Oy

With computer troubles, I may not be able to update my blog soon. My last blog post that I had typed up was lost to a random shutdown so I will simply post this one in its stead. If anyone could give me suggestions on how to fix an overheating laptop while stuck in Xiamen, China – it would be greatly appreciated :) I haven’t even succeeded thus far in finding compressed air to try to clean out the fans. I know, air in a can is a pretty crazy idea, but surely somebody is bound to have it somewhere here...

Researching food! :)

(麦当劳！ McDonald's in China!)


Not much to say about this week! Having survived another consecutive battery of three-hour long Chinese classes within the past five days, I am ready for a breather! Yet, there is no rest for the study abroad student :) I have two ten-page research papers coming up, a group project to present in about two weeks, a book to read (China Candid by Sang Ye)…along with my sanity to keep in tact!


While I could try to explain the rules of Mahjong, I have realized that there are WAY too many variations to even begin an explanation on this blog. Instead, I’ll leave this post short and mention my second research paper (with all advice and suggestions welcome!) While my first paper is going to be on western influences in the Chinese gaming industry, in general, my second paper will be on McDonald’s. I I will be doing my research on McDonald's applies to the phrase "Made in China" and the differences I have learned about Chinese McDonald's (versus American McDonald's). I will also be discussing the localization of McDonald's in China and what has made it evolve culturally.


Any suggestions for how to go about this? I think I might try to interview workers, if I can find some that speak English. Of course, there will have to be some “research” done on the food, too! :D I am fascinated with the way America’s fast food culture has been interpreted here – maybe others will be interested, too!

Hallowen, Mahjong, Voting - oh my!

(Picture of the inside of "Matang Village" or the Yinlu factory)

(Xiamen Yinlu Food Co. is famous for its canned foods and other bottled products - we got to go through the entire factory!)

A few days after Halloween and a lot has happened! China does not really celebrate Halloween, though it is beginning to be a popular holiday shipped over directly from the United States. The American students here definitely celebrated, though, with a lot of partying and crazy costumes!


The day after, we went to the Matang Village, which wasn’t even really a village! It was the home of Xiamen Yinlu Foods Co. which built a gated technological/factory community where the Matang Village used to exist.


“Xiamen Yinlu Group locates in the first batch of °National County and Township Enterprise Scientific and Technological Park Xiamen Yinlu Hi-Tech Park, which occupies 800,000 square meters with nearing 400,000 square meters construction area, it is one of the largest manufacturing facility of canned foods and beverages in both Fujian province and the country, key supported developing enterprise of Fujian province” from here


A few days ago, I also received word that my ballot arrived back home! Voting in Surry County, I had the pleasure of participating in my first presidential election as well as vote to re-elect my mother for her position on the School Board. It was exciting, as well as to vote from abroad! I had planned this two months ago when I applied for my ballot, received it last month, then immediately sent it off again. I am still so excited it made its way back to the States!


Something that was even better, though, was re-learning to play Mahjong yesterday with my Chinese language teacher. After two games of learning rounds, our teacher joined us playing. With a bit of luck on my side, I then won the next three games until we called it quits. :) It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to buy my own Mahjong set to bring back home! I will try to explain the rules again later, though there are so many variations that it is kind of pointless :D

Random Encounters!

(Xiamen University! The main building, as seen from the lake)

(Another lakeside view!)

(From my seat on the rock, on an island within the lake! The tall building near the tree trunk is actually my dorm, the Cai Qingjie International/Overseas Student Building!)


This afternoon, I decided to heed all of my classmates’ (and professor’s) advice and get out a bit more. I have become a recluse that sits around doing homework all of my weekends and talking to my dear friends from home. So today, the weather was beautiful, there was a great breeze, and everyone in the U.S. was asleep – I decided to get out a bit!

I went to the library with friends, but the Chinese library wasn’t very different from our American University libraries! The main difference was that all of the books were in Chinese and everyone had bottles of tea instead of Coke, Pepsi, and Red Bull. :)


After I spent time there doing homework, I figured it was time to get out! I took my camera and took these pictures while I just wandered around campus. I finally settled around the lake to sit and read the last book I brought with me on this trip, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Galdwell. As soon as I sat down, though, I noticed a couple near me that was busy taking pictures of each other. I know the problem of having only separate pictures and wanting to get them together…so I offered to take their picture for them. All of a sudden, I found myself in their pictures, too :) They were so excited to meet an American and my next hour was basically commandeered as we spent a good deal of time asking questions between their broken English and my broken Chinese. It was fun and quite an adventure/learning experience! After exchanging e-mail addresses, I then went to go eat dumplings with Diana. Mmm, mmm – 饺子!


I am trying to get out more and meet more Chinese people before my last two months run up here. Hopefully this will still be quite interesting and I will learn more and more about the Chinese culture!

(The couple I ended up sitting with and befriending :) Their names were Zhao Long Xia and Lan Qin)

(We started getting random pictures together - this candid one was my favorite! I kept laughing at our inability to converse without mixing languages...)

Research Paper Ahoy

(Random picture from Quanzhou, one of my favorites!)

With about two months into this program, China is still as fascinating and foreign as ever! We have all definitely established our routines by this point, though there is quite a ways to go. As a group, we have established our favorite restaurants, our favorite work spots, our favorite people, and some semblance of order has evolved. Yet, homework will always persist!


Soon, we will be beginning our final research projects for our Asian Studies course with the UNC professor that is supervising us throughout this experience. I would love some suggestions for my own topic! The title of the course (ASIA 244) is Mapping Differences: Contemporary Chinese Social and Cultural Practices from Historical Perspectives.


“With the multitude of changes in the reform era of the last thirty years, has China – at least in urban areas such as Xiamen – become just another modern “capitalistic” society? Western visitors to China have had a very long history of writing about the “Middle Kingdom” and its supposed distinctive cultural and social features that set it apart from “the West.” Have those features been displaced by the recent onslaught of the forces of globalization – capital, technology, and cultural products – from the outside, or have those features persisted or perhaps been reconfigured and resurfaced in new guises and forms? How does one tell if something is “Chinese” or not these days? To whom and why is the question important? Or is it important?


The objective of the class is not only to provide the students with some useful context for evaluating the breathtaking pace of change in contemporary China, but also to help them to think critically about what we mean by “difference.” In Xiamen, students will have an opportunity to integrate class readings with their own experience of living in China, and to explore issues relating to a variety of cultural and social practices, such as gender relations, music, medicine, beliefs, sexuality and so on.”


I am hoping to focus my final research paper on video games in contemporary China, but I cannot decide yet which route to take. I can choose to discuss the impact of massively multi-player online role-playing games (and gold farming, the famously Chinese industry of selling virtual money), the blurring of Asian cultures within video games (and doing some “in depth” research with my own video games, of course!), or thinking of different topics to concentrate on. I would also love to investigate the issue of certain games being allowed in China while others are not, but I am afraid this would be a risky topic! :)


Any advice or suggestions would be absolutely wonderful!

Back from Quanzhou

(Entrance to the Cai Ancestral Family housing area that we got to tour!)


Long time no see! After this past weekend spending a mandatory overnight field trip in Quanzhou, these past two weeks have been full of catching up to my class work! I have had little time for relaxation, though it seems like there is always just too much to do here!


Quanzhou is in the Fujian Province (which is the same province of Xiamen, the city I am living in). There are 22 provinces in China – they are not the same as our states in America, though! China’s provinces are more like Canada’s provinces and Canada has 10 provinces . Every province in China has a large city and a claim to fame, but they do not have province capitals like we have state capitals. Because all of China answers to the political capital of Beijing, there is really only one capital of China. Beijing is considered to be the political and cultural center of all of China, though Shanghai is the economical center and base of most international businesses. Beijing also hosted the 2008 Olympics this past summer!


In Quanzhou, there were a lot of Muslim influences as there were tombs in Arabic, a mosque, and many other religious things all over the place. We stayed in a very nice hotel but our tour guide was not very good at reading our moods, and the trip sort of ended in rebellion. It was still a learning experience, though! We got to see some of the older, unaltered parts of China as well as visit several museums and tourist sites.


(Muslim tombs in China! All of the gravestones had both traditional Chinese as well as Arabic)


(Famous temple in Fujian province!)

Back from Shanghai!

(The Oriental Pearl Tower! We did not have to buy tickets, thanks to Gene's cousin getting us in! Tickets were actually 300 kuai to just get in, which would be about $50 in the United States)

(Gene's super nice cousin who helped show us around the Oriental Pearl Tower and gave me an unintentional lesson on Chinese guanxi!)

After an amazing week in Shanghai and experiencing a VERY different part of Chinese culture, I am now back in Xiamen and sitting through yet another bit of a tropical storm. An advice to anyone reading this: before you decide to live a portion of your life in a country by studying abroad, PLEASE do me a favor and check out the weather patterns of that country before you head out! :) I thought I was right in assuming it would be a safe place, that typhoon season had passed, and that all I would be dealing with is heat and humidity. I got the last part right and normally typhoon season would be over, but not this year it seems!


Shanghai was indeed amazing, though – I got to experience Shanghai food, Shanghainese (the local dialect that is VERY different from Mandarin, the dialect that I am learning), a big city culture (the traffic was even more terrifying than New York City’s!), and so much more! I also got a valuable lesson on guanxi, the notion of interpersonal relationships in China, similar to the good old boy system in the United States and present in many other cultures. Basically, Gene’s cousin got us into the Oriental Pearl Tower for free and we got to cut lines, get free drinks, and get preferential treatment all due to Gene’s cousin’s status. It was a lesson on cultural differences, to be sure!


I also received pity from Gene as he took me to a very upscale Western restaurant and I got steak. That was a great experience :) I also got to witness KFC in China, which is much more interesting than McDonald’s! I could write all day about the fast food restaurants here in China and their differences, as well as their similarities – but fortunately, I’ll get to do that in my class this week while we talk about consumer culture in China (and the rise of capitalism). Basically, people are buying more things here and that is changing a lot of aspects on China, especially their purchases of food! America is trying to cash in on this by altering franchises, like KFC and McDonald’s, for Chinese consumers and the products are fascinating.

(A picture of my meal at KFC! The long box had creme brulee pastries in it and the smaller boxes had "chicken hamburgers" in them. They also had fruit juices, french fries, and the normal chicken wings - though it all tasted so different! The little containers also had Chinese variations of coleslaw...it was a learning experience!)

Shanghai!

(View of the sunset and Shanghai sky, around 5 or 6 'o clock! You can also see my reflection in this picture!)

For the National Holiday Day vacation in China, people have an entire week off – including University students! I took this opportunity to spend four days in Shanghai with my friend, Gene, who studied at UNC-Chapel Hill for a semester of his master’s program in business. It was a WONDERFUL experience, filled with so much sight seeing and such amazing food! I am still recuperating from the trip (especially the wake-up this morning at 4 in order to get to my flight on time!) so I will try to post more about Shanghai, the food, the traffic, the people…all of that within the last few days of break!

Day to day living

(A picture of a meal from the student cafeteria - don't ask me what it was, because I still don't know!)

Since my google page cannot be updated from China and I cannot access facebook, I will be hosting my pictures from China on a new website once I finish updating my account. I will put the link up once it is ready!

My McDonald’s adventure was pretty interesting. My meal, which cost 20 kuai (about $3), included a small (kid size!) Coca Cola, a thing of five chicken McNuggets, and a medium sized fry. All of this was beyond my control – I didn’t even get to choose my drink! And getting it to go meant they put everything in separate bags for me to carry, including the drink! It made me definitely miss our ridiculously over-sized American meals to only have five McNuggets for my adult meal, but then, the small portions here are great for someone small like me. I can’t complain since I don’t have a refrigerator to keep leftovers, anyway!

As for other mundane things I have done this weekend (besides guiltily play videogames!), I had the adventure of doing laundry again today. In China, or at least in this university, there are no dryers. Every where you look there are clotheslines and clothes being hung in pretty creative ways. On the end of our dorm is a balcony and that is where I hang my clothes, personally. It is so different to deal with! It makes me nervous having my clothes out for everyone to see and anyone to steal, but since all of the clothes I brought I plan on leaving behind (my wardrobe at home is getting too large, and I have a lot of old clothes!), I am not too concerned. It is interesting to think about, though – small things like not having a dryer and having to hang clothes out to dry! I really am quite spoiled! :)

Eggplants!

(A picture of the dining area for students near our dorm)

Today is the day that I break down and eat at McDonald’s. It has been a few weeks now and after my first Chinese test today and I think I deserve it! I passed my first test today, which is great! It may be wrong to reward myself with French fries and chicken nuggets but that’s just how I do things.

The food in China, however, is absolutely amazing! Two of my favorite dishes here have been eggplant and bok choy. Apparently, there are different kinds of eggplant raised in China. You’re probably thinking eggplant sounds pretty gross but trust me - it’s easily one of the most delicious things when it is cooked right! Yesterday I ate at a vegetarian restaurant with friends and we had Japanese-style eggplant with miso and cilantro and, now, normally…vegetables don’t get me excited. But China really knows how to make their vegetables taste delicious!

Bok choy is a typical Chinese food and every time I encounter it, it always tastes a little different. I really wish I knew how they cook these things and make them so great, but since I have no cooking skills AT ALL, I will just hope that some authentic Chinese restaurant will have them back in the States! There is one dish that I know I won’t find, though, and that’s the rice burritos we get on the streets. They are literally like burritos, but instead of a flour shell it’s glutinous rice molded together. With beef, lettuce, cucumbers, and some other random tofu things inside – it’s a wonderful, wonderful creation by the Chinese street vendors.

My experience with China has been really different in regards to food, compared to Singapore. There are durians here, but I still have yet to eat one! A durian is a famous fruit from Southeast Asia that smells like death (trust me on this), but a lot of people love the taste if you can get over the texture. Here, though, there is bread and there is chocolate! I really missed bread and chocolate while I was in Singapore but they have been really accessible here. Of course, there is a lot of rice, but it is almost like I had more rice in Southeast Asia than I did in China!






(Pictures of my delicious rice burrito lunch!)

My one slightly serious/complex blog entry

(A picture from the side of our dorm - being on the 9th floor definitely has its advantages!)

During the Fall 2007 semester, I took The American Life of Japanese Women with professor Jan Bardsley as a first-year seminar (specifically for UNC first-year students). It was easily the best course I have had thus far at UNC-Chapel Hill! And, even more so than my Chinese Civilization course (which was also wonderful), studying the travels of Asian women in the United States as well as American women in Japan and Asian nationst helped prepare me for this travel in more of a mental way than I had ever anticipated.

One of the best books that prepared me for my trip was Cathy Davidson’s 36 Views of Mount Fuji and how traveling in Asia, through Davidson’s eyes, was “a look at the seductiveness and disappointments of being a stranger in a strange land, the memoir of a deeply personal interior journey, and a poignant meditation on whether we can see things clearly only at a distance.” I finally feel like I can connect with the story that I read a year ago, now that I am in Asia. And I keep encountering events that remind me of it daily. Simply knowing that other people had gone through these things, other American women like myself, puts things is such a different perspective that’s also so much easier to handle.

One of the biggest points we discussed in class when talking about this book, however, was how people act when they are abroad. Davidson herself explains the joy of being in a foreign country and relishing the anonymity of it all, not having to bow to your host country’s cultural rules (since you are, after all, an ignorant foreigner). This includes feeling free to represent and interpret your own country’s rules in your new settings however you want to. I feel like this is happening on this trip with some of my peers. This happened in Singapore but since we are living here, the lines are being blurred more and more as different sides of people show, in good ways and bad ways.

If you went abroad, do you know how you would react to your settings? Would you continue abiding the laws of your home country, knowing you might go unpunished here? Would you choose to abide by certain norms and etiquette, and ignore the ones you don’t necessarily agree with or find troublesome? I feel like abroad, we are getting a different sense of one another on this trip. But I do not know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, as people say things here that could be rude back home, but I do not know if that should be held against them since…we aren’t back home.

I am afraid most people use study abroad as an excuse to go out and do stupid things. I’ve already talked about this with people close to me and I don’t know how to interpret my peers here at times, and their actions. Should people still be accountable under our home country’s standards while in a foreign country? Or is that something that is expected to bend and break while abroad, to give people a taste of what Davidson felt at the anonymity of roaming around a nation, relieved from all cultural rules and societal norms?

Being a foreign spectacle

(A view of the beach, which is about five minutes away from our dorm - Xiamen is an island with Xiamen Airport at the very northern part and Xiamen University at the very southern part)

One of the biggest changes we have had to get adjusted to, besides the massive language barrier, is the fact that we are stared at every where we go. Language is definitely the main differing aspect of being here in China, for sure! We were trying to figure it out the other day – is it possible to have intensively studied any other language than Chinese for an entire year, go visit the country, and still not be able to read a single thing? In other words, be completely illiterate, even though you’ve already put so much effort in and can barely speak to a small child, let alone a grown adult? It’s so difficult to deal with, at times! But we’re still trying our hardest. :D

Everyone has had different reactions to being constantly stared at. The Asian people in our group that were born in China or raised in Asian households get no looks what so ever, unless people speak them and they’re unable to speak back as fluently – then they get odd looks, until they can explain they’re American. We have Derek, who is African American and tall, and I respect him so much for being here and tolerating the looks of amazement that he always gets. Phebe was blonde (but has since dyed her hair black) but still has some wonderfully artistic tattoos on her arms, and she has blue eyes to boot. I’m a typical weiguoren (foreigner) with my white skin, blue-ish eyes, and curly hair – there’s no blending in for any of us. And the weirdest thing is when people start taking pictures of us! I’ve had one or two requests myself to be in a picture. The latest one was when a girl came up to myself and Diana, another participant on this program, asking to get her picture with us. Diana ran away, not wanting to be involved – I just stood and smiled, doing that typical peace sign pose and knowing I would never know what would happen to this picture. I find it amusing, though it’s making other people so uncomfortable!

Imagine not being able to blend in with the crowd! Just think about it. If they were hostile looks, it would be so much more difficult to deal with. That’s how I feel most foreigners are treated in America, though here, the stares are just of curiosity and friendliness. Because of that, the looks I’ve been getting haven’t bothered me in the least. I smile at the people that stare and sometimes get smiles back. In our culture, it’s rude to stare…but here, if you’re different, it’s a given. It fascinates me! Though I hope my fellow participants will be able to deal with it after a while, too. I guess I’ve gotten so used to the feeling of being weird and an oddity where-ever I go that now that people are openly staring at me instead of thinking I’m weird behind my back, it is easier to deal with :) But it’s definitely a part of going to China that most people don’t think about – you are constantly a spectacle and on show!


(My favorite picture from the Economics Conference we went to, in which we were constantly photographed! I couldn't help taking a picture of my own)

Bloggin' in China

When I got to China, I felt very disoriented and one of the most materialistic actions in the world helped me get over my feelings of being unsettled – shopping. Just from buying things like towels, snacks, water, laundry detergent, and other such things, I felt so much better!

Shopping in China is a very interesting task not much different from in the United States. The main thing that’s strange is the fact that everything is in Chinese currency! In China, they have yuans instead of dollars, also known as kuai. Tens of cents are counted out in mao, and single cents are fen. Right now, if you divide anything by approximately 6, it’s about how much you would pay in the United States with our own dollar. This is a very challenging thing to do when you are doing your normal shopping! Division skills ARE important if you plan on studying abroad, especially since I had to do this in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia too…and each currency was different! Priorities are also different abroad. There were tons of clothes at the shopping market we went to today that were around 10 kuai a piece (about $1.50, in the United States!) which was also as much as I spent on a dinner on Thursday night that included chicken, rice, and bok choy! Food is relatively cheap as are clothes, but luxury items are the expensive thing. My Chinese cell phone was 375 kuai (about $60) so it was about the same as a US phone! If you’re paying for brand names, it’s also much more expensive – and anything that’s Western or resembling Western goods has a higher price, too. Today I got two badminton racquets for 40 kuai all together, though there were some that were over a few hundred kuai! It all depends on what you’re looking for, in some cases. I wanted to get tennis equipment but I have yet to see tennis courts (and tennis balls are 40 kuai to a can of three balls!) so I figured badminton would be a nice alternative, especially since it is a sport that Asian countries dominate in. :) I could learn a lot here!

So the next time you’re out buying things – be glad you don’t have to divide or multiply by anything to figure out what it’s actually costing you! I know I can’t wait to be back in the United States with those high prices again, just so my math skills can take a well earned break! :)

Zaijian!

Megan

Getting settled

I still do not have a stable internet connection as of this afternoon, but hopefully by Friday they will be installing internet connections in our rooms! :) Until then, still feel free to leave messages or send me an email at carriker@email.unc.edu if you want to get in touch or have any questions at all!

So far, China has been so incredible, but so different than anything I have ever experienced before! Even different than my time in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia – it is very, very difficult for a tourist or visitor to get by here, to say the least! I was talking to another international student yesterday (named Siv – she’s from Norway!) and we were discussing how, at least in Singapore, Thailand, and other places, you can get by with hand gestures and sign language. That’s just not the case here, though. Without Chinese or even being able to at least comprehend the spoken language, it’s pretty hopeless..not to mention the fact that the locals speak another dialect of Chinese entirely!

In China, because of its massive size, nearly every large city and province has its own dialect of Chinese that the local people speak. These aren’t dialects like they are in the United States, though – at leas tin the United States, the spoken language is generally the same. In China, the dialects are essentially different spoken languages entirely. Here in Xiamen (population 3 million, small for a Chinese city), it is the Minnan dialect. Normal Mandarin has four different tones and the Minnan dialect, even though it is part of the same language as Mandarin, has a completely different setup of tones and spoken language. ALL of Chinese can be read in either traditional or simplified characters – that is the thing that seems to bind Chinese together. But spoken Chinese…even if you’ve grown up speaking and learning Mandarin, you still would be unable to talk to the locals here in Xiamen! It is overwhelming but fascinating at the same time :)

My plan right now is to try to update every Sunday/Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (my time, though!) and for now, I will just ramble on my experiences in China as the days go by! :)

Zaijian!

Megan

China!

After an hour and a half flight from Raleigh, NC to New York, NY, a thirteen hour and thirty-five minute flight to Tokyo, Japan, and a four hour flight to Xiamen, China…I am here! J I have been here for about a day and a half now, but we have all needed this time to get over jet lag and get settled into our rooms. A twelve hour time distance is a lot! Since I am in China, we are a whole twelve hours into the future – but this makes it really easy to figure out what time it is! All you have to do is switch the A.M. and P.M. and you’ve got the time here, but it is actually later in the day or the next day entirely. Right now it is 8 A.M. on August the 31^st, 2008 – this means that it’s actually 8 P.M. on August the 30^th, 2008, back home!

It has been so incredibly overwhelming but exciting to be here so far! There are so many things I could talk about but then, I have plenty of time to do so! Even staying overnight in Japan was an adventure in itself. Culture shock is starting to get to me as there are so many differences between China and my home of North Carolina, but I think as time goes by it will be easier to deal with!

Fortunately, the other fourteen participants here on this trip seem like really great people! I think I’ll get to find out more about them once classes start tomorrow. The classes I am taking here are Chinese language as well as two Asian Studies courses. I can talk more about those once they actually begin!

My internet access is limited right now as we do not have internet in our rooms yet. Feel free, however, to send me any questions you might have so I can figure out what to talk about in this blog! Maybe I can help explain the Chinese language as I learn more about it, as well as the Chinese culture in general! J I’m definitely going to talk about some of my own personal experiences and encounters with China while I’m here, but right now this blog is open to whatever direction would be most interesting!

Zaijian! (See you again!)

Megan

Back home :)

So..turns out that the internet in Thailand is extremely unstable, extremely expensive, and an extreme pain to get a hold of. :) I am now back home and recuperating from jetlag and my wonderfully overwhelming Southeast Asia summer experience!

I will post more about my time in Thailand later on, once I have gone through all of my pictures again - in the meantime, make sure to check out the Facebook albums of pictures available through my website and all of the videos I have been putting up! :) I'm not finished with either yet, but it has taken me a while so far to get back into the swing of things here in the States. Food is expensive again, people are driving on the right side of the street, and my sleeping at 2 AM is actually sleepiness at 2 in the afternoon here!

We did a lot in Thailand: we got to ride elephants, see panda bears, watch cultural dances and people in cultural costumes, cook our own Thai dinner, try lots of spicy Thai dishes, learn about classical Thai music, and much more! It was an exciting end to our trip abroad but I will post more pictures and updates later! :)

School's out for the summer :)

Finally - classes are done with! :) I have absolutely no idea how I did, but am hoping for the best!

Today is our last day in Singapore before we head off to Thailand to spend about three days in Chiang Mai and then three days in Bangkok. My last day here is just full of rest and relaxation before the busy days ahead.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a UNC alum of the Kenan-Flagler Business School today for lunch to find out about working in Singapore and the sort of job he has here - it was a phenomenal experience (especially with the wonderful food we had and the teh tarik, my favorite!) I got to talk to Jagjit, who is a marketing consultant here in Singapore, and spends his time in his career helping companies all over the world with their marketing strategies and solving problems they have. It was a wonderful way to spend part of my last day here and I got to learn so much, as well as make a new friend! :) He told me all about his job and the things he did to get to the position he has now, as well as all about Asia and the places he has gone - last week he was in Amsterdam, next week he'll be in the US again, and he's spent so much time all over the place that it was amazing to hear from such a worldly traveler. :) I can't wait to go to some of those same places he has been to!

Of course, I can't wait to be home and tell everyone about my adventures, as well. But that'll come after a week of more experiences in Thailand!

Finals

Final exams this week :) Two finals, and three five-page essays to go. I will try to blog once this madness is over! Until then...wish me luck!

Zoo, Night Safari, Dragon Boat Racing - oh my!

The past few days have been completely overtaken by classes and then suddenly - fun stuff! :) We went to the Singapore Zoo, then the Night Safari (the evening zoo, basically), and then to the National Dragon Boat Racing Championship today!


The zoo was absolutely amazing! There was even a special "Cat Country" which was just perfect for me :) They had white tigers, leopards, jaguars, a cheetah, cougars, and more. They also had so many different animals that I had never seen or heard of before. It was so very foreign, but familiar at the same time! It was so similar to our own North Carolina Zoo, but some of the animals there I didn't even know existed!


Our first experience with the Night Safari was a fire dance performance outside of the exhibits, which was really impressive to watch. It was really unnerving to walk around a zoo with very few lights and in the dark, but it was also exciting and so different! It was even more of a challenge to find the animals in all of the exhibits, due to the night-time aspect. The Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari were also extremely open areas - we were around so many animals that we very easily could have touched or could have touched us! They had a lot of enclosed areas where the animals roam freely and you can walk among them. It was a very new experience!



The Dragon Boat races we went to were for the national championship. It was so exciting, especially seeing so many different countries and Singaporean colleges compete! It was basically a rowing competition, but it's special due to the dragon-design of the boats and the use of drums.

I got to have a lot of new experiences these past few days! But now, I'm off to eat some cheese pizza and enjoy some Western food to cure a bit of homesickness :)

Classes!

I don't have much to add at the moment because classes are consuming my soul at the moment :) We have a five-page essay for our Thailand History segment due next week, as well as a five-page essay on the politics of Southeast Asia and a five-page essay on the economics of Southeast Asia, not to mention our finals coming up! This means that I've been working hard and opting more to stay in and study the readings rather than be adventuresome, sorry! :) "Study" comes before "abroad" in studying abroad, though, I have to admit!

Instead, here are some pictures that other people have uploaded that I thoroughly enjoy! :) Hope you enjoy them too!

Singapore at night, from our home stay house! It's gorgeous :)


A dinner outing in Malaysia to a REALLY GOOD restaurant! We also ended up paying about $30 for a meal...for eight people! You can't beat some of the exchange rates here!


Myself, along with Angela and Beth, in front of the Esplanade. I like how I am the only one looking at the camera in this picture :D

A guy was nice enough to take our picture at the Botanical Garden together on our excursion through the Orchid Walk!

A picture of our home stay in Zhiqi's grandparent's flat! Alyzza, sitting beside me, are smiling a little too much because we were mean to each other right before the picture and now look like the best of friends :) I really do enjoy the company of most of my fellow SEAS participants!

Since things are going to be crazy the rest of the week, I'll probably do the same tomorrow and post some more of other people's wonderful pictures...hope they don't mind :D

Recuperation!

After being out for nearly a week, I'm finally doing better (thanks to the overwhelming amount of pills prescribed to me) and will just conveniently forget my trip to Malaysia, considering the wonderful impact it made on me...:)


This past weekend we went to Pulau Ubin - considered the "last village" of Singapore on a very untouched island full of tropical vegetation, dirt roads, and a thriving tourist population. We were able to see a granite quarry that had been filled in by water over the years, but even then...it was a familiar sight, considering Mount Airy's infamous granite! Cycling all over the island was amazing and we also got to go walking on a coastal boardwalk to see the mangroves that protect the island. Mangrove forests are a very important part of tropical environments as they host many species of creatures, prevent soil erosion, and just protect the main islands in general from storms and bad weather.


Today was the beginning of our last real week of classes (which is exciting, I must admit!) This week we don't have anything official planned, instead having lots of optional excursions. So today, some of our wonderful Singaporean friends hosted a picnic for us at Singapore's National Botanical Garden and it was absolutely amazing! Free food and lots of good company, as well as pretty flowers all around :) I took lots of pictures, just for my grandparents, of the Orchid Garden!


Our trip is definitely starting to wind down - hopefully I will be able to blog more about this experience after the fact, and I'm determined to write more while I'm in China! If I have any luck, I won't be out an entire week due to sickness in China, either...!

Malaysia & More

After spending the past four days in Malaysia, I have come back to Singapore and am thoroughly sick :) I will try to blog about Malaysia as soon as these symptoms run their course!

The Hwa Chong Institution

Yesterday we were able to grace the Hwa Chong Institution with our very American presence (as if they need anything else to grace their beautiful campus!) :) It was an absolutely fascinating and very educational experience as we got to learn a lot about one of the top schools in Singapore - something that is not to be taken lightly.

(The campus was beautiful at the Hwa Chong Institution! This is a statute that rests in the center, immortalizing the founder of the Institution)

There are public schools in Singapore, but Hwa Chong is an "independent" school. There are eight independent schools and Hwa Chong is basically the top of everything (or so we were under the impression). It is different because it is a 6-year long education program, instead of being split up into the different schools that most Singaporeans go through. For most, there are six years of compulsory elementary school and then a large exam takes place that includes science, math, English, and a second language, usually Mandarin Chinese. If you pass this exam, you are allowed to go on to junior high for four years. After junior high there are O (for Ordinary) level exams. Even by your exam after elementary school, your path to go into the good schools or not-as-good schools has been determined (and a good school essentially equals a bright future, though that is not always the case). If you do well in your O level exams, you are admitted into senior high school and not many people are allowed on to high school at all. After high school there are the A (not sure what this stands for) level exams to go on to university. Schooling starts at age 6, just like our education system.

Hwa Chong is different since you are admitted after your first six years of elementary school and stay, so it's like a combined junior and senior high school (and very prestigious!) Courses are taught in the required English and Mandarin Chinese languages, since the institution (founded in 1919) started as a Chinese High School. The Hwa Chong Institution has produced 47 President's Scholars, which is the highest award that can be given to students. And yes, Singapore does have a President, though they also have a Prime Minister and a Parliament! :)

(Our whole group, finally together in one spot for a great picture on the steps of the Hwa Chong Institution! The whole Institution spanned over 70 acres in prime Singapore land, though, with many ministers of Parliament living nearby)

We were allowed to take a tour with a Hwa Chong student and he let us bother him with our tons of questions (our professors have also gotten pretty used to being plagued by our group's constant questions!) Just like in American high schools, there were plenty of groups and clubs and sports to choose from. Some of the interesting clubs/musical groups/sports to me were: Lion Dance Club, Mathematics Appreciation Club, Chinese Orchestra, Bowling, Judo, Tennis (they have tennis here too!), Rugby, Guitar Club, Photographic Society, and more. The list of things for Hwa Chong to boast was impressive, to say the least!

One of the most shocking things to us, however, was the length of the school day. Students technically have class from 8 until 1:30, with each day beginning with the raising of the flag, reciting the national pledge, and singing the national anthem (a tradition they picked up from the US!) However, after they have lunch at 1:30, students are required to stay at school until about 5 or 6 to do extracurriculars and extra things for classes. And after that, they still have homework to do! That was mind boggling :)

It was an eye-opening experience, though it's still clear that many aspects of Singapore are very westernized. Being able to talk to Singaporean students, however, and seeing the Southeastern Asian aspect of things was all very exciting!

Some order to the chaos

(A picture from our first day in Singapore - getting used to the climate and the large amount of activities ahead of us!)

Today was the first day of just classes and nothing else, so it's been a big break for everyone (especially those that want to go do their own thing!) Every day, Monday through Friday, we have classes from 9-12 and usually an afternoon activity or an evening activity. Instead of an activity, today our History professor showed us a movie called Singapore Dreaming that was absolutely WONDERFUL. It gave us all a lot of insight on a hidden part of Singapore and yes, there were subtitles so we could understand what was going on :)

One thing about Singapore is that, being a nation that separated from Malaysia in the 1960's and having been formed solely of immigrants from other nations, the "native" Singaporeans are nonexistant. Race is a very big thing here and there are four main categories that people are placed into: Chinese, Malay, Indian, or Other (including Caucasians, Eurasians, and Peranakan - a fusion of Chinese and Malay). Since these are the main types of Singaporeans in the country, there are four official languages and EVERYTHING must be made available in these languages. From this, the Singaporean culture has created their own mixture of languages called Singlish
though we haven't been exposed to it very much thus far. If I learn any new words, I will share. :) This made the movie really interesting, however, as there was an occasional English word thrown into the mix - it was exciting!

(A picture of me in front of the skyline of Singapore! It's extremely hot here and very tropical, but very industrialized and modern. Singapore isn't really like any other place out there!)

In my classes, we have our Southeast Asian History course from 9 until 10:20, have a break, and then resume with the Politics and Economics of Southeast Asia from 10:30 until 12. The readings have been overwhelming so far, to say the least, sense it is all incredibly dense material - but we are all still just trying to get used to being in Singapore, too! :) Our History course is taught by Dr. Ser Hwee Quek, an NUS professor (who actually teaches American Studies to her other students!) The other course is taught by Professor Layna Mosley and Professor Andrew Reynolds, both UNC professors who came with us on the trip. A lot of our afternoon activities (like our trip to the various Boards that govern different aspects of Singapore) will give us a lot of insight on the information we're learning in our classes! This past week, the events were more of a basic introduction and bracing us for the massive amount of learning ahead :) The one notable learning trip was to Parliament, which I can talk about later, as well as our trip tomorrow to the Hwa Chong Institution, a school in Singapore!

Free time at last!

(This is where I'm living for the next 7 weeks!)

After approximately 22 hours on various airplanes, I safely arrived in Singapore on May 27th and have just now gotten my first day of free time to blog! :)

I am open to all questions about Singapore and Southeast Asia, since that's the focus on my study abroad trip here. I'll tell you more about my flights and what I'm actually doing in this first post.

Last year, over 200 freshmen applied for SEAS - the South East Asia Study abroad program. Everyone was required to write two essays, both being two pages. The first one asked: " how will your participation in this program advance your academic and personal goals while at UNC-CH?" The second essay asked everyone to read a Singaporean newspaper for several weeks, discuss a common theme, and come up with a group activity to address this theme. I will publish both of these essays on my website for anyone curious to read them. :) I am especially proud of my incorporation of Freecycle into my essays! Regardless, after the essay process and the number was cut back, about 50 freshmen (this is a freshmen-only program) were asked back for interviews. From this, the 25 of us were chosen to come to Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia for the summer (for free!) to take two Asian Studies Courses: ASIA 243: Political and Economic Transformation in Asia and ASIA 244: History of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The site linked to these courses is the overall site for the program, which offers invaluable information about the program itself, how it was created, and what sorts of things we do through our involvement here! :)


(Another view of my surroundings! I'm staying at the Prince George's Parks Residences in the National University of Singapore - NUS)

The flights were insanely long and the heat when stepping foot in Singapore is overwhelming. We are about 100 miles from the Equator and the humidity is also enough to drive a person crazy, if it wasn't for our favorite invention: the air-conditioner! Singapore is extremely tropical and there are beautiful plants everywhere. You can definitely tell you're in Asia, especially with the presence of Chinese all over the place. Singapore, however, very westernized and a lot like the United States in many ways!

Tomorrow I'll talk more about my classes that I'm taking, as well as all of the things we did in the past few days. I'll put one picture with every post, but if you want to see all of my pictures, look me up on Facebook - they're available to eveyone! Or check out my website as I try to figure out how to upload pictures onto it as well :) At some point I will explain the languages of Singapore, the currency, the people, and more! But I am still getting used to the time - it's 3 PM here, 3 AM United States time :) The time difference is exactly 12 hours (I'm 12 hours into the future!) which makes things pretty weird!