I'm back in the States, after nearly thirty hours of travelling. I'm still a little out of it in terms of jet-lag, but I've been able to get up and do things (Fourth of July at the waterfront, Holiday Park or something, shopping at Target, lots of family time, eating), and starting Monday will begin all the getting-my-life-in-Louisville-up-and-running ordeal. Banks, licenses, cars, insurance, jobs. In other words, fun to the max.
America feels so much different in ways that I can't begin to describe. And I've gone from a city of predominantly Asian people to one of predominantly...not Asian people. Which is always something of a shocker. Anyway. Really out of it right now, should probably hit the sack. Suffice it to say that I think I have finished with this blog. *tears* So if you've been reading all along, hope you enjoyed!
A bientôt, mes amis.
~Laura
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
I am almost at the end of my Hong Kong ETA experience. And what an experience it has been. Unexpected events, happenings, and growings up (hopefully). I will not be updating this blog too much after I get back to the States, since it was created for the sole purpose of tracking my time in HK. I feel the need for some closure on my time here. I've still got two and a half days, but that's nothing. I also still have to pack my room, which is a slightly larger something.
I have spent eleven months outside of the United States and my family and friends back home. I've made new friends here, predominantly among the other ETAs. I've learned how to eat all kinds of food that first off I never thought I'd eat (shark fin soup once only, jelly fish, chicken's feet, etc.) and second off always with chopsticks. I appreciate how wonderful the mass transit system is, though no doubt true appreciation won't arrive until I get back to using not so great and/or non-existent public transit at home. I've discovered new favorite drinks (iced lemon tea, which I can actually say in Chinese, gasp), new favorite restaurants and types of food, and the glory of arriving back in the gray box that is my room after a two hour trek from the main island or Lantau or wherever I've gone. I've eaten more instant noodles than I ever thought I would, a feat for me, since I've always been fond of ramen. Interestingly, I no longer eat cup noodles....I think I burned out after the, oh, I don't know, thousandth cup. I know and understand the glory that is 7eleven, and the fact that it stocks incredibly useful and incredibly bizarre things. I appreciate the various promotions said store(s) have done (Doraemon stampers, Hello Kitty whatever they were, and Paddington bears). I love the prevalence of taxis. I enjoy being able to go to the beach, even if it takes forever to get there. I love the shopping situation here, including my love affair with the store Esprit. *sigh* I got my hair chemically straightened here, and it still looks good even though it's grown out for several months now.
This seems a list of trivalties and not at all representative of what a trip to Hong Kong should be like. And true, if I think about the other 'big' things I did, I come up with lots more: teaching trips in China, Aladdin Jr. choreography and performances, SAPs/WAPs, developing and teaching modules, Self Access assignments, seeing pandas at Ocean Park, formal dinners/meetings with US consulates and donors to the program, two invasive knee surgeries and months of physical therapy, visiting Beijing, teaching primary school children English and seeing how excited they got to see us and play English games, shopping in the markets, eating a lot of interesting and usually enjoyable food, etc etc etc. And these do shape my perception of Hong Kong and my year here. But it's the little things that come to mind as I sit at my desk in the ETA office and think back on what I've done and experienced here.
I know that much, or even all, of my postings have been less reflection and significantly more recounting of this that or the other. This post isn't much different, only more comprehensive.
Also, let me bring something up that dominated my posts from 2007 and even into 2008. I tore my ACL in August of 2007. I had an initial arthroscopy in early September and reconstructive surgery at the end of October. It seems like that was all a bad dream now. Even the constant twinges of pain and the fact that I can't sit or stand or walk for extended periods of time (completely dreading the flights back, by the by) don't serve to make the experience more real to me. At the time, there was nothing more real, more terrifying, more lonely. I remember, feeling helpless and alone after my second surgery, when I had no visitors to the hospital, when all I had was a book (Starship Troopers I think) and a pain that shot from my toes to my hip, when my only visit was the hospital chaplain who came by and spoke with me for almost ten minutes and made me feel that I was not going to die and that this was not the end of the world. All a bad dream now. Admittedly, a dream that can still wake me up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, but a dream nonetheless. Even the painfully bland and unemotional letter from my surgeon means nothing to me anymore. The scars on my knee are vivid and noticeable, but they don't hurt. The feeling in my leg is coming back - it's not completely numb anymore. I can wear heels, I can run down a flight of stairs (not while wearing heels, obviously, being one of the most clumsly people I know), I can dance, and I can go on a trip to China without feeling like I might fall over/not be able to use certain bathroom facilities. I know I've talked about it a lot. But it was a big deal. I had to grow up a lot, I had to put up with a lot of pain, and I had to do a lot of it alone. I was knocked out twice and woke up, feeling awful, but never so happy to be awake. Although it might have been easier, in the short run, to have torn my ACL in the States near people who could take care of me and where the doctors and nurses first language was English, I'm so grateful that it happened abroad if it had to happen, in a country where even though I'm not a permanent resident, they paid for my surgeries. I only had to front the cost of Physical Therapy, overnight stays, and 2/3 of an MRI scan. And I am without words to describe how thankful I am that I had a surgeon who knew what he was doing and did it well, to have had a physical therapist who kept pushing me even when she knew I was in pain and didn't want to go on. Without them, I can't imagine what sort of condition I'd be in now.
Once again, I've lost myself in a torrent of words and have no idea what my point was to begin with. Hmmmmm.
Well, we'll do this in list form for now.
Favorites
Restaurants: Curry King (Tai Po), Ajisen Ramen (all over), Lemon Chicken restaurant (Sha Tin), Funny Drink Restaurant aka Blue Mountain cafe (Tai Po)
Stores: Esprit, Page One, Tai Po Plaza (series of small shops with amazing and ridiculous finds)
Mall: Festival Walk (Kowloon Tong)
Bus: 275 hahahaha, especially on Sunday, ha. ha. ha.
Beach: Lantau one (can't think of the name) or Shek-O
Amusement Park: Disneyland
Prominent animated character: Stitch
Food: dim sum!, chicken curry fried rice with an egg, chicken with lemon glaze, noodle dishes
Music Video: Jay Chou's Cowboy on the Run
Drink: Tung leng cha (spelling?) Iced Lemon Tea
Hospital: Nethersole Hospital Tai Po
Place to be at night: my room, one of my neighbor's room, the office
Chewing gum: Airwaves Herbal Mint
Most useful
Item from home: ipod speakers
Piece of advice: calling cards are a lot cheaper than just calling straight from your phone
Word: mgoi
Article of clothing: umbrella
Store: 7eleven
Book: Lonely Planet China
Thing: Pack of tissues. Always always carry tissues.
Most interesting
Comment: Your face looks fatter.
Outfit (that I have not worn): shorts, boots, and something glittery/frilly/ruffley
Outfit (that I have worn): leg warmers, heels, black halter dress
Bus ride: E41? Any minibus ride, because it feels like death coming at you at every turn
Things I have bought: all my souvenirs, my bright yellow jacket, and my huge silver bag
Trait that I picked up while over here: saying hai-a in a really whiny way
Most common
Comment: You look Chinese.
Food: Rice. And tea.
Difficulty: Lack of Chinese language knowledge/heat/humidity/rain
I'm sure I'll think of other things later on, but this will do for now, since I've been pecking away at this post for almost an hour. Should probably go work on packing. Or dinner. Either would be advisable.
Song I've listened to too many times while writing this: Bleeding Love
Why, why am I listening to this song?
I have spent eleven months outside of the United States and my family and friends back home. I've made new friends here, predominantly among the other ETAs. I've learned how to eat all kinds of food that first off I never thought I'd eat (shark fin soup once only, jelly fish, chicken's feet, etc.) and second off always with chopsticks. I appreciate how wonderful the mass transit system is, though no doubt true appreciation won't arrive until I get back to using not so great and/or non-existent public transit at home. I've discovered new favorite drinks (iced lemon tea, which I can actually say in Chinese, gasp), new favorite restaurants and types of food, and the glory of arriving back in the gray box that is my room after a two hour trek from the main island or Lantau or wherever I've gone. I've eaten more instant noodles than I ever thought I would, a feat for me, since I've always been fond of ramen. Interestingly, I no longer eat cup noodles....I think I burned out after the, oh, I don't know, thousandth cup. I know and understand the glory that is 7eleven, and the fact that it stocks incredibly useful and incredibly bizarre things. I appreciate the various promotions said store(s) have done (Doraemon stampers, Hello Kitty whatever they were, and Paddington bears). I love the prevalence of taxis. I enjoy being able to go to the beach, even if it takes forever to get there. I love the shopping situation here, including my love affair with the store Esprit. *sigh* I got my hair chemically straightened here, and it still looks good even though it's grown out for several months now.
This seems a list of trivalties and not at all representative of what a trip to Hong Kong should be like. And true, if I think about the other 'big' things I did, I come up with lots more: teaching trips in China, Aladdin Jr. choreography and performances, SAPs/WAPs, developing and teaching modules, Self Access assignments, seeing pandas at Ocean Park, formal dinners/meetings with US consulates and donors to the program, two invasive knee surgeries and months of physical therapy, visiting Beijing, teaching primary school children English and seeing how excited they got to see us and play English games, shopping in the markets, eating a lot of interesting and usually enjoyable food, etc etc etc. And these do shape my perception of Hong Kong and my year here. But it's the little things that come to mind as I sit at my desk in the ETA office and think back on what I've done and experienced here.
I know that much, or even all, of my postings have been less reflection and significantly more recounting of this that or the other. This post isn't much different, only more comprehensive.
Also, let me bring something up that dominated my posts from 2007 and even into 2008. I tore my ACL in August of 2007. I had an initial arthroscopy in early September and reconstructive surgery at the end of October. It seems like that was all a bad dream now. Even the constant twinges of pain and the fact that I can't sit or stand or walk for extended periods of time (completely dreading the flights back, by the by) don't serve to make the experience more real to me. At the time, there was nothing more real, more terrifying, more lonely. I remember, feeling helpless and alone after my second surgery, when I had no visitors to the hospital, when all I had was a book (Starship Troopers I think) and a pain that shot from my toes to my hip, when my only visit was the hospital chaplain who came by and spoke with me for almost ten minutes and made me feel that I was not going to die and that this was not the end of the world. All a bad dream now. Admittedly, a dream that can still wake me up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, but a dream nonetheless. Even the painfully bland and unemotional letter from my surgeon means nothing to me anymore. The scars on my knee are vivid and noticeable, but they don't hurt. The feeling in my leg is coming back - it's not completely numb anymore. I can wear heels, I can run down a flight of stairs (not while wearing heels, obviously, being one of the most clumsly people I know), I can dance, and I can go on a trip to China without feeling like I might fall over/not be able to use certain bathroom facilities. I know I've talked about it a lot. But it was a big deal. I had to grow up a lot, I had to put up with a lot of pain, and I had to do a lot of it alone. I was knocked out twice and woke up, feeling awful, but never so happy to be awake. Although it might have been easier, in the short run, to have torn my ACL in the States near people who could take care of me and where the doctors and nurses first language was English, I'm so grateful that it happened abroad if it had to happen, in a country where even though I'm not a permanent resident, they paid for my surgeries. I only had to front the cost of Physical Therapy, overnight stays, and 2/3 of an MRI scan. And I am without words to describe how thankful I am that I had a surgeon who knew what he was doing and did it well, to have had a physical therapist who kept pushing me even when she knew I was in pain and didn't want to go on. Without them, I can't imagine what sort of condition I'd be in now.
Once again, I've lost myself in a torrent of words and have no idea what my point was to begin with. Hmmmmm.
Well, we'll do this in list form for now.
Favorites
Restaurants: Curry King (Tai Po), Ajisen Ramen (all over), Lemon Chicken restaurant (Sha Tin), Funny Drink Restaurant aka Blue Mountain cafe (Tai Po)
Stores: Esprit, Page One, Tai Po Plaza (series of small shops with amazing and ridiculous finds)
Mall: Festival Walk (Kowloon Tong)
Bus: 275 hahahaha, especially on Sunday, ha. ha. ha.
Beach: Lantau one (can't think of the name) or Shek-O
Amusement Park: Disneyland
Prominent animated character: Stitch
Food: dim sum!, chicken curry fried rice with an egg, chicken with lemon glaze, noodle dishes
Music Video: Jay Chou's Cowboy on the Run
Drink: Tung leng cha (spelling?) Iced Lemon Tea
Hospital: Nethersole Hospital Tai Po
Place to be at night: my room, one of my neighbor's room, the office
Chewing gum: Airwaves Herbal Mint
Most useful
Item from home: ipod speakers
Piece of advice: calling cards are a lot cheaper than just calling straight from your phone
Word: mgoi
Article of clothing: umbrella
Store: 7eleven
Book: Lonely Planet China
Thing: Pack of tissues. Always always carry tissues.
Most interesting
Comment: Your face looks fatter.
Outfit (that I have not worn): shorts, boots, and something glittery/frilly/ruffley
Outfit (that I have worn): leg warmers, heels, black halter dress
Bus ride: E41? Any minibus ride, because it feels like death coming at you at every turn
Things I have bought: all my souvenirs, my bright yellow jacket, and my huge silver bag
Trait that I picked up while over here: saying hai-a in a really whiny way
Most common
Comment: You look Chinese.
Food: Rice. And tea.
Difficulty: Lack of Chinese language knowledge/heat/humidity/rain
I'm sure I'll think of other things later on, but this will do for now, since I've been pecking away at this post for almost an hour. Should probably go work on packing. Or dinner. Either would be advisable.
Song I've listened to too many times while writing this: Bleeding Love
Why, why am I listening to this song?
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The sky cleared enough to go to the beach on Saturday, which was lovely and clear and beautiful. Went to Lantau and did some swimming and lying out - but mostly just fell asleep for about an hour. I was feeling pretty sick.
Sunday was the kindergarten graduation. So adorable! They were wearing black robes with bright green bowties. And then they did their 'show,' and the class that I worked with was winter. They were wearing Christmas-y costumes and winter wonderland outfits. They did a 'dance' that I helped with. :) It was a music medley starting with a Disney version of 'Step in Time' which sounded oddly and suspiciously like a very bizarre and fast version of that song in Mary Poppins. Then, it moved into 'Jingle Bell Rock' and then into a Chinese version of 'Amazing Grace'. Very pretty. The other classes were the other seasons, including one season which used 'All for the Best' from Godspell. Pretty awesome. Felt awful after that (head swimming, feverish tendencies, etc) but had work to do in the non-airconditioned office, and then took a looooong nap. Then more work. Then more sleep.
Monday, hmmmm, Monday. Oh, I had to go to Wan Chai to take care of some businessy stuff related to taxes etc. Then went to lunch at a Sichuan restaurant in Soho. From there, back to campus, and then! And then! Monkey Mountain! hahahahaha. Serious hardcore monkeys everywhere. Some of which hissed and assumed attack positions. When they dropped down on the handrails next to you, it was pretty much terrifying. They were eerily human at times, especially the babies.
I went into the mainland on Tuesday with a couple people. Back to Guangzhou! My first China visit, and probably my last. *tears* We stayed overnight at a hotel. The first day it was really really hot and sunny, and we walked around, did a bit of shopping, ate some good food, and went on a cruise of the Pearl River. The next day it was raining. We went to a couple temples, the art museum, and dinner. We took the train there and back. Good times.
Today I had my last class with the kindergarten. Even though they've graduated, they still have three weeks of school left. I don't think these poor children are ever done with classes. We played games, and I had made candy bags for all of them. So it was a good time. Went bowling and had dinner. Good times.
Must needs get up early and pack a box and do laundry. Lots to do before I leave for the States. *meep*
Sunday was the kindergarten graduation. So adorable! They were wearing black robes with bright green bowties. And then they did their 'show,' and the class that I worked with was winter. They were wearing Christmas-y costumes and winter wonderland outfits. They did a 'dance' that I helped with. :) It was a music medley starting with a Disney version of 'Step in Time' which sounded oddly and suspiciously like a very bizarre and fast version of that song in Mary Poppins. Then, it moved into 'Jingle Bell Rock' and then into a Chinese version of 'Amazing Grace'. Very pretty. The other classes were the other seasons, including one season which used 'All for the Best' from Godspell. Pretty awesome. Felt awful after that (head swimming, feverish tendencies, etc) but had work to do in the non-airconditioned office, and then took a looooong nap. Then more work. Then more sleep.
Monday, hmmmm, Monday. Oh, I had to go to Wan Chai to take care of some businessy stuff related to taxes etc. Then went to lunch at a Sichuan restaurant in Soho. From there, back to campus, and then! And then! Monkey Mountain! hahahahaha. Serious hardcore monkeys everywhere. Some of which hissed and assumed attack positions. When they dropped down on the handrails next to you, it was pretty much terrifying. They were eerily human at times, especially the babies.
I went into the mainland on Tuesday with a couple people. Back to Guangzhou! My first China visit, and probably my last. *tears* We stayed overnight at a hotel. The first day it was really really hot and sunny, and we walked around, did a bit of shopping, ate some good food, and went on a cruise of the Pearl River. The next day it was raining. We went to a couple temples, the art museum, and dinner. We took the train there and back. Good times.
Today I had my last class with the kindergarten. Even though they've graduated, they still have three weeks of school left. I don't think these poor children are ever done with classes. We played games, and I had made candy bags for all of them. So it was a good time. Went bowling and had dinner. Good times.
Must needs get up early and pack a box and do laundry. Lots to do before I leave for the States. *meep*
Friday, June 20, 2008
Books I have Read in Hong Kong
Guide:
Bold – Read more than once (and probably more than two or three times)
Italics – Had read prior to coming to HK
Achebe, Chinua
Things Fall Apart
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Purple Hibiscus
Anderson, Kevin J.
The Emperor’s Plague
Darkest Knight
Heirs of the Force
Ba, Mariama
So Long a Letter
Binchy, Maeve
Circle of Friends
Brown, Dan
Deception Point
Browning, Robert
Collected Poems (working on it)
Card, Orson Scott
Ender’s Game
Speaker for the Dead
Enchantment
Chang, Iris
The Rape of Nankin (working on it)
Coetzee, J.M.
Age of Iron
Cushman, Karen
Catherine, Called Birdy
Dangarembga, Tsitsi
Nervous Conditions
DeMaurier, Daphne
Rebecca
Dick, Philip K.
Solar Lottery
Dostoevsky, Fyodor
The Brothers Karamazov (working on it)
Eco, Umberto
How to Travel with a Salmon
Faith in Fakes (working on it)
Grahame, Kenneth
The Wind in the Willows
Gregory, Philippa
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Virgin’s Lover
The Boleyn Inheritance
Gristwood, Sarah
Elizabeth and Leicester
Hardy, Thomas
The Woodlanders
Heinlein, Robert A.
Starship Troopers
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Requiem
Methuselah’s Children (working on it)
Space Cadet
The Door into Summer
Glory Road (working on it)
Hughes, Thomas
Tom Brown’s School Days
Iyayi, Festus
Awaiting Court Martial
Jacques, Brian
Mossflower
Outcast of Redwall
The Bellmaker
Marlfox
Juster, Norton
The Phantom Tollbooth
Kidd, Chip
The Cheese Monkeys
Lee, Harper
To Kill a Mockingbird
Neruda, Pablo
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Ngugi
I Will Marry When I Want
Orwell, George
Down and Out in Paris and London
Palahniuk, Chuck
Rant: An Oral Autobiography of Buster Casey
p’Bitek, Okot
Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol
Proust, Marcel
Swann’s Way (working on it)
Pullman, Philip
The Golden Compass
Ransome, Arthur
Favorite Russian Fairy Tales
Roth, Philip
Portnoy’s Complaint (did not finish)
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rushdie, Salman
The Moor’s Last Sigh
Sachar, Louis
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Wayside School is Falling Down
Sayers, Dorothy L.
Thrones, Dominations
Shaara, Jeff
The Rising Tide: A novel of WWII
Silverstein, Shel
A Light in the Attic
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Smith, Alexander McCall
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Soyinka, Wole
Death and the King’s Horseman
Tartt, Donna
The Secret History
Waugh, Sylvia
Mennyms in the Wilderness
Turner, Megan Whalen
The King of Attolia
Alison Weir
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Innocent Traitor
Elizabeth, the Queen
Yolen, Jane and Robert J. Harris
Queen’s Own Fool
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Farm
At least a dozen Agatha Christie Books
Scores of illustrated children’s books
And others I may have forgotten
Bold – Read more than once (and probably more than two or three times)
Italics – Had read prior to coming to HK
Achebe, Chinua
Things Fall Apart
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Purple Hibiscus
Anderson, Kevin J.
The Emperor’s Plague
Darkest Knight
Heirs of the Force
Ba, Mariama
So Long a Letter
Binchy, Maeve
Circle of Friends
Brown, Dan
Deception Point
Browning, Robert
Collected Poems (working on it)
Card, Orson Scott
Ender’s Game
Speaker for the Dead
Enchantment
Chang, Iris
The Rape of Nankin (working on it)
Coetzee, J.M.
Age of Iron
Cushman, Karen
Catherine, Called Birdy
Dangarembga, Tsitsi
Nervous Conditions
DeMaurier, Daphne
Rebecca
Dick, Philip K.
Solar Lottery
Dostoevsky, Fyodor
The Brothers Karamazov (working on it)
Eco, Umberto
How to Travel with a Salmon
Faith in Fakes (working on it)
Grahame, Kenneth
The Wind in the Willows
Gregory, Philippa
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Virgin’s Lover
The Boleyn Inheritance
Gristwood, Sarah
Elizabeth and Leicester
Hardy, Thomas
The Woodlanders
Heinlein, Robert A.
Starship Troopers
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Requiem
Methuselah’s Children (working on it)
Space Cadet
The Door into Summer
Glory Road (working on it)
Hughes, Thomas
Tom Brown’s School Days
Iyayi, Festus
Awaiting Court Martial
Jacques, Brian
Mossflower
Outcast of Redwall
The Bellmaker
Marlfox
Juster, Norton
The Phantom Tollbooth
Kidd, Chip
The Cheese Monkeys
Lee, Harper
To Kill a Mockingbird
Neruda, Pablo
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Ngugi
I Will Marry When I Want
Orwell, George
Down and Out in Paris and London
Palahniuk, Chuck
Rant: An Oral Autobiography of Buster Casey
p’Bitek, Okot
Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol
Proust, Marcel
Swann’s Way (working on it)
Pullman, Philip
The Golden Compass
Ransome, Arthur
Favorite Russian Fairy Tales
Roth, Philip
Portnoy’s Complaint (did not finish)
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rushdie, Salman
The Moor’s Last Sigh
Sachar, Louis
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Wayside School is Falling Down
Sayers, Dorothy L.
Thrones, Dominations
Shaara, Jeff
The Rising Tide: A novel of WWII
Silverstein, Shel
A Light in the Attic
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Smith, Alexander McCall
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Soyinka, Wole
Death and the King’s Horseman
Tartt, Donna
The Secret History
Waugh, Sylvia
Mennyms in the Wilderness
Turner, Megan Whalen
The King of Attolia
Alison Weir
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Innocent Traitor
Elizabeth, the Queen
Yolen, Jane and Robert J. Harris
Queen’s Own Fool
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Farm
At least a dozen Agatha Christie Books
Scores of illustrated children’s books
And others I may have forgotten
Less than two weeks left in Hong Kong. Ahhhhhhhhh. It's a hard concept to wrap my mind around. I can't imagine what it will be like to not be able to hop on the bus/KCR and go somewhere with fantastic stores, food, sights, etc. Not knocking the States, but it's just a whole different world here.
The LSAT is mercifully over. And I'm already starting to count down days till I hear back. But not quite. It's more that it just matches up almost perfectly to the days till I'm back in the States.
I feel that the next thirteen days are going to be crazy hectic, running around taking care of paperwork, packing, seeing the last few things, trying to figure out what all is happening in the States upon my return, etc.
Bit jittery at the moment.
The LSAT is mercifully over. And I'm already starting to count down days till I hear back. But not quite. It's more that it just matches up almost perfectly to the days till I'm back in the States.
I feel that the next thirteen days are going to be crazy hectic, running around taking care of paperwork, packing, seeing the last few things, trying to figure out what all is happening in the States upon my return, etc.
Bit jittery at the moment.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Flash floods, sea sickness, gambling, and Portuguese/Chinese encounters, also known as my weekend. :)
Friday went to pick up my glasses...awesome. Statement making in that they're black plastic frames and have glitter/rhinestones on the sides, but they fit and although they did make me dizzy and gave me a headache the first day, it went away relatively soon. As opposed to my other pair of black glasses which gave me a three day headache and made the world look a lot taller and further away than normal.
But the fun stuff! Macau.
I had originally planned to go just for Saturday. I was going with some people who were overnighting it, but I wanted to get back, be able to study, and not drop a ton of money. Went to bed late late Friday night, woke up earlyyyyyyy to the rain that seems to never stop. Didn't think too much of it as I got ready to go, but as I left the building the security guard gestured emphatically and excitedly to the door sign, which said that a black rainstorm warning had been issued. So I nodded and breezed right on out.
Taxi to Tai Po Center, 307 to the Central Ferry Piers. Should have been around an hour on the bus. Ended up being much more, because apparently a black rainstorm warning means A LOT of rain. The roads flooded in Central. We saw taxis stopped in the middle of the road with water up to their bumpers, trashcans floating down the street, restaurants/hotels/stores with the water lapping inside and sometimes even covering the floor. People were knee-deep in water and sloshing around. Luckily the bus got through a lot of the deep water, and we got out on a part of the street that wasn't incredibly flooded. Dashed through the rain to the ferry pier and managed to catch the boat we were supposed to take even though we were running late. I've been on a fair number of ferry rides in my life (around here and then out to Bald Head), but this one made me sick. Thought I was going to be violently ill, but managed to drift off to sleep for a bit.
Woke up to rain in Macau. Got off the boat, went through immigration, then wandered around in the rain trying to find the free shuttle bus to take us from the pier to the hotel. Had decided by that point to spend the night. My ticket was originally 11pm Saturday night, but the weather in HK being what it was, I thought it wiser to just stay in Macau. Anyway, finally decided to take a taxi to the hotel which wasn't that far away. Checked in but couldn't actually get into the room till after three. So we went to the Venetian. Which is a very large hotel/casino/shopping center. We took the free bus back to the pier and then another free bus from the pier to the Venetian.
How to describe the Venetian? Expensive, but almost gaudy. Really high ceilings with creepy chandeliers that were made of something that almost looked as though they could have been highly polished bone? Not sure. Bathrooms were nice. We wandered around and had lunch at a sort of all-you-can-eat buffet, only a very nice and classy one. Didn't eat a terrible lot because my tummy was still feeling funny. Then we wandered around the shopping mall. I assume it was built along an Italian theme...river with gondolas etc. Lots of shops, lots of people, the ceiling vaguely reminiscent of HP (painted to look like the sky). Finally went down to the casino. I played some of the slot machines which was fun. Lost of course. One of my friends played Blackjack, which looked like fun, but for my skill at playing it and the price of the buy in - wasn't worth it for me.
Left the Venetian and went to the hotel. Dried out for a bit. Then went for dinner at this Portuguese style restaurant. It was good. Walked around, saw the different casinos, and then went into the Wynn casino. We walked around it and ended up at the Starbucks there. :) I got id-ed going in. Not sure why. None of the others were stopped, but the guard looked my passport over. *sigh* Got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour. I didn't have any clothes with me as I hadn't planned to spend the night. I bought a tank top at the Venetian (at a 'cheaper' store) to wear under my jacket for the second day.
Woke up somewhat late on Sunday. Watched a bit of TV - we saw the dragon boat races! Then checked out of the hotel and went to Las Ruinas de Sao Paulo. Walked around, bought some things including a present for someone! ;). We stopped by a church. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a Catholic church. I don't know if I've seen an actual old-fashioned confessional booth in real life. The rain at least had stopped, thank goodness. Instead the sun was incredibly hot and the humidity intense. But still good to be hot than soaked. We had dinner at this little diner type thing. Apparently restaurants are not open between 3-6, and we had to eat early so that we could get to the pier by 6:30. I didn't eat much because I was afraid the voyage back might be sick-making. Had essentially a drink with frozen fruit in it. Tasty.
Got to the ferry pier, checked in, boarded the ferry, and THEN they announced that "There is rubbish in the intake" and we had to turn and go back to Macau. They made us get off and board another boat. But the passage was swift, didn't get sick, and they gave us complimentary Oreos. Took the bus back to Tai Po, stopped by McDonald's for a snack, and then back to campus.
I liked Macau. I also really enjoyed trying to figure out what all the Portuguese signs and menus said.
Today was another public holiday. I slept in, went to the grocery, studied for the LSAT etc. I teach tomorrow, only day this week since I took vacation because the test is Sunday. *meep*
Terrified out of my mind.
Lots of things that need to happen between now and when I come back home. But none of it matters till after this test. Wish there were going to be people around the Saturday before the test, but most people will be on an outing to Sai Kung. Didn't want to run the risk of getting back at midnight the night before the test, and Sai Kung is pretty far out. It's okay. I'll have time to do stuff after the test. I hope. *fingers crossed*
And I'm once again at the end of a long rambly recounting of things I've done.
*deep calming breaths*
In the immortal words of the Little Engine Who Could: I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can....
Friday went to pick up my glasses...awesome. Statement making in that they're black plastic frames and have glitter/rhinestones on the sides, but they fit and although they did make me dizzy and gave me a headache the first day, it went away relatively soon. As opposed to my other pair of black glasses which gave me a three day headache and made the world look a lot taller and further away than normal.
But the fun stuff! Macau.
I had originally planned to go just for Saturday. I was going with some people who were overnighting it, but I wanted to get back, be able to study, and not drop a ton of money. Went to bed late late Friday night, woke up earlyyyyyyy to the rain that seems to never stop. Didn't think too much of it as I got ready to go, but as I left the building the security guard gestured emphatically and excitedly to the door sign, which said that a black rainstorm warning had been issued. So I nodded and breezed right on out.
Taxi to Tai Po Center, 307 to the Central Ferry Piers. Should have been around an hour on the bus. Ended up being much more, because apparently a black rainstorm warning means A LOT of rain. The roads flooded in Central. We saw taxis stopped in the middle of the road with water up to their bumpers, trashcans floating down the street, restaurants/hotels/stores with the water lapping inside and sometimes even covering the floor. People were knee-deep in water and sloshing around. Luckily the bus got through a lot of the deep water, and we got out on a part of the street that wasn't incredibly flooded. Dashed through the rain to the ferry pier and managed to catch the boat we were supposed to take even though we were running late. I've been on a fair number of ferry rides in my life (around here and then out to Bald Head), but this one made me sick. Thought I was going to be violently ill, but managed to drift off to sleep for a bit.
Woke up to rain in Macau. Got off the boat, went through immigration, then wandered around in the rain trying to find the free shuttle bus to take us from the pier to the hotel. Had decided by that point to spend the night. My ticket was originally 11pm Saturday night, but the weather in HK being what it was, I thought it wiser to just stay in Macau. Anyway, finally decided to take a taxi to the hotel which wasn't that far away. Checked in but couldn't actually get into the room till after three. So we went to the Venetian. Which is a very large hotel/casino/shopping center. We took the free bus back to the pier and then another free bus from the pier to the Venetian.
How to describe the Venetian? Expensive, but almost gaudy. Really high ceilings with creepy chandeliers that were made of something that almost looked as though they could have been highly polished bone? Not sure. Bathrooms were nice. We wandered around and had lunch at a sort of all-you-can-eat buffet, only a very nice and classy one. Didn't eat a terrible lot because my tummy was still feeling funny. Then we wandered around the shopping mall. I assume it was built along an Italian theme...river with gondolas etc. Lots of shops, lots of people, the ceiling vaguely reminiscent of HP (painted to look like the sky). Finally went down to the casino. I played some of the slot machines which was fun. Lost of course. One of my friends played Blackjack, which looked like fun, but for my skill at playing it and the price of the buy in - wasn't worth it for me.
Left the Venetian and went to the hotel. Dried out for a bit. Then went for dinner at this Portuguese style restaurant. It was good. Walked around, saw the different casinos, and then went into the Wynn casino. We walked around it and ended up at the Starbucks there. :) I got id-ed going in. Not sure why. None of the others were stopped, but the guard looked my passport over. *sigh* Got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour. I didn't have any clothes with me as I hadn't planned to spend the night. I bought a tank top at the Venetian (at a 'cheaper' store) to wear under my jacket for the second day.
Woke up somewhat late on Sunday. Watched a bit of TV - we saw the dragon boat races! Then checked out of the hotel and went to Las Ruinas de Sao Paulo. Walked around, bought some things including a present for someone! ;). We stopped by a church. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a Catholic church. I don't know if I've seen an actual old-fashioned confessional booth in real life. The rain at least had stopped, thank goodness. Instead the sun was incredibly hot and the humidity intense. But still good to be hot than soaked. We had dinner at this little diner type thing. Apparently restaurants are not open between 3-6, and we had to eat early so that we could get to the pier by 6:30. I didn't eat much because I was afraid the voyage back might be sick-making. Had essentially a drink with frozen fruit in it. Tasty.
Got to the ferry pier, checked in, boarded the ferry, and THEN they announced that "There is rubbish in the intake" and we had to turn and go back to Macau. They made us get off and board another boat. But the passage was swift, didn't get sick, and they gave us complimentary Oreos. Took the bus back to Tai Po, stopped by McDonald's for a snack, and then back to campus.
I liked Macau. I also really enjoyed trying to figure out what all the Portuguese signs and menus said.
Today was another public holiday. I slept in, went to the grocery, studied for the LSAT etc. I teach tomorrow, only day this week since I took vacation because the test is Sunday. *meep*
Terrified out of my mind.
Lots of things that need to happen between now and when I come back home. But none of it matters till after this test. Wish there were going to be people around the Saturday before the test, but most people will be on an outing to Sai Kung. Didn't want to run the risk of getting back at midnight the night before the test, and Sai Kung is pretty far out. It's okay. I'll have time to do stuff after the test. I hope. *fingers crossed*
And I'm once again at the end of a long rambly recounting of things I've done.
*deep calming breaths*
In the immortal words of the Little Engine Who Could: I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can....
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
I'm down to the last month in Hong Kong, which is crazy. My time in college flew, but this! This was ridiculous...seems like only days ago I was getting back from our China trip, and not that long ago that it was still 'cold' out.
Now, it's humid, hot, rainy, and bug-infested. But that deters me not at all...well, okay, actually it deters me a bit. Hate bugs and go into panic mode at sight of them usually, rain has prevented the beach excursions, and the humidity just makes it hard to see (when I come out of the AC, or the air-con if you will, my glasses fog up preventing sight and encouraging near death encounters with large busses). But! Life is good. And KY humidity probably won't feel half so bad...maybe.
Have not managed to do many of the things I mentioned in the last post, except study. Putting in anywhere from two to four hours a day, and it's helping. *fingers crossed* Have also read three and a half Heinlein books since I think Thursday. No, I haven't finished Brothers K, but am working on that too.
I bought new glasses yesterday. Made the (correct) choice between getting my hair chemically restraightened and spending the money (plus some) on a pair of glasses that I will be able to use for years. Love the ones I have, but I need the new prescription. And it's cheaper to buy them here. At least the lenses are by quite a bit. If I'd buy cheaper frames, it would help, but hey! I think that the total price is still under what my current ones cost, just not as cheap as I could have gotten.
Have discovered that 7eleven sells frozen xiao long bao. It's not the best ever, but it makes a nice snack change to cup noodles. I cannot wait to get back to the States and have a few American dinners. The food here is great, but sometimes, you just want a steak. Or a brautworst (spelling?). Or that pasta dish with brie. Or cheese. Lots of bread and cheese. ANd to drink water at restaurants. I like tea a lot, and coke is okay, but I grew up drinking water with my meals, and I miss that. Or to make cookies, brownies, and cake with home-made icing. Yum!
Now, it's humid, hot, rainy, and bug-infested. But that deters me not at all...well, okay, actually it deters me a bit. Hate bugs and go into panic mode at sight of them usually, rain has prevented the beach excursions, and the humidity just makes it hard to see (when I come out of the AC, or the air-con if you will, my glasses fog up preventing sight and encouraging near death encounters with large busses). But! Life is good. And KY humidity probably won't feel half so bad...maybe.
Have not managed to do many of the things I mentioned in the last post, except study. Putting in anywhere from two to four hours a day, and it's helping. *fingers crossed* Have also read three and a half Heinlein books since I think Thursday. No, I haven't finished Brothers K, but am working on that too.
I bought new glasses yesterday. Made the (correct) choice between getting my hair chemically restraightened and spending the money (plus some) on a pair of glasses that I will be able to use for years. Love the ones I have, but I need the new prescription. And it's cheaper to buy them here. At least the lenses are by quite a bit. If I'd buy cheaper frames, it would help, but hey! I think that the total price is still under what my current ones cost, just not as cheap as I could have gotten.
Have discovered that 7eleven sells frozen xiao long bao. It's not the best ever, but it makes a nice snack change to cup noodles. I cannot wait to get back to the States and have a few American dinners. The food here is great, but sometimes, you just want a steak. Or a brautworst (spelling?). Or that pasta dish with brie. Or cheese. Lots of bread and cheese. ANd to drink water at restaurants. I like tea a lot, and coke is okay, but I grew up drinking water with my meals, and I miss that. Or to make cookies, brownies, and cake with home-made icing. Yum!
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