Back to the World of the Blogging, or, 1/4 through my 2 Years at IR/PS
Like most of my classmates, I took five classes (18 credits) last quarter. I said to myself, never again. Then I signed up for five classes (now 20 credits) this quarter. Forgive me for not giving a running commentary. IR/PS has been harder on my blogging than I thought.
Tonight I went out to see my first movie since I started here. With the three-day weekend and some inspiration, I decided I can also update you on things in IR/PS land.
Chinese Language Film Society
I don't want you to think we haven't been watching movies. While my classmates and I pay more attention to politics, econ, and numbers than I ever thought possible, lots of student groups show movies on campus.
My first extra-curricular goal at IR/PS was to start a Chinese movie club. So, with the help of a Propaganda Czar (Aaron Jacobson), Finance Minister (Brett Collins), Minister of Labor (Matt Eblin), webmaster (Ari, who seems only to be mastering this blog), and a few other principals, the Chinese Language Film Society was born.
We founded this club because our IR/PS librarian Jim Cheng has tirelessly created North America's largest underground film collection. It's been fun to meet the people on campus who dig Chinese cinema. We've been showing mostly commercial titles. We'll get into more of the banned titles in the coming months. Jim just gave me his unpublished notes on the 500 most recent films. Fun, fun.
Our big event last quarter was in solidarity with World AIDS Day on campus. We screened "To Live is Better than to Die," a documentary on villagers in Henan living with HIV/AIDS. Activist Chung To spoke to us from Shanghai via webcam about HIV issues in China. This was an exhilarating experience. Using webcams is a model we'll put to use more in the coming months. It's cheaper than flying people in, and despite the speaker on the other end being projected the size of King Kong, it's still an intimate format.
An Excursion to Shanghai
My advisor Susan Shirk said I was crazy to take a week off in the middle of my first quarter to travel to Shanghai. All of my professors said it was a great opportunity. I got to meet and stay with one of my childhood heroes, Dr. Jane Goodall.
To prepare for my journey, I had to get ahead in all of my classes. I studied econ the flight over. Then I took my first econ midterm via webcam (TA watching) from my old office Jane Goodall Institute office in Shanghai, where I interned over the summer. It went well.
In addition to representing IR/PS at a graduate recruitment fair there, I did a few other things. I also got to hang out with the good doctor.
Because I interned at Roots & Shoots Shanghai, the organization she founded, I got VIP treatment. I had four days to ride around with her, hear her speak three times a day, visit an organic rice farm, translate for her at a wetlands preserve, and play my Chinese zither (guqin). Dr. Jane is more amazing in person than I ever imagined. She's in her seventies and she travels over 320 days a year promoting causes for people, animals, and the environment. Not the most amazing is that she never gets rained on. I was glad to be with the Dr. Jane group when we went to the rice farm. The other half of the nation-wide Roots & Shoots Youth Summit attendees complained of rain that day. I stayed dry.
Here's a video of me playing "Yang Guan San Die" at the Chongming Island Youth Summit. Unfortunately, the camera man's mobile phone went off halfway through. (And the audio and video aren't synced).
Back at school, my assignment backlog hit me hard, but I recovered. The Quantitative Methods final was the worst test experience in my life, not because I did especially poorly (Bs get degrees) but because the professor is a math genius who writes the test like we're all math geniuses. We're thankful for the curve.
Break Time
In some ways, I wish I hadn't booked so many tickets so far in advance. In other ways, I was grateful to get on the road again. I never stayed in one place for more than a couple days. I got to see so many people I hadn't been able to talk to over the quarter. I even made some new friends...like electronic musicians at Columbia who wanted to record my guqin for possible use on a track or two. I recorded in the building where they developed the atom bomb and Albert Einstein had an office. Just one of the many joys of taking advantage of opportunities. I'm even tempted to call it what the Chinese call it: yuanfen, or predestined affinity.
I got back to San Diego feeling like I hadn't really rested. But seeing old friends is nice.
This Quarter
...is going well. I can't say I've gotten any better at finding time for the piles on my desk or just hang out. I came here to work and learn as much as I can, and that's what I'm doing. The calibre of people here is amazing. And like Fred said, the program is hard. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, and I think the experience is rewarding. I came to IR/PS with the expectation that I would learn the tools to deepen my impact in the world. I feel like that's exactly what I'm doing . I'm changing the way I think, the way I prioritize, and the types of people I meet. These are all rewarding and well worth the sacrifices.
Tonight I went out to see my first movie since I started here. With the three-day weekend and some inspiration, I decided I can also update you on things in IR/PS land.
Chinese Language Film Society
I don't want you to think we haven't been watching movies. While my classmates and I pay more attention to politics, econ, and numbers than I ever thought possible, lots of student groups show movies on campus.My first extra-curricular goal at IR/PS was to start a Chinese movie club. So, with the help of a Propaganda Czar (Aaron Jacobson), Finance Minister (Brett Collins), Minister of Labor (Matt Eblin), webmaster (Ari, who seems only to be mastering this blog), and a few other principals, the Chinese Language Film Society was born.
We founded this club because our IR/PS librarian Jim Cheng has tirelessly created North America's largest underground film collection. It's been fun to meet the people on campus who dig Chinese cinema. We've been showing mostly commercial titles. We'll get into more of the banned titles in the coming months. Jim just gave me his unpublished notes on the 500 most recent films. Fun, fun.
We, the brave, the mighty...The Chinese Language Film Society at UCSD
Our big event last quarter was in solidarity with World AIDS Day on campus. We screened "To Live is Better than to Die," a documentary on villagers in Henan living with HIV/AIDS. Activist Chung To spoke to us from Shanghai via webcam about HIV issues in China. This was an exhilarating experience. Using webcams is a model we'll put to use more in the coming months. It's cheaper than flying people in, and despite the speaker on the other end being projected the size of King Kong, it's still an intimate format.
An Excursion to Shanghai
My advisor Susan Shirk said I was crazy to take a week off in the middle of my first quarter to travel to Shanghai. All of my professors said it was a great opportunity. I got to meet and stay with one of my childhood heroes, Dr. Jane Goodall.
To prepare for my journey, I had to get ahead in all of my classes. I studied econ the flight over. Then I took my first econ midterm via webcam (TA watching) from my old office Jane Goodall Institute office in Shanghai, where I interned over the summer. It went well.In addition to representing IR/PS at a graduate recruitment fair there, I did a few other things. I also got to hang out with the good doctor.
Because I interned at Roots & Shoots Shanghai, the organization she founded, I got VIP treatment. I had four days to ride around with her, hear her speak three times a day, visit an organic rice farm, translate for her at a wetlands preserve, and play my Chinese zither (guqin). Dr. Jane is more amazing in person than I ever imagined. She's in her seventies and she travels over 320 days a year promoting causes for people, animals, and the environment. Not the most amazing is that she never gets rained on. I was glad to be with the Dr. Jane group when we went to the rice farm. The other half of the nation-wide Roots & Shoots Youth Summit attendees complained of rain that day. I stayed dry.
Here's a video of me playing "Yang Guan San Die" at the Chongming Island Youth Summit. Unfortunately, the camera man's mobile phone went off halfway through. (And the audio and video aren't synced).
Back at school, my assignment backlog hit me hard, but I recovered. The Quantitative Methods final was the worst test experience in my life, not because I did especially poorly (Bs get degrees) but because the professor is a math genius who writes the test like we're all math geniuses. We're thankful for the curve.
Break Time
In some ways, I wish I hadn't booked so many tickets so far in advance. In other ways, I was grateful to get on the road again. I never stayed in one place for more than a couple days. I got to see so many people I hadn't been able to talk to over the quarter. I even made some new friends...like electronic musicians at Columbia who wanted to record my guqin for possible use on a track or two. I recorded in the building where they developed the atom bomb and Albert Einstein had an office. Just one of the many joys of taking advantage of opportunities. I'm even tempted to call it what the Chinese call it: yuanfen, or predestined affinity.
I got back to San Diego feeling like I hadn't really rested. But seeing old friends is nice.
This Quarter
...is going well. I can't say I've gotten any better at finding time for the piles on my desk or just hang out. I came here to work and learn as much as I can, and that's what I'm doing. The calibre of people here is amazing. And like Fred said, the program is hard. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, and I think the experience is rewarding. I came to IR/PS with the expectation that I would learn the tools to deepen my impact in the world. I feel like that's exactly what I'm doing . I'm changing the way I think, the way I prioritize, and the types of people I meet. These are all rewarding and well worth the sacrifices.
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