Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
600th post!
Last week we learned that there was video footage of the banquet for our Danish visitors in May this year. I don't know whether we have video editing software to make a video of the highlights of that evening (which most certainly would include belly dancing!). This is the presentation/quiz on the driver's license exam in Beijing.
Dinner with Amanda
Amanda made some time for us, in her busy schedule of doing cutting edge research. (She was actually doing work all through the weekend, because she is leaving for her home town today, and she went back to work right after this dinner.)






Sunday, September 27, 2009
What today ate we at the Great Hall of the People
Today was the big day: the day of the banquet at the Great Hall of the People. With the help of our dear readers, we had decided that F would wear his wedding suit (aka the only suit he possesses that is both in China and is not two sizes too small) and A would wear a dress in an appropriate color (we will see that its color was so appropriate in fact, that it looks like she is in the Von Trapp family and wears a dress made of the Great Hall's curtains.) But before we go there, let me tell you what came first.

It was a close call if we would even be able to go at all, because A developed a cough on Friday night. We first thought it was due to the particularly bad pollution that day, but the next day a (mild) fever accompanied the cough. Since they take your temperature everywhere these days, even at the gym, we were afraid that a fever would disqualify the entire Tsinghua bus from attending.
On Sunday, the fever was even milder, but still present. Fortunately, we then remembered that Paracetamol suppresses flu. So a couple of pills later, we were in well-enough state to get dressed.
A then proceeded to get a stain on her dress, but no worries -- a quick cleaning with water and then hanging in front of the fan took care of that:

So here we are then!

Obviously, we were the stars of our institute (which is not hard, considering that two of them did apparently not own a suit, and one of them took the fact that the email only mentioned a suit and tie, but not socks, to mean that sandals were OK.)
The Great Hall itself was quite great, and reminiscent of Ceauşescu's palace, by which we mean nothing but perhaps that we have not been in many great halls yet in our lives.




There were at least 1500 foreign experts at the banquet. Unfortunately, we got to sit with our colleagues, so it felt like old times (i.e. last week). Our boss was there too. He got to sit at the main table with the minister of education and from the distance we saw him mingling with all the party people.
We were addressed by Li Keqiang who, according to Wikipedia, "is currently the First Vice-Premier of China and the 7th ranked member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, the People's Republic of China's de facto top power organ. As Premier Wen Jiabao's top lieutenant, Li's official portfolio includes development, price controls, finance, and macroeconomic management."
Once I figure out how to rotate our videos, I will upload some videos of the address and orchestra. Here is a video of the orchestra.
And this is the video of the address by Li Keqiang. Please turn your monitor 90 degrees clockwise to view it. I would have uploaded it to Vimeo and then rotated it, but now even THAT is blocked. I almost regret attending China's b-day party because their party preparations (clearing China and the internetz of all dissenting voices) are way annoying.
So now, let me get to the interesting part: the food.
Although really there is not much we can say about it. The dessert was on the table from the beginning (not that unusual in China), but pretty as it may look, nobody was too tempted by it.


The pasta we did not like that much either.

But to be fair, the other dishes were quite OK, especially considering that they had to cook for more than 1500 people (want to give that a try, Ellen?)
We also really liked the panda bear chopstick holders, that we have never seen before.

I think I was most impressed by the waiters. They were great all the time, but the end of their performance was phenomenal. Once the signal was given for us to leave (we have recently learned that at a banquet, once the host says that "the banquet is concluded", the polite thing to do is to get up, toast your neighbor so you can finish your glass of wine, and get the hell out), and we all made our way to the exit, they did something I have never seen before. They moved all the chairs in a pleasing and non-messy position, and then they stood behind the tables. The tables were still as messy as we left them, but it looked really neat all of a sudden!

And that was it! End of banquet at 7:15 as advertised (we started at 6).


It was a close call if we would even be able to go at all, because A developed a cough on Friday night. We first thought it was due to the particularly bad pollution that day, but the next day a (mild) fever accompanied the cough. Since they take your temperature everywhere these days, even at the gym, we were afraid that a fever would disqualify the entire Tsinghua bus from attending.
On Sunday, the fever was even milder, but still present. Fortunately, we then remembered that Paracetamol suppresses flu. So a couple of pills later, we were in well-enough state to get dressed.
A then proceeded to get a stain on her dress, but no worries -- a quick cleaning with water and then hanging in front of the fan took care of that:

So here we are then!

Obviously, we were the stars of our institute (which is not hard, considering that two of them did apparently not own a suit, and one of them took the fact that the email only mentioned a suit and tie, but not socks, to mean that sandals were OK.)
The Great Hall itself was quite great, and reminiscent of Ceauşescu's palace, by which we mean nothing but perhaps that we have not been in many great halls yet in our lives.




There were at least 1500 foreign experts at the banquet. Unfortunately, we got to sit with our colleagues, so it felt like old times (i.e. last week). Our boss was there too. He got to sit at the main table with the minister of education and from the distance we saw him mingling with all the party people.
We were addressed by Li Keqiang who, according to Wikipedia, "is currently the First Vice-Premier of China and the 7th ranked member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, the People's Republic of China's de facto top power organ. As Premier Wen Jiabao's top lieutenant, Li's official portfolio includes development, price controls, finance, and macroeconomic management."
And this is the video of the address by Li Keqiang. Please turn your monitor 90 degrees clockwise to view it. I would have uploaded it to Vimeo and then rotated it, but now even THAT is blocked. I almost regret attending China's b-day party because their party preparations (clearing China and the internetz of all dissenting voices) are way annoying.
So now, let me get to the interesting part: the food.
Although really there is not much we can say about it. The dessert was on the table from the beginning (not that unusual in China), but pretty as it may look, nobody was too tempted by it.


The pasta we did not like that much either.

But to be fair, the other dishes were quite OK, especially considering that they had to cook for more than 1500 people (want to give that a try, Ellen?)
We also really liked the panda bear chopstick holders, that we have never seen before.

I think I was most impressed by the waiters. They were great all the time, but the end of their performance was phenomenal. Once the signal was given for us to leave (we have recently learned that at a banquet, once the host says that "the banquet is concluded", the polite thing to do is to get up, toast your neighbor so you can finish your glass of wine, and get the hell out), and we all made our way to the exit, they did something I have never seen before. They moved all the chairs in a pleasing and non-messy position, and then they stood behind the tables. The tables were still as messy as we left them, but it looked really neat all of a sudden!

And that was it! End of banquet at 7:15 as advertised (we started at 6).

Saturday, September 26, 2009
We ate again
Don't forget to help choose A's dress for tomorrow by leaving a comment here.
This blog is about food. Here are some actual honest-to-goodness food pictures in case you forgot:




This blog is about food. Here are some actual honest-to-goodness food pictures in case you forgot:




White Monkey Duty
Don't forget to help choose A's dress for tomorrow by leaving a comment here.
Here are some pictures from the Award Ceremony yesterday:

Here I am performing my White Monkey Duties, by standing next to a winner and his winning photo. Doesn't my whiteness lighten up this otherwise somewhat drab scene? Without it, this moment could not have been as memorable.

Here is the line of the important, somewhat important, and less important people who hand out the prizes; the further from the middle, the less important the person.

And these are the winners of the Chinese version of the competition, getting their trophies. Note that photographers in China are easily recognizable by their jacket (this is really true, they were not just wearing these jackets for this occasion).

And these are some of the winners of the White Monkey version of the competition. This is almost the end of the line, as I only managed to win a third prize.

This is the second line up. Note that I managed to obtain a spot near the middle of the line --- gaining huge face in the process.

Same line from a different angle. I am standing next to the ambassador of Romania, who took the place of the prize winner of Romania until he arrived. So, presumably the ambassador of the Netherlands was also informed of my greatness. Weirdly enough, he did not deem it important enough to show up, however.
One of the winners of the Grand Prize is the third standing guy on the right.

And finally this is me next to my winning picture, showing off my enormous transparent phallic trophy. If you look very closely, you can see that there is a small version of the picture embedded in the top of the trophy.
Here are some pictures from the Award Ceremony yesterday:

Here I am performing my White Monkey Duties, by standing next to a winner and his winning photo. Doesn't my whiteness lighten up this otherwise somewhat drab scene? Without it, this moment could not have been as memorable.

Here is the line of the important, somewhat important, and less important people who hand out the prizes; the further from the middle, the less important the person.

And these are the winners of the Chinese version of the competition, getting their trophies. Note that photographers in China are easily recognizable by their jacket (this is really true, they were not just wearing these jackets for this occasion).

And these are some of the winners of the White Monkey version of the competition. This is almost the end of the line, as I only managed to win a third prize.

This is the second line up. Note that I managed to obtain a spot near the middle of the line --- gaining huge face in the process.

Same line from a different angle. I am standing next to the ambassador of Romania, who took the place of the prize winner of Romania until he arrived. So, presumably the ambassador of the Netherlands was also informed of my greatness. Weirdly enough, he did not deem it important enough to show up, however.
One of the winners of the Grand Prize is the third standing guy on the right.

And finally this is me next to my winning picture, showing off my enormous transparent phallic trophy. If you look very closely, you can see that there is a small version of the picture embedded in the top of the trophy.
Friday, September 25, 2009
EMERGENCY*: Need advice
We've been invited for a banquet at The Great Hall of the People to celebrate the 60th birthday partay of the CCP. According to Amanda, this is quite a big thing. Hence, we'd like to make sure that we do a good job of being the "white monkey on display".
The email we received about this says:
1. Please dress up (with suit and tie, or your national costume)
So, F will wear his only suit. But what will A wear? She has a suit (boh-ring), or a red dress (very appropriate color), or a shiny dress (appropriate shinyness), and, finally, a dirndl dress (quite inappropriate, since it is not our national costume, but when else am I going to wear it?)
Please help me decide!



I would add a poll, but it seems I can't access the "Add Page Element" part of blogspot from behind the Great Firewall. So please leave opinions in the comments, anonymously if you like...
(Oh, and yes, she will try to make sure her legs are somewhat sock-mark-free that day.)
* we recently learned that, in China, the correct way to draw attention to your internet/email drivel is to put "emergency" in the header.
The email we received about this says:
1. Please dress up (with suit and tie, or your national costume)
So, F will wear his only suit. But what will A wear? She has a suit (boh-ring), or a red dress (very appropriate color), or a shiny dress (appropriate shinyness), and, finally, a dirndl dress (quite inappropriate, since it is not our national costume, but when else am I going to wear it?)
Please help me decide!



I would add a poll, but it seems I can't access the "Add Page Element" part of blogspot from behind the Great Firewall. So please leave opinions in the comments, anonymously if you like...
(Oh, and yes, she will try to make sure her legs are somewhat sock-mark-free that day.)
* we recently learned that, in China, the correct way to draw attention to your internet/email drivel is to put "emergency" in the header.
Frans is a winner
A full report will follow. Right now, we're at Cafe Konstanz celebrating Frans's greatness (and the fact that the conference is over, so nobody will notice we're skipping work today to recover from it.)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Another day, another dozen or so awkward moments
I am not quite sure where to begin. The closing banquet took place tonight. We were at the professor's table again (why?!?!) The fearless leader was in a better mood, which was promising. Also, there were more utterances than silences, thanks to the addition of a certain scholar from a certain country neighboring our home country.
However, this latter fact turned out to be a bad thing. A very very bad thing. I don't want to say too much because I don't like personal attacks. Also, I don't really want to remember the evening. Suffice it to say that the awkward silences between his monologues felt like a breath of fresh air. It was only thanks to the lovely wife of another visiting professor that there were occasional non-self-absorbed utterances (since obviously, the other people at the table were of the usual taciturn computer scientist type and kept quiet).
And then there was the "60-second-proof" session... I remember that before I joined Cornell, I was always confused and depressed by the completely stupid math jokes made by Frans's Cornell friends.
These days, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I like the occasional math joke.
But in computer science circles, they obviously take nerdiness to completely new levels. Apparently the height of fun is to present real or made up proofs in 60 seconds. I am sorry, but I just find that sad.
The good news is that the conference is now over, and we will be spared from having to make social appearances for two weeks. Then a shrewdness of the very very best computer scientists in the world will honor us with their presence, and who knows what new awkwardness that will have in store. Then again, perhaps tomorrow will bring some interesting experiences as well, because Frans will go to an award ceremony to receive his third prize in a photo competition.
However, this latter fact turned out to be a bad thing. A very very bad thing. I don't want to say too much because I don't like personal attacks. Also, I don't really want to remember the evening. Suffice it to say that the awkward silences between his monologues felt like a breath of fresh air. It was only thanks to the lovely wife of another visiting professor that there were occasional non-self-absorbed utterances (since obviously, the other people at the table were of the usual taciturn computer scientist type and kept quiet).
And then there was the "60-second-proof" session... I remember that before I joined Cornell, I was always confused and depressed by the completely stupid math jokes made by Frans's Cornell friends.
These days, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I like the occasional math joke.
But in computer science circles, they obviously take nerdiness to completely new levels. Apparently the height of fun is to present real or made up proofs in 60 seconds. I am sorry, but I just find that sad.
The good news is that the conference is now over, and we will be spared from having to make social appearances for two weeks. Then a shrewdness of the very very best computer scientists in the world will honor us with their presence, and who knows what new awkwardness that will have in store. Then again, perhaps tomorrow will bring some interesting experiences as well, because Frans will go to an award ceremony to receive his third prize in a photo competition.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Another daily dose
Actually, we are somewhat low on whines and awkward moments today.
The news article for Anke's interview came out. In the Chinese version there is very VERY short mention of Anke's most superior-pleasing utterances during the interview (obviously, the interviewer, being Chinese herself, had an uncanny knack for only remembering these). There is also a photo with Anke in it somewhere. Why the hell is she not the only person in the picture, and has to share the spotlight with the other postdocs??? Also, if you look at the English version, you'll see that Anke's so-called interview has been completely edited out! WTF!!! I invested a whole 5 minutes!
Today was also the day of our first class. We were quite pleased by the enthusiastic APPLAUSE we received (i) upon entering the classroom on time, (ii) upon introducing ourselves, (iii) upon finishing our lecture. This certainly did not happen last year, so we think our fame as wonderful wonderful teachers must have spread among the students.
Otherwise, the students seem similar to last year's bunch. They are very enthusiastic, somewhat non-quiet (i.e. they talk amongst each other while we talk), and at least one of them is too smart for his own good (we gave a puzzle we ourselvesprobably certainly could not have solved, and he did. Then he proved that his answer was the best possible answer.)
Apparently, this is all the teaching we will be doing this month. Our students are leaving tomorrow for a week-long practice for the 60-th birthday party that China is throwing itself on October 1. Our students are going to be part of the long long long parade on ChangAn Avenue. When they get back from their practice in some remote location they will have more than a week's holiday, and the week after that they are attending a conference. So our next class is exactly 4 weeks from now.
Yay, summer holidays are back again!!!
The news article for Anke's interview came out. In the Chinese version there is very VERY short mention of Anke's most superior-pleasing utterances during the interview (obviously, the interviewer, being Chinese herself, had an uncanny knack for only remembering these). There is also a photo with Anke in it somewhere. Why the hell is she not the only person in the picture, and has to share the spotlight with the other postdocs??? Also, if you look at the English version, you'll see that Anke's so-called interview has been completely edited out! WTF!!! I invested a whole 5 minutes!
Today was also the day of our first class. We were quite pleased by the enthusiastic APPLAUSE we received (i) upon entering the classroom on time, (ii) upon introducing ourselves, (iii) upon finishing our lecture. This certainly did not happen last year, so we think our fame as wonderful wonderful teachers must have spread among the students.
Otherwise, the students seem similar to last year's bunch. They are very enthusiastic, somewhat non-quiet (i.e. they talk amongst each other while we talk), and at least one of them is too smart for his own good (we gave a puzzle we ourselves
Apparently, this is all the teaching we will be doing this month. Our students are leaving tomorrow for a week-long practice for the 60-th birthday party that China is throwing itself on October 1. Our students are going to be part of the long long long parade on ChangAn Avenue. When they get back from their practice in some remote location they will have more than a week's holiday, and the week after that they are attending a conference. So our next class is exactly 4 weeks from now.
Yay, summer holidays are back again!!!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Your daily dose
As promised, here is another rant from the whining wife. (As the husband puts it: "You are writing negative thoughts, so you don't have to think them.")
Today, she got to show off her skills as "The Performing Postdoc" in a variety of interesting ways. In the morning, she was interviewed by a Qinghua journalist, where she did her best to provide the answers that would make her superiors smile. Unfortunately, they were not there to give any indication of how well she did. Anyway, she managed not to say anything about awkward dinners, but instead rambled on about various types of Chinese cuisine and of course about how smart the student in our institute are, as this is in fact a sure-fire smiling-of-superiors-inducing truth.
After this, both of us were session chair, which we did our best to do in the most unobtrusive way possible, by making boring introductions and making sure we did not ask any questions.
The highlight of the day was the so-called reception, aka yet another one of those seemingly never ending evenings of toe-curling entertainment. The wife got to be the host again, and she managed yet again to seem completely non-cynical in her introductions of the performances. She is however coming across and feeling less and less enthusiastic and more like a performing monkey. Oh well, even our fearless leader is seemingly fed up with the whole thing, because he refused to even make a toast and made Anke do it instead.
Finally, I can report that the husband and wife have attained near-"Performing Professor" status. As evidence, we submit: (i) we were the only postdocs allowed to sit at the professors table tonight, and (ii) during the obligatory photo shoot we had front row seats with the professors, whereas all but one of the other postdocs had to stand somewhere in the back. (By the way, if you ever get to see these photos which have Anke in them (there should be 5 of them from different occasions by now) and are wondering: yes, it is true, Anke has only one shirt.)
OK, now I feel really bad, because this whole affair is being held to let other people know that this is not a bad place to be a postdoc, and now all of you (I am looking at you, Tim!) will tell the people who visited that in fact the postdocs are raving lunatics that are made to perform like monkeys. Which is true but is better kept quiet.
P.S. The husband thinks "The Performing Postdoc" should be the perfect title for an opera. Anyone feel inspired?
P.P.S. The husband would also like to add that he is planning to release a Youtube video of an earlier night of delightful entertainment. We'll be sure to let you know once that is available.
Today, she got to show off her skills as "The Performing Postdoc" in a variety of interesting ways. In the morning, she was interviewed by a Qinghua journalist, where she did her best to provide the answers that would make her superiors smile. Unfortunately, they were not there to give any indication of how well she did. Anyway, she managed not to say anything about awkward dinners, but instead rambled on about various types of Chinese cuisine and of course about how smart the student in our institute are, as this is in fact a sure-fire smiling-of-superiors-inducing truth.
After this, both of us were session chair, which we did our best to do in the most unobtrusive way possible, by making boring introductions and making sure we did not ask any questions.
The highlight of the day was the so-called reception, aka yet another one of those seemingly never ending evenings of toe-curling entertainment. The wife got to be the host again, and she managed yet again to seem completely non-cynical in her introductions of the performances. She is however coming across and feeling less and less enthusiastic and more like a performing monkey. Oh well, even our fearless leader is seemingly fed up with the whole thing, because he refused to even make a toast and made Anke do it instead.
Finally, I can report that the husband and wife have attained near-"Performing Professor" status. As evidence, we submit: (i) we were the only postdocs allowed to sit at the professors table tonight, and (ii) during the obligatory photo shoot we had front row seats with the professors, whereas all but one of the other postdocs had to stand somewhere in the back. (By the way, if you ever get to see these photos which have Anke in them (there should be 5 of them from different occasions by now) and are wondering: yes, it is true, Anke has only one shirt.)
OK, now I feel really bad, because this whole affair is being held to let other people know that this is not a bad place to be a postdoc, and now all of you (I am looking at you, Tim!) will tell the people who visited that in fact the postdocs are raving lunatics that are made to perform like monkeys. Which is true but is better kept quiet.
P.S. The husband thinks "The Performing Postdoc" should be the perfect title for an opera. Anyone feel inspired?
P.P.S. The husband would also like to add that he is planning to release a Youtube video of an earlier night of delightful entertainment. We'll be sure to let you know once that is available.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Biking around
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Your daily serving of awkwardness
Things are finally starting again: next Monday is the first day of the new semester and also the first day of a graduate student conference which will feature about 30 students from the U.S. (many from Cornell).
In the past two weeks, the new postdocs have trickled in, and we now have a respectable group of 10 international postdocs (and one Chinese postdoc, but obviously he does not count -- he sits with the PhD students instead of in his own office and of course he does not get invited to official postdoc meetings).
It was my hope that the number of postdocs would make things easier socially, but yesterday's dinner proved me wrong. It seems quite a feat to sit with 13 people at a round table for 2 hours, and have only brief statements punctuating the awkward silences (rather than the other way around), and to not talk about anything but (i) the fact that F has his Chinese driver's licence (we always talk about this), and (ii) whether or not to order yellow wine and blame F (we also always talk about this).
To give you a little something to look forward to: on Monday, A will be lucky enough to host yet another welcome party which will surely be wonderful. As if that is not enough, she has been asked to consent to an interview with a university journalist. Then on Wednesday is our first lecture, which hopefully will be just very very good and not embarrassing. Finally, on Thursday is the closing banquet for the conference, which will feature as-yet-undisclosed entertainment, which I guess will be geeky and full of stupid math jokes.
Yay for the new semester!
In the past two weeks, the new postdocs have trickled in, and we now have a respectable group of 10 international postdocs (and one Chinese postdoc, but obviously he does not count -- he sits with the PhD students instead of in his own office and of course he does not get invited to official postdoc meetings).
It was my hope that the number of postdocs would make things easier socially, but yesterday's dinner proved me wrong. It seems quite a feat to sit with 13 people at a round table for 2 hours, and have only brief statements punctuating the awkward silences (rather than the other way around), and to not talk about anything but (i) the fact that F has his Chinese driver's licence (we always talk about this), and (ii) whether or not to order yellow wine and blame F (we also always talk about this).
To give you a little something to look forward to: on Monday, A will be lucky enough to host yet another welcome party which will surely be wonderful. As if that is not enough, she has been asked to consent to an interview with a university journalist. Then on Wednesday is our first lecture, which hopefully will be just very very good and not embarrassing. Finally, on Thursday is the closing banquet for the conference, which will feature as-yet-undisclosed entertainment, which I guess will be geeky and full of stupid math jokes.
Yay for the new semester!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Hakka! (客家!)
Yesterday we went to 客家园 (Ke Jia Yuan) for some real Hakka food. I have been missing my favorite dish from China Road in Syracuse, and it looked like this particular dish is typical Hakka fare called 梅菜扣肉 (mei cai kou rou). It consists of preserved mustard greens and pork belly.
Without further ado:

It was not the same dish as the one from China Road, but certainly an awesome dish and extremely well made.
Other typical Hakka dishes we ate (part of) were ji jiu:

... ke jia niang dou fu (and not only dou fu, I guess):

... and xian dan zheng rou bing:

Highly recommended restaurant!
Without further ado:

It was not the same dish as the one from China Road, but certainly an awesome dish and extremely well made.
Other typical Hakka dishes we ate (part of) were ji jiu:

... ke jia niang dou fu (and not only dou fu, I guess):

... and xian dan zheng rou bing:

Highly recommended restaurant!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Smuggling
Even though there are severe restrictions on taking plant products into China, we brought some lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal and fresh turmeric from Malaysia, so we could make some Indonesian foodz.
(I would like to add that we were very goody two-shoes about the smuggling --we had the lemongrass conspicuously sticking out of a bag and we asked the customs guy if it was OK if we smuggled in some Malaysian ingredients. They looked a bit suspicious at first, but when we told them it was just for our own cooking, they waved us through.)
Sadly our meatz was not fatty enough, so the beef rendang was a little dry and not as brown as I would have liked. The fried boiled eggs were great though, as was the acar.

(I would like to add that we were very goody two-shoes about the smuggling --we had the lemongrass conspicuously sticking out of a bag and we asked the customs guy if it was OK if we smuggled in some Malaysian ingredients. They looked a bit suspicious at first, but when we told them it was just for our own cooking, they waved us through.)
Sadly our meatz was not fatty enough, so the beef rendang was a little dry and not as brown as I would have liked. The fried boiled eggs were great though, as was the acar.

Labels:
ghillie basan,
indonesian,
james oseland,
rendang
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