Today's big news was that my classmates found out I went to Williams. Now not only do I have to deal with being a tall blond haired alien among the Chinese, I have to deal my classmates saying, "but you went to WILLIAMS??? you look so normal!" I guess that's the risk of everyone else in your class but one being a current Middlebury student. They were all very nice about it, after the initial shock... but now I've really got to start studying so I can represent!
I've decided that the Chinese "yield" signs are really more of a suggestion than a command - it might have something to do with the character written upon them, "让" (pronounced "rang"). The word, depending on the context in which it's used, can either mean "to yield" or "to compel". In traffic, ideally, it would mean "to yield". However, in practice, especially if you are a bus, it means "to compel". I saw living proof of this yesterday when I went for a walk after grabbing a coffee at McDonald's. I was standing by one particularly busy intersection with a "让" sign waiting for my coffee to cool, and observing traffic. There is a definite hierarchy - bus, van, car, three-wheeled motoche, bicycle, pedestrian, old lady with cane moving slowly. Seriously - the old lady with the cane got honked at.
Not much new craziness to report from today. Gmail is still my archenemy - I have been trying to send my application for Harbin for about fifteen minutes now. It seems to think, and think, and think, and THEN decide that "the system is unable to perform this operation. Please try again later." Arrrrghhhh! It seems like all systems are go for the move up to Harbin, though. They just need to find a professor that can work with my topic, and they might need to change my topic slightly if they can't find someone suitable, but hopefully things will work out.
Oh - and before I forget. My dad pointed out that I never answered the question I posed before going to IKEA, which was basically, does it all come from China or is it imported? answer: almost ALL of it comes from China, and it's noticeably cheaper than the US (but still relatively expensive for China). The difference in the cost of basic goods between the US and China is overwhelming. Luxury goods are about the same, but you really notice the difference when you're eating in a restaurant, or going grocery shopping. There's basically just less STUFF to buy here, so unless you're hell-bent on going out and spending a lot of money on clothes or electronics or whatever, it's actually hard to spend money on a daily basis. It's a much simpler life. (of course, my daily life is basically spent within a three-block radius of the school. were I to venture out, I'm sure I could find a lot more complexity!)
Gmail just went through. off to do more homework!
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