No Surprises

Not surprisingly, I can't seem to concentrate today. I'm lacking in cohesive thoughts, hence the jumbled list form of today's dispatch.
-Apparently, Columbia is one of the greenest schools in the US. The environmentalist in me is very pleased to hear this. My application for the summer program is 80% complete, but I still need to finish that dreaded personal statement. Blerg.
-Getting ready for another trip, this time to Chicago for Wind Ensemble adjudication. I am eagerly looking forward to getting out of borderline dead suburbia and touring the Windy City, if it didn't have to come during what I like to call school's Spring Tempest. Looks like I will have to do loads of homework on the 9hr. bus ride.
-The drama on this week's Office episode was tense! Michael acted so differently around the new VP, like we've never seen him before. It was ironic: I didn't know whether to laugh or cry in the last part. (No spoilers in case you haven't seen it yet.)
-Speaking of The Office, John Krasinski stars with SNL alum Maya Rudolph in a new dramedy from American Beauty and Revolutionary Road director Sam Mendes, Away We Go. [trailer] It has the potential to be a great flick, and I've been looking forward to it for a while.
-RIP Natasha Richardson. It's devastating to hear about a tragic accident that didn't deserve to happen to such a classy actress. I'm ashamed to admit I haven't seen a lot of her many stage and screen credits, but growing up in the '90s, I loved her work in The Parent Trap.
-Fact: 60% of my Saturdays are spent procrastinating, stressing, lamenting, pondering, and writing pointless blog posts like this.
-Fact: Radiohead has a song for every mood. I wish I had their creativity.

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Weeds, Leaves, & Other Things

Today was slightly eventful, I suppose. I spent part of the afternoon cleaning up one of the courtyards at school. It was a rather disorganized effort: Too many people showed up, and most of them didn't e-mail our adviser to tell her they were coming, so she ended up having to send them home. That left about 20 of us to pull weeds and rake leaves; there really wasn't much else to do in the courtyard. Since winter is fast approaching, we won't get to work on beautifying the courtyard with new plants until spring. Weed pulling was actually challenging to some extent. A large part of the courtyard was covered in weeds, so I got rid of the larger, more evident areas first. Then, the hard part was having to go back and pick out the small, leftover roots and pieces of the weeds. The courtyard had a layer of pebbles on top of the topsoil, so in order to see where the roots were, I would kick the pebbles aside and return them after I found and removed the root of the weed. Sometimes, we had to be careful not to unintentionally remove the roots of another plant that wasn't a weed. For instance, some of the weeds were right beside a bush, and we weren't sure if the root belonged to the weed or the bush. During our cleanup, there were a few teachers that stood inside by the window and just watched us like we were entertainment. Hildy, my eccentric World Affairs teacher, even came out and randomly started talking to some of us. Then again, his room is directly facing the courtyard, so I guess he felt obligated to come and say hi in his "Hildyness". Also, some Yearbook people noticed us and took a group picture, which I hope turned out okay. Overall, it was a reasonable effort by all of us.
Happy Veterans Day (or Armistice/Remembrance Day, depending on where you live). Before I forget: today just so happens to be one of those peculiar days when I have multiple friends celebrating birthdays. So, happy birthday to Chels, Britt, and Mindy! =D (none of them will read this, but oh well.) Which reminds me of something...oddly enough, these marvelous girls share the same birthday with one of my favorite actors, the sublime Leonardo DiCaprio, who turns 34 today. :) So bloggers, in honor of this great thespian (& environmentalist/uber-cool person in general), what is your favorite DiCaprio performance? (As you can tell, I'm enjoying coming up with questions that you guys can answer!)
(Hmm...Leo looks very pensive here.)

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Games of the XXIX Olympiad

More like the games of the Human Rights Olympiad. (I'll explain later.) The 2008 Olympic Summer Games finally kicked off in Beijing on Friday, 8/08/08. Of course, I was majorly pissed that NBC did not show the Opening Ceremonies live, like every other country in the world. Even Canada had them live on CBC at 8am!!! But despite this, it was pretty spectacular, like Openings are supposed to be. At times, it seemed like a history lesson, but the LED screens were sweet. :)
After 2 days of competition (it's already Monday in China!), Team USA is tied with China with 8 medals (2 Gold, 2 Silver, and 4 Bronze). Swimming superstar Michael Phelps won his 1st gold medal (his 7th career gold) in the 400m IM, beginning his quest for 8 golds at one Olympics. Go Michael!! Tonight (or Monday morning in Beijing), he swims for his 2nd gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay. For China, there is intense pressure to top the medal count at the end of the Games. Their athletes seem to have a special determination as members of the host country, and as part of a nation that has overcome so many obstacles over the last 20 years. 1.3 billion people are counting on them, and for the next 2 weeks, all the world's eyes will be on China, both the athletes and the rest of the nation.
Politics and international sports will inevitably collide, especially here. China's positions on human rights issues, like Tibet and Darfur, as well as the government's oppression of freedom of speech/religion, had many skeptics raising eyebrows the moment Beijing was announced as the host of this year's Olympics in 2001. The controversy increased even more as the Games got closer. During the torch relay, protestors lined the streets of various cities, particularly in Paris, where the torch was met with violent riots. The torch also stopped in San Francisco, the only American city on the list. Many countries threatened to boycott the Games due to the human rights issues at stake, including the U.S. Urged by Darfur activists, acclaimed director Steven Spielberg was forced to step down as artistic advisor to the Opening Ceremonies.
The Chinese government refuses to address the issues, but has made their positions clear. They even threatened to restrict Internet access during the Games. Darfur activist Joey Cheek, a 2006 Olympic champion in speedskating, was unable to attend the Games when his visa was revoked by the Chinese government last week. One can only speculate that this also has something to do with the politics of these Games. And of course, there's also the long story of China's environmental problems, especially the dreadful air quality. China's massive economic growth over the last two decades has brought with it enormous threats to the environment.
Putting all of the troubles aside, I personally just want to enjoy the Olympics like I always do and take in every thrill and spill. NBC paid the IOC $894 million to broadcast our big events live in primetime, like swimming and basketball, so let's take full advantage of it. Go Team USA!!!

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Shanghai Calling #2-- Gridlock

Ha! It's Friday the Thirteenth! Just wanted to put that out there. =D Hope nothing bad happens to any of you.
After a long, tedious plane ride (which I slept through most of, thankfully) and two stopovers, I have arrived in Shanghai in one piece. So far nothing remotely interesting has occurred, so if any of you wanted to hear about something cool, sorry. :( I'm still a little jet-lagged, but overall I feel okay. All we've done is visited both sides of my family and engaged in pointless conversations with them, plus wandered around aimlessly. I apologize for not posting until my 3rd day here, but privacy is hard to get here. Someone is constantly looking over my shoulder, curious about my online whereabouts. Grr...
This is my 3rd time visiting Shanghai. The 1st time, I was 6 years old and clueless about pretty much everything. The 2nd time was 2 summers ago, so I had a much better understanding of everything and got to know my family fairly well during the six weeks. This time I am only here for three weeks, so now I would like to properly explain and reflect on this "unique" city.
Shanghai is a very modern city, although that has its limits in a Third World country. The gap between the rich and poor is much greater here than in developed nations like the U.S. It's hard to feel at home here. I generally enjoy the feel of large metropolitan cities like New York City. Shanghai is China's equivalent of NYC, so I suppose it's a fair comparison.
After two visits plus my aimless wandering now, I have come to the conclusion that I like NYC better. Sorry Chinese people. It's safer, cleaner, and more alive. Both cities are heavily populated, and traffic is like a gridlock. But, Shanghai has the added problem of people on bikes and mopeds and such, which is a great hindrance to pedestrians. Traffic laws and regulations are not strictly enforced, so there's a lot of reckless driving. Secondly, NYC is way cleaner. The city is undergoing somewhat of a green movement, with the introduction of more energy-efficient taxis and such. Also, parks are managed well and provide a nice escape from the bustling city. In Shanghai however, there's a heavy stench everywhere you go, probably from the disgusting sewage and septic systems. Some places are better than others, but in general the city kinda reeks. All kinds of sporadic garbage litter the streets, and the air is so unbelievably polluted. (Don't even get me started on that problem. The air is a mess here.) Lastly, NYC is livelier. At least you can walk around without feeling nauseous. Shanghai is cool too, especially at night, but I always feel "lost in translation", so to speak.
That's all for today. I don't want to keep hogging this computer.

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