Happy 60th Birthday to the People's Republic of China! For people all over Mainland China, this is a day to celebrate national pride and bask in the glories of the PRC, plus it marks the beginning of a whole week off so that they have proper time for gaiety and reverence. For people in Hong Kong, it means a day off work. Most people, it seems, just take today to enjoy not working and save up their party spirits for Saturday evening's holiday, Mid-Autumn Festival. Nonetheless, the fireworks display over Victoria Harbour is supposed to be pretty spectacular, so I'll be joining in the festivities downtown later this evening.
When I asked my students what their plans were for National Day, most of them replied that they did not plan on getting out much because they wanted to avoid the crowds. "Crowds?" I asked. "Yes," one guy said, "All of the Mainlanders who come in and go to Disneyland and pee in the streets." Uh-oh. Looks like I've just had my first classroom brush with HK-Mainland stereotypes. While I have yet to see anyone actually pee in the streets, it will definitely be more crowded than usual this week, as visitors from the Mainland come to HK to shop, sightsee, and contribute to the HK economy.
I'm off to go enjoy my day off from teaching - sort of. I still have to grade about 20 papers when I get back, such is the life of a teacher. Hope everyone is doing well! Elena, aren't you glad that I finally updated ? :) And happy beginning of October, the best month of the entire year!!
Hooray for October, I am wearing my halloween colors to work and plan on decorating the yard soon....yeehaa!!!
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