qui tacet consentire videtur

When it occurred to me that I might be interviewed in Mandarin for the summer job I applied for (rural chinese social enterprise development), I realized that I was in deep trouble. I didn’t even know that 小额信贷 means ‘microfinance’, there’s no way I could explain it properly to a farmer, nor could I read a CASS paper on the topic without having to stop every couple phrases to check the dictionary. Even writing a short e-mail in Mandarin about something technical would be difficult.

In order to prepare for summer 2008 in China, my Mandarin has to improve substantially in all areas: listening comprehension, advanced conversation, reading comprehension, and composition, in order of importance. Towards this objective, I have planned various activities to practice Mandarin every day, including watching the awesome New Shanghai Bund (新上海滩） and JJ Lin’s new TW-drama So I’m Not Handsome (原来我不帅).

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Although I am nominally taking six (likely to be five) classes this semester, I consider attending seminars and talks to be part of an additional class. Today I attended the first of my series of extracurricular lectures in this semester, and sometimes I think I learn more from these one-off things than weeks of compulsory stuff. Greater China Initiative and CU-Asia (both SIPA clubs) invited Dr. David Ho, a leading AIDS researcher living in NYC, to speak at Columbia about HIV/AIDS in China.

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It was the precise moment the universe shattered.

The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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What does it mean to ‘be yourself’? I keep hearing this kind of advice. Be true to yourself. Don’t be something you’re not. Do what you love. But upon some reflection, I’m not sure whether there really is this constant self. Today I am not who I was yesterday, and yesterday I was not who I was the day before. With new experiences every day, over time the differences in worldview, values, interests become stark, and a conscious effort to move in one direction leads to something else entirely.

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Microfinance is kind of like initiating a kiss. You take a risk on a long shot… and hopefully it pays off
(Actually I just wanted an excuse to post my favorite scene up)

In July 2007, the South Korean ministry of finance announced that it had hired the lead actor and actress from a hit television serial that aired May-July to promote their microcredit program. That television serial, “War of Money” (쩐의전쟁), was about the informal moneylending industry in South Korea, reaching an average of 32.8% of households in the greater Seoul area and 31% nationwide, and it was the top-rated serial of the season, so popular that ‘bonus’ episodes were produced - it remains one of my personal all-time favorite kdramas. Much of its storyline emphasized themes of income volatility, uncollateralized credit, innovative entrepreneurship, and good (and bad) borrowing practices - all themes relevant to microfinance. In an interview prior to the serial’s airing, the lead actor Park Shin-yang (박신양, of Lovers in Paris/파리의연인 fame) had even noted that one of the sources of inspiration that he drew from was the work of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank.

Perhaps it may be useful to take “Money’s Warfare” one step further, and consider a similar application of television serials in microfinance education, through its plot, themes, and product placement strategy.

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After last semester’s finals fiasco, and how my advanced probability and microecon classes morphed into calculus classes, I am determined to plan my courses better. This is the tentative schedule so far, in order of personal importance:

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In fair Morningside where we lay our scene, I saw the Sunday matinée of Peter Martins’ Romeo + Juliet at City Ballet.

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Just got back from JFK - taking the E is a lot faster than the A. Tsukareta! Will update with my travel diary once I sort through the mountain of e-mails that have accumulated. I guess the honeymoon’s over…

My suitcase is packed and I finally managed to figure out my itinerary. Books I’ve packed: Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals (what is enlightenment is required) and Andre-senpai’s Japan tourist phrasebook. Not much else in my suitcase, I guess I’m traveling light, which will be great since I’m taking the subway to JFK. I’m a little scared of the Tokyo subway and JR train system - how I’m going to get from Narita airport to the hostel - but I’m pretty adaptable so I guess I’ll figure it out when I get there.

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