Tuesday, March 08, 2005

pictures; and the not-so-funny side of propaganda

long promised and finally arrived are pictures of our current home. a recent warm spell, possibly the beginnings of spring, prompted a frenzy of outdoor activity. without further ado:

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a boat of questionable purpose headed down one of hangzhou's many canals. this may in fact be the grand canal, which stretches all the way to beijing, making it the longest canal in the world, but i'm never positive which one it is.
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another view of the same canal from a bridge.
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west lake, the main tourist attraction of hangzhou, with the downtown skyline in the background.
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a small street near our campus.
the other day my one-on-one teacher invited me over to her apartment for dinner. i was talking with her 14-year old daughter, and somehow the topic came up about sino-japanese relations, and her daughter said that she absolutely hated the japanese. i asked why and she said of course because of the japanese invasion, war crimes, ect. of 60 years ago. her parents then asked me if how i felt about the germans (sort of not-too-pc questions like this are the norm in china), and i said that i liked them just fine, that even my parents do not think poorly of the germans, seeing as that war was a long, long time ago. oddly enough, my teacher and her husband adamently agreed with my view, but their daughter was not to be swayed. it certainly says something when the younger generation is taking steps backward in terms of understanding, but i'm not sure exactly what.
a parting shot of ridiculous english:
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