The Research Seminar

Can I tell you how much I love Cathay Pacific? No lines at the Taipei airport, smiling, helpful, efficient...do you think Erik Diestelhorst's work has anything to do with creating such a great airline?

The drive through Hong Kong is always beautiful. I went all the way to the new territories on the north side to a brand new Hyatt next to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, our host site. We started with the traditional Lion Dance, of course. This one was furnished free of charge because we were a group of 90+, and they were very good...my pictures are not, but I include them anyway.

You will notice we 90+ met in one large dining room for many of our meetings...it made it very hard to hear even the person sitting next to you. It was at a constant Chinese restaurant volume with everyone yelling to be heard...not conducive to good communication, but we made do. The senior scholars (about a dozen in number) were seated with the junior scholars, most of whom were from the mainland. They were studying everything from Daoism to cross-cultural psychology to sports and the creation of nationalism to ethnic minorities to the move to international accounting to air pollution to public healthcare...you name it, we were there. Many were Asian-Americans who were fortunate to have good Mandarin. There were also many who were struggling to improve their language skills or had no Mandarin at all. Where ever they went, their "mentors" and student friends were asking them to translate into English for them. They lived in private homes, student dormitories, offices, apartments they had found themselves...all manner of living arrangements. They were a sturdy, hardy, persistent, smart group of students...very impressive, with a sense of humor that never failed them.

We had group meetings with similar research interests. We had meetings about how to move ahead with research under very difficult conditions. We had panels that brought us up-to-date on the "1 country, 2 systems" PRC governing issues and the hazards of doing cross-cultural research. We worked hard in Hong Kong!

We were fed 5 times a day, mostly Asian food, but now and then a nod to Western food. Eating with chopsticks in front of pros is intimidating, but I am getting better...a lost art over the years in the US. The weather turned brutal...rain and bitter winds and cold, especially the night we walked up the hill to the Council's house for the reception. I don't do very well at "working the room," but I do like to sit and observe. That night was the only night we had "free" in HK, and most were so cold and so tired, we stayed on the bus and went back to the hotel. So NO shopping in HK...can you believe it?

I stop here to add pictures of HK before I travel to Macau...