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  1. The Great Wall of the Chinese Consulate, part 3

    I finally got my visa. The Chinese do have a sense of humor: It has a graphic of the Great Wall printed on the design. Life is full of irony.

    The best visa I could get is a double-entry tourist L type with a maximum duration of 30 days per entry. Now my internship is likely to include a day-long bus ride to the Mongolian border and back to use the second entry. Thankfully I brought my econometrics textbook along for self-study, and I don’t think anyone would want to steal it while I’m napping unless he were some rogue social scientist. While I would love to visit UB and meet my friends there (one of which is a real life tribal princess), I hadn’t actually planned on going there this summer. Thank you Beijing, for working so hard to welcome me to the Olympics.

    Posted in China Trip.

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    By qui tacet – May 23, 2008

  2. The Great Wall of the Chinese Consulate, teil zwei

    After a mad eleventh-hour cramming session, I sat for my final exam in statistics. I think the worst thing to possibly think during an examination is “Please let the curve be awesome”, next to “How many points do I need to not get a D?” (As it turned out the curve was pretty good, and I got an A) I staggered out of the stats department back to my room, picked up my suitcase, and made my way to JFK. My summer of adventure and discovery had just begun, but it would not be without obstacles.

    Continued…

    Posted in China Trip, Politics.

    1 comment

    By qui tacet – May 20, 2008

  3. Thoughts on Zettai Kareshi and Japanese gender roles

    Tokyo Metro womens subway
    Separate but equal? (Tokyo Metro)

    Zettai Kareshi (絶対彼氏) / Absolute Boyfriend
    Fuji TV Spring 2008 season

    I find it strange that I like Zettai Kareshi so much. Although I love the romantic comedy genre of j-dramas (as opposed to the melodramas) in general, I can’t help but be reminded of the horrible conclusion that the title is everything that I am not. I’ve only seen the first few episodes since the summer started while stuck in airports and planes without in-flight entertainment, but here are some initial thoughts on the series:

    Continued…

    Posted in Business, Japan, TV Dramas.

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    By qui tacet – May 20, 2008

  4. The Great Wall of the Chinese Consulate

    Beijing traffic sign 2
    Detoured to Hong Kong… (Beijing)

    A month or two back, when discussing summer plans, I told my friends that I was spending my summer interning with a non-profit in Beijing to pursue a research project on microfinance in China, while traveling widely. I felt proud of myself for not following the crowd of investment bankers with their summer analyst positions in the city or in Hong Kong, squandering their precious summer days and nights (and yes, weekends too) in a cubicle in downtown Central peering through arcane Mandarin spreadsheets. And then the visa situation suddenly changed, and my carefully planned summer of productive work and exciting adventures has been frozen in purgatory.

    Continued…

    Posted in China Trip, College Life.

    4 comments

    By qui tacet – May 9, 2008