One week in

So I'm finally making my first post from actually inside China. A number of barriers have stood in the way of this post, including the overwhelming first week of classes, an inability to directly access blogger.com, and a slow on-campus internet connection. Fortunately, I made it through the first week without dying, am currently using the Yale proxy server, and am now in an internet cafe/restaurant where I and a few other DSIC students have been camping for quite a few hours doing things that benefit from a far superior internet connection, including transferring actual photos:


So the first week was crazy, sometimes very unpleasantly so, but I think now that I sort of know what's going on and how much time the academics are going to take, this next week will be much easier to manage. I never claimed to be the greatest Mandarin student around, but I'm definitely going to be a dramatically better one by the time I leave mid-August. I just need to stop thinking about each word individually as I hear it and start hearing the language. The oral component just isn't an area of giftedness for me, but what better place to force myself to get better at it than right here in Beijing?

It's hard to summarize the past week in the limited time I have right here... Beijing is a fascinating city... It's both stunning and repulsive at the same time. Parts look like Times Square, and it's not uncommon to have literally 10 or more full-size construction cranes in sight at once. But you only have to look at something about 10 meters away to realize you're walking in an endless cloud of smog, and sometimes at night the skyline fades out behind the smog long before it can disappear below the horizon.


It's very nice to have air conditioning (a luxury not enjoyed by the local students at the university), but the plumbing has been somewhat undependable and the internet connection is a major blow to someone like me who needs to be well-wired for a number of reasons this summer. DSIC is obviously by far my major time commitment for the summer, but I also need the web for some other Yale-related obligations this summer. I think we'll be visiting this newfound wireless restaurant on a weekly basis.

In other news, I and a few other Yalies went and saw the Whiffenpoofs perform at a very nice hotel last night. It was a fantastic way to spend the evening, topped off by an invitation to join the group as they performed at a private party for some number of ambassadors to China from various countries. It's amazing to see how many Yalies are in Beijing for one reason or another, for study, work, play, whatever.

That only reinforces the sense I sometimes have that I'm not even out of the states. All I have to do is look for billboards in characters to confirm I'm still across the Pacific, but many parts of the scenery are right out of my neighborhood in Dallas. I even shop at Wumart, which is a great convenience with it's every day low prices:


Speaking of prices, I don't mind getting a full meal for about $1 USD.


The food hasn't caused me trouble yet, and I'm hoping to keep it that way, fingers crossed.

I was going to post some video on youtube and link it to the blog, but I guess that will have to wait for a later post. We may yet find a way to improve the internet situation on campus, but until then video and photo transfers are pretty impractical.

Juggling,
jon

Leaving Manila Behind...

Well, tomorrow it begins! Duke Study in China, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China!
But for me the adventure had kind of already begun. On June 7 I left for Tokyo then took a connecting flight to Manila, where I arrived late June 8. Since then I have been seeing the city and parts of the country and just generally having a really relaxing time. My friend Joker (also BK '10) has been hosting me, and she and her family are just absurdly kind and generous.

A couple days ago we drove out to a see a volcano and, after crossing the water out to the mountain in a bangka (traditional Filipino outrigger canoe) rode little ponies up to the crater lake. It was genuinely gorgeous (if smelling strongly of sulfur):

I hiked along a path extension to get a look at other parts of the crater and some of the spots where smoke was rising from the earth:
And if you look very closely at this picture, you might be able to see the main lookout near the top left:

I took this photo from atop my trusty steed Patricia on the descent. If you can make out any white specks along the path, those are other riders. (Sorry about that fuzzy black circle near the upper left corner... I think there is a speck of dust under my lens and I expect this to be a recurring nuisance throughout this blog.)

Finally the ponies got some rest (the dude on the right in the red shorts with the blue stripe was my guide, James. He's next to Patricia):

Later in the day, I went to the barn and rode around the arena Joker trains/teaches at (she's an internationally competitive rider, which I am not):
and then briefly chilled with this guy:
His name is Mozzie, Joker's spoiled horsey. He gets his joints hand-stretched, his nostrils cleaned, and his hooves moisturized. But hey, he's talented.

Next day I visited some of the landmarks in Old Manila while Joker was at the barn. The first stop was Rizal Park.
As I was wandering around, a few smiling Filipinos waved to me and and asked me where I was from. I suppose I stand out as the foreigner from 5 miles away. I wonder what China will be like in that aspect.

After the park, I took a little buggy around another part of the city surrounding Fort Santiago.


The lovely Manila Cathedral, the sixth version to rise on the site:
The memorial to the victims of the liberation of Manila, February 3-March 3, 1945:
One of a number of sites the Japanese used as prison cells during the occupation:

And inside the fort grounds:

Today, my last day here, we rode canoes up a river a few hours away.

The way our guides took us up was seriously hardcore. When we got to the bottom of a rapid, they would push off the surrounding rocks and often actually get out of the canoe and run alongside it on the rocks, barefoot. Metal pipes had been placed across the rapids at a number of points, where the guides would pull the canoes completely out of the water over the pipes.

Our final stop before heading back downriver was a big waterfall. We went out to it on those platforms you can see behind me. I thought we would go into the cave behind the waterfall through the opening to the right there. Instead we went directly underneath :-)

My only regret is that we didn't get a picture of the monkey we saw.

So that's the last few days in brief using just a few of the pictures I have. This week has been amazingly relaxing. Tonight the week was topped off by a full body massage when Joker's family's masseuses visited the house. Not bad! I wouldn't mind sticking around and am not sure I'm quite ready to cram a year of study into two months, but I'm excited nonetheless. My first week ever in Asia hasn't been too shabby and I have high hopes for the next eight weeks. I'll keep posting here with hopefully a little more text to accompany the pictures.

Oh, and the reason my profile is what it is is that I also contribute to a blog for my a cappella group...

~jon