A Flat-Tax: I didn't expect that.

Today I had a discussion/argument/debate with my friend about whether or not the US should adopt a flat tax. How did this happen, you ask? I have no idea. Explaining my opinions on the matter is difficult enough in English, trying to explain that I don't feel, regardless of an individual's marginal utility, should be required to give money to the government. Now translate that into Chinese. I never did quite get 'marginal' figured out.

Here's my recommendation the next time you are tempted into having a politically charged discussion with another economist in a foreign language: avoid if at all possible. Why? Not because it isn't worth having, but because the intricacies of your argument will be lost thanks to a failure to translate.

Regardless, I'm proud of being able to hold such a discussion, even if it was sloppy and undoubtedly difficult for my roommate, who was not part of the discussion, to follow.

On the note of economics, I'm incredibly proud of my program. Of all the English language publications they could chose to subscribe to, what do they chose? The Economist. Excellent choice.




Oh, and props to that guy for getting 'Bad Boy Child' tattooed on his back. It really does take a man to do that...

真的吗，中国政府？真的吗？

So, the great Chinese government has struck again!

But seriously, this past week I got a taste of what it must be like to really be a Chinese citizen. I've never been more thankful to be an American with the Bill of Rights. I thank the Lord for the wisdom of our Founders and the value that they, and now we, place on freedom of information and the freedom of speech. I honestly believe you will never appreciate this freedom until you live without it and I've only barely scratched the surface of what it is like to lack these rights. Because of all the international hubbub at present (at least, I'm guessing it's the reason), the Chinese government has cracked down on internet access, blocking more and more websites which also produced an unexpected and very inconvenient interruption of my proxy server. Basically, I was completely cut off from the world; I couldn't access news, blogs or Facebook. I had no idea about anything that was happening in, was it Libya? The fact I don't know for sure is a testament in it self. You know that giant earthquake that happened about a thousand miles from my present location? Yeah, hadn't heard about it until Katie emailed me later to make sure I was unaffected. Thanks, Gov, you're a keeper.

Lesson to learn from China: Never belittle Pizza Hut for being class-less.

Have you ever been to a Pizza Hut with a hostess? Or how about one that serves wine? Or how about one that serves a surf and turf pizza? Yeah, me neither.

But oh my goodness, cheese is AMAZING! But seriously, I've missed cheese a lot. Most other flavors are covered if you know what to get, but cheese is sadly lacking, which makes a Hawaiian pizza absolutely amazing. And eating with a fork was oddly satisfying and foreign, all at the same time. Also, China has something America needs: Pizza whose crust is really a circle of pigs in a blanket. Better than stuffed crust? Possibly. There are also weird things with crusts involving shrimp puffs. We didn't order one of those.

I wish I had a slightly more interesting story for you this week, but sadly my week has been full of studying and such. I pulled something close to an all-nighter Thursday night studying for a whole lot of quizzes and such and it surprisingly paid off quite nicely. Sadly, though, I've been exhausted since yesterday afternoon and have thus had a slightly bland weekend thus far. Midterms start the week after this coming week, and they will be intense. All of my classes have spoken components, including presentations and such, which could easily kill me.

Today I went down to St. Sophia Cathedral with a few friends, which was really beautiful. The weather has broken and the snow is gone. It's so different to see that square full of people and little kids blowing bubbles instead of snow and ice! We also went to lunch at a nearby place recommended by the Chinese roommate that came with us and I think it's where we came up with 'spring rolls'. Basically, you wrap up different dishes (dishes you could eat otherwise) in little tortilla-like wraps. As they're name is 春饼 (spring pancackes), I'm tempted to think this Chinese fajita gave rise to the 'spring roll'.

This evening we went to dinner with the whole program to a restaurant that serves classic dongbeicai (local-style dishes) with an interesting Cultural Revolution atmosphere. The place is all made up, with the waitresses wearing military-style outfits like what was worn during Mao's time along with performances of Cultural revolution songs and choreography. Not gonna lie, it was hilarious. Then they came on with a modern sort of comedy/musical number that involved a male singer that reminded me of a Chinese cross between John Mayer and Justin Beiber who sang songs, put his feet behind his head and chugged beer. Hilarious? Only completely. Oh, and then there was this part where he licked his own nipple. Awkward? Yes. Hilarious? Also yes. Then he motorboated his co-star.

And now I'm sitting in my room trying to justify going to be early again and thinking that if I'm not partying it up with everyone else, I should be studying. Instead I'm watching a Chinese soap opera.

I apologize for this posts lack of photos or clever, fun links for you to enjoy, but for some reason my Google images is failing me and I'm too lazy/tired to upload any new pictures. :P

Yeah, so...

Oh, I'm going to HangZhou for spring break. It'll be legit. There will be pictures. And stories. And tea. Just hold on to your hats. Those rice-picker kind.

Of Fabric Softener and 猪肉McNuggets

But seriously, you don't realize just how much you love fabric softener until you wash your clothes in China.

Okay, in all fairness, that might be a little bit of an overstatement, but still. They don't really do dryers in China (reasoning? I assume it has to do with poor wiring, as that seems to be the reason for the ban on effectively all electronics and appliances), so all clothes must be hung to dry in your room (which takes a frustratingly long time). Regardless, that means none of those glorious dryer sheets that make your laundry so nice and soft (and I suppose the tumble dry doesn't hurt, either); until coming to China, I had vastly underestimated their effectiveness. Note to self: thank mother for using fabric softener.

Interestingly, this building had no doors (you can see the wooden slats
that served to cover the entrances), but did have glass in the windows.
Why? Couldn't tell you.

Oh, did I forget this is supposed to be a blog about important, study-abroad related blog and not a place for me to air my grievances related to stiff-as-a-board pyjamas? My bad.

So last Saturday we went hiking in Yaguo, which is a tiny little village, effectively, not too far from Harbin. (Aside: Yes, China also has toll roads.) It was a great day that was sorely needed, as the exercise cleared my head and the sights were beautiful. And I think I could see Russia from the top of that tower.


There were also some interesting bits of history along the trail (most of the time I'm convinced we were blazing our own, but that might just have been my view). Here you can see one of the various Japanese bunkers let from Japanese occupation of China during the late 1930's (more on the awful things they did while here to come next week. Tomorrow we visit the Harbin museum dedicated to the biological warfare and testing the Japanese inflicted on Harbiners).






Also, a random limbo contest during lunch. And Manny took off his shirt at one point. I think there was money involved. Manny also knows Chinese songs from the Cultural Revolution. Why? Because he's Manny.

One of my favorite parts of my program are, of course, the other students. While I'm sure you can see that a program like this is much of a self-selecting group, I've never had friends that translated Lady Gaga's lyrics into Chinese so as to avoid breaking the language pledge. Also, when sensing an awkward silence whilst hiking and not knowing any Chinese songs, what is the appropriate solution? Start lalala-ing My Heart Will Go On, of course!

Yes, I climbed it. And yes, it was shaky, old,
decrepit, you name it. I froze on the top step. The floor
had holes in it and the wind was moving
the whole tower. Do I regret it? Not exactly.
Would I do it again? Maybe not.

Sunday morning, I was able to go to my first church service. I cabbed it that morning to avoid running out of time making the walk (since I'd never been there before, I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there) and that went pretty well. It was about a 10 minute cab ride with Sunday traffic which cost 9 kuai (the minimum fare for a cab in Harbin) which is about $1.30. Fortunately I wrote down the name of the church for the cabbie as he didn't understand me the first time. Whoops.

Could that be...RUSSIA?!

I attended the English service (this church offers, I think, six services each Sunday) this week and hope to attend a Chinese service soon. I don't think I've ever seen a church so full, and the people just kept coming. The service is partly designed to help people learn English, so there is plenty of reading along with Scripture and saying things together and it's an interesting experience. Most of the people there are Chinese and ranged from young adults (college age) to women who were likely in their eighties. These women were the most amazing to me, seeing as they grew up in a China which didn't permit Christianity, so they have certainly chosen to come to church; this wasn't a place they were raised. And this was an English service. These women made a point of coming a service that I'd be surprised they could understand. These women were so hungry for knowledge, both of English and God, that they would come to this place to sit on the edge of their seats, drinking in the Word.

As I enjoy being at the front of the pack (no dog pun intended),
we ended up waiting in front of this 'farm' for the rest of the group.
Yes, this is the whole property. Yes, those dogs were not
particularly pleased by our presence.

By the way, pews in China have desks. Yeah, education is a way of life here. Also, if you've ever felt like your church takes way too long getting the Christmas greenery taken down after the season, you've got nothing on China. My church still has the greens up. it's the third week of March. Beat that. They also use greenery to form Chinese characters. Win?


In cooking class this week, we made a dish whose name I don't remember. However, Libby affectionately named it '猪肉McNuggets'. (猪肉 means 'pig meat', relating to all pork.) Basically, they were little chicken-fried pork cutlets. Delicious? OH MY GOODNESS YES. Yeah, pretty straight forward and delicious. Served without sauce but with salt, pepper and rice, only one of the most delicious things ever.

Random unrelated notes:

• My Chinese is improving (I know, you all said it would, but let me revel in my disbelief, mk?)! My professors have noticed, which is great. Also, apparently my ability to make some of the harder (read: weird) sound of 儿话 is pretty good (at least that's what one of the professors said). But honestly, I find the shapes my tongue making extremely odd.
• Russian bread is delicious.
• Russian bread with raisins is especially delicious.
• I love Russians.
• Pi Day and the Ides of march go unnoticed.
• It is extremely difficult 9read: fruitless and/or futile) to find pie in Harbin.
• Chinese women do not bathe whilst menstruating?
• Manchester united players have Chinese names. My favourite is John O'Shea's: Zhou Shei. Never again will I call him by his given name.
• The Chinese footy league is the Super League. I'm officially a fan.
• Because of my Conversation class, I'm now opening a bank account to save for the Brazil 2014.
• For some reason, when you Google image search 'poor wiring,' this photo comes up with the caption: causes of house fires. I think that's Tumnus. Could be wrong.

I also might be going to the Inner Mongolian Desert and the Silk Road for Spring Break. Should be pretty amazing! I'll keep you updated on those developments.

P.S. I love how, if you just type 'marchmadness.com' into your web browser's address bar, you are redirected to NCAA's bracket. Laziness ftw.

I Only Bowl at Hotels

So. Three weeks of classes down. Is it easier? Maybe a little. Has the stress level decreased? Not really. Nice of you to ask, though!

But really, though, things are getting better, but I do have the occasional freak out about once a day. The work load is really heavy and I spend pretty much every waking moment with flash cards in front of me. Last night alone I attempted to learn about 75 words (not characters, words, many of which were more than three characters each). Let's just say I was not entirely successful.

My roommate, Wanqin, and I

So, since my last post (which was almost two weeks ago, yes, I know, I'm an awful blogger. I apologize profusely.), I've really only done a few things, so I'll try to fill you in. Last weekend was spend studying. And I mean studying. This week began with two tests, which always makes for an awesome weekend, right? Can I get an 'amen'?! Honestly, the only thing I did for fun was to go bowling with my program. It was my roommate's first time bowling (not a traditional Chinese sport!) and I think she bowled better than I did, at least score-wise! I really am a depressingly poor bowler. :P The bowling alley was essentially the same as a Western alley, although they provide little footies to put over your socks when you wear the rental shoes. Also, apparently I wear about a 6 in Chinese shoes. My feet have never felt so small! The only real difference between this alley and a standard Western alley was its location. Never bowled in the basement of a swanky, first-class hotel? Well, you haven't bowled in China.

Tuesday evening was spent at my first cooking class, which takes place at a professor's home. In China, universities are even more of a city within a city than they are in the US. You thought the Trinity Bubble was bad? Just imagine your campus having all the standard amenities (giant three-story cafeterias (and countless of them), branches of every bank, hospitals, etc), then add in the fact that everyone related to the university lives on campus. This includes students, professors, faculty and their families. Ma Laoshi (my cooking teacher) is about 80 years old (and oh yes, you can totally tell) and has retired from teaching, but he and his wife still live in their campus apartment. I haven't yet had an opportunity to take a photo of his apartment or kitchen, but I hope at some point I will be able to show you what I perceive to be a standard Chinese home. Ever seen House Hunters International? And I don't mean the episodes when they go to the Bahamas and act all rich and stuff. I'm talking about the episodes where people are buying little hovels in Cambodia. Now picture their kitchens: small, lacking in appliances (and by lacking, I don't just mean a small, non-industrial-style oven, I mean no oven), having minimal counter-space provided only by a few mismatched cabinets at unusual heights, with an exposed gas line and dated and damaged tile. You know how you always wondered how people lived there? And you just assumed they didn't really cook? Yeah, you're wrong.

Ma Laoshi is an incredible cook, most remarkably because of the lack of space or resources he has in his possession. He's got one small cabinet (about 2'x2') on which he/we can lay out ingredients and prep, an oven which is only slightly larger than a toaster oven and a single gas burner which looks remarkably like a hot-plate upon which (likely permanently) sits a wok. The only modern piece in the kitchen was a surprisingly fancy electric hood (which has probably been installed to avoid burning the place down by way of burning oil). Regardless, for our first class, we prepared 地三鲜(di san xian), which roughly translates as 'Three Delights of the Earth', a traditional dongbei dish made of eggplant, potatoes and green peppers which are lightly fried and served in a slightly sweet and savory brown sauce. I've kinda started to become a fan of eggplant. I can't believe I just said that.

Outside of this, the last two weeks really have been a lot about school work. Oh! Evidence that China is definitely another culture: one of my dialogs to read for my Conversation class was the story of a boy and his dad in which the boy was really proud about his report card. That dad was going to give him a good chunk of money as a reward. Instead, the son asked for a promise. What was the promise, you ask? That the dad doesn't beat him the next time he gets bad scores. Good to know corporal punishment is still alive and well somewhere...

On that note, I'll be spending tomorrow on a bit of a hiking trip to Yaguo (don't bother wiki-ing it, it's not there), which is about an hour and half from our location in Harbin, but is known for its foliage (not that I'll be seeing any of that). It should be quite the day of it, with some good (and needed) exercise, and you all know I'm always one for hiking!  You can expect picture of the mountains and such next week!

Until then, um...I am laking a cute sign-off phrase. Leave suggestions in the comments.