 Sarah Kirkpatrick - sarahsinbeijing | All Comments |
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| 13th June 2008 sarahsinbeijing | - From: Still alive and kicking in Beijing Dimitra! It's good to hear from you! The spitting on the ground doesn't actually mean anything, I'm afraid. Chinese people just seem to have a lot of phlegm. I've noticed that it's mostly men that do the spitting, and many men in China are heavy smokers, so I suspect it also has to do with smoking. Also, the pollution in the air might somehow attribute to their need to spit. |
| 13th June 2008 dimitra | - From: Still alive and kicking in Beijing that was a great entry sarah... what does the spitting on the ground mean? |
| 16th February 2008 Alejandro Ruiz | - From: Journal Entry 1 Is there anything more iconic of Chinese manufacturing prowess than the shelves at Wal-Mart? Face it, Wal-Mart is the perfect encapsulation sino-american relations in the 21st century. But Wal-Mart as a bastion of quality of China...lol. Where does the dollar store stand in the chinese marketplace? :P But McDonalds is total shite. Pizza Hut and KFC on the other hand, do an adequate job in representing their respective culinary delights. I still wouldn't eat there, until the last street stall in China closes and even then. Your friends are fools. |
| 16th February 2008 Alejandro Ruiz | - From: Journal Entry 2 "What these articles fail to mention is that the income gap in the U.S. s also increasing as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Not true, theres plenty of articles I've stumbled upon that hit upon this issue. From the NY Times, to the economist, the trib, the la times, even our own Chicago Reader. People just don't pay attention "Though the U.S. may not have a floating population the way that China does, it does have a population of people that have moved certain places because that is where the jobs are." Actually, Sarah...have you forgotten the illegal immigrants? What are they, if not a "floating population"? From what I know, they're in in a very similar situation, since they both can face difficulty when it comes to health care, job rights, minimum wage and you know...basically they're very easy to abuse by various unscrupulous types due to their clandestine nature. "It seems hypocritical for the U.S. to criticize China when it has a similar problem of its own." It really depends, for example...since the United States is still dominated by a large middle-class. You know since the end of the depression until now, but yeah the income gap in increasing but more at the top than anything. The fear is that it could get worse and it could get to the point where the classes in the United States are more stratified and less fluid. But it's interesting to note...seriously...get this.....it seems the problems are not unrelated...ironically, a big part of the lost of income in the working-class has a HUGE part to do with the lost of well paying Union factory jobs that were plentiful up until a generation. When those jobs were "outsourced" it was devastating blow to the American blue-collar worker. Now, a lot of the same jobs and factories have made their way to China. Creating a market for advertising execs, lawyers, accountants and etc. You gotta love the world works sometimes. I'm not saying, blame Chinca...because it's not their fault...I just think that the problems are related...and we're just noticing the fallout. But honestly, I feel it is more hypocritical of China and the communist party to oversee this huge gap in classes (Here I go sarah, about to get this site banned). The United States wasn't founded on the idea of a complete egalitarian state...no...in fact it only guarantees "equal opportunity" and "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Now, I'm not expert of communism...but I'm assuming that socialists tenets lay at the heart. Workers are supposed to be equal, they're supposed to be protected, but frankly they're not....in a supposedly socialist state. That's where I think, China's hypocrisy lies. Basically, their country has sold the Chinese proletariat out so they can line their own politically well connected pockets and those in access in power and cronyism stand the most to gain in the the embrace of capitalism. In fact, China right now resembles Mexico's PRI more than anything else I can think of. The "Partido Revolucionario Institucional" which is an oxymoron. How can one institute revolution? Same way...how can one be socialistic and capitalistic. But anyway, the PRI was characterized the worlds "perfect dictatorship" because above all, it's goal was to maintain their own power and corruption. Even if it lay against the best interests of the people they governed. If you actually read this....then wow....hopefully you can sorta use this to get some answers. Because I'm honestly curious to what a Chinese persons viewpoint might be. |
| 16th February 2008 Alejandro Ruiz | - From: I drove a car..... in China! (a.k.a. "Sarah, you know how to drive, right?" It's 2.2 km to the mile....see....I'm never there when you need me. ps I miss you! |
| 12th February 2008 bobismile | nope - From: I ate donkey penis for dinner last night... oops!that isnt donkey penis,i am blood sure the translation of it in this menu is authentically wrong!what you ate is just vegetable called FA CAI.soooooo i should tell you i worked there for free time last year,now not anymore!XI`AN HOTEL?right?haha~~so trust me! |
| 4th February 2008 Lindsey | - From: Journal Entry 1 Hey Sarah. Greetings from the language lab! Your trip looks amazingly interesting...I'm sure you're learning tons. Anyway, I wanted to cry when I saw a Wal-Mart in Buenos Aires and a Starbucks in Santiago. ( I went in the Starbucks. Everything was exactly the same as in the US...creepy...) so I understand your sentiments ;-) Globalization at its best? |
| 26th January 2008 justin passing | An hour later you are hungry again . . - From: I ate donkey penis for dinner last night... I have heard after an hour you want some more, is that true? |
| 23rd January 2008 Steve | lucky numbers - From: I bought a bicycle! My roommates Uncle has a car and had to pay a crazy amount of money (something upwards of thousand dollars) for a license plate of 88 999. Have fun seeing Xi'an and Shanghai. I'm soo jeolous. |
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