Sun-stroke

Why is it that I can never get myself to do what I'm supposed to do... especially when the weather's so nice outside?

Instead of working on the billion urgent items on my to-do list, I play with Photoshop and think about napping. You go, Miffy.

Too Many Boiled Balls.

I just read a really cute blog post by my dad (yes he has his own blog too!) that I'd like to share. ^_^ Here is his story with my translation:

元宵節囉 吃湯圓

It's the Lantern Festival, so we have to eat tang yuan

(tang yuan = boiled balls of glutinous rice flour)

奶奶出去買了幾包湯圓

沒說

Grandmother went to buy a couple packets of tang yuan

But she didn't tell us

爺爺擔心奶奶忘了買湯圓

出去也買了幾包湯圓

Grandfather was worried that grandmother forgot to buy tang yuan

He also went out to buy a few packets of tang yuan

我從外頭回來 擔心家裡沒湯圓

因此我也買了幾包湯圓

I came back from running errands, was worried that we didn't have any tang yuan at home

Therefore I also went out to buy some tang yuan

這下好了

凍箱裡滿滿的

都是湯圓

Well now

Our fridge is totally packed...

with tang yuan

早上的街尾免費小報

居然出現訪問奶奶的照片和新聞

主題是湯圓

The free daily morning paper

Has an article interviewing grandmother along with her picture

And the subject is... tang yuan.

Translation of the blurb:

Mrs. Ji (my grandmother's maiden name) who lives in Flushing, said that her old husband and son both love to eat sesame tang yuan, which is why she wanted to take advantage of the [supermarket] promotion sale and stock up. Mrs. Ji recalled her childhood at her old home in Jiangxi Province, when her entire family would work together to make homemade tang yuan. They would buy glutinous rice and various stuffings, and then all the roles would be tasked out so that it was clear what everyone had to do. It very lively that time of the year. Now, there's less people at home [in Flushing] and she doesn't make homemade tang yuan anymore because the supermarket has a large selection of tasty and cheap tang yuan that's available whenever she feels like having some.

Firefight in Nanjing

FINALLY I CAN SLEEP. The Lantern Festival is OVER.

I can't tell you just how annoyed I was when fireworks started going off [literally] right next to my window at 6:00am. BOOM (x100). Rays of light piercing my eyeballs. It was like flash bangs being repeatedly thrown into my room. I understand that in China I should be culturally sensitive, but just what is the point of setting off fireworks that early in the morning? It's too bright to see jack shit, people (me) are getting much needed beauty-sleep, and HELLO... don't you have anything better to do, loser?!!! Where's my flower pot.

Well anyway, the fireworks/firecrackers went off through out the day. They're much prettier and tolerable at night (see video below) and it was really cool to see fireworks exploding in the sky right above your head. If you can't beat em, might as well join em! I wanted to buy some off the street too but considered the fact that I like having all 10 of my fingers. :)

Here's what it was like from my apartment on the 17th floor. Looks like a war zone!

Yuan Xiao Jie 元宵節, aka Lantern Festival, aka 15th day of the Lunar New Year, aka the last day that people are allowed to set off fireworks in the city. Boy, are they taking advantage of it.... (Nanjing, Jiangsu, PRC)

CNY in TPE

If you didn't know, Chinese (Lunar) New Year is NUTS!!!

It's this weird paradox, most stuff is shut down for a week (or more) while people are on holiday, yet there's this frenzied preparation that cumulates in this annual celebration. I was in Taipei from 1/31 until 2/7, right in the mix of things. It was so much fun to observe and partake in this tradition... ABCs have a totally diluted version what goes down in the R.O.C. (or P.R.C. for that matter... wouldn't be surprised if every 1 out 8 children get their fingers blown off by firecrackers in the month of February).

My dad and I checked out this alley in Wanhua District (萬華) that specialized in selling all things Chinese New Year-y. We went the CNY Eve, so things had calmed down significantly by then, but supposedly it was packed like the 6 Train Subway at 8:30am for days straight! Elbows out.

I was nearly blinded walking through this all this prismatic candy wrappers. I was even almost convinced that these candy MUST be delicious because they were so gosh darn pretty. I bet they taste like chalk though, haha. (Sour grapes?)

There were rows of shops selling XXXXXL bags of nuts, seeds, candy. The bags were literally 2 meters high. I guess people like to fill their homes with a whole array of snacks during the holidays. This vendor was doing particularly well... I wonder why. :)

My birthday falls on Chinese New Year, and coincidentally my cousin Sunny's birthday is the day after CNY too. We celebrated together with a Qiao Hu (巧虎) cartoon character cake. Animal cakes are NEVER faux pas! Oh and if you didn't figure it out, I turned 27. :(

Me and my dad. :)

After having dinner with our family, my dad and I went back to Wanhua District to visit Long Shan Temple (龍山寺, aka Dragon Mountain Temple). Many people go to the temple on the first day of the year to pray for a fresh start. Literally thousands. Also, supposedly the first incense lit on the new year will be the most potent? I don't know, Chinese believe in many strange things... but although I'm the natural skeptic, it was hard not to get swept up by the whole scene. I found myself feeling very moved by the collective hope and ended up making my own little prayer to the gods for some well-needed direction for the future too.

This is how it basically works -- each temple has about 8-10 "stations" for gods. There's a certain path that you're supposed to walk around the temple. When you reach a station, you make your prayer (holding the incense around head-level and bowing several times), and then throw it into the cauldron. The smoke from the incense symbolizes your prayer reaching up into the skies to the gods. There are gods for wealth (obviously!), for childbirth, for love, for test-taking (obviously!!!), for peace, etc. Around each station there are also tables where people place their offerings. On these offerings people also write down their thanks (if their prayers were answered) or their wishes. Quite interesting... nothing is more telling of societies' aspirations than a religious ceremony/structure!

This is called "ba-bui" in Taiwanese. Not sure what it is in Mandarin.

Now "ba-bui" is what I think the most fun part of going to temple! They're wooden (or lacquer) crescent shaped thingamabobs that come in a pair. You ask a question and then throw them on the floor. If both smooth sides or curved sides face up, that means "NO", if it's one up one down, then it means "YES".

In a temple you can get your fortune! Yes, it's like picking straws, except there's a certain way to go about doing this. First you take a pair of ba-bui and ask them a question about life or whatever. My question was, "Can I go get my fortune this year?". Hahhahaha I don't know, I thought that the ba-bui was the gatekeeper or something, but afterwards my dad told me that I did it wrong. Whatever! After getting like 5 "NO's" in a row, the ba-bui finally told me it was okay to get my fortune. So then you go to this canister where there's a whole big batch of sticks with numbers on the end. You pick a stick and match the number on a whole series of drawers nearby. Pull out the right drawer, take your fortune, and voila! Your fortune.

Now I was pretty nervous even though I tell people I don't believe in this silly mumbo-jumbo, but when it's the beginning of the year and you do all this voodoo stuff to get a fortune, I would have been pretty crushed if I got a fortune that told me to go SUCK IT. I pulled out a "13" out of the batch of sticks, thinking "Shit! That's why the ba-bui said NO NO NO NO NO!" but then my fortune ended up being a 上上 (literally "up up"), the best possible! Whew. Dodged a bullet, found a pot of gold. WOOT!

My takeaways?

When you get a bad fortune, it's just superstition and only dumb people believe in that crap anyway.

When you get an awesome fortune, woohoooo~!!! Do a jig.

Long Shan Temple, I will come back armed with uber offerings if I end up having a ridiculously awesome year. I promise!

WHAT UP HOMESLICES.

Change is healthy! :)

An Empire State of Mind (Pt. 3)

The people are what makes home a home, no?

I wasn't planning on going back to New York at all this school year, but my waipo (外婆) passed away at the age of 100, and I thought it'd be best to be there for my mom and the rest of the family. According to Chinese custom, any death over the age of 80 is considered a "xi zang" (喜葬), meaning that it should be a celebration of that person's longevity and accomplishments. We weren't allowed to wear black (I wore dark purple because I really couldn't wrap my head around it, but my mom wore yellow).

My waipo was from Nanchang, Jiangxi. She was uneducated yet wickedly intelligent, escaped China during the Civil War, brought up 6 children, and lived in the United States for over 30 years. My waipo did what she thought was best for herself and her family. She was very good to me and I have nothing but fond memories of her, but was far from a perfect woman. This experience taught me that people's merits are illustrated most clearly at their passing.

My cousin Scott, his wife Laura, and one of their daughters, Megan.

My mom and her three sisters.

Me and my brother. :)

Next stop: my wonderful and artistic yeye (爺爺) and nainai (奶奶)! They're simply my most favorite people in the entire world... it was so nice being able to drop in on them. :) I love them into itty bitty bits!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I look like a mess! I'm going to look so ugly!"

"It's fine! Look at yeye, you can't look worse than him." (seriously.)

My grandmother used to work mostly with watercolor, but she's been doing a lot of oil paintings recently. This is her homework project... painting rabbits for the new year. There's some major western-chinese style (con)fusion going on here, hahaha.

My grandfather doing his thang.

I was also very lucky to be able to meet up with a few of my best friends while in New York. Katherine, Vicki, Chris, Alice, Fred... thanks for dealing with my crazy schedule! :D

New York is always a total whirlwind because it's hard to be able to catch up with everyone that you care about, and then even if you manage to accomplish that, it always feels like once is not enough! I always have to ration my time so carefully such that being back is never a relaxed affair, but since I probably won't be moving back anywhere in the near future, this is the mode of operation going forth. Eventually New York will probably seem less and less of a home, but there's always a reason to make a pilgrimage so long as the people that I care about are still there.

But you know, you guys could also come visit me too...! All right, Nanjing isn't the pimpest place, but one day you can chill with me on my yacht and we can go catch badass fish like marlin and tuna... :) And then we can have our on-board sushi chef prepare maguro and otoro on the spot! ONE DAY!!!! *shakes fist at the skies*

An Empire State of Mind (Pt. 2)

What I saw in New York.

Hello, home.

Brrr!!! There were times during this trip that I seriously thought I was suffering from frostbite and I'd find a random loose toe or two when I took my boots off.

Raw and gritty New York City.

My least preferred mode (but only choice) of travel. The 7 train @ Main Street Station... a modern Ellis Island. Flushing's perpetual state of decay never ceases to surprise me, yet the influx of fresh immigrants each year always breathes much needed vitality into this stinkhole.

Kew Gardens after the Nth snowstorm of 2010/2011.

My mom now lives near Forest Park, my favorite place to run when the weather's nice. In the wintertime, the snow actually manages to stay white and pure for more than a few hours. After living in Manhattan for so many years, I had forgotten how pretty snow could be. It's extra pretty when you aren't the unlucky bastard shoveling it, hahaha. :)

I grew up in Queens, lived in Fresh Meadows, traversed Flushing countless times. This time around I only went into the city a few times just to see friends. I spent most of my time at home with my mom and family. Although I went to high school and college in the city and lived in Manhattan for almost 3 years afterwards, I identify with these scenes the most. I'm really not that glamorous New York City gal.

An Empire State of Mind (Pt. 1)

2011: Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Outside the Shanghai train station.

The depressed mascot/migrant worker (most likely) was shuffling outside the department store entrance with its head down the entire time, and people would squeal and take photos with it. (Analogy: Would you take your picture with a mangy dog?) Then it'd continue to shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, pause... turn around, shuffle shuffle... hope you caught a break this year, buddy.

My Winter Break adventures were officially a total bust. I arrived back in Nanjing last night. Today I came to HNC to run a few errands and bumped into a couple of classmates who managed to go to some amazing places -- Yunnan, Rajasthan, (one of my friends is even in Cameroon)... oh I just wish I went somewhere I've never been before!!!! But no, my entire break was spent in Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, and Taipei. Still a fair amount of travel and I actually thought that it was time well-spent in SHA/HK/NYC/TPE, but I was really itching to go somewhere new. :( Whine, whine. I guess the crappiest part of the whole deal was that I was fully prepared to go backpacking, so all I had with me were one suit, one pair of work pumps (Asia Career Trek, see below), my most unflattering hiking clothes, and one pair of worn-ass Timberlands. That's it. Now I understand how people survive with only one week's worth of clothes for their entire lives. Timbz in tha club! Timbz during teatime! Timbz at expensive restaurants! It works... because you HAVE to make it work, biatches!

Anyway, my travel plans were dashed this break because: 1) I had to go back to New York for just one week to take care of family, and 2) the darned summer job search. For both these reasons, we stayed anchored to Hong Kong for way longer than intended. On the flip side, the last 5 weeks have been extraordinarily enlightening in other ways... and I feel like I've gained a considerable amount of clarity for the future.

I spent my first week of break on SAIS's Asia Career Trek, which was a 5 ULTRA PACKED roadshow-like ordeal, where we met with over 30 employers in Shanghai and Hong Kong. I wasn't really sure what to expect coming in to the trek, particularly because I had some work experience under my belt already (and that makes you somewhat jaded, picky, and a bit snobby). However, I have to say that I learned something valuable from each different destination (city, employer, industry group). The Asia Career Trek was seriously kick-ass and extremely well-executed and I recommend all SAISers to apply next year! I also recommend women to be prepared to wear your heels for a week straight for over 12 hours a day. If your feet aren't bound, they sure will feel like it at the end of the trek (when in China?).

My personal takeaways were:

• Even though everyone scares you about needing a native Chinese fluency level to work in the mainland, the reality is that it's really not that bad. Most high-level jobs use English and Chinese mixed together, even in jobs located in Shanghai (not Hong Kong). Speaking is also exponentially more important than reading/writing, and if you've passed 4th level college Chinese then you've probably got the goods. If you've gone to ICLP, then you're golden. If you've gone to HNC, then you are the coming of the second messiah.
• Although Shanghai is quickly catching up to Hong Kong in terms of sophistication and importance, there is still a considerable disparity in terms of opportunity especially in the finance sector, whether or not you can speak Chinese fluently. This is because of the many restrictions the Chinese goverment places on the financial sector (making their products pretty vanilla, lacking complexity), thus Hong Kong is still a much better place to start out for finance.
• Getting a job the official route, i.e. HR and resume drops, are pretty darn ineffective. Networking is definitely the way of the wise. I was very lucky to receive an offer through a SAIS alum.
• There's all this talk about incoming local talent in the media. Yes, there's a ton of highly intelligent mainland Chinese graduates every year, but each employer still emphasized that there's still a LACK OF TALENT in China. The hard truth is there's still a gap in soft and hard skills that employers are looking for, so we (Westerners looking for a break in China) are still in tha money, babyyyy~~~!
• Sorry friends, I do dearly miss you all but I definitely want to stay in Asia. Not sure where still, but I just can't go back yet.

Next: my trip back home to New York...

Happy Lunar New Year!

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR (or Chinese New Year for the Sino-centric)!

I'm in Taiwan spending CNY and my birthday with my dad and family. I was born on CNY so it's quite easy for them to remember. :)

Why is it that birthdays matter less and less each year? My hypothesis is that when we're little, our world is also very small, so the space that we take up in that world tends to be proportionally rather large. Our parents dote on us 24/7, our tight clique of friends all revolve around the same theme and priorities. We feel like we are important, and we actually are, in our world. But as we grow older, our world gradually expands outward, and the radius between the nucleus of our world (ourselves) and the perimeter of this world gains more and more distance.

So we shrink proportionally in turn...
At least this is how I feel? I don't speak for all 27 year olds of course. :)

I went to the temple last night and picked out my fortune for the year. I was really nervous, quite silly actually since I'd like to say that I don't believe in this sort of stuff. First you throw out these red crescent wooden things ("babui" in Taiwanese), and you keep on tossing them on the floor until you get one facing up and one facing down (that means "yes"), then you go to the big canister filled with sticks and pick one out. It'll have a number and you'll take it to the nearby cabinet and open the drawer with your number. It'll have your fortune... quite fun and nerve-wracking!

I can't tell you how relieved I was when I got a good fortune. I would have been pretty depressed if it said that I was going to have a shitty year... as if things weren't hard enough! It's just superstition, I know, but when you already feel like a speck in the world, sometimes you just need a little faith.