So, tell me about myself...

For those of you who check my postings regularly, I apologize for the lack of activity in the past couple weeks. As I mentioned in my last post, economics up until yesterday had been dominating my life and although the my feeling about it was far from ideal, I have a strange sense of relief of accomplishment combined with dread for when I get my "mark" (grade) back. Naturally, since actually having study while studying abroad has kept me on campus the past few weekends, I have had a great opportunity to delve deeper into the atmosphere of both Hong Kong and the university.

Last weekend I had my first experience with semi-authentic sushi (obviously we are not in Japan) which was absolutely delicious. The tricky thing about sushi is that if you are not careful (no matter where you go) you could end up spending a lot of money because the portions of the dishes are so small, multiple are needed to fill you up. For those familiar with Sushi Nara in Oxford, the sushi here is very similar only with a "roll" dish consisting of 2 extra large rolls instead of 6 smaller ones. I also had the chance to experience the best frozen yogurt EVER. It's called Crumbs and it is known for it's cinnamon graham sprinkle and fresh fruit yogurt combinations. If I could figure out a way to get it back to the states, I would most definitely make a fortune.

Being on campus more, I have been able to explore the culinary choices available. I mastered the puzzling ordering system in the Cantonese cafeteria and had a dinner date with my exchange buddy at the on-campus restaurant, China Garden. McDonald's no longer tempts me with the appeal of western normalcy and dare I say, I have even learned to accept that the meat served will more than likely have bones in it.
The best thing about being bound to Hong Kong for the time has been getting to know the locals and their habits. Here's just a few: A majority of the professors and their families live on campus because their housing is subsidized (housing costs are astronomical elsewhere so this is really smart). It's impossible to get a desk at the library after 3pm because everyone goes there after classes and between dinner. And if you can manage to get a place, you'll notice that the library is for serious studying. I'm not sure if it's like this all the time but I imagine the productivity of some of these students is amazing. Not to say that I am not productive when I go; but their focus and patience in learning is something I've never seen. Some will go to the gym for study breaks in normal day clothes and bring their notes to study while lifting or walking. But not all are that active: some students will actually wait in a line for the elevator to take it one or two floors up instead of taking the stairs.
In talking to students, I am also amazed at how much they know about us (both Americans and foreigners) and how little I know about them. They are familiar with our political leaders, traditional customs, working lifestyles and sports teams. There are Lakers jerseys,Yankee hats, and my roommate even has a knit sweater in the pattern of the American flag. How many things or artifacts do I own that reflect the culture of another country, or Hong Kong? I didn't know what the Hong Kong flag even looked like until I decided to come here. This for a large part extends far beyond the university atmosphere however. A majority of the movies advertised here are American or western films that are shown in English with Cantonese subtitles. All advertisements, signs and even warning voices on the MTR are in both English and Cantonese. Obviously I knew this would be the case considering Hong Kong's history as a British colony but they have been out of Hong Kong for decades and it still doesn't explain how knowledgeable people are about the United States. I never truly understood the implications of the influence of the United States on a global level but it is impossible not to notice the western tendencies.

Speaking of influence, there are certain aspects that are distinctly 'asian' as I like to say (yes, I know I am generalizing but not in derogatory way!). Girls here are extremely fashion forward and always have the cutest and trendiest things. They wear heels all the time, everywhere, even when walking up and down the broken sidewalks of Wan Chai. Fur is a very big trend right now with women sporting fur boots, hats and even tails! Males are much the same with trendy leather murses (man-purses) loud haircuts and sharp, tailored jackets. It's always fun to try and tell a local Hong Kong person from a mainland China resident by their haircut or dress.

I just sit in the back on the days when I'm surrounded by dolled up locals in tights and skirts while I barely managed to comb my hair and make it to class on time in the sweats I wore to bed last night. Tomorrow I'll look nice. Maybe.

Sacred Notes

Well everyone, it took till week 5 but it finally happened...school got serious. Coming back from the Philippines I got a rude awakening of a midterm, economics homework, and accounting project. I should have figured things would get tougher, I mean, it is called STUDY abroad. And we heard the curriculum here was challenging but it didn't hit me how challenging until this week.

One of our classes, an economics money and banking course is taught by an engineering major with a PhD in economics. Kind of a strange combination but a really smart guy nonetheless. in accordance with our textbook, this professor provides us proofs of economic situations based on HIS OWN research meaning everything from the method to notation of proofs, he came up with and thus has no reference material to offer his students. What makes it worse is that his proofs are riddled with mistakes which we would never even know mattered unless he told us during class himself. We call his notes "sacred" because they seem to be the only ones that exist and our grades basically depend on them. Needless to say the course is exhausting and I am not looking forward to the final!

View from the HKCEC in Wan Chai

This weekend Daniel and I volunteered to work at an education forum sponsored by a British organization. Going Global is held once a year for people from different countries to get together and talk about important issues that they all have in common. This year, the theme was education and with Hong Kong undergoing a reform in the university and secondary school systems, it seemed the like proper place to host the forum. Our responsibilities were very simple: manning registration tables and directing the delegates to proper speakers. It was really neat to see all the representation. There were delegates from over 180 countries. Being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, it also gave us a chance to get off campus and explore the harbor and island a little bit more.

Island Hopping

First trip outside Hong Kong! (Macau doesn't count). As most of my Facebook friends may already know, last weekend, myself and about 10 other exchange students ventured to Cebu City in the center of the Philippine Islands. Our flight left very late Thursday night and by the time we arrived in Cebu about 3 hours later, it was 4am. With little sleep (Daniel of course managed to sleep on the plane) we piled into a transport van and made our way to the resort on Mactan Island. Arriving that early, we knew we wouldn't be able to check in until much later in the day but the hotel staff was extremely accommodating and let us leave our bags with the doormen while we relaxed in the outdoor restaurant. We watched the sunrise over resort and ate a buffet breakfast until it was sunny enough to go to the beach (which was right outside the back of the hotel).

When lunch rolled around, a group of us who had napped on the beach ventured outside of the hotel for some food. it was definitely jarring to go from the beautiful enclosed resort to the destitution of the streets immediately outside. We saw many different animals on the way to town: chickens, cows, goats, lizards and a ton of dogs. The people we encountered, either walking by us or even in their motorcycle/car crossovers were extremely polite. Everyone said "Hi" or acknowledged us and not even in the hopes of getting money.  Little girls would follow us and when we stopped to eat lunch a Korean restaurant, they gathered outside and waited for us to finish eating so they could talk to us. So sweet!

That night our group went out for some authentic Filipino food and live music in celebration of a student's birthday. We attempted to go to a club later in the evening but since most of the males in our group violated a dress code of 'no shorts' we were swiftly rejected and headed home. One thing I must note about the traffic in Cebu: there are no rules. Taking a cab to the city was certainly an experience with the driver craftily swerving past cars and crossing the median line to do it. There aren't many true cars in Cebu and since most use tuk tuk (open bus) or motor transportation, cars yield for no one and it doesn't matter because there is no prevalent law enforcement to push adherence.

The next day began early with a trip that Daniel and another student, Lisa, planned. At 10am our entire group boarded a mid-sized boat for a day of island hopping and snorkeling. The first stop was to the town where the crew waded to the shore to get lunch and snorkeling gear. At the next island, we dropped off the two female crew members who waded to shore with the food to begin making our lunch. After that, we stopped near an island  to snorkel. I was hesitant at first mainly because I didn't think there would be anything to see. Granted the water was pretty clear but I never imagined there would be as much wild-life as I saw. There were Nemo look-a-likes, bright blue starfish, swollen puffer fish, and schools of others. It was definitely an experience I can now check off my bucket list: snorkeling in the Philippines! We headed back to the island after snorkeling for a true "home-cooked" meal of barbecue pork, whole fish, fresh mango, rice and bananas. It was AMAZING and better than a lot of the food that I have had here in Hong Kong.

When lunch ended, we cruised around some more and headed back to freshen up for the night. The last day we were there, it ended up raining so we ventured to the nearest mall which was actually one of the most modern things around. It had 3 floors, 1 department store and maybe 30 others. Definitely the smallest/cutest I've ever been in. Everything there was ridiculously inexpensive (compared both to the U.S. and HK) and Ali and I got mani/pedis for approximately $2.31 USD (I know, it sounds unbelievable but it's true). We left the mall with enough time to get to the airport and head back home to Hong Kong.

Even though it was only a weekend, I certainly got a lot out of my time there. Our accommodations couldn't have been better and even the weather turned out to be in our favor when it really counted. Going through the city opened my eyes not only to the deep-rooted poverty but also the sincerity of the people we encountered. To my surprise, more people spoke English there than in Hong Kong and it was very easy to communicate and appreciate what everyone was doing for us.

 If you have a Facebook account be sure to check the complete photo album there. I couldn't post all of them to this page!