Back in HK

Well, back in Hong Kong to finish up preparing the first parts of my thesis. Then it's onto year 2! Had a great trip home. All I can say is that I really miss these:

Man, just looking at that is making me hungry.

Looking forward to posting a more substantial update on Sunday! Until then, Zaijian!

Joseph

Anxiety and booking flights

So, after (successfully) talking with my advisor about going home this summer, I was finally able to book my flight. I should be excited-- and I am-- but for some reason I always have a little bit of anxiety after booking a flight, especially a round-trip one. Should I have booked to stay longer? Shorter? I remember feeling the same thing immediately after booking for Christmas. Then, I only had 9 full days at home. I panicked, because I didn't feel like that'd be enough. But it was OK, when all was said and done. It felt like a long time. And this time, I'll be home for longer.

Larissa had some words of wisdom: "No time is long enough to visit."

And that's so true. Even if I were staying longer than I am, would that alleviate the anxiety about being away again that I feel now? Doubt it. Exchange students I've met here are away from home for four (4!) months, and yet they get just as homesick (if not moreso) than I do, knowing that I'm here for another 15, aside from the couple of weeks I get to sneak away for two times a year or so.

Speaking of exchange students, looks like another batch of friends I've made here is preparing to return home. It's a little depressing to think about, but I guess that's what it's like being abroad. People come and go. I remain, but soon enough I will follow suit.

Another busy week and long weekend...

Not much to post about this week, but I'll update this thing anyway. This week was extremely busy, and this weekend was extremely relaxing. I worked on multiple papers like a madman during the week, and on Friday I finally settled on one and wrote half (!) of it that day. I put it more or less on the back-burner this weekend to rest and enjoy the three-day holiday, and I'll reconvene with it bright and early tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. I plan to submit it by the end of the week/early next week.

Also in the news... am slowly putting together plans to return home this summer. It won't be for the whole summer, or even a month, but it will hopefully be for longer than Christmas. I so excited.

Overdue postings!

So, it's been two weeks since I updated this just about (to those of you who swear otherwise, shhhh...).

Lots has happened in the last two weeks. Let's start from the beginning. Two Wednesdays ago I saw the one-and-only Bob Dylan here in Hong Kong. It was great but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture any decent footage. What was even worse is that they weren't selling any posters. How lame!

Concert itself was very good, though. Having been a fan for over two decades now (woah, really?), I've long been acquainted with Dylan's music and, naturally, I've managed to see a couple videos of him playing live. I knew that the songs would be arranged differently, and, having heard his recent albums, I knew that his voice would only be as good as 50 years of cigarettes and substance abuse allows.

That aside, I was not disappointed in the concert at all. Dylan played a wide-range of material, from classics like Forever Young and Like a Rolling Stone to treats for the hardcore fans like Ballad of a Thin Man and Simple Twist of Fate. Dotted between songs I knew were a couple, undoubtedly b-sides or songs from his 90s discography, which I wasn't familliar with. Still, Dylan managed to be captivating-- charming even-- and the band was top-notch.

Let's see... what else is there to talk about? I went mountain climbing with yulong and valerie last weekend, and we spotted monkeys. Um. It was Easter Break this weekend, but I didn't go out much; I got sick toward the end of the week and decided to spent the long weekend relaxing and doing some light reading and writing.

Gotta finish my paper by (I'm assuming) the beginning of next week so I'll be kicking it into high-gear for the remainder of this week. I'm still not sure what exactly I'm going to submit, but hopefully after logging at least 20 hours on both this week I'll have a much firmer idea.

And that's about it. Somewhat anxious, unsure as usual but lately it's been highlighting itself. Will trek on, as always.

Learning Mandarin in Hong Kong-- Advantages and Disadvantages

Since I didn't go anywhere or do anything fun this weekend, I figured I'd update about something slightly different than usual. A friend of mine recently brought up the following point: "Hong Kong is a terrible place for studying Mandarin!"

This comment was very interesting to me. Seven months ago, I came to Hong Kong to study for my Master's degree. Learning Mandarin wasn't my only goal, but I can't deny that studying Mandarin was a big incentive. "It's China," I thought. "I'll come back fluent!"

Well, I was wrong about that. Hong Kong isn't really China. Everything you may have heard about the difficulties of studying Mandarin in Hong Kong-- that not many people speak it well, some people will look down on you if you speak it (as opposed to Cantonese), you don't need to use it because people understand English, for example-- is true. With that said, Hong Kong is still a good place to study Mandarin, and here's why:

1.) Moving to another country never guarantees fluency.

Alot of people assume the opposite. Oh, you're going to ______ for a year. You'll be fluent when you come back! I swear, that assumption is just so wrong, and everyone should know it. I'm sure everyone reading this blog has met someone who came to the United States from Europe or Mexico or Asia decades ago, and still can't hold a conversation in English. Why? Because even if you live in a country that speaks the language you want to learn, you're not going to learn anything unless you want to and you work hard at it. Likewise, I can't count the amount of times I've met people who've studied in Japan or China but know less Chinese than even I do. Why? See point two:

2.) No matter where you go, someone will always be able to help you in English.

For better or worse, it's something that's come with our language's position in the world. Whether your in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, or Moscow, someone-- perhaps multiple people-- will be waiting in the wings to help you set up a bank account or find your way around in English. Why? Because it's practice! People in Hong Kong and China alike are more than willing to play the role of the perfect hosts for English-speaking foreigners-- their hospitality, unfortunately, is your dependence. This is a trap you're just as likely to fall into whether you be in Kowloon or Beijing.

3.) Plenty of Mainland Chinese people live in Hong Kong

Universities are especially full of mainland Chinese people who you can befriend and practice your Chinese with. If you're too craven to approach them, and just retreat to your room to surf the web in all of your free time-- guess what-- you'd likely be doing the same thing in your apartment in the Mainland. If that's how you're gonna be, then why bother?

4.) Real fluency goes beyond asking for directions

Sure, in the mainland you'll have to use your Chinese to tell your cab driver where to go, or ask how expensive something is. At the end of the day, is that going to translate into real fluency? I think not. In order really become fluent, you're going to need to read Chinese newspapers, watch Chinese TV, read Chinese books and take higher level Mandarin classes. All of that can be done in HK just as easily as it can be done in the mainland. What are you waiting for?

So if you're sitting in Hong Kong asking yourself why you came here instead of the Mainland, because you don't think you're learning enough Chinese, perhaps the things that are holding you back can't be blamed on your location. Perhaps the things holding you back would hold you back no matter where you are.

And, anyway, Shenzhen is just 20 minutes away.

Just a little something I like...

I know I never update mid-week, but wanted to share this:

Robert Heinlein- Specialization is for Insects

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Cross-Cultural Studies- Where Do I Fit In?

This has been on my mind for awhile: What am I? A future scholar? More specific: a person working on a bridge that connects one culture to another. More specific than that: a sinologist in training.

I'm a westerner-- and American-- studying Chinese language and literature in Hong Kong. All of my peers are from Hong Kong or China, studying Chinese from a distinctly Chinese method. What their research means to them and their field isn't the same thing as what my research means to me and my field. And yet we are, in name, the same. I know I'm different than them-- I have a different standard, a different obligation I should hold myself to. And yet how can I allow myself to be judged differently? Is this a fairness issue?

I read back on my research. Ugh. I sound like an academic, and a bad one at that. What about my research promotes --mutual-- cultural understanding? Am I doing my job, or am I -- desperately-- treading the same waters my Chinese peers easily brave and conquer? Am I holding myself to the wrong standards as I imagine myself to be pursuing the right ones?

I don't know! Perhaps Meiguo pengyou studying Chinese and writing about Chinese in English is enough to uphold that "mission." Is it? I don't know! Perhaps I can't judge-- only others can. And perhaps the judgement of others doesn't matter, anyway.

I'll just do my thing. Let's read James Liu's The Interlingual Critic today.

Nanjing?

Huh. Blogger hates me lately.

Guess you guys can just check out all the other China photos here:

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff421/perpetualjoe/Nanjing/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16

Shanghai! （太多車！）

So, I was gone last week. I'm back now, and I think I'm going to dedicate the next month or so to recounting my trip to the mainland. I went to four cities, so maybe I'll spend a week or so on each.

First stop is Shanghai. Me and my two peers （woah, I have peers now?) set out very early on Friday, and took a train to Shenzhen so we could catch a bus going to the airport. Flying from Shenzhen is a lot cheaper than flying from Hong Kong. Anyway, after going through customs, taking my first step in the mainland, getting on and off the bus and in and out of the Shenzhen airport we finally arrived in Shanghai, where we could just sort of relax for the night. Our hotel was quite nice, but I didn't take a picture of it.

Anyway, after 4 modes of transportation we were all pretty swamped, and decided to get some food and then call it a night. Food is considerably cheaper in the mainland than in Hong Kong, so we ate some very authentic Shanghai cuisine, drank some beer, and then headed back to the hotel. The next day was spent almost entirely in the Shanghai Library and the Shanghai Museum. I took nearly a hundred pictures at the Museum, and I won't bother boring you with most of them. However, I was happy to see the find a set of Zhou Dynasty ritual bells there, since Ancient Music is pretty much central to my research topic.I was also happy to see the incredible variety of art and calligraphy they have there.

More pictures of what I saw in the museum can be found here: http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff421/perpetualjoe/Shanghai%20Museum/

Anyway, after spending the majority of the day in the Museum, we checked out the Catholic Church at Shanghai, which is one of the oldest churches in Asia. I'd post the picture here, but it did not come out very well. You can find it in the link above if you really want to see it :)

Next stop, XuZhou 徐州 and the Han Dynasty Stone Engravings!

Lantau Experience

Another week goes zooming by.

I spent today in Lantau, on a trip with some students from the mainland. A good time was had; however, weather was not permitting. Actually afraid that I've come down with a cold. Anyway, here's some pictures because that seems to be what everyone seems to like best :)

This is, more or less, the entrance to the place:

You can see the big Buddha statue in the upper right hand corner. The statue is actually a recent edition to mountain and, in the eyes of some people on the trip, a tourist trap. I don't know. It's not an authentic Buddha statue from ages past but it was still pretty cool to see. There did seem to be some religious people paying homage regardless.

Here's a closeup:


And let's go for a closer closeup:

More about how the day actually went now...

Basically, I had fun. Traveling with people from the mainland and practicing my Chinese was cool too, especially after discovering that paying a private tutor was going to be out of the question for the time being (even if I just learned more internet slang than anything else 神馬？）. Oh, and did I mention the cable cars?

Yes, I took that picture from inside one. And, as you can tell, it was fun and a little bit scary. Oh, and cold. I thought it was spring here already, but I was wrong. In Hong Kong we're currently getting the cold rainy season that comes in Spring's place and ends with the arrival of the brutal summer. Can't wait for that :P

Anyway, figured I'll do something a bit more erudite before I sign off here for the week. After several conversations with friends, I've come to realize just how much of a give-and-take language learning is. What I'm finding to work best is when people learning each others' languages make time to help each other practice. It's good to set up certain time periods just for speaking one language, and then moving to the other afterwards. What doesn't work is when people get selfish, and only want to practice one language without helping someone else learn their own. I've come to realize, too, that some of my biggest frustrations with language learning have come when I've felt like people were 'taking' more than they were 'giving' or, on the other hand, when I was expecting to 'get' more than I was willing to 'give.'

Anyway, back to the grind of learning Chinese, thesis writing, and so on. I'm now officially 1/4th done my time here. It has flew by, so far, but there's still a long way to go. And I have to admit, I do miss home a bit.

New Years pt. 2

Not much new this week. Worked pretty hard on my topic this week, and relaxed this weekend. Blisters on feet from hiking 30 kilometers are gone.

Haven't gone out, because it's been cold and rainy. And I thought spring was here! Haha. Anyway, instead of doing another real update, I'll just post some more pictures from last week.

Hiking back:



Beach



牛肉



I would like to know what this is



Rocks



Friends



The gate

Happy New Year!

Have I really not updated this in a month? I'm terrible! :P

Anyway, this week was the Chinese New Year. As can be guessed, there was a lot of celebration going on. Unfortunately, most of my friends went home to their families (good for them!) so I had no choice but to celebrate on my own for a majority of the week. One of my friends here, Nancy, took me to a special market that's only around during the New Year and bought me some presents. Props to Nancy for being a good friend!


Other than that, I didn't do much for the New Year. The good thing is that my holiday boredom inspired me to join some events that I normally wouldn't. As a result, I wound up going to Xigong again, this time with a lot of other international students. We wound up hiking through a lot of mountains (about 15 miles worth) in order to get to a beach, where we just kinda slept, chilled, and played soccer for the afternoon. It was a lot of fun, and very relaxing. Though I am a bit tired and sunburned now.

We took a cab back and ate in XiGong. I was hoping we'd eat some expensive Seafood, especially after the long hike, but a couple people we were concerned about the price so we just wound up eating at a normal cafeteria. It was a bit of a let-down after an otherwise awesome day, but thankfully it didn't stop me from enjoying the time I spent with everyone. I do hope, though, that next time we all agree on a place to eat beforehand.

Anyway, as of Wednesday the break is over; though I'll probably go to the office tomorrow. Also, vague plans to apply for my Visa on Tuesday. Better print out the form. Here's a couple more pictures before I go (and, of course, you can always find more on the photobucket I linked to in the first post):

Rosary Church

This weekend, like last weekend, was a pretty uneventful one. Friday night, I went to Hong Kong's Ikea for some reason (I still don't know why) and last night I went to an Indian restaurant with a classmate and had curry. It was good, but a little bit expensive; and I'm still not sure it was worth the price! Today was looking to be another lazy Sunday of relaxing, napping, video games and music-- especially since, once again, my friends are all busy-- but I decided to do something different and went to church. There were a couple of Catholic churches near by, but I decided to go to one in Tsim Sha Shui due to its proximity to shopping and the fact that Tsim Sha Shui is an all-around decent place to spend a Sunday.



Mass was nice. The priest who does the English mass, Reverend Sheridan, is from (and was ordained in)Ireland. I talked to him briefly after mass, and he seems nice. He invited me to come more often, and I think I will. I think it'll be nice to get involved in a church-- or, any community outside school, that is. It's always good to have a life that consists more than wasting time on the internet and one's current school-job.

After mass, I walked around shops and eventually bought this CD. It's good; not quite as good as the Arcade Fire album I purchased recently or Jose Gonzalez's solo stuff, but still really good. And, it sounds good played on my new speakers which came (along with a bunch of scholarly books) in the mail this week.

This weekend was bad for productivity. But what are weekends for? Thankfully, Fallout New Vegas has glitched out so much I can no longer enjoy it, so I probably won't be playing that next weekend. Of course, I get paid this weekend, and I've got a decent hunch I'm also going to be purchasing Dragon Age: Origins :)

Will update again next week. Possibly after church :P

Well, not much to say...

This week was a pretty standard week. The semester begins tomorrow, so I just relaxed this weekend. The friends I'd normally see on weekends were all busy this week with various things, so I've just been keeping to myself.

My adviser gave me some readings materials, which I'm pretty excited about. Two books about early Chinese literature (in English), two books about Script Writing and Classical Chinese (in Chinese), and finally one book about the history of Chinese literature (also in Chinese.) I'm averaging about 1 page per hour. That's up from one paragraph per hour, which is where I was when I got here!

Classes begin this week. Monday I'm taking a class on "The Literary Theory of Carving Dragons" （文心雕龍）. Then Tuesday I'm taking a language class. Finally, friday I'm sitting in Dr. Chen's Classical Chinese course. Looks like this semester will have me back in the classroom, rather than the office. Honestly, I like that better!

Oh, and the New York Jets are going to the AFC Championship!!!

Back in Hong Kong

Hey everyone. Sorry that I haven't updated in like a month! I usually wait until Sunday night to update, but I forgot. And then I was on a plane. And then I was home, and since I didn't bring my computer with me there was no reason to update. And now that I'm back in Hong Kong, I'm ready to get back into the swing of weekly blogging.

For this first update, I guess I'll write about being home. I arrived at JFK airport Christmas Day and was able to stay until January 4th. Originally, I feared that the break would be too short (and, of course, there was no way it could be long enough) but it was just fine. It was a nice, relaxing chance to recharge and see the people who I love. And now I'm back in HK, quite ready to take on whatever this city and M.Phil program throw at me.

When I was home, it snowed. In fact, it snowed less than one day after I arrived home. Thinking about the fact that I was only 20 hours or so away from being on the tarmac'd Cathay Pacific flight really does give me the creeps. Next time I go home for Christmas, I won't schedule a Christmas Day flight. I'll schedule a few days or a week earlier, so there's no risk of missing the holiday. Man, what a bummer missing Christmas would have been.

This time, I lucked out. Instead of being stuck in an airport, I got to play in the snow with Casey:



My mom said that I should start planning my next trip as soon as possible. I'd like to, but I can't. I can only keep it in the back of my mind. I know I'll be coming up again in the summer, but there are just too many variables right now so I can't say when. There will be a conference in early spring, for example. And then, at some point, I have my mid-term review. I'm assuming I'll be prepared, but something tells me I'll be better off waiting until that mid-term review is over before coming home.

For now, all I can do is work hard and take the opportunity to go home next time it comes to me. And this upcoming week-- the one that starts tomorrow-- is my first "true" week back, working on things without the obstacle of Jetlag. Speaking of which, I've recently read some scholarly articles which inspired me to begin new readings of the Classic of Poetry. What I'm finding so far, even though I've just begun, is that I can get to a place where I really am able to appreciate these poems from a literary-- rather than historical or linguistic-- point of view.

Can't wait to dive back in tomorrow.