Life in a Northern Town

It is a lovely day here in Sheffield.  The temperature is in the low 20's with a few high clouds. As warm and pleasant as it gets.  The students are all getting settled in and Sheffield has a real buzz about it.  I enjoy the quiet of the summer, but this early term period, before everyone is ill and grumpy and down from the rain, is lovely. Actually, I am probably enjoying the autumn start of term more than usual this year because I am not responsible for anything in intro week for the first time in quite a number of years. This is despite the fact that I have a lot of new teaching in the first three weeks. It is nice not being in charge of things.  I'll have to remember this.

One thing I was doing in anticipation for the start of term was go through some of the accumulated junk in my office (Yes, we are touching on the ridding theme again! A lot accumulates over the course of 10 years).  I found a glasses case and when I opened it I found a pair of sunglasses that must have belonged to Simon when he was about 3 or 4 years old. It made me a bit sad. I can't throw them away, but it seems silly to move them to Hong Kong at Christmas.  I may have to add some things to the storage stockpile that we have from the house. I definitely, however, will be getting rid of the accumulated piles of journals that I have collected over the past 20 years or so. (If anyone is interested in old copies of Economic Geography, Area, Regional Studies, The Annals of the AAG, Transactions or The Professional Geographer please let me know).

Another activity I have been involved with is getting things here in Sheffield organised so that I can work productively over the next 4 months. I have very particular needs around the aesthetics of work spaces and if they are not right--lighting levels, warmth, feelings of coziness, tidiness, noise, and usually view--I find it really hard to work.  This may sound like procrastination, but experience has shown that a good working environment is key for my ability to think and produce what I hope is insightful writing. A few books need to find homes but I am confident the flat is nearly there and once I finish tidying the office it will be more or less ready as well. I have a good view from my office window of the tennis courts, but the view from the flat is of a car park, so it is imperative that I make that comfortable. I am also determined not to live like a student too much, and though there is a lot of Ikea in the flat I have also tried to hang pictures on the walls that are not posters but actual photographs or pieces of artwork.

While I am busy organising and starting the term here in Sheffield, my family has managed to unpack the remaining boxes that were left from when the movers arrived on the day I left Hong Kong. Adrian tells me I did not leave enough in storage, but unlike him, I gain comfort from having my things around me. My place comfort arises from the familiarity of my things, even if the setting is new. I feel grounded if I can see and touch my things. He gains comfort not from the things in the house, but from the familiarity of the place. While I nest, he return migrates--kind of like the swallows or the salmon do--always returning to the place where he grew up. At the moment we are both feeling far away from home--he because Hong Kong is not Kent, and me because my family and my things are in my new nest far away.

It is the Mid-Autumn festival in Hong Kong at the end of this week. This is a bit like a harvest festival. It is quite an important event lasting three days over the full mood--in the 8th month of the lunar calendar.  The festival is has a very long history. One aspect of the festival is to observe the full moon, as the festival is linked to the worship of the moon goddess Chang E (alternative sources list her name as Chang O), the moon goddess of immortality. Unfortunately, this year, there has been a typhoon 3 warning with lots of rain associated with Typhoon Fanapi, which is not expected to clear until the day after the the moon is at its fullest. I don't believe there will be a lot of glimpses of the moon this year, but as there are also parties and everywhere there are lanterns it should be quite festive anyway. Hopefully the dragon will still wind its way through Tai Hang near Causeway bay. Our compound where we live is even having a party. A key food at the mid autumn festival are moon cakes. These are traditionally pastry filled with lotus seed paste and a salted egg yoke (to signify the moon), though there are many other varieties including ice cream. I really like moon cakes, but they are one of those foods that one either loves or hates as the combination of the flavours and textures are unusual (salty egg, sweet, stickiness of the lotus seed paste, chewiness of the pastry).  People buy moon cakes and give them to friends as gifts. I gave a box to the people who watch the gates at the flat in Hong Kong before I left, and Adrian has given some to the people with whom he works. I have also brought several back to England with me. If I can't be with them on the festival day, at least I can eat what they are eating.