Study Abroad Programs Blog

Tibet and Beijing

By Alexa Boyce As of July first, 2006, Tibet and Beijing are directly connected by train. The train begins its 4,060 km trip at the Beijing West station at 9:30 p.m. and finishes the 47 1/2 hour trip in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet at 8:58 p.m. on Monday. Chinese President Hu Jintao attended a launching ceremony in Golmud for the landmark Qinghai-Tibet Railway. This is the first time that Tibet will be linked with the rest of China by rail. China has big plans for Tibet. The central government has already poured some $5 billion into everything from highways and power plants to sports stadiums in the region, and it expects to invest an additional $10 billion by 2007. The Chinese plan on dusting off this out of the way province and including it with the industrialization of the rest of China. Tibet is a wonderful place to travel, if a little backwoods. With an average elevation of 4,900 meters, it is often referred to as 'The Roof of the World'. It's English name is derived from the Turkic word Toban meaning ‘The Heights'. It is here that you can visit (or climb!) the infamous Mount Chomolangma, or Mount Everest in English, and many other breathtaking peaks dotted with charming villages and Buddhist monasteries. Lhasa is Tibet's traditional capital and the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. Other cities in Historic Tibet include, in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), Shigatse (Gzhis-ka-rtse), Gyantse (Rgyal-rtse), Chamdo (Chab-mdo), Nagchu, Nyingchi (Nying-khri), Nedong (Sne-gdong), Barkam ('Bar-khams), Sakya (Sa-skya), Gartse (Dkar-mdzes), Pelbar (Dpal-'bar), and Tingri (Ding-ri); in Sichuan, Dartsendo (Dar-btsen-mdo); in Qinghai, Kyegundo (Skye-rgu-mdo) or Yushu (Yul-shul), Machen (Rma-chen), Lhatse (Lhar-tse), and Golmud (Na-gor-mo).

Acupuncture

By Alexa Boyce Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that seeks to alleviate illness by inserting and manipulating needles into 'acupuncture points' on the body. This system stirs controversy over its efficacy in modern medicine, but it has been widely used throughout Asia for at least the last 5,000 years. Some scholars believe that Chinese acupuncture has been in use since the 1st millennium B.C. Perhaps acupuncture has derived from traditional bloodletting as a form of medicine. The specific points and what they are used to treat varies, though this practice was regulated under Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution. This is known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Those acupuncturists who did not follow TCM because they used techniques passed through families or from master to apprentice were outlawed. Many of them emigrated to the United States, bringing with them the West's first taste of traditional Chinese medicine. The basic concept is that illness is a disruption in the homeostasis of "systems of function" in the body. These systems are often associated with, but not directly related to a specific organ. The belief is that this homeostasis can be restored by modifying the activities of the systems through needles, pressure and heat. Acupuncture is called 'pseudoscience' by some, as the points used can vary, and often cannot be completely reconciled with current biomedical knowledge. Diagnoses in TCM are made by taking the left and right radial pulses at three levels of imposed pressure and analysis of the tongue coating, color and the absence or presence of teeth marks around the edge. Other forms of acupuncture employ additional diagnosic techniques. In many forms of classical Chinese acupuncture, as well as Japanese acupuncture, palpation of the muscles and the hara (abdomen) are central to diagnosis.

High Maintenance

By Lawrence Selby - Guest blogger traveling in Montevideo. I've settled into an evening ritual with my host parents. When I'm not out during the evening, we all watch television together. At 8 pm, we watch the news and at 9 pm there's an Argentinean soap opera on. Then, twice a week at 10 pm, there's another Argentinean program that we watch which is a sort of dance version of American idol. I still don't understand most of what people are saying but I'm able to pick out a lot of words and phrases now. It's like I can feel the gears grinding in my head when I recognize a lot of familiar words being thrown together rapidly. Sometimes when I think about it seems comical to me, especially since I'm a TV snob and would never watch these types of programs back home. The picture of the three of us sitting there together and laughing at a silly Spanish soap opera is funny. Meanwhile, most of the time I'm not sure that I even understand what I'm laughing about. We have coffee sometimes, and Sr. Ortega teaches me malas palabras (dirty words). It's a different sort of bonding experience. Daphna had suggested that I watch the news to help "train my ear" to better understand people speaking at a more normal conversational pace. In a previous job, I had friends from Italy that used to watch "Friends" during the evenings to help improve their English. Sometimes during lunch, they would surprise me with questions about English that I wasn't expecting. One time my friend Enrico asked me to explain what the term "High Maintenance" meant. I was so impressed because earlier in the year we had been doing words like ¨fork¨ and "tray". After I explained it to him as best I could, he then wanted to know if the term applied to both men and women! I thought about it for a bit and then told him, "No, Enrico. Only women are high maintenance!" Anyway, this gives me a sort of benchmark to aim for. When I can understand terms like "high maintenance" in Spanish, I'll know that I've finally arrived.