Language is a very beautiful thing, but can also be very complicated. Today I learned a ton about the many different topolects that existed inside of China. (Topolect was a new word for me as well.) I found the questions today really thought provoking and I felt like I wrestled a lot with the question of identity and the role that language plays with that. I guess I have a different bias since I grew up speaking Spanish at home, while English at school. I almost felt a little similar to those of the Lingnan students, where I would be told not to speak Spanish in school. It in fact led to my enrollment in ESL (English as a Second Language) regardless of the fact that I knew how to speak English just as well as Spanish. So, for me, I think language plays a big deal on who you are, but is also not the only factor.
After discussion, we went to get Shanghai food! I kind of want to know how Shanghainese sounds like after knowing that there’s so many different topolects.
After lunch, I took my laptop in my bag, and went off to the Heritage Museum of Hong Kong, hoping the Bruce Lee exhibit was open. After 30 minutes of walking around aimlessly once I got out of the MTR station, I found the museum–and the exhibit! (Which was free!!). I loved it, and wandered around to other exhibits in the museum. After that, there was a large coffee shop in the museum and so, being the coffee addict that I am, ordered a latte, pulled out my laptop, and did some work. It was one of the very few places in Hong Kong that was hardly full of people and so I got a chance to really relax and enjoy the environment. I would do some people-watching occasionally, and loved seeing these two large groups of elderly men having an extremely good time playing what I thought was Chinese checkers. I could be wrong, but all I knew was that it was a game I hadn’t seen before.
After a while at the shop, I got up, and saw a sign for a temple. Without thinking twice, I followed the sign and landed at the Che Kung temple which was quite large! I was super disappointed to see that I was three minutes too late to go inside–but I did manage to sneak a peek of it. It looked absolutely stunning. Content with the peek, I left for home. I think I’m really going to miss Hong Kong.