A niche in life

Many of our students (and potential students) pick their major, or their courses, based on market demand. Of course, since they are not yet on the job market, they are basically picking it based on projected market demand, trying to extrapolate 2-3 years into the future, when they will be on the job market. I am interested, for example, in knowing what the business faculty's admissions figures will be like after this stock market crash.

Today, I went to the horticulturist's to buy some fertilizer for our plants. The place is run by a father-son combo -- the dad learned his trade from his father, the son graduated with an M.Eng. from a well-known UK university. Working in a nursery would not be a job that one would expect an M.Eng. student to get into, even if it were the family business. However, between the two of them, they have carved out a niche for themselves, importing high-quality and exotic plants, high-tech equipment and artsy accessories. And since the son speaks fluent English, they have also managed to corner a steady clientele of expats living in the New Territories who're desperate to recreate their own gardens from home.

It mayn't be a glamorous job, and certainly it's an unconventional choice of career, but I couldn't help feeling that the young man had made the correct choice in life. He clearly enjoyed what he was doing, he had expertise in his area, and he had managed to find himself a niche in life.

I wish that our own students would stop for a moment to think about what they *want* to do, and what they are suited to doing, rather than obsessing on what would make the most money or provide the most stable living!

A bit of pride and community spirit

Valparaiso, one of the seaside cities in Chile, is about 2 hours west of the capital city, Santiago. Since we had a day before the conference, we decided to try and pay it a visit. With a bit of luck, we managed to track down the inter-city bus terminal and buy our tickets.


The city of Valparaiso itself lies on some mountains, and the houses cascade down to the sea. It's quite dramatic to look at. There're numerous elevators, which are little more than boxes on wheels, driven by a counterweight, to ferry those residents (and tourists!) who'd rather not walk the steep slopes. The rides cost about 10-20 cents (US) and lasted for a couple of minutes.


The first impression of the city is that it's definitely more complex (as in, less safe) and less prosperous than Santiago (not that Santiago is very prosperous by Hong Kong standards, but still it is the capital after all). Indeed, we were actually warned by the tourist agency to not walk about the port town, and a lady driving by stopped to warn us to watch our cameras.


That said, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Valparaiso. The old part of the city was beautiful -- the architecture of the old houses were stunning and a lovely visual treat, especially for an architecture buff like me. I suppose they harken back to better days for the city, when the rich made their homes here.


Aside from the older houses, the newer ones weren't of very good quality. Many of them had walls made of corrugated metal -- I haven't seen *that* for years! -- or simply of poured concrete. Even given that, though, it was evident that people were taking care of their living spaces. Many of the houses were painted with very vivid colors (that's actually a recurring theme -- it seems that Chileans are very fond of color and do not hesitate to use bold colors), and we actually saw a row of houses that were color coordinated. That's a lovely sense of community!


I remarked on the sense of community that I felt from the first day in Santiago. In Valparaiso, I felt it even more. The houses may be somewhat run-down, but they were well-kept. The yards were nicely planted and maintained. The streets were clean, even the garbage cans were painted. It is obvious that the locals take a sense of pride in their living environment, and they take good care of their property and that of their neighborhood. This is even though they very clearly do not enjoy the same living standard as in many first-world countries.

I hate to say this -- but compare this to rural China, or many other countries in Asia!

Stress and tension drain in Chile

For the last three years, my all-time favorite place to visit has been Luang Prabang in Laos. The reasons are because of the slowness of the pace of that country, and the friendliness of the people there. So far I haven't been able to find a competitor for Laos -- but I think that Chile might run a close second.






The first thing that struck me in Santiago was how much slower the pace of life is. On a weekday afternoon, there were crowds of people sitting in the central Plaza de Armas, just hanging out, or playing chess. Even the dogs seemed to be much more laid-back -- there're a ton of strays in Chile, and it's not unusual to see a random stray dog passed out asleep in the middle of the street. (Surprisingly, for this many strays, the streets are quite clean -- I didn't see much dog poop. Wonder where it all goes.)



It seemed also that there's quite a strong sense of community among the people there. The town squares, or plazas, are packed when evening falls, with people just coming by to hang out, it seemed. And also, it wasn't unusual to see people engaged in conversation in the middle of the road, in the park, wherever. Reminds me of rural China, or Hong Kong in a slower, gentler time.


The people were extremely friendly. Oh, we attracted stares -- I suppose it's not usual to see Asians there -- but a smile almost invariably brought back a friendly smile in response. Many times, we were approached by total strangers who saw us looking at a map, either in the metro or on the street, to ask if we needed any help. And these were just ordinary people, not uniformed police or metro employees. Many of them did not speak English either, and they must have known that we probably didn't speak any Spanish -- but they just wanted to help.

Even with the conference and the presentation hanging in the background, I could feel my stress drain away. As further proof, my seasonal dyshidrosis, which had been threatening to erupt as I left Hong Kong, faded away on the second day. Let's hope it doesn't return!

CSCWD 2009, Chile

After having been on one long trip earlier in the month, for SIGCHI in Boston, it was with a fair bit of apprehension that I left for Santiago, for CSCWD -- I was physically exhausted and mentally drained. And the thought of the 30 hour flight (15 hours to Toronto, 5 hours layover there, then another 11 hours to Santiago) was daunting.

Looking back, I am so glad I went, and I completely fell in love with the place and the people there. Second to Laos, I think I have to say that Chile has been my favorite country so far. The scenery is amazing, the people are friendly. Despite the stresses of having to be at conference, it was a good and much-needed rest for me.

Will be posting some more descriptions of the place over the next few days. My photo album has been uploaded onto Facebook but there are far too many pictures to caption, so I decided against trying to do that! But hopefully this blog will tell some of those stories.

The picture at the top was taken somewhere in Santiago, the capital. This picture below was taken en route to Argentina, somewhere in the Andes mountains.

Doesn't take a lot to make a cat happy...

My cat, Cheetah, has been allowed back indoors since his knee surgery about a month back. And of course he's wormed his way into my bed again. He was in an exceptionally good mood this morning (he usually doesn't like being covered up or closed in), so I managed to snap some pics of him.

Beggar on the Flyover

This afternoon, a friend and I were walking across the pedestrian flyover from the Central ferry pier to the Landmark this afternoon after church. We came across this beggar begging on the flyover. His left arm was missing -- either from an amputation or inborn. He looked like he was in his 20s. He was wearing only a singlet and was shivering visibly from the cold.

Part of my heart went out to him and wanted to give him some money -- money that I could definitely spare. The logical part of my heart told me that it was not possible that somebody that young could have been born in Hong Kong without the government taking care of him somehow, which meant that he was one of those unfortunates who are somehow "imported" from China, and left to beg on the street to make money for their gang leaders. Which is human trafficking, albeit in a more benign way.

I am ashamed to say that I walked past without giving him money. The logical part of my brain won out this time. Nobody else stopped to give him money, either, during the few minutes that I could see.

I could not help feeling guilty.

Variations on a tune

Most of us know the song "My bonnie is over the river". One of my students told me the version that she was taught by her teachers in primary school. Here it is, complete with actions:

My bonnie [outlines the shape of a person in the air, "body"] is over [makes the shape of an "O" with two hands] the o-[makes the "O" shape] cean [points to the lips, 唇, almost-homonym for the second syllable in "ocean"];
My bonnie ["body" action again] is over ["O" action] the sea [shades eyes with hand, "see"].
My bonnie ["body" action] is over ["O" action] the o-["O" action] cean ["唇" action] --
Oh bring [hands in a "come hither" motion] back [pats one's back] my bonny ["body" action] to me [points to oneself].

Interesting way to teach English.