The Last Six Months in Summary

Hey everyone!

I know I've been so bad about keeping everyone updated--particularly these last few months!  I tried to at least update FB, but I know not everyone has an account, so here's a brief overview to get y'all up-to-date!  (Also, for more pictures, if you press on the highlighted words, they lead to my Facebook album for that trip.)

Jan:  Kinda boring from your perspective. Spent all of my time on research and my online SAS course. Moving on!

Feb:  Starts getting interested!  Beginning of Feb was CHINESE NEW YEAR!!  I got to go to Reunion Island, France with a friend and be introduced to what *real* chinese people do for the new year.  It was such a weird experience--I was as shocked as they were about how little I knew about the festivities and activities a good Chinese person should take part in for the holiday!  For example:

Sending up a little something to the ancestors

Burning paper "gold bricks" for the ancestors--also learned how to fold said bricks for the first time.

Eating yummy food!

Lighting some firecrackers!

Visiting the temple to honor those who have passed. 

I also got to take a trip with Kristen up to Harbin, China.  Here they have an annual Ice and Snow Festival because it's certainly cold enough!  I mean when your climate looks like this:

what else is there to do?

 It's definitely a cold one!

Sort of like a scene from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe--White witch territory

A little bumpy, slightly hard, but overall very fun!

Even though it was freezing, the bonus was that they all light up at night!

Toy Story!

They also have a Siberian Tiger park where you can buy live animals to feed to the tigers.  Consequently these are some of the fattest tigers ever!!  Check it out!

Tiger Tongue!

It's the Urologist in me!  What can I say--I love kidneys!

Such gorgeous animals!

They sounded hungry...

Going for the meat

Here kitty kitty!

Something about Chinese people..they really can't take good pictures.  Something is always cut out..like part of the head of the tiger for instance.

And you can't let February pass without celebrating my 21st birthday!  (for the 6th time ;)  Don't worry, I don't always dress like this--it was a theme party:  Chinese Fashion! The funny thing is Jonathan's wife met me for the first time that day, and she though that was just how I dressed--until she traveled with me to Xi'An and was like..who is this girl in hiking boots and giving me tips on how to use squatty potties?  What can I say?  I'm working towards being that Renaissance woman I've always imagined myself to be ;)  Also, on another completely different but equally amusing note, I showed my co-workers some of these pictures, and one of them adored my outfit so much (like truly wished she had this outfit) that I donated it to her :)

March:  So March was more research than fun, but I did get a chance to go to Hong Kong to visit my tall buddy and dear friend Mamei!  We had a blast catching up and as well as attending the Rugby Sevens Competition.  Let me tell you, this is like a huge annual world event for rugby, and like all such events, the point of it was to...watch rugby of course!  (and NOT start drinking at 11 am!)  ;)  I also got to visit Professor Huss and Nora (one of my professors from Wellesley who now teaches in HK and her daughter who is so grown up now!)   Check out these pictures!

Pretty much sums up my entire weekend ;)

I was also finally able to cross the Terracotta Warriors in Shanxi off my list of places I wanted to travel to this year in China!  They were pretty spectacular but so was Hua Mountain, one of the 5 sacred Taoist mountains.  If you can tell by some of the pictures below, you're literally traversing the mountain tops from peak to peak.  It was pretty amazing; having taken a Chinese Painting course in college, it all started to come together as I viewed the landscape in real life. 

Real life Hua Shan and the locks visitors bring to the moutain--sort of like a good luck/ask for a blessing/in remembrance of memorabilia

Chinese painting of Hua Mountain

These were terracotta warriors from Emperor Jing Di's tomb--not quite as big as the life-size versions Emperor Qin made for himself, but still quite impressive!  Check out the rest of the album for more pics!

April was also my travel month to SE Asia (Malaysia, Laos, and Cambodia)!  There are wayyy too many photos to go through again, but click on the links below to check out some of these amazing places!  Also, I didn't know this, but did you know Tomb Raider was shot in Angkor Wat?  

1) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2) Laos

3) Cambodia; Cambodia Part II-Angkor Wat


May: May was a crazy month for me!  It was the end of my ten months in China!  I can't believe it went by so quickly!  I spent my time wrapping up my research and of course saying goodbye to everyone :(  My good friend Roze also came to visit me from the Netherlands and we went around some parts of southern China (Kunming (where we met), Guilin, Yangshuo, Chengdu, Jiuzhaigou).  My camera was stolen during this trip (it was very upsetting!), so I will share with you (courtesy of Roze) the pictures she took.  *sigh* A moment of silence please for my fantastic camera and 16 GB SD card with soo many memories on it.

On a happier note, Carolyn, a classmate from medical school came to visit my last few days in China as well!! It was great being able to see a familiar face before heading back to the states!

Southern China with Roze
Beijing with Roze and Carolyn


Back in the USA!!  My flight back to the states was a nightmare!  After a night of karaoke, I went straight to the airport to catch my flight to Chicago.  When I landed 12 hours later, I was told my flight to DFW had been cancelled.  I was then stuck in Chicago for a 9 hour layover before they put me on a flight to NYC to get back to Dallas.  I was glad Elizabeth was free, so I was able to sneak out of the airport and grab lunch with her in Chicago before heading back to wait for my flight.  Of course I arrive in NYC and my flight to DFW was cancelled again, so they put me on a flight the next morning to Minneapolis to Dallas.  I refused to go to Minneapolis, so I got the airline to send me straight to ATL where I was supposed to end up the next day anyway through another airline.  Jetlagged and exhausted, I owe Elizabeth my life for booking a hotel room for me that night.  Though I wasn't able to get much sleep (since I was on the phone with AA trying to book a ticket to Atlanta, it was still nice to have a bed and not be in an airport!  Anyway, long story short, I had a ticket to ATL which turned out to not really be a ticket so I ended up in Dallas with my baggage in ATL.  I waited stand-by for my AirTran flight to ATL where I finally met one nice and helpful AA personnel who helped me send my luggage back to DFW where it would wait for me when I returned!  phew!!

Which brings me to my re-introduction to America trip.  Carmen was nice enough to allow me one night of undisturbed sleep in an actual bed before heading to the Appalachian Trail...  I do have the Igleheart's (Carmen's future in-laws) to thank for such amazing hospitality and teaching me how to shoot a few guns ;)  It was the TLC I needed before hitting the backcountry!  Anyway, the next time you have a hard time adjusting to time differences, just hit a 30 mile loop on the AT in 3 days and you'll get over it right quick!  Check out some of my pics below or click on this link for the full FB album: Atlanta and the AT!!

I need to find me some future in-laws like this!!

First time shooter!

good thing Smokey was not there to scold us about fire safety...

ready to hit the AT!

i'm pretty sure sexy was the word you were looking for ;)

yikes!

had to document we were on the right trail!

AT!!

first time outdoor rock climbing!!

first time...getting a john deer tramp stamp?  so i owed carmen for missing her bachelorette party and this was my punishment...

We were actually there to river bathe...that makes us clean and hygienic right?

finished up in ATL at World of Coke

and my favorite!! the ATL aquarium--absolutely amazing place to go!! 

Man, I'm tired just thinking about all the traveling I've done this past year!  It was certainly a year of growth both personally and academically.

I am now back in Fort Worth finishing up my last year in medical school!  yayy!  Nothing too exciting thus far.  I've got a few weddings coming up so I'll be in Santa Ana in three weeks and then Nashville in October.  Other than that, I'll be floating around Urology services at different places until next semester.  But don't worry, my life won't be completely work related for too long -- I just found out I'll be heading to Malawi for an international rotation in February!  Can't wait! 

Meanwhile, I promise I'll do a better job of keeping y'all updated!  Drop me a line if you're in Texas!

Back in Beijing!

Happy 2011!

I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season :)  I spent mine in Taiwan, and I can't complain.  I wish I was back there again--love love love the night markets!!  I miss all the food!  I should've been a good Asian and taken pictures of all the yummy food I ate, but alas, I was not Asian enough--just got a few shots in.  But those of you who have been, know what I'm talking about.  If my grandma's scale is right (which I hope it's not), I gained 5 kg.  Yikes!  In my opinion it's really off, but I have a hunch I gained some weight since when I came back from vacay, the first thing my co-workers said to me was, "You got fat."  Of course my reaction was, "Hello, nice to see you too.  Would you care for some Taiwanese treats I brought back for you guys before I change my mind and keep them for myself?" Sheesh--whatever happened to subtlety? 

Mango Snow-a consistency between shaved ice and fro yo :)

Wax Apples--yUmM

guavaaa

Anyway, the fireworks in Taiwan were spectacular :)  I've never seen anything like them.  Of course they were that much more amazing because it was the 100th year anniversary of the Republic of China
(not to be confused with the People's Republic of China aka China).  I, unfortunately, did not have my camera with me at the time, so you'll just have to take my word for it until I steal some from friends :) I do, however, have some pictures of family :)

With gram, gramps, mom, godmother, and god-grandparents

Mom, Uncle J, Aunt Diana, Gram and Gramps

I've also got some adorable pictures from our first visit to Tsinghua's No. 1 Hospital where we are volunteers for Magic Hospital.  Essentially it's an hour and a half where we get to play with kids who are in the Cardiac Ward with different heart diseases.  At least for me, it was a good reminder of much of the life I was living as a medical student up until now.  A very familiar and comforting feeling--weird huh?  :p  The age range (2-14) was a little bit of a surprise for Allison, who was much more responsible and had an actual lesson plan, but I think it ended up alright.  Throw in some sheets of paper, markers, and one rambunctious kid and you'll get paper airplanes flying all over and some very cute drawings :D

Rambunctious kid--attack of the airplanes!

Allison with the cutest little girl playing "fortune cookie"

Adam trying to outdo the kids in origami...

My fav little girl--just quiet and observant

A real Monet here :)

Oh yes, and the article from the BBC finally came out about the P'yongyang Project for which I was interviewed.  I am basically reminded that I should not accept interview times past 9 PM because I will most likely start throwing in a lot of fillers such as "kind of" and "like" in my speech and apparently start talking about hair because it is too close to my bedtime! 

Anyway, hope y'all are doing well!  Shoot me an email when you have time :D

1/2 way done!!

So the halfway point for my time in China is approaching, and I can't say that it's passed by quickly; it's definitely passed by in it's own timing.  There have been some ups and downs, but I think I'm where I want to be in the grand scheme of things :)

My co-workers Song Fan and Xuefeng Li (L to R)

I've been working on a paper with one of the graduate students in the office, and it is pretty near completion.  Hopefully we'll be submitting it soon for publication--fingers crossed!  I'm also starting to work on a project of my own which is nice for a change.  The dataset is from a cohort study on a population of intravenous drug users (IDUs), and I'll be looking at risk factors that are associated with the prevalence rates of HBV and HCV (Hepatitis B and C).  

I was also able to visit a site for a different project, and participate in it for a day which was very exciting!  This was part of an HPV study in a men who have sex with men (MSM) population in Beijing.  Going back to a hospital environment was strangely familiar and comforting :)  And lastly, English Corner has now turned into a time when the grad students can present their research to me via powerpoint.  It's actually quite efficient this way; they get to practice presenting their papers, and meanwhile, I get to learn about what they're working on. 

Snowboarding is also picking up--I've got 75% of an "S" down, and I've learned that I'm "goofy" which just means I go down the mountain on my right side while most people go down on their left.  I've finally got the heel to toe edge change, but the "back to heel edge" so far brings me to a complete stop or a wipeout/"stacking" as my Aussie friends call it.  (For more interesting snowboarding lingo.) The first few times they said it, I was like, "No, it was nothing like that"  I mean I thought that meant a pileup--wouldn't you?  Anyway, I'd attach a video for you guys, but I'll spare myself the embarrassment since the only video I have so far is the one from two weekends ago with my friend narrating in the background, "There's Esther.  This is real-time--not in slow-motion."  But don't you worry!  I promise, there will be a video of me completing an "S" once I get there.  I don't even care if you want to see it or not because I'll be way too proud of myself to care.  ;)

What else has been going on?  There was a Christmas Banquet two weekends ago which was a lot of fun.  It was a formal event held at the Mariott and was a bit pricey, but there was lots of yummy Western food, so I can't complain :)  (I'm glad I brought some dresses to China!)  Our table of friends were from Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the US. 

E-Shyh, Kristen, and I

Our table: Ernest, Joy, E-Shyh, Kristen, me, Luci, Isaac, Dan, King, Pat, Thom

Liting and Wangxia (two of my co-workers), Sarah, Adam, Allison

 Oh, and last Friday, Ben Wang (the Doris Duke scholar here) finally took his USMLE Step 2, so we threw him a party right after he took that 8 (or was it 9?) hour grueling test!  Congratulations Ben!  The party was full of burgers, fries, kebabs, you name it!  It was also a mix of locals and expats which just made our go-to game of "Time's Up" that much more entertaining!  (This is a game that involves 3 rounds with the same cards.  There are two teams who play against each other.  The first round is like "Catchphrase" or "Taboo" without the list of words you can't say.  In the second round, you can only use one word + gestures to get your teammates to guess what your card says.  In the third round, you can only use gestures.  The words on the card range from Britney Spears to Americo Vespucci.) 

There's Ben in the middle!

Well, I think that's a wrap for me.  I am off to Taiwan this Saturday for Christmas and the New Year!  I'll try to post once while I'm there, but no guarantees since gram and gramps don't have internet!  Happy holidays everyone!  

Mer Merr Merr Merry Christmas!  It's like a "Merry Christmas" window sign with a stutter! 

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Well, it hasn't been snowing (yet) in Beijing, but ski season at Nanshan doesn't need to wait until then to begin!  Ionel, Kristen and I couldn't wait any longer, so we decided to try out the slopes last weekend!
 

It was definitely all smiles before I hit/wiped-out on the bunny slopes multiple times for the remainder of the first half of the day.  Kristen was my makeshift instructor and I paid her by entertaining her with my falls.  I definitely have a wicked bruise on my knee to prove my glory.  There were also a few moments when I thought...keep it together tailbone, keep it together, but all in all,

aside from the soreness in my neck the next day (that probably resulted from the whiplash I endured over and over again from falling), I LOVE snowboarding!!


Below are some pictures from snowboarding.  Ionel did take a video of me going down the bunny slope without falling, but, I'm sure he wasn't holding the camera at the right angle, because it makes it look as if I were going down a flat plane as opposed to the super steep slope it felt like I was going down.  It doesn't do it justice, so you will all just have to imagine it in your heads ;)

Watch out Indonesians (sea of blue and green), I'm coming through!

Kristen in her giant man sized gloves--it was either 30 RMB for giant ones or 100 something for ones that fit.

Decoration??  Never seen this kind of ad for Mini Cooper before.  I don't really get why seeing one hanging off the side of a slope would make me want to purchase one.

Ionel and Kristen looking too cool for school in their rented shades

Looking down from the top--definitely fake snow as you can tell.  I am pretty sure there are crops growing all around us. 

Sunset at 5 PM--definitely a rare sight in Beijing--what a great day!

A promise from one overpopulated country to another

Well that's a bit of an exaggeration, but truly if I had written "A promise from one Fogarty in an overpopulated country to another Fogarty in an overpopulated country" it would've been a bit wordy--don't you think?

To get to the point, I was the luckiest girl today!  I got Roze's postcard from the Netherlands this morning, and then I got a package from Natasha who is in India this afternoon.

Roze, let's plan out our trip!!
Natasha:  be expecting some trinkets and goodies from China :)
Here's a pic of your spectacular package soon.  It was kind of hilarious because it didn't quite make it in one piece.  It was taped together with China Post stickers that read something along the lines of "This package arrived broken, China Post stuck it back together."  But anyway, send me your address Natasha, so I can be a good Asian and send you something back ;)

PS Natasha:  Are there faux pas places to stick/wear a bindi on one's face?

PPS your characters looked amazing :D  You got my Chinese name right, but you forgot the "h" in my English name :(

From Imperial Examinations to modern day Civil Servant Examinations

Starting from a few thousand years back until about the 1800s, China had a system of picking out government officials:  the Imperial examinations.  Here is an excerpt from everyone's favorite, Wikipedia:

"In late imperial China, the examination system and associated methods of recruitment to the central bureaucracy were major mechanisms by which the central government captured and held the loyalty of local-level elites. Their loyalty, in turn, ensured the integration of the Chinese state, and countered tendencies toward regional autonomy and the breakup of the centralized system.

Men waiting to take the exam back in Imperial China

The examination system also served to maintain cultural unity and consensus on basic values. The uniformity of the content of the examinations meant that the local elites and ambitious would-be members of those elites across the whole of China were taught with the same values. Even though only a small fraction (about 5 percent) of those who attempted the examinations passed them and received titles, the studying and the hope of eventual success on a subsequent examination served to sustain the interest of those who took them.

In late traditional China, education was valued in part because of its possible pay-off in the examination system. The overall result of the examination system and its associated study was cultural uniformity—identification of the educated with national rather than regional goals and values. This self-conscious national identity still underlies the nationalism that has been so important in China's politics in the 20th and 21st centuries, though it is based on different criteria."

And a little about the conditions:

Examination hall with 7500 cells, Guangdong, 1873.

"By 1370, the examinations lasted between 24 and 72 hours, and were conducted in spare, isolated examination rooms; sometimes, however, it was held within cubicles. The small rooms featured two boards which could be placed together to form a bed or placed on different levels to serve as a desk and chair. In order to obtain objectivity in evaluation, candidates were identified by number rather than name, and examination answers were recopied by a third person before being evaluated to prevent the candidate's handwriting from being recognized." (And might I add, they weren't allowed to leave to go to the bathroom--done in the room in a bedpan of sorts or even to go home between the days of examinations.) 
 
If you actually read the above excerpt, I think it actually explains more than meets the eye about the Chinese way of thinking, Chinese diaspora, and all the way down to why the "Asians are smart" stereotype still holds true today.  (As I've always said, it's not so much smart as it is/and has been about being dedicated and hard working.) 

I remember learning about this back in the days of obtaining my degree in East Asian Studies (please don't take my degree away Dr. Huss for citing Wikipedia!), and the reason I bring it up is, this past weekend served as a very important weekend for Chinese citizens who were hoping to obtain a job as a civil servant.  I remember the graduate students in my office talking about it starting a few weeks ago.  Mostly they made comments like, "Well, we know we're going to fail it, but what the hey, let's give it a shot."  The exam doesn't cost very much money to take (somewhere around 50-60 RMB or less than $10) and it's only a few hours long (compared to the 24-72 hour imperial examinations), but it can cover pretty much anything you've ever learned in life--sort of like stuff they ask on "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" to college level questions.  How are you supposed to study for something like that?  Anyway, when I asked Ben in my office, why someone would go and take this test, he replied, "For stability."  Once you get a governmental position, you pretty much have a job for life, and I guess if you're competing with literally one billion other people, that goes a long way.  An estimated 1,030,000 people took the exam over the weekend.  (I'd hate to be a grader!)  Below are some photos from a Chinese newspaper. 

A crowd waiting to take the test at one of many testing sites

flooding the lobby

cram cram cram

pooped.

Yikes!  The odds of getting a position really depend on which one you are applying for, but generally according to Ben, it's about 1:1000.  I think a celebration is in order for the lucky few.  Perhaps us (MCATers, LSATers GREers, GMATers, USMLEers, COMLEXers, etc. don't have that much to complain about?)

Thanksgiving in Beijing!

Ever since college, thanksgiving has always been a holiday away from home for me, and this year was no exception.  Thanks to the enthusiasm of expats in Beijing, I was lucky enough to participate in a Thanksgiving feast marathon!  4 true Thanksgiving style meals in 3 days--phew!  I am on a diet until Christmas ;)  

I will make a note though that Thanksgiving has come a long way in China.  I remember my first Thanksgiving in China was in 2006 when I was on the Fulbright in Shanghai.  With ovens being a rare item to come across in a Chinese kitchen (who needs one when you've got the wok?), I believe I ended up making stuffing in a rice cooker--and we had to substitute duck for a turkey.  Remember those days Nay and Marie?  haha.  Now you can order a half a turkey for 200 RMB ($30) from one of the American diners and buy yourself a decent sized toaster oven for about $30-40 to make the rest :) 

Below is a picture of me, Allison, Adam, Sarah, and Ben celebrating Thanksgiving at Lily's American Diner in Beijing.  (Thanksgiving meal #1)

Below are some pictures from Sarah's get-together at her apt (Thanksgiving meal #3):

Adam (our first time, yet very talented turkey carver) and Sarah our gracious hostess who put together a scrumptious feast!

A look at our Thanksgiving table

Adam baked a deeelicious pumpkin pie

Ben and Allison waiting for their second/third wind while snacking on candied walnuts

A mix of Europeans and Americans--and Ben our Chinese national representative

Playing a German boardgame

Now, onto Christmas dinner celebrations!  I do have to say, Christmas has become much commercialized and malls here have nearly reached the level of excessive decorations as malls in the States since the making of this song: An American's Christmas in Beijing, but this song still makes me laugh so I'm sharing it with you guys.  That being said, nowadays, if you want to get that "Christmassy feeling" just head over to your nearest high end shopping mall/area and you'll hear the Christmas tunes on repeat doing what they do best--subliminally sending you messages to spend your money :)