Hello everybody, and Happy Chong Yang Jie! I doubt many of the American readers know about this, but the Chinese have a festival on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month, earning it the nickname "Double Ninth Day." In reality, the celebration is for elders, or senior citizens. It's actually been around for about 2000 years so America's "Grandparents Day" seems to pale in comparison. The traditional way for families to celebrate is to hike up the mountains to visit the graves of their ancestors. However, most students at CUHK are just calling their grandparents today. So, in commemoration of Double Ninth Day, here's a shout-out to all my grandparents! Unfortunately, calling all of you would be incredibly inconvenient for everyone involved. Just know that I love and appreciate you. I can't even begin to describe the ways you've all shaped me as a person. Thank you.
So, yeah, I admit the occasional feeling of homesickness. It doesn't come in the form of gorging on instant mac 'n' cheese while watching 5 straight hours of True Blood, which seems to be the most common form of American homesickness therapy over here. I find myself missing people a lot more than places or things. Sure, every once in a while, I miss the Midnight Rooster. Totally guilty there. It's a short trip, though, to Pacific Coffee. It's easy enough to find a viable substitute for a coffee shop, but you can have 1000 friends and none of them could ever replace another.
I thank God every day for my favorite combo of modern technology: Skype, Facebook, and Gmail. I don't know if I could do this whole study abroad thing without them. Well, more like I couldn't do it without the people with whom they enable me to stay in touch. So, now that I've turned into an ooey-gooey sentimental marshmallow on you, let me liven up the mood with some highlights from this past week.
First things first, Monday was kind of a bummer. Since we had had our statistics midterm the week before, the next class (Monday at 4:30pm) was actually a computer tutorial in the new business building on Chak Cheung Street. After the final, the teacher mentioned that we needed to retrieve a password for the PC lab from the business school before the computer tutorial in the afternoon. Since I had class, class, class and then more class Thursday and Friday, I had decided to go early Monday morning when I had time.
I took a bus to the business school, and found the help counter for the PC lab. I gave my information where needed and was told that I wasn't in the system and therefore no password had been assigned to me. Say what? Well, I found someone who was willing to help me, and she explained that, because I am an exchange student, I'm not in their system at the PC lab. I would have to apply for a temporary password and wait 1-2 working days before picking it up. I applied, but you can imagine what amount of good it did me.
When I returned to the dorm, I promptly emailed my teacher with my problem, even suggesting that I could complete the tutorial as soon as I get a password. She emailed me back a few hours later and told me not to worry about it. I showed up at 4:30pm, just like I was supposed to and, sure enough, my temporary password was ready. Apparently, they could get you a password in the same day. They just didn't feel like helping me. Thanks, PC lab. Not cool.
Tuesday I had only one class, which was management. After class, I talked with my group-mates about our presentation topic and then went to grab lunch. I spent the whole afternoon washing clothes and doing finance homework. A few days before, my finance teacher gave us an online assignment, which isn't due until Oct.17th. It was only 5 problems, but don't let that number deceive you. Despite spending my entire Tuesday afternoon on it, I just barely managed to finish the first question. By 6:00pm my brain felt thoroughly fried.
Thankfully, I had a good opportunity to take a study break. The day before, Justin (the one from HK not from SC) had invited me to go with him to the Music Department's Freshman Concert. We met up at 6:00pm and took the bus down to Chung Chi, where we had some pho bo before heading to the concert hall. The concert started at 7:30pm, but was scheduled to go until 10:00pm. We heard everything from Mozart to Final Fantasy IV and, towards the end, traditional Chinese music on the erhu, bahu, and guzhang. It was already past 10:00pm when we left but the concert still had a little ways to go before it would end. Therefore, we missed the Lady Gaga mash-up on the piano. Oh well, it was fun.
Wednesday I had Chinese class, which consisted of watching people complete their oral presentations. We all have to do it, but mine was scheduled for Friday so on Wednesday I just watched. I had lunch with Alice, and made a quick run to Park 'n' Shop before starting, once again, on my finance homework. Usually, I have statistics class again Wednesday afternoon but, because we're ahead of schedule, my Wednesday class (and actually my next Monday class as well) was canceled. I spent yet another entire afternoon plugging away numbers and still I finished only through problem 4. By then, it was long past time for sleep and I just knew I didn't have another chain-problem's worth of brain power left.
I'm sure that I spent all Wednesday night having nightmares about Thursday. They are, if you recall, my "Black Thursdays." I had class at 8:30am, and spent the first half of my morning talking about poverty in the Philippines. After a 15 minute break, I had my tutorial for the same class, which consisted of analyzing whether or not the Singaporean government counts as a democracy. The general consensus is that it does not, by the way. I really love my Political Economy class so, even though I have to wake up early for it, it's still my favorite.
I met up with Alice again for lunch because we were assigned as speaking partners for our oral presentation on Friday. Our topic was to act out visiting a Chinese friend during Chinese New Year. I was the stupid American who brought a hongbao for everyone in the family--including grandma. Alice was the flustered Chinese friend trying to explain everything to me. It worked out well, and we got in a few chuckles from the class and (more importantly) the teacher. Of course, that was the result on Friday. For the time being, it was still Thursday. We got most of the way through writing it before I had class at 1:30pm. I came, I watched presentations, and I left...for my next class.
The next class was actually finance and somehow throughout the course of the day, I had managed to finish the last problem on my assignment. When class let out at 5:30pm, I was really happy to have that homework behind me. I had made plans with Su well in advance that we were going to go back to that Yunnan restaurant and use up some coupons I had that were soon to expire. We went and had some delicious fish with garlicky vegetables. No rice. The waiter seemed confused by this. The coupons gave us just a tiny discount, but a discount is always good. Afterwards, I showed Su where to find a few important places in Shatin (i.e. IKEA, Park 'n' Shop, the Post Office). We got back around 9:00pm. Alice and I met up again soon afterwards to finish working on our presentation. We practiced in the courtyard at my dormitory and got things down pretty well.
I was so tired from days of both sleep-deprivation and bad sleep. Thursday night, I was hoping to catch up. I went to bed reasonably early, but in waking up I wasn't so lucky. It turns out one of my roommates wanted to wake up early, which is normally fine. However, she tends to sleep through her alarm the first 10-11 times it goes off...no exaggeration. Usually, I sleep through it too since it's not too loud but, since I wasn't sleeping well anyway, it woke me up instead of her. I just sucked it up and got dressed. I spent a few hours practicing my presentation, but I decided to take a one-hour nap around 11:30am. My alarm rudely awoke me in time to grab lunch and go to class. The presentation went off without a hitch, and I was free at 3:15pm.
Normally that would be the case but, since I was still confused about some of the finance problems, I had scheduled an appointment with my finance teacher. I got to her office at about 3:30pm, and talking with her was very helpful. She really put my mind at ease. I dropped my stuff back off at the dorm, contemplated another nap and, before I knew it, it was time to meet my IBCE classmates at the MTR station.
We had decided well in advance to have dinner at the Dai Pai Dong in Fo Tan--not the same one where I went with ISA. About 16-17 of us came, which is a decent turn-out though not great. We had a lot of good, cheap food. Since this particular Dai Pai Dong is well known for it's chicken congee and roasted pigeons, we ordered that as well as several other dishes. Once again, I am astounded by how much Hong Kong people love their meat. Did you know that meat is often cheaper than vegetables here? Wow.
Anyway, I can see why those two dishes are famous: they were my two favorites. I thought the congee was creamier than usual, so I think the restaurant blended it with tofu. Nice touch, whatever they did. As for the pigeons, they're the "Shatin Specialty Dish" so it's kind of a Hong Kong must when you come to visit. The pigeons were, you guessed it, whole. The heads were removed, but since some people like to eat the brains, the cook had thoughtfully left them on the plate. In case you're wondering, pigeon tastes a lot like the really dark meat of a chicken--only a little sweeter and more tender. I'll probably come back to this Dai Pai Dong since it's so close by and easy to get to.
I stopped by Jubilee Court (the place where the Immigration Department is) to go to Park 'n' Shop on the way back. I had never been to this particular store, but it's like going to Walmart. They're all a little different, but similar enough. The store wasn't very big, but it had a great variety of products. I found some cinnamon to put in my morning oatmeal, which I had been looking for for weeks. I think I'll make this one my new regular grocery destination. Fo Tan is way less crowded than Shatin, and I don't have to go through a super busy shopping mall just to buy groceries.
Somehow, when I got back, all that sleep deprivation and bad sleep had, once again, caught up with me. I was actually at the point where you start arguing with yourself about the pros and cons of brushing your teeth much less taking a shower. This, of course, led to staying up even later. It's a true dilemma. It's hard to brush your teeth and take a shower when you're that tired but, on the other hand, if you don't do that stuff before going to bed, you don't sleep as well and feel even more tired in the morning. I hate that.
In the end, I sucked it up and properly prepared for bed, sleeping like a rock until this morning. I'm still pretty tired, but I think I'll be able to relax a little more this week. I certainly hope so!
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