Thursday, June 26, 2008

One Month in China

Now that one month has past, it has really sunk in that I'm actually in China. I'm feeling comfortable with my living arrangements, using public transportation, working in lab and even ordering food. The last month has been action-packed to say the least. The first two weeks were "power touring" as Professor Coppola described. What this entailed was seeing some of the amazing sites that Beijing has to offer (Forbidden City, Houhai, Lama Temple, Great Wall...), going to stunning performances including Peking Opera and The Chinese Acrobatics Troupe, attending both language and culture courses, and even a trip to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Soldiers and eat some dumplings--the local specialty. Over-all, I have had the trip of a lifetime and cannot believe how much I have done thus far. In those first two weeks, my favorite events were probably going to the Laoshe Tea House and attending a traditional Chinese performance and the Xi'an trip. The tea house stuck out because it did really do a good job of sampling different types of performance by including acrobatics, music, dance, and a little bit of Peking Opera (really a unique experience). The trip to Xi'an was an adventure. We went to see the soldiers, a water show, the intact city wall, had a filling dumpling dinner accompanied by a mesmerizing performance and even saw a mosque!


Moving past the first two weeks, I began to work in the lab group of Professor Wu Kai. The best part of this experience has been interacting with the students. Just speaking with me has helped me to slowly improve my Chinese, pick up some slang, learn about their culture and really get a more complete idea of what life is like in China. This interaction could never really happen in the United States. And through it, I've made some friends that I hope to keep for a long time. I have began to work in both parts of the lab--nanomaterials fabrication and self-assembly of monolayers. The lab focuses on surface science and as a result I have been learning different characterization tools (STM, SEM, XRD, and more to come!) which should help me greatly with research in the future. While working hard, the lab has still been incredibly welcoming. The are willing to explain things even though using English to explain complicated concepts is tough; and they have taken me to play pool and basketball with them as well to karaoke. So far, the start of this trip has been everything that I expected and more. I'm excited for the rest of the summer!

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