Beijing, China - It's SMOG-o-rrific!

Well, Just a week after National day things here in Beijing have returned to normal.

What do I mean?

You know the song by the Eurythmics...Here come's the rain again? Just imagine that song with slightly different lyrics. Yes, replace 'rain' with the word 'smog' and you will have an idea of what it is like here in Beijing...after the holiday:


On Tuesday I looked outside the window and noticed that there was a distant haze. I had already been spoiled! Fresh Air, clear sky!

Sobered, I wondered how long it would take for the city to be engulfed in the approaching darkness.

This morning I awoke to find that, unlike a thief in the night time, smog had stolen the sun and didn't even attempt to hide it's presence.

I suppose it is something like awaking and having a burglar staring you in the face - laughing - as they casually walk out with the TV. Watching, putting up no fight...only thinking: that van lingering outside was suspicious!

Okay, perhaps it isn't that dramatic. But, only sort of.

I sure hope the weather makers that cleared things up for the holidays (that is the rumor going around campus) give us a few days of clear-sky again...

Otherwise: Hainan, here I come!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Twitter Experiment - Bringing Twitter to the Classroom at UT Dallas

UT Dallas History Professor Dr. Monica Rankin, @monicarankin, wanted to know how she could reach and include more students in the class discussion. She had heard of Twitter... The following is a short video describing her " Twitter Experiment " in the classroom with comments from students about the pros and cons of Twitter in a traditional learning environment. I am Graduate student at UT Dallas pursuing a Masters in Emerging Media and Communication (EMAC) and collaborated with Dr. Rankin to see how Twitter might be used in her US History 2 class. This experiment was both exciting and a bit daunting... The video is one of my projects for a digital video class with Dean Terry, @therefore, and part of a class project in my content creation and collaboration class with Dan Langendorf, @dlangendorf. http://emac.utdallas.edu @kesmit3
Read more

Tribute to Patricia A. Porter - 2009 Obelisk award

This video is a tribute to the life-long contributions of Patricia A. Porter to the Dallas art and business community. Her contribution to the Dallas arts community is immeasurable and this video contains interviews with friends, family and colleagues that help give an idea of Pat's unique presence and contributions. The video was made by two UT Dallas graduate students, Kim Smith and Joe Chuang, at the request of NTBCA's Ray Jordan and Christie Gard to be shown at the 2009 Obelisk Awards Banquet. San Santiago of American Airlines, Narrator. Thanks to everyone who contributed and Thank you so much, Pat - for all of your contributions!
Read more

Driving in China... random video 3

Lanes? We don't need no stinking LANES!!! One of the most difficult adjustments for Westerners in China is the beautiful chaos that is traffic. :) Here are two videos that give you a glimpse... (upload in progress) This first short video shows my taxi driver in Chengdu driving down the left side of a major road...in fact THE major road in Chengdu. The entire drive to the airport was some form of creative driving acrobatics, which you will get a taste of in this video... The second video is a typical Beijing moment in traffic...
Read more