SOAS ALAS

adrian brought me to soas commons before we left for a talk at british film institute on jia zhangke's "cultural revolution." my disapointment in the queen mary experience has been lingering in my mind and heart for some time now. i'm trying to make the most of it, but seeing how the grass is greener (figuratively and literally!) on the soas side does not help. i'm glad he took me to see it though! met his friend rachel who started telling me about singing practices from india and how they differ from all that she's learned in her previous western training. she also mentioned that students in soas tend to be older than other uni students b/c they take gap years off. people there seem so much more interesting.

then we hopped on a bus to southbank for the talk with tony rayns (who writes for sight and sound and has done extensive interviews with wong kar wai), chris berry (who's written two books on chinese cinema and countless articles that i've come across through jstor), and david sin (former curator for institute of contemporary art, distributor of jia zhangke's work). the audience was a fairly diverse mix and there were interesting questions asked. at one point it crossed my mind that i would've been totally immersed in chinese film culture and would've had the time of my life had i decided to study abroad in beijing (recalling the pitzer program and conversations with bizzy and becket). orrrr maybe not.

tomorrow i'm meeting alum zoe, curator at the virginia and albert museum. cooking dinner for 360, district care group of chinese congregation in london (ccil, church i've been attending). possibly seeing black kids around king's cross at monto water rats.

friday, i've a film sequence analysis due and then i'm off to oxford to visit joey for the weekend! though i plan to be back for whatever public chinese new year celebrations are happening. i will probably be stuffing my face that entire day.