A bar called 'Phonograph' in Hong Kong after the pillable show (with what appears to be a ghost).  

Lecturing has been a strange experience so far.

They say that people fear public speaking more than death and I am beginning to really understand why.

This week was my second week and I'm still incredibly nervous and I have to admit the experience has been far from enjoyable. In fact I'm quite certain that I have asked myself on at least a dozen occasions: what have I got myself into? I guess its a learning experience. So far I've already discovered a few lessons.

One: when you are teaching a difficult subject you need to be careful not to get lost in students confusion.

Two: Prepare, prepare and then prepare some more as you never know what questions may be asked and it certainly doesn't look good when the lecturer is unsure.

Three: do not expect students (except for wonderful mature age students) to answer questions you ask, or actually ask questions either.

Four: do not question the staff member who made the lecture notes. Even if you are quite certain that they are wrong, it's not good to make enemies with such people.

Five: Don't take the students whispering personally-they are not necessarily whispering about you.

Six: Accept that you will make mistakes and that it might add to the embarrassment from time to time.

Seven: If all else fails when you don't have the answers or are lost in their confusion tell the students to read the chapter (or re-read if necessary) and that we will go over it again next week. Then start to panic all over again.

Eight: Do not under any circumstances expect the office staff to assist you with any information about pay forms, or any other relevant office stuff. Their job is purely there to make new staff feel like shit for asking a simple question such as 'when do the pay forms go in?'.

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In other news my bro is walking (properly walking) again finally!

Mr Ts 'Lonely people in TST' pic. 

Disparity in Asian-White Dating

I was reminded again after being reunited with Mr T in Hong Kong of our uniqueness as a mixed race couple. The stares we get when we are together are unbelievable and they are not stares like they are in melb where you catch someone out and they look away, no they are lingering stares.

I was so excited to see another couple 'like us' when i was there that i squeezed his hand and I smiled. Its refreshing to know there are others like us!

A little while back a friend of mine directed me to a website which discussed the 'Disparity in Asian-White Dating' as it is referred to.

As you have probably seen there are plenty of interracial couples the other way around: White males and Asian females. When i was in Hong Kong on my latest holiday there (11 days) I tried to count and come to about 40(WM-AF) to 1 (WF-AM not including us). Interesting though American marriage stats are actually not quite as extreme. Its about 3 to 1. However as Tanaka's notes:

People I've talked to in the various parts
of this country told me that these ratios seem too low.
That is, the observed ratio from real life is somewhere
between 10:1 and 20:1. We suspect two reasons for this
discrepancy: (i) Most of the A/W couples that we see are
casually dating, not married (and will not marry). Among
dating couples the ratio is somewhere between 10:1 and
20:1.

Also factoring in the Gremlin to god syndrome it starts to make sense.

Tanaka attempts to explain why there is such a big difference. While I don't agree with all of his theories, two things stood out for me personally from his article. First he talks about pervasive media bias. Particularly the under representation of Asian men in American media and then the way they are portrayed within the media. He quotes Alan Hu [1994]:

[...] Asian men are portrayed as: asexual martial arts
masters, asexual viet cong guerrillas, asexual servants, and
asexual geeks.
Asian women get to be prostitutes, geisha,
repressed-daughters-named-May-Ling-of-cruel-oppressive-
emperors-(there's another male role)-waiting-to-be-sexually-
liberated-by-a-real-(white)-man, and recently, newscasters.
[...]
As another data point, look at the (infrequent) interracial
couples in films: the man is almost invariably white

Thinking about this on a personal level it makes sense. For me dating an Asian man was not something I thought about previously (this is something that appears to be very common amongst WM by the sounds of it). I'm sure I was surrounded by attractive asian men from time to time on the street not to mention some of my good AM friends in Melbourne but I wasn't really seeing them. In fact it wasn't really until I moved to Hong Kong that it started to see them in a slightly different light and I can't help but wonder if it was the affect of starting to watch more and more HK movies with some very nice looking actors. I would hate to think that it was that simple: that the media influences me that much, but I can't rule it out. I'm very much aware of the lack of good female roles within movies and the male gaze so i can't believe I never noticed this before.

The second thing was the height issue. I prefer taller guys than me (my one superficial requirement- i know i know ...), I'm 173cm tall and AM often struggle to meet that requirement. Little did I know that MR T (who is 6ft2) was out there.

My google searching also reveals results on an online quiz which asks both WF and AM what factor dissuades relations with the other and the majority (almost 75% for both WF & AM) marked that they don't think that the other will find them attractive. This might help to explain why MR T and I were very close and very flirty for so long before any move was made.

I would like to re-address this issue at another stage because it is a rather complex issue. In the meantime though I will leave it (like Tanaka) with Alan Hu's advice:

On a societal level, look around you and
look into yourself. Recognize media bias and attempt to
counteract it. If you see something egregious, point it out,
write a letter to the editor, do something. If you see
racism and prejudice in yourself, attempt to eliminate it.

The stunning Chi Lin nunnery (pictures do not do the place justice).

This week is a big week for me. Well the start of it at least.

Last night I went and listened to Stephen Chow and a few of the actors from his latest film talk. So strange after only watching the film two days ago.

Today i went back to uni.

Tomorrow i start doing my placement

and wed i start lecturing.

I'm particuarly nervous about lecturing but keep telling myself if I can handle screaming bratty and unpredictable two and three years olds with their parents watching then maybe I can handle 20 yr olds.

When i first received the call, i hesitated in fact i was kind of convinced into it. It got worse though when I discovered that I wasn't actually taking tutorials but actual lectures and I saw the lecture hall and imagined 50 plus students in there. On the up side the money is good and it will be a good experience.

Lan Kwai Fong

I caught up with a few old friends when I was in HK and I was extremely disappointed. I was actually describing how I felt to one of my current co-workers and i said how 'i was really surprised with how.... ' and before I could even finish the sentence she answered it for me: 'how superficial they are'. She lived in singapore for a little while and like me doesn't exactly fit into the materialistic scene.

We talked further and at first i though that perhaps they had changed. One friend in particular was particularly shallow and rather racist to 'locals'. Keep in mind that both of her parents are actually chinese its just she was brought up overseas. She was new to Hong Kong when we were first friends and i thought perhaps all the male attention she received had gone to her head. But then as my co-worker asked 'was it really them who had changed?'. Perhaps it was me having returned to Melbourne for a year who was seeing them from a different perspective.

I'm really not sure.

I read a interview with anthony won chau-sun recently where he was quoted as saying:

'Of course expats love Hong Kong. We have this colonial mentality of thinking of Westerners as superior so they live in Mid-Levels.'

While I don't completely agree with him, he does raise a good point. There are two types of expats in Hong Kong. The first type earn a very decent wage, and live in the midlevels. They are the type that love their LV bags and other designer brands. They might have domestic helpers and socialise mostly within their expat circles. It always makes me laugh when people talk about the greeks or the Vietnamese or whatever race sticking together in Australia because judging by some of the behavior of some of the expats in HK they do exactly the same. Americans tends to do it very well. I remember taking Mr T to a cafe in Hong Kong and him saying 'i'm the only chinese person here'. Not only that but there was no chinese waiter/waitresses and no chinese menu and the waiter was kind of rude to him. In fact I think he was the only chinese person on the block.

Sadly I think that type (the mid levels type) are the majority. The second type I would like to think I belong to. Especially considering I can only think of a handful of people that actually belong to this category. There are westerners in Hong Kong who attempt to learn about the culture rather than pretend they are back in the US or Aus, or wherever. Who attempt to try the local cuisine (the good thing is it's actually cheaper and tastier), and even the language. More importantly though they don't look down on 'locals' and refer to them with all sorts of generalisations. It can be a lonely place though existing without actually belonging to the larger expat scene or the local scene. Having said that though I've come back with obviously a lot more knowledge not to mention tried all sorts of amazing cantonese dishes.

Speaking of knowledge. I'm still continually surprised with some expats ignorance. I recently heard an acquaintance who has lived in Hong Kong for five years say 'chinese people don't drink'. Mmm thats strange I'm sure I saw lots of bars and quite a few of my friends (Mr T included) drink themself stupid. How can one live there and make such a stupid statement? I've also had friends who have grown up In Hong Kong without learning more than two words in cantonese. Now i know its a hard language and you can get by without speaking it, but its just seems really disrespectful to not even attempt to learn when you have there for twenty plus years.

It sad when you think about it, sad for the expats who fail to get a real sense of Hong Kong life, and sad for 'locals' who have to put up with rich snooty bastards who think they are better in some way.

The real Mongkok

I worked in Mongkok for 6 months so I know the area a little better than some of the other areas in HK. It's such a crazy place and while the shopping is great (although stay clear of the touristy markets like the one pictured above) there is only so much even I can take before it starts to get really annoying. Something to do with excess crowds and the pollution that just drives you a little crazy. I've figured out the way to make it seem a little better though. Simply remember to stop and take little breaks enjoying desserts like this: