Malaysia Wrap-Up and onwards!

So I realize that it has now been two weeks since these events have actually taken place, but given that my life in Hong Kong has been marked by nothing more than improving domesticity, I feel justified in recapping the more interesting aspects of my Asian adventure!  Just a quick clarifying note :)

Our last full day in Malaysia started with another short journey outside of KL, as we jumped on a commuter train to Shah Alam to see the Blue Mosque.  As it was a Friday, and afternoon prayers were coming up, there were hardly any other tourists around, just a smattering of people coming to the mosque to pray.  Originally we had thought we would not be able to go in, but a man came up and invited us in, expressing his appreciation that we were dressed appropriately for the mosque (long skirt, long sleeve shirt, head scarf).  We walked around for quite a while (it is *huge!*) and then ran into a gentleman who was going to prayers and ended up talking to him for over an hour.  It was really fascinating to hear what he had to say and was definitely one of the most memorable points of the whole trip.  

Next, to unwind a bit from the busy morning, we journeyed to the famous Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, one of the largest free-flight aviaries in the world.  And I'm sure if you've flipped through the Facebook photos of the trip, then you already know what happened here.  A big giant bird thought it'd be fun to take a big crap down my back.  And to add insult to injury, his miniature parrot friend decided it'd be fun to do the same, down the front my dress this time.  Charming, really.  I've washed that dress three times since my return.  Aside from the bird's lack of body control, though, it was a really lovely walk around the park.  I chased so many peacocks around to get photos, it's not even funny.  Who knew there were so many different varieties of peacocks?  Loved 'em!

That evening, we decided to go for some upscale Malaysian food (which is essentially a fusion of Indian, Chinese, Thai, and several other kinds of food) and my goodness, it was delicious.  I was particularly delighted by the chicken and beef satay, which had a distinct taste that was similar to Fruit Loops - I think the more sophisticated would call it lemongrass.  But yum, I've been craving ever since.  Afterwards, we walked around KL for a while, checking out the different nightlight scenes, until we ran into two American brothers and the group of fellow travelers and friends they had assembled, a brother and sister from Australia and another guy from Brazil.  We ended up hanging out and chatting and laughing and swapping stories of various travels until 3:30AM, after which we finally called it a night and headed back.  This is one of my favorite parts about Asia, both while traveling and right here in Hong Kong:  the people you meet are really interesting!  They always have fascinating stories of how they ended up here, or where all they have been, or what they're doing with their lives.  The nice part about it is that you're never really lost for conversation topics!   It was a wonderful way to conclude the trip!  Unfortunately, the late night meant that any plans for the next morning would be slept through, but we still managed to sneak in a super delicious lunch at the Loaf, owned by a chef who had studied in France and Japan and basically took all that he learned about the art of bread-making and gussied it up with Asian touches.  Carby, buttery goodness - perfect pre-plane food.  

When we arrived back in Hong Kong late Saturday evening, we had the wonderful welcome home gift of our first typhoon (i.e. tropical storm) waiting for us.  Luckily, we made it home just in time before they hoisted the T-8 signal, meaning that all of Hong Kong basically shuts down.  The wind and the rain were pretty severe, and I woke up the next morning with a massive tree branch right outside my window.  But better outside the window than through the window!

Since we got back, it has been pretty quiet around here, just getting through Cantonese classes and learning to cook (I made chicken the other night!).  Now that classes are wrapping up - just an exam on Monday left - I'll be able to go out and explore more of Hong Kong!  I'm taking these next two weeks before teacher training starts to explore Hong Kong like a traveler or tourist would, going to visit all of the famous sights and doing all of the wonderful touristy activities, like going to Victoria's Peak, taking the Star Ferry, shopping, shopping, shopping - I might even go visit Disneyland Hong Kong!  This way, when some of you come to visit, I'll know where to take you!  (hint, Hint, Hint)

Hope everyone is doing well and has a good weekend!  I'm off to the beach tomorrow!

xoxo

Jenny

 

Malaysia, Part 2

So our second day in Malaysia started early - not as severely early as the 4:30 am jump-start the day before, but early enough to be uncomfortable.  But we were travelers on a mission, and the mission was the Skybridge of the Petronas Towers, formerly the tallest buildings in the world (a recently constructed monster skyscraper in Taipei now takes the cake).  We arrived at what seemed a very reasonable, early time, but the line for tickets was already out the door, through the hall, up the escalator, etc.   So after a full 30 seconds of waiting, we decided that we wanted to see the towers themselves, not the view from within, which is better accomplished from the (wait-free) ground.  So we bounced, still feeling satisfied at seeing the inside of these gorgeous structures.

On our way back to the hostel (and to catch a bus to the caves), we popped in the Shangri-La Hotel, whose international buffet had been recommended by a friend of a friend of Camille's.  The whole place was just lovely, and I snapped some pictures of pretty delectable and not-at-all-cake-looking cakes.  (Check out the photos on my Facebook page - look for a white purse and a mountain of pillows - yes, those are the cakes).  

Then it was on to the grand attraction of the day, the Batu Caves!  We hopped on a bus which took us several kilometres outside of KL, and as we approached, we could start to see the giant rock that housed the caves rising in front of us.  Well, I did - Camille was napping :)  It was already pretty imposing.  We arrived at the gates, which features dozens and dozens of carvings of Hindu gods and figures, all beautifully sculpted and painted, but the main attraction was the set of 272 stairs and the ginormous statue waiting to greet you as you began the trek up to the main caves.   Before we began the walk up, we fueled up on Indian food from one of the restaurants on the ground which, my goodness, was so good, I am still dreaming about the roti (a kind of bread... I would try to describe it, but words fail).  After a most delicious lunch, we climbed the stairs - and I'll say, nothing could have prepared me for the sight inside the caves.  It was, absolutely, one of the most breath-taking and awe-inspiring places I have ever been to.  I have never felt more like Indiana Jones in my life.  As the cave's monkeys played all around us (see the video below), we watched people come and go, sitting at the opposite end of the cave from the entrance, enjoying the sunlight shining down through the opening at the top.   We had a bit of a scare when a monkey jumped on a little girl's back - she was holding a Coke bottle, one of the monkeys' favorite toys, and the monkey decided that he needed the bottle for himself.  She threw a fit until the monkey dropped the bottle, but after she picked it up, a number of monkeys began to chase her around the cave, her parents only intervening after a few minutes of her shrieks.  I was terrified for her - although the monkeys were sooo precious, I kept thinking of the movie Outbreak and fearing that we could all be infected with the ebola virus or something.  But thankfully, no monkey bites here!   (Btw, the story of me being chased by monkeys is much less exciting - a few of the monkeys enjoyed my green shoes a little too much and tried to come get them off my feet when I got too close - but nothing like a monkey rampage).

After a little more time mulling about the grounds of the caves, it was time to head back into the city.  We took a bus to Chow Kit market, which is a massive, tent-covered produce market on the outer side of the city.  I have never before seen such a variety of fruit and vegetables and meats and fish in my life!  I have also never smelled so many... interesting smells in my life.  I had a fresh guava, given to us by one of the stall workers, and the two of us were wolf-whistled at numerous times.  There was one guy in particular who was quite irrepressible, saying hello, then asking my name, then telling me his name, then telling me his name was actually Tom Cruise.  I smiled and waved, but moved on quickly, not because of him but because of the strong smell of recently-killed eel that was wafting up from the stall I was standing next to right then.   The market was quite an experience - I'm glad that I was able to see it, but I'm not entirely I could go back - if only just for my nose's sake.

After a return to our hostel and a quick jaunt to the neighboring mall, we showered and primped for a fancy dinner that would take us back to the Shangri-La Hotel for the famous international buffet.  Camille and I each had 5 plates, with each plate concentrating on food from a different country (French cheese plate, Japanese sushi, Chinese dimsum, Indian and Malaysian satay and masala, and desserts from all over...   yeah, I'll let you drool a little bit here).  My dessert intake was basically limited to heaps and heaps of fruit and cake smothered in white chocolate from the fondue fountain.  Camille and I were there for three hours, letting each plate of food digest before moving on the next.  The only negative thing about the experience was the polite request that I not take pictures after I went to capture the spread at the dessert bar - but at least I got one picture!

After we finished up, we strolled along Jalan Ramlee, one of the main nightlife streets in KL, looking for ideas for the next night (since we had just eaten an inexplicable amount, we weren't exactly in the mindset or physical shape to go out and dance).  We mostly just ended up people-watching, though, as we ended up at the base of the Petronas Towers once more, hanging out until the spotlights went off at midnight.  It was a lovely close to the end of a delicious day.  

Last day to come soon!  I realize, again, that I am a bit late and a bit spread in these entries, but you can blame my renewed vigor in Cantonese class - don't tell anyone this, but it's actually starting to be a bit fun.  It's almost a shame that it's just about over - almost.  

Love to all!

xoxo

My Malaysian Holiday! Part 1

Well goodness, where to begin?  It's hard to believe that I was only absent from Hong Kong for three and a half days because Camille had enough experiences and stories in Malaysia to fill up three weeks worth of traveling!   But wow, what an adventure - the trip was rejuvenating, exhilarating, stressful, awe-inspiring,profound, hilarious, and incredibly thought-provoking - not bad for a little impromptu three-day jaunt! 

So I'll start from the very beginning (a very good place to start)

I've already alluded to our trials and tribulations trying to purchase tickets for this trip, but it appeared that all would be well once the tickets were finally bought.  However, at the airport Wednesday morning, we had to clear one last hurdle before getting on the plane.  Because of the debacle with credit cards caused by Air Asia, Camille was detained at the gate and had to wait about 20-30 minutes - enough for both of us to start to despair that we would never, ever, ever get to KL.  BUT!  We finally were cleared and jumped onto the plane and off we went.  Once we arrived in KL, we checked into our (surprisingly clean and very secure) $8-a-night hostel, and we wasted no time getting started on our to-do list.  After a delicious lunch at a Chinese food stall, we decided to venture to the renowned KL Bird Park.  

Given the directions by our hostel owner, we set out expecting an easy, if hot, walk.  Yet after we got off the monorail, we were in for a bit of a surprise: the "street" that we needed to walk down to get to the park was in fact a crazily busy highway overpass with scant sidewalk space for pedestrians.  A kind man informed us that this was the best way, as it was preferable to walking beneath the bridge, an area which was "not advisable" for two girls to go.  Uh-oh.  So we began the walk, gripping onto the railing by the sidewalk for dear life, as the speeding motorists honked their horns and shouted greetings at us.  Again, in these situations, all you can do is laugh.  After a few perilous street crossings (one of which took ten minutes to find an opening in traffic, and only then it was to sprint across the road, narrowly avoiding the hugely annoying motorbikes whizzing past), we finally made it to the park - or something that at least resembles green space.  It turns out, this was just not the day meant for the Bird Park.  We arrived at the gates of another park (the Butterfly Park) only 40 minutes before their closing time, but we decided it was still worth a look, if only so that our highway walk was not in vain.  It was actually quite lovely, as we walked in and were greeted by hundreds of butterflies flitting about.

After the park, we continued to walk around various famous areas around KL, from Merdeka (Independence) Square, which hosts one of the world's tallest flagpoles, to Little India to Chinatown.  Little India was a delight, as we had food from the street vendors again, which, unfortunately, I was not able to finish (or even eat much of) my meal because it was *so* *so* spicy!  But it was very delicious!  I then went shopping, and bargained with a shopkeeper for two spangled saris for my two girls Avery and Ayden!  Which will hopefully get in the mail soon :)  Chinatown was also an adventure, essentially jam-packed with loads of vendors all selling the same thing: DVDs, LeBron jerseys, sunglasses, and fake purses.  Unfortunately I did not partake in the shopping here.  Instead of buying Malaysia's Chinatown goods, I'll just go straight to the source and buy all the Chinese goods, you know, while I live in China.  

At the end of the day, Camille and I were exhausted from our previous sleepless night, the miles of walking, and the endless string of catcalls and wolf whistles, so we decided to call it a night early.  We went back to the hostel and chilled on the rooftop deck for awhile, discussing the idea of travel vs. vacation and American exceptionalism.  We called it an early night, as we had a jam-packed day planned for Thursday!

And with that, I'm calling it a night now, as it is 2:18 am, but I'll be back with more stories soon!  Check out the video of the monkeys below!

xoxo

Monkeys at Play!

Ok, since I have been a neglectful blogger lately, I am leaving you with this little treat from my Malaysia trip (a full blog post on this is still coming, I promise!).  These are some of the monkeys in the Batu Caves, playing with a few trinkets people have left behind for them.  It doesn't have sound, but if you have any sort of carnival music on your iTunes, I suggest you put that on as the background music for the video.  Enjoy!  I'll write again soon!

xoxo

Jenny

Tough Times in Cantonese Land

Today we were learning how to say "left" and "right" in Cantonese class.  I, of course, had issues with this because I can barely tell my left from right in English.  So when I was called on to describe two people's directional relation to each other in a picture, I stammered for quite some time, first trying to remember the words for "left" and "right" and then trying to figure out whether the girl was in fact on the boy's right or left side.  

Clearly, higher education has done wonders for me.

Pictures from Kuala Lumpur posted!

Hi everyone!

So it's been a bit since my last update, and I promise, extensive stories about KL shenanigans are coming soon!   However, given that I have spent many of the past few hours working on uploading all of my 300+ pictures from the trip onto my computer, I should probably go get some sleep/finally start studying for my Cantonese class!  However, to tide you over, I offer my Facebook photo album of the trip, featuring all the highlights from the trip!  Read the captions of the photos for a good preview!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2135045&id=310559&l=55b3778e4

Be back soon!!

xoxoxo

Jenny 

We're going to Kuala Lumpur!

Exciting news, team!!  After an epic, 24 hours++ ordeal with incompetent airlines and confused hostel websites, Camille and I have finally booked our tickets to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!!  We're heading out a day later than originally anticipated, so we'll be there Wednesday-Saturday, but it all worked out for the best, as we get more time in the city and we get to fly our favorite airline, Cathay Pacific!  The above image is The Petronas Towers, one of the tallest structures in the world, designed by New Haven, CT's own (and former Yale School of Architecture dean) Cesar Pelli!  I'll get to see it in person in just a few short days - our hostel is about a 10 minute walk from the towers!!   BTW - click on the above photo to see the full effect

Word to the wise:  Do NOT try to use Air Asia.  Despite the seemingly cheap prices, they have no idea what they're doing, and actually Cathay Pacific ended up being cheaper.  

So the next couple of days here will be spent running around getting important errands done around Hong Kong (and hopefully a little time will be spent by the pool to cool off from the sweltering heat!) and then we're jet-setting on Wednesday!  Comment with any requested souvenirs from Malaysia!  

Talk to you soon!

xoxo

Jenny 

SwInE fLu StRiKeS HoNg KoNg!!!

Upon the completion of Friday's Cantonese class - which I celebrated joyfully, both for the completion of my first full week and my newfound ability to tell time in Cantonese - we were informed that, due to an 'outbreak' of swine flu, our class would be suspended for the upcoming week.  Apparently, four international exchange students caught the bug, and others would be tested for the virus, so as a precautionary measure, they called off class.  Hopefully we will be resuming class on July, provided there are no new cases of swine flu on campus.  Even though my class is crazy difficulty, and getting harder everyday, I actually don't want to stop now that I'm making progress!  But hopefully everyone can get well and we can get started up again.  But in the meantime....

I'm using my unexpected vacation in the most delightful of ways!  The plans are, as of now, for Camille and I to take a short trip next week, and while we have our destination, flight, hotel, and activities pretty much all lined up, I don't want to post about it on here until everything is booked!  Don't want to jinx it after all ;)  But I'll let you all know as soon as it gets confirmed (hopefully!)

But I spent my first day of the weekend doing some major exploring around Hong Kong.  Today Camille and I met up with her friend Adler (also a recent Yale grad, Pierson '09, who is staying at CUHK this summer), and we basically pointed to random places on the MTR map and decided to venture there.  We first ended up at TST (Tsim Sha Tsui), which is directly across the harbour from Hong Kong Island (also the location of my current profile picture), though we didn't spend much time by the water - instead, we explored several new streets as well as Kowloon Park.  SO many flamingos there!!!  Apparently, there are Great flamingos and Lesser flamingos.  At one point, the group of Great flamingos approached the Lesser flamingos for a rumble - at least this looked like what was happening.  But given that no violence ensued (instead, they just kind of stood around and bathed together), I suppose that was not the case!

Greater Flamingos

Lesser Flamingos

Greater flamingos inexplicably charge the lesser flamingos, presumably for a rumble...

 

Instead, they're just straight chillin...

After watching this entertaining bit of animal behavior, we continued the walk around TST, enjoying delicious baked goods from a local bakery and getting soaked by the intermittent rain.  We eventually jumped back on the MTR and ended up in Quarry Bay, which at first did not seem to have the same scenic appeal as our previous location, but after walking around for a bit, we ended up under an overpass right by the water, accompanied by a handful of local fisherman.  By this point, the temperature had cooled down and we were getting a lovely breeze off the harbour, so it was rather peaceful.  

Notice that he's fishing the old-fashioned way... pretty impressive.

Well, that's all for now!  More updates to come soon!

xoxo

Jenny

Resident Card

Wonderful news!  I have now obtained a (temporary, yet still official) Hong Kong Resident Identity card!  Meaning that I am now an official Hong Kong resident!  I will now enjoy privileges such as having my thumbprint scanned upon re-entry, and many other cool things which I will I discover along the way.   I'll get the real card sometime in the next couple of weeks (for now, I just have a swanky piece of paper), but this is still an exciting step!   

Being an official Hong Kong resident kind of makes up for the fact that the rest of the day was not stellar, particularly when I tried to exchange a few faulty items at the Sha Tin shopping centre that they would not take back (read: would not refund me for) since I did not have the original packaging.  Apparently "satisfaction guaranteed" is still a concept in Hong Kong, but you just have to know for sure you'll be satisfied with it before you remove the plastic wrap.  Bit of a paradox, no?

Cantonese is picking up - both my knowledge of it and the speed of the class, though not at equal accelerations.   Guess which one is slower, hahaha. ;)  But our teacher Terry is fantastic, and I'm enjoying getting to know the people in the class, so...  wait, instead of elaborating more on the class, I should go do my homework shouldn't I?  That's probably a good plan.  

Bye everyone!

xoxo

Jenny

Food, Glorious Food

CHEEEESE.

Let me qualify: Upon my acceptance to a program in China, I was warned on a weekly basis that my cheese addiction would have to be curbed upon entering this country, since dairy was not a big part of the Chinese diet and cheese was in short supply.  WELL, friends, I have delightful news to report: Since HK has a gei daaih (quite large) ex-pat population, grocery stores must cater to each nationality's needs, meaning that the best stuff in life (read: cheese, butter, chocolate) is imported from all over the wooooorld, so we not only have cheese, we have the some of the best cheese in the world!!  I have a better selection here than I would in many places in the US! 

I did a dance for joy yesterday during our trip to CitySuper (Hong Kong's equivalent of Whole Foods) when I walked in and saw the cheese section, not only for the smorgasbord of dairy products, but specifically for the spotting of Red Leicester cheese, my favorite cheese from Britain.  It brought back memories of sitting in Covent Garden two years ago, drinking cheap wine and eating bread and cheese as we watched street performers.   As I sat in my common room this evening sharing my beloved cheese with my flatmates, I was truly content with life.

I was also delighted to find Cadbury chocolate, the most delicious chocolate from Britain, on the grocery stores shelves here as well (it's actually a different Cadbury than the one we have in the States - I promise to bring a load back when I come to visit so everyone can try some!).  Luckily, I don't even have to venture out to CitySuper to find this, I can just go to the Park and Shop on campus, and they have a whole wall of Cadbury chocolates!  So all in all, I'll be just fine on the dairy front while I'm here.  (And yes, they do have macaroni and cheese here in the grocery stores, so that addiction will also continue for the next two years... sigh)

Of course, all this being considered, I have been so busy running around, acquiring my favorite Western foods, that I have not yet stocked up on good Chinese food to cook at home.  Allyson and Camille are slowly but surely teaching me cooking techniques, so I'll let you know when I get brave enough to cook a Chinese dish.  Until then, it will be lots of bbq pork rolls and shrimp dumplings on the outside and lots of pasta and cheese on the inside!  But all of it is nom nom nom good.

Talk to you again soon!

xoxo

Jenny

First Week Impressions

Well, I've now been living in Hong Kong for a full week - look out!  Here are just a few observations from Week One.

The Yale-China Program

I am so thankful to be a part of this program - they take very good care of us!  First off, the apartment they have provided for us here at CUHK is so much more than I thought I would have my first year out of college!  I have a huge common area, an unreal view, a fully stocked kitchen, a nicely-sized bedroom - even a walk-in closet!  On top of that, my teaching job is going to be sweet once we start in the fall.  We just met with the head professors for the classes we'll be teaching today to discuss the classes' syllabi and structure.  It will be a nice combination of a set regimen for students with plenty of leeway for creativity in teaching.  I should have about 15-20 students in each of my classes, which, with each student handing in 3-4 drafts of each paper, will mean a lot of grading throughout the semester, but I really am looking forward to this aspect of the job.   The English department here has entrusted us with a great deal of responsibility, so I certainly hope I can live up to it.  It's also been funny to see little signs of Yale here and there - for instance, the language program where I'm taking Cantonese classes is called the New Asia Yale-in-China Language Center.  It's funny that I can be an entire world away from New Haven but Yale still seems to be a big part of my life.  I just can't escape it!

Hong Kong

Getting to know Hong Kong will not be a quick process, especially since I do not feel a huge rush to go out and learn everything right away since I have two years.  But I already feel like I've picked up on some traits of the city:

1)  Germophobes - Because of SARS in 2003, the city is understandably leery of swine flu, so everywhere you go, there are signs to wash your hands well, personal disinfectant stations, and people wearing surgical masks.  We even have to get our temperature taken everyday before we can go into class.  

2)  One country, two systems - Hong Kong, while technically a part of China, still has a unique system, something that the people of Hong Kong do not want you to forget.  Though I haven't seen it played out much yet, I keep hearing that there is a prejudice among Hong Kong citizens towards Mainlanders, as though Hong Kong does not have a whole lot of respect for the rest of China.  The protest on July 1st was criticizing Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, for being too close to Beijing - though, it was explained to me, that Tsang is caught between a rock and a hard place; he can actually do more for Hong Kong by being close to Beijing and trying to work for Hong Kong's good within that system rather than trying to separate Hong Kong from the Mainland, whereupon he would be unceremoniously removed from his position.  So it's an interesting situation.  Also interesting: Hong Kong has a fascination with Japan, from Japanese food to fashion to retail, an admiration which Mainland China is said not to share, due to the long history of bad blood between the two countries.  

3)  Bureaucracy - The bureaucracy system here is pretty twisty.  For example, for me to be able to get a phone here in Hong Kong, I need a Hong Kong credit card.  To get that, I need a Hong Kong Identification card.  To get that, I need my CUHK staff card.  To get that, I need my CUHK staff number, which can only be generated once I have submitted documentation of my passport and work visa.  All of these steps take time and go through a different office, so needless to say, it will still be some time before I get a phone here.

4) Small/Big world - As busy and dense as Hong Kong is, it can also seem remarkably small.  Walking around downtown, we'll run into random Yalies or other acquaintances, which again, makes it hard to believe that I'm on the other side of the world.  On the other hand, it can also seem like everything is far away when we're up on the mountain in our apartment.  It's pretty tedious to get down the mountain, and then we often have to change MTR lines several times to get into downtown.  It's also strange to look out the window and see all of the sprawling mountains and busy communities below but to have no idea how to get to them.  I'm hoping that as I get to know the city better, it won't seem so insurmountable.  

5)  Hot, hot, hot - The Hong Kong weather, while certainly preferable to that of the Northeast US, is causing havoc on certain parts of me.  The hot, hot mugginess has declared any hairstyle attempts moot - I've just had to embrace the huge, uncontrollable curls - and the sweat caused by the heat has led to four blemishes in the shape of a perfect rhombus on my face - quite attractive.  One dilemma I have not had to deal with, thankfully, has been the mosquitoes - knock on wood.  They are pretty ferocious, as evidenced by the array of bites on my flatmates' legs, but I have been spared so far - apparently orange peel is a natural repellant, so my orange body butter from Body Shop is keeping the monster creatures away!  Hooray!

Well, that's about all I can manage for now - I need to get some sleep so I can be awake and alert for Cantonese tomorrow!  

Joi Gin!  (That's Cantonese for "goodbye" - that's right, I know one word!!)

xoxo

Jenny

The Joy of Homemaking

I hope everyone's having a wonderful 4th of July!  Haven't seen too many fireworks around these parts, though some friends and I did spend part of the day comparing various artists' renditions of "The Star Spangled Banner."  Other than that, it hasn't been a particularly eventful holiday. 

I spent roughly 5-6 hours today putting together a chest of drawers from Ikea (so much screwing in one day!! - sorry, couldn't resist!), which, although I made horrible time, was an accomplishment that made me feel all warm and fuzzy upon completion.  It definitely felt like a very adult thing to do, building up furniture for my room with my bare hands instead of just paying for assembly.  This wasn't for lack of trying - I decided after purchasing the furniture that I wanted them to build it for me, but would have had to reschedule the delivery for a later date, so I decided to put on my big girl pants and try it myself.  And 6 hours later, I now have a chest of drawers.  If it's still standing in the morning when I wake up, it will be a miracle.  If it lasts, tomorrow brings the joyful task of stuffing the drawers full of stuff.   I will also likely be tackling the assembly of a desk chair, and if I'm feeling particularly ambitious, laundry.  However, I have been weary of doing laundry since I looked out at our laundry room from our kitchen a couple days ago and saw a gigantic cockroach chilling on the laundry room door.  So now I have visions of million-strong cockroach armies waiting to swarm me when I unsuspectingly walk in.  

It's been a long evening of watching dance crew clips and Enchanted, so I'm heading off to sleep, to be serenaded by our lovely frog chorus outside of my window.  My dream is that someday they'll bust out with "Kiss the Girl" from Little Mermaid.  

G'night!

Jenny

Hanging Around...

It's a pretty lazy day around the Friendship Lodge, but I just wanted to share with you all the view that I have right now.

Here's my common room - it's bit dark in the photo, but you'll get the idea.

Nice, don't you think?  

Ok, off to go clean my room!

xoxo,

Jenny

Cantonese Class, Or, My First "Wtf" Moments in HK

I'll just start off by saying, I have never been particularly good at language classes.  I did decently well in French in high school, mostly just because many of the other students in my first year were stoners or had no desire to do any work, so I seemed like a peachy student in comparison.  However, I was never a stellar French student.  With Italian in college, I often ranked on the lower end in my class grade-wise, and while I managed to get through thanks to the help of my teacher, I still was pretty atrocious at it.  So you can imagine, if I had issues just with Romance languages, that the prospect of learning an Asian language, and one of the hardest languages at that, would be a bit daunting.  So when it came time to formulate an attitude towards my classes, I went with a resigned determination, not expecting too much, but wanting to try the best I could to learn as much as I could in the next five weeks.  So at least I knew going into it, it wasn't going to be easy.  It was going to be really freaking hard.

Well, I can say, after my first day of class....  at least I knew it was going to be really freaking hard.  I won't say it was harder than I imagined, because I imagined the worst, but it is *hard*.  I had a false sense of hope in the first 40 minutes of class, as I seemed to be doing well with the tones (Cantonese has nine tones, six of which we learned today - the remaining three are just slight variations on these six), so I was pleased with my progress.  However, after the requisite tonal lesson, our teacher (or, sinsaang) Terry took off, and words were being thrown around more quickly than I could translate them, and it became very overwhelming very quickly.  Many of the students in the class (in fact, I would say all of them, except Camille and I) have spoken Cantonese at some point, so their knowledge of vocabulary is already pretty significant, especially relative to my knowledge of vocabulary, which stands at... well, maybe three words after today.  To his credit, our teacher seems very, very cool and should be fun, though I will admit that I left class today feeling very frustrated.  It's just incredibly hard to keep up, and I worry about being left behind very quickly.  The frustrating thing is (and I know this will sound bad) that I know I'm a smart person, that I have done well at many other academic areas, but this is one thing I just can't seem to wrap my head around.  Grr!  I will say, though, it was pretty hilarious when today in class, as I sat looking stupefied at the language, my teacher looked at me and laughed, saying something like, "Jenny, wake up!" to which I replied, "I'm not tired, I just have no idea what you're saying..."  Here's hoping next week will go better!

My frustration followed me outside of class, as I grew surly with everything for the next couple of hours, from the seemingly-never-ending walk to my apartment to the weight of my bags to the heat.  However, my mood was lifted after I made my final (hopefully!) shopping trip to Shatin for the week, where I picked up the last few essentials for my room as well as a fantastic curling/straightening/multi-function hair iron.  I know this sounds hopelessly materialistic, but for all of the women out there who know how many hair tools I own, you can understand why this was a very exciting find for me.   While I did not get as much organizing as I would have liked done on my room today, I still feel productive, as I have now at least purchased nearly everything I need for the room.  Once I get it all put together, I will post pictures!  The color scheme is really pretty :)  I figure I can justify the cost, since this is for two years, after all, and being so far from home, shouldn't I try to be as comfortable and feel as homey as possible?  I think so.  It's been interesting setting up house here - lugging everything back on the MTR, figuring out how to make it feel like home, shopping for supplies where sometimes you have great selection and other times you're just stuck with what you see - and all of this is just for my bedroom, not even the whole apartment (that comes fully furnished, thankfully!)  But I guess these are the joys of being a grown-up, right?  But it will turn out lovely in the end - I only hope I'll be able to say the same thing about my Cantonese.

Tomorrow I'm off to brunch at a Branford friend's apartment and then a good-bye dinner for Jonathan, one of the departing Yale-China Fellows.  I haven't made concrete plans for the 4th yet, but supposedly there should be a good smattering of goings-on around town.  As always, I'll keep you posted!

xoxo

Jenny

Pictures of Hong Kong Island

Due to unimaginable exhaustion, I don't quite have the energy to post about the day's adventures, but I do offer you the link to the photos I just posted on Facebook.  Highlights are the government-sponsored protest against the government and pictures of the gorgeous skyline at dusk.

Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2132802&id=310559&l=ae48d91522