Newsletter No. 78

4 No. 78 19th November 1995 CUHK Newsletter Kong context and offered advice for academic staffnew to the region. W e were also given an overview about the services provided by the library, the Computer Services Centre, and the Personnel Office. These sessions were very helpful in introducing us to the array of services on campus as well as to the staff who work in these units. I think that one of the most positive and unique features of The Chinese University is the existence ofcolleges and the linkage of faculty and students to a particular college. As a N e w Asia College member, I have enjoyed meeting N e w Asia members from other disciplines. Affiliation with colleges facilitates the interaction offaculty from different units and disciplines, and this is especially important at a university that is as large and as spread out as C U H K . Interdisciplinary communication and research are needed today; this seems to be encouraged here which is a very forward-looking approach and something that 1 feel very strongly about. At the E L TU I am delighted to see the international mix offaculty: there are people from Hong Kong (educated locally or in Australia, Canada, USA, UK, etc.), mainland China, the Philippines, USA, UK, India, Sri Lanka, and now, Canada. Even though committee meetings, programme development, teaching, research, and activities at the Independent Learning Centre keep E L TU faculty fully occupied, people are still very sociable and have taken time to welcome new faculty to the unit. This semester I am teaching English for Specific Purposes classes: Research Writing for Nurses and Business Communications for first-year B B A majors. In the beginning, I found the students to be very shy and quiet but they are now more at ease in the classroom and are talking much morefreely.The students are extremely polite and very motivated, so it is a pleasure to work with them. They provided the extra energy I needed to deal with the high level of humidity at the beginning of the semester! Also, as the'tea m leader' of English for Specific Purposes Research and Curriculum Development, I have made many contacts with faculty in other disciplines. This makes m y work very interesting and gives me the opportunity to get a better grasp of what this campus has to offer students and academic staff. Overall, m y initial experiences at C U H K have been very positive and I have been most impressed by the efforts that have been made to welcome new faculty. Deadlines for research proposals in September, however, did put a tremendous amount of pressure on new faculty at a stage when it would have been better to have had more time for adjustment to a new environment. Of course, looking back now, I am very glad that the proposals are finished! I have also discovered that I have become addicted to e-mail but, unfortunately, in the ELTU we are still waiting for the wiring to be hooked up in our offices before we can link up to the Internet. I will definitely be celebrating when I am back on-line! Soon I will be able to e-mail m y former colleagues in Canada and elsewhere directly from m y office in the ELTU. Then, I will be able to tell them about how much I am enjoying life at C U H K . Jane Jackson Lecturer, English Language Teaching Unit When I'm asked how I'm'settlingin' at C U H K , I usually reply honestly that I'm feeling more and more at home here, but the question usually reminds me that I'm actually 'settling back' on campus, having been a visiting scholar here in autumn 1993. Therefore, unlike many new staff members coming for the first time to C U H K this autumn, I am often placing m y first two months here in the context ofthe experience I had two years ago. That experience was very positive because I made many friends in the Department of Architecture (teachers, staff and students). I was stimulated by the serious commitment to teaching and research in the department, and m y family (my wife and two children) and I were warmly welcomed into a broad range of activities on campus,fromswimming and qigong to book clubs and barbecues. Furthermore, I remember that the lush vegetation and relative tranquillity ofthe campus and places such as Taipo Kau provided a welcome relief from some of the dense urban realities found on both sides ofthe Star Ferry. On the other hand, I found that the dynamic aspects ofurban Hong Kong beyond the campus were also enormously appealing. Due to m y interests in Chinese and western architecture, urban history, and the preservation of historic buildings, 1 derived particular fascination from this vibrant city. I also recall that just as 1 was truly feeling 'settledin'two years ago, it was time to return to m y American university. N o w that I'm back, I'm pleased to find the same level of academic excitement among m y colleagues, and the same surprising qualities about the territory that make Hong Kong so unique. However, nothing seems static in Hong Kong, especially perhaps in the 'run-up' to 1997 ， which makes living here at this particular moment so fascinating. In the context ofpolitical change for the territory at large after mid-1997, so far I have noted mostly positive changes on the campus since I was here last. The Department of Architecture has grown significantly and we are now in more spacious quarters in the new Wong Foo Yuan Building on the Chung Chi campus, where a new architecture library and an up-to-date computer centre continue to grow and improve. The Computer Services Centre has made available more services through innovations that make access to the Worldwide Web so much easier. Also, just before the beginning of the term I was invited, along with other new staff, to a very informative teaching workshop conducted by the new Teaching Development Unit. Linguistically too there have been noticeable changes. Two years ago when I spoke English to someone who didn't understand the language, m y switch to Mandarin didn't usually help. N o w I find that more Cantonese-speakers are learning Mandarin, which helps me communicate more easily with more people on campus. These and other changes such as building renovations and road improvements reflect the University's commitment to improvement. One aspect of campus life that I've been pleased to see has not changed is the general friendliness that seems to prevail here. Students are cooperative and easy to converse with, although I sense that sometimes their general timidity in the classroom (relative to an American classroom at least) prevents them from questioning m e as much as I'd like about what I'm presenting to them in class. M y fellow teachers are far less timid though and I usually find it easy to strike up conversations about topics of mutual interest. I have already begun to work jointly with some of them on research topics related to changes in Chinese architecture and urbanism since the mid- nineteenth century (one of m y research interests), and I look forward to fruitful collaboration. Many campus administrators (in the Bursar's Office or the Personnel Office, for example) have also worked to ease m y transition into life here at C U H K . N o matter whether it is applying for a grant, waiting for a flat, renewing a parking permit or figuring out a new regulation, so far I have met many campus employees who aim to please, even ifthe realities ofthe bureaucracy in question do not always permit them to please as quickly as I wish they could. M y family and I then, even though we've been through some of this before, are still adjusting to new schools, tropical weather, a different sense of personal space, driving on the left, learning where to buy particular household items for our new home, and any number of issues associated with a new environment. I only hope that after 'settlingin'I won't take for granted the sense of surprise that epitomizes so much ofwhat I feel in Hong Kong. So far (and I superstitiously knock wood when I say that) the surprises at C U H K have been pleasant ones. Jeffrey Cody Lecturer in architecture 中大通訊 CUHK NEWSLETTER 1.本刊逢四日及十九日出版。 2.來函或投稿請寄沙田香港中文大學秘書處出版事務處《中大通訊》 編輯部（電話 2 6 0 9 7297 ，圖文傳眞 2603 6864， 電子郵遞 pub2@uab.msmail.cuhk.hk) 。 3. 投稿者須附眞實姓名、地址及聯絡電話，文章則可用筆名發表。 4. 本刊編輯有權刪改及決定是否刊登來稿，不欲稿件被刪者請預先聲 明。 5. 本刊所載文章只反映作者之觀點和意見，並不代表校方或本刊立 場。 6. 本刊內容未經編者書面准許，不得轉載。 7. 本刊每期發行三千六百份，免費供校內教職員索閱，部分郵寄本地 教育機構及與大學有關人士。私人索閱，請致函本刊查詢。 1. The Newsletter is published on the 4th and 19th of each month. 2. All contributions and suggestions should be sent to the Editor, CUHK Newsletter, Publication Office, University Secretariat, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (tel. 2609 7297; fax. 2603 6864; e-mail pub2@uab.msmail.cuhk.hk) . 3. Contributions should bear the writer's name and contact telephone number, and may be published under pseudonyms. No anonymous letters will be published. 4. The Editor reserves the right to reject contributions and to edit all articles for reasons of clarity, length or grammar. Those who do not want to have their articles amended should indicate clearly in writing. 5. The views expressed in the CUHK Newsletter are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of the University or the Editor. 6. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without the written consent of the Editor. 7. This publication has a circulation of 3,600 and is primarily intended for staff members of C U H K. Copies are also sent to local educational institutions and individuals associated with the University. Those who wish to be included on the mailing list please contact the Newsletter direct. 截 稿 日 期 Deadlines for Contributions 期數 Issue no. 出版日期 Issue date 截稿日期 Deadline for contributions 79 4.12.95 21.11.95 80 19.12.95 5.12.95 81 4.1.96 18.12.95 82 19.1.96 5.1.96 83 4.2.96 19.1.96 農曆年假休刊 No publication during Lunar New Year Holidays) 84 4.3.96 13.2.96 香港中文大學出版事務處出版 編輯：梁其汝 助理編輯：蔡世彬 陳偉珠 製作：黎寶翠 梅潔媚 Published by the Publication Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Editor: A m y K.Y. Leung Assistant Editors: Lawrence Choi, Piera Chen, Shalini Bahadur Graphic Designers: Stella P.C. Lai, May K.M. Mui 印刷：鮑思高印刷有限公司 Printing: Don Bosco Printing Co. Ltd.