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...

Mm goi?

One of my courses is taught entirely in Cantonese.
Maybe I should switch out.
Maybe not.

PS

I should mention that I saw Jean Claude Van Dame in Lan Kwai Fong the other day... I'm sure that will impress some more than others. I didn't even know who he was, but apparently people here think that's a big deal. Celebrity status and whatnot. Psh.

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...