No VPN...

The last week before you move is always frantic.  Finish working and teaching, get your host family a teaching plan for the next 2 months, have dinner and/or lunch with 4 people and tell 12 others that you're going to do your best to meet them, even though you know it is physically impossible.  Get a suit from Yaxiu clothing market, where I paid about $200 for a three piece, which might have been a little high but in my defense I didn’t have much time to bargain, “I chose a good material,” and the suit surprisingly came out great.  Get one more $3 haircut. Don’t forget gifts for everyone you have encountered in your time in China.  Don’t forget gifts for everyone back home.  Exchange your currency to that lovely green American paper that we all love, but beware, I found out the day before I left that China only lets foreigners exchange $500 worth of RMB per day.  How 麻烦 (inconvenient) is that? Pack your stuff, lose that bloody VPN, cancel your phone, and finally don’t sleep the night before you get on the plane to accelerate your superhuman ability to adjust to new times zones in 48 hours.

So what have I learned in China?  I have realized that what my boss told me on the first day at USCBC was absolutely correct.  He said, before you come to China, you could write a 100 pages about it, after arriving you can only write a few dozen, after a few months only a page or two, and by the time you leave you can't write anything.  He says this because of how quickly China is churning and also due to the complicated nature of its development.  There are regional and cultural differences within China, different laws and exceptions to rules all over the place, things that would impress you and things that would make you shake your head. But regardless of what new things you discover in China, it is all changing at the speed of sound.  And as much as I appreciate the openness and transparency of Western news media, it does not do a particularly good job of capturing the essence of China's development and new trends.  It tends to focus more on hot button issues such as currency manipulation, which really is only one small piece to the puzzle here.

It has become tradition in the Bejing Office of the USCBC to ask their interns what they have learned while working there.  So over lunch, my manager asked me and told me that I could respond in Chinese or English.  She gave me a moment to collect my thoughts and I was surprisingly able to respond in Chinese by saying that working with the USCBC has given me a firsthand look at the structure of the Chinese government and how it influences all American business interests.  I have gotten a glimpse of the business culture here in China, what challenges American firms face, and what best practices are for conducting business.  I have had the chance to continue using my Chinese both orally and through my research projects.  I have gained so many other noteworthy experiences while here at the USCBC, but it will likely be years before I fully realize all that I have learned or how it will all help me.

I have grown personally.  Navigating another country using a foreign language is no easy task, and doing that while living on your own makes it even more challenging.  This summer, for the first time in my life, I only spent the money that I had earned from working and truly began to understand what it means to "be on your own." It's a critical experience for many of us and I'm glad that I was able to discover it before I graduated college.  I feel like I have strengthened my survival skills and become a more responsible young adult.  In fact, when you finally come to the realization that you have to face fierce competition from every country in the world and that you and only you are responsible for your success within that scope, it is very stimulating.  Before coming to China, I was aware of this notion in theory, but in reality, I had not felt the effects of globalization or the real-life challenges of supporting yourself.

Sitting here at gate E08 of Beijing International Airport, looking at the plane I am about to board stirs up a lot of emotion. It has been a fantastic time in China, and I owe a lot of that to being surrounded by good people, namely a great roommate and his family in Shanghai, great classmates, a generous host family in Beijing, and the diligent staff at the USCBC.  I miss China already and while I don't know how it will play into my long-term personal and professional goals, I do know that it already holds a very, very special place in my heart.  Until next time, China, farewell.

I Still Have One Trip Left in Me

^Zhang Ning and me at the Great Wall at Badaling.  I finally made it!

I made two final trips while in Beijing, which have brought my time in China to a nice closing.  I finally made it the Great Wall, which I was really beginning to worry about with so little time left.  Fortunately, my Chinese teacher, Zhang Ning, gladly accepted my invitation to go because she had never been either!  So I thought of my classmates from last semester, Ally, David, and Rebecca as I went to go buy the tickets. While we were in Tibet we always joked about the stereotypical Chinese tour groups with the screaming tour guide trailed by a pack of bumbling Chinese people.  Well, I finally joined one of those groups to see what the hype was all about and we went to the Great Wall at Badaling.  The tour guide was actually pretty funny and I had a nice day, even with all the tourists.

^Jessi and me making her first sandcastle on the beach at Beidaihe.

^The result!

The second trip was just as much spontaneous as it was appreciated.  Friday afternoon, Jessi, my English student, told me that at 7am the next day we were going to Beidaihe for the weekend.  Not only is Beidaihe the place where people claim the Chinese government hosts corrupt meetings, but it also happens to be essentially the only beach on China's northern coast.  Interesting, eh? I told a colleague where I was going and how excited I was to go to the beach and she gave me a heads up that it probably wasn't the kind of beach I had in mind from America.  She was right; it was almost like the Beijing metro, but with beach chairs and less clothing.  I still had a good time swimming and helping Jessi make her first sand castle (this always makes me think, what do these kids do when they're growing up).

^In Chinese, I jokingly said to my host father, "are those the private beaches?" meaning only government officials can use them, because that is how we would say it in English and the irony of his response was that they are not private, but rather public beaches because they are controlled by the government.  #ItsForThePeople

Back to Beijing for the last time, on this trip at least, for one final week of wrapping things up.

American Food?

Beijing's cuisine isn't bad if you stick to the well-travelled path. The Kro's Nest in Sanlitun is serving monstrous pizzas with topping options that could satisfy even the pickiest of New Yorkers.  We went here for a staff lunch last week and had a half-veggie and half-chicken and mushroom 20" pie.  There were 5 of us and we still couldn't finish the pie, but I should add that we ordered two good size salads for starters.

^ 20" Pie at the Kro's Nest.

If you are craving American food I have just the place for you. On a side note, once I say this my colleagues mockingly say, "after all, what is American food?" All you can do is smile and say that we have taken the best food from all other countries, added an American flair and marketing strategy to it, and sold it back to them with great returns.  So Steak and Eggs is an American style diner with the classics: omelettes, corned beef hash, waffles (extra maple syrup no doubt), B.L.T.s and even an awesome Chicken Cordon Bleu, which has an awesome white sauce that reminds me of the stuff my dad used to make with breakfast when I was a kid.  Top it all off with real A&W root beer, or better yet, a root beer float and you're all set, craving satisfied.

^Root beer float at Steak and Eggs.

Best spots for beer would include El Nido and Passby Bar, which both claim to have over a hundred varieties of imported beer, but actually back that statement up when you order something from a European micro brewery that no one has ever heard of.    Maomao Chong was voted best Hutong bar by the Beijinger last year or the year before, but I couldn't quite figure out why.  It seemed very run of the mill, but sometimes when you're in China, a little blandness and the security of knowing that they're using real Captain Morgan is all that you're looking for.

Recently, a few of the Middlebury students got together for dinner at another must-go place called Dali Courtyard.  When our friend led us through the tiny dingy alleyway before the restaurant we were all thinking, "wow, this guy really knows his stuff." So when we finally walked through the "whole in the wall" and into a courtyard with plenty of Western faces, we realized it must be a top pick by travel guides.  If you want to impress a group of friends or family visits Beijing, take them here though!  The menus is set, meaning you sit down, they count how many people you have, and delicious food comes, without having to go through the normal 30-minute ringamarole of ordering at a Chinese restaurant.

I wish I could give everyone a review, but the best I can do is toss a few more names out there!  Bar Blu is featuring great live music with my buddies Mike and Tony, always entertaining the crowd.  The Tree is serving up some noteworthy pizzas. Element Fresh in Sanlitun is always a safe bet for any crowd, Chinese or foreign.  The Bookworm is a great café scene.  Vineyard Café is a lovely brunch stop, with a fun Hutong to walk down after eating.

^The Dice Game at Bar Blu.