Kevin O. Woghiren

August to December 2009

AUG 14, 2009

After 18 hours in transit between Boston and  Beijing and no sleep, you’d think that the last thing on my mind was adventure. On the contrary, due to jet lag, I decided to explore the Beijing nightlife; after all, it was a Friday night. My first night out in one of Beijing’s party districts was great due to the friendly foreigners and locals I encountered and the U.S. dollar’s artificial dominance over the Chinese yuan. My group still remains quarantined in a hotel for about a week before we are allowed on the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) campus due to the Chinese government’s preemptive efforts to stop the spread of the H1N1 virus in China.

Not to my surprise, Facebook, Youtube, and some other popular websites are being blocked by the Chinese government.

AUG 16, 2009

We just got back from a trip to a part of the Great Wall of China and fatigue has been the victor of the day. After seeing what the Great Wall is all about, I can easily say it is the greatest man made structure ever built given its history, purpose, monstrosity, and the technology of the time period. I simply can’t describe in words the experience of the day and I will leave it at that. The little girl in the picture below was working with her mother near her market shop and we spoke to each other in Chinese and I just had to take a picture with her.

AUG 17, 2009

Three hours after listening to several university staff members, including the Dean of Academics and the Dean of Student Affairs, I decided to get some lunch at a nearby restaurant known for its great dumplings. The dumplings and baos were only available in beef so I had to order their vegetable fried noodle dish. After lunch, I went to buy a simcard for my phone and my cell number is now +011 86 15010545166. Now, I am in the library working on my research topic for our upcoming Silk Road trip next week.

AUG 27, 2009

I am still on my Silk Road trip to eastern China and thus far I have been able to hang out with the Buddhist monks, the locals, and Hui Muslims. Many trips are planned ahead and I will be elaborating on them when I return to Beijing on Sept 2nd. One would expect eastern China to be very rural or less modern than Beijing, but some of the cities we have visited, such as Xi’an, have been very world class.

SEPT 04, 2009

At this point, I am pretty certain that there is a picture of me circulating in China as fluently as the 100 Chinese yuan bill. During my first week in Beijing, I averaged a picture a day with locals and tourists interested in taking a picture with me. While on the Silk Road trip, that number changed to 4. Now that I am back in Beijing from the two-week longexcursion, I am fascinated with how much land we covered, the number of sites we visited, and the diversity of people we interacted with. From watching martial arts performances by Buddhist monks to riding camels in the Gobi  Desert at sunrise (picture), the experience was one I will never forget and something that truly was “once in a lifetime”. Some of my favorite cities and sites on the Silk Road trip were Xi’an, Anyang, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, the Longmen Grottes, and the Grand Canal, to name a few. I have added a couple videos below from the trip.

You have not truly experienced China until you have done/experienced the following:

1) Camel back riding in the Gobi Desert and climbing the sand dunes

2) Craved dumplings/pot stickers on a daily basis

3) Visited the Terra Cotta warriors

4) Visited the Longmen and Magao Grottes

5) Travelled via a crowded overnight train after experiencing an uncomfortably crowded train station

6) Taken at least six photographs with locals and tourists at their request within your first two weeks in China

7) Bartered for goods at prices that you know are unfair to the vendor

Been “the attraction” at the attraction

9) Tried exercising outdoors in smog city, Beijing, and passing out due to a lack of oxygen

10) Seen at least 20 Buddha statues

open source video, online video platform, video streaming, video solutions

SEPT 09, 2009

Yesterday was the first official day of classes with my day beginning at 7:30 AM and ending at 10:00 PM. I am in a total of five classes for the semester including Chinese Language, Marketing, Finance, Martial Arts, and Chinese Literature. I anticipate that my chinese language classes will be the most difficult and marketing should be the easiest. My longest day of the week is Tuesday and my shortest day is Wednesday. After my last class on Tuesday night, I decided to attend a get-together at a bar for a friend’s birthday outing in a tourist destination called Houhai. Later that night (and early morning), to my surprise, I witnessed my first police raid of a bar (the same one I was in). This was my first real experience of knowing what it meant to live under the control-obsessed government of China. The bar was raided due to excessive loud music. Instead of a warning or a ticket from the police officers, the musicians in the bar were harrassed and taken away in a police wagon along with their instruments. Anyway, despite that experience, life is going very well in China. There are some adversities in day to day living that I can’t even begin to get into but then again its nice to get out of my comfort zone.

Other than school and extra-curriculars, I have been busy trying to beat my computer at chess on “advanced” level. So far Computer=32 Kevin= 2 Stalemates=3. Until next time.

SEPT 16, 2009

Its early morning and I just got back to campus from dinner with my girlfriend. School is officially in full gear and the work is piling on. Tomorrow will be a very short day for me because I only have one class in the morning, but the rest of the week after that will be exhausting. The current mood in China is one of celebration and anticipation for the upcoming National Holiday (October 1st – October 8th). The holiday is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. I have been able to witness some firework rehearsals and so far those have been thrilling. Most cities in China, especially Beijing, are under high security and increased scrutiny of foreigners, and I expect that the celebration parade will be inaccessible to most foreigners. Because of this, most foreigners in Beijing are planning to travel abroad during this short break from school and work, but I plan to stay in Beijing and witness first-hand the anniversary party. Until next time!

SEPT 21, 2009

My Chinese classes are getting more increasingly difficult but also becoming more practical for everyday interaction. I forgot to mention in my earlier posts of my Chinese name, but it is 王可文 (Wang Ke Wen). Wang is my surname and Ke Wen is my given name. For the remainder of my time here, I will try to go by this name and not Kevin Woghiren…

OCT 01, 2009

Happy 60th Birthday to the People’s Republic of China. T’was on this day that Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the PRC back in 1949. The most noticeable feature of this day is the clear, blue sky over Beijing which is telling of the importance of this day to China as the world watches it celebrate in style. It rained yesterday night, thanks to the chemical engineering of clouds and rain by the Chinese government, which allowed for a clear and beautiful day for the parade. The streets of Beijing are heavily paraded by security forces and most businesses are closed for the day. The parade itself was virtually inaccessible to Chinese citizens and foreigners alike, unless one was involved in the parade. So I did what  most people in China did: stayed home and watched the monotonous parade on TV. The China of old is not comparable to today’s China so it is very fallacious when people still call it a Communist country. I have always preferred the terms, “Capitalist Oligarchy” or simply “Socialist”, even though the ruling party is the Communist Party. The Chinese government mainly only controls the media here and not private businesses so it is socialist in that one aspect. President Hu Jintao, in his speech today, stressed the importance of diversity in China and lauded the country’s growth explosion in recent years. I’m excited to explore the city later today and the upcoming days to see how busy the city will be due to the influx of travelers and tourists for this national holiday period which lasts until about October 8th. That also means no classes until that date!

OCT 09, 2009

It’s Friday night but I’m stuck in the study lounge, studying. 不 好! Due to the long 8-day National Holiday in China, we have to make-up two days worth of classes on Saturday and Sunday. Essentially, I will have classes for the next seven days, which pretty much almost nulls my vacation. Anyway, Beijing life is getting better. I am almost familiar with the city and my way around it. So far, I have been able to network with key business contacts, party at two embassies, attend a VIP model party, and etc. At this point, I am cruising along and I anticipate October to be a very quick month due to our upcoming trip to Guilin, which is about two and a half hours away from Beijing by air. I look forward to the trip but not October’s end; I don’t want to leave China anytime soon lol. Anyway, I’m getting back to my homework. Until next time!

OCT 25, 2009

I am finally back in Beijing after a week of relaxation and clean air in Guilin, which is in the south of China. My trip to the south gave me a new outlook on China and its true diverse ethnic nature. It was surprising to visit small cities and even villages and hear the attempt at English from the natives. This is due to Guilin’s dependence on tourism and the accessibility of Western tourists in the southern regions of China situated near the once former British colonyof  Hong Kong. Nevertheless, Guilin was beautiful and one of my favorite cities in China. I look forward to visiting the city again in the future more than any other I have been to already in China.

Don’t let the above pictures misguide you into thinking that Guilin is only comprised of natural landscapes. It is an industrial city with a great city life and urban atmosphere without the side effects. This Wednesday I will be flying to Shenzhen for a day trip and I expect a great time once again in the south of China.

NOV 11, 2009

My semester in China is quickly coming to an end. This time, next month, Iwill have already finished my Fall semester and getting ready for my Dec 13th departure for Hong Kong and Dec. 17th departure for the United States. Halloween in China was a great experience and it is met with the same fervor among college-aged students here as it is back in the United States. Although I didn’t celebrate it with my peers due to fatigue, it was fun seeing western characters and costumes, as well as rowdy behavior. Thanksgiving approaches soon and I look forward to the planned western cuisine. So far in November, there have been two big snowstorms, with one of them having been manipulated by the government as a remedy for the autumn dry climate. As of now, the temperature is very cold and reminds me of my winters in Boston and Chicago. For the remainder of this month, I will be souveneir shopping, attending a Peking style opera, going to an acrobatics show, and trying to survive my last full month of classes. This entry may be my second-to-last one before I depart China in mid-December, unless an interesting event comes up (like me shaking hands with President Barack Obama when he comes to Beijing this coming weekend).