Unnecessary Financial Expenditures

Hong Kong Harbour from Victoria Peak in 2004


2008


2012
If there were not so much smog and weather you would be able to see the rise of the new ICC building, now Hong Kong’s tallest, on the left of each picture. In 2004 it was little more than a large patch of dirt. In 2008 it was probably half finished. By 2012 it was fully operational.


Name the tails

The Many Fascinating Adventures of Electronica

Chinese has no alphabet. Every word is its own symbol, though there are many compound words. There are about 50 000 different characters with 215 basic root words. That simply will not fit on any reasonable keyboard. Typing in Chinese requires using the key which is most likely to have the word you want and scrolling down until you find what you are looking for. It is time consuming and easy to see why government agencies use pen and paper.

“Parks and other public spaces are full of mostly red lanterns” took me probably four seconds to type. “公園與大眾場所也會掛滿著紅色的燈籠” took over four seconds per word.

我会买明天新的厨房毛巾。

My Second First Shidduch Date

Photoshop these two into one and that is Aram.

After our walk and talk we left the park and had an early supper. All went well and I told the shadchan that I am up for another date. I want to be optimistic about it all but I’m too old and too experienced not to be realistic. Could he be my bashert? I have no earthly idea. It seems unlikely. China is nice but it was only a few years of our lives. And I will stop feeling guilty about the car accident as soon as he does something stupid or pisses me off. Or next week. Whichever comes first. It is not like it was my fault.

新年快樂

Before the festival begins, houses are supposed to be cleaned and doorways are decorated with red phrases and poems. Red is the luckiest color and symbolizes good fortune and happiness. During the festival, red envelopes with money are given to younger family members. It is supposed to be money for suppressing the evil spirits but it usually ends up spent at 7-11. The amount of money given in the red envelopes should be lucky. Odd numbers are bad. Even numbers are good. Except four. Four is very unlucky because 四 [four] sounds like 死 [death]. Children will literally beg for these red envelopes and it is unlucky for the parents, aunts, uncles to say no.

Ants in My Pants

I never had any kind of curtains on my windows in China. My bedroom and laundry room faced a field. The other side of the house faced another house but my kitchen was at roof level with the house across the street. Without curtains the light from my windows attracted all manner of flying insects at night. The flying insects attracted geckos. I grew up with geckos, especially in Durban, so they do not bother me.

Passport to China Again

Passport to China

A Brief Comparative Analysis of World Health Care Systems From My Purely Subjective and Limited Perspective

Tel Aviv

Cape Town

Shanghai

Zürich

Los Angeles

My introduction to America’s controversial health cover system came at university. Health insurance was compulsory for students. I had to pay the usual school and housing fees plus health insurance, a special fee for foreigners and taxes on top of all that. Everything was taxed. I think they even taxed my student visa. California’s tax system is second only in labyrinthe complexity to China’s. I spent more than US $14 000 on insurance in California, more than everywhere else combined. And I never really used it.


Anchorage

Dalai 你好

The People’s Republic of China, which we shall call China because that’s what it is called, is ruled by a single party. Not a democracy by any definition but getting more capitalist every day. The Republic of China, which we shall call Taiwan to avoid too much confusion, is ruled by a mostly two party system. It is a genuine democracy and very much capitalist. China, the real China, used to be the Republic of China and ruled over China and Taiwan. When Taiwan was not ruled by Japan. We shall just call Japan Japan.

When China became the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan became the Republic of China. The People’s Republic of China claimed ownership of the Republic of China while the Republic of China claimed ownership of the People’s Republic of China. Eventually Taiwan dropped that claim. With China’s nuclear weapons and the largest military in the world Taiwan realised it was never going to happen. Now half of Taiwanese want an eventual reunification with China if there is ever a less totalitarian government in China and the other half want recognised independence. This is the main difference between the two parties in Taiwan. And you thought your country’s politics were divisive.

Natural Disasters

Israel is prone to earthquakes but there has not been a noteworthy one since before my grandmother’s grandmother was born. People still mention that it completely destroyed the Jewish side of town while the Muslim side had only minor damage. Further proof that we are the Chosen People, I suppose.

We can’t have typhoons. Tsunamis are unlikely. Parts of the country are prone to sandstorms, but not where I live. This might be the safest place I have ever lived. Discounting rocket attacks.

Dragon Boat Day

Nobody really knows how or why 端午節 started but the most popular story is that of 屈原, a royal advisor between 320 to 300 BCE. When 屈原 fell out of favour he went into exile and wrote a lot of poetry. Either disgusted by the state of government corruption or because of changing dynasties 屈原 jumped into the nearest river and drowned. Out of respect for the poet, people raced their boats onto the river and threw food in so the fish wouldn’t eat his body.

Most of that is fantasy and today’s Dragon Boat Festival was called something else a few thousand years ago. But 屈原 really is an important poet of that period and I suppose any excuse to steam up some 糭子 is a good one.

Picture Yourself On a Train In a Station

Another clip from China. This one had technical difficulties the first time I tried to upload it. After I edited it all is well. See if you can find the cut.

新年快樂

下週一是農曆春節，在中國稱作為春節或農曆春節。在中國以外的區域稱為中國人的新年。不論你如何稱呼它，它開始於中國農民曆的第一天，不同於穆斯林與希伯來人的月曆，這個假期開始於農民曆的第一天，結束於農曆十五，最後一天就是元宵節，但是不同國家的中國人通常只慶祝剛開始的前幾天。

對於年代的排序取決於你和誰談論，新年開始慶祝於4706年或4646年。在中國的部分地區稱為民國98年(像是台灣)，年代的開始主要是因為朝代的替換，新朝代的開始就稱為元年，清朝是最後一個帝王統治的朝代，它結束於西元1911年，中華民國開始於西元1912年，近年多數的中國人開始使用羅馬的曆法而稱為西元2009年，不論你使用那種曆法(農民曆或是西洋曆)，它即將由中國生肖的鼠年到今年的牛年。

在節慶的開始，家家戶戶會開始清掃門戶(又稱做大掃除)並貼上新的春聯。紅色在中國傳統是非常幸運的顏色，它也象徵了吉祥與喜樂。在春節期間，人們會用紅包裝入壓歲錢給年輕的成員。雖然到後來錢都花到7-11買東西，但裝了錢的紅包可以驅走不好的事情。單數(1.3.5.7.9)在中國人的眼中代表不吉利，雙數(2.6.8.10)就代表好事，所以中國人常說「好事成雙」。除了數字4對中國人來說代表不吉利外，因為發音與「死」相近。大部分的中國人喜歡「6」代表「六六大順」、「8」與「發」的發音表示「發財」與「賺大錢」。小孩常常會說些吉祥話向是「恭喜發財」、「新年快樂」，雙手環抱鞠躬來拿取紅包，當長輩看到小孩可愛的模樣，很難說「不」。

星期天就是農曆除夕(又稱大年夜)，所有家中的成員會一起吃年夜飯(又稱圍爐)。年菜中一定會有鱼(象徵著年年有餘)、油角、年糕、羅漢齋等象徵著繁榮興旺。年夜飯也是一年當中最重要的一頓晚餐，傳統的習俗家人會再吃完年夜飯後到廟裡燒香祈求未來的一年平安順遂，但這幾年比較受歡迎的是除夕的跨年守歲活動。有些家庭在初一的早上會吃水餃，因為水餃的形狀和古時候的錢「元寶」相似，象徵著新的一年衣食無缺，有些家庭甚至會在水餃中包入新的硬幣，當你吃到包了錢幣的水餃會帶給你一年的好運。

在大年初一人們會去向家中的長輩拜年，有時需要長途跋涉或是搭乘大眾交通工具像是火車。去年中國遇到非常大的暴風雪，影響到上百萬人的返鄉之路。這天也是舞龍、舞獅與鞭炮聲齊鳴的時刻，比較大的城市像是北京和香港更將這種表演當成公眾的演出。農曆的初二也就是回娘家，這天所有出嫁的女兒，會從夫家返回家中探視他們的雙親或是祖父母。對少數人而言，這幾天需要花額外的時間返家探親與拜年。

經過三到四天的假期，大部分的人在農曆初五會回到工作崗位。但是過節的氣氛還是延續，人們還是會吃特別的食物與放鞭炮(煙火)。但相對的就比較少去跟親戚拜年。

農曆春節的第15天就是元宵節，這一天到處充滿著燈籠，公園與大眾場所也會掛滿著紅色的燈籠。也有大的展示會場展示各式各樣精刁細琢的花燈，小孩子則會提著小燈籠玩耍。也有一種稱為湯圓(裡面包著各種餡料，像是紅豆、芝麻、花生或是鮮肉)，人們會在燈光與花燈籠罩的氣氛下享用湯圓。

新年快樂。

Where Do I Stand Politically?

That’s a good question. The answer depends whose definitions you use.

In South Afrika I was considered radically liberal by the whites because I vehemently opposed apartheid.

In America I couldn’t be liberal because I oppose abortion but I couldn’t be conservative because I oppose capital punishment.

In China I was ultra-conservative because I’m not all that keen on communism. Some of it sounds good on paper but there’s never been a communist country that wasn’t a dictatorship.

In Israel I’m considered liberal because of my views on Palestine. The fact that I call it Palestine tells you something.

Does that answer your question?

Dave and the Typhoons

Can’t he just have classes in the church, you ask. Have you ever been inside a Christian church? It is good for a lecture hall but a terrible place to hold several classes simultaneously. Chinese students, especially children, are easily distracted when taking a class as foreign as English. You need all those little rooms to keep their eyes on the lesson. If the class next door were not divided by a wall they would never pay attention to the teacher.


Nasa images of category 2, 4 and 5 typhoons


Dave’s church, RIP
The building on the right was the school

China Journal ‘08: 江蘇

江蘇

長江

网师园

Land of many lakes

南京

中秋節



夫子廟

水乡



Part of the 1000km coastline



摄于南京中山陵



Jie Yi’s family cemetery

Chinese Driving Tips

I made the mistake of driving in 南京. I really didn’t want to drive during this trip. I drove too much when I lived in 安徽. My views on drivers in China is nothing new. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. They’re without doubt the worst drivers in the world.

Everybody Loves the Sound of a Train in the Distance

Taking the train to 雲林.

China Journal ‘08: 雲林

雲林 rice paddies

Dave’s place

天后宮



Beast of burden

More rice paddies

The most expensive real estate district
[with a scenic view of rice paddies]

The long and straight road that leads to 雲林