I am sitting in a Starbucks in Shanghai right now, in an area known as Xintiandi (although I don’t have wireless access here, surprisingly this Starbucks does not have any access, so this will inevitably be posted later). If I close my eyes, there is absolutely no way to know that I am at a Starbucks in Shanghai and not in Kansas City. I guess everyone, the world over, has need for a “third place”.
Here in the office, there is very little space and no wireless access. I have a short ethernet cord, and it is a pain to disconnect and connect to move from the office to the meeting room. So, I thought it best to work across the street at this Starbucks.
Right now, I’m putting together a user guide for conducting ethnographic interviews, although it will soon have to be translated into Mandarin. I should really learn Mandarin, it seems like it would be extremely valuable. And I wouldn’t have to rely on people to translate for me. From the looks of the hanzi script, I think it would take months of intense learning.
Tonight, I’m flying to Beijing and tomorrow we will be meeting with a professor at the design department in Tsinghua. Also, sometime I will meet up with Christine, a friend from UMMUN (U of M Model United Nations) days. I haven’t seen her in 4 years, so I’m very excited.
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