timxu

Hong Kong has an exhibition called “Dialogues in the Dark,” and it’s a 75 minute journey in the pitch dark led by an actual blind person. They gave us sticks to make sure we didn’t trip, and took us through several simulated parts of Hong Kong, including a park (Kowloon Park), a ferry crossing, a market, crossing the street, and ordering a drink/drinking it at a café, all in absolute darkness.

When we first went into the dark, it was actually pretty frightening. I don’t think I’ve ever experience such absolute darkness before. Normally, at night, you can at least see faint outlines of objects; here, we couldn’t see anything. We had to rely on voices, sounds, touching the person in front of us to keep from getting lost. Especially in the beginning, we shuffled around slowly with lots of *tap tap* “Who’s this?” “It’s David.” “Oh who’s behind me?” “Frank.” *tap tap* “Ow that’s my leg.” “Stop hitting me with your stick!” “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!” *tap tap* “Where’s Frank? I haven’t felt him all day?” (That last one was David…).

We felt trees, leaves, and the changing texture of the ground from rocks to grass to wood chips, the rocking of a small bridge, heard the chirps of birds, the distant roar of a waterfall…all this in just the first part! Having to rely on touch, sound, and each other really made me realize how much I had taken my sight for granted. When we got to the ferry part and we walked up the ramp and felt the life jackets on the wall, and when we “crossed” the harbor and felt the wind and the rocking of the boat, I could almost see the boat, the harbor, the fading Kowloon skyline and the growing Hong Kong skyline. I realized very quickly how much my sense of hearing and touch contribute and enrich what I see.

There’s so much more to experience based on all our senses beyond basic vision. We were born with five senses, and those of us fortunate enough to retain our use of all five ought to appreciate and fully utilize each one. What’s life, after all, if we don’t notice it in all dimensions?

Also, FIFA needs new referees. It’s getting kind of silly.

I’ve noticed that a lot of our social activities here in Hong Kong have been quite classy, especially this weekend’s events. High-end bars, Australian restaurants, the Hong Kong Jockey Club… this isn’t quite Hong Kong to most of her citizens. Most of these major events were organized by Yale alumni, who are, no doubt, upper class members of Hong Kong society. That said, these experiences are indeed fantastic and I’m enjoying myself a great deal, but it did get me thinking about our expectations and how they play into our quality of life. It occurred to me that this summer, and, to a degree, the entire Yale experience is rapidly preparing me for just that kind of life: cocktail parties, fancy dinners, and watching horses run around in circles.

However, having just finished my second year at Yale, my future as a member of that society is far from guaranteed. Every year, hundreds of Yale graduates leave to pursue work in inner cities, developing countries, and other environments where wants give way to needs. Yet this summer is building a set of expectations and behavioral assumptions in which image rises above wants and needs, and that image is one of class and status. And I suspect that even those Yalies working in inner cities and developing countries still expect a level of high class in their own projection of themselves.

To be sure, there isn’t anything measurably wrong with the upper class and their social mode. Yale, like it’s ivied cousins, has a level of prestige to uphold, a level of grace and history that its name demands. These most recent experiences, however, have made me far more aware that very recently, Yale’s student body was almost entirely children of wealth and status. While this is fortunately no longer true, it is still very much the image of Yale, and the Ivy League, that prevails. With names like Yale and Harvard and Princeton come a sense of privilege that is often begrudged by the rest of the world.

Maybe this is why I hesitate to tell newly-acquainted strangers where I go to school: not because I’m ashamed of my school – quite the contrary – but because I fear that their image of me will be incorrigibly colored by prestige and status, that they will immediately regard me as inaccessible and elite. Perhaps I hesitate because I want and need to prove to them (and myself?) that I am no different, that just because I go to Yale does not mean that I live a life of entitlement and prestige, that just because I was given these expectations by a singing bulldog does not take away my upbringing in a family built by hard work and sacrifice.

And yet, here I am in Hong Kong, where alumni after alumni shows me what the world looks like on the other side, and all I can see are high heels and twenty dollar cocktails.

This past weekend was quite eventful. On Friday after work, all the Bulldogs in Hong Kong met with the alumni at a super fancy (and super expensive!) restaurant for drinks. We met a few recent and not-so-recent graduates doing a variety of interesting work in Hong Kong. Afterwards, we went to check out Lan Kwai Fong, the local partying district. It was very crowded and full of foreigners, but still lively. We didn’t stay long, since we were tired, but we definitely plan on making a return trip!

Saturday was spent balling with some locals with David, Hanqing, Kevin (from Boston College) and Liang (YC ’08). They were good and we lost pretty much every game, but it felt good to exercise after sitting on my butt for a whole week. In the evening, we had a bro session and watched “I Love You, Man” and also discovered a sad dog made of shadows and silhouettes in a window across the street. It was freaky. I’m surprised I didn’t have nightmares about it afterwards.

Sunday was spent hiking in the hills above Hong Kong Island with Nelson, one of the older alums. We spent around 4 hours in the mountain, but the roads were paved and the weather was absolutely beautiful. I love that Hong Kong has such an abundance of natural habitats and greenery. There were butterflies, caterpillars, birds, plants…it reminded me of hiking in the Smoky Mountains and Hawaii. It was too easy to forget that just a mile to the north lay a scattered grid of towering high-rises and one of the densest cities in the world. There was such a feeling of peace and quiet that stood at stark contrast to the noise and bustle of the busy city. Hong Kong is often criticized for being a cold, serious metropolis, but the fact that you can walk 10 minutes and be lost in a sea of green adds an unique dimension to the experience. For a city hailed as one of the financial centers of Asia, it really is amazing.

The reservoir within the park. It’s literally right in the middle of Hong Kong Island.

Monday, a few of us went to the piers on Kowloon side to see the daily light show. The relatively short show is synchronized with music and played on the buildings of the Hong Kong skyline, along with lasers and spotlights arranged along the shore. The skyline itself is beautiful, especially when seen from the docks across the harbor. The skyline seems to grow out of the water itself, and the distant shade of mountains creates a majestic backdrop. Click on for a few more pictures from the weekend! (more…)

I have a cubicle. It’s a little bit fantastic. It’s like The Office, except with a competent boss and less jokes and scripted sequences. It’s also longer than 23 minutes a week and involves a commute that’s 45 minutes each way. I’m doing marketing for a real estate conglomerate here in Hong Kong, working with their Hotels group and the various promotions and events they’re putting on in the coming weeks. I’ve also got a few other responsibilities, so I should be pretty busy.

The last few days have been quite eventful. I’ll let the pictures/captions do the talking, because jet lag is trying to kill me.

On Monday night, the girls made dinner for themselves. Not to be outdone, the boys decided to do the same. Two hours and some Yelin-magic later, here we are, about to enjoy a fine dinner. Scrumptious stuff, really. We’ve also been preparing our own breakfast these days, making toast (if it can be called that…) without a toaster and scrambled eggs. Add that to some “milk beverage – made from fresh milk” and it’s breakfast.

Earlier Monday afternoon, Yelin and Frank and I went to Causeway Bay, a famous shopping area, for lunch and then wandered afterwards. There was literally a mall at every street corner, and often more on the streets themselves. One particular one had one of Yelin’s favorite clothing stores, UNI QLO, so we checked it out. This is us trying on some vests from the store. Hot, right?

And finally, from that same trip: the World Trade Centre. With our famous mango drinks. And the fob signs. Sorry, we had to do it…