Santa on a helicopter tossing croissants

Setting: Chinese New Year's Parade.

friend: Oh look! It's Santa clause riding a helicopter!
Guy: that's the god of good fortune.
friend: Oh...is he tossing croissants?
Guy: I think that's gold.
friend: Oh wow, what's that symbolic of?
Guy: Nothing. It's just gold...

Yeah, I'm badass

I snuck on a boat tour today. Yeah that's right, I'm badass. While the guys reading off names, I casually climb on the bus after a friend, make myself comfortable and wait for someone to notice. For a bit it looks like I'm in the clear...then I look out the window. I count the number of people, I count the number of seats. There are definitely more people than seats. I think of the horror of shamefully getting kicked off the bus for not being on...THE LIST. I keep my cool. There's confusion in the front. Not enough seats. Will they check THE LIST? Ha. No. The suckers have to squeeze together up front. I feel a tinge of guilt...and debate turning myself in. My unquenchable thirst for living on the edge hampered my need to do good.

Result: fresh seafood dinner and a boatride to witness the New Year's fireworks while surrounded my Hong Kong's skyline.

I'm like Dicelaws, only crazier, and without the molestache.

Along for the ride

After arriving to Hong Kong and experiencing confusion, frustration, and an overwhelmingly heavy dose of culture shock, the best thing to do was escape to Boracay Island in the Philippines for my first pseudo-exotic adventures. I say pseudo because Boracay is an island for the tourist, designed for their comfort and catering to their needs...exactly what I needed for my first trip out of HK, as pampered as that may sound.

To be honest, the first two days were brutal. My anxiety ran rampant after a small health concern escalated to a situation of panic. Knowing something is alarmingly off with your health and being isolated from medical care is just scary...I guess I was a bit lucky, because my body decided it wasn't really into the whole being sick thing. Good thing... And I was begining to think I'd miss out some crucial beach time.

And the beach: It goes without saying that a 5 day trip of too much time, sun, and food on a strip of beautiful white sand and clear blue waters forces a person to destress. If a person is resiliant, just throw in the hour long full body massage, which costs a whopping seven us dollars.... Although, that hour involved some awkard instances, such as ass punching. Yes, ass punching. I've never gotten a massage before, so perhaps I'm not an expert, but, I was NOT expecting that.

Here's the point: The extent of culture shock I experienced initially was highly unexpected. But, I am finally relaxed and ready to be here. I've met some cool people, taken some time to adjust, pampered myself a bit, and am back in Hong Kong ready to learn and flow with the culture.

Everyone needs a good punch in the ass every once in a while.
Keeps you on your toes.

Sunburnt and Soaking

Im in Boracay in the Philippines, I'm at an internet cafe, and I'm dripping wet. After a kilometer sprint through mud puddles and street vendors, I've reached the glorious halfway mark to my hostel...the internet cafe. Now I must take off, only 80 pesos left to get myself off this island. More details to come.

Out of my element

The language barrier is rough. The cultural barrier, rougher. It hit me last night that this is the first time I've been so completely removed from familiarity. I have nothing from my own personal experiences to relate Hong Kong culture to. Attempting to break down the language or pick up the main jist would be completely impossible at this point. And deciphering culture...I feel ignorant, loud, and American. I can't gauge the tone of someone's voice, their mannerisms or actions...I'd be using a completely skewed perspective. I have to throw it all out and start from scratch. I left behind any sense of knowledge and comfort... I know this will be hard, I know I'll be frustrated and pushed to my limits. I'll probably offend some people, create numerous awkward situations, get my directionally impaired ass lost countless times.

It's 2:30 AM, I'm in the lobby, sleepless , confused, overwhelmed, and jetlagging...a security guard just walked over.

"lady, good drink for you!"

And he buys me a refreshing soy milk. I try to remember how to say thank you in cantonese.

I fail. He laughs.

And life is good.

And 16 hours later...

I'm finally in Hong Kong.
I've been here all of 3 hours and Already I have:

1) Surrendered to the fact that no one knows what Wisconsin is, so I'm now from outside Chicago
2) attempted to take in a quick lesson in Cantonese from my taxi driver
3) Met @ers, and of course, experienced an awkard moment while saying goodbyes (I guess hugging is a no?)

If sources are correct...come daytime I should be able to see the ocean outside my dormroom window.
Perfect.

Am I five? Because I don't feel five...

What will Egypt be like in 5 years? 10 years? It honestly scares me reading people's blogs about the gaining power of the Muslim Brotherhood. It just hit me how real their hold on Egyptian people is. How much their power could change the lives of my family and friends. How uncomfortable it would make me to go back.

But you know what pisses me off? The watered-down, indifferent answers I get when I ask family about it. The people-pleasing answers, Denial, disregard, and a lack of urgency. A complete disconnect from reality.

Ridiculous.

Gratitude

I'd like to pay tribute to the students who created the massive snow penis that stands proudly on my campus this morning. Your laborious efforts have brought humor to the lives of many sleep-deprived, overstressed badgers.

I'd also like to thank the person who keeps pulling the fire alarm every night at college library. Although I find you highly obnoxious, your dedication to gauranteeing routine study breaks for the masses is admirable.

Mostly for Adam

I'd like to take a moment to express my hatred for a song called "MY HUMPS." I could go on, but this review does a pretty great job at it.

SO AWKWARD!

So I'm sitting in the Senate Page room...And in the background we're playing the radio for the public hearing going on upstairs. There's a push to amend the Wisconsin constitution to define marriage as being between a male and a female...And man, pretty popular day for people to want to voice their opinions.

So how this little shindig is working out...They let people speak both for and against, and back and forth and back and forth. Senators on both sides then respond with near vomit-inducing sweetness... "Wow we thank you for sharing your story, and respect you for it"

But you know inside they're about ready to just kick the shit out of a chair or something...Or ask a senate page to kick one for them.

I digress.

Back to the page room. We're all seudo-listening, half-assedly attempting classwork, surfing them internets, you know, the senate page deal. So the first highlight: A 17 year old girl comes on saying something like, "Hi I just came here to say I was raised in a very loving and healthy family and believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, and every child deserves both a mommy and a daddy. blablabla...When she's through, a senator says "wow, that was very brave of you, I don't think I could have done this at 17-and wow you must have taken time off of school to be here!" Nope. Homeschooled.

As it continued...we started to notice...The stories were getting a bit weirder, the two sides a little more emotional, the senators a bit less chummy...Then someone busts this baby out.

So there's a man, he's married, has a loving family of three children.
Oh, and he has multiple personalities.
Right now, he tells everyone, He is speaking as Rebecca.
The room gets pretty fucking quiet.

Rebecca goes on to state that yes she's technically a man, and that she's legally married to her wife, even though she is a lesbian when she is Rebecca...Awkward silence...The speech continues, and keeps busting out those pindrop silence, jawdropping, gasping kind of moments, one of which included being castrated...Which I hear made every guy in that room wiggle in their seats just a tad.

Ok, yes,
defining marriage as man and wife simplifies a much more complex society and deprives people of their rights.
I completely agree.

But HOLY SHIT! How many fucking bombs did this person drop on an audience who I'm SURE had quite a few people feeling prettttty fucking awkward (see 17 year old homeschooled girl)! Ha.

Man, I totally wish I'd seen it.
Especially Reynolds' face.
I do love awkward situations...

This is all I'm gonna say

Flash back to high school:
I was at a restaurant. And with a person, who if nothing else, left with me a comment that just stuck. Maybe because it was harsh, offensive, or just brutally honest. It went a little something like this:

You know what it is about you? You're happy sticking to what you know, going to the same restaurants, traveling to the same places. You settle for what makes you comfortable. You're scared to try new things.

I doubt said person meant to trigger some crazy revelation. Ehhh...Little did he know...

So, some changes were made. Priorities adjusted. Goals clarified.

The following summer I was off to Nicaragua. Now I joined AIESEC. In a bit I'll be off to Hong Kong. HONG KONG!


I'm not much for reflecting on THAT path not chosen . But, now I hit a time where, under certain family circumstances, I don't have much of a choice.

And this is what I have to say:
I am SO fucking glad.

Ticket: purchased

Ok so the loving Madison feeling has worn off pretty damn quick. So, best thing to do: buy my ticket out of here. My Hong Kong ticket has been purchased.

January 12-16: New York City
January 16-June 10: Hong Kong

That feels good.

Life is good

It's been a while since I've been in this city and felt so happy.
It was a beautiful day outside, sunny, perfect temperature, and I am just giddy smiley and...back to being myself. My last few weeks have been so crazy and bogged down with the pressure of exams, and the self-induced pressure of proving to myself that I'm capable of doing well if I just work at it hard enough... I pulled through the insanity of my last week, and it's such a fabulous feeling when all the hard work pays off. I had a really great weekend full of flopping and watching Harry Potter and spending time with people I love...a perfect way to melt away the stress and anxiety of the week before. And It's almost turkey day, and I'm relaxed and stress free and ready to throw on my sweats and eat for four days straight and see my girls and watch MORE movies.
Man. Life is good.

Uganda Idea status: freakin awesome

Dody's idea for AIESEC gaining mass distribution rights is almost reality. The day after this man's brilliant commenting, Adam and I sat down and busted out an email to the makers of the film. And here's their response:

I just finished reading your email and I am now staring at the
screen not knowing what to write because I am so excited about
what I just read. Wow... AIESEC is an incredible organization and
I am so stoked that you have a desire to help the children of
northern Uganda. And not only do you want to help the children of
northern Uganda, but you want to do it through helping show
Invisible Children. That is so great.

As far as your basic idea... I think something like that can totally work out. How many DVD's are you thinking of trying to distribute? And I don't really know what we would "negotiate" to give you non-exclusive distribution rights, because offer anyone the right to watch and spread the film as they so please. However, I guess because this is on such a larger scale we might have to draw up some sort of legal agreement. So, I would love to talk with you about this over the phone, I will give you a call tomorrow during the day sometime, or you can call me anytime

Awesome.
More updates to come.

And the moral of today's story:

I need to buy a planner.

Invisible Children: What now?

My coach group met today and had a really great conversation regarding the Uganda Event our Madison LC hosted this last Thursday...From our meeting, we decided that our @ network can do more, lots more, to spread awareness. We have a huge tool, a network to 91 different countries, with passionate, motivated students interested in bettering the global future. The question is, how can we utilitze it?

We started brainstorming and came up with an idea I'm dedicated to making a reality. How can we educate people, Aiesecers, not just within the US, but throughout all the @ countries on this issue? How can we have a direct impact and spread awareness worldwide??

Here's the idea:
We have members traveling to different LCs all over the world. If we can somehow purchase a massive amount of Invisible Children videos (which in itself is a fundraiser for Uganda awareness by the makers of the documentary) and send them with willing exchange participants so they can host Uganda events in the @ countries they will be visiting, we will potentially be spreading awareness of this under reported crisis on a large scale level, to people just as passionate and motivated as ourselves.

This is just the tentative idea. We need to work out the kinks, figure out fund raising ideas to purchase a massive supply of these documentaries. Anyone interested in getting this going with me, comment away.

I'd like to get this rolling before the semester ends. i plan on taking a documentary to the Hong Kong @ers and setting up an event just like ours on that end of the world.

How many people can we impact?

Mid semester thoughts

You're thrown into these schedules, you go from one thing to the next, not knowing where you'll be in the next few hours without pulling out the old calendario, scrambling to finish up what you are already a week behind on, losing track of time and place and feeling a bit zombiesque. I've attempted to impose some sort of regularity to this semester. I've failed. There's definitely a sense of disconnect, in many junctures. Things change, friends move, come back, go abroad. They come back changed, or maybe they're exactly the same, and its you who's changed. Families change, the dynamic changes, expectations change, responsibilities accumulate. The city stays the same, but the people that define the city and what it means to you are missing.
Case and point:
I've just been in Madison too long.
It's time to get away.

A little questionable...

So, Tanj and I were walking back from a rough day of econ... Walking to and from class, we see these odd-shaped specimens scattered on our path, some whole, some smashed up, but due to sleep deprivation, in depth convos, the hustle and bustle, we never process the peculiarity of these objects..until today. On our walk back, we witness a man scattering around collecting them, and then hurrying off into the distance. We try to follow him, but he disappears out of sight. This is when we decide to tackle the mystery of the questionable fruit. We return to the main path scattered with these oddly shaped, lime green...fruits?. We look up...there are no trees in sight growing them. Tanja is brave enough to pick one up. It's a bit sticky. It smells like a tangerine. We take it home for further investigation.



Not difficult to cut, but perhaps unripe. The inside smells like a pumpkin. What is this thing?! Someone out there has got to know...I will not rest until I find out the mystery of this questionable fruit.

New hardest part about Ramadan:

I can't take study breaks to get food.
There's no valid reason to get out of this chair.
my one solid excuse is gone.
Procrastinating has hit an all time low.
Weird.

Blogworthy: A revelation

"I win by means of nothing but logic, and I surrender to nothing but logic" (Atlas Shrugged)

When I read this book, this quote really stuck out at me. It was a concept I found fascinating at the time- to be able to make all decisions based on logic, control all emotions, and think with a clear head 110% of the time.

Well, sorry to burst that pretty bubble, but I don't think in absolutes. And perhaps those that do have a far too simplistic view of the world. While you may try to have a completely objective view, emotions WILL play a part, personal experiences WILL affect your decisions, your world view WILL determine the decisions you make. While decisions you make may feel completely justified by logic, chances are, a part of your decision was also based on instinct, a gut feeling, a subconscious SOMETHING. We just aren't smart enough to consciously process everything that goes through our mind into making decisions.

And who is to say that's a bad thing?

I've learned that:
-I thrive on my PASSION. If I'm not passionate about something, I won't do it. And the word passion doesn't fall completely in line with a solid, tangible explanation for decision-making. It's just there.
-I am not rash, irrational or naive, nor do I make decisions without extensive thought.
- I don't have hyper-sensitive emotions that I follow blindly, nor do I blindly follow the opinions of people in my life that I trust.
-Making decisions based on a label or theory that, because of the Land of Academia and a little concept called Group Think, you feel you should agree with takes the crucial aspect that differentiates humans,CRITICAL THOUGHT, and throws it out the window. Plug yourself into an equation, add some numerical analysis bullshit, and out pops generic thought number 1257. HMMM.
-I reject romanticism as a way of life...Then again, I believe realism overly simplifies the world. There's a grey area in between, an area which requires a mixture of both logic and instinct. That is where I fall.
-I am not a genius; I'm no where close. But you know, that makes me work twice as hard to figure shit out. So I won't approach things I don't know about with an egotistical, judgmental, absolutist attitude based on some preconcieved notion of what is RIGHT and WRONG. THAT would be naive.

So, that's it. Yes, I'm going to Hong Kong. Yes, I love AIESEC. Yes I am passionate about both, and plan to dedicate myself to both, to a point where it may seem irrational, naive, and spontaneous to some.

Tough.