Matt Cavin's Blog

New York Times - Documenting the Decade

2010-07-26T22:56:00.008-05:00

I was honored to see that the New York Times had selected one of my photographs from China for its Documenting the Decade feature - one of 885 photographs selected to exhibit the 2000-2009 decade.

Tibetan Railway Workers, Documenting the Decade, New York Times

November, 2006: Qinghai-Tibet Railway

The Demographic Context of Servant Leadership

2009-10-08T00:10:00.001-05:00

The following paper will be presented on October 20, 2009 at the annual conference of the International Academy of Business and Economics in Las Vegas. It will be published in the 2009 Journal of the Academy of Business and Economics.

The Demographic Context of Servant Leadership

Inauguration Day

2009-01-24T17:15:00.011-06:00

We spent most of Inauguration Day fighting the crowds in D.C., running between medic tents. At some times, we were really close to the White House and the Capitol Building (in the Blue-ticketed area), but didn't have the chance to stop and snap photos.

Here are a few photos from that day:

In the Silver Ticketed Area (9am)

Looking at the Blue ticketed area (9am)...

Looking back at the crowd in the open area along the mall (9am)

A First Aid tent along the parade route.

The Parade Route at Pennslyvania and 11th.

President Obama and Michelle along the Parade Route.

Flags on the parade route.

Clock tower along the parade route.

A Military band on the parade.

Matt, Steve, and Andrea at the parade.

The Old Post Office.

The Vice President and his wife.

The Parade.

We Are One Concert (January 18)

2009-01-21T07:22:00.010-06:00

We came to DC to help with the first aid tents scattered throughout the Disctrict. On Sunday, we ended up at 8 medical aid stations on the Mall, down to the Lincoln Memorial, for the We Are One Concert.

This We Are One concert drew 400,000 attendees inside the gates, in addition to an estimated 500,000 at the Washington Monument (to watch from afar). We made it inside the gates to check on the aid tents, and we stayed for the concert....

Aside from the regrattable circumstance which not only excluded Bp. Gene Robinson's invocation from the HBO broadcast, but also in strange coincidence reduced the loudspeaker volume significantly during the same invocation, the concert was inspiring even for those who may not be Obama-maniacs, so to speak.

The following are some pictures that I snapped during the event:

The Lincoln Memorial, before the concert.

The crowd at the Reflecting Pool...

The crowd that couldn't get in through the gates. They stood at the Washington Monument to watch the Lincoln Center concert.

The crowd at the Washington Monument....

View from the Washington Monument

We Are One concert stage

Looking back at the crowd during the concert...

Funny Signs in DC

2009-01-21T07:15:00.003-06:00

While in Washington DC during the inauguration, we found two interesting signs. They are pictured below:

Call these numbers to procure a hitman or a hacker....

This sign was spray-painted over within 24 hours!

Here's a toast to enthusiastic insurance agents...

Paper to be Published in the 2008 Review of Business Research

2008-07-30T11:40:00.009-05:00

This paper was published by the International Academy of Business and Economics, in the 2008 Review of Business Research.

Read this Document on Scribd (larger format): Fundamental Moral Orientations, Servant Leadership, and Leadership Effectiveness

Fundamental Moral Orientations, Servant Leadership, and Leadership Effectiveness - Upload a Document to Scribd

Photos

2008-06-08T02:20:00.003-05:00

Tibet on Fire - Beware the Ides of March

2008-03-14T17:07:00.011-05:00

Jokhang Temple Square, 11/2006

Ten months ago, standing at Jokhang temple, I lamented the presence of Chinese guards in the streets of Lasa. This morning’s news caught me sideways - but I was not surprised.

Oppression is in the eyes of the beholder. Even today, Chinese bloggers are asking how the Tibetans could rise up against the Chinese, who gave them so much, who made Lasa the “developed” place that it is today. (See Chinese Blogs, Translated: 1) But the Tibetans, long occupied by their alleged “liberators” from Japanese rule, no doubt see things differently.

Those familiar with Tibetan history need not be reminded of ways China has clamped down on this vast region. The Qinghai-Tibet railway is promoted throughout mainland china as the premier connecting link; the Freedom Highway marks the next stage of Chinese investment in the region; and the placement of the Olympic Torch at the peak of Everest is a new straw on the back of a weary camel. But the human rights record far exceeds the political oppression. The flagrant violations of the CCP against the Tibetan people rang vibrantly throughout the world when a YouTube video from climbers showed CCP snipers executing pilgrims in the Himalayas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLN4KWxqZ-0).

The Tibetan monks who rose up today may or may not be acting as agents of the Living Buddha. The CCP will be quick to assert that religious fervor is indeed a barrior to a harmonious society.
Buddhism is the farthest thing from violent. A story in the Buddhist scriptures tells of a conflict between two clans over water rights, where one (the Sakyans, the clan of the Buddha) stood in battle facing the Kolyans, a rival tribe. Just as the two were about to lift up arms, the Buddha arrived to settle the conflict and remind them that human life was more valuable than water rights. (Majjhima Nikaya, Sallekha Sutta No. 8).
But these Monks may not be acting as Buddhists would or should. They are acting as educated Tibetans, who value nationalism and cultural identity, and who have seen their sacred city chipped away by the Chinese and global capitalism. They are acting as representatives of an oppressed people, who have moved far into the countryside to escape the rule of China. And although some in China will recall the old saying, "the emporer is indeed very powerful, but he is also very far away," the Tibetans have no such luxury.
We are dealing with a twofold dynamic. The first is the clear human rights abuse by the Chinese government, to which the Monks are no doubt reacting. The inner peace which these monks so fervently seek is consistently and categorically dislocated by a tyrannical external force in the Chinese government.

But the secondary, latent dynamic is one of express globalization and international presence. In a land so isolated from the world, so primitive in its practice and so comfortable with its way of life, the influx of banks and cell phone companies (let alone Chinese noodle shops) will leave people wondering where all the yak sellers went. In this globalized dynamic, the Chinese are merely the agents of change, the messengers of globalization who bring the life-altering news of change to the Tibetan countryside. Human rights violations aside, the Tibetan people will soon realize that they must accept this new pace of change, accelerated by the presence of their Han neighbors.

Nevertheless, we turn back to a more fundamental issue: a humane approach to development, a healthy respect for individual humanity over collective control, and an ability to live without fear of imprisonment or execution. Until the Tibetan people are able to practice a healthy dose if freedom and individuality over their collectivist occupiers, they will be hard pressed to overcome the newfound capitalism which has so rapidly invaded their capital city.

My Pictures of Jokhang Temple Square (November 2006)

Sera Monestary (Allegedly Burned)

For Want of a Pumpkin Spice Latte...

2007-10-15T12:42:00.001-05:00

“The visible dynamic of globalization is economic integration while the invisible one is the integration of values, the integration of democratic and global values.”
Yu Keping, Director, China Center for Comparative Politics and Economics, Beijing University.

Hangzhou’s western business have been getting on my nerves lately. By that, of course, I mean that globalization has gotten the best of Hangzhou; indeed, the best of China.

People like to talk about how multinational companies adapt to suit different cultures, like how McDonalds serves more chicken in China because chicken is a staple food. Thomas Friedman talks about “glocalization,” or global localization, where a culture absorbs foreign ideas and melds them with its own traditions. A scholar named Arif Dirlik says that capitalist modernity has had to “interiorize cultural difference” as a part of its “constitution.”

Nice thought, Tom. Good talk, Arif. I just had a Pumpkin Spice latte at Starbucks.

“The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere… In one word, it creates a world after its own image.”
Karl Marx and Frederich Engels, The Communist Manefesto.

Today, I woke up and went to Starbucks (Xing Ba Ke) for breakfast. After a morning teaching English at liu gong ren, I then walked to Paradise (a western restaurant by the Hyatt) for a hamburger lunch. Spending the afternoon seeing sites around town, I met some friends at a Dairy Queen for ice cream. Dinner consisted of niu rho mian, or beef noodles, which was my only culturally-appropriate ingestion on the day. Later in the evening, some other friends asked if I wanted to join them at Haagen-Dazs; I declined the offer – I’d already had ice cream. I guess tomorrow I’ll visit some other American staples: maybe TCBY, KFC, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, or McDonalds. Maybe I’ll buy something at the Nike or Adidas stores; or, if I’m feeling wealthy, I’ll ride over to Armani, Versace, or Louis Vuitton. Maybe I'll buy a Porsche or a Maserati at the nearby dealership. Thirsty? Have a Coke, or a Sprite, or a Nestea. How about a Fresca? Click on the above picture at the Starbucks and you will see a Haagen-Dazs to the left and a Ferrari Factory Store across the street.

On Thursday, we’ll leave for Beijing. On Friday, we’ll climb the Great Wall. And on Saturday, I’ll wear my new T-shirt: “I climbed the Great Wall of China.” I suspect we’ll all buy coffee at the Starbucks inside the Forbidden City. INSIDE THE FORBIDDEN CITY!

How sad is this? What kind of cultural experience is this? Where are the Chinese consumer companies, the agricultural centers, the real stores and shops that real people patronize? Maybe I just don’t know where to find them; in fact, it’s very likely that I just don’t know where to find them. Sure, the noodle shops, the bike repairmen, the cigarrette stores, the laundry dry-cleaners; they're all here. But damned if everybody in this town doesn’t know that there are 6 Starbucks, and can’t give precise directions to each of them.

This entry is not intended to serve as an unadulterated rant against all things capitalist, and it is not to imply that my time in China has set me on course with Chairman Mao. It is, rather, to say this: these companies are not adapting themselves to suit the values of the context. They are moving in, setting up shop, and proceeding to transform the popular definition of what is acceptable in the community. Because of these companies, people’s orientations are recast to include, and even to place priority on, the new businesses and their attendant products. Ultimately, then, people allow the business to become acceptable within their current values systems, and consistent with their views of what is right with the world. Starbucks didn’t change one bit when it came here. It dropped in, and people watched as successful (read: wealthy) westerners patronized the shop. And people mimicked. So here I am, in China, where you can buy a full breakfast for 40 cents and tea is part of the cultural heritage, and people are perfectly comfortable paying $3.50 for their pumpkin spice lattes. Good luck finding traditional green tea at Xing Ba Ke.

Frustratingly, I realize that this is much more a display of my own lack of discipline than it is an account of westernization in China. When I go out, I am drawn towards the convenience and comfort of these familiar things; and I’m now irritated that they’re here for me to patronize. I’m discouraged by my own inability to expand my comfort zone when the choice is present – or to know where to look to find an option. And I exact that frustration on the booming industry of western restaurants and products in Hangzhou. Over the next few weeks, I will be intentional about avoiding these places to a reasonable extent – they’re the last thing that I will want to remember from my time here.

Nevertheless, the conversation about globalization is still a very real one – and it’s not just me that is focused on these western establishments. The entire place seems to now be oriented this way – particularly among young people. Scholar Walden Bello talks about attempting to “re-embed” the economy into society, rather than letting the economy drive the society, so that culture and values will take precedent to business and profits. Smart guy. He looks to find a way to allow cultures to develop while still preserving their own unique rhythms, values, and strategies. Good luck.

Ultimately, though, I realize that a $3.50 latte will not dramatically affect the traditional values systems and designations in China. People will still care for and honor the elderly, look out for one another as they conduct themselves, and seek success in cooperation with each other. People will still live with their grandparents, respect those who work hard and study hard, and for the most part they will live as frugally as is socially acceptable. Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore) focuses on social values in "the family, the extended family, the clan, [which] has provided a kind of survival raft for the individual," no matter economic or political change, over thousands of years. Also a smart guy (a dictator, sure, but a smart one). Joseph Schumpeter wisely noted that “social structures, types and attitudes are coins that do not readily melt.” Go figure, another smart guy. Values and established cultures are firm but malleable, requiring great heat and pressure for change, and they do not easily change by a few years of influence from a few multinational corporations – even Starbucks.

So what difference does my pumpkin spice latte make? Honestly, not much. But if our spending reflects our priorities, and the Chinese people are willing to pay 9x what they spend for breakfast on a drink flavored by a vegetable they likely couldn't pick out of a lineup, then they sure have some interesting priorities. And so do we, by the way. How much do I pay for coffee? And what's a vanilla leaf look like?

Ultimately, we realize that it's the small things that amalgamate to effect gradual, but hugely transformative, change. So my latte doesn't matter. But 1.29 billion lattes?

"For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost.” That Ben Franklin – he really was a smart guy.

My Professor is a Winner....

2007-10-06T16:25:00.001-05:00

I sent the following email to the class the other day:

MGT 440 class:

Tomorrow, Tuesday (10/2), from 9:00-10:30am, in the VUCA, Governor MitchDaniels (IN) will be visiting campus specifically to have informalconversation with VU students. I've been told
that there will be roughly100-200 (ish) students at this event. I'd like to invite anyone in this MGT-440 class to attend this event - it may be interesting and helpful as weconsider leadership styles in practice.

The Governor's office expressed specific interest in students who have aninterest in international relations and/or public policy & service fields.This time is specifically for informal questions & answers by and among VUstudents and Governor Daniels.

This event is closed (private) to community members; attendance is limited to VU attendees, and the event is open to all VU students. You are welcometo invite other students to join you for this event. However, no outsidepress will be invited, and I ask that you refrain from disseminating thisinformation to outside sources and/or community members.Feel free to just
show up!

Hope to see you there. Let me know if you have questions....

Cheers,
Matt Cavin

The professor sent an email to the class today, reading:

Dear Class, on Monday, October 8, Matt Cavin will be attending our MGT 440B class (and is going to do something radical, for him, by actually arriving on time for once). This event is closed (private) to community members; attendance is limited to VU attendees, and the event is open to all VU students. You are welcometo invite other students to join you for this event. However,
no outside press will be invited, and I ask that you refrain from disseminating this information to outside sources and/or community members -- cross-cultural management is a very, very important subject and, as the good book says, we don't want to "cast our pearls before swine" by wasting it on and including the local red neck peasants. All the best, JMS

A Challenge for All Seasons

2007-09-11T13:09:00.001-05:00

I'm always up for a challenge.

And the return to academia has done just that. It's not that I'm disinterested, or unable to complete work, or plagued by any of the factors that so frequently overwhelm Undergraduate Seniors and those who return from professional settings. No, the pace and structure of the experience is not only manageable; it's rather easy.

But there's no day to day excitement, no push for information and resolution by 5pm close. I start off my days knowing exactly what is going to happen, and I loathe that feeling. It was such an engaging challenge to show up to work each morning and jump on board with each hour's hot new development. And my current state of relatively drab coursework and classroom experience is subverting all energy and excitement that I would have otherwise held.

Yet, I am lucky. I have substantive outlets for my engagement. A good friend once told me that whereas many students go to institutions to be challenged intellectually, Valpo's utter lack of response to my attempts for scholastic engagement has forced me to seek intellectual stimulus by effectively managing inordinately complex time schedules and interpersonal networks, both interior and exterior to university life. This year, I can challenge myself with the dynamics of the Student Senate, about how to combat a popular apathy that I too confess to exhibit, about how to engage and empower students towards targeted advocacy for issues that they own. At Valpo's Advancement office, I can draw themes out of alumni feedback sessions to shape university and alumni branding, and analyze giving statistics to target development work. I can keep writing for publishers. I can keep applying for jobs. I can keep blogging and reading and leading groups that (unfortunately) have little if anything to do with my university experience. These are things about which I am excited. And they are not coursework.

Call it senioritis, if you like. But I don't think this label is very apt. This is not mere boredom with scholastic content. No, this experience is symptomatic of an academic culture which promotes rote, task-based learning rather than engaged, critical inquiry. That's why I'm approaching my third independent study project in as many years. And while Mark Twain may remind us that we should "never let school get in the way of [our] education," isn't it odd that business students, who claim to harbor entrepreneurial zeal and love organizational dynamics, are flaccid in their energies for business education?

Maybe that's what this is all about.

Could it be a sort of simplistic reverse psychology? Do schools make their business students loathe their coursework in order to prompt students to go out and do exactly that which the school is attempting to train them to do? It might work. But it definitely comes at a cost, and it seems... utterly absurd.

And so it goes. I need a new challenge to engage myself. Now I have the challenge of finding substantive employment for the spring. And for the time being, the thrill of this hunt will enliven the vapid monotony of academic programs that, in title and face, appear to have such remarkable potential.

BusinessWeek Article

2007-08-20T12:27:00.001-05:00

Some cool press as of late (not that I'm keeping track or anything... I'll check my ego inflation at the door, after this entry):

BusinessWeek Article by Steve Hamm: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_34/b4047417.htm?chan=search

Kemper Foundation:
http://www.jskemper.org/news.php?id=26
http://www.jskemper.org/news.php?id=22

Valpo Press Releases:
http://www.valpo.edu/news/index.php?action=display&newsid=3145&sy=2007
http://www.valpo.edu/news/index.php?action=display&newsid=3118&sy=2007
http://www.valpo.edu/valpomag/2007summer/alumni/campaign.php
http://www.valpo.edu/news/index.php?action=display&newsid=2572
http://www.valpo.edu/news/index.php?action=display&newsid=1760&sy=2004

Northwest Indiana Times:
http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2007/08/20/news/porter_county/doce6270741dca566e98625733d000067b8.txt

Indiana Post-Tribune:
http://www.post-trib.com/517044,online.article

Various Blog Citings:
http://ictcenter.blogspot.com/2007/08/business-week-keeping-jobs-onshore.html

Gordon Snyder, blog author and professor at Springfield Technical Community College, read my Pumpkin Spice Latte article and said, "Your post at http://mattcavin.blogspot.com/2006/09/for-want-of-pumpkin-spice-latte.html will be required reading for my students this fall." Excellent...

Lastly, and most importantly, I received the following message via facebook:
"Are you the guy from the BusinessWeek article? If so, I think you're hot."

My week has been OK, I guess.

Cheers.

On Today's Church

2007-06-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

I view religion and faith as a good thing. But I have a particular fondness for Jesus.

Religion is turning into one of those questions that is just too complex to answer. Comparable to those vexing and troublesome standardized questions about race, the modern generation is viewing religious designation with increasing skepticism – and we are progressively disinclined to answer the question. When someone asks me about my religious category, I opt for the abrupt and sarcastic: “I kind of like Jesus; he had some good things to say, and he did some good stuff - but who’s asking?”

Our parents, seemingly all too willing to subscribe to convoluted and institutionalized systems of belief, have left us jaded by the proliferation of categories and subcategories. No longer do young people object to the once short list of available religious categories; now, we reject the fundamental notion of a categorization system. We don’t reject the terms of religious definition; we reject the basic concept of categorizing ourselves altogether.

Because religion is no longer the system of belief and theology that it once was. At one time, the tenets of the faith were so engrained in popular culture that onlookers could distinguish between practices on the basis of belief. The very identity of each denomination was founded on a unique premise of theological character. And church bodies relied on their beliefs in popular society, where they served as demarcations, as theological branding, by which consumers could locate and patronize a product with which they identified theologically.

But the theological understanding has been lost in a deluge of cultural associations, institutionalization, and socio-economic divisions. Given the attrition of confirmation and a pastoral reluctance to adapt towards marginally effective teaching methodologies, the suppression of clear theological transmission in church life leaves congregants with only a vague understanding of their ascribed system of belief. In too many cases, the church has not branded itself with its theological underpinnings; it has allowed culture to brand church with the perceived characteristics of its believers.

Today, young adults are on a frontier of ministry that has no demarcation. This ministry is erratic and uncontained. It is something to which the previous generations cannot identify, because its terms are unclear and variable. Today’s religion is fluid, dynamic, creative. In fact, it’s no longer representative of a religion – it is a relationship of individualized terms.

The social networking websites scream with alternative descriptions of religion. The young adults who frequent these sites are constantly creating new definitions of belief, scrapping the traditional designations and devising unique categorizations of theological witness. The less creative are leaving the question blank altogether – but a growing percentage are setting terms like, “I just follow Jesus,” and “rethinking Christianity.”

Because in today’s popular culture, denominational labels don’t represent theologies. They signify unique cultural and institutional identities, ones to which many young people are not willing to subscribe. For many, a Lutheran is no longer a theological proponent of justification and monergistic grace; too frequently, a Lutheran is a middle class caucasian who participates in an bureaucratized institution for recruitment and social service. A Lutheran may generally be a good person, but she is not necessarily any more helpful than is a secular volunteer or a nonprofit administrator. Certainly, a deep faithfulness may be present in today’s Christian, but these aspects are guised beneath a mission of church growth, or volunteerism, or social service. Observers cannot employ veiled characteristics when conceptualizing identity.

And so, with the theological demarcations wholly suppressed, the church’s identity becomes one of a social service institution, not fully distinguishable from a government service or an NGO, and the Christian is merely an agent of such institution. Since the church has failed to brand itself with labels of theology, it has left its marketing to the perception and caprice of society; and society has termed it culturally.

As Christians, we can talk about what it means to reclaim Christianity, or to re-associate denominational nomenclature with theological identity. Many have dreamt up processes for engaging young people in the life and practice of the church – simply to find that their ideas engage only the seminary-bound and those with young families. Ultimately, there must be a better reason for the population to follow Christ than hollow attempts at teaching their children well.

When we try to reclaim Christianity, we miss the point. And that is what this article is about. Reclaiming Christianity is merely the revival of something that won’t work for this generation. These days, we won’t even talk about denomination as something about which we are a part, and no matter how well it is salvaged, we will still object to the nomenclature (that is, until we have children and suppress the issue entirely).

No, this article is about re-commissioning the church, re-forming its traditions to re-found it as a community of grace in Christ Jesus. This is about adapting creatively to the constantly changing demands of a consumer population, while retaining sound systems of theology and distending their promulgation. This is about identifying the locus of the church’s identity not in institutional practice, but in the life and walk of Jesus. Because religion is generally a good thing, but it’s not the point.

Ultimately, this is about breaking down a bureaucratic organization that nobody is willing to break down. Finger-pointing abounds as field-based stakeholders point to those in charge to reform the institution, but those in leadership are ill-equipped to reposition such a massive entity. This is about mitigating a burgeoning organization of “church” that is reminiscent of IBM in the 1950’s. It’s about streamlining and supplanting the “organization man” with the creative and adaptive “faith practitioner.” It’s about seeking the Spirit by looking to ourselves as the grassroots mechanism for re-commissioning the church, allowing the Spirit to construct new worlds that we can inhabit as believers in community.

Importantly, re-commissioning the church is about sacrifice. Because meaningless traditions and emotive attachment runs deep in our congregants, and that leads many young people to abandon the ship. And although the church is not the agile speedboat that it once was, most young people have not yet disbanded. We are waiting, watching to see if this Titanic can rediscover its agility and again become a locus of faith formation, shedding its cultural associations and reshaping its identity in clear terms of theology. We are waiting to see if God can re-commission this ship towards the business of transforming lives in Christ Jesus.

And if that can happen, if “Christian” can imply “Christ” and not “church,” then maybe we, as a generation, can be comfortable in reclaiming the nomenclature.

Assorted Pictures from Around China

2006-12-04T00:47:00.000-06:00

These are some assorted pictures that never really made it into my current albums. Enjoy!

The grass at this museum was so excellent. We had to make grass angels.

This is the group at the Xi'an Opera, after the show.

We all went to a Halloween party. I found a "scream" mask at Carrefour, which unfortunately broke on me. The picture to the right has the group - some masked folks, some dead people, a devil, Vin Deisel, and yes, a sack of rice.

Matt Olsen and I on a bus in Hangzhou.

The Forbidden City. Click on this picture and look closely.

We went to a birthday party for one of our Chinese friends.

Cana, Me, and Andrew at the Terra Cotta Soldiers.

Me, in front of the museum of the Terra Cotta Soldiers.

I saw these furs and I just had to try them on. Don't worry, I didn't buy.

This is from the beginning of the trip. We spent an afternoon with schoolchildren on a farm, having lunch, fishing, and playing games.

Riddle Me That, Batman...

2006-12-02T23:14:00.000-06:00

No Way News. Dum, da dum dum... No way!

The China Daily is an English-language newspaper out of Beijing. Every so often, they run a full page of short clippings translated from regional Chinese newspapers.

These two articles are from the November 11 edition of China daily. I read them on the plane en route to Lasa, and I couldn't help but take a picture of them. They merely affirm my suspicion that China is weird. So I guess that makes me right at home.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway

2006-12-02T00:40:00.000-06:00

Railway Pictures

My trip to Tibet went by quickly, but the journey home was long. Our mere 4-hour flight to Tibet was mirrored with a 4-day return trip to school, by train.

Completed in Summer 2006, the Qinghai-Tibet railway is the highest railway in the world. Just last month, a Lasa-Shanghai route opened up, which accompaines the routes from Beijing and other Chinese cities closer to Tibet. The train was spanking new and clean; our soft sleepers were comfortable and warm. I enjoyed the oxygen on this 28-hour trip!

We deboarded the train in Lanzhou, a city about halfway between Lasa and Beijing. Matt and I spent one day in Lanzhou to stretch our legs; unfortunately, the city was rather dull. We boarded a train the next day, bound on a 25-hour trip to Shanghai, where we met our friends at a youth hostel. This train was old and dirty; no soft sleepers were available, so we had hard sleepers. I didn't enjoy this leg quite as much, but I rested and survived just fine.

The sights from these two train rides were incredible, particularaly those from the first train. Snow-capped mountains, tundra, yaks, and rivers populate most of the pictures. The train ripped through the landscape - most of my 1.4GB worth of pictures didn't even come out - but a few pictures came out nicely. Occasionally I saw a truck driving along the Tibet highway, and I frequently saw makeshift homes in the middle of absolute nowhere.

The second train plowed through China's farmland, with amazing terraced hills. But no more snowcapped mountains; we were clearly back in China.

The pictures from these train rides are really cool. Check them out.

That Damn Chinese Government

2006-11-27T00:44:00.000-06:00

I suspect that the past month without blog updates has been most painful for all of you. It has likely also effected the loss of whatever small audience I previously had. The Chinese government seems to have problems with foreign websites, particularaly those that are editable (like wikipedia or blogsites). I haven't been able to access my site to update it for the past 4 weeks. But I'm back, if only for the moment, to provide a quick update and some pictures.

Two weeks ago, I departed for Tibet with a friend. Matt and I flew from Hangzhou to Chongqing, a town famous for its super-spicy hot-pot and its hilly landscape. The next day, we flew on to Lasa, Tibet, where the sky was bluer and the air was clearer than anyplace else on the planet. Our three days in Lasa found us touring monasteries and palaces, riding mountain bikes outside of the city, and buying traditional Tibetan handicrafts from street vendors. We watched as Chinese guards walked through the streets, making their occupation known. I ate yak meat every day. We drank yak butter tea (a Tibetan staple - hot melted butter - ugh). We had a blast.

On the morning of the fourth day, Matt and I boarded the Qinghai-Tibet railway to begin our journey back to the east coast. This is the highest railway in the world, reaching just over 5,000 meters above sea level. We rode the train for 28 hours, stopped in a Chinese town to rest for a night, and then continued another 21 hours to Shanghai. The sights were astonishing, and the sleeper cars were surprisingly relaxing.

Shanghai found us roaming the city, going to the acrobatic circus, and doing all those fun things that people do in cities. But we missed Lasa. I miss Lasa. I fell in love with that small town, and with the people there. The pilgrims from the mountains gave the place a sort of unrefined culture and simplicity that has been effectively eliminated from other cities around the world. We were in a capital city, but we weren't. We were in the middle of nowhere, in a valley protected by the mountains, in a city in the sky. We were at the Roof of the World.

I'll be going back to Tibet, not doubt. I want to experience Tibet outside of Lasa. Hell, I just want to experience Tibet again, and for a longer time. I may even take the train. There's something incredible about that place - something to its spiritual significance, its cultural richness, its streets and buildings and people.

Or maybe it's just the air.

More Tibet Pictures

Pumpkin Spice Latte... Published

2006-11-01T03:36:00.000-06:00

Hangzhou Weekly, the local English-language newspaper, got its hands on an article that I wrote for this blog when I first came to China. "For Want of a Pumpkin Spice Latte..." was published in the October 30 edition of the paper.

As amused as I was to have the article published, I was even more amused to read the interesting rebuttal article that was printed immediately below it. This article was written by the Executive Editor of the paper.

I found it to be an insightful and well-targeted reflection, although I suspect that his Latin references are somewhat lost on most readers. Click here for a good explanation of ex oriente lux. Mr. Cameron's article is listed below.

Cheers,
Matt

GoTo: For Want of a Pumpkin Spice Latte...

Supersize My Americano – And His, Too

We very much enjoyed this thoughtful and well-written contribution. That does not diminish in the least our opinion – and it is a very much considered one – that the correspondent is fundamentally wrong.

The ‘Westernization’ of China – or to be more accurate, the Internationalization of China – is it’s [sic] salvation. And make no mistake about it: The development of this nation proceeds directly in proportion to the extent that it embraces international norms, and divests itself of stubbornness (masquerading as tradition) which often manifests itself in ways that run contrary to the (imperfectly hobbling and crutching-forward) Zeitgeist of sincere multiculturalism.

Oh, yes, there was once a day when we too lamented the presence of a Starbucks in that sacred spot on The Motherland’s capital. And of course, we still do. But the fault (if there is one) lies in those who preferred profits to the aesthetically very disconcerning presence of Occidental Modernity in the inner sanctum of Peking’s homage to imperial decadence. The West – the spirit of Internationalism – is not to be blamed for domestic businessmen choosing to defile their own national relics, if that is indeed what is happening.

The myth – we should say ‘Myth’ – of a treasure of morally laudable folkways, rooted in venerable and noble concepts of human nature, being assaulted – being corrupted – by Western commercial imperatives is one of the most pernicious and all-around troublesome stumbling blocks to understanding what is actually going on here in the trenches. Lux may well oriente ex, but lux without lex is like guo’tie without su. Last time we checked, lex was still one of occidente’s better exports. And this holds for lex moralis as well as lex civis. Not that you want to trust our Latin.

Mr Franklin was indeed really smart, and we will concede one point to our correspondent: The Kingdom is in want of many nails. Let us all pray that they are imported.

Or at least OEM.

Jack Cameron
Executive Editor-in-Chief
Hanzhou Weekly

More Amusing Signs (to pass the time)

2006-10-27T00:19:00.000-05:00

In a temple bathroom...

So I've been a little bit behind on blogging this week. An Augsburg Fortress deadline and a Chinese exam sort of consumed my free time. Another entry should be coming soon.

In the meantime, I've added some more interesting signs from around China. Many of them are not attributable to me - it seems that my classmates are also on the lookout for strange translations. Cheers.

More Signs

I Will Call Upon the Lord... but Not Too Loudly

2006-10-14T13:49:00.000-05:00

The Beijing Int'l Christian Fellowship

The Beijing International Christian Fellowship (BICF) seeks “to build a vibrant, reproducing community unified in Christ that embraces and transforms people of all nations to impact their cities, their nations, and the world for Jesus Christ.” Your passport is required at the door, please; expatriates only.

The BICF was one of many interesting experiences on our recent trip to Beijing, marking the primary occasion of place-neutralization during my time in China. The worship service functioned as a direct transplant of contemporary evangelical worship services in the United States, with familiar songs and messages. We were welcomed to worship with a sterile rendition of “I Will Call Upon the Lord,” a campy, liturgical stowaway in late-emerging worship circles. The same middle-aged, newly balding white men hoisted their electric guitars for this service as those who grace the stage of my home church’s gymnasium; and the same threesome of 40-year-old women wielded their lavaliere headsets as they sought redemption and feigned youthfulness. Ultimately, I had the same problems with this worship service as I have with similar services at home, primarily in their failure to articulate the gospel through intentional and processional worship, all for the sake of new-fangledness and synthetic aestheticism. Not to mention, of course, its lack of confession, absolution, communion, gospel text, psalm, and any other number of critical liturgical components. Even still, though, the BICF is subject to a restriction that no American church must bear, in its inability to welcome Chinese citizens into its comfortable confines.

I struggle with what it really means for expatriate Christians to worship in seclusion, in a sort of ivory-tower circle jerk that leaves everyone feeling relieved, but altogether unsatisfied with a sense of faux evangelism. In a country where proselytizing is strictly outlawed, what does evangelism really mean? If the declared mission of the BICF is to “go, make disciples,” then how is one able to return to worship each week, knowing not that he failed, but that he was utterly impotent to reach the 1.27 billion people who surround him daily? Importantly, and the thing that sets this person apart from any other, what does it mean for this Christian to have a legal excuse to fall short of his calling to evangelize? Aren't those who confess such an excuse better off than those subject to no such restrictions, who also exhibit no disciplical intentionality? I certainly don’t claim any superiority to the members of this congregation; the Lord knows that I am no adequate disciple. But then again, I don’t claim to evangelize when I know full well that I cannot – and I don’t check passports at the door.

Ultimately, I left this worship service feeling relieved for having attended, but unsatisfied with a distinctly inclusive community operating on a strictly exclusive plane. I was uneasy with this community in a way that I have never been uneasy with a community of closed-communion; a willing party is always received in baptism. No, I was uneasy with this community in a way that I am uneasy with a school that only accepts white kids, a hospital that only serves rich people.

Yet, while I can loathe the school and detest the hospital, I cannot bemoan a congregation that must adhere to local laws. And that is what makes me absolutely sick about my visit to the BICF; the culprit is a society, a government, a people who fear authority structures outside of governmental control. The culprit is hardly the congregation – they were forced to become “expat only” in 1996 – the congregation certainly has no vested interest in keeping its doors filtered.

Thus for the time being, I presume, the ivory-tower method of worship will suffice to support those who have the willingness and capacity to exemplify faithfulness, no matter the local laws. In fact, it likely even drives some towards underground evangelism – the kind that I discovered when I bought a bible from the hidden back room of a local bookstore. The BICF worship service thus supports those who have the capacity to sneak around the laws in their efforts to evangelize, which is no doubt a good thing.

And certainly, any worship service is better than no worship service whatsoever; but simply put, this was any worship service.

Note: Maybe I wrote this too late at night. As some of my friends have already noted, it is pretty scathing. I'll try to be kinder in future entries... maybe.

You Say It's Your Birthday? Karaoke...

2006-10-09T13:29:00.000-05:00

Last night we celebrated the 21st birthday of one of our group members. To commemorate the occasion, we all went out for dinner and karaoke at one of the big KTV joints in Hangzhou.

I only have a few pictures from our evening on the town; but at the risk of embarrassing myself more than ever before, you can't miss this video.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Mid-Autumn Festival

2006-10-07T06:25:00.000-05:00

I've been spending a good deal of time with a really great Chinese student, named Andrew, who has been organizing most of our trips in and around China. Andrew is fluent in English, and he has been super-gracious in his willingness to spend a lot of time with a group of American students. Earlier this week, he and I went out to lunch, and during the course of conversation I casually shared with him my experience of a few evenings prior when I had a nice glass of wine at a nearby restaurant.

On Thursday, the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, I sent a text message to Andrew, wishing him and his family happy holiday. Andrew wrote back: “come out to my hometown of XiaoXian and enjoy mooncakes with my family!” He was completely serious – and how could I turn him down? Mooncakes are the traditional food of the holiday, a sort of thick cookie that can be found all over China this week, and I really wanted to meet Andrew's family.

(From Left to Right: Andrew's Brother, Me, Andrew)

That was 2:00. By 3:30 I was on a bus with a friend named Matt, bound for Xiaoxian on a 90 minute journey. Andrew and his brother met us at the bus station, his brother driving a car (certainly a rarity in China). They welcomed us into their home, walked us around the neighborhood, and brought us back to their home to meet their parents just in time for the holiday dinner. Andrew translated as only a professional could; after all, this is his major.

The Zhang family spared no expense on this dinner, no doubt because of the holiday, but surely also because they were entertaining foreign guests. Like most Chinese families, they eat off the table, drink out of bowls, and serve their food on common plates; I was thrilled to be able to share a meal with a family for the holiday. The food was incredible. From pork to beef to eggplant to watermelon to river crab, this was a feast of the finest sort. Andrew said his mother cooked a lot of meat, because she believes Americans primarily eat meat – and she was really worried about what food to buy for dinner. The family would not touch the food until either Matt or I had tasted it. And they would not let us say no to additional servings– the feast was meant to be eaten, and no matter how stuffed we were, we were to leave their home with more food in us than we had ever consumed in our lives. This had all been arranged with a mere 4 hours’ notice! After all this, the fancy gift boxes of mooncakes that Matt and I brought for the family seemed quite inadequate; in fact, they were.

Then, the kicker: Andrew's father had gone out and picked up a half case of Chinese red wine. 6 bottles, for six people. I was floored, and the 6 bottles should have been my first clue that they had not had wine before. He did not need to do this, I told Mr. Zhang, but like everything else, he said that he was thrilled to do it and would have none of my nonsense (and he would accept none of our incessant thanks). Andrew's father handed me the bottle to do the honors of opening it – and I felt awful. For the first time in my life I wished I had a swiss army knife. Momentarily confused, Mr. Zhang examined the bottle. As soon as he understood the situation, he bolted for the door. 10 minutes later, he came back, corkscrew in hand. We drank. I don't think they liked it. But they drank, and we all laughed.

You hear about these things all the time, about people going abroad and being treated with all the finest honors. But it isn’t until you experience it that you realize the true humility of it; you discover the humble honor of being welcomed into somebody's home, and you see the pride in their eyes as they show you the best time that they know how. You want to do something, you want to repay them, because your thanks are just insufficient. But there is nothing you can do, except to never stop saying thank you, and to never ever stop eating.

After dinner, they hurried us out the door to catch our 8:30 bus. They gave us food as we left, so that we could eat on the bus (yeah, right). We had only been there 4 hours. But they felt like family.

These are the times when any feeling other than gratitude is conceit, because there is no way that any common person should deserve such a feast. Those who know me know that I like nice things – I like nice cities and nice coffee shops; I'll go to fancy restaurants for dessert only, because I can't afford a full dinner there, but I want to go. But this tops them all. This was so fine, so magnificent, that it pushed beyond the limits of self-importance to a place of utter humility and inadequacy. Going to Andrew's house for dinner didn't make me feel important – it made me feel artificial. It made me feel shallow for going out and getting a glass of wine at a restaurant, particularly when I treat others. It made me realize the illusive qualities of the “finer things,” and it forced me to see the true virtue of selfless pride and honor in welcoming a friend into your home. Importantly, the whole experience made me want to make dinner for someone – not just going to a bakery to buy them nice mooncakes in fancy boxes.

So yeah, I'm learning something this semester. I'm learning how to eat a whole crab, and spit out the shell. I'm learning how to toast properly and show respect to others when we say cheers. I’m learning about mooncakes and foreign holidays. But most importantly, I'm confronting a sort of underlying self-aggrandizement and tendency towards the illusive "finer things;" On this trip, I'm challenging my perspectives on relationships. I have seen a truer meaning of honor, humility, and respect – and in some sense, I'm growing up. At least I think so...

Generic Nationalism supplants Political Memory...or Hides the Scars

2006-10-07T06:07:00.000-05:00

From Sunday, October 1…

Happy Birthday, People’s Republic of China! 57 years ago today, the First Plenum of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) concluded its meeting with the election of a new Chairman, Mao Zedong. On October 1, 1949, a great ceremony inaugurating the People's Republic of China was attended by some 300,000 people in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. And today, we celebrate this great accomplishment of societal transformation and the beginning of one of the greatest social experiments in history, when China freed itself from Japanese imperialism and looked proudly into to its backyard furnaces and common kitchens.

(Click on Photos for explanation)

“The world is progressing, the future is bright
and no one can change this general trend of history. We should carry on constant
propaganda among the people on the facts of world progress and the bright future
ahead so that they will build their confidence in victory.”
Mao Zedong. Little Red Book, p. 70. “On the Chunking Negotiations” (17 Oct 1945).

Today is a holiday - this whole week is a holiday – beginning with the National Holiday on October 1 and concluding with the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 6. The National Day seems to have lost its original meaning, marking the installation of Chairman Mao, but retains its emphasis on Nationalism and pride. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family - a more basic holiday, one that does not conjur images of social experimentation and collapse.
Everyone takes the week off and gathers together with family and friends to celebrate. Small cakes, called “mooncakes” fill the stomachs of those celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

China changes this week; it transforms from a place of families on the move to families on a stroll. Parks are filled not only with retirees, but with their loved ones as well. And busy though everything may be, people seem to be patient with each other, and enjoying life. And though campus may be empty, Hangzhou is bustling. It’s the holiday season in China, and people are smiling.

Happy Holidays.

Beijing Trip Pictures and Clips

2006-09-25T12:58:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Beijing: September 30 Update

Last week, my sister told me that I didn't have enough pictures on this blog. Tonight, my father told me that I have too many pictures. I believe his exact words were: "you need a highlights album.” It seems that the peanut gallery officially remains open for business.

Ergo, to the great satisfaction of the time-constrained everywhere: the Reader’s Digest Version of my Beijing trip.

Pictures from last weekend's trip to Beijing

Beijing: Friday 22 September
Beijing: Saturday 23 September
Beijing: Sunday 24 September
Unusual Signs in Translation

Choppy Video Clips from last weekend's trip to Beijing
Beijing Opera - Act 1
Beijing Opera - Act 2
Beijing Opera - Act 2, Clip 2
Tianamen Square Clip

For Want of a Pumpkin Spice Latte...

2006-09-17T09:53:00.000-05:00

Ultimately, we realize that it's the small things that amalgamate to effect gradual, but hugely transformative, change. So my latte doesn't matter. But 1.29 billion lattes?

"For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost.” That Ben Franklin – he really was a smart guy.

Liu Gong Ren

2006-09-17T07:26:00.000-05:00

Updated Pictures!

I’ve spent the past few afternoons finding nice little coffee and tea places to do my homework, read a little, and write some letters. Classes are going well and there is not much to say about them here - they're moving along nicely. A recent investment in an electric bicycle(very common on Chinese streets) has given me the freedom to move throughout the city and visit some sites.

Last week, I communicated with a man from Denver who has lived in Hangzhou for the past five years. John works for an organization called Chinese Children Adoption International, which provides adoption services, facilitates foster care programs, and works with orphanages throughout China. I stumbled across his name, and I contacted him to see if there was any way I could help in Hangzhou.

John called me on a Sunday morning, and said that he was headed to a place called liu gong ren, or “six people’s square,” and that I should join him if I was able. I was already out roaming around town, so I welcomed the invitation.

As it turns out, liu gong ren is a regular meeting place on Sunday mornings, locally called “English Corner,” right on the water at West Lake. Almost 300 Chinese people show up every Sunday morning, and stand around this public square until the early afternoon speaking English with westerners – and everyone knows John. He and I spent 4 hours talking to people, hearing their stories, and answering their questions. I met a number of students from Zhejiang University – which was a welcome prospect, as the international dormitory seems to keep to itself. One girl is studying English and working in an internship at the Hyatt Hotel, which requires English proficiency for its foreign guests. A young man told me about his recently-completed internship with GE Plastics in Shanghai. And one elderly woman, clearly a staple figure at English Corner, told me that she was learning English because she wanted to. “Why not?” she asked. So that’s where I’ll spend most of my Sunday mornings.

Afterwards, John and I walked to a nearby restaurant, called “Paradise.” This restaurant serves western-style food – and makes a great hamburger. We had some coffee and talked about his orphanage. He told me about the great ways that the local and provincial governments are supporting the local orphanages (they are all government-owned, anyway). And he told me that his responsibilities were consistently diminishing as the government stepped up to the plate to build new facilities. In fact, he said, they are presently moving into a new facility, a process which will take almost 6 months to complete. On account of the move, they’re not presently in great need of volunteer support, with the exception of licensed medical practitioners, but he noted that he would take me to the orphanage and we could talk to some folks about ways I could help. We’ll see what develops here…

John and I parted ways. We have since run into each other a few times around town; it seems that for a city of 6 million, it’s not too hard to run into a new acquaintance. I’ll be returning to liu gong ren as frequently as I am able during my time in Hangzhou; I want to be intentional about making some lasting relationships with people whom I wouldn’t otherwise meet.

That’s all for now. Cheers!

Change in Address

2006-09-13T01:55:00.000-05:00

Please note a change in my mailing address. If you have sent anything to the other address (admittedly likely few), we're working on trying to figure out the exact destination of that mail. Have a good day!

Attn: Matt Cavin

Room 4213, Chukozhen Hall of International Education

PO Box W-99, Yuquan Campus

Zhejiang University

Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027 P.R. of China

By way of an Update...

2006-09-09T08:37:00.000-05:00

For those wondering, I will not write my entire blog as a philosophical rant about my place, aims, and calling in life. I know that some are more interested in the finer points of my activities. Ergo, by way of an update…

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See Pictures from Week 1

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· Wednesday, September 6

Wednesday began early, consisting of an orientation to the school and to the area. Our local contact, known as Jigang, led us around the nearby area, introducing us to the bank, the post office, and some key stops. We then gathered for lunch at a nearby restaurant, eating some good Chinese food. In the early afternoon, I took a language placement test. The test was designed for all levels of Chinese; naturally, therefore, having had only one year of language, much of the test was beyond my linguistic capacity. For dinner, those of us who have been to Hangzhou before took the group to Louwailou Restaurant, where we had some good Dong Po Rho for dinner. On the way home, we directed our cab to the rear entrance of Zhejiang University, which is closer to our dormitory. He must have misheard us; we were dropped at another campus of the same university. Luckily, we saw a large sports arena in the distance, gained our bearings, and took a 1.5 hour walk back to our dormitory, stopping only briefly for sensory overload at the Trust-Mart, a discount store not unlike Wal-Mart. We also discovered a nearby driving range, where as far as we could tell you had to purchase new balls in order to drive (how strange!). The night ended quickly thereafter; the jetlag and the walk had exhausted us.

· Thursday, September 7

Thursday was deemed a “free day” for us, and I took advantage of the time to do some exploring on my own. I purchased a 40-cent breakfast from a lady who served food out of her backyard, and I then went on the hunt for a good pair of tennis shoes. I had intentionally left my tennis shoes at home, as I needed new ones and I remembered the prevalence of Nike and Adidas stores around Hangzhou. I figured I’d just buy a new pair upon arrival.

By Chinese standards, apparently I have pretty big feet. It took a great deal of effort – and about 4 hours of searching – to find a mall downtown that had the appropriate size. Everyone kept looking at my feet, yelling around the store to other employees, then directing me to basketball shoes. One guy said, “Yao Ming.” I smiled.

Comfortably situated, I then sought out a cell phone. Some of the other students on the program had been given university-owned cell phones, but I was not so lucky. I purchased a cell phone from a nearby store, and went to the China Mobile service provider to purchase service. Of course, nobody there spoke English, and my Chinese proved only marginally sufficient to address the nuances of a contract. They took me to the 3rd-floor VIP level, where I waited comfortably (leather couches, cookies, and complimentary tea) for an English-speaking manager. I purchased my service and left. If only Verizon had such service!

I then visited the foreign-language bookstore in town, a find that I had made on my last visit, and one that will surely be my salvation when my small supply of books proves inadequate. Of course, good luck finding anything written by Karl Popper. Damn!

It was 5:30 when I wanted to go back to the dormitory. All of the cab drivers in Hangzhou change shifts at 5:00pm (surely the most inconvenient time of day!), so cabs were nowhere to be found. I casually took the 90-minute walk back to campus, and had some great dumplings for dinner upon my return.

· Friday, September 8

Friday morning began with Zhejiang University Orientation #2. All of the foreign students gathered in a lecture hall to hear a speech offered by the Director of International Programs, onerously translated sentence-by-sentence into English, Japanese, and Korean. We then listened to a police officer tell us how to secure appropriate documentation for residency, etc.; not surprisingly, he also told us not to proselytize or disseminate any politically-oriented information. I’ll see what I can do to keep my bible to myself (notationally, I saw a few copies of the Chinese-language KVJ for sale on the street, the same place as last year, and no one there had yet been arrested!).

Afterwards, I took some friends to show them around town, and along the way I took one of them to purchase cell-phone service from the same VIP lounge at China Mobile. They now know me pretty well there. We also went to the mall and some other downtown sites.

We spent the evening in, and then went out for a night on the town. I came back early.

· Saturday, September 9

Saturday is only halfway through, but already today I’ve been assigned to a language course and purchased books for said course. Of the six students from my Chinese class at Valpo, four of us will study at the same level here at Zhejiang University. The other three are in a class together; I am by myself, which should motivate me to work a bit harder. Classes begin on Monday, for 4-hour blocks every day of the week. I should stay busy studying once these classes get started.

******************************************

So there you have it – the update. These days have been spent getting oriented and prepared for classes. We’ll see how things shape up come Monday.

From the Airplane

2006-09-07T05:48:00.000-05:00

I'm looking out the airplane window at the great sheets of ice and the lakes that smatter northern Siberia. The airplane traveled from Chicago due directly north, crossed over the North Pole, and we’re now headed south to Shanghai. The flight is long, but bearable, as I spent the first seven hours asleep. It seems that my plan to stay awake the night before worked well.

Headed to China, I ask myself once again why I'm going. It's not that I'm irresolute, but rather that I enter into this experience with no specific aim or destination, aside from the opportunity to learn and engage. Not to mention, of course, that a semester abroad is required as part of my international business major.

In my work with the ELCA Youth Gathering this summer, I had so many people ask me whether I still had intentions of going to seminary. I am continually asked this question – and I frankly don't have a problem with it, as such a prospect was primary for me at one time. Some people seem to be surprised at my switch to a business major; others seem to have expected it. But some seemed quite put out by the entire thing. So what drove me to it? What caused me to adjust my educational orientation in this way? And, God forbid, am I now intending to satisfy my life with the false pretenses of big money, fast cars, and fast women? For some, it seems that the shift from seminary to B-school is a sort of fall from grace. See you later, Eden.

Berufspflict (Gr.) – the idea that one’s duty consists in pursuing one's calling
Berufserfüllung (Gr.) – the irrational sense of fulfilling one's vocation

I've spent the past few hours reading part one of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism. I picked up this book last year after reading Michael Novak's Business as a Calling.

In this text, Weber is searching for causal or contributory linkages between Protestant thought and a sort of “traditional” capitalistic practice. That is, he's struggling with the tension between those who pursue scholarly and ascetic ends, and those who pursue capitalistic ends, and trying to figure out where it all comes from. Weber restricts his definition of the “spirit” of capitalism (or “traditional” capitalism) to include those businesspeople who shun ostentation and the display of power for the sake of Berufserfüllung, the irrational sense of fulfilling one's vocation. Such a calling exists as a passion for working with others to achieve mutual ends, in part driven by a motivation of subsistence; this exists in contrast to the provit-motivated, acquisition-based orientation of the greedy (Vergil’s “auri sacra fames,” or “the accursed hunger for gold”). And, for all of you wondering, I'm not a business student because I want to manage somebody’s hedge fund and get rich doing it, and I’m not going to China to “write my ticket” by learning Chinese, as so many have openly presumed. So why am I going? It's something irrational, something inexplicable.

Here, Weber has given me a definition that I can live with – one that emphasizes the inherent irrationality in “vocation,” while recognizing the ethical, moral, and in fact pious opportunities in pursuing business (indeed, any effort) as a calling. Luther didn't speak all that positively (or all that much) to business, but he defined “calling” as I use it here – and he made it clear that the pursuit of a life pleasing to God rests in the faithful fulfillment of worldly duties which arise from one’s station in life. One's vocation is in this sense something largely prescribed by God, and thereby consistent with Weber's language of “irrationality.” And thus, I am able to understand my draw towards business as a field of study to be something comfortably inexplicable.

Lastly, there's this tension that's worth clearing up: business can be a moral force. It need not be something merely tolerated by faithful people simply because it is the status quo. This tension goes back to a fundamental conflict between classical asceticism (religious piety, or secularly as an academic and philosophical orientation) and a trade-based, business-oriented entrepreneurial framework, in which the former considers the latter to be unabashedly materialistic, and the latter considers the former useless and unproductive. The fact is, the unscrupulous businessperson is just as useless to the progress of business as is the monastic ascetic. But the appropriately-guided, faithful, and pious capitalist can live out his vocation by bridging this tension, enabling parties to come together to effect positive change – and support their own livelihoods. This is the stuff leadership is made of – it's in the leader we each know who is passionate about a mission, a cause, and has thus devoted his life to fulfilling it. It's the person who does this, and does it ridiculously well.

So maybe that's why I'm going to China. I'm not looking to find myself, nor am I looking to write my ticket. Call it a calling, call it Berufspflict, call it whatever you want. I haven't quite figured out what to call it.

Pre-Departure

2006-09-04T03:20:00.000-05:00

Monday, September 4, 3:28am EST.

In these wee morning hours, I calmly await my departure from Roanoke in about 6 hours. I just finished packing my bag; the 50-lb weight restriction proved to be a bit of a challenge, yet my trusty bathroom scale tells me that I'm set to go. After textbooks, clothes, and 3-months-worth of related items, 50 pounds came quickly.

The way I figure, tonight's utter lack of sleep will help me to sleep on the flight to Shanghai - a 13-hour direct flight from Chicago that departs around midnight (Shanghai time) and lands in the early afternoon (Shanghai time). Of course, as my plans often go, I'll likely end up unable to sleep on the plane and thus be further exhausted upon arrival.

Having almost three weeks at home has been wonderful. I haven't spent this much time with my parents since I was in high school, and I was able to move my sister into JMU for her second year of school (something I was unable to do last year). The time home has also been very good for me and Haley. Benefit #1 of studying abroad: it buys you time with loved ones before you leave.

I don't really know what this experience will hold for me; it will surely be broadening, enriching, etc., etc., a point to which even the novice itinerant can attest, and about which the inexperienced always rightly surmise . But I also don't know what it will hold for me in terms of shaping the rest of my time at college. I returned from China last year with a passion for thinking about political economics, market philosophy, and a sort of Thomas Friedman globalization; which caused me to write an honors thesis in the vein of such topics. For some reason, though, I suspect that this time will be somewhat cathartic for me, providing time away from everything that has kept me wrapped up for the past two years. I look forward to having time to sit by the lake and read the few books that I am able to take over, and I hope to write. That is, I hope to write, having absolutely no idea about what I would like to write - but I'll leave that for another day. Benefit #2 of studying abroad: it allows a sort of self-imposed catharsis.

I also hope to do some exploring, seeking out locals to learn about the ways in which people support and care for each other, particularaly in the countryside surrounding the urban Hangzhou. The first weekend should almost certainly find me seeking a bicycle, in large part so that I can explore beyond the city's reaches (but not too far, Mom). And I'd like to learn about the more impoverished in the surrounding area, about how they are cared for by their communities. And, depending on the circumstances, I'd like to help. Benefit #3 of studying abroad: it allows you to watch people interact and support each other - and you have the capacity to help.

In any event, it's now 4:10am and I should be off for a few hours of shut-eye before I depart. I'll write shortly after I get situated in Hangzhou.

Matt

Pictures from Summer 2005 in China

2006-08-29T23:49:00.000-05:00

This picture is from my Summer 2005 trip to China. See More Pictures from Summer 2005.

China Contact Information

2006-08-29T22:01:00.000-05:00

If you want to contact me in China, you have a few options:

1. Call me, for the same price as a regular call to Virginia: (540) 322-1795

2. Email me: matt.cavin@cox.net

3. Mail something to the following address:
Attn: Matt Cavin
Room 1320, Chukozhen Hall of International Education
PO Box W-99, Yuquan Campus
Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027
P.R. of China

Welcome

2006-08-19T16:43:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the blog detailing my experiences in Hangzhou, China. I will be studying in Hangzhou through a program with Valparaiso University, in cooperation with Zhejiang University.

I will be studying Chinese language and taking a few online courses during my time in China, which will begin upon my September 5 arrival in Shanghai. As soon as I have a mailing address, I will supply this address for anyone wishing to send mail. Please feel free to post comments on this site.

Thanks for stopping by!
Matt