The weather, after several days of blah and rain, has brightened up and is wonderful again. In spite of my illness, I took advantage of it this weekend to go for a hike/walk at the Peak and then to go to the beach! I hadn't been to a beach in Hong Kong (except that disastrous attempt to Sai Kung shortly after my surgery when I couldn't go in the water...see one of those November entries about that), so this was my first proper time to the beach. It was nice. We went to Repulse Bay which like everything awesome in HK (except Festival Walk) is a good two hours from campus. Anyway, we read on the beach, went swimming, and built a large sand wall to prevent the tide coming in. It reminded me of being at Bald Head and the many times that I would do said activity, or just dig really big holes in the beach for no good reason whatsoever.
What I liked about Repulse is that I felt safe, which is odd, because I usually feel incredibly unsafe at beaches. The waves were not strong, there wasn't really an undertow at least where I was, and the water is 'fenced' in. Normally I don't like to go in much over where I can touch, but I felt comfortable swimming out.
Anyway, I got a fantastic tan and the sun, sand, and water cleared up my head for a bit, although by the time I got back to campus, I thought I was going to die from my headache. But it was totally worth it.
Chill day today...called in sick to the primary school since it sounds like I'm trying to cough up my lungs. Taught a class here. Went to the grcoery. Cleaned my room. Took an LSAT test....well, 3/4 of one. I'd done the first section last week. I need a lot more practice, suffice it to say. Took a two and a half hour nap where I had strange dreams about books I've been reading. Incredibly disconcerting.
I can't believe it's April. I feel like time has been steadily increasing in speed since I went off to college. Freshman year was so quick, soph/junior year even faster, senior year a blur, and this! Sometimes it feels like I've been here for years, and other times it feels like I just got off the plane and am still jet-lagged. Of course, the hint of the Aug/Sept weather helps that sensation.
Oh! And I can not only jog and wear small heels...I also *finally* broke myself of the habit of using my knee brace.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
So Easter Holidays. Two weeks. Crazy lots of time that I thought would be spent loafing, reading, etc. And there was some of that, of course, but there was also lots of other exciting and novel things as well. To begin with, I had to get a new Visa to China due to an unfortunate set of markings on my previous Visa. This involved two trips to the main office branch in Wan Chai (about an hour and a half from where I live...a bus, a train, and a ferry away). There was a long wait, mostly due to the fact that we went on a Monday morning with public holidays approaching. We had to go back that Thursday to pick them up, and we were lucky enough to get multi-entries! Which means that for the next six months, I can go into China as often as I like. The first week of break involved hanging out with some of the other ETAs who were on campus. There were multiple bowling trips (one night that included playing pool), shopping excursions, and meals of course. I went hiking finally! After the last disastrous attempt two and a half weeks after surgery in Sai Kung, this one was pleasant and not as challenging, although there were still stairs, hills, and dirt paths. The thing about HK is that it seems at times deceptively small, yet it takes ages to get anywhere. It took I would say a good two hours to get to the place (bus, train, ferry I think, bus, and then taxi). But it was worth it. Parts of it reminded me of hiking in Bernheim Forest, of which I have many fond memories. Of course, we didn't stop to search for shale or attempt to make arrowheads, but still. After the hike, we swung by a beach and soaked our feet in the ocean for a bit. I can't wait till it's warm enough to go to the beach properly since I missed all that this summer what with the surgeries and all.
Let's see, what else did I do? Tutored, started studying for the LSAT with a little bit more serious attention than I had shown before. I learned how to knit! I am in the process of making a reddish scarf that has the misfortune of fluctuating dramatically and frighteningly in width. But as it's my first one, I can only hope that I shall improve over time. I read a lot, but that's hardly surprising. I'm back in my Tudor England kick again after reading a lot of African Lit and History in preparation for my module. And I think my next 'reading project' if you will is Korean history. I've forgotten everything that I learned about it in college, and I remember that I liked reading it, so I'm going to try to add that to my schedule.
Anyway, the really fun stuff: Beijing!!! Four of us went, which was the perfect number. We took a hard sleeper train up. There are six beds to a room, and we had the two middle and two upper bunks. We couldn't actually sit up properly in them, but we mostly sat out in the hallway blocking the way and playing cards which was fun. The trip took approximately 24 hours, which is a long time to be confined in the amount of space we had. We got into Beijing on Tuesday afternoon and took a harrowing bus ride to our hostel. The hostel was called the Red Lantern. The four of us shared a co-ed room with two bunk beds. We unpacked, went out for dinner, and then walked around Beijing. It was much colder than I expected it to be...I guess I've gotten used to HK weather or something.
On Wednesday we woke up, had breakfast at the hostel, and then left to go to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. We took a bus there, walked around, took pictures, etc. It was really impressive. I had no idea how big the Forbidden City was (I'll post Beijing pics at a later time, after I load them to my computer). It was imposing, austere, and amazing. Then we went to a late lunch/early dinner and had Peking duck. Quite tasty. From there we took a taxi to the Temple of Heaven. It was this huge circular building, painted with brilliant blues, reds, and golds. It was surrounded by other buildings, long paved pathways, and a park that we walked around. The park was disturbing, and at first we couldn't quite place what it was, but we finally figured it out. We think they buried the trees. Like maybe by several feet. There was no sign of roots, and the huge branches that I normally associate with being higher up on the trees were significantly and bizarrely close to the ground. Then we returned to the hostel and rested for an hour or two, then headed out for dinner and to check out the night life of Beijing.
Slept in on Thursday, rolled out of bed and had a very slow start to the day. I was already starting to come down with a cold from no doubt being improperly clothed for the cold weather. We rented bikes and biked around Beijing, and honestly, that may have been my favorite part of the trip. Biking around Beijing is craaaaazy. There are biking lanes, but there are pedestrians there as well. And in some areas, you don't have your own lane, or even if you do, the buses pull into it and honk at you to get out of the way. And while I don't mind too much playing chicken with pedestrians, other bikers, and even cars, playing chicken with the buses is just a bit too much for me I think. It was also wonderful for me to be able to do that kind of physical activity I think...it made me feel less like a hopeless cripple and more like my normal relatively active self. We went out for dinner, but I can't remember where....all in all a chill day.
Woke up at 6ish on Friday to go to the Great Wall. We went to Mutianyu (I'm sure that spelling is atrociously wrong), which was a popular area, but not overly touristy. We took a cable car up the mountain to the wall, and with my dislike of heights, it was a somewhat frightening ride. Unfortunately, the weather decided that it wanted to rain after three days of nice sunniness. So we did the Great Wall in a cloudy misty haze, which lent it an aura of mysteriousness and gloominess. Then, because we were up so high, the misty rain turned to snow. Which was actually quite magical. We were on the Wall for almost four hours. There were lots of stairs and ups and downs, so it was challenging without being overly so. However, towards the end, the snow had melted and made the walkways quite slick and after I slipped and fell, we decided to go back down and have a hot cup of tea. We were also by this point all sick. :)
We returned to the hostel and napped, then we got back up to go out to dinner. We picked this great Sichuan restaurant. It was cheap and the food was great. And before I can continue my story of the night, I must say a little something about taxis in Beijing. They do not exist. We tried to flag down a taxi after dinner for almost half an hour...we were walking around looking for them and they were either all full or they wouldn't stop. Of course, it was night and rainy, so that didn't help. Anyway, we finally stopped outside of a hotel and decided that our best bet was to see if they would call us a taxi. So I went up and asked the concierge, and apparently in Beijing they don't actually telephone for a taxi. So one of the staff went outside and hailed us a cab. Which was great. Thanked him for that. And luckily, the concierge had asked us where we were going and was able to communicat that to the driver much better than we would have been able to.
Woke up on Saturday, packed, checked out, and went to the train station. We had gotten a soft sleeper going back for just a little bit more than we had paid for the hard sleeper (the hard sleepers all being full for the most part except top bunks which we didn't want). So it was just the four of us in a car and we had room to sit up in the bed. We slept a fair bit because we hadn't been sleeping a lot in Beijing and because we were all sick. We also played round after round of Hearts. And I shot the moon!! Arrived back in HK Sunday afternoon, got back to campus, did laundry, and then went to the office to do work to prep for the week.
So that's that. Photos will be up soon. I'm going to Nanjing soon with the ETA program, so I'm looking forward to that too. And since I have a multi, I may try to pop into China for weekend trips (weather, leg, and finances permitting) before I leave. I can'tbelieve it's April. Three months left in HK. And only two and a half left till the LSAT. That's terrifying. I'm really going to miss living here.
But all in all, a great break. Looking forward to whatever comes next!
Let's see, what else did I do? Tutored, started studying for the LSAT with a little bit more serious attention than I had shown before. I learned how to knit! I am in the process of making a reddish scarf that has the misfortune of fluctuating dramatically and frighteningly in width. But as it's my first one, I can only hope that I shall improve over time. I read a lot, but that's hardly surprising. I'm back in my Tudor England kick again after reading a lot of African Lit and History in preparation for my module. And I think my next 'reading project' if you will is Korean history. I've forgotten everything that I learned about it in college, and I remember that I liked reading it, so I'm going to try to add that to my schedule.
Anyway, the really fun stuff: Beijing!!! Four of us went, which was the perfect number. We took a hard sleeper train up. There are six beds to a room, and we had the two middle and two upper bunks. We couldn't actually sit up properly in them, but we mostly sat out in the hallway blocking the way and playing cards which was fun. The trip took approximately 24 hours, which is a long time to be confined in the amount of space we had. We got into Beijing on Tuesday afternoon and took a harrowing bus ride to our hostel. The hostel was called the Red Lantern. The four of us shared a co-ed room with two bunk beds. We unpacked, went out for dinner, and then walked around Beijing. It was much colder than I expected it to be...I guess I've gotten used to HK weather or something.
On Wednesday we woke up, had breakfast at the hostel, and then left to go to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. We took a bus there, walked around, took pictures, etc. It was really impressive. I had no idea how big the Forbidden City was (I'll post Beijing pics at a later time, after I load them to my computer). It was imposing, austere, and amazing. Then we went to a late lunch/early dinner and had Peking duck. Quite tasty. From there we took a taxi to the Temple of Heaven. It was this huge circular building, painted with brilliant blues, reds, and golds. It was surrounded by other buildings, long paved pathways, and a park that we walked around. The park was disturbing, and at first we couldn't quite place what it was, but we finally figured it out. We think they buried the trees. Like maybe by several feet. There was no sign of roots, and the huge branches that I normally associate with being higher up on the trees were significantly and bizarrely close to the ground. Then we returned to the hostel and rested for an hour or two, then headed out for dinner and to check out the night life of Beijing.
Slept in on Thursday, rolled out of bed and had a very slow start to the day. I was already starting to come down with a cold from no doubt being improperly clothed for the cold weather. We rented bikes and biked around Beijing, and honestly, that may have been my favorite part of the trip. Biking around Beijing is craaaaazy. There are biking lanes, but there are pedestrians there as well. And in some areas, you don't have your own lane, or even if you do, the buses pull into it and honk at you to get out of the way. And while I don't mind too much playing chicken with pedestrians, other bikers, and even cars, playing chicken with the buses is just a bit too much for me I think. It was also wonderful for me to be able to do that kind of physical activity I think...it made me feel less like a hopeless cripple and more like my normal relatively active self. We went out for dinner, but I can't remember where....all in all a chill day.
Woke up at 6ish on Friday to go to the Great Wall. We went to Mutianyu (I'm sure that spelling is atrociously wrong), which was a popular area, but not overly touristy. We took a cable car up the mountain to the wall, and with my dislike of heights, it was a somewhat frightening ride. Unfortunately, the weather decided that it wanted to rain after three days of nice sunniness. So we did the Great Wall in a cloudy misty haze, which lent it an aura of mysteriousness and gloominess. Then, because we were up so high, the misty rain turned to snow. Which was actually quite magical. We were on the Wall for almost four hours. There were lots of stairs and ups and downs, so it was challenging without being overly so. However, towards the end, the snow had melted and made the walkways quite slick and after I slipped and fell, we decided to go back down and have a hot cup of tea. We were also by this point all sick. :)
We returned to the hostel and napped, then we got back up to go out to dinner. We picked this great Sichuan restaurant. It was cheap and the food was great. And before I can continue my story of the night, I must say a little something about taxis in Beijing. They do not exist. We tried to flag down a taxi after dinner for almost half an hour...we were walking around looking for them and they were either all full or they wouldn't stop. Of course, it was night and rainy, so that didn't help. Anyway, we finally stopped outside of a hotel and decided that our best bet was to see if they would call us a taxi. So I went up and asked the concierge, and apparently in Beijing they don't actually telephone for a taxi. So one of the staff went outside and hailed us a cab. Which was great. Thanked him for that. And luckily, the concierge had asked us where we were going and was able to communicat that to the driver much better than we would have been able to.
Woke up on Saturday, packed, checked out, and went to the train station. We had gotten a soft sleeper going back for just a little bit more than we had paid for the hard sleeper (the hard sleepers all being full for the most part except top bunks which we didn't want). So it was just the four of us in a car and we had room to sit up in the bed. We slept a fair bit because we hadn't been sleeping a lot in Beijing and because we were all sick. We also played round after round of Hearts. And I shot the moon!! Arrived back in HK Sunday afternoon, got back to campus, did laundry, and then went to the office to do work to prep for the week.
So that's that. Photos will be up soon. I'm going to Nanjing soon with the ETA program, so I'm looking forward to that too. And since I have a multi, I may try to pop into China for weekend trips (weather, leg, and finances permitting) before I leave. I can'tbelieve it's April. Three months left in HK. And only two and a half left till the LSAT. That's terrifying. I'm really going to miss living here.
But all in all, a great break. Looking forward to whatever comes next!
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