As you can see above as we squint into the sun, last weekend I went to Tiananmen with some friends, where we bought some "green bean ice cream." It is unbelievably hot here, but to tell the truth it's a nice change from San Fran weather, which is never very hot in the summer. There were two things that surprised me about Tiananmen square. First of all, for some reason I thought Tiananmen was red, but it's not, it's just a huge, wide open, gray, Soviet-style sqaure. The only red part is the wall behind us. Second, even though it's a major tourist spot, it didn't look there were many tourists. I was actually expecting there to be few Chinese people there, just like there are virtually no French people at the Eiffel Tower, or no English people at the Tower of London. Then, the thing that surprised me most about Beijing is how cheap it is. I mean, a 20 minuted cab ride split between 4 people is 1 dollar each. It's unreal. All in all, I'm having an amazing time and will try to post more frequently, it's been hard setting up the internet connection.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
In Beijing after 24 hours in the air
Normally a flight from San Francisco to Beijing is 12 hours. My flight had two stop overs, leaving me with a trip that was well over 24 hours door to door and I slept maybe 30 minutes max because I was sitting in an exit row where the seats didn't recline. My cab driver from the airport was an extremely animated guy who asked me dozens of questions about myself and America. What do you think of Bush? Which countries have you visited? What do you want to be when you are older? How much does oil cost in America? I had a lot of trouble understanding him because of his thick Beijing accent that covers a lot of the ends of words in "r" sounds, but using sign language we could communicate basic ideas. Since I didn't understand the word for oil, he explained by putting his hand to his mouth saying "the thing that cars eat..." It was a very fun warm welcome to China. Classes started yesterday and they are definitely intense, but also a lot of fun.
As you can see above as we squint into the sun, last weekend I went to Tiananmen with some friends, where we bought some "green bean ice cream." It is unbelievably hot here, but to tell the truth it's a nice change from San Fran weather, which is never very hot in the summer. There were two things that surprised me about Tiananmen square. First of all, for some reason I thought Tiananmen was red, but it's not, it's just a huge, wide open, gray, Soviet-style sqaure. The only red part is the wall behind us. Second, even though it's a major tourist spot, it didn't look there were many tourists. I was actually expecting there to be few Chinese people there, just like there are virtually no French people at the Eiffel Tower, or no English people at the Tower of London. Then, the thing that surprised me most about Beijing is how cheap it is. I mean, a 20 minuted cab ride split between 4 people is 1 dollar each. It's unreal. All in all, I'm having an amazing time and will try to post more frequently, it's been hard setting up the internet connection.
As you can see above as we squint into the sun, last weekend I went to Tiananmen with some friends, where we bought some "green bean ice cream." It is unbelievably hot here, but to tell the truth it's a nice change from San Fran weather, which is never very hot in the summer. There were two things that surprised me about Tiananmen square. First of all, for some reason I thought Tiananmen was red, but it's not, it's just a huge, wide open, gray, Soviet-style sqaure. The only red part is the wall behind us. Second, even though it's a major tourist spot, it didn't look there were many tourists. I was actually expecting there to be few Chinese people there, just like there are virtually no French people at the Eiffel Tower, or no English people at the Tower of London. Then, the thing that surprised me most about Beijing is how cheap it is. I mean, a 20 minuted cab ride split between 4 people is 1 dollar each. It's unreal. All in all, I'm having an amazing time and will try to post more frequently, it's been hard setting up the internet connection.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
"Beijing Welcomes You"
This awesome song is the theme song of the Beijing Olympics. All the most famous Chinese stars sing it (look out for Jackie Chan!). It's about how China's doors are open to foreigners from around the world and all the rich experiences and impressive preparations that await them. I've been watching it a lot over the past few weeks and it gets me pumped every time I hear it. Great song.
My favorite line is Tian da di da dou shi pengyou qing bu yong keqi ("Whether from heaven or from earth, you are our friend so feel at home"). A translation of the lyrics is at http://music.yeucahat.com/
My favorite line is Tian da di da dou shi pengyou qing bu yong keqi ("Whether from heaven or from earth, you are our friend so feel at home"). A translation of the lyrics is at http://music.yeucahat.com/
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Getting Around the "Great Firewall of China"
Whooops... I recently just sent my blog link to some friends who are already in China and they said that they can't open the url. This means that the Chinese firewall is doing what it's supposed to block Americans from sharing their views in China. In the next few weeks I'm going to have to find a way of getting around the firewall. Maybe I'll start using another website that isn't run by Blogspot, but in any case I'll still use this url until I leave on June 17, and I'll keep you updated if I change any urls. I have friends who have blogged from China before so it's definitely not too difficult, and I've heard that the web restrictions are going to be a little more lax this summer so as not to be too inconvenient to tourists.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
How to teach yourself a language
My opinion about learning foreign languages is that it is most efficient to study the language in a classroom environment for 1-3 years and then take off for a country where they speak the language. Going to a country with no knowledge of the language makes it extremely difficult to learn because no one wants to explain to you all of the very basic vocab over and over, but once you have a little background, people for the most part are willing to speak slowly for you. On the opposite end, taking classes for many years without spending much time with native speakers is also ineffective. Textbooks and artificial speaking environments are crucial at first but they become less and less helpful as you get better at the language.
The bottom line though is that the only way of acquiring a foreign is exposure, exposure, exposure… and since travel is expensive, one of the easiest ways to do this is using media… watching foreign TV, listening to online radio, podcasts, or one of my favorites… listening to foreign pop songs. And thanks to YouTube, this is incredibly easy. One of my favorite Chinese pop songs is called “Tong Hua” (Fairy Tales). It's about a girl who dies from love and a guy who expresses his love for her through music. It's the most popular song in Taiwan right now.
Tong Hua by Guang Liang
Music has been proven by psychologists to be a more effective method of remembering things, which is why we sing the ABCs when we are young to remember the alphabet. Singing is fun and with the internet it’s incredibly easy to find translations for foreign songs. One great site for translations is called “Learn Chinese Through Music” (http://www.learn-chinese-through-music.com/)
Let me know if you have any more suggestions for good Chinese songs or websites.
The bottom line though is that the only way of acquiring a foreign is exposure, exposure, exposure… and since travel is expensive, one of the easiest ways to do this is using media… watching foreign TV, listening to online radio, podcasts, or one of my favorites… listening to foreign pop songs. And thanks to YouTube, this is incredibly easy. One of my favorite Chinese pop songs is called “Tong Hua” (Fairy Tales). It's about a girl who dies from love and a guy who expresses his love for her through music. It's the most popular song in Taiwan right now.
Tong Hua by Guang Liang
Music has been proven by psychologists to be a more effective method of remembering things, which is why we sing the ABCs when we are young to remember the alphabet. Singing is fun and with the internet it’s incredibly easy to find translations for foreign songs. One great site for translations is called “Learn Chinese Through Music” (http://www.learn-chinese-through-music.com/)
Let me know if you have any more suggestions for good Chinese songs or websites.
My cultural preparations
I’ve never been to Asia before so I am expecting this trip to a culture shock. I’ll be staying in a homestay for most of my two months in Beijing and so I especially feel the need to expose myself to Chinese culture before taking off.
Over this past year, I have made a real effort to learn about China. I have been taking Chinese language classes for the past year with Tai Lao Shi (the world’s best Chinese teacher), last semester I took a survey course on Chinese history (from the ancient Shang to Mao Zedong in one semester), I’ve been watching Chinese movies and listening to Chinese songs (most notably Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tong Hua by Guang Liang) and I had a “Chinese language exchange partner” for a brief period who was actually just a businessman downtown who wanted help with English in exchange for Chinese help. As my friend Jeremy put it, it seems like I’ve come down with a case of "Yellow Fever".
Here are some of the books and movies that I plan to read/see this summer to help prepare me for my trip, if you have any more suggestions, please add them as comments:
The Geography of Thought by Richard Nisbett
China: Fragile Superpower by Susan L. Shirk
Man's Fate by André Malraux
Seven Years in Tibet
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
A Great Wall
Over this past year, I have made a real effort to learn about China. I have been taking Chinese language classes for the past year with Tai Lao Shi (the world’s best Chinese teacher), last semester I took a survey course on Chinese history (from the ancient Shang to Mao Zedong in one semester), I’ve been watching Chinese movies and listening to Chinese songs (most notably Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tong Hua by Guang Liang) and I had a “Chinese language exchange partner” for a brief period who was actually just a businessman downtown who wanted help with English in exchange for Chinese help. As my friend Jeremy put it, it seems like I’ve come down with a case of "Yellow Fever".
Here are some of the books and movies that I plan to read/see this summer to help prepare me for my trip, if you have any more suggestions, please add them as comments:
The Geography of Thought by Richard Nisbett
China: Fragile Superpower by Susan L. Shirk
Man's Fate by André Malraux
Seven Years in Tibet
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
A Great Wall
My take on US-China relations
One thing I like to do before traveling to a foreign country is to write down my impressions before going and then looking over them after the trip is over. So here are my free-flowing ideas on the US and China...
Like many others, I see China as a country that is already and will become more and more of a key player in the international stage. It seems inevitable that China will surpass the United States in GDP and in the process of the US’s trade imbalance with East Asia, China is hungry to buy up much of the US’s deficit. This is dangerous. It means that China wields an uncomfortable amount of power over the American economy because theoretically they can ask for their money back whenever they want, causing American interest rates to go up and making America's economy grind to a halt. Realistically, this is unlikely since a hit to America’s economy is a hit to China’s, but the bottom line that should be taken from this increasing political and economic interdependence, is that I think we need more Americans studying Asian languages and cultures, as opposed to European ones. As Susan Shirk (author of China: A Fragile Superpower) argues, wars are caused by misunderstandings and if the US and China are not able to understand each other in the future, there is a definite possibility of an escalation of conflict. In large cities, Chinese who speak English are much easier to find than Americans who speak Chinese, which is unfortunate. After all, there are more native Mandarin-speakers in the world than there are English-speakers; what makes Americans think they don’t need to learn foreign languages? What impact will this have if most interactions between Chinese and Americans are primarily in English? It is also unsurprising but important to note that most Americans who speak Chinese are of Chinese decent. What impact will this have if most interactions between Chinese and Americans in Chinese are between Chinese and Chinese-Americans? The bottom line is that in my opinion we need more Americans studying and becoming interested in Asian languages and cultures, which is a large part of the reason why I've become interested in Asia recently.
Like many others, I see China as a country that is already and will become more and more of a key player in the international stage. It seems inevitable that China will surpass the United States in GDP and in the process of the US’s trade imbalance with East Asia, China is hungry to buy up much of the US’s deficit. This is dangerous. It means that China wields an uncomfortable amount of power over the American economy because theoretically they can ask for their money back whenever they want, causing American interest rates to go up and making America's economy grind to a halt. Realistically, this is unlikely since a hit to America’s economy is a hit to China’s, but the bottom line that should be taken from this increasing political and economic interdependence, is that I think we need more Americans studying Asian languages and cultures, as opposed to European ones. As Susan Shirk (author of China: A Fragile Superpower) argues, wars are caused by misunderstandings and if the US and China are not able to understand each other in the future, there is a definite possibility of an escalation of conflict. In large cities, Chinese who speak English are much easier to find than Americans who speak Chinese, which is unfortunate. After all, there are more native Mandarin-speakers in the world than there are English-speakers; what makes Americans think they don’t need to learn foreign languages? What impact will this have if most interactions between Chinese and Americans are primarily in English? It is also unsurprising but important to note that most Americans who speak Chinese are of Chinese decent. What impact will this have if most interactions between Chinese and Americans in Chinese are between Chinese and Chinese-Americans? The bottom line is that in my opinion we need more Americans studying and becoming interested in Asian languages and cultures, which is a large part of the reason why I've become interested in Asia recently.
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