I've been really busy so it might seem like my last post was on Day 3 of study abroad whereas in reality I'm really on Day 10. I have 7 drafts written up with notes on what I did so I remember what each day was like but I haven't written them out yet. I guess that's my assignment for today! (Before I go out. Again. Maybe.) Tired.
So today, I met up with my "buddies" (or should I say BuddY). I've only been in contact with one of them, Mandy, and she's seems like a super sweet person. A bit quieter than her two friends but I completely understand the difference in personality because, well, who am I to talk about shyness? Please. All that matters is that she was welcoming and took the time out of her day to meet me --which, by the way, I am very grateful for. I went out to lunch and spent the afternoon with her and her friends who are also in the buddy program and one of their buddies. Cappy and Karen were locals and their exchange student was named Khalil (he's from Leon, France). Here's a little description of them for me to remember them by: Cappy - my first thought was that her name was like "Happy" but with a "C"! Which was pretty adorable because she also seems like such an energetic and well...happy person. She knows a lot of stories and enjoys Chinese history. I'd also like to point out that she was also wearing a Batz Maru shirt. Such important details. Karen - has been to the US and took part in the international Disney internship program that Angela was a part of too. Lucky for her, she worked at a resort and not under the blazing summer sun in Florida. Mandy - well, she's my buddy. I don't think I talked to her too much but even so, she's not hesitant when asked to get the bill or tell the bus driver we need to get off. That's probably better than me. Also, I realized she reminds me of Kitty in some way. Being the thoughtful people they were, Cappy, Karen, and Mandy brought us to Pizza Hut for lunch since they figured we might not want to be too adventurous our first few days being in Hong Kong. Would not have been my pick but I certainly appreciate the thought that went into it! Afterwards, we went to Kowloon City because of my hunt to find tong sui. We were too full after Pizza Hut though (so much food went to waste!) so we went to the supermarket and a park. I must say, they put a lot of effort into helping me find detergent and softener. At the park, we went to see the remnants of Kowloon Walled City. Cappy is an amazing tour guide because she likes to tell us stories behind what we saw. She told us a story behind mooncakes and the Mid-Autumn Festival and explained to us what the Walled City was like. Coincidentally, I had found out and read about the Walled City just the day before. We got to see what used to be the south gate and I have to say, it's one of the most interesting places here. It was a very inhabited space that just focused on the lives of the people living there (no matter how bad it may be). It definitely has a stronger connection and relevance to the lives of those that live there and the space was formed more naturally in comparison to the facade of the endless malls. As amazing as all the shops are here, there is a sense of artificiality whereas in comparison, the Walled City had a more genuine feel to it.
When we got back to HKBU, I was feeling really tired and actually fell asleep for the first time since I got to Hong Kong. I was meeting Karen at night though and trust me, I wanted to cancel so badly. I was way too tired and jetlagged but she was leaving in two days so I patted my cheeks and went on my way. I met her at Causeway Bay and Google mapped to tell me how long it would take to get there. Now usually in New York City, the time that maps give is not too accurate and I always have to leave around 15 minutes earlier to get to my destination on time. Well Kim, you're not in New York anymore. This is Hong Kong. The trains run more efficiently and are actually on schedule. Therefore, when I got to Causeway Bay super early, I waited at Times Square for Karen who funnily, was running late. I didn't mind though. There was an adorable exhibit of a character named Chopperman. I later found out there was more to the exhibit and it wasn't a Chopperman exhibit, it was a One Piece exhibit. I know so little about One Piece that I didn't even realize what was going on until I saw the mast on the boat (I will post pictures to explain). And even then I thought Chopperman was from a totally different show or had a show of its own. Oops. I was standing outside the exhibit taking pictures when the security told me that I could just line up (to clarify, he was so nice and polite and just wanted me to go in because he saw how infatuated I was) because no one was on the line. Lies. There were 5 people on the line but apparently I was very lucky because according to Karen, the line is usually very long. Eventually Karen and I found each other and she actually had to find a taxi because the bus was no where to be found so that was nice of her to do that and not keep me waiting too long. We had Japanese food because it seemed the lightest out of all the options and my appetite was not in tip top shape. It was actually really good and I want their salad again. Also, I had a yakult mango drink which was super yummy. Afterwards, she wanted to bring me to see some pens and stationary downstairs where I was mystified by the different types of stationary. It put the normal plain US pens/pencils we have at home to shame. To a whole other level of shame too. Although I have to disclose, stationary shopping is my favorite type of shopping so that's probably why it's interesting for me but maybe not anyone else really. It ended up being pretty late after everything and I didn't want the MTR to stop working before I got back to campus either so I went back just in time. Dang, I can write a book at this rate. What an extremely long post. Long to read, but even longer to write. At least this pretty much ALMOST guarantees that I'll be the only one reading (all of) this~
Clearly, I am NO match. I was just casually strolling through the land of Facebook when I saw that another one of the exchange students posted a link on the HKBU exchange group page. My actual reaction in real life as I scrolled down the page was "Holy fucking shit....oh fuck. Fuck. What. Omg. No way." (Good thing my roommate didn't come back yet!) Maybe it's just because I have a fear of heights but these pictures really freaked me out. Now have you ever been in a situation where you're disgusted but completely interested at the same time? I'm sure you have. And for me, this was one of them. Hong Kong is an amazing city even just architecturally but these guys have brought it to a whole other level. No pun intended. I think I'm a bit nauseous now. More than normal. Here's the link: http://ontheroofs.com/hong-kong-2/ And just so you can have a taste of it without even leaving this blog, here are some pictures. Never in my life have I felt more afraid of heights, no less from a picture.
I'm done. Normally, I'd say it's so hot I'm burning. But no. No, no, no, no, no. Being in Hong Kong with this humidity and heat, I'm steaming like a little xiaolongbao. Ha. I'm so corny.
So it's day 2 of settling in and I'm still having trouble eating and sleeping. At this rate, I'll be withering away in no time so I really hope all the yummy food in Hong Kong starts enticing me soon. On that note, I've been on a mad (not really) hunt to find tong sui because that's really the only thing I feel up to for eating right now. Let's not jinx it though. I already feel it happening. We learned to take the subway ourselves today and the hardest part is really not dropping the change when I buy my ticket. Really. I've also had trouble with my hair dryer. The adapter was not a converter as well (which I kind of knew and took my chances anyways) aaaaaand.....it blew apart my hair dryer. That sounds a bit extreme so I'll just clarify. I turned on the hairdryer and then there was a popping sound and then I looked on the floor and a piece of the fan in the back was laying on the floor halfway across the room. Granted, the room isn't terribly big at all. Apart from those few glitches and the elevator ride, I really like it here. A big part of it does have to do with the fact that I'm not stranded on campus in the midst of trees like at Babson though. It feels nice to be able to actually go places! Now then, all I need to do for now is meet my buddy (which will happen tomorrow -- yay!) and meet my roommate too. I've been living with two of her bags these past two days. That's it. Just her bags... A 16 hour flight might seem daunting but it actually really isn't. Maybe it's because I'm (more than) a bit of a lazy ass but I really didn't mind. Especially if I think about it, how many people are lucky enough to travel? And such far distances too? They give us a food, they give us water, we barely have to move an inch! Now this started creeping me out a bit though because it became every Wall-E esque. The attendants are waiting on you hand and foot and all I did was sit around watching movies and reading.
One of the movies I watched was Mr. Peabody and Sherman and I have to say, it was better than I expected. Such a cute movie and although I didn't think Mr. Peabody was terribly adorable for a dog at first, he won me over. I was also really happy to find that they had a few episodes of Kim Possible and Modern Family so that made me happy. Now, what is a post by me without complaints. Ha. I know, I can complain a lot. I'm admitting it. So here it goes: terrible food and terrible time trying to fall asleep (it was always bright outside the window and I expected it to turn dark sometime despite the time differences). At least I kept my complaints short this time! It was actually really cool though because we flew up past Canada, to the Artic, and then down China to Hong Kong. I'm not gonna lie, I did have a little panic attack when we flew over Russia though. That and when there was a lot of turbulence and I saw the plane move off route for a while. I still got to Hong Kong earlier than expected which was nice. Thanks Cathay Pacific! And as promised, there were HKBU student ambassadors waiting to pick us up at the airport, take us to check into our dorms, help us carry our luggage, bring us to IKEA, and find places for us to get SIM cards. They do so much. Now, my room is on the 18th floor and long story short: view is good, elevator ride is not. It stops at too many levels along the way on top of already being far from the ground floor. I'm also using the AC a bit too much considering we pay for it but the cost isn't too bad and I want to be as comfortable as I can to sleep. I had quite an experience buying a SIM card though and that was when I really appreciated being able to speak Cantonese. I was sleep deprived, tired, and sweaty but I still managed to run through deals and calculations in Cantonese with the salespeople. The lady that worked at the store that the student ambassadors brought us to was super duper sweet. She knew I didn't want to be paying $50 USD a month for phone and she actually brought me next door where they had a better deal for what I was looking for. It's so nice of her to put me first before a sale and that's such a hard find. Even afterwards, she gave me little phone charms and straps that she was giving out to the other exchange students even though I didn't buy from the store she was looking for. At the end of the day, I just felt tired & disgusting. Unpacking was a struggle but I got through it and as tiring as it is, being busy at least just makes me feel productive. Which is good! Only 9 more days to go before I board my plane to Hong Kong! Yesterday, I woke up in the middle of the night and when I checked the time on my phone, I got an e-mail from HKBU. They assigned us "Buddies"! -- what a cute system, I just hope it actually works. Between two other exchange students and me, we got assigned two student volunteers: Lau Kim Fai and Lau Man Yu. I guess I'll see how this system works out soon enough!
Sidenote: I just like our HKBU Buddies' names because it reminds me of one of my all time favorite dramas that I'm also (re)watching on TV right now. It's called Beyond the Realm of Conscience and one of the main characters is named Lau Sam Ho so there's the connection. It's been quite an eventful week or so. There's definitely been some bad going on throughout all the good but I promise, I don't mean harm! Meep. Ok, so that was all just a load of silly superstition so I'll be moving on. Now then, let's stay with the positives! My favorite thing that has happened this week is definitely that my best friend has come home from France! She went to Nice for a medical internship program and stayed with a French host family and everything -- so proud of her haha. We finally got some time to hang out today so we met up and went out for Korean food. Also she brought me back some souvenirs too and I have to say: they're adorable! So in my cute little gift bag was:
Also I got a giant gumball in the shape of a tennis ball which actually isn't in the picture because...I ate it. But let me tell you this, it was good. I was literally screaming "It's so fluffy I'm gonna dieeee!" while chewing it. It reminded me so much of a ♪marshmallow♪ (Sarah, I hope you get that reference if you ever read this!) BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Y'all ready for this? Because I would like you to meet: PINOCCHIO I named him Pinocchio (I'm being a bit of an animist here and going along with the whole superstition-theme) because it has quite a bit lens and the lens looks like a nose of a camera so...there we go! Aren't I so creative? It's ok. Don't answer that. Now I bought him specifically for study abroad. I hope I get to travel a lot and see a lot of pretty places and take a lot of pretty pictures so Pinocchio here will be my partner in crime! *And a helpful addition in my efforts to update this blog and document my adventures for future reference. Ha. I hope you didn't think I was done because there's just one more piece of news! I got a summer job! Starting Monday, I'll be working at a real estate firm and getting a bit more cash to splurge a bit more when I'm travelling. Yayy! --- Not to be materialistic but really, when I line up my Kindle, iPhone, Thinkpad Yoga, and camera, it's amazing. With all the struggles these past years, it's hard to think that I actually have all these. I'm also really happy to have my family and close friends. I might not get to see them every day or they might not even be in the country, but they always remember to text, call, care, and just keep me in mind. All the time. Really. These people. They're amazing. I honestly sometimes wonder how I even have friends but they're there and I appreciate that. I've been in such a state of confusion and ridiculously lost before so to have all this really feels...tremendous.
P.S. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. I dont know if anyone has heard but the "1600 Pandas World Tour" is in Hong Kong right now. I really wish I was there. Right now. Like...this second. I mean, have you seen the pictures? Because I think you if have, you would be just excited as I am. Just sayin' Too bad the exhibit ends in July -- ONE month before I get there! Apparently there are only 1600 pandas left in the world which also makes this a very sad (and guilt-tripping) exhibit. I have such conflicting feelings about it. Here's an article if you wanna read some more: http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2014/06/17/hongkongers-go-panda-crazy-photos-1600-pandas-hk-landmarks And just because I find them super adorable, I'm adding more pictures (none of which are mine) of them into this blog post. Imagine getting off the plane and being welcomed by all that! Also, I found a youtube video explaining "Are Hong Kong and Macau Countries?" It's kind of amusing -- especially the ending. Booked my ticket to Hong Kong! (A while ago actually. Im just putting this picture up here now. ) I was so excited to study abroad all this time and today I just woke up and started feeling nervous about it. Ok, so that's not REALLY how it went. See, I was thinking and suddenly had a mini-panic attack because I thought I had forgotten to take into consideration the time difference. So pretty much, I thought that I'd arrive to Hong Kong a day late and the administrators would glare. Turns out it was a false alarm and I guess its to be expected that the travel agent would have thought of that for me. Phew. Still, I'm pretty nervous now because even though I knew I'd be away from home for a long time, I didn't feel it. And today I did. In other news, I'm waiting for my laptop to get to Babson so that they can send me the new yoga one before I leave. I'll be such a happy little camper when it comes because then I get to use Photoshop and it'll be like a tablet and pretty much awesome. I'm also thinking about getting a camera for study abroad. I just dont know which one or what kind. Its all such a headache. I was pretty content with one that I found yesterday but my mom didn't like it because it *only* had 12.1MP. Boo. And so the search continues. If anyone has a recommendation, Facebook message me or something. *Sorry if these posts are too long. I just write out everything I'm thinking and if you can't pay attention to the end: oh well lol. I was talking to Rehanna yesterday and she made a good point that this will be something for me to look back on so...I'm just gonna do what I do. |
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September 2014
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