你好中国

Friday, November 20, 2009

What happens when I am submersed in a culture for over 4 months.....

Well, things that I would have considered unusual 3 months ago have now become part of my everyday life and I consider normal:

Being stared at...I am a foreigner (not Asian)! haha
The only choice in food is noodle or rice...take your pick.
Fork and Knife are foreign terms...chopsticks are the only way to eat.
What is English...a privilege, Cantonese is spoken by everyone all the time.
Searching for the English button on all internet websites! haha
I can now convert Celsius to Fahrenheit in seconds
Sleeping on a thin piece of wood is better than nothing
I can also convert Hong Kong dollar to US dollar within seconds (I've gotten good at dividing whatever the price is by 7.8)
Paying $100 HK for something (which is really only $13 USD)
What is a car? Public transportation or walking is the only way to go!
Searching for restaurants with English menus or pictures
Stray cats everywhere
When students say "revisions" they mean "study" and when they say "lessons" they mean "class." I've actually caught myself saying these phrases a few times (it did take me a month to figure out what revisions were! haha)
Speaking of figuring out what people are trying to say...it's become normal to always be guessing what words locals or other foreign exchange students are trying to pronounce!
There is never a set price, bargaining is always an option
Large bug bites...the first time I got a few of these bug bites I thought I was breaking out in a rash! haha
Surgical masks everywhere (due to the swine flu)
Wherever I go there will always be a crowd
Street vendors selling food or underwear or anything else crazy and random
AiiiiiiYaaaaaa!! My favorite Chinese phrase.

I’m sure there are many more things that I would have once found unusual, but are now the norm…but this is the list I came up with for now! I’ve posted a few pictures of my trip to Macau, aka the Vegas of Hong Kong. I’ve also posted some pictures of our “hot pot” night with my Bible Exploration group. “Hot Pot” is a Hong Kong traditional meal, where basically everyone stands around a hot pot and throws in a bunch of different vegetables and dumplings! It's Very good!

The Venetian Hotel..."Mini Venice" inside

Venetian Hotel

One of the many Casinos (picture taken illegally! haha)

The Girls

My bug bite the size of $1 HK coin (which is a little big bigger the $.25 coin)

Some of the girls at Hot Pot

The "Hot Pot"

Throwing in lots of food!

all of our choices!

Friday, November 6, 2009

We're off to the Races!!

As you can probably guess, school has been crazy lately. I've been extremely busy with papers, projects, and group presentations. It has definitely been an experience working with my different groups and getting past the language barriers, but still a learning experience. Wednesday night the girls and I decided to head to the horse races. The HK horse races is one of those things that all the books say you should do while in HK! It was loads of fun. We decided to try a little of our luck and bet on a few of the races. We all picked our horses based on which name we like the most. I bet on two races and said that the horse I chose would place. In the first race my horse, Har Har Charm (yes that's his name), was in the lead up until the final stretch and ended up not placing. In the second race my horse, Berio, was in the lead for the whole race (very exciting!!!!) and ended up placing second! I was sooo excited that I won!!!! I ended up winning 27.50HK which payed for my two initial bets, and I came out of the races 7.50HK richer! wooo! Next weekend the girls and I are thinking of going to Macau, aka the "Vegas" of HK. I think I'll try my luck there too!! haha

we made it!

at the start

BANG!

rounding the corner...go Har Har Charm!!

You can do it!!!

He's in the lead!

The race track

the race track

the horses getting ready for a race

the winning ticket!! And Laura in the background being sad because she didn't win!! haha

The Parents cross the Ocean to see me = )

My Parents came to visit for a weekend. To start we were supposed to meet at their hotel around 7:30, Friday night (their flight got into HK around 5:30, so I figured 2 hours would be enough time to get through customs and make it to the hotel), little did I know I would be waiting for over 4 hours for them to get to the hotel. By the 3rd hour I decided to check into the hotel room for them, and by the 4th hour I thought they had gone missing. They finally showed up around 11:00 (apparently their flight had been changed, but they couldn't reach me because they didn't know my HK cell phone number). Friday night my Mom and Dad seemed pretty stressed from their day of travel so we stayed in the hotel and chatted.

Saturday, I had an action packed day planned for them. To start we hopped on the MTR and went to Sha Tin to see the Monastery of 10,000 Buddhas. The hike was tiring, but the views are worth it. We then headed to my University where I showed my parents around (they think I made my dorm room look bigger in the pictures, I wasn't kidding when I said it was small). We then went to lunch to a local restaurant near campus. After lunch I took them to Lan Kwai Fang, which is the bar district in HK, just so they could get a visual of how crazy the area is. We then took a ride on the mid-level escalators in Soho. We decided to try to ride the escalators to the top, little did we know they just keep going and going and going. Because of this, we then had a 30 min walk back down to the MTR. We took the MTR back to the hotel and relaxed for a little bit. I then took my parents to the Avenue of the Stars where you can see HK island lit up at night from across the bay. We also stayed to watch the light show which is held every night. We then headed to Temple Street Market. There we ate a delicious family-run resturaunt, bargained for a few gifts, and got our fortunes read by Master Joseph (just my mom and I, my Dad didn't want to)! After a long day we headed back to the hotel for the night (and I enjoyed a night's rest in a REAL bed! haha)

Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast in the hotel (my one chance to have a western breakfast!) We then took the bus to Stanley Market/Beach. The bus ride to Stanley was about an hour long ride, but the views are gorgeous. My parents were able to see the relaxing side of Hong Kong. After walking around Stanley Market and Beach we headed back to the hotel. We changed into our best clothes, and headed to the Peak. The Peak is the highest point on HK island. From the peak one is able to see the entire HK skyline. We took the trolley up to the top and walked around for awhile. I had booked us reservations (1 month prior to their visit) at Cafe Deco Restaurant, which is said to have the best views of HK. We ate a delicious dinner and enjoyed the best view in the house thanks to my connections!

Monday morning we woke up bright and early. We enjoyed one last breakfast together and my parents headed to the airport while I went back to school. I had an amazing time and I am grateful I was able to share part of my experience with my Mom and Dad. If you ask them I was a pretty good tour guide, and I will be offering tours until December (if anyone would like to come visit me over Thanksgiving break!! hahaha)