Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
none
Interesting.
Talked about marketing communications in my marketing class today. It was unexpectedly interesting. Shower now, and then studying my life away for Thursday's Chinese test. Not much else to say.
Recent discovery: ice cream at the ECNU back gate.
Talked about marketing communications in my marketing class today. It was unexpectedly interesting. Shower now, and then studying my life away for Thursday's Chinese test. Not much else to say.
Recent discovery: ice cream at the ECNU back gate.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
personal limitations
Contemplating different ways of distracting myself from a night of Chinese grammer, I decided to check out www.wsj.com. After perusing the front page (no news regarding political unrest in Thailand, this is good), I happened upon an article entitled "Raising Bill Gates."
I cannot tell you that the article was riveting; however, one idea particularly struck me. "...no sense of personal limitations whatsoever." (This line was actually a reference to a mentor and friend of Bill Gates Sr. If you want to see how this is relevant, read the article yourself.) When Mother and Father Gates embraced this quality in their son, Bill Gates thrived.
Let's be real, most of us are a bit more of an Average Joe than a Bill Gates, but let's take a step back and imagine how a momentary lowering of our personal barriers would turn out. Let's start with me. For college, instead of asking myself "New York or Boston," I should have been thinking "the United States or Europe?"
For jobs, middle-class, politically liberal WASP children (I cannot speak for other racial or ethnical groups, although I suppose it is the same) grow up asking themselves if they want to become doctors, or nurses, or lawyers, or teachers. When confused, we ask for advice, and are often told to "do what you love." This sounds 3 parts cliche and 1 part completely impractical. I love watching Gossip Girl and shopping for dresses, but how is that going to pay the bills. Instead of thinking along the lines of personal limitations, I should be thinking "how can I couple my undying love of economics and inescapable urge to dress-shop into a future as a generally successful person?"
I am still figuring this one out. However, 3 months in Shanghai has helped me along the way. It has given me time to observe, learn, and think. If only the tinest crack, China has opened the world to me.
I cannot tell you that the article was riveting; however, one idea particularly struck me. "...no sense of personal limitations whatsoever." (This line was actually a reference to a mentor and friend of Bill Gates Sr. If you want to see how this is relevant, read the article yourself.) When Mother and Father Gates embraced this quality in their son, Bill Gates thrived.
Let's be real, most of us are a bit more of an Average Joe than a Bill Gates, but let's take a step back and imagine how a momentary lowering of our personal barriers would turn out. Let's start with me. For college, instead of asking myself "New York or Boston," I should have been thinking "the United States or Europe?"
For jobs, middle-class, politically liberal WASP children (I cannot speak for other racial or ethnical groups, although I suppose it is the same) grow up asking themselves if they want to become doctors, or nurses, or lawyers, or teachers. When confused, we ask for advice, and are often told to "do what you love." This sounds 3 parts cliche and 1 part completely impractical. I love watching Gossip Girl and shopping for dresses, but how is that going to pay the bills. Instead of thinking along the lines of personal limitations, I should be thinking "how can I couple my undying love of economics and inescapable urge to dress-shop into a future as a generally successful person?"
I am still figuring this one out. However, 3 months in Shanghai has helped me along the way. It has given me time to observe, learn, and think. If only the tinest crack, China has opened the world to me.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
7 weeks and counting
6 weeks and I fly into New York
7 weeks and I'm Boston
(with the possibility of some Carmel and Nantucket in between)
Where did the time go? Wasn't it just yesterday that I touched down in Pudong, eager to begin my new Shanghai life? Damn, my life feels like that Anna Nalick song...can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, and life's like an hourglass, glued to the table. You know which one I'm talking about.
After 10 weeks, it feels like I'm just beginning to break ground on the Mandarin front. I have explored only 1 Chinese province outside of Shanghai. I have only gone to about 5 or 6 different clubs. I feel like I have explored about 1/1000th of what Shanghai has to offer. I'd better get on it.
7 weeks and I'm Boston
(with the possibility of some Carmel and Nantucket in between)
Where did the time go? Wasn't it just yesterday that I touched down in Pudong, eager to begin my new Shanghai life? Damn, my life feels like that Anna Nalick song...can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, and life's like an hourglass, glued to the table. You know which one I'm talking about.
After 10 weeks, it feels like I'm just beginning to break ground on the Mandarin front. I have explored only 1 Chinese province outside of Shanghai. I have only gone to about 5 or 6 different clubs. I feel like I have explored about 1/1000th of what Shanghai has to offer. I'd better get on it.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
great things
The Weather:
Sunny with a high of 75. Springtime? Love.
The Employment Situation:
Just accepted an intern position at a firm which researches opportunities for socially responsible investment. Pending a trip to Nantucket, I will arrive in Boston sometime between the 10th and the 15th. Housing is to be determined.
Ladies' Night:
New party night: Wednesday. Often billed as "the new Thursday," Wednesday night in Shanghai is entirely it's own game. It goes something like this: every establishment in town opens its doors to ladies, who enjoy the free drinks, and men, who enjoy ladies enjoying free drinks.
New bar: Mural.Like Zapatas, but subtract the sketchy men, the crowds, add actual Mexican architecture...Not similar to Zapatas at all. Mural is a basement-level bar that feels like a cross between Mexican adobe architecture, and Asian zen. If that is even possible. The result? A beautiful, well-lit, cave-like space peopled with a younger expat crowd sipping cocktails and enjoying live music.
New drink: Vodka Sour.
Chinese class:
For some reason, our program changed our Chinese teacher mid-semester. As a result, class has transformed into something like running my brain through a papershredder. However, my spoken and written Chinese has gotten much, much better. Tough, but that's why I'm here... right? (Aside: On the flip side, I think my English skills may be getting worse. My only exposure to English in the last few weeks has been Facebook/Facebookchat, party advertisments on SmartShanghai, and George Elliot's Middlemarch).
Sunny with a high of 75. Springtime? Love.
The Employment Situation:
Just accepted an intern position at a firm which researches opportunities for socially responsible investment. Pending a trip to Nantucket, I will arrive in Boston sometime between the 10th and the 15th. Housing is to be determined.
Ladies' Night:
New party night: Wednesday. Often billed as "the new Thursday," Wednesday night in Shanghai is entirely it's own game. It goes something like this: every establishment in town opens its doors to ladies, who enjoy the free drinks, and men, who enjoy ladies enjoying free drinks.
New bar: Mural.
New drink: Vodka Sour.
Chinese class:
For some reason, our program changed our Chinese teacher mid-semester. As a result, class has transformed into something like running my brain through a papershredder. However, my spoken and written Chinese has gotten much, much better. Tough, but that's why I'm here... right? (Aside: On the flip side, I think my English skills may be getting worse. My only exposure to English in the last few weeks has been Facebook/Facebookchat, party advertisments on SmartShanghai, and George Elliot's Middlemarch).
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
no subject
Sitting in The Changing Nature of the Chinese Economy with everyone's absolute favorite professor ever, and I feel my brains slowly leaking out of my ears. This is a subject of great interest to me. However, the only thing my professor seems to be interested in is telling us about "this one time at McKinsey." As I seem to have nothing else better to do... Unfortunately, the wireless is too poor for pictures. Will have to try again after class. Later, I'm meeting up with X (yes, that's her intitial) and possibly S later to hit up the Shanghai ladies' nights. We'll see how that goes. In the mean time...
www.mariogame.info
www.mariogame.info
Monday, April 20, 2009
love and happiness
So tonight I attended another yoga class at the gym. How do you know this? Well, if you happened to be at the Weider-Terra Club of awesome, and happened to spot a girl in the fugliest sexiest, brightest orange shirt on the planet. Yes, I am talking about the NYU in Shanghai shirt. A marvel of fashion, it's perfect for wearing to a party, impressing significant others, and getting my sweat on at the gym.
On the way home, feeling a little 饿了, I decided to forgo my usual back-gate bus-stop-to-dorm routine and check out the food stalls at the front gate. Instead of food, however, I found a grocery store. Less crowded than Carrefour, less frustrating than Trustmart, it stocked all the essentials (Source of Good Mood Tea? 35 cent, 24 oz. beers? Apples? Yes, yes, and yes). As I browsed the well-organized, well-lit store, I found myself in the beverages aisle. And there, sitting innocently on the self, sandwiched between grape juice and green tea, I found it. The source of true love and happiness. Amazing, usually unavailable in China, pH of 3.5, orange-as-an-NYU-shirt ...orange juice. Joni Mitchell used to tell us that "we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone." Bitch was absolutely right.
Yoga, and orange juice. A great way to start my week.
On the way home, feeling a little 饿了, I decided to forgo my usual back-gate bus-stop-to-dorm routine and check out the food stalls at the front gate. Instead of food, however, I found a grocery store. Less crowded than Carrefour, less frustrating than Trustmart, it stocked all the essentials (Source of Good Mood Tea? 35 cent, 24 oz. beers? Apples? Yes, yes, and yes). As I browsed the well-organized, well-lit store, I found myself in the beverages aisle. And there, sitting innocently on the self, sandwiched between grape juice and green tea, I found it. The source of true love and happiness. Amazing, usually unavailable in China, pH of 3.5, orange-as-an-NYU-shirt ...orange juice. Joni Mitchell used to tell us that "we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone." Bitch was absolutely right.
Yoga, and orange juice. A great way to start my week.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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