My name

Still thinking about the experience in the Job Centre Plus.
I don't like to transfer my Chinese name into English. It never sounds right. Being in the UK, I have to transfer my Chinese name into English. I don't like it. I think my Chinese name is beautiful only when it is written in Chinese. When presenting it in English, it really means nothing in literature but a way to draw my attention... When turning it into English, calling my name is no longer a nice way to draw my attention...
Having the thoughts that English speakers are ethnocentric, I think that I am ethnocentric, too... How can it be possible to expect all the people I meet in the UK to be able to speak Chinese and pronounce my name nicely before they meet me? This is an argument that can be very frustrating if I really want to make a fuss about it...
Leave it...

Can I get hold of every kind of sounds with mic?

I take Central Line almost everyday. When the train comes out from the tunnel of Stratford to Leyton, there is always a moment of 'sonic boom'-- the doors are banged by the change of air pressure. When I stand by the door of the train to listen to the big bang, I can feel that the door, my body and ears are pressed by the air. However, do you know how this experience can be recorded?
Perhaps I should admit that not every sound can be recorded. There is no need to be insisted about owning every sound with audio recording... For some sounds, we can only let them go. Accessing them with our attentive but limited hearing and mind... For some sounds, we can only let them go...

Nike Centre, Oxford Circus

Standing in front of Nike Ccentre, Oxford Circus, I acutally can not figure out where I am! Am I in Oxford Circus or Warner Village in Taipei Shi-Yi district? I cannot identify what detailed sounds I am hearing. Instead, I perceive a sonic mask layered by sounds of crowd and traffic. I am immersed in the sonic mask. Described by one of my interviewees, the sonic mask sounds '嗡嗡嗡' (won-won-won)...

Job Centre Plus

I was waiting in the Job Centre Plus of Walthamstow for an interview for National Insurance Number. Interviewees sitting in the waiting area were speaking non-English languages with quiet volume. I could not identify what languages they were speaking. The centre was generally quiet. Only when the interview officers called our given numbers then I could hear loud sounds. When the interviewees entered the centre, a stuff of the centre gave us numbers. So we were identified with numbers. Later on, when the officers called our numbers in English, their loud volume broke the quietness. At the same time, one of the interviewees sitting at the waiting area would stand up and run quickly to the interview officers.
Sometimes, interviewees' name would be called to collect some documents from the counter. You could here that those English pronounced surnames called out by the stuff of the centre were not English names. Here, they managed to turn foreigners' names into English, and said aloud...
In the Job Centre, the opposition between English/loudness/authority and foreigner/quietness/subjection is presented day after day just like this, I think.

English and Britain

Travelling on East London Line, although being in the UK, none of the languages I hear from the passengers is English. I thus realise that English is not equal to Britain. But why many of my interviewees think that by taking away 'English' and adding in Mandarin then a London site can sound like Taipei?

Passing Surrey Quay to New Cross

I am taking the East London line to New Cross. This is a route I do often. I know that I am very familiar with all the scenes and sounds along the route. However, I have never felt easy with this route. I have never felt a sense of belonging here. I cannot link myself to this environment despite that I know very well where trees, bridges, buildings, signs and other things are along the route. I see myself always being a foreigner in London.

A whining girl

Sitting on the central line, a girl is whining to her mum. Suddently, the noise of the train get louder. I cannot hear the girl's whine. A sense of happiness of being with my mother is cut off...

Wishes for 2006

For the new year 2006,
I hope my PhD is going well (although now it is very slow...). The supervisors will say me to-- 'you've been working really hard. It's progressing really well!' ^_^
I hope my friends and family are all happy and healthy, laughs and chats all the time when we gather! ^_^
I hope my boyfriend is going to tell me-- 'would you marry me?'
YES! ^_^