Mid-Life Crisis

I am thinking about buying a Corvette; I am halfway done with my semester in Hong Kong. Time has been passing much more quickly as I've settled into a routine with class, gotten used to campus, and am no longer continually buffeted by random Asian novelties.

I went to Taiwan a few weekends ago. My extreme nerdiness shone through on the flight back from Taipei, as I was excited about it being my first time on a Boeing 747, which is the airplane with two stories and a big hump at the front. I took a video of myself walking onto the airplane, which I don't really recommend watching, except for the ambient Chinese voices and funny stares from people realizing I'm videotaping them.

Taiwan was pretty cool. People are aggressively friendly. That is, they will come up to you, without provocation, and try to help you find something or get somewhere. Perhaps their behavior stems from their fixation with white people/English speakers/rugged good looks? For some reason, and I don't remember doing this, I ordered Kosher meals for the flights to and from Taipei. As an aside, Asian airlines are far more enjoyable than American ones. They gave me copies of the International Herald Tribune and Financial Times, served me a full meal, and checked back with me at least three times to see if I wanted more coffee, all during a one-hour flight. So, they came up to me with this Kosher certificate and asked me to inspect my meal as we were waiting to push back from the gate. Then, amidst a sea of Chinese/Taiwanese people, the lone six-foot (okay, 5'11") white dude, moi, gets served fifteen minutes before everyone else. And, everything was individually wrapped, so it was a noisy, messy ordeal getting everything open. I'm putting my best foot forward to assimilate fully into the Asian culture. That's why I buy Starbucks in the airports.

A highlight from Taiwan was visiting a tea house at a tea plantation in the foothills outside of Taipei. It was very foggy and wet, and it made the whole experience of drinking tea on a patio overlooking the lush hills of the plantation very surreal.

I got a job as an English tutor for a private family. Each week, they have me over for dinner, which their domestic helper cooks, and then I tutor their daughter for an hour. It is fun to hang out with the family in their home, which is much different than interacting with locals in restaurants or on campus. Last week, the daugher and I played piano, and the cousins were all pretty excited to have me around and had lots of questions for me. It is the most welcomed I have felt so far in Hong Kong.

The family I tutor for is relatively wealthy. However, for the two parents, two kids, and their live-in domestic helper, they have a mere 700 square feet in their apartment. The home is comfortable and well-decorated, but I don't know if I could adapt to such a cramped living arrangement.

We have a long weekend coming up. I don't have class Friday or Monday. Many people are traveling to Tokyo, Cambodia, Thailand, mainland China, and Taiwan. Unfortunately, I have to teach English on Saturday, and try to finish all of my law school applications. Having it as a nagging obligation while being over here in Hong Kong, along with my research paper, has been pretty frustrating. I hope that I will be able to relax after finishing them, but recognizing my own neurotic inclinations, I will more likely consume myself obsessing over potential acceptances/rejections.

Finally, some unsolicited psychoanalysis. Sometimes, I feel as though I am in a continuous state of restlessness and distraction. It is difficult for me to maintain focus on one activity for a long period of time. While trying to focus on something like studying Chinese, I'll feel an overwhelming urge to check my email or go get a drink or engage in any other inane distraction. After coming upon this surprisingly relevant article (which I likely read while distracting myself from whatever task I was supposed to be accomplishing), I decided to divert my fleeting attention into a necessarily longer-term activity: reading books. So, I still pull myself away from studying and other obligations just as readily, but I make an effort to avoid checking Facebook or surfing Digg, and instead try to read. I'm not sure if it is at all helpful, but I have gotten way more discretionary reading done in the last few weeks than what I'd normally accomplish in a year. I read "Brave New World," "The Stranger," and an eerie, very entertaining book, which I just finished, "Dangerous Laughter."