Brookline High School in China

China 33: Hong Kong

Weird foods in HK: Chicken feet, duck feet, and eel
Right to free speech: Now that I'm in Hong Kong I can finally see my own blog instead of just posting on it. Before I couldn't visit it b/c China was censoring it. I'm not that cool though b/c I think they censor all sites created on blogspot.com

Anyway, I'm in Hong Kong using a little of my precious computer time to update my blog. This is my third visit to the city, so I was not too amazed at how it would beat out Xi'an anyday. It truly is an amazing place. Like New York, but better. What I've found so far is that the city would be great to explore with the group. A lot more than it would be to explore with your dad and little brother. So this trip has been more about family than the city.

I guess the purpose of this trip was to see my Chinese grandparents and aunt who I haven't seen in five years. I have to admit it is frustrating sitting with people who are supposed to be your family but you can barely communicate with them. The speak primarily Cantonese, but know more Mandarin than me. So they were impressed with my Chinese, but communication is still frustrating.

Nevertheless, I've learned a lot. My Aunt Winnie, who speaks English perfectly has helped me understand a lot about my family. Last night after dinner, me, my dad, Winnie, and my grandfather discussed his stories and their stories. I'd like to write it all down but I don't have time right now. But by the end of the night I felt like I understood myself better. Even though a lot of stuff had to be translated for me, I sensed that the Wang family shared a lot of the confusing emotions and tendencies that I seem to constantly deal with and that I usually can't find anyone who can relate. I guess that doesn't make a lot of sense, but it kind of helped me understand what a family is: A family is a group of people that understand each other because they share very unique things.

That's a definition in the works.

p.s.- As may 1st approaches, it looks more and more like Pomona will be where I'm headed next year. They upped their scholarship offer after we told them that Carleton was giving me more. Now the question is how much $ will Davidson give me. If they end up giving me a big scholarship after my interview with them, college might once again be thrown up into the air.

posted by dAVID @ 6:18 AM