My New Home

"Returning from seeing a friend off at the shore, one feels as far away as the horizon."
-Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi


My move is finally complete. I left behind my friends in Shanghai for a completely new life here in Quanzhou. It was hard to say goodbye, but I was ready for the change. Though I've only been here a week, it seems like I'm where I am supposed to be. I taught my first few classes(!), which were incredibly intimidating but also really enjoyable. Creating syllabi, correcting papers, teaching writing skills, and reviewing grammar: it's all kind of fun for me. I only have 10 classroom hours per week, so I also have plenty of time to work on my Chinese. I've found a Chinese tutor, and I'm so excited to start seeing some improvements!

Huaqiao university has quite a beautiful campus, of which I've included some pictures here:


This is the view from my window of campus and the surrounding area. The place where I am is set into the hills - rather picturesque, no?



One of many tree-lined streets. The buildings here tend to be rather block-like and uninspired, but there are lots of trees and gardens to make up for it.



The rather impressive entrance to the school. Note the blue skies!



There are lots of palm trees to remind me that I'm living in a tropical area, as if the heat and humidity weren't enough. I'm told that it will cool down in the beginning of October. Agh!



The following pictures probably fall into the category, "things in which only a mother would be interested." I've posted some pictures of my apartment, which, by the way, is HUGE. I have a study which I've pretty much abandoned, as I just don't need that much room. Overall though, it's a nice apartment, if rather spartan. The only downside? It's on the 6th floor, and there isn't an elevator.



Here's the entrance. I love the coat rack! My bookshelf needs a lot more books though.




My living room furniture is made of hardwood, which is lovely, but not very comfortable.




My cute little kitchen table. I'm currently using a scarf as a tablecloth until I have the money to buy a real tablecloth. It's not like I'm going to need a scarf anytime soon anyway. ;)



My kitchen! No oven, but a perfectly serviceable stove and microwave. They even provided me with a rice cooker and a wok!




My (already messy) desk. I put a map of Carrboro up above it, in case I get homesick. The desk used to be in my study, but there was plenty of space in my bedroom.



Lastly, my bed. Hard as a rock, of course, but I'm already used to it. In the background is a second desk, which I'm using as a vanity of sorts. It's also covered by one of my scarves right now...

A Soft Landing in China

I did it! I made the jump across the Pacific to China, although I haven't quite reached my final destination yet. On August 12, a friend and I flew from Charlotte to Toronto (where I had my first - great - couchsurfing experience,) to Shanghai. One of my friends from studying abroad in Xiamen has been living there for a year, so she kindly offered us a place to stay the night. It was so wonderful to have a "soft landing." I was only supposed to stay for 2 nights, but because of some problems with my work permit, I ended up staying two weeks! (My friend and her roommate are saints for letting me extend my stay so long!)

It's been a really fun two weeks. I've gotten to see more of Shanghai, a city I loved from my brief visit here two years ago, and hang out with my friend. Not to mention watch a few episodes of Mad Men and other TV shows. I do love cheap Chinese DVDs. ;)

Most of my time has been spent in a district called the French Concession, as that is where my friend lives. I've seen People's Square, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and a lot of interesting things right on the street-side - like the Bird, Fish and Insect Market, or the street vendors selling delicious peaches. Nothing is ever boring in China! There is a lot of construction here right now, in preparation for the World Expo. In the picture below you can see the remnants of the sidewalk along the street where I've been staying.



Meet 海宝 (Haibao,) the mascot of the 2009 Shanghai World Expo:

(I think he's supposed to be the sea personified, or something of that sort.)

Shanghai has lots of great, ultra-modern architecture, mixed in with old European style buildings. For example:




Cross your fingers for me that my Chinese improves greatly while I'm here. Currently, my Chinese is TERRIBLE. I can order food like a pro (Would I like it to go? Yes, please. With rice? Of course.) But everything else? Nada. My friend had someone come to install a shower curtain rod while I was there during the day, and I was no help at all. Do I know the word for…:

Scissors?

No.

Extension cord?

No.

Towel?

No.

Anything at all useful?

Nope.

Haha, luckily the gentleman was VERY patient.

Europe, Abridged

Amanda and I had a fantastic trip to Europe. We visited Berlin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, and Prague. Berlin hadn't originally been included in our trip, but it was cheapest to fly in there. It was lucky for us though, as it ended up being our favorite city! It seemed like there was something going on around every corner, like the flea markets on Sundays with impromptu outdoor karaoke sessions, or the couchsurfing meeting that we were invited to. (More on couchsurfing later.) We had a great time in every city though, so I apologize for condensing it all into one small entry.

Highlights from each city:

Berlin: amazing graffiti, delicious food

Copenhagen: riding bikes to the beach, a cathedral converted into an art museum

Oslo: Lysefjord, the Oslo Live music festival

Stockholm: amazing subway art, Nobel museum

Prague: free walking tour with introduced us to Prague's incredible history

To illustrate, I've chosen a few of the best pictures:










Couchsurfing, by the way, is a website (couchsurfing.org) that connects travelers with places to stay with locals. So if someone has an extra couch or guestroom, they can host travelers. It's a great way to meet really interesting people! On my way to China, I tried it with a friend of mine on our layover in Toronto, and we had such a positive experience. We stayed with the most generous couple there. Given that the alternative was sleeping at the airport, it wasn't hard for the night to be a success, but we had such a wonderful time.

Glacier and Goodbyes

"The information of the people at large can alone make them the safe as they are the sole depositary of our political and religious freedom."

-Thomas Jefferson



It's my last week at Project Vote Smart, and I can hardly believe it. I've been saying goodbye to friends for a couple weeks now, but it's still a bit hard to believe my own time has come. I intend to make the most of my last week. I vowed last week to swim in the lake every day until I leave, and so far I have.


A couple weekends ago we took a PVS trip to Glacier National Park. It was beautiful! And lots of fun. It was a nearly perfect weekend, I'd say.



At one point a mountain goat took up residence on an information center roof. There were quite a few mountain goats and big-horned sheep. I didn't see any moose or bears though, which was slightly disappointing.



This week at the office we've been getting tons of calls about our Voter's Self Defense Manual (a PVS publication with key information from our website.) There have been advertisements, radio programs, and articles all over the country. We usually get about 25 hotline calls a day, but today we had 140!

Exactly 100 days until the election...

All Backpacking, All the Time!

"Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free men."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower





I have gone backpacking every weekend for the past four weekends, with last weekend being the finale. For our long Fourth of July weekend, four of my friends and I went on a beautiful two night, 17 mile tour of the Anaconda Pintler National Wilderness. It couldn't have been lovelier, although it was also an adventure. We forded a river, did some cross-country bushwacking, and even weathered a couple hail storms! I couldn't be happier though.



There was still snow on the ground in some places, but it certainly wasn't cold during the day. At night it got pretty chilly, but we all had good gear. We opted out of tents, but I don't regret that decision at all. We were plenty warm and able to do some star gazing before bed. The stars are so bright when there's no other light around!







Above is the group that went last weekend, taken from the top of my friend's car. We're a pretty hard core bunch, I'd say. :)


I also visited a ghost town, which was really neat. This was a little ghost town set into the mountains, so it wasn't at all what I expected. From the few Westerns I've seen, I imagined a slightly eerie, dry town with tumble weeds and a feeling of desertion. The buildings were all quite destitute, as you can see above, but the area was peaceful and pretty. Lots of trees, flowers, and songbirds.



The mine shaft below probably leads to an old manganese mine. The town, Tower, was a silver mine and then manganese.

This coming weekend we're taking a big group trip to Glacier National Park with all the interns and some staff. I hope to have lots of great pictures and stories to share!

Beautiful Montana

"A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both."

-James Madison





I thought the weather in North Carolina was fickle, but Montana is on a wholly different level of capriciousness. For the first three weeks of my time here, it would be sunny one minute, raining the next. And sometimes, just to confuse matters, both at the same time! We had the biggest snow I saw here on June 11th. And then, having had our snowball fights, two days later it was in the 70s and hasn't varied since. I've been capitalizing on the perfect weather, and I've gone backpacking the past two weekends. I couldn't be happier.






I've also been playing the piano a lot. It's really nice to be able to sit down and play whenever I like, and the other ranch residents seem to like it, which is flattering. We watched a movie last week called Once - it's an indie Irish film. One of the tracks of music won an Oscar, so I found sheet music for it. It's called Falling Slowly, and I get requests to play it a lot.

The office is still going well. We had a party in my Key Votes department on Friday, because we interns have been so amazingly efficient. We are completely caught up on this year's work, so they've had to give us work to do from last year!

Politics Everywhere!

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

-Thomas Jefferson



Above is the view of the ranch from a nearby hill where one can occasionally get cell phone reception. I didn't have luck that day, but I'll try again next time I'm up there. The little brown-roofed building to the right of the lake are our lodge and rooms. The building to the left of those buildings and just a little bit set away from the lake is the office.

It's been an exciting week! The Montana primaries were on Tueday, so there was a flurry of activity (and snow, actually!) The most exciting part of the week by far was attending a speech by Bill Clinton. He was campaigning for Hillary, so he came to Anaconda, pop. 9,000. Anaconda is only about an hour away, so we took a van full of people to see his speech. It was a small crowd, so I had the chance to shake his hand! He is truly an amazing speaker.


We also had a group of foreign journalists come visit Project Vote Smart. They were also here to observe the primaries and learn more about the American election system. The local news station did a story on it, which you can find at the link below. You can catch a brief glimpse of me shaking hands with one of the journalists at the beginning.

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8435131

Work is going well, if tedious at times. Project Vote Smart runs a database of nonpartisan information for voters, and I'm in the legislative research department, aka Key Votes. I spend my day tracking pieces of key legislation, entering in votes once they've been taken, and summarizing bills. Bills can be the most frustrating part of the job. Some of the most confusing pieces of work I've ever had to decipher. I'm learning a lot about politics at the state level though, as I generally work on state, not Congressional, bills. I'll put PVS's website here again: feel free to check on your local Senator or representative - maybe I entered in a few of their votes!

www.votesmart.org

The other interns are great. We have costume days on Friday, and so far the best has been Geek Day. Some people joked we should just come to work wearing what we normally wear.



Summer has still not come to Montana. It snowed today, and yesterday, and the day before that! We had six power outages on Wednesday, but only two yesterday. :) One of them lasted a couple hours ago though, which made cooking dinner a bit of an adventure. Besides no electricity, there was also of course no water. We managed though, with some stellar chocolate chip banana bread to show for it.