I think one of the novelties of being in a foreign country is that I feel twice removed from my Chinese heritage. It is very a surreal and disorienting "out of body" "out of character" "out of comfort" state. It puts into perspective for me what it means to be Chinese. What it means to be the child of immigrant parents. What it means to be the child of Taiwanese-born Chinese parents. What it means to be American-born Chinese. What it means to be an American in a foreign country. A Chinese-American in a foreign country. A tri-lingual Chinese-American in a foreign country. And it makes me wonder how much or how little the people in that place understand this layered identity. How do they process me? All the nuances, the politics, the prejudices, the social constructs, my multi-cultural values, the pieces of my heritage that I choose to wear and the other pieces I've chosen to shed-- They can't they possibly understand any of that, but what do they see instead?

Thursday, July 29, 2010

OMG: Oh My Gaudí

This man is a complete genius. He gets full credit for inspiring me to travel to Barcelona in the first place, and I couldn't be more thankful.

Casa Milá
This was the original Gaudí work which I studied and immediately caught my interest. Ever since I learned about it, I've wanted to go to Barcelona to see it in real life. Dream=fulfilled.



Casa Batlló
This turned out to be my favorite Gaudí piece. The symbolism and forward-thinking, thorough design just completely blew me away, inside and out.









Sagrada Familia
When will they ever complete it? 2030? 2050? I've heard a multitude of projections...This building makes me quite sad for Gaudí. He was hit by a tram while this work was in construction and was mistaken for a hobo. Three days later..."Oh shit, that's Gaudí." Highly intricate, wish I'd seen the inside!





Parc Güell
Like living on another planet. This was originally a housing project intended for the upper classes of Barcelona. Fell through financially, and eventually was donated to the city to be a park. There's a museum in the guard house.






Hugs and modernism,
Angela
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