Ok, first off I am officially an idiot for not realizing my grandparents are from Guangzhou. I have come to discover I know virtually nothing about my heritage which is pretty damn sad. It's funny though, growing up I just pictured China as a far away place that my distant relatives were from. I don't think I ever really tried to picture where exactly they were from, what life was like. That said, I have always wanted to visit so after the realization (thanks dad for posting the comment), I was pretty excited to come here. I mean, it's a big city and I'm not even sure where exactly in the city my family is from or if they are from the city at all (probably a suburb). But anyway the point is I am pretty darn close so that to me is cool. I'm sure many people reading this don't identify at all with what I am saying but it is very profound to me.
I am also happy I came here because being in Tokyo for 3 months its lost its "newness" for me a bit. If you remember from an early arrival blog post, I wrote about how eye opening it was to see the world from some place else. It's harder for me to feel that in Tokyo now but coming here made me realize again how different the world is. How different America is. I have so much to say on this topic but will leave it for another time, I am exhausted and want to hit the sack.
A few more thoughts - I definitely feel more of a culture shock here than in Tokyo. Ironic being that I am Chinese and my family is from this exact area. It's also my first time in China. Somehow it feels different to me than other Asian cities I've been to (btw, my uncle is right it's a lot of old buildings and construction). I haven't pinpointed why yet but that's another point to explore in a later post. I feel like people are looking at me strangely here. Not sure if it's because I am tall or dress differently or what. I actually wanted to take a walk near the hotel earlier and walked half a block and felt really uncomfortable for some reason and turned right around and back to my hotel room. Don't laugh, I really did that. But truthfully, I didn't have much time before meeting my coworker anyway and there was actually nothing around here to see.
Ok, more to come on the Guangzhou trip....
2 comments:
Watch out for pick-pockets and purse snatchers in Guangzhou. Don't display too much cash or dress too flashy. The government enacts harsh penalty for petty crimes but poor people are desperate.
I totally get how you feel about visiting where your parents came from. Although it's completely different now. Just being in that vicinity is pretty darn cool.
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