The Senakams | Corgi + 3

Manchuria, welcome your daughter home- Part I

For those of you who've read this previous post, you know that I have some Manchurian blood, courtesy to my mom. Manchuria occupies the Northeast provinces of China today, but actually, no one calls it Manchuria anymore except for me; I just have this romanticized version of my ancestry that I'd like to indulge in, TV Manchu princess ("gege") and all... 

So imagine how excited I was when I learned that I had the opportunity to attend a meeting in Beijing followed by a conference in Harbin- the former the seat of the Qing dynasty founded by the Manchus (and of course still the capital today), and the latter the capital of today's Helongjiang province, heart of former Manchu land. 

I'll tell you all about Beijing in the next post, but let me first tell you about our adventures in Harbin...

Well, while we did find some signs of its Manchurian history, it's mostly confined indoors in a museum, which is housed in a Russian orthodox church, the beautifully restored Saint Sophia Cathedral (this part of China borders Russia and thus has heavy Russian influence in many ways).

This is a photo of the Manchurian script, and below that is a picture of some fat, greedy, Manchu landowner, busting my romantic dream (well, I made up the greedy part, but don't they all look like they come out of the same mold?)

And this is the interior of the restored church aka museum, and either the light is really dim or I've seen way too many Chinese palaces these days, I was really intrigued and impressed by the restored architecture and the quality of the exhibit.

Isn't the church gorgeous? It also gets me humming the Tetris theme music... 

But as exotic and un-Chinese the facets of Harbin seem, I've also had some decidedly Chinese encounters here...

Back to the reason I was in Harbin in the first place, it was to attend a Chinese cardiology conference. Honestly I was pretty excited about seeing how these professional conferences are different here than the ones back home. Apart from the interesting mix of Chinese and Western medicines and a few mob scenes when free stuff was involved, things look fairly "normal"...

Until this happens at a session when an American speaker was presenting (beware if you're eating or if you've just eaten)...

"When guidelines are followed, cardiac mortality is significantly reduced by 23%..."

(2 rows behind me in an aisle seat): Ghhaaaaaagh.... tu (imagine noise of loogie hitting carpeted floor)

"... duration of hospital stay is also improved..."

Ghhaaaaaagh.... tu... tu...... (more loogie hitting floor, me shifting in seat uncomfortably)

"... such is evidence that some Chinese are extraordinarily rude...." (ok, he didn't say that, but I might have if I were the speaker)

Gggg... gaaagghh... ghhaaaagh...... tu tu tu....

Why on earth are people here so phlegm-y?! And why can't they hold their phelgm for a few minutes??

I mean I can understand the air quality is bad and that people who smoke probably are extra mucus-y.... but presumably professional people doing it indoors when someone's giving a speech? This is probably one of the lowlights of me being a Chinese person *sigh*.

If China really wants to be recognized as a civilized world power, maybe the first order of business is Phelgm Control.

To end our Harbin trip on an up note though, here are some pictures of us visiting a Chinese style beer garden, enjoying a huge thing of local "Snowflake" beer while munching on a taro pie from next door's Chinese McDonald's (and no, they really don't have apple pie here).

I don't know about you, but a "bing de pi jiu" (ice cold beer) made everything better... Cheers!

Hong Kong: Going Home

Before I recount our short and sweet trip back to my hometown, Hong Kong, thought I'd provide a brief update on Bryson, since I've received a few questions from his fans all over the world.

We skyped with him (imagine Bryson on the computer, think Ein in cowboy bebop, ha!), he looks spoiled rotten, all sprawled out on the floor without a care in the world. In fact he looks so comfortable that we worry he might not remember us... we're relieved to see that he perks right up when the 3 of us yelled "BRY-SONNN!" in unison. Whew! He still remembers us :)

And according to Uncle Jack, he's doing well and is a sweet boy in general... until he had a small episode of diarrhea, which was quickly controlled with extra steroid. But perhaps due to that, he started scavenging again... and Uncle Jack had to chase him off when he starts showing interest in his cousin's poop in the backyard. Ewww! But we miss you Bry, in all your poopy-eating grossness. Can't wait to give you a big, BIG hug again.

OK, now back to our Hong Kong trip :)

As you know, that's where I grew up, so there's lots of sentiments coming back after all these years. It's extra sweet that I get to show Eva the place I used to call home: where I used to live, where I went to school, where I had my first date (shhh...), but as per the usual toddler-rule, we were lucky that that we got to see half of that before she fell asleep in her stroller/ smeared melted chocolate all over herself/ had a diaper-related emergency and need to rush home (maybe that was the chocolate after all...). 

Here's one of the "must-do's" in Hong Kong- visiting the Victoria Peak where you can get a bird's eye view of the harbor and all of Hong Kong's concrete forest's glory. 

A super rare sight (at least it seems to us) at the Peak: "Dogs Allowed" signs everywhere! And people take full advantage of this, as there were more dogs than we've seen collectively anywhere else in Hong Kong and Guangzhou combined.

And from our completely unscientific survey, it seems that poodles are awfully popular here (the miniature kind). But guess what... it seems that corgis aren't that far behind, as we ran into not one, but TWO corgis on one same day in different parts of Hong Kong!

Awww, isn't she so adorable? Eva was totally smitten... It was a little awkward asking strangers if we can take pictures with their dog, but it seems that corgi owners all over the world know that it's a corgi-people thing- we love our corgis and can't get enough of them! Speaking of corgi-peeps, we met another pair of proud corgi-parents in Guangzhou a couple weeks ago whom we met through our blog (small world, eh?). More on that in another post.

And in case you're wondering, where do corgis go stretch their stubby legs in this concrete jungle? This photo above was taken at the Lion Club Nature Education Center in 西貢, only about 20 minutes from the densely populated neighborhoods nearby, but seems worlds apart in its greenness and serenity.

People and doggies can all enjoy the beautiful sunflower field...

Trails meandering through various area of exhibits (beware of mosquitos though)...

Beautiful lily pond...

Ahhhh.... after breathing in city fumes for a month, we were all happy to fill our lungs with fresh air, although next time we definitely won't forget our Badger Balm.

Another perk for being in Hong Kong? Hanging out with Gong Gong and Po Po at their swanky digs and being fed like a Roman king:

I know I'm getting a little off-track here, but feel like I have to post our photos from our local weekend excursion here in Guangzhou this weekend, as we're heading off on yet another trip to Beijing and Harbin in a couple of days.

We headed to Shamian Island, or 沙面岛, an area concessioned to the French and the Brits during the war in the late 19th century. It still retains a lot of its colonial architecture. We had a leisurely amble around the island, but were found guilty of rushing into a Starbucks as soon as we saw the sign (it was 90+ degrees out and Starbucks is the only air-conditioned establishment in sight). We can be forgiven, right?

Here's an interesting sight on the way to the island- transportation and sunshade in one. ingenious.

This totally reminds me of Paris on the way to Notre Dame...

Said evil Starbucks... 

Providing an evil iced chocolate for my toddler which she took for lunch...

But after a cool beverage, it's smiley faces all around :D These are boxes in apartment front gates for people's morning paper, how can you not have a cheerful day?

And the best way to conclude the day? Dinner of homemade dumplings over at a colleague's home. Yes! I have friends here, finally! Or did I invite myself? Well, let's not get lost in the details. 

And congrats if you read all the way down here, because I saved the best for last...

Today's our 7-year wedding anniversary :) Hubby got me this super adorable bunny ring while we were in Hong Kong (you can get it on etsy as well).

I love you, too ;)

 

 

So, What are You?

Even before I set foot in China, I realize that I’ll be going through some sort of identity crisis. I thought that I have a good answer to this “What are you?” question.

It’s a simple and truthful one, and I’ve rehearsed it well: “I was born and raised in Hong Kong, I moved to the United States to go to college when I was 18, and have lived there since.”

Simple, right? Apparently not. To that answer, the most usual response I get is the initial narrowing of the eyes, followed by a moment of silence when people more carefully scrutinize my face and mince over my words- which may have been spoken in Mandarin, Cantonese or English.

This conversation could go in any direction and typically lasts much longer than needed, this one below was a real example of one that took place over a business lunch that’s fairly representative of how it usually meanders:

Colleague A: Oh, so you are Chinese (dubiously)... but wait, you’re so tall, you must be Northern Chinese.

Me: Not really, my family is actually from Guangdong (the south), but I think my mom’s family has a touch of Manchurian blood.

Colleague B: Ha! That explains it! When I saw your last name 金, I thought you’re either Korean or Mongolian. You proved me right.

Me: Uh, not really.., (did I say Mongolian?!) I meant Manchurian, you know, Qing dynasty and all that (rambling about some story how my grandpa’s grandpa got sent by the Qing government to Guangdong to rule over the southern barbarians....) But really, I’m more of a Han Chinese, just like you.

Colleague A: (Further narrowing of the eyes) That’s not possible, your last name is 金, you’re tall and big-boned (they don’t hesitate calling you big in China), unless it’s all the American food you people eat, ha ha... And your face says you’re from the north. You’ve got to be Mongolian or Korean, you just don’t realize it.

Colleague B: (nods enthusiastically)

Me: (defeated, and realizing this conversation is going nowhere) Of course, I’m sure you’re right. I should go back to Mongolia to search for my roots...

At first I was a little surprised by these conversations, by the amount of interest people display over my identity. But when I thought more about it and back to my own childhood, I guess I can understand it. Over 90% of China is comprised of ethnically Han Chinese, apart from some regional differences and the frequent use of regional dialects, people by and large look the same and most if not all speak Mandarin (with the exception of Hong Kong and Macau, where most people's mother tongue is Cantonese).

I, on the other hand, is a curio- not a foreigner, but also clearly not Chinese, and people aren’t quite sure what to make of me.

I fully experienced this one day when going on a visit with my Chinese colleagues to a physician in a local hospital. This doctor was clearly swamped, with lines of patients, nurses, students streaming in and out of his office, while we patiently wait to see him. At last, his door flung open, and he staggered out to greet my colleagues, and excitedly asking in Mandarin, “So, where’s the laowai?”

Well, the word “laowai” is slang for foreigners. At that, I looked about myself, thinking “Oh, foreigner? Where?” And when all gazes fell upon me, I realized what just happened, and I felt myself blush... My colleague must have told this doctor that they’re bringing in a special guest, a colleague from America, and this doctor was fully expecting a white, and probably male, visitor. He tried to be polite and motioned me to join them, but I could tell from his face that he was confused and probably a tad bit disappointed.

Having been here for a few months, I've grown used to these type of encounters, and honestly I've grown tired of defending and apologozing for who I am not, and I'm slowly regaining my ability to explain who I am. I represent the values that are uniquely me, a reflection of the multiple identities I possess.

I value family, friendship, trust and integrity.

I believe in myself, but I also believe in karma and serendipity.

I savor my independence, but I also understand that we're all connected.

I believe in the pursuit of happiness, but I also believe in respect in everyone and everything around me.

I am American, and I'm also Chinese.

And if I may borrow Dr Seuss, next time I'm asked the "what are you" question, I'd like to proclaim at the top of my lungs, "I AM I! I AM I! I AM I!"

P.S. And because no post is complete without pictures, here is a photo of the lunch I had last week in Wuhan. You are right if you don't think it looks edible; and yes, those are ALL chili peppers. I made the mistake of ordering "medium spicy" in a Sichuanese restaurant (had a brain fart and forgot where I was)... a mistake I'll NEVER make again.

 

And last weekend, we joined a trip organized by our apartment to Baomo Garden in Panyu, near our home in Guangzhou. Eva enjoyed hanging out with other kids in our group, and splashing in the water, pretending to be catching fish...

 
 
 
Something I've gotten used to here in China: strangers taking pictures of Eva, whether she's awake or asleep. I've learned to take it as a friendly gesture from people who find her interesting, and hey, I guess that means I also have permission to take a photo of them taking a photo of my daughter, right?

Anyway, we just arrived in my hometown, Hong Kong yesterday. I can't wait to show Eva where I grew up, and share all our experiences here on our next update. Stay tuned!