In a few hours I'm leaving Ningbo, which means I'll be headed to my last Chinese city of the summer: Beijing! I'm excited, especially since I've already been there once (in 2006) and look forward to re-seeing my past favorites. Our final presentation is on August 1, and my flight leaves on the fifth. That means that I'll have three whole days of sightseeing and shopping.
Ningbo is a very nice city of about 7 million people, although I didn't realize it at first. You see, the university that we've been staying at is not actually located in central Ningbo, but rather in a suburb. This means that to get to the more interesting parts of town, you have to take a 30 minute taxi ride (but because taxis are so cheap here, you end up only spending about $5 per cab, each way... you could also take a bus, but it takes twice as long and doesn't save you that much money). Downtown Ningbo has a large public square (and mall) overlooking a river. Surprisingly, there is a large, very European-looking Catholic church/cathedral in the middle of town. The first time I went, they were having a fashion show in the public square, and the selection of Western music that they chose was... interesting. At one point they played "Woo Hoo" (by the 5.6.7.8's) right after "Waka Waka Africa."
Last weekend we made a side trip to Xi'an, a very historic Northern Chinese city which used to be China's capital a few hundred years ago. The trip was very insightful and also a pleasant and much-needed work break. Some of the things we did include seeing the famous Terra Cotta Warriors (there's a lot of them!), riding bicycles around (and not just beside, but actually on top of) the city walls of Xi'an, and seeing a giant pagoda built in honor of a Buddhist monk who made a five-year journey to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures (a well-known Chinese book, "Journey to the West," is very loosely based on his life).
Funny conversation
Today at lunch I was talking with one of the Chinese students who I've been working with over the past week. I had earlier been discussing with other Baylor students how much I miss eating Mexican food, so I decided to ask the Chinese student whether she had ever had Mexican food. She thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Well, I think I remember eating Mexican food before. I have been to Kentucky!"
I thought about this for a few seconds and realized that while I've never been to Kentucky, I can reasonably assume that it contains hundreds, maybe thousands, of Mexican restaurants. What was surprising was to find out that she had been to America, something that I hadn't previously heard from her. I said, "Oh, Kentucky! That's a nice state. What were you doing there?" Surprised, she said, "Oh no, I meant the restaurant!... Wait, Kentucky is a real place?" I explained to her that Kentucky is, in fact, a real state. Furthermore, Kentucky fried chicken is not considered by most (if any) Americans to be "Mexican food."
I learned something from this conversation: most Chinese people have no idea what Mexican food is. This is hardly unique to China; when I was in England last year, I stayed with a family who had only a vague idea of what Mexican food is and had never had a burrito before (I offered to cook them burritos, and they accepted and enjoyed them). Unfortunately, while many cuisines, such as American and Italian, have become wide-spread globally, Mexican food has not achieved such success, despite being equally delicious.
That said, I'm sure I've said many equally questionable things when discussing Asian cuisine. I've tried a lot of new things since being in Asia which have shattered any notions I had previously had as to what people eat here. I've had both weird stuff (chicken feet, "fish balls") and unexpectedly delicious food (pineapple bun, egg tarts, and Indonesian food come to mind among many others). I suppose that this just shows the value of cross-cultural interaction: I've gained a better understanding of what (and how) food is made in China, and my Chinese colleagues are now more likely to be able to discern the fine line between fried chicken and a chicken burrito.
I thought about this for a few seconds and realized that while I've never been to Kentucky, I can reasonably assume that it contains hundreds, maybe thousands, of Mexican restaurants. What was surprising was to find out that she had been to America, something that I hadn't previously heard from her. I said, "Oh, Kentucky! That's a nice state. What were you doing there?" Surprised, she said, "Oh no, I meant the restaurant!... Wait, Kentucky is a real place?" I explained to her that Kentucky is, in fact, a real state. Furthermore, Kentucky fried chicken is not considered by most (if any) Americans to be "Mexican food."
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| What Mexican food might look like, as perceived by the Chinese |
I learned something from this conversation: most Chinese people have no idea what Mexican food is. This is hardly unique to China; when I was in England last year, I stayed with a family who had only a vague idea of what Mexican food is and had never had a burrito before (I offered to cook them burritos, and they accepted and enjoyed them). Unfortunately, while many cuisines, such as American and Italian, have become wide-spread globally, Mexican food has not achieved such success, despite being equally delicious.
That said, I'm sure I've said many equally questionable things when discussing Asian cuisine. I've tried a lot of new things since being in Asia which have shattered any notions I had previously had as to what people eat here. I've had both weird stuff (chicken feet, "fish balls") and unexpectedly delicious food (pineapple bun, egg tarts, and Indonesian food come to mind among many others). I suppose that this just shows the value of cross-cultural interaction: I've gained a better understanding of what (and how) food is made in China, and my Chinese colleagues are now more likely to be able to discern the fine line between fried chicken and a chicken burrito.
Hong Kong, visit #2
So... I realize it's been a long time since I've written, and I apologize for that. It certainly hasn't been for lack of topics to write about. Rather, it's been lack of time to do it!
Right now I'm working with Baylor's i5 program. Before the program, I wasn't really sure whether it's more like an internship or a study abroad. Turns out that it's both. We have class from 8 to 12 and then do internship-related activities from 1 until pretty late at night (9 to 11 depending on circumstances), taking a break for dinner. Obviously, this is quite intensive and leaves little room for free time (although we do get weekends off). So hopefully you can understand my long silence.
The project I'm working on is pretty interesting. I can't say too much but it involves very advanced video surveillance software. Got to visit an office yesterday and it was a very interesting experience.
That said, despite the busyness, I still love being here. For one thing, I'm surrounded by really great peers and mentors. I really enjoy the company of all the other students (both graduate and undergraduate) on this trip, and I also really like the professors who have come along. Also, Hong Kong is a really amazing city. I believe in an earlier post I talked about some of the things I had seen in my last visit to the city, and I've seen many of those things again, plus a few entirely new things. For example, I saw the Dragon Boat races last weekend, and they were quite fun to watch. Hopefully I will soon get around to putting up photos... but at this point I don't know when I can make time to do it!
We'll be in Hong Kong until Sunday, at which point we will transfer to Ningbo. Should be an interesting experience!
Right now I'm working with Baylor's i5 program. Before the program, I wasn't really sure whether it's more like an internship or a study abroad. Turns out that it's both. We have class from 8 to 12 and then do internship-related activities from 1 until pretty late at night (9 to 11 depending on circumstances), taking a break for dinner. Obviously, this is quite intensive and leaves little room for free time (although we do get weekends off). So hopefully you can understand my long silence.
The project I'm working on is pretty interesting. I can't say too much but it involves very advanced video surveillance software. Got to visit an office yesterday and it was a very interesting experience.
That said, despite the busyness, I still love being here. For one thing, I'm surrounded by really great peers and mentors. I really enjoy the company of all the other students (both graduate and undergraduate) on this trip, and I also really like the professors who have come along. Also, Hong Kong is a really amazing city. I believe in an earlier post I talked about some of the things I had seen in my last visit to the city, and I've seen many of those things again, plus a few entirely new things. For example, I saw the Dragon Boat races last weekend, and they were quite fun to watch. Hopefully I will soon get around to putting up photos... but at this point I don't know when I can make time to do it!
We'll be in Hong Kong until Sunday, at which point we will transfer to Ningbo. Should be an interesting experience!
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