Oh, By the Way, I made it back to America

I've got some 'splaining to do.
(This may be a really long post.)

I pretty much dropped off the map after last December and for several reasons. First, my final exams for the semester were coming up and I was getting more and more serious about studying. I had a ton of stuff to read and not enough time to prepare. Second, I was reaching a point of no return with my studies; I expected to receive less than the amount of credit I wanted for that semester, so I had to decide between staying and risking another slow semester or returning to the U.S. and focusing on graduating in time. I chose the latter option and have been back in the U.S. now for almost eight months. And finally, last semester and this summer had me mired in schoolwork... I basically had to "make up for lost time" while chillin' in Shanghai.

Anyway, now I'm back and comfortably settled at my American university, where I still have a semester and a half to complete before graduation. So... why am I revisiting this blog? (Here's the exciting part...)

I'm leaving the country again!

One thing I've grown to understand better and better as I progress through college is that I will die/lose my sanity if I become a corporate slave/government drone as soon as I graduate. Who wants to do that when they're 21?

Not this guy. So I've decided that I'm going abroad to work for a year.

My destination? Korea.

"But Zhen Ning!" you cry, "You're a sinophile! A Confucius, nay, a ZHUANGZI wannabe! A hard-boiled egg! 半个中国通! Why would you go anywhere except China??!"

While I can't disagree with any of those accusations, it's simple: I just want a change of scenery. Here are the major reasons I want to go to Korea, in order of importance:

1. Korea is not part of China. (Despite what the Chinese would have you believe.)
2. Korean is a language critical to national security and business that doesn't have many speakers.
3. Korea is like having your Japanese consumerism cake and eating it, too.
4. Korean food is really spicy, and pretty delicious.
5. There's tons of history to see of the kind that was destroyed in China during the (real) Cultural Revolution.
   

That third one refers to the hyperconsumerist culture of Korea (and Japan) without (or maybe just with less of) the hive mentality and passive aggression of the Japanese, important to me because I think that kind of culture is fascinating and because I've had to live in close, confined spaces with Japanese people (a large minority of my Fudan dorm were Japanese, as well as many of my friends).

So how am I going to survive in Korea? Well，since Korea has a lot of white people and a much smaller population than China, I won't get nearly as many brownie points (or beers) simply because of my ethnicity. No, in Korea I will have to work for a living, but with my dashing good looks and natural talent, I'll soon be making MILLIONS of Korean won per year!

What talent, you ask? Why, speaking English, of course! (A million won is about 900 US dollars.) Though I've never had a burning desire to teach English, it looks like my only meal ticket in Korea. But hey, it'll be fun, and I'll definitely learn a thing or two in the process (besides soju drinking games). More updates soon! (a.k.a. within the next six months)

안영!

真甯

My Meeting with the North Korean Ambassador

My university is installing a new chancellor. The official ceremony is today, and I may or may not go, but for me, the most exciting part already happened. The reason I’m mentioning any of this is that the new chancellor spent a significant amount of time in Korea, and made several friends from both the North and the South. At least one of his friends has risen to a position of authority; he is now the North Korean ambassador to the United Nations. Since I’m a student of International Relations, I was chosen as one of the few allowed to meet with him.
Ambassador Han Song-ryol, or “Ambassador Han” as we were instructed to call him, is the closest thing the United States has to an official representative from North Korea. This man is a representative of a nation that is still openly at war with the United States, and so he was understandably tight-lipped and diplomatic when it came to answering questions. I also heard that he’s generally not allowed to travel more than 25 miles from the U.N. building, but got a special waver to come to our school, and is also prohibited from speaking or commenting in front of group larger than 40 people. With so many restrictions I can’t imagine the job feels very worthwhile (though I’m sure he wasn’t given much choice).

Now, my actual impressions of the meeting. In attedance were Ambassador Han, Counselor Pak, an aide, and the (American) CEO of some multinational, infrastructure-building NGO, as well as a two professors and fourteen students (including me). As is usual for a college setting, the beginning of the conversation was all about thanking people for their time, exchanging empty invitations, etc. When we finally got to the actual discussion, I have to say I was slightly disappointed but not surprised. The CEO did most of the talking, as the ambassador’s English was a bit labored, and kept the conversation focused on his NGO. Nobody (myself included) was really comfortable with asking anything political or economic in nature, but finally one guy mustered up the courage and asked about progress in the construction of the Ryugong Hotel. Ambassador Han handled the question well and gave a straightforward answer explaining the situation. Since I was meeting with an ambassador, everything I heard was very glib and diplomatic; the only slightly edgy implication was that US-DPRK trade is impossible because of UN sanctions, which I would agree with.

Anyway, it was really neat to meet this guy! I wanted to get a picture, but unfortunately it wasn’t allowed. Maybe next time we’ll get someone from China over here!

甯