I just skyped with B. He's in Bangkok. You know, the city with all the political unrest and all the travel advisories warning everyone not to go there. So I will breathe a sigh of relief when he departs there later this evening. He is not staying near where all the action is happening but he did say he could see fires in the distance from the window of his hotel. Awesome.

So, at the risk of sounding like a complete idiot: I have no idea what is going on in Thailand. Well I mean I googled it and I read all the news articles I found. So I know the basics of what is going on. And people around here discuss it because it's "local" news and a current event. But I guess more importantly I don't know WHY it's going on. Like the whole history of the situation...

This feeling has come up many many times in the few short months I have been trying to get acquainted with Asia. She's so big and mysterious. And so old. It's not an easy thing to figure out where to start to begin learning about her history.

I love history. I like traveling to historical places and seeing sights where things happened. I am particularly interested in World War II, Nazi Germany, British Royal history, American history, local history of the many places I have lived... You know the usual stuff. The things you get a taste for in school. And then you may learn more about them in an elective college course. And then you choose to learn more about when no one is forcing it upon you from a syllabus. Well that is how it happened for me anyway.

There has been no Asian history involved in my education... Which I find odd when I think too hard about it. I have desperately tried to recall what I learned about Asian history or culture in school and I can't come up with anything. I have asked my American friends and it seems I am not alone. I don't think we were taught much about Asia.

Someone told me a story about someone here in Hong Kong having some paperwork drawn up by their attorney in The States. The story went that the this work was completed and paid for and shipped over here. And when it came time to present this paperwork for whatever reason they had it drafted, it was pointed out to them by the receiving party that it said "Hong Kong, Japan". Whoops.

We have had countless people make the mistake that Hong Kong is a part of Japan. It's actually a part of China. It's a Special Administrative Region of China so it's not governed under the same Communist laws as Mainland China. There's a free market in Hong Kong. Even with my Hong Kong ID card I still can't go to China without heading to the consulate and applying for a visa. And even if I get a visa it's not unlimited entry. They run a tight ship! I am so not qualified to give a history or a beaurocracy lesson! Google it if you like, it's actually very interesting.

When we first came over here in February we were working with a local realtor to find an apartment. We were placed with a young girl in her early twenties. Born and raised here in Hong Kong. She speaks Cantonese at home, pretty good English at work, and she knows zero Mandarin. I can't even remember how I started asking questions but I came to learn that her father was born in Macau (had I ever even heard of Macau before coming here??) but came here during the war (what war??) and on and on it went. She would share information that implied I knew a little bit about the history of Hong Kong or of Mainland China. But when I would tell her about life and culture in the USA she seemed to have a really good grasp on what I was talking about.

Things that make you go "hmmmmm."

If anyone can recommend a good introductory book on Hong Kong or Chinese history, I am taking suggestions.