It has been awhile! A lot has happened since the last entry ~ I will provide updates and pictures later =)

April 10, 2008 (Wednesday)

“Economic and political dynamics will lead to democratization in China.” I represented the proposition side today in the debate for the PRC Politics class. I had the most awkward public-speaking experience ever –not because I did a bad job. In fact, I think I nailed the economic aspects of the topic.

The problem, though, was that my partner was totally unprepared.

He took out the rough outline we went through on Sunday (which he photocopied from my notebook). Apparently he did not do any additional research. In a minute or two, he uttered the outline hesitantly. He was supposed to present for 5 to 7 minutes. Then, the worst part: he turned to me and asked if he should talk about any other points. That was so embarrassing! I pointed to “institutionalization,” implying that he should talk about the points I listed below that category. But perhaps because he did not know what “institutionalization” was, he turned the page and read out the rebuttals we prepared! I cannot believe that there can be students like that in Grinnell College!

Fortunately, the following discussion went well.

This topic certainly generated a lot of questions among the students. For one, China certainly has not reached the democratic standards. If one compares some of China’s semi-democratic institutions with the well-established ones in the U.S., China certainly would fail the test.

However, if one takes on the issue from a different angle, and focuses on democratization as a process, the picture becomes murkier. China has only started liberalizing for 30 years – is it too early to assess whether there is a clear trend of democratization? How is China’s liberalization compared with the American one? Did America begin as a full-blown democracy? Certainly not! And don’t forget there were slavery and the Civil War. Was there a tipping point where the U.S. became a “democracy”? With these questions unanswered, I argue that it is premature to tell whether economic liberalization will lead to democracy. It is even more inappropriate to reject outrightly the positives of reforms or to come up with a definite “democratic path” for China.

Later in the evening…

I played two basketball games today – one for the “GI Joe” team and the other for the “Chinese Department” team. More and more I find myself most excited by rebounding… especially when I out-jump guys 5 inches taller than me XD

March 27, 2008 (Thursday)

I used to have high hopes for AFRASIA, a groupthat focuses on development issues in Africa and Asia.It started well. But now everybody is not motivated. I don’t want to be the ONLYone sending out emails all the time! What should I do? Should I try to revive AFRASIA,or should I just dump it (since Nmachi and Terry don’t seem to care, and Mark andSmita are graduating)?

I want to lead a meaningful club… A good clubwith motivated members…

Work is never-ending and there is no suchthing as “a break” during a semester. I hope to finish with the Stats projectby Friday so that I move on to start preparing for the PRC Politics debate andimproving the ICTY presentation. Hai……

IT IS SNOWING AGAIN TODAY - HOW CAN IT BE????!?!?!??!?!?!?