Agora

Sitting here in a deserted section of the study lounge, I'm feeling the urge to write about an interaction progressing and unfolding in front of me right now. At the risk of being offensive or politically incorrect (ala Alexandra Wallace from UCLA), I'm just going to say it here that this post is about someone whose culture I'm still trying to grasp and understand. Allow me to explain. I write to achieve an end, it's sort of unspoken, but when I write I'm usually trying to understand something better or to arrive at some sort of epiphany (there's my A. Wallace again). Anyway, here goes. A young Chinese girl, maybe 19, is seated about 5 feet away in front of me, long hair with blonde highlights (I think), sporting rimmed spectacles, clothed in a Star-patterned pink knit-sweater, blue jeans and fur Winter boots. That's her physical profile, but I'm honestly more interested in the activity she's engaging in. In between mouthfuls of Mcnuggets, she is h...

I've found it difficult to blog or write these days. This is partly due to a lack of inspiration, but it is mainly because I have come to realize that most of my thoughts are not developed fully enough for a coherent composition. If I'm to attempt a blog post, my ideas will come out as a string of disjointed sentences, not doing justice to the various shapes and textures of the issues which I'm grappling with currently. However, I've motivated myself to try and get some thoughts on paper, on this brand new canvas which is the New Year. New Place Settling into my new place was not without its difficulties. Fortunately, I had many friends who were kind enough to lend a helping hand, and I received a tremendous amount of support from them: labour, morale, Christmas gifts, cards, house-warming presents, sleeping bag (for the week without an actual bed or mattress) and so on. My landlord, Pin, is also a very accommodating individual who is efficient and tolerant, much of...