While I was living in China and visiting the States, my only prerequisite for dining out was absolutely no Chinese food. Part of it because I was missing baked goods, cheeses, and avocados so much that I didn’t have time for Chinese food, which could be acquired cheaply and made deliciously in China upon my return. Now that I have moved back to the U.S., I am often overcome with cravings for hand-pulled noodles or spicy dongpo pork knee (trust me, it’s delicious) or bitter melon. Sichuan pulled noodles (拉面), the perfect way to start your morning (Meishan, Sichuan) A true Sichuanese feast (Meishan, Sichuan) The best mapo tofu I’ve ever had (Chengdu, Sichuan) Despite having a Chinatown, Washington D.C. is not a hub for quality Chinese food. Nevertheless, I scoured the interwebs for anything to tingle my tongue. A friend and I visited Sichuan Pavilion, and we ordered Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐), garlic paste chicken, and dandan mian (担担面). We ordered in Chinese, and the waiter followed up, “Chinese style or American style?” We answered in sync, “Chinese please.” Followed by the clichéd phrase, “不怕辣怕不辣 (bú pà là, pà bù là, not scared of spicy, scared not spicy enough).” Mapo
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When I was living in China, I knew I had to wash and peel, cut, shave all removable skins from my fruits and vegetables due to the likelihood of pesticides and other carcinogens on them. Upon returning to the States, I foolishly thought I was free from the time-consuming burden of peeling apples, re-washing “pre-washed” spinach. That is, until I stumbled upon whatsonmyfood.org. The realization that it’s not necessarily greener on the other side is slowly setting in.
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I recently read this article in the NYT on the popularity and exclusivity of a Teach for America teaching position. I’m still adamantly opposed to TFA. So some overachieving kid with big dreams of world change gets thrown into an inhospitable atmosphere and tries to make good of all that’s bad. With little training, he tries to create a positive impact, but before he can achieve that, his stint is over and he leaves after two years with a sense of moral righteousness. Kid, now with a “prestigious” bullet point on the resume, continues to build his future career, likely unrelated to TFA, make big money, leaving underperforming students feeling abandoned yet again by the system. A simple Google Scholar search shows more results that undermine the notion that TFA brings “positive” change to underperforming schools across the country than supporting it. One study says: Findings for 5 school districts, roughly 300 new teachers, show that students of under-certified teachers (including teachers from the “Teach for America” program) make about 20% less academic growth than do students of regularly certified teachers. While I believe the underlying philosophy of TFA is still honorable, the pageantry and self-righteousness involved on the applicant
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Ten days ago I was certain I was going home. I had mentally prepared myself, started allocating things (i.e., throw away versus keep versus donate), and listed things I needed to do before leaving Beijing (yes, going to the Forbidden City for the first time in my life is one of them). Two days ago I bought my one-way return flight back to China. In the past week or so, I got offered a job that promises professional development and is challenging. So I accepted. Looks like I’m in for another year.
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In thirty-three days, I will be boarding a flight back to California, and I don’t know when I will be back. Though I have endless memories, both happy and sad, I still feel as if I hadn’t written down as much as I’ve wanted, I hadn’t taken enough photographs, I hadn’t seen enough things, made enough friends. Between finishing up my Fulbright grant, studying for the GRE, applying for graduate school, and starting full-time work, the past few months have melted away without a chance for reflection or relaxation. While I am ready and excited to start the next chapter of my life, a part of me is sad to leave China. Luckily, once I get home I’ll have more time for myself (and graduate school applications!!), for photography, for fast and uncensored internet, for all the other things I enjoy in life. One thing I’ll miss about China: women in pajamas and hair curlers on a public street playing with dogs (and naturally with 10+ people crowded around taking pictures and gossiping)
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It’s not easy being a woman in China. In the workplace, women face the glass ceiling phenomenon, but there’s also a sticky floor, wherein women in low-paying jobs get paid less than men of equal skill level. In their personal lives, they are bombarded by images in mass media, telling them they need to be thinner, fairer, taller. While many societies promote equal political and social rights for women (China being one of them), it’s rare to see it fully implemented in practice. This entry is about when I’ve received some sort of discrimination based on my gender at the pool. I don’t have any specific conclusions or policy recommendations; this is just a story of my life in China. When I was studying in Harbin last year, I often went to Heilongjiang University’s pool. Every time I went, I stuck out as one of the fastest swimmers in the pool. I befriended the lifeguards there, who welcomed my presence every time with a smile and a wave. One lifeguard, ? (Li), in his late 40s, single, would often swim with me and race me. He always tried to invite me out to another pool he worked at during his
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Yesterday, the WSJ posted an article called “An Expat’s Exotica.” It basically contends that expat havens such as Beijing and Shanghai are no longer considered “exotic” by Western standards because so many Westerners now live there and because these cities can now accommodate the familiar Western lifestyle. The author exalts those who veer off the beaten path, living in exotic places such as Changsha, Hunan or Wuhan, Hubei. He highlights a woman named Janie Corum, who is “pioneering the vast region for American businesses, striving to create a more comfortable environment (emphasis added),” paving the way for Westerners to discover China’s “remote corners.” This is the most ridiculous piece of journalism I have encountered in a while. That people still label countries (or parts of countries) as “exotic” is beyond me. Granted, much of Asia is still a mystery to many Westerners, but that is no excuse to call a culture exotic.* If anything, it a) just proliferates the need among Westerners to “understand” a supposedly mysterious and remote culture by infiltrating or dominating a foreign civilization (a la imperialism, colonialism), and b) perpetuates the notion of “Orientalism,” a European concept invented to label Asia as a place of exoticism,
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Last week, the central government blocked access to the New York Times. Then a few days later, unblocked access. No one really knows why, but personally I think it has something to do with negative coverage of China on the website. Right after access is restored, the Times publishes an article about releasing a political dissident in China. The site hasn’t been blocked again, but I thought it was ironic that: a. the Times posts a politically sensitive article after it was blocked for political reasons b. the indirectly anti-China article was surrounded by a pro-China advertisement: According to the Shanghaiist, these ads are paid for by the Chinese government to spread their interpretation of Tibetan history and development. I wonder how East-West tensions will escalate (or ease) as a new President transitions into power, as the financial crisis continues, and as China transitions into post-Olympics 2009.
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I started writing an entry about the financial crisis in September (okay, “started” is an overstatement, I just came up with a title), just when everyone thought it was peaking, or at least becoming apparent to everyone. But there were so many news articles, op-eds, and blog posts about it, I couldn’t make one point that hadn’t already been mentioned. So it just sat in my Drafts, waiting for the day when I’d have something to say. In August and September of this year, when all the newspapers and magazines featured cover stories with photos of laid off bankers walking out of Lehman Brothers, of stock markets plummeting, and of traders freaking out, I reveled at the expense of all those greedy Wall Street bankers who, in order to make a pretty penny, approved and executed some outright ridiculous, illogical transactions. I also felt triumphant that, despite pressure from Brown’s career services (which seemed only to push us towards corporate careers), I did not sell out to all the big businesses that flooded to campus last fall. How do you like them apples, Ivy Leaguers? Finally, they can suffer, too. Who am I kidding, they’ll all be better off
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Today I FedEx’ed my ballot back to the United States. I’m happy to have voted and to have exercised my right, though sad I didn’t get an “I Voted” sticker.
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