While I have been China I have been thinking about my East Asian Studies thesis. My first topic choice was skin in China. Fair, unblemished skin has consistently been the preference throughout history... I should actually do some research to make sure of that... Now, women use skin products containing bleach, burn freckles off with vinegar, use umbrellas anytime it is sunny... However, I would have to do more of an emphasis on the fine art/ literature part of that, since that is my focus. So I would have to find poetry, and literature, and representations of women in art. This might be too unwieldy a topic. Theses are always so specific, and I like to look at the big picture. The history of it, the effect on women's self-confidence, how this affects how people in ... read more

I have one! I found a row of printing shops on the way back from the subway station, and a few of them print red banners. I came up with a sentence, stopped in at one on the way back from the noodle man last week, and ordered a banner. It was as simple as that. My banner says: Welcome to my cold, shabby hovel. That may sound ridiculous to you, because you aren't in my Culture and Society class. But when Chinese people welcome guests into their homes, they traditionally disparage their own home and children and food, etc. So my Culture and Society teacher always says, in his crazy voice, "Welcome to my cold, shabby hovel. This is my worthless son..." So I am going to hang it in my dorm room at Lewis ... read more

On Friday the twenty-second everyone had a day off of classes for Sichuan University's seasonly sports competition. This is an inter-campus competition. Students from the Sichuan University schools of law, hydroelectric engineering, foreign language, business, etc. competed with each other in events such as the 100 meter, 400 meter, 1500 meter, shot put, javelin, soccer... On Friday morning the opening ceremony began at 8 am. Only three or four abroad students were competing in events, so our Chinese teachers worked hard to recruit more of us to walk in the opening ceremony. It didn't take much. Each participant received a free track suit: bright red with 海外 on the back, meaning "abroad." So, after a night out I woke up at 6:30 to get myself ready and walk over to the stadium near South gate. The ... read more

Red banners are all over the place in China. Hanging in front of school buildings, on store fronts, on gates, from trees, next to sports fields... Some of them are about the 2010 census, some are store advertisements, some I can't read. I don't know where they come from, whether they can be purchased by any old person, how to get them... However, I am planning on finding out. Anyway, today when I was walking through campus I took pictures of as many red banners as I saw and could take pictures of without looking like a fool. And these aren't even close to all of the banners on campus, not to mention the rest of the city and China.... read more

I have an exciting weekend planned with my friends. Today we are going to Chunxi Lu to have Pizza Hut for lunch and shop. There are a few themed extravaganzas coming up, a Cabaret at the Shamrock and Halloween to be exact. So we need to find bits and pieces for our costumes. Tonight we are having dinner with Clare's English group. They have pledged to take us somewhere good and cheap, which is awesome because we are trying the stick to the 50 kuai a day meal stipend that PLU has set for us. That is seven dollars a day. And if we eat for less that that, we can use our earnings to fund shopping, tailoring, etc. After dinner we will go out as usual. Tomorrow at one Sichuan University is sending us all ... read more