Summer Experience

Fieldwork in China, or a Huge, Frustrating, Dynamic, Messy Learning Process

Posted on by Madeleine Colvin
My past couple posts have focused on my experiences traveling in China, but haven't really touched on my academic research, which is the whole reason I'm here! With absolutely zero fieldwork experience and minimal preparation (see my post on Preparing to Do Research Abroad, which describes my research topic and preparation process), I hopped on a plane to China. I figure...
Read More

There ARE Black Beans in this Country, or the Impact We Have on the World Around Us

Posted on by Maddi Cowen
Brief update from my previous post: I FOUND BLACK BEANS. I heard rumors that black beans occasionally grace the shelves of the nicer grocery stores, and we finally had a chance to go this week. They were expensive, so I was only allowed to buy one can using our grant money, but I take what I can get. Anyway, on to the next topic. Since my position as a field technicia...
Read More

Making Money, Then Spending It on Fruit Juice

Posted on by Eron Smith
Here I am, almost halfway through my summer project already! Time flies here on campus, especially with not as many students around and no homework to do. My research has progressed to its intermediate stages, and summer living is settling into somewhat of a routine. I’m managing to pick up some extra odd jobs here and there on top of my SURP stipend, so my finances are loo...
Read More

The Publishing Saga, or What I Do

Posted on by Feather Flores
"So... What exactly do you do?" I have been asked this question so many times in the past nearly-two months, but I still have yet to come up with an eloquent, concise, comprehensive answer. People are usually looking for no more than a 30-second response to this question, but I still haven't found an explanation short enough, aside from "Everything, honestly," or "Um, editor...
Read More

Love the Thrill, but Scared of Heights!

Posted on by Sergio Rodriguez
Three weeks ago, some friends and I decided to attend the New Jersey State Fair's Opening Day! For me, this would mean my first time leaving the Junior Summer Institute here at Princeton University. So I packed my bags and took the train to Penn Station in New York City. On the train, I met a really nice student from Princeton. We talked a lot about our experiences at Prince...
Read More

5 Discoveries About Traveling Alone

Posted on by Madeleine Colvin
I'm doing independent, pre-thesis research in China, and a byproduct of that is traveling on my own. Before I arrived in China, I was excited about the research and the going-to-China parts, but much less excited at the prospect of being alone for such a long period of time. I'm not one of those people who needs much "me time" and I thrive when I'm around people. On top of that...
Read More

There Are No Black Beans in this Country: Unnecessary Adventures and What We Take for Granted

Posted on by Maddi Cowen
Whether it’s the nature of fieldwork in general or the nature of fieldwork in Australia, things that should be simple end up as an adventure. Let me give you some examples. The task that should have been simple: grocery shopping. Every week, we go on a shopping marathon to buy food for six for a week. We throw grocery bags in the back of the truck (named Matilda), vis...
Read More

Campus Still Got It

Posted on by Eron Smith
Reading the other summer blog posts so far is a bit surreal. Boston? New York? Queensland? Well, that sounds exciting. Meanwhile, this summer I’ll be repping Pomona from… well, Pomona. I’m one of a couple hundred students staying on campus. Some are here as volunteers for PAYS, some are working for various offices and departments, and some (like me!) applied through the Sum...
Read More

Slip-ups, Solitude & Self Care

Posted on by Madeleine Colvin
After a few days of travel in Shanghai and Hangzhou, I found myself in Beijing, finally ready to embark on my summer of independent research. Beijing is the first of my stops in a research tour of China's ethnic minority theme parks (the rest are in Yunnan province). On Wednesday night, I checked into my hostel and on Thursday morning, I took the subway to Beijing's Ethnic ...
Read More

5 Weird Things about California, via 5 Weird Things about Boston

Posted on by Michelle Chan
“Weird” is an extremely relative term, especially when 18 years of your life were spent in a single subculture of a single California suburb. This summer, I decided to step outside the normality of perpetual sunshine and for the first time in 12+ years, head to the East Coast.  Approximately five minutes after exiting the doors of Logan International Airport, all I could...
Read More