Valuable lessons from a dinner of zaatar, hummus, and conversation in Beijing

1. Affordable, authentic international cuisine does exist in Beijing... you just have to look in the right places  

The truth is that I haven’t tried too many foreign restaurants in Beijing, but I’m a skeptic. Coming from Southern California, and especially after living in LA, I’ve been spoiled with cheap and authentic ethnic foods from all corners of the world. Mexican, Korean, Chinese, Ethiopian, Salvadoran, Brazilian, Persian, Japanese... the list goes on and on. You can see why I’d rather just stick to Chinese food in Beijing. I did try Japanese near my work (mediocre and a rip-off), Korean near Chaoyangmen (not bad but that was more thanks to the situation rather than the chef, since I was freezing cold and they basically put paste, noodles, and kimchi into a hot soup), and Mexican food in the hip hutongs by Lama Temple (not great and pricey). The common factor? I won’t be going back to any of these places. However, last night’s find left me full and satisfied- my friend YJ and I chatted with the restaurant owner, the food was extremely affordable and yummy, and it was clearly quite authentic as Arabic was spoken much more than Chinese.

2. Who says Chinese is difficult? 

Arabic speakers have the capability to dominate the Chinese language within months. Hey, if you already speak the #1 most difficult language to learn in the world, the #2 should be cake. Or honey-soaked baklava 

3. Flight tickets are made easy by Gaza hackers

They’re capable of more than just attacking Israeli websites- identity theft and purchasing flight tickets has become a big money-maker for Palestine hackers.

Here’s how it goes down: Let’s say you're going to purchase an Istanbul-Tokyo flight. You talk to your friendly Palestinian hacker bud, who can purchase this ticket using someone else’s credit or debit card, and being in Gaza, I guess Interpol isn’t able to track their activity. Generally they target individuals with $100,000+ in their account, who are less likely to notice when $2000 disappears. Then you pay them half of the value of the ticket, so you’re pretty happy about the deal that you just got, and of course your friendly hacker has just made $1000 at the click of a mouse. 

My reaction? First, shock and anger. Identity theft is so common that it can and does happen to anybody- I can think of 3 instances off the top of my head. Oh yeah, and stealing is also a crime- the pathway may be completely wireless but there’s always an entirely innocent victim on the other end. My next reaction was, oddly, kind of smug. The world has been screwing over the Palestinians for over half a century, of course not just politically but also economically and socially. At least the identity theft business is one way for them to screw over the rest of the world, if in a circular way the victims of identity theft are reimbursed by their financial institutions, which are the same entities that control much of the high-level international politics that makes decisions that affect Palestine. Yes, it's a stretch. Anyways this brings me to my final reaction- conflicted and helpless. The crime of identity theft is still being committed against innocent victims, just as the Palestinian conflict has taken the life of so many innocent victims. There’s no way that these two (or other) injustices can be compared, and even if we could, two wrongs still do not make a right. It’s unfortunate but much of society is how it is because somebody benefits from screwing over someone else. 

Zhongshan Park: A lesson on dating in China

Zhongshan is your typical park in China- you can enjoy great views of the Forbidden city while strolling by a lake, wander among the centuries-old trees, and of course visit some temples and pavilions. However, the REAL attraction that we found two weekends ago was the weekend afternoon dating gathering. (Perhaps parent-led dating auction would be a better term...)  In one little area of the park, there were at least 300 Chinese, generally of the 50+ demographic, looking for potential sons- and daughters-in-laws. Yep, these parents are either so concerned that their children will stay forever single, are too eager for some grandchildren, or just bored that they gather in the park to meet others with a common purpose to trade info and set up their kids.  The typical participant was sitting with a description of their still single daughter or son: DOB, city, something education or career related, height, and in some cases a photo or even a monthly salary. Even though the demographics might imply that Chinese males have trouble finding a spouse, being at Zhongshan Park told me quite the opposite. I'd say over 80% of the ads were for daughters rather than sons, because not only is there societal pressure on females to be married before the age of 30, but there's also the biological clock ticking and the fact that males can easily date and marry when they're older without being considered an old maid.

Although this phenomenon may seem completely strange to a Westerner, in both an awful and entertaining way, it's really not so strange in other parts of the world especially in Asia. Dating and marriage are treated so differently in each culture, and it's quite fascinating how expectations and the family's role change in each place. I'll give you a typical Chinese example. My aunt and uncle have been working on a set-up for awhile now; the girl is my aunt's co-worker and friend and the guy is my uncle's acquaintance from the gym. My aunt kept quizzing my uncle about this guy: how tall is he? what do his parents do? how educated are his parents have? where did he graduate from? These questions may not be on the top of the list for an American girl, but they do represent the Chinese priorities. I was shocked to find a father list his daughter's monthly salary (a respectable 5000RMB/month)- these private details, along with age, are such a no-no in the American dating world that there's people who have been dating years and still don't know their boyfriend or girlfriend's salary! Western society and Hollywood are always reminding us to look beyond the physical, material, and financial to find true love, and this guy is ADVERTISING his daughter's salary?!? This is definitely going to attract the wrong type of golddigger husband, I thought. However, looking at this from the Chinese perspective, adding this piece of information makes a lot of sense; neither this girl nor her father will consider a potential husband who makes significant less than her and on the flipside, the potential husband would most likely suffer a blow to his ego if his wife was a bigger bread-winner. To them, a salary is actually a very practical thing to advertise.

Lately, there's been some even crazier dating phenomena. Social media and advertising have been taken to a whole new level... read more here.

Dating and networking frenzy

A more peaceful part of Zhongshan

lately at work: rice husk, fuel efficiency, and emissions gap

Lately I've been juggling several projects- I'm still communicating with Chinese suppliers for the rice husk generation project, and at the same time evaluating reports on improving fuel efficiency in the Chinese automotive industry. Both have been great learning opportunities for my Chinese, and also HUGE tests of my patience and determination. For example, not only do I have to understand biomass generation technology but also I must communicate the project needs to the suppliers, make sure they understand some key aspects of a GEF project, and keep the project lead updated. It's been difficult since we are not flexible on the project parameters and we are looking for a turnkey supplier, but things are moving along.

At the office, it's generally casual and quiet. Most people work on their own projects and know relatively little about what's going on for others. However I do appreciate that the more senior/experienced officers are very approachable and incorporate me as much as possible. For example, J and M were extremely helpful when I had questions about my visa, D told me about an EU Call for Proposals for collaborating environmental projects and the UNEP emissions gap press release (of which I was completely unaware), and A invited me to a China in the World meeting and a biotechnology and biofuels conference next Tuesday. By attending these events, I've been getting a feel for how the international community works in Beijing and also the plethora of orgs related to environment, water, energy, sustainability, etc. And it's not just NGOs or European countries' development agencies or international development groups; there is a great representation from Chinese governmental agencies and research institutes who work in this field as well. I have to say, in a very cliche way, that it's exciting and inspiring to see so many individuals and groups working toward a common goal.

So last Thursday, I attended the UNEP Emissions Gap Beijing Press Release. Yet another reminder that the improvements we're making in climate change are not nearly enough to put us on the golden path- the golden 2C path that will maintain the global temperature increase at 2C. How's it looking right now? We're several gigatons of carbon emissions away from achieving this path, and we're headed on a path for ~3.5C increase.

The politics of climate change research, policy, and organizations was definitely present. At the press release, the 2 Chinese representatives for the IPCC presented on the emissions gap as well as climate change, energy, and environment in the Chinese context. The first expert, who is a professor Tsinghua University, mentioned a heavily debated "negative emissions" scenario in which around the year 2070 the technologies in carbon capture and storage and the utilization of renewable energies will be so well developed that more carbon is being removed from the atmosphere rather than emitted (a simple mass balance: carbon_IN < carbon_OUT). Currently there's a lot of climate change policy action- the World Bank also released a report called Turn Down the Heat, on mitigation efforts and how much more susceptible the developing world is to natural disasters, famine, and other climate phenomena.  You can read more here. These reports were all published at the opportune moment, right before the UNFCCC's Doha meeting.

around Beijing

Despite some rainy days, I’ve been venturing out despite rainy, windy, snowy, or just plain cold weather. Here are some of the sights in and around Beijing that I’ve visited so far.

National Museum: By far the most thorough security I’ve gone through ever for a museum. My bag went through 2 different metal detectors, and everybody was given a thorough pat-down before entering. Otherwise, the museum itself was pretty interesting- not too overwhelming but some nice exhibits. As always some were difficult to appreciate for foreigners as there was no English.

Confucius Temple: A popular sight in Beijing where offerings and sacrifices were made to Confucius. We also stumbled across brief dance performance in the temple! I ended sacrificing my gloves to Confucius though...

Shanhaiguan (山海关): My first trip to the Chinese seaside! This is also where the Great Wall meets the ocean. Even though I had been away from any kind of sea or ocean for about two weeks, the sound of the crashing waves and the smell of rotting seaweed made me ecstatic.

Beijing Zoo: My last couple of zoo visits have been disappointing, and I’m becoming more and more convinced that my frequent childhood trips to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park were the cause of this. Am I really being so picky when it bothered me that you could see the surrounding buildings while you were at Valencia’s Bioparc? It’s hard to get into the “I’m in the great African plains amidst giraffes” mood if right behind you there’s a couple skyscrapers. I didn’t expect anything spectacular at the Beijing Zoo, but I was even more disappointed- by the fact that the domestic tourists had brought food to feed the animals. There were apples, lettuce, carrots, and junk food being fed to almost all the animals. Even when there were 10-feet high walls, that didn’t stop them- they simply tossed the food over the fence. As all this happening around me was a bit depressing, I took very few photos.

Houhai: The renovated area along the lake is now filled with bars, cafes, and bougie restaurants. It was very wet and freezing cold when I was there, but the lake is still gorgeous at night.

Wonderland Amusement Park: One of my favorite excursions so far, I went with an awesome group of CS’ers to this abandoned amusement park in the outskirts of Beijing. The plan was that this would be Asia’s largest amusement park but after some conflicts and financial issues, they abandoned the project in 1998. The weather was beautiful, the park was empty (obviously), and we explored the building interiors as well as the surrounding cornfields. A couple of us even climbed up the spiral staircase of the rocket-like castle. 

Ritan Park: One of the only free parks I've visited, but still very pleasant! It's like a 25 minute run here from my workplace, so I've come once on a jog.

A panorama on a sunny day (half of the pond is actually frozen though!)

Trending in Beijing

Beijing is in my eyes a society of high-consumption, where products and fashions are constantly changing for better or worse. Here are some of the newest trends I've noticed and could perhaps spread to your neighborhood very very soon.

-plastic hairties: You know those spiral plastic bracelets (usually neon yellow) that are attached to a keychain that you use to make sure you don't lose your keys? Those spirally bracelets have taken over Beijing as hairties! Who would've thought?

Some spirally hairties on the bus...

And the subway. Yes I was being a creeper.

-motorized bikes: Apparently they're dirt cheap (like 2000RMB from what I've heard). Some of them are really really quiet and extremely dangerous.

-hipsters: Beijing has few hipsters, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up in quality. None of this indecisive, kind of hip, I'm an artist in my spare time crap. The hipsters that I see embody hipster in every possible aspect. Sad I didn't have some creeper photos of Beijing hispters.

-angry birds: Definitely a fad that I don't think will be around in 2 years. But now is definitely the time if you want to deck yourself out in with an angry birds sweater, backpack, hat, bracelet, wristwatch...

-sex shops: Maybe I was just too innocent to notice before, but sex shops are all over in Beijing! The density of sex shops is much higher than any other city I've visited (ok, obviously not counting the red light district of Hamburg and Amsterdam). I've also noticed these shops a lot more in Chaoyang, but that could be because I work there and a lot of time there.

-wintery trends: Now that fall is definitely over and the daily temperature high is no more than 6C, I've been noticing a lot of winter apparel trends, with the most obvious one being the reindeer and moose motif. This motif can be found on sweaters, tights, and scarves generally on females between the age of 16 and 35. The latest shoe and boot trends can also be found on this demographic; roughly 40% will be wearing knock-off uggs, and another 25% will be wearing fake-heel boots. I discovered this unfortunate trend while boot shopping several weeks ago and now I notice the two inch built-in heel everywhere.

i heart my smartphone

For two particular reasons. Well, make that apps. I was a very very latecomer to the world of smartphones (the lime green pebble my roommate gave me 3 years ago was great!) but I have to say that my smartphone has been my faithful partner in my daily Beijing commute.

I've already read three books on my smartphone in about 5 weeks. I never used to have time to read but commuting for 2+ hours a day really changed that. Right now I'm reading Sea-Wolf by Jack London, and I haven't enjoyed a novel this much since Hunger Games (sarcasm). But seriously, it's so amazing that I find myself rereading chunks and also slowing down my pace to savor Sea-Wolf.

Next, PLECO. If you are traveling/living in China or want to learn Chinese or all of the above, this app will be your best friend. It allows you to write in Chinese characters to look for the meaning, gives you all different kinds of ways to use characters or phrases, has voice recognition, and if you have a data connection will even translate text for you after you take a photo of it. I've made lots of flashcards already of the words that I'm currently working on or that I see often, and this app is singlehandedly responsible for many characters that I've learned or re-learned in this past month. (Googletranslate ranks pretty high on the list too)

November is election time

This will be the first time in my entire life that I won’t be in the U.S. for the Presidential Elections. I remember staying up watching TV as the U.S. map was filled by red and blue chunks, laughing at silly election humor displayed on bumper stickers, and of course seeing an absurd number of Bush Cheney signs in my too-conservative-for-California hometown.

Living abroad gives you a window into another country’s elections and political process. For example, I was around for last year’s elections in Spain when Rajoy was elected. The Spanish elections didn’t make a huge impact on me since the level of campaigning and media hype were nothing compared to the U.S. (Or perhaps I should say that the U.S. elections are considered the most important in the world, so obviously Spain's will have less visibility.) In general, my Spanish peers were disappointed by all the candidates and didn’t see a point in voting since they felt that all the politicians were disconnected from the people.

These past weeks in China have been quite different from anything before. I’m far from an expert and am definitely not going into the details of the 18^th Party Congress (in China, simply called 十八大 or "eighteenth big"). From speaking to locals, it’s clear that they find it all a huge show. Party members vote for their representatives, who then elect party leaders. Everybody has accepted that their voice will not be heard and that the elections are fixed anyways. I wouldn’t describe the overall attitude as completely apathetic, because obviously they would like a say; however, if people are able to live comfortably and have enough freedom opportunities, then between work/school/trying to get the new iphone5, it’s not exactly in their immediate plans to overthrow the government.

So, how has life in the capital been affected by the Congress? Internet speeds have slowed down considerably for sites that are overseas. On a bad day, the connection fails every few minutes. Sites hosted by google still work but are so slow that they’re useless. Security all around the city has been amped up, and especially in the Tiananmen area. I went there yesterday and all the visitors went through security before entering the square. If you look suspicious or like you’re an outsider, the guards question you about who you’re with and what your motives are. I guess I look innocent or from the city enough that they didn’t question me at all, but for others it was pretty intense. I also went to the National Museum yesterday, and the security there gave LAX a run for its money. My bag was scanned twice and everybody was given a very thorough pat-down. And of course, on the highways and streets, there's always a little reminder of the all-important Congress.

Chaoyang welcoming the 18th Congress

A snow-covered Tiananmen Square

United Nations Day

To celebrate UN Day, October 24th, the different UN orgs in Beijing were all invited for a ceremony and lunch. We heard some words to remind us of why we are here, as well as some more specifics about the different agencies' projects in Beijing. I thought it was interesting that they spoke not only about UN success throughout history, but also failures. Another topic that was brought up was why the UN continues its presence in China; the answer was similar to what I had explained to those who questioned why industrial development was necessary in China. By all measures, China is still a developing country and still needs assistance with continuing its development without compromising social equity or environmental sustainability. The UN role in China has evolved based on China's position and needs, from facilitating technology transfer, to focusing on social and economic development, to assisting in sustainability development. Currently the agencies are working on everything from minority group rights to creating legislation to protect women against domestic violence to food safety to protecting cultural heritage to improving the inevitable problems associated with rapid urbanization. 

Overall I was left with a clear idea of the UN's role in China and also how they work in collaboration with the Chinese government and its agencies. And on a larger scale, I was able to understand both the successes of the UN but also its limitations, and why we continue to dedicate our time to this organization. 

Happy UN Day!

my first Beijing autumn weekend

I spent practically the entire last weekend with R, my friend from my master who's doing her thesis research in Beijing Institue of Technology. On Saturday we went to Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills Park) along with two of her Spanish friends B and V who live in the same dorm. Xiangshan is famous for its red autumn leaves and also there's a great view over all of Beijing from the top. Unfortunately the entire city of Beijing decided to go on Saturday afternoon as well. The first Xiangshan bus was totally packed and we decided to wait for the next. The next one was also totally packed, but somehow R and I managed to cram ourselves on (and not fall off or get stuck between the doors). B and V weren't able to get on and ended up taking the next bus. So we were awkwardly crammed in that bus for about 45 minutes, and  as we were nearing Xiangshan there was a huge gridlock that most of the passengers got off and walked the remaining 2-3 km to the park. En route and inside the park, it felt like we were in some kind of amusement park because of all the crowds! This is definitely one of the biggest downsides to traveling in China. Inside the park, by chance we found B and V and then we climbed up the mountain together. It wasn't an easy hike, but at the same time I think we've all done worse. Along the way, we saw some interesting displays of Chinese culture... for example, a guy climbed onto a persimmon tree inside the park, broke off a large branch, and all the by-standers rushed over for the up-for-grabs persimmons. As always, there were women climbing the mountain in crazy stiletto heels. And of course, everybody came super prepared and everywhere I looked, people were snacking on fruit, chips, popsicles, whatever!

The next day, we met up to visit the Beijing Underground City. There's a huge network of tunnels and rooms that Mao built in case of nuclear warfare with the Soviet Union, and apparently the tunnels lead all the way to Tianjin and there were huge storerooms and even a movie theatre. This was definitely well thought-out, and perhaps a tad more extensive than UCLA's. The lonely planet told us where to go, but when we finally reached the unassuming grey house in a hutong, it was closed. I guess the government has been closing many of the tunnel entrances. We were disappointed but determined to not let that get us down, so we continued exploring the little hutongs in that area. In the end, the rain forced us to go shopping in the shopping centers.

first week in my (supposed) last internship

"Industrial development in China? They need help in that? They should be helping US develop!" This was a response I received about my internship with the UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) Regional Office in Beijing. And my response? Obviously China can get by just fine without support, but the purpose of UNIDO is to provide external assistance in sustainable development that is not locally available, and make sure that their policy and technology in energy efficiency, renewable energy, environmental protection, and carbon emissions catch up to the development. 

I've finished my first week of work and so far, so good. The first project I'll be working on is increasing energy efficiency in industrial heat systems. This project will work with several agencies within China to improve how the government inspection of heat exchangers and boilers, as well as train companies to better manage their energy consumption and optimize their heat systems. Another project is the Taiyuan GHG project which helps the local government reduce emissions. A main component of this project is monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions, and creating a network for companies to benchmark their emissions.  Capacity building is a very important concept in UNIDO and for all development projects- basically, helping the local organizations increase their own capacity for improvement. UNIDO partners with local agencies or organizations to provide resources and support that they otherwise wouldn't have.

I'm excited about this internship because these projects incorporate a little of everything from my background- the boiler and heat exchanger design from cheme, development project experience from ewb, carbon emissions from both my undergrad and masters, and even measurement and verification methods from my masters thesis. 

Now for the downside, because it's inevitable... in my case, it's the commute. I live in Haidian on the west 3rd ring of Beijing, and UNIDO is located between the east 2nd and 3rd rings in the Chaoyang District near all the embassies. It seems like there's an infinite number of ways that I can make the commute, and I'm still trying to figure it all out. So far, I've been taking bus-metro-bus. Anyways, "urban jungle" does not suffice the ruthlessness and chaotic nature of Beijing's buses and subways. All I can say is there's always people-watching to do, and I make use of my one hour+ commute to read on my phone. I finished the rest of Picture of Dorian Grey, read Metamorphosis, and in the midst of Treasure Island right now.

a week in Lebanon

The week of traveling in August in Lebanon was absolutely amazing. I've traveled to several countries in the Middle East already and I really can't get enough. Maybe it's the great food, rich culture, the fact that everybody you meet has a story to tell, or seeing for myself that things aren't always as depicted by Western news. My mom says that I was from the Middle East in another life, and I absolutely agree.

This trip, I was extremely fortunate to be accompanied by three great friends. One, P, was studying Arabic at AUB, the American University of Beirut and the reason we decided to go to Lebanon. AW flew in from DC and AR came with me from Greece. 

Here are some of my favorite lessons learned in Lebanon:

1. Public transport is the way to go to meet locals and travel cheaply.

We met four lovely ladies who were on their way to Sour for some Ramadan shopping. Sometimes I felt guilty that P was translating for us 24/7 (from street signs to menus to conversations to street art), and this was actually a nice chance for us non-Arabic speakers to attempt communication with the girls' shy middle-school English and their mothers. The best part was by far when they asked if AW and I were twins. 

2. Think hard about traveling during Ramadan.

This has its pros and cons for traveling in predominantly Muslim countries during Ramadan. Since Lebanon has a large Christian population, our travel plans were hardly affected at all (other than our favorite restaurant, Le Chef, being closed during Eid). The biggest difference, in my opinion, was our day of traveling to Baalbeck, the enormous and awe-inspiring Roman temples of Lebanon. Unlike any other ruins I've seen, these temples were practically deserted. No lines, no timing your photos to avoid the crowds in the background. Because of this, Baalbeck felt peaceful and genuine and undiscovered. 

 

3. Watch movies before you go

Or read literature by local writers, or read up on the current events, or find some recipes you like. Before traveling to Lebanon, I watched Waltz with Bashir, an Israeli-made film about the Lebanese civil war. I had very little idea about the film (other than what the cover told me- it was animated), and only a vague idea about the war (just that it left Beirut absolutely destroyed). 

Despite being confused throughout the film and having to pause to translate the Spanish subtitles, I really felt like I was with the main character throughout his journey to recover his memories of the war. I learned about the many, many players in the war and also some interesting things about Ariel Sharon that aren't exactly taught in high school history classes. The most important part was that I felt a connection to Beirut before I had even traveled there.

 4. There's a huuuge chance that I will get traveller's diarrhea. So I might as well try everything anyways.

After a week of traveling in the Middle East I think it's quite normal to experience Montezuma's Revenge. So instead of being paranoid, I preeeetty much just eat whatever I want since I think that being extremely careful lower the chances of getting TD from 95% to 94%. Anyways, who can resist the honey-drenched pastries or the fresh figs?  Definitely not me :).

5. Those who have the least share the little they have.

On our sojourn to see the famous Lebanese Cedars, a farmer driving a pear-loaded truck gave us about 10 pounds of pears. Why? I have no idea. But I guess he didn't need a reason. These small acts of unwarranted kindness really make you step back and think.

Also, in the Sabra refugee camp's market in Beirut, these nice men gave me a falafel wrap. I tried to pay them the 1000 LBP (or 0.66 USD) that I owed them, but they refused. I think I would have offended them if I had insisted even more. Anyways, I don't think this would have happened anywhere else in Beirut, especially in the rich and bougie districts.

6. Hezbollah wishes you a happy Ramadan

That should be what this banner says. While the U.S. has labelled Hezbollah as a terrorist group, the EU has refused to do so because they also provide much-needed social services to many areas of Lebanon. Hezbollah does have a militant wing, but our sensationalist journalism society just isn't as interested in their development programs, hospitals, or schools.

 7. Lebanon is a mix of ancient and modern, secular and religion

In this country there are ancient Phoenician ports and cities, built over 4000 years ago as well as skyscrapers and shopping centers more luxurious than the ones in Beverly Hills.  Within 10 minutes of dance clubs that have a 100USD cover, there are conservative Muslim communities in Beirut. This contrast is what makes Lebanon such a unique place. And despite its turbulent history, and the proximity that Lebanon has to both Syria and Israel, Lebanon is able to maintain its stability and its diverse population of both Christians and Muslims. 

Check out the mosque and church that are built right next to each other, smack dab in the middle of Beirut.

London: USE Efficiency Summer School and Olympic Games

As I mentioned some months before, I was fortunate enough to receive the opportunity to travel to London and attend the USE Efficiency Summer School course, sponsored by the European Commission.

Before going to London, the UPV group (comprised of Rob, Myr, and I) performed an energy audit of an on-campus sports building that we would be able to take to the course and present there. We worked very hard on this report and as well as our presentation. However, the format of the course had changed and after arriving in London we found out that none of the other students had prepared such a report and that we were not going to present nor use our audit at all! I felt especially bad for Myr, who was really stressed out and nervous about presenting in English. Anyways, this was the first of many surprises to come.

The Summer School generally consisted of presentations in the morning, and then working groups after our lunch break. The morning presentations were made by both professors, researchers, and engineering firms. The professors spoke about topics related to energy efficiency, from hydrogen storage to motor design to architectural design to urban heat islands. The majority of engineering firms were ones that had participated in the Olympics, and I thought these were more interesting and relevant since we were in London during the Olympics. We learned about the master plan for the Olympic bid, sustainable urban design, the energy supply for the Olympic Park in Stratford, and architecture for sports buildings. The main points to take away were that even though Paris was the favorite for winning the Olympic bid, London won because of its strong legacy plan; the legacy is what occurs after the Olympics with all of the Olympics infrastructure. London's strongpoint came in the fact that the masterplan treated the Olympics only as a catalyst for the rest of the urban development that was planned for East London; rather than finding ways to utilize the Olympics infrastructure, their priority was the post-Olympics legacy and then they figured out how the Olympics would work into this. This is an extremely important issue, since the park is designed for a huge capacity and much of the masterplan (such as wide walkways, stadium lighting, etc.) would be unnecessary after the Games. They really thought hard about the development and makeover of East London, and how the Games would factor into that. Moreover, I was extremely impressed with all the steps they took to minimize energy consumption and waste during the construction, and how they utilized architecture and design for these goals.

The second important component of the course was the case study; we were split up into 5 groups of 8, and each group had to create a concept design for a set of specifications for a specific site and sports complex. In the concept design we were supposed to consider aspects of public transportation, sustainability, architecture, energy efficiency, renewable energy, legacy, etc. All the groups were diverse in culture and in academic backgrounds, with a mix of nationalities and engineers and architects. On the final day of the course, after only about 5 days to work on the project, all of the groups presented their designs.

During the course, accomodation was provided for us at a campsite in Walthamstow Central in zone 2 of northern London at the Camp in London site. Basically a sportsground was converted into a campsite during the Olympics for volunteers and anyone who wanted to go. There were pre-erected (orange and lion-themed) tents as well as an area for people who were bringing their own tents and just wanted to use the campsite facilities.This was definitely an adventure- we heard geese venture near the tents at dawn, went to bed cold, and woke up really hot because of the thin tent material and poor insulation.
 

Of course, being in London during the Olympics made everything even more exciting (and a bit more chaotic). The atmosphere was wonderful, both in our group of Summer School participants as well as the general atmosphere in London. A bunch of us watched the Opening Ceremony together in a local  pub. The pub was nice, but nothing special; what really made it memorable was the fact that we were such a diverse group with many nationalities represented, and we felt connected to so many different countries. For example, there were universities from London, Valencia, Thessaloniki, Hamburg, and Rome represented at the course, but more than 20 nationalities represented!

Rob, Myr, and I came to London prepared, as we had purchased men's volleyball tickets before arriving. We lucked out and were able to buy three tickets together for the cheapest price (20 GBP) at a time that was convenient for us. Sunday night, we first saw Poland v. Italy and then Brazil v. Tunisia. There was an amazing atmosphere for the first game because half of the stadium was Polish- apparently after soccer, volleyball is the second most popular sport there! We heard many Polska cheers and songs throughout.
 

Before the course, I took advantage of the torch relay that was traveling throughout London, and saw it three times in one day! The first time I met a guy on the tube with a Games volunteer uniform, and he told me he was going to Stratford Westfield to see the relay. He was really nice and even showed me some photos of the Opening Ceremony rehearsal on his iphone (he was one of the coal miner performers). The second time, we ran into the relay in Shoreditch while checking out the East London street art scene, and the third time it passed through Leyton. Here's a glance:

After the course, I also saw one of the free competitions- Race Walk! Some of the events such as cycling, marathon, and race walk circulate the city and are basically open to the public. It's not everyday that you see race walking men with extremely flexible hips race around Buckingham Palace!

The biggest Olympics disappointment was by far the empty seats and difficulties in obtaining tickets. Since we had learned so much about the Olympic Park, it would have been a great experience to see everything that we heard heard about in the presentations... especially the extremely efficiency Velodrome and the integrated design of vertical wind turbines on lampposts. However, because of security reasons the program wasn't allowed to take us into the Park, and since the volleyball venue was outside of the Olympic Park we weren't allowed into the Park either. That doesn't mean that we didn't enjoy the beautiful London cityscape- the countdown clock in Trafalgar Square, the specially lit bridges, flags of the world, and ubiquitous (and slightly creepy) mascots Wenlock and Mandeville. I have to say that although I disagree with some of their policies and mechanisms, I'm still a sucker for the Olympics, especially seeing people from all over the world come together. One of the best moments was during the race walk, when people cheered even louder for the athletes at the back of the pack (I especially remember a Spanish athlete and another Iranian athlete who were lagging behind).



And despite all the Olympics madness and cool stuff I got to do, I must say that the people definitely made my time in London. I met lots of creative and driven individuals from Summer School who study similar topics as I do, explored London daily with Rob and Myr from UPV, and was also able to meet up with quite a few old friends who I hadn't seen in awhile, including fellow Bruins Michelle and Max, Mia who was so sweet to let me stay at her house, my cousin Rebecca who I met up with during her 18-hour layover in London, and my great-uncle Kwok. At the men's volleyball game I even ran into Terence, a friend from cheme at UCLA! Even standing in line for Dalston Superstore, Max and I met three really nice guys from LA, two of whom were UCLA alums. One of them had been an orientation counselor and even knew Sonny, the counselor that Max and I had. The world is definitely getting smaller and smaller.

Qué viva Costa Rica! Pura vida!

With Rebecca in Camden

Taking silly photos with Myr and Rob

With some CS friends taking gold-specked shots in a Polish bar

Bumping into Terence at Earl's Court

A Bangalore feast in Brick Lane with fellow Bruins Michelle, Sam, and Max

a summer update

It's definitely been awhile since my last post, and a lot has happened!

First of all, I'm proud to say that I (just) turned in my Master's Thesis! As with any project, it was frustrating and illuminating at times. I can't say that the subject matter is my passion, but I did learn a lot and I am proud of the work I've done. The next step is preparing a kick-ass powerpoint and presenting it in 2 weeks! The next two weeks are gonna be tough... I'll not only be defending my thesis but also packing all of my things and saying goodbye to Valencia and all my friends here.

About my UNIDO internship in China, everything has been going smoothly. I've received all the materials I need to get my F visa, which is for visiting scholars, businesspeople, etc. My official position is Research Fellow at the UNIDO Regional Office in Beijing, China. I'm also going to apply for a scholarship for internships abroad from UPV, which would be a big financial help.

And as for what's happened in the last couple months, it's involved lots of travel and seeing old friends. I spent the first part of the summer June and the first half of July working on my thesis. During the last half of July, I traveled to London for the USE Efficiency course on energy efficiency in sports buildings. Afterwards, I traveled to Greece, Lebanon, Denmark, AND Sweden! More details and travel stories are to come.

recortes y manifestaciones

The noticias have been buzzing with the austerity measures recently announced by the Spanish government and the coal miners' protests. More austerity measures have been announced to reduce Spain's budget deficit and everyone's talking about them... the sales tax is being increased, the unemployed will receive less benefits, bonuses will be suspended for the public sector, etc.  Needless to say, the rest of the EU is satisfied with these measures but not a single Spanish person is happy about any of the new policies. 

The situation of the coal miners, whose demonstration is perhaps not so coincidentally simultaneously occuring in Madrid, is quite devastating. The government cut back on subsidies (it's now around one-third of what it was before) for the coal mining industry, and many families are suffering. Hundreds of miners walked from northern Spain to Madrid to protest the cuts. 

You can read some more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18792427

June & July happenings

The last month has generally consisted of working on my thesis and the energy audit that we will present in the energy efficiency course in London, as well as fiestas and despedidas as many friends are leaving Valencia. 

out of town visitors

I was extremely excited to receive some out of town visitors! The first were two of my mom's college friends who came to Valencia for an applied mathematics conference. They were here on the day of my birthday so I showed them around the city and they also treated me to a nice birthday dinner. Later that week, my friend Liz from UCLA came down from Madrid, and it just happened to be a crazy weekend in Valencia. We managed to celebrate 3 birthdays, San Juan and the Spanish semifinal victory (not to mention see all the important sights in Valencia, go to the beach, and hear the racecars whiz by for the Formula 1). The next week, my friend Ishita from high school came as well! She was only here on a day-trip from Barcelona but it was great to see her and we also managed to see all the important sights in Valencia AND get her some vegetarian paella to try.  

Ishita and I at Plaza de la Virgen

Two California girls reunited at Valencia's beach

Independence Day

My fellow Ambassadorial Scholar held a 4th of July celebration in a very traditional and ambassadorial way which involved pigs in a blanket, chips and dip, mini hamburgers, ketchup and mustard (the American kind that you douse your food with, not the insanely strong and more authentic French kind) and a delicious red white and blue decorated lemon cake. We were the only two Americans there, along with friends from France, Serbia, Poland, Spain, Colombia, China, and other places around the world. Oddly enough, it's always when you're outside of your home country that you're feeling more patriotic and sentimental. 

delicious red white and blue cake

With my very glittery American flag

Eurocup 2012

"No hay 2 sin 3" was the anthem, as Spain has won the last 2 Eurocups (2008 and 2012) as well as the last Worldcup (2010). My friends (from Spain, Italy, and other countries as well) watched the game in the student area where there was quite a big Italian representation. Again, I think they were feeling much more Italian outside of Italy (although probably more so before the match than after). Here's some photos of the game and the celebration that followed.

Spanish pride

the 2nd out of 4 goals

Celebrating in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Festivals

Summer, just like almost any other time of year, is a time of many festivals in Spain. I'll start by explaining Noche de San Juan, which celebrates the shortest night of the year. Since this year it fell on a Saturday and on the same weekend as the Eurocup semifinal and the Formula 1, the beaches were full of people and bonfires and music throughout the night. There's many many traditions, but the most famous ones are to jump into the ocean at midnight and to jump over the 7 waves backwards. Other traditions include jumping over the bonfire twice and writing down three wishes and burning them in the bonfire, or writing down wishes and putting them under your pillow and burning them the next day. The Spanish tend to get quite creative.

¡Vamos España!

Jumping the flame

The next is the most famous fiesta in Spain... the San Fermines de Pamplona. The running of the bulls is the most well-known, but there's also concerts, parades, and other events throughout the city. It was incredible to see people from all over the world dressed in the San Fermin uniform of a white shirt and pants, with a red pañuelo or bandana scarf and red cinturón or belt. We saw some performances by Spanish punk bands, spontaneous percussion bands, constant parades through the narrow streets of Pamplona, and even joined the Basques in their traditional dance. (All of what I mentioned was fun, but I didn't expect to have so much fun dancing with the Basques!) 

Here's a link to the song we learned with the percussion band (quite easy to learn as we just sang along "Saaanchoooo, Quixote!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F6ck6qZRjY

Unfortunately we overslept and didn't see the encierro which occurs at 8am. We were all very disappointed, but I definitely have San Fermin on my list for the next trip to Spain.

Ayuntamiento de Pamplona

A sea of red and white

Dancing with the Basques

A bit more laid-back was the Feria de Julio in Valencia, which lasts the entire month of July. It consisted of various concerts (free and not free), markets, and the most important day which was the Gran Nit in which we saw parades, more concerts, and performances. Museums stayed open until 2am, although the fireworks were cancelled because of budget cuts.

A performance of "The Blisters," a Spanish band that sang Beatles songs

The sparklers came out for "Hey Jude"

Huge inflatable monsters came marching down Calle de la Paz during el Gran Nit... the reason? I have no idea.

 

An  Addam's Family performance, also during the Gran Nit