What's up with this big break?? Trillion of happenings

Here we go again, Aha!! Am just so tired to explain one hiatus after another. I just better keep my mouth shut.... Well, why don't I just admit that I am busy and lazy. I need to deal with my PhD corrections. I need to move to a new office and then... to a new job!!! Big deal!! Changing to a new job and getting used to the new environment is one thing. I got a new job. In fact, it is quite a fun job but absolutely challenging.The locale is a challenge (middle of nowhere), the admin system is a challenge, the students are a challenge (in fact they are the least challenging) But most important of all the challenges is the food!!! God forbids!! I have never been in a place where food is scarce and tastes so awful and the variety is just... in fact, there is no variety at all. I see the same thing every day...Aw.... In short, after I have been diagnosed with ocular hypertension (possibility of leading to Glaucoma and then.... blind)... I have been practising how to think like a blind person. I try to close my eyes and practise walking without a stick (stretching out two hands and touching things) Maybe I should get myself a stick, too.I don't know since when I have become a hypochondria. Well, it might have been because both my parents died in such a short while. Or may be it is just that i am a freak. Anyway, back to the settling in period. It is no fun when you feel sick and you discover your new job and everything in your job is a challenge. I must admit I am getting old now. I used to love adventures. Now, I hate flying, I hate going to a place without food, and when I travel, I love to stay in a good hotel. I think I am degrading into those imbeciles where they just want to lie down and be a zombie. In some way, the new job is bringing me out of my comfort zone even though I keep telling people that I got very angry all the time and I want to quit. (At one point, I was thinking of recording my daily swearing and conversation people and do a discourse analysis on the degree of verbal abuse and violence of my speech). I guess it is such a phase, and when you are getting old you want to be left alone in peace. OR maybe I have become one of those young and angry souls, the post 80s and 90s. The z- generation. But I belong to the X generation...At least that's what I think. Can I just ask for the look of the z-generation but the grace and maturity of my own generation, pleeeease? Urgh... depressing

A three months hiatus - and lots had happened Part I

1. Too much flying killing my body
2. Stranded because of the endless snowstorm
3. First Time in a Chinese Jiao festival

1 Too much flying bit -
It's more than three months since I wrote my blog. The constant flying in and out is killing my body. I have been best known for being tough and indefatigable. But then I noticed I was getting joint pain and sore back and I thought it's because I am getting old. So, one day, I sat down and thought about how busy I have been and discovered that I have been flying in and out for 23 times and about 13 times are long haul (flights that took more than 10 hours). Then I realize that this is nothing to do with my age, but more a historic busy year. To me, it's very reassuring.

2. I got so pissed off when I was stranded in Glasgow and couldn't make it to the wedding of the village chief's son.
I had rescheduled my flight to return earlier to Hong Kong because of the wedding. I was really looking forward to it because the wedding is supposed to be very Hakka (a very exciting piece of news as I am still working on my research) and I could really witness how a Hakka wedding really goes.
I was rubbing my hands and anticipating my first real hakka wedding. It's not like I have never been to a wedding since I moved into the village. But they are no longer the traditional type of Hakka wedding. Instead, a lot of them are now adopting the new city dwellers type of wedding style. So, I thought I was really in luck.
Then, two days before I left for Hong Kong, snow just came out of nowhere. I was so anguished on Sat night. The night before I left for Hong Kong. A friend of my niece's was predicting that I could be in trouble. It turned out to be true. The snow kept falling heavily the following day and I was hoping that someone could shuffle the snow quickly. Well, I am from Hong Kong. And I shouldn't believe that anywhere else in the world operates like my hometown. Upon my arrival to the airport, despite making a change to another flight, I was stranded at the Glasgow airport and I needed to rebook another flight to London in order to go back to Hong Kong. I went home, in distraught. I had to pull the 23 kg luggage all the way home, on a snow ground of at least 5 inches thick. How exciting can it be? And how frustrating!
I then rebooked it to Thursday, after checking with the Observatory. With my track record of bad luck, I was texted on Wed night (while I was sleeping) that my flight got cancelled again!!!! I was so anxious and depressed!! Well, I know that a lot of people are in my situation but at that point all you can think of is just yourself. I then decided that I booked another flight a week away from now so that I don't have to pay HKD 1000 each time I change my flight. And then I change the domestic flight to Sunday, a few days ahead of flight leaving for Hong Kong.
Well, finally, I got to leave on schedule and so I quickly changed my flight to Hong Kong and flying on the same night.
Well, I guess it's not easy to be peripatetic and I have no envy for those who live on a plane. And certainly I hope I won't get a job that requires me to be like this. I have enough and I need a break!!
3) First time in the Jiao festival
well, that's a nice bit that I will put it up with photos, next time when I am blogging. Hope it won't take another 6 months. :P

A step closer to the homestretch - and a different look at my "home"

I must confess that I haven't done much after finishing the entire draft in August. I returned to Hong Kong to visit my boyfriend and my brother, who was hospitalized for an unknown lump on his back only to discover that it's infection by the mould. How bizarre it is. I had a wonderful time in Hong Kong, following the advice from my supervisor, who believes that I should take a break so that I can have a fresh eye on my thesis.
I took her advice faithfully, ending up doing nothing but spending time dine and wine away my entire vacation in Hong Kong. A good thing to do, I must say. Never in my life can I have so much pleasure and leisure in Hong Kong. Work pressure is outrageous in this little town. With over 7 million population in just about 2000 sq.km, it is not just packed and compact in terms of physical space, but also emotionally, you feel you are entirely filled up. Virtually I work 10 to 12 hours a day. Starting from 10 am to 10 pm. And when I go home, I still work for an hour or two when I get home. This is the awful thing about technological advancement. When all your documents and work is just a click away.
What I am glad about the trip is that at least I could act like a visitor for a while to enjoy something I could barely do when I was in my hometown. And looking at my home city from a new perspective. It is vibrant, it's lovely, at times suffocating, but after all, it makes you feel fully-charged and young and crazy all the time.
Viva Hong Kong!!

10 hours stuck in Heathrow- a consequence of sheer stupidity

You wouldn't be able to believe this. I am now staying at Weatherspoon in Heathrow, plugging in my computer , writing the blog, because I still have almost five hours to kill before boarding on my connecting flight to Glasgow. In fact, I have been in the airport for, let me think..., five hours already.

You may wonder how on earth I can end up getting stuck for ten hours at the airport and how I am going to kill my time. Well, Well, to answer the first question, let me explain a little bit. I learnt from a Glaswegian (Chinese) that there is a good deal traveling to London with a package of hotel plus train that cost around 100 pounds and staying in a hotel close to where I usually hang out (the same old place, Bloomsbury, Covent Garden...). So, I went to that travel agent, only to find that it's a deal offered to two persons. I thought they are decent enough so when I discovered that the BA flight I tried to order is a bit more expensive than my original budget. I called them for help. They gave me a deal a bit cheaper than purchasing online, (around 40 pounds less. But I ended up getting charged an extra 18 pounds...Urgh...)and when I talked to the agent, it was early, and I never functioned properly in the morning. So, I said yes. By the time I came to my senses that I could be in trouble, it was already too late. Because then, I realized I would need to wait for ten hours at the airport. The flight was booked. The damage was done. So, I just cheered myself up that actually, it's not too bad. I could nap and then read and then get online and then do some window shopping. Sounds like a good plan. So, here I am, slept for 5 hours on the plane. (Plus 45 mins at the airport.) Finished the Glamour magazine and half of The New Yorker and plunging in the most-wanted-to-read book of the moment LOOT by Sharon Waxman, I came to my own realization from this self-stranded episode.

Points to note

1.OK. Don’t be stupid enough to save just 50 to 100 pounds at the expense of ten hour jail at the airport. You may end up blaming no one but yourself for gloating at your frugality and cautious spending. But seriously, I need to think I am frugal because I am so totally NOT one, never ever will get close to that word. Believe me.

2.Even though shops are everywhere at T5 in Heathrow. It will drive you completely nuts for not having enough money to shop till you drop when you are stuck here. Seeing all the beautiful things and rating how much you can spend is like you are seeing the divine Pierce Brosnan naked in his best form but can’t touch him

Good things about self-stranding
I bumped into
1)Pamela Anderson, aka the Baywatch babe and best known for her absolutely gobsmacking sex video with her ex, strutting at T5 without any shoes on. She looks exactly like what I saw at Borat. A blonde with a tanned body, nothing amazing really. She is just about my height. Am short. (or may be am just jealous - I am wearing my geeky glasses to hide my bleary,dopey eyes)
2) A bunch of UN Argentinian armies. Wanted to ask them where they are going but worried that they may think I am a freak
3) A total jerk who is totally self-obsessed with his feet and gave me a shot and gushed, "It’s my feet" when I asked him to excuse me and my little suitcase and God knows why the wheels of my suitcase just wanted to attack him. Well, I know. Because when I asked him to excuse me he refused to do so. Fucking jerk I told you to excuse me. What if I am Angelina Jolie? Will you still care about your little feet or will you be down on own stupid knees?
Okok! It’s fun to be stuck here, even though I am dead knackered.

Life without work

I have taken a six-month no pay leave to stay in Glasgow, which is where my niece lives, to finish my draft for the September submission. I have been living in London twice before. First when I did my Master degree and then three years ago, for my PhD. I returned to Hong Kong to finish my fieldwork and now I am here, in Glasgow, trying to save money while writing up my remaining chapters.

I must say that living with my family has its pros and cons. On one hand, I finally got to reunite with my niece, who had spent most of her life in my family. She was practically raised by my parents. Befoe she moved to Glagow to study, she returned to her parents' home for a few years. Then she got married and had lived here for more than 15 years. We spent long nights pow-wowing and gossiping about the people and events in Glasgow. Trust me, you can spend endless nights catching up with someone who grew up with you, and you can have endless topics to talk about.

But then, the problem is that you will just have nothing but only social activities, day after day, especially she has a six-year old son, who is such a joy to be with. I spend Saturdays looking after him. And this summer, we spend time swimming and going to the park. I cook for him and we talk so much. It's wonderful to be able to help raise a boy and to be part of his life, albeit it's going to be really short time. I haven't had such a domestic bliss since both my parents die a few years ago.

And I have to finally get to go to a wonderful church. I have finally got to experience how a wonderful church is like. Wonderful service and the people in that church is so filled with love. The church is such a children-friendly church where you see how the church-goers go and talk to every single child. This is the testimony of a Christ-like community.

Life without work is fun. I really enjoy some time by myself and I get to work on my own stuff. But then I do miss Hong Kong and my friends and especially my work. I miss my colleagues who are also my friends, I miss the collegiality. I miss my students. And most important of all, I miss my boyfriend who is now by himself. This is kind of romantic for a while and it's a wonderful litmus test to our relationship. I get to put things into perspective and I cherish him more.

Without work, life is still pleasant. But I guess it will be nice if I have work, but not too busy and I can still have a life. And I can just spend some time with my boyfriend, just doing nothing but be with him. This is something I am really looking forward to. In two weeks time, without work, just me and him, by ourselves.

Life without writing the blog ....

I must admit that life without feeling the urge and the need to write the blog is not as liberating as I thought. I grew lazy and tired after my last bit in the blog about my thesis because I am actually, and still, writing my thesis. I am not living in limbo. And I am not living my life without writing. I am just living a life writing exclusively on my thesis as I will need to hand in my draft very soon. I am frantically typing and reading every day. And keeping my fingers crossed for being able to finish before the deadline so that I won't need to pay the full fee, i.e. 12000 pounds. Instead, I could pay the continuation status fee, which is around 700 something pounds. So, my life now in Scotland, which is where I am living but not where I am studying, includes writing and reading and writing and of course hanging out with my families. Nothing exciting really.
I pick up the pen (well,... not in the literal sense as I am just hitting the keyboard of my computer...) and resume writing the blog mainly because my boyfriend teased me about linking my blog to my university website and the last bit was so obsolete that it was written eight months ago. I just thought: if any of my students read my blog. That may think I am a looney or a weirdo which I am neither of that, so I might as well write a bit about how I feel without writing the blog and trust me, my student, if any of you reads my blog, at least you know the outline of this. OK! Here it goes, at least for the coming few weeks, I will focus on talking about some of the extraordinary discovery about my stay in Scotland, which is totally novel to me. And then how the Chinese community works and how I adjust my anti-social sentiment to the kind-hearted, helpful and lovely group of people here. How bad is the British economy here that people have to be really aware. How I am planning for the conference next year which hopefully could be a wonderful holiday with my boyfriend.
I guess now I can leave my heart at rest and get back into bed.
See you

Revelation from my India trip

I have stopped writing the blog again!!! This time is like for the entire life!! Not really.... In fact, I have only stopped writing for a few months. A few things I have done in the past few months: I have got myself a boyfriend, which is good and uplifting because he is quite a good catch (LOL), at least in my opinion. I went back to London to show my second chapter to my supervisor, and it turned out not bad. I have also managed to produce a paper for a Feminist and Geography conference, which is organized by RASPAS of ANU and the Delhi University. I wrote on self-reflexivity in feminist research. And it was so unexpectely good. Because I found out a few things about myself and about India.

I went to India once and that was ages ago and I didn't spend much time hanging out as I was just visiting the Delhi bureau. This time is the same: I went there arrving Tuesday night and left on Wednesday night (blah!!). That was a really awful experience as the plane left not until 23:00pm, which is 1:30am in the morning!!! So, again, I didn't get a chance to see Delhi myself.

But then along the way to the university, I saw camp after camp along the construction site for the commonwealth game. At first I thought that was for the construction only. But then later on I saw naked kids running around the camps and when I asked about what that is. An Indian student told me the poor lived there at night. And the construction site is for building better electicity network for the commonwealth game. Upon arrival at the university international residence, I was so shocked as I saw electricity didn't run as freely as in the cities I have visited in the past. They still required a generator to regulate the electricity we used. I thought that happened ages ago and should have been better. Well, obviously, there is lots of room for improvement.

The conference was great. The Indian students are efficient, smart and hospitable. I had a great time there meeting people from different places and getting a sense of what my future would be like. Going to conference after conference and trying to get my papers and books published. Well, not bad. It's scintillating and it's absolutely necessary if I don't want to get alzheimer when I am old. (I hope not frail :P).


And about myself: My Indian counterparts told me that I actually look like an Indian, which is all too greek to me. I have been told I look like: Indonesian, Filipino (you have our faces), Nepalese, Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese and now one more: Indian from the north-eastern province. I guess this is good to work as a journalist with such a trans-regional face. Now, I am no longer a journalist but an ethnographer, perhaps I will test how this could work for me in the future when I conduct fieldwork outside my own place. It could be lots of fun. At least, I am keeping my fingers crossed.