security measures noticeable everywhere from the internet (incredibly slow and unstable) to Chinese activists (forced to leave the city until the end of the Congress) to the Beida campus (ID cards checked on arrival with about four times the usual number of guards at entrances) to taxis (window cranks had to be removed) to shops (knives are not allowed to be sold) to all things flying (no balloons, kites, or pigeons can be flown).
Certainly somewhat different than the American method for choosing its next leader.
My red tie made some people think I was a Romney supporter, which earned me some looks of concern for my mental health
Sunday, November 4, 2012
First snowman of the year
It snowed in Beijing!
A beautiful, wet, and cold snow came last night after a rainy day, leaving my feet drenched in icy water as I came back from dinner with friends. The sidewalks and roads were cleared by cars driving, feet walking, people with handcarts shoveling, leaving the sidewalk partially dry and mostly either ice or icy cold water. Kids played in it as adults tramped through and around it with umbrellas to protect from the continuing rainy snow. A snowman was erected in front of a nearby shopping center. Beautiful, wet, and cold.
The past week has been mostly filled with classes with brief intermissions of social life.
Last Wednesday, a Chinese girl came up to me at the bus stop, asked if I was a student at Beida, asked whether I had a girlfriend, and then asked for my number. She is from Hangzhou, so I guess she isn't so circumspect as conservative Beijing girls. I ended up giving her my number, and a friend of mine and I went to dinner with her Saturday night. A lot of fun and very good practice for my Chinese.
Friday night, a few classmates and I went to see a ballet on the Beida campus called "The Red Detachment of Women," which is a famous revolutionary ballet in which a badly treated servant of a landlord escapes, joins the Red Army's women division, and helps in the uprising against the evil landlord. It was a fantastic ballet, though the subject led to a few head-scratching moments for me. One of the most interesting part of the play was the prevalence of weapons. Dances were very frequently performed with rifles, pistols, swords, spears, and even hand grenades. In the ballet, the weapons served not so much as the objects of destruction that most of us see them as today, but rather as objects of liberation and empowerment. Another really interesting moment came when the evil landlord was at last killed. The lead protagonist shot him, bringing, in my mind, a kind of vengeful, peaceful, and foretelling silence, only to be broken by about a dozen other soldiers turning their weapons on his dead body (which had fallen off the back of the stage as he tried to run away) and shot him several dozen times. The crowd clapped. I was left surprised by the seeming childishness and brutality of that final act of violence.
Other than that, life goes on as I try to come up with a plan for my two and a half months of vacation this winter break. As we Americans steel ourselves for the upcoming election, Beijing (and its internet censorship) is steeling itself for the Party Congress that will begin the day after the election. As such, Facebook and actually commenting on my blog (I can write new posts, just not go to my actual blog page) are getting harder and harder, so please forgive unanswered comments. I can skype fairly well and easily during my evenings (US East mornings) if anyone would like to talk! My skype name is drkolhoff.
A beautiful, wet, and cold snow came last night after a rainy day, leaving my feet drenched in icy water as I came back from dinner with friends. The sidewalks and roads were cleared by cars driving, feet walking, people with handcarts shoveling, leaving the sidewalk partially dry and mostly either ice or icy cold water. Kids played in it as adults tramped through and around it with umbrellas to protect from the continuing rainy snow. A snowman was erected in front of a nearby shopping center. Beautiful, wet, and cold.
The past week has been mostly filled with classes with brief intermissions of social life.
Last Wednesday, a Chinese girl came up to me at the bus stop, asked if I was a student at Beida, asked whether I had a girlfriend, and then asked for my number. She is from Hangzhou, so I guess she isn't so circumspect as conservative Beijing girls. I ended up giving her my number, and a friend of mine and I went to dinner with her Saturday night. A lot of fun and very good practice for my Chinese.
Friday night, a few classmates and I went to see a ballet on the Beida campus called "The Red Detachment of Women," which is a famous revolutionary ballet in which a badly treated servant of a landlord escapes, joins the Red Army's women division, and helps in the uprising against the evil landlord. It was a fantastic ballet, though the subject led to a few head-scratching moments for me. One of the most interesting part of the play was the prevalence of weapons. Dances were very frequently performed with rifles, pistols, swords, spears, and even hand grenades. In the ballet, the weapons served not so much as the objects of destruction that most of us see them as today, but rather as objects of liberation and empowerment. Another really interesting moment came when the evil landlord was at last killed. The lead protagonist shot him, bringing, in my mind, a kind of vengeful, peaceful, and foretelling silence, only to be broken by about a dozen other soldiers turning their weapons on his dead body (which had fallen off the back of the stage as he tried to run away) and shot him several dozen times. The crowd clapped. I was left surprised by the seeming childishness and brutality of that final act of violence.
Other than that, life goes on as I try to come up with a plan for my two and a half months of vacation this winter break. As we Americans steel ourselves for the upcoming election, Beijing (and its internet censorship) is steeling itself for the Party Congress that will begin the day after the election. As such, Facebook and actually commenting on my blog (I can write new posts, just not go to my actual blog page) are getting harder and harder, so please forgive unanswered comments. I can skype fairly well and easily during my evenings (US East mornings) if anyone would like to talk! My skype name is drkolhoff.
Monday, October 29, 2012
First Yurt on the left
I spent the weekend in the cold steppes of Inner Mongolia, in Hohhot and the nearby Xilamuran grasslands and Kubuqi desert. A group of seven of us arrived in the Hohhot train station Friday morning and immediately went to the grasslands by way of the Anda Guesthouse, a hostel that I stayed at last year when I traveled to Hohhot for the Nadaam Festival. The weather was cold and cloudy, which made me very glad that I had bought a real winter coat the week before.
We spent the day enjoying the scenery, horseback riding, practicing archery, and eating meals prepared by our hosts. At night, we all packed into our yurt for cards, a few games of mafia, and eventually and early night sleep.
We woke up early to see the beautiful sunrise on a clear sky in freezing temperature somewhat below 30 degrees. We huddled together, used our blankets, and shot arrows for warmth as we eagerly awaited the sun's warmth.
After a quick breakfast, we loaded into the van to go to the desert, stopping to pick up four European travelers who joined us for the day. We drove for about six hours, passing grasslands, grazing animals, farms, a delicious restaurant, very curious locals, and at least two nuclear power plants (one of which had a cooling tower feet from the road blocked of by a mere six foot fence). Finally we arrived in the desert, where we put on sand socks, and embarked on an afternoon of sand-surfing, camel-riding (which, I discovered, are much more suitable for my height than Mongolian horses), taking part in sand-rolling contests (video should be on Facebook soon), and getting sand in every possible nook and cranny.
We returned to Hohhot, had a delicious dinner of grilled meat with some rice and canned peaches (the modern man's chips and salsa), and slept wonderfully until breakfast, snack-buying, and our train back to Beijing.
Now we are moving our feet back to the crowded streets of Beijing and our noses back to the grindstone.
Modern day sheep-herding
Some Chinese adventurers had almost flipped their car as they sped around dunes, requiring another car to use a chain to pull them straight
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Second week from two weeks ago
After being VPN-less for the past week and a half, I'm back! It ended up that all I needed to do to make the VPN work was to restart my computer, which is easy enough to do, but with my computer it becomes a long process of multiple restarts until the screen decides to turn on with the motherboard. Anyhow, here I am.
The time has mostly been filled with Chinese and more Chinese. We finished one book and decided to skip a level or two and start on the book the 510 class just finished (I am in 311). Our main teacher, Weiwei, fought with one of the program's directors (who is also 510's main teacher) to convince him that our class was able to handle the book, ending with us getting our new books this afternoon. It is certainly a step up in difficulty, but I think a major piece of that is simply getting accustomed to a new book with a new teaching style.
While that is interesting, exciting, and important in my classmates' and my view, I admit it makes rather poor blog material. So here is some blogging gold.
This past weekend, I acted in a Chinese TV show called "娘要嫁人", which roughly means "Mother wants to remarry." I believe it comes from the saying: "天要下雨，娘要嫁人," or "If heaven wants it to rain or your mother to remarry, there is no way to stop them." About a week and a half ago, a Chinese young woman came up to me while I was waiting for the bus and, after the usual pleasantries about where I was from, asked me if I would like to act in a movie or TV shows. Surprised by the randomness of the question, I cautiously agreed and gave her my email and phone number.
This past Friday I got a text from her asking if I had time on Saturday to act in a TV show. The role wouldn't have any lines, would take only an hour or two, and would pay 300 yuan (about $50). She (I think used to kissing up to foreigners) used really strange language that made me a little apprehensive about the whole thing (for instance, when asking for some photos presumably to show to the director and to remember who I am, she texted, "And u need sent me some of ur cute photos tonight:), I will wait.[I was out and would send them late at night]" and later, when I asked her what I wouls be doing and what clothes I should wear, she said "you just wear ur beautiful clothes, in the shooting place, you will act with another beautiful foreigner girl.")
As I joked with my friends, I might unwittingly be being pulled into a porn video (though how that would be done without my consent is beyond me).
As it turned out, it wasn't. I played the role of Hunter (with lines, as it happened), an American student in China in 1979 who the main two characters try to practice English with. It took much longer than two hours, going late into the night as we waited for our time to shoot, but it was a lot of fun simply for the experience. I was able to practice my Chinese with the agent, the other foreigner (actually from Hungary, but playing an American), the casting director, and a bus-load of Chinese college students who, in the TV show (and in life), were circled around us asking us questions and practicing English (in life they just had questions, pictures wanting to be taken, and hugs wanting to be had [a Dylan hug is, of course, a precious commodity in China]). I was also able to meet a relatively famous actress and director, and see the insides of a movie being made. Really an amazing experience. The episode should air in March, and I will definitely post a link when it does.
Beyond that, I bought a tailored suit (black pin-stripe) and four tailored shirts (white, light blue, plaid red and black on white, and black), which was a lot of fun. I also bought a winter coat to prepare for a trip this weekend to Inner Mongolia, which is quite cold right now. Luckily I packed my biking pants with me when I came to China.
Beijing itself is really starting to cool down, with cool days and very chilly nights. I ride my bike to class (about 30 minutes away) about half the time and take the bus (equal or more time) when I am feeling lazy or need to study vocab on the way. Please leave comments with any questions or anything of the sort!
The time has mostly been filled with Chinese and more Chinese. We finished one book and decided to skip a level or two and start on the book the 510 class just finished (I am in 311). Our main teacher, Weiwei, fought with one of the program's directors (who is also 510's main teacher) to convince him that our class was able to handle the book, ending with us getting our new books this afternoon. It is certainly a step up in difficulty, but I think a major piece of that is simply getting accustomed to a new book with a new teaching style.
While that is interesting, exciting, and important in my classmates' and my view, I admit it makes rather poor blog material. So here is some blogging gold.
This past weekend, I acted in a Chinese TV show called "娘要嫁人", which roughly means "Mother wants to remarry." I believe it comes from the saying: "天要下雨，娘要嫁人," or "If heaven wants it to rain or your mother to remarry, there is no way to stop them." About a week and a half ago, a Chinese young woman came up to me while I was waiting for the bus and, after the usual pleasantries about where I was from, asked me if I would like to act in a movie or TV shows. Surprised by the randomness of the question, I cautiously agreed and gave her my email and phone number.
This past Friday I got a text from her asking if I had time on Saturday to act in a TV show. The role wouldn't have any lines, would take only an hour or two, and would pay 300 yuan (about $50). She (I think used to kissing up to foreigners) used really strange language that made me a little apprehensive about the whole thing (for instance, when asking for some photos presumably to show to the director and to remember who I am, she texted, "And u need sent me some of ur cute photos tonight:), I will wait.[I was out and would send them late at night]" and later, when I asked her what I wouls be doing and what clothes I should wear, she said "you just wear ur beautiful clothes, in the shooting place, you will act with another beautiful foreigner girl.")
As I joked with my friends, I might unwittingly be being pulled into a porn video (though how that would be done without my consent is beyond me).
As it turned out, it wasn't. I played the role of Hunter (with lines, as it happened), an American student in China in 1979 who the main two characters try to practice English with. It took much longer than two hours, going late into the night as we waited for our time to shoot, but it was a lot of fun simply for the experience. I was able to practice my Chinese with the agent, the other foreigner (actually from Hungary, but playing an American), the casting director, and a bus-load of Chinese college students who, in the TV show (and in life), were circled around us asking us questions and practicing English (in life they just had questions, pictures wanting to be taken, and hugs wanting to be had [a Dylan hug is, of course, a precious commodity in China]). I was also able to meet a relatively famous actress and director, and see the insides of a movie being made. Really an amazing experience. The episode should air in March, and I will definitely post a link when it does.
Beyond that, I bought a tailored suit (black pin-stripe) and four tailored shirts (white, light blue, plaid red and black on white, and black), which was a lot of fun. I also bought a winter coat to prepare for a trip this weekend to Inner Mongolia, which is quite cold right now. Luckily I packed my biking pants with me when I came to China.
Beijing itself is really starting to cool down, with cool days and very chilly nights. I ride my bike to class (about 30 minutes away) about half the time and take the bus (equal or more time) when I am feeling lazy or need to study vocab on the way. Please leave comments with any questions or anything of the sort!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Myanmar Part II
Sorry for the delay! I was only just able to get my VPN working so I could get to blogspot to post this. I am very busy right now preparing for my midterm tomorrow, so I will just post more photos from my trip and leave the rest to your imaginations for now. More to come this weekend when I am finally able to sleep!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
One of two countries not affected by the global financial crisis
Before I read a few articles about Thein Sein, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the reform taking place in Myanmar/Burma, all I knew about it was a vague position and that illustrious description given to it by an International Relations professor.
After that, I had a vague idea of a country opening up, which led to casual discussion with my friend Emily over a dinner at Peter Chang's in RVA about meeting each other there sometime during the fall semester when she and James would be studying in Singapore while I studied in Beijing.
That became a serious series of e-mails, which became a very real (painfully so for my bank account) plane ticket, still more or less devoid of plans of real substance.
Now it is so much more. For me, Myanmar has become a beautiful country full of incredibly friendly and earnest people. When I think of Myanmar, I think of endless temples, each deliberately placed so natural light highlights the structure within. I think of monks, and the sound of chanting and the smell of incense in the air. I think of people wearing skirts (longyi) with face paint to protect from the sun and to act as a cosmetic (thanaka). I think of people smiling at me in curiosity and in welcome.
It was an unforgettable trip. I plan to write more about it later, but I am in the midst of making up the work I missed for it, so photos will have to do for now.
The photos are all mainly in Bagan, which Emily, James, and I took a night bus to from Yangon (Rangoon) soon after I arrived. We found ourselves in Bagan at about 4am with no hotel and no plans, but with the absolute perfect opportunity. We bought tickets for a night bus to Inle Lake for that evening, and took a horse cart into temple-filled Old Bagan. Bagan is a town on the plain in central Myanmar that has hundreds if not thousands of temples as far as the eye can see, built over a number of centuries. Many are still in use, while others have yet to be repaired after a devastating earthquake in 1975.
Our driver knew the perfect place to climb a temple and get a beautiful view of the sun rise. After that, we rode from temple to temple, from extravagant golden pagodas (which Emily, James, and I agreed looked gorgeous at night but a little tacky in the daytime) to stone temples that seemed almost to hark back to the Aztecs.
One thing that both surprised and delighted me was the decorations surrounding many of the Buddhas. Rather than the simple stone or gold statues that tourists like yours truly was expecting to find, Buddha statues were surrounding by colorful lights like a tacky creche near Christmas time. I liked it because it was neither what we tourists expected nor what we wanted, but rather true Buddhist temples portraying the greatness and wonder of Buddha with everything they could, including Christmas tree lights. I think tourists (myself certainly included in that category) want a peek into the past to see the mysterious and beautiful relics of another time, but what those lights showed me was that Buddha is still very much a part of Myanmar of the present.
Well, I ended up writing a lot more than planned, but it all just spilled out, with tomorrow's vocabulary words putting up a feeble protest. I will continue the story of my trip to Myanmar tomorrow along with more pictures!
After that, I had a vague idea of a country opening up, which led to casual discussion with my friend Emily over a dinner at Peter Chang's in RVA about meeting each other there sometime during the fall semester when she and James would be studying in Singapore while I studied in Beijing.
That became a serious series of e-mails, which became a very real (painfully so for my bank account) plane ticket, still more or less devoid of plans of real substance.
Now it is so much more. For me, Myanmar has become a beautiful country full of incredibly friendly and earnest people. When I think of Myanmar, I think of endless temples, each deliberately placed so natural light highlights the structure within. I think of monks, and the sound of chanting and the smell of incense in the air. I think of people wearing skirts (longyi) with face paint to protect from the sun and to act as a cosmetic (thanaka). I think of people smiling at me in curiosity and in welcome.
It was an unforgettable trip. I plan to write more about it later, but I am in the midst of making up the work I missed for it, so photos will have to do for now.
The photos are all mainly in Bagan, which Emily, James, and I took a night bus to from Yangon (Rangoon) soon after I arrived. We found ourselves in Bagan at about 4am with no hotel and no plans, but with the absolute perfect opportunity. We bought tickets for a night bus to Inle Lake for that evening, and took a horse cart into temple-filled Old Bagan. Bagan is a town on the plain in central Myanmar that has hundreds if not thousands of temples as far as the eye can see, built over a number of centuries. Many are still in use, while others have yet to be repaired after a devastating earthquake in 1975.
Our driver knew the perfect place to climb a temple and get a beautiful view of the sun rise. After that, we rode from temple to temple, from extravagant golden pagodas (which Emily, James, and I agreed looked gorgeous at night but a little tacky in the daytime) to stone temples that seemed almost to hark back to the Aztecs.
One thing that both surprised and delighted me was the decorations surrounding many of the Buddhas. Rather than the simple stone or gold statues that tourists like yours truly was expecting to find, Buddha statues were surrounding by colorful lights like a tacky creche near Christmas time. I liked it because it was neither what we tourists expected nor what we wanted, but rather true Buddhist temples portraying the greatness and wonder of Buddha with everything they could, including Christmas tree lights. I think tourists (myself certainly included in that category) want a peek into the past to see the mysterious and beautiful relics of another time, but what those lights showed me was that Buddha is still very much a part of Myanmar of the present.
Well, I ended up writing a lot more than planned, but it all just spilled out, with tomorrow's vocabulary words putting up a feeble protest. I will continue the story of my trip to Myanmar tomorrow along with more pictures!
Keeping immortals out of Myanmar since 1954
James and I at Bagan at dawn
What had been dark shapes against the night sky begin to reveal themselves in the morning light
Awwwww... Emily and James
All the temples had this sort of lighter colored path around them since the sun would heat up the darker colors to a burning heat for our bare feet (no shoes, no shorts, and no spaghetti straps in temples)
Fierce
One of the larger temples of Bagan
An extravagant Buddha with colorful lights in front. James, Emily, and I were convinced this sort of set up would make a good bar. In our defense, we were very tired from a long bus ride with little sleep, we were beginning to be templed-out after dozens of temples, and it was (is) a great idea.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Off to Myanmar
I am on my way to the airport for my flight to Myanmar, so I will be back in a week with plenty of pictures!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
The first defense against the Mongol hordes
Today we went to the Great Wall. The massive steps and continuous climbing made my legs as sore as they have been, especially when added to some basketball that we played after our Friday test. I mostly wandered around trying to find my own bit of wall, finally succeeding around the parts that have fallen into disrepair, where you aren't technically supposed to enter. Other than that, I will let my pictures speak for themselves.
On Friday, after some remarkably terrible shooting and a quick loss to a trio of Chinese college students, some classmates and I went out for dinner and then met up with a few other friends (including a friend from IMUSE) for KTV.
Definitely a good few days.
On Friday, after some remarkably terrible shooting and a quick loss to a trio of Chinese college students, some classmates and I went out for dinner and then met up with a few other friends (including a friend from IMUSE) for KTV.
Definitely a good few days.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Eight islands in the East China Sea
The dispute over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands (known by the Chinese as the Diaoyu Islands) has been going on for sometime, but it has been exacerbated by leaps and bounds over the past week. The Senkaku Islands are a group of 8 islands and rocks jutting out of the ocean somewhere between China, Taiwan, and Japan. Oh, and they're oil-rich.
Last week, Japan purchased the islands from a private owner, sparking outrage and demonstrations in China. In return, China recently sent several patrol boats into Japanese territorial waters. The result has been increasingly aggressive language from both sides.
Now, when I first heard about this, it seemed like the run-of-the-mill chafing of a superpower growing in an area surrounded by other countries and interests. In my mind, it is at least partially that. However, there is a lot more there. There is strong Japanese and Chinese nationalism stoking both sides. In China, there is incredibly pervasive anti-Japanese sentiment along with a potentially destabilizing change in leadership at a time of slowing economic growth and small but significant domestic criticism. The Chinese Government would undoubtedly like to draw energy away from domestic criticism, and very well might do so by pushing the Diaoyu Islands issue rather forcefully (thing Falklands under the military dictatorship in Argentina). In Japan, the central government was partially responding to popular support for the measure, but also trying to stop more radical and provocative measures to begin development of the islands.
Alright, enough of the academics and back to China. The reason I bring this up is two conversations I had over the past week. First, my host family asked my opinion on the issue, which I responded to with neutrality and mentions of related issues (like the fact that US never ratified the UN Law of the Sea, making it much weaker on the world stage) along with a condemnation of a violent solution. When I asked my host mother's opinion, she answered in a way that I imagine an American must have responded regarding what is now southern Texas in early 1846. She said, with a face somewhat flushed with patriotism, that the Diaoyu Islands were part of China, and that China should take the islands with any means necessary, including military action. In the background, a CCTV news reporter spoke about the issue as a video of Chinese patrol boats patrolling the East China filled the background.
It should be mentioned that my host mother is originally from Nanjing, so her dislike of Japan is essentially an inborn trait.
It was a Facebook message from Michael, a friend who I met in China last year, that made me realize the seriousness of those feelings. I had told him I would have lots of time free in the winter and that I would like to see him then if possible, which he responded to by saying that he would like that, but that "If the war I'm going to join the army, and my life to defend my completion of the national territory." As my Dad said later, it is language like this that leads to war. I should mention that Michael is a very passionate guy in general, but also quite earnest in his opinions. Also, his grandfather was killed in fighting with the Japanese in the Second World War.
Last week, Japan purchased the islands from a private owner, sparking outrage and demonstrations in China. In return, China recently sent several patrol boats into Japanese territorial waters. The result has been increasingly aggressive language from both sides.
Now, when I first heard about this, it seemed like the run-of-the-mill chafing of a superpower growing in an area surrounded by other countries and interests. In my mind, it is at least partially that. However, there is a lot more there. There is strong Japanese and Chinese nationalism stoking both sides. In China, there is incredibly pervasive anti-Japanese sentiment along with a potentially destabilizing change in leadership at a time of slowing economic growth and small but significant domestic criticism. The Chinese Government would undoubtedly like to draw energy away from domestic criticism, and very well might do so by pushing the Diaoyu Islands issue rather forcefully (thing Falklands under the military dictatorship in Argentina). In Japan, the central government was partially responding to popular support for the measure, but also trying to stop more radical and provocative measures to begin development of the islands.
Alright, enough of the academics and back to China. The reason I bring this up is two conversations I had over the past week. First, my host family asked my opinion on the issue, which I responded to with neutrality and mentions of related issues (like the fact that US never ratified the UN Law of the Sea, making it much weaker on the world stage) along with a condemnation of a violent solution. When I asked my host mother's opinion, she answered in a way that I imagine an American must have responded regarding what is now southern Texas in early 1846. She said, with a face somewhat flushed with patriotism, that the Diaoyu Islands were part of China, and that China should take the islands with any means necessary, including military action. In the background, a CCTV news reporter spoke about the issue as a video of Chinese patrol boats patrolling the East China filled the background.
It should be mentioned that my host mother is originally from Nanjing, so her dislike of Japan is essentially an inborn trait.
It was a Facebook message from Michael, a friend who I met in China last year, that made me realize the seriousness of those feelings. I had told him I would have lots of time free in the winter and that I would like to see him then if possible, which he responded to by saying that he would like that, but that "If the war I'm going to join the army, and my life to defend my completion of the national territory." As my Dad said later, it is language like this that leads to war. I should mention that Michael is a very passionate guy in general, but also quite earnest in his opinions. Also, his grandfather was killed in fighting with the Japanese in the Second World War.
Some of my teachers I've spoken with are not so adamant as my host mother and Michael, but even one who has many Japanese friends told me that she didn't like the Japanese government (though it sounded like a rather automatic, unbelieving response).
I don't know what it all means, but I think it is very worrisome. I believe that the government would not at all like to start a war of the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands (which are promised protection by the US government), but when passions are so stirred, much can happen. As a professor said in a lecture last spring, it would be disastrous if China's rise to superpower was as conflict-ridden as that of the United States. Just imagine the US-Mexican War, the butchering of Native Americans, Cuba, the Philippines, Hawaii, Panama, Guatemala, and countless military interventions, not to mention WWI and WWII, but in a Chinese context and a modern scale, accompanying China's rise to power. Let's hope for the world's sake that China's rulers are more level-headed and peace-minded than America's were.
In other news, I bought my plane ticket to go to Myanmar for Fall Break! September 27 to October 2!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Eighteenth vocab word in the sixteenth chapter
18 进行: be underway; go on (动)
Life and school is underway here in Beijing. I am either busy or should be busy just about all the time. Classes, homework, and constant Chinese drown out most other sounds for the moment. And finishing the Wheel of Time series.
As happens in this sort of situation, many things aren't as I planned them, and a lot of things still need to be done. I need to get a visa to Myanmar and I haven't finished my application to study abroad in the Spring and I should really studying that vocab I missed. Oh yeah, and didn't I say I was going to write my weekday blog posts in Chinese too? Ha!
No worries though. I am getting to the point where I am settled enough to comfortably think about doing other things like buying a bike and traveling and going to KTV on the weekend. And finding better cereal.
Anyway, I just wanted to check in and post a few pictures of the Peking University campus on a beautiful morning. We got to have class outside. Really a very nice day.
Life and school is underway here in Beijing. I am either busy or should be busy just about all the time. Classes, homework, and constant Chinese drown out most other sounds for the moment. And finishing the Wheel of Time series.
As happens in this sort of situation, many things aren't as I planned them, and a lot of things still need to be done. I need to get a visa to Myanmar and I haven't finished my application to study abroad in the Spring and I should really studying that vocab I missed. Oh yeah, and didn't I say I was going to write my weekday blog posts in Chinese too? Ha!
No worries though. I am getting to the point where I am settled enough to comfortably think about doing other things like buying a bike and traveling and going to KTV on the weekend. And finding better cereal.
Anyway, I just wanted to check in and post a few pictures of the Peking University campus on a beautiful morning. We got to have class outside. Really a very nice day.
The China Studies Institute common area - you'll notice the tiny window/door that yours truly almost has to crawl through
The weather was so nice that we had class outside!
With Lang Laoshi, one of my teachers
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