Jaci: Book number two, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is complete!  And early, RIGHT BEN??

Ben: Stieg is an exciting writer–I couldn’t put it down because I kept wanting to see what happened next, so I kind of tore through it in way less than the allotted 3 weeks. Really, three weeks was a lot for this book, but I did pace myself somewhat, because I managed to stretch it to two weeks.

Jaci: I learned from my Kindle complaints during the last book–remembering that it was hard to flip back, the first thing I did was draw out the family tree from the early pages.  The notebook really came in handy.  And I found that I appreciate the anonymity the Kindle provides–when reading a book both wildly popular and gruesomely violent, I was happier not to converse about it with random strangers at the airport during my many hours waiting to board a red-eye to Maryland.

Ben: Jaci had a surprise visit home! But she discovered that my notebook was unused. My excuse is that I’m a reader, not an English major! Speaking of gruesomely violent (like when Jaci discovered the unused notebook…), towards the end of the book, I became less thrilled with the violence. Jaci mentioned that the original title was “Men who Hate Women”, and this is probably an apt description of the book, and while I’m desensitized to a lot of different kinds of violence thanks to TV, Stieg manages to properly shock you, and gives you an apprehension and disgust that takes talent to describe. The book attempts to take the edge off with humor and romance, but some sections were still tough on me.

Jaci: I didn’t make nearly as many notes for this book as I did for the last.  But I did use it as a meditation on translation.  The book isn’t exactly what most people would call “literary,” but I am a professed reading snob (and read like one–can’t help it), and it’s hard to know who to blame for, say, more than one cruise missile metaphor in a single chapter.  (Because someone must be blamed, sayeth the word nerd!)  And I also tended to wonder about cultural references.  The translator seems to have done a good job keeping the book as firmly grounded in Sweden as possible, and yet, at times I ask–when a reference to the Addams Family appears, is it because the Addams Family is culturally significant in Sweden or because the translator translated a cultural reference?  Considering my entire knowledge of Sweden is based on this book (which made Swedish prison sound like a writers’ colony retreat), a photograph of a farmstead at the local Noodles & Company (looks a lot like North Dakota), and some gifts Ben brought me after his Adobe Air Tour trip (tasty jam!  tiny painted horses!) I can honestly say I may be not just a bad but the worst person to judge.

Ben: I have actually been to Sweden! So I was amused at many references; in fact, I would argue that the translation was better than normal, simply because of the things that remained untranslated. For instance, holiday names were all untranslated, and the translator felt no burden with assisting English speakers with place names and Swedish proper names. It almost assumed a familiarity with Sweden that was very enjoyable, and also gave non-Swedish readers an education about Sweden without being overly pretentious about it. Jaci’s right, though, it is no literary masterpiece, but it is a good, quick, entertaining read. Jaci prefers to come out of a book being a better person for having read the book–which I suppose is a good thing. However, I like to be entertained by books more than anything else.

Jaci: I would classify this book as amusing, and I can understand why it was popular.  The real question: will we be reading the entire Millennium series?

Ben: Well, I’m interested and not interested in the rest of the Millennium series; interested because I want to find out more about the main character who is a hacker. She didn’t seem to be developed as well as she could have been in the first book, even though she was the girl with the dragon tattoo. Uninterested, because I don’t really want to put myself through the discomfort of reading descriptions of sexual violence.

Jaci: Next up: Ben’s most dreaded book on the list, Dead Souls by Gogol.  Lucky for him it is short (and we’ll actually be together when we’re reading it due to some scheduling vagaries that worked out in our favor).  It will be interesting to read another translated work, especially since the translation I chose wasn’t really a choice at all–only the Hogarth translation was available for Kindle at the time I put the list together.  Russian absurdist literature?  Given Ben’s affinity for French existential literature, I think he may enjoy it more than he expects.

A table set for tea

As a family (and with a few select friends) we recently celebrated the many good things in our lives with an afternoon tea.

It was a smashing success.

The table was set with a white tablecloth, pale yellow napkins, and delicate tea things (including china cups from Britain, blush roses, and a two-tier plate of petite palmier and hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries).  Ben, with the assistance of many sous chefs, produced three kinds of cucumber sandwiches–mint, vinegar, and salmon mousse–as well as delightful scones and the aforementioned strawberries.  Two kinds of caviar were served.  We even indulged in two varieties of English tea and great quantities of sparkling wine.

With an all-star guest list featuring Randy and Lily, the recently returned Devi and Bethany, Lindsay, Ben, and friends Lala (a recent transplant from Seattle to Baltimore) and Adam (in D.C. for the summer before his return to New Haven), conversation was spirited.  The background music was a mix of classical, instrumental, French and eastern European, along with a few select poems.

I’ll leave it to Ben to post his favourite recipes of the day, which truly elevated the occasion–as I had planned merely to slather some cream cheese on rye with a slab of cucumber and call it elegant (which would of fooled none).  I will however leave you with a few photos of the grand affair, and highly encourage you to try such a party for yourself!  Bow ties not required…but encouraged.

The other strategy is managing your time. When to eat, when to use the bathroom, when to read, when to sleep. As using the bathroom was such an ordeal (since you had to fight your way through the crowds with standing only tickets blocking the aisle), I drank water on a timetable so I would only have to get up to use the bathroom a maximum of five times. Sleep of course was impossible, so instead I had to doze or meditate. I had two iPods with me, one borrowed from a friend, so I could tune everything out for the entire train ride without worrying about battery life. My strategy for staying sane was to go into a zenlike trance, keeping my head down and my earpods in to keep the sight and sound of the craziness around me at bay. My boss at the Consulate, upon hearing of my insane train ride, had also given me a gift of minty oil that was supposed to be used for alleviating headaches, but worked like a charm for masking the smell of unwashed masses. I applied it to my wrists and temples about ten times during the ride, and it worked for the most part to help me forget that the train car I was in was just a few degrees better than a chattel car. I made it through the night, which I rightfully reckoned would be the hardest part, and spent the next day reading my kindle. Andy called a few times and told me with surprise that I sounded chipper. I probably was just spaced out. In the last few hours of the train ride, I felt that I could re-engage with the world, and took my earpods out to walk up and down the aisle (as best as I could) and converse with people. I got up, and tried to wake up my sleeping feet. I looked down at my ankles and nearly screamed in horror. My feet and ankles had swollen to nearly three times their regular size! If you had seen just my feet, you might have thought I was a three hundred pound woman. I had some serious cankles. Really freaked out, I called Andy, who did an Internet search and told me it was a symptom of dehydration, and that I should drink more water and do some ankle exercises. I did, but they didn’t return to normal for another day. But, in the end I survived the 32 hour train ride with my sanity and most of my body parts intact!

Six hours later I picked up Andy’s dad and his dad’s girlfriend from the airport, and 12 hours and 130 km later I exhaustedly but happily wrapped my arms around Andy in a small town called Gonghe, from whence we would start our bike adventure the next day!

(And in case you were wondering, I went ahead and spent two thousand kuai on a flight back to Shanghai, there is no way that I would ever, ever, ever, do that train ride again! You only need so much character-building exercises in your life)

August 6 was the last day of my internship, which I greeted happily, not because I didn’t like my experience, but because I was pleased at completing a fun and meaningful internship and anxious to go on to do other fun and meaningful things, such as go see Andy in Qinghai, and following that go back to DC to see friends and family and start my last year of grad school.

Aside from my three weeks motorcycling around Yunan in May, I had only seen Andy one other time this summer, when he came to surprise me in Shanghai at the end of June. He was there only for the weekend, and had to return to biking immediately. I wanted to visit him in Chengdu later in July, but money, time, and work commitments precluded that possibility. Thus the last chance I’d have to see Andy before his return to the states in October would be to visit him on the Tibetan plateau after I finished my internship.

That in itself was fine with me. In addition to wanting to see Andy, I was excited about going to Qinghai, a place I had never been but which I have heard is very beautiful this time of year.  Andy’s pictures on his website certainly corroborate this fact, and I was more than happy at the prospect of experiencing a new place first hand. However, as Andy and I began planning my visit, several factors filled me with trepidation, and for about two seconds I contemplated calling Andy with tearful apologies telling him I was not going to go visit him in Qinghai and that I  would see him back in the States in three months time.

What was so awful that I would forgo visiting my boyfriend, who I’ve seen for a grand total of 20 some days this entire year?
The first cause for concern was getting to Qinghai. After looking at flight prices, I decided that if I wanted to be able to pay rent when I got back home, I’d have to take the train, which would be a 32 hour ordeal one way. Not ideal, but certainly not horrible as Andy and I had frequently taken a 24 hour train to see each other when I lived in Shenzhen and he lived in Beijing. But there was yet another catch. Buying train tickets in China is notoriously difficult, and with the Shanghai Expo going on, train tickets to and out of Shanghai is even more difficult than normal. You can only purchase tickets ten days in advance and they can get sold out in a matter of minutes. I recruited the consulate’s inhouse travel service to help me purchase a sleeper ticket (hard sleeper or soft sleeper, it didn’t matter, as long as I had a bed!). However, she failed me miserably. Long story short, the only train ticket available was a hard seat ticket. I know that won’t mean anything to most of my readers, but a hard seat ticket on a Chinese train is the kiss of death. You are basically on a hard bench sitting at a 90 degree angle, in an overcrowded car with little to no ventilation and one bathroom for fifty people, most of whom are hygenically challenged. Worse, the train company also sells standing tickets, so you can’t even navigate the aisles to get to the bathroom without a concerted effort due to the masses of people standing in the aisles, and when you get back someone is inevitably sitting in your seat and you have to shoo them out. All in all, a hard seat is an instument of torture. Especially when the train ride is 32 hours long. But it was the only option I had to see Andy.

But that wasn’t the only cause for concern. As Andy only has a month left to get back to Beijing before his visa expires, it wasn’t possible for him to take off a few days of riding to spend time with me. The only solution? I would have to ride with them. I could not afford to buy another motorcycle and ditch it at the end like I had done in Yunan, so this time I would actually be using my own legs to pedal with them on a borrowed fold-up bicycle, like the kind I have in DC. Here lay the other cause for concern. How would my out-of-shape body on a crappy small bicycle be able to keep up with two boys on professional touring bikes who have been biking around china for eleven months? Granted, Andy’s dad and his dad’s girlfriend would be joining at the same time (We arranged it so that I would pick them up from the Xining airport they day I arrived, and we would travel together to the small town Andy was in the next day) and they would also have some disadvantages when it came to biking (jet lag, unaccustomed to the food, altitude issues), but I still felt massively under-prepared and that I would be the weakest link slowing everyone down.

Yet there was more cause for concern:  Qinghai is a big province, and there are vast stretches where there are no people, no places to eat, and no places to stay. Therefore, camping is a necesity, and I would have to be prepared to camp regularly without bathing for days, without regular hot meals, and this on top of being tired and sweaty from biking all day.

It gets worse. We’d be camping in the cold, possibly in close to freezing temperatures. On the Tibetan plateau it is comfortably cool in the day time, miserably cold at night. Worse for me since I can’t stand the cold, probably due to my subtropical blood. I also have no fondness for camping unless s’mores and bonfires are involved, and I detest being unclean… This whole trip was not shaping up to be my cup of tea.

But it doesn’t stop there! Several days before departing Andy’s mom sent me a very concerned email asking if I would be able to find dog whistles ( the kind that repels dogs not attracts them) in Shanghai, saying she was concerned about Andy’s blog post describing the dangers of wild dogs. I hadn’t read the blog in question and thought she was overeacting as mothers are wont to do, and replied that I would look, but was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find any in stores. I then read Andy’s blog describing how they had been attacked by mastiffs and had to carry large sticks on their person to defend themselves from dog attacks while they were biking. On top of the 32 hour train ride, the camping, the uncleanliness, the cold, and the exhaustion, I now had to worry about being mauled by ferocious dogs, worse ferocious rabid dogs. Rabies treatment requires a ton of shots, and I hate needles! So I went to work that day, petitioning two of my coworkers to search Taobao, the Chinese eBay, for ultra sonic dog repellants and use their account to buy me two. Luckily, Taobao had it (there is a saying that if you can’t find what you want on Taobao, it doesn’t exist) and they were delivered the day before I was scheduled to leave.

As you can imagine, the whole trip sounded daunting, uncomfortable, dangerous, and unfun. However, I knew in my heart that I just simply could NOT see Andy, so I had no choice but to go on this crazy adventure. I also know that I am a woman of substance that can withstand anything, and that the trip would only be as bad as I made it, or as good as I made it. So I decided to go for the good.  With lots of goodluck wishes, a giant folding bike in one arm, a backpack of cold weather camping gear, and a bag full of food and water, I made my way onto the train to begin my Qinghai biking adventure.

My QR Code- Scan It and See!

QR (Quick Response) Codes are a two-dimensional matrix barcode format that were first developed by the Japanese Corporation Denso-Wave for manufacturing. However, because of the speed of reading these types of codes by convential devices, especially cameras, they have come into widespread use in Japan as a way to quickly exchange information. Thanks to the growing popularity of the iPhone and Android phones in the U.S. they are becoming more widespread for use in the west as well!

There are a number of apps both in iTunes and in the Android market that enable the camera to read barcodes. What you may not know is that QR codes are a quickly developing mobile standard that are specifically being taken over for use by mobile smart phones. I know some of my family have already begun using mobile boarding passes for air travel, which incorporate QR Codes. Additionally you can pass contact information, URLs, calendar information, even secure WiFi network access with a QR Code! QR Code reading is even built into many Android devices, allowing for instant browser redirection, instantly calling or emailing a contact, or instantly connecting to a wireless network!

Today, I discovered QR codes, and when I realized their scope, I was astounded. Put a QR Code on business cards so people can import your contact info directly? Absolutely! Get some stickers with your wireless access info and place them on routers? What a great way to securely ensure that everyone can easily get your wireless details without having to look for a post-it somewhere! How about in the real world? Well, this is already being used for coupons, virtual augmentation in magazines, even on outdoor advertisements and store fronts! All you need is a camera and some software to read these things!

Imagine a game that used these codes in real life. Talk about a really great scavenger hunt! Just encode position location information into the QR codes, and when people scan it they can find the next way point. Otherwise they can “collect” goods in a larger role playing game. Because these codes can be read off of screens, they can be generated by computers on the go, no need for stickers!

I just discovered that I can in fact share any contact or calendar information on my phone with my Barcode Scanner app because it will automatically generate a QR code for me. If you do want stickers, though- Moo will make a pack of 90 for you for only $9.99. What an awesome thing!

Looking for my contact information? Find it here: http://bengfort.com/scan/

Want to generate your own QR Codes? Go here: http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/

Want to print some stickers? Use Moo: http://uk.moo.com/en/products/stickers.php

Android App: use Barcode Scanner by Zxing http://code.google.com/p/zxing/wiki/GetTheReader

iPhone App: use Barcodes by Zxing http://itunes.apple.com/app/barcodes/id292197557?mt=8

The Lazarus Project (Cover)

Jaci: As the first of the thirteen books on the bookclub list gathers up its threads and ties them in tidy bows, I find myself very satisfied with both the novel and the bookclub’s success so far. The best part about it is that Ben and I have things to talk about that aren’t his thesis or my work, each of which take up such a large portion of the hours of our many days spent apart.

Ben: Jaci mentioned to me that there is actual science behind the book club–psychology says that couples that share mental space like this can span long distance relationships and become closer. It was a bit of a surprise, how important this was to me; instead of feeling helpless or separated, I can go grab the book of the week and keep my sanity. It’s more than just something extra to talk about, it’s a replacement for all the little things a person has to do on a daily basis to maintain a relationship.

Jaci: In order to fully occupy the psychic space we’ve set aside for each other, I find myself reading more deeply than I have since I left behind the fortress of academia for my floating fortress. The Lazarus Project was a good choice for book one–both literary and very readable (it’s one of the few on the list we chose without much debate or any sort of trade-off, which was why I placed it where I did).

Ben: It’s also helped my personal discipline! I’m not exactly a morning person, and with my busy days, I find it hard to get up before 6:15, which is the latest I can get up to do my morning routine and get to work by 8. Reading every morning gives me a reason to get up at 5, have some coffee, and get my day off on the right foot. The Lazarus Project was a good start because it’s not putting me to sleep when I’m reading so early and half awake! (Thank goodness we didn’t start with Gogol…)

Jaci: In some ways, it’s as though we are together, in 1908 Chicago or in eastern Europe circa today, or at least in Aleksandar Hemon’s versions of these places. This means, of course, that over the next several months we’ll be traveling to some very strange lands together, including (if memory serves) a few brief trips to Mars towards the end of the journey.

Ben: I’m really feeling connected to Brik (the main character). He has me in stitches, and he constantly says out loud what I’m thinking. His perspective on his marriage with an American, white, Catholic neurosurgeon really reminds me of the things I’m thinking in my own marriage. I wonder if the married life commentary has the same resonance with Jaci. Knowing that we’re reading the same things and at least getting the same input makes me read the book in a whole new way. I’m even embarrassed about the time in brothels because it’s weird to be there with your wife!

Jaci: I also like looking at the notebook I decorated for a few minutes before and after I start reading. The first few pages are already filled with notes, questions, observations. To be frank, however, I live in a paranoic haze, worried that my Kindle will somehow be broken in my semi-rough living conditions.

Ben: Ah, Jaci is going to get a little English teacher resistance from me here. Jaci isn’t in a place where she is reading and taking notes every day… but I am. I’ve been reading for enjoyment rather than taking notes or making observations. I feel like Jaci is going to make me pay eventually when she starts bringing up specifics, but I have a hard copy, so I can always flip through the book, whereas Jaci can’t with the Kindle!

Jaci: Ah, the Kindle. I love the dictionary feature, but I miss being able to flip back and review previously read pages with ease! Especially in a book like this, a book which is constructed as an echo chamber with two stories interlacing in subtle but significant ways, it would be nice to flip back to the third page of the second chapter where I remember seeing something (instead of finding location ####, which I will not remember when I get to it’s twin in a later passage). But it’s compact, it’s simple, and it’s working. Like the bookclub.

Ben: It’s kind of sad that Jaci has better electronics kit than I do, especially in a place without too much network connections. Meanwhile I’m back in the seventeenth century with mine! Someone get me an iPad!

That being the case, my first weekend there felt like a vacation. I completely forgot that I was in China, which was easy to do considering  the weather this week has also been abnormally spectacular: blue skies, puffy clouds, sunny, balmy…not your usual China fare.

My living in luxury weekend began Friday night. It was my new friend Michelle’s 25th birthday (my good friend Pete’s roommate), and she had an extravagant night planned. (Her father owns the biggest modeling agency in China. Needless to say, she is a very well-connected person when it comes to hotels, bars, clubs, fashion boutiques, and basically any high-end fashionable place). We first had dinner in a private room at the Tang Dynasty, a very fancy Hunanese restaurant in the Mirae Asset Building. The Westerners were outnumbered by the Chinese, so we were at their mercy when it came to ordering. Aside from a dish of pig tongue, all the dishes proved to be delectable. After that, we went across the street to another Ritz Carlton and headed up to the 58th floor to Flair Bar, which is touted as Shanghai’s highest outdoor restaurant and bar. Whether or not that is still true (there are certainly much higher buildings these days), the view is still undeniably spectacular. Overlooking the Huangpu River, the vantage point from our outdoor VIP seats (thanks to Michelle’s connections) offered us a breathtaking view of the Bund and iconic Pearl Tower. The air that night was crystal clear, a rare occurence in Shanghai, and the amount of detail and distance you could see was frankly a little trippy when you are used to having your vision obscured with a veil of haze. I felt like Plato’s caveman, emerging from the darkness of a fictitious reality to see the true form of reality in the light of day. Okay, maybe I’m being a bit too dramatic, but clean air is something that I’ve come to value more than any material object, and it can have such a dramatic impact on my mood and state of mind. But, back to the night itself, we had a wonderful time on the rooftop enjoying the view and drinking Moet (like I said, it was a luxurious night).

The next day was even better. Still balmy, sunny and blue, I invited Pete and another friend over to enjoy the sunshine by my new rooftop pool. We spent exactly 6 hours chilling by the pool, drinking mojitos, and swimming. Pete and I also enjoyed a cigar each, and then afterward had a Western dinner at Element Fresh. I confessed to Pete that I felt a little guilty having such an idle, conspicuous consumption day, and he said that most people work really hard all their lives to be able to have a life like this, and then either do not have the time or are too old to actually enjoy the fruits of their labours. Bottom line, he said, is to enjoy the good things in life when you actually have the chance to enjoy them. Guilt or not, it was a really fun time.

Sunday also proved to be above average. I met up with a friend and we went to the clothing market to have some clothese made. I wanted to fix a pair of pants and have a cashmere blend winter coat made (I haven’t had a new winter coat in a while, figured it would be cheaper to get one here). So we spent a couple hours there picking out fabrics and designs, and afterward went out for a very hygenically questionable Chinese lunch (It was a hole-in-the-wall place, and we half-expected to be incapacitated in a few hours, luckily that was not the case). We then headed back over to the Bund to a restaurant/bar called M on the Bund for an afternoon classical music concert. Every last Sunday of the month, M on the Bund hosts a music lovers performance. Tickets for students are only 10 kuai, so we couldn’t afford NOT to miss it. The programme consisted of two Haydn! opuses (Op. 77, “Lobkowitz” and Op. 76, “Fifths”), and was performed by a string quarter from the Shanghai Chamber Music. It was beautiful. I forgot how much I love classical music! After that, my friend and I decided to go back to the Portman pool. It was already evening, so we thought the hot tub jacuzzi would be a better place to hang out. Oddly enough, the Jacuzzi is not outdoors near the pool, but inside the ladies locker room, in a room next to the saunas. As we were both female, it didnt matter, but if you were ever trying to have a co-ed jacuzzi party, that wouldn’t work out too well. We ended up spending close to three hours hanging in the jacuzzi (and out, and partly in, when it got too hot), just chatting. We had the place mostly to ourselves (occasionally someone would walk in to use the sauna, unfortunately ruining our view by walking around butt-naked, as Chinese women are wont to do in a public locker room), but all in all, it felt like our own private jacuzzi.

In the words of many a rap artist, we were balling!

I don’t think I really understood what a monumental task it was when it was first assigned to me, and the details of my responsibilities would probably bore readers. To sum up, I was in charge of first designing the invitations (not just the concert invitations, but the other two July 2 events as well), designing the wording, creating the maps to go on the invitations, working with a graphics design vendor to get the invitations made and printed, distributing the invitations to different sections, collecting RSVP name lists from the various sections, monitoring and tracking the ever changing RSVP lists submitted by the different sections, organizing a ticket will-call, and answering the same questions over and over again about sections wanting more tickets. An 1800-person name list is a very difficult thing to manage. But, I did it, and the concert was great! We had a full house, Harry Connick Jr. -who I have to admit I did not know who he was at first- gave an excellent performance, even though I felt that Miss USA could have been more prepared and less cheesy in her MCing duties.

Harry Connick, Jr.

The opera concert the next day, featuring the magnificently diva-liscious Angela Brown, was also a fantastic event, and much less stressful for me. I basically only had two things to do in the weeks before, create a save the date attachment to be sent out in an email blast, and design the program (which I am very proud of). I was relieved of pick up duty on the day of the concert, so I thought that I would have no duties except to be present and on-call. Well, two hours before I was supposed to arrive at the venue, I get a call from my boss saying that we had no one to introduce Angela, and he asked  if I would mind giving a 1-2 minute bi-lingual introduction. I say no problem, and get to work drafting an introduction in Chinese and English. The rest of the afternoon I spent sitting in the the theater rehearsing my lines, and doing odd jobs. Nothing stressful, I am prepared. Finally, the moment of truth arrives, and I mount the stage to give my introduction. I begin my welcome enthusiastically, and dive into my well-prepared speech for a full 20 seconds before someone yells “We can’t hear you!” The microphone was on, but malfunctioning, and was not picking up my voice. Whoops! After banging the microphone a few times, it begins to work, and I complete my introduction, a little chagrined that the first half got lost due to malfunctioning tech. It happens. I then get to sit down and enjoy the show with no further duties. It is nice not to have responsibility!

Soprano Angela Brown

The next day, I finally get the day off. I have plans to go to a BBQ at a friend’s house. I decided that my contribution to actual Fourth of July will be to make apple pie from scratch. I end up making 3 apple pies. They were delicious. We ate them with ice cream, and even I had to pat myself on the back, especially considering the fact that I had rolled out my home-made pie crust with a water bottle (gotta make do with what you have!).

All in all, Fourth of July (or National Day weekend as I should say), was busy, but fun. And to top it off, since I worked extra over the weekend, I get comp time, which I am currently enjoying with a 3.5 day weekend as I write this! Good life.

We on the other hand, are very important, very connected government officials that are so very very important (did I mention how important we are?), and therefore were lucky enough (I mean were absolutely entitled to) skip the lines and go through the VIP entrance, often with our own private guide to explain the pavilion and show us around. There is a reciprocity agreement among employees of the different pavilions that those with work passes immediately get to skip the lines. Great for us, but something that really should not be abused, given the long lines most people must endure.

In any case, as our visit was work related, and not for our own private amusement, so I felt a little better about having an unfair entry advantage, and was even more pleased to be a VIP when we got free cake and wine at the German pavilion.

Germany was our first pavilion, and we were wowed by the interactive nature of all the displays. Rather than bore you with details, I’ll include links to pavilion reviews. ( Germany: http://www.expo2010-germany.com/en/fun/german-pavilion/about-balancity/) The Chinese loved the opportunity to take photos with various backgrounds at the Germany Pavilion, something that I think Japan failed miserably with its no photo rule (which everyone ignored anyway). I was disappointed with Japan, as I think they left out so much (where was the gaming, the nintendo, the geishas, the anime?), and their robots didn’t dance. (Japan: http://www.expo-japan.jp/en/exhibition/) The two robots on display included a nanny-bot that just waved, and another that came out for two minutes to play the violin, and then left the stage. I really wanted to see some dancing bots a la Beck’s music video. Also, their live performance was really strange. They claimed it was a traditional Noh performance (with a sequencein the beginning of them rolling around on stage in their futuristic personal cars, which was cool), but actually, it was kunqu, traditional Chinese opera! It wasn’t Japanese at all, as they were even singing in Chinese! All a bit disappointing. South Korea had a very cute video/live performance that was studded with famous Korean popstars and actors, which made more than a few Chinese girls squeal in delight. It was very cutesy, but memorable (Korea: http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_gj_tpl_33.htm)  Saudi Arabia had the most stunning design of all. Shaped like a large boat with an oasis on top, Saudi Arabia boasts the largest IMAX presentation in the world. Visitors are guided in and step onto a moving platform, where they stand in place for the next twenty minutes as the moving walkway bridge  takes them through the 360 degree IMAX presentation which makes you feel like you have an omniscient view as you soar through a desert, over a crowded market, over an oil field, etc, all while you listen to ethereal music. (Saudi Arabia: http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_gj_tpl_35.htm) It was very cool for the first ten minutes, and then you realize that you are just standing in place, and just watching a random video with random scenes to

random music. You don’t actually get any real understanding of Saudi Arabia, and the IMAX presentation is ALL there is, nothing else. In all, a bit disappointing, especially when your expectations were set so high.

But, these are just my criticisms. As a foreigner who actually has gotten to travel, the displays don’t do much for me. But for the average Chinese, these pavilions are a stunning eye-opener at what the rest of the world has to offer.