World Is Round

My First Chinese Blog Post / 我第一个汉语博客贴子

I've recently gotten the mad idea of trying to revive this blog by writing about China from the perspective of a foreigner for a Chinese audience rather than a Western one. (At the moment I'm not altogether comfortable with the idea of "interpreting" China for the outside world.)

There is so much about China that I don't understand and so much about the world I come from that I wish my Chinese friends understood better.

Why mad?  Because that idea implies writing my posts in Chinese.  I apologize in advance for my poor Mandarin.  The English and the Chinese versions of posts will differ for as long as English remains my stronger language (i.e., always and forever).

Thanks for reading!

 

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我最近在思考怎么复活这个博客而想到一个比较疯狂的办法。大部分老外的博客是为了给别的老外解释中国的状况写的。 

我对中国的了解还不如当这样的角色。我对中国的了解在各个方面还不够。同时，我想帮我的中国朋友更好得了解美国，更好得了解西方人的思想和文化。因此我想跟中国人直接交往比跟美国人还重要。

这个注意为何疯狂？因为它的意思就是我必须用中文写贴子。  首先，强迫大家看我很糟糕的中文，非常抱歉。 到我的中文水平超过我的英语为止（i.e., 永远），英语译文和中文译文会有点不一样。

谢谢你来看我的博客．

(This will be an interesting experiment :-)

The World is Flat...and Thomas Friedman Just Slid off the Deep End

I saw Thomas Friedman speak at the Bookworm last week on his "prophetic" newish book, The World is Flat.  When I said saw, I mean saw the first 10 minutes of his talk on telecast before promptly falling asleep with my head nuzzled between the wall and my second cappuccino.

Google Blocked in China?

Starting at around 9pm last night I realized that I could no longer access my gmail.  It has now been nearly 14 hours and although I can occasionally log-in and see the titles (headers) of the new emails I've received, I cannot read any of them.  I get one of those Oops....error code 008 messages popping up.  I do not think this is necessarily a gmail problem as not only can I not access my email, now it appears that with the exception of http://www.google.cn, I cannot access any Google pages (including http://www.google.com) without using a proxy server.  Unfortunately, the web-based proxy servers I've been using do not work with gmail or probably any secure sites.

I will never get Chinese internet filtering.  I understand that the internet poses a very real threat for the government en place, but it is ridiculously easy to circumvent the firewall and access sites with content on "sensitive" issues.  The tangible effect of the firewall is only its inefficiency-creating pain in my ass. 

I Heart You Wikipedia! (And the Ministry of Information Industry)

Did you know?

The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty that ruled primarily in southern India until the 13th century CE. The dynasty originated in the fertile valley of the Kaveri River. Territories under their domain stretched from the islands of Maldives in the south to as far north as the banks of the river Ganges in Bengal.

I did!  And do you know how?  Today, it was Wikipedia's featured story. 

I often surf Wikipedia, but what I didn't have to do for the first time since arriving in China is use a proxy server.  That's right, folks.  Wikipedia (or at least the non-Chinese langauge content) has been unblocked.  Speech in China just got a little bit freer.  One of my coworkers hailed the move "one of the few the good things that have come with the Olympics."

There's no guarantee, of course, that the change is permanent.  For all I know someone at the Ministry of Information Industry (Isn't Orwellian Chinglish delicious?) accidentally pressed the wrong button or fell asleep at the switch. But for now, I'm going to enjoy my new wikifreedom while it lasts. (Edit: It lasted only two glorious weeks.  Blocked again.)

Beijing: What's Changed

I arrived in Beijing on August 31st and spent my first week in complete shock.  I admit now that it was probably a little ridiculous to think that when I returned 5 years later, the Beijing I knew would still be there waiting for me.

That I spent my first few days in Wangjing - a massive residential development on the outskirts of the city - only added to my initial panic. The streets were wide and  empty.  Gone were the shirtless, potbellied men, the impromptu games of mahjong, the fruit stalls spilling onto the streets, the unfamilar - and often unpleasant - smells emanating from the alleyways that served as a constant reminder that I could only be in Beijing.

Meet the Friendlies

The Beijing Olympic Committee has announced its five official mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. These mascots are supposed to be childlike entities who embody the spirit of "the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow--and the Olympic Flame" and also stand for the five olympic rings.

I am simultaneously attracted and repelled by their cuteness! But do go to the Official 2008 Olympics website and watch the Friendlies doing sychronized swimming or judo.  You may fall in love in spite of yourself.

(Huan huan - the Olympic torch Friendly pictured on left)

More info:

Official Olympics website (with full photographs): http://www.beijing2008.com/48/01/column211990148.shtml
Sohu.com: http://2008.sohu.com/s2005/jixiangwu.shtml
AP (via CBS) article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/11/world/main1038201.shtml
Symbolism of the Friendlies from China.org.cn: http://www.china.org.cn/english/2005/Nov/148523.htm