There were times during the nine months I spent studying in China for my senior year of high school that made me feel I had made a grave mistake in leaving home. Although living in China initially seemed like a dream come true for someone deeply interested in Chinese history and culture like me, the incessant staring and gawking by Chinese people at my 6’ 8” frame made me feel insecure and unwelcome. This insecurity was exacerbated by my unsympathetic AP calculus teacher who, when I came to seek his help one day, yelled: “I am not going to help you anymore because you are not going to understand it!” This day was the lowest of many low points during my time in China. I returned to the US at the end of my senior year with the conviction that my future no longer involved Asia. This was a shame because I had gone to China with the idea that I would pursue a career as a US Foreign Service officer in Asia, and maybe one day become the US ambassador to China. I therefore entered GWU in the fall of 2009 at a loss about what to study and what career path to pursue. The disaster of my China experience also made me hesitate to even think about studying abroad again. During my sophomore year of college, I managed to get a part-time job at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies largely because of my background in Asia. Initially, I did not expect to get much out of this job besides needed cash. At the time, I never would have imagined that I would end up working at the Sigur Center for more than two years, or that my passion for Asia would be revived through it. Supportive Asian studies faculty such as Professor McCord encouraged me to not waste my hard-earned Chinese language skills and to deepen my understanding of China and Asia through courses offered at GWU. As I began to take these courses during my junior year, I realized that my passion was for the international politics of Asia, and that I had to follow my heart in choosing my career in this field despite the fact that I was apprehensive it could force me to live in Asia again. From my work at the Sigur Center, I learned that Sigur Center fellowships were available for GWU students wanting to study Chinese in Taiwan over the summer. Although the Center’s Taiwanese visiting scholars reassured me that Taiwan was a very welcoming place where a tall, yet low-profile American like me could fit in somewhat more inconspicuously than in China, I still vacillated about applying. However, as my interest in Taiwan picked up steam through research papers on Taiwanese politics and cross-Strait relations in Professor Robert Sutter’s US-Asia relations course, I convinced myself that I could at least handle living in Taiwan for six weeks over the summer.I went to Taiwan this past summer and absolutely loved it. This positive experience not only shattered my fear of living in Asia again, it has also motivated me to become a “Taiwan hand” for the US government in the future. As my college years come to close, I realize that I have much to thank the Sigur Center for: a job, a language fellowship to Taiwan, and a vision for my future career. I cannot thank the Sigur Center’s faculty members and staff for an amazing undergraduate experience!

By: Kyle Churchman

Pictures: Emi with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos

Name: Emi Lea Kamemoto

Grade: Senior, Class of 2013

Major: International Affairs Major with a Concentration in International Development and International Politics

Minor: Sociocultural Anthropology

Summer Internship: The TOMODACHI Initiative (www.usjapantomodachi.com) - a public-private partnership that seeks to create a TOMODACHI (tomodachi means friend in Japanese) Generation amongst youth in Japan and the United States by promoting the pillars of leadership, friendship, and hope through educational and cultural exchanges in the U.S. and Japan.

Where in Asia: United States Embassy of Tokyo, Japan

What did you do this summer (2012)?

I essentially worked my dream job this summer with the TOMODACHI Initiative. I was given the opportunity to help coordinate youth dialogue among Japanese and American students to discuss ways to strengthen US-Japan relations at the people-to-people level. I spoke with students from the Tohoku region, which was hardest hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and prepared the first members of our TOMODACHI Generation embark on their exchange program to UC Berkeley. I utilized my English and Japanese language abilities, as well as my public speaking skills, to assist the amazing young people in Japan and the United States who are dedicated to building a better future.

How did you get the position?

I became involved in the Japanese community in D.C. right from the start by joining GWU’s Japanese American Student Alliance (JASA). Through JASA, I was introduced to all of the wonderful Japan-related organizations, including the U.S.-Japan Council, which I was particularly drawn to because of its focus on fostering people-to-people connections. Right before 2012 summer, I met with two of my acquaintances (and now friends!) from the U.S.-Japan Council for coffee, and it just so happened that the Executive Director of the TOMODACHI Initiative, Laura Abbot, was in the DC office. After rushing home to change out of my flip-flops, I met Abbot-san and spoke with her about how much I love the TOMODACHI Initiative, and a suggestion to volunteer quickly changed into an offer for a full time internship!

What did you learn from this experience, and why was it meaningful?

I think I learned that a small group of people with the right support can truly make a huge difference. The TOMODACHI Team (as we call ourselves) is no more than 5 full time employees yet this summer alone TOMODACHI sent over 500 students from Tohoku to the US on these cultural exchanges that ranged from leadership workshops, city planning and reconstruction seminars, to baseball exchanges. This team, with the help of the US Embassy in Tokyo, the U.S.-Japan Council, private companies and NGO’s has made an unquantifiable impact on these young people from Tohoku. 

What is it like to work in Japan?

Japan is HOT in the summer! I also completely forgot about the month long rainy season so if you are in East Asia over the summer, pack an umbrella, poncho, and boots! Learning polite/formal Japanese was a must, as I ran around downtown Tokyo to big offices like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Google to obtain documents, and every person in Tokyo carries a small towel or handkerchief, so I encourage everyone to buy one immediately upon landing in Japan!

What did you do on your free time?

I spent a great deal of time with my family in Tokyo and in Miyazaki Prefecture. A relaxing cup of delicious green tea and practicing calligraphy with my grandparents was a welcomed change of pace. Also, I was able to enjoy awesome yakiniku (Japanese bbq) and day trips to Kamakura, Enoshima, and Hakone with university students I met through my internship.

What was a memorable moment in your internship?

Preparing a speech to give in front of Secretary Hillary Clinton.

Secretary Clinton wanted to meet with Japanese and American students while she visited Tokyo, so I was asked to prepare some remarks about our TOMODACHI Generation. I spent time with Mark Davidson-san, the Minister of Public Affairs at the US Embassy, to go over my speech, and he particularly liked my metaphor comparing the rush hour Tokyo trains to the closeness I hope Japanese and Americans can achieve.  Unfortunately, a change in schedule prevented me from giving my speech directly to Secretary Clinton, but I was still able to share my thoughts with Ambassador John Roos, and my great aunt all the way in Kyushu was able to see my face on television!

Did what you study in GW help?

If it weren’t for my involvement in JASA and my sorority, Kappa Phi Lambda, I don’t think I would have been prepared to handle the level of responsibility I was given. I was in contact with top-level business leaders and had to manage different projects all at the same time. Having worked as president of JASA during the aftermath of March 11^th, I felt prepared for the workload, and Kappa Phi Lambda has taught me everything I know about time management and making lasting relationships. Professor Mochizuki’s International Affairs of East Asia class was also a saving grace as I met many of the key players in the current events we spoke of!

Any last words?

Please support the TOMODACHI Initiative and feel free to contact me about information regarding involvement in the Japanese community in DC or in TOMODACHI.

For this fall semester, Emi will be attending Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan. 

Sarah Tynen

Sarah Tynen graduated from The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs in 2011. During her time at GW, she served as the Vice President of the Organization of Asian Studies at the Sigur Center and contributed to the Asiaon E Street blog (link). As a 2011-2012 Fulbright research grantee to China, she studied sociology at Nanjing University and conducted an ethnography on urban demolition, socio-economic spatial divisions, and place-based identification in a neighborhood of the old city. During her year in China, she kept a blog at sbtynen.blogspot.com. She is now a first-year graduate student studying geography at University of Coloradoin Boulder. Her specialization within the sub-field of human geography is political and cultural geography, focusing on demolition and displacement, economic development, ethnic minorities, and borderland regions in China. She was recently published in The China Beat(link) and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (link).

 A Letter From Nanjing: The Chinese Version of the Immigrant “Problem”

“Migrant workers from the countryside have a different way of thinking and it’s not okay. I can’t accept it. They are not very educated, nor are they cultured. They are backward and uncivilized,” explained Uncle Cao, the pot-bellied, chain-smoking, spiky-haired owner of my favorite noodle restaurant in the old city of Nanjing. He shrugged and threw up his hands. “Meibanfa,” he sighed, shaking his head. Meibanfa is a frequently used Chinese phrase that means there is nothing I can do about it.

My face tingled as I slurped my steaming bowl of knife-shaven noodles with beef. His 7-year-old daughter shyly peered out from behind the kitchen door and retreated instantly when we made eye contact. She was curious to catch a glance at the first foreigner that had ever eaten at her father’s restaurant. Uncle Cao added, “I’m not willing to be friends with peasants because you simply can’t be friends with someone who is on a different level economically with you. It’s not balanced. It’s like the old Chinese proverb: ‘Things of one kind come together, and people of one group crowd together’ (wu yi leiju, ren yi qunfen).” He coughed and spit on the ground, blowing smoke in my face.

Social stratification in Chinais growing. Uncle Cao considers himself to be on a level above the migrant workers as a native to the city of Nanjing, a provincial capital with a population of 8 million about 150 miles west of Shanghai. Migrants, known in China as the “floating population,” are second-class citizens in the eyes of the citizenry and the state. Defined as those holding a rural household registration, or hukou, but living in a city, these temporary urban residents are estimated to total around 160 million. Susceptible to sporadic expulsion, denied basic legal rights, and lacking access to health care and education, migrants are essentially considered to be immigrant guest workers in their own country.

Rural migrants—widely considered by urbanites to be ignorant and bad mannered—are the subject of social discrimination and ridicule. It has become a cruel joke to call someone a nongmin, a label for migrant workers that literally means “peasant”, as it implies boorishness. Comedy routines poking fun at uneducated migrants are popular features on television. The comedic migrant usually carries a plastic, square-shaped, plaid-patterned bag that is at least half their size, a distinct marker of migrants that carry all their belongings with them as they move from place to place. The migrant on television is almost always a short, tan, wrinkled, bucked-toothed farmer that cannot speak standard Mandarin and does not understand various aspects of a modernized urban life, such as public transportation. 

The notion that the rural represents the backward and uncivilized while the city represents modernity and advancement embodies a dramatic ideological shift that took place during market-oriented economic reform in post-Mao China. During the Mao-era from around 1949-1976, the rural represented the heart of revolution and the land of public production. Especially during the Cultural Revolution from 1966-1976, when intellectuals, urban youth, and college students were sent to the countryside to learn about the means of production, the countryside symbolized the quintessential social, political, and economic ideal.

All of that changed in 1976 with Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening policies that flung China into the global capitalist market. Along with an ideological shift that established the cities as the epitome of progress and modernity, the state also abandoned economic investment in the rural areas in favor of the eastern coastal cities. According to anthropologist Hairong Yan of University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign in her book New Masters, New Servants (Duke University, 2008), the post-Mao shift in urban-rural relations took place in ideological, economic, and cultural spheres: “The material production of the countryside as a wasteland in the economic strategy of state investment is symbiotic with the ideological construction of the countryside as a wasteland of ‘backwardness’ and ‘tradition’”(41). Indeed, the economic reform policies of the late 1970s that allowed foreign investment, the expansion of the export industry, and the establishment of the service sector were only made possible by an enormous influx of migrant labor into the cities.

As a result of this dramatic paradigm shift and economic restructuring that displaces investment from the rural to the urban, Chinese peasants are flocking to the cities in search of work at astonishingly high rates. According to most estimates, 47% of China is urbanized with a 2.3% annual rate of change. That means that 600 million people are living in China’s cities today, and some even predict that another 300-400 million rural residents will move to the city in the next 15 years. 

When I ask migrant workers about their hometown, they usually describe life in the countryside as very boring and empty. One restaurant worker told me, “There’s nothing left to do in the countryside! The only thing to do there is to cook and eat. There’s no money to be made, no life to lead, and no business to be done. It’s just kids and old people there [in the countryside] now. Except for during the busy time, planting and harvesting, when life is extremely laborious and bitter (xinku), it’s quite a boring, meaningless life. Don’t get me wrong, running this business can be tiring, but when considering the bitterness of life in the countryside, life in the city is a breeze!” For many of the migrants, life in the city is new, exciting, modern, and full of opportunity for self-advancement, while the countryside is a vast wasteland.

Migrants are willing to endure long separation from their family—often their spouse and children—in order to make more money and have more opportunities in the city. The owner of a restaurant who has been in Nanjingfor seven years, told me over a steaming plate of homemade tofu: “My wife and son are back at my home farming. Yes, I’ve come across so many hardships, but I have no way to express this to you (wufa biaoda). The pressures and burdens are buried deep inside my heart.” Still, they always remarked that life is better in the city.  

No matter how hard life is in the city, it is better than life in the countryside, as many people attested. Chatting with a 16-year-old friend one day as we window-shopped designer brand handbags in a ritzy mall, she told me about her dream to study abroad one day: "They [my grandmother, aunt, and mother] work so hard so that I can have just a little bit of a better life than they did. I could grow up in the countryside, where we are from, but they know that even though our quality of life here in the city is very poor, it is still much better than in the countryside. Here I can go to a good school and that's all that really matters. They do all of this [selling goods on the street everyday], so I can have a little bit of a better life. They'll do anything to make that happen." When I asked her and her family about their hometown, their eyes would light up as they describe the wide, open fields and they invited me to visit their home someday. "You can study everything about real Chinese society there," they exclaimed. (Link to blog post about my trip to the countryside).   

As China continues to grow as the world’s second largest economy, attention is turning to its political, social, and, economic fragility that is rooted in the widening gap between the rich and poor. According to researchers at the Chinese Academyof Social Sciences, China’s Gini coefficient rose to 0.496 in 2006, beyond the 0.4 danger level. While the economic development gap between the east and the west and the rural and the urban is obvious, relatively well-documented, and acknowledged by the central government, it is the undocumented workers in the cities, most notably the small, independent business owners, that remain under the radar. They remain outside the reaches of their rural jurisdiction, but, holding rural hukou, they are not the responsibility of the city governments where they live.

According to Kam Wing Chan, a geographer at the Universityof Washington, one of the greatest myths that remains about Chinatoday is that its increasing trend toward urbanization will result in a large, consuming middle-class and continued economic growth. He argues, “With meager wages and no chance of legally settling in the urban areas, they [migrants] also lack an incentive to invest in the future in the city. They will not spend on major appliances in a place that does not want them. In fact, most migrant workers have little purchasing power that would position them even to dream of any decent housing in the city”(Link to article by Chan). The massive urbanization occurring in China actually involves temporary residents—the rural hukou holder—as opposed to a permanent resettlement of people. China’s urbanization phenomenon does not bring the development that normally comes along with urbanization. Instead, it could cause increased social instability.

One service worker, who lives in a small bedroom above her place of work and earns 1,000 yuan ($157) a month working everyday for 14 hours, beamed with when she showed me a picture of her son back home in the countryside. “As long as you have food to eat and a room to sleep in, you really can’t ask for anything more in life,” she told me. When the migrant workers realize that there is more to ask for in life, such as basic health care and education, the Chinese state is going to discover a force to be reckoned with.

You can read more about the relationship between migrants and locals on Sarah's blog here.  

Studying Abroad to Bring Home Jobs

Kristin Burke truly knows the meaning of "a global classroom." Kristin, who is pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Asian studies, is currently in Chengdu, Sichuan, studying business Mandarin and researching Western economic development in China. She is there with the support of a Boren National Security Education Program Fellowship, which enables graduate students to add an international and language component to areas of study deemed critical to U.S. national security.
With the United States and China as the world's first and second-largest economies, Kristin is looking for ways to enhance U.S.-China commercial partnership. Through her work and research in China, she hopes to pursue a career that will enable her to facilitate sustainable Chinese investment in the United States as a way to increase American employment.
According to Kristin, many Chinese mergers and acquisitions have been in the IT sector, and the majority of "green" projects have been in the manufacturing industry, specifically renewable and alternative energy products. Her fellowship enables her to look at the emerging trends in both of these industries in different regions of China. Doing so, she says, will help her identify which industries and companies are compatible with the U.S. investment environment.
"When Chinese finances keep an American company or factory from closing, the American workers stay employed and the Chinese team gets the opportunity to learn about the American market, standards, and technology…this is good for both sides," Kristin said via email from China.
Kristin credits many factors as to why she chose to study at GW, including the stellar reputations of Elliott School faculty and the positive things she heard about the Career Center.
"The Elliott School equipped me with academic resources to add depth to my areas of interest. Coming back to China and networking with Chinese professors provides me with the opportunity to combine my past on-the-ground knowledge with the academic expertise gained at the Elliott School. This allows me to dive deeper into the Chinese political economy."

-From the Elliott School Briefing Newsletter

New Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Korea’s Horizons?

During the spring of 2011, I completed research on the agricultural regulations outlined in the then-proposed Korea-United States (KORUS) FTA. Much to my surprise, I was studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea this fall when the FTA finally passed. While researching, I inserted pictures of South Korean FTA protests in my paper, yet last semester, I was stumbling upon such protests in areas like Seoul Station and Gwanghawmun.


The opinions I heard from my Korean friends in Seoul were varied. While most I talked with stated concern for Korean markets, specifically the agricultural market, a few felt that the FTAs would ultimately make Korea more competitive in the global field. One group of friends happily remarked that the FTA would bring the US and Korea closer, although this was not a concern for most. I only wished I could have spoken to older Koreans about their stances, particularly those in the agricultural field.


With the KORUS FTA finally passed, my attention is turning to budding FTA negotiations between Korea and China. These preliminary talks have earned President Lee Myung-Bak the nickname ‘FTA President’ and have created more cause for concern among many Koreans. Korea’s FTAs with the European Union and the United States have already critically impacted Korean agriculture and small businesses.


Could these Korean markets withstand the impact of a Sino-Korean FTA? Can the government afford to keep prolonging the measures they put into place to lessen the blow, such as covering 90% of the loss on farming equipment and offering two million US dollars in loans to manufacturing businesses that report a 5-10% drop in sales? And how will the KORUS relationship fare if such an agreement is made? With Lee’s administration stepping down this year, it will be interesting to see where the next administration takes these talks.


With a return to Korea in mind, perhaps I haven’t seen the last of Korean anti-FTA protests.


-Kayla Howe
BA International Affairs, 2012
George Washington University




Students!

Do you have any more interesting personal stories related to Asian affairs that you want to share on our blog? Then, we would like to hear from you! Please submit your stories to:

asia@gwu.edu

Theodore Ho, '12 | MA International Affairs, Asian Studies and US Foreign Policy

One of the things that I regret not doing often enough as a first year student at GW was not taking full advantage of all of the numerous resources offered by the GSCD office and the Elliott School Career Connection (ESCC) website. GSCD sends informative emails directly to students about jobs, internships, and opportunities, and they always contain hidden gems like the program that I attended during the Summer of 2011. Many might know about Short Term International offerings that GW hosts, such as Econ 280 with Professor Suranovic in Shanghai, but there are also a number of non-GW led short term opportunities that Elliott School graduate students can take advantage of. In my case, it was through these emails that l found out about the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership's US Future Leaders Program, which turned out to be a life-changing experience.

According to GSCD, I was the first GW student to apply for this even though it was the third year the program was offered. Therefore, I would like to share as much as I can with you about this particular experience so that I won't be the last! I found out about the opportunity through an email sent by GSCD Director Angela Griffin informing us of this opportunity (which was also posted online on the ESCC website). The application was straightforward and required a cover letter, resume and letter of recommendation, and GSCD was available to help me with these materials.

Now completed, this short-length program was one of the most valuable experiences that I have had. I spent ten days traveling around Japan talking to experts in a variety of international relations-related fields ranging from international development to Japanese finance. I also conducted research for an extended group paper on International Security. The individuals that I met while on this exchange were all high level Japanese government officials, and academics that I would otherwise never had had access to as a graduate student, or as a foreigner. Being able to interview them and network with them was thus incredibly valuable as it gave me insights into Japanese career opportunities as well.

While, these experiences are competitive, I believe that they are by no means out of reach to GW graduate students. I think a critical aspect to securing internships like this is being able to relate your own experiences with what the program was offering. When I applied to the program, I was afraid that I was not a competitive candidate because I did not speak any Japanese and had little experience with Japan, despite a strong interest in it given my academic focus on US-China relations. It turned out it wasn't a problem. As my genuine interest for understanding Japan showed through in my cover letter, I believed it played a big part in their decision to admit me to the program!

As the saying goes, "opportunities are like sunsets, if you wait too long you miss them." Don't miss the opportunity to join a short term international opportunity!

More on Ted. . .

Ted is a second year student pursuing a Master's degree in International Affairs with a concentration on Asian Studies and US Foreign Policy. in addition to traveling to Japan for the US Future Leaders Fellowship, Ted recently expanded his studies by spending a semester in China, and worked for the Foreign Commercial Service at the US Embassy in Beijing. "The time I spent growing up in Honolulu and Singapore, [and] studying in Beijing and the United Kingdom has contributed to my desire to study US Foreign Policy and Asian Studies..." he says. He seeks to pursue a career as a US Foreign Service Officer or as a consultant in the US or Asia.

For more information about The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership's US Future Leaders Fellowship Application, or interested in having a conversation with Ted on February 3rd at the Elliott School, please visit the ESCC website or contact GSCD to find out more information.

From: THE GSCD INSIDER, January 2012 Issue

One of the nicest things about Taiwan that I failed to take advantage of until today is the fact that you can take a day trip just about anywhere. The entire island is smaller than my home state of Pennsylvania, and since I don't live at the northern or southern tip, nothing is more than a 5-hour drive away. Except for a weekend trip to Taipei in early June I've barely left the Taichung city limits these past 2 months. Today I finally had nothing important to do so I woke up before dawn and took a bus down to Kaohsiung.

Kaohsiung is like an Osaka, Japan or maybe something like a Philadelphia or Pittsburgh in the US; definitely a big-city feel but not so much of an international atmosphere like the capitol. It's the second-largest city on the island only to Taipei and is substantially bigger than Washington, DC. The city's name translates roughly into English as "Tall Hero" but this is actually the name Japan gave the city when it took over Taiwan in the late 19th century (before this it was called "Dagou," or "Beat the Dog." Naturally). Everybody there seems pretty capable of speaking Mandarin Chinese when I ask a question but they seem to mostly speak Taiwanese with one another.

Here's a dumb thing I'm willing to admit; I didn't look at any books, buy a map, or make any other kind of preparation before I headed down there, so I was armed with nothing but a camera and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I missed nearly all of the touristey sites and didn't get to try any exotic foods but I still had a great time. One thing I did get to see was the Tuntex Sky Tower, a famous skyscraper shaped like a tuning fork. The weirdest thing about the building is that people actually live there among the offices and department stores.

The Central Park also had some great pictures to take as well as the Martial Arts Stadium, although there were no events going on so I was unable to see inside. I also had to view the baseball stadium from the outside but it appears to be slightly better than the one here. The harbor appeared unfortuntely closed to visitors so there was not much to see. Overall, though, I found the city very photogenic, much like Taichung. There were far too many streets and alleyways to explore in the several hours that I was there but I snapped a few great photos.

A friend of mine is coming to visit in two weeks and we're probably going to Tainan since several foreigners told me that is the best place to visit. This time I'll be sure to do some research beforehand so we have a few ideas on what to do, but one thing I figured out today was the only thing really necessary for a meaningful trip is an open mind.

Shawn Lynott
MA International Affairs 2012
Taipei Language Institute
Taichung, Taiwan

Photos are provided by Mr. Colin Kao (a visiting scholar from Taiwan)

The Organization of Asian Studies and Global China Connection co-hosted the Chinese Delegation Night last Sunday. It was really an exciting and valuable experience for us to greet the Chinese students from the Tsinghua University in Beijing. We not only had professors and scholars to join the event, there were also students from GWU and people from other organizations attending the event. I met a guy from the Henry Stimson Center, his name was Yanchuan Liu; we had really impressive discussions about the Cross-Strait relations and domestic political, economic, and social environments in Taiwan. Since he is from Mainland China, and I am from Taiwan, our conversation could reach to more profound and comprehensive issues. I remember he asked me some quite interesting questions such as how did young people (like me) in Taiwan think about the KMT or the DPP, and what was my political position toward each of them? As a matter of fact, both of these two questions were sometimes sensitive regarding the Cross-Strait relations; for many people, these could be a taboo in the conversation. However, it turned out to be a pleasure atmosphere because we shared and exchanged our ideas and information, and I believed that both of us were enjoying the process of sharing and interacting. Furthermore, I also met a visiting scholar, whose name was Colin Kao, from my home country, that is, Taiwan. It was always hilarious and nostalgic when you meet people from your country when you are abroad. And of course, our conversations centered around the triangle relations of China, the United States, and Taiwan, as well as the comparison of life experiences between the United States and Taiwan. The event provided a great opportunity for people from United States or other countries to promote mutual understanding and build friendships, and indeed all participants made friends and had a wonderful time in the event. I heard people’s conversations ranged from politics, economy, society, culture, life experiences and so forth. I could see the smile on every participant’s face as well.I really appreciate everyone that contributed to the event’s success, although I was exhausted at the end of the event due to my uncomfortable high heels, it didn’t impact much on my enjoyment of the event!

Going out to a bar, partying, or just watching a movie was not on my agenda this past Saturday night. I had agreed to host a student from China for two nights, and he was arriving on a train from New York at 11:30pm. A group of student delegates from Tsinghua University in Beijing had come to the U.S. to take an educational tour of cities on the East Coast. They were scheduled to visit and talk to security advisors, think tanks, and economists during their visit to the Sates. One of the things on their to-do list was to participate in an event at the Elliott School co-hosted by both the Organization of Asian Studies (OAS) and the Global China Connection (GCC). It was a busy weekend for the Chinese delegates.

While the group of us host students waited for the group of Chinese student delegates, I thought about what my assigned student would be like. Someone had shown me a picture of him with his information beside it listing all of his accomplishments and accolades. The paper informed me that Tang Jun is the former vice president of the Tsinghua Student Union. Attending Tsinghua University is a big accomplishment, but being an officer in the Tsinghua Student Union means that one is being primed for a high position in the Chinese government. To give an idea of scale, China's current president, Hu Jintao, was once president of the Tsinghua Student Union. Given this information, I naturally started to think that Tang Jun was either going to be a nerdy Chinese student or a spoiled brat.

The group finally arrived and both GWU students and Tsinghua students engaged in the obligatory act of awkward introductions. Students from Tsinghua stood on one side of the room and introduced themselves one by one, and then the GWU students reciprocated the protocol. My friend Chris explained it as being like a middle school dance with the girls on one side and the guys on the other, each too shy to break from the group and get close. I could not tell how the rest of the weekend was going to turn out.

Tang Jun turned out to be neither a nerd or spoiled brat. He was an extremely polite guy and genuinely nice. This was his first time in the United States and he was fascinated by the cultural differences between here and his home. Some of the differences that grabbed his attention the most were numbered streets, dormitories, and the lack of walls around the perimeter of universities. He was also amazed by the stories he had heard of drunken escapades at night clubs and wanted to know if they were true. I told him that night clubs were indeed chaotic, but people left them to pass out in the street only once in a while and not all the time despite what he had heard. The American college experience did amaze him, though, and he was determined to come back to the US for grad school.

Although Tang Jun was in the U.S. for about only a week and in DC for only two days, he swore that his English speaking skills had improved immensely. I did not doubt him. After spending a total of only several hours with him, I felt my Chinese speaking level go up about half a point. We really helped each other out.

While saying our goodbyes, Tang Jun insisted that I contact him if I am ever in China. I insisted that he contact me when he returns to the U.S. We said we would treat each other to dinner and show each other the cities we live in the way locals would see it. After the two days, I ultimately made a friend.

Devin Foil

4th Year Asian Studies Major

GWU Elliott School of International Affairs

My family’s connection in North Korea has encouraged me to learn more about my heritage, and as a result, I have always had a vested interest in North Korea and its politics. While I have always dreamed of somehow visiting the Northern half of the peninsula to personally talk to residents and better understand the country, the opportunity suddenly appeared before me in the form of the Pyongyang Project. While I was initially skeptical of its authenticity as an organization, I decided that the chance to experience North Korea exponentially outweighed my initial suspicions. I applied for the August program and arranged my flights into Beijing.

Once I arrived in Beijing, I went to the designated hotel and met the founders of the Pyongyang Project. I was honestly expecting older men to greet me at the entrance, but was very surprised to meet two young men. Nick Young and Matt Reichel are recent graduates from Brown University, and despite their youth, they were very organized and capable in running the organization. They planned our lodging in several cities throughout northeastern China and North Korea, took us to delicious restaurants, and even arranged several activities for us.

However, all the fun we experienced in China was nothing compared to our excitement as we prepared to depart from the Shenyang Taoxian Airport to Pyongyang via Koryo Airlines. To be quite frank, I was absolutely terrified once I arrived on the tiny plane. I was going to risk my life riding a 1980s Soviet plane. But I was able to distract myself from my fears by talking to my fellow passengers who were students from Chosun University, a North Korean government sponsored university. These students held no citizenship, but did have Japanese permanent residency cards. They looked very excited to visit their “motherland,” talked about what they wanted to do once they arrived and even prepared themselves by wearing their North Korean pins.

I became friendly with one particular girl. While she was indoctrinated with North Korean philosophies, she also embodied Western culture; she sported a stylish Fendi purse and was passionate about fashion and American pop culture. She even expressed interest in possibly visiting both South Korea and the United States and asked me several question about my experiences in both countries. I was very intrigued by this girl who worships the Great Leader Kim Il-Sung, adores Lady Gaga, believes in the Juche ideology, and keeps up with the latest fashion trends.

After an hour flight, we arrived in North Korea’s Sunan International Airport, probably the smallest airport in the world. There were only five airplanes lined on the side and the terminal included customs, baggage claim, and security all in one big room. We had our phones taken from us, and I was surprised to see that the North Korean customs officer could distinguish an iPhone from an iPod. While we were waiting for our luggage (which was placed on a tiny manually controlled conveyer belt), we noticed that we were not the only foreigners in the country; we talked to several German, Dutch, Saudi, and Chinese nationals among others and most seemed to be visiting North Korea for business purposes.

We met our three North Korean guides who were extremely friendly (although they were frequently critical of each other – correcting minor errors and such) and well spoken in English. They were particularly fascinated with the Korean-Americans in the group and spoke to us in Korean. I became particularly friendly with Mr. Kim, and we spoke of many different topics. Although he tended to avoid answering the more sensitive questions, he demonstrated an extensive knowledge of the outside world due to his interactions with foreigners. Even when I showed him pictures of Seoul, he did not seem surprised by its level of technological development (most North Koreans are taught that South Koreans live in extreme poverty). Mr. Kim, however, was not aware of Kim Jong-un attended school in Switzerland or was even in the country.

Our tour guides strictly controlled our schedule, what we were supposed to see and do, and tried to severely limit our interactions with the local populations. They first took us the much-anticipated Arirang Mass Games where we watched hundreds of thousands of people act as one, performing stunning acrobatic feats and dances. The most popular act was undoubtedly the children’s performance, in which thousands of boys and girls tumbled and cheered for the Great Leader. The most astonishing part of the Mass Games was the mosaic background; tens of thousands of people each flip through a book with colored pages to create an enormous mural. Despite the vast crowds that have shown up for this event, I noticed that most of them were foreigners, mainly Chinese tourists.

We arrived in our “five-star” hotel, and we were served essentially Western cuisine during our stay. In the morning we went to Kim Il-Sung’s mausoleum, and it was so big that it took us almost twenty to thirty minutes to weave through the pavilion and the inside of the building. When we arrived in the main room that housed the Great Leader’s dead body, we bowed to it four times and then left for the pavilion. There, we observed that the North Korean women were dressed in bright and gaudy hanboks (Korean traditional dress) for this particular occasion. Although it is illegal to take pictures of North Korean soldiers, I managed to sneak quite a few, as they marched by me.

The next day, we were bussed to Wonsan, a port city on the eastern coast, where we all went to the beach and enjoyed ourselves. The most significant aspect of this trip was our tour guides’ lack of scrutiny or control over our actions on the beach. We were free to whatever we wanted on the beach, even talk to the local residents. I took advantage of this opportunity and acquainted myself with a family who offered me some of their packed lunch and introduced themselves. The mother and father owns a state-run market, and their elder daughter serves in the North Korean military while their younger son attends middle school. I asked them if their life was difficult, and they said that while times are difficult and rice is scarce nowadays, they find pleasure in just coming to the beach and spending their time together as a family.

Another group of people I talked to were older men who traveled from Pyongyang to enjoy the day in the beach. They said that it was difficult to obtain permission from the government to travel outside of their home cities and even finding a means of travel was almost impossible. Then, the gentlemen offered to buy me beer (a bottle of Heineken for $2), and we talked about the United States. They asked me questions about life in America and were fascinated with the pictures I showed them of South Korea. I asked them how they felt about America and South Korea, and they demonstrated no animosity towards both nations. In fact, they felt as though North Korea could become allies with America if President Obama were to accept Kim Jong-Il’s offer of friendship and that South Korea desperately wants to unite with the north (a large portion of South Koreans citizens are against reunification).

After spending the night in Wonsan, we drove back to Pyongyang and immediately drove southwards to Kaesong. It was then I learned that all roads lead to the capital in order to prevent rebellions and insurrections. In Kaesong, I noticed that the city was considerably less developed than Pyongyang or even Wonsan; there were dirt roads, most of the buildings looked dilapidated and the people’s clothing looked outdated and worn. However, the city felt more familiar to me because it resembled South Korea in term of food and the traditional architecture. In our hotel, I asked Mr. Lee to let me leave the hotel for a little bit so I could take a few pictures, and he was reluctant at first but obliged after I kept begging him and offered him $20. It was a very brief excursion though, probably did not even last one minute, and the streets were deserted. After 10pm, electricity stopped running, but that didn’t stop us from socializing with our tour guides and drinking beer by candlelight.

We drove further south to the DMZ where we met a military officer who acted as our tour guide. He went into extensive detail about the Korean War, of course form the North Korean perspective. I was particularly surprised by how lax the North Korean soldiers seemed to be; they freely let us wander around the museums and the Pamunjeon as long as we didn’t cross the line into South Korea, and take as many pictures as we wanted to, including soldiers. I remember going to the DMZ from the south and it was so much stricter, as we had to follow our tour guide at all times and were limited to taking photos at a certain time. We even saw tourists from the South Korean border and while we waved at them, they unfortunately did offer us the same courtesy.

Afterwards, we drove up to the Sariwon commune, which was probably the lowest point of the trip; it is essentially a model farm that constantly boasts of the many times the Great Leader and the Dear Leader have visited the commune and praised its innovative farming techniques. They even have a museum, which includes the chair Kim Il-Sung sat on as well as the bowl and chopsticks he once used. Then, we drove back to Pyongyang and made it in time for the Pyongyang Circus. I noticed that the entire audience consisted of military personnel, so it was interesting to see break away from their hardened image as soldiers and just laugh like normal people. While the circus was highly entertaining, I was disturbed by one of their propaganda acts that criticized Lee Myung-Bak and claimed that the Cheonan incident was a complex CIA conspiracy to implicate North Korea.

We also attended the Children’s Palace to watch artistically talented girls and boys perform for a mostly foreign audience. Adorable little boys and girls sang about North Korea’s strong military, which was accompanied by projections of military vehicles and Kim Jong-Il’s salutations to his soldiers. They also performed with traditional instruments and dances, while others used Western instruments. The children were phenomenal, and after the performances, we met them and gave them candy and school supplies. We were so impressed that we kept on talking about the Children’s Palace all day until we thought of the pain the children had to endure and how much they had to sacrifice, including school. They were essentially used by the government as pawns to endear tourists.

As we spent our last day in North Korea, we toured Pyongyang to the capital’s main landmarks and even went to the Planetarium located in a technology and science research community (which ironically also fell victim to the city’s many blackouts). We watched the sunset over the city. Of course, we spent the night drinking bottle after bottle of Western whiskey, North Korean beer and soju (which has over 10% more alcohol than the standard in South Korea). With hangovers and stomachaches, we headed for the airport and had a slightly bumpy right back to (relative) freedom and capitalism in China.

The writer, Debbie Kye, is a junior double majoring in Asian Studies and International Affairs. She traveled to North Korea during summer 2010 as part of a delegation with the Pyongyang Project.