Cultural Chameleon, even at 176 and blonde

Yesterday I was reading my friend Stephanie Cheng’s blog and she talked about a friend of hers having a goal to visit a country that started with each letter of the alphabet.  My goal has always been to go to every continent, but why not also check the alphabet and see how I’m doing.

She questioned whether places like Macau and Hong Kong are considered countries or dependent territories.  Also, similarly can you count England and Northern Ireland separate from the UK?  I came to a different conclusion than she did (source: en.wikipedia.org): the parts of the UK are not separate but Macau and Hong Kong can be counted separately.  But when you have countries like China, do you list it under [P] People’s Republic of China or [C] China?  I’m going to list them by their common name, rather than the formal name.

A: Austria (Republic of Austria)
B: Brazil (Federative Republic of Brazil)
C: China (PRC), Czech Republic, Canada, Croatia (Republic of Croatia), Chile (Republic of Chile), Cambodia (Kingdom of Cambodia)
D: Denmark (Kingdom of Denmark)
E: Estonia (Republic of Estonia)
F: France (French Republic), Finland (Republic of Finland)
G: Greece (Hellenic Republic), Guatemala (Republic of Guatemala), Germany (Federal Republic of Germany)
H: Hungary (Republic of Hungary), Hong Kong (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China)
I:  Italy (Italian Republic)
J: (I’ll have J on Christmas Day)
K:
L: Laos (Lao People’s Democratic Republic)
M: Mexico (United Mexican States), Malaysia, Monaco (Principality of Monaco), Macau (Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China)
N: New Zealand, Norway (Kingdom of Norway)
O:
P: Portugal (Portuguese Republic), Poland (Republic of Poland)
Q:
R: Russia (Russian Federation)
S: Singapore (Republic of Singapore), Spain (Kingdom of Spain), Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Sweden (Kingdom of Sweden)
T: Taiwan, Thailand (Kingdom of Thailand), Turkey (Republic of Turkey)
U: United States (USA), United Kingdom (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
V: Vatican City (State of the Vatican City)
W:
X:
Y:
Z:

Well it seems like I need a trip through Africa and the Middle East to finish my list.  But 38 countries so far and only 8 letters to go is pretty good.    Is there even a X country?  According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries, NO.  But then again, it seems to me they forgot Zaire.  With no X country, that means I actually only have 7 letters to go, and 6 after Christmas.   Anyone up for a trip around the Middle East?  Maybe I should go visit Stephanie…
By the way, en.wikipedia.org is where I got all the full titles.  So guess what that means!  Luke was right: en.wikipedia.org is unblocked in China!  I wonder if its unblocked because Taiwan is listed as part of PRChina. ? ? Interesting…

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Well I got up very early this morning and so don’t feel like writing much tonight and think I’d only get myself in trouble if I made too many comments on the USC-Mayor of L.A. Breakfast Meeting I went to at the Portman Ritz-Carlton this morning. So on to other randomness…
Tonight I was reading some other blogs about China and came across an interesting situation. From fiLi’s blog on Lonely Planet:

tourists going to travel in China with the latest Lonely Planet book were asked to hand in their very expensive book at the border-crossing due to its ‘political nature’ showing maps of China which color Taiwan in a different color suggesting that Taiwan is not a part of China.

This report on the ban of the LP China books was further confirmed on Marc van der Chijs’s blog:

Ever tried to buy a Lonely Planet guide for China in China? Forget it…China it is not allowed to sell the Lonely Planet guides for China, Beijing and Tibet.

In my opinion, it’s rather annoying and extremely ridiculous, but not altogether surprising, especially considering some of the other things blocked/banned by the Chinese government. For example, WordPress.org (where I got this blogging software) is presumably blocked by the Chinese government, as is en.wikipedia.org, amnesty.org (this one’s certainly not surprising), and technorati.com (don’t understand this one). In addition, Shanghaiist discussed the AP article about blocking the Jay-Z concert:

China’s Culture Ministry has nixed a concert this month by rap artist Jay-Z at Shanghai’s Hongkou Stadium, citing a need to protect local hip-hop fans from nasty lyrics

I’m going to have to agree with Shanghaiist on this one, did the Culture Ministry approve the Black Eyed Peas concert? Did they attend the concert? Maybe so…maybe that’s why the Jay-Z concert was banned. I have to admit, both Irene and I were shocked with how racy the Black Eyed Peas concert was! So sad Jay-Z’s not coming. Oh well. Just don’t take my Lonely Planet!

From an Asian Wall Street Journal article about development and the economy in China:

If Shanghai were a country, it would be among the 40 largest economies in the world. Its economic output last year of $114B was bigger than the Philippines or the Czech Republic. Shenzhen, Southern China, has an economy much larger than Vietnam’s.

Of course, these comparisons are impressive when looked at out of context, but when you consider Shanghai has 17million people, compared to the Czech Republic’s 10million, you’d expect the economic output of Shanghai to be greater in order for the per capita output to be on par. The Philippines, on the other hand, is just disappointing. With 89million people and the densest city in the world, Manila (yes, I was surprised it beat HK, too), its no wonder Filipinos are becoming the world’s new service workers. Vietnam, too, is in a disappointing situation like the Philippines with its 84million people. Though I don’t know how many people are in Shenzhen, I’d guarantee far less than that. So it seems that those 2 countries can and should improve their per capita economic output. In this case, perhaps China can be the model. As my mom mentioned in her comment on my previous post, indeed, the Chinese government’s focus has been on economic development. And based on this information it seems the govt has been very successful at developing the economy and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). (Of course, I could devote multiple blog posts to this topic alone). 84 and 89 million are both certainly less than 1.3 billion, but I’d still guess there’s a market in those countries if only companies would be willing to invest (Intel already does) and those govts would provide the right incentives and mechanisms to aid their own development. Again, perhaps both Vietnam and the Philippines can look to China as a guide.

As Ceci has proudly informed me multiple times (based on her chats w/ the jewelry makers at the Pearl City), 90% of all Freshwater Pearls are in China. I keep looking at this figure and trying to come up with a way to make money off of it, say, exporting either raw pearls or finished pieces of jewelry, but it seems, someone has already beaten me to the punch. Damn those enterprising Chinese…grrr.

Though I’m not sure if the statistic is correct, I believe the Mayor of Los Angeles said that 43% of all the US’s ocean-based cargo goes through the ports of Long Beach & Los Angeles. His goal is to increase this to 70%. I was extremely skeptical of this for many reasons, but at the most basic, because the logistics of it would never work! In my opinion, in order for that to work, the US would have to seriously reduce its ocean-based international trade, which with its increasing dependence on China, India, Vietnam and others for cheap imports is never going to happen. As we increase ocean-based int’l trade, logistically those 2 ports are never going to be able to handle it all, so increasingly ships will be diverted to Oregon and other places around the Pacific as well as the Gulf of Mexico (for ships coming from other places). Well, no more comments on this as I really didn’t want to comment on the mayor’s speech.

This fact is also a bit old, but I would guess it still holds true and perhaps is even more true now than when I first heard it:

More people are learning English in China than in Great Britain.

The mayor also commented on this issue today (though perhaps only because of my excellent question). He indicated that in his official visits around China, he went to middle schools where the children greeted him in not only their native tongue, but in 3 languages, namely Mandarin (a given), Cantonese, and ENGLISH! Let me just state the obvious: if a Chinese delegation went to any place in the US, they would not be greeted by school children in 3 languages! If they went to Alhambra/Monterey Park areas in CA, they would probably hear Mandarin & English. If they went to the old Chinatown in LA, they would likely hear Cantonese & English. If they went to a Mexican immigrant barrio in LA, San Diego, Phx, or any city in the southern US, they may hear Spanish & English. Well this situation plus the US students’ poor math and science skills reflect badly on our school system. If the US’s education system doesn’t improve dramatically, there may be a day very soon when the US plays second fiddle to China in nearly everything. Let’s just hope the US can hold onto its edge in R&D and innovation and let the Chinese continue to play copy-cat. (Yes, I know this goes counter to what I said in one of my longtime-ago Xanga posts, where I hoped the Chinese could improve in R&D to produce products and services that would make the world easier and more efficient and in doing so improve IPR protection in China. While I still believe this, at heart I am a true nationalist, ie patriotic American, and I wish the US peaceful success in the global community.)

Well, I hope I have provided you with enough random facts on China & Asia for now and so at the next cocktail party you can impress people with your useless knowledge. If you have any random facts regarding China, please add them to comments as I love to impress my friends at bars with the pointless things I know about China.

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Pictures: Singapore & Hong Kong

As early as entering the airport in Singapore (or even in Hong Kong), when coming from Mainland China, one can just sense the increased organization and civility. Let me explain what I mean by this by sharing some of my observations…

When the subway train rolls to a stop and the doors open in Singapore people can actually get off the train. This is a novel concept in China: people in Singapore wait until those getting off have done so, and then they proceed to get on. In China, those getting off feel like fish swimming upstream as they face the onslaught of people clamoring for the–often non-existent–empty seats.

In Singapore, the Chinese (94% of Singaporeans are ethnic Chinese) actually put diapers on their babies. In China, by comparison, the baby’s pants are split along the seam to allow easy access for the child’s wastes to the sidewalk. My friend Aana (a New Zealander who has been in Singapore for 5 years) told me, in Singapore they have to put diapers on the babies. Singapore is famous for being meticulously clean (generally true, except in Little India), while China is notorious for being dirty. Of course, this means you won’t find any spitting in Singapore, nor will you find the bus assistant throwing 2 days worth of trash out the window. (Note, this behavior is not characteristic of every Chinese person–I know plenty who are refined, educated, and sophisticated–but it represents the behavior of the masses.) So why, you might wonder, has Singapore been so successful at curbing the obnoxious habits of Chinese people, yet Mainland China can’t seem to do the same?

There are many reasons:

1. Singapore is a much smaller place with far fewer people;
2. Until 60 years ago, Singapore was a British colony;
3. Singaporeans are better educated and more cosmopolitan than they average Mainlander;
4. Laws in Singapore are very strict; and
5. Singapore has some of the most effective public service campaigns of any country.

Singapore is well-known for its strict laws and harsh punishments. Tales abound of being lashed for chewing gum and executed for possessing drugs. And these certainly have been effective; however, laws are essentially meaningless if no one knows about them. Therefore, education, along with laws, regulations, and enforcement, are necessary. To educate the public and promote a better society and life for Singaporeans, public service campaigns are a common fact of life in Singapore.

Aana explained to me that each year the Prime Minister selects an issue of social concern that he wants to focus on. For example, I noticed on many of the food stalls, signs that said, ‘you can ask for more vegetables and less oil’ or ‘you can ask for less sugar and less cream.’ And I wondered who was so health-conscious. She explained that this was a previous public service campaign. The current public service campaign is customer service, such as is provided in hotels, restaurants, retail establishments, and hospitals. These public service campaigns are so effective partly due to their multi-faceted approach. The government uses traditional advertising mediums, such as TV, radio, outdoor signage, and presumably newspapers as well. But they also enlist businesses for support and cooperation. In the example of encouraging healthy choices of food, clearly the government exerted influence on the food stalls. For improving customer service, the government had segments as part of the traditional news program demonstrating how to improve employer-employee relations at service establishments. By working directly with businesses to promote the ideals of the public service campaigns, the government not only reaches those specific employees, but also multiplies its impact through the customers those businesses deal with. The influence of the government on Singaporean society is stunning, as is the difference between social norms in Singapore and China.

However, such heavy government influence and such successful public service campaigns come at a price. Aana suggested that the strict government rules and regulations stifle innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. She also mentioned that freedom of speech is rather limited. Individuals can not own property (land); they can only lease it for a certain number of years. As Westerners, we consider these last 2 issues fundamental human rights: freedom of speech and the right to own property. As you can see there are definitely trade-offs to the Singaporean system. (On the other hand, Singapore is one of the best examples of a peaceful pluralistic, multi-racial, multi-religion society.)

Nonetheless, I believe China could learn from Singapore. China has various approaches to cleaning up its people’s obnoxious behaviors. However, needless to say, these have been less than successful. For example, China requires travel agents to tell their outbound tourists not to spit or litter in foreign countries. But if only 100 to 130million Chinese travel abroad each year, the other 1.2billion will never hear of this concept. As TV is the most popular form of entertainment in China, the government needs to follow Singapore’s example and reach the masses through TV campaigns. TV is further a valuable medium because it doesn’t require literacy nor travel nor individual ownership. And since the government controls all the media (namely TV) anyway, there is no reason why appropriate public service messages couldn’t be shown on television. The government should also influence businesses and public servants to set a good example. For instance, 2 of Shanghai’s taxi companies are government sponsored, so those taxi drivers should be the first to respect pedestrians and stop spitting out the window. A more committed effort on the part of the Chinese government would result in greater success than its current approach.

Though far from perfect itself, there is a lot Singapore could teach China about refinement of peoples and society, and about the effectiveness of education, laws, regulations, enforcement, and public service campaigns.

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Recently I returned from Singapore and Hong Kong, where I enjoyed site-seeing, shopping, dining, clubbing, etc with many friends.

Pictures wth friends mentioned below.

In Singapore, Brenda and I were able to spend time with our mutual friends: Stuart, Stanley, Melissa, and Quan. And she saw another friend from high school. I also saw Aana, as well as my very close friend from USC, Kacey. In Hong Kong, I reconnected with Teresa, Phoebe, Edmond, Raymond, Vivien, Leon, Hilton, Peter, Grace, and Joseph. It was great to see all of you again! I also enjoyed meeting other friends of Aana, Stuart, Kacey, and Joseph. Since most of us met either on out-going exchange, in-coming exchange, or through case competition of the USC Marshall School of Business, I think we all owe our thanks to Sean O’Connell for facilitating the international programs and therefore our meeting. I’m so glad to know you all and I hope the next time you will come to visit me and I can show you around. A special thanks to Brenda and Aana for letting me encroach on their personal space for far too long.

All of us studied business and as we chat about who we know across the globe, we come to find we are actually a fairly small global community of undergraduate business students who participated in exchange (or other international programs). This makes me wonder if in 3-7 years we’ll all be competing to get into the same MBA programs. Then we may find that those same people who were only our classmates for 1 semester in undergrad (say at USC) may become our classmates for 2 years of MBA say at INSEAD, or somewhere else completely remote from USC. Then in 15-35 years we may all find ourselves leading some of the world’s largest and most well-known firms. And we may again come to rely on each other, not as group mates for a group project, but as suppliers and customers, or consultants or financiers that help us make our next billion $$. I wish all of you the best of luck!

Its truly a wonderful thought to know that I have friends in multiple countries. When you think about it, knowing people in other countries really enhances your appreciation of those countries. Those far away and exotic places become more real, more tangible, more authentic, and more human. When we know people, and particularly have friends in other countries, we are more likely to have a favorable impression of those places and to feel they are trustworthy. In doing so, we won’t feel ill-will toward them, and also would have no reason to want to cause them harm. In its most basic form, the concept I’m referring to is Peace Through Tourism. When written like this, this seems like a very basic, straight-forward concept. But yet, in reality, it seems very difficult to put into practice. I wish that more people would have and would take the opportunity to make friends throughout the global community. In doing so each of us could individually contribute to peace on a global scale. As we create trans-border friendships, we strengthen our global bonds, interconnect our worlds, and create peace among us. I wish that everyone could have at least one good friend who is not of their birth country.

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Last night I left Singapore and flew to Hong Kong. I had a great trip to Singapore and Hong Kong is going well so far. However, in my trip to Singapore I learned a couple of important lessons.

Like most travelers, and particularly most backpackers, I tried to lighten my load and carry as little weight as possible. So when I was packing for Singapore and Hong Kong, I thought to myself, those are both modern clean countries and the food will be safe and healthy, so I don’t need to bring prescription pills for stomachaches or other similar afflictions. This assumption seems to make sense coming from Mainland China. However, for a day and half I was the most sick to my stomach I have ever been while traveling and have continued to be somewhat ill since then. You can bet I definitely wished I had brought those pills with me. So my first lesson is, it’s better to carry around a few extra items than to sacrifice a day of the trip to illness and to feel extremely sick. And, I guess also I shouldn’t make assumptions about quality of food and water because it is possible to get sick anywhere, anytime. So from now on I shall carry my extra medicine to ward off illnesses and other ailments.

My second lesson is about the importance of preserving and carrying along 2 very important documents associated with electronics, namely a purchase receipt and a warranty card. Panasonic, for example, has a 1-year global warranty where they’ll repair your equipment for free, whether it’s your fault or due to product malfunction, provided you can show them those documents. If all electronics companies have as valuable of repair-warranty policies as Panasonic, we may all start carrying those documents for our cameras, MP3 players, and other electronics with us while traveling. I learned my lesson to always keep the receipt and warranty card. Then I can scan them and at least have them easily accessible in electronic form, if not, in hard copy as well. And so maybe in the future I will save myself $200!

Unfortunately, these were painful (literally, in one case) lessons to learn, but if you don’t learn while traveling, what benefit is there? It’s like the commercial, ‘Live and Learn.’ In this case, I just hope you can take my advice and benefit from it since I have already learned the hard way.

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Having lived the majority of 2005 in Hong Kong for my exchange program and internship, I am very familiar with the city and grew rather attached to some aspects of it. Therefore, I am very happy to being going back to Hong Kong late next week.

So this post is

All the Things I Love about Hong Kong
&
All the Things I’m Excited to Return to in Hong Kong

• Friends! I get to see many, many friends from university study abroad programs and college, as well as former colleagues. Can’t wait to see you guys again! Hope that you will show me your version of the city so I can see it from the eyes of a native.
• Transportation! Hong Kong has one of the cleanest, safest, and most efficient urban public transportation systems anywhere in the world. You won’t find any food, gum, or bums here. Gotta love the MTR, KCR, and the widely accepted Octopus Card.
• Esprit Outlet! That’s right girls. Hong Kong has the only Esprit outlet in the world (that I know of) and its very close to TST MTR station. Its only 1 block west of Nathan Road on Kowloon Peninsula. Its 2 stories and not only has clothes (girls & guys), but makeup, perfume, shoes, bags, etc. And the clothes are cheaper than the regular retail stores in China.
• Lan Kwai Fong! About 3 blocks of solid bars, restaurants, clubs, and people drinking on the streets. Need I say more? Models at Volar, getting hit on by a USC parent, drinking in front of club 7-11, watching your friends look for you and laughing that they can’t find you, getting hit by rubber balls, walking up narrow stairs in high heels, seeing random friends you didn’t even know were in HK, and at the end of the night a line of 50 taxis waiting to take you home safely. Great times at LKF!
• Chun King Mansions & Indian Food! An entire building of companies run by indians. This means some of the best, most reasonably priced Indian food outside of India. And you don’t just go for the food, you go for the experience. Imagine: 20 Indian men running up to you with menus and cards for their restaurants say ‘you hungry, miss?, you want Indian food, miss?, my restaurant’s the best, I give you good price, I give you a discount, try my resturant, miss.’ All the while a security guard tries to beat them back so you can make a decision which fabulous restaurant to eat at. Ah, then comes the best part, riding up a rickety elevator thinking ‘oh god, where is this man taking me?’ Then ending up in a authentically decorated, rich spiced-scented restaurant, with a table of Indian people just finishing their meal. By this you know its a good restuarant but because they are leaving you won’t be distracted from enjoying your gloriously rich chicken vindaloo or curry by their loud chattering. Indian food, here I come.
• Victoria Harbor! One of the most gorgeous and recognizable skylines anywhere in the world. With a light show at 8pm choreographed to music, the view of HK Island from the tip of Kowloon Peninsula is a show not to be missed. Bring your tripod because with a pitch black sky and some of the most colorful buildings you’ve ever seen, this is a photo opportunity not to be ruined by an unsteady hand. Though I’ve seen the light show a few times and seen the buildings’ lights tens of times from many different angles, I’m still seeking the perfect photo. What a romantic way to spend a balmy Hong Kong evening.
• Food! Hong Kong has some of the world’s best cuisine and most diverse collection of restaurants (can’t say their Mexican food is anything to rave about tho). Nonetheless, I have managed to select a few favorites.
• Pho Saigon! First time I had Vietnamese food and despite having tried it many locations since then, its still my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Noodles, lemongrass chicken, drinks, dessert, they do it all well. And its a very good value, too. Authentic, home style, & the owner chatted with my Vietnamese friend in Vietnamese. Suitable for loud meals with friends or if you’re a single diner and don’t want a high-pressure solitary dining experience. 2 Locations: Hong Kong Island b/t WanChai MTR & Causeway Bay MTR, and Kowloon b/t Mongkok and the stop north of there. (Can’t remember the exact addresses but you can google it.)
• Hui Lau Shan! Mango drinks, mango drinks, and more mango drinks. So good. And even mango drinks with sago (little white tapioca). So good. Location: Various stands and shops throughout the city, including many in Causeway Bay and 1 in the Kowloon-Macau ferry terminal.
• Crystal Jade! One of my favorite Chinese restaurants because they have all my Chinese favorites: xiao long bao (soup filled dumplings), dan dan mian (peanut sauce noodles), spicy noodles, and many other wonderful choices that basically make up my favorite Chinese foods. Their desserts are even reasonably tasty for Chinese desserts. Many locations, including Causeway Bay subway station and Harbour Centre (TST).

Wow! This has really gotten me excited to return to Hong Kong! Yay! Anyway, I hope I’ve inspired you to check out some of the unique delights Hong Kong has to offer.

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More and more friends and acquaintances are asking me what’s going on, what can we do this week, where to eat, and where to buy something (at least this one makes sense, given my company). I’m not sure why, maybe its because I’ve been here longer than many of them (shocking isn’t it, considering I’ve been here a little over 2 months, but that just shows the turnover of expats–or half-pats–in China) or maybe its just because I make a point of being ‘in the know.’ Its definitely flattering to have people ask me for advice and I’ve always been one to enjoy being knowledgeable about something, so I shall have to try to keep up this role. Just to show my knowledge of and involvement in the city, I’ll tell you a few highlights of what I’ve done in the last week: I’ve been to 2 art/photography shows, I went out drinking 5 of the last 7 nights, I went to 2 networking events, and I’ve tried 4 new restaurants. If this isn’t enough for you, here’s the schedule I made for Rola to show her all the events we could go to last week:

Monday: Swing dancing at Tanghui Bar. No cover. 9:30pm til late. Also, Zapatas–free Margaritas for ladies

Tuesday: I Love Shanghai (on the Bund) Tuesday night, b/c ladies drink free all night.

Wed: California club for ladies night. Also, Zapatas–free Margaritas for ladies

Thursday: Oriented Happy Hour is Thursday this week, so register online. There’s also Fabrique (for after, maybe) with Latin, Arabic, & African music and RMB15 vodka martinis. Or alternatively, movie night at the US Consulate on Nanjing Road. Or, EPWS networking and membership renewal night at Sasha’s.

Friday: Watch the USC football game on Friday from 6:30-9:30 at Big Bamboo (I think its just north of Nanjing Rd, 132 Nanyang Road, near Tongren Rd).

Saturday: Macy Gray is in concert at the F1 opening ceremony on Saturday, Sept 23 at 9p. tickets from RMB168-1588. tel: 6212-2929

Of course, I don’t find all these events & activities by myself and neither are they listed all in 1 place. The main way I find out about them is by reading That’s Shanghai, City Weekend-Shanghai, and SH (see Blogroll. Yes, I know blogroll is for blogs, not magazine websites, but they update their content, so it works). I also hear about them through email listserves I’ve subscribed to since being in Shanghai.

Anyway, whether you’re a tourist coming to Shanghai or newly arrived expat/half-pat, the magazines are great resources. They are mostly free and are available in bars and restaurants, or checkout their website.

P.S. Half-pat (a term I picked up from City Weekend) is derived from the term expat (expatriate). An expat is someone who is sent overseas by their employer with full benefits including housing, extra compensation, children’s private school tuition, and in China, car, driver, maid/nanny, etc. A half-pat is someone who goes overseas and then finds a job. City Weekend defines ‘”half-pats” as the new foreigners coming to China with half the luxuries (or less, in my case) of a traditional ex-pat. Half-pats left their home countries looking for something and found it in China. They’ve started careers here (instead of being sent over by a company), are generally more interested in Chinese culture and language and have a deeper connection to the Chinese community.’ Of course, I am one example; other examples include Ian, Andrew, & Jeffrey. Best of luck to all the half-pats out there.

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Since Shanghai is situated in a delta (the Yangtze Delta, to be exact) the natural landscape is extremely flat. Also because of its location on a delta and because people have been living in the region for hundreds of years, there are small ‘water towns’ in Shanghai’s suburbs and in the surrounding region. These water towns vary in size, popularity, and familiarity to Westerners. Today, Elva and I visited one of the smaller, lesser known water towns. We went to Qibao, which is mostly south and a little east of the Hongqiao airport, already itself way in the southern part of the city. Nonetheless, the water town wasn’t too far away as we were able to take a standard city bus almost all the way there and it took less than 45min.

The town itself has been largely reconstructed in old Chinese style to be more appealing to tourists. Nonetheless, it is fairly charming despite the crowds. There are about 3 or 4 bridges spanning the river, also in the old Chinese style and a few boats were taking people up or down the very short river. It seems like a win-win situation: the town can attract day visitors and generate revenue from people who go there to lunch, shop, and appreciate the old Chinese architecture, while the people can step into their past and leave the modern city without actually traveling very far. The government has done a good job making it into a special tourist spot.

Hopefully in the next few months I shall be able to take longer day trips to the other surrounding water towns such as Songjiang and Zhouzhuang.

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Ways that I’ve benefitted from spending time abroad:

• Independence: Spending significant time in time-zones vastly different from that of my parents’ has allowed me to develop into my own person. Without their nearness, I have become more independent, resourceful, and capable. I also now have my own aspirations, hopes, dreams, views, and opinions.
• Name Brands: I’ve become far less concerned with which brand of clothing, shoes, handbag, etc, I or anyone else is wearing. Though as Americans we may think our brands have a global presence (and many do), American clothing brands mean far less overseas than they do at home. Like any young girl in the US, I used to care who was sporting which designer brand but after spending time in Europe and realizing that brands can and do change their image across countries, the whole concept seemed far more fluid. Especially in Asia, where the same factory can produce for multiple labels and there is such a proliferation of brands and knock-offs of brands its nearly impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake, it doesn’t seem to matter to me or anyone else. As long as you’re smartly dressed, in quality clothes, that fit you properly, it doesn’t matter to me. Its actually quite a relief to not be a brand whore and instead just enjoy shopping for clothes because of their style and affordability.
• Calmed mind: As someone who always had 50 things running around in her mind telling her to keep busy and do the next thing, before going abroad, I could never relax. However, with the change of pace I encountered in Europe, particularly the lifestyle of the Spanish, I slowly was able to calm my mind and just enjoy being. Lazy afternoons at a cafe, people watching and enjoying the setting used to be painful as my mind kept telling me, ‘you’re wasting time, get busy.’ However, now I feel this is one of the most enjoyable ways to spend an afternoon. The appreciative nature of traveling also helped this as my sole purpose was to see, enjoy, and appreciate the sites, people, culture, and cuisine.
• English: In going abroad and learning about global business, I’ve learned that English is the language of commerce and beyond that, it is fundamentally important to traveling. English is the common language between people from Japan and South America or between the Thais and the Europeans. No other language is as widely spoken as a second language. For example, there are more people studying English in China than in Great Britain. I believe this random fact speaks to the importance of English as the accepted global language. Therefore, I’m glad to have mastered English.
• Languages: While English may be the accepted 2nd language on a global scale and ensure basic communication between diverse groups of people, its nothing like the sincere appreciation a native has for a foreigner who genuinely attempts to speak their language. Learning a second language offers a far more profound experience than simply ‘getting by’ with English. In speaking both Spanish and Chinese in countries who call these their native languages, I’ve been appreciated more, treated better, and altogether had a better experience in the country. Because of this I know the experience can only get better by becoming completely fluent in a second language. As such, I hope during my time in China I will become fluent, as there’s no better way to learn a language than to live in the country and speaking everyday with native speakers. Already my Chinese has improved significantly since arriving.
• Cosmopolitan: Through going abroad, I’ve become more sophisticated, educated, and worldly. My geographical knowledge has improved immensely, I have a much broader understanding of various issues, I’ve learnt from diverse perspectives, and I’m more conscious of living in a global society. My roommate from Suzhou enlightened me to many preferences of the Chinese (worth another post entirely). A conversation I had with Spanish soccer players made me realize the disgust they had for President Bush, especially in the aftermath of the 2004 Madrid subway bombings. It was really an eye-opener to find out how deeply Americans were disliked at every level of society (at least in northern Spain).
• Friendships: By spending time in other countries and as others have come from far away countries to the US, we have all built friendships that span the globe. I am trule grateful to have friends in as far away places as Ireland, Brazil, Qatar, the Netherlands, Singapore, and many more countries and locales. Its an amazing thing to be able to call such a diverse group of people my friends.
• Aesthetics: Through seeing so many different places, I’ve come to appreciate nature, architecture, and other beautiful things. Seeing the diverse forms of architecture worldwide, I have fallen in love with architecture. Seeing nature in its many diverse forms has led me to appreciate nature in its infinite, timeless beauty. And by seeing some of the most picturesque places on earth, I can truly say I can appreciate beauty. Instead of thinking everything looks the same, I appreciate diversity and diverse forms of beauty and these I seek to capture on my camera. In seeing many things and places, I’ve come to understand aesthetics, which brings joy to my world, and through the more appealing photographs I’m able to take canalso inspire others to seek out beauty in their own world.

Well, initially I sought to write about some of the more surprising ways I’ve benefitted from going abroad, but the list turned very conventional, so I’ll stop and just let you imagine the many ways I have and anyone else could also benefit from going beyond the borders of their own country.

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