My Hypothetical Certificate in Applied Modern Chinese Studies
Today marks four years since my graduation from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies. This means I’ve spent as much time as a university graduate as I did as a university student. The experiences feel parallel in terms of topical variety and timeframe. I’ve spent three of the past four years in China and one in California; I spent three of my college years in Berkeley and one particularly fabulous(!) year in Chile. To reflect on what I’ve learned over the past four years, I hereby grant myself a hypothetical certificate in “Applied Modern Chinese Studies.”
A photo from my first week in Jiaxing, in the convenience store across the street from the university.
Looking back at the lessons I’ve learned and the ways I’ve learned them, I propose the following course outline for this certificate:
Applied Chinese Language (3 years):
- Modules include casual chats with vegetable vendors and train travelmates; more than a year of twice-weekly one-on-one lessons with my wonderful tutor Layla; conversations about Barack Obama and basketball with students and taxi drivers; advanced pantomime and guessing; childrens’ books like 喜羊羊与灰太狼 .
喜羊羊与灰 太狼: that translates to “Pleasant Sheep and Big Big Wolf.” My best purchase today: A book featuring these cute characters, complete with both characters and pinyin. Its title translates to “The Blue Frog Prince” and I got lots of amused stares as I read it aloud with a patient, amused Chinese friend over dinner at one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants. Good times.
Amazing Photos from Adrian Fisk’s “I Speak China”
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what’s the value of a picture of someone holding a poster full of carefully selected handwritten words? I just stumbled across this amazing series of photos from British photographer Adrian Fisk, on BlindBoys.org.
Rainbow Su – 22 Yrs Student software engineering Guangdong Province ‘I am worrying something. Girls in China is becoming materialistic, without house my girlfriend would not marry me. My parents cannot help me either. So I need to get good job with high payment, that’s what I totally want’.
Here is part of Fisk’s introduction:
I have just returned from a 12500 km journey through China to find an answer to this question. I looked for young Chinese aged from 16 – 30 years, gave them a piece of paper and simply told them they could write what ever they wanted to on the piece of paper, I then photographed them holding the paper.
The results are fascinating.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from his collection. Click here to see them all. More of my favorites here below the jump. more »
How I’ve Untemplated my Career in China
I contributed this article to Untemplater, a new website whose motto is “Work where you want, live how you want, be who you want to be.” Those that know me know my China story pretty well, but it’s always fun to share my experiences with a broader crowd.
My degree is in Latin American Studies. Even if there were a template called, “How to Use Your Latin American Studies Major,” I seriously doubt it would include moving to China. I’d never been to Asia, never studied Chinese, and never even taken a class about China. This rather random choice has brought me opportunities I’d never envisioned.
Here’s a short version of my China story.
A few days after my graduation from Berkeley in May 2006, I thumbed through my well-worn copy of Delaying the Real World – an inspiring and practical book that should be on every adventurous twenty-something’s desk – and looked up just about every international opportunity listed.
Read the rest at Untemplater. Great comments too!
Be the Change: Listening to China
This post originally appeared on Akhila Kolisetty’s blog, Justice for All, on November 16, 2009, as part of a series in which many in our generation wrote about what the words “be the change” mean to us. There are some really excellent comments on the original post!
I’ve lived in China for almost two and a half years. This country has seen so much change in the past generation that it reminds me of a song I learned in elementary school: “the only thing that doesn’t change is change.” I think that listening to stories is the best way for an outsider like me to understand and begin to take part in these changes.
Here’s one such story, from a project inspired by the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs. My friend Rich Brubaker is a prolific social entrepreneur, professor, consultant and blogger. He recently asked ten of his interns to interview workers on the streets of Shanghai about their jobs and dreams for the future. Here’s one example:
Stories from Hamburg, Hong Kong, Berlin, and Uganda
Here are some of my favorite articles and podcasts about working overseas in Hamburg, Hong Kong, Berlin, and Uganda. I see some common themes in these four pieces, which match my own experiences in China.
- Being an outsider makes you a “big fish in a small pond” (or at least a bigger one than you’d be if you’d stayed home!)
- Living in a place with a low cost of living gives you much more flexibility in terms of work.
- As a foreigner, you have more responsibility than a local would at the same level. This can help you to build a wide range of skills.
- Being far from home connects you to people incredibly quickly. It’s amazing how well I’ve gotten to know new friends in our first or second meeting. I think this is also true in a professional context.
OK, I’ll let the pieces speak for themselves. more »
