Hello everyone -reading this on the weblog, some you might already know!
A quick update from me...
Since I left the UK (where I spent the year working for AIESEC UK) last summer, I have been in China having a fantastic time -both interesting and fun.Initially volunteering for AIESEC China for 6 months, then studying Chinese full-time (with other AIESEC stuff ongoing) and recently also spending a month at the British Chamber of Commerce here.
Now my course is ending, and, surprise-surprise, I've decided to spend another year with AIESEC, coordinating the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility Programme) -confirmed today. I've some exams left, then an AIESEC conference then a few weeks travelling around Yunnan in south-west China, then I'll spend the next 11/12 months working for AIESEC (getting paidthis time).
I'll be taking forward a programme I already started, that involved working with all kinds of businesses, charities, UN, governments etc to spread awareness and knowledge of CSR and Sustainable Development amongst China's future leaders. Its personally very exciting and very rewarding. Hopefully making a real difference and continuing to set myself up for some kind of a career in China (medium-term) and/or in CSR.
Although its another year in AIESEC, its much more externally focused and will continue to provide me with opportunities to learn and develop. I've already been fortunate enough to go to UN conferences, have dinner with deputy Ambassadors, meet some amazing people (including AIESEC team from last year) and develop a strong network (still working on chinese language).
No more from me (much, much more on weblog!). Anyone (even if we've not spoken that much since I ran away!) is welcome to visit the World's most talked about country, or check up on my life through:http://adam.nomadlife.org (weblog).
I'm still aiming to come back to the UK for a short holiday/visit over (Western) New Year so hope to be in touch with those of you around then.
Have a great 2005-2006...
Adam
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Beijing's parks
You now how it is that when you are intentionally looking for something, you suddenly realise how much of that thing there is? For example when you only know a few chinese characters, you suddenly see them everywhere (like 'bei' and 'jing'!), or in a similar case, once you buy a certain brand of car, you suddenly recognise how many other people own the same one!
Well, in my case, I have started to realise just how green Beijing is, and that, actually, Beijing's city planners are very clever (and also very dumb actually, depending on the example you choose to use!). In particular, the 'green' in Beijing city. This sounds bizarre.
First when you arrive in Beijing you go see some of the tourist sites, and some of these are in big parks, or near parks (or lakes with grass around them!) -Summer palace, yuanmingyuan, zhongshan, beihai, Temple of heaven etc etc. Then you start to live here and you only see the CBD (if you work), Haidian/Wudaokou (if you study) and the ringroads/subway that transport you between them, your house and sanlitun (or similar)..where is all the green?
Well if you look closely, you realise that when Beijing built their 5 or so ring roads, they made sure that between the two flows of traffice there is a green hedge, and between the traffic and the cycle/bus lane there is often hedges too. (thats a lot of hedges, since there are a lot of ring roads!). You then realise that along all the canals (also about 3 or 4 rind-canals, plus lots of 'joining canals') that are being redone, there are lots of grassy areas (long and thin). then you look closer, outside of the 2nd ring road, on all the other main roads and see little areas of grass (or the playground equipment) for people to sit and enjoy.
There are also specific small parks built. There were 2 around the corner from the old office, that are landscaped and everything (tiny things 5 minutes to walk all around each one easily, but accommdoating 50+ people on a quiet day). There are also massive parks, like Haidian Park; newly built and newly visited by me :). Its fantastic; one of the resutls of the environmental laws that apply for new developments. As in (says Bruce, who i mentioned before is an expert and did a presentation on this recently) the fact that for every new appartment complex built, a certain amount must be kept for green, communal areas, or for whole new complexes, a whole new park must be made (the case with haidian's IT district).
When they do this, they do it so well! Haidian park has rock features, fountains, speakers (with tasteful chinese music suprisingly), lakes, hills, bridges, benches, flat areas for kite-flying etc etc -even an open air concert hall! Even the small ones that are dotted around on the sides of the road are meticulously watered, planned and so on.
Unfortunately even in the (biggish) haidian park you can only just escape the noise of traffic (its near a ring road, in fact everything is near a ring road!), but they are wonderful places to go when you can see some sky! Although the parks around the forbidden city are historical (temples, old parks...) they are still cheap-ish entrance fee (and they are so well looked after its worth it), and i would go to those more often if they weren't so inconvenient!
I won't say Beijing beats Central London for its parks (with the ultimate combination of massive ones and small private, hidden ones), but its getting there! Roll on the olympics, more environmental pressuregroups and maybe more days where the sky can be seen!
Well, in my case, I have started to realise just how green Beijing is, and that, actually, Beijing's city planners are very clever (and also very dumb actually, depending on the example you choose to use!). In particular, the 'green' in Beijing city. This sounds bizarre.
First when you arrive in Beijing you go see some of the tourist sites, and some of these are in big parks, or near parks (or lakes with grass around them!) -Summer palace, yuanmingyuan, zhongshan, beihai, Temple of heaven etc etc. Then you start to live here and you only see the CBD (if you work), Haidian/Wudaokou (if you study) and the ringroads/subway that transport you between them, your house and sanlitun (or similar)..where is all the green?
Well if you look closely, you realise that when Beijing built their 5 or so ring roads, they made sure that between the two flows of traffice there is a green hedge, and between the traffic and the cycle/bus lane there is often hedges too. (thats a lot of hedges, since there are a lot of ring roads!). You then realise that along all the canals (also about 3 or 4 rind-canals, plus lots of 'joining canals') that are being redone, there are lots of grassy areas (long and thin). then you look closer, outside of the 2nd ring road, on all the other main roads and see little areas of grass (or the playground equipment) for people to sit and enjoy.
There are also specific small parks built. There were 2 around the corner from the old office, that are landscaped and everything (tiny things 5 minutes to walk all around each one easily, but accommdoating 50+ people on a quiet day). There are also massive parks, like Haidian Park; newly built and newly visited by me :). Its fantastic; one of the resutls of the environmental laws that apply for new developments. As in (says Bruce, who i mentioned before is an expert and did a presentation on this recently) the fact that for every new appartment complex built, a certain amount must be kept for green, communal areas, or for whole new complexes, a whole new park must be made (the case with haidian's IT district).
When they do this, they do it so well! Haidian park has rock features, fountains, speakers (with tasteful chinese music suprisingly), lakes, hills, bridges, benches, flat areas for kite-flying etc etc -even an open air concert hall! Even the small ones that are dotted around on the sides of the road are meticulously watered, planned and so on.
Unfortunately even in the (biggish) haidian park you can only just escape the noise of traffic (its near a ring road, in fact everything is near a ring road!), but they are wonderful places to go when you can see some sky! Although the parks around the forbidden city are historical (temples, old parks...) they are still cheap-ish entrance fee (and they are so well looked after its worth it), and i would go to those more often if they weren't so inconvenient!
I won't say Beijing beats Central London for its parks (with the ultimate combination of massive ones and small private, hidden ones), but its getting there! Roll on the olympics, more environmental pressuregroups and maybe more days where the sky can be seen!
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
thinking
just back from hearing a fascinating guy talk about territory mapping, so its time for some more reflection. Talking to him afterwards was great, as he was impressed by me -in fact so was everyone else cause of a quick 2 minute map i drew of the Chamber of Commerce.
Point being, some things i am quite good at, and some things inspire me. Now the trick of course is to combine the two and make a career or even better, a life, out of it. This means I should not take the Lenovo job (1st interview went well, American flying in next week for 2nd interview, although i have not yet been told i am through to that yet) as it would be fun and interesting (gadgets!!) and important and in a chinese company (improve chinese cause colleagues dont speak great english), but its not going to change the world, or change anyone in fact.
The problem is, with AIESEC, I do seem to be working for an organisation with the perfect match for me. Working with people, developing people, learning about new cultures and challenging myself. Making a difference, individually and 'en masse', plus the ability to use AIESEC as a strong power of good in China. AIESEC's message of leadship, cultural understanding, responsibility and education is, oh so, relevant right now. So the question is, why AIESEC? Is it just cause AIESEC has moulded me a lot in the last 5 years?
Well its hard to say if its a chicken or egg situation. AIESEC has lots of flaws too, for sure. But I guess its jsut got somethings other organisations don't have: opportunities, flexibility, passion, people, altruism, fun. These are what i love; you cannot find them combined in many other places. Indeed, i might just have to start my own company one day with such qualities -- who knows?
So territory mapping guy (who wanted to hook me up with some people in London if i am going that way!) went to talk to a bunch of tribes and explored what their purpose is, and how they achieve it. Looking at simple techniques he has developed powerful, visual, ways of developing plans and strategies, of analysing your exernal and internal environments. I was impressed. A funny and well travelled man, no doubt about it. Will grab him to talk to AIESEC next time he is in China.
to end this, me and him both agreed on one of my favourite quotes: "life is not about the destination, but about the journey", and i shared with him my all-time favourite: "if not us, who? if not now, when?". Please do share your favourite qutoes with me. I have a whole powerpoint full that i used at the end of the conference i chaired in April, and would love to add to them.
Words are powerful things, and so are pictures (so i learned today!)
Point being, some things i am quite good at, and some things inspire me. Now the trick of course is to combine the two and make a career or even better, a life, out of it. This means I should not take the Lenovo job (1st interview went well, American flying in next week for 2nd interview, although i have not yet been told i am through to that yet) as it would be fun and interesting (gadgets!!) and important and in a chinese company (improve chinese cause colleagues dont speak great english), but its not going to change the world, or change anyone in fact.
The problem is, with AIESEC, I do seem to be working for an organisation with the perfect match for me. Working with people, developing people, learning about new cultures and challenging myself. Making a difference, individually and 'en masse', plus the ability to use AIESEC as a strong power of good in China. AIESEC's message of leadship, cultural understanding, responsibility and education is, oh so, relevant right now. So the question is, why AIESEC? Is it just cause AIESEC has moulded me a lot in the last 5 years?
Well its hard to say if its a chicken or egg situation. AIESEC has lots of flaws too, for sure. But I guess its jsut got somethings other organisations don't have: opportunities, flexibility, passion, people, altruism, fun. These are what i love; you cannot find them combined in many other places. Indeed, i might just have to start my own company one day with such qualities -- who knows?
So territory mapping guy (who wanted to hook me up with some people in London if i am going that way!) went to talk to a bunch of tribes and explored what their purpose is, and how they achieve it. Looking at simple techniques he has developed powerful, visual, ways of developing plans and strategies, of analysing your exernal and internal environments. I was impressed. A funny and well travelled man, no doubt about it. Will grab him to talk to AIESEC next time he is in China.
to end this, me and him both agreed on one of my favourite quotes: "life is not about the destination, but about the journey", and i shared with him my all-time favourite: "if not us, who? if not now, when?". Please do share your favourite qutoes with me. I have a whole powerpoint full that i used at the end of the conference i chaired in April, and would love to add to them.
Words are powerful things, and so are pictures (so i learned today!)
Monday, June 20, 2005
Adam prays by the remains of Kaifeng Synagogue
Not much of a synagogue left, but you can tell I'm a good Jew (prayer book, kippa)
weekend away!
Last week was a fun, busy week with some nights out -notably a Shandong trip reunion in Hou Hai (a photo of hou Hai at night to be posted on blog soon); such a wonderful place; we went to Hutong Pizza (best Pizza in Beijing apparently) and spent an enjoyable night in the heat.
This morning around 8am I got back to my appartment having suffered through a 9 hour train journey standing up. indeed, i did manage to squat on my piece fo floor in the alleyway with my legs going under the seats, or cross-leggged, in order to sleep for..oooh...15 minutes. The problem is the constant flow of people, trolleys, inspectors etc, so whenever i bothered to sit down on the floow, i had to get up to let someone past. Actually i consequently (in a dazed state) emptied my bag onto my bed, and dumped what was on my bed into the washing machine..
since that included my mobile phone (in the pile on my bed), i now have a broken mobile phone (to either fix or buy Sam's old one), hmm, talk about dumb. But its ok, cause the weekend was fantastic. We saw (just 1!) temple and lots of kung fu schools (heard of the Shaolin Monks?), climbed the holiest Taoist Mountain (Song Shan) which meant walking for 3 hours around the top of the mountain (not at the top) along a path cut into and often just built, hanging onto, the cliff. great fun and tiring and very, very, sweaty!
Since Rachel is also Jewish, we then went to Kaifeng (after spending a night in Zhengzhou -a surprisingly nice city) where there are a few hundred jews, to see the remains of the synagogue (a pot hole/well cover, in the boiler room of a hospital is all thats left!), a 1 room-special exhibit on the Jews of Kaifeng (so about 8 exhibits inside, most of which were copies of things taken by western countries for safe-keeping) and, well that was it, really. not much left of the jews now (although some do live there apparently).
We wondered how the jews came here, was it some jewish woman who had a family with a chinese guy and thus bred jewish kids? Was it a missionary-type settlement? Was it some Chinese who went to Israel, and somehow came back Jewish? well, the museum offered no answers.
both places were boiling hot (like beijing too, which will hit 38C tomorrow) but pollution-free..yay, beautiful, untouristy (apart from the kung-fu schools) etc.
This week I'll be talking to AIESEC, Lenovo, WWF and the Chamber about job opportunities -either for me or for other AIESEC trainees (hopefully). Which 1 will I do? stay tuned....
This morning around 8am I got back to my appartment having suffered through a 9 hour train journey standing up. indeed, i did manage to squat on my piece fo floor in the alleyway with my legs going under the seats, or cross-leggged, in order to sleep for..oooh...15 minutes. The problem is the constant flow of people, trolleys, inspectors etc, so whenever i bothered to sit down on the floow, i had to get up to let someone past. Actually i consequently (in a dazed state) emptied my bag onto my bed, and dumped what was on my bed into the washing machine..
since that included my mobile phone (in the pile on my bed), i now have a broken mobile phone (to either fix or buy Sam's old one), hmm, talk about dumb. But its ok, cause the weekend was fantastic. We saw (just 1!) temple and lots of kung fu schools (heard of the Shaolin Monks?), climbed the holiest Taoist Mountain (Song Shan) which meant walking for 3 hours around the top of the mountain (not at the top) along a path cut into and often just built, hanging onto, the cliff. great fun and tiring and very, very, sweaty!
Since Rachel is also Jewish, we then went to Kaifeng (after spending a night in Zhengzhou -a surprisingly nice city) where there are a few hundred jews, to see the remains of the synagogue (a pot hole/well cover, in the boiler room of a hospital is all thats left!), a 1 room-special exhibit on the Jews of Kaifeng (so about 8 exhibits inside, most of which were copies of things taken by western countries for safe-keeping) and, well that was it, really. not much left of the jews now (although some do live there apparently).
We wondered how the jews came here, was it some jewish woman who had a family with a chinese guy and thus bred jewish kids? Was it a missionary-type settlement? Was it some Chinese who went to Israel, and somehow came back Jewish? well, the museum offered no answers.
both places were boiling hot (like beijing too, which will hit 38C tomorrow) but pollution-free..yay, beautiful, untouristy (apart from the kung-fu schools) etc.
This week I'll be talking to AIESEC, Lenovo, WWF and the Chamber about job opportunities -either for me or for other AIESEC trainees (hopefully). Which 1 will I do? stay tuned....
Friday, June 17, 2005
Social tensions -an example
Brief follow-up from a recent post on social tensions in China. Explore this link
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=647367
excerpt: "The world got a rare glimpse of the deadly, mostly unseen war between Chinese developers and the poor who stand in their way with the release of a harrowing video showing a murderous attack on villagers protesting against the construction of a power plant.......
....The video's release around the world brings more unwelcome attention for Beijing on the enormous social tensions created by China's explosive economic growth, which has brought riches for some but hardship and rising anger for millions of others. The right to organise is strictly curtailed, but unofficial strikes and demonstrations have grown rapidly in the past decade, along with attacks on government building and officials.
One government report said 3.1 million people took part in protests in just one month last year."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=647367
excerpt: "The world got a rare glimpse of the deadly, mostly unseen war between Chinese developers and the poor who stand in their way with the release of a harrowing video showing a murderous attack on villagers protesting against the construction of a power plant.......
....The video's release around the world brings more unwelcome attention for Beijing on the enormous social tensions created by China's explosive economic growth, which has brought riches for some but hardship and rising anger for millions of others. The right to organise is strictly curtailed, but unofficial strikes and demonstrations have grown rapidly in the past decade, along with attacks on government building and officials.
One government report said 3.1 million people took part in protests in just one month last year."
Weather in China
Whilst looking up the weather forecast for my trip this weekend (including a 3 hour hike up a big (holy) mountain) on saturday, I discovered the following:
Saturday: Shaolin Si and Song Shan (Mountain)
Saturday, Jun 18
Partly sunny and very warm
High: 90° F/32 C
RealFeel: 98° F/36 C
Saturday Night: Clear and warm
Low: 74° F/23 C
RealFeel: 74° F/23C
Sunday: Kaifeng
Sunday, Jun 19
Very hot with sunshine and patchy clouds
High: 103° F/39C
RealFeel: 119° F/48C
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy and very warm. Winds will be calm
Low: 84° F/28C
RealFeel: 96° F/35C
source: accuweather.com (always accurate, trust me)
so sunday night's 'realfeel' (taking tinto account wind, humidity etc) would break all records for hottest weather EVER in UK, let alone the daytime temperature.
climbing the mountain might be hard and hot work!
says I writing from an air conditioned office!
Saturday: Shaolin Si and Song Shan (Mountain)
Saturday, Jun 18
Partly sunny and very warm
High: 90° F/32 C
RealFeel: 98° F/36 C
Saturday Night: Clear and warm
Low: 74° F/23 C
RealFeel: 74° F/23C
Sunday: Kaifeng
Sunday, Jun 19
Very hot with sunshine and patchy clouds
High: 103° F/39C
RealFeel: 119° F/48C
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy and very warm. Winds will be calm
Low: 84° F/28C
RealFeel: 96° F/35C
source: accuweather.com (always accurate, trust me)
so sunday night's 'realfeel' (taking tinto account wind, humidity etc) would break all records for hottest weather EVER in UK, let alone the daytime temperature.
climbing the mountain might be hard and hot work!
says I writing from an air conditioned office!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
random chinese stuff!
Some interesting censorship news about Microsoft censoring what people write on their MSN 'spaces', based on their partnership with the government.
Today walking along a busy street in central Beijing, I saw the usual beggers (often without legs, dragging themselves along on a cart) which is always depressing. In fact on the traines, almost every day, on my way to work, 1 or 2 will come through the train carriages, sometimes singing or playing an instrument (the 2nd person is carrying the tin, and is either a kid or someone else -not sure who). However I also saw an umbrella on the floor and a tin next to it...
When I got closer I saw there was a 3-4 month old baby under the umbrella. I looked desperataely for a mother hoping she would appear to ask me for money (in fact someone did appear, but selling DVDs) or was watching her kid from afar, but I could not see anyone, and this was at 3pm..a time when noone was around anyone that could donate anything. very disheartening.
Tonight, also, Sam told me that one of the managers in a company here had been speaking to the police. Apparently there has been a rise in muggings-rapes-and-then-murders (no teeth so they cannot be identified) of single Chinese women, and that companies should be aware of sending employees home at late alone. It seems to be the work of gangs (the males ...remember there are 115 men to 100 women in china...).
You rarely see much poverty in Beijing (actual poverty I mean) or anything more illegal than fake DVDs (I am presuming crossing the road on a red light and not wearing a seat belt are both legal activities, they are so common). So its interesting to think about crime here. I read that there is some statistical quotient for measuring the social imbalance/wealth gap in society, and apparently once it cross 4.8 or so, the evidence is that those countries have ended up in a revolutionary state.
Well, China crossed 4.8 about 6 months ago, apparently...hmm. Sam said another of her friends is convinced China will end in revolution, although I really don't find many people who have said that so boldly (I disagree, but maybe I'm naive). I do not know the official crime figures, or the unofficial ones off-hand, but it might be interesting to find out.
Evidently the areas I go tend to have hotels, offices, universities, shopping malls, stations etc which all have (security-, not really army-/police-) guards at their entrances (is that just a China thing? It seems so normal after 9 months here!) and they often stay there all night in little huts; plus late at night i am normally in an inhabited area, but Beijing is a big place and further out, or in certain areas away from shops (hutongs), it is maybe a totally different story.
Anyway, a word of warning if you are single lady in Beijing!
On a lighter note, I don't think I have ever mentioned the age thing in China. Every adult seems to look like 19, 32 or 75. There does not seem to be any who LOOKS in the middle, even though of course there are. Especially the late 20s..they all look 5-10 yrs younger, and many 50 year olds look 30. Can Chinese people see other Chinese people's ages properly, and is it just a foreigner thing?
other news: China has hit 590m mobile phone subscribers, denies building an aircraft carrier and spent 200m USD promoting Chinese language last year.
Today walking along a busy street in central Beijing, I saw the usual beggers (often without legs, dragging themselves along on a cart) which is always depressing. In fact on the traines, almost every day, on my way to work, 1 or 2 will come through the train carriages, sometimes singing or playing an instrument (the 2nd person is carrying the tin, and is either a kid or someone else -not sure who). However I also saw an umbrella on the floor and a tin next to it...
When I got closer I saw there was a 3-4 month old baby under the umbrella. I looked desperataely for a mother hoping she would appear to ask me for money (in fact someone did appear, but selling DVDs) or was watching her kid from afar, but I could not see anyone, and this was at 3pm..a time when noone was around anyone that could donate anything. very disheartening.
Tonight, also, Sam told me that one of the managers in a company here had been speaking to the police. Apparently there has been a rise in muggings-rapes-and-then-murders (no teeth so they cannot be identified) of single Chinese women, and that companies should be aware of sending employees home at late alone. It seems to be the work of gangs (the males ...remember there are 115 men to 100 women in china...).
You rarely see much poverty in Beijing (actual poverty I mean) or anything more illegal than fake DVDs (I am presuming crossing the road on a red light and not wearing a seat belt are both legal activities, they are so common). So its interesting to think about crime here. I read that there is some statistical quotient for measuring the social imbalance/wealth gap in society, and apparently once it cross 4.8 or so, the evidence is that those countries have ended up in a revolutionary state.
Well, China crossed 4.8 about 6 months ago, apparently...hmm. Sam said another of her friends is convinced China will end in revolution, although I really don't find many people who have said that so boldly (I disagree, but maybe I'm naive). I do not know the official crime figures, or the unofficial ones off-hand, but it might be interesting to find out.
Evidently the areas I go tend to have hotels, offices, universities, shopping malls, stations etc which all have (security-, not really army-/police-) guards at their entrances (is that just a China thing? It seems so normal after 9 months here!) and they often stay there all night in little huts; plus late at night i am normally in an inhabited area, but Beijing is a big place and further out, or in certain areas away from shops (hutongs), it is maybe a totally different story.
Anyway, a word of warning if you are single lady in Beijing!
On a lighter note, I don't think I have ever mentioned the age thing in China. Every adult seems to look like 19, 32 or 75. There does not seem to be any who LOOKS in the middle, even though of course there are. Especially the late 20s..they all look 5-10 yrs younger, and many 50 year olds look 30. Can Chinese people see other Chinese people's ages properly, and is it just a foreigner thing?
other news: China has hit 590m mobile phone subscribers, denies building an aircraft carrier and spent 200m USD promoting Chinese language last year.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Summer in Beijing
1) Hot
2) Sweaty
3) Smelly (no such thing as deodrant in China)
4) Dangerous (girls with umbrellas can't see where they are going, by foot or on bike)
5) Cool and relaxing (on a balcony, drinking cold beer)
6) fleshy (even the girls start wearing dresses -note the chinese men you see on the street wear the same suit 365 days a year)
7) Watermelons -sold everywhere (it seems Pineapple season is almost over, and oranges season most definitely is)
8) Ice Tea season is now in (its almost as cheap as water in the supermarkets, with tens of 'ice'/'cool' flavours)
9) Rainy -sometimes, but not often. Still thunderstorms still threaten
10) slow and late (cannot run anywhere or even walk up a flight of stairs, otherwise you need a towel to wipe off the sweat)
11) fattening (8 ice creams for 1 US dollar, means several eaten per day)
12) polluted (air conditioning gets used lots, more people travel by car and taxi which are air conditioned whereas bus and subway is not)
13) Expensive -you pay a premium for COLD beers; and have to spend every night out at some bar by some lake dirnking, since your appartment is a veritable sauna
14) relaxing and holiday-like...well I'm British, so any warmth makes me feel like I'm on holiday!
2) Sweaty
3) Smelly (no such thing as deodrant in China)
4) Dangerous (girls with umbrellas can't see where they are going, by foot or on bike)
5) Cool and relaxing (on a balcony, drinking cold beer)
6) fleshy (even the girls start wearing dresses -note the chinese men you see on the street wear the same suit 365 days a year)
7) Watermelons -sold everywhere (it seems Pineapple season is almost over, and oranges season most definitely is)
8) Ice Tea season is now in (its almost as cheap as water in the supermarkets, with tens of 'ice'/'cool' flavours)
9) Rainy -sometimes, but not often. Still thunderstorms still threaten
10) slow and late (cannot run anywhere or even walk up a flight of stairs, otherwise you need a towel to wipe off the sweat)
11) fattening (8 ice creams for 1 US dollar, means several eaten per day)
12) polluted (air conditioning gets used lots, more people travel by car and taxi which are air conditioned whereas bus and subway is not)
13) Expensive -you pay a premium for COLD beers; and have to spend every night out at some bar by some lake dirnking, since your appartment is a veritable sauna
14) relaxing and holiday-like...well I'm British, so any warmth makes me feel like I'm on holiday!
more travels and observations
Some observations:
-its exciting when you spot words and characters you know, especially when you spent your entire time in China seeing a building every day, and then all of a sudden know what it is! I wish it happened more often!
-conversations with taxi drivers are enlightening. Everyone has told me this before, but i don't experience it much due to poor chinese, but now I have been told that i should not bother putting my seatbelt because we go too slowly for it to make a difference (despite over 900 deaths in China each day from traffic accidents!)
-Americans are fun and loud
-Italian chefs in China are hilarious (and complain about China's ingredients for pizza!)
-There is a whole other bar street in Beijing I never knew about (and its called Lady street!)
-Beijing is hot! 30+ degrees most of the time and www.accuweather.com is THE best weaterh forecasting service ever!
recently we went to the local beach (local meaning 3 hours away) and since we always travel with low expectations in China (it makes sense, since most chinese tourist spots are pretty much crappy due to bad management, high entrance fees, lots of tacky shops etc), we were pleasently surprised with the beach (small, cleanish, not overcrowded) and enjoyed teh afternoon lying in the sun and swimming in the sea (first time for many years i think).
we also went to the area where the great wall begins (at the sea), and explored that for a few hours which required a hair-razing boat ride to see it from the sea, a 3 hour uphill hike past 'no entry signs' to see some 'real wall' and a 30 whole minute cable car ride down again. it was a fantastic weekend with another 8 friends, great food, bizarre KTV experiences (not us singing in the bar someone else..very badly) and pollution-free air.
Yesterday we went to the aviation museum, sat in Mao's bed and chair on his plane and walked around a huge bunker cut out of a mountain packed full of old planes and models of other countries' planes (including a US Apache). we also went to the great wall (again!, since more people keep arriving who are yet to see it) -although the driver got lost and went to the wrong bit of the wall (a bit i had already seen, instead of a bit i had not); but on the way there was a fantastic journey though pleasent smelling forests and villages. Rural Beijing it was for sure, green and clean. This is my favourite part of Beijing and I always love leaving the city :D
Peter and Pierre (new full-time AIESECers from Czech and India) have arrived along with John (2 months here from Canada) so we have new laowais to hang out with (like at the Hard Rock Cafe and Italian restaurant-on-a-boat in true foreigner style). Too much partying this week -so less next week!
thats all for now...in the next 2 weeks my future for the next year in China might be decided; either doing the current AIESEC job paid full-time or working for Lenovo (who offered me a tempting job). hmmm, very tempting to work for China's most famous, ambitious and exciting Multinational in a very interesting role; but then its my passion to work in CSR and education; to take what I have started 1 step further, to really start making a difference in China and to feel like I can make a personal difference on a large scale.
Its not a tough choice really -its AIESEC! Will update you once things are sorted out (AIESEC job not confirmed yet), but its nice to know that if AIESEC doesn't work out, there is a good back-up option (I'm not too interested in working for the Chamber long-term).
Adam
p.s. my sister did really well at Uni, damn, she always gets higher marks than me!
-its exciting when you spot words and characters you know, especially when you spent your entire time in China seeing a building every day, and then all of a sudden know what it is! I wish it happened more often!
-conversations with taxi drivers are enlightening. Everyone has told me this before, but i don't experience it much due to poor chinese, but now I have been told that i should not bother putting my seatbelt because we go too slowly for it to make a difference (despite over 900 deaths in China each day from traffic accidents!)
-Americans are fun and loud
-Italian chefs in China are hilarious (and complain about China's ingredients for pizza!)
-There is a whole other bar street in Beijing I never knew about (and its called Lady street!)
-Beijing is hot! 30+ degrees most of the time and www.accuweather.com is THE best weaterh forecasting service ever!
recently we went to the local beach (local meaning 3 hours away) and since we always travel with low expectations in China (it makes sense, since most chinese tourist spots are pretty much crappy due to bad management, high entrance fees, lots of tacky shops etc), we were pleasently surprised with the beach (small, cleanish, not overcrowded) and enjoyed teh afternoon lying in the sun and swimming in the sea (first time for many years i think).
we also went to the area where the great wall begins (at the sea), and explored that for a few hours which required a hair-razing boat ride to see it from the sea, a 3 hour uphill hike past 'no entry signs' to see some 'real wall' and a 30 whole minute cable car ride down again. it was a fantastic weekend with another 8 friends, great food, bizarre KTV experiences (not us singing in the bar someone else..very badly) and pollution-free air.
Yesterday we went to the aviation museum, sat in Mao's bed and chair on his plane and walked around a huge bunker cut out of a mountain packed full of old planes and models of other countries' planes (including a US Apache). we also went to the great wall (again!, since more people keep arriving who are yet to see it) -although the driver got lost and went to the wrong bit of the wall (a bit i had already seen, instead of a bit i had not); but on the way there was a fantastic journey though pleasent smelling forests and villages. Rural Beijing it was for sure, green and clean. This is my favourite part of Beijing and I always love leaving the city :D
Peter and Pierre (new full-time AIESECers from Czech and India) have arrived along with John (2 months here from Canada) so we have new laowais to hang out with (like at the Hard Rock Cafe and Italian restaurant-on-a-boat in true foreigner style). Too much partying this week -so less next week!
thats all for now...in the next 2 weeks my future for the next year in China might be decided; either doing the current AIESEC job paid full-time or working for Lenovo (who offered me a tempting job). hmmm, very tempting to work for China's most famous, ambitious and exciting Multinational in a very interesting role; but then its my passion to work in CSR and education; to take what I have started 1 step further, to really start making a difference in China and to feel like I can make a personal difference on a large scale.
Its not a tough choice really -its AIESEC! Will update you once things are sorted out (AIESEC job not confirmed yet), but its nice to know that if AIESEC doesn't work out, there is a good back-up option (I'm not too interested in working for the Chamber long-term).
Adam
p.s. my sister did really well at Uni, damn, she always gets higher marks than me!
Friday, June 03, 2005
Work!
so another week gone, and this one has been (well, actually most are...) slightly different to the last.
Firstly a lady at the British Embassy invited me to join a dinner with the second in charge of the embassy (position =Minister for some reason) and a few other people to talk about CSR with the President of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) who is also Chairman of Cadbury-Scweppes...So that was nice
Secondly, we had another guest speaker (as apart of the CSR education programme I am running in AIESEC), from Switzerland talking about 'sustainable livelihoods' -doing business with the poor for mutual benefit. She promptly went out clubbing with some of the students (I had to rest!). Having met 2 of the full-timers from the WBCSD (her organisation), I am very impressed. They are young people who are very intelligent, very effective and both idealistic and realistic at the same time. They seem to actually achieve things! When me and Chris met the first lady a month ago, both of us were kind of in awe ("I want to be like her", "I want to work for her" kind of thing!)
Thirdly I stared my unpaid afternoons internship at the British Chamber of Commerce, where I now sit in an air conditioned office :) (since its about 30 degrees outside) working on sponsorship and PR for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Awards that the chamber is running. So its quite interesting for me. Excitingly I actually get to work with someone else, closely on this project..which is the first time ever. I have worked in teams, but never on the same thing, and certainly not full-time. Its quite stimulating, since Sam (boss/colleague) is also (like I am...!) intelligent and capable, plus a lot of fun. Ironically asking for lots of money in pounds has made me realise how little money we are trying to get (we, as in AIESEC) in RMB, and we should be much more confident about what we are 'selling'. I've also got a new perspective on how to package products, since i am actually selling a non-aiesec product (but similar in some ways).
So life ticks on. I am building more networks, some job opportunities are kind of on the horizon (hopefully paid), but nothing sorted yet, although Sam is trying to get me to work at the Chamber (paid, but not great, not that that bothers me) -I have to think if its what i want to do, or what else comes up. Of course I should actually go back to school (I am still there in the mornings for another month) for another semester as my chinese needs more work, but who ever turns down jobs to go study??
All the Chinese are out in force with their umbrellas shielding themselves from the sun which is very dangerous, and looks plain ridiculous (from my cultural standpoint!). I have to say, it sucks wearing smart clothes in this weather whilst commuting, it also sucks working in an office that is pretty professional. The AIESEC UK (and China) offices were much more fun! This weekend we head to the beach (got into the spirit since Qingdao's beach last weekend).
All thats left to say is good luck to my sister who gets her degree result in a few days, i know she'll do great!
Firstly a lady at the British Embassy invited me to join a dinner with the second in charge of the embassy (position =Minister for some reason) and a few other people to talk about CSR with the President of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) who is also Chairman of Cadbury-Scweppes...So that was nice
Secondly, we had another guest speaker (as apart of the CSR education programme I am running in AIESEC), from Switzerland talking about 'sustainable livelihoods' -doing business with the poor for mutual benefit. She promptly went out clubbing with some of the students (I had to rest!). Having met 2 of the full-timers from the WBCSD (her organisation), I am very impressed. They are young people who are very intelligent, very effective and both idealistic and realistic at the same time. They seem to actually achieve things! When me and Chris met the first lady a month ago, both of us were kind of in awe ("I want to be like her", "I want to work for her" kind of thing!)
Thirdly I stared my unpaid afternoons internship at the British Chamber of Commerce, where I now sit in an air conditioned office :) (since its about 30 degrees outside) working on sponsorship and PR for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Awards that the chamber is running. So its quite interesting for me. Excitingly I actually get to work with someone else, closely on this project..which is the first time ever. I have worked in teams, but never on the same thing, and certainly not full-time. Its quite stimulating, since Sam (boss/colleague) is also (like I am...!) intelligent and capable, plus a lot of fun. Ironically asking for lots of money in pounds has made me realise how little money we are trying to get (we, as in AIESEC) in RMB, and we should be much more confident about what we are 'selling'. I've also got a new perspective on how to package products, since i am actually selling a non-aiesec product (but similar in some ways).
So life ticks on. I am building more networks, some job opportunities are kind of on the horizon (hopefully paid), but nothing sorted yet, although Sam is trying to get me to work at the Chamber (paid, but not great, not that that bothers me) -I have to think if its what i want to do, or what else comes up. Of course I should actually go back to school (I am still there in the mornings for another month) for another semester as my chinese needs more work, but who ever turns down jobs to go study??
All the Chinese are out in force with their umbrellas shielding themselves from the sun which is very dangerous, and looks plain ridiculous (from my cultural standpoint!). I have to say, it sucks wearing smart clothes in this weather whilst commuting, it also sucks working in an office that is pretty professional. The AIESEC UK (and China) offices were much more fun! This weekend we head to the beach (got into the spirit since Qingdao's beach last weekend).
All thats left to say is good luck to my sister who gets her degree result in a few days, i know she'll do great!
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