我的环境保护看法

(This is a Chinese post for those of you that can read Chinese. I know there are mistakes. I actually made a few changes on paper but remember that I've only been study Chinese for two years.)

我的保护环境看法很简单。我只觉得我需要提高我们保护环境能力。让我解释。

拿中国来说，现在很多外国公司进入中国的市场。很多公司用中国的工厂生产产品。这对中国的环境不好。 中国的污染越来越厉害，由此可见中国公司和中国政府都觉得发展是最重要目的。 还有，越是中国发展越是中国人的生活水平提高。中国的政府预计明年有更多汽车。他们的问题会增加了。中国政府和经济领导人并非忽视中国的环境问题。

这个问题并不是只中国的。每个国家必须处理这个问题。 最大城市有最厉害的污染问题和资源不足。为什么？很大的城市有太多了汽车。 大城市从来有贫富差距。富人可以随意决定用多少资源，所以这些富人浪费太多了资源。 这些城市有过大污染。比如洛杉矶，有这么多的汽车。 它们的空气非常不好。每个家庭有一些汽车。因为洛杉矶没有够的水需要盖一个人造的河流。这个河流从旧金山南流洛杉矶。洛杉矶还有不太多了树林。它们的气候很热。还有洛杉矶位于在一个山谷。它们的气候还有相当于沙漠一样，所以下雨很小。这两个原因是为什么污染不能散开。 洛杉矶是一个极端的例子，但是想像如果每个城市相当于洛杉矶一样。我会跳楼！

我觉得环境保护是每个人的义务。但是我觉得公司需要带路保护环境。保护环境是特别富人的义务。然后是社会的。然而很多公司不在乎保护环境。他们只受到最高的利润。社会怎么控制几个公司不在乎？有一些方法。

第一个方法，政府需要创造更严格立法，增加规定。现在公司的生产有太大自由。如果一个公司有污染，政府需要让它们付更多了税。如果税不够，政府需要关机这个公司。

第二个方法，赞美公司谁知道怎么用企业社会责任（CSR）。如果一个公司的生产法是很好的，给他们一些礼物，减肥他们的税，增加他们的自由，给他们政府的项目，什么的。

第三个方法，政府需要领导这个保护环境革命，这个绿色革命。现在世界经济系统不太好。投资绿色科技可以增加就业。还有这个绿色科技是长远而言便宜的。至少推销绿色科技的公司。因为美国是世界的最有钱的国家第一，美国的政府必须领导这个革命。

所以我们都可以看出来污染的问题太厉害。我们需要用更多努力保护环境。 普通人可以开始保护环境。人需要切忌塑料包，坐公共交通，不浪费资源，和想想我们的世界。

My Internship in Shanghai - Sherpa's

When people ask me what I want to do for my career in the future, I have trouble defining exactly what type of “work” I would do. I skate around the issue by saying things like, “I really like people” or “I can see myself in marketing because I have creative thoughts.” But in reality there is always one thing on my mind – starting a business. I think it’s the adventurous part of me that just revels in the idea of being an entrepreneur. Or maybe it’s the artistic side of me that just wants to create something. Or perhaps it is the logical side of me, after all most of the richest people in the world are business owners. Most likely, I think it’s the freedom that lures me to being an entrepreneur. There are no boundaries, and perhaps that’s what scares most people away.

In Shanghai this semester, I have been working directly with an American entrepreneur, Mark, who founded a company called Sherpa’s. Mark is a super down-to-earth chill boss. He moved to Shanghai about 10 years ago because the girl he loved got moved there for work. After working a few different jobs, including teaching English, Mark went to business school at one of the only English MBA programs in China. His MBA project was to write up a full business plan start to finish. Sherpa’s was his business plan. Basically, Mark saw that there are a lot of food delivery options in Shanghai, but very few for good Western food restaurants. As a busy foreigner, he and his wife were never in the mood for cooking and delivery options were limited to cheap Chinese food. That’s were Sherpa’s comes in. Sherpa’s filled this void by providing a bilingual call center service, a collection of Western restaurants and a team of couriers with scooters. Now Sherpa’s a multimillion dollar business and has expanded successful to Suzhou, Hangzhou, and working on Beijing.

This semester, I have gotten to ask questions about running a business in China and really pick his brain on various topics. For example, I asked Mark if he had to work with the government at all to make his business run smoothly. His answer? Nah. It’s more of a threat than anything else. There are so many rules in China that you literally cannot run a business without the breaking the law. The government has this established on purpose. They aren’t going to crack down on Mark’s business unless he gives them reason to. But if the government ever need dirt on him, it’s always there. This is a normal business practice. I've heard the Chinese government described as a sleeping anaconda in a chandelier. It’s obviously there, it’s obviously dangerous, and it is obviously doing a bad job of making people think it’s blending with the backdrop. However, it’s sleeping nonetheless and does not plan to attack unless it need be. (My program director has said that the Chinese government is a very old, lazy sleeping anaconda. lol)

Overall, my internship at Sherpa's is complete. I learned a great deal from my mentor and had a great time working in a few different roles. My CSR (Customer Service Representative) project was the largest of all my projects. It consisted of listening to CSR complaint calls to find where standards were not being met or where changes should be made. I had a lot of freedom with the project but was also told who else to bounce ideas off of ( CSR managers Aki and Cecily). I liked having sequential steps that included: 1) Getting familiar with CSR calls. 2) Identifying problems. 3) Brainstorming solutions and changes. 4) Implementing suggestions and 5) Testing the changes. The work could get very monotonous just listening to CSR calls but it had to be that way to understand the process completely. I had trouble finding the recorded calls in HelpClient that corresponded with the actual complaint in the DMS. So that was just added time but really not a barrier. It was a great experience to have and I will remember my time working in Shanghai forever.

Rural China

This last weekend was a fun time and a great experience to say the least. Starting at 10 pm on Friday, CET students took the subway to the Hongqiao train station in Shanghai to board a 6 hr train (12 am to 6 am) south to Lishui. Lishui would not be our end destination however as we boarded tour buses and spend the better part of the day riding through China's countryside and up into the mountains until we arrived at a little rural village. By western standards, this was poverty. By rural Chinese standards, this was a wealthy village. The village were we stayed is completely self-sufficient. They do however import a few EXTRAS into the town like cheap tvs, baijiu and Snow beer. They are able to do this because they grow a unique mushroom that is sold not just in China but also in popular in Japan. I usually don't like mushrooms (and by usually I mean never) but given that is was there "cash crop" I had plenty of mushrooms to eat for the next 24 hrs.

The town has a central dirt and rock (not gravel) road running straight through it (although it curves around the natural hills of the surroundings). Houses are close to one another but it seems that families enjoy a comfortable amount of space. The houses are big and very creaky with all the open floorboards and exposed wood. Sheet rock is hard to come by. There are ducks running around and sometimes just sitting there honking. Ducks have pink spray paint marking who owns them. The village has dozens of dogs running around. Down the dirt road their is a centrally located outhouse that is no more than a shed with a hole dug in the middle of the ground. There is no sign indicating the facilities as the stench gives it away from about 100 ft. I held my breath every time I passed it.

In the afternoon that we arrived, wiling participants took a grueling hike up to the highest point overlooking the town. We took in the scene with a fresh breath of air (yes, fresh air in China DOES exist! AND I found it!!!) and while posing for pictures with friends. I also realized that I forgot camera, damn. (thanks Keel for the pictures) The village seemed even smaller as my eyes scanned the mountain ranges and put into perspective all the years that this small village has endured.

When night arrives, the town's only streetlight reveals four small boys playing together. Their fathers (I'm assuming) stand chatting and grinning at the play of the young boys. I watched from the centrally located house where we ate our dinner. The boys saw me and were very curious but too scared to come close. At one point they even approached the bottom of the path to where I was standing. However, when I turned to see who it was they gave out a yell and broke like hell for the comfort of the older men.

Dinner was a mix of bamboo root, mushrooms, tofu, pig's blood and of course plain white rice. Pig's blood is one of the most unappetizing foods I have ever eaten so I fight through my dislike of mushrooms and endure the filthy taste. There is also salty pork but most of the pieces are just fat. I probably ate more fat in that meal than any one other meal in my life. For this meal, I was completely content with being not quite feeling full.

After dinner we are shown where in the town each of us is supposed to sleep. We are on the buddy system so Keel and I drag our backpacks and sleeping bags further down the road and into the guest house of another family. Keel and I are classmates in third-year Chinese. He goes to Bowdoin College but is from Minnesota. The night was going to be a cold one as the room was not incillated, cold November weather adn mountain altitude were all working against the forces of my wool socks, multi-layered clothing and sleeping bag.

After dropping our stuff, we headed back to where we had dinner to partake in the evening festivities. The Chinese Communist Party Secretary for the area was sure to show us good hospitality by offering boxes of Snow beer and baijiu. Baijiu literally translates to White Alcohol and is China's version of cheap, horrible vodka. It will literally burn a hole through a person. The party secretary seemed immune to it though. He was a short pudgy man who smelled of beer and baijiu. His eyes were yellow glazed over and he had a long forehead that seemed to run to the top of his head where his dark black hair once existed. He tries to make up for it by allowing the hair on the sides of his head to grow a little thicker.

And after that it was a merry night that I don't have time to write about right now! Hopefully that will hold enough suspense for the next blog entry when I write about staying overnight in a Daoist temple deep in the mountains up a pathway that looked like something out of Kung Fu movie.

Doing it Big at the Expo

So I finally had my chance to check out the World's Fair that is being held in Shanghai. I had heard that the lines are just horrible but really when I went it wasn't that bad. We stayed away from the really long lines like England, France, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. The USA line was long too but we could skip it if we should our passports. America!



Outside the Egypt Pavilion - actually didn't go in this one as the line was pretty long.



Outside the UK Pavilion - line was also really long; like over a couple hours long. I thought seeing the outside was sufficient along with visiting less popular countries like Ireland, Norway, Turkey, New Zealand.



Norwegian Pavilion - one of my favorites. I really enjoyed this one and took great pride in my Norwegian bloodlines!



Inside the Spain Pavilion. This gigantic robotic baby was very popular with the Chinese crowds.



The Chinese Pavilion: the biggest and best (and probably the most expensive). I was not allowed to go in as a special ticket is needed with much time in advance. Luckily the Pavilion will still be on display when the Expo is over.

My *Busy* Shanghai Life

So I’ve been very busy lately (as I keep saying over and over again to anyone I talk to back home.) But honestly I really have been. Between 12+ hours of Chinese class a week, plus 15 hrs/week at my internship and then an additional econ class, I am really just stretched thin. But I still have been able to do some cool things lately and really enjoy myself at the same time. This trip has really been love/hate for me.

So here are some things that I have been up to lately:

- At my internship I have been given a project. I am creating a sales kit/package that we will use to distribute to restaurants that we want to add. Here is a little about my internship. The company is called Sherpa’s. It’s very well-known in Shanghai’s expat community. We are a food delivering company that only deals with respectable foreign restaurants or up-to-our-standard Chinese restaurants. I am working in the marketing department. My boss is pretty cool guy. He’s an American that started the company after going to business school in Shanghai.

- I have been playing basketball in my spare time quite a bit. Donghua University has an intramural league that separates teams by majors. I have been playing with the international trade team. I went off my first game and played well. I missed a game but we still won. And then last game I was all over the court but had trouble scoring. My defense and rebounding still helped us win though and that puts us in the championship game.

- I got to check out cool art district called Tian Zi Fang. It has a great nightlife and the art was pretty cool. The area is old style a lot of the upstairs are residential but artists and businessmen have turned the area into a little bar district as well. My roommate’s friend from back home was visiting so him and I went together and looked at the art. We also hit up a shaved ice place that was pretty good.

Pictures for Mom

I know everyone wants to see pictures but I probably wouldn't put these up if it wasn't for my mom. Enjoy!











This is a good friend of mine, Kasar. As you can obviously see Kasar is not your typical Chinese. He is a minority known as Uigher that is of Turkish descent. People often mistake him for a foreigner. He comes from Chinese northwest province known as Xinjiang. Do some research if you are curious. Maybe later on I'll blog about everything I know about Uighers.

I enjoy hanging out with him, and the activities are always fun. He is actually a fantastic basketball player to. THE BEST I have ever played with or against in China hands down. He whoops me every time.

I would love to visit him in Urumqi. Maybe next summer if I could somehow find a way. Urumqi is actually very developed while the culture and traditions are still very rich. I look forward to visiting someday.

Foreigners in China

Foreigner Culture

I have a problem with certain white foreigners in China, especially the guys. Young foreign men here get complimented at every opportunity and are treated like gods; the idols of society. It messes with their heads and pretty soon they think they are literally God’s gift to society and mankind. I realize I am a white man in China and therefore experience this phenomenon firsthand. Others in China face very different experiences; like a Chinese-American who doesn't speak any Chinese in China or limited Chinese. Somehow I am smart for being to speak small amounts of Chinese and he would be stupid not understanding every word.

How do I approach this? Treat ALL people with the respect they deserve as a person. Also, I want to dig deeper into the SETTLED expat community here. People who have been here for a while tend to be more like who they really are back home.

La Duzi *Disclaimer: this might be too much information for some of you.

Traditionally, my blog entries have been pretty surface level, where I’ve gone and what I’ve done there. This time around I thought I would occasionally sprinkle in some more in-depth detail on a few real events that are everyday life here. This one isn’t pretty in the least.

La Duzi. In Chinese, the way to describe diarrhea is la duzi. This literally translates to “pull out of the stomach.” First off, I think spicy butt would be more appropriate given the effects. Another thing, talking about having la duzi in China is not a taboo at all. In fact, people are generally pretty open about it. Following this trend, I’ll be open about my la duzi.

The other day I had ma la tang. Tang is the Chinese word for soup, la is the Chinese word for spicy, and ma is another type of spice that famously comes from Sichuan province. While studying in Sichuan (my last trip) I often had a lot of ma la hotpot. Basically ma la hotpot is a boiling pot of oil with the ma and la spices that is used to cook raw vegetables and meats. The ma la hotpot in Chengdu, Sichuan frequently gave me la duzi. In Shanghai however I have had more normal bowel movements in a week than I had in Chengdu in 4 months.

My first dose of Shanghai la duzi came from the lovely bowl of ma la tang (which I guess translates to “numb spicy soup”) shown in the picture. I was cheap. It was delicious. It was spicy. It gave me la duzi!

Maybe that was too much information for you. Now you understand my day to day life a little better. Well, I’ve got the runs… Oops!... I mean, I’VE GOT TO RUN!

I’m back

And that means this blog is also back in action. Pretty much anything older than this post is from 2008 or later when I was last in China or further back to my time in Taiwan.

Here we go, this is what it feels like to be back:

1. Although I’m not exactly experiencing “culture shock,” I definitely am rusty on this whole traveling in China thing. I’m also doing some major dusting off on my Chinese.

2. Little Things are coming back to me…but slowly. For example, I got into the taxi form the airport and as we started off I tried frantically to find my seatbelt. As we started weaving through traffic at speeds unsafe for the typhoon conditions, I realized that backseats of taxis often do not have seatbelts in China. Then I felt this uneasiness come over of being out of my comfort zone and literally worried for my safety, an element of travel that I had not felt since my first summer in Taiwan. It’s safe to say that I’m adjusting.

3. My roommate situation is good. Out of all the Chinese roommates, I am glad that I got the one that I did. He like to play basketball so that’s a HUGE plus. His English name is Phillip. I don’t remember Chinese names very well so Phillip will have to suffice.

4. I had my Chinese placement test today. Safe to say that it kicked my butt. But I did well enough on the oral section and should have no problem getting into the 300-level. (Right were I need to be and should be.)

Well that’s all for now. I’ll do my best to update this thing. Maybe add some pictures. And my Gmail account is working. Was it just me or did anyone else think that Google boycotted China?