Here are a couple of entries from the first few days...
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I land in Beijing approximately 9:30pm. It’s been a good flight from Tokyo, although most of the passengers are wearing masks, I think Japan is extra paranoid about that. The woman I sit next to is a businesswoman, she is wearing a mask, too. Once we land in Beijing, medical personnel come on board with little phaser-like instruments, scan the forehead, and check the temperature. She was scanned three times. Sheesh. One Japanese couple was taken off the plane, I assume they had some symptoms…
It’s interesting to fly on your own to such as faraway place as China. Not a lot seems to have changed much since I was here in 2001. However, I am taken aback by the sheer modern marvel that is the Beijing Airport. Everything is new, there is a modern train to take us from the landing terminal to the baggage gate and taxi area.
I realize I am a foreigner. I stick out, and that’s okay. I’m okay with that. A man continues to approach me to solicit his services. I keep turning down his requests, but he is persistent.
I head down the elevator to catch a formal taxi. I notice too that there are not that many foreigners. It looks like a lot of Chinese people. One girl waiting for the taxi was speaking Italian on her cell phone.
I catch the taxi and give the slip of paper with the directions to the university to the cabdriver. He agrees, and we are off! However, about 400 yards from the gate, right where he picked me up, he pulls over. He doesn’t know where this is. I know this, not because he spoke English, but because he did the universal “I don’t know” shrug. Oh great, I am going to be abducted and be sold in the Chinese slave market. Probably have to sew buttons at a clothing sweatshop. Shoulda paid more attention in Home Ec in high school.
But that’s just the thing. You feel safe here in China. Really safe. I’m sure there is crime, and although I haven’t analyzed the statistics, China’s a safe country. I think one of the reasons is that if you steal, you could be put to death. There was a story one of our professors told about an American group that went to the countryside, someone couldn’t find their camera! Officials thought a farmer stole the camera, and they took him out and shot him. Later the owner of the camera found the camera, turns out they didn’t take it with them. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! But I digress. The Chinese people (the ones that I was able to interact with anyways) were kind, helpful, generous, and had a good sense of humor. Only one person didn’t have a good sense of humor, the cleaning lady when I asked for 2 more big towels, and she brought the two clean towels and wanted the two dirty ones; I only had one. My roommate finally found his dirty one; when I gave it back to her it looked like she wanted to punch me.
Back to my taxi ride. So the Taxi driver, I call him “Joe” calls Tom, one of the other professors and directors of the program and gets directions. All is good. I try to make some basic conversation with Joe, but since I don’t know any Chinese, there is none. Seriously, the Chinese cab drivers don’t speak any English. My Chinese was worse, if that’s possible. I think I said, “Xie xie” (thank you) and then he proceeded to open up machine-gun Chinese on me. When he spoke to me, all I heard was “Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(tones, hard stop)xxxmeigoxxxxxxx…” I was like sheesh, man! And then I was like, “Wait..he said Meigo!” that means America! And I wanted to say, “yes” but did you know that there is no real word for “yes” in Chinese? You have to say something like, “truth” or “Mao would agree with you in this instance,” or something like that. So I said to the taxidriver, “Wo (I) shir (am) Meigo-ren.” Which Meigo means beautiful and “ren” is “people.” Hey and did you also know that Meigo means beautiful? Which, really, if they call America beautiful (which, aside from ‘Jersey, it is, right?), aren’t there other countries just as deserving as that title? Like Vietnam, they have pretty jungles. Or Peru, they have beautiful ruins. But what I heard also was that the Chinese will name a country based on the Engiish sound (because that’s who exposed them to the West, right?) So Meigo sounds like “AMEriCa.” Likewise, Russia is Uuugooh (hungry). That’s fascinating, but really, isn’t that like you receiving a prize for a trait that’s out of your control?
The taxi drive to the university was a good experience. Here I was, trying to connect with Joe with my limited Chinese. Even if I saw a Chinese word in the dictionary I brought, the tones were much more difficult and you kind of have to be able to read pinyin (Romanized Chinese transliteration).
The road system is amazing. I remember it being good, but it’s GOOD. It’s new, smooth, and well-lit. The driving is very intense, though. There are multitudes of transport trucks, semis, etc. They drive very close to one another. It’s definitely China.
What I found interesting was that the Taxi Driver had to ask several people where the university was. The students, then the military/gate keepers were helpful too. If they help you, and you say to them “xie xie,” they will respond with a smile, “buh kuh che” (you’re welcome).
The campus is fairly large. It was already 11:00pm when I arrived. We are next to the cafeteria as well as an all girl’s dorm. I pay the taxi, it’s around 88 yuan (the exchange rate is 6.8 : 1, so just round up and divide the number by 7—like 11 bucks, so that’s not bad! Man, I blow through 40 USD going from the airport to my sisters house in Manhattan, and that’s not even that far.
I go to the front desk, I ask for a key, but butcher the word. They stare at me. The taxi driver approaches me. I have left my phrasebook in his taxi. Nice guy! So I make it to room 406 (they tell me I’ve been moved from 311 to there), Paul is there, and I’m not there, so I’m in 311. Dan opens the door, he was just about to go to sleep, but he’s affable and still fun of energy. He’s been here since Friday and is giving me the scoop on everything. He’s a personable guy, and it’s pretty funny seeing him lay down on his bed as he’s like 6’7” and the beds are only for folks maybe 5’11”. We shoot the bull for an hour, and decide to hit the hay. It’s an early morning tomorrow (Monday), we’re starting with breakfast and then a company tour. The rooms are nice, I generally don’t need much as far as room and board when I go abroad; it reminds me of the hotel we stayed in when I was in China in 2001. We have 49 Chinese Language Stations, and one English language station. But that station is pretty helpful, they have a lot of programs on housing in China and how FDI changed the Chinese landscape. I’m not that big of fan, but Dan is, so more power to him! I notice too that Chinese adverts on the television are shorter—some only last 10 second or so—and I find this interesting. Is it due to Chinese lack of attention span, or the fact that so much of the market is still command economy by the government? But I don’t have time to think about all of that—I need to get some sleep! I pop an Ambien and drift off..
Money makes the world go round.
The official currency is the yuan. But you can also call it Renimbi, or RNM. You can also use “Kwan” as in dollar. “Chen” is money. “Dwou shao chen is how much money?”
Monday, May 25, 2009
I wake to Dan’s cell phone’s alarm. It’s light out, it’s probably 7:00am. We have to be at the bus by 8:30am, but first we are going to breakfast. We’re staying at the China Ag University, it was built in 1906 during the Boxer rebellion. Princess Dowager donated the land on which the university was built.
The dorm cafeteria is right next door. We walk up 3 flights of stairs and to our left is the breakfast cafeteria. I remember food from my last stint in China. There’s a large selection of food: meats, breads, soups. I select a fried egg, bao-tze (like a biscuit with meat inside), a blini, yogurt, OJ & Water. We sit with the other students and professors. We’re the only foreigners (or non-Asians, at least) in the cafeteria.
We begin the day on the bus with Dr. Steven Thomas providing some language and culture for us. Did you know that Beijing means northern (Bei) capital (Jing)? On a side language note, Chinese reminds me of Russian or German, combining new words with existing words or phonemes. Likewise, Nanjing means southern city. Also, in terms of U.S. counterparts, Beijing is like DC, Shanghai is like NYC, and Nanjing is like Boston.
Impressions: I was trying to wrap my brain around this concept of JV (Joint Venture) or SOE (State Owned Enterprise--basically, the goverment owns the company and infuses it with capital, case in point, Bao Steel). People asked the questions if the government interferes with the broadcasting, do they censor. (Steve brought up the fact that he saw a Chinese program once, then an hour later, he saw the same program edited for revision/content. Interesting that they could edit so quickly on a dime.) However, she said that it all belongs to the government. If you want to do this, you need to apply to the Chinese government. The Chinese government still screens the media. (As well, in the case of the internet, the government still screens this, in the case of my Asia blog site, I am forbidden to access it, I will need to access through a proxy server.)
My question related to hiring new employees. I wanted to know how they do planning to hire new talent. But she said that the government determines that, I would assume that they would still be in charge of capacity and the forecasting. I would like to do some more research on how they are in charge of those controls. It would be nice to keep in contact with her and help to provide options for the company when they look to hire new telecommunications engineers, and hopefully they can use CU as a resource.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The Chinese tend to call it as they see it, and our group (all Americans) have been called out. The Chinese use the word Guay—ghost or devil--to describe foreigners. Wow! Can't you be a bit more PC like the Japanese, who just use "gaijin"--foreigner?? Anyways, we'ver heard the word on different ways on different UCD students:
One guy was called "Big Guay from across the ocean (he's 6'7", blond)" no duh.
Another guy, a lot shorter was called Little Guay
Then, I swear, some kid called me Guay something something Yanni. Maybe that was Guay from across the ocean who looks like Yanni.
Anyways, these are just a few of the entries from the China trip. I'll go through my notes and post some more. As it stands, my journal (which we'll need to turn in at the end of the summer) is topping 30 pages.
All right, I'm off to bed soon, I have a busy week here in Japan, first and foremost, I'll be getting time with some of my friends from almost 10 years ago! It's going to be a great time celebrating, hanging out, and having a lot of fun. And who knows? Maybe I'll find another Mao lighter that will make it through security!
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