Well we have been on the road for a few weeks now. And here is an update...

 

We started in Xi`an and really enjoyed the 'old' city. My parents were very impressed with the city walls, but more so with the terracotta soldiers. It was really incredible, although I though all of the empty shops lining the 1.5km walk up to the soldiers was a little much. From there we went on to Hong Kong.

 

My parents were put in charge of finding the hotels for the trip, and they have done a great job. In HK our hotel was right next to Times Square which had a major shopping center there. When we are not walking around the city to see the sights, they are shopping...buying electronics, jewelry, silk and medicines. Yes, medicines. My dad can't walk past a pharmacy without stopping in to load up on his prescription medicine. I started taking pictures of him in each one, but I finally got bored. About half of our time travelling has been spent on shopping. They are loving it, but it is a little boring for me. I mean, I can buy a camera in Beijing...why go all the way to Hong Kong to shop! haha The weather in HK was not too bad, but a little cloudy. After a couple days in HK we took the ferry over to Macau (Ao Men)

 

Macau/Aomen was great also. The weather was pretty warm, but cloudy most of the time. Our hotel was a block away from the new Wynn Casino, and seeing that we Carver's like to gamble, it was part of our daily routine. The first day I won 3000rmb playing 21, and the second day I won 5000rmb... it has been a good trip for me. I lost my camera in the hotel bar, but it was found the next day and someone actually turned it into the hotel lost and found. I got it back the next day!!! Year of the Golden Pig indeed! If the year keeps going like this I will retire by May !! We walked around the city for a couple fo days and really enjoyed the museums. We have been to the museums in all of the cities and my parents have been really impressed. They have been beautiful.

 

We are now in Shanghai, and will be here for the next 5 days. The weather has been crap so it's been difficult to walk around much. But we have been able to go to the TV tower, ride through the tourist tunnel, walk down Nanjing Shopping street, and visit the museum. If the weather is ok we plan to go to Suzhou and/or Hangzhou over the next few days.

 

If anyone is in Shanghai call me ! I need someone to go out with and have fun. My parents are in their room by 6pm and I spend most nights watch HBO :-P Bai ai de Shaun !

 

Hahaha Chun Jie Kuaile... and I miss everyone !

 

 

Well mom and dad arrived in Beijing this week. Unfortunately I have to work a few more days, so I was unable to spend all my time with them. But I have not finished work, more or less, and we will be travelling for the next three weeks around China. This week I sent them on a tour of the Summer Palace. My mom took a fall and hurt herself a little bit. Not a great way to start the trip! She banged her chin on the ground (big purple bruise in some of the pictures) scraped her shin, and injured her knee. She has been able to get around, but is a little slow going up and down stairs.

 

Today we got up, went to Starbuck's and then to the Temple of Heaven. It was a beautiful day in Beijing. The temperature was around the 50's, and the sky was blue. It has been really windy the last few days, so most of the pollution has been blown out...at least for now. Afterwards we went to lunch, and then came home.

 

A few more days in Beijing, then we are off to Xi`an to see the Terracotta Soldiers, and the last walled city in China.

Well just got back from a long weekend in Shanghai going to the Formula 1 race with Chris. Quite a fun time, especially since one of my colleagues was also getting married that weekend...in Shanghai haha

 

I won't go into details of the bachelor party, but it was a good time and exactly the kind of night I needed. Our plane landed in Pudong airport at 9:30 and by 11 we were in a bar with a bunch of rowdy friends...and then we went to a bar called Windows where we drank a few beers before hitting the town. yada-yada-yada...got home at 5am. That's all anyone needs to know about that night!

 

Anyway, we went to see the Qualifying race on Saturday morning. I only had about 3 hours of sleep and was pretty tired. The weather was pretty cool, and it didn't rain on Saturday. We had great seats with a giant TV in front of our grandstand. We smuggled in a bunch of beer and just spent the day watching cars race by, eating yang rou chuan'r and buying everything we could find. We walked right past the guard and got into the grandstand in front of the starting grid for the qualifying. The word "loud" doesn't describe the sound of 22 Formula 1 cars racing by at 300kmH! We went home later in the afternoon and went to a nice dinner next to the Shanghai tower. Later we ended up in a bar called Max's, where Chris was telling everyone I was one of the F1 drivers haha.

 

The next day we rented a car to take us to the races. We got there around 11am and did more shopping. Chris bought 3 hats, a flag, and umbrella (it was raining) and who knows what else. I just stuck to my Ferrari shirt and watch :-P The race was great. It was an exciting race with Schumacher winning at the end and we really enjoyed it. We came back to the hotel that night pretty tired, but wanted one last meal out in SH...so we went to the Four Season's and ate like kings. Got up this monring, jumped on a plane and came home. A fun weekend was had.

OK, yeah I know....The Backstreet Boys. Is there any worse humiliation? Probably not....but as I said... I haven't been myself lately. One, maybe two more weeks and I will be moved on and back to my old self. Superman Ressurected? no...but better anyways I think. Thanks to those who have supported me and given me some "what the f*ck is wrong with you?" butt kicking over the last month. Although I would have preferred someone to complain to, to tell my probelms to and a little sympathy...telling me I'm an ass for doubting myself is helpful sometimes too. If I had a mao for everytime I heard..."there is nothing wrong with you. I still think you are great!" I would be a rich man...and that's OK sometimes too. Ends up I am just rich in true friends, not in quantity but in quality. Thanks all of you :)

 

Still thinking too much about... but at least I feel like I can start thinking about the future again sometime soon.

 

My chinese lessons are finally starting to pay off. Last week I learned peng (fat) and qi (to ride).  So I put that with the chinglish I already know to say... Wo Peng. Bu qi xiao ma. ..."I'm fat. I can't ride a small horse." It reminded my of my trip to Inner Mongolia with Brooke last fall. I thought I finally learned something I could have used. See the picture for a reference. I am sure the horse was wishing I learned that phrase before my trip. But hey...I'm stubborn as a mule, so the horse will just have to deal with it.

 

I could tell you about the time I tried to have something delivered to a friend...by myself, in chinese. First I had to learn the word for "deliver", which is "song"... then I had to go to the internet to find the phone number of the company they worked at, then I had find the number of the office in BJ, and then I had to call and try to get the the builidngs address in Chinese!!! (by the way...I don't speak Chinese!!!)...and then I had to look up my old UIBE records to get the persons name right (pinyin is easy, but the chinese characters I haven't studied) Then I had to go to the market, tell them what I wanted and give all the information to the salesperson, arrange to have it delivered on the right date, at the right time, to the right place to the right person....man.... it is so much easier back home haha. It took a whole day to do what I could have done in 5 minutes back home. hahaha after all that...it didn't pay off like I would have wanted, but I did learn something about myself :P I leaned I really need to learn Chinese to have a happy life here.

Well the last two months have been eventful, although not always for good reasons. Anyone who really knows me already knows that I have not been myself lately. I've had a new friend leave way too soon, some old friends turn out not to really be friends, met a few old friends all over again, met a few new people, had the death of "Superman" and even had the return of Mr. Pappy, an "old friend" indeed. A picture of Mr. Pappy in all his glory is attached.

 

My school schedule is starting to pick-up a little again and I have even been offered more responsibility (and hopefully more money, although in China that is not always the case). I am spending more time helping out my friends at the marketing company in Beijing. We just did a presentation for Mitsubishi yesterday, which could be interesting...and they have been teaching me mahjiang after work. I will begin my long over due Chinese language lessons next week or so, just after I find an appropriate experienced teacher.

 

My plants are alive and doing well after 1 month...which just proves that I can take care of some things. My new TV is living up to my expectations, and with football season starting I am sure it will get a lot of use.

 

But even with all of that, I still have too much free time to think. Thinking about...

OK, I got some grief for not posting pictures of my new apartment, so here they are.

 

The place is 142 Sq.Meters, or about 1,420 Sq. Ft and located on the 15th floor of a 24 floor building. It has 2 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms and a library. Actually, the library was once a third bedroom, but the owner moved the wall seperating the third bed and the master bed...so the master is bigger now, and the third bedroom is about as wide as two and a hlaf hallways, with a big floor to ceiling book case. I've kind of labeled it my library, although my book collection is pretty slim right now. It's holding my old textbooks, my collection of Beijing opera masks, my chop for signing official contracts, two unused badmitton raquets and a Jenna Jameson bobblehead, from Steve (thanks Bagman!)

 

The flooring is all dark wood, and pretty good quality. It's fine in the summer, but I am a little worried about it for the Winter. Already been looking for some rugs, which I think the place really needs. I just bought some plants, and am waiting to see if I can keep them alive before getting some more. There is a little hope though...my last place I had almost killed the only plant in the place after the first few months, but I was able to revive it back to life. I am hoping I can keep the 'money tree' (the one next to the bar with the braided trunks) going for another year, or so. It is supposed to represent money and is good luck...we shall see. For reference, a six foot tall, 'money tree' with ceramic pot cost $12 delivered. Obviously it didn't work too well for the grower.

 

The Master Bedroon is nice and big. The balcony has been opened up. It used to have two...one off of the Master bedroom, and the other off of the third bedroom. Again, the owner knocked down the wall and made it one long, adjoining balcony. The Master bedroom has a sliding door that closes off the balcony, which may be good in the winter. In the far corner off the library, and on the balcony is a corner for my office. It has the ADSL connection, a nice built-in corner desk and a nice view outside. The bacony is about 18 feet long, or so, from one end to the other and looks West out across an IKEA, then the 4th ring road, then a golf course. My apartment is directy above the World's largest IKEA...which has been pretty convenient for outfitting the kitchen. I'm also told that they serve, for 6RMB, all the coffee you can drink... that's about .80 cents.

Well my UK passport finally came through, I am officially a citizen of the UK (and still the US)...or a 'subject' of the UK.

 

In light of my new citizenship, I have decided to post a special UK update to my space. I have attached some of my favorite British scenes along with those I have pledged my allegiance to.

 

Cheers!

The history of Tsinghua University really begins with the Qing Dyanasty (1644-1911). During this period China had closed it's shores to the rest of the World. This, however, was not to the liking of the Western 8 countries (Germany, Italy, Russia, France, Britain, the US, Japan and Austria-Hungry) that were finding resources, profits and political influence inside China.

 

Following the partitioning of Africa among European powers, they turned their sights to what they saw as a terminally weak Chinese government. European powers and America began to scramble for what was called "spheres of interest." These spheres of interest involved holding leases for all railway and commercial privileges in various regions. The Russians got Port Arthur, the British got the New Territories around Hong Kong, the Germans got a leasehold in Shantung, and the Americans got nothing. Concentrating largely on the Philippines and Guam, the Americans had missed the Chinese boat and so insisted on an "open door" policy in China in which commercial opportunities were equally available to all European powers and the political and territorial integrity of China remained untouched.

 

The Boxer Rebellion (義和團起義) was an uprising against Western commercial and political influence in China during the final years of the 19th Century. By August 1900, over 230 foreigners, thousands of Chinese Christians and unknown numbers of rebels, their sympathizers and other Chinese had been killed in the revolt and its suppression.  

 

After a mauling at the hands of loyal Imperial troops in October 1899, the Boxers dropped their anti-court slogans, turning their attention to foreign missionaries and their converts, whom they saw as agents of foreign colonialist influence. The court, now under Empress Dowager Cixi's firm control, issued edicts in defense of the insurgents, drawing heated complaints from Western diplomats (January 1900).

 

The conflict came to a head in June 1900, when the rebels, now joined by elements of the Imperial army, boldly attacked foreign compounds within the cities of Tianjin and Beijing. The killing of the German minister on June 20 brought open war, the court proclaiming hostilities against the powers, which in turn prepared military intervention to relieve the legations.

 

The quick and humiliating defeat of the insurgents fell to an international force eventually numbering 45,000 Japanese, US, Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Russian and anti-Boxer Chinese troops, which captured Tianjin on July 14th and Beijing on August 14th.

 

On September 7th, 1901, the Qing court was compelled to sign the "Boxer Protocol", agreeing to execute ten officials linked to the outbreak and to pay war reparations of $333 million to the eight foreign nations who put down the 'uprising'. So great was the sum that much of the money was later earmarked by Britain and the U.S. for overseas education of Chinese students, forming the basis of Tsinghua University.

 

In 1908, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution remitting to China much of the U.S. share of the Boxer indemnity, and established the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture.  On April 29, 1911, Tsinghua Xuetang, predecessor of Tsinghua University was founded with part of the returned indemnity money.  It was the first preparatory school for those students sent by the Chinese government to study in U.S.  The top 5 schools for the indemnity students were the University of Michigan, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell.

 

So to sum up...Tsinghua University was built by the US with money extorted from the Chinese Qing government for putting down the Boxer revolt to expell the Imperialist nations from China.

 

In 1925, Tsinghua University was opened and started accepting undergraduates.

 

When the war broke between China and Japan in 1937, Tsinghua University with other two universities (Beijing and Nankai University) merged to form the Southwest Associated University in Kunming. After the war, Tsinghua moved back to Beijing and resumed its operation.

 

After the Chinese Civil War, Tsinghua University was divided into Tsinghua University in Beijing and the National Tsing Hua University located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Both claim to be the successor of the original Tsinghua University, an issue that was significant in the awarding of the Boxer Rebellion indemity, which was ultimately given to the school in Taiwan.

 

Currently, Tsinghua University has around 21,000 students; 12,000 undergrad, 5,200 graduate and 1,800 PhD students. Tsinghua accepts around 3,500 freshmen each year. Around 9 million high school seniors took the GaoKao (college entrance exam) this year, so you can see just how selective this university is. So, out of the 9 million students who take the GaoKao, only 2.6 million are offered seats in Chinese Universities, of which 3,500 can come to Tsinghua. Makes Harvard seem like a piece of cake!

 

Depending on who you ask, most Chinese people consider Tsinghua to be the top University in China (unless you ask someone from Bei Da, Peking University of course). Generally it depends on the subject. Tsinghua is strong in the sciences and engineering. Every morning when I come to school I pass through a gate that is crowded with proud parents taking pictures of their 8-year-old kid in front of the famous Tsinghua gates. There are constantly groups of high school kids with matching t-shirts following a tour guide with a red, yellow or blue flag waving in the air.

 

I teach in the Center for Overseas and Academic Cultural Exchanges (COACE). We have a partnership with around 10 UK, Australia, Canadian and US Universities. The students in our program take one year here, and then transfer to finish their Bachelors or Masters degrees in their selected University (as long as they keep the minimum requirements, of course). Kind of similar to what I was doing at the University of International Business and Economics for the past three years, just at a better school, in partnership with better Universities (not that there is anything wrong with Fort Hays State University, in Kansas ) But SOAS is ranked as high as #2 in the UK, Simon Fraser is ranked #3 in Canada, and the University of Adelaide is ranked #7 in Australia. I'm am not sure FHSU cracks the top ten IN Kansas. Our other partner schools are Oxford-Brookes, University of Ulster, UMAS-Boston, Univ. Illinois-Chicago and others.

 

Currently I am teaching undergraduate economics for SOAS, under the University of London, and graduate economics and finance under the University of Adelaide in Australia.