You might recall that Ellyn was off to China this summer to work for one of our alums--here's the update:
你好 Professor Fields!
I am so sorry that I haven’t written you until now! I have been very
very busy for the last month and had finally adjusted to life here. It
has been a crazy experience. I am so glad that I took advantage of
this opportunity. The hot dog stand has given me a chance to see
Beijing from a very unique perspective. Sadly there is a large expat
community in the area that I’m living so my Mandarin skills haven’t
improved very much but I have met some amazing people. I essentially
manage the hot dog stand with some guidance from Paul and the help of
his business parter Suntao. We’re basically overhauling it and making
it a bigger operation. It’s all very exciting.
I haven’t seen much of the touristy part of the city but I have a
friend who is coming to visit and we’ll see all the typical sights
together. It’s an amazing time to be here. I would send you a link to
see my pictures but they’ve blocked Facebook (as well as Flickr,
Twitter and most blog platforms) and that’s where all of my photos
are. The internet essentially ground to a halt today due to the unrest
in Xinjiang. It’s amazing how little people seem to know or care
about the situation. It’s difficult to be a politics student in a
place where talking about politics isn’t a popular activity. I have
met a few locals who speak enough English to talk about it but most of
them won’t. Professor O’Neil sent me the chapter about China from
the Essentials of Comparative Politics and I’m giving it to two of my
friends to read and reflect on. It should be an interesting experiment.
Well, I’d love to tell of my stories now but I’ve got to sell some
more hot dogs! I’ll try to keep in touch a bit more from now on. Hope
all is well back in the states.
-Elly Henriksen
