1. 清华大学 | Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies ( 清华 IUP 中文中心)
World Languages Expo in Orlando, Florida. This was
IUPe ple
my second visit to this conference,
Volume 2, Issue 2 November 2008
Showing off our new logo: Teachers Zhang Li, Chang Hong, Charles Laughlin (Director), Liao Qingrui, and Yao Wei
World Languages Expo in Orlando, Florida. This was
Letter from the Director my second visit to this conference, and this time I
tried harder to publicize IUP, setting up a booth with
For the last newsletter I was at the Public Intellectuals a banner and brochures in the book exhibit. We had a
Program meeting in D.C. This time I just came back stack of last month's newsletters and that New York
from the American Council on the Teaching of Times article from November 17 about how China is
Foreign Languages/Chinese Language Teachers' now one of the top 5 study abroad destinations and
Association (ACTFL/CLTA) annual meeting and IUP is the first study abroad program in China they
mention! We had visits from IUP alumni, program
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2. administrators and Chinese teachers from all over. Liao at IUP, whether you've been here once or four times,
laoshi and Yao Wei laoshi, who is teaching at and get it in a day or two in pdf format by email.
University of Virginia this year, gave papers in a panel While there may be some minor glitches, this is a very
we co-organized with the ACC program, and ACC's powerful move forward in our management of
director Honggang Jin gave great comments. information. Yes, we are also using the same database
to keep track of alumni!
There have been significant improvements to the
IUPeople website, including greater registration Thanks to the efforts of some great students like
security to enhance the confidentiality and exclusivity Chryssa Rask, Joe Narus, Bobby O'Brien, Kitty
of our community, a new masthead based on our new Poundstone, and Carol Liu, teachers like Li Yun, Mi
logo, and an automatic email notifier with RSVP Zhenhua, Liu Yuming, Jia Yuting and many others,
function for upcoming events. More new changes are we have a nice line-up of Thanksgiving day activities,
in the works, including a newsfeed that combines from bowling in the afternoon to pumpkin pie later
announcements with job listings and new profiles, a on at Dufeng Cafe. Although we can't be with our
rearrangement of the front page into a newspaper families, thanks to the creativity and community
format, and the calendar will be displayed with feeling of our group this year, it's going to be a warm
agenda view as the default, so you can see more of and fuzzy Thanksgiving anyway! Happy
what's coming up at once. Thanksgiving to everyone! And thanks again to
Vivian Li for putting together another fine issue of
You will soon be receiving grade reports from the first IUPeople, and Kristen Looney, alum Henri Benaim,
module that will, for the first time, be automatically Hua Kuoman, Liu Yuming, Carol Liu, Annie Jonas,
generated from our new database. In the future you and Charles Loi for your contributions!
will be able to ask us for a transcript of all your terms
Inside: ‫٭‬ Alumni Profile: Henri Benaim
Alumni Profile ‫٭‬ Trip to Luoyang
‫٭‬ Notes from North Korea
Henri Benaim ‫٭‬ PRC National Break Travels
artists who are from all over the country and may not
use the most quot;standardquot; Chinese. After IUP I had a
Fulbright grant where I conducted research on
Chinese contemporary art and its relationship to
national identity and representation at the conclusion
of my grant I decided to stay in Beijing and begin
work as Director of PKM Gallery in Caochangdi
At the gallery I'm responsible for programming, sales,
media relations, among other duties. I'm always eager
to have IUP students or alum come visit me at the
I graduated from Yale University in 2006 with majors gallery. In addition to art, a big passion of mine is
in Literature and East Asian Studies. After graduation cooking, so I'm always up for eating and related
I was in Hong Kong for the summer before coming up activities.
to Beijing for IUP in the fall of 2006 where I studied
for one semester.
The IUPeople Newsletter is published monthly by the Inter-
IUP has definitely helped my Chinese improve - I feel University Program for Chinese Language Studies. Wen Bei
much more comfortable listening and reading. The Lou, 502, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 100084.
former has proven to be quite important in my current
job where I'm frequently speaking with Chinese Visit us on the web at:
http://ieas.berkeley.edu/iup
Editor-in-chief: Charles Laughlin 2
Managing Editor: Vivian Li

3. 3-Day Excursion to Luoyang
For the fall semester’s long-distance trip, from
October 17-20, IUP’ers traveled by train to the ancient
city of Luoyang. Thanks to Jia Yuting laoshi’s careful
planning, IUP’ers visited the famous White Horse
Temple, Shaolin Temple and Longmen Grottoes.
Photo: Liu Yuming/Hua Kuoman
Photo: Hua Kuoman
Students and teachers alike were inspired by the rich culture at Luoyang
On the left: Laoshi’s Liu Yuming, Sun Shuang, Zhang Rui, and Sun
Hongyi recreate the Thousand-Armed Guanyin.
On the right: IUP students Ben Roth and Alan Gaskill strike a
fighting pose in homage to the Shaolin monks.
Group Kodak moment in front of entrance to Shaolin Temple
Photo: Hua Kuoman
Photo: Hua Kuoman
A grand view of the amazing Longmen Grottoes devoted to Buddhism
Sharon Nakhimovsky takes advantage of the down time on the train
Mark Your Calendars!
Thanksgiving Party: November 27, 6 p.m.
Enjoy a feast of turkey and pumpkin pie at Dufeng Canting!
IUP Alumni Mixer: November 29, 7-10 p.m.
Current students, alumni, and friends are invited to network
at Element Fresh in Sanlitun
Photo: Hua Kuoman
“The Curious History of Fashion in Communist China”
On December 4, 2:20 p.m. at Room 707, IUP alumnus
Antonia Finnane, professor at University of Melbourne, will
speak about the evolution of fashion in modern China
Lila Buckley bonds with locals over their love for cameras
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4. 9) The DPRK is closed off. There is one place in the
country where you can send email for 9 euros each.
There are 3 government controlled TV channels and
government controlled radio is broadcast over
loudspeakers all over the countryside.
8) Anti-Americanism is intense. There are
propaganda posters of North Koreans killing
American soldiers and slogans about “American
imperialists” everywhere. A little over 1,000
Notes from North Korea Americans have been there since 1953.
by Kristen Looney 7) Commerce and street life is minimal. People
walk places; they don’t stop and linger. I saw three ads
From September 30-October 4 over the National Day for cars between the airport and downtown Pyongyang,
break, I traveled to North Korea (Democratic People’s and besides that I only saw political slogans. There are
only a few restaurants, stores and juice stands.
Republic of Korea- DPRK) with a Beijing-based
6) There are lots of Chinese. Chinese tourists,
company Koryo Tours. For the last two years at
Harvard I took Korean classes and spent this past businessmen, and officials driving nice cars could be
summer studying in South Korea. These basic seen everywhere we went.
language skills went a long way with my North 5) Only a few hundred North Koreans, including
Korean hosts. Our group of 12 Americans and 3 our guides, speak foreign languages and have
Korean tour guides visited the capital Pyongyang, the experience abroad. They come back to serve their
DMZ and nearby city Kaesong, and a scenic area with country, but (reading between the lines) also because
Buddhist temples Mount Myohyang. To be sure, we their families cannot leave.
were not at liberty to explore on our own or interact 4) North Koreans want diplomatic relations with
with ordinary people. We could also not take photos the U.S. They want an embassy, troops withdrawn
unless we were given explicit permission. from the South, and the Americans to stay out of
North-South Korean relations.
You may be wondering, as my parents did when I first 3) North Koreans are obsessed with the idea of
broached the subject with them, why anyone would reunification. Every person I talked to claims to have
go to a country that is so closed off, and has such an family in the south.
atrocious human rights record. Believing that more 2) The Cult of Kim Ilsung, who has been dead
dialogue and openness is better, and also that the since 1994, is beyond what I expected. Everyone
perspective (no matter how flawed) of the DPRK wears pins, the news mentions his name dozens of
government, which just celebrated its 60th anniversary, times in any given broadcast, political slogans about
deserves to be understood, I went hoping to learn him are everywhere, and at his massive mausoleum
something about this place. you can see North Koreans moved to tears.
1) The Arirang mass games is unlike anything
Here’s my top ten list of impressions I took away: you’ll ever see-100,000 people perfectly coordinated
to put on a socialist-realist, Kim-dynasty worshiping
10) The DPRK is poor. In the countryside, you see gymnastics spectacle that is way more low tech and
people scavenging for food. In the cities, most people way more memorable than Beijing’s opening
walk and energy is rationed to people depending on ceremony for the Olympics, which is the closest thing
government-determined criteria. to which it can be compared.
Left to right: Carol Liu visits the Al Fateh Grand Mosque in Bahrain; Charles Loi discovered that the
Student Travelogue Olympic spirit had reached even the tourism entrepreneurs in Xinjiang; Alex Wald ganbei's with one
National Day Break: Sept. 27-Oct.5 of the younger participants of the Tsingtao International Beer Festival; IUP’ers Annie Jonas, Jill
Schultz, and Ben Roth share a few drinks with fellow revelers at the beer festival
Photo: Annie Jonas
Photo: Annie Jonas
Photo: Charles Loi
Photo: Carol Liu
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