"My Chinese Is Getting Worse"

Since I've been in HK, I try to speak Chinese as much as I can. It can be frustrating because I just don't have the vocabulary to articulate what I want to say in terms of meetings, world events or the arts. However, my Chinese has improved significantly and I continue to learn new key words every week. My recent Cantonese vocab includes:

Information = jee liu
Chance = gei wui
Philosophy = jeet hok
Pay Rent = gau jo

Recent Mandarin vocab includes:

How's it going? = Zen Mo yang?
(a few dirty phrases)

While my Chinese is improving, I have had several friends recently tell me that their Chinese has gotten worse since they've known me. They're Chinese is becoming slow and broken around me and they tend to use simpler vocabulary. One of my friends has decided to try only speaking English with me so that she can at least improve her English while I try to improve my Chinese. Unfortunately, the result is a conversation in broken Enlglish and broken Chinese which often means for v-e-r-y sloooooow and frustrating conversations. Eventually, one of us breaks down and reverts back to the language we're most comfortable with.

Ahhhh... life as an illiterate who can barely speak. Priceless!

Blogging is Hard

It's been over a month since my last entry. Between the holidays, fighting a cough for nearly a month, travelling to both US coasts and now getting back into the swing of things; I just haven't had the time or desire to write an entry.

Now that I've been blogging regularly for a few months, I've found that writing regular, interesting blog entries can be challenging. Is it better to write a bunch of quick, short entries or wait until I've got something to say and think about how I'm going to say it?

A topic that I've been itching to write about is what the Western media has labeled the 'cartoon protests.' Beyond the surface there are so many deep issues playing out here. No matter where you stand on this issue, I think it's safe to say that the Muslim violence that has spread to all manner of non-Islamic symbols and properties points to far deeper wounds and issues that have been around quite some time. This is no longer just extremist Muslim's against the West. It is a reflection of the state of our world.

IMHO, reflecting and interpreting the world around you is often the job of an artist. As an artist, I would be both flattered and horrified to see my work generate such a reaction. I really believe that one of the lessons to be learned from this by the Western media can be summed up by paraphrasing one of our greatest modern, mythmakers: With great power and freedoms comes great responsibility.

'Nuff said (for this blog entry at least)