Bookspotting: Week 50

This week I spotted a schoolgirl reading a graphic novel as she walked through a breezeway near my work. I saw a young man who was also reading a graphic novel while we waited to see Girl with a Dragon Tattoo at the cinema (not as good as the Swedish movie). I saw another schoolgirl carrying a big English reader with a black cover. By this morning, those were the only books I had noticed all week, which is a little sparse compared to my normal bookspotting tally. I decided to take the long way home from work because it involves riding the Island Line, which is more likely to carry people reading English books than the Tsuen Wan Line through the center of Kowloon Peninsula. I was not disappointed. I spotted a young boy reading a big, illustrated book called Epidemics and Plagues (he was on the page about the Black Death). I spotted a woman reading a textbook with a bright orange cover. Finally, I spotted a woman carrying a slate gray Kindle.

What are people reading in your town this week? I'd love to hear about your bookspotting adventures in the comments!

NEW! Writing Video: Introduction

Today I'm launching a new blog feature: videos! I've been recording videos about my writing journey for a few months, and I've finally gotten up the courage to actually post them. I don't really mind sending my writing out into the world, but uploading videos on YouTube is scary! If you want to follow my channel, it's ShannonYoungHK, which is also my twitter handle by the way. These videos will go up once a week.

DISPATCHES FROM THE PENINSULA by Chris Tharp

THE GIST:

A bad-boy English teacher reflects on six years in South Korea.

THE VERDICT:

This is the story of a typical globe-trotting English teacher: a man who lacks direction at home and is lured to the East by the prospects of employment and adventures. Tharp, who still lives in Korea, describes the greatest adventures of his six years living in Busan. From the wild children at a Korean kindergarten to the cute, texting Korean girlfriends, Tharp describes the people he meets in his new life with a vivid, irreverent voice.

Tharp explores common expat experiences: visa troubles, cultural differences, adjustments to food, mistrust of foreigners, alcohol-fueled expat bubbles, etc. The most powerful theme in this story is the failing health of Tharp's parents. Expatriates leave behind loved ones who may get married, have babies, or die while they are far out of reach. Tharp must come to terms with his decision to live far from his parents as they go into a painful decline. Despite his love for Korea, he experiences guilt and grief from abroad.

This is an authentic story that will resonate with ESL teachers and expats everywhere. Although my job as a teacher in Hong Kong is quite different from Tharp's situation in Korean, I could identify with his experiences. This is a fun tale that paints an honest picture of life abroad with healthy doses of laughter and insight. It would be a great read for anyone who is thinking about starting a new life abroad.

THE LINK:

Chris Tharp's blog

THE COST:

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher.

THE QUESTION:

When you think of the "typical" expat experience, what comes to mind?

Bookspotting: Week 49

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a relaxing holiday and you're ready to get into the swing of things again. After a break that could be titled Eat Sleep Edit, I'm back in the office today and back to my normal blogging schedule. I'm also adding videos to my blog for the new year, and the first one will be up later this week.

Now for the bookspotting: I saw one person giving another the Steve Jobs biography at an outdoor bar. Did I tell you about the time I saw someone selling that book from a suitcase outside the MTR? I spotted a man reading Annie Proulx's The Shipping News and Jerusalem: The Biography. I saw another man carrying a book called The Fear near Li Yuen Lane. I saw two women in The Gourmet Burger Union carrying identical guidebooks to Hong Kong written in Korean. As for me, I finished the fourth George R. R. Martin book yesterday. The Song of Ice and Fire series has been consuming my free time lately, meaning my reviews for this blog have been a little sparse. One more to go!

What did you read over the holidays? What are people reading in your town lately?

Christmas in Bangkok (Bookspotting: Week 48)

This week's bookspotting post is very late because I spent part of the Christmas holiday in Bangkok, Thailand. I noticed quite a lot of readers on the skytrain and even sitting on benches reading in the sunlight. It looked like Thailand's reading culture was alive and well this weekend. The book stall in this picture seemed to cater to backpackers and featured prominently in the market near where we were staying. I didn't spot any titles in the hands of actual readers that I could decipher, but I did notice a lot of beautiful Thai script covering the books. So in lieu of my typical bookspotting report, here are some pictures of Bangkok:

We spent a few hours exploring the huge weekend market.

There were all sorts of things for sale: clothes, bags, food, home decor, and even pets.

The city had a lot of traffic.

We saw many pictures of the beloved king of Thailand.

One of my favorite things was a museum with traditional Thai houses in the middle of urban Bangkok.

They even had an old royal barge.

We took our own boat ride on the Bangkok Canal.

We saw temples and palaces from the water...

...and plenty of modern buildings too.

Of course, the Temple of the Dawn was the best one.

But this one had hundreds of pigeons hanging out on the roof.

We also saw river houses along the banks, many of which had been damaged in the recent flooding.

A few of them were still occupied though.

We fed some very scary fish...

...and watched the other long boats go by.

After our boat ride we took a tuk tuk...

...to see the Golden Buddha.

I liked the other images better than the statue itself.

I had a lovely, non-traditional Christmas in Bangkok. Now that I'm back in Hong Kong I have some catching up to do. I'll be starting the new year with more book reviews, bookspottings, and Hong Kong walking tours. I'll also be adding videos to my blog in the new year, so stay tuned!

Walking Tour: Christmas Grottos

For today's walking tour I'm going to show you something festive: the highly elaborate Christmas grottos that fill the open spaces and shopping malls across Hong Kong. Unlike in the US, where there are often debates about where you can put Christmas decorations and whether you should call it "Christmas break" or "winter break," Hong Kong unabashedly celebrates Christmas, albeit in its most commercial form. The holidays are just getting started, but the decorations have been out in full force for over a month. 

A few of these pictures are from last year, but you might recognize some landmarks in the background.

The decorations are far more opulent than the ones I typically see adorning US shopping malls.

Sometimes there are small accents...

...but every mall has at least one massive home for Santa.

This is the train that chugged around Pacific Place last year.

The Landmark in Central is always beautiful...

...and last year it was romantic too.

Some of the decorations are puzzling...

...some are basic...

...and some are four stories tall. This one's in Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong.

I particularly like this year's IFC decor.

And this year The Landmark is using the same tree...

...but the baubles are new...

...and this year they have a train too!

Lots of people gather to see it.

In Times Square, Causeway Bay I found some fairly normal decorations...

...and one enormous Barbie grotto.

I'd never seen anything like this before.

It was like a shrine to all things Barbie.

I don't think this was particularly Christmasy.

Everything was approximately the same shade of pink.

There was one aluminum Christmas tree outside the grotto.

When I took the escalator out of Times Square mall there were more Barbies on display...

...and we found a Barbie Christmas village outside.

Just another bizarre, but effective, marketing strategy around Hong Kong.

If you feel inspired and want to pick up some Christmas decorations of your own, head to Pottinger Street in Central for some festive accessories.

Do you have any pictures of Hong Kong Christmas grottos? How about the holiday decorations from your own town? Email them to me at snyoung88@gmail.com by Saturday and I'll add them to this post!

I hope you enjoy your holidays wherever you are in the world. Sing daan faai lohk!

Bookspotting: Week 47

It has finally started to get cold in Hong Kong, making it perfect coffee shop weather. I met with my writers' group at Holly Brown in Central this week, where I spotted a woman studying from the same Cantonese book that I used when I took a Canto class last year. I returned to the same coffee shop this weekend and spotted a book with a mostly white cover, a book with a red cover, and a book with a blue cover, but I couldn't read any of the titles. I saw a man and his son carrying a thick book called Rumble Jungle. I saw one tourist carrying the Luxe guide to Hong Kong, and another tourist carrying a guidebook that definitely was not in English. I spotted 8 Chinese books this week, which is much better than average.

What are you reading this holiday season? What are the people around you reading?