As I am actually working for once (first time in 3 summers), I have been trying to do as much prep as possible before work starts. I’ve managed to sort out almost everything including my plane ticket.
As part of the prep to Hong Kong, I have been reading Noble House by James Clavell. Through the power of Wikipedia, I’ve discovered that the book is mostly based on the Jardine-Matheson family, one of the founding families of Hong Kong. So a lot of secret children, drugs, money, and loose women and men.
The book isn’t the greatest, and reads a bit like a pulp ficiton/page turner. The style is akin to a television script, with large tracts of the book simply dialogue (which is probably why the book was made into a Mini-series starring Pierce Brosnan). Strangely though, I find the book Orientalist and not-Orientalist at the same time. Clavell seems to have a pretty solid understanding of the Chinese; but while he seems to rever the Chinese, he also simplifies them at the same time. He relies a lot on stereotypes to make quick conclusions and help further the plot, and it is these stereotypes that I find Orientalist. But, I’ve also noticed that he does this with the British, American, French, and Scottish characters. So, maybe it’s just lazy writing or sloppy character development rather than latent racism.
Reading the book has also been reminding me of how clastrophobic, both physically and socially, Asia can be at times. The lack of wide open areas, the different cultural understanding of personal space, the sheer mass of people, and the inevitable interconnection of everyone comes rushing back. These feelings have been creating some second thoughts about going to Hong Kong for the year. Big cities are all about anonmity, but when everything is so closely linked, it can at times feel like a big village rather than a city. My fears are probably completely baseless, but reading all how all the characters are all secretly related to each other is fueling the fears.
But, I also realized the first thing I missed when I moves back to Canada was how 热闹 (rè nao. bustling with noise and excitement; lively) China was.
I’m sure I will feel completely different tomorrow. Nothing like the pre-departure jitters.
Filed under: The List
In what seems to be a tradition, I have decided to blog once again about my year in Hong Kong. However, I’ve decided that this time I will have a theme of sorts. I’m currently compiling a list of things I want to do while I’m in Hong Kong. Hopefully this will stop the usual ex-pat malaise that tends to set in, and which leads to the usual “I should have…” feelings at the end. I’m open to suggestions, and at least at the beginning it will be a dynamic list.
