General Update

30 September 2009

No big stories this time; it was a pretty lazy week on our part. We started our second round of classes last week, though.

Let’s begin like I did, with Chinese History and Culture. We started the day off on the wrong foot: at the wrong building. Directions for anything thus far have been scant at best, leaving us poor Meiguorenmen to fumble around as virtual mutes. We eventually made it to class about ten minutes late. Imagine our shock when the first thing we hear is the teacher posing a vote to the class! We took our seats, still slack-jawed. As it turns out, the vote was merely about class time. After the two sides were explained, the whole class unanimously voted for an earlier end to class with shorter breaks. We share the timeslot with roughly forty other students from Finland and Germany. There are two Russians, but they’re shlupping around with the Fins. Jiang Laoshi realigned our jaws by starting the class as we had originally imagined it: with oodles of facts surprisingly aligned with the views of The Party. For example, in China, there are 23 districts, including…Taiwan. Interesting. There are also eight parties besides the ruling one (which has held power for 60 years tomorrow). Upon further questioning by a skeptical German student, the teacher gave a circuital admission that they cannot vote and have relatively no power. She did reassure all of us, however, that their voices are heard. Big sigh of relief from the whole room. The whole three and a half hours went on in this fashion. Imagine our exhaustion by the end of it. I believe I had two detailed, lengthy doodles involving Atlas Shrugged/Ayn Rand in the works, and one finished. This week was hardly any different, and didn’t even include a vote. Sad.

Thursday afternoon brought our Chinese Economics course. For those of you I didn’t enlighten, this is the course I have been dreading. I find economics to be a pedestrian, pedantic, and all-around podiatric study. Feet aside, the class turned out to be a blast. Granted, it was four hours long, but I was a big fan of the professor. He challenged China’s positions, plans, and ideas on many different issues and ended the class with a 30 minute critique of the Government’s focus on the GDP and its seeming apathy with respect to internal corruption. He even went so far as to say the Government needs more accountability to the people (that means actual elections). This guy had guts, saying what he did. Occasionally he would talk in circles, but the general tone and content was laudable. This class will be the easiest by far, as he doesn’t take attendance, there are nine total classes, and our final exam is an 800 word paper expanding one aspect of one lecture. Not a raw deal by any means. We also share this class with the previously acknowledged Europeans.

We ten Americans are officially on break for the next eight days. We leave Saturday evening for Guilin and Yangshuo in the Quanxi province (southwest China). It’s supposed to be among the absolutely most beautiful places on Earth, including one very secret spot that I will write about when we get back. It has the name of a fable. I’ve only told one person outside China what its name is so don’t go asking around. You’ll just have to wait until the next post. That one should be up on Monday or Tuesday, 12-13 October.

My best to you all,
Si ma jian (my Chinese name)