Meet & Greet

Weather: 48F
Time: Mid-night

Tonight there was a meet and greet type of event.  Another member sent out an email this morning talking about meeting up with some chinese students to grab dinner.  There is a restaurant on campus that is called Times Cafe, they serve pretty decent pizza for the price.  It costs 20RMB to get a 9inch pizza.  The popular choices are "Smoked Chicken" "All Meat" and "Hawaii."

From J Biber

Meet & Greet
Walking in to the cafe I had been to many times already, a group of about nine Americans joined a party room full of chinese students.  It was probably 30 chinese students total.  I did not really know what was going on until I got there, but the students are in the same materials class as the purdue kids.  I did not know anyone in the room since I am not in that class.  I was excited to hear how good their English was for the most part, complete sentences.  It was very fun to get to meet all of these students.

After talking to the cstudents for a bit I found out that all of them are also mechanical engineers.  They pay more than double the regular students at the university to be in courses taught in english.  There were many interesting conversations I was involved in for the evening.  All of the cstudents wanted to talk to an American.  In fact, my night was so busy talking to people I was never able to get to the table to make my own pizza.  I really was looking forward to making my own pizza, but I did get to meet a lot of new friends.  It was a unique experience from the rest of China adventure so far because all the cstudents really wanted to talk to an American.  There was a point where a student went and grabbed four Coca-Cola's and offered it to me and the other guy I was standing with before offering it to the chinese girls standing right there.  I offered it to the ladies first, then took a drink after it was forced on me by the young man.

The topics of the night ranged greatly.  There was one conversation where I learned about the foreign exchange programs.  Another conversation was based around how much money is spent to go to school in China vs USA and year over year spending to live and go to school.  There was also discussions about Google and the censorship debate, which bloomed into a further discussion on government control of the media.  A less serious topic of "Where do you see yourself in 20 years?"

Shanghai Jiao Tong  University has an exchange program that started with the University of Michigan and has expanded to include Purdue University.  Originally, U of M professors would come over to China and teach engineering courses in English.  Now there are programs to start two years at SJTU and then finish at Purdue / U of M.  Some of the cstudents at the event are actually going to be transferring to Purdue this fall.  It was really good to make that connection!  We talked about how there are large differences between the lifestyles and discussed some of their concerns.  One student was concerned about guns, because he is always reading about shootings in America and he assumed that everyone is carrying a gun.  I told him that it was nothing to be worried about and assured him he would be safe.  He then challenged me with the question, "Do you think the guns create violence?"  I told him he has nothing to worry about when he gets to Purdue.

There was also quite a bit of concern about pricing.  They wanted to know how much it costs to live at Purdue and I told them is much more expensive.  I detailed that a meal in the dining hall costs 56RMB at Purdue and that they can save money by going to the grocery store.  It lead up to the question, "How much do you spend in a year?"  We roughly approximated for living, tuition, food, and entertainment it can cost up to 25,000USD.  When we added the costs of their living in Shanghai, their summation came up to 21,000RMB.  The current conversion rate is 6.853 RMB for 1USD.  Their tuition is about 5000RMB and for some students it is subsidized by the government.  We briefly discussed scholarships and how being a minority can land you more money in the USA.  When I told them that minorities can get more money for ethnicity, religion, or sex they said, "How is that fair?"  I told them it is privately funded and so there are special interest groups for giving money.

The short of the censorship conversation came down to stating a few points.  America has a different type of censorship - bias media.  Anyone who takes all their news from one source, be it the government or a single news station, does not get to see the whole picture.  In terms of the internet the cstudents said that Google was acting inappropriately and was just trying to draw attention to get a large search base and more name recognition.  There was also discussion about freedom of speech on the internet in China and allowing the people to criticize the government and how this can cause trouble.  The cstudent I was talking to pointed out that some people are not capable of handling the extreme emotions on the internet and this causes trouble because some people act on these single minded opinions.  It was an interesting point.

Most fun, the cstudents had slightly different goals than some of the Americans in the group.  The six students we were talking to four of them were wanting a life in China after getting a masters of ME in the US.  Two of the students wanted to live abroad and go to Europe and the USA for a long time.  Most of them aspired to be content and providing for their family.  A few of them wanted to return to China to serve the country with their engineering knowledge.  Some of them truly desire to be design engineers and some of them have a path of business as part of their extended education.

All in all, it was a very interesting evening getting to meet these students for the first time and having serious conversations with them.  I am happy to have had this experience and I am looking forward to seeing some of these students again.

Delivery McDonald's
The conversations were so involved I did not get anything to eat for dinner except one can of Coke and a few french fries.  This drove to me to order McDonald's for the first time over the phone.  It took 30 minutes.  I called into the central order hotline.  They took my order in English and asked for my address and phone number.  They then put the order into the nearest McDonald's location and had a man bring be a double cheese burger value meal + some chicken nuggets for 36RMB.  7RMB was the delivery fee and they bought it to my door.  And of course, since it is China there is no tipping.

Email is Fast
I asked my roommate to send me an email while I was writing this blog post.  He sent me the picture above.  I was impressed that the email took less than five seconds to go from his laptop in China to the Purdue campus and then ended in my inbox.  I like to think that five seconds is very quick considering that information traveled roughly 20,000 miles, but I laughed at myself for this thought.  I am looking forward to the future.  Some day, my children will read a hard copy of this blog and they will get a chuckle out of so much that I have written, and that is okay.

Biber

Shanghai Demographics

Average Disposable Income ~ $3200
Population ~ 18.9 million
Population Density ~ 6900 per sq mile
Average Life Span ~ 80 yrs old
-Men  ~    78.5
-Women~ 82
Most Rain: June July Aug > 6"
Least Rain: Nov Dec Jan Feb < 2"

Average Temps  High (Low) °F
Jan    47(34)
Feb   49(36)
Mar  55(42)
Apr   66(52)
May  75(61)

I'm partially packed.  I've gone shopping a few times and surely I'll go a couple more times before I'm ready to get on a plane and get out of here.

JBiber

T: -8 days

Today I finally started getting things in order to prepare for the trip.  I have gone through the list many times in my head and so I finally went to walmart and made my first round of purchases.  I came home and set out the suitcases I plan on using.  The limit for the checked bags is about 62 inches in the 3 dimensions and it must weigh less than 50 lbs.  The larger bag i'm using is about 60 to 61 inches.  I hope they don't count the handle or I'll be over.

I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to take, but once i get it all packed i'll revise it and pack less i'm sure.  I was wondering what I would be getting into when I get over there.  I googled "Things to do in Shanghai" and found that tripadvisor.com has a top 20 list.  The number one thing on the list is a guided shopping tour.  All the reviews are great.  The prices aren't listed on the website, but it's looking pretty cool.  Something I'd really like to do; I'll post pricing information when I know more about the tour.

Also, people have started to give me their Skype account information.  Please let me know your skype stuff or add me; jbiberstine.  Really creative, right?  Look forward to seeing you all via webcam.  I am also distributing my phone number to people while I'll be in China.

I would rather not post the phone number here on the blog because, it's the internet.  If you'd like my number, be sure to sign up for the mailing list.  I'll also post it on facebook.

Thanks,
JBiber

PS - If you've got any tips on how to pack two large bags for 5 months of living abroad -- share your thoughts in the comments!

Shanghai 101

I've been spending sometime away from Rosetta Stone trying to enjoy the holidays.  Not studying Chinese doesn't free my mind from China though.  I have just been looking for some of touristy things to be doing in China.  I think it would be a good place to start throughout the first weekend or two while our group is in China.

This is a link to a map thats somewhat interactive. One of the attractions is the maglev train.. one of the first things we'll be doing as a group.  I'm thinking the water cities would be cool to see.  Theres more attractions that are kind of family oriented for the entire country.

Worth looking at in my opinion.  Do share what you would go visit and what you wouldn't bother with.

JBiber

Final weeks

As each day passes I become closer to my departure for China. I've been recently attempting to prepare for this journey by talking to friends who have studied abroad before in China and elsewhere. The questions usually revolve around how did the trip go, would you go again, what did you like the most, what took the most getting used to, what is a MUST see. It came as not much surprise that the answers were fairly common and expected. The must see item is China is the great wall. One person, who has been to China, said that the Great Wall is amazing and Chinese architecture while is great -- tends to look very similar after awhile.  While that doesn't distinguish my ambitions for traveling around China when the opportunity arises, it may change some of the destinations.

Everything in China has a lot of history associated with it.  I hope it doesn't feel like everywhere is a museum and places are only to be seen.  The last person I know who went to China for an extended time said the people were the most enjoyable part of the trip.  Making friends, talking to the people, and learning about the country through the people was the experience that is most memorable.

The semester at Purdue has finally come to a close.  I have continued to power through the semester and the results are successful.  There is room to improve and the classes were difficult.  I look forward to learning all that I can while I'm in China.  I will be studying Mechanical Engineering while I'm there, but I'm most looking forward to studying the culture and growing in a worldly sense.

I started learning Chinese over the weekend.  I have been studying with Rosetta Stone.  It is possible that I'm not far enough into it yet to really have a firm grasp of how the program is suppose to teach.  That being said, after 6 hours of using the program, I feel like it can be miss leading at times.  The premise of each activity is be show a scene, and infer what it means while being told what it is in Chinese.  I have spoken with some folks who know Chinese and I haven't always been inferring the correct things with the pictures.  Though it is building a basic vocabulary of activities, colors, etc.  I plan on sticking with this through the rest of break for a least two hours a day.

Please share your thoughts.  I'll be gone in just about two more weeks.  Let me know if there is something in China that you would see if you would be going over there.  Also clue me into any good deals you know of, like - it sounds like silk items are very cheap in Beijing.  Another person said pearls are very cheap in a small city on the eastern coast.

Thanks
Jbiber

PS- I've added a Mailing List gadget on the right side of the page - near the bottom.  Please sign up if you're interested in being contacted while I'm in China.  I'll likely have some periodical to publish.

China Prep

China Prep is a video I recently watched on PBS.  It's not so much about someone preparing to go to China, but rather it's about high school students in China getting ready to take the exam of a lifetime.  This is the exam that students in China take to find out whether they will become wildly successful, mildly successful, or ... not so much.  The exam is for seniors in high school.  It should be noted, that to get into high school -- theres another exam students take 4 years earlier -- that one also determines quite a bit about where each student will go in life.

During the senior year of high school, and for some -- the years leading up to it, students are essentially expected to study 16 hrs a day 7 days a week.  There are times laid out for sleeping, eating, learning, and occasionally stretching to compliment the excessive studying.  The success of each student is incredibly important for the parents of each student because of the one child policy and retirement options.  It is very traditional in China for the grandparents to be taken care of by the parents and live in home.  As a child grows up and gets to having a career, they begin to support their parents and grandparents.  One way to look at it would be that the parents really want their child to do well because the child is their retirement plan.  Each set of parents only has one chance at a good retirement because of the one child policy.  It's an interesting system, different than home for sure.  It's not really a bad system, clearly it works well for the Chinese and if thats how they want to do it, then go for it.

Anyways, the video is interesting and really shows some unique hardships for students as they go through their senior year in high school.  Another interesting piece of the video is part 3 of 3 with Venessa Fong.  It really highlights the different policies between the two countries.

Also note the new gadget on the left, google voice.  It works. It really does call me.  You can try it, it asks for your phone number because it will call you, have you answer -- then it will try to ring me.

World Expo News Story 1

The World Expo will be held in Shanghai starting May 1st.  There is already much talk about the different displays that each country will be having.  In this article at Gizmodo, they discuss a Romanian announcement about their exhibit that was found on a few other sites.  Along with the Romanian exhibit, there are links to a few other exhibits that will be on display linked from the article.  Worth a quick glance.

JBiber

Confirming the Magic Jack theory

This is a conversation I had with MagicJack customer service.  It confirms that the MJ can be used to call back to the united states for free without minute by minute or connecting fees.  I also asked if there would be a possibility for a group discount for a small number of college students traveling internationally.  There was nothing this agent wanted to do for me, however he did "say" he was going to pass it along to a "higher up" agent.  We'll see if anything happens.

Dan: Hello, how may I help you?

J: Can I use the MJ from an international location to call the US for free / unlimited?

Dan: Hi, you can call the US using MJ for free

J: I'll be traveling to China for a few months, and I wanted to confirm that its true before I buy one.

Dan: yes you can use it there and call free back in the US, the call is not unlimited but it is free
J: What is the limit?

Dan: there is no particular time frame on the call limit but when you get disconnected you just have to dial and call the same number again to reconnect

J: I also assume that folks in the US can dial my MJ phone number and reach me in China for free as well. Please also confirm this.

Dan: yes they can call you free from the US to China through MJ if you are both in the same local area

Dan: but you can call any number or any state in the US free

J: Right, assuming it's a local call and all that jazz.

Dan: yes it would be free; basically the same system when you call within the US since MJ has US number

JBiber

Ps - I have comments enabled.  If you are reading this and going on the trip with me or have something to add, please say something!  It's like I'm writing to Santa, I never hear anything back. :D

Studying from Far Away

Part of my schooling in China will be taking a Purdue course over the internet.  There will be a course video posted after each lecture for all of us in China to view on our own time (Update: this may or may not be true; I recently learned that there may actually be a scheduled time slot to watch the lectures as a group).  We will be assigned homework concurrently with the students at Purdue.  The main difference is clearly we won't be able to be in the classroom at anytime to physically turn in homework or ask questions.

Both of these issues have been solved.  For being able to ask questions, there is a class blog, much like the one you're reading right now.  Homework problems are posted on the blog and students are welcome to visit and ask questions in the comments.  The questions asked are then answered on the blog by other students.  I have been part of a learning experience like this in one of my other mechanical engineering classes.  The system works fairly well and the response times were short, at least while we were all in the same time zone.
In order to turn in homework efficiently we will be using a livescribe pen. On that website there are some cuties demos on how it works.  Basically it'll create a PDF that we'll email to the professor, he'll grade, and then send back responses using his tablet pc.  Excellent use of a tablet.

JBiber

Communicating Back to Home

I have been thinking about ways to talk to all of you while I'll be over in China.  There are clearly many ways that will work and a few surprising things that won't work.  First, let me tell you what won't work.

Notable things that won't work while I'm in China: (why)
-blogspot, but not blogger.. this means I may or may not be able to get to this blog to update it while in China.  I hope that I will be able to update this blog while I'm in China.  I would like to post pictures on the blog since other things won't work.
-facebook
-twitter (maybe)
-new york times
-youtube

Ways I'll try to communicate:
Phone
   Everything that I've read indicates that if I buy a magicjack i'll be able to place calls and receive calls from America at no charge.  So my plan is to make sure I take one of these over there, I am pretty sure that it'll work, but if it doesn't there are more options.
   Skype, many people have skype installed on their computer but they don't hardly ever use it.  I am one of those people, once I'm over there though, it is my secondary communication channel to getting in touch with people over in the states.
   I will have access to my email, Purdue email for sure -- hopefully my gmail account too (despite it being on the blocked list, it may be unlocked).  That should be one easy way to get in touch with me.
   I will also have a Chinese cellphone, clearly -- this is the last contact option because it would cost so much.

In a perfect situation, this is what will happen.  I have a Google voice account.  That Google voice account has a local number.  Anyone in the states will be able to call that number and reach my magicjack which will be located in my room and hopefully on all the time.  The special reason for using Google Voice I might be able to also forward text messages to my Chinese cellphone.  Essentially, when you call my phone number, it'll ring my magicjack and simultaneously ring my Chinese cellphone.  I'm not quit sure that  google voice will be able to forward calls to my Chinese cellphone, but if it doesn't, the whole idea still kind of works.

If you call my phone number, you should be able to leave a voice mail.  I'll be able to check my voice mails from an internet browser.  In the same browser I'll also be able to see all the text messages sent.  I am also able to reply.  I have been testing this system with a few people at this point and it seems to work fairly well.

In summary, I hope that I'll be able to blog about my experinece and share many pictures of the adventures in China.  In order to communicate with people back in the states, I'm hoping for a simple phone number solution so people can call.  As a backup - I'll have a skype account.  That being said, Shanghai is in the +8 time zone.  So from the east coast (-5) theres a 13 hr time difference.  The best times to communicate will be mornings or evenings.

Thanks for reading,
JBiber

China: It's coming...

An article at gizmodo.com (link) shows an example of how different Shanghai is from Indiana.  Recently, I watched a Discovery video on Shanghai.  It was an interesting 45 minutes that highlight some of the things that don't match US culture.  The video was the last part of a four part series "Paul Merton In China."  It starts by highlighting the how Shanghai is really the leading capitalistic city.  It isn't that the socialism doesn't exist there, just that the culture is part of the fast paced world.  He likened it to the way New York City is always moving, vibrant city.  Continuing - A vibrant city famed for it's progressive thinking, independent women, and hedonistic lifestyle.

The video covers many experiences, night life, going out to eat, having a suit tailored, and visits many of the places china wants you to see.  There was also an example in the video of Paul traveling down the river to a trash dump.  There were citizens that (illegally) setup a small community.  They rummage through the garbage and find things that can be sold for money.  Eventually his camera man was spotted and was told to stop filming or face consequences.  These rummagers can make up to three times a taxi cab driver's daily pay, but the lifestyle is quite limiting.  There is no doubt that China has many different faces, it will be interesting to experience first hand.  It is very encouraging that Shanghai is leading the way on the emerging capitalistic way of life.  While there is some movement towards capitalism, there is still a very strong cultural standard that is encouraged by the Chinese government, such as the regulation of video games.

I need to watch the video again to complete my summary and will continue this at a later date.

Another video that I saw recently on the PBS website showcased the world's largest mall, recently built in China.  It's an interesting watch, part 3 of the Utopia series.  The mall was built.  It is larger than the Mall of America.  It is also nearly completely empty.  Only a few shops and very few people.  Definitely worth watching.

It will be an interesting place to visit.
JBiber

China: Go There

Just finished up with my two exams today. I am happy to be done with exams until after thanksgiving. It will be a sorely welcomed 1.5 weeks of no evening exams. Today, I was told the flight number I'll be riding over to China on. The route is by Asiana Airlines. It appears to be operated by US Airways. Today, it was flown in a 777. If I get to go one a 777, that'd be cool. I haven't ever gotten to ride on one that I can think of.

http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?id=176175134&utm_source=airlineInformationAndStatus&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=co-op

Jbiber

Preparing for China

Things are about to kick into high gear around here. I'm getting ready to go to China. I've paid my deposits and all systems are a go.

I am having plenty of trouble studying because of my growing interest for going overseas. I will soon start sharing my ideas here on the blog hopefully readers will be able to contribute good ideas for things to take and some problems I think I'll be facing.

All input is welcomed!

JBiber

Back

After a month of not publishing anything, it's been on my list of things to do for awhile. I am happy to report that school is taking up nearly all of my free time. If it hasn't been spring break, it's been school work. Spring break on the other hand actually was fun.

I'm currently finishing up a 4 week spree of exams. Sprinkled with homework and quizzes to add flavor, or just maybe to make sure the other teachers get attention when they're not offering an exam that week.

I've been involved with the Purdue Motorsports Association Grand Prix team. However, my interaction with the team has been severely limited by the amount of study sessions, exams, and supplemental instruction I've been going to in order to keep up to date with all the materials. I am fortunate that the management course I am in comes with little difficultly. I wish that the other courses were as intuitive.

Spring break was a good time. I was originally planning to go with friends to northern Michigan for a few solid days of skiing and snowboarding. This fell through at the last moment because it was going to be raining, rather than snowing, throughout the week up there. I was disappointed and relieved. It was a very long drive for very mediocre skiing plus it did save me some money. My new goal for the week was to get something productive done everyday. I was successful in that way. I learned more about the private pilot licence I've been considering getting. I took a demo flight, got a friend from the airport, enjoyed time with friends.

Other than spring break my recent life can literally be summed up by just saying school. I have been painfully busy with school. In my introduction to design course, the group work that has been required has been, less of a group effort and more concentrated than it should have been, imho.

I am still very much considering going to China next January. I am going to work at GE Aviation this summer in Cincinnati, OH and have just arranged for summer living. On a related note: if you know someone who is looking for a cheap apartment for the summer, let me know.

I am also looking for two solid roommates for the Fall 2009 semester. It is going to be a short term lease for only the half year. All utilities walking, distance from campus, 3br 2 bath. Competitive rate! hahah.. let me know if you know someone who's looking.

Thanks for reading,
Jon

Short Update

These last few weeks have been rather long. I've spent less time sleep and more time working than I would prefer. I have been working on class projects, exams, and gobs of homework. I have also been recently looking for new directions to take with my post-graduation plans. I've reconsidered going out into the industry right after graduation and started looking into government work or going DIRECTLY into grad school. Not sure how I want to continue right now, I'm just trying to get as many options as I can right now.

I will probably be going to China for school Spring 2010. It is an opportunity through Purdue to go over to the "#1 Engineering School" in China for a semester. I am hoping that this will allow me to grow my creativity and imagination when it comes to problem solving. I figure seeing the world from a completely new perspective will help develop these skills. I also think it'd be nice to go over there. I have a friend who went there for a semester and she thought it was an amazing experience. Getting out there and experiencing something beyond the everyday is important to self growth.

I've slowed down, thankfully, on following the internet and the daily blogs I used to visit. While I feel like I'm a little less connected to what's going on around me, I've enjoyed not sitting in front of my computer as much. Part of this is because I've been trying to go running a few times a week. It takes up an hour I used to spend online, but running seems to be a good usage of time. My best time so far has been running for 30 minutes at ~7 mph. I'm hoping to improve this to 8 mph in the next month.

Spring break is coming up. I believe I am going skiing in Michigan with a few of my friends. It should be a good time, I enjoy skiing -- and we're not going to just the dirt piles in southern Michigan. We're going to northern Michigan where they have full sized dirt mounds! (I'd rather go to Colorado, but real mountain's just aren't in the budget.) Take what you can get I suppose.

Jbiber