Trust the Post Office?

I found out that my dad used the Post Office to send in my visa application to the British Consulate. Yes, the visa application that contains my passport. According to the study abroad office, three students have lost their passports when the Post Office mis-routed their packages. God knows how they're handling it. My dad did request a return receipt so at least we'll know if my package gets mis-routed. I've got my fingers crossed.

Chinese Censorship

At work today, someone asked how I'll be able to survive without Google, YouTube, Facebook, or whatever else they censor in China (hopefully not this blog, right?) That's certainly one side of the argument, but you also have to note that a billion people are fine living under such conditions. Maybe they don't have the resources to fight the Chinese government if they'd like or to move to another country with the appropriate freedom, but certainly there are many content living within that system. You have to wonder why that's the case, when (I assume) Chinese citizens know that there are greater opportunities for information and freedom elsewhere. I hope to understand it better when I go to China.

You could use the analogy that the typical Chinese citizen has the access to information that Americans had before the Internet, five, ten, or fifteen years ago. Obviously we're much better now, but we were certainly fine before then. However, that analogy doesn't hold because at that time, no one had the access to information. Currently, others do while the Chinese don't. Maybe I'm overestimating the lack of information and the "option" to resist the situation. Who knows?

The idea I keep coming back to is one I learned last semester in World Cultures. For some reason, when Western scholars study China and the Far East, they tend to view them in a completely different universe, with their own context, with their own morals, with their own set of rules, that in no way can be understood using a Western context, morals, or rules. We see their culture as a polar opposite that cannot be reconciled with or viewed in the same context as our culture. However, that's wrong. There may be differences in values, belief systems, etc., but we need to view them as we would Europeans or South Americans. Differences in lifestyle for sure, but not alien ways of thinking or living. The human rights abuses, lack of environmental protection, censorship of information, etc. all sound so unendurable, but there are countries, and even states, much closer to home enduring similar issues. China isn't the only one dealing with these issues so we shouldn't view it as if it's on a separate planet.

The Premise of My Blog

I'm going to be studying abroad for the next two semesters, London during the spring and Shanghai during the fall. I've never been to Europe or Asia (minus India but that doesn't count) so I'm really really really excited (Did I mention I'm really excited?). As I travel, I'll be posting updates on my adventures, my embarrassing encounters with foreigners (America probably doesn't want me as its unfortunate representative), and the meaning of life. So stay tuned...

For now, if anyone has any recommendations for restaurants, tourist spots, or clubs anywhere in Europe or Asia, please send them my way. No Shooter McGavin recommendations to be at the 10th hole at 9 pm (because I will be that guy who travels halfway across the continent to get there lol)