I'm standing in the Tianjin Natural History Museum, looking at a display about whales. Just like in the US, they have some nice illustrations along with placards (in Chinese, of course) describing the animals, where they live etc. As I stand and read as much as I can on one of these placards, a man who I think must have worked at the museum runs up to me.
*Him, in Chinese* "Whoa, you know how to read characters?"
*Me, in Chinese* "Well, yeah I can read but not too well."
*Him* "Whoa! You know how to speak Chinese?!"
Second, I've gotten to see Ben Homnick and his girlfriend Jia Shan twice here which has been really great. We've eaten Indian food, gone bowling and ice skating, and played cards a couple time. We taught she and her friend Yalin how to play euchre, which to their credit went more smoothly even with our translation issues than it usually does with freshmen at summer orientation. I also rapidly learned the names for each of the suits and the verbs "to play (a card)," "to pick up (a card)" and "to deal," which is about as much as I remember from any given week's lesson of Chinese class. Awesome. I also described "super" something-or-other as "supermarket" something-or-other, ensuring that I will never mistake "chaoshi" for "chaoji" again.
Finally, in the political realm, I thought Thomas Friedman's article this week was really worth reading. What he says is, in my limited experience (210 mph train ticket for $8) true. You can draw your own domestic political conclusions - and I'd be interested to hear them! I happen to agree with his.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/opinion/27friedman.html?em
7 comments:
I'm not on board with a lot of his foreign policy conclusions, but I think he's right about needing to focus on the nation. But I also think Obama's talk about getting Americans out of their houses and back working on fixing the problems is important. We've gotten lulled into thinking that the government is going to fix things, or they're not going to fix things, and about the most we can do to influence any government action is to vote every four years.
It's a real challenge for me. I'm tired after working all day, and cooking dinner and playing with Stella, but I realize that to have a strong nation we have to get out into our communities and work to fix the problems.
Hi, Jackson. As you know, I thought Friedman's comments were right on. And even more so after reading yesterday that Iraq has something like a $79 billion surplus while we are so hugely in debt as a result of the war. It's all about economics, I am hard pressed to think of any social or political issue that doesn't boil down to who's got the money and who doesn't. Thanks for the great shots around campus! Go Obama!
Way to go round eye. It's really nice to read about what you are doing so frequently. Glad you are having fun. I miss your old picture be it dated and unrelated. Paz.
Thanks for reading, Benn - I'm glad that you're enjoying it. How's life in GR?
PS We should still play SC sometime, BNet works fine here.
I want in on the SC game!
Jackson, not watching the game is a good choice. My eyes still hurt from the excessive weeping I have been going through during the game.--R.C.
Thomas Friedman writes some very good editorial. While I may not always agree with him, he is 100% on the ball here. Though I have been reluctant to pick sides in this election, the final hour of the DNC and the 24 hours afterwards gave me a lot to think about.
I believe that the future of America's energy supply is at the crux of every major issue in this election year. Effective foreign policy, economic recovery, free trade, and a cleaner environment would be significantly easier to accomplish with a solution to the energy problem. I wish that Sen. Obama would more openly support nuclear energy and free trade, but I can always hope that the rhetoric on these issues is merely electoral posturing.
My only hope is that Michigan can find some offense or this football season could be as painful as an 18 month presidential campaign...
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