My access to Western Internet sites seems to have mostly returned to normal after a nearly month-long blackout, although I still can't get sites that use a lot of bandwidth (YouTube, etc). The official story from the Chinese government is that an earthquake in Taiwan a few weeks ago snapped six out of seven trans-Pacific cables used to connect most of Southeast Asia to the West. Western news agencies seem to have embraced this version of events quite readily, but I'm not so sure. The Internet blackout coincided not only with the earthquake in Taiwan, but also with the appointment of three new "media watchdog" heads in Beijing. During the blackout, all Chinese websites were easily accessible, but any site with servers based overseas ( NYtimes.com, Myspace.com, etc.) wouldn't load. However, I could gain limited access to some Western sites using a proxy server, which, if the cable story was accurate, shouldn't have been possible. I can't really say more, but, you get the basic picture. Big brother is always watching...
I will say that living without Western websites, even for a month, was painful. I couldn't read the news, post photos online, or even do simple tasks like emailing my friends overseas. If nothing else, the blackout made me realize my dependence on the technological and informational comforts of home, and the way in which I am usually able to keep in touch so well with people on the other side of the world. I might be in China, but most of the time, I don't feel so far away.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The Note Giver
Every Monday afternoon, just after I finish teaching for the day, an 11-year-old student of mine from class #4 shyly approaches me and hands me a small note. The note is always written on a little blue square of paper no more than 2x2 inches big. She started giving me the notes in early November, and, at first, they were pretty minimal. The very first note simply asked me if I knew of a popular British boy-band song (I didn't). As weeks have passed, the notes have become more and more complex, and her English, while still stilted, really seems to be improving.
The note she handed me Mid-December week read…
The girl herself is petite and unassuming. She has shortly cropped pitch-black hair, a tiny semi-circle scar to the left of her nose, and dark, quiet eyes. While many of my students are loud and rambunctious (as can be expected from any 11-12 year old kids) she is calm and often looks sleepy. Before she began handing me the notes, she never left an impression on me. In fact, had it not been for the notes, she would have been lost in the crowd amongst my 1056 others students.
Yet, there she is, week after week, small blue note in hand, making friends with her foreign teacher, and ensuring that I start my week with a big smile on my face.
The note she handed me Mid-December week read…
Dera zach,
December on twenty-five is Merry christmas. happy to you. (she drew a miniature picture of an elf here)
“ho, where is my christmas sock;
Yes, it’s in my family
Do you like Christmas? Yes, you like!
The girl herself is petite and unassuming. She has shortly cropped pitch-black hair, a tiny semi-circle scar to the left of her nose, and dark, quiet eyes. While many of my students are loud and rambunctious (as can be expected from any 11-12 year old kids) she is calm and often looks sleepy. Before she began handing me the notes, she never left an impression on me. In fact, had it not been for the notes, she would have been lost in the crowd amongst my 1056 others students.
Yet, there she is, week after week, small blue note in hand, making friends with her foreign teacher, and ensuring that I start my week with a big smile on my face.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Erasing the Sun
China is changing and evolving by the second, and I along with it.
I came to China in the summer of 2006 after spending a year out of college at a miserable job and losing myself and my dreams in the process. Hey, nothing like moving to the other side of the world to reignite some sparks and passion for life, right?
I don’t care how many articles you’ve read, or how much history you’ve studied, unless you have actually lived in China you have little idea what the country is like. China, as I have quickly learned, is a country that must be experienced through the senses. My home in China, the city of Changsha, is a place where the air can be both tasted as well as smelled. On a good day the air is thick and sweet with hints of durian and cigarette smoke being gently puffed nearby. Even the ground is abuzz with both noise and feeling as seven million people rush through the crowded streets oblivious to everything but their immediate goal.
One day, during my first month in China, I emerged from my hotel around noon to find the entire sky colored burnt sienna. The pollution was so heavy you could see it rolling through the streets like fog. I looked up and found myself staring at a dimly glowing orb high above. It was the sun, and it had been nearly completely blotted out by the slew of carcinogens permeating the air. It looked as if it was smoldering; like a fire torn between flicking out or igniting into something larger and more powerful. I have never before looked directly at the sun at the height of daytime, and I doubt if I ever will again, but it was stunning. For a few hours that day China had erased the sun.
The city of Changsha has its own unique sounds, sights, and rhythms, all of it rushing by at the speed of dreams. It is leagues apart from everything I had expected or prepared for when planning to move here, and, often, despite my best efforts, it often defies written description. It might seem pointless then to write a blog about my experiences living here, and in truth, I could never hope to succinctly pen what it means to live in modern-day China as an American expat. Further, I can’t claim to know or describe what life in the whole of China is like. I am witness to only a small part of China, mostly life in and around Changsha, and I only hope to give a small glance at some of the things I find most interesting, share some stories, and maybe, shed a bit of light on what my life here is really like. I hope you enjoy this blog and whatever insight or humor it may occasionally offer. Please feel free to leave questions and comments!
I came to China in the summer of 2006 after spending a year out of college at a miserable job and losing myself and my dreams in the process. Hey, nothing like moving to the other side of the world to reignite some sparks and passion for life, right?
I don’t care how many articles you’ve read, or how much history you’ve studied, unless you have actually lived in China you have little idea what the country is like. China, as I have quickly learned, is a country that must be experienced through the senses. My home in China, the city of Changsha, is a place where the air can be both tasted as well as smelled. On a good day the air is thick and sweet with hints of durian and cigarette smoke being gently puffed nearby. Even the ground is abuzz with both noise and feeling as seven million people rush through the crowded streets oblivious to everything but their immediate goal.
One day, during my first month in China, I emerged from my hotel around noon to find the entire sky colored burnt sienna. The pollution was so heavy you could see it rolling through the streets like fog. I looked up and found myself staring at a dimly glowing orb high above. It was the sun, and it had been nearly completely blotted out by the slew of carcinogens permeating the air. It looked as if it was smoldering; like a fire torn between flicking out or igniting into something larger and more powerful. I have never before looked directly at the sun at the height of daytime, and I doubt if I ever will again, but it was stunning. For a few hours that day China had erased the sun.
The city of Changsha has its own unique sounds, sights, and rhythms, all of it rushing by at the speed of dreams. It is leagues apart from everything I had expected or prepared for when planning to move here, and, often, despite my best efforts, it often defies written description. It might seem pointless then to write a blog about my experiences living here, and in truth, I could never hope to succinctly pen what it means to live in modern-day China as an American expat. Further, I can’t claim to know or describe what life in the whole of China is like. I am witness to only a small part of China, mostly life in and around Changsha, and I only hope to give a small glance at some of the things I find most interesting, share some stories, and maybe, shed a bit of light on what my life here is really like. I hope you enjoy this blog and whatever insight or humor it may occasionally offer. Please feel free to leave questions and comments!
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