First day of school

Today was my first day of classes at the Jingshan School and quite and exhausting experience. I had to get up at 6 am so that we could leave the house at 6:45. At home it doesn't take me nearly this long to get ready but my family here insists that I eat a full breakfast before I leave so that takes up extra time. I ride my bike to school which is an adventure in itself. All the streets in Beijing have bike lanes but there are so many bikes it's sort of like driving in heavy traffic. Motorcycles were banned a few years back so now people have motorbikes, bicycles that have been outfitted with motors so you can faster that pedaling speed. Once we get to school, my brother and I go up to class and then have to line up and walk to the auditorium. During the assembly all 2,000 students stand in rows by class. Our exchange group then had to introduce ourselves in front of the entire school in Chinese. Usually I don't get nervous speaking in front of large groups, but it is an entirely different experience when using a foreign language. After we present our gift to the school, we go back to class.

The day is scheduled so that we have five classes in the morning, with morning exercises between the third and fourth classes. Then we get an hour break for lunch and recess, after which we have two more classes. My exchange group has extra classes after school many days because we can't understand the regular classes. Some of the classes satisfy requirements for our high school and others are just to enrich our experience. Overall, it's a really good set up. Problem is, the extra classes don't start until our second week of school, so we got very bored during the day. Couple that with the stress of not knowing what to do during gym class and morning exercises and I was very tired by the end of the day. There's nothing like making a mistake in which was to turn when you are marching with the entire school, every student standing in straight lines in full uniform.

Vacation in Yunnan Province

We've been back about a week now from our superb vacation in Yunnan province and school will be starting tomorrow morning. I'm going to post the itinerary with some comments but there's almost too much to talk about.

February 9: We flew from Beijing to Kunming.
February 10: Sightseeing at the Golden Temple and the Stone Forest. The Stone Forest was one of the more spectacular things I have seen in my life. It was literally miles and miles of towering rock formations unique only to China.
February 11: Sightseeing at Western Hills (took cable cars), Dian Chi Lake, and Daguan Lou Pavillion. The end of the day was probably the highlight when we went to the Dr. Tea teahouse and tried lots of different teas. It was, of course, a retail opportunity, as if practically everything we have done in China. We also went to the model village which was very interesting. The government built a town specifically for show. They legitimized it by saying the money came from a workshop that exported the local womens' embroidery. Now the guy who owns the workshop teaches all the village children English and French. It's pretty much a win-win except for the surrounding villages that are dirt poor.
February 12: Fly from Kunming to Li Jiang.
February 13: Sightseeing at Black Dragon Pool Park and Dragon Well Village. The only exciting thing from this day was that Christian fell asleep on a bench in the village and no one noticed so there was a bit of a panic. Mr. G and Bob found him no problem and after a piece of chocolate he was feeling better.
February 14: This was probably the highlight of the trip. We did a six hour hike up to nearly 11,000 feet at Tiger Leaping Gorge. It was one of the most intense things I had ever done and the views of the Yangtze from the top of the gorge were mind-blowing. We ate our best meal in a village unreachable by car halfway to the top. The hike ended with 28 switchbacks at an altitude where we could literally walk about 5 steps before needing to catch our breath.
February 15: We just chilled in Li Jiang because everyone was sore and tired from the hike. That night Suzannah got sick with food poisoning.
February 16: Around 3 am it was decided that Suz needed to be taken to the hospital. Jasmine and Ms. Holzheimer went with her. We spent the day sleeping and waiting for her to be released and then once she was we took turns staying with her so Jaz could get some sleep.
February 17: We flew from Li Jiang to Kunming, had a seven hour layover, and then flew from Kunming back to Beijing. On the second flight Caroline got really sick and was taken to the hospital as soon as we landed. The last few days ended up being way more eventful than we'd hoped.

Overall, it was an awesome trip despite two people getting sick. It was really good to have some warm weather and fresh air. The scenery was quite incredible and we were literally hiking in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Daily Life in Beijing

Everyone has been asking me a lit of questions about what daily life is like here so I figured I would post up some pictures of the apartment. We live in Dong Si, which is a fairly central part of China. Our apartment is fairly nice, and very convenient. There are three bedrooms, a bathroom, a living/dining room, and a kitchen. There are also two sun porches. One is for hanging laundry and the other is for food preparation and storage. The bathroom also has the laundry machine and the shower is over the sink. There's no shower stall or tub, just a drain in the floor.

The last couple of days have been spent exploring the city. We went to Silk Road which is this huge building with lots of stalls that sell everything and you can bargain for the prices. Everything is pretty much a knock-off, but the whole thing is kind or cool. Some of the other kids bought some stuff, but it was fun to walk around. My host mother walked me to the subway stop so I would know where it was. The subway is extremely convenient and allows me to go pretty much everywhere. The day after I went to Wang Fu Jin Street with a friend. The street is essentially the equivalent of Newbury Street or Fifth Avenue. We walked around a bit, went to the international bookstore, and then went to a cafe to have baozi. They had some good vegetarian ones which I enjoyed.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve which is a really big deal. We'll feast in the evening and then stay up all night watching the New Year's special on TV and then watching the fireworks at midnight. The next day we are going to a hotel for the night so we can swim and play sports. My host father told me last night that the night after we might go see a performance of Swan Lake.

First few days in Beijing

I've been getting settled in with my new family in Beijing and exploring the city a little bit. Thought I would post up some pictures for everyone to see. So far we've been to Tiananmen Square and also out to do some shopping. Yesterday I managed to take the subway all by myself and met up with some friends to go to the free markets where we could bargain. Afterward we walked over to the area where most of the foreigners are to eat lunch.

Taylor Mali on what teachers make

This guy's got his stuff.

StatCounter

I just checked out the StatCounter website for the first time since I placed the counter on this site. Turns out I can get loads of cool stats on who has visited and where they are coming from. Most people either come from my friends' sites or see me on the scrollbar of the blogger homepage. And I've gone global. The Mixed-Up Files has had visitors from France, Germany, and Brazil. Thanks to everyone for reading. This is pretty cool.

Recent Interviews

Someone finally decided to find out the truth about being a Mormon teenager. Being that I do a lot of work around interfaith relations I find this very interesting. The two girls interviewed might not be representative of all Mormon teenagers but they certainly give at least one end of the spectrum. They are extremely articulate in their answers, which received minimal editing. You can find the first interview here, and the second interview here.

New Site

I keep hearing about these things called tumblelogs, which are essentially old school blogs made up of quotes, links, pictures, etc. There is nothing lengthy about them and they have a very clean feeling. I've been meaning to start several different blog-type sites in order to guarentee that one of them will work in China, so I figured this would be a good opportunity. I've created a new site through Tumblr, which is the tumblelog equivalent of Blogger. (Ozimodo, on the other hand, is the tumblelog equivalent of Wordpress.) The new site won't have any lengthy conversations reviews or discussions. Instead it will aim to present a distinctive and interesting personality as a background for The Mixed-up Files. The site isn't up and running quite yet but it will be soon so stay posted.

ADL disaster makes front page

The front page of this morning's Boston Globe featured an article on the disagreement over the Armenian genocide which resulted in the firing of Andy Tarcy. The national ADL, led by Abe Foxman, refuses to condemn the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in what is modern day Turkey. ADL does not want to compromise Turkey as one of the only Muslim supporters of Israel. Despite the national position, the New England division of ADL made their own decision to condemn the genocide and encourage legislation urging Turkey to do the same. This information was released by Andy Tarcy in a letter to the Globe.

All this is the result of a conflict between the New England division of ADL and the Armenian community in Watertown, MA. ADL runs a community program called "No Place for Hate" which Watertown withdrew involvement from after finding out that it was sponsored by ADL and that ADL had not recognized the Armenian genocide. Watertown has one of the largest Armenian communities in the country.

On Tuesday I leave for Camp IF, an interfaith youth leadership program also run by ADL. Through this program last year I was able to get to know Andy very well and recognized what an amazing human being he is. Without his support the IFYLP and Camp IF would never have experienced the great success that is represented by this summer's program. I am sure that everyone at Camp IF is thankful for the amazing experiences that Andy has made possible for all of us, fully funded. This morning's article described Andy:

Tarcy provided "moral leadership" and surely would have invigorated a new geration of ADL members in New England if he had been given the chance.

There is no question that Andy did inspire a whole new group of young people to work towards the bridge-building goals the ADL holds near and dear. We support Andy in his decision to do the right thing and will work toward righting this wrong. To everyone in the organization who may mistakenly think that the teenagers of the IFYLP are the future of ADL, let me correct you. We aren't the future, we are the present, and you have become the past. Please read the article here and join the Jewish and Armenian communities in supporting Andy Tarcy and the New England division of ADL in their quest to right this terrible wrong.

The End of the World As We Know It

School is officially over for the year. I took my last final this morning and now its on to the most kick ass summer ever. I'll be back posting full time and bringing you all the goods.

The Importance of Being Bilingual

As someone getting ready to go on foreign exchange, I can appreciate this.

Woe is me

I am having an absolutely impossible time finding dresses for semi-formal and prom. I'm going to both this year and so I have to get two dresses. AAAHHHH!!! I've tried every store around and nothing yet. I'm not being picky either. I just can't find anything pretty that fits and doesn't cost some outrageous sum of money. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions.

State Debate

I'm going to brag just a little bit here. I am one of the captains of my school's debate team, which I also helped to found earlier this year. I really enjoy competing and have done fairly well this year. The state championship tournament was this past weekend. And after, six rounds and completely losing my voice, my partner and I came in second! This is absolutely incredible considering it was only our third tournament ever. So I'm second in the state and it feels pretty good. We compete in public forum debate which is modeled after the style of political talk shows. Check out more about the Massachusetts Forensics League because it may just hold the meaning of life. I'll post a picture of the trophy when I'm not feeling too lazy. I think all the matzo balls are making me tired.

News Coverage

We have been getting major news coverage around here in the last couple of days. Check out these articles that were all published in MAJOR newspapers:

• For Girls, It's Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too- this is all about the pressures of applying to college for high school girls, which I am all too familiar with. I know all the people who were quoted and mentioned in this article so you should definitely check it out.
  
• How much school does $154.6 million buy?- This might seem funny to those of you out in the real world, but trust me, it's not as much fun to live through. Despite all of the school's problems, we have become very attached to it. It's not just any falling down old building, it's our falling down old building. I could have asked for a better place to spend these four years of my life.
  
• Electives Required- It seems like we are always fighting to keep the classes that we love. They are what makes our school special. Again, I know the people featured in this article. It's a long battle, and almost all of it falls on the students.
  

Looking at all of this just reminds me how much I love my school and my friends. It's worth it to get to class at 7:50 every morning in a dilapidated, asbestos filled building, just to be part of Newton North.

Spring Broke

Threadless is having their Spring Broke sale. Head on over and buy some super cool tees for only $10. The sale ends on March 12th so get them while they last. What could be better than awesome tees and awesome prices.

Hits

I have been super busy lately so I haven't posted for a while. Anyway, today when I came to check on when my last post had been I realized than The Mixed-Up Files has broken 100 hits. Yea! And I wasn't even here to witness it. Thanks for reading everyone. In other news, I got my thesis back two days after I handed it in, so I'm still working on it. The final draft is due next Thursday and then I never have to think about it again. I was hoping to at least have a little break before making corrections, but what can you do? Oh well, at least it will be over with.

Announcement

I have a very exciting announcement to make. The rough draft of my massive junior thesis in finally finished. I have been working on this paper for months and on Monday I will finally hand it in. I have Deaf history spilling out of my ears but in the end, it really wasn't all that bad. Now all I can do is wait to see all the things my US history teacher will find for me to fix. Oh well. Good luck to all of my wonderful friends who are still working hard on their theses and congratulations to everyone who has already finished. We're all in it together and soon it will be a thing of the past. I think I'm going to go on a bike ride to celebrate.

Another Valentine's Day Post

So I'll admit my Valentine's Day wasn't really half bad this year and I sort of celebrated on Friday instead of on Wednesday because we were snowed in on Wednesday. Anyways, this is sort of what the night was like.



Well I guess this is what happens when you hang out with a bunch of teenagers. If you can't see the video then you can click this link to the Glumbert page.

New Post

I saw this last week but the video wasn't working so I didn't want to post it.

Whenever I walk through the Union Square subway station, I have to navigate through all these vertical I-Beams that are all over the place. It always reminds me of something, but I couldn’t figure out what. Finally it dawned on me. It’s the first stage of the Death Star level in the Star Wars arcade game. Watch this comparison video.

I've never been in the station or played the game but this is the kind of stuff I live off of.

Soon to come: we are going to restaurant this week that could be the command center for several covert undercover agencies. Complete with waiters wearing walkie talkies.

Vacation

I am on vacation in Miami, Florida for the next week, which one would think would be an excellent time to work on my rather lacking posts, except that I am getting frustrated with the broadband connection on my Dad's laptop. I will attempt to post here, but it is easier said than done.

Firstly, I go on vacation during February most years, but this year I am not really on vacation. It is more just that I am in Florida, still doing all the normal work that I do at home. The main cause is that my thesis is due at the end of the week. I won't go into all the messy details, but it is a very long analysis of the effect of residential schools for the Deaf on the Deaf community in America. I have been working on this one paper all year from US history but the rough draft must finally get handed in, so it's crunch time now. So far, other from that, the vacation has gone surprisingly well.

We are renting a nice little house on Key Biscayne, and I have my own bedroom so I don't have to share space with my sister. This is a big improvement over the normal hotel arrangement. We are visiting my grandparents and trying to enjoy the weather, but it has been a bit on the cold side lately. Down here they think 50 degrees is cold but it is still an improvement over the New England snow.

The biggest downside so far is that my iPod broke. This has happened before because I have the older 20G Photo model. I am very fond of it and I really don't want to have to shell out $300 dollars for a new one. So far Apple has been great about fixing or replacing it whenever it breaks but it is no longer under its extended warranty so I am a little worried. Usually I would just listen to CD's until I could get to the Apple store but this is especially frustrating because I am on vacation. So I have nothing to listen to while doing work or while I am on the plane. Plus we have no music for the car because we usually use the AirPlay to listen to music over the radio. I guess I'll just go back to the stone age for a while and listen to the radio online while I work.

On a slightly different note, I have a great travel story from last night. We went to the Winn-Dixie grocery store (in the very large mini van we rented) to get everything we need for the house. Now we needed a lot of stuff: not just food for a week, but toilet paper, laundry detergent, and everything else a rented house doesn't have. We spent quite a bit of money, despite all of my mother's comparison shopping efforts. The cashier asked us if we had a Winn-Dixie card and of course we didn't because we don't have Winn-Dixie in Massachusetts. Well, it turns out that the supervisor was bagging our groceries and he noticed we would have saved a full $20 with the card. Being a good person he offered to scan his supervisor card so we could save the money. I was shocked. Nobody at home would ever do such a nice thing. He even told us that if we came back again for more milk or whatever just to come find us and he would give us the discount. It's so encouraging to see real people doing the right thing and rebelling against big businesses.

It's always quite eventful going on vacation with my family, so I am sure more stories are on the way. Of course, how could they not be when you are travelling with four people, six large duffel bags, and two sets of golf clubs.