A Tribute to My Xanga Page (aka. a recent past)

Xanga was the sh*t before Facebook became popular. So when I found out through a Facebook status that it is closing down, I had to archive everything and take a quick look at my own blog before it is gone for good.

Reading my own past through my Xanga page is like reliving my own emotions through out the five years of which I've been actively blogging, and yet uncovering parts of myself that I've forgotten about, as if they are new. A lot of posts were two world cups ago, way before the financial crisis, and at a time where China wasn't as much as a spotlight as it is now. Yet even for someone as interested in current issues as myself, none of those really mattered as I flip through the pages of my dying Xanga page.

There is immense nostalgia when I reread the carefree after school bubble tea sessions with my high school friends, and how this combination of names may probably never appear together again. There are pictures of faint dreams that I had; of people who I thought I would hang out with forever, but now when I see them I'll only nod, try to have a small chat, then realize there's nothing more of which I can say. There are some who I wish I can hang on to further, but it all comes down to timing. A lot of my posts are not as coherent as I thought they were. Most of my later posts were quite cryptic, meant only for a selective audience. Although I wasn't a good chronicler of events, I was good at recording emotions. And for several times I choked up a bit as I reminisce the "golden age."

And then I discovered the poems of which I wrote, most of them quite free in structure, but there is one Shakespearean Sonnet that I wrote for a friend, because as Robert Frost said, writing free verse is like "playing tennis without a net."

If there is a dividing line between the "real" happenings of life and mere fantasies, most of my documentation on Xanga would be about the latter. Yet perhaps because of this, even if I forgot a lot of the things that happened and the words that I wrote, this Xanga page is a witness of how I came to be who I am.

Alas, I could go on and on forever about this neglected part of the past that I found again, but all (or many at least) good things must come to an end. And I shall bid thee farewell, and Godspeed. Ciao. Au'revoir. Goodbye.

www.xanga.com/archyami
7 June 2004- date soon to be

P.S. I did download all my past posts, photos, videos and music... but that is just to say a person is survived by his creative work. It'll never be the same again.

Food and Character

Man does not live by bread alone...

"Man does not live by bread alone..."

Today we're mainly focusing on the unorthodox and out-of-context meaning of the passage above. Man does not live by bread alone. There's chicken, beef, pork, lamb, rice, pasta, pastries, soup... And what if I tell you, the food that you eat may also reflect on your personality and character?

Of course I'm not pointing a finger at your dietary restrictions, nor am I talking about eating healthy and what that means to prolonging your life. And by all means, I'm not saying that you're a better person if you like sushi over burgers and fries. But my question is, given the chance and budget, will you choose something out of the "ordinary" and how adventurous are you?

When we think about a culture that is foreign to our own cultures, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you're a white man living in North America and you grow up in the eighties, the first thing you think of about Chinese culture would probably be sweet and sour pork, egg foo yung, and Chinatown. If you are from Hong Kong and you think about American culture, the first thing that pops up would probably be McDonald's (or "jumping gym," but that deserves a separate post altogether). The first thing that we think about and that which is the most relevant to our lives would probably be the food.

Food is like a gateway to a different culture, and it is one of the most important aspects of our encounter with someone who is different from us. The difference may be geographical or cultural. Despite all the differences people have in traditions and values, we all need nourishment. And there is nothing easier than sharing the good things that nourish us.

Food is the first and the easiest thing for us to learn about, but it is easier for some people than others due to different preferences in taste. However, how open are you in trying at the first place, then understanding and appreciating the diet of people who have very different backgrounds from you? When we can spend the effort to understand the diet, then we can further understand the rest of their culture, and the people of that culture as real human beings and not just an exotic idea. Although I may sound weird in a society where words like "tolerance" and "multiculturalism" rule supreme, we must always revisit time and again of whether we do view a person of another culture the same way we view ourselves.

When we see or try something that is different, do we do it with open hearts and minds? Or do we keep casting judgement upon them, constantly comparing on how it measures up to what we're used to? Can we genuinely consider the things that are different from us, and then delve deeper so they are not merely exotic notions?

There is nothing wrong with liking or disliking something, particularly when it comes to food. But the underlying question is, can you put down yourself for just a second and embrace something else?