In addition to a frightening paper for my Organizational Theory class, China has been at the forefront of my mind lately. 7 of us from the Higher Education and Student Affairs cohort (HESA) are traveling to Wuhan University in the Hubei province of China. We have been planning the trip for several months now, and recently began to take our first steps to realizing our trip. Last week a couple people fromthe cohort took it upon themselves to research airfare to China. They were able to find a screaming deal that had us all emptying our pockets in a matter of hours. The airfare was several hundred dollars cheaper than we had initially budgeted for, and from brief conversations I've had with other international travelers it seems that our ticket price was a respectable one. We also all sent in our visa applications on Friday (despite some scrambling by both myself and J.T. York). At this point China is no longer an option, but a certainty.
In light of this fact I purchased a small guide to custom and culture in China. J.T. York was hosting a prospective Masters student for our annual HESA interview/visit event. I accompanied them and one other candidate around for a car tour of Columbus and a walking tour of the Book Loft. The Book Loft is a large multi-room book store that was (I presume) originally a house of some sort before being made into a bookstore. The rooms are as diverse as the types of books for sale; some rooms are long and narrow, some are squat squares with hardly room for four people, and some are open galleries of shelves. It's quite easy and fun to get lost in there. If you are from the Seattle/Portland area, just imagine Powell's on a small scale.
The guide is a useful precursor to the trip as it covers a very brief history of China and its culture. Useful bits of information include: cultural norms, banquet seating; ways to circumvent the language barrier, and funny stories of past visitors. An ongoing part of my blog will focus on brief research of different topics covered in the guidebook in an effort to educate myself.
The Chinese take pride in their extensive cultural history. Much of the technology and innovation that changed the Western world already existed in China centuries earlier; Gutenberg developed movable type in the fifteenth century, while the Chinese were already using movable type in the eleventh century. China's history is rife with competing groups vying for power and lineage, including multiple dynasties that resulted in at least two "golden ages" as well as much struggle. The most obvious bit of Chinese history for Western observers is the reign of Mao Zedong.
In 1916 the central government of China dissolved with the death of the reigning dictator Yuan Shih-Kai. 1921 saw the creation of Soviet backed Communism take root in China and in 1923 the Communists united with the Guomindang (National People's Party) to reunite Chine. However, in 1925 the new leader of the Guomindang declared war on the Communists. Civil war ensued until World War II when both sides fought to repel the Japanese. Civil war resumed after WWII and in 1949 Mao Zedong led the Communists over the Guomindang forcing them to flee to Taiwan (but not without the gold reserves of the country in hand).
Compared to the last several decades, the beginning of Mao's reign was an improvement for the Chinese. By the middle of the 1950's that improvement began to wane, and in 1965 Mao began the terrible "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution." The Cultural Revolution lasted until Mao's death in 1976. His inner circle was incarcerated and Deng Xiao Ping came to power, ushering in the "Open Door Policy" that reintroduced China to foreign trade and being a member of the global community. Deng favored a socialist market economy with a strong central government and his policies allowed for immense growth in China. However, the Tienanmen Square massacre in June 1989 underscored the behavior of China's government and derailed progress for a time.
Today China ranks among the world's leaders and has proven itself to be an integral part of the world stage.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
16 Days Later
One thing I never mentioned is the background of this blog. The books were the default background when I created this blog, but they are such an apt representation of what I do that I kept them. The books remind me of childhood, and reading the same books over and over because I'd read the others books already. Clearly, I was an easily amused bookworm.
I've been talking to my cohort friends about going out every so often to help us participate in 'normal' 20-something activities. A couple weeks ago Cardmaster Cider, Frenchie's Choice, and I went to Skully's, a local bar and dance place in the Short North of Columbus, for Ladie's 80's. Ladie's 80's is a weekly event where the DJ plays music from the 80's (and now the 90's). It felt good to have a couple drinks and dance and not think about classes and school and the cohort. I've been actively deterring myself from talking about work/class/HESA when I'm not on campus because A) it's not that interesting if you aren't part of the program and B) it's not that interesting if you ARE part of the program. However, this is not to say that my peers are not interesting people; they are remarkable individuals, but I would rather hear about THEM as opposed to their work load or class. Eventually, the proverbial chime of midnight (11:00) threatened to render us as pumpkins (zombies) if we didn't get to bed at a decent hour for work/class the next day.
Going to Skully's got me itching to have fun again. Last weekend I went out to another bar with my friend Tokyo Hip Hop and one of her friends. It felt good to dance again even in the crowded bar. Sadly, the bar was extra crowded on Saturday night, which resulted in spilled drinks and lost apparel. Tokyo Hip Hop lost her jacket early on in the night, and then I lost my jackets with my keys in it just before we left. The lesson here is to always use a coat check, especially if you like being warm. What ensued was a cold walk to the car, followed by a briefly cold car ride to Tokyo Hip Hop's apartment (her friend drove, thank goodness). By this point it was 3 am and we were still wound up from dancing and drinking, so we proceeded to listen to music on Youtube. As her name suggests, Tokyo Hip Hop has a taste for hip hop. She prefers artists from the 80's and 90's, such as Tupac, Biggie, TLC, Mary J. Blige, etc. It was a lot of fun listening to music I haven't heard in a long time (or ever as was the case a few times). I introduced her to Mackelmore, a Seattle-based MC, who I enjoy immensely. I was grateful to be able to crash on an air mattress with a heavy Japanese quilt that night, as the temperature outside was around 20 and the temperature inside was affected by the severe cold.
The next morning entailed Azn Gourmet for breakfast/lunch before zipping back to my apartment to get some replacement keys and my spare car keys. That cost $40 bucks which I begrudgingly parted with however. Thankfully, my car had not been ticketed during the morning since it was Sunday. I need to remember that Sunday is a get-out-of-jail-free card in terms of parking (J.T. York!)
Valetine's Day was a nice reminder of some lovely people in my life. I spoke briefly with Boss and Squeezie Wheezy and expressed poignant affirmations with them. I really don't know who I would be or where I would be without their influence in my life.
I'm hoping that this weekend will bring more fun. I recently purchased a couch and chair to make my apartment feel more like a home and less like an embarrassment; now I can actually have people over! The final piece is a coffee table, and I have my eye on a nice octagon shaped piece, but I'm hesitant to fork over $30 when I could get an ok coffee table for $20, or even a set for $20 or $30. But, I need the table for games and guests, so I must make a decision soon. Anyway, that's all for now.
I've been talking to my cohort friends about going out every so often to help us participate in 'normal' 20-something activities. A couple weeks ago Cardmaster Cider, Frenchie's Choice, and I went to Skully's, a local bar and dance place in the Short North of Columbus, for Ladie's 80's. Ladie's 80's is a weekly event where the DJ plays music from the 80's (and now the 90's). It felt good to have a couple drinks and dance and not think about classes and school and the cohort. I've been actively deterring myself from talking about work/class/HESA when I'm not on campus because A) it's not that interesting if you aren't part of the program and B) it's not that interesting if you ARE part of the program. However, this is not to say that my peers are not interesting people; they are remarkable individuals, but I would rather hear about THEM as opposed to their work load or class. Eventually, the proverbial chime of midnight (11:00) threatened to render us as pumpkins (zombies) if we didn't get to bed at a decent hour for work/class the next day.
Going to Skully's got me itching to have fun again. Last weekend I went out to another bar with my friend Tokyo Hip Hop and one of her friends. It felt good to dance again even in the crowded bar. Sadly, the bar was extra crowded on Saturday night, which resulted in spilled drinks and lost apparel. Tokyo Hip Hop lost her jacket early on in the night, and then I lost my jackets with my keys in it just before we left. The lesson here is to always use a coat check, especially if you like being warm. What ensued was a cold walk to the car, followed by a briefly cold car ride to Tokyo Hip Hop's apartment (her friend drove, thank goodness). By this point it was 3 am and we were still wound up from dancing and drinking, so we proceeded to listen to music on Youtube. As her name suggests, Tokyo Hip Hop has a taste for hip hop. She prefers artists from the 80's and 90's, such as Tupac, Biggie, TLC, Mary J. Blige, etc. It was a lot of fun listening to music I haven't heard in a long time (or ever as was the case a few times). I introduced her to Mackelmore, a Seattle-based MC, who I enjoy immensely. I was grateful to be able to crash on an air mattress with a heavy Japanese quilt that night, as the temperature outside was around 20 and the temperature inside was affected by the severe cold.
The next morning entailed Azn Gourmet for breakfast/lunch before zipping back to my apartment to get some replacement keys and my spare car keys. That cost $40 bucks which I begrudgingly parted with however. Thankfully, my car had not been ticketed during the morning since it was Sunday. I need to remember that Sunday is a get-out-of-jail-free card in terms of parking (J.T. York!)
Valetine's Day was a nice reminder of some lovely people in my life. I spoke briefly with Boss and Squeezie Wheezy and expressed poignant affirmations with them. I really don't know who I would be or where I would be without their influence in my life.
I'm hoping that this weekend will bring more fun. I recently purchased a couch and chair to make my apartment feel more like a home and less like an embarrassment; now I can actually have people over! The final piece is a coffee table, and I have my eye on a nice octagon shaped piece, but I'm hesitant to fork over $30 when I could get an ok coffee table for $20, or even a set for $20 or $30. But, I need the table for games and guests, so I must make a decision soon. Anyway, that's all for now.
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