Secretary of Food and Agriculture

Its the middle of the night, my last night in Harbin for a while. I am packing, writing reports, and entering survey data entered into my computer. Tomorrow night I take the train to Beijing where I will spend a couple days before returning to the US on Monday. I am feeling a combination of excitement to get out of here and seeing familiar faces and catching up and also dread of leaving my research behind.

But in the meantime, I am getting energized reading emails coming in through various 'foodie' list-serves about the yet-to-be named Secretary of Agriculture. Each is urging readers to call on Obama to name a reformer. Even The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof called for the position to be re-named the Secretary of Food. I don't agree with Kristof to drop the Agriculture altogether, but I am all for re-naming the position Secretary of Food and Agriculture. To drop the agriculture in favor of all the consumers would be to neglect the important role of farmers who are not necessarily part of the industrial operators who have taken over what we now consider American agriculture. Re-naming the position Food and Agriculture--even if its just a bureaucratic step--would be to recognize the connections between how and where food is produced and consumed.

I situate my research in an interdisciplinary field of research that is growing considerably called agro-food studies. Research from this field tries to bridge the gap between food production and consumption. Especially in light of the growth of so-called alternative food movements, agro-food studies looks at where and how links have been broken from where food is produced to how and where it is consumed. The political and economic system within which food and agriculture exist play important roles in determining how the food we eat winds up on our tables.

In the US, we have the USDA and the FDA. Food safety and agricultural production exist in completely separate bureaucratic entities from one another. In some cases, farmers have to do one thing to meet FDA approval and another thing to satisfy the USDA. I could go on about how and why this is problematic, but I think Kristof gets the major point across.

Over the last five years or so, many Americans are becoming increasingly considered with how their food is produced. Many are not just using their wallets to buy more expensive organic foods, but are actually participating in local food markets in one way or another. Regardless of one's political leanings, food is important. Naming a reformer to the Secretary of Agriculture post is one step Obama can do to bring change to the country to work in everyone's interest (except the few corporate farms).

And it would be a step for the world. Within my small world of Chinese agricultural scientists, I haven't found many scientists who reach beyond agricultural production to consider food consumption. Not many of the scientists I know have much to say about food safety issues in China. I think if they US could do something to make a difference in everyday perceptions of food and agriculture, others around the world might start to see that, too. Maybe. I hope.

Trip to a Chinese Hospital

Today started out great. Amazing, actually. I woke up and immediately checked the score of the Steeler game. Steelers were playing their arch nemesis--the Dallas Cryboys. I was so hoping for a victory. Unfortunately by the middle of the 4th quarter the Steelers were still down by 10. Not a good situation. But then came a field goal. Followed by a touchdown. Tied! We were tied! Before I had the chance to react, INTERCEPTION with a touchdown. A minute 40 left in the game and we were a touchdown up. How does that happen? It was a great way to start a Monday morning.

The rest of the day I entered my survey data from the weekend to my computer. Feeling productive and happy, I went to my favorite hotel pool in Harbin to go swimming. Swimming is a little expensive here, but I found a nice, quiet pool where hardly anyone goes in the winter. Swimming is a treat which helps me clear my brain.

So today I went into the locker room. Eager to get out to the pool, I tried to close my locker, but it didn't work. The locker is wood with a small glass partition at the top. I tried to close it by pushing harder. Before I knew it, the glass had fallen off the top--and onto me! I looked down at my left arm and saw a big gash. No blood, but I could see the inside of my arm (maybe the fat??) breaking out of the skin. GROSS! I went out to the hall to call the fuwuyuan (person at desk) and by then, blood was rushing out of my arm. They sat me down, cleaned me up and put gauze on the wound. Then they told me to change my clothes. My arm still didn't hurt and I was upset because I couldn't swim (I was so looking forward to it). I changed and met them in the hall with their winter coats on. Apparently they were coming with me somewhere.

Where are we going, I asked? To the hospital so you can get stitches, they said. I protested. Despite all the sports I've played I've never broken a bone (or even had a cavity), let alone stitches! I was not going to let my first emergency room trip to a hospital happen in China. It felt fine and they cleaned it well. I didn't need stitches, I argued. No way, they said, it was serious. So I called my friend Melissa. "If I have an inch gash on my arm and I can see the inside of my arm, do you think I need stitches?" Yes! she answered. She had just cut herself a few months back in the US and had 3 stitches on her knuckle. So I went with the hotel folks to the hospital across the street.

We waited about 5 minutes, with my new hotel friends arguing to get me in there fast. I was a student and needed to get home to study, they said. We were told we were waiting for an English speaking doctor. He came and his English vocabulary consisted of "sit down."

Although I had no experience at all with stitches, he and the other doctor seemed to do things right. I got a local anaesthetic (called ma yao-numb medicine-in Chinese) and I asked about 15 times if they were using new and clean needles. They were, but they would not let me watch them sew into my skin. Probably a good idea. The two doctors asked what I was doing here. Then they told me all about rising grain prices and high quality rice in Heilongjiang until the procedure was done. I was wishing I had brought some surveys with me to have them fill out (joke).

They told me to wait 2 weeks and then I can take the stitches out myself. Well at least I will be back in the US then, just in case. If anyone knows anything about stitches, do these look right? Melissa said I probably should have had more than 2 for the size of the wound.

Oh, and the good news? The hotel paid the hospital fees and I can go swimming for free the next few times. Excellent. As long as the locker doors are fixed....

Human Research

This morning I woke up early to take a bus to a city just outside of Harbin to a supermarket to do surveys. As I was putting on my layers of clothes to go out in the negative degree weather, I quickly checked my email. I had what seemed to be a serious email from the Colorado Office of Research with the Subject = Research Ethics Investigation.

Anyone at any US university doing research with human subjects needs to go through a series of steps with the university's designated Human Research office to prove that we have thought through our research and will not put anyone at risk by doing so. Ethics investigation is not something anyone wants to hear.

So this morning I am getting dressed, drinking coffee, writing down the address of the place I need to go, skimming email, and checking the clock because I need to be out the door in two minutes. In the midst, I find this email:

"Dear Ms. Zader,

"The Office of the Research Subjects Ombudsman at the University of Colorado has been contacted by Mr. Zhong Yang Miao concerning the ethical standards of your research procedures. Mr. Zhong, a farmer from Heilongjiang province, has alleged that following an interview with your or your confederates, during which he revealed the use of melamine in growing "Northeastern Name-Brand Big Rice," this information appeared in the Chinese Newsource Xinhua. The revelation of this information damaged not only Mr. Zhong's reputation, but also the "Northeastern Famous-Brand Big Rice" brand name. Mr. Zhong is further imperilled by possible legal actions by Heilongjiang authorities. Clearly the revelation of this information to Xinhua consitutes a serious breach of research ethics, and Mr. Zhong is contemplating legal action against the University of Colorado.

"Accordingly the The Office of the Research Subjects Ombudsman at the University of Colorado has opened an investigation to examine whether confidentiality was breached in your research procedures. As a first step in this process, we ask that you please email our office copies of your IRB proposal. Of particular interest to us is the confidentiality statement which you have provided to your research subjects in Chinese."

As I skimmed this email, my heart was pounding and I was thinking "what are they talking about?" I had no idea who these people were, but in my state of rushed email skimming, it sounded serious. For a second, I really thought I had been framed, but I had no idea who would know to contact this office. Someone had to know my research well enough to write this.

Then I figured it out. It was a joke played on me by my friend Afton. He actually wanted to read my proposal and thought this was a funny way to ask for it. He changed his email address to say it was from the CU Office of Research. Cute, Afton. Way to scare me at an early hour on a Saturday. And then make me laugh at myself because I know I need to improve my email-skimming abilities (the Ombudsman in the first line should have given it away to me...).

Thanksgiving with Chinese characteristics

Last week I was walking home and stopped short when I saw some turkeys running around in the street! The only other time I had heard of turkeys existing in China was when a Peace Corps Volunteer had ordered a turkey to be sent to his home in Sichuan from a Beijing business catering to foreign ex-pats. The turkey arrived the morning of Thanksgiving still alive (unexpectedly!) on his doorstep. So imagine my surprise when I saw these turkeys running around just 2 blocks from my apartment.
There were five turkeys. The owners said they raised them for fun, not to eat. But when I went back this week, only three were left, the other two sold to Americans living in town for just over $50. I am not that committed to turkeys on Thanksgiving to purchase one.

Instead, my friends and I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving in China with a frozen chicken. I like to cook, but I don't really cook much meat, especially not roasts, and especially not roasts in a toaster oven. I saw the workings of a disaster in the making. But my friend Jonathan came all the way from Beijing to help. His help came in handy when it came to defrosting the chicken to find that the head and claw feet were still on the bird.
(Sorry for the graphic details). Aside from be-heading the chicken, we had a few minor incidents involving opening a can of pumpkin pie mix without a can opener and blowing fuses by using the toaster oven too much.

We also found a little mini-keg of black German beer for the special occasion. The problem was the directions for getting the beer out were all in German and the process was not as simple as it looked (so we thought). We thought we had to pump the bottom spout. We each took turns scraping our fingers to pump the keg. But only a small amount would trickle out. At one point, we joked that we would be thankful if we made it through the evening with no trips to the emergency room.

I don't know if anyone has ever used one of these things, but.....
The next day Jonathan, determined to get the rest of the beer out of the keg, figured out there was an air hole on top. No pumping necessary. The beer poured out smoothly.

In any case, we had a great dinner. [Sorry, we could not fit the cooked chicken on the table, but it turned out surprisingly well].
It was a fun holiday in China. But I have to say how nice it will be to be back in the US for the rest of the holiday season. [I will be in CO Dec 16 and 17, then Pittsburgh until New Years-you should know how to find me].

Supermarket Surveying

The last few weeks I've been busy preparing, writing, and re-writing survey questions to ask Chinese consumers about their rice-buying preferences. This weekend the surveying started. I got a group of undergraduate students together to help me and we entered Carrefour, clipboards in hand. Five of us hovered around the rice section and stopped people to ask for two minutes of their time.

I was scared, primarily because I generally hate being on the receiving end of such actions. We got turned down, but we also had people who were generally interested and wanted to talk to us. I was generally amused with how people reacted to me. Some people thought I wanted to import rice to my country so I was asking about the best rice. Others thought we worked for certain sellers, in the store to promote brands (this does happen quite frequently and 2 of the rice sellers for different brands there offered to help us out-we declined). And of course, I had a mother who took the opportunity to ask me to teach her child English.

I think some people stopped to find out about me. One gentleman I approached answered all of my questions; in between answers he asked my assistant about me. The conversation went something like this:

• Me: When you are buying rice, how important is the appearance of rice?
• Him: Very important. (To my assistant): Is she here to study or to travel?
• Me: And taste?
• Him: Very important. (To my assistant): Is she Russian? (never mind that he was already told I was an American PhD student doing research on Chinese rice).
• Me: Nutrition?
• Him: Somewhat important. (To my assistant): Her Chinese is good, where did she study?
• Me: Does the price matter?
• Him: The price is important as long as it reflects the quality of the rice. (To my assistant): Is she used to the weather here?
• Me: Do you think whether or not the rice is 'green' rice is an important factor in buying rice?
• Him: Green rice is very important. (To my assistant): Does she eat rice?

And so on.

I'm not completely satisfied with the surveys because there is only so much information you can get in a quick supermarket survey. I know the responses are quite limited and I hope to do follow-up, in-depth focus groups based on the survey results. But I do feel good that I actually collected data. I've been here for a while, talking to people about rice, reading about rice, and just thinking about rice. They have all been very important parts of the research process, but it feels good to have the beginnings of concrete data in my hands.

In other news, China announced greater food safety regulations on Thursday. It was in the news and in newspapers all over the place here. Is it a step in the right direction for China? Yes. Does it get to the root problem of China's food safety regulation and enforcement? No. Am I skeptical that things will get better as a result? Yes. Maybe cautiously optimistic is a good term to describe my reaction. Very cautiously.

Cooking

Two weeks ago, if you would have asked me if I cooked in China, I would have said not much. Its not that I didn't like to cook-its one of my favorite things to do at the end of a day. In fact, I learned to love cooking by living in China the first time. But I haven't cooked much this time because food here is so easy and simple and fast and cheap and good. I can walk outside my building and go in any direction and 20 minutes later I will be full and probably paid about a dollar, if even that. Plus, I have not had a lot of cooking supplies in my kitchen.

Moreover, I am here to study food, so I should eat the local food, right? A few times, I have gone into some kitchens of nicer restaurants to watch the cooks. I tell them who I am and what I am doing here and why I want to watch and take pictures. They don't necessarily have much to offer about quality rice, but I still think its fun to see how Chinese kitchens operate, as I have worked in my fair share of US restaurant kitchens.

Over the past week and a half, however, cooking has kept me busy every night. I've been slowly accumulating more cooking supplies and shopping for new ingredients, and constantly coming up with new ideas of things to cook. I just got a little toaster oven that can bake and roast things. It pretty exciting. Ovens are rare here. Having a double burner gas stove is about as high class as it gets. Now I have to look for baking supplies to do some real baking....

I think I attribute my new excitement for cooking to a number of reasons.

1. Its getting dark really early these day and venturing outside after 4 pm when its dark is kind of depressing. Along with the dark, it is cold and windy and snowy and icy (they do not use salt here and the sidewalks are already covered in ice).
2. I've had my share of oily, salty Chinese food. I feel bad saying this because its what I miss most about China when I am in the US, but its been 5 months straight of Chinese food and I am ready for a break.
3. My friend in Harbin, Melissa, helps me. She does not have a kitchen herself so she comes over and we cook and listen to music and drink wine and watch episodes of Sex and the City. Then we drink coffee and do work on our respective MacBooks and talk about things that geography grad students talk about.
   
4. I just read a memoir by Julia Child about time she spent in France learning to cook (thanks, Abby H!). Reading it reminded me how fun cooking can be. Last week I asked the group of agriculture graduate students I give small lectures to once a week what they want me to talk about next week and they told me they want to hear more about American food. I thought of Julia Child's cooking demonstrations. How fun it would be to do a demonstration! But it would be a lot of work, too so I may have to hold off on that idea.
   

Cooking here is creative because ingredients are not always easy to find. So sometimes I have to substitute things. Its fun and the results are always good. Maybe this is a phase but I think that creative cooking will get me through the winter here. I'm ready for hibernation. Today the official sunset time was 4 pm, which means by 3 the sky is starting to get dark. And it keeps getting earlier. Today the high was 21, low was 0. And its supposed to get colder this week.

But its OK because I have fun research which keeps me going. Seriously, I've had a few people tell me recently that my mood changes when I start talking about my research. Its true! I get excited when I talk about my research. But that might be a problem because it means I am not excited when I'm not talking about my research? I might have to work on that...

Scientific Expertise

I am a social scientist. I study people and social processes. A geographer can be either a social or a natural scientist. Its pretty silly, actually, that the divide exists in the first place (but that is another topic that I am not getting into). But the people I work with at Northeast Agricultural University in Harbin are natural scientists. They study rice quality from a much different perspective. But I work with them in their lab because I am interested in learning about the scientific reasons that make rice quality. Of course, the scientific research is only one perspective of many that contribute to the story I am trying to uncover and tell. It is definitely the most complicated. They tell me all about starch content using fancy words I don't even understand in English, let alone Chinese.

I am interested in the scientific perspective of agricultural production for a number of reasons. Right now I am reading a biography of a man referred to as China's 'father of modern rice' for 'inventing' hybrid rice in the 1960s. His discoveries and scientific experiments came at a time when having scientific expertise was not necessarily the trait of a good Communist. Since the late 1970s when China embraced science and modernization, this man has been a hero (hence having a biography published). There are a lot of interesting connections between the broader political environment and the emphasis of scientific research. I think the emphasis on quality rice these days reflects a change in China, as it tries to produce higher quality goods rather than the cheap goods its known for.

I enjoy working with the agricultural scientists. But I am in this awkward position where I learn from them, but I am also analyzing what we talk about (granted I do this with everyone I talk to on the street who tells me something interesting about rice). I have to take what they tell me as both scientific expertise, but also as a perspective on why rice is considered quality. In other words, I am learning about rice expertise at the same time I am trying to analyze it within this social context.

A few nights ago, I randomly ended up at a dinner where I sat next to an American nutritional scientist from California who studies rice quality. I took every opportunity to ask him about what I was learning from my lab-mates (I don't know if 'mate' is the right word because I don't work in the lab, I just visit). He confirmed a lot of what I had learned and offered his own perspective on different things. I told him how glad I was to have him confirm things for me. But, even as I said it, I felt slightly uncomfortable, like I was reaching to an American to confirm what I had already learned from Chinese. I don't want to dis-qualify what the Chinese scientists are teaching me by asking Americans. But I also want to make sure that their perspective is in line with general ideas about rice quality from those who study similar topics.

In any case, scientific characteristics of 'quality rice' are complex (scientifically and politically) and it never hurts to get more, rather than less, confirmation.

The Next Day

I was taking a regular public bus home from my university today. Its a cheap bus, but its an hour into the city, so they put a TV on it. I enjoyed watching the Olympics on this TV in August, but have not enjoyed it since. Usually its some loud program that just gets in the way of my ipod music. Well, today, I looked up and saw Obama on the screen. I pulled my headphones out and listened. Just then the woman next to me nudged me and asked if that was my country. A huge smile came to my face, "Yes, yes it is!" She asked me if I liked Obama and I said yes, I am happy he got elected. She said we Chinese people all like him. I told her I like all Chinese people.

On a regular day, I get asked on average three times what country I come from from random people on the street, people sitting next to my on buses, food vendors, etc. Today was the first day I said I was American with a big proud smile on my face. They knew why; they told me Obama was 'hard-core' because he's the first black president (most common response) and because he represents the world, not just America (my personal favorite).

I guess a lot of Chinese people rode TV-equipped buses and saw his speech. Or they watched from home. But as I was on a bus in the middle of Harbin and saw his face, I knew that he represents so much more to many more people than just Americans. And here we have the first President who really understands and articulates the position of global inter-connectedness we are in. In my idealistic view of the world, I hope that everyone-American or not, Democratic or Republican or Other-can understand how we need a new kind of leader for a new kind of leader for a new kind of world. Obama may or may not be able to undertake that task, but I think he is at least a starting point.

Ok, after today, I promise not to continue talking about this. I just need a few days to calm down-and to find out what kind of dog the new First family-elect gets.

American Election in China

I knew the Steelers' Monday Night Football victory was a good sign. Just a few days ago a friend and a self-proclaimed 'die-hard Skins fan' told me he would be rooting for the Steelers Monday night. He called my attention to the fact that in each of the past 17 presidential elections, the outcome of the Redskins' last home game before the election would predict whether the incumbent party would win (if the Skins won) or lose. So, in short, if the Steelers won on Monday night in Washington, Obama would also win. A pretty good scenario in my world. The two things I've missed the most about not being in the US this fall have been Steelers football and presidential campaigning. Its in my Pittsburgh roots.

For as long as I can remember, I accompanied my parents to the polls and got to pull the levers they told me to pull. The last election I worked in a polling station in rural Maine and saw children accompany their parents. I hope those kids get as excited about elections and getting to vote as I do. I've been distracted by this election for the past few months. I anticipated this would happen and I had originally dreaded being in China for an election season. What I have found instead has been the opportunity to talk to many different Americans in China about the election. Its been an interesting fall and a good experience to hear different perspectives.

More importantly, however, I have see how China has reacted to this election. When I first got here, people already thought that Obama had won, that he had beaten Hillary Clinton. Then they learned about McCain and the real race. Recently, people have been obsessed with the idea that America could have a black president. They think America is a very racist society and are amazed that we can have a black president. We owe it to them to prove that we can take on this task.

Race aside, I have been coming to China for the past 8 years and have talked to a wide range of Chinese people about American politics, particularly foreign policy. I have seen many people here become increasingly angry, disappointed, and even disillusioned with the US because of of foreign actions. The Chinese are pleased with the prospects of 'Change' in foreign policy with the election of Obama. I know the US has a lot of domestic problems, of which foreign policy may not seem urgent for voters. But what the US does affects the world. And I know that (just about) 1.3 million Chinese are pleased with the election results in the US.

Oh and I should add that just about no one knows anything about the NFL or American football here. But its OK because some things are just more important.

Its Snowing!

This is short and sweet. I made it back to Harbin on Friday and was surprised at how warm it was. My friends all told me the earlier part of the week had been much colder and it had snowed. So when I exited the airport, I was pleasantly surprised. Progressively, its gotten colder since then. Tonight I walked outside to come home after being in most of the day working and found snow. Its wet snow that melts on impact, but snow nonetheless.

Also, I am thrilled to report that China does not participate in silly changing-the-clock rituals. Its still the same time here (despite what American electronics my try to tell you). So I am now 13 hours ahead of East coast time, instead of the easy 12 hours. Its already getting dark here really early so if it got darker any earlier, I would not be happy.

But I am happy to be back, snow or no snow.

Retreating

I am sitting in the Beijing airport trying to get back to Harbin. Unfortunately, due to a series of canceled and re-scheduled flights, its going to be a long wait. I've heard it is really cold in Harbin. I am bracing myself, but really looking forward to returning to the quiet life that accompanies studying rice.

I spent the first few days of this week attending the Northeast Asia Economic Forum. It was a big conference with a lot of speakers. The day after the conference ended, all of the young people who had been part of the workshop got together to process and discuss the forum. Here is what I learned.

Americans are loud. About 30+ people from the workshop sat in a classroom and we gave group presentations. When the organizers tried to get us to use microphones, all of the Americans refused to use them. Each of the groups had an American in it. All of the Americans talked for our groups, myself included. After a couple of weeks of sitting around listening to talks, we had decided it was time to be heard. We summarized and critiqued what we had seen at the Forum, offered suggestions to improve the workshop for the next year, and pretty much led the last day of discussions. I observed (and participated in) this phenomenon with another American. She observed that yes we are loud, but we also get things done. In a sense, Americans are an authority figure, even just as workshop participants.

The workshop had about 33 participants from 6 countries (S. Korea, Japan, China, Mongolia, Russia, USA). The US is the one country that is a geographical stretch. But its inclusion in the region represents the broader and stronger political economic relations the US has. Of the 5 Americans, 3 of us are currently living in an Asian country and the other ones have previously and/or may in the future (well, if Josh is reading this, he's the exception to all rules). The US is involved in this region because our foreign policy. In the most general sense, we show up at conferences and meetings to listen and observe. After we have listened and observed, we insert ourselves into the situation and become an authority. At this basic workshop of graduate students and young professionals, the US presence was undeniable. From keeping up with current events in the world, I imagine its like that at a much larger scale as well. For better or for worse, Americans live in a privileged position in the world where authority is granted to us based on our nationality. We use this authority to make things happen.

I came to China first as a Peace Corps volunteer and now as an (aspiring) academic so I could both be a part of, but also be removed from, the world of international politics. I want to see and understand what happens in the rest of the world through processes of economic development, financial integration, and free trade. But I don't want to be directly involved in it because I understand the biases that one brings to a situation when working on behalf of a government or some other organization. Of course, I am not free from this at all by being an academic. But when I get a little closer to understanding how world politics operates, I want to distance myself. Whether what I am doing works or doesn't work, I don't want to be the American who comes in and gets the job done.

So I continue to wait to board my plane to return to Harbin where I can continue my role as an observer in the world of northeast rice. I don't have to lead any more discussions and try to get my beliefs across for a while. The workshop was a good break and a reality check from life in Harbin. But I am ready to go back and be quiet for a while.

An American in Tianjin

I have been in the city of Tianjin for about a week, and I have another week here. Tianjin is about an hour or so away from Beijing and, although it is a major city in China, it is often overshadowed by Beijing. I am here for a workshop and conference on Northeast Asia economic and political relations. I am here partially because I would like to eventually do some post-doc work on Korean and Japanese views of Chinese rice, so I want to learn more about the Northeast Asia region and maybe make some connections. But there is something about being here in the midst of other American and Asian scholars that makes me more aware of my position as an American than I am in Harbin. Let's see if I am successful at putting my thoughts into words.

When I checked into the conference, the first question I was asked was what country I came from. The list of participants was broken up by countries. Among the 30 participants, I was one of the 5 Americans. So from the start, I was defined through my country. But, like most of the participants, I lead an international life within the NE Asian region. Aside from me, an American living in China, the conference hosts Mongolians living in Russia, Koreans living in the US, Chinese living in Japan, etc. But despite our international experiences, we have continuously been grouped by nationality.

Since I have been here, I have had plenty of conversations with people from all over about American politics. American or not, everyone seems to have an opinion about the American election. To be fair, this includes myself, though I usually succeed at keeping my opinions to myself until I gauge what the others think. Over the weekend, though, I had one aggressive person pick an argument with me about what is best for America. He had never been to America, and could not discuss anything about American social issues or even foreign policy; he was an economist and cared only about the economy. I almost felt like I was being attacked. It was a weird conversation and I wondered how I had gotten involved in it. I wished I hadn't because I would have rather preferred to have a more meaningful conversation than an argument. I think its great so many people around the world care so much about the American election-they should care-but I don't like feeling because I am American, I am available to be told what America needs to do.

This morning, the conference focused on history of the region. Over and over again, we (the participants) were told that we would be hearing the 'objective' side of history and the 'facts' so we could understand where the region is today. During the question period, I listened to other Americans asking the speakers to clarify how they were telling history objectively. I later discussed this with other Americans. Some other participants in the conference did not seem to be bothered by an objective understanding of history. Is it only in America that we understand the inherent controversies in telling history? Or is it that we have been taught critical thinking over and over again that we can't help but be critical of any speaker we hear?

Along the same lines, I have been getting in conversations with Chinese people here that I avoid in Harbin. In Harbin I like to forget about Chinese politics and just talk to people. At times, I am perhaps overly sensitive to not discussing Chinese politics. But at an academic conference about economic and political collaboration of this region, it cannot be avoided. Every time something about Chinese politics comes up, the Chinese people tend to get defensive and tell us to ignore the politics and focus on the economics. I personally do not think the two can be separated and find it difficult to have academic conversations when their national pride gets in the way. I am sure I have my own biases (such as finding it difficult to believe an 'objective' history), but I try to be open to hear what is said. I feel like this issue just pulls me farther away from having productive conversations with Chinese academics and I retreat to my American thinking.

Oh yes, I cannot forget, the best part of the conference should come later this week when the former governor of Alaska comes to talk about Energy Policy in Northeast Asia. Seriously, that is what he is talking about. I wonder if he is going to claim he is an energy expert because he comes from an oil state. And how exactly does Alaska's proximity to Russia allow him to talk to a group of NE Asian scholars?

Thirty Years Ago

1978 was a big year for China. China's entire political economic landscape is dominated by the reforms that began in this year. Deng Xiaoping took over after the death of Mao and initiated the policies now commonly known as Reform and Opening Up. Reform refers to domestic economic reforms which began in the countryside and moved China away from a Communist state-dominated economy. Opening Up refers to external reforms that began economic, trade, and scientific collaboration between China and foreign countries. Over and over again, Chinese celebrate the past thirty years by citing achievements in economic development and technological progress.

Understanding the way China is sets the stage for the changes that occurred in 1978 sets the background for my research. Producing quality rice is a way to get beyond the obsession with producing mass quantities of rice that came with Communism. As China celebrates thirty years of progress and success, 1978 is tauted as a new beginning. And thirty years ago in the US, new beginnings were also taking place but on a much different scale.

Thirty years ago today I was born. Although my life has paralleled China's reforms, I spent my first twenty years pretty much oblivious to what was happening in China. And now I am in the midst of a major research project examining the effects of these reforms through Chinese rice. This is not my first birthday in China. I spent my first birthday here seven years ago in Luzhou, Sichuan at Xingqi Ba (a place where everyone knew my name). It was the one place in Luzhou where I could always go to feel at home. I was back there the next year.

Last year on my birthday, I was in Colorado, thinking about how and when I would return to China next. The day before I had submitted a major grant proposal I had crammed into writing in just six weeks. I spent most of my birthday obsessing over the minor details I had (or had not) written into the grant. Well, it worked out just fine. I got that grant and now I am here.

I gave a presentation this morning at a conference. My presentation was about linking culture, economy, and ecology through rice in China. Before the presentation, the group presented me with a big poster everyone had signed and written in different languages. Embarrassingly, they also sang Happy Birthday in English and a variety of Northeast Asian languages (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Russian-maybe some Mongolian as well). The presentation went well and now I can relax. What a cool way to spend a birthday.

Koreans and Organic Rice

I spent the past couple days on organic rice fields. I actually did not know the fields I was going to were organic until I was there. I also did not know that most of the employees on the fields were Korean. I knew I was going to go with a group of people visiting from Korea, but the organic rice and the Korean workers (both unexpected) might have been a coincidence. I think , however, there is something to say about why we went to see them together.

Wuchang is a town just an hour and a half south of Harbin. All people tell me the highest quality northeast rice comes from here. I visited on my own about a month and a half ago, but did not make it a formal visit. This time, I was happy to go with people who were going with their own mission. Two of people were South Koreans from a televisions station, making a program about Chinese rice, so they wanted to learn about rice and get footage for their program. There was another South Korean rice researcher, my professor (ethnically Korean, but a Chinese citizen) and a Chinese driver. Six of us that drove from Harbin to Wuchang and spent two days visiting farms, fields, government offices, research institutes, and mills. None of us spoke one common language, so car rides and meetings were filled with Korean, Chinese, and a little English going back and forth. Korean is a very beautiful language to listen to; I wish I could speak it.

Its the end of harvest season. Paddy fields were drained of water beginning in early September. As a result, the rice still in the ground was brown and drying. When we got to the fields, workers were chopping them down to let the stalks lay out for about ten days. This helps make it easy to remove the grain from the plant. The workers were skilled and had the act perfected to a rhythm. I wish my pictures could capture that rhythm better.

The workers on these fields get paid 6 times what workers on 'average' rice farms get. The production of japonica rice in the northeast really got underway at the end of the nineteenth century. Most of the skilled laborers then, and in the following century, were ethnic Koreans living in China. Today, the northeast of China is host to over 2 million Koreans. Koreans are one of the most well-off minorities living in China.

The Koreans who came on the trip with us told me that organic rice is still very small in Korea, as it is in China. Why, of all the rice fields that we visited, then did we go to organic fields? Probably because they are exemplary of the best fields and practices to grow rice here. Last summer, I was taken to organic soybean fields in Jilin (the province just south of Heilongjiang) when a Dutch researcher was visiting. Again, I tagged along with a professor as she led a Dutch researcher to the organic fields.

When I first wanted to study food and agriculture in China, I wanted to study the developing organic industry here. I had problems with that idea because, to the average Chinese, organic is not an important influential factor (but 'quality' is). I felt it would be more of an international industry than a local food movement. It is. And when foreign researchers request to be taken to the Chinese countryside, we are led to the best fields to show the best agriculture China is capable of. For the Koreans who visited, it worked out well that they could communicate with the workers in Korean and they got to see the best rice fields in the northeast.
Workers in the fields. You can see the grains up close here.Ready to be milled...This machine is separating the poor quality grains (usually broken or not fully formed) from the rice ready to go to the market.
The final product. The top left green circle claims this is organic rice (its hard to read).

Leeks Everywhere

I love the change of seasons! There are so many great stories I have to write about. Since its been way too long since I have posted photos, I have some good ones to share that speak for themselves. Its getting cold here in Harbin and people are preparing for winter. Most evident in their preparations are the leeks lining the sidewalks here. Literally everywhere you look in residential neighborhoods, leeks are sitting outside drying in the sun. If dried properly, leeks can last through the winter.

As I was running this morning, I saw a line of people behind a truck. They were buying big bundles of leeks from the back of the truck, strapping them to the backs of their bikes, and heading home to (presumably) lay them out in the sun. As soon as the leeks are done, I was told yesterday, cabbage would be next. Sure enough, this morning I saw some Chinese cabbage out next to the leeks. By next week, it might all be cabbage.

Here is the little store below my apartment building lined with leeks, waiting for the sun.

This woman was tearing off the outside layers of the leeks and laying them out. When I stopped to watch her, she handed me one and told me to keep it. Then she told me it wasn't enough and I needed more. I had to insist that I was going somewhere and could not carry them with me.

I believe the bundles are held together with dried, braided rice stalks.

Happy Birthday, China

Today was a national holiday to celebrate China's birthday. The People's Republic of China turned 59 today. Most people have the week off.

Chinese people in general are very proud of their country/culture and like to remind me that America is only 200 years old, while China is over 2000 years old.

The next time I am told this, I may remind a Chinese person that the Chinese government is 59 years old.

China celebrates a holiday where the Communists won and created a new country. But today China is desperately trying to move away from its association with Communism.

Tainted Milk

Well, I had a good story I was going to write about a meeting, but I will save that to post later this week. I am saving it because I feel I should say something about the tainted milk scandals that have been in the news throughout China. As you have probably have heard, there is a milk scandal brewing in China. If you haven't heard, look it up in the news.

I was rather surprised about how many people are talking about the milk here. Over the past week or two, I have had almost more conversations about milk than I have about rice. People want to talk about it. And they are not happy about it. I am surprised because last summer when I was here, the US and international newspapers were filled with stories of tainted dog food and toothpaste from China. But not many people here knew much about it. Of course, the problem had been primarily in exported foods and not necessarily domestic products.

A little over a year later, people are upset about the milk case. They know this is not the only case, but it is the case that is getting publicized and receiving attention. I have had people tell me that there is no future for 'green foods' (China's organic and ecological agricultural products) because the entire regulatory system is corrupt. Products are labeled one way, but they may not necessarily reach those standards. The best food to eat, I have been told, is in the countryside at the homes of farmers who grow their own food. It sounds similar to alternative food movements in the US these days. Unfortunately, China has a lot more barriers to hurdle regarding industrial food production.

What I see is a sad but fascinating story unfolding. Consumer activism is taking place in China. Mothers are demanding investigations and higher quality standards. When I was in China in 2005 researching environmental activism for my master's thesis, I heard the same stories told over and over again about the beginnings of the environmental movement in China. These were stories where the government first acknowledged there was a large-scale pollution problem and encouraged local governments to come together to fix the problem. Environmental NGOs flourished. But, unfortunately, fixing the environment takes time, as we saw with the polluted skies in Beijing last month that the government desperately wanted to hide.

With the milk case, I think strict food safety regulations are beginning to get stronger. The government is publicizing this case, firing regulators responsible for the tainting, and discussing the problem of food safety openly. In years from now, this case will be talked about as a major starting point for strict control of food safety. But, if the environmental movement is any indication, people will get involved and incentives will be offered to companies, but it will continue to be a slow process to rid the industry of all corruption. Let's hope that lessons can be learned more quickly.

In the meantime, I am avoiding milk.

Environmental Determinism

One of the first things most geography grad students learn is that the theory of environmental determinism had been thrown out years ago. Jared Diamond, author of Collapse and Guns, Germs, and Steel, brought this theory back, earning him popularity as a geographical author, but not within the field of geography. At least in my department, Jared Diamond is a bad word. Just for background information, environmental determinism is the theory that environmental, climatic, and geographical conditions affect people's behaviors and determine their culture. Environmental determinism leaves out social, political, and economic conditions that affect societies. While many geographers look at the relationship between people and the environment, that relationship is reiterative, not deterministic.

One of the questions I ask people about northeast rice production is the relationship between growing rice and the environment. Most of the responses I get are why the physical features of the environment and the climate in the northeast are advantageous for producing good rice. There is good soil here, the weather is cool at night and warm during the day, there is a lot of sunlight during the day in the growing season. Yes, these are all very true responses. Japonica rice responds well to these conditions. When I ask about the effects of rice production on the environment, the responses are that it uses a lot of land and water. True, water especially is a problem in the northeast.

Yet, what is missing from these responses is the role that social and economic conditions play in this relationship. For instance, much of the technology that Chinese use to grow quality rice here has come from the Japanese. While the climate and environment here are advantageous, scientists have spent years breeding seeds that work best in these conditions. Chinese government policies have established standards that farms must reach to ensure that the rice has been produced to meet the conditions which produce quality. There is a lot of man-made actions that go into producing high quality rice. The historical connections this area of China has with Japan have been advantageous for scientific collaboration and the establishment of Japanese joint-venture rice businesses.

I know that rice production is not the same as culture, so the equivalence between environmental determinism is not quite the same. However, there is a lot of similarities here. The Chinese are not exactly best friends with the Japanese. Twenty years ago, they welcomed their scientific expertise and economic aid. I am not suggesting that they are purposefully leaving the Japanese out of this story, but that this side of the story where quality rice grows in the natural conditions of the northeast is not complete. To say that the reason northeast rice is quality is a result of natural environmental and climatic factors leaves out the complex role that international politics and economy have played in making this quality rice. This also leaves out the role of marketing this rice plays in convincing consumers that it is quality (that story will come later).

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Today is a holiday in China. Based on the Chinese lunar calendar, we are midway through autumn! The appropriate way to celebrate mid-autumn festival is by eating mooncakes while looking at the moon. Mooncakes are little round pastries, filled with dried fruit or some other kind of sweet filling. They are really heavy and not necessarily my favorite snack, but recently some friends gave me one that was not very heavy or sweet and it tasted pretty good.

I find it hard to believe we are mid-way through autumn already. I continue to wear sandals and a T-shirt everyday. However, over the past week, I have had three different people tell me that it is too late to wear sandals because its fall now and I will get sick if I wear sandals without socks. The wardrobes of people here have changed within a week. Even though the days are still sunny and warm, everyone wears a jacket or sweatshirt. The Chinese tend to consider the season, not necessarily the weather itself as an indicator of what to wear. I, however, am determined to continue to wear sandals and T-shirts as long as they are comfortable. I guess I can't adapt too well to these customs.

On the weekends, I like to go shopping (which sounds funny because really I hate shopping). But part of my research is to consider the rise of supermarkets and consumerism in China. So I try to visit different supermarkets throughout the city. Supermarkets in China, as they have grown substantially over the past decade, generally refer to large stores where one can buy just about any household item. Like a Super Wal-Mart in the US, they include food and clothes and everything in between, usually separated by 2-3 different floors. As I strolled through supermarkets in town yesterday, I was greeted with winter jackets and long underwear. The long underwear here is thick and bulky, meant to protect against the cold Siberian winds that winter in Harbin faces.

I have been warned by more than enough people that winters in Harbin are long, dark, and cold. The only goal when one goes outside is to get as fast as they can to the next building. Ah! I am just trying to get used to the idea that it is fall here, I can't even think about winter in Harbin. Its only September, but happy mid-autumn festival!

Irrational Fears

I hope something that most people share is an irrational fear. There are things that terrify me and I’m not exactly sure why; there is nothing rational about why I am so scared of it, but I am. In China I face two of my biggest fears on a regular basis. I hope I am learning not to be scared.

My first irrational fear: Rats. China has big, gross rats. It is not uncommon to see dead ones in the middle of the sidewalk. Even when it is dead, I walk as far away from it as I can get. When I was looking at apartments in Harbin, I wanted to get one that was at least on the sixth floor and was clean inside so it would not attract rats or mice. I had some of these in my first floor apartment in Sichuan and I refused to go inside until I knew the problem was taken care of. I’ve never had one hurt me, but nonetheless I am scared of it.

So the other day, my good friend Melissa and I went for a run. Like me, Melissa is a Geography PhD candidate (but not at Colorado). We got to know each other in Beijing last year and by shear luck, we both ended up in Harbin this fall. So after our run, we were walking through a park on our way home when a big rat ran across our path, just inches from our feet. Together, the two of us screamed, loudly and in unison. Actually it was more like a bloodcurdling screech. I’m surprised no one ran up to us to make sure we were OK. Instead, two guys behind us laughed, no doubt having seen the entire event. At least we gave them a show and I know I have a friend with whom I can share my irrational fear of rats.

My second irrational fear: the telephone. This is really embarrassing, but I hate to make telephone calls. I do not mind receiving calls and I do not mind making calls if someone is expecting me to call or if its is a good friend. And if there is nothing I hate more than making phone calls to complete strangers, its making phone calls to complete strangers while speaking in Chinese.

After using my professor at Northeast Agricultural University for academic connections at the university for other rice professors, I’ve realized that I am on my own now to get connected to businesses and companies who process and distribute rice. I’ve spent the last few days surfing the internet, gathering the names of agricultural companies in Heilongjiang that supply rice. So now I have a list. I also have a speech planned, ready for when I actually make the calls. I’ve made plenty of phone calls in Chinese before and it always turns out fine. After one or two calls, I realize nothing bad is going to happen and it gets easier. But for now I am sitting with a list staring at me, waiting for me to call. I hope by posting this I am forcing myself to make the phone calls so you all can check up with me.

The Northeast

Its been three months since I arrived in China in June. Except for 2 days in Beijing and 2 days in Inner Mongolia, I have been in Harbin (or at least Heilongjiang province) the entire time. I am learning so much about the northeast of China by being here and its much more than I thought there was to learn. The northeast is called the dongbei in Chinese (which actually translates directly as east north) and is a very distinct region of China. People here are dongbei more than they are Harbin. Its not just as though they live in Harbin, its that they associate where they live with the entire northeast of China.

Previously I lived in the southwest of China, but I called it Sichuan. There is a strong regional identity with Sichuan people. Although Guizhou and Yuannan are also provinces associated with the southwest, there are distinct provincial identities associated with each of the provinces. Throughout all of China, the northeast is Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces. There is no questioning that other provinces may or may not be a part of the northeast. Compare this to the US where the northeast is New England to some people, and to others, it extends down to Washington D.C. It is slightly more ambiguous in the US.

The northeast certainly has an interesting history within China and Harbin itself, as an international city with Russian traders and a refuge for Jews, has been at the center of most of this history. I just ordered a book on this history and will get it soon (via a friend of a friend who is coming to China next week). I am more interested in what has happened since the 1930s when Japan claimed control over the northeast as Manchuria. My interest comes in the form of rice that is grown here that has connections with Korea and Japan, but more on that later. For now, I am trying to understand the collective identity that northeastern people have with one another. The identity here is used both from within China (as a northeast person) as well as external to China to claim a collective identity with surrounding countries. And because I study food, of course I am interested in the ways that food marks one's identity.

A few weeks ago, I was walking down a street in Harbin and saw a store named Northeast Consumer Goods. I was in a rush to get somewhere, so I only had time to glance in the store and see it was a store selling food products from the northeast. I took note of the location, thinking they had to have rice there. Northeast rice is very famous, after all. So prepared with my camera and a speech to give the manager about who I was and what I was doing, I went back and walked into the store this week. I was greeted with packages of fancy berries, honey, and mushrooms. They even had alcohol in this store, but as hard as I looked (its a small store) there was no rice! So I asked the saleslady who had followed me around since I came in where the rice was. She said they don't have rice. I had built up too much hope in this store holding answers to why and how dongbei rice is marketed that I was dismayed.

But it was interesting to talk to her about why they don't have rice. Rice is not a specialty product, rice is a necessity, she told me. This store caters to middle class consumers who want to give friends and relatives outside of the region gifts from the northeast. Rice is not considered a gift apparently because it is a staple crop, even if it is labeled high quality from the northeast. I should have thought of that. But now I know. And I also know the more special gifts from the northeast if I ever need to give a gift to someone outside of the northeast.

Getting settled

So it has been a long time since I have written, much longer than I would like. August has been a crazy month. I can’t say I’ve been busy with research, but I have been busy with preparing to do my research. My primary focus recently has been to get settled in Harbin and get set up as a visiting foreign graduate student at the Northeast Agricultural University. As a result, I hate to say I have had nothing fun to write about. So rather than bore you with the frustrating details of dealing with the bureaucracy of Chinese, I thought it might be better to just wait until I had a better sense of the direction that my life and research would be taking. And now, complete with a positive attitude, I am ready to start.

To begin, I have a great apartment in Harbin. Finding furniture and decorating it has been a lot of fun. Most of the place was furnished, but I needed a few extra things and I found that delivery on the back of a bike (followed by the back of the deliverer up 6 flights of stairs) is an easy and efficient way to transport a couch. I also found a night market where I asked for (direct translation here) ‘those little metal things used to hold cloth over a window.’ I had no idea what they looked like, but I knew something existed to attach curtains to the built-in track above my window. Sure enough (well, really, after trying five vendors giving my blank stares), I successfully found them and I have a fantastic orange flowered sheet hanging over my window. The sheet matches the orange paw-print decorated couch that I also got (yes, things in China are quite tacky to say the least).

I could go into detail of the process of getting affiliated with a Chinese university for a year of research, but, really, the details are not fun. What is fun is that I am now officially a research student at the Northeast Agricultural University in Harbin, China. As I was filling out the paperwork, they asked for my major, so I wrote ‘geography.’ Well, this actually caused 20 minutes of confusion because this university does not actually have a geography department. I caught the mistake and told them I meant to write ‘agriculture.’ But they were confused about how I could be a PhD student in geography in the US, but studying agriculture in China. I explained and assured them that I knew enough about Chinese agriculture to be a research student here. I’m not sure I believe I know enough, but I was apparently convincing enough.

This week I got an email saying I had been accepted to attend a workshop I had applied to earlier this summer in Tianjin, China in October. The conference is about political and economic ties in the Northeast Asia region. A little over a year ago, I would not have been even considered my research as having connetcions with the region of Northeast Asia (generally including China, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia), but as I am here studying rice and working with Chinese agricultural scientists (many of whom have traveled to Korea and/or Japan), I am fascinated by the technological and economic connections between these countries. China, Korea, and Japan are the three countries in the world where japonica rice is grown, so of course there are connections. My primary professor at the agricultural university here is a Korean minority in China. He is a Chinese citizen, but speaks Korean and just this week hosted a group of 20 Korean farmers who came to Harbin for a day. So, before I go to the conference in October, my goal is to collect information about such connections and present a decent paper about these connections.

I guess I have been doing a lot of reading lately about rice research in China. Its research, but not quite the kind of research where I get to talk to people and ask them what they think about the current situation of rice production. That part will come, it takes time to get people to talk to me. I just have to be patient.

And in the middle of getting all of the details of my life and research here, I got to enjoy the Olympics with the rest of China. Every block outside lined with chairs and tables for eating also had a TV. Each time a Chinese team was playing or an individual athlete was taking his or her turn diving or vaulting, the hustle and bustle that usually fills the streets here would stop, as all heads turned to the TV. After a week and a half, I was bored with the scene, but it was still fun to watch.

Classes are Over, Research is Beginning?

OK, I promise, this is the last post I will ever write about studying Chinese. Classes are over and it was a great experience. During the first week of classes, I would wake up and recall conversations I had the day before and think to myself, did we really say all of that in Chinese and this morning I woke up thinking about all the English conversations I had yesterday after the language pledge officially ended and thought, why did we talk in English when we could have said it all in Chinese?

There were quite a few highlights of the week, mostly that I felt good after all of my exams. I would say I definitely would say that completing my independent study class with a long essay, an oral report, and answering questions about my research project was definitely a highlight. Over the past year, I have been trying to synthesize my ideas about Chinese rice and write them in a way that would get me grants from an American scientific and research audience. As I spent so much time doing this, I knew that I should be thinking in Chinese about Chinese rice, but never had the time, motivation, etc. to make the effort to spend the time doing so. Luckily, what I was able to do over the summer was to find ways to effectively communicate my research to a Chinese audience. So I felt like I had really accomplished something after my test for that class was over. Altogether, I had my four finals for my four classes in about 26 hours, so it was a lot of cramming and not much sleeping, but I felt good about all of them.

Aside from being able to communicate my research proposal in Chinese, I feel the most valuable experience of the summer was to get me motivated to practice my Chinese everyday and to do so in a productive way. I know what works for me to practice and I am going to make sure I spend at least a couple hours each day aside from research on reading and writing in Chinese.

After finishing exams on Thursday, I was able to relax for a day and organize my papers and run errands that needed to be done. It was a good feeling to have time to do that. I got to see my friend Afton for the last time before he left Harbin to go back to Colorado. And then I rushed back to the dorm and sat in front of the TV to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics. A group of American students and our Chinese roommates crowded together to watch it. I did not think I would be this excited about the Olympics, but it really is fun to watch how China presents itself to the world. And I love talking to Chinese people about the games. I guess I am looking at the Olympics through the perspective of a researcher, trying to understand how this experience is evident in people's lives here in Harbin. And its fun to watch the games that are important to Chinese people and that I don't necessarily see in the US.

So this morning everyone from my program left early to head back to Beijing and then most are going back to the US. And I stayed here in Harbin, with the task of trying to figure out how to begin 'research.' I looked at some apartments the other day and I am still deciding where I want to live. I have a meeting set up this week with the northeast agricultural university to get me set up as a researcher there. So I am hoping that over the next couple weeks thing will fall into place and I can get going. But I am not pushing for it to happen too fast, I am ready to take a little break and rest after my classes.

So I hope soon I can start posting interesting stuff about rice soon, but for now, I am taking it slow. I am making a lot of lists. List-making is a lot of fun, and makes me feel organized. It gives me a place to begin and goals to work towards. Getting started with research is a multi-faceted process and, in China, especially, requires getting to know lots of different people.

The Olympics are Coming

Seven years ago, I sat in my host family's living room in Sichuan and watched fireworks explode in Tiananmen Square. Members of my host family jumped up and down, elated to hear that China had finally proved to the world it was ready to host the 2008 Olympics. I've been in China (not continuously) just about every year since 2001 and the country has certainly done much to embrace the coming of the Olympics. And now the time is almost here. I know that I could go see the games, but I am perfectly content to skip out on the opportunity to squish myself into an already-overcrowded city where traffic can be a nightmare and personal space on public transportation is all but non-existent on a good day. So, as China puts on its two-week show for the world to watch, I will be following from the TV, the conversations I have with people on the street, and the news I read online. I've avoided commenting on the Olympics up until now because, well, I think I am just as sick of hearing about them as others. But for what its worth, here is my two cents.

I read the NY Times online everyday and have been following the way that the games are covered. Earlier this week, I was bothered by criticism of the government for blocking certain web-sites for the foreign media to access, after promising a free and open media to foreign journalists. The story claimed that web-sites about the three Ts (Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen) had been blocked. Why, I asked, did foreign media need to read about these when they are in Beijing to cover sporting events? There was no answer in the article, just criticism that China had not passed this certain test that the media was holding it up to. Today, I read an article about how China is more free today than it was twenty years ago, despite lack of certain freedoms (such as freedom of speech). It appears this article was written in response to the world's critical spotlight on China's human rights. Then there was one saying that despite these human rights issues, China is going to provide a fresh face and a new spectacle to the games.

I appreciate these articles and I do want to see a more open China in the future. But I just can't help but be annoyed about the standards that the world press appears to be holding China up to. Fifteen years ago, when China put in an unsuccessful bid to host the 2000 Olympics, the same conversations about lack of political rights were discussed. Just five years after the crackdown on the Tiananmen square protests, this was a more urgent and understandable concern. I would like to think that our understanding of what constitutes human rights has progressed over the past 15 years. The latest article acknowledged that Chinese people's lives are much better these days due to opening up (traveling abroad, for example) and economic reform. Yes, I agree that many middle class urban people are happy these days and not concerned about what they can or cannot access on the internet. [Here I feel it is extremely important that I add a disclaimer that this broad generalization does not include minorities or struggling farmers/workers in the countryside]. Sure, many people want more freedom, but they are happy, prosperous, and proud of their country. Isn't that enough?

Why does this limited view of human rights overshadow the games? Why is it that we think of human rights in the narrow frame of access to all internet sites or freedom of speech? These are important, but they are not all that this vast country has to share. Can't the press think beyond its narrow view of what constitutes rights to look beyond the obvious, immediate display of what internet sites are available? People around the workd have a lot of different views about China, and only some of them are political. Can we please move beyond these drawn out views of human rights and think about something else?

For the most part, people are happy and yes, the government-just as any other-has problems keeping everyone happy. Not everyone has benefitted from economic reforms and not everyone necessarily wants what the government offers them. Students and professors are well-aware that internet access to certain sites is blocked, but they find ways around it or they deal with it. It does not get in the way of their daily lives. I know I sound like I am taking the government perspective here, but really, China has done a lot of amazing things over its long history. It continues to change, in some ways dramatically and in others, more gradual. The Olympics are about sports, after all, not human rights. I think China is becoming much more free, its just a gradual process and one big event like the Olympics is not necessarily going to bring dramatic change.

Learning Chinese

Sometimes when I am here and studying for Chinese tests I wonder how i have made it this far in school. I am a PhD candidate and sometimes I really do not like school. I've spent a lot of time in school and have always passed as a good student and just kept going. But being in a Chinese classroom (albeit a very good Chinese classroom) that reminds me of why I do not like school. I think the teachers in this program are amazing and are the best Chinese teachers I've had. We have small classes of 1-5 students and each have an equal chance to practice in class and outside of class, but learning a language still requires a very rigid style of learning.

I spent the weekend working on homework. I stayed in my room and studied all the Chinese I've learned this summer to prepare for my final exams. And I had fun! But the thing is that I don't do well on exams. OK, I admit a bit of exaggeration and truth be told, I do just fine, but I don't pass with flying colors. When I study I do not study to regurgitate exactly what the teacher wants on the exam. I study to learn. I want my Chinese to improve so I want to know what I have learned, regardless of whether I can do well on the exam. So I think the reason I have continued in school is because I love learning. In a Chinese language program, the emphasis is on doing homework and taking exams to show you have prepared. But I prepare my Chinese as I see necessary to survive as a researcher in the field, not as the teacher sees in mastering the language. Both are important but I just want to jump ahead to the end goal and skip the rigid grammar in between.

I think my strategy in school has been to take classes which emphasize learning through thinking; at my liberal arts college I chose the classes with final papers, not final exams. Was it a cop-out, an excuse to not have to take exams? Or another way to show that I can still learn, even if what I learn is not quantitatively measured through an exam? Or am I just selfish, wanting to learn what is relevant to what I think about and not what the teacher wants?

Following my college education and 2 years in the Peace Corps, I went to an amazing college for my master's degree where grades were all but irrelevant and classroom emphasis was on fulfilling the needs of the student. It was perfect for me, in both course content and in personal growth. And, I have nothing but excellent praise for my current PhD program at the U of Colorado. I think the freedom I found in my higher education career has catered to an excellent learning environment. But when it comes to learning foreign languages or taking statistics or anything that requires finding the 'right answer' and being tested through exams, I feel like a terrible student. But then I read a book or write a paper where I am free from the structures of a rigid education system and I want to learn more.

One of our final assignments for the summer, in addition to final exams, is to write an essay in Chinese characters covering the topic of our independent study course. Mine, of course, is about rice. I spent the weekend working on this essay. I went back over my readings and notes and summaries I have written all summer and I composed a long-very long-essay. I need to shorten this essay, even though I could keep writing for as long as I have things to say. I am using the grammar I have studied in my classes. When I apply what I have learned to a topic that interests me, I know how important all of my classes have been.

And, as a future college professor, I realize an ultimate goal in education is to find the balance between what the teacher wants students to know and what students want to show the teacher what they know. I hope I can find that balance when I get there. But for now, I am still a student and need to study for my exams.

a reminder

I went for a walk today. My main goal was to find grocery stores, but really I wanted to walk through the city during the day, and escape the gates of the university. I had the afternoon off from classes and I did not want to study; I wanted to see where people bought rice. Not really having a direction in mind, I walked toward the part of town where I knew there was a Carrefour (a large French supermarket chain). After passing Carrefour, I stepped into a few stores. It turned out most sold clothes and not food. But it was interesting nonetheless. I went into a place that was definitely high class, filled with high-end stores (including a BMW accessory store). It was air-conditioned and quiet, with light music playing in the background. I felt underdressed in my sporty sandals and skirt. So I left and found an underground market through which I walked to cross the street. Five minutes later, I found myself in an alley, littered with raw garbage, rats, and beggars. I felt overdressed in my sporty sandals and skirt.

Overwhelmed with the drastic differences in the streets of Harbin, I made my way back to Carrefour to check out the rice displays. I think I got there at a good time because there were 2 employees re-filling the rice bins. I was able to see what kind of rice they used from the bags they were using to dump the rice. I lingered around and took pictures of the bins and of the bags of rice. I’m still trying to figure out how to incorporate the market end of consumption into my research, so I was just getting ideas. Most of the customers came up and stuck their hands in the rice, scooping it up and letting it fall through their fingers, I guess as a way to tell if it was good rice (a future research question). I basically decided that I have a lot of questions I can ask in a survey form to rice consumers, and left Carrefour to walk back to my university campus.

I decided to take the back way home and walk through alleys. Again, I walked across the street and was struck the drastic difference between poor (people living in the alleys) and rich (Carrefour customers). I turned my i-pod on for the walk home and found some deep, depressing music to listen to as I contemplated the have and have-nots existing side-by-side in this city. In my Chinese classes, the teachers always talk about gaigekaifa (opening up and reform which started in China in 1978). It is unquestionably seen as the policy that has improved everyone’s lives through economic development. Sure, especially in Harbin they recognize that the xiagang (laid off workers) are a by-product of reform, but finding them jobs is just another problem. In other words its an accepted social issue to be dealt with. I am not here to judge whether China is better off after reform. It is impossible to make that judgment call, but I am here to look at the complications that have arisen from the process of reform.

I contemplated all of these ideas as I walked. Sure many American cities are exactly the same as Chinese cities, but there is at least infrastructure (such as sewage) in many American cities to prevent the poor from being as destitute (though Chinese cities lack the crime many find in American cities). As I turned a corner, a familiar (good) smell struck me and I looked below. An entire portion of the street corner was covered in freshly picked garlic. There was a truck behind the garlic and people working on cutting the garlic from its stalks. In my mind, I immediately flashed back to Maine where I spent a summer on a farm, harvesting and drying out garlic (among other things). Although I was deep in thought and listening to depressing music (in a good, contemplative way), I just had to stop. I took out my headphones, reached for my camera, and smiled at the people scattered among the garlic.

The questions began from both ends. They were eager to hear where I was from, why I could speak Chinese, how long I have been here, if we have garlic in my country, etc. I was eager to understand how they could just dump a truck full of garlic on the street and start cutting the heads from the stalks. As I was listened and watched, I realized this was their stall and they had just brought a new load of garlic. Customers and the garlic hawkers alike gathered around me as I tried to figure out what was going on. It turned out two of the women I had been talking to were customers there to buy garlic. They walked away with bags filled with fresh garlic. One walked into the alleys from which I had emerged; the other walked over to her accessory-decorated car and popped the trunk.

And as I turned to walk home, I remembered that this is precisely why I study food. Food brings people together. The customers and the hawkers alike told me about this garlic was good, it was fresh and picked early in the season. It had just been picked that morning. And people from all classes know it is good and come to buy it. They wanted to know about garlic in the US and I wanted to know about garlic in China. Food is a common thread that keeps us alive. And in the US where people are increasingly paying more and going out of their way for the opportunity to consume local food, it is dumped on the street corners in China.

I got back to my dorm and was enjoying the deep thoughts I was having as I continued to listen to my music. I sat on the stoop in front of the dorm, not yet ready to re-enter the life of a student. I must have looked really depressed (but really if I look depressed I’m probably just thinking hard and enjoying myself) because another foreign student from Yemen who I had never met before walked over to the marigolds growing in front of the dorm and picked one for me. And thus I re-entered the life of being a foreign student in China.

Ready to focus on rice

Five weeks of Chinese classes are done. With an average of about three tests a week, plus tons of homework, I am beginning to see the results and am feeling really good about my ability to conduct interviews and read reports on rice. Over the last week or two, I've been feeling torn between being anxious to start my research and wishing that classes could last longer and prolong the inevitable where I am completely on my own and have to be self-motivated to structures my days around talking to people and reading about rice. I think I've come to the content realization that this program is going to come to an end and my research is going to have to happen. Part of the comfort I feel comes from just talking to people about rice and hearing their ideas about it. The more conversations I have about rice, the more I see that people are responsive and excited to talk about rice. This week I've had great spontaneous conversations with my language teachers, the foreign affairs director of my school, random restaurant owners, and a Harbin history professor. It is their responsiveness that is getting me excited to turn my attention completely to rice in just about a month.

So I started this week getting ready to live here after everyone else in my program departs to go back to the US. I am working on securing a year-long research visa and I have begun asking about apartments in Harbin. THese projects are time-consuming and I am hoping that once my program ends and the Olympics begin (i.e. everyone will be glued to the television), I will have the time to focus full-time on getting the details of living in China taken care of.

In the meantime, I am enjoying spending time with my classmates and teachers. This morning all of the students in my group went out with our teachers to the countryside. We went to a "Russian Park" but it was still being built, so there was not that much to do there. Except I thoroughly enjoyed it because the sun was shining, there was green grass and trees everywhere, and we had a picnic. It felt good to be out of the city for a day. On the way, we passed some rice fields, adding to my enthusiasm to get out and check out the rice. I just have to be patient and realize that I have a whole year ahead of me of being around rice. For now, I have to prepare a report about what I did this morning at the park for class tomorrow, not to mention study for a test in another class.

Rice fields from a moving bus...