The Man in the Fountain, Wal-Mart, and China’s Course of Development

Email sent to friends and family, October 19, 2006. It inspired many responses.

Ni hao jiaren he pengyou!
(That means, “Hello family and friends”)

I hope this note finds you well.

Living in China has complicated my perspective on international development. It casts a different light on my experiences in Chile and my idealistic Berkeley education. I started thinking about this when I read that microfinance inventor Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize. more »

Greetings from Beer Town, China!

From an email sent to friends and family, dated October 11, 2006, less than two months after my arrival in China.

With one of my many Chinese teachers, on a trip I took to a coastal landmark called Chengshantou with a Chinese tour group. I couldn’t understand the guide’s endless descriptions, which she said through a megaphone, but I did understand her when she spoke directly to me, since she asked very simple questions.

I just got back from an exhilarating trip to Qingdao (which was spelled Tsingtao in an older transliteration system, and that spelling stuck for the beer.) I had a week off for the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Holidays. I think that traveling alone is the absolute best way to pick up a language. With few English speakers around, I had to strike up conversations in Chinese, at a level that surprised and impressed the locals (and myself.)

Now, when people ask me, “Do you like Bush?” I understand the question, and can respond, “No, I don’t like Bush.” I don’t quite have the vocabulary to give a good reason, but it is a start. It is somewhat of a relief to be in a country where people are not accustomed to asking “why.” More commonly I get asked, “Do you like China?” and “Do you like basketball?” And those are much easier to answer with gestures and a limited vocabulary. more »

Reflections on Teaching

From an email I sent to friends and family, dated October 11, 2006 (slightly adapted):

Jiaxing University Front Gate

It’s crazy for me to think that in the past five months I have gone from being a student of Latin America to a teacher in China. It is also the most empowering thing I have ever done. I did this simply by putting my mind to it, without any specialized training.

I love this picture because it brings together a game created in my home country (basketball) and an icon from my chosen field of study (Che Guevara) and the distinct pose so common in China (which would be called a peace sign in the US but means “victory” in China.) more »