The NYT has an interesting article about living in Shanghai, and how it compares with living in New York City. I’m traveling there next week, and am excited to see the difference between one of the most modern cities in China and the others that I have visited.
Blog
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CHIPSI Classes Over
Summer CHIPSI classes ended today, which is a good thing. I wasn’t as pleased with them as I had hoped to be. The subjects had potential, and some came through. But there is / was definitely room for improvement.
We have a day off before exams start on Wednesday and end on Friday. After that, we’re free for the rest of our stay here in China. And free to enjoy the remaining few weeks of summer back in the U.S.
Closing dinner tonight. Despite the difficulties of getting situated over here, I feel like it was just yesterday that we were trudging through the rain to the opening dinner.
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The 2007 British Open
I didn’t get to see a second of coverage of this years British Open (thanks to CCTV’s unwillingness to cover something worth watching), but from what I’ve read the finish was as exhilarating and sloppy as the final round eight years ago when it was last played at Carnoustie. I remember watching Jean Van de Velde crumple on the 18th hole and the following playoff between Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie. For a high school kid obsessed with golf, this was an exciting finish and one I could empathize with. (I have both won a playoff and lost by one shot after double-bogeying the final hole. One is a good feeling, the other is what people refer to as a “learning experience.”)
I’m hoping the golf channel will rebroadcast this years Open sometime soon when I’m back in the U.S. so I can see how truly disappointed Sergio was and how elated Harrington was when he hoisted the Claret Jug after the four hole playoff.
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Harry Potter 7
Something doesn’t seem right about the following headline from today’s China Daily:
Chinese bookworms going potty bout Potter
I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows today for RMB 208 at the Foreign Languages bookstore in Wang Fu Jing, Beijing, China. I bought the kids cover version and Skye bought the adult version. We’re waiting to read them on the plane ride home.
50,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were imported into China. Typically, about 100 copies of English language best-sellers are imported.
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Great Wall Pictures
You see all of these pictures that people take of the wall going on and on for miles and miles over hills, but it was so foggy and rainy that they didn’t let us past the fifth of nine towers. Bummer. Hoping to get back before I go home and take some better pictures.
Update 2009: Lost link, but see my flickr account.
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I Miss Fall Golf
Tenth grade in high school seems like a long time ago. I was spending my summers playing golf and working at a golf store. And in September of 1997 (a decade ago!!!) I played in a tournament at the Sault St. Marie Country Club in northern Michigan. The weather was cool and windy. From the time I hit the first range ball at 6:30am until I holed my last putt hours after noon various shades of light and dark gray intermingled above. Rain, although imminent, failed to fall.
I was young and immature – more so then than now – and had a poor putting day. I remember fighting the wind, moping a bit, and wishing I could play better. I don’t remember what I shot, but I can picture the ragged scorecard I turned in, its corners tattered and lead smudged. I remember hitting one very well-struck drive on an open dog-leg right hole. I remember that I was playing as an extra man with the varsity team to get experience. I remember enjoying everything about that day, but wanting to get out of the cold.
I really miss fall golf.
Watching the British Open doesn’t help.
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Cardboard Buns in China
A week ago it was reported that dumplings (aka – steamed buns) filled with cardboard were being sold in Beijing. Here’s a clip from a recent article rebuking the earlier news:
Beijing police have detained a television reporter for allegedly fabricating an investigative story about steamed buns stuffed with cardboard at a time when China’s food safety is under intense international scrutiny.
Now, presented with both stories and with rudimentary knowledge and insight into China’s gastronomical scene, I have the difficult decision of choosing to either believe that the buns actually did have cardboard in them and the Chinese government is spinning propaganda or to believe the Chinese government.
I think I’ll stay away from the street food either way – I have been in the mood for starfish and scorpions lately.