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May 24, 2006
Shanghai (CHINA)
All
Things Shanghai
Shanghai Photo Gallery
I apologize for having taken so long to post anything new, but my trip to China has turned into everything I had ever hoped for and more than I ever dared to expect. I do not really know where to start, but I suppose I should first talk about the difficulties I had in getting to China. It all began when I arrived at the check-in desk at the Paris airport (this was hour 20 at the airport). I was to fly from Paris to Milan, and then from Milan to Shanghai via Alitalia. However, I was quickly notified that Alitalia only allows a maximum of 20 kg on their flights while I had double this. The ticketing agent said this is a common occurrence because Alitalia does not notify passengers about the weight restriction, but with my flight taking off in a couple of hours and the language barriers (Italian and French) I had to quickly figure something out. I ended up finding a carrier in the airport who was going to fly it to Shanghai on a later date. The service is basically a mixture of FedEx and flying standby in that it uses airline carriers to bring the baggage from point A to point B. The bottom line is I parted with one of my bags (never expecting to see it again) and with 150 euros. Once I arrived in Milan, I was greeted with the heartwarming news that my flight from Milan to Shanghai was cancelled. As if rubbing it in, the Alitalia agents laughed in disbelief that I had been allowed to fly to Milan, as I was supposed to have been re-routed in Paris. After an hour of scrambling, they found me a flight to Copenhagen, Denmark, and said I could hop on a flight from there to Shanghai. It was another whirlwind experience because my bags were originally checked to Shanghai, and were lost somewhere in Milan. Even though the agents promised the bags would go on the flight with me, I knew there was no way they would find them in time to get them aboard the Copenhagen flight. In Copenhagen, I had an hour to run to the ticketing counter and get a ticket to Shanghai (all I had was a blank check from Alitalia). I made it to the terminal as the plane was boarding, and the only redeeming factor in all of this is that I flew business class on Scandivanian Airlines. It was a fairly significant factor given the luxuries of business class over a 14 hour flight, but nothing had gone according to plan.
 Once I arrived in Shanghai, I made my way to the baggage pick-up while snapping pictures left and right. I have posted a great picture of Chinese security videotaping (with heat sensors) everyone alighting from the plane - it was a pleasant "Welcome to China". As expected, my bags were lost and I was thrown out on my ass with nothing but a day pack. Fortunately, a student named Brown Liu from Jiaotong University waited at the airport for six hours since he didn't know my flights were being cancelled and re-routed. This was my first experience with the famed Chinese loyalty, and I was both incredibly impressed and incredibly grateful. Brown spoke excellent English and showed me around much of the campus and the nearby parts of the city.
This is when things really started looking up!
 Shanghai is absolutely unbelievable. I do not know how to describe the sights and sounds, and pictures do not do it justice. I have heard all kinds of wild population estimates that claim there are 15 million people living in the city with another 8 million that commute in every day. I find the second number a little unbelievable, but the gist is true. My university is in a very chic shopping district, but is closed off from the hustle and bustle by traditional walls and imposing Chinese gates. Sadly, even this cannot stop the sounds of honking horns (Chinese people honk NON-STOP), screeching tires, or yelling vendors, but it does provide some release. I get excited about the city just writing about it.
 My first day I went with Brown (he chose the English name in middle school and has had to stick with it) to a Tea House near campus where I had the best Chinese food ever. It was Kung Pao Chicken and eggs (gong bao ji ding) that set a high standard for all food in China. As long as I stay away from food courts, the food here is great. The diverse Chinese cultures mean there are basically a large variety of types of Chinese cooking (Sichuan, Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan, Mongolian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, etc).  As a bit of an update on the classes
I am taking, my Chinese course has been coming along very well. I have arranged with another student at Jiaotong to teach them English if they teach me Mandarin. Coupled with soccer every day and touring the city endlessly, I am developing a strong vocabulary and set of phrases.
I will not even go into my other courses as they are of the tedious engineering variety (see picture to the right). I will post more later in the day, or tomorrow. Please let me know if there is anything specific you are curious about because I literally do not know where to start. I have an unbelievable story about Chinese customs and the corruption of a Chinese business. It is worse than any nightmare story I have heard so far, but I have escaped unscathed and spent several hours arguing with the agent who was trying to screw me over.
May 18, 2006
Paris (FRANCE)
Terminal
Paris Photo Gallery
Gary’s reservations for the hotel expired this morning, and so at around 9:00 am I was forced out onto the lonely Paris streets with over 100 pounds of luggage (everything I owned). A mile later and I was struggling down the staircase of the French subway station. In retrospect, it is somewhat strange that no one offered to help because I was clearly struggling. I do not want to sound rude, but I am certain that people in America would have come over to help despite any protestations I might have made.  Nevertheless, this was surely one of those miserable experiences my father tells me “build character." What rubbish.
After an hour of maneuvering, I found my way onto a train destined for Charles de Gaulle Airport, where I am currently typing away. I have a one hour wi-fi card, 87 euro cents, an apple, all my luggage, and a full 24 hours until my flight departs for China! I did not want to pay the exorbitant price of a Paris hotel, and then struggle to the airport again tomorrow morning (it is 20 minutes outside the city), so I will be spending my last day surviving - another "character builder."
The bottom line: Tom Hanks (in the movie Terminal) has nothing on me.
May 17, 2006
Paris (FRANCE)
Champions League Final: Arsenal vs. Barcelona
Paris Photo Gallery
 Tonight is the night of the Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona, but still no tickets for the game. Unfortunately, tickets are more difficult to come by than Super Bowl tickets because the scale of the match is absolutely phenomenal. Between having a Vice-President of Heineken America [Heineken sponsors the game] and the ex-captain of Arsenal working to find Gary and I tickets, I gave it my best to get to the game. As deflating as it was when neither source came through in the end [tickets were sold on the black market for +3500 euros!!], I can at least walk away knowing I gave it my best. I remember hearing something about how the world is run by those who show up, but that says nothing for all the times you show up and are turned down!
C’est la vie…
May 16, 2006
Paris (FRANCE)
Rough Run and Dinner with England Football Legend Tony Adams
Paris Photo Gallery
 I started the morning with a horrific 11 mile run down the Champs des Lyses. Dodging mopeds, tripping over cobblestones, and forgetting that the Champs de Lyses slopes upward on the return leg meant that I spent the next few hours recovering in bed. Running the half-marathon a few weeks ago was a great deal of fun, but heavy running can be even worse an addiction than smoking. On the bright side, I was free to watch the news while lying in bed. One of the features had Tony Adams [former captain of both the English national team and Arsenal Football Club] being interviewed about the upcoming Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona. Only 30 seconds after the clip ended, the telephone rang and it was none other than Tony Adams himself calling for Gary. Since Gary was out, I was able to speak at length with Tony about the upcoming World Cup and we arranged to have dinner together later in the evening.
This was the third time I have gotten to speak with Tony. The first was when I played soccer in England for part of a summer, and Tony approached me after our championship match (which we disappointingly lost in penalty kicks.) He complimented me for several plays I had made, but truth be told it wasn't until afterward that I realized that this wasn't a compliment from just anybody! The second time I met Tony was when I stayed at his villa in England for a couple of days. At the time, I was studying at Oxford University as part of a summer program (where his wife formerly attended university). I had a fantastic time knocking the football around in his mini-soccer pitch, but I never could manage to get around him to score - surprise, surprise. I still stick to the argument that I was being a kind guest by not showing up the host. As for tonight, we ate at a terrific French restaurant with a woman from London (beautifully named Saffron), an off-duty Dutch reporter, and an ex-footballer from the Netherlands. I will never forget the dinner, and the uplifting outlook of everyone that attended. The guests all had a composed nature leaves you attentive to everything they have to say. I can only hope that my life will turn out as well some day because it was the kind of night I wish I could relive over and over.
May 15, 2006
Paris (FRANCE)
Enjoying Paris and a Brush with Terrorism?
Paris Photo Gallery
 Let me begin by saying that I love Paris. While my first visit to the city was occupied by exams, I had nothing to worry about this time around. I was happy that I remembered enough of my French to avoid being ostracized for being an American (we aren't exactly on good terms with the world these days.)
 To all my French friends out there, the only complaint I have is that such a fascinating city should not be wasted on as self-absorbed a culture as the French!
I have posted some great pictures of the city, but I simply did not inherent the photographic genes to do it complete justice. I have been walking the city from one end to another in order to avoid the over-crowded subways in favor of the bustling avenues. Seeing the architecture, relaxing along the Seine, and devouring paninis is a much more rewarding cultural experience than exhausting myself down the endless halls of the Louvre!
On a much darker note, I had a very troubling encounter last night with a woman who claimed to be from Tehran, Iran. I was walking home from a local grocery shop at around 9:30 pm when an attractive woman wearing full Muslim décor approached me. She spoke to me in English, asking if I knew where a local internet café was. After telling her I did not know, she hesitated and started up the conversation on a new track. I cannot remember all the details, but we spoke for at least 20 minutes, with hints of flirtation highlighting parts of the conversation.
The immediate thought that hit me was the story about the French teenager who was seduced by a Muslim woman and later kidnapped and tortured by a Muslim fanatical group. As a recount of what happened, several months ago the French teenager was approached by a Muslim woman who immediately began flirting with him, and eventually led him away to a less inhabited area. He was then swarmed by a group of Muslims who took him at gunpoint to an apartment basement in the outskirts of Paris. He was brutally beaten and tortured for days before being killed. Only a handful of the culprits were ever apprehended, and the woman who first approached the teenager was never caught.
These thoughts were flying through my head from the very beginning because of the strange way the conversation was going. Specifically, she asked me how long I had been in Paris, how long I was staying, who I was with, and so on and so forth. The questions were all awkward (almost forced), given that they seemed more like she was mentally checking off boxes, rather than being genuinely curious. She claimed that she was working for an Iranian “Petrochemical” company, and was attending a one month seminar in Paris. My mind was racing over “stump questions” to weed out whether or not my worst fears were true. After all, I could hardly believe something like this would happen to me.
I asked her about her specialty, and the development of methane, propane, ethylene, and other hydrocarbons. She responded by saying that her English was very poor, and she could not understand anything I was saying. It was strange because anyone involved with petrochemicals would pick up on these gases immediately (irrespective of language), and every time I tried to pick her brain on something she would suddenly forget her English.
The last part of the conversation that is worth mentioning came near the end. I told her there are three main thoughts (likely unfair) that Americans associate with Iran: 1) woman have very few rights in relation to men, 2) nuclear weapons, and 3) terrorism. She understood the first two, (1) saying that woman have plenty of rights, and (2) “what can you do?” with regard to nuclear weapons. However, she had no idea what terrorism even was, and my mentioning of Jihad, Muslim extremists, and War on the West were completely foreign to her. More precisely, she claimed not to comprehend what any of these words were (hard to believe with Jihad, given that it is surely understood in Farsi).
Shortly afterward, a car pulled up 10 feet from us with a man smoking a cigarette in the front seat. She saw him and her entire demeanor changed, as did mine. I realized it was time to get out of Dodge, and I quickly said goodbye – turning down her request to come and meet the rest of her Iranian friends “to show them how friendly Americans are." I do not know if she was involved with terrorism, but there was no question that there was something very illegitimate about her and I was not about to find out the hard way.
As a bit of a recap, I cannot imagine what I would have done if I had not heard the horrific story of the French teenager. I would have felt a strong inclination to meet her Iranian friends because I was very curious to hear their thoughts and their outlook. A part of me wanted to show that Americans are no different than anyone else, and the widespread criticism of them is unwarranted. This would have been the perfect opportunity for me to branch out, meet new people, and have a remarkable experience. Fortunately, I knew better and my life was not worth the risk. If I ever had any doubts about my engineering education being worthwhile, it came from my understanding of the petrochemical industry and staying up-to-date with French news – nothing goes to waste.
May 14, 2006
Atlanta (UNITED STATES)
Buddhist Experience and American Criticism
While waiting for my flight to Paris, I found the courage to approach a Buddhist monk sitting in the terminal. Fortunately, he spoke enough English to answer nearly all of my questions, and I felt a twinge of pride when I had him keeling over in laughter at one point. He was from Jakarta, Indonesia, which happens to be the on the same island (Java) where the volcano is currently erupting! One of the more influential things he commented on relates to the unique role America plays in the world as a harbinger of good will. The context of the conversation was the Dalai Lama, and how countries such as China have always been hostile toward “dangerous” influences. Conversely, America is open to everyone who is non-malicious in intent. Coming from a purely objective individual who has nothing to gain from inflating the United States, I took his comments to heart… It is certainly true that America sticks up for what is “just” more than any other nation. The obvious retort is the subjective nature of “justice”, but the freedom to pursue one’s own beliefs without fear of being persecuted seems to be as notable as any other achievement in human history.
The never-ending criticism of the United States has always baffled me. While there are certainly many policies that run counter to the interests of foreign nations, tourists who do not recognize the significance of their actions, and a general feeling of American imposition into foreign cultures, these same accusations can be applied to any government or populace. More focus should be given to the widespread willingness of Americans to meet new people, experience new things, and accept foreign ideas. Excluding the British and Australians, I cannot think of any other nations who will more eagerly start a conversation or offer assistance.
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**This was the day I left the United States for Asia (with a stopover in Paris for the Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona).**
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