I am trying to pack for our trip. We leave tomorrow for just a long weekend to Bali. Very, very excited. We arrive in Bali around 3 p.m. on Friday and leave Monday around 4:00 p.m. How much stuff could I really need? Problem is, I am having serious issues packing a reasonable number of shoes. I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's that I just need new summer shoes because mine apparently all suck and don't really go with any of my clothes but sort of go with my clothes all at the same time, depending on my mood. Or maybe it's something else. Either way, I think I am going to end up with 10 pairs of shoes or something ridiculous.
I'm just waiting for Chris to come home from work tonight and make fun of what I have out on the bed to pack.
Oh well. As my friend Kim Gio says, I love vacation problems!
And one more random thought on this being a small world. A couple of weeks ago, I met a woman who is from Whitefish Bay. They've been here 9 years but spent the 30 before that in "The Bay". Now, it's even more random to find out that she lives directly above us, 4 stories up and I had no idea. Yes, small world. Today I also met a girl originally from Superior, WI. We're apparently much more global than I thought we were.
Happy Memorial Day weekend to you all. Have a great, safe official start to Mid-west summer. Ooooh, just checked the weather and it is 42 in Milwaukee, granted it's 7 a.m. but it's only supposed to be 58 F. Not exactly summer. We'll soak up the 90 F this weekend for everyone :)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Even more cultural differences
My guess is that many of you have heard about the two major natural disasters that have hit Asia in the last few weeks: Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on May 3 and a 7.8 earthquake hit Sichuan, China just outside of the city of Chengdu (think pandas) on Monday. Both disasters have been just that, complete disasters and loss of countless human life.
The rescue efforts in Myanmar have been blocked by a "government" that has been reported to be keeping food & water to sell on the black market. The UN has only been able to reach 270,000 people so far (according to the AP today) in a country where millions of people are without clean water or food. It is raining hard there again and the U.S. Joint Typhoon Center is predicting that another cyclone could hit the area again in the next few days. It makes Hurricane Katrina look insignificant, and I am by no means downplaying that devastation.
On Monday, while friends of ours were taxiing down the runway of the Chengdu airport to return to Hong Kong, the earthquake struck about a 30-minute drive away from them. They thought that their plane had run over something. No such luck. With over 19,500 already confirmed dead, the outlook doesn't look very good. The country is rallying in support for one another but it is a pretty awful situation all around.
So where do the cultural differences come in to play? Well, it's certainly not in the way that the general public responds. People here have had the same reaction as they would have anywhere else in the world. The difference comes in the slight nuances in which this stuff gets reported in the media.
Quite predictably, news of the earthquake covered the front page of the main English newspaper today. Updates and statistics accompanied a picture of the school that collapsed on the front page . But it wasn't a picture that we would see in the States. When this kind of thing happens in the U.S., the front page of the paper has a picture of parents crying out in sheer terror for their children or someone looking completely lost and devastated. I hope you can imagine what I'm talking about. Here, when this kind of thing happens, there is a picture of the actual school, collapsed, and dead children being pulled out of the rubble by rescue workers. It's one of those pictures you don't want to ever have to see yet it's plastered on the front page of the paper. I've decided that today's picture topped the one last week of dead bodies and cows floating in the water after the cyclone in Myanmar.
This is one of those subtleties in cultural differences. As my friend Sophie pointed out, in some parts of Asia, people actually need to see the dead bodies to believe that a person is dead. It's not really that way in China but you can sort of draw a comparison. It's just a different level of sensitivity that you don't really think about until you pick up the morning paper and see 5 limp children, covered in cuts, being pulled from wreckage. I keep telling myself that it's not better or worse, it's just different from what I'm used to. However, the more I think about it, the more I really think that it doesn't make me feel any more sorry for the victims. It just makes me more nauseous as I'm drinking my coffee.
The rescue efforts in Myanmar have been blocked by a "government" that has been reported to be keeping food & water to sell on the black market. The UN has only been able to reach 270,000 people so far (according to the AP today) in a country where millions of people are without clean water or food. It is raining hard there again and the U.S. Joint Typhoon Center is predicting that another cyclone could hit the area again in the next few days. It makes Hurricane Katrina look insignificant, and I am by no means downplaying that devastation.
On Monday, while friends of ours were taxiing down the runway of the Chengdu airport to return to Hong Kong, the earthquake struck about a 30-minute drive away from them. They thought that their plane had run over something. No such luck. With over 19,500 already confirmed dead, the outlook doesn't look very good. The country is rallying in support for one another but it is a pretty awful situation all around.
So where do the cultural differences come in to play? Well, it's certainly not in the way that the general public responds. People here have had the same reaction as they would have anywhere else in the world. The difference comes in the slight nuances in which this stuff gets reported in the media.
Quite predictably, news of the earthquake covered the front page of the main English newspaper today. Updates and statistics accompanied a picture of the school that collapsed on the front page . But it wasn't a picture that we would see in the States. When this kind of thing happens in the U.S., the front page of the paper has a picture of parents crying out in sheer terror for their children or someone looking completely lost and devastated. I hope you can imagine what I'm talking about. Here, when this kind of thing happens, there is a picture of the actual school, collapsed, and dead children being pulled out of the rubble by rescue workers. It's one of those pictures you don't want to ever have to see yet it's plastered on the front page of the paper. I've decided that today's picture topped the one last week of dead bodies and cows floating in the water after the cyclone in Myanmar.
This is one of those subtleties in cultural differences. As my friend Sophie pointed out, in some parts of Asia, people actually need to see the dead bodies to believe that a person is dead. It's not really that way in China but you can sort of draw a comparison. It's just a different level of sensitivity that you don't really think about until you pick up the morning paper and see 5 limp children, covered in cuts, being pulled from wreckage. I keep telling myself that it's not better or worse, it's just different from what I'm used to. However, the more I think about it, the more I really think that it doesn't make me feel any more sorry for the victims. It just makes me more nauseous as I'm drinking my coffee.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Happy Birthday, Buddha
So, yes, it has been a really long time since I last updated our blog. I apologize for that but I guess I was just feeling a little bit like I just had nothing really to say. In some ways that's true, in others, not so much.
Until the last couple of days, we have had a very busy 6 weeks. My aunt Beth, uncle Mike and cousin, Courtney, came to visit for 10 days over Easter. We had our first official visitors and had a very fun time together. I think that they left Hong Kong loving it as much as we do, or at least I know Courtney did. She was one of the most adventurous 16 year-olds I've ever gotten to hang out with. In true Wosick form, we ate and drank our way through most of Hong Kong, trying just about every type of cuisine that Hong Kong has to offer.
We had about a 10 day break to clean our house and get things organized again for my sister, Ashley, and cousin, Katie, to visit us. We hadn't had any visitors for 9 months and then got two sets right in a row, but it was very fun to have them. Unfortunately, Chris had to spend 4 days in Beijing for work but we had a bit of girl time so that was nice. The last day that that Ashley & Katie were here, we were supposed to head out for a junk trip. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and Typhoon Negouri landed ashore in China not far from us. Hong Kong had a signal 3 warning which is a bit like saying that there is a severe thunderstorm warning...maybe we'll get rain and maybe we won't. Well, the maybe yes won out that day and we had our wettest day since arriving in Hong Kong. Needless to say, we didn't make it out on a boat. Instead we spent the afternoon with friends having lunch and then progressing on to our friends' house where we proceeded to drink a case of wine. Yes, a case. Let's just say that Chris and I were happy that we weren't getting on a trans-continental flight the next morning.
Chris's boss from Milwaukee was also here for a week so that kept us (but mostly Chris) busy as well.
In the meantime, I have managed to get myself elected to be the next president of the American Women's Association (AWA). I am actually very excited about it because I'll be responsible for things that I haven't yet had the opportunity to do in any of my previous jobs. It's an unpaid position but it will occupy quite a bit of my time each week. So now I am trying to get up to speed for when I officially begin my position on July 1.
Along with the AWA thing, my friend and I are looking in to starting our own jewelry business so I have been very busy doing stuff for that as well. It's going pretty well and we seem to have a good amount of interest but we'll see how things progress over the next few months. I'm also very excited about this opportunity. I've always wanted to run my own business but never thought I would because I couldn't come up with an idea. So we'll see.
That pretty much brings us to today, Buddha's Birthday - a bank holiday in Hong Kong (obviously). Chris finally gets to actually not have to go to work when the rest of his office is closed (the last week public holidays he has had to go to work - including international labour day on May 1). We're relaxing this evening and just put in Juno so I'll be signing off. See some of you in 6 weeks when we're back in the U.S. for my friend, Heather's wedding and Chris's work trip.
Until the last couple of days, we have had a very busy 6 weeks. My aunt Beth, uncle Mike and cousin, Courtney, came to visit for 10 days over Easter. We had our first official visitors and had a very fun time together. I think that they left Hong Kong loving it as much as we do, or at least I know Courtney did. She was one of the most adventurous 16 year-olds I've ever gotten to hang out with. In true Wosick form, we ate and drank our way through most of Hong Kong, trying just about every type of cuisine that Hong Kong has to offer.
We had about a 10 day break to clean our house and get things organized again for my sister, Ashley, and cousin, Katie, to visit us. We hadn't had any visitors for 9 months and then got two sets right in a row, but it was very fun to have them. Unfortunately, Chris had to spend 4 days in Beijing for work but we had a bit of girl time so that was nice. The last day that that Ashley & Katie were here, we were supposed to head out for a junk trip. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and Typhoon Negouri landed ashore in China not far from us. Hong Kong had a signal 3 warning which is a bit like saying that there is a severe thunderstorm warning...maybe we'll get rain and maybe we won't. Well, the maybe yes won out that day and we had our wettest day since arriving in Hong Kong. Needless to say, we didn't make it out on a boat. Instead we spent the afternoon with friends having lunch and then progressing on to our friends' house where we proceeded to drink a case of wine. Yes, a case. Let's just say that Chris and I were happy that we weren't getting on a trans-continental flight the next morning.
Chris's boss from Milwaukee was also here for a week so that kept us (but mostly Chris) busy as well.
In the meantime, I have managed to get myself elected to be the next president of the American Women's Association (AWA). I am actually very excited about it because I'll be responsible for things that I haven't yet had the opportunity to do in any of my previous jobs. It's an unpaid position but it will occupy quite a bit of my time each week. So now I am trying to get up to speed for when I officially begin my position on July 1.
Along with the AWA thing, my friend and I are looking in to starting our own jewelry business so I have been very busy doing stuff for that as well. It's going pretty well and we seem to have a good amount of interest but we'll see how things progress over the next few months. I'm also very excited about this opportunity. I've always wanted to run my own business but never thought I would because I couldn't come up with an idea. So we'll see.
That pretty much brings us to today, Buddha's Birthday - a bank holiday in Hong Kong (obviously). Chris finally gets to actually not have to go to work when the rest of his office is closed (the last week public holidays he has had to go to work - including international labour day on May 1). We're relaxing this evening and just put in Juno so I'll be signing off. See some of you in 6 weeks when we're back in the U.S. for my friend, Heather's wedding and Chris's work trip.
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