Wrapping up... China?

Last night while rooting through my bookshelf I un-earthed arguably the greatest notebook I have ever made. Granted, that is not saying much, but the contents include 2 things that would be absolutely impossible for me to recover had I lost it.

The first is the solution to the hardest math problem I have ever done without the aid of a book. It is basically the epitome of my entire year long research in Japan. The 6, (arguably 9-10 if you count the steps leading to the assumptions on the first) page long, fine-print derivation defines a matrix solution for the pressures at an arbitrary set of points along an arbitrary number of primary and secondary porous hoses in an infrasonic wind-noise reduction array. Deriving it was like pulling out my brain's teeth with no anesthetic, and during the solving process I would take breaks every 15 minutes to bang my head against a wall or stump off to the tea vats in the student cafeteria and drink a gallon of the dark, free green tea that, incidentally, tastes better than anything I've had since I left. Maybe, after drinking such copious amounts, I reset my taste buds' definition of "good tea."

The second is my China journal. The best trip I've ever taken anywhere, and I would have forgotten half of it or more had I not written it down. Ironically, I went to China after I had written down the derivation for the math problem in the notebook. I knew I only had one copy at the time, so I'm not really sure why I took it. If I had lost in in China... no, not going to imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Anyway, upon discovering the notebook, and recalling a recent conversation, I realized I had never finished posting the series on my old Japan blog here. So, if you want to read the previous versions, you can dig them up over there, you might find some pic's interesting.

Day 11
Sichuan is the province in China where Giant Panda’s live, and Cheng Du is famous for it’s Panda zoo. That was our main reason for coming here, so today we go to the Panda zoo. We got up early and Dan met us. The Panda’s are ok, I guess. Sort of just fat and lazy, and munching on bamboo.

Far more interesting are the Red Pandas. These guys are cool! They play and wrestle and actually do stuff. Myron holds one for 50 kuai. He looks very paternal, according to Mari.

We run into Eli and his mom, there again. I have to take an enormous dump… I think the hot pot is finally making its way through. But, I can’t find a toilet! Oh No! Just when things are looking really bleak, a Caucasian with a British accent finds me and leads me to the toilet. I suspect she is a scientist because of the scientifical aura about her. She is! I try to strike up a conversation but she isn’t really interested. Mostly she’s just grumpy about the humid weather. Been there 5 years and she still hates it, apparently. But she’s really nice for leading me to a toilet. After the Pandas, we go to Le-Shan, where the tallest sitting Buddha in the world is. I’m not a big fan of giant Buddha’s. I’m still trying to figure out how to interact with giant tourist attractions that have to do with idolatry. But as far as Le-Shan is concerned, I really really like the place. It is a middle sized city [meaning, large by our standards but small by China standards], and not being an important center for commerce, has almost no foreigners in it. It seems to be occupied predominantly by poor to middle-class/regular Chinese people. It looks kind of tropical, and there are people selling fruits and veggies in allies along the streets. The city looks like it has a lot of character. I could probably live there, or teach. Anyway, the city looks like a place worth coming back to.

Some guy machining ma-zhang pieces

We take a bus back to Cheng Du. The bus ride is long, and the closer we get to Cheng Du, the more it seems like we might miss the train. We get to Cheng Du and grab a Taxi driver. We manage to communicate that we are going to miss the train if we don’t hurry, but need to stop by the Mix first. The driver is amazing, and pulls all sorts of stunts. It doesn’t look like we’re gonna make it, but… he gets us there just in time. We tip him good, and get on our train. We are taking a “hard sleeper.” A hard-sleeper is where you get to sleep in a room on the train. There are six bunks (3 on each wall) in a small room. We all get to be in the same room for the first night, and have a lot of fun. In fact, the sleeper totally rocks. I’m glad I don’t have to climb all the way to the top of the room to sleep, but there is the possibility that someone might step on my face. I eventually get to sleep.

[several days left, more posts to come.]