You shouldn’t do it like Ethan Epstein, who I can only hope is not a regular contributor to Slate. He wrote “Staring at North Korea,” in which he travels from Beijing to Dandong to…be incredibly disappointed by his high expectations. The DMZ, DPRK side There are few things terribly wrong with this article (if I should even call it that): First, he has the worst three-picture slide show ever, which fails not only to depict the stark differences between China/the outside world and DPRK, but fails to actually show anything (photos include a train departure schedule, a foggy photo of irrelevant geography across the Yalu River, and a Chinese Tesco supermarket). And he had three days to come up with those photos? Second, he fears oversleeping on the train and waking up in Pyongyang, the epicenter of “world’s most brutal regime—and with no former U.S. president to come rescue me.” Perhaps brutal for native citizens, but would the government even dare to pull a hair off your head without incredible international repercussions? Third, he talks about how local Korean food isn’t as tasty as Korean food in Seoul or Los Angeles. Granted it even was an “authentic” North Korean restaurant
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Yes, that’s right, after saying so time and time again, I have finally left Beijing. My last day in China, Saturday, September 4, was fraught with goodbyes-that-aren’t-really-goodbyes (we all hate finality), frustrations and sadness. In the morning, my friends came over and cleared out my electronics, blankets, sheets, cookware, silverware, dishes, spices, bicycles—anything that wasn’t going in my suitcase. In the afternoon, I cleaned out my Chinese bank account, exchanged everything to USD, and closed the account. Then came the challenges. Challenge #1: Getting my rent deposit back from the landlady Ah, the landlady, someone who is defined by her difficulty to understand and communicate with her tenants. Originally I was going to get my deposit back on Friday, but then she took it back. “What if I give you the money back, and by the time you leave Sunday, the apartment will be broken in half?” I reassured her that if I had lived in the apartment for 9 months without burning the place down, she could trust that I wouldn’t do it in the next 48 hours. Despite my efforts, she refused, citing that upon returning the deposit, I must return the keys and find somewhere else to
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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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Cabbie: Men should have two women in their lives. One to be by their side, and one in their heart (he meant in his pants). Me: Do you have two women in your life? Cabbie: Yes, of course. Me: What about women? Can they have two men in their lives? Cabbie: I haven’t thought about it. 我对这没有研究. Cabbie: How old are you? Me: 23. Cabbie: And you’re not married yet? Me: I don’t even have a boyfriend. Cabbie: You don’t even have a boyfriend?!? I think it’s time you put less focus on your work life and focus on finding a husband and settling down. You should let the man take care of everything, then you can stay home and relax. How great would that be? Me: Actually…. Cabbie: Cabbie: You know why women would be bad doctors? Because they’re too emotional. Let me give you an example. A woman has breast cancer, goes into a woman doctor. This woman doctor may think to herself, “I want to let this woman keep as much of her womanly features as she can, because I know it is important to her
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Earlier this month, my roommate Julia and I found used bikes online. Problem was, they were across the city and you cannot bring bikes onto the subway. So, we thought we’d go on a bike adventure back from our pick-up spots! Below is a photo of central Beijing. My commute is the blue line, and Julia is the green line. We met up at a point on third ring road and continued together (purple) all the way home. I believe the total distance I biked was around 22 km (13 miles). Although biking many miles in one day after an extended period of inactivity may not be the smartest thing to do, our bike adventure was worth it. I have to say, biking in Beijing is so different from the subway or taxi. In the subway, I see nothing but the faces of the commuters around me and hear nothing but the bilingual droning of the subway voices announcing which stop we are approaching, and how we should prepare to get off. On a bike, I feel closer to the things I pass. I see the expressions on people’s faces as they cross the street, wait for the bus, or
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Due to extremely poor internet connections (we’re talking 20 minutes to load one single page here), I have failed to update as much as I’d like. In a few hours, I am headed to Shanghai and Nanjing for a little over a week. I have opted not to bring my laptop, which is a bold move on my behalf. I think I will survive.
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