Shamian Island is a sheltered place, its name means "sandy surface" in Cantonese and that is just what it is. In the concessions that followed in the wake of the Opium Wars, half of the island was given to the British and the other half was given to the French. A fence was built along the canal separating the island and kept the rift raft that lived outside the city walls from entering the island. For inside was a sheltered world, in fact, it was the only area in all of Canton that foreigners were allowed to set up their trading posts.
Today the now decaying colonial architecture remains. The restored Catholic church sits perched along the main boulevard, the American consulate resides at one end and the White Swan hotel (probably the most famous hotel in Guangzhou if not Guangdong) rises above the .3 sq km island. Two one-way roads, which really are more like pedestrian avenues are flanked by trees and run down the center of the island on either side of playgrounds, gardens, and walkways.
Bronze statues depicting the island's history stand motionless in front of historical buildings in various states of upkeep and amongst the activity that is many Chinese people playing badminton in the park and foreigners pushing their adopted Chinese babies in strollers. Only the occasional neon sign glowing from the cross-streets, alert the traveler that it is the 20th century and not the 18th. Today Shamian Island remains much like it was one-hundred and fifty years ago, a sequestration from Guangzhou. It remains a sleepy southern town in the middle of a growing dragon.
But Guangzhou is not the completely modernized city that the Chinese government would have you believe it is. Yes, walking off the island you are immediately met with a six lane highway, but if the dilapidation of the island shows times past, than the ordure of decreption on the other side of the freeway will make you wonder is indoor plumping was ever really invented.
I first ventured into this area on Sunday, when the island's pharmacy was closed and I was minutes from tearing my legs off due to the 40 or so bug bites that covered my calves. Today, I walked through this area again and this time I really looked as I walked. I wondered about these people's lives, I wondered if the earthquake had hit Guangzhou instead of Chendgu would these building still be standing. I wondered about the filth and grim, the fact that there were children not wearing shoes, and windows with no glass. I wondered if this was really poverty, and then I realized that this was not as bad as it gets in China.
Guangzhou can quite easily be classified as the economic center of the Pearl River Delta and combined with Shenzhen creates the heart of China's leading commercial and manufacturing region. The 2007 GDP was over $100 billion US dollars and per capita with approx. 6 million urban dwellers this factors out to bt the sixth highest (among 695 cities) in China at about $12,00/year. This success is attributed to the reforms of Deng Xiaoping, who came to power in the late 1970s, which led to rapid economic growth due to the city's close proximity to Hong Kong and access to the Pearl River. If this is "rough" here (and I do believe that other places in the city have it worse) then I wonder how it is in cities and towns who have not experienced as much economic growth.
To be honest, these sights have shocked me and I have found myself not wanting to leave the security of Shamian. Instead I find myself reading Three Kingdoms at Starbucks and watching Chinese in the park. I have found myself without words for posting to this blog. I don't think I have ever had an idealistic view of China, but something about the raw pain of this country has struck me over the last couple of days while staying in Guangzhou.
A week ago I set out to see the "real China" and for me, I thought that meant seeing the "traditional China," which hadn't yet been touched by the modernity of the west. But today I am conscious that maybe "traditional" isn't all that it is cracked up to be after all. Just maybe I am starting to see the arguements about modernity differently.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Getting To & Staying in Guangzhou
Well I made it to Guangdong. Today I have felt the contradictions of pride in little successes and frustration in minute failures. This day has left me simply exhausted, but at the end of it, I got where I wanted to go and that was all that mattered. I had done it and the obstacles along the way, were just that obstacles. Someone once said, God puts brickwalls up in our paths so we must prove how bad we want it.
The bus took off from Wen Chai district's China Travel Services' office on Hennsey Street in Hong Kong. The ticket was only 100 HKD! The bus picked up at a couple other stops and then we headed to the China Border. After taking my carry-on bag off the bus with me at immigration I became worried that my backpack stored under the bus would not meet me on the other side of immigration. But the worry went away for the briefest of moments when they stamped the departing stamp into my passport. I felt like I was walking on air in the make shift space between two countries.
Then reality stepped in and I realized that all I could remember about the bus I had been on was that it was blue, the problem was there were multiple blue buses! But then, a chinese man started waving to me, I pointed to myself and lifted my eyebrow and he nodded his head and motioned for me to come. As I finally sat on the bus, I realized that when I had first boarded the bus in Hong Kong they had stuck a bright orange circle on my shirt. I had thought it was tacky when they had done it and quickly dismissed it, but now I was so extremely grateful for that little orange round circle.
I got back on the bus and we only traveled for about a minute and a half when the bus stopped again. This time for customs INTO China. Everyone stood up immediately and I too followed. I was a little trepidacious and afraid once again that I was going to lose my bag at some point. The driver motioned me around the side and sure enough I needed to pick up the bag. I have no clue why this thought of picking up my bag had weighed so heavily on my heart during the last stop, but I was so glad that it had. I once again entered the building and I stood in the long line for visitors. I passed through without a problem, the customs official took a good long look at my passport photo and then he stamped my passport. I let out the breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding. I had had so many visa issues up until this point that I was worried that something was going to go wrong, but low and behold it did not.
I had tried to go on this trip last summer and it did not happen for reasons outside of my control. I was worried that with so many problems planning my trip this time around that maybe it was not meant to be either. But I have been reaffirmed that this is God's plan and he is in control and not me. I am trying very hard not to plan things to a "T," but going with the flow and relaxing a little. But somehow the confucision of not speaking or understanding Cantonese has brought out the traits in me of needing to be in control.
In Hong Kong, as well as Guangzhou, Cantonese is the common language and while I can get the just of signs I often find it disorientating. For the most part I did not say a word on the bus, until a little boy a couple rows ahead of me, smiled shyly and waved. I asked in Mandarin what was his name and he just looked at me. His mom who was sitting across from me had to tell him I was speaking Putonghua (Mandarin - or the People's Language). We smiled at each other, but the section of our bus once again grew quiet and I didn't speak anymore - a bit disappointed.
Finally after 4 hours we arrived in Guangzhou, rush hour was a bear. As soon as I got off the bus I was accosted by multiple gentleman either A) trying to offer me a hotel room at a "good price," or B) asking if I wanted to exchange money. I wanted to do neither and no matter how hard I told them no (Wo bu yao - I don't want, wo bu xuyao - I don't need, wo yijing you yi ge- I already have one), they still followed. For the first time on this trip I did not want to be the foreigner. I felt lost and I just wanted to slip into the backgound so I could orient myself without the entire world staring.
But at the same time I was elated, here I was in China after so much work to get here. I had read that there was a great cheap guest house of Shamian Island, so I headed toward the Subway. After consulting the map in the guidebook against the subway map, I found a stop that seemed to be nearby. I then went to the ticket machine and bought a ticket for 4 yuan. It spit out a little plastic chip and I was confused with what I was suppose to do with it.
Finally I placed the chip on the magnetic strip and the door opened. The little chips work like smartcards do on the metro in DC, now I felt a bit better. But rather stupid at the same time. It took me a while to orient myself in which direction I needed to be going on what lines, but after consulting the guidebook as a reference map and with the help of an English speaking Chinese student, I made it to my destination, Shamian Island.
The island is a holdover from the French and the British, who each controlled half of the 1/2 mile long island. It is now the home of the US Consulate, but more on the island tomorrow. I checked in to the Guangzhou Youth Hostel after being lost for a bit on this very small island (again feeling disoriented and a little slow intellectually), but finally I had made it!
The hostel is very nice compared to the last two I stayed at. I have a bed in a dormitory room with 10 beds, which feel like they are a piece of wood. I met a guy from somewhere in the states, and we talked a bit aout the legitimacy of the Chinese Government and the potental for the fruition of a democratic government. He shared his Chinese crackers which taste a bit like Ritz and I shared my trail mix. Both were a treat and since I had been starving, it constitued my dinner. I was simply too exhausted to go out at the moment. We talked about going out to a bar later and I told him to let me nap for a couple minutes first. When he finally came back, I said I was going to stay and off the rest of the hostellers went. The room was blessed quiet and I slept for 3 hours. I woke sweaty and decided I really needed a shower! I took one in the small bathroom, but now I was awake if not more comfortable. I pulled out Three Kingdoms which is a Chinese epic novel and started reading I made it 30 pages in, before putting on my iPod and drifting off to sleep. I woke up periodically thoughout the night and at 6:30 said enough, and got up.
I wondered out onto the island and started my day, which I will leave for my post tonight. I hope all is going well in the states. My love and best wishes to you all!
The bus took off from Wen Chai district's China Travel Services' office on Hennsey Street in Hong Kong. The ticket was only 100 HKD! The bus picked up at a couple other stops and then we headed to the China Border. After taking my carry-on bag off the bus with me at immigration I became worried that my backpack stored under the bus would not meet me on the other side of immigration. But the worry went away for the briefest of moments when they stamped the departing stamp into my passport. I felt like I was walking on air in the make shift space between two countries.
Then reality stepped in and I realized that all I could remember about the bus I had been on was that it was blue, the problem was there were multiple blue buses! But then, a chinese man started waving to me, I pointed to myself and lifted my eyebrow and he nodded his head and motioned for me to come. As I finally sat on the bus, I realized that when I had first boarded the bus in Hong Kong they had stuck a bright orange circle on my shirt. I had thought it was tacky when they had done it and quickly dismissed it, but now I was so extremely grateful for that little orange round circle.
I got back on the bus and we only traveled for about a minute and a half when the bus stopped again. This time for customs INTO China. Everyone stood up immediately and I too followed. I was a little trepidacious and afraid once again that I was going to lose my bag at some point. The driver motioned me around the side and sure enough I needed to pick up the bag. I have no clue why this thought of picking up my bag had weighed so heavily on my heart during the last stop, but I was so glad that it had. I once again entered the building and I stood in the long line for visitors. I passed through without a problem, the customs official took a good long look at my passport photo and then he stamped my passport. I let out the breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding. I had had so many visa issues up until this point that I was worried that something was going to go wrong, but low and behold it did not.
I had tried to go on this trip last summer and it did not happen for reasons outside of my control. I was worried that with so many problems planning my trip this time around that maybe it was not meant to be either. But I have been reaffirmed that this is God's plan and he is in control and not me. I am trying very hard not to plan things to a "T," but going with the flow and relaxing a little. But somehow the confucision of not speaking or understanding Cantonese has brought out the traits in me of needing to be in control.
In Hong Kong, as well as Guangzhou, Cantonese is the common language and while I can get the just of signs I often find it disorientating. For the most part I did not say a word on the bus, until a little boy a couple rows ahead of me, smiled shyly and waved. I asked in Mandarin what was his name and he just looked at me. His mom who was sitting across from me had to tell him I was speaking Putonghua (Mandarin - or the People's Language). We smiled at each other, but the section of our bus once again grew quiet and I didn't speak anymore - a bit disappointed.
Finally after 4 hours we arrived in Guangzhou, rush hour was a bear. As soon as I got off the bus I was accosted by multiple gentleman either A) trying to offer me a hotel room at a "good price," or B) asking if I wanted to exchange money. I wanted to do neither and no matter how hard I told them no (Wo bu yao - I don't want, wo bu xuyao - I don't need, wo yijing you yi ge- I already have one), they still followed. For the first time on this trip I did not want to be the foreigner. I felt lost and I just wanted to slip into the backgound so I could orient myself without the entire world staring.
But at the same time I was elated, here I was in China after so much work to get here. I had read that there was a great cheap guest house of Shamian Island, so I headed toward the Subway. After consulting the map in the guidebook against the subway map, I found a stop that seemed to be nearby. I then went to the ticket machine and bought a ticket for 4 yuan. It spit out a little plastic chip and I was confused with what I was suppose to do with it.
Finally I placed the chip on the magnetic strip and the door opened. The little chips work like smartcards do on the metro in DC, now I felt a bit better. But rather stupid at the same time. It took me a while to orient myself in which direction I needed to be going on what lines, but after consulting the guidebook as a reference map and with the help of an English speaking Chinese student, I made it to my destination, Shamian Island.
The island is a holdover from the French and the British, who each controlled half of the 1/2 mile long island. It is now the home of the US Consulate, but more on the island tomorrow. I checked in to the Guangzhou Youth Hostel after being lost for a bit on this very small island (again feeling disoriented and a little slow intellectually), but finally I had made it!
The hostel is very nice compared to the last two I stayed at. I have a bed in a dormitory room with 10 beds, which feel like they are a piece of wood. I met a guy from somewhere in the states, and we talked a bit aout the legitimacy of the Chinese Government and the potental for the fruition of a democratic government. He shared his Chinese crackers which taste a bit like Ritz and I shared my trail mix. Both were a treat and since I had been starving, it constitued my dinner. I was simply too exhausted to go out at the moment. We talked about going out to a bar later and I told him to let me nap for a couple minutes first. When he finally came back, I said I was going to stay and off the rest of the hostellers went. The room was blessed quiet and I slept for 3 hours. I woke sweaty and decided I really needed a shower! I took one in the small bathroom, but now I was awake if not more comfortable. I pulled out Three Kingdoms which is a Chinese epic novel and started reading I made it 30 pages in, before putting on my iPod and drifting off to sleep. I woke up periodically thoughout the night and at 6:30 said enough, and got up.
I wondered out onto the island and started my day, which I will leave for my post tonight. I hope all is going well in the states. My love and best wishes to you all!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Getting a move on out!
Well I am off to Guangdong. I was originally going to stay in Hong Kong longer, but as I am going to return to Hong Kong at the end of my trip for several days, I feel as if I should get a move on early. There are buses departing for Guangdong hourly from near the Wan Chai metro station, cost: 100 HKD (~$20).
I went out with some fellow hostel-goers last night (Alex from Australia/England, Melissa who is currently living in Shanghai, Mo who is from Scotland and another guy from Canada) and got in about 2am. Surprisingly I woke up early this morning at 9:30, and decided I was over Hong Kong, though the company has been great!
The Olympics in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is home to to the Equestrian portion of the Olympics. This morning I was reading in the China Southern Post that 40,000 tickets to the events became available through a company called China Travel Services. These tickets are only available in Hong Kong, you MUST come in person to one of their offices to buy them.
Low and behold, I happen to be in Hong Kong, so first thing this morning I stopped into their office in Central Hong Kong and bought tickets to two events, a final event (where medals are awarded) on August 14 and a dressage event on August 17. I bought two tickets, so if any of you want to fly out for the games let me know!
On another note, the picture above was taken with a new lens I purchased for my camera, a Nikon 18-200mm. My dad knows how long I have had my eye on this particular lens. I traded in my two lens that span this same spectrum a 18-55mm and a 55-200mm. It was just two otherwise. Final cost for the new lens 5,000 HKD. This translates to 659 U.S. Dollars, this is roughly the price of a used lens in the US, so I think I got a pretty good deal.
DELAYED!!!
The epic journey begins, at the pace of a hurd of turtles and has quickly down-shifted to the pace of a turd of hurdles... going nowhere fast!
Currently I am sitting on my Seattle flight to San Francisco, on the tarmac in San Fran. While we landed 25 minutes ago we have moved gates three times and have yet to park at a gate. The pilot just came on to tell us they are moving us back to our original gate, WTF? Anyways, this delay is on top of the hour plus delay out of Seattle for weather. Whether my Hong Kong flight was delayed too, I don't yet know, but I am pretty sure that I just saw my Hong Kong flight take off.
I am challenging myself to look at this as an adventure and not fret about it. If you know me your know that I like to plan to a "T," so this is a big challenge for me. It's like a choose your own adventure novel. To travel to Hong Kong turn to page 72, or for travel to Chinatown in San Francisco turn to page 33. Here's hoping it's Hong Kong.
UPDATE #1
Looks like it is page 33 after all and lucky me, I get to spend the night in San Francisco before hoping to LA in the morning for a 1:00pm flight to Hong Kong. In the mean time I am going to try and find my bag.
UPDATE #2
The customer service representative put in a meter for the airline to pull my bag at 2:00, however when I finally left the airport at 11:15, they had still not located yet, but I was told that someone was actively looking, so I headed back to the hotel to get some shut eye. When I came back at 6:45 the next morning, no one had found my bag yet, then came along Oscar. I am convinced that Oscar has special powers, because after 15 minutes of looking, Oscar found my bag!!!
After throwing out a couple bottles of liquid, I opted to carry my bag on board. I am convinced had I not spent all night pushing for my bag, it never would have made my Hong Kong flight, because it never would have made it to LA, when they found it my bag was sitting in the International Baggage Area.
I learned a lesson though, take a picture of your bag before you check it. It did wonders in helping Oscar find my bag!
Currently I am sitting on my Seattle flight to San Francisco, on the tarmac in San Fran. While we landed 25 minutes ago we have moved gates three times and have yet to park at a gate. The pilot just came on to tell us they are moving us back to our original gate, WTF? Anyways, this delay is on top of the hour plus delay out of Seattle for weather. Whether my Hong Kong flight was delayed too, I don't yet know, but I am pretty sure that I just saw my Hong Kong flight take off.
I am challenging myself to look at this as an adventure and not fret about it. If you know me your know that I like to plan to a "T," so this is a big challenge for me. It's like a choose your own adventure novel. To travel to Hong Kong turn to page 72, or for travel to Chinatown in San Francisco turn to page 33. Here's hoping it's Hong Kong.
UPDATE #1
Looks like it is page 33 after all and lucky me, I get to spend the night in San Francisco before hoping to LA in the morning for a 1:00pm flight to Hong Kong. In the mean time I am going to try and find my bag.
UPDATE #2
The customer service representative put in a meter for the airline to pull my bag at 2:00, however when I finally left the airport at 11:15, they had still not located yet, but I was told that someone was actively looking, so I headed back to the hotel to get some shut eye. When I came back at 6:45 the next morning, no one had found my bag yet, then came along Oscar. I am convinced that Oscar has special powers, because after 15 minutes of looking, Oscar found my bag!!!
After throwing out a couple bottles of liquid, I opted to carry my bag on board. I am convinced had I not spent all night pushing for my bag, it never would have made my Hong Kong flight, because it never would have made it to LA, when they found it my bag was sitting in the International Baggage Area.
I learned a lesson though, take a picture of your bag before you check it. It did wonders in helping Oscar find my bag!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Moving on Up... Moving on Out!
This morning I walked through the heart of campus - Red Square - and it was eerily calm. No students on Healy Beach, no one tabling for their clubs, a neon pink sign hung over the student run coffee shop in ICC loudly proclaiming "closed."
It's official class are over, finals completed, the campus is deserted, the only people left are graduating seniors and school administrators. Later this week proud family and friends will flock to campus. Many of my friends are graduating in the coming days. Forgetting for a moment that I, myself will be no where near the intersection of O and 37th streets that mark the gates of campus, these people who I have laughed with and cried for, these people who have become my family will be setting off on journeys of their own. I won't be able to call them up and say "Let's go get a beer at Tombs," instead they will be frequenting saki houses as they teach English in Japan or hanging out late into the night at anyone of the many clubs that dot the island of Manhattan. One has even gotten a job doing modeling... okay, okay... she is going to be doing computer modeling, but Pam for all the joking know that I couldn't be prouder to call you my friend.
This week is filled with bittersweet thoughts. I can't tell you how excited I am to pack my bag and climb on a plane to cross the ocean and begin walking the streets of China. But tonight I wasn't packing my backpack, I was packing up my apartment. There was no excitement, no anticipation. Instead I went through all the old mail I had hastily tossed into my desk as I ran off to class. I sorted through the papers, tests, and notes that marked the passage of another year of college gone. I took my pictures off the walls and packed my worldly possessions into boxes. Tonight is most likely the last night I will sleep under this roof, surrounded by these walls and as I lay in bed typing this I realized that I am not quite ready to let go, I am not quite ready to close my eyes and let this last night float away in a dream.
This was my first apartment, my very first truly mine apartment. While I may have had to share it with a handful of spider crickets and it could feel like a deep dark cave on the sunniest of days I will be sad to see it go. Tomorrow I will pack my boxes into the car and after I hand over the keys on Thursday, with tears staining my eyes, I will take one more step towards the beginning of this journey.
It's official class are over, finals completed, the campus is deserted, the only people left are graduating seniors and school administrators. Later this week proud family and friends will flock to campus. Many of my friends are graduating in the coming days. Forgetting for a moment that I, myself will be no where near the intersection of O and 37th streets that mark the gates of campus, these people who I have laughed with and cried for, these people who have become my family will be setting off on journeys of their own. I won't be able to call them up and say "Let's go get a beer at Tombs," instead they will be frequenting saki houses as they teach English in Japan or hanging out late into the night at anyone of the many clubs that dot the island of Manhattan. One has even gotten a job doing modeling... okay, okay... she is going to be doing computer modeling, but Pam for all the joking know that I couldn't be prouder to call you my friend.
This week is filled with bittersweet thoughts. I can't tell you how excited I am to pack my bag and climb on a plane to cross the ocean and begin walking the streets of China. But tonight I wasn't packing my backpack, I was packing up my apartment. There was no excitement, no anticipation. Instead I went through all the old mail I had hastily tossed into my desk as I ran off to class. I sorted through the papers, tests, and notes that marked the passage of another year of college gone. I took my pictures off the walls and packed my worldly possessions into boxes. Tonight is most likely the last night I will sleep under this roof, surrounded by these walls and as I lay in bed typing this I realized that I am not quite ready to let go, I am not quite ready to close my eyes and let this last night float away in a dream.
This was my first apartment, my very first truly mine apartment. While I may have had to share it with a handful of spider crickets and it could feel like a deep dark cave on the sunniest of days I will be sad to see it go. Tomorrow I will pack my boxes into the car and after I hand over the keys on Thursday, with tears staining my eyes, I will take one more step towards the beginning of this journey.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The Belated Holiday-2007 Recap
I originally wrote the following post at the beginning of December, though in a blink of an eye I was buried in finals and then tired from finals. Before I knew it the holidays were over and it just seemed frutile to send out Christmas cards. But alas an opportunity to share it with all of you arrose, this my innagural post of my first blog. I will write an update on this letter shortly, so keep your eyes out. Without further ado may I present December 2007…
Happy Holidays from the Nation’s Capital! I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you moments from my life this year. For this has been an exciting year for me, as I have had many new experiences and created some wonderful memories along the way. The spring semester was marked by the continuation of my study of Chinese and everything China. In addition to participating in a graduate Chinese History course, I countined my internship at National Geographic and began working in the Science Library at Georgetown.
May brought an end to the semester as well as an end to my eighteen month internship with the Cinema Ventures department at National Geographic. Although I was sad to see it end, I was ready to head home to Seattle for a nice long break. On the way home, I met my dad, aunt and uncle in Las Vegas. After taking in the many offerings of the city, my dad and I road trip-ed to Mexico and back, stopping along the way at the Grand Canyon’s new Skywalk. I quickly got over my fear of falling through the 5 inch glass and was running and jumping before I knew it, 4,000 feet above the Colorado River.
Upon arriving in Seattle I dealt with all the joys and frustrations of moving back home, but I am really glad that I spent the summer at home. I got to re-know my brother who is now 16 and taller than me, which I still think is not right. But we’re even because Nate is still jealous of me; within two weeks of arriving home I convinced my dad to get a puppy. Within days Nathan and I, too, were road-tripping it across the mountains to meet a breeder. While Nathan insisted on driving on the way there (after all, he argued, he needed the practice for his upcoming driving test), he was content to snuggle with our new ball of fluff, Duke, on the way home. While Duke at 12 weeks old was content to nap in Nathan’s lap on the ride home, the now 9 month old Samoyed is gigantic!
I officially attained adulthood this summer, when I turned 21. We had a fabulous dinner at Coho’s, a restaurant my family frequents at home in Redmond. My extended family threw me a b-day scavenger hunt. I spent all day with different members of my family doing things I had never done before; I had breakfast with my Aunt Maria and my two cousins, Monica and Alex, at the golf-club near their home, I visited a hands on music museum with my Second-Cousin Rhonda, toured Seattle on Ride-the-Ducks with my Aunt Lisa – a very good quacking accompanist – and had dinner back at my Aunt’s house where we played my family’s favorite games: euchre and whomp-um. All in all, it was a good birthday.
August saw a vacation with my mom and brother where we went on a cruise to Alaska, sailing through the Inland Passage and then rode a train to Mount McKinley and Denali National Park. The wildlife abounded, but it was the adventures of hiking and biking on my own, kayaking and zip-lining with Nate, and a float plane flight over the glaciers to a salmon bake in a secluded area only accessible in summer by float plane and boat with my Brother and Mom and six hungry bears that was extremely memorable. In all, it was an amazing trip and a great way to cap the summer off before heading back to school.
I hope the year has treated you as well as it has me. With much love,
Ashley Howard.
Happy Holidays from the Nation’s Capital! I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you moments from my life this year. For this has been an exciting year for me, as I have had many new experiences and created some wonderful memories along the way. The spring semester was marked by the continuation of my study of Chinese and everything China. In addition to participating in a graduate Chinese History course, I countined my internship at National Geographic and began working in the Science Library at Georgetown.
I spent Spring Break in New York City, Baltimore, and visiting the many museums here in DC. As the semester continued, classes were puncuated with the success of Georgetown’s basketball team and my trip to Atlanta in April to cheer Georgetown on at the Final Four. Although I had nosebleed seats and we lost to Ohio State((who in return were beat by Floridia in the final game), I had an amazing time hanging with fellow Hoyas and partaking in all the activities.
May brought an end to the semester as well as an end to my eighteen month internship with the Cinema Ventures department at National Geographic. Although I was sad to see it end, I was ready to head home to Seattle for a nice long break. On the way home, I met my dad, aunt and uncle in Las Vegas. After taking in the many offerings of the city, my dad and I road trip-ed to Mexico and back, stopping along the way at the Grand Canyon’s new Skywalk. I quickly got over my fear of falling through the 5 inch glass and was running and jumping before I knew it, 4,000 feet above the Colorado River. Upon arriving in Seattle I dealt with all the joys and frustrations of moving back home, but I am really glad that I spent the summer at home. I got to re-know my brother who is now 16 and taller than me, which I still think is not right. But we’re even because Nate is still jealous of me; within two weeks of arriving home I convinced my dad to get a puppy. Within days Nathan and I, too, were road-tripping it across the mountains to meet a breeder. While Nathan insisted on driving on the way there (after all, he argued, he needed the practice for his upcoming driving test), he was content to snuggle with our new ball of fluff, Duke, on the way home. While Duke at 12 weeks old was content to nap in Nathan’s lap on the ride home, the now 9 month old Samoyed is gigantic! 
I officially attained adulthood this summer, when I turned 21. We had a fabulous dinner at Coho’s, a restaurant my family frequents at home in Redmond. My extended family threw me a b-day scavenger hunt. I spent all day with different members of my family doing things I had never done before; I had breakfast with my Aunt Maria and my two cousins, Monica and Alex, at the golf-club near their home, I visited a hands on music museum with my Second-Cousin Rhonda, toured Seattle on Ride-the-Ducks with my Aunt Lisa – a very good quacking accompanist – and had dinner back at my Aunt’s house where we played my family’s favorite games: euchre and whomp-um. All in all, it was a good birthday.
August saw a vacation with my mom and brother where we went on a cruise to Alaska, sailing through the Inland Passage and then rode a train to Mount McKinley and Denali National Park. The wildlife abounded, but it was the adventures of hiking and biking on my own, kayaking and zip-lining with Nate, and a float plane flight over the glaciers to a salmon bake in a secluded area only accessible in summer by float plane and boat with my Brother and Mom and six hungry bears that was extremely memorable. In all, it was an amazing trip and a great way to cap the summer off before heading back to school. 
I arrived back in DC and after staying with a friend for a couple weeks, found my very first, really-truly-mine apartment. The coming weeks saw an infestation of spider-crickets and mice, but after a visit from the exterminator I was once again happily inhabiting my apartment alone. Regardless I am very proud to say that I am paying my own rent with a part-time job with National Geographic. I was excited to be met with a job offer on my return to DC and I now work part-time in the Marketing & Sponsorship department of NG Entertainment. We released Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure (available at IMAX theaters) in October and I was honored to be given a line credit as Intern to the Associate Producer. I will forever be inscribed on the silver screen.
In my free time, I was just recently cast in the GU production of the Vagina Monologues and I religiously attend Georgetown home basketball games to cheer on the Hoyas. I am now in the midst of finals and will be heading home before I know it. This holiday season has been filled with friends’ parties and lots of studying, and even a little snow. While I have greatly enjoyed this year, I am very excited for 2008. I have just gained my dean’s approval to spend this coming fall abroad studying in Harbin, China, at an affiliate university to GU. The program is difficult, but is highlighted by a one-on-one tutorial with a professor where they will guide me in writing a research paper in Chinese. I will return to Georgetown for my last semester before I graduate from the School of Foreign Service in the spring.
I hope the year has treated you as well as it has me. With much love,
Ashley Howard.
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