Day 6 (11/5) - Berkeley
We left Palo Alto for the weekend for Berkeley. Unfortunately I left my sandals behind but fortunately I picked them up when I returned.
Seen on the BART: "AIDSmarathon.com. You can do it! In 6 months, we can train you to complete a marathon or half marathon and make a difference in the fight against AIDS!" Right.
Arriving in the Berkeley YMCA, we were aghast at a sexist testament to the marginalisation of men in modern society - the guys got a triple and a quad, while the girls got doubles, and 2 girls had singles.
For lunch most of us went to a sandwich place a stone's throw from the YMCA, where we could make our own sandwiches - we were billed by weight (50 cents per ounce). Naturally, mine was the most expensive at $6.74 (with tax); I loaded a French roll with mayo, lettuce, tomato, sliced pickled gherkins, Black Forest Ham, Crispy Bacon and Provolone Cheese. My bread was quite heavy, but being baked with some butter (I think) it was a bit crumbly and nice. This concept would never work in Singapore - people would pile lobster salad on the lightest bread and the place would fold.
I saw a girl with a headscarf wrapped tightly around her neck, but below it was a plunging neckline. Hurr hurr.
Campanile
Us
Them
Waiting for the talk
We then went to Berkeley for our only academic activity there, a talk on Asians in the US by Professor Ong Aihwa. Amidst reference to her books, we learnt that the perception in the US was that Asians are bad at talking or managing - except for Indians. At Davos, the Chinese unveiled figures to frighten the Westerners, but the Indian delegation sweet-talked their rivals. Also, Asian musicians are seen as technically superior, but with no feeling because they work so hard they become narrow. Asians contribute to their own marginalisation: the parental and familial obsession with Engineering, Medicine and Law reinforces stereotypes (someone wanted to do Anthropology, and his parents said they might as well just pack up and go back to their home country since it was a waste of time), and no one wants to come forward to take part in politics.
The Berkeley campus is more dingy than Stanford, and there is more graffiti in the toilets (the female ones also):
Protesting for UC to cut its ties with the military
Apparently NUS student feedback *does* matter - it affects the lecturer's promotion prospects and progress on the tenure track.
Daniel with a cigarette
For dinner, we met some Singaporean students for dinner at the Shanghai restaurant at the "Asian Ghetto" (wth).
College kids here are more loud and uninhibited, and the girls were picking up the atmosphere. Some of them said they were cold, and 4 of them had a group hug. I went over to join in and they screamed, marginalising me once again.
Quotes:
You have a double chin. [Me: You noticed. Is it nice?] Which one?
Now I know why you know so much. You don't watch TV. You use the time to go and read things.