Its been almost 3 weeks since i last wrote -thankfully i am still alive, but currently unable to acess hotmail or yahoo email..damn yunnan internet.
There was a week-long conference which went well i think. there was lots of planning and ideas sharing and fun. Conferences are always inspiring and its been a few months since my last one. This one I was really impressed with the level of the delegates; concrete evidence that all the hard work the MC put in last year has paid off with the new EBs at a much higher level than last year's to start their year. At the moment I don't think 'we' feel like a team yet, but soon..., it was great to meet Primrose, who has now arrived to complete the team.
I had to leave 1 day early to sort out my laptop (something meant it wouldn't turn on) -it was a major pain and i had to improvise a lot, but now its in singapore (thanks echo for translating!) being fixed hopefully, to be ready for my return. I then flew (3 hours) to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan (Clouds south) in south-west china brodering, tibet, burma (myanmar), laos etc. its an interesting place. very clean and modern in the centre, and not so in the outskirts!
Lots has happened in the last week of travelling so i will try to summarise and fill in more gaps later. Kunming - showed round the yunnan nationalities museum by a lady who studies chinese minorities (fascinating), got sunburnt in the stone forest (better than expected) and walked up hills. Then a 12 hr bus journey to jinghong to meet Chris and Victoria (BLCU class mates) and a 4 hour, slow, painful, bumpy etc minibus to somewhere else before getting a tractor-taxi thing another hour until we were right on the burma border.
A 3 hour hike led us to crossing a 2 foot deep river in the dark with a village within sight, where we were led to stay with a local family (10 people!) in their house which was a great experience, since it was just as it should be. They had 1 light bulb, eletricitiy for a TV that only showed karaoke (to practice their language abilities? since only 1 of them spoke chinese, everyone else spoke Dai, the minority language), and an open fire where they boiled water for our team and cooked us dinner (eggs, cabbage and rice)..i could go on, and will once i relfect back in beijing.
the next day we hiked 8 hours through more fantastic rainforest and rice fields..the places where there is only 1 foreigner a week on average (how many intrepid backpackers make it this far?); following villagers on short-cuts, through rain, past massive spiders, avoiding falling trees (fromn logging), through endless villages and fields that were just stunning and primitive. I feel i have a much better understanding of how rural people live now (these people are not that poor, since there is plenty of rain to grow crops, and some have motorbikes which is the only form of transportation on some of the footpaths). the 3 of us had a wonderful, muddy, wet time.
then we had to deal with horrible chinese people who kept raising their price after agreement, to take us to the next village (we didnt want to wait for the bus the next morning as it meant we would miss the morning market). we gave up, and were so angry at these strange people refusing our money! China is such a stranghe mix of entrepreurialism and laziness/dependence on the state. anyway we finally left the stupid village (having found 1 restaurant with only 3 dishes) the next morning on the 4 hour bus (even slower than the last one, and with 1 kid, 1 mother and kid between me and chirs, then another mother and kid between chris and victoria making 8 of us on the back row). After keeping a low profile during the fight on the bus (flying kicks and everything), we made it to the finishing market,l and then 2 more minibuses later we got back to jinghong. the next day we hired bikjes and cycled into the middle of nowhere for another exhilerating experience.
so what is the big deal about these 5 days? well it was a chance to meet and (try to, since they do not speak putonghua) talk to several chinese minoroities, people who lived in fields, people who have never seen foreigners, kids whose lives are so happy yet so basic, see stunning scenery, see people in their 70s and 80s working till dark carrying things on their backs, or working in the fields, people whose nearest village is a 3 hour walk away (in good weather). we witnessed the generosity of chinese villagers and workers; we saw people with different customs, beliefs and dresses. i dont think many trips can compare. remember these places were hours and hours of travelling from the nearerst 'city' with 1 bus a day on roads that don't go anywhere....they just go on and on past more and more villages. so the only people on the tracks are those living in those villages. when we cycled off, we knew we would have to come back the same way; and in the meantime saw the role of the male and the female, the role of the young and the old in these different societies...who is working, who is doing what, when?
Saying goodbye to Victoria (london bound, via beijing) i got a 19 hour bus to dali which is an old town now looking the same as Yanshuo (see december trip with family) with old buildings preserved/repainted that are now selling things, from coffess, to food, dresses etc. its nice, very busy with foreigners, and attractive (flowing water and trees etc in the city, like it has been landscaped, whcih i think it has been). upon arrival i hiked up to the temple (past the strange cemetary), skipped it and hiked along the mountain and down again along a river on one of the most overgrown paths ever...i had to cross the river several times, guess and som,etimes walk in the river for lack of a path. eventually, with a permanent smile on my face, i ended up in a small quarry, with each pit being worked by a family, witht he dad holding the pickaxes and the mother and young children helping move the excess mud etc. a truly unbeleivable experience; they were so surprised but so welcoming..i ended up passing through their local village (thousands more 'hellos' from the kids), checking it out, and hitching a ride back to town. then met chris and his parents for dinner (thanks!)
today i cycled along villages by the lake; again no foreigners at all. all the tourists go to one town further along (which i got to eventually) so i had so much fun beign shown around the litle temples, talking (and showing off with wheelies to the kids!) and feeling like a fly on the wall as i cycled every little back lane and rice paddy wall. what i learnt from this trip, is why the lake is so beautiful. Its not because it is so blue reflecting the sun, but because of the life it supports around it. Talking to and sitting with the villagers fishing, i felt like a local chinese villager.
This trip has really shown me the importance of agriculture and of water to the World. The happiness of those with simple lives and the desire to want to spend longer with them. Despite their broked backs, health problems, lack of hygiene, staple diet (i see why they have so many health problems) and so on. At the same time, they are apart of China -they are alive, not starving, and they smoke, have tractors, and within a few years will be within 200m of a main road (we saw roads being built everywhere). they are joining the rest of the world. many villagers take several bags of vegetables on 5 hour buses to market ..they are trading and earning income... I am now even more determined to go into the mountains in northern yunnan where the really poor people are. I was unable to this time, due to the heavy rains, but my contacts are good, and we might try to organise a study tour out there later in the year.
i cant even begin to convey how interesting the trip is, how much fun it is to travel with friends, and alone (i do things that someone else acting as my conscience would remind me is stupid). there is so much more of the world to see. next up is more stunning natural beuaty in lijiang and then onto the tibetan plateau to experience tibetan life. i am not interested in sitting in cafes with the other backpackers (although it is fun and relaxing); not my style. the whole time i am here, i am thinking of my work, inspired to really make it happen, to make a difference...and have also put more ideas into my mind about future careers (been thinking a lot in the last year or so about trying to learn about china and translate it into how to help other countries).
Such an amazing country, and yet my own country is struggling with terrorism, failing manufacturing and a dodgy governemnt who bends statisitics every day. I do wonder why only last week the UK started giving visas to Chinese tourists. well, durrr..about time!
p.s. there are pictures, lots of them, of beautiful places and of beatuful people. cant way to share them with you!
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Thursday, July 07, 2005
today...
this afternoon has been a strange day, since the first i heard of the terrorist attacks was on a blog on nomadlife by someone in london. Then i checked news websites. Then i had to dash to dinner with my room-mate whilst texting family and some friends to check they were safe (all were).
After dinner, i was meeting some friends for the last time in the Uni bar where CNN was on with updates and people were talking about it...a bit. I was telling Paulina (my room mate) as we walked to the bar that it seemed like london was lucky. I mean several bombs at rush hour on the Tube! i've been there and i can just imagine how bad it may have been. I am sure it seems much worse being in London, instead of 4,000 miles away...but honestly; at first i was just so relieved that it wasn't worse.
maybe i always knew something was going to happen (the police were always saying something would happen), so i hope this will be the last time. who knows. watching CNN was strange, from a bar in china; talking with friends (2 of which are israelis, so have an interesting perspective) and so on. However it didnt seem like another 9/11. It didnt seem like the world would change.
As i said earlier i said to Paulina that i wonder what will happen..will there be new wars, will the governemt over-react or under-react, will the stock-market crash, will transport be destroyed for weeks? will the government then start pushing new laws (like the ID card) or other laws (like Us and indeed UK did after 9/11)?
It seem weird thinking of this in such a way, from a distant view point, of my city, with many many friends and family living in the city. In fact the AIESEC office is just down the road from Moorgate...I can only imagine how bad it is. Seeing the TV pictures was, literally, the 1st time I have seen the UK on TV for almost a year...and how sad its in this sitaution, seeing read fire-engines, yellow ambulances. I didn't know what to think.
I'm here, having spent several enjoyable hours with friends at the bar, listening to Virgin Radio on the internet (as they play very respectful music with inspiring songs) knowing others are listening in London, others are listening who were on those trains...whilst I am not here. Honestly i don't feel that attached to the event. much like 9/11 when the World strugled to understand the strong reactions americans had to being attacked on their own ground...
all i can think of is the short-term -most people seem to be safe, everyone seems to be reacting well, the world continues (thankfully), and joyously, london seems to be returnign to normal (relatively) already with transport happening, and people going home from work and planning to go to work tomorrow..i mean the stock market kept trading; its fantastic. I am so proud of my country. I remember the practise the emergency services held about a year ago at Bank station on a sunday on the waterloo and city line (closed on weekends), and reading the criticisms that our media always make (strange, now they are all lauding over the reaction)..i am glad that this took place, that, fortunately, we were prepared (mentally and phsyically).
I hope it never happens again, but more than anything -and this is so telling of me being in China- I hope the consequences are peaceful, I hope the G8 conference succeeds, I hope London recovers as normal, I hope there is no further war, I hope the perpetrators are punished. I know Londoners will want their lives to continue...
I've returned home to receive several emails/messages asking if my family and friends are ok. Nomadlife is listing those AIESECers who are safe..everyone is caring. In disaster, like the Tsunami, we realise how great huumankind can be -heroes, caring, thoughtful, supportive, survivors. Lets hope these attributes continue
After dinner, i was meeting some friends for the last time in the Uni bar where CNN was on with updates and people were talking about it...a bit. I was telling Paulina (my room mate) as we walked to the bar that it seemed like london was lucky. I mean several bombs at rush hour on the Tube! i've been there and i can just imagine how bad it may have been. I am sure it seems much worse being in London, instead of 4,000 miles away...but honestly; at first i was just so relieved that it wasn't worse.
maybe i always knew something was going to happen (the police were always saying something would happen), so i hope this will be the last time. who knows. watching CNN was strange, from a bar in china; talking with friends (2 of which are israelis, so have an interesting perspective) and so on. However it didnt seem like another 9/11. It didnt seem like the world would change.
As i said earlier i said to Paulina that i wonder what will happen..will there be new wars, will the governemt over-react or under-react, will the stock-market crash, will transport be destroyed for weeks? will the government then start pushing new laws (like the ID card) or other laws (like Us and indeed UK did after 9/11)?
It seem weird thinking of this in such a way, from a distant view point, of my city, with many many friends and family living in the city. In fact the AIESEC office is just down the road from Moorgate...I can only imagine how bad it is. Seeing the TV pictures was, literally, the 1st time I have seen the UK on TV for almost a year...and how sad its in this sitaution, seeing read fire-engines, yellow ambulances. I didn't know what to think.
I'm here, having spent several enjoyable hours with friends at the bar, listening to Virgin Radio on the internet (as they play very respectful music with inspiring songs) knowing others are listening in London, others are listening who were on those trains...whilst I am not here. Honestly i don't feel that attached to the event. much like 9/11 when the World strugled to understand the strong reactions americans had to being attacked on their own ground...
all i can think of is the short-term -most people seem to be safe, everyone seems to be reacting well, the world continues (thankfully), and joyously, london seems to be returnign to normal (relatively) already with transport happening, and people going home from work and planning to go to work tomorrow..i mean the stock market kept trading; its fantastic. I am so proud of my country. I remember the practise the emergency services held about a year ago at Bank station on a sunday on the waterloo and city line (closed on weekends), and reading the criticisms that our media always make (strange, now they are all lauding over the reaction)..i am glad that this took place, that, fortunately, we were prepared (mentally and phsyically).
I hope it never happens again, but more than anything -and this is so telling of me being in China- I hope the consequences are peaceful, I hope the G8 conference succeeds, I hope London recovers as normal, I hope there is no further war, I hope the perpetrators are punished. I know Londoners will want their lives to continue...
I've returned home to receive several emails/messages asking if my family and friends are ok. Nomadlife is listing those AIESECers who are safe..everyone is caring. In disaster, like the Tsunami, we realise how great huumankind can be -heroes, caring, thoughtful, supportive, survivors. Lets hope these attributes continue
the end of class
to add some continuity, I want to start this blog by adding onto previous ones: I wantched 'Hotel Rwanda' -a must see film for everyone. It was very true to what actually happened (I studied it at university) and very moving. If it gets you thinking then you can research on how the UN managed to let such a thing happen then, and how it still happens today.
I also want to say how great it is for Bus to delcare that the minute the EU scraps their trade tariffs, the US will too. Of course he is safe in the knowledge that the EU never will...but if him saying it adds a little bit more pressure to the unaccountable idiots in brussels, who now know that the impact of their decisions will be doubled, then great.
Today was my last class at BLCU (Beijing language and culture university) where for 4 months, almost every day i have attended 8am-12 noon with several other (good) friends. Its quite sad - it quickly became a routine and graduation (a free dinner with our certificates, no formal presentation) was on tuesday (3rd in my class i think). Actually it seems several people failed in each class, having asked around.
Most have stopped coming to class (exams already done), so today for 3 hours i had a 1-on-1 and it was great...in fact normally class was only 7-9 people out of 16 officially. I even realised how sensible most of China's provinces' names are (I had just not looked at their chinese characters before, and when i did i realised) -south of the river, north of the river, north of the lake, south of the lake, east of the mountains, west of the mountains etc all exist. As does some names made up of the words of cities in the provinces.
Most of us have realised we have progressed, by not as much as we could have due to some poor teaching (controlling the class) and us not making enough effort (homework, although weren't given any, but could have still done exercises in book) and speaking too much english in class. Our main teacher went on maternity leave 3 weeks ago, and the replacement was great. I am SO determined to ensure i make more progress with a tutor next year and some self-discipline..its all about routine i think!
Actually one thing i never mentioned was my dear old PDA (handheld computer), that my lovely parents bought me for my 22nd birthday and was so useful when at AIESEC UK. Here i obtained a chinese-english dictionary which includes the ability to write chinese characters on the touch-screen. A total life-saver. At least 3 students in my class went and bought the same thing just for the dictionary! -I still use the other funtions A LOT though!
Its been a nice week - a bit sad with people leaving, but most will be coming back next semester hopefully. We went out for some drinks, went to 'Water World' (a crappy, tiny water park that was SO much fun), went hiking/paddling in mountains/rivers again and so on. Soon its conference, then its travelling, then its WORK! (so exciting). It was a fun semester; with great times and funny times. Another great adventure down, more to come.
hope you are all well. Do please feel free to let me know or reply to any emails should you wish :) and of course, I feel so proud to be english as everyone in beijing of course knows about the olympic victory!
I also want to say how great it is for Bus to delcare that the minute the EU scraps their trade tariffs, the US will too. Of course he is safe in the knowledge that the EU never will...but if him saying it adds a little bit more pressure to the unaccountable idiots in brussels, who now know that the impact of their decisions will be doubled, then great.
Today was my last class at BLCU (Beijing language and culture university) where for 4 months, almost every day i have attended 8am-12 noon with several other (good) friends. Its quite sad - it quickly became a routine and graduation (a free dinner with our certificates, no formal presentation) was on tuesday (3rd in my class i think). Actually it seems several people failed in each class, having asked around.
Most have stopped coming to class (exams already done), so today for 3 hours i had a 1-on-1 and it was great...in fact normally class was only 7-9 people out of 16 officially. I even realised how sensible most of China's provinces' names are (I had just not looked at their chinese characters before, and when i did i realised) -south of the river, north of the river, north of the lake, south of the lake, east of the mountains, west of the mountains etc all exist. As does some names made up of the words of cities in the provinces.
Most of us have realised we have progressed, by not as much as we could have due to some poor teaching (controlling the class) and us not making enough effort (homework, although weren't given any, but could have still done exercises in book) and speaking too much english in class. Our main teacher went on maternity leave 3 weeks ago, and the replacement was great. I am SO determined to ensure i make more progress with a tutor next year and some self-discipline..its all about routine i think!
Actually one thing i never mentioned was my dear old PDA (handheld computer), that my lovely parents bought me for my 22nd birthday and was so useful when at AIESEC UK. Here i obtained a chinese-english dictionary which includes the ability to write chinese characters on the touch-screen. A total life-saver. At least 3 students in my class went and bought the same thing just for the dictionary! -I still use the other funtions A LOT though!
Its been a nice week - a bit sad with people leaving, but most will be coming back next semester hopefully. We went out for some drinks, went to 'Water World' (a crappy, tiny water park that was SO much fun), went hiking/paddling in mountains/rivers again and so on. Soon its conference, then its travelling, then its WORK! (so exciting). It was a fun semester; with great times and funny times. Another great adventure down, more to come.
hope you are all well. Do please feel free to let me know or reply to any emails should you wish :) and of course, I feel so proud to be english as everyone in beijing of course knows about the olympic victory!
Sunday, July 03, 2005
what should we do, what should they do?
Is itn't it ironic that Live8 did not aim to donate money; indeed the 20m (UK pounds) raised was spent on itself, organising the concerts. Why should 8 people be the ones responsible and blamed for the World's issues?
By declaring we don't want to raise money, we realise how ineffective aid has been, and will continue to be, and remove the responsibility from our shoulders to place it on the shoulders of 8 people. We turn a movement that should be about life and death, into a movement about politics. We get the World's most famous musicians, worth tens of billions of dollars themselves, to not donate their money but to tell us how poor africa is.
Make Poverty History does not aim just to raise money but, honestly, raising money is the only goal it is likely to achieve. It won't make trade fair, or free. Yet despite not aiming to raise money, the concerts profiled the cases of people saved from Live Aid (from raising money), at the same time Geldof and many others all agree most of the money raised then was wasted, and he himself was too naive about what he hoped money could do, and where it would go.
It's ironic that as everyone says 'raise more aid for africa', most of the public perceive that aid won't make a difference and most acadacemics are still arguing over why 500 billion US dollars has made GDP go down on average in most impoverished countries. Noone has worked out how this aid can really make a difference on a grand scale.
Poor governance is a great excuse, yet those countries with the best governance are sometimes still the most poor. ODAs have now decided that local governments know how best to spend their aid money, and should not have countless conditions laid down. So they contribute 5% of a country's health budget...won't this increase corruption?
Sure, the most effective aid is that delivered from the bottom up. But why is live 8 asking for more money from the top down? why is live 8 asking for more aid, yet not know how to deliver it properly? There are papers arguing that the money in Ethipia resulting from Live Aid just kept a bad government in power for longer, pushing more into poverty.
Why is it respectful thinktanks (that are on UK national press and national prime-time TV) can issues papers entitled 'more aid, less growth'? So what 'they' should do, noone knows. What we are doing is removing responsibility from ourselves and placing it on them. The politicians, the ones who are the slowest at doing anything and the onese elected to do what is best for their own country, not for the World. What does the UN do? Its run by same politicians trying to use the UN to make the best decision for themselves.
What should we do? Education and awareness is of course a crucial step -and for that live8 is commended, for raising the issue onto the 'average' person's agenda. Pressuring politicians is an admirable aim, but what they need to do is not something that can be done in days, weeks or even months. They need to do it. Spending a week telling them to do it won't work. Pressurising politicians through the media and public opinion os not how you achieve long-term policy. You achieve that by electing governments with those policies as their aims. What we need are politicians who really ask the public what we want, do we really want to sacrifice our own wellbeing for the poor (farmer's persepctive) or indeed believe the economists that argue its in our best interests (consumer's persepctive)?
I hope we do. I hope we can find the most effective political means to achieve determined, sustained, political change. I don't want to seem a pessimist, but we might make things worse..we might raise money and see it not achieve anything tangible; we might raise awareness for 1 week and then see everyone think the problem is solved and forget about it.
In the meantime, whilst we try to influence what 'they' should do, what should we do? On an individual level, we can make a concerted, immediate difference. For each of us, the answer is different. Some might run for political power, some might work for an NGO, some might write research papers, some might do business with the poor, others might continue to raise awareness. What will you do?
By declaring we don't want to raise money, we realise how ineffective aid has been, and will continue to be, and remove the responsibility from our shoulders to place it on the shoulders of 8 people. We turn a movement that should be about life and death, into a movement about politics. We get the World's most famous musicians, worth tens of billions of dollars themselves, to not donate their money but to tell us how poor africa is.
Make Poverty History does not aim just to raise money but, honestly, raising money is the only goal it is likely to achieve. It won't make trade fair, or free. Yet despite not aiming to raise money, the concerts profiled the cases of people saved from Live Aid (from raising money), at the same time Geldof and many others all agree most of the money raised then was wasted, and he himself was too naive about what he hoped money could do, and where it would go.
It's ironic that as everyone says 'raise more aid for africa', most of the public perceive that aid won't make a difference and most acadacemics are still arguing over why 500 billion US dollars has made GDP go down on average in most impoverished countries. Noone has worked out how this aid can really make a difference on a grand scale.
Poor governance is a great excuse, yet those countries with the best governance are sometimes still the most poor. ODAs have now decided that local governments know how best to spend their aid money, and should not have countless conditions laid down. So they contribute 5% of a country's health budget...won't this increase corruption?
Sure, the most effective aid is that delivered from the bottom up. But why is live 8 asking for more money from the top down? why is live 8 asking for more aid, yet not know how to deliver it properly? There are papers arguing that the money in Ethipia resulting from Live Aid just kept a bad government in power for longer, pushing more into poverty.
Why is it respectful thinktanks (that are on UK national press and national prime-time TV) can issues papers entitled 'more aid, less growth'? So what 'they' should do, noone knows. What we are doing is removing responsibility from ourselves and placing it on them. The politicians, the ones who are the slowest at doing anything and the onese elected to do what is best for their own country, not for the World. What does the UN do? Its run by same politicians trying to use the UN to make the best decision for themselves.
What should we do? Education and awareness is of course a crucial step -and for that live8 is commended, for raising the issue onto the 'average' person's agenda. Pressuring politicians is an admirable aim, but what they need to do is not something that can be done in days, weeks or even months. They need to do it. Spending a week telling them to do it won't work. Pressurising politicians through the media and public opinion os not how you achieve long-term policy. You achieve that by electing governments with those policies as their aims. What we need are politicians who really ask the public what we want, do we really want to sacrifice our own wellbeing for the poor (farmer's persepctive) or indeed believe the economists that argue its in our best interests (consumer's persepctive)?
I hope we do. I hope we can find the most effective political means to achieve determined, sustained, political change. I don't want to seem a pessimist, but we might make things worse..we might raise money and see it not achieve anything tangible; we might raise awareness for 1 week and then see everyone think the problem is solved and forget about it.
In the meantime, whilst we try to influence what 'they' should do, what should we do? On an individual level, we can make a concerted, immediate difference. For each of us, the answer is different. Some might run for political power, some might work for an NGO, some might write research papers, some might do business with the poor, others might continue to raise awareness. What will you do?
Friday, July 01, 2005
movies
I've always been interested in films, especially since we had satellite TV when I was young, then they were available for free from the Shared Network at University, and then they were available ov DVDs for less than 1USD in China. Now my sister is a retired acress and a budding director, I am hoping she'll be famous one day and I'll get to mingle with the stars! Actually her films are very good (especially the 1 or 2 that I was in!), so I wish her all the best!
I stopped watching DVDs about 3 months ago, since I had no time, it was not a priority and no great films were out. However there are still lots of old films I have wanted to watch -but there is no hurry to watch them as they will always be in the DVD stores here! But since its so hot here (and my laptop sometimes feel like it will melt!) its hard to work, and i have managed to queeze some free time in now before the AIESEC work really takes off...so I have watched 2 movies in 2 days and wanted to share my thoughts.
Now I am open to all kinds of movies, foreign, hollywood, subtitled, old, new, sexual, humourous, violent..whatever. I can't even begin to list my favourite movies (although the one I have seen more than any other is lock, stock....) as there are so many, but I am a fan of Charlie Kaufman as a director (yes, THOSE kinds of confusing, thinking films).
Recently I watched Kinsey; a film about the famous sexologist in American 40s; an intriguing film about the effect of his research on America at the time. He researched American's sex habits and shocked America by telling them what they were doing (some claimed consequently the acts he reported became more frequent since he normalised them). In fact watching the film I went through interesting feelings. Is what he was doing 'sick', is sexuality a scale of 1-6, should 15 yr olds watch such a film and so on? In fact its interesting, because its a film about sex education, and the UK has one of the worse teenage pregnancy rates in the developed World, whilst China has (seemingly) the least amount of sex education in any developed (well Beijing IS developed!) country.
The other film is called Bad Education, one of the 3 foreign films I have been wanting to watch for a few years (City of Gods, Y Tu Mama Tambien are the other 2; which I have seen), that were 'foreign' but still successful at the box office -that were 'unusual' yet still applauded by critis -that won oscars/oscar nominations. Its an intriguing film, a clever one and one also (ironically and don't read anything into this, since none of the other films in my room waiting to be watched are abou sex!) about sex...about 2 young boys, a priest, homosexuality, transvetites .... a fascinating film.
And as with every movie i have seen in the last 5 years, I immediately read reviews of the films (www.imdb.com) from various sources; to get other's opinions, to get a better understanding of the films, and because it stimulates my own thoughts (who goes to the cinema with a friend and DOESN'T discuss the film afterwards?).
Thus I realised that the first film was not jsut about (american) society and social norms, but also about one person's obsession and the relation between the obsession and the person, and how they impact each other. For the second film I realised its mostly about role playing and about how you remember things..of course the details that you remember are selective and thus impact what you remember and how that affects your future. The second film is a confusing set of flash-backs and one of those 'is-it-the flashback'/'is-that-the-film-or-the-memory-or-the-book-or-real-life-or-twisted-reality' kind of films -Adaptation (Nic Cage) is the best example of that kind of film.
I could write forever about movies; as an art I think they are tremendous, and often undervalued (as art) by those who do not fully understand movies (of course, some are just point-and-shoot or sing-stupid-song-fall-in-love films) and i dont understand most films on this kind of level (hence reading online); but they also provide a unique insight into the director/writer's psyche, into imaginary and real worlds, into other cultures and into other's thoughts. they are also fun, funny, inspiring and so much more. If anyone has a film that I must see, then let me know!
I stopped watching DVDs about 3 months ago, since I had no time, it was not a priority and no great films were out. However there are still lots of old films I have wanted to watch -but there is no hurry to watch them as they will always be in the DVD stores here! But since its so hot here (and my laptop sometimes feel like it will melt!) its hard to work, and i have managed to queeze some free time in now before the AIESEC work really takes off...so I have watched 2 movies in 2 days and wanted to share my thoughts.
Now I am open to all kinds of movies, foreign, hollywood, subtitled, old, new, sexual, humourous, violent..whatever. I can't even begin to list my favourite movies (although the one I have seen more than any other is lock, stock....) as there are so many, but I am a fan of Charlie Kaufman as a director (yes, THOSE kinds of confusing, thinking films).
Recently I watched Kinsey; a film about the famous sexologist in American 40s; an intriguing film about the effect of his research on America at the time. He researched American's sex habits and shocked America by telling them what they were doing (some claimed consequently the acts he reported became more frequent since he normalised them). In fact watching the film I went through interesting feelings. Is what he was doing 'sick', is sexuality a scale of 1-6, should 15 yr olds watch such a film and so on? In fact its interesting, because its a film about sex education, and the UK has one of the worse teenage pregnancy rates in the developed World, whilst China has (seemingly) the least amount of sex education in any developed (well Beijing IS developed!) country.
The other film is called Bad Education, one of the 3 foreign films I have been wanting to watch for a few years (City of Gods, Y Tu Mama Tambien are the other 2; which I have seen), that were 'foreign' but still successful at the box office -that were 'unusual' yet still applauded by critis -that won oscars/oscar nominations. Its an intriguing film, a clever one and one also (ironically and don't read anything into this, since none of the other films in my room waiting to be watched are abou sex!) about sex...about 2 young boys, a priest, homosexuality, transvetites .... a fascinating film.
And as with every movie i have seen in the last 5 years, I immediately read reviews of the films (www.imdb.com) from various sources; to get other's opinions, to get a better understanding of the films, and because it stimulates my own thoughts (who goes to the cinema with a friend and DOESN'T discuss the film afterwards?).
Thus I realised that the first film was not jsut about (american) society and social norms, but also about one person's obsession and the relation between the obsession and the person, and how they impact each other. For the second film I realised its mostly about role playing and about how you remember things..of course the details that you remember are selective and thus impact what you remember and how that affects your future. The second film is a confusing set of flash-backs and one of those 'is-it-the flashback'/'is-that-the-film-or-the-memory-or-the-book-or-real-life-or-twisted-reality' kind of films -Adaptation (Nic Cage) is the best example of that kind of film.
I could write forever about movies; as an art I think they are tremendous, and often undervalued (as art) by those who do not fully understand movies (of course, some are just point-and-shoot or sing-stupid-song-fall-in-love films) and i dont understand most films on this kind of level (hence reading online); but they also provide a unique insight into the director/writer's psyche, into imaginary and real worlds, into other cultures and into other's thoughts. they are also fun, funny, inspiring and so much more. If anyone has a film that I must see, then let me know!
I have actually learned something!
jintian gonzuo bu nuli, mingtian nuli zhao gongzuo.
This is interesting because I know all the characters and thus understand what it means: today if you don't work hard, tomorrow you will work hard looking for another job. Thus I am able to use my chinese to learn more about Chinese culture and how to motivate Chinese staff. how rewarding :)
Thursday, June 30, 2005
A yearly update from Adam
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
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
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)