I’m hiding away in the hostel, preparing for my big Skype interview on Wednesday. Wish me luck! It’s kind of distracting as everyone is constantly talking and going on trips but I appreciate the constant company. I take breaks to cook with people, eat watermelon and go up to the roof to smoke. There seems to be a CD on repeat all day in the social space, often songs about heartbreak, I’m trying to block the words out. I wish they’d put on songs in a different language because I feel too emotional. ‘Summertime Sadness’ by Lana Del Ray is playing, it’s not the original. These people are great, loving, interesting and encouraging each other.
Some people come to the hostel roof regularly just to socialise and hang out on the roof, especially a couple of professional dancers and a model. It’s very green on the rooftop, with plants and strings of colourful lights. People relax and drink on the roof, there’s a lot of laughter. This place is somewhere in between home and Hong Kong. I have friends who are blogging and we speak about that, photography friends, cooking friends, rooftop friends and girls in the dorm. I’m currently being cooked for by German and French friends.
I want this job. It will mean moving to a new city and a fresh start. I’m looking over past student projects that I have been involved in and I am smiling, feeling incredibly proud of them. I really do love teaching. I remember being a student, so lost and confused. There are times when I feel a student ‘getting it’, some sort of click happens. When I see them showing other people their work and confidently talking through it, I watch from afar, smile and nod my head at them. There’s no better feeling in teaching than seeing them progress.
So many people are messaging me about the blog saying they are hooked. Isn’t that odd? People are tuning into my brain every day and are actually interested. Here are some lovely messages about it:
‘I’m loving your blog! Really. I love your meandering mind! Plus it keeps up the idea that I know you really well… which I like a lot! How are you doing? I guess I sort of know from the blog so it seems a silly question but I can’t let you know that I’m thinking of you and keeping in a sort of loop semi spying from afar otherwise can I?’
‘Lisa I just had to say, I’m halfway through your second blog and the only thing I can feel is just utter love for it. I’m sure they sounds incredibly daft given that it touches on such deep areas but I just (want to use the word ‘fucking’ here) love reading what you write. It’s honestly like reading a novel or something and I’m sure that’s not your intention. But I find it captivating I really do. It’s just amazing. I am really enjoying reading it, it’s a fascinating read, awesome job!!! Your travels sound equally as mind blowing, I really admire your courage to step out and do this and also thank you for allowing me to live vicariously on this journey.’
‘Just read the second entry of your blog. It really is compulsive reading. I will look forward to reading your next entry ‘cos you’re a bit good at all this writing stuff.’
Thanks to all of you for following, it means a lot to me and encourages me to keep on. I apologise for the jumbled ordering of the entries, whenever I edit anything, it changes the order. I am talking to a-n about this.
I miss my Dad. I want to get closer to my brother. I miss my friends. If only I could transport everyone to the rooftop for an evening, so you could join me. I’ve spoken to E and he says he wants to be clean and also to make financial amends. I wonder how my mother is.
Last night I went to Victoria Park in HK, as this was something not to be missed. It was beautiful, everyone joined in song and waved candles. Even though I had no clue what was being said, it was a real life moment. Sometimes I just clapped because everyone else clapped. I felt peace. The world feels like a good place to be in today.
Thousands of people gathered in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to commemorate the brutal suppression of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing at the hands of the Chinese Army 27 years ago
Tens of thousands of flickering candles lit up Hong Kong’s Victoria Park Saturday night local time as people gathered to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing.
The vigil is held every year to memorialize the thousands of pro-democracy students who were brutally gunned down by Chinese soldiers on June 4, 1989. China has suppressed all mention of the massacre on the mainland, but Hong Kong’s unique status as a special administrative region governed under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle exempts it from the communist government’s censorship. It is the only Tiananmen vigil permitted on Chinese soil, and the largest memorial of the massacre in the world.
Despite concerns of a lower turnout this year, organizers estimated 125,000 people attended. A sombre minute’s silence was followed by eruptions of applause that echoed through the Causeway Bay cityscape as the crowd watched videos, eulogies, songs and speeches.
“We come here because of our conscience,” Y.K. Lau, a 50-year-old doctor, explains as he walks through Victoria Park under a yellow umbrella — a symbol of the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, known as the Umbrella Revolution. “By holding our candlelight, we send a signal to those being suppressed in China and warm their hearts.”
But Hong Kong’s fractured democracy movement has deeply politicised the event. “Build a democratic China” is one of the founding principles of the event organiser, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China — a heavily contested goal that has caused several student activist groups not only to resign from the Alliance, but also to host alternative events that prioritise a democratic Hong Kong that is separate from mainland China. “We are against their vision that they want to be a democratic China,” says Althea Suen, President of Hong Kong University Student Union (HKUSU), the most recent group to splinter off.
Many democracy activists see Hong Kong as being culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland China and are fighting for greater democratic freedoms in the territory, with some hardline localist groups even advocating independence.
“Some people don’t believe in this ceremony because they cannot see rapid progress. They want something to change immediately,” Alex, a 26-year-old-nurse who has attended the vigil for the past five years, told TIME above the music.
In a parallel event, the HKUSU organized a 90-minute academic forum at the University of Hong Kong, where several generations of Hong Kong academics were invited to discuss the future of the city. The intent was not to “boycott,” Suen emphasizes, but to channel the memory of those killed in the massacre and “look at these June 4 issues based on our Hong Kong identity.”
But the dozens of political groups clamoring over loudspeakers along Great George Street didn’t stop thousands from flocking to the park to commemorate the bloody crackdown. The message from Saturday’s vigil, which was attended by people of all ages, was first and foremost about unity. On stage, Professor Ivan Choy of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, called on every young person in the crowd to stand. Throngs of students stood and cheered.
“It doesn’t matter if people join the assembly in Victoria Park or at the university, the most important thing is that we share a common goal,” says student activist Joshua Wong, who led the pro-democracy protests two years ago and is now secretary general of nascent political party Demosistō. “It’s that we will never forget the June 4 incident.”
– Time magazine, June 4th, 2016
