As many of you already know, I am the lucky recipient of another summer language study fellowship and will officially be staying in Beijing through the summer. Thank you Department of Education for deeming my language study and future research important and worthy of support!
I am still waiting to hear back from the Anthropology department on whether or not they have approved my plans for summer feasibility research. If that comes through I will be a very busy lady. Hopefully Siano doesn't have high expectations for me as a travel guide.
I am of course extremely excited for Mark's visit, even though I am dreading being here during the Olympics (except for the part where I get to watch handball). It is going to be very hot n' humid, insanely crowded, and unbearably nationalistic. On the upside, I'll be able to see if the barrage of government-sponsored civility campaigns have had any effect on Beijingers' bad behavior. My classmates and I have gotten a lot of entertainment value out of all the billboards, commercials, signs, and subway announcements (we heard one yesterday that translates roughly as "respecting the old and caring for the young is one of China's beautiful traditions") that have appeared over the last seven months. They have even designated certain days of the month for things like "queuing" (the 11th) and "offering up one's seat" (the 22nd).
Many of the civility campaigns feature the Olympic mascots, the fuwa (福娃）. Propaganda was never so adorable! The commercial below (only the first 2 minutes of this clip) plays constantly on TV and on the subway. It depicts a bizarre anti-Beijing, in which skies are blue, buses stop for pedestrians, orderly queues board public transportation, and subway train passengers display regard for each other. Not that I wouldn't be totally down with Beijing dispatching a cartoon army to help the city run smoothly during the Olympics, especially if that meant tiny pandas would be on hand to give directions to bicylists:
The banners being carried at the end of the commercial say:
迎奥运 = Welcome the Olympics
讲文明 = Stress Civililized Behavior
树新风 = Establish a New Spirit
I booked a ticket last night for my return to the US of A. I'll be getting back to Seattle early in the morning on August 19th, after a long layover in San Francisco that I hope to spend with some peeps. This won't leave me with much more than a week before I have to head back to Indiana to start classes, but I am delighted that I will be able to attend the Elston-Gallagher nuptials on the 22nd!
Still, it is such a long way away. I miss you guys. Stay civilized!
3 comments:
Got an airmail envelope the other day in the mail and hoped it was you! It wasn't. Did you get my little epistolary greetings?
I can't believe Siano gets to come visit you in Beijing! You guys are going to win the Olympics!
I was also happy to hear that Austin and Emily are tying the knot...will you pass along my congratulations, as I've not got their email addresses...
That's all. Just checking in. Via the blog-o-sphere...
oh miss Lia,
I love the word 'epistolary'. I'm going to think about that all day. You once wrote me a letter shortly after you moved to NY in which you talked about weekend 'ambulations' and it stuck with me for ages.
I did get your letter, thanks! I will respond, in time. I'll pass on your congratulations to Emstin/Aumily -- I think they've been quite bad at spreading the news (I myself heard from Dobosh). Thank goodness for the efficiency of the electronic realm!
I can't wait to see you! Screw the Olympics, come home now!
And for real this time, check your post for the most amazing package ever assembled by (wo)man.
Love to you.
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