Home Erica’s world traveling journal 2009-2010
In the journal of life, people always try to discover who they are by defining who they were in the past and who they want to be in the future. My introduction begins with who I was. Born in Hong Kong, a place that was already multicultural, I decided to move to the United States for better education due to my learning disability. Remembering all those 5000s Chinese Characters suck and was so difficult for me. Despite that and while on the road of discovery, I found out that I am good at building things and passionate about it. Being a designer/ an artist, is not a easy thing to do for anyone, but being an artist is constantly trying to discover who are and what we can accomplish. The journey is what I love. Why am I doing this? What does it mean? Why am I here? and Who do I want to be? These are the questions I started asking myself since I was 5 years old. This is how erica li becomes ERICA LI. While living in Los Angeles, my parents sold the home I grew up in and moved to a new area in Hong Kong I have never been to. Feeling displaced in Hong Kong, yet feeling like a long term but temporary visitor in Los Angeles, I felt as if my roots have been torn from the place of my childhood memories. What should I call HOME now? Thus, this is a journal of finding HOME.
Where’s
Home?
What is the meaning of
Home?
I AM FROM H.K.S.A.R
China Hong Kong, Shanghai.
Passionate love of
Food
Friends from Hong Kong
Hong Kong fresh food Market
Story time
This is how my dad ask me to eat my fruit Erica: Hi Dad (just came home from dinner with friends) Eric: Hello Erica: Dad..... Eric: Yes.... Erica: Why there is a huge banana on top of my computer? Is that you are asking me to eat it? or you want me to eat it? Eric: Yes Erica: Oh.... ok, but why not just leave it on the dinner table? Eric: Because the first thing you will go to when you first come home is either the bathroom or to your computer. Erica: LOL (feel loved)
China Hong Kong, Shanghai.
Japan Tokyo
U.S.A. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Others.
U.S.A. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Others.
U.S.A. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Others.
Chile
Santiago.
Our research trip to Chile was my first time south of the equator and my first time on a Sourthern continent. I was amazed at how friendly the people were. They were very warm, despite the chilly winter temperatures. The day I flew into Santiago was the same day of our first visit to the campamentos. I was sick by the 4th day, so I didn’t see much of Chile, but what I did see was the friendliness of the people. The night of our first visit to the campamentos with Un Techo, I remember Laura’s husband greeted us, and of course, Rosita was really welcoming. Even though I had no idea who she was, she was open hearted and not embarrassed of what she had and very clear about what she wanted. I had an allergy to something in the campamentos that made me sick. The casita we lived in was cold, too, making it worse. By the 4th night I was very sick and quarantined myself. I spent the night in a hotel. By Friday, the fifth day, I went to the hospital by myself. I spent a half an hour trying to find the emergency room, because I don’t speak Spanish. Even though the nurses didn’t speak English, the doctor’s were fluent and did their best to make me comfortable. Seven hours in a hospital is sort of scary. I worried that I had H1N1. One person next to me had a seizure, there were screaming people in the hall, I wondered if I would ever leave. I started writing to occupy myself, about how I felt and what I would do when I got home. I was home sick. Finally, the doctor came in and said I didn’t have any serious illness, but that I had a bacterial infection that was not contagious and a cold, which was. I got sick because I didn’t have enough rest on the first few days, so I had no energy to fight the cold. I round up staying in a hotel for seven days. Marianna and David were very kind and came to visit on my second or third day. Dan and Penny came during the week and brought me soup, bread, and fruit. Andres came on my second doctor’s visit to translate and drove me back to my hotel. The last day, I was thinking, “What happened to people who get sick in the campamentos? Do they get the same royal treatment that I had gotten? Do they still have to go to work, shower in freezing temperatures with no hot water? How do they take care of themselves when they got sick?” All these thoughts, made me feel really lucky about where I am in my life. I have my own house and all my family is with me. This experience makes me even more interested in health systems and health-related problems. Erica Li Here are x-rays of my head and chest from my hospital visits
Europe Berlin, Paris.
Night life in Berlin what happens here stays here!
War of gummy
Europe Berlin, Paris.
Collection of
Clouds
I spend two years of my life beside finishing my education. I also found my home. My home is wherever I am, where my friends are, where great food has created. Life is full of surprises. Life is unexpecited. Life is unforgetable. Life is LOVE.
Home is wherever I am.
LOVE YOUR FAMILY WHEN YOU CAN, LOVE PEOPLE AROUND YOU MORE, LOVE BEFORE IS TOO LATE. GRANDPA, I LOVE YOU.