All in a weekend

I passed up travel plans for the weekend to "rest," seeing as I've been sick about half the time I've been here. Apparently, the logic behind that move was a bit flawed, seeing as how the atmosphere for exchange students on this campus is not so conducive to passing up a weekend. I'm still amazed that within Hong Kong, you can feel like you're in the heart of one of the great cosmopolitan cities of the world one day, and the next day, just a short ferry ride away you can find yourself on Lantau Island, home to beautiful peaks, the biggest Buddha in the world, and Tai O fishing village. Can this city ever get old?


Friday: Some fancy shmansy media party at Shaw movie Studio


Saturday: My friend sheesha and I hangin in Wan Chai


Sunday: Lantau Island and big Buddha


Sunday: Lantau Island, Tai O fishing Village


Good news is, I'm all "rested" up and ready for another weekend of travels. Where I'll take of to is yet to be determined...

The ticking clock

The number one question I've been asked is: If you're a spanish major, what the hell are you doing in Hong Kong? That question was just racking my brain the week after I got off my 16 hour plane ride. How the hell did I end up here? I can finally articulate a semi-coherent response.

I'm here for the very reason people expect me not to be here. It's a region that has always been off my radar. Probably the one region in the world I had never given a second thought about visiting. It had little to do with my majors, and less to do with my aspirations for the future. And that's why I am here. Of all the places, this culture was the one most foreign to me, the place that was the most outside my comfort zone. It's the region of the world that I was least comfortable approaching.

Some people might find that a bit ridiculous. I'm on a study abroad program through the business school of a prime university in a highly developed, urbanized high tech society. And what, I was expecting some huge mind-blowing cultural leap? My campus is more high tech than I could have imagined, with a total of 3 elevators and 6 escalators to get to any given class. I am not deprived of any material or "western" luxuries. If anything, they're more accessible. But the challenge in this study abroad is the challenge of the culture and all of its subtleties. Of taking the vibrant life of Hong Kong and melding to it and making it my own.

I've been an aiesecer for just about a year now. And now I'm here because of it. Because of the people I've met in it that have pushed me to push myself. It's weird to think that just a year ago two timid newbies took on a little project that we were slightly pushed into thanks to T-rent and the Mix. And now, one year later, Kaitlin's on the US MC working with Salaam in Egypt, and I'm here, in a place I never thought I'd be.

But all these are baby steps. I've barely made a dent, both in Hong Kong and in AIESEC.

I'm just getting my feet wet.

I'll end with a thank you to the aiesecers who've impacted me and inspired me to push myself and to blow some shit up. I'm on the brink of delving in full force...in due time, in due time.

But first, four more months of taking in everything I can from this place.

And the clock ticks.

Liberating

I have tucked away that third watchful eye. The one that creeps up on the sketchy late night walks home crossing the railroad tracks. The intensity of being completely aware you are physically weaker than the passerby across the street on a late night. Fumbling for the keys as you scurry through the parking lot.

I may sound irrational, overexaggerated, paranoid, but I can gaurantee you most women have dealt with this feeling to a certain degree.

You know what struck me today? As a woman, I am just as safe on the HK subway during the day as I am late at night. Within the city of Hong Kong, that third eye has just evaporated. Maybe I'm being naive, perhaps overly confident, or maybe this is actually a really safe large scale urban city.

What a liberating feeling.

I've always wondered...

A Heineken for Vday

My roomate and her boyfriend wear matching outfits.
They buy themselves matching shoes.
They nap together in their matching attire.

They wake up.
They see I am not in the festive Vday spirits.
Something must be done.

Boyfriend gets up.
Unzips his bag.
Hands me his beer.
A heineken for my Valentine's day.

They happily skip out the door in their matching outfits.
They feel good.

And here I am
left to unravel
The layers of hilarity that just ensued.

Happy Vday everyone
From Hong Kong, With love.

My friend: the Cab Driver

I'm thoroughly convinced that cab driver convos are the best way to get an inside look at a new place if your crunched for time. Absorbing the culture of both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur didn't happened through tour maps and major attractions, but instead through my taxi ride convos to and from them.

There's a few tricks to the taxi game, simple, but crucial. The first and most important question to ask yourself: Is this a real cab?

This brings me to lesson learned number one: If you're hassled by 5 different equally sketchy "cab drivers" for what you are certain is the naive tourist price at an ambiguous transfer hub of sorts, you're not quite sure where you are, and are then taken out back to a black, obscure unmarked car...This is probably not a real cab. If the driver's wife shows up, smirks at the naive tourists in the back seat of her husband's car, this is definitely not a real cab. You have two choices at this point: either kindly remove yourself from the untaxi, or just accept the sad fact that you have fallen victim and suck it up...We shamelessly did the latter.

After you've mastered identifying sketchy uncabs, you want to break down the wall between the cab driver and yourself, which is tougher for some drivers than for others. Scope out the car. What's this guy about? Background? Language? Religion? Take whatever information you can process from the cab's decorated interior and relate it to a personal experience or story to share with your new-found friend. A language barrier is ok, sometimes preferred. This gives you a chance to pick up some key phrases and prove your interest in their culture. Ask questions, flash a smile, confess ignorance. Show genuine interest. These men are the experts in their city. They know every winding road, every local hole-in-the wall overlooked by the average tourist. Restaurants, sites, and temples not listed in your trusted lonely planet. Don't let their inside knowledge go untapped. Rarely will this experience fail you.

You may even:
-Pick up some Cantonese from a Singaporean who speaks 4 different dialects of Chinese.
-Learn about Thaipusam from a man who hiked the 272-staired temple of the Batu Caves four times in the last 24 hours
-Be invited to stay with a Malay Muslim family the next time you roll into Singapore

Not too shabby for a weekend trip.

My View:

So much to say, so little time

Roommate status: She's finally here! My roommate Lu duo, is from Shenzhen in mainland China. This is awesome because
A) she speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, and is chatty and wants to teach me.
B) she can take me into town to help me buy cool toys such as DVD's and seven jeans that apparently "fell off the truck" (whatever that means) All while avoiding some of the sketchiness of Shenzhen
C) she invited me to stay with her and her family for a weekend!

Other reasons she is so cool: She was just in New Zealand on exchange for winter break. She requested exchange roommates both semesters because she thought it would be a good cultural experience. Her boyfriend is Malaysian. She wants to hang out and watch movies with me. Her boyfriend and her help me enroll in classes and find which of the 30 lifts to take to get to them. She wants me to teach her how to put on make up. She wants to go into lang Kwoi Fong with me, even though she's never been. She has already given me a Mandarin Lesson. It took place 20 minutes after I met her.

Class Status: What? Class? Psh.
That was my initial reaction. Then I actually had to go to classes, and it finally hit me that HKUST is a pretty demanding university. Not a resort. Although this campus setting is deceiving. It's ok though, I've got 4 straight powerlecture on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which leaves me 4 day weekends aside from a disco on Monday afternoons. Prime traveling schedule. Wednesdays for day trips in HK, long weekends for everywhere else. As for Tuesday and Thursday nights...a little beach time, a little time down at central...ah the demanding life of the exchange student.

Food status: Few hits, few misses. The misses can be brutal. I find limiting my noodle intake to one meal a day and sticking to western style breakfasts makes it easier. When there's sushi or seafood, I am happy.


Shopping Status: Problematic. After 5 hours at Prince Edward today led to the mindboggling revelation that everything costs nearly nothing, I already fear packing for my return home. Another concern: fashion here is crazy. The girls here can pull it off. By the end of the day, we were all losing any sense of judgment for what we could and could not pull off. Multicolored fishnets? Metallic blazers? Hello kitty watches? How about flashy yellow pumps?
Its hard to resist buying anything and everything....As soon as I picked up sneaker style stilletos, I knew I had to cut myself off for the day...I feel addiction to materialistic objects and trendy fashion brewing...Who am I!

Friend Status: I have friends! Seriously...I swear.
Ok so honestly, this campus is so international with its exchange students that I'm getting to practice my Spanish with a hilariously entertaining Mexican fellow named Sergio, hanging with a German with her crazy Australian english, finding out much more about Canadians than I probably ever intended to (eh Jess, eh?), and doing the frosh year game all over again. Only no one is from small town Wisconsin, unlike my entire floor freshman year. A bit more refreshing this time around. And of course with @ contacts, (Devrim and his crew) I think I'm well taken care of in this part of the world.

AIESEC Status: I met the gang today! They host a party every semester for exchange students, and are a great bunch. They're so eager to include me on everything, including their @ role call (yes I was the only non Asian). They are pushing for me to go with them to LDS in the Philippines...If all works out with my midterm schedule, I'll be @ dancin in the Philippines come Mid March...

Travel status: tentative plans
Singapore in a week, possibly two...
Thailand for spring break: how safe is it to motorbike across Thailand? Hmmmm
Mainland of course, but more planning is necessary.
Cambodia and Vietnam.
A few other ideas brewing...We shall see. Any suggestions or useful hints are appreciated.

I have most of my final exam times scheduled so Tanj and I are plotting. She shall come around May 17th for some time in the HK, and after my last exam (somewhere last week of May) We shall take off, to wherever I have yet to visit (possibly Cambodia and Vietnam?) Anyone eager to join our crazy adventures, let us know (Lichtenheld...)

As for tomorrow, day tour to Victoria's peak.

And the rollercoaster continues...