Looking American

I went to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha (乐山大佛) with a friend in January 2011. When we were at the top by the head, we asked a couple nearby to take our picture. They did, and asked us where we were from. My friend explained that she was a local from the same province, while I was from America. They were very surprised and said that I didn't look American. Haha! Well, my friend explained, she's 华侨--an ethnically Chinese person who lives outside of China.

"Can you speak English?"
"Yes.... hello!"
"H-hello...."

And they shook my hand and asked to take a picture with me. I hope their friends and family don't disbelieve them because I am not white.

I wish I had gotten a picture with them too.

I love lists

Some thoughts and concerns over the past week:

1. I've steadily sabotaged my Morphology class, and my life, one minute at a time. Doing anything but studying even though it was what I needed the most.

2. Today I ate through most of a salad without dressing because I hadn't noticed that the dressing packet was hidden in the middle of the bowl. There were less than ten leaves left when I realized. I felt stupid.

3. Eugene told me that Korean-made Shin ramen is much spicier than Hong Kong-made Shin ramen. I found one at the supermarket and am cooking it as I type ("cook" being a loose term). Just opening the packet of spices and inhaling its contents has made me scared, but sort of excited.

4. I need to get better at Frisbee! Today's practice was pathetic on my part. They have this rule where you must pass to a girl before you can score, and as far as I'm concerned, it's valid because I suck! I dropped so many discs! I want to make that rule irrelevant, because I'll be able to catch and play that shit when it counts. Grr.

I guess they actually study here

In Hong Kong, not going to weekend social activities because "I need to study" is a perfectly valid excuse. They say "oh," nod in understanding, and let it be.

Streetlight people

I was out eating dinner with a big group when Don't Stop Believin' by Journey started playing in the background. You could pick out the four Americans by the way they started softly singing along.

Hong Kong needs more sky

I was at an international students meet-and-greet party when I ended up talking to a Hongkonger boy. We went through the usual pleasantries, and he asked me how I liked Hong Kong. I said my normal answer: Yeah, it's pretty great, I like it here. He looked at me thoughtfully and--I can't remember exactly what he said in Cantonese--but it was something like, "Do you feel that there's kind of no sky here?" It sounded very poetic to me, caught me off guard, and I wasn't sure if I had understood. Perhaps he was talking about the thick cloud of pollution that always hung overhead here? "I mean," he continued, "there are so many tall buildings here that they block out the sky. Don't you think so?" He then said that he had lived in Hong Kong his entire life so far, but it wasn't a place he would want to stay. I was surprised--yes, with all these towering skyscrapers here there is no great expanses of  sky--but I sort of just took it as it was. I wondered if it was suffocating, living under concrete, bricks, and windows. He thought so.

The streets of Bordeaux

Wet streets soak my shoes but sparkle
underneath the hanging lamps,
the golden globes that glitter white and bright and joy
and hang next to messages lit up between
buildings of stone which glow too,
reflecting thousands of little lights, so proud
next to the trees encased in green
halfway up the trunk so they look like glowing
broccoli stalks floating in
the air is crisp and cold
and mittens and scarves and waterproof hats and
it's beginning to feel a little bit festive
a little bit like Christmas
a little bit like
soon.

August 25, 2009

I have never felt further from home than when I was looking down at the green and tan fields, under the cool very early morning glow. Europe.