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!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Week 4
Yes, I realize that it has almost 2 weeks since I've updated my blog. I'm sorry, but hopefully this will be interesting enough to make up for it.
I've officially been here for a month. It feels like I've been here much longer. I'm having a good time though. My classes are pretty boring, but at least they're not too hard. My roommate is awesome, and I'm really glad I didn't get a crazy roommate. Too bad I live in the crazy building.
Last week, I got a card from Rachel, and a package from my parents all in the same day. It was awesome. I have my Camp Rock card from Rachel, my dog-shaped card from Belle, and my flipping sweet Napoleon Dynamite card from my family all displayed in my room. I also got candy and much-coveted Easy Mac in my package. Plus a stuffed dog that looks like Belle. I was really excited. Currently, about a third of the Easy Mac is gone. There is no macaroni and cheese to be found anywhere on this continent, I'm pretty sure, so the Easy Mac was very exciting. I also got something called Easy Italia, which is alfredo Easy Mac. It's actually pretty good. So, thanks to Rachel and my family!
The cabinet of my hall, who call themselves the Fourster Army, ditched the army attire and the lime green duct tape outfits, and are now wearing furry pale green onesies. I've been trying really hard to get a picture, but I can't find a way to do that without offending them.
Last Wednesday, I went to my first ever horse racing track. It wasn't what I expected. There were little booths where people did your nails for free (unless you were at the bottom of the waiting list like us :P) or told your fortune with tarot cards. It was interesting. I only bet twice, and only $10 HKD. My first horse came in 3rd. I bet on him because his name, Happee Gift, was spelled wrong. My second horse, Wait For Me, didn't place. I was really hoping that they named him that to lull his competition into a false sense of security, but apparently that wasn't the reason. It's ok though, I only lost 50 cents. Which is a little more than a nickel. We also went to California Pizza Kitchen before the races, which was amazing. I love CPK.
This weekend, my roommate and I went to Sha Tin to shop. I finally got another pillow, so that was good. And I got some shorts to take to the Philippines. After that, we met up with a big group of exchange students and went to Pizza Hut. In case you didn't know, Pizza Hut is about a 5 star restaurant here. And of course, we forgot it was Valentines Day, so it was packed. It was so worth it though. Afterwards, we went "out." I'm not the biggest fan of going out, but I figured I should just go along with it. The club ended up not letting my roommate in because she had on sandals, so I just went back with her. Which was fine with me.
On Sunday, my roommate and I went to a Chinese ballet. There were four parts to the ballet. The first part was normal, classical ballet. The next 3 parts, however, were just plain weird. In one of them, about 3/4 of the ballet was in silence, and the music would just randomly come in short bursts. The others were more like interpretive dance. It was just really strange. But at least it was entertaining.
On Monday, I decided that I should probably go find some dance shoes, since my musical theater dance class was starting on Tuesday. I found a store online that was in Tsim Sha Tsui, so I went down there after class to find it. I find the place just fine, which is a miracle given my horrible sense of direction. Unfortunately, I found out that the dancewear store closed last week. A new restaurant had just opened there that day. That was so my luck.
I had my first dance class yesterday. I just danced in my converses. There's one other exchange student in the class from the Czech Republic. She's really cool. We started off singing a song from Mamma Mia called "I Have a Dream." The instructor was trying to tell us to sing it softly, and told the class, "It's not like Martin Luther King!" Now, I laughed really hard when she said this, because to me, that was hilarious. Of course, it's not funny to all of the non-American people in the room. After that, I found out that we were learning the "Ladies' Choice" dance from Hairspray. Which would've been a lot more exciting if I didn't already know it. The DVD teaches you how to do it. We also got to watch part of Hairspray, so the class could see what the dance looked like. She tried to explain the plot, which didn't go very well. She never mentioned the whole integration thing, you know, the whole premise of the movie. She let the movie keep going after the dance a little bit, and we got to watch the part where Tracy's mom (John Travolta) is saying "It's a big fake Hollywood set, all of it! You want me to believe he's really up there?!" and Penny (Amanda Bynes) says, "It's not John Glenn, Mrs. Turnblad!" This is one of my favorite lines in the movie, so I laughed. And of course, no one else does, because they have no idea who John Glenn is. Oh well, at least the class will be fun. And entertaining.
Today, they split my Chinese class in half, and let some people on the waiting list into my old class. Now 10 of us are in another class with a different teacher. She seems nice, but she's a little confused because she just found out she was teaching this class on Monday. She also informed us that we have a test next Friday. Apparently the other teacher neglected to tell us this. Great.
Last night, at approximately 11:30, we had a Chinese fire drill. Literally. Unfortunately, there was no running in a circle around the building. I was disappointed. Why 11:30, you ask? Apparently because the library closes at 11, and they want to make sure that everyone participates in the fire drill. It makes me appreciate Tech so much more. Who has fire drills at 11:30?! As were waiting outside, the crazy Fourster Army in their furry onesies climb this hill and start they're creepy, Hitler Youth-esque chants. They are SO weird.
Tomorrow night, I'm leaving for the Philippines. We're spending the night and half of the day in Manila, and then we're flying to Virac and staying in a resort on the beach until Sunday. For $5 USD a night. I'm really excited. Apparently it's a really good place to surf, so hopefully I'll be learning to do that this weekend. If I can get over my whole shark-phobia. We'll see.
Well, I'll probably be MIA until I get back from the Philippines, and I'll try to update as soon as I get back, so you know I made it back alive. I miss you all! Leave comments, they make me happy :)
Oh, and here are my quotes for the week (and a half):
"Love Boat Save The Girl" - on a girl's shirt
"Let me get that information correct later." - my Contemporary Issues of East Asia professor
I've officially been here for a month. It feels like I've been here much longer. I'm having a good time though. My classes are pretty boring, but at least they're not too hard. My roommate is awesome, and I'm really glad I didn't get a crazy roommate. Too bad I live in the crazy building.
Last week, I got a card from Rachel, and a package from my parents all in the same day. It was awesome. I have my Camp Rock card from Rachel, my dog-shaped card from Belle, and my flipping sweet Napoleon Dynamite card from my family all displayed in my room. I also got candy and much-coveted Easy Mac in my package. Plus a stuffed dog that looks like Belle. I was really excited. Currently, about a third of the Easy Mac is gone. There is no macaroni and cheese to be found anywhere on this continent, I'm pretty sure, so the Easy Mac was very exciting. I also got something called Easy Italia, which is alfredo Easy Mac. It's actually pretty good. So, thanks to Rachel and my family!
The cabinet of my hall, who call themselves the Fourster Army, ditched the army attire and the lime green duct tape outfits, and are now wearing furry pale green onesies. I've been trying really hard to get a picture, but I can't find a way to do that without offending them.
Last Wednesday, I went to my first ever horse racing track. It wasn't what I expected. There were little booths where people did your nails for free (unless you were at the bottom of the waiting list like us :P) or told your fortune with tarot cards. It was interesting. I only bet twice, and only $10 HKD. My first horse came in 3rd. I bet on him because his name, Happee Gift, was spelled wrong. My second horse, Wait For Me, didn't place. I was really hoping that they named him that to lull his competition into a false sense of security, but apparently that wasn't the reason. It's ok though, I only lost 50 cents. Which is a little more than a nickel. We also went to California Pizza Kitchen before the races, which was amazing. I love CPK.
This weekend, my roommate and I went to Sha Tin to shop. I finally got another pillow, so that was good. And I got some shorts to take to the Philippines. After that, we met up with a big group of exchange students and went to Pizza Hut. In case you didn't know, Pizza Hut is about a 5 star restaurant here. And of course, we forgot it was Valentines Day, so it was packed. It was so worth it though. Afterwards, we went "out." I'm not the biggest fan of going out, but I figured I should just go along with it. The club ended up not letting my roommate in because she had on sandals, so I just went back with her. Which was fine with me.
On Sunday, my roommate and I went to a Chinese ballet. There were four parts to the ballet. The first part was normal, classical ballet. The next 3 parts, however, were just plain weird. In one of them, about 3/4 of the ballet was in silence, and the music would just randomly come in short bursts. The others were more like interpretive dance. It was just really strange. But at least it was entertaining.
On Monday, I decided that I should probably go find some dance shoes, since my musical theater dance class was starting on Tuesday. I found a store online that was in Tsim Sha Tsui, so I went down there after class to find it. I find the place just fine, which is a miracle given my horrible sense of direction. Unfortunately, I found out that the dancewear store closed last week. A new restaurant had just opened there that day. That was so my luck.
I had my first dance class yesterday. I just danced in my converses. There's one other exchange student in the class from the Czech Republic. She's really cool. We started off singing a song from Mamma Mia called "I Have a Dream." The instructor was trying to tell us to sing it softly, and told the class, "It's not like Martin Luther King!" Now, I laughed really hard when she said this, because to me, that was hilarious. Of course, it's not funny to all of the non-American people in the room. After that, I found out that we were learning the "Ladies' Choice" dance from Hairspray. Which would've been a lot more exciting if I didn't already know it. The DVD teaches you how to do it. We also got to watch part of Hairspray, so the class could see what the dance looked like. She tried to explain the plot, which didn't go very well. She never mentioned the whole integration thing, you know, the whole premise of the movie. She let the movie keep going after the dance a little bit, and we got to watch the part where Tracy's mom (John Travolta) is saying "It's a big fake Hollywood set, all of it! You want me to believe he's really up there?!" and Penny (Amanda Bynes) says, "It's not John Glenn, Mrs. Turnblad!" This is one of my favorite lines in the movie, so I laughed. And of course, no one else does, because they have no idea who John Glenn is. Oh well, at least the class will be fun. And entertaining.
Today, they split my Chinese class in half, and let some people on the waiting list into my old class. Now 10 of us are in another class with a different teacher. She seems nice, but she's a little confused because she just found out she was teaching this class on Monday. She also informed us that we have a test next Friday. Apparently the other teacher neglected to tell us this. Great.
Last night, at approximately 11:30, we had a Chinese fire drill. Literally. Unfortunately, there was no running in a circle around the building. I was disappointed. Why 11:30, you ask? Apparently because the library closes at 11, and they want to make sure that everyone participates in the fire drill. It makes me appreciate Tech so much more. Who has fire drills at 11:30?! As were waiting outside, the crazy Fourster Army in their furry onesies climb this hill and start they're creepy, Hitler Youth-esque chants. They are SO weird.
Tomorrow night, I'm leaving for the Philippines. We're spending the night and half of the day in Manila, and then we're flying to Virac and staying in a resort on the beach until Sunday. For $5 USD a night. I'm really excited. Apparently it's a really good place to surf, so hopefully I'll be learning to do that this weekend. If I can get over my whole shark-phobia. We'll see.
Well, I'll probably be MIA until I get back from the Philippines, and I'll try to update as soon as I get back, so you know I made it back alive. I miss you all! Leave comments, they make me happy :)
Oh, and here are my quotes for the week (and a half):
"Love Boat Save The Girl" - on a girl's shirt
"Let me get that information correct later." - my Contemporary Issues of East Asia professor
Friday, February 6, 2009
Week 3 - School
I've officially finished my first week of classes, so here's the rundown:
I'm taking 4 real classes (which last 1 1/2 hours :P), and one "fitness" class.
My first class is Intro to Microeconomics, which I have on Mondays and Wednesdays. Apparently, high schools in HK don't teach economics, so my entire class is a repeat of Mr. Nolen's class. Which I have no problem with. I'm glad Mr. Nolen was such a good teacher, because I remember everything that was on the syllabus. The professor even mentioned Levi jeans. Too bad this class doesn't have any simulations or field trips to Best Buy.
My second class is Intro to Chinese Society, which I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This class is almost identical to the class I took with Dr. Garver last semester, so it shouldn't be too bad. The lecture notes are also posted online, so it shouldn't be hard to get a good grade. Except that all of the classes here are graded on a curve, so everyone can't get an A. I think this is dumb, but whatever. He also gives random pop quizzes to make sure you come to class. Lame.
My third class is Contemporary Issues in East Asia, which is also on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is just like the classes I took last time I studied abroad, so it's just as boring as the last one. And he gives random pop quizzes.
My fourth class is Mandarin I for Non-Chinese Students. I know I've taken 4 semesters of Mandarin, but Tech doesn't approve Mandarin II. It's nice to finally have a Chinese class without Chinese students. For once, I don't feel like I'm way behind everyone else. It's great, and really entertaining. I also looked at the role sheet, and there's totally a guy in my class named Aslan. It made me laugh.
I'm really excited about my fitness class because it's Musical Theater Dancing. It's going to be awesome! But now I have to find some jazz shoes in HK. I'm sure there are some, I just don't know where to find them. They didn't cover that in orientation.
All of the AGDs - You should all get really excited about Greek Sing! I've been talking to MK, Caryn, and Jessie, and it's going to be amazing! I'm so jealous I'm not there :(.
All of the local kids in my hall are are insane. Apparently, there's a lot of competition between the different halls here, and I live in the one that takes it the most seriously. The cabinet (which I'm guessing is their equivalent of RHA) named themselves "Fourster," and have been dressed up in army costumes marching around campus and the hall. They scare me. They march down every floor chanting and knocking on doors. I always pretend I'm not here. They all have matching shirts, jackets, and even lime green pants that look like they're made from duct tape. My roommate and I went to the common room for some event they were having and got free food, so that was fun. Unfortunately, it didn't make me any less scared of them.
There's an atrium here that is kind of like Skiles Walkway, only on crack. All of the crazy cabinet people from the halls and organizations congregate here to ambush you on your way to class. The crazy Fourster Army people from my hall built a booth and a tank. I'm telling you, they're insane. The most creative name for a hall cabinet I've come across so far is Hall 5, who named theirs Vodka. I wish I could avoid the atrium, but you have to walk through there to get to the building where the classes are.
I've seen 2 funny quotes that I couldn't take a picture of, so I'll just write them here:
-"I am not a plastic bag." - some girl's purse.
-"Fake has no spirit." - some guy's shirt.
I have yet to buy a nonsense English shirt, but I'm on the lookout.
A couple of days ago, my friends from Tech and I decided to go to the Philippines in a couple of weeks, so I'm really excited about that. Of course, right while I'm trying to buy these tickets, I find out that Charter Bank has put a lock on my credit card, so I spend a lot of valuable minutes on the phone with them trying to figure out what's going on. Thankfully, they fixed it, and I got my flight booked. It was very stressful.
I finished The Host Sunday, and it was pretty good. Still no Twilight, but good. I went out and got The Devil Wears Prada and Gone with the Wind Wednesday, and I finished The Devil Wears Prada yesterday. It was hilarious. I'm really glad I found that bookstore. And yes, I know I'm a geek.
Well, I'm about to go get dinner. Skype/facebook/e-mail/snail-mail me :). I miss you all!
I'm taking 4 real classes (which last 1 1/2 hours :P), and one "fitness" class.
My first class is Intro to Microeconomics, which I have on Mondays and Wednesdays. Apparently, high schools in HK don't teach economics, so my entire class is a repeat of Mr. Nolen's class. Which I have no problem with. I'm glad Mr. Nolen was such a good teacher, because I remember everything that was on the syllabus. The professor even mentioned Levi jeans. Too bad this class doesn't have any simulations or field trips to Best Buy.
My second class is Intro to Chinese Society, which I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This class is almost identical to the class I took with Dr. Garver last semester, so it shouldn't be too bad. The lecture notes are also posted online, so it shouldn't be hard to get a good grade. Except that all of the classes here are graded on a curve, so everyone can't get an A. I think this is dumb, but whatever. He also gives random pop quizzes to make sure you come to class. Lame.
My third class is Contemporary Issues in East Asia, which is also on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is just like the classes I took last time I studied abroad, so it's just as boring as the last one. And he gives random pop quizzes.
My fourth class is Mandarin I for Non-Chinese Students. I know I've taken 4 semesters of Mandarin, but Tech doesn't approve Mandarin II. It's nice to finally have a Chinese class without Chinese students. For once, I don't feel like I'm way behind everyone else. It's great, and really entertaining. I also looked at the role sheet, and there's totally a guy in my class named Aslan. It made me laugh.
I'm really excited about my fitness class because it's Musical Theater Dancing. It's going to be awesome! But now I have to find some jazz shoes in HK. I'm sure there are some, I just don't know where to find them. They didn't cover that in orientation.
All of the AGDs - You should all get really excited about Greek Sing! I've been talking to MK, Caryn, and Jessie, and it's going to be amazing! I'm so jealous I'm not there :(.
All of the local kids in my hall are are insane. Apparently, there's a lot of competition between the different halls here, and I live in the one that takes it the most seriously. The cabinet (which I'm guessing is their equivalent of RHA) named themselves "Fourster," and have been dressed up in army costumes marching around campus and the hall. They scare me. They march down every floor chanting and knocking on doors. I always pretend I'm not here. They all have matching shirts, jackets, and even lime green pants that look like they're made from duct tape. My roommate and I went to the common room for some event they were having and got free food, so that was fun. Unfortunately, it didn't make me any less scared of them.
There's an atrium here that is kind of like Skiles Walkway, only on crack. All of the crazy cabinet people from the halls and organizations congregate here to ambush you on your way to class. The crazy Fourster Army people from my hall built a booth and a tank. I'm telling you, they're insane. The most creative name for a hall cabinet I've come across so far is Hall 5, who named theirs Vodka. I wish I could avoid the atrium, but you have to walk through there to get to the building where the classes are.
I've seen 2 funny quotes that I couldn't take a picture of, so I'll just write them here:
-"I am not a plastic bag." - some girl's purse.
-"Fake has no spirit." - some guy's shirt.
I have yet to buy a nonsense English shirt, but I'm on the lookout.
A couple of days ago, my friends from Tech and I decided to go to the Philippines in a couple of weeks, so I'm really excited about that. Of course, right while I'm trying to buy these tickets, I find out that Charter Bank has put a lock on my credit card, so I spend a lot of valuable minutes on the phone with them trying to figure out what's going on. Thankfully, they fixed it, and I got my flight booked. It was very stressful.
I finished The Host Sunday, and it was pretty good. Still no Twilight, but good. I went out and got The Devil Wears Prada and Gone with the Wind Wednesday, and I finished The Devil Wears Prada yesterday. It was hilarious. I'm really glad I found that bookstore. And yes, I know I'm a geek.
Well, I'm about to go get dinner. Skype/facebook/e-mail/snail-mail me :). I miss you all!
Week 3 - Orientation
So, today's post is going to be in 2 parts. The first is about orientation.
Let me start off by saying that last time I totally forgot to mention that my roommate finally got here in the last post. Her name is Elizabeth, and she's from Cornell. She's awesome. We totally bonded b/c she's a redhead, and I'm blonde, and people on the trains/in the malls/on campus shamelessly stare and point at us because we're obviously foreign. Good times.
Orientation was pretty boring. They just went over all of the university's policies and whatnot. In the business school part of orientation, we had to go around the room and introduce the person next to us. We had to do this for 164 people. It took forever. I couldn't even pronounce the name of the school of the girl that sat next to me. Disaster.
The only interesting part of the entire thing was when the "head warden" from housing gave us his rules, so I wrote them down so I could post them.
King Chow's 10 Commandments (I kid you not, his english name is King Chow):
1. You shall not kill.
2. You shall not steal.
3. You shall not smoke (after he said that one, he reminded us that this one wasn't in the Bible).
4. You shall not dope nor get doped.
5. You shall not cook (We don't have cooking facilities).
6. Game in the hall, there is no hope. (I don't even know...)
7. You shall not drink alcohol (but then he told us that they don't actually check).
8. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated at all (I wish someone would tell that to the people on my hall that scream and blare canto pop all night).
9. You shall not damage the fixture and furniture in the hall.
10. Any report of offenses will be counted to your own loss (which apparently means they'll call our parents & home universities).
And the golden rule: "You shall not dishonor your parents or your home institution."
So, that's all I've got for orientation. A recap of my first week of classes will be posted shortly.
Let me start off by saying that last time I totally forgot to mention that my roommate finally got here in the last post. Her name is Elizabeth, and she's from Cornell. She's awesome. We totally bonded b/c she's a redhead, and I'm blonde, and people on the trains/in the malls/on campus shamelessly stare and point at us because we're obviously foreign. Good times.
Orientation was pretty boring. They just went over all of the university's policies and whatnot. In the business school part of orientation, we had to go around the room and introduce the person next to us. We had to do this for 164 people. It took forever. I couldn't even pronounce the name of the school of the girl that sat next to me. Disaster.
The only interesting part of the entire thing was when the "head warden" from housing gave us his rules, so I wrote them down so I could post them.
King Chow's 10 Commandments (I kid you not, his english name is King Chow):
1. You shall not kill.
2. You shall not steal.
3. You shall not smoke (after he said that one, he reminded us that this one wasn't in the Bible).
4. You shall not dope nor get doped.
5. You shall not cook (We don't have cooking facilities).
6. Game in the hall, there is no hope. (I don't even know...)
7. You shall not drink alcohol (but then he told us that they don't actually check).
8. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated at all (I wish someone would tell that to the people on my hall that scream and blare canto pop all night).
9. You shall not damage the fixture and furniture in the hall.
10. Any report of offenses will be counted to your own loss (which apparently means they'll call our parents & home universities).
And the golden rule: "You shall not dishonor your parents or your home institution."
So, that's all I've got for orientation. A recap of my first week of classes will be posted shortly.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Week 2
Like I said before, I'm really bad at blogging...
...so here's a recap of what I've done my second week here:
I've made a ton of new friends. I also have 29 new facebook friends from the past week. Impressive, I know. All of the exchange students have been hanging out because there's no one else on campus. I've also met some really cool local students. I've explored a lot of HK, and done a little shopping. It's been a blast.
Chinese New Year started Monday and lasted through yesterday. I went to a new year market Sunday night, which was kind of like a fair minus the rides. There were a lot of ridiculous things you could buy, including a huge inflatable iPhone. A few of the guys with us got in a very heated argument trying to haggle for "lucky boxers." It was hilarious. There was a lot of yelling involved.
Monday, I walked around Central with a bunch of people, and we took the world's longest set of escalators. Which I've done before, but it was still fun. That night, we went to the New Year Parade, which is apparently the happiest party in the world. The sign said so. The parade was pretty cool, but I couldn't see much because I was behind a lot of people.
Tuesday, two more kids from Tech got here, so all of the Tech kids and Anastassia's roommate hung out in Tsim Sha Tsui to watch the fireworks. We ended up eating at Shakey's Pizza. It was a lot fancier than the one in Auburn. Go figure. The fireworks were probably the coolest I've ever seen. They put the 4th of July to shame. There were fireworks shaped like fans, butterflies, and yin yangs. It was amazing.
Yesterday, I just hung out on campus. I finished up all of the episodes of Smallville that have already come out for this season, and I started reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. It's good, but not as good as Twilight.
Today, I went to the grocery store because it's been closed for the new year. So I restocked on food, and ended up finding some goldfish crackers, which was really exciting. Tomorrow, I have orientation, which is not so exciting. I'm not really excited for the vacation to end lol.
I'll try to update more often! I miss you all!
...so here's a recap of what I've done my second week here:
I've made a ton of new friends. I also have 29 new facebook friends from the past week. Impressive, I know. All of the exchange students have been hanging out because there's no one else on campus. I've also met some really cool local students. I've explored a lot of HK, and done a little shopping. It's been a blast.
Chinese New Year started Monday and lasted through yesterday. I went to a new year market Sunday night, which was kind of like a fair minus the rides. There were a lot of ridiculous things you could buy, including a huge inflatable iPhone. A few of the guys with us got in a very heated argument trying to haggle for "lucky boxers." It was hilarious. There was a lot of yelling involved.
Monday, I walked around Central with a bunch of people, and we took the world's longest set of escalators. Which I've done before, but it was still fun. That night, we went to the New Year Parade, which is apparently the happiest party in the world. The sign said so. The parade was pretty cool, but I couldn't see much because I was behind a lot of people.
Tuesday, two more kids from Tech got here, so all of the Tech kids and Anastassia's roommate hung out in Tsim Sha Tsui to watch the fireworks. We ended up eating at Shakey's Pizza. It was a lot fancier than the one in Auburn. Go figure. The fireworks were probably the coolest I've ever seen. They put the 4th of July to shame. There were fireworks shaped like fans, butterflies, and yin yangs. It was amazing.
Yesterday, I just hung out on campus. I finished up all of the episodes of Smallville that have already come out for this season, and I started reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. It's good, but not as good as Twilight.
Today, I went to the grocery store because it's been closed for the new year. So I restocked on food, and ended up finding some goldfish crackers, which was really exciting. Tomorrow, I have orientation, which is not so exciting. I'm not really excited for the vacation to end lol.
I'll try to update more often! I miss you all!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Day 7
I've officially been here for a week. It feels like I've been here a lot longer. I'm finally starting to figure out kind of where things are, so that's good.
Anastassia and I went to Central, which is the big shopping/social district. At least I think it is. I don't really know. We didn't get lost though, so that's really what counts.
Last night we met a ton of exchange students from all over. I now have friends from Illinois, California, France, Montreal, Sweden, England, Sweden, and the Netherlands. And some native HK kids too. We all hung out on campus last night, and a bunch of creepy old eMBA people bought us many rounds of drinks. Which I didn't drink, but whatever. It was at least entertaining.
I also decorated my bulletin board above my desk with pictures, so it's a little more homey. Yes, homey, not homely, like Asian people seem to think it is.
I got back pretty late last night, and discovered that people in my dorm wake up and get ready at really early hours in the morning. I saw a girl taking a hair dryer and makeup into the bathroom after 2 am. It was very strange.
It's kind of cold and gross out today. And by cold, I mean low 60s. Which is warm for home right now I guess. It will probably rain soon, but that's good because it will clear out some of the pollution lol.
That's really about all I've got. I'm running out of interesting stories for the blog already! Don't worry, I'll work on it. Skype/AIM/facebook me!
Anastassia and I went to Central, which is the big shopping/social district. At least I think it is. I don't really know. We didn't get lost though, so that's really what counts.
Last night we met a ton of exchange students from all over. I now have friends from Illinois, California, France, Montreal, Sweden, England, Sweden, and the Netherlands. And some native HK kids too. We all hung out on campus last night, and a bunch of creepy old eMBA people bought us many rounds of drinks. Which I didn't drink, but whatever. It was at least entertaining.
I also decorated my bulletin board above my desk with pictures, so it's a little more homey. Yes, homey, not homely, like Asian people seem to think it is.
I got back pretty late last night, and discovered that people in my dorm wake up and get ready at really early hours in the morning. I saw a girl taking a hair dryer and makeup into the bathroom after 2 am. It was very strange.
It's kind of cold and gross out today. And by cold, I mean low 60s. Which is warm for home right now I guess. It will probably rain soon, but that's good because it will clear out some of the pollution lol.
That's really about all I've got. I'm running out of interesting stories for the blog already! Don't worry, I'll work on it. Skype/AIM/facebook me!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Day 6
Belated update for day 6:
Today was good. I booked a flight to Taipei in March, so that will be really fun. Anastassia and I went to H&M in Kowloon Tong, and ended up discovering a random ice skating rink. And I found out that Twilight is still playing here. I might have to see it again lol.
We met more exchange students from Illinois, and we hung out with them last night. We went to the Avenue of the Stars, which has a light show on all of the buildings, but we were too late to watch it. Then we went and hung out at the beach on campus.
I'm not really that homesick anymore. I'm still ready for the semester to start because there's still no one on campus. I'm having fun though.
I've learned one thing in my dorm so far: I hate Cantonese pop music. It may be worse than country music. I haven't decided yet. But it is not legitimate music. It kind of sounds like video game theme music. Also, the native students here have very strange sleeping habits. They're almost nocturnal. They sleep in the afternoon, and they're really loud really late at night/early in the morning. They were seriously blaring Canto pop from around 1:30 am to 5:30am. It was insane.
We only get 2 English channels here, CNN and BBC. I'm not a huge fan of either. So now I'm just watching TV on surfthechannel.com. It has American Idol. And maybe I'll finally finish all of the seasons of the OC.
I'm still working on figuring out how to put pictures up on this blog. There are some on facebook. Here's a link to the album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2167578&id=12818105 . Let me know if it doesn't work, and I'll try to fix it.
I hope everyone's having a great night! Keep in touch!
Today was good. I booked a flight to Taipei in March, so that will be really fun. Anastassia and I went to H&M in Kowloon Tong, and ended up discovering a random ice skating rink. And I found out that Twilight is still playing here. I might have to see it again lol.
We met more exchange students from Illinois, and we hung out with them last night. We went to the Avenue of the Stars, which has a light show on all of the buildings, but we were too late to watch it. Then we went and hung out at the beach on campus.
I'm not really that homesick anymore. I'm still ready for the semester to start because there's still no one on campus. I'm having fun though.
I've learned one thing in my dorm so far: I hate Cantonese pop music. It may be worse than country music. I haven't decided yet. But it is not legitimate music. It kind of sounds like video game theme music. Also, the native students here have very strange sleeping habits. They're almost nocturnal. They sleep in the afternoon, and they're really loud really late at night/early in the morning. They were seriously blaring Canto pop from around 1:30 am to 5:30am. It was insane.
We only get 2 English channels here, CNN and BBC. I'm not a huge fan of either. So now I'm just watching TV on surfthechannel.com. It has American Idol. And maybe I'll finally finish all of the seasons of the OC.
I'm still working on figuring out how to put pictures up on this blog. There are some on facebook. Here's a link to the album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2167578&id=12818105 . Let me know if it doesn't work, and I'll try to fix it.
I hope everyone's having a great night! Keep in touch!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Day 5
Today was a good day. Probably because I had coffee.
We met up with Randy's cousin Vivienne today and had lunch. She's on the news in HK, and she went to British boarding school, so she speaks English really well. She's a really cool person. Afterwards she took Anastassia and me to a mall, which was a lot of fun. I ended up finding 2 game day shirts for really cheap. And I have a picture of a really funny picture that I will post soon.
We also made friends with 2 other exchange students. One girl is from the Netherlands, and the other is from Chicago. They met up with us at HK Times Square, and we ate dinner at a really cool Shanghai-style restaurant. I officially love vegetarian dumplings.
After that, the four of us hung out in hall 1 for a while. This is the first time since I've gotten here that I haven't taken a nap or gone to sleep really early, so hopefully this will get me on a normal schedule.
Well, it's about 1 am here, so I'm going to go to sleep. Skype/AIM/facebook me!
We met up with Randy's cousin Vivienne today and had lunch. She's on the news in HK, and she went to British boarding school, so she speaks English really well. She's a really cool person. Afterwards she took Anastassia and me to a mall, which was a lot of fun. I ended up finding 2 game day shirts for really cheap. And I have a picture of a really funny picture that I will post soon.
We also made friends with 2 other exchange students. One girl is from the Netherlands, and the other is from Chicago. They met up with us at HK Times Square, and we ate dinner at a really cool Shanghai-style restaurant. I officially love vegetarian dumplings.
After that, the four of us hung out in hall 1 for a while. This is the first time since I've gotten here that I haven't taken a nap or gone to sleep really early, so hopefully this will get me on a normal schedule.
Well, it's about 1 am here, so I'm going to go to sleep. Skype/AIM/facebook me!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Day 4
Let me just start off by saying that I've had no caffeine since I left Atlanta. That was 7:30 am last Wednesday. That's 132 hours without caffeine. I'm pretty sure this is a record for me.
Yesterday, I had to pay my housing bill. Which I didn't have one of the forms for because the guy who checked me in spoke no English. It's ok though, they just gave me a new one. I also got my student ID card, which is good. We tried to go get student octopus cards (kind of like debit cards that you can pay for the metro, convenience stores, groceries, etc.), which get you 1/2 price on everything, but the lady sent us to an empty room. So we're going to try that again with someone who speaks Cantonese today.
Anastassia and I also tried to figure out how the canteen here works. We walked around for awhile looking confused, and eventually wound up eating at the Mcdonalds where people spoke English. Which was fine. I really wanted french fries anyway. We also ended up finding the supermarket on campus, which was not on the floor the sign said it was on.
I'm working on the post card thing. I just have to find some. And some stamps. I'm not really sure where to find them yet.
Thanks for all of the comments so far! I really love hearing from everyone. I hope everyone had a great MLK break! Talk to you soon!
Yesterday, I had to pay my housing bill. Which I didn't have one of the forms for because the guy who checked me in spoke no English. It's ok though, they just gave me a new one. I also got my student ID card, which is good. We tried to go get student octopus cards (kind of like debit cards that you can pay for the metro, convenience stores, groceries, etc.), which get you 1/2 price on everything, but the lady sent us to an empty room. So we're going to try that again with someone who speaks Cantonese today.
Anastassia and I also tried to figure out how the canteen here works. We walked around for awhile looking confused, and eventually wound up eating at the Mcdonalds where people spoke English. Which was fine. I really wanted french fries anyway. We also ended up finding the supermarket on campus, which was not on the floor the sign said it was on.
I'm working on the post card thing. I just have to find some. And some stamps. I'm not really sure where to find them yet.
Thanks for all of the comments so far! I really love hearing from everyone. I hope everyone had a great MLK break! Talk to you soon!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Day 3
Here's my belated update on day 3:
Yesterday, I went to a Korean bbq place with some kids from Tech (I'm not a fan lol). One of the guys from Tech has family here, so we met his uncle and aunt there. They were really cool. His cousin is apparently on the news here, and she wants to take us out to do stuff on Tuesday, so that should be fun. His uncle found me a discounted sim card that will work with my phone as soon as T-mobile can unlock my phone. It will give me an HK number, and it will let me call the US without charging long distance. I also went to one of the many malls (there's one at nearly every metro stop) to get groceries, and Ana showed me where an book store was that sells English books. I'm pretty excited about that. I saw a Chinese Twilight book, and I almost bought it, despite the fact that I'll probably never be able to read it. I almost did the same thing with Harry Potter last time I studied abroad.
Unfortunately, the really cheap flight to Korea deal is gone now, so no more Seoul. I'm kind of sad about that. But, I did find out that Rachel and Ilana might be in Bali for spring break, and if I can afford it, I'll totally go.
I've decided that I'm going to start taking pictures of funny signs. I missed out on taking a picture of the "Homely Noodles" sign. That one was pretty funny. I did manage to get a picture of a sale sign that said "I like when you smile." Not as funny, but it still made me laugh.
Every day I think I'm over the jet lag, and then I end up falling asleep before 9:30. I took a nap at 6:30 yesterday, and didn't wake up until 11:30. Then I just decided to go back to sleep. And I can't wake up later than 8 am. Which I guess will be good when classes start up. Plus it's a good time to talk to people in America, so I'll probably stay on this schedule for a while at least. So yeah, I'm probably online by 7-8 pm eastern time ;)
Even though it's in the high 60s to mid 70s here, people are wearing sweaters and big jackets. I used to think I had no cold tolerance, but people in turtlenecks seem to think I must be freezing in a t-shirt. It's really strange.
I just realized yesterday that I'm not going to be able to drive for the next 5 months. I'm pretty sad about that. I love driving (yes, I know I'm not a wonderful driver. It doesn't mean I don't enjoy it.)
During my 5 hour nap, I'm pretty sure I heard some people speaking English on my hall. Which is good, because I've only encountered like 2 English speaking people on campus so far.
Well, I guess I should get out and start getting stuff done. I'll update again soon.
Yesterday, I went to a Korean bbq place with some kids from Tech (I'm not a fan lol). One of the guys from Tech has family here, so we met his uncle and aunt there. They were really cool. His cousin is apparently on the news here, and she wants to take us out to do stuff on Tuesday, so that should be fun. His uncle found me a discounted sim card that will work with my phone as soon as T-mobile can unlock my phone. It will give me an HK number, and it will let me call the US without charging long distance. I also went to one of the many malls (there's one at nearly every metro stop) to get groceries, and Ana showed me where an book store was that sells English books. I'm pretty excited about that. I saw a Chinese Twilight book, and I almost bought it, despite the fact that I'll probably never be able to read it. I almost did the same thing with Harry Potter last time I studied abroad.
Unfortunately, the really cheap flight to Korea deal is gone now, so no more Seoul. I'm kind of sad about that. But, I did find out that Rachel and Ilana might be in Bali for spring break, and if I can afford it, I'll totally go.
I've decided that I'm going to start taking pictures of funny signs. I missed out on taking a picture of the "Homely Noodles" sign. That one was pretty funny. I did manage to get a picture of a sale sign that said "I like when you smile." Not as funny, but it still made me laugh.
Every day I think I'm over the jet lag, and then I end up falling asleep before 9:30. I took a nap at 6:30 yesterday, and didn't wake up until 11:30. Then I just decided to go back to sleep. And I can't wake up later than 8 am. Which I guess will be good when classes start up. Plus it's a good time to talk to people in America, so I'll probably stay on this schedule for a while at least. So yeah, I'm probably online by 7-8 pm eastern time ;)
Even though it's in the high 60s to mid 70s here, people are wearing sweaters and big jackets. I used to think I had no cold tolerance, but people in turtlenecks seem to think I must be freezing in a t-shirt. It's really strange.
I just realized yesterday that I'm not going to be able to drive for the next 5 months. I'm pretty sad about that. I love driving (yes, I know I'm not a wonderful driver. It doesn't mean I don't enjoy it.)
During my 5 hour nap, I'm pretty sure I heard some people speaking English on my hall. Which is good, because I've only encountered like 2 English speaking people on campus so far.
Well, I guess I should get out and start getting stuff done. I'll update again soon.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Day 2
So, it's technically already day 3, but I thought I'd give you an update on yesterday anyway.
Yesterday was good. I met up with a few kids from Tech, and we went into HK to get things we didn't bring with us. It was fun. We also visited the world's smallest Ikea. Which unfortunately had no cinnamon rolls. I forgot how weird HK smells. I'm not a big fan. Other than that, it's good.
One of the people I met up with yesterday, Anastassia, has been looking up cheap trips since September for us to go on during holidays and weekends, so that's exciting. We're potentially going to Seoul in March, maybe the Philippines for spring break, and hopefully Vietnam and Singapore. And mainland China. I'm really sad that Thailand is chaotic right now, because I would love to go there. I'm really excited about all of these trips though.
The weather here is really amazing. The high is 74, and it's sunny. I am sad that I missed the snow in Atlanta. I love snow. But it's probably worth missing the 19 degree weather.
There are some things i definitely miss about America though. Like TV. Especially since I'll be missing out on American Idol. Someone's going to need to keep me updated on that. And someone's going to have to tell me if the Secret Life of the American Teenager girl ever has her baby. I also miss watching OC reruns with my roommates. I'm starting to miss American food too. Not that I can't find it, I just haven't tried yet. I really miss my bed. As soon as I get some pictures up, you'll see why. I miss having my own shower. I'm not such a big fan of community showers. And having a kitchen.
I miss the Valley, Atlanta, and everyone back home the most. And Belle. I probably miss Belle the most ;).
For some reason, I can't seem to wake up later than 8 am, which is 7 pm Atlanta time, and 6 pm central time, so feel free to skype/AIM/facebook me! I miss you guys!
Yesterday was good. I met up with a few kids from Tech, and we went into HK to get things we didn't bring with us. It was fun. We also visited the world's smallest Ikea. Which unfortunately had no cinnamon rolls. I forgot how weird HK smells. I'm not a big fan. Other than that, it's good.
One of the people I met up with yesterday, Anastassia, has been looking up cheap trips since September for us to go on during holidays and weekends, so that's exciting. We're potentially going to Seoul in March, maybe the Philippines for spring break, and hopefully Vietnam and Singapore. And mainland China. I'm really sad that Thailand is chaotic right now, because I would love to go there. I'm really excited about all of these trips though.
The weather here is really amazing. The high is 74, and it's sunny. I am sad that I missed the snow in Atlanta. I love snow. But it's probably worth missing the 19 degree weather.
There are some things i definitely miss about America though. Like TV. Especially since I'll be missing out on American Idol. Someone's going to need to keep me updated on that. And someone's going to have to tell me if the Secret Life of the American Teenager girl ever has her baby. I also miss watching OC reruns with my roommates. I'm starting to miss American food too. Not that I can't find it, I just haven't tried yet. I really miss my bed. As soon as I get some pictures up, you'll see why. I miss having my own shower. I'm not such a big fan of community showers. And having a kitchen.
I miss the Valley, Atlanta, and everyone back home the most. And Belle. I probably miss Belle the most ;).
For some reason, I can't seem to wake up later than 8 am, which is 7 pm Atlanta time, and 6 pm central time, so feel free to skype/AIM/facebook me! I miss you guys!
Friday, January 16, 2009
address
My address is:
Room 429R
Undergraduate Hall IV
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
Hong Kong 999077
I <3 snail mail :)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Day 1
So, I'm in Hong Kong...
I probably should've remembered before I signed up for this how much I hate planes. I mean, an hour or 2 is okay, but 16 hours is a little intense. Especially when there are babies on the plane. Airports are also really confusing. Not so much the Atlanta airport, because I've been there enough to basically know where things are, but JFK is ridiculous. I got pretty lost trying to find my gate. Interestingly enough, the McDonalds there has sweet tea. I didn't think sweet tea existed outside of the south (though I plan on introducing it to HK soon lol). But yeah, back to planes, I can't sit still that long. Even with movies. I fell asleep halfway through Eagle Eye and Wall-E, but I couldn't stay asleep because babies start crying, or the plane starts shaking, etc. And every time the plane hits the smallest bit of turbulence, I freak out. I can't help it. I think the plane is going down. Also, as i was flipping through the music on the plane, "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" was on the list. I knew the mock rock girls would appreciate that. So, after 3 movies, 4 cds, 2 episodes of House, 1 episode of friends, and a 400 page book, my plane finally lands.
My plane landed at 7:05 pm, but I wasn't checked into my dorm until about 1 am. For some reason, even though I slept maybe an hour before I left for the airport (at 5 am :p), and got around 3 hours of sleep on the plane, I still woke up before 8 am. Maybe because that's 7 pm home time. I don't know.
I met my buddy, Christy. She's really nice. Her English is pretty good. She had to help me check in because the manager of my building doesn't speak English. Go figure. According to the student handbook they gave me, my building also has a warden. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. The rooms are smaller than Tech's freshman dorms. The beds are really short. Good thing I am too. They're about as comfortable as sleeping on the floor too. And there's no heat, which probably won't matter in a month or so. On the plus side, my roommate isn't here yet, so I have the whole room to myself for a few days.
Contrary to what I was told, hardly anyone here speaks English. I tried to ask the security guard how to get somewhere, and he just walked away. I've seen 2 other Americans from Illinois who were also lost. But thankfully I found the building to get my internet password, and now I can update my blog.
Campus is virtually dead right now. Classes don't start back until Feb. 2, and orientation isn't until Jan. 30. I totally could've just gotten here next week. I'm already a little homesick, but I think it's because there's nothing going on yet. And because I'm halfway around the world. Finally having the internet helps.
Anyways, my internet is all set up so skype/AIM/facebook/email me! I'll probably be updating a lot for the next couple of weeks since no one's here yet. I miss you guys already!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
T-2.5 days
So, I've got approximately 2.5 days until I leave for Hong Kong, and starting a blog seemed like a good idea. Because I know you'll all miss me terribly, and want to keep up with my adventures. And maybe because I'll miss you guys a little too...
Anyways, if any of you guys have skype, my user name is paradigmjnw, and I would love to talk to you. I even added an HK clock to this blog so you can see what time it is there. I wouldn't recommend skype-ing me at 8 am. I probably won't answer. I also have AIM (jnw121987). And there's always facebook, of course.
I'm pretty terrible about updating blogs (which is why I ultimately failed at livejournal), but I'll try really hard to update it frequently.
Also, if you e-mail or facebook message me your address, I will totally send you a post card. I'll have a lot of time to write them, because I'll have 2 free weeks before classes start. I'll post my HK address as soon as I find out what it is for those of you who like to snail-mail (which is awesome!).
I'll miss you all a lot! Please feel free to skype/AIM/facebook/etc.! I can't wait to see you when I get back!
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