Cultural encounter—I do it every day, every time I listen to my IPod.
As a person who moved around several times, it is just unavoidable to melt different cultures into one that belongs to no one else but me. This unique culture showed especially in my choice of music. I don’t think there has ever been anyone like me for this part— at least I haven’t seen one yet.
I was born in Hong Kong and later moved to mainland China, so I listen to both Mandarin and Cantonese pop songs. Also, like many other Chinese people, I like Japanese and Korean drama, which introduced me to J-pop and K-pop. Last of all, ever since I came to America, I was exposed to all kind of music, including those sang in European languages like French and Spanish and those in other styles! If you look in my IPod, I bet most people would only know at most 50% of my songs. Other than that, I even started to add new elements I interacted to the music that I composed. Maybe sometimes later, I can share the final piece right here on the blog!
Yeuk San, I like how you are able to “melt different cultures into one that belongs to no one else except yourself.” FYI, I have a diverse music collection on my IPod as well. I hope that you will show me your collection some day, and introduce me to the music that you have composed yourself.
Living in the suburbs of Saint Louis, MO my entire life, I cannot relate to your experience of moving around. Where I come from, the culture is much less diverse and everyone listens to similar types of music. There is only one language spoken, English, and there is more of a division between peoples of different socioeconomic statuses. I love that in New York City all of this changes. Although it is hard for me to become accustomed to it all, I know it it a good change and the way culture should be.
I find it intriguing that you compose music because I have never met someone my age who composes music. Also, I can tell that you have a strong passion for music from different cultures. I have also attempted to watch Japanese and Korean dramas, but I always end up being frustrated because I have to depend on subtitles to understand them. This is why I am very impressed by the fact that you are able to connect with these cultures even though you don’t speak the language. Finally, I hope you publish your music here!
Thanks for sharing that video of K pop! I encourage you, whenever possible, to add multi-media to your posts: images, audio, video!