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