The Dumplings Revenge

I knew it was too good to be true. I knew that going to the cafeteria to eat dumplings without consequences was too good. Well today I ate some dumplings who were out for revenge. I guess they were standing up for all the dumplings I had eaten before. So, right now I am sitting in front of my computer in some sort of a stupor. My stomach is not upset. I just don't feel like doing anything harder then surfing the web. I almost want to let my dumplings out the way they went in, but my urge is not great enough. I think I should just wait it out.

In better news, on Friday I went to a party at classmates apartment. It was a lot of fun. It was a pretty generic party. There were a bunch of people crammed into a small room, all eating snacks, drinking and chatting. I hung around for a few hours and then left.

Before the party I went to another friends apartment where we ate pizza and watched the big fight that happened at the Pistons vs. Pacers game last week. We all think it is pretty crazy. It is unfortunate to see a game turn out like that, but we all think that the fans are also responsible for what happened and they should be punished as well. I am really interested in seeing the outcome of this situation. We also had fun telling our friends that NBA games are always like this. If we, as fans, don't like the players, then we just get in a big brawl. Luckily they know we are joking and realize we are just as surprised by the situation as they are. At least for my friends and I this has been something to distract us from the day in day out routine of doing homework.

So besides wasting time this afternoon I have been looking for a job as well. I figure since I will be graduating in about 6 months I should start looking for a job. I am a little scared about this aspect. College has been such a nice safety net from that real world that I have gotten too comfortable being a college student. I have to start making decisions about how my job opportunities will change the life I have right now and how much I should let my life right influence my decisions in searching for a job. I guess I have got to "grow up" at some point.

Ideally I would like to be able to work between Beijing and Seattle. I am not sure how to work that though. I would also like to be able to work with my friends and my brother. I don't know how that will play out. I think the best decision is for me to work for a large company for a while and then pursue my own goals. I just hope that if I find a nice job it will be doing something that I enjoy.

By the way, the heading home from my Thanksgiving dinner I hurt my leg skateboarding. I was just messing around skating home with my friends as they rode bikes. I just went to ollie off a curb and messed up. My board hit my leg and it hurt quite a bit. I didn't think anything about it until I got to the next intersection. I rolle up my pants and took a look. If you don't mind looking at wounds, check this out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone is going to have a happy turkey day. My Thanksgiving is winding down as I am getting ready to go to bed.

This evening my classmates and a few teachers went to a restaurant nearby campus to have dinner. We ate the ever so famous Beijing Roast Duck. We also ate mutton, tofu, goose liver, and all sorts of different vegetable dishes, just to name a few. Even though the food was good it was nothing like a good traditional home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I missed turkey and mashed potatoes. I will also miss eating turkey sandwiches for the next week like I usually do in the states. I guess dumplings will have to suffice for now.

Anyways, hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

Using an Apple Computer in Beijing

One of the largest problems I have had in Beijing is support for my computer. Luckily at least I know something about what I am doing. I have some time to kill, so I will try to help some others out by sharing my experiences in Beijing with my powerbook.

The first problem I had with my computer was getting connected to the internet. On campus my only choice was to use CNC (中国网通). When the guy came to set up the internet on my computer he asked me what kind of computer I was using and what the operating system was because he had never seen it before. As far as I can tell the people who are told to set up the internet are told to just install the drivers and special software on the clients computer. Other than that it doesn't seem they have much else knowledge. I was worried until a friend told me about PPPoE. I was in the clear.

If you are trying to connect to the internet with service through CNC and you have OS X all you need to do is set up a new internet connection through system preferences. Click on the PPPoE tab and put in your username and password and then you will be ready to go.

As for buying new accessories or toys all you need to do is go to one of two places. Depending on where you are one may be more convenient than the other.

If you are near Beijing University, Tsinghua University or Beijing Language and Culture University then you should head for Zhonghuancun Road. There is an authorized Apple reseller across the street from Carrefour. Look for a silver sign that says:

苹果体验中心

北京海淀区中关村大街1号
海龙大厦1317室
北京 100080
中国

The prices are comparable to those in the states, but sometimes you can haggle with them, but not too much. The staff is super friendly as well. There phone number is (86-10) 51195500.

If you are closer to Tiananmen Square you should go here.

北京市东方长安街１号东方广场首层 A206-208

This is the address for an Apple Center in the Oriental Plaza at Wangfujing. If you enter the shopping mall from Wangfujing Road it will be on the same floor on the right handside of the mall. You have to walk towards to the middle of the mall to find it.

The repair center listed below recognizes AppleCare Warranties so you should take your warranty information with you. All I needed was the serial number for my laptop, but it doesn't hurt to have more information than you need. Sometimes they need to order parts from other places, so be prepared to wait up to a week before your problem can be solved. There phone number is (86-10) 65888833.

北京
朝阳区
朝外大街
联合大厦905B室

If you need to have your computer repaired you need to go to 朝阳区. Simply take the subway from 五道口to 西置门. From 西置门 take the subway to 朝阳门. Once you have arrived leave the station from Exit A. If you are facing the street you will see a bridge to your left. Cross that bridge. At the bottom of the steps there is a Starbucks Coffee shop. Avoid temptation and walk to the building behind the one with Starbucks. The building you are looking for is called:

联合大厦

You need to go to the 9th floor of the building. There are 2 rooms with number 905, 905A and 905B. You need to go to 905B.

If you are new to the city, here is a map of the Beijing Subway System and some tips on how to use the subway in Beijing.

There is also a Mac support group in Beijing. They have a website http://www.beimac.com/. If you have any questions about using your Mac or getting support in Beijing you can be sure to find answer there. They even have listed locations in wireless hotspots in Beijing. Of course you have to pay for a cup of coffee or tea before you can connect.

I hope this helps somebody in the future.

Now Entering Geekdom

My blogger code: B2 d+ t k s-- u-- f- i o+ x-- e+ l- c (decode it!)

If you want to decode my blogger code just click the link. If you have your own blog want to find out your blogger code, check out the blogger <code />

A Little Something about the Culture

The other day Jesse asked me what Chinese society is like. I was not able to give him a definitive answer and I still do not think I can. This is simply because society has so many different facets that no matter where I am I do not think I can fully describe the society I am in. However, I can mention some of the experiences I have had and talk about those.

I guess the first topic would be the so-called "worshipping of the white man". Being a white man I want to be careful as to what I say, concerning this topic. I definitely do not feel like I am worshipped here, nor would I want to be. If anything sometimes I feel like I am have been confronted simply on the basis that I speak English. This is not so bad because I get to meet new people, but I can not be a language partner to everyone I meet on the street. This is especially a problem when I visit Beijing Language and Culture University. Almost every time I have gone to that University I have been approached by a student to teach them English.

For example, the first night I was supposed to meet a friend I was approached by a student. I was in the middle of talking to a lady selling phone cards. I was trying to waste time because I was a little early to meet my friend. A Chinese girl approached the lady and started asking her questions, so I took a step back. I was naive in thinking that she only wanted to buy a phone card. After listening to her questions about what the use of card was I realized she only wanted to talk to me. I have not yet met a young Chinese person who does not know what phone cards are used for. Anyways, to make a long story short she asked me to be her language partner.

Another day I was skateboarding at Beijing Language and Culture University. My friend Kitty was watching because we were wasting some time before we got back to studying. After messing around on the 6 stair and then doing some grinds I noticed an older man watching Kitty and I. I thought he was paying attention to Kitty because the first time I met her there was an old man trying to get her phone number. Eventually the man approached me and complimented on my Chinese and then gave me his business card. This, of course, was followed by the question of whether or not I could practice English with him. I took his card, but did not give him mine and told him that if I had time I could give him a call. Needless to say I have not called him since.

This whole language partner phenomenon has caused me to consider how Americans consider foreign languages. On the whole, Chinese people all consider as learning English as a tool. If they learn English then their life will improve, but in America there are not too many people who consider learning a foreign language with the same attitude. Of course as globalization increases I think this idea is fading and more and more people are considering learning multiple languages as an advantage ... cough ... Jesse ... cough.

I mentioned previously that the man complimented my Chinese. This is just another experience I have had as being a foreigner in China. Because it is obvious that I am not Chinese I can say anything and it will impress people. This is could and bad. I mean it is super cool that everyone is welcoming and supportive, but on the other hand it almost seems condescending at times. The other day I went to the cafeteria and asked for a cup of cola and then they guy said back to me "Wow, your Chinese is good. How long have you been studying?". Asking for a cup of cola is something you learn in first year Chinese, so at times I want to say to tell them to give me a break, What I just said is no way to determine whether or not my Chinese is good. Sometimes it is hard to handle because from Monday to Friday everything I say is scrutinized, but as soon as the weekend comes I can things like, "Hi, I am from America, I like Chinese food" and all of sudden people take a second look because this foreigner spoke Chinese.

That is my experience of standing out as a foreigner, but I also have experiences as standing out as a skateboarder.

Before I left for China I asked my friend Alissa what she thought of me taking my skateboard to China. Being less of a "rebel" than I am she told me not to. Eventually I decided to take my skateboard with me. I figured, what is the worse that could happen. If I got arrested or anything of that nature it would just be another story. Thankfully nothing like that has happened. Actually my experience skateboarding has been quite the opposite. Most people I meet, especially young people, think it is neat that I skateboard. Pretty much like when I am in Seattle. I think it is because, even though China has the largest population in the world, many people are scarily similar. So to see something different is surprising.

I recently read a good story about someone else's experiences skateboarding in China. He mentions some of the same feelings that I have had. Check out Heckler's China Skateboard Tour.

Everytime I stop to skateboard somewhere there are at least a few people who stop what they are doing to watch me skateboard. I think it is because it is something they do not see too often. I think it would be safe to say I am the only student at Tsinghua who skateboards. I have even had my friend Kitty tell me her classmates have seen me skateboarding around Tsinghua. I guess I stick out like a sore thumb. I don't mind the attention I get from skateboarding, but sometimes peoples interests are too much. There have been a couple times where people get so excited to see a skateboard that they run up to me grab my skateboard and try to use it. I have to stop myself and remember that personal space in China is a totally different concept. In a place like America that type of action would certain get you a fat lip, but people don't understand that here.

I do not know whether this answered anyone's questions, but if anyone has comments feel free to share them and we continue this discussion.

What are justifications?

Justifications, what are they? To me they are really just excuses to buy things when I know I shouldn't simply because things aren't going the way I want them to. Aren't they great?

This past was a little stressful because my workload increased with my new classes. I really like the new vocabulary and my classmates, but other than that my schedule can be tedious. Last week, everyday as soon as I got out of class I would head home to relax or take a nap. Depending on the time I would start my homework or go get something to eat. Then in the evening I would study until I fell asleep. Even though I my classes did not start until ten in the morning I would still wake up early to finish up my homework. All the hard work is all for the best, so I can't really complain.

By the end of the week I ready for the weekend, plus I had plans to go skateboarding at Wangfujing. When I got to the church to skateboard there was only one other person. He told me that others would be coming soon, so I started skateboarding around. Not long after I started I twisted my ankle just messing around. I was a little upset because I went all the way to the church to skate and I basically hurt ankle skateboarding by myself. I could have done that on campus.

That is when the justfications started coming. I told myself that I have some time to waste this evening, so I should go to the bookstore to look for some dictionaries. I did not find the dictionaries I wanted, but since I could not justify being so far from home without buying something I picked up a Chinese proverb dictionary. Then I said remembered that this weekend I need to make a recording for my class, so I should go pick up an iTalk for my iPod. Makes sense right? It is cool and convenient. Yeah, let the justifications keep coming. After all my purchases I thought to myself, why don't I get some coffee at starbucks? It is justified, right? There is no Starbucks near where I live, so I might as well take advantage of the opportunity. Sure, why not?

At the night's end I realized that the stress of the week was not good for my pocket book. But I have an iTalk! (yeah, keep justifying it Jon)

This weekend has been slow. I did some homework today and bought my plane ticket home. I will be returning to Seattle through Vancouver on January 7th. I hope that I can organize some sort of dinner that evening, so I can catch up with everyone.

Well, now it is time for me to get ready to go out to dinner with my classmates and some teachers. I am not sure where we are going, so I am going to meet some friends and catch a cab downtown.

Skateboarding Rules!

So life here in Beijing has becoming more and more stable. I have gotten used to a lot of things. Some things have even become second nature. What may have seemed exciting a few weeks ago seem kind of mundane. Despite this there are still a lot of fun things to be done. I am just waiting for the next opportunity to do something new.

Since my last update I really have not been up to much besides studying. Last Friday we had our final test for the first module. At IUP our 'quarters' are only eight weeks long. I did alright. I made a lot of simple mistakes, so I can't really blame anyone, but myself. I just didn't pay enough attention while taking the test. So even though my teachers took the chance to scold me they all understood and said that my test results don't reflect my in class performance. Next quarter I am going to try and study a lot harder, so I can do better on the tests. I would like to leave IUP with higher grades than lower grades.

Thursday morning started out nice. I was excited because this was the last day of my classes this quarter. I got on my bike, put on my headphones and headed for school. I knew I was early, but it is habit for my to ride pretty quickly to class because the weather is so cold. As I approached an intersection I tried to steer for the gap in the speed bump, but I missed it and hit the speed bump. This was no big deal. My water almost flew out of my basket, but I thought it was fun, so I laughed a little and kept riding. After pedaling for a little my chain locked up. I tried pedaling again and this time it was easy, too easy. I thought to myself my chain had come off. So I slowed down and thought that once I got off my bike I could easily put my chain back on. The only problem was that when I crouched down to put my chain back on, I did not see my chain. One of the links had broken and my chain fell off. I looked behind and could the chain in the middle street. After a little cursing and then realizing how much time I had I walked back to where my chain was with my bike. I put the broken chain into my broken basket and then pushed my broken bike to the nearest place I could leave it and then walked to school.

On Friday I rode my skateboard to school which did not take much longer than riding my bike usually does. It turned out good that I brought my skateboard because as soon as I got my test grades back I needed to do something to take my mind off my score. Even though it was alright I was still disappointed. I actually studied the night before unlike for the first test, but for some reason my grades were worse this time. Maybe studying and grades do not have anything in common. In the afternoon I grabbed my skateboard and went out skateboarding for a little bit.

In the evening I went with a teacher and a couple classmates to eat dinner. I thought we were going to eat a restaurant nearby our university, but first one of my classmates had to pick up a friend across town. We rode the subway across town and when we finally met my classmates friend I was really surprised because she was another UW student who had actually attended the same Chinese linguistics class I had attended almost two years. This world really is too small. Anyways, to make a long store short. We ended up going to a good vegetarian restaurant. We passed through Tiananmen Square on the way, so I took the opportunity to skateboard in Tiananmen Square. Even though I knew the security was not going to give me trouble I always felt a little uneasy passing them on my skateboard. Around 8:00pm we arrived at the restaurant and promptly ordered food because we were all really hungry. I would have to say the food was really good. Even though some of the food seemed like meat, there was no meat used. I was surprised at how good it all tasted. I want to go back to the restaurant, but first I need to remember the name and where it was!

Friday was pretty fun, but Saturday was even better. My friend Taylor wanted to go to Starbucks this weekend to start studying early for next quarter. Not wanting to let a fellow Seattleite down and miss an opportunity to drink some coffee I agreed to go, so long as we went to a Starbucks at Wangfujing. The reason I wanted to go was so I could go to the church at Wangfujing. This is a good place to go skateboarding. When I arrived in the morning there was no one there, but later in the afternoon I went and there were no less and ten or fifteen other skateboarders. I finally felt like there was a skateboard scene in Beijing, rather than just hearing about it. I skated around for a little bit and kept to myself, but after a while I started talking with some of the guys. We ended up playing a game of 'skate'. It works exactly the same as horse with a basketball, but we perform skateboard tricks rather than shooting a basketball. We did not have enough time to finish our game because I had to go, but I told them I would be back later in the week to skate with the again. Now I plan to go there at least every Friday to go skateboarding.

Besides eating hot pot with my friend Kitty for the first time this weekend there was not much else exciting that happened. I did a little bit of work and I studied a little. Tomorrow it is back to the grind. I am going to have to study more since my books got a lot harder this quarter. You guys will have to wish me luck!

By the way if you are interested in skateboarding in Beijing or you want to find some people to skateboard with in Beijing, click the image below.

The Power of Google

I have been thinking about how great it is that everyone in the world can share their thoughts and feelings through blogs online. I think it is great. Although, not too long ago I was searching for some reference material on programming at work. I ended up getting a lot of results in blog format. This made me start to think about the effectiveness of search engines and the vast amount of content that is available for everyone in the world to see. I started to think that about effects that everyone on your block could be blogging up some new material for search engines to categorize and return to their users. I still wonder what this will do to the usefulness of the internet. In the meantime I still like to blog.

To prove my point here are a couple examples of Google finding my blog. One morning before class I wanted to figure where people skateboarded in Beijing, so I typed "beijing skateboard" into Google. Low and behold I got a result from my blog. That was pretty surprising.

Just tonight I was reading the comments on my blog and a person was looking for information on Chengde, a city that IUP took students to for a field trip. He eventually found my blog and then commented on it how he knew some of the people I talked about in my blog. This world is way too small!

Lastly, I just did a search for "IUP Beijing" and came across another link to my blog. I better started making great comments about the teachers.

Another aspect of Google's searching power has really got me started considering naming my children in a way that people can easily Google their names. If anyone else has any stories or thoughts on Googles effects on today's society let me know. I find it interesting.

Oh Dumplings, how I Love Thee

I am not going to miss a lot of things about China when I leave. For example, the fact that the basket on my bike has already started to fall apart to the point I can put my hand through the bottom of it. Or the fact that when I ride my bike past some constructions site it smells like one huge porto-potty. The one thing I will not forget is all the dumplings I have eaten while in China.

Before I came to Bejing I knew that living with a host family would have it's advantages. I quickly realized that one of the advantages was all of the home cooked meals we would eat together. I always look forward to making dumplings with the lady I live with because it gives a chance to chat and afterwards we get to stuff ourselves with dumplings until our eyes are going to pop out.

If I have to eat dinner at the cafeteria I usually go to the one that is a couple minute walk from my apartment. At the cafeteria I can also eat dumplings. Even though they are not as good as the homemade dumplings I have eaten at other people's homes and my own they are still good. Plus for less than one dollar I can buy twenty dumplings. I go to the cafeteria quite frequently and the workers are starting to recognize me. It probably helps that I am probably the only person who is not Chinese in the cafeteria.

I think I will disappointed when I go back to the states. Before I leave I am going to get written instructions on how to make everything from scratch, including the wrappers, so that I can make them when I get home. Maybe we can have a big dumpling party. We can watch movies and chat, eat dumplings. We can laugh and cry. Then laugh some more and maybe cry again. Haha.

Dumplings are delicious!

Sorry guys another 4 years

I guess I will be seeing you guys in another 4 years. If I could just stay in China until the next election that would be great. So I watched the election with the hope that Kerry would win, but we all know what happened next. About a month ago we had a party with some IUP students and we talked about the election and why Bush was better than Kerry or why Kerry was better than Bush. Even though I voted for Kerry I think that in some aspects it is better that Bush won the election. In most other aspects his policies and actions are atrocious, so I don't think his good qualities outweigh the bad.

It will be interesting to see how the next four years play out. At least I will be able to remember where I was when Kerry was defeated.

Like most other students I decided to skip class, but it wasn't specifically to watch the election. I had stayed up the night before to work and decided that at 9:00 am, after three hours of sleep, it would be better for me and my teachers if I stayed home. Did you hear that teachers? I was looking out for you guys. I ended working some more and chatting with my brother and friends online as the election unfolded. I still had hope until near the end when my friend Alissa told me there was no chance Kerry would win.

That is when I decided to stop watching and get ready to go to my friends house to make and then eat dumplings. That afternoon was the last chance I had to visit the lady my friend lives with. It was a lot of fun to eat at her house again. I also wanted to take the opportunity to get a good home cooked meal since I don't often get that.

Right before we ate dinner a friend of mine called me up because she had a bad day at work and wanted to go out and have some fun. Since she was having a bad day and I did not really want to do my homework I decided to go out with her. It was a good choice in the end because one of my teachers came with us, so I was able to ask her what our homework was. Remember I skipped class to work and watch the election, so I did not know what I was supposed to do. We went to a bar right near campus. A lot of my friends had been there before, but I had never gone. It is a pretty decent place. After we chatted for a while I noticed a guy walked to all the tables talking to people. Then I realized it was Wednesday night! It was salsa night. Every week on Wednesday the bar, Lush, has free salsa lessons after you pay the cover. At first I did not feel like dancing since I was so tired, but after a few minutes I was thought to myself when would I get another chance to learn salsa dancing, and in Beijing? So my teachers friend and I joined in. It was a lot of fun, but I quickly realized that I dance really bad. Haha.

In other news, I picked up my business cards today. They are really neat. Last weekend I drew a picture of what I wanted my card to look like. I based it roughly on the cards of other students, but I changed it a little bit. I went to the office and gave them my pictures and told them to make it exactly the same. Low and behold, to my disbelief, it was exactly the same. From earlier conversations it seemed like they only had one format, but apparently you can design cards yourself. I am going to have to tell my friends to go there to get cards. Another nice thing about the staff is that they are really friendly and like to talk about American politics, so today I was not able to leave without talking to them for about ten minutes.

This evening was pretty relaxing. I went to a cafe with my friend Kitty. The two of us went to to go study together. We studied for a while and then chatted and then ate some food and then studied some more. One fun thing we did was read 'Where the Wild Things Are'. I remember reading that book as a kid, but I did not think I would find on the bookshelf on the cafe. Since it would a good way for Kitty to practice her English I decided we should read it just to get her more comfortable speaking English. Maybe I should carry a childrens book around with me all the time to have my Chinese friends read.

Right now I am just sipping my coffee and updating my blog. Even though it is only Thursday night, it already feels like a Friday. I just hope I can make it through classes tomorrow, so that I can enjoy a real Friday.