Emirates Interview

Okay, since everyone has been asking, I thought that I'd just announce it all in the one go.

So the news is that I DIDN'T get through to the Final Round, but what DID happen is that I got into Round 2 where we saw the numbers diminish from around 120 applicants down to 40 applicants. So even to be part of that group of 40, I was quite happy :)

What also happened is that I met some really amazing larger than life characters all with a passion for flying, customer service and exploring the world. In Round 2, never have I been in the same room with so many well-groomed yet courteous girls in my life before. It was great to see everyone giving support to everyone else. In Round 2 was also where I met two really great girls Elissa and Lily along with Anna (from Poland) and another girl who currently works as ground staff for QANTAS who's name I didn't get to catch amidst the hustle and bustle of things. For the latter two girls, although we didn't get the chance to exchange contact details, I wish you all the best! As for Elissa and Lily, great effort yesterday! Also to Melanie who I hadn't seen since the Oaktree days, we can do it, we shall all see each other again in half a year!

Thanks also to Clem for sending out supportive texts along the way; as well as to Alana with her sophistication for helping me to put together a flight attendant-worthy outfit.

Although I didn't get through to the final round this time, I am truly grateful for the experience as I got a glimpse of what another completely different world can offer and the opportunity to meet some truly wonderful people as well as get grilled with tough questions that have no criteria whilst ensuring that my make-up and outfit stayed crisp in between all the moving around! If you are after some character building, other than going through an Architecture degree, also consider going to a flight attendant interview. It's been like no interview I'd ever been to; just always remember: Smile. Poise. Resilience.

Autism Volunteering

Thinking about the Autism spectrum as a type of "culture" or at least a subject where a knowledge gap needs to be filled in between why people treat others in certain ways and how that has a negative ripple effect on the rest of society.

I have been working with an Autisitc little girl since the start of the year. I took on this volunteering stint because I had personally experienced what it's like to live with someone who is on the spectrum. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my parents came from a farming background, social and mental problems are not seen as an issue over getting food on the table. As a result, the condition was never addressed and I didn't realise that I didn't have to be treated in a certain way until I had a sudden realisation that the particular person might have Autism or Aspergers - which explains a lot of their behaviour. They don't hate you as such, but they just have a lower tolerance of social situations so they come across as aloof speak curtly as a few examples or how they may be. I apologise at this point that I am very vague about the particular person but since it is not officially diagnosed and also for the person's privacy, I do not want to disclose any details yet. Not sure how to explain this feeling but just perhaps one day things will be easier to talk about.

Negative Ripple Effects - Childhood
I used to come across as quite shy. Ironically, I always loved meeting new people. Now that I think of it, I was never a shy person. But everytime I approached a potential friend, the person would glare at me and tell me not to interact with the person citing that they are "dangerous", don't talk to strangers, etc. As a child, I knew no better so I didn't talk to those people when the person was around; so there were many opportunities for socialisation that I didn't get to have. It's sad to say but I cherished all the moments when that person was not around - I could talk to anyone who I wanted to talk to! But when they came back, I had to pretend I wasn't talking with them and I couldn't be too friendly with their friends either. This was very unhealthy. I'm glad I have "run away" for now. I feel like I can really be myself. This is a temporary solution however, to at least get my sanity and mental well-being in check. I will still need to make amends somehow so volunteering with the little girl might give me some insight into how to solve this life mystery of mine.

Why I think this person has Aspergers/Autism:

• Controlling nature, looses temper very easily.
• Will physically attack back if people accidentally brush up against them (sensitive to textures).
• Droopy eyelid, alert but seemingly tunnel-visioned.
• Always wanted things their way.
• Argumentative nature, will argue to their death, even when they realise they are wrong. 
• Curt in manner.
• Has low tolerance for hypocracy or misaligned statement/actions - but will also be hypocrital themselves on occasion.
• Name calling, perhaps to boost their own self confidence.
• Territorial, collects things, has very particular interests, will not share them with other people.

 What made it worse:
Now that I thnk of it, this person was bullied in primary school, so resorted to burrying themselves in books. They were very smart, very very very book smart. They were very interesting to listen to but if you tried to talk with them about "their" knowledge, I would just get told to shut up or get called names like "stupid idoit" or "imbecile".

( I don't know how to continue on with this post for now - 7th Novemeber, 12:34pm).

9th International Winter University [IWU], Kassel, 2014 II

Coming soon.

9th International Winter University [IWU], Kassel, 2014

Oh my goodness!
I've been to Germany once and I loved it. Now I will be going again!

I have just been accepted into their 2014 Winter Program under a scholarship from the State Government of Hesse, Germany. I will be completing a module on Environmental Engineering:

I'm really looking forward to meeting new people on this program! I'm also really looking forward to learning more about sustainable technologies, especially in Germany! Apparently they have more solar farms than Australia. Come on Australia!!

Oh yea haha, and just to continue on from the post about Parents and Tough Love,  sure enough when I sent them a Line message, it shows that they had seen the message but they have not responded at all. Oh well, internal happiness :) Of which I will share an image from Facebook page, "Word Porn":

Parents and Tough Love

If people don't applaud you for every single thing you do, it doesn't mean you've done a bad job. It simply means that they have high expectations of you, they think you are capable. Words are just words, but the feeling inside us knowing that we're onto a good thing, that's what makes my gut peaceful and puts a smile on my face :)

Thing is, we all like affirmation. When I was little, I always wanted affirmation from my parents, but they never gave it to me that easily.

• I remember topping the class in primary school only to be told: "That's expected of you."
• I remember topping my Mandarin studies two years in a row in the final years of our studies only to be told: "This is your cultural duty."
• I remember getting first place at an art competition in high school only to be told: "Was there no one else who entered this competition?"
• I remember getting the "Australian Defence Force Long Tan Leadership and Teamwork Award" in grade 12 at the graduation ceremony only to have my dad say: "Maybe it's because I donated quite a bit towards the building fund." (Dad, these two things are administered by two complete separate departments! And also, no offence, but your donations have got nothing on what the other rich kid families are giving. I can dish out tough love back to them too.)
• I remember being promoted from one of my first part-time jobs within 4 months as an 18 year old only for them to say: "Oh okay."
• I remember getting a Faculty Award in second year for Architecture, they said: "Wow, what a pretty piece of paper." 

I could ramble on and list so many other things but there is no point. My parents wanted me to learn how to be content with myself rather than deriving happiness from other people. It really sucked as a kid but I'm really thankful for that. Because I feel it now, even though no one has praised me or patted me on the back for the things I've done, I'm still very happy. This week, I've managed to score quite a few interviews and opportunities. Two within architecture (omg! In this economic climate, you'd be laughing if they'd even RESPOND with a rejection letter!), one of which is a prominant three-surnamed firm. I've also scored an internship with a small start-up company called ANTV doing work within production as a show host/MC as well as assisting them with events organisation. I've also been screened and invited along to a recruitment day to be a flight attendent (company name purposely omitted). None of these I have told my parents yet (admittedly, I also haven't had the time to call them during this time of the semester), but I can probably guess that they will simply respond by saying: "Have you eaten yet?"

"You can have [my] cake and eat it too."

This morning after a meeting, I was chatting with one of my colleagues, Kate, about her daughter and how she has transferred her daughter from a private to public school in order to expose her to more diverse populations. Kate is from rural Australia and the father of her daughter is Samoan. Kate mentioned that she often gets rude comments from people about how her daughter looks different to her. Her daughter is now eleven years old and when I asked her about how her daughter copes with discrimination (if any), our conversation wrung out this really beautiful story:

Her daughter's birthday is around Ramadan (Muslim fasting period) and she wanted to hand out cake to her class. However being aware that some of her classmates are fasting and will not be able to have cake along with the rest of the children during class, she asked her Mother whether she could also bring some plastic containers. This is so that her Muslim classmates would be able to take them home and eat it when they break fast later in the day.

This is such a beautiful story, we both got a bit teary. So much heart at such a young age :')

Food Hygiene: Banana Fritter Threshold

As I was making breakfast this morning, I thought about how the notion of food hygiene is very subjective across all cultures. In developed parts of the world, we are very cautious of sanitation while in developing countries, hygiene is not a choice. After having visited Cambodia in 2011 and more recently Vietnam this year, when you see first hand how food is handled all around the world, I'll have to say, gross or not (by your standards), if I drop food on Australian ground, 9 times out of 10 I would eat it anyway. This tolerance is different for everyone and for me I call this the "Banana Fritter Threshold".

CAMBODIA - 2011
I remember back in 2011 travelling around in Cambodia on a design study tour, our tour guide took us to a rural village. When I say village, I mean that they had houses all made out of every imaginable part of a banana tree. From the trunks acting as stumps and structural support to the leaves acting as roofing and woven into the walls. Chickens, goats and cows ran amok with the naked children stirring dust into our eyes and sweaty skin. We were not used to it but it is their way of living.

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND - Karma is...interesting?
We were told by our tourguide Pich that it would be a good idea to buy some confectionery, stationery and sanitary goods from the local markets to give to them. Not to act like we are saints but upon recieving these items, the village people were indeed very happy. They kept on expressing their thanks by following us as we walked through the village towards the Mekong River. Although we couldn't understand what they were saying, by the end of it, it seemed like as if the whole village knew that we were the "gift-bearing visitors". The path wound on but towards the end of our journey nearing the bus, there was a tiny little wooden shack. When I say tiny, it's measurements were perhaps 1m x 0.5m; enough for just one hard working grandmother to make banana fritters whist nursing two of her grandchildren in her arms. They were both adorable but both of them were naked and one of them had a snotty nose. With immense kindness that one would show towards accommodating guests, using her bare hands, she offered her edible wares to us.

THE "INTERNAL STRUGGLE" I
No words were exchanged but her eyes were insistent. Having all the villagers look over at us with expectant delight really put us on the spot. How does one even respond in a situation like this?! While all of us appreciated the gesture, we were hesitant about the hygiene as we considered how our spoilt Western stomachs might react to the way these fritters had been prepared and handled. We were contemplating in our hearts what might happen in our stomachs later if we abided by the unsaid protocols of the moment.

THE "INTERNAL STRUGGLE"- STAGES
Finally, as if by some sudden rote force, we just all took one. It was as if diplomacy outweighed our personal wellbeing. The stages of this process were surreal, I still remember it to this day:

1. In the moment when my hand's actions betrayed my gut instincts and I took one of the fritters.
2. Then the next moment when my mouth defies the fear in my head of getting sick in a foreign country.
3. The moment your jaws and your epiglotis combine habitual forces to unwittingly force percieved pathogens into your system.
4. The point of no return. I had swallowed it. I felt sick but I knew it was all in the head - but I still felt sick.

Although I describe the process in four stages, really it all happened within about 10 seconds and it was over before we knew it. We walked on worried while the villagers looked happy. Bottom line is. none of us got sick and we are all alive till this date. Yes, hygiene standards are different all over the world, but it really is just a construct of our own context of things. I wouldn't go around unconditionally eating just anything, but after this experience, everytime I try a new food, I always think of the 'Banana Fritter Threshold'.

Quote of the Day

"Computer games are what brings nerds and jocks together." - @Alana Milanese

A bridge that brings two extremes together!

The Hilariously Inauspicious "Expression"

I just bumped into an international student friend of mine who is Iranian-Italian doing a Masters in IT/Science. I remembered that when I first met him at the start of the year one of our conversations went like this:

Amir: Hi Alice!
Me: Hey! How are you doing?
Amir: Not too bad, you always look really busy. We should catch up!
Me: Really? But yes, we should catch up!
Amir: Yea, the other day I saw you and I was going to say 'hi' to you but you had already passed away.
Me: *stunned for a few moments and then bursts out laughing*

This is us at dragon boat!

I am happy to report that Amir does know what "passed away" actually means now.

For those who are reading this from a non-English speaking background, "passed away" is a polite way of saying someone has died. However my friend here had combined two words for their literal meaning and thought that it means I had already "passed by"/"gone away".

Brisbane Japanese Film Festival (Fruits of Faith - Kiseki no Ringo)

Since I moved out, I haven't really had a chance to hang out with my family properly. My older sister is part of the organising committee for the 2013 Brisbane Japanese Film Festival and bought the whole family tickets to see the closing film: "Fruits of Faith" (Kiseki no Ringo).

Since my dad really likes farming and growing things, I guess it's rubbed off on me a bit too. Growing up, we helped him in his gardens a lot, so it was interesting to empathise with how the movie portrayed all the different hardships - simple and complex - that come with leading an agrarian lifestyle.

I suppose leading an agrarian lifestyle can be considered another type of culture too. There are set values and attitudes such as: being resourceful, frugal, working as a team, thinking logistically, etc, involved with having to tend to plants, especially lots of them.

2009: In a pecan tree. Not actually as glamorous as it looks, I get really itchy if I don't wear long sleaves. Definitely fun and fulfiling though!

On the note of "frugality", I remember this conversation that I had with my dad once about an ice cream ad we saw. It was an ad for a pre-packaged ice cream cone. The graphics showed the sauces sprayed out in a really nice composition. I expressed this opinion to my dad and asked him what he thought. He said (I'm paraphrasing and translating from Mandarin of course):

"It could be just me, but I think it seems like a waste. When we were little, the only sweets we had were sugar cane or these little candies made of left over sugar from the sugar factory. For them to be splaying the ingredients everywhere makes my inner child weep."

The offending ice cream ad :P

Simple but profound. It makes so much sense, but I had never thought to think about it that way before. Not only is there a cultural factor here, there is also a generational consideration. Of all the birthdays and festivals my family never celebrated, it seems petty to be complaining about it. My folks worked hard for us to go through education and give me opportunities to make me more enriched. Considering that they had limited English when they arrived, I think they did pretty damn well. Thanks so much Mum and Dad! :)

Truth is, their English is still not that great but all of my siblings have been working on it - it's time to give back.

Event Hosting - Mid-Autumn Moon Festival 2013

This year I was asked to host QUT's Mid-Autmn Moon Festival Celebrations along with an international nursing student from the Philippines, Paul Mariano.

We'd only had one weeks notice and had only met each other once prior to the event. A great quote that I read about audience engagement through my Research Project this semester is "true engagement occurs when you have entered as a guest and left as a host." I strongly resonate with these words as I think that this is a great sentiment to have when empowering people to feel a sense of belonging.

Knowing that Paul and I would have limited time to officially prepare for the event, I thought back to all the other times I've had a really great time doing group work. In all those times, things always worked out when the whole team or duo understood or knew how the other person worked. Even though we might all work slightly differently, to me, being able to scope and adapt with the person, then create a common "sync" is the key to group work. So rather than being focused on "rehearsing", I thought I'd spend the time getting to know Paul more. And it all worked out really well, since we were comfortable with each other, we bounced off each other to build a comfortable rapport with the audience. Paul's a real pleasure to work with!

I think especially for multi-cultural events, it is very important to have event hosts who are able to make everyone else feel comfortable. Often for "outsiders" coming into a new idea or "thing", there are generally two responses: "intrigue" or "fear". It would be nice for most people to be intrigued and interested however some people are naturally inclined towards fearing the unknown. That is why if we can ease people into the event and at least make them feel welcome, even if they don't immediately understand everything, at least they become comfortable with difference. This particular thinking shift here holds a critical moment between opening a door and closing a door.

Why am I doing this?

I was born and grew up in Australia to "time-capsule traditional" Taiwanese parents. The state primary school was quite a culturally diverse environment, while the private all girls religious high school that I went to was not so much. Now in uni and at work, there is even more diversity than I've ever encountered in my life. The point of this blog is to give people a window into intercultural situations and perspectives through snippets and reflections of my life. I study Architecture but I am also passionate about translation so will also occasionally post about that too.

I am someone who is naturally curious and am very interested in different cultures and the way they live in and see the world. It's like connecting dots to form a picture where nobody knows what it will look like yet. But because of the process involved, it is bound to be enriching.

Perhaps it is my inner-designer seeking to constantly dissect and synthesize ideas. The world is a fascinating place but sometimes we limit ourselves to our comfort zone so much that we miss out on other great experiences and exposure to new ideas. Culture does not strictly pertain to ethnicity. It can also encompass the very simple notion of having a collective of people who share common values, attitudes and beliefs. So by this definition, homosexuality can be considered a culture of sorts. As can particular interest clubs and their particular dynamics - the spectrum is quite broad.

"I don't belong on either side of any extreme, but that doesn't mean I sit on the fence."

- Alice Hung

Also, it's time to be candid. While I have always been interested by difference, I think it might stem from the innate feeling of always being "the different one" myself. Perhaps it is a type of insecurity? If it is, I hope to embrace it and channel this energy positively by encouraging people to think outside of their own immediate bubbles - consider it a lateral thinking exercise perhaps. In trying to understand differences in this shifting world, I don't seek to be correct, I purely seek to understand.