people, places, ideas

Most recent China thoughts:

-China and the Latin American resource endowment (my final economics paper, and a topic I intend to research further. It's really, really interesting.)
-Germany vs. China soccer game (and how I will be there in a couple of hours. Go China!)
-Chinese food (Super 88 = how I intend to feed myself this summer)

Also, I took a couple more pictures for the "Shanghai Nights" album. Maybe I will post them... when I get back to the States :P

As for this summer...8 days and counting. It will be good to be home for awhile (after being stranded, alone, in the desolate wasteland of Carmel, NY this winter, 4 days is long enough). It will give me a chance to spend quality time with my family, chill with my brother, get to know the new dog (and go swimming with the old one), do laundry, have meals prepared for me, and see some people that have been missing from my life.

After 4 days at home, the real fun begins. I'm looking forward to: moving into my summer place in Boston, reuniting with some of my favorite Simmons women (the non-jetset <3 Hope all you girls are having a fabulous on study abroad. Come back to me in one piece!), going to Nantucket for a couple of days, celebrating a friend's 21st, starting my internship, and generally re-acclimating myself to life in the United States.

MLIA

"I didn't have sex today. But I'm 14, so it's ok. MLIA"

My friend showed me this new website yesterday. It's called "My Life is Average." Pretty much FML, but not. Because it's funnier.

In other news:
I am still posting through a proxy server, so no pictures just yet
I collected some data today through primary research. In Chinese
Finally got a tentacle skewer (pro)
Walked to the far corners of Shanghai and back again, seeking a plain black portfolio for my final photo project. Plain black portfolios were nowhere to be found, so I had to use plastic (poor)
Almost finished with Middlemarch
Thought about how I'm going to be back in the States in 14 days.

The first thing I will eat when I get home is breakfast. Or Wendys. I haven't decided.

blocked in China

For reasons unknown, Blogger is now blocked in China. How have I circumvented the Great (fire)Wall of China? That's a secret I'll never tell.

On my way to my friend's place, I busted into this gated demoltion site. Due to rather unfortunate circumstances, my great firewall of China circumvention system does not allow the addition of pictures to this post. Perhaps I will add them when I get home. 21 days...

In addition to trespassing, I spent some quality at Ikea. Took some pictures for my photography project, and chowed down on some cheap Western food. 6 yuan coffee, 3 yuan hot dogs, and 1 yuan ice cream cones make for a great time. I was pretty pressed for time, as I had to

podcast

Until recently, I did not really know what a "podcast" was, or why people would want to listen to this nonsense. Yes, I had heard of them (lazy person instructions: click this, press CTRL+F, type podcast, press enter), but I felt no particular need to check them out. Until now.

What I have discovered...

1. Podcast are basically just compiled lists of audio files that do not usually include:
a.) Commercials
b.) Britney Spears*

2. Podcasts are like getting music recommendations from your friends, but better.

3. Podcasts + Baidu = Gold

*Select BS does appear in my music collection, but only in the form of power hour and "I Love the 90's" playlists.