Seawrack and (impressively few) Seashells

This week's blog is a special one. First and foremost, as of today I have officially been in Hong Kong for two months. It is almost difficult for me to believe. I remember how, over the summer, I had no concrete idea of what I'd be doing now. And yet suddenly two months have gone by in a blur and here I　am, midway through my first semester and (dare I say?) settled into a routine.

The second thing that's special about today is I　went to Fisherman's Village 漁村 with some friends. The weather today was fantastic, and we literally stayed out all day (from 10 am until 10 pm). Hong Kong autumn is sunny and cool-- definitely something I could get used too!

I went with some fellow students-- Dido and Yulong-- and some of their friends from a camera forum. Needless to say, plenty of photos were taken. I'm uploading them to my photobucket now, but it's taking awhile so for now I'll just post some within the blog. (UPDATE: Here they are: http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff421/perpetualjoe/fishermansvillage/ )

To give a rough idea, the Fisherman's village looks kind of like this: (Click to Enlarge)



And the alleys and so forth look kinda like this:



The Fisherman's village contrasts sharply with the assumption that Hong Kong is all crowds and city. In fact, there are plenty of rural areas like this one. These kinds of places, however, are a lot less friendly to laowai. The people are still nice, but things aren't nearly as westernized. For example, an English menu isn't a given. Neither is a store clerk who knows English (or a store clerk who knows Putonghua, for that matter）.

After walking around the village for a little while, we went on a boat ride to look for dolphins. Unfortunately we didn't see any, but it was still a lot of fun. Afterward, we went an a nice (and scenic) walk around the outskirts of the village. Some places in Hong Kong are truly beautiful. Case and point:



Aside from spending an ample of time using my Chinese (I'm happy to say that today my listening comprehension-- by far my greatest difficulty-- was almost passable) I had a lot of time to think, both about where I am and what I'm doing. Being able to reflect was nice, and, I feel, extremely helpful for my attitude. I'm feeling really positive about everything right now, and excited about what's in store.

That said, it's midway through the semester and I'm hoping to come home for a couple of weeks in the Winter break (preferably the ones surrounded Christmas. I'll talk to my adviser about it this week to see what can be done. Whether I can or not is really up to how the conversation goes, but I'm not expecting any issues. So next week's update will be a big one and, hopefully, not an unfortunate one!

I conclude the post with something I saw today that I thought was incredible. Behold, America: I bring you the apostrophe "Z".

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

First and foremost, I want to let everyone know that I've been credited in a compilation of detective stories which I worked on last year. The book is now available to purchase. I helped proofread and annotate the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

You can look at the book here! Feel free to even purchase it if you want ;)

Okay, commercial's over... moving on...

I'm going to do things a little bit differently today, and instead of posting every single detail about my life here in Hong Kong I'm going to simply post "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly."

Before I get into that, though, I'd like to let everyone know that you can make comments on this blog. Feel free to ask me any questions. If there's something specific about HK or my studies you'd like to ask about, feel free, and I'll be sure to make that the focal point of the next week's blog.

Now, for our presentation of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

First, The Good:

I've made a lot of friends here in the past two months (already two months? Yikes!). Also, the scenery here in HK is quite nice. Crowded as it is, there's also a lot of more natural areas.

In fact, the other day a friend and I climbed a local mountain. The mountain is only a ten minute walk from our hotel. Here's a picture of me during the hike:



Another great thing about being in Hong Kong is the amount I'm learning. Though I originally feared that there wouldn't be many Mandarin speakers, there are quite a few, many of whom live in my building. I really do feel that I'm learning more here than I would have been able to back in the States, since I'm now using my Chinese on a daily basis.

Now, The Bad:

While there isn't a lot of bad, I do have to admit one thing: though I AM using my Chinese everyday, the amount of English that's used here is both a blessing and a curse. While I can always talk to my friends-- especially those from the mainland-- in Chinese, when I go to a store or a restaurant things are different. Often, the waiter or waitress will speak to me in English before I've had a chance to say anything. And on even rarer occasions, since the Cantonese language is much more popular here than Mandarin, my friends from mainland China will even have to use English to order their food.

Of course, another bad thing is being away from loved ones. Thus far, I've been too busy to be homesick. But we'll see what happens if I'm unable to make it home for Winter break...

Finally, The Ugly:

The Ugly is, simply put, looking up a Chinese word in the dictionary only to discovery it's the same word I had to look up twenty minutes ago. This, by far, is one of the most challenging difficulties of language learning. The frustration of having to look up words constantly should speak for itself I think :p

Though this was a reality of the Chinese classes I took in the United States, it is now a fact of life. As usual, I'm spurred to push forward through these obstacles by the same mindless doggedness that's caused me to stick with the language for over two years now...

Anyway... I think that's all for today. I have to get to work on some readings. Also, later today my friend and I are going to get Sushi. Ironically, Japanese food is EXTREMELY popular here in HK. I will post some pictures later if any are taken.

Joseph

Post One: Ascending Stork Tower

Greetings friends, family and fellow laowai!

I've recently (today) decided that it might be a good idea to take the time to set some of my thoughts and experiences down on an electronic variety of papyrus.  As you all know I'm in Hong Kong now, several tens-of-thousands of li away from home，and doing (among other things) a dismal job at keeping in touch.

I've also realized that for the sake of my own claritas it's probably a good idea that I start forcing myself to reason through what I've been doing, especially what I've been researching. A bit of the tangibility that comes with verbal description might help me sort out a couple of issues that, so far, have remained impenetrably abstract.

But first, a literature lesson. I've named this blog "Ascending Stork Tower." The name comes from a Tang Poem by 王之涣, which describes someone ascending a high structure presumably in hopes of catching a glimpse of another who is "several thousand li away." (That may not be the correct way for interpreting the poem, but that's how I like to think of it, so :P )

白日依山尽，
黄河入海流。
欲穷千里目，
更上层楼

The bright sun glows beyond the mountains,
The Yellow River flows to the sea.
Before my eyes a thousand li,
and more as I ascend again.1

Allow this blog to be your "Stork Tower." Look, you can already catch a glimpse of me!

Can you see me?

No?

Don't worry. Just so you know, somewhere in that picture is where I'm living now, supposedly for the next two years. It's hard to believe. Anyway, if you want to see some more pictures, you can check out my photo-album here: http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff421/perpetualjoe/

That's it for now, folks. It's 12:30 am, Wednesday morning. I'm thinking bed is in my best interests at the moment. I will update this weekend with more, especially stuff pertaining to research. Exciting, isn't it?

Joseph

1 My own rushed translation.