Getting Organized

Recently I’ve been spending a lot of my free time preparing for China. No, not in a directly useful way, like packing or applying for a visa (don’t worry, I’m getting on those…). [Edit: Visa application is now in the mail!] Instead, I’ve been discovering a lot of internet and electronic applications that will hopefully enhance my time in China. Since I don’t really have much else to write about at the moment, and these ideas may possibly be of interest to current or future Light Fellows/travelers to China, here they are, in no particular order. (Also note – I don’t really have any concept of which of these tools will work in China. If anyone reading this from China knows, let me know!)

www.rememberthemilk.com - This is a website that allows you to create to-do lists. You can sort, tag, and prioritize tasks. Besides being a useful tool for making life more organized in general (something I could definitely use), I think this website will be extremely helpful to me both in the process of getting ready for China, and once I am living there. I’ve never packed a year’s worth of belongings into a couple suitcases before, and I think it’s going to be a pretty daunting task, so I’ve got a running list of things I’ll need to pack (and buy), as well as a list of things to take care of before I leave. With only about ten days at home in August before I leave, I’m hoping this website will help remove stress from the process and give me as much free time as possible to relax and visit with people before leaving. I’ve also got lists for ideas of things I want to do and people I want to meet up with while in China, and I’m sure I’ll use it to keep track of coursework once IUP starts. Let’s hope this website is not blocked! (Or that Yale VPN does its job.)

New York Times China Page - I like to read China-related news articles with some frequency. So far, the New York Times China page has been my favorite source, as I think it provides a nice balance between larger news stories about Chinese political events and economic trends, and interesting smaller-scale stories about individuals or particular social and cultural phenomena. If anyone has any recommendations for other sources of Chinese news, please share!

iPod applications – For five dollars, I just updated my first generation iPod touch to iOS 3, an operating system which allows it to run many of the same apps available for iPhone. Browsing through the iPhone application store, there are tons of free or inexpensive applications that will be will likely prove extremely useful next year. Most notably, there are lots of free Chinese-English dictionaries. Some even allow the user to search for a character by drawing it, though I have not found this particular functionality for free yet. The free dictionary I like the best is Pleco, though I’m sure there are many other great ones. All of these dictionaries work offline. I think Pleco will prove invaluable. Other potentially useful or fun China-related apps I’ve found include maps of Chinese cities and subway systems, guide books (Lonely Planet has a Beijing one for $5 or $6 which I’m considering, as it would greatly lighten my load on outings), and even an app which allows the user to download unlimited Chinese music for free (拉手音乐), although that app is entirely in Chinese. Again, further suggestions welcome!

www.renren.com - 人人网 is basically the Chinese equivalent of facebook. I made an account for myself (瑞秀晴 – add me!) so that I’ll have a way to keep track of and stay in touch with my Chinese acquaintances next year. Even if you’re only doing a summer program, most of your teachers will probably have a 人人 account, if they’re not already on facebook.

…Kindle? – I’ve been considering putting some of my summer earnings towards purchasing a Kindle or other eReader for next year. I don’t particularly savor the idea of lugging a ton of books with me to China, nor do I want to pay through the roof for English language books at some specialty store in Beijing. (Of course, an eReader is more expensive, but it has worthy long-term attributes…) A Kindle or other eReader would give me the ability to easily access almost any book I could want to next year (a kind of substitute for Sterling Memorial? …maybe not quite), including electronic math or computer science textbooks, so I don’t forget everything I’ve learned in my major thus far. And without the normal Yale academic courseload, I might have time to tackle some of the larger classics that I hope to read in my life. This would be a great use, since there is no way I am stuffing a paper copy of War and Peace into my suitcase. [I must give credit for this eReader idea to my Chinese history professor, Valerie Hansen. While we’re on the subject, I strongly recommend her fall course HIST 315, History of Traditional China to 1600.]

These are all the things I can think of at the moment. I’ll update if I remember any others later.
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