On Education

Before I came to China, I was increasingly concerned about the state of our educational system. After attending university at the age of 28 in Pullman, Washington, I quickly discovered that in the five year break that I had taken since leaving the confines and comfort of the University life, that there was a general disconnect amoung students and their education. I frequently ran into immense apathy at Washington State University--a culture of middle class students who thought that by being able to afford to go to college, they were indeed entitled to the piece of paper. Sure they had to do a little work in order to make it, but since the workload rarely, if ever, interfered with their drinking, it was all okay. Instead of education being the last moment in your life to suck up the free flowing thoughts that were supposed to so token of the University experience, people seemed to not care in the least about their studies, but moreso in what kind of financial success it was going to bring them in the post graduation world.
This rings true in the types of graduates that WSU throws into the population--more communications students (which I once was) than biology or neuroscience. (Although, it gets most of its research funding from the sciences). Liberal Arts at a conservative University like Pullman is a total figure of speech.
When I left college, I had a plethora of college experiences that few could match, especially at my age. I had seemed to bridge the gap between ages and be somewhat accepted by a large group of students, even going so far as to live in a fraternity house which was not my own and help advise these boys to try to think and be like men. It was a struggle at times, moreso me trying to act my age, but we got along well. Some of them will no doubt do some good things with their lives while most will get out into reality and realize that the real world is a different and abrasive place and you need to be very careful about the choices you make.
For me coming out into reality for the second or perhaps third time in my short life was a crazy time. I found myself much more out of shape from the epic nights of drinking than I knew. I had withdrawls of the freedoms that the college life brings us, but moreso I felt depressed at how the marketplace for work not only looked, but is.
The american workforce is in deep shit--especially in Seattle, where it took me several months just to find a job that paid more than 10 dollars an hour--not quite the college graduate experience that we are dubed into thinking when we begin to sign off the student loan checks for thousands and thousands of dollars each semester of college. During the time I was in college (and W. just happened to be in office) I watched my fees for school increase by 18, 21, and 15 percent every year I was at University. The price tag when I was finished is close to $50,000usd, yet when I got out of college, the only jobs to be found, paid about 22,000 a year.
The point of throwing all those numbers out there is that perhaps we need to begin to consider if it is worth our money to get the education and more importantly, if that piece of paper is actually worth the amount that you pay for it? Are we getting fair market value for our education dollars or is it just another cost of being an American?
Part of the reason why I chose to come to another country to teach is that I could get opportunites abroad that I cannot get in the United States. Here, I am a University professor who is beginning to develop lesson plans and circullum for Chinese students who are majoring in English just I am. Another part of the reason was that I was very curious about the Chinese and how valid the claims that the Chinese century is just upon is actually is.
First, allow me to say this. University students in America, no matter how much they party and no how stupid they are in terms of academic intellegence, have nothing to fear from the Chinese.
China, no matter how advanced them seem to be becoming, are way behind the developed countries and even further behind in their intellectual development. This is not to say that they are stupid and that they can not catch up, but they have a long, tough road ahead of them to industrialize and educate their population.
And they need to do it soon, because this whole disregard for the enviromental status of the world is not going to go on for more than 10 or 15 years and the chinese will need more time to get up to snuff with the rest of the developed world--if it even choses to keep forging ahead, which I also doubt somewhat.
I know that one of the immediate arguments is going to be that I live in a smaller part of the country and have no idea about places like Shanghaior Beijing, where I am going, but I will say this-- the Chinese manufacture things cheap for other countries because it does not pay its workforce any money and its people are cash poor. With industrialization and capitalism coming in at the same time, people are going to realize that they need to be paid what they are worth--and that is going to drive the price of goods up--and at the same time, the good consumers back home will perhaps begin to realize that the reason why there are no jobs for college graduates back home in the USA is because everything is being made somewhere else, which makes the workforce shift.
There is no question, China is building in huge ways -- and it has been this way for the last decade. More companies are coming here than ever before-- Shanghai is more than 2,000 square miles in size. However, the fact of the matter remains and I see it each and every day-- the Chinese people as a nation are decades behind the rest of the world and I do not see them staying with this until the end. If you go outside of the main city walls of Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guanzhou, there are thousands and thousands of towns that have still never seen a white man in person before.
And like this essay begins, its about education. If you do not educate your workforce, if you do not educate the people that will run the factories and manage the operations, then you will still behind because your own people will not profit from the tremendous burden their country is putting them under. People are curious about the west, but they don't know what it means. They think America is the backstreet boys and michelle branch. They oppose the war on Iraq, but dont know why. They don't like war. These college students here are so young and fresh it is so refreshing to see people in their early 20's that are so pure and innocent. so sweet and harmless. Then I think about how they are going to become leaders of the free market and I giggle to myself because the Chinese as a people couldn't be worried about such things. They realize more than Americans do that Wal-Mart is no fun ( Check out how awesome Wal-Mart is doing in Asia). It would seem that Americans are at the top of the food chain, we have become so smart that we have managed to forget that we need to take care of our own people and not just a small percentage of people-- and the Chinese are at the other side of the specturm--decades of political oppression and now they are giving the open market a run for its money... But I think when China has had enough, they will again close their gates, tip their hat in the friendliest of forms and wait out the enviromental and financial storm it will have caused.

I am just glad I have the option to ride both waves. Read more!

Shanghai Golden Holiday 2005

Since I have just myself on the hard sleeper for Shanghai, I thought I would let all of you know a little information about the city I am about to get lost in for the next week..... I will put more up in the coming days.


Shanghai big holiday drawcard
Winny Wang
2005-09-27 Beijing Time .

ABOUT 83.48 million people will visit Shanghai during the week-long National Day holiday, Youth Daily reported Tuesday, citing the Shanghai transport authority. The busiest day will be the National Day, October 1, when about 13.42 million people will hit the city's streets. The authority expects 3.4 million people to use the city's 40,000 cabs on the National Day and 2.24 million to take the city's four Metro lines. More than 14,800 buses will also serve tourists in the holidays, known as one of the three Golden Weeks in China. Each of Shanghai's five biggest taxi companies will put 400 cabs on reserve to meet emergencies. Local Metro operators will shorten the interval of Metro trains and provide 1.15 million extra tickets. Metro Lines No.1, No.2 and No.3 will run 55 trains, 10 percent more than last year. In this year's National Day holiday, the vacation will run from October 1 to 7, but people will have to work on the following weekend of October 8 and 9. It is one of the country's three golden weeks. The other two are the May Day holiday and the Spring Festival.

Shanghi, Hu for short, is situated on the estuary of Yangtze River of China. It is the largest industrial city in China. Covering an area of 5,800 square kilometers (2,239 square miles), Shanghai has a population of 18.7 million people, including 2 million floating population.
Originally, Shanghai was a seaside fishing village and in time its gradual development led to it being granted County status on August 19th, 1291 during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Hence this day became the anniversary of the founding of Shanghai. Today's Shanghai is a multi-cultural metropolis with both modern and traditional Chinese features. Bubbling Shanghai shows off every aspect of her unique glamour.
Serving as the largest base of Chinese industrial technology, the important seaport and China's largest commercial and financial center, shanghai draws the attention of the whole world.
Modern Shanghai has three key areas of interest to the visitor. These comprise Sightseeing, Business and Shopping centered upon People's Square and along the Huangpu River. The city's Cultural Center with its public activities and community facilities and finally the main Entertainment and Holiday Tourism area located at Mt. Sheshan, Chongming Island, Dingshan Lake and Shenshuigang Area.
Known as "the Oriental Paris", Shanghai is a shopper's paradise. One of the musts for tourists is Nanjing Road. Huaihai Road intrigues those with modern and fashionable tastes, while Sichuan North Road meets the demands of ordinary folk. In addition, Xujiahui Shopping Center, Yuyuan Shopping City, Jiali Sleepless City are thriving and popular destinations for those who are seeking to buy something special as a memento of their visit.
A wide variety of cuisines can be found in the City and today Shanghai offers a plethora of culinary delights focusing on the traditions of Beijing, Yangzhou, Sichuan, Guangzhou as well as its own local dishes. Shanghai's restaurants are among the finest to be found in China and they welcome diners from anywhere at any time.
Shanghai continues to grow and prosper meeting the aspirations of the 21st century while retaining its proud traditions of service and hospitality. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jinmao Mansion and Pudong International Airport are the modern symbols of an international metropolis while the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre and Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Center are evidence of the extensive and deep passion of a great city that extends a warm welcome to friends from all over the world. Read more!

My mailing Address......

Here is my mailing address, use both the Chinese version as well as the English....

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???????(?????) 423000
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English
MR Tim Hogg Foreign Affairs Office,
Xiangnan University,
ChenZhou, 423000
Hunan Province,P.R. China Read more!

World Trade Center Fire Audio

In August 2005, the New York City Fire Department released approximately 23 hours of radio dispatch audio recordings from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. This came after The New York Times, along with eight 9/11 families, sued to win public dissemination of the transmissions, as well as hundreds and hundreds of pages of transcribed oral histories.
As a public service, Audible has selected nearly three hours of key, unedited transmissions by Manhattan Fire Radio. Fire Department dispatchers and firefighters in the field are heard describing the planes hitting the World Trade Center (included in Track 1), the collapse of the first tower (Track 2), and the collapse of the second tower (Track 3). These transmissions begin around 8:46 a.m. Eastern time and end at around 10:22 a.m.

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Theft

Well, I have been in China for nearly a month and tonight my wallet was finally stolen. Pickpocketing here is the national past time as I was inducted into the hall of shame. I was riding the bus back from the city center at 6pm, rush hour. Sadly enough I had just gone into the McDonalds to get myself a shake and some fries (the food is still getting to me) and return back in enough time for English corner. (English Corner, I should mention, is the moment where the students gather together to speak English) I was invited to speak tonight as an introduction and answer some questions about the United States.
I was running a little late and in my haste was not even thinking about the possibility of getting my wallet jacked. The people here are so very kind and I took for granted the geniune curosity of these people. Normally when the bus is packed, we just wait for another bus to come along, but since this was the first time that I have travelled in the city by myself, I decided to board the crowded bus.
As the perp got off of the bus, I felt a nudge in my side, but not enough to take notice. He bumped hard enough to pull my headphones out of my ipod, which made me take notice, but he was off and running and I didnt even have a chance to get off of the bus before the door close and the driver moved on. I checked my pockets and I knew right away that my wallet and Id were gone, but not my passport. I do not take that with me anywhere when I am just in the city because you do not need it. My Drivers License, WSU and Buffalo ID, gone. Credit Cards, gone. Kenneth Cole Wallet, gone. All gone. 300 RMB, gone (at most) I am not sure exactly how much money was in there, but it is about the exact amount that Matthew Brewster still owes me--which doesnt really matter now as my paypal credit card is also no good anymore.
I did, however, manage to keep a copy of my drivers license.
Hopefully I will not have to spend too much time on the phone with the various banks to try to see if I will have access to my funds or not, but it is hard to say. The uni has agreed to loan me some money so that I may still go to Shanghai for the break, which is a very kind jesture. I have already booked the train ticket, so I was concerned about that probably more than anything else. The rest of it is just a lesson that I should probably have learned some time ago.
Afterall, this is China. Expect to have your wallet and mobile phone stolen at least once. All the same, I think I will start to use the safety pouch from now on. :) Read more!