I’d like to take a moment to apologize for not writing in my blog as often as I said I would. I fell behind with writing and I’m so busy in China that it can be difficult to catch up. Additionally, for the past two months the site that hosts my blog, blogger.com, has been blocked in China. Don’t ask me why. However, I’ve found a way to get around the blockade and I’ve recommitted to writing in the blog. It’s important for me to share my experiences here in China with my friends, and it’s also important to write some of my thoughts, memories and experiences down so I can reflect on and remember them later. Also, I realize that I need to keep up my writing so it doesn’t go to the dogs, particularly since on an average day here I now speak an equal amount of Chinese as I do English. I’d hate for my writing to become an exercise in Chinglish.
That being said, if you read my blog and see something interesting, or have a comment to share, please please do so! It’s always nice to know that others find my writing valuable in some way, or, at the very least, that someone is in fact reading the blog.
I’ve been a little bit better about updating my photos, so check out the link on the right side of this page from time to time, or just click here. Also, I still plan on adding some videos to Youtube so I’ll be sure to post a link when that happens!
Love and Respect,
Zach
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
A Night out with the Medical Community of Changsha
*This blog was written December, 1, 2006. Look forward to more blogs I have written in the past few months coming soon.*
My friend Dr. Ray invited me for a night out on the town last night with some of his medical colleagues. Dr. Ray is a Chinese national who spent some time in Canada for med-school before coming back to Changsha to practice surgery and finish his schooling –Chinese-style. He and I became good friends after I edited a medical paper he authored on a new surgical procedure for fixing hernias. He submitted the paper to be published in an international surgical journal and he wanted me to proof it before he sent it in for review. As a result, my name will soon be affixed to a published medical paper… I’m sure this will come in handy when I apply to med-school…cough cough.
Anyhow, last night I joined Dr. Ray and about five other doctors at a raucous club on Jie Feng Lu, a street filled with dozens of bars near the center of Changsha. Things went from sober to decidedly unsober in the span of maybe 20 minutes. There I was, watching men who had been in the operating room only hours prior, pounding away shot after shot of whiskey and tea (a popular mix in China). The docs were having a grand drunken time and, when they weren’t toasting each other or toasting me, they were dancing with every girl in site.
One of Dr. Ray’s friends, an oncologist with a round head and a firm handshake, was particularly giddy with booze and would toast whoever was closest to him with a full shot whenever he made eye contact. When our first round of merriment ran dry, the oncologist joyously handed hundreds of Renmenbi (the currency in China, literally “The people's money”) to the nearest cocktail waitress for a new bottle of whiskey.
There was really only one fitting response to the whole surreal scene: I danced, I drank, and I partied, and the whole time, a team of medical professionals joined me in the action. Suffice it to say; I can’t quite imagine a similar evening unfolding in the states, which is too bad really. I’d love to know how many shots of whiskey my stateside doctor could take before he would willingly climb on a stage and grind with the nearest lady.
My friend Dr. Ray invited me for a night out on the town last night with some of his medical colleagues. Dr. Ray is a Chinese national who spent some time in Canada for med-school before coming back to Changsha to practice surgery and finish his schooling –Chinese-style. He and I became good friends after I edited a medical paper he authored on a new surgical procedure for fixing hernias. He submitted the paper to be published in an international surgical journal and he wanted me to proof it before he sent it in for review. As a result, my name will soon be affixed to a published medical paper… I’m sure this will come in handy when I apply to med-school…cough cough.
Anyhow, last night I joined Dr. Ray and about five other doctors at a raucous club on Jie Feng Lu, a street filled with dozens of bars near the center of Changsha. Things went from sober to decidedly unsober in the span of maybe 20 minutes. There I was, watching men who had been in the operating room only hours prior, pounding away shot after shot of whiskey and tea (a popular mix in China). The docs were having a grand drunken time and, when they weren’t toasting each other or toasting me, they were dancing with every girl in site.
One of Dr. Ray’s friends, an oncologist with a round head and a firm handshake, was particularly giddy with booze and would toast whoever was closest to him with a full shot whenever he made eye contact. When our first round of merriment ran dry, the oncologist joyously handed hundreds of Renmenbi (the currency in China, literally “The people's money”) to the nearest cocktail waitress for a new bottle of whiskey.
There was really only one fitting response to the whole surreal scene: I danced, I drank, and I partied, and the whole time, a team of medical professionals joined me in the action. Suffice it to say; I can’t quite imagine a similar evening unfolding in the states, which is too bad really. I’d love to know how many shots of whiskey my stateside doctor could take before he would willingly climb on a stage and grind with the nearest lady.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Fun and Games: The Internet in China
As a corollary to my last posting... A great article appeared in the New York Times recently about internet usage in China. While in America we use the internet primarily for information gathering, emailing, and, to a lessor extent, social networking, in China the net is primarily used as an entertainment gateway. The article talks in length about QQ, an instant messaging program that virtually everyone in China under the age of 35 uses. Rather than screenames, QQ users have long numbers as their identifiers. One of the questions I most get asked by my students is, "What is your QQ number teacher Zach?" I do in fact have a QQ number and I have used the program a few times, but honestly, I find it a bit maddening. QQ mirrors all the ways in which modern Chinese youth culture is quirky and nonsensical to me as a Westerner. It is flashy and filled with cutesy little do-nothing features as well as millions of different bleepy noises alerting you to everything from the fact that a buddy has just IMed you (a sound like someone knocking at your door) to a sound that can alert you when...well, I don't really know what it is supposed to point out, but it sounds like a llama giving birth to a toaster.
Also, I'm in Japan now for about two weeks, so look forward to some blogs about the land of the rising sun in the near future.
Also, I'm in Japan now for about two weeks, so look forward to some blogs about the land of the rising sun in the near future.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Great Red Firewall
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.
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.
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.
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