Zai jian!

Our last few days in Beijing were spent finishing up buying presents and visiting a few attractions like the Capital Museum. On August 1st, my international internet access got cut off (though interestingly Zach's was unaffected). At Peking University, access to websites out of China costs extra, so many students choose not to gain that access, but the UMPKU program had paid for our subscription for 3 months. Sometimes at the lab, this lack of internet became an annoyance if journal articles like Nature were hosted outside of China so we couldn't read them.

Our presentations on July 31 were unaffected by the lack of internet, but we were forced to attend the session via webcam. However, 10 pm in Beijing was probably peak internet usage time, so in the middle of my presentation, I was cut off and though the audience in Michigan could see me, I could not see them, which was slightly nerve-wracking. I also doubt they could hear me since Dr. Coppola had said the sound transmission was really bad. On our side in Beijing, we couldn't hear any of the presenters, and at certain points couldn't even see them. We did, however, get to go through the Powerpoint presentations that had been sent earlier and saw some of the work that other students completed, and overall the presentation session was probably the best that could be expected since the sound quality was much better during Zach and Melody's presentations.

The original plan had been to have a conference call, which would have been nicer, but due to the Olympics we had been unable to get a room on campus and bring in the necessary equipment. I'm not sure what the plan for the conference call had been, especially at 10 pm, but it probably would have been beneficial to present within the Beijing group while in Beijing, to our professors, graduate students, and other members of the UMPKU program, much like the professors had presented earlier in the summer.

So now, after a really hectic day, I am finally in Thailand and enjoying the family and food (only some of it spicy). We left Wanliu close to 5 am, and I was dropped off first at the new terminal in the airport, terminal 3 where Thai Airways is located, while everyone else went to terminal 2 for Northwest Airlines. When I got to the airport, I was told that the flight had been cancelled 4-5 days ago. The news really surprised me, as well as another passenger who told me that he'd called to confirm only 3 days ago and everything was still set. I called Julia to let her know what had happened, so she and Marko who had come to the airport to send us off despite staying in China later, came back to the airport. I had been really confused as the group of passengers on the cancelled flight were shuffled from one airline to another, but once Julia came, the Chinese speaking really helped everything get sorted out a lot faster. Finally, I was placed on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong that left earlier than I had planned, so I had to race through the terminal and security. Though it was a hassle going through multiple security and passport checks, it was all pretty efficient. At the x-ray scan one of the officials took my passport for no apparent reason since they didn't even want to open my bag, and returned with it a few minutes later saying everything was fine. From Hong Kong, I caught a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok, and everything worked out well.

Things I will miss about Beijing and this summer:

1. People - everyone in the program, my lab members, people at the Joint Institute
2. Lab - where else can I work with dangerous chemicals and create new molecules?
3. Food - the variety available in the dining halls, especially those specializing in noodles, bao zi, and jiao zi
4. Public transportation - buses and subways go everywhere and cost very little
5. Being able to walk or run outside late at night and feel perfectly safe

As much as I love being home, I will truly miss Beijing and this summer. If I have the opportunity, I would definitely participate in an international REU again because in addition to the research, I was able to learn so much more about Chinese culture and language than I could have in any other way. Much of our travel was limited to the city and the usual tourist attractions; it would have been really interesting to learn about rural life as well. Though it has only been a couple of days since I left Beijing, I am already hoping to visit again in the future.

Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments - I would love talking in more detail about this trip! I remember reading through the blogs of the people who went on this trip last year (it's not really that creepy; we all did it), and it was really helpful to know about their experiences before going to China.