I arrived in Beijing, like any foreigner, with strange ideas in my head about what life might be like in a Communist country. I had seen from photos on the internet how modern and capitalist the cities had become, and yet, in my mind, from the many news reports I had read, I was sure the images I had seen were all “presented” and there would be destitution and despair just behind the facade.

I have one, genuine Chinese friend. He is on track to be a gym teacher, but he actually wants to be a businessman. The other day, he texted me his excitement about having the opportunity to join the Communist Party. He sounded so happy. He said he was very lucky and would now have a chance at a better job in the future. After my initial reaction, I was able to wish him good luck. He, like all other undergraduates, lives in a dorm room smaller than mine with 5 other bunkmates. They have a shared bathroom for the whole floor and the shower facilities are in an entirely different building and run only during specific hours.

 

 

 Food from hand to mouth. No need to cut down acres of bamboo, no need to mold tons of plastics or smelt metal. The body’s energy can interact with the food before it has even entered the body’s system. And the sticky fingers? All eating areas seem to have a conveniently located niche in the main room called the Hand Wash. Or, if you do not want to get up, pouring water from the steel cup over your fingers and into a dish is fine too.

Mehndi Time

/*
 * File: Rainbow.java
 * ------------------
 * This program displays a rainbow by adding consecutively
 * smaller circles to the canvas using an array. 
 */
 
import java.awt.Color;
 
import acm.graphics.GOval;
import acm.graphics.GRect;
import acm.program.*;
 
public class Rainbow extends GraphicsProgram {
 
 public static final int SUN_RADIUS = 80;
 public static final int BAND_WIDTH = 20;
 public static final int RAINBOW_OVERHANG = 380;
 public static final int RAINBOW_OFFSET = 150;
 
 public void run() {
 
// Creating a sky with a GRect method
 
 drawSky (Color.CYAN);
 
// Creating a sky with a GOval method
// drawCircle (220, 220, 510, Color.CYAN);
 
 Color[] colors = {Color.RED, Color.ORANGE, Color.YELLOW, Color.GREEN, Color.BLUE, Color.MAGENTA, Color.CYAN};
 
 for (int i=0; i<colors.length; i++){
 
 drawCircle (getWidth()/2, getHeight() + RAINBOW_OFFSET, ((getWidth()+RAINBOW_OVERHANG)/2)-(i*BAND_WIDTH), colors[i]);
 
 }
 
// Creating a cute, little sun in the corner using the GOval method
 
 drawCircle (0, 0, SUN_RADIUS, Color.YELLOW);
 
 }
 
 private void drawCircle(int x, int y, int r, Color acolor) { 
 
 GOval myCircle = new GOval(x-r, y-r, r*2, r*2);
 myCircle.setFilled(true);
 myCircle.setColor(acolor);
 add (myCircle); 
 
 }
 
 private void drawSky(Color skycolor) {
 
 GRect mySky = new GRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight());
 mySky.setFilled(true);
 mySky.setColor(skycolor);
 add (mySky);
 }
 
}

/*
 * File: Pyramid.java
 * ------------------
 * This program is a stub for the Pyramid problem, which draws
 * a brick pyramid.
 */
 
import acm.graphics.*;
import acm.program.*;
 
public class Pyramid extends GraphicsProgram {
 
//create constants for the brick width, brick height, and the number of 
//bricks in the base of the pyramid
 
	public static final int BRICK_WIDTH = 30;
	public static final int BRICK_HEIGHT = 12;
	public static final int BRICKS_IN_BASE = 12;
 
	public void run() {
 
		for(int i=0;i<BRICKS_IN_BASE; i++) {
 
			drawRowOfBricks(
 
				(getWidth()-(BRICK_WIDTH*(BRICKS_IN_BASE-(i))))/2,
				(i*(-BRICK_HEIGHT))-BRICK_HEIGHT,
				BRICKS_IN_BASE-i
 
			);
 
		}
	}
 
	private void drawBrick(int x, int y, int brick_width, int brick_height) { 
 
		GRect myBrick = new GRect(x, y, brick_width, brick_height);
		add (myBrick); 
 
	}
 
	public void drawRowOfBricks(int x, int y, int numOfBricks) {
 
		for(int i=0;i<numOfBricks; i++)
 
			drawBrick(x+(i*BRICK_WIDTH), y+getHeight(), BRICK_WIDTH, BRICK_HEIGHT);
 
	}
 
}