Word coming out of Chengdu of a 7.9 magnitude earthquake.
Initial reports had a few dead. Hours later the number exploded.
The number is just going to get higher.
Here in Beijing we felt only a brief tremor — rattling. I thought it was the crazy old woman who lives beneath me banging on the pipes again.
The only damage I’ve seen in Beijing was a small pedestrian bridge in South Third Ring. The government was quick to block it off and a day later the affected segments — pure concrete mind you — have been completely removed and carted away to wherever it is that pedestrian bridges go to die.
The rest of the nation’s capital remains largely isolated, or really insulated, from the tragedy out west.
No matter how far away we are we are always a world away.
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May 14th, 2008 in Journal, Current Events | No Comments »
Words to describe: Loud, bright, loud, overwhelming, very loud. Did I mention loud?
It’s a literal war zone and an impressive one at that. The Chinese don’t have any elite or exotic fireworks — ironic given this country originally invented them — but what they lack in creativity they more than makeup for in relentlessness.
Every city block has between 3-5 peasant groups firing them off creating a literal firewall sweeping across the skyline.
When I asked a friend why this was allowed by the government, he laughed and stated all the buildings were made of concrete and not to worry. And technically speaking they don’t allow it; they just can’t be bothered to enforce those specific laws.
Oh those lovable commies.
They know how to have fun, for one day a year at least.
February 8th, 2008 in Travel, Photography | No Comments »
Apartment hunting in Beijing has been an intriguing experience.
For the last month, I’ve split my time between staying with friends who out of the goodness of their hearts can tolerate my presence in their homes. Being something of a prideful individual, this unadulterated exploiting of their generosity has been hard for me to swallow. So much that I’m now embracing my bum-bastic life.
…except that I’ve sorta signed a signed a contract promising to sign a contract for a lease.
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October 18th, 2007 in Journal, Travel | No Comments »
Given that learning Chinese is my primary focus while studying abroad, I felt keen to comment on my progression.
Simply put, Mandarin is a completely new way of communicating. Unlike English, vowels receive the most enunciation focus. The basic A-E-I-O-U sounds are different requiring tongue to be strategically place in the middle of the mouth or touching the upper or lower teeth ridge line. Once the four tones come into play the sounds become even more problematic.
Thankfully, my mind is slowly adapting. In another couple of weeks and I feel confident that I’ll have this aspect — along with the “initials” and “finals” combinations — down.
My personal goals of keeping up with homework assignments have been met so far. My teachers are praising my progression whether by merit or their desire to maintain my 200RMB an hour clientèle.
What’s been forefront on my mind is how deep down the rabbit hole I wish to go. I’m living in a bubble — all my friends are Westerners and I’m still primarily communicating in English. If this train of thought is followed to its logical conclusion, I’ll know the technical aspects of the Chinese language by the time I leave but I won’t be natural or comfortable speaking it.
Where and with whom to speak is therefore the quandary I need to resolve.
Do I downgrade my apartment plans and find local flatmates?
Do I find a housemate for my current apartment plan?
Do I just launch myself into communicating with every street vendor and person who seems inclined to listen to me?
(I have Faye, but I hate burdening her when her life is busy enough as is.)
Between work, school, life and church my hands have been busy and this precarious juggling act I’ve been pulling off is taking its natural toll. I can handle it, but with little things like this apartment snafu and church responsibilities, my breathing has become decisively more pinched.
For this week, I intend to maintain the status quo. The brief reprieve will do nothing to hide the reality that there is a significant number of decisions rapidly approaching that will in great part determine the integrity of my China experience.
October 18th, 2007 in Journal, Travel | 2 Comments »
I was trying to think of the most stereotypical way to open this post and was mulling either “Ni Hao” or “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto” or even maybe “Holy *$%ing *&^% I’m in China!!!!” (note the use of 3 exclamation marks).
Ultimately, I went with “Ni Hao” because the latter phrase has already been beaten to death on various trips to California, Hawaii, Utah, Thailand, Cambodia and who knows where else and that other one contains too many self-censored words for my taste.
But I digress, the underlying point here is that I now claim home as Beijing, China.
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September 20th, 2007 in Journal, Travel | No Comments »
On a quiet morning in March, I journeyed deeper into the templates near Siem Reap and intentionally avoided the more grandiose structures that attract throngs of Japanese and Korean tourists — whom I despise.
In traveling Cambodia, there was worse than the anguished feeling of finding a moment of solitude at an extraordinary location only to hear the rumbling of a pack of 20-30 deranged 1st world Asians who seemingly can’t do anything alone.
That’s what made this morning trip so wonderful — by visiting the smaller, more remote sites first in the morning, I successfully bypassed the majority of the the Japanese/Korean hordes.
The hallway ruins of this temple complex framed the Cambodian jungle elegantly I thought, despite the background being slightly washed out due to weather conditions.
Photo specifications are:
Canon EOS 30 D
17-40mm f/4.5 L-Series
ISO: Digital 100
Date: March 2007
Location: Siem Reap, Cambodia
More Cambodian temple photos to follow!
August 15th, 2007 in Photography | No Comments »
An inventory of the last 22 hours:
1. Toxic black mold discovered in living room, check!
2. Brand new leak in my room from outside condensation, check!
3. Antics of housemate’s girlfriend’s crazy brother, check!
4. Air conditioner blowing up while 104 degree weather rages on, check!
5. A pile-up of work and work related drama, check!
6. An impromptu apartment evacuation for health concerns, double check!
7. Quarreling housemates, check and mate!
All in all it has been a wonderful deviation from normalcy — aside from momentarily denying me access to my girlfriend.
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August 15th, 2007 in Journal | No Comments »
One of the definitive photos taken during my wanderings in Siem Reap on my fourth day. Discontent from being caught up in the tourist district, I set out on foot along the waterfront and came to a little park area with nice benches. It was there I met this man of whom I know nothing save his smile.
And I wonder; how can you know only a smile and a warm gaze and still feel like you know someone more intimately than possible?
Here is the remainder of the information that you might be interested to know about the capture of this photograph:
Canon EOS 30D
Canon 70-200mm 2.8/f L-Series
ISO: Digital 100
Date: March 2007
Location: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Soon the actual photos of Ankor Wat will be developed.
August 14th, 2007 in Photography | No Comments »
I was really enthralled by a piece of military lingo called “OODA loops” introduced to me by Professor Allen at BYUH. My attraction to the concept was mainly because I found it a useful way to augment my cognitive perception on how to form and execute decisions (I sometimes struggle with larger life decisions and used to feel that many aspects of those decisions were too restrictive or forced on me).
So it made sense — why not overhaul the entire dynamic of the way decisions are constructed?
Developed by Col. John Boyd of the U.S. Air Force, OODA loops is a simple decision making pattern technique. The Air Force really didn’t care for it much, or for Col. Boyd for that matter (who was undefeated record in aerial dogfighting — he could annihilate anyone within 40 seconds). The Marine Corp. very much appreciated Boyd and his work and it’s now part of the training officers receive in OCS.
OODA — an acronym — stands for: Observe, orient, decide and act.
Pretty much common sense, right?
We observe and take in information, oriented ourselves based on our instincts and then act on them given enough conviction. Indeed, besides breaking down an broad concept that decision making can sometimes be, there’s not much to OODA loops until you realize the trick to using them.
That trick isn’t to wait for enough observable information to allow some masterstroke of a decision manifest in ourselves. The purpose of OODA loops is to inspire us to make decisions irregardless of whether or not we have perfect information and to act with the intent to act again in rapid order.
In an aerial dogfight, pilots don’t make one move and wait for the chips to fall. The successful pilots act again based on their observations and ability to quickly orient themselves. Victory comes to the pilot that can cycle through several rounds of this process of observing, orienting, deciding and acting.
I.e., a person who can execute five quick decisions compared to someone who is bogged down and can only rattle out two decisions will emerge triumphant.
(Marines love this tactic because it encourages their officers to make mistakes. That’s right, the most lethal fighting entity since the Spartan Warriors of ancient Greece actively encourage mistakes to improve adaptation. Officers who don’t act quick or mess up are considered complacent.)
The OODA Loop shows how decision making is really an art form (and sometimes an exercise) everyone should be well versed in; not an enigma that daunts or molests us.
Moreover — as you internalize and contemplate OODA’s potential applications — you’ll discover it is a method that allows for complete spontaneity in life while disciplining us with some structure. Like all abstract concepts, its not something easily or immediately implementable without some work, but with a little thought and practice the mindset can be invaluable.
As the cliche goes, the only constant in life is change. Decision making is all about confronting change — whether or not that change is self-inflicted or brought on by external forces.
Unfortunately, we all too often view change as an undesirable element in our lives when change is really a good friend who visits us from time to time to make sure life is never too dull.
August 14th, 2007 in Commentary | 2 Comments »
When visiting the Empire State Fair I was reacquainted with a truth that for whatever reasons I ignore and place as far back in my mind as possible.
People who specialize in something very specific are not the reputable Titans our minds construct them as.
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August 14th, 2007 in Commentary | No Comments »
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