Chinese Visa

A lot has happened since I posted- 2 months ago? Monday my son and I met at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to apply for a the infamous visa. The visa demands that you show your airline ticket and not only print your itinerary, but show proof that you are booked in hotels for the whole time. You also trust them to hold your passport for the four or five days that it takes to process the visa. We arrived about 10 am- It had opened at 9 am, and they were serving numbers 023, 042, 043, 044, 045. We calculated that in one hour they had taken care of less than 50. Our number was 159, so we calculated that it would be at least 2 pm before we would be seen. We didn't consider the staggered lunch hour.

The vast majority of the people there were Asian and most of those born in China. The women who served us at the window spoke almost indiscernible English.  Somehow though our efforts and her efforts of not wanting to encounter any snags, the process only took us about ten minutes.

Incredibly we were out by 2 pm.  

China 中國

About a month ago I decided that I would visit China for the first time. I have many reasons for wanting to go, not the least of which is that life is short and getting shorter. I have always been impressed by many aspects of Chinese culture, especially their art and history. Also my experience with Chinese people (along with the Japanese) is that they are some of the most gracious and hospitable of all.

This blog will just gloss over the myriad things flying through my head. I will discuss them more in detail in later blogs. It is March. My experience with traveling is that I have usually bought my plane ticket by this time, but at this very moment I am not positive that I will really go. Plane fares seem reasonable- from $1000 to $1500 round trip to Beijing. But then there is the Visa application. Only $75, but it appears to need an invitation from someone in China, or a detailed list of places that I will visit and where I will stay. It was the same when I went to Russia, and I used an agent, and I found that very convenient. Here an agent will cost me about $200. I still have to sort that out.

I have a standard tourist agenda of places and sites to visit in a three week period. Beijing, Xi’an, Nanjing and Singapore. Beijing and Singapore are obvious- the number of historical sites is enormous. I love cities, and I am excited by the thought of walking the street. Xi’an is another no- brainer. It is an 11 hour train ride from Beijing- a historic city. It is the capital city of 13 Chinese Dynasties:  the Qin (221 BC – 207 BC), Han (206 BC – 220 AD), Sui (581 AD – 618 AD) and Tang (618AD – 908AD) Dynasties. but most of all the archeological site of the Chinese Warriors- thousands of terra cota warriors individually carved.  Nanjing is close to Singapore. When I was a high school teacher, one of my most impressive students came from Nanjing. Now I just have to find her information.

The language is the third thing that I have been tackling. As a friend of mine remarked, there is no Chinese language. Actually there are several, but Mandarin is both the language of the north and the language of the majority. I had actually spent three years studying Russian to prepare for my trip to Russian, and here I am only giving myself a few months to learn Chinese.  I must say that I am really enjoying it. Chinese, as well as many Asian languages, are tonal. I call it the music of the language and getting the tone right is critical to be understood. I am using many YouTube videos. My goals are modest, I think. I want to be able to introduce myself, order a meal, haggle a price for an item at the market and generally know enough not to come off as an ugly American. 

WIne and the Microbiom - Part 2

I am aware that I live in beautiful Sonoma County, wine country. I have always loved the taste of a good Cabernet Sauvagnon or Zinfindel. For a couple of years I was a partner in making some small batched of California wine. I remember the processes well. At the point where the juice is squeezed out of the grapes, the sulfite is added. Sulfites are antibiotics, and they kill virtually every living thing in the juice. The reason for this is to eliminate a fermentation process where the winemaker does not have control over all of the natural bacteria in the grapes. After that the "good bacteria" are added, and the fermentation process begins, turning sugar in to alcohol.

The bacteria succeeds in fermenting the wine, but the sulfites are never removed. I wish that I knew more about the chemistry, and perhaps an enologist can comment. My understanding is that although the bacteria introduced converts the sugars, there is still enough sulfite in the to destroy bacteria. For one who drinks wine very moderately, it may not have an effect on the stomach. I have have been known to 2 or three glasses at home after I come home from work. It has often upset my stomach, and given me acid reflex.

Upon thinking about the microbiom and the introduction of sulfites to the stomach, I reasoned that perhaps the wine that I was drinking was killing the good bacteria in my stomach. I remembered that winemaking did not always use sulfites. In fact I know that winemakers of France rely on the bacteria natural in the vineyard. The argument goes that after hundreds and even thousands of years of growing grapes, the natural fermenation is well adapted to the fields of France. In this way I have become a drinker and lover of these French wines.

It is possible that these wines contain a positive bacteria. Since I have been drinking them, I have virtually eliminated my stomach difficulties. Also even on the rare occasion where I have had too much, I feel no hangover in the morning.

I will give a plug to my local Grocery Outlet that has been carring a wide variety of drinkable and some even delictious Bordeauxs. Prices generally range from $6 to $12- Well worth it.

The Microbiom- Part 1

One of the more important biological and physiological discoveries of the past ten years or so is the discovery of the pervasiveness of the Microbiom. Simply put the Microbiom is the vast number of bacteria that over millions of years that made their homes both inside and outside our bodies. The subtext of this finding is enormous in scope. Plants and animals including insects have a enormous store of their own beneficial hitchhikers. I choose to focus on the Microbiom of the human stomach- more specifically my stomach, as for years I have had painful heartburn, more recently helped by the overthe counter medication, omneprezole.

Just a side point is that I recently heard on the radio that omneprezole is associated with the early onset of dementia. It suppressed the production of vitamin B 12 which is critical in the formation of myelin bainas neurons in the brain. I need to use something different. 

I have made more discoveries in my reading about the Microbiom and have introduced some changes  in my eating habits to improve the condition of my stomach. The simple fact is that there are many traditional foods that have been staples in foods around the world. When I was in Russia, kvas is one of the beverage staples there. I was never fond of it, but it apparently contains many beneficial bacteria for digestion.

Among the other foods are aged cheeses, yogurt, kiefer, Chinese black beans, Apple vinegar, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and many other fermented food. Since I found out about this revolution in thinking about the biology of the gut, I have introduced several of these foods into my diet to great effect. I have always loved cheese. The runny stinky cheeses, the sharp aged cheeses, the bries with thick crusts are all my favorites and I have increased my intake of those. I have come to love kimchi and fortunately have a good supplier in the area. I have always loved pickles. Unfortunately I cannot bring myself to finish the kiefer and Greek yogurt in the refrigerator. It is likely the bacterial will only increase as they age.

I write this as an introduction to the next blog. You may know that I love wine, but it has not helped my digestive problems. I think that I have gained a major insite into the consumption of wine. I will be theorizing, and it will not make me a popular figure in the area where I live. I hope that this teaser will urge you to look forward to my next blog.  I know that I will make some friend and some enemies.

Henry Inman "Staking the Trees"

I have a number of fairly valuable paintings in my possession. I am ready to make a little traveling money and try to sell some of them off. I researched art appraisers and the one that seemed to come out on top was ValueMyStuff. I liked that they also gave an online opportunity to show and sell the work. Unfortunately when I tried to put it up for sale, it said something like- at this time this piece does not qualify for sale. Perhaps because they are in UK they are not able to see it and actually assess that it is authentic- but it is.

I like also that they gave it a name. It mentions that many of his paintings were used for illustrations in contemporary publications. I wonder if that found the actual work in an old newspaper or magazine. I would find that interesting. There are only a handful of Inmans in museum. The same five come up over and over. When I visited the Philadelphia Art Museum, their catelog said that they had two in their possession. Unfortunately they were in storage. Probably not a good sign for the public appeal of the artist. I know that he is pretty much the only post colonial American artist who was famous for painting children, and this painting has a child in it.

I had actually tried to title the painting myself- The Teacher, The Grafter. The Tree Planter. But the appraisers either knew or gave it a title themselves: The Tree Staker. That sounds good for me. They have appraised it for auction between $3,000 and $6, 000. I was satisfied with that. Below is their assessment sheet.

Philly Cheese Steaks

I am reluctant to enter this culinary mindfield, but I do come with some street cred. I am prompted to enter this sensitive area by my lunch purchase of a "Philly Cheese Steak" at a small deli in Santa Rosa, California. She asked me what kind of cheese, and immediately I said provolone. I had no complaints about the sandwich, but I had this nagging memory of my last visit to Philadelphia, and someone mentioning Cheez Whiz as their favorite cheese on a Philly Cheese Steak. (Notice the capitals- like God)

I, myself, do not consider Cheez Whiz cheese. In fact I get a gastro reflex at the thought of eating it. I know a bit about the history of the cheese steak, and I know the two South Philly restaurants that brag about using Cheez Whiz. For me Cheez Whiz is not a food. Some say that it fills the crevices better, but the same can be done with provolone. I remember a cheese disagreement from my childhood. It was between American cheese verses Provolone. I always chose provolone.

I must confess, although not tolerating Cheez Whiz, there is an inconsistency in my diet. I am addicted to Trader Joe's Cheese Crunchies with a delicious "cheese" powder, colored by tumeric. None of these item are healthy, but any cheese steak is loaded with saturated fat and salt. Cheese crunchies has just "empty calories".

I did a little research on this blog. I highly recommend a website called Fooducate                                 ( http://www.fooducate.com/) It will change the way you feel about eating.

Are you good in math?

If this question causes you just a little anxiety, you are not alone. I am seriously tempted to list the horror stories of my education. One of them was a deep insecurity about my abilities with math. It is an example that I use often in the class that I teach. It is especially common with women, and I teach mostly women. 

I heard an excellent interview today on KQED Forum with Jo Boaler, an education instructor at Stanford. She works to release people, especially children, from their math phobias. I was gratified to be able to hear her speak. She reenforced what I teach in my class: that talents and beliefs about our abilities are mostly a mental construct that prevent us from reaching our full potential. 

She really talks the talk and walks the walk of a positive mindset. 

We all have had experiences long in our past that help us to form our beliefs about ourselves. Unfortunately those beliefs have little to do with the reality of who we are and what we can do. They are tied to emotions and pictures in our brain that confirm our image of who we are. So when we have several bad experience with math as children, we form a self image that we are bad in math. All we have to do is change the picture. Create visualizations where we are succeeding in math. Repeat affirmations that confirm our abilities. Most importantly we must get rid of the negative self-talk. 

Here is the link: http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201601251000

It is well worth listening to. Also here is Ms. Boaler’s website:  https://www.youcubed.org/ I would click on the link that leads one to “Growth Mindset”. This concept is key to becoming a confident person. 

If you are still reading, I will relate one math story from my adulthood. I grew up with many insecurities about my ability to learn anything that school taught me, especially math. My father nurtured my love of art, and insured that I have a positive self concept of myself as an artist, but little else. I struggled into high school, flunked and repeated my freshman year. Since I did better taking these classes the second time, it did boost my self confidence a bit.

Amazingly I became a teacher. In the late 1980’s I ended up teaching math in a continuation school. The reason is that in a continuation school, the number of teachers are limited, and one must just step up to the plate. I went to a math conference at Asilomar. My first day I got up early and went to a workshop on Algebraic equations.  Everyone except me was an experienced math instructor.  Problems would be given, and I ended up being the only person in the room who could not solve them.  I left the workshop  feeling embarrassed and insure about my abilities.

If I had the consciousness that I have now, things would have been different in that room. Here I was, the perfect example of the student who cannot get it. And these all math teachers could not construct a lesson to help me feel comfortable about math. Instead I felt the room full of excitement because these teachers were reveling in how smart they were. Now I would turn the situation around. I would say: “Here you are in the perfect teaching situation. How are you going to make this student feel good about him or herself? How can you teach this concept in a way that instills confidence, not shame and insecurity? 

Photographs courtesy of Jo Boaler's site youcubed.