HNC students have
several breaks throughout the academic year. Many students take this time to
explore other parts of China and Asia. Our student blogger, Andrew Retallick,
gives an overview of this year’s Fall Break trips.
Chelsea beat me to the post about Halloween, but here’s one
of my favorite Halloween photos.
 |
| Throwback to HNC Halloween |
Halloween was such a cool moment for me because only a few
hours before the celebrations, the same people that were running around and
putting the finishing touches on citations for papers, had some of the most
elaborate Halloween costumes that I have ever seen.
Anyway, we just finished our Fall/Thanksgiving break. Some
people went on elaborate trips throughout China and East Asia. I asked some of
my classmates to send me some pictures from their trips, and here are some of
my favorites:
 |
| Matt went cycling on Hainan Island’s east coast |
Belinda, Xiaoyu and a lot of
other HNC students took part in the Asia Career Trek where they went to Shanghai and
Hong Kong to meet with representatives from a lot of companies focused on
banking and finance.
 |
| Asia Career Trek |
Brendan took a long trip from Japan to Taiwan
and then to Hong Kong where he ended up at Hong Kong Disneyland.
 |
| Hong Kong Disneyland |
Eli went to Chengdu and Chongqing and spent a day
going to Leshan to see the giant Buddha.
 |
| Leshan, Chengdu |
Susan and Leowill went to Japan and
got a picture with Totoro at the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mintaka.
 |
| Studio Ghibli Museum |
Me, well, I decided to keep it simple and spend a few days
trekking around Shanghai with two of my international friends (Justin and
Chelsea), three Chinese friends (Deng Jing, Jin Hao, and Hong Lingyan) and
every once and a while running into some other HNC friends. We had some good
Italian food, spent a day walking along East Nanjing and West Nanjing Road,
visited to a museum that displayed a lot of Communist era propaganda posters, we
even got to spend Thanksgiving with some of Justin’s friends and had real
turkey, stuffing, etc.
 |
| Shanghai Skyline |
But most interesting of all, we (along with a lot of other
HNC students) were invited to attend the Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture on
Sino-American Relations. The lecture is an annual event where an individual
with significant experience dealing with China U.S. relations. Past speakers
include Gary Locke (former U.S. ambassador to China) and former president Jimmy
Carter. This year they invited David M. Lampton, the director of China Studies
at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Maybe next year I’ll
have the opportunity to study with Professor Lampton at SAIS in D.C.
 |
| Barnett Oksenberg Lecture |
However, unlike many other students, we decided to only
spend four days in Shanghai and then return to HNC. Why did we cut our break so
short you may ask? Well, quite honestly, we had to get back to work! Seriously,
the week before break we were taking our midterm exam and then the week after
was loaded with a lot of big assignments.
For me personally, the Monday after break, I had to give a
15-20 minute presentation in Chinese for my International Political Economics
Class about the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New
Development Bank, using only Chinese sources for my research.
The day after that I had to write an essay for my
International Humanitarian & Armed Conflict Law class analyzing the
applicability of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions during the
Gulf War. The problem? The U.S. has not ratified Additional Protocol I, so how
can you use Additional Protocol… Ahhh I won’t go into the specifics; lets just
say it was a rough week.
But while we’re on the subject of my International
Humanitarian & Armed Conflict Law Course, join me in my next post where
I’ll give a few more details about that course and the professor who made it
possible.
Written by Andrew
Retallick, HNC Certificate/SAIS MA Student