I have been productive though, despite the long list of fun things I posted in my last update. Productive people don't have fun! I'm just pretending when I tell you I've been having fun. I never take time to have fun. I read (most of) two books and watched 3ish movies that help me envision my next 5 months.
I'll do this quick. I promise. It might help to review all these in reverse order, leaving the best for last.
The Namesake (by Jhumpa Lahiri) was one of the books about India which was recommended to me by several people. I knew I wasn't going to have time to read it this time around, so I called in my good friend Netflix to tell me about the book in audio-visual format. The story is about the challenges of several generations of an Indian family, both in India and in their new home in the US dealing with the significance of their heritage. For some reason, I connected with the protagonist who has an alias complex. He's called by one name in certain contexts and another name in others... Why does that sound familiar...?
I think I picked up on quite a few cultural nuances, one of which was not explained explicitly in the movie, but I think is: Indian (or just Hindu?) men often shave their heads when in mourning. If this is true, and not just my weird extrapolation of something that happened in the movie, then it gives a lot more meaning to Gandhi's bald look... yeah this just got deep... was his message one of "mourning" for the lack of independence of his native land? Hmm...You go think about that while I change topics.
| Maybe not just a fashion statement. Check out that smolder.... |
- In Korean, the suffix -Sa seems to indicate that the place in question is a temple complex. Ex: Buseok-Sa is the Temple of the Floating Stone and contains the oldest surviving wooden building in South Korea
- The first settlement in Korea was over 5,000 years ago.
- The word Korea originates from the language of the Gyo peoples who populated much of the peninsula in the early days
- Won Tai Sin in Hong Kong is one of few surviving taoist temples, having escaped Mao's Cultural Revolution thanks to Hong Kong's UK colony status 1842-1997
- Through the Cultural Kaleidoscope Program from the HK Tourist Board, you can take FREE 1-a-day crash courses in Chinese culture, like Tai Chi, Feng Sui, or Chinese medicine
- There are palm trees on Lantau Island (part of Hong Kong)
- Shanghai's waterfront is called the Bund, which has a ring to it.... Bundl in the Bund... it's often called (or at least by the travel video dude) "Paris of the East"
- The verb to Shanghai someone (not the way the Woolley family knows it) came from the era of prosperity in the city (1920s and 30s) when sailors would get drugged and thrown onto a ship, only to wake up in the middle of a voyage elsewhere. Too bad I'm not a sailor?
- Both Shanghai and Thailand boast having the Jade Buddha originally sent from Burma... hmm
- Zigzag bridges in China protect from evil spirits who are believed to only travel in straight lines.
Two books I read this month are at a tie for teaching me new things.
Although it's not a novel, per se, I really wanted to read a quick and factual book about the British Empire, especially since three of my month-long stays will be in countries formally owned by the Queen's predecessors (hint: Egypt, India, and Hong Kong). I found Teach Yourself the British Empire at the library, and it was/is (I'm not done with it yet!) extremely interesting and rather funny in the way they highlight some of the idiocies that are bound to occur when you're trying to run an ocean-spanning empire without the aid of our modern technology (though, honestly, the U.S. ain't doing so great either these days, even with our modern technology). I feel like I have a much better hold on the general timeline and how things went down in ye olde international relations.
| And Simba said, "Sure I'm cool with just being the Lion Viceroy of Pride Rock" |
And last, but definitely not least, I present J. Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China!!! I remember seeing this book this past spring when I was browsing in the same bookshop I bought The Art of Travel (see post). A few months ago, I urged you all to read Tina Fey's Bossypants (see post) and granted, that wasn't exactly an intellectual recommendation, but THIS IS. Bossypants is still by far my favorite book of the summer (I'm re-reading it again), but LOPC was really a close second. It is an absolutely hilarious account of the author's long travels in China in 2007. I found his "reviews" of Chinese cities and culture to be very helpful because he wasn't just writing as a travel journalist (which is valuable) who is only on location for a few days, but as someone who was going for the long haul and really wanting to experience the culture(s) he encountered. From karaoke bars, to communism, to bartering, to train rides, to pollution, to buddhist temples, to "massages", to taxi rides, to secret Chinese gay bars, to shopping "traps", to restaurant menus, to tour guides, to Engrish, to being an American abroad... it was very informative in an entertaining way. I wish I could highlight some of my favorite quotes, but there were just so many! And I didn't mark them... and I have to check my packing list again... so I'll leave you to enjoy Lost on Planet China on your own... Which you can do on GoogleBooks here!
*********************************************************************************
Quotes from The Namesake that I liked (to be read aloud in your best Indian accent impression):
"My grandfather says that's what books are for: to travel without moving an inch."
"Pack a pillow and blanket. Go! See the world. You will never regret it." ... Ok FINE old Indian man. I'll go see the world. But only because you ordered me to!
Catch ya on da flip side... in Switzerland!
No comments:
Post a Comment