Well, I never thought this day would come. I'm finally leaving. Well, I will be in approximately 10 hours. I'm so excited! This post will be pretty short, because I have done nothing but pack and take a final in the past 6 or so days.
-The best thing I can say about my econ final is that it's over. It was probably the hardest test I've ever taken in my life. Economics was a lot more fun with Mr. Nolen.
-After my final, it only took me about an hour to pack. And then I realized that I had nothing to do for the next 4 days.
-I shipped two boxes and some postcards to the US. If you gave me your address, your postcard will be there in about a week lol.
-Other than that, I've pretty much just watched movies and online tv. Nothing too exciting.
-So, the only thing HK had on the US was the fact that it didn't have roaches. False. I saw one in the shower the other day, and it nearly gave me a heart attack. So now the bathroom is infested with spiders and roaches. Gross. Good thing I only have to take one more shower here.
-Tomorrow, I'm going to be traveling for 22 hours. It's going to be terrible. But, at least I'll be home soon. At approximately 7:35 pm tomorrow. Not that I'm counting down or anything.
-I have to leave HKUST at 6 am, so I decided that I was just going to stay up all night instead of waking up at 4. Theoretically, if I stay up all night, I'll be able to sleep on the plane. We'll see how that goes...
Well, that's about all I've got. I can't wait to be back in America. See you all soon!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
T-8 Days...
I know, I know, it's been a month. In all fairness, I did warn you all ahead of time that I'm terrible at updating things. That's why Live Journal and I never worked out. Anyways, I haven't really been up to too much, but here's a few updates:
-Apparently in HK it's customary to save a semester's worth of work and pile it on all of the students the last 2-3 weeks of school. It's really lame. During the last 2 weeks of school, I had 2 tests, a presentation, econ homework, and 2 papers.
-My roommate and I went to Shanghai for four days between the end of classes and finals. First, our bus to the airport in Shenzhen took 3 1/2 hours instead of the 1 1/2 hours it was supposed to take, so we missed our flight. Then we had to buy tickets for another flight, and it was a huge ordeal. They did not prepare me for this in Chinese class.
-Once we got to Shanghai, everything was great. We stayed in a maritime-theme hostel, which was cool. The beds were set up like a boat. It was close to a lot of the tourist places, and there was really good, really cheap food close by, so that was a plus.
-While we were there, we hung out with my Alpha Gam little, Keri. She's on the Chinese LBAT (Language for Business and Technology) program with GT, so we got to hang out with her and other people from Tech. We had so much fun. We went shopping (and got harassed and followed everywhere b/c some of us were white), we went out to eat a lot, and we went karaoke-ing one night. It was great.
-I used to think that the people in HK freaked out about white people, but that was before I went into real China. People stopped us constantly to take pictures of/with us (apparently they don't see many blondes and redheads. Who knew?), and people really liked to stop us so they could practice their English skills.
-We may or may not have gotten scammed into a tea-tasting ceremony. It was expensive, but it was really cool, so I guess it was worth it.
-Getting back from Shanghai was kind of stressful because I had to go back by myself. Elizabeth went on to Guilin for a few days because her finals started later. After getting to the airport way too early, my flight got postponed 2 hours. I thought I'd never get back. Fortunately, I got back just in time to take a bus back to HK.
-2 days after I got back, I had my first final. I ended up getting an A on it, so I'm happy. Really, I'm just glad that it's over. Now I only have to take my econ final on Friday, and then I'm done!
-Tomorrow, I will be mailing packages and the postcards I promised everyone. Yes, it took me 4 months to finally find the post office on campus. Impressive, I know. So, if you sent me your address, you will get a postcard. Unfortunately, I will probably beat the postcards back lol.
-Also, one of my best friends, Calli, got engaged last week! Congratulations girl! I'm so happy for you!
As many of you know, the American Idol finale was last week. Here are all of my thoughts on what all happened on American Idol since the last time I blogged:
-I wasn't shocked to see Matt Giraud go. He was good, but it was his turn.
-It is a travesty that Allison Iraheta didn't even make it into the top 3. I do think that AI purposely made it rock week to keep her in the competition, but that was because she really deserved it. That girl is amazing! She totally should've been in the top 2. Danny should've gone home for butchering "Dream On" by Aerosmith. You just don't take on that song if you can't do the screaming thing at the end. You just don't.
-That being said, I wasn't surprised to see Danny go the next week. I like Danny, and he's a good singer, but I just didn't think he should win. I mean, there's no shame in not being as good as Adam Lambert. That kid is incredible.
-That being said, what the heck was America thinking by voting for Kris Allen *coughCarlincough*?! Now, Kris is a good singer, and a really nice guy, but even he thought Adam deserved to win. He said so on the award show. He totally coasted on his good looks. My only consolation is that Adam doesn't have to record that horrible "No Boundaries" song that Kara Dioguardi co-wrote. I had such high hopes for her to write the first good AI single, but she disappointed me. Oh well, Adam might be the new singer for Queen :)
-I may or may not have a wisdom tooth coming in. My jaw is kind of sore where the dentist told me it would probably grow in. In all fairness, I was warned ahead of time that I should probably get them out before I left, but I already had to get a root canal, and I really didn't want to completely ruin my Christmas break lol. Looks like I can't avoid it much longer...
-I found out Lauren Conrad (from Laguna Beach and The Hills) is releasing a book in June. Here is the description:
"Los Angeles is all about the sweet life: hot clubs, cute guys, designer . . . everything. Nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts can't wait to start living it up. She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works, and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun.
When Jane and Scarlett are approached by a producer who wants them to be on his new series, a "reality version of Sex and the City," they can hardly believe their luck. Their own show? Yes, please!
Soon Jane is TV's hottest star. Fame brings more than she ever imagined possible for a girl from Santa Barbara -- free designer clothes, the choicest tables at the most exclusive clubs, invites to Hollywood premieres -- and she's lapping up the VIP treatment with her eclectic entourage of new pals. But those same friends who are always up for a wild night are also out for a piece of Jane's spotlight.
In a city filled with people chasing after their dreams, it's not long before Jane wakes up to the reality that everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be."
Really, LC? Why not just call it an autobiography? Then you don't have to go through all of the trouble of changing the names. Not that I don't plan on reading it lol.
-Congratulations to Robby and the Springwood Class of '09! I wish I could've been at graduation! Now that my little brother has graduated, I'm officially old. Good thing I decided that I was done with birthdays. I'm totally ok with staying 21 for awhile. I think I can pull it off for at least 5 years. Everyone thinks I'm 15 or 16 anyway.
-The bathroom on my hall is currently infested with spiders. It's disgusting. It started out with one huge spider, and then it suddenly vanished Charlotte's Web style, and now there's tons of baby spiders everywhere. I'm not sure why no one else thinks this is a problem, but they've been there for a good 2-3 weeks. This is a lot of nonsense. It has to be somebody's job to get rid of the spiders. I started going to the other bathroom on the other side of the hall, but it's infested too. Thank goodness I only have to deal with them for another week.
-It's going to rain and storm for the rest of my time here. Lame.
Well, that's about all I've got for you today. The good news is I'll probably update sooner next time because I only have 8 days left! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see you all! I'll probably update again on Friday after my final.
And here's my quote of the day for you:
"Are you avoiding something out there?" - Max
"Yes, vegans and Coldplay fans." - Dale
-Greek-
See you in around 8 days!
-Apparently in HK it's customary to save a semester's worth of work and pile it on all of the students the last 2-3 weeks of school. It's really lame. During the last 2 weeks of school, I had 2 tests, a presentation, econ homework, and 2 papers.
-My roommate and I went to Shanghai for four days between the end of classes and finals. First, our bus to the airport in Shenzhen took 3 1/2 hours instead of the 1 1/2 hours it was supposed to take, so we missed our flight. Then we had to buy tickets for another flight, and it was a huge ordeal. They did not prepare me for this in Chinese class.
-Once we got to Shanghai, everything was great. We stayed in a maritime-theme hostel, which was cool. The beds were set up like a boat. It was close to a lot of the tourist places, and there was really good, really cheap food close by, so that was a plus.
-While we were there, we hung out with my Alpha Gam little, Keri. She's on the Chinese LBAT (Language for Business and Technology) program with GT, so we got to hang out with her and other people from Tech. We had so much fun. We went shopping (and got harassed and followed everywhere b/c some of us were white), we went out to eat a lot, and we went karaoke-ing one night. It was great.
-I used to think that the people in HK freaked out about white people, but that was before I went into real China. People stopped us constantly to take pictures of/with us (apparently they don't see many blondes and redheads. Who knew?), and people really liked to stop us so they could practice their English skills.
-We may or may not have gotten scammed into a tea-tasting ceremony. It was expensive, but it was really cool, so I guess it was worth it.
-Getting back from Shanghai was kind of stressful because I had to go back by myself. Elizabeth went on to Guilin for a few days because her finals started later. After getting to the airport way too early, my flight got postponed 2 hours. I thought I'd never get back. Fortunately, I got back just in time to take a bus back to HK.
-2 days after I got back, I had my first final. I ended up getting an A on it, so I'm happy. Really, I'm just glad that it's over. Now I only have to take my econ final on Friday, and then I'm done!
-Tomorrow, I will be mailing packages and the postcards I promised everyone. Yes, it took me 4 months to finally find the post office on campus. Impressive, I know. So, if you sent me your address, you will get a postcard. Unfortunately, I will probably beat the postcards back lol.
-Also, one of my best friends, Calli, got engaged last week! Congratulations girl! I'm so happy for you!
As many of you know, the American Idol finale was last week. Here are all of my thoughts on what all happened on American Idol since the last time I blogged:
-I wasn't shocked to see Matt Giraud go. He was good, but it was his turn.
-It is a travesty that Allison Iraheta didn't even make it into the top 3. I do think that AI purposely made it rock week to keep her in the competition, but that was because she really deserved it. That girl is amazing! She totally should've been in the top 2. Danny should've gone home for butchering "Dream On" by Aerosmith. You just don't take on that song if you can't do the screaming thing at the end. You just don't.
-That being said, I wasn't surprised to see Danny go the next week. I like Danny, and he's a good singer, but I just didn't think he should win. I mean, there's no shame in not being as good as Adam Lambert. That kid is incredible.
-That being said, what the heck was America thinking by voting for Kris Allen *coughCarlincough*?! Now, Kris is a good singer, and a really nice guy, but even he thought Adam deserved to win. He said so on the award show. He totally coasted on his good looks. My only consolation is that Adam doesn't have to record that horrible "No Boundaries" song that Kara Dioguardi co-wrote. I had such high hopes for her to write the first good AI single, but she disappointed me. Oh well, Adam might be the new singer for Queen :)
-I may or may not have a wisdom tooth coming in. My jaw is kind of sore where the dentist told me it would probably grow in. In all fairness, I was warned ahead of time that I should probably get them out before I left, but I already had to get a root canal, and I really didn't want to completely ruin my Christmas break lol. Looks like I can't avoid it much longer...
-I found out Lauren Conrad (from Laguna Beach and The Hills) is releasing a book in June. Here is the description:
"Los Angeles is all about the sweet life: hot clubs, cute guys, designer . . . everything. Nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts can't wait to start living it up. She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works, and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun.
When Jane and Scarlett are approached by a producer who wants them to be on his new series, a "reality version of Sex and the City," they can hardly believe their luck. Their own show? Yes, please!
Soon Jane is TV's hottest star. Fame brings more than she ever imagined possible for a girl from Santa Barbara -- free designer clothes, the choicest tables at the most exclusive clubs, invites to Hollywood premieres -- and she's lapping up the VIP treatment with her eclectic entourage of new pals. But those same friends who are always up for a wild night are also out for a piece of Jane's spotlight.
In a city filled with people chasing after their dreams, it's not long before Jane wakes up to the reality that everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be."
Really, LC? Why not just call it an autobiography? Then you don't have to go through all of the trouble of changing the names. Not that I don't plan on reading it lol.
-Congratulations to Robby and the Springwood Class of '09! I wish I could've been at graduation! Now that my little brother has graduated, I'm officially old. Good thing I decided that I was done with birthdays. I'm totally ok with staying 21 for awhile. I think I can pull it off for at least 5 years. Everyone thinks I'm 15 or 16 anyway.
-The bathroom on my hall is currently infested with spiders. It's disgusting. It started out with one huge spider, and then it suddenly vanished Charlotte's Web style, and now there's tons of baby spiders everywhere. I'm not sure why no one else thinks this is a problem, but they've been there for a good 2-3 weeks. This is a lot of nonsense. It has to be somebody's job to get rid of the spiders. I started going to the other bathroom on the other side of the hall, but it's infested too. Thank goodness I only have to deal with them for another week.
-It's going to rain and storm for the rest of my time here. Lame.
Well, that's about all I've got for you today. The good news is I'll probably update sooner next time because I only have 8 days left! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see you all! I'll probably update again on Friday after my final.
And here's my quote of the day for you:
"Are you avoiding something out there?" - Max
"Yes, vegans and Coldplay fans." - Dale
-Greek-
See you in around 8 days!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
T-39 Days
I know, I know, it's been a really long time. In my defense, I've had two weeks of midterms, spring break, and a week to recover from spring break going on. Anyways, here's some highlights from the past four or so weeks:
-The only thing I have to say about midterms is that they're over.
-For spring break, Mom came to visit. It was really great, minus the whole having her wake me up between 6:30 and 7 every morning. But I did get to sleep in a real bed, and eat decent food.
-I went to pick Mom from the airport. I get there early, and her plane is late (of course). I'm just standing in the arrivals area, listening to my iPod, minding my own business, and this old guy walks up to me and asks if I'm waiting on the flight from Vancouver. When I look at the guy, I realize that he's wearing a t-shirt, boxers, and cowboy boots. He also smells like he's been drinking for the past 4 or 5 hours. After about 10 minutes of awkward conversation with the drunk Texan, he finally sees his brother, and as soon as he left, I went over to the other side of the room just in case he came back.
-Mom and I had a really good time. We did a lot of shopping in the markets, got all of my souvenir shopping done, went to Macau, and went to Hong Kong Disneyland. I've never seen anything funnier than all of the Asian people in the 3-D show at Disney. You expect little kids to reach out for the 3-D objects, but no, the adults do too. And they're incredibly amused by it. It was 10 times funnier watching the people.
-While Mom was here, Tech's registration for the fall semester began. I was scheduled to register at 1:15 pm EST, which is 1:15 am HK time. Well, I accidentally overslept, and when I tried to register at 3:30 am, I found out that the registrar's office accidentally blocked all of the students who were studying abroad form registering. This was during Easter weekend. So, I panicked because I thought that I wasn't going to get into any of my classes. They ended up getting everything fixed a few days later, but I still had to get someone to hold a class for me. Thanks GT for stressing me out all the way across the globe.
-Alpha Gam won Greek Week! Congratulations girls! And I watched the Greek Sing video, and it was amazing! So was the Stroll video :)
-I finally bought some movies at one of the markets. The first one I watched was Confessions of a Shoppaholic, which had about 20-30 minutes missing in the middle of the movie. I also got Watchmen, which occasionally switched to Russian for a few minutes. The copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn't have all of the special effects added in yet, which was entertaining. The only movie that had nothing wrong with it was The Dark Knight.
-For the first time in 8 seasons, I finally picked the right top 5 for American Idol. This is also the first time I'll actually be sad to see people go home. The only person I voted for that actually won was David Cook. My top 2 are still Adam and Allison though.
-This week was the week after spring break, and I've pretty much just gone to class. I did eat Turkish food last night, which was actually really good. But that's pretty much the only exciting thing that's happened.
-Actually, one exciting/infuriating thing did happen this week. Last night, I had every intention of updating my blog. That was until my debit card (and only source of money) stopped working again. For the third time. That is because the bank flagged my card because someone used it in China. Hmm, I wonder who could've done that? Maybe the same person who's been using it in China for the past 3 months? Anyway, they told my mom that the ATM must not have been working. They wasted several of my phone minutes to tell me the exact same thing, despite the fact that I tried it on 2 ATMs. After 6 tries at 4 different ATMs, they realized that they accidentally flagged the card. I wouldn't have been so mad if this had been the first time they cut me off. But 3 times? Really? Thank you for wasting hours of my life and a ridiculous amount of phone minutes.
Here's my fun quotes for the past few weeks:
-"Do you still shine when you are blue?" - random sign on a classroom door
-"When I am sad, I stop being sad and start being awesome." -another random sign. I later found out that this is a quote from the show How I Met Your Mother (thanks Laura).
-"That's what it teaches you to say in the travel safety section! It teaches you 'Help!' 'Police!' 'Don't shoot!' and 'Those drugs aren't mine!'" - a girl in my Chinese class reading the travel safety section on a Chinese travel website.
Well that's about all I've got. Sorry it took so long! But you can start the countdown, because I'll be home in 39 days! Maybe less if Mom ever changes my plane ticket. Love and miss you all! See you soon!
-The only thing I have to say about midterms is that they're over.
-For spring break, Mom came to visit. It was really great, minus the whole having her wake me up between 6:30 and 7 every morning. But I did get to sleep in a real bed, and eat decent food.
-I went to pick Mom from the airport. I get there early, and her plane is late (of course). I'm just standing in the arrivals area, listening to my iPod, minding my own business, and this old guy walks up to me and asks if I'm waiting on the flight from Vancouver. When I look at the guy, I realize that he's wearing a t-shirt, boxers, and cowboy boots. He also smells like he's been drinking for the past 4 or 5 hours. After about 10 minutes of awkward conversation with the drunk Texan, he finally sees his brother, and as soon as he left, I went over to the other side of the room just in case he came back.
-Mom and I had a really good time. We did a lot of shopping in the markets, got all of my souvenir shopping done, went to Macau, and went to Hong Kong Disneyland. I've never seen anything funnier than all of the Asian people in the 3-D show at Disney. You expect little kids to reach out for the 3-D objects, but no, the adults do too. And they're incredibly amused by it. It was 10 times funnier watching the people.
-While Mom was here, Tech's registration for the fall semester began. I was scheduled to register at 1:15 pm EST, which is 1:15 am HK time. Well, I accidentally overslept, and when I tried to register at 3:30 am, I found out that the registrar's office accidentally blocked all of the students who were studying abroad form registering. This was during Easter weekend. So, I panicked because I thought that I wasn't going to get into any of my classes. They ended up getting everything fixed a few days later, but I still had to get someone to hold a class for me. Thanks GT for stressing me out all the way across the globe.
-Alpha Gam won Greek Week! Congratulations girls! And I watched the Greek Sing video, and it was amazing! So was the Stroll video :)
-I finally bought some movies at one of the markets. The first one I watched was Confessions of a Shoppaholic, which had about 20-30 minutes missing in the middle of the movie. I also got Watchmen, which occasionally switched to Russian for a few minutes. The copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn't have all of the special effects added in yet, which was entertaining. The only movie that had nothing wrong with it was The Dark Knight.
-For the first time in 8 seasons, I finally picked the right top 5 for American Idol. This is also the first time I'll actually be sad to see people go home. The only person I voted for that actually won was David Cook. My top 2 are still Adam and Allison though.
-This week was the week after spring break, and I've pretty much just gone to class. I did eat Turkish food last night, which was actually really good. But that's pretty much the only exciting thing that's happened.
-Actually, one exciting/infuriating thing did happen this week. Last night, I had every intention of updating my blog. That was until my debit card (and only source of money) stopped working again. For the third time. That is because the bank flagged my card because someone used it in China. Hmm, I wonder who could've done that? Maybe the same person who's been using it in China for the past 3 months? Anyway, they told my mom that the ATM must not have been working. They wasted several of my phone minutes to tell me the exact same thing, despite the fact that I tried it on 2 ATMs. After 6 tries at 4 different ATMs, they realized that they accidentally flagged the card. I wouldn't have been so mad if this had been the first time they cut me off. But 3 times? Really? Thank you for wasting hours of my life and a ridiculous amount of phone minutes.
Here's my fun quotes for the past few weeks:
-"Do you still shine when you are blue?" - random sign on a classroom door
-"When I am sad, I stop being sad and start being awesome." -another random sign. I later found out that this is a quote from the show How I Met Your Mother (thanks Laura).
-"That's what it teaches you to say in the travel safety section! It teaches you 'Help!' 'Police!' 'Don't shoot!' and 'Those drugs aren't mine!'" - a girl in my Chinese class reading the travel safety section on a Chinese travel website.
Well that's about all I've got. Sorry it took so long! But you can start the countdown, because I'll be home in 39 days! Maybe less if Mom ever changes my plane ticket. Love and miss you all! See you soon!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Weeks 8-10: The Half-way Mark
Yes, I know it's been 3 weeks. To be completely honest, I really haven't done anything interesting in the past 3 weeks. Here's some highlights:
-My roommate and I got harassed by a crazy person in a mall. We were just watching people ice skate, and all of a sudden, this crazy guy with sunglasses on inside walks up to us and starts talking about the universe. Apparently, he's strongly opinionated on the subject, and thinks that the Russians are the most advanced in this field. I had to apologize to my roommate, because it was all my fault. My ability to attract every crazy person in a 10 mile radius is pretty impressive.
-I saw He's Just Not That Into You. It was hilarious. I plan on reading the book.
-I got to talk to Laura, Jessica, Carlin, and Calli on skype when they were all in Nashville :). It was great!
-I got a package from my parents with more easy mac, grits, and girl scout cookies! Those samoas are a life saver.
-I survived my first two midterms. There's no telling how I did, however, because it's all based on how everyone else did. I think this is nonsense. You should get graded based on how well you score. Curves are only acceptable when they are beneficial to the students, not when the professor gives out a set number of As.
-I had my last musical theater dance class. I'm kind of sad. Soprano boy is infinitely entertaining. I am glad that I never have to hear the song "Seasons of Love" butchered so badly ever again. It was awful. "Thousand" is apparently very hard to pronounce for Chinese people.
-My roommate and I decided that we're going to splurge on American food once a week. So far this plan has been very successful. You wouldn't believe how tired you can get of noodles and rice.
-I have a very stereotypical mainland kid in one of my classes. One day, he was trying to convince the class (mainly Europeans, Americans, and HK students) that an authoritarian/totalitarian government knows what's best for its citizens, and is therefor more effective in supplying the goods and services the people need. He was also outraged when the professor explained that South Korea asked China to change their pronunciation of characters for Seoul (because the words they used meant "City of the Hans").
I'm officially halfway done with the semester, which is really exciting. Here's some observations I've made about the people and culture here:
-There's no system of order here at all. People will walk in front of you in line if you're not assertive enough. There's also no set direction you're supposed to walk on the walkways. In the US (and most of the world, including China), you walk on the right side. In England, you walk on the left. Because HK has people from so many countries, people just walk all over the place. It drives me crazy. And it leads to jammed hallways and walkways. It's very inefficient.
-Boys dress very femininely, and sometimes I can't tell if a person is a boy or a girl. It doesn't help that they all carry man purses. Man purses with girly patterns. They're also all skinnier than me. I saw a guy wearing a pleather vest the other day, by itself. No shirt underneath. Gross. Boys and girls also all have the same asian mullet haircuts. It's just confusing.
-As soon as an Asian person gets in the elevator, they jam the door close button like there's no tomorrow. It doesn't matter if they see you walking towards the elevator either. They press the button anyway, and look disgruntled if you manage to hit the up button before the door closes.
For your entertainment, here's some quotes I've heard over the past 3 weeks:
-My roommate's group for an economics project is called "Supprier." Think about it.
-"If you want to go to Singapore, what you should do is...buy a ticket." - My Sosc 187 professor
-that same professor referred to babies as an export.
-"Can you have any imaginations about..." - Sosc 187 professor
Basically, he's just a really entertaining guy.
I promise I'll try to update sooner next time. I miss you all! Skype/AIM/e-mail me!
-My roommate and I got harassed by a crazy person in a mall. We were just watching people ice skate, and all of a sudden, this crazy guy with sunglasses on inside walks up to us and starts talking about the universe. Apparently, he's strongly opinionated on the subject, and thinks that the Russians are the most advanced in this field. I had to apologize to my roommate, because it was all my fault. My ability to attract every crazy person in a 10 mile radius is pretty impressive.
-I saw He's Just Not That Into You. It was hilarious. I plan on reading the book.
-I got to talk to Laura, Jessica, Carlin, and Calli on skype when they were all in Nashville :). It was great!
-I got a package from my parents with more easy mac, grits, and girl scout cookies! Those samoas are a life saver.
-I survived my first two midterms. There's no telling how I did, however, because it's all based on how everyone else did. I think this is nonsense. You should get graded based on how well you score. Curves are only acceptable when they are beneficial to the students, not when the professor gives out a set number of As.
-I had my last musical theater dance class. I'm kind of sad. Soprano boy is infinitely entertaining. I am glad that I never have to hear the song "Seasons of Love" butchered so badly ever again. It was awful. "Thousand" is apparently very hard to pronounce for Chinese people.
-My roommate and I decided that we're going to splurge on American food once a week. So far this plan has been very successful. You wouldn't believe how tired you can get of noodles and rice.
-I have a very stereotypical mainland kid in one of my classes. One day, he was trying to convince the class (mainly Europeans, Americans, and HK students) that an authoritarian/totalitarian government knows what's best for its citizens, and is therefor more effective in supplying the goods and services the people need. He was also outraged when the professor explained that South Korea asked China to change their pronunciation of characters for Seoul (because the words they used meant "City of the Hans").
I'm officially halfway done with the semester, which is really exciting. Here's some observations I've made about the people and culture here:
-There's no system of order here at all. People will walk in front of you in line if you're not assertive enough. There's also no set direction you're supposed to walk on the walkways. In the US (and most of the world, including China), you walk on the right side. In England, you walk on the left. Because HK has people from so many countries, people just walk all over the place. It drives me crazy. And it leads to jammed hallways and walkways. It's very inefficient.
-Boys dress very femininely, and sometimes I can't tell if a person is a boy or a girl. It doesn't help that they all carry man purses. Man purses with girly patterns. They're also all skinnier than me. I saw a guy wearing a pleather vest the other day, by itself. No shirt underneath. Gross. Boys and girls also all have the same asian mullet haircuts. It's just confusing.
-As soon as an Asian person gets in the elevator, they jam the door close button like there's no tomorrow. It doesn't matter if they see you walking towards the elevator either. They press the button anyway, and look disgruntled if you manage to hit the up button before the door closes.
For your entertainment, here's some quotes I've heard over the past 3 weeks:
-My roommate's group for an economics project is called "Supprier." Think about it.
-"If you want to go to Singapore, what you should do is...buy a ticket." - My Sosc 187 professor
-that same professor referred to babies as an export.
-"Can you have any imaginations about..." - Sosc 187 professor
Basically, he's just a really entertaining guy.
I promise I'll try to update sooner next time. I miss you all! Skype/AIM/e-mail me!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
End Week 7 - Taipei
I know, I know, It's been a week. Sorry! Here's a recap of my weekend in Taipei:
Our plane left at 8:15 am, so we had to leave HKUST at 5:30 am. I decided that I was going to try to go to sleep because didn't want to be dead in the morning. Well, the Fourster Army made sure that didn't happen. They were still up and making noise when I woke up at 4:30. There is a girl on my hall that cackles like a hyena. I honestly thought there was a cat squealing or something.
We ended up taking a cab all the way to the airport because the buses apparently don't run that early in the morning. That was fine with me, it was much easier. I had a bottle of apple juice in my purse, and of course it opened and spilled all in my purse. That was great. We went to our terminal, which had no seats in front of it, so we sat at another terminal with people flying to London. It was the first time I've been surrounded by white people in nearly two months. They were all flying from Australia to London, and just happened to have a layover in HK. The airport made our first and final boarding call a little before 8, and we were on our way.
I forgot how much I love Taiwan. The people there are really nice, the food is awesome, and they speak Mandarin there. Unfortunately, it rained all weekend. Other than that, it was great, though. Our hostel was so much nicer than the one in Manila. Apparently this is what most hostels are actually like. Ana, Brittanie, and I had a 4 person room to ourselves the first night, which was nice.
The first day, we explored around our hostel and visited Taipei 101, the world's tallest building. It was really cloudy, so you couldn't see that much. You could, however, see the clouds moving under you in the observatory. That was pretty cool. After that, we went to see Longshan Temple, which I've been to before. It's a really pretty temple, with a waterfall outside. That night, we ate at this really cool American-style restaurant. The food was really good, and they played a lot of random Green Day songs. It was great. We also walked around some shops in the area, and found my favorite place in Asia: Mister Donut. For those of you who have never tried it, Mister Donut is the most amazing donut place in the world. It's a million times better than Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme combined.
The next day, we met up with a couple of people from HKUST that were staying in our hostel for lunch. We went to a restaurant called Modern Toilet. It was as interesting as it sounds. The chairs are toilets, and the tables are bathtubs with a sheet of glass over the top. They serve your food in mini toilets, and they serve drinks in urinals. There were also random faucets and shower heads on the wall. It was an experience. The food was actually really good, though. After that, we went to Shilin to see the National Palace Museum. I realized when we got there that I went there last time I was in Taiwan. They've definitely improved their supply of art since the last time I was there. After that, we went to the Shilin Market. I didn't end up buying anything, but it was still pretty cool. We got a roommate that night. He was from Australia, and was just kind of bumming around Asia for a few months. It was a little awkward, but it could've been worse.
The next morning, we caught a bus at 11 to go back to the airport. We went to our gate, and it just happened to be Hello Kitty themed, complete with statues, pink chairs, and obnoxiously happy music. It was awesome. Our flight was delayed 45 minutes (go figure), but we still made it back before 6.
The whole trip was really relaxed, and it was great. I love Taiwan, and hopefully I'll get to go back. The difference between Taipei and Hong Kong, to me, is the same kind of difference there is between Atlanta and NYC: the people are just nicer. People in Taiwan will speak Mandarin back to you, and they really try to help, even if they can't understand you. People in Hong Kong either speak English back to you, or they pretend they can't understand you. I mean, I like HK and NYC, but I prefer cities like Taipei and Atlanta.
Well, that's all I've got. I'll be updating soon on this past week. I hope everything's going better back home! I miss you all!
Our plane left at 8:15 am, so we had to leave HKUST at 5:30 am. I decided that I was going to try to go to sleep because didn't want to be dead in the morning. Well, the Fourster Army made sure that didn't happen. They were still up and making noise when I woke up at 4:30. There is a girl on my hall that cackles like a hyena. I honestly thought there was a cat squealing or something.
We ended up taking a cab all the way to the airport because the buses apparently don't run that early in the morning. That was fine with me, it was much easier. I had a bottle of apple juice in my purse, and of course it opened and spilled all in my purse. That was great. We went to our terminal, which had no seats in front of it, so we sat at another terminal with people flying to London. It was the first time I've been surrounded by white people in nearly two months. They were all flying from Australia to London, and just happened to have a layover in HK. The airport made our first and final boarding call a little before 8, and we were on our way.
I forgot how much I love Taiwan. The people there are really nice, the food is awesome, and they speak Mandarin there. Unfortunately, it rained all weekend. Other than that, it was great, though. Our hostel was so much nicer than the one in Manila. Apparently this is what most hostels are actually like. Ana, Brittanie, and I had a 4 person room to ourselves the first night, which was nice.
The first day, we explored around our hostel and visited Taipei 101, the world's tallest building. It was really cloudy, so you couldn't see that much. You could, however, see the clouds moving under you in the observatory. That was pretty cool. After that, we went to see Longshan Temple, which I've been to before. It's a really pretty temple, with a waterfall outside. That night, we ate at this really cool American-style restaurant. The food was really good, and they played a lot of random Green Day songs. It was great. We also walked around some shops in the area, and found my favorite place in Asia: Mister Donut. For those of you who have never tried it, Mister Donut is the most amazing donut place in the world. It's a million times better than Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme combined.
The next day, we met up with a couple of people from HKUST that were staying in our hostel for lunch. We went to a restaurant called Modern Toilet. It was as interesting as it sounds. The chairs are toilets, and the tables are bathtubs with a sheet of glass over the top. They serve your food in mini toilets, and they serve drinks in urinals. There were also random faucets and shower heads on the wall. It was an experience. The food was actually really good, though. After that, we went to Shilin to see the National Palace Museum. I realized when we got there that I went there last time I was in Taiwan. They've definitely improved their supply of art since the last time I was there. After that, we went to the Shilin Market. I didn't end up buying anything, but it was still pretty cool. We got a roommate that night. He was from Australia, and was just kind of bumming around Asia for a few months. It was a little awkward, but it could've been worse.
The next morning, we caught a bus at 11 to go back to the airport. We went to our gate, and it just happened to be Hello Kitty themed, complete with statues, pink chairs, and obnoxiously happy music. It was awesome. Our flight was delayed 45 minutes (go figure), but we still made it back before 6.
The whole trip was really relaxed, and it was great. I love Taiwan, and hopefully I'll get to go back. The difference between Taipei and Hong Kong, to me, is the same kind of difference there is between Atlanta and NYC: the people are just nicer. People in Taiwan will speak Mandarin back to you, and they really try to help, even if they can't understand you. People in Hong Kong either speak English back to you, or they pretend they can't understand you. I mean, I like HK and NYC, but I prefer cities like Taipei and Atlanta.
Well, that's all I've got. I'll be updating soon on this past week. I hope everything's going better back home! I miss you all!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Week 6-6.5
Not too much has happened in the past week and a half. Just classes and recuperating from the Philippines. Here's some highlights:
I don't think I mentioned it before, but there are a lot of guys in my musical theater dance class. There's as many guys as there are girls (I know, weird). Well, we have been singing the song "I Have a Dream" from Mamma Mia, and there's one boy that doesn't seem to want to sing it an octave lower like all of the other guys. Well, soprano boy can't hit those notes. It sounds awful, but it's hilarious. I just don't understand soprano boy.
All of the other hall and organization cabinets have cleared out of the atrium, except the Fourster Army (of course), the Magic Club (yes, such a thing exists), and the Accounting Club. The Fourster Army continues to march around the building chanting (which they're doing right now), and I'm pretty sure it's never going to end. The Accounting Club had a fashion show the other day, which consisted of girls in strange dresses, and hearing the song "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion on repeat. This is all just randomly going on in the atrium in the middle of the day during classes.
I had my first test. It was in Chinese, and it was pretty easy. We're not even using characters until the end of the semester. I did have to record myself speaking Chinese, and then I had to e-mail it to the professor. That was kind of weird. There's only 10 of us, so I'm pretty sure she could've just let us do it in class. Whatev.
Yesterday, my sorority sister Christina came into town on a business trip, so I got to hang out with her for a little bit. We ate at a Vietnamese place that my roommate had been to before, and then we went to the Temple Street night market. It was awesome, and it was really good to see a familiar face.
On my way back to the University, some creepy guys that were from Africa were trying to talk to me while I was on the phone, and kept asking me to hang up. I just walked away quickly.
I also got a card from Laura yesterday, which was really exciting :). I can't find the post office on campus to get stamps to mail anything home yet, or postcards. The signs on campus don't actually tell you the right way to go. There's one that's supposed to point to the supermarket, and it's on the wrong floor. It's crazy.
Well, I'm about to go to bed (yes at 9:30) because I have to leave HKUST at 5 am to get to the airport for an 8 am flight to Taipei. That means I will be MIA until Sunday. I'll try really hard to update sooner after this trip! I miss you all! Facebook/skype/AIM/e-mail me!
I don't think I mentioned it before, but there are a lot of guys in my musical theater dance class. There's as many guys as there are girls (I know, weird). Well, we have been singing the song "I Have a Dream" from Mamma Mia, and there's one boy that doesn't seem to want to sing it an octave lower like all of the other guys. Well, soprano boy can't hit those notes. It sounds awful, but it's hilarious. I just don't understand soprano boy.
All of the other hall and organization cabinets have cleared out of the atrium, except the Fourster Army (of course), the Magic Club (yes, such a thing exists), and the Accounting Club. The Fourster Army continues to march around the building chanting (which they're doing right now), and I'm pretty sure it's never going to end. The Accounting Club had a fashion show the other day, which consisted of girls in strange dresses, and hearing the song "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion on repeat. This is all just randomly going on in the atrium in the middle of the day during classes.
I had my first test. It was in Chinese, and it was pretty easy. We're not even using characters until the end of the semester. I did have to record myself speaking Chinese, and then I had to e-mail it to the professor. That was kind of weird. There's only 10 of us, so I'm pretty sure she could've just let us do it in class. Whatev.
Yesterday, my sorority sister Christina came into town on a business trip, so I got to hang out with her for a little bit. We ate at a Vietnamese place that my roommate had been to before, and then we went to the Temple Street night market. It was awesome, and it was really good to see a familiar face.
On my way back to the University, some creepy guys that were from Africa were trying to talk to me while I was on the phone, and kept asking me to hang up. I just walked away quickly.
I also got a card from Laura yesterday, which was really exciting :). I can't find the post office on campus to get stamps to mail anything home yet, or postcards. The signs on campus don't actually tell you the right way to go. There's one that's supposed to point to the supermarket, and it's on the wrong floor. It's crazy.
Well, I'm about to go to bed (yes at 9:30) because I have to leave HKUST at 5 am to get to the airport for an 8 am flight to Taipei. That means I will be MIA until Sunday. I'll try really hard to update sooner after this trip! I miss you all! Facebook/skype/AIM/e-mail me!
Friday, February 27, 2009
End week 5 - the Philippines
It's come to my attention that some of you were worried that, since I didn't update my blog, I didn't make it back from the Philippines. Sorry about that. I definitely made it back. Anyways, here's a recap of my adventures in the Philippines:
Five people went on my trip: Ana, Brittanie, Anish, Nupur, and myself. We left campus at 6 pm on Thursday, and had to take 2 buses for approximately 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport. After finding some amazingly Americanized Chinese food, we find out our flight has been delayed. We didn't actually make it to Manila until around 1 am. I would also like to reiterate how much I hate flying. Especially when the weather isn't so good.
Once we got to Manila, we went straight to our hostel. This is the first time I've ever stayed in one, so it was definitely interesting. The beds there were actually more comfortable than the ones at HKUST. I didn't take a shower there though, the bathroom was infested w/ mosquitos, and I'd really rather not get malaria.
We got up at 8 am, so I only got a few hours of sleep. Then we went out and explored Manila for a few hours until we had to be at the airport for our flight to Virac. We took a cab to Rizal Park, which the lady that owned the hostel told us was the place to go if we only had a few hours. We had to take 2 cabs, so the group got split up. We took the cab to the US embassy because it was close to the park. Apparently, you're not supposed to take pictures of the embassy, even if you're an American citizen. The guards get really angry. After getting yelled at, Brittanie, Anish, and I were trying to find Ana and Nupur, but we didn't know if their cab had even gotten there yet. While we were looking, a guard walks up to us and tells us the other white girl had just crossed the street. Sure enough, the other white girl was Ana. It was hilarious. The park was cool. There were lots of statues, and apparently people bring their chickens to the park and tie them up while they sit in the park. That was interesting.
The Philippines has one up on HK because it has Mountain Dew. It was wonderful. After we stopped to get a drink, we took a Jeepnie (or at least that's what it sounded like people were calling it) to the airport. Or at least, we thought we were taking it to the airport. Anyways, a jeepnie is kind of like the old jeep trucks they used to transport soldiers around the Philippines during WWII. It's apparently the most popular (and cheapest) mode of transportation there. And they don't try to rip the white people off like the cab drivers. So we take the jeepnie as far as it goes, which turns out to not be the airport, and then we had to take a taxi the rest of the way. We convince the driver to take all 5 of us, and it was the most packed cab ride of my life. It was definitely a bonding experience.
Of course our next flight gets delayed as well, so we don't end up leaving until around 5:30 pm. We did find a really good restaurant in the airport though, so that was exciting. The plane we took to Virac was pretty tiny, which isn't surprising, given that they only get 1 flight a day there. While we were waiting, we end up meeting the mayor of a city near Virac called Barras, and he gives us the card of a place there, and tells us he'll see us the next day. The plane has 4 seats per row, so of course I have to sit in a different row by a stranger. And, because this is my life, he's a ridiculously chatty stranger that won't let me just read my book. He was borderline creepy actually, asking me where in the states I live, and how old I am. And he took a picture of me with his cell phone. Creeper. Apparently he was in the mayor's posse (which I'm pretty sure took up the rest of the plane), and they were just really excited to see white people. Their island doesn't get a lot of tourists.
After a rough plane ride, we finally make it to Virac. There wasn't enough room in the cab of the truck for all of us to ride, so I sat in the back with Anish and Nupur. What I neglected to realize was that blonde-haired people draw a lot more attention in the Philippines than they do in HK, and they draw even more attention when they ride in the back of a truck. I didn't really have time to concentrate on that though, because they guy was driving really fast over unpaved roads, and I was concentrating on not falling off.
The resort we stayed at in Virac was really nice. It was on the beach, and the rooms had A/C and a TV, so we couldn't complain. We got there around 7, so we didn't really get to do a lot there. Not that there was much to do. We got up at 5:30 the next morning (not my decision), and walked around the beach for a while.
We left Virac at 9 am to go to the resort in Barras. We end up waiting for like 2 hours for a jeepnie to take us to Barras. The ride itself took 1 1/2 hours, and I had legitimate reasons to fear for my life. I don't know how that thing didn't flip over. And while the crazy ride is going on, people are taking pictures of us with their cell phone, like it's completely normal. Then we get to Barras, and we have no idea how to find the mayor. So we take what they call a "tricycle"/"tuck-tuck" to the resort that he told us about. A tricycle is a dirt bike with a covered sidecar. And we had to fit 5 people and 5 bags on this thing. Nupur and I ended up riding on the dirt bike with the driver, while Ana, Brittanie, and Anish ride in the sidecar. It was definitely an experience.
We get to the resort, and it turns out that they guy who owns it is from Hawaii. He was really awesome, and the food there was really good. The only drawback was that the girls' room had a clear bathroom. Like, the walls were glass. So we all had to leave the room when someone had to go to the bathroom. We ended up showering in the guys room while everyone was watching TV. We hung out on the beach and watched The Born Ultimatum on HBO that night. And the mayor ends up coming by the resort to make sure we ended up there. And then we had to get up at 5:30 again, so we could leave by 7 to get to the airport.
We left that early because we assumed that the trip would take as long as it had the day before. Well, 2 tricycles and a jeepnie ride later, we were 2 hours early for check-in. And the Virac airport will not let you check-in early. So we just had to hang out in a cafe across the street for a couple of hours. Well, at least it gave me time time to finish Gone with the Wind, which is one of the best books I've ever read. Seriously, everyone needs to read this book. So, we finally get to check in, and then we all take a nap while we wait for the plane, which is of course delayed again. Apparently the island lifestyle means that no one cares about schedules.
I didn't have to sit by a stranger on the way back, so that was good. The plane ride was still rough, and I still hate planes, but we made it in time to make our next flight, which was also delayed. Go figure. We finally made it back to HKUST, and I pretty much fell immediately asleep. And that's the end of my adventure. I'll update about week 6 in a few days. Skype/facebook/AIM me!
Five people went on my trip: Ana, Brittanie, Anish, Nupur, and myself. We left campus at 6 pm on Thursday, and had to take 2 buses for approximately 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport. After finding some amazingly Americanized Chinese food, we find out our flight has been delayed. We didn't actually make it to Manila until around 1 am. I would also like to reiterate how much I hate flying. Especially when the weather isn't so good.
Once we got to Manila, we went straight to our hostel. This is the first time I've ever stayed in one, so it was definitely interesting. The beds there were actually more comfortable than the ones at HKUST. I didn't take a shower there though, the bathroom was infested w/ mosquitos, and I'd really rather not get malaria.
We got up at 8 am, so I only got a few hours of sleep. Then we went out and explored Manila for a few hours until we had to be at the airport for our flight to Virac. We took a cab to Rizal Park, which the lady that owned the hostel told us was the place to go if we only had a few hours. We had to take 2 cabs, so the group got split up. We took the cab to the US embassy because it was close to the park. Apparently, you're not supposed to take pictures of the embassy, even if you're an American citizen. The guards get really angry. After getting yelled at, Brittanie, Anish, and I were trying to find Ana and Nupur, but we didn't know if their cab had even gotten there yet. While we were looking, a guard walks up to us and tells us the other white girl had just crossed the street. Sure enough, the other white girl was Ana. It was hilarious. The park was cool. There were lots of statues, and apparently people bring their chickens to the park and tie them up while they sit in the park. That was interesting.
The Philippines has one up on HK because it has Mountain Dew. It was wonderful. After we stopped to get a drink, we took a Jeepnie (or at least that's what it sounded like people were calling it) to the airport. Or at least, we thought we were taking it to the airport. Anyways, a jeepnie is kind of like the old jeep trucks they used to transport soldiers around the Philippines during WWII. It's apparently the most popular (and cheapest) mode of transportation there. And they don't try to rip the white people off like the cab drivers. So we take the jeepnie as far as it goes, which turns out to not be the airport, and then we had to take a taxi the rest of the way. We convince the driver to take all 5 of us, and it was the most packed cab ride of my life. It was definitely a bonding experience.
Of course our next flight gets delayed as well, so we don't end up leaving until around 5:30 pm. We did find a really good restaurant in the airport though, so that was exciting. The plane we took to Virac was pretty tiny, which isn't surprising, given that they only get 1 flight a day there. While we were waiting, we end up meeting the mayor of a city near Virac called Barras, and he gives us the card of a place there, and tells us he'll see us the next day. The plane has 4 seats per row, so of course I have to sit in a different row by a stranger. And, because this is my life, he's a ridiculously chatty stranger that won't let me just read my book. He was borderline creepy actually, asking me where in the states I live, and how old I am. And he took a picture of me with his cell phone. Creeper. Apparently he was in the mayor's posse (which I'm pretty sure took up the rest of the plane), and they were just really excited to see white people. Their island doesn't get a lot of tourists.
After a rough plane ride, we finally make it to Virac. There wasn't enough room in the cab of the truck for all of us to ride, so I sat in the back with Anish and Nupur. What I neglected to realize was that blonde-haired people draw a lot more attention in the Philippines than they do in HK, and they draw even more attention when they ride in the back of a truck. I didn't really have time to concentrate on that though, because they guy was driving really fast over unpaved roads, and I was concentrating on not falling off.
The resort we stayed at in Virac was really nice. It was on the beach, and the rooms had A/C and a TV, so we couldn't complain. We got there around 7, so we didn't really get to do a lot there. Not that there was much to do. We got up at 5:30 the next morning (not my decision), and walked around the beach for a while.
We left Virac at 9 am to go to the resort in Barras. We end up waiting for like 2 hours for a jeepnie to take us to Barras. The ride itself took 1 1/2 hours, and I had legitimate reasons to fear for my life. I don't know how that thing didn't flip over. And while the crazy ride is going on, people are taking pictures of us with their cell phone, like it's completely normal. Then we get to Barras, and we have no idea how to find the mayor. So we take what they call a "tricycle"/"tuck-tuck" to the resort that he told us about. A tricycle is a dirt bike with a covered sidecar. And we had to fit 5 people and 5 bags on this thing. Nupur and I ended up riding on the dirt bike with the driver, while Ana, Brittanie, and Anish ride in the sidecar. It was definitely an experience.
We get to the resort, and it turns out that they guy who owns it is from Hawaii. He was really awesome, and the food there was really good. The only drawback was that the girls' room had a clear bathroom. Like, the walls were glass. So we all had to leave the room when someone had to go to the bathroom. We ended up showering in the guys room while everyone was watching TV. We hung out on the beach and watched The Born Ultimatum on HBO that night. And the mayor ends up coming by the resort to make sure we ended up there. And then we had to get up at 5:30 again, so we could leave by 7 to get to the airport.
We left that early because we assumed that the trip would take as long as it had the day before. Well, 2 tricycles and a jeepnie ride later, we were 2 hours early for check-in. And the Virac airport will not let you check-in early. So we just had to hang out in a cafe across the street for a couple of hours. Well, at least it gave me time time to finish Gone with the Wind, which is one of the best books I've ever read. Seriously, everyone needs to read this book. So, we finally get to check in, and then we all take a nap while we wait for the plane, which is of course delayed again. Apparently the island lifestyle means that no one cares about schedules.
I didn't have to sit by a stranger on the way back, so that was good. The plane ride was still rough, and I still hate planes, but we made it in time to make our next flight, which was also delayed. Go figure. We finally made it back to HKUST, and I pretty much fell immediately asleep. And that's the end of my adventure. I'll update about week 6 in a few days. Skype/facebook/AIM me!
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